Chapter 21

                                    

                                              
She hammered at the door, kicking it as hard as she could. It was amazing she had roused no attention. As the screams died down, as the tears dried up, she took another look through the hatch. The beast, no her husband, still sheltered at the far end of the cell, as if he was trying to hide himself.
                          
His head spun round, looking into her eyes for a second before being tucked back into the ball his body became. That look told Johanna everything she needed to know. He recognised her, he knew who she was too. It was shame that made him hide, shame for what he looked like, shame for what he had become.
                          
With one final frustrated bang on the door she said, "I'll come back for you." Then, before leaving, out of duty she told him about Kira. "Kira, your daughter, has been taken, I have to go find her, but I will be back, I promise." She did not wait to see his react, the tears in his eyes. Tears that told of the life he had missed, the child he should have been a dad to.

                          
Johanna walked towards the double doors, not knowing that to be the right way. Before pushing them she checked her watch.
                          
"Are you still there? You gonna let me out?" echoed down the corridor. Johanna ignored him, opening the right-hand door. Inside was a large clinical room, in the middle sat what could be best described as a dentists chair, although none of the paraphernalia appeared around it. Kira also noticed it had straps at head, body and leg heights. Around the edges of the room sat low desks, these were mostly bare but under them stood numerous glass fronted metal refrigerators. Behind dials and ever changing data projected on the glass, the cabinets contained vials, each labelled and colour coded. At the far end of the room was a larger container, it looked like the smaller refrigerators but had no glass front, instead a blank tablet broke up the, otherwise dull, metallic finish. The most alarming item in the room was a scientist; his back to Johanna, he inputted data into a holographic projection.
                          
She considered running, turning and leaving, saving herself. She told herself she had the right to be there, well in Princips' records she did. The man stopped his work, spinning round on the tall stall he sat on, he looked middle aged, maybe late fifties, long face and grey hair that needed a good trim. "I heard the commotion," Johanna's heart skipped a beat, he was going to question her, could he see through her disguise already? "Sorry about them, there are so few new faces they can get a bit animated. I hope they didn't scare you."
                          
Johanna was infuriated, he talked about her husband as if was just some animal in a zoo. It took all her willpower to stand there emotionless and shake her head. She felt her fist clench, her endorphins build, ready to lash out at him. Johanna brought the image of her daughter to the front of her mind. The picture appeared happier now, one of a family, mother and father with their only child. She just needed to complete this mission then that dream could become a reality.
                          
The man got off the stool uneasily and limped over. As she waited nervously, he held a tablet up to her head. She thanked herself that she had put the chip in her hair rather than hold it or place it in her backpack.
                          
"Ah, Miss Briggs, pleased to meet you." He proffered a hand which she shook in as comfortable a manner as she was able. He did not notice her nerves, continuing, "so you have been assigned to this important mission then. Kendra's personal supply." Without a reply he headed to the main container at the end of the room. With a hand placed on the tablet there was a scchhh sound, like something depressurising. A few seconds later the door slid to the side, heavy smoke flowing out and dropping to the ground, dissipating into the air. The scientist placed on a glove that sat to the side of the container and pulled out a small metal box, covered in ice crystals, from the racks inside. All the containers looked the same, Johanna was unsure how they knew the difference between them. She watched as he ducked under a desk and produced a briefcase. Placing both items on the bare desk he opened them and moved vial after vial from the frozen container into the padded briefcase, making sure they were secure and would not be damaged in transit. When finished, he returned the container to its icy home and brought the briefcase to Johanna, handing it across with, "now keep it safe, the contents are very important."
                          
Johanna was unsure what to do next, she took the briefcase and stared back. The scientist looked on bemused before saying, "oh, yes, sorry, you need to know your way to the hanger." He went back to the tablet he had scanned her with, a few seconds later Johanna's watch beeped, informing her of her new destination. Too scared to reply to the man, she nodded her thanks and left.
                          
Holding the briefcase made her more nervous than ever. She had it now, the bargaining chip, the solution to her problems. She still needed to get to her transport though, and the first part of that journey was the worst, down the prison corridor, past her husband.
                          
~
                          
Johanna felt like a star, everyone looking on with awe. The briefcase must have been a status symbol. They nodded at her as they went past, happy for the success she had achieved. It was a world of contrast to her charging, head down, through the prison corridor. For the first time in the mission she felt relaxed, well maybe not relax, but comfortable. She could see the end, she had been accepted into this world, she had even found her husband alive. The smirk could not escape her face, that could be another reason they smiled back.
                          
The corridors wound their way past offices, locked doors, laboratories and break out spaces. Johanna saw people typing into holograms, welding metal, mixing chemicals and using all manner of tools. She did not understand what they were doing, but it looked impressive.
                          
The map led her to a new, busier, part of the complex. Down a long corridor, where she was almost jostled by passers-by, an opening about the size of a set of double doors led into a spacious room. She moved through the opening, her watch beeping as she was scanned. Inside, the cavernous space appeared to be a large car park. White trucks, all bearing the mark of Princips Ltd, were either being loaded with boxes and crates or waiting for their turn. Johanna took in the room, it appeared to be a tardis, larger on the inside. She stared around for any clue to where she should go, forgetting that the watch might hold a hint for her destination. Only when some pushed past and said, rudely, "can you get out of the way?" did she realised she had stopped in the doorway.
                          
"Oh, sorry," she managed weakly, stepping further into the room.
                          
Looking at her wrist, Johanna noticed that she had come to the end of the directions. Looking up, she surveyed the room. Maybe she would need to visit each of the trucks, asking drivers if she held their cargo. Something did not feel right about that approach, she was supposed to be undercover, anything that attracted attention would only jeopardise the mission. To her delight a man beckoned her towards him. He appeared to be trying to hide between two trucks, and looked even more nervous than her. With no other leads she headed there.
                          
The man was sweating profusely, looking out of place here. His full beard was wiry and unkempt and the blue and red cap made him seem more like a tourist than an employee. In fact he had none of the slick professionalism that emanated from the other Princips' employees. Johanna presumed this was what truck drivers looked like, their job involved carrying cargo around, not researching new technologies or protecting the populace, they did not need to be calm and clean cut. A suit was expensive, jeans and a t-shirt were not.
                          
"You've...you've got the stuff, right?" he stuttered.
                          
She held the suitcase up.
                          
"Quick, into the back," he pressed his watch and the rear door slid up, rolling over to sit under the roof.
                          
Johanna did not question, heading to the back of the truck and peering into a room of boxes. A narrow alleyway had been left between them, just small enough for her to slip past. No words were spoke as he helped her up, Johanna holding in the disgust as she pushed herself up using his shoulder, feeling the damp seeping through his top and smelling the odour that poured from his body. She did not look round as she edged through the boxes to what she presumed was the middle of the storage area. He had created a seat for her, leaving a box width free then placing another for her to sit on. As she sat, she tucked her legs in so no part of her was visible through the open door. With a buzzing noise the door closed and her world descended into darkness. A few seconds later the engine started up, and she braced herself as the truck moved off.