Authors: Palladian
She pointed wordlessly to a park across the street, and Lex saw the ambulances parked on the grass there. Nodding, she began to make her way over to the park. Crossing the empty street, Lex stopped one of the medics rushing past her towards the burning building to ask, “Who’s in charge here?”
He pointed wordlessly to somewhere behind the first row of ambulances, and Lex steered herself and her charge in that direction. As Lex neared her destination, she saw a woman dressed in the same outfit she wore, but with no color on her shoulders. She stood a few inches shorter than Lex, and looked petite and slim. Her black hair seemed as if it would fall past her shoulders, but had been tied up in a neat ponytail high on her head. She had her hands on a figure lying on one of the stretchers lined up in the grass, and appeared to be concentrating. Lex hung back for a moment, almost feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she felt something going on. After a few moments, the woman straightened and turned in Lex’s direction. When she did, Lex could see that the woman looked to be of Asian heritage, with flawless tan skin and dark brown eyes. Something about her face seemed familiar, but Lex couldn’t place it.
“Are you—” Lex began, only to be cut off by the other woman’s reply.
“I’m Lily. Lily Chen. You must be Lex.”
“Chen. Are you related…“
Lex stopped speaking as Lily nodded. “Yes, your teacher is my grandfather. He told us a bit about you already.”
“I hope nothing too bad,” Lex said, trying not to wince.
Lily shrugged as she studied Lex curiously for a moment. “He sounds like he thinks you’re one of the best students he’s had, but I know he’d never say it. Anyway, you can put that man here,” she said, gesturing to an empty stretcher. Medics loaded the person that Lily had been working on previously into an ambulance and began to drive away.
“Do you mind if I ask what the situation is here? Things seem a little chaotic,” Lex said, her mind still unsettled by Lily’s earlier comment.
Sighing as she checked the elderly man over, Lily replied, “This is what this type of call is usually like, unfortunately.”
“What about the people coming out of the building? How have they been, generally?”
“Well, the later they come out, the sicker they’ll be. Of course, listening to the firefighters, it’s a race against time to get everyone out before the inner floors and ceilings start to collapse. One we’re not going to win, at this rate.” Lily shook her head then, glancing over at the burning building.
Lex suddenly felt angry at the lack of foresight involved in the operation, but she smiled as she felt her mind begin to run possible scenarios. “Let’s see what I can come up with,” she said almost to herself, then louder, “Lily, this young lady needs some help, too. And thanks.”
“Thank you for bringing these two over. I’ll see you later, Lex.”
Lex nodded, then moved at a fast trot back across the street to the van they’d come in. Serena leaned against it, still working on her coffee and looking around with interest. She perked up even further when she saw Lex.
“Lex,” Serena said excitedly, “I didn’t recognize this place when we first got here because it was too dark to really see it, but I’ve been here before! This is where Seth used to live, before he moved to LA. He was a naughty, naughty boy.” She grinned widely as she finished speaking.
“Who’s Seth?” Lex asked, trying to remember if he was someone Serena had mentioned before.
Serena laughed. “Someone I met clubbing that I didn’t mind seeing more than once. He liked to try a lot of things, and he didn’t want to tie me down. I used to come over once or twice a month while he still lived here. Oh, the fun we had…”
“So, what happened?”
“Well, he moved out west for a job, and then ended up getting married. I shouldn’t complain. His wife is just as wild as he is, but I don’t get out there so much now that they have a kid…”
Serena trailed off, staring up at the building. Lex followed her friend’s gaze, but she found her mind going in other directions. “What floor did he live on, Serena?” she asked.
“On the 22nd! Had a nice view of the city, too, across the river, but I never spent much time looking at it.”
Lex, grinning now, left Serena to her thoughts, her own mind working furiously. She looked around to find Clara, but didn’t see her outside. Upon putting her head inside the van, Lex found her in the front bench seat, typing on a laptop, and also spotted Riss in the rear seat of the van. She’d taken two laptops from the backpack she’d been carrying and appeared to be busy with both. Riss and Lex nodded as their eyes met and then Lex moved to slide in next to Clara.
“I have a question for you,” Lex began, “I don’t remember anything in my contract that said I’d be violating it by not following someone’s orders. Is that right?”
Clara looked up from her laptop at that, straight into Lex’s eyes. She took a moment to answer, and seemed to do so reluctantly. “That’s correct.”
“In that case, I have a proposal for you. I’d like to scrap the idea of writing a strategy white paper and have a practical instead.”
“What do you mean?” Clara’s gaze had turned wary.
“I’d like to propose that I show you what I’ve learned about strategy right now by organizing the people currently sitting around waiting in order to actually save some of the residents of that building who are probably going to get burnt or crushed otherwise.”
“Casey and the Alpha captain are working on that right now.” Her tone sounded dismissive, as if she hoped Lex would drop the subject.
Lex sighed as she picked up one of the briefing folders left in the van and glanced through it. “I don’t propose to stop them. What I would like to point out, though, is the fact that there are 18 floors with 50 apartments each in them where people are trapped. Even if you use a conservative estimate of 2 people an apartment, that’s 1800 people. I’m sure Casey and that guy can’t carry more than two or three people a trip, what with the jumping required. So, even if it takes 15 minutes for each trip in and out, that sounds like several days of work, even if they’re somehow able to work without a break that whole time. So, I had some ideas I’d like to try out to assist what they’re doing, rather than just doing nothing.”
Clara gave her a hard look mixed with an expression that Lex couldn’t quite identify. “I can’t give you any authority to do so.”
“Fair enough. As far as all the people and equipment we brought, though, can you put them at my disposal, anyone that hasn’t been ordered to do something else or anything not requisitioned already?”
“OK, I can agree to that,” Clara responded grudgingly.
“Including the support people? What if we need something from headquarters, or some other equipment?”
“All right, within reason. I’ll be here watching and listening, so I’ll let you know if anything is out of the question.”
“I’m also going to try to get help from the people across the way and probably some equipment and help from the firefighters. Do you object to that?” Lex bit her lip, hoping Clara would continue to go along with her plan.
Clara smiled a little, as if she couldn’t quite help it. “No. Anything you can convince anyone to let you use or anyone you can convince to help you is fine.”
“Good, thanks. I’m going to go around and talk to everyone here, and then we’ll probably meet afterwards, if you want to be there.”
“I will. Don’t worry about me; I’ll determine what I need to observe, just do what you need to do.” Clara gave Lex a final penetrating glance before focusing on her laptop again.
Lex nodded, then moved to the back to stand by the rear bench seat. “Riss, I think you heard all of that. Could you help by seeing if there’s some way we could figure out if there are any security cameras in that building, and, if so, tap into them?”
Riss was nodding, but her eyes narrowed when she heard a sharp voice from the front of the van. “No, Lex.”
“No? Why not? That could help us locate where people are in the building so that they can be evacuated.”
“The reason is nothing you can be told. It’s just not going to happen.” Clara seemed to be almost glaring at Riss now, which just confused Lex.
Lex shook her head with annoyance and glanced at Riss, who seemed to be studying the floor. “Sorry,” Lex said under her breath, just loud enough for Riss to hear. Then, she said more loudly, “Is it all right if we at least dig up who’s supposed to be living in the apartments from the 13th floor up so that we can get some kind of idea of what we’re dealing with here?”
“That’s permissible,” said Clara, her expression flat and her eyes revealing nothing.
Lex shook her head again. She said more softly to Riss, “I’m going to be calling a meeting in probably fifteen minutes or so to talk about the overall plan. Can you be there?”
“Sure,” she said, looking up at Lex for a moment, and then looking back at her computers. Lex wanted to say something, to respond to the intense look in her eye, but ended up sighing as she said nothing and went back outside.
A quick look around showed her that Joan had moved out of the van to lean against a small tree nearby. Lex coughed as a small cloud of smoke drifted by but looked closely at the tree as she neared the other woman, noting that the tree had bent a little under the extra weight.
“Joan,” Lex asked, “Can you fly in that suit you’re wearing?”
“Yes. It can go as high as small planes, and as fast as some fighter jets.” Lex smiled as she noted the pride in Joan’s voice.
“Excellent. Are you stronger than you normally are when you’re wearing it?”
“It enhances my strength by a factor of ten.”
“How much can you bench press without it?”
“A maximum number? Maybe 100, 150.”
“Sounds like a really nice piece of equipment,” Lex said, grinning now. “Thanks for the info.” She gave Joan a sketchy wave and headed in the direction of the people standing in front of the other van, the gears in her brain still turning.
Chapter 14: Execution
Joan stayed behind when Lex walked over to the group in front of the other van. They looked to be in various stages of boredom, since the medics continually brought stretchers to the front of the building to carry the few people that Casey and the Alpha team captain had been bringing out. Lex headed for the woman who’d spoken to her earlier, noticing now that the sun had begun coming up that the woman’s hair looked to be a brown shade that shone red in the light, and her one eye had an intense hazel color. The man next to the woman with the eye patch stood a bit taller than her and had black hair, light brown skin, and a slim build, his features looking somewhat Hispanic to Lex. The two of them seemed to be half-listening to two women who stood behind them, a diminutive blonde and one with short dark hair who towered over everyone else, both with annoyed looks on their faces. Lex noted that all four of them wore jumpsuits like the one she wore, but in navy blue. She caught the end of something the blonde had said about “…shouldn’t call
him
an idiot,” just as Lex reached the group. The woman fell silent as she saw Lex arrive, and all four turned to look at Lex, the front two seeming relieved at the interruption, while the two women in back practically glared at Lex.
“Hi,” Lex began, trying her best to look open and friendly. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier. My name is Lex McKilliam, and I’m new with the M Agency.”
“Hi, Lex. I’m Kate Willis with the Alpha team,” the woman with the eye patch said, reaching out a hand. As Lex neared the other woman, she noted Kate stood a couple inches taller than her, maybe 5’6”. Lex shook hands with Kate as they reached one another, happy to realize it was just a friendly gesture, since the other woman didn’t try to squeeze the life out of her hand.
“Victor Houston,” the man said, nodding his head in her direction with a friendly look in his eyes.
“One of the models,” the woman with short dark hair sneered at Lex before adding, “I’m the Markswoman.”
As hard as she tried not to do it, Lex’s eyes slid questioningly over to Kate. Kate seemed to be trying hard not to laugh as she said, “Jen, I think we can keep all of this on a first name basis, don’t you? These folks did get turned out of their beds early this morning just to come out and help us. There’s no need to be inhospitable.”
Lex watched as Kate turned to look at the now furious brunette, who snorted angrily and walked away in the direction of the park where the medics had camped out. Kate shrugged and turned back to Lex with the ghost of a smile on her face, but turned quickly back to face the blonde as she started speaking.
“I know what you’re thinking about, and I’m not going to be a part of it,” she said shrilly, speaking directly to Lex. She frowned angrily, and then stalked off in the same direction as Jen had. Lex turned to look at Victor and Kate with an expression of confusion and her hands spread wide. Victor appeared to be trying not to laugh while Kate shook her head dismissively.
“Don’t pay attention to them,” Kate told Lex, “they’re always like that.”
“What was…Jen saying about models?” Lex asked, knowing she must still look puzzled.
Kate shrugged dismissively. “That’s the stupid nickname they came up with for your team. They try to sound all superior about it, but I think they’re just jealous because you’re all pretty and nice, and they’re not. Judging from Paula’s reaction, though, you must have something fun in mind. What’s up?”
“Well,” said, Lex, looking at Kate and Victor in turn and trying to gauge their reactions, “I can see that although your captain–“
“George,” Kate broke in, rolling her eyes. “In case you hadn’t already guessed, he’s a total jerk, too.”
“George,” Lex corrected herself, trying not to laugh, “had a plan for him and Casey, but the rest of us seem to be left out, especially since the medics have taking care of the wounded well in hand. So, I wanted to talk to you because I have some ideas about how we might be able to help those people trapped in the building get out. Are you two game?”
Kate smiled and nodded, and Victor nodded beside her, both now intently listening to Lex. She took a big breath and continued.