Stray Sheep Cpt 5
Marilyn Adair
“You know Lucian, it seems as though you have a good amount of responsibility around here for someone so young. You’re about twenty, right? Also, as I recall, you were always a cut up in my class.”
“Animus gives more responsibility to those who can handle it. I designed our stun gloves and regularly preform field operations when Animus needs it. Besides I only screwed around so much because your class was so boring.”
Please. “Boring huh? You went out of your way to abduct me because I’m boring?”
“You misunderstand. Your CLASS was boring, but you personally, I find very interesting and inspiring. Ms. Adair, the way you talked about equality is why I’m here.”
Glad I could get through to someone. “Although, the reason I’m personally showing you around is because we already know each other."
I suppose it makes sense that Lucian is giving me the tour seeing as we are acquainted already. “So, the entire organization lives in this apartment complex?”
This place could use more trees, it's somewhat drab.
“Yeah, Ramirez was generous enough to let us stay in them. Not for free though, Animus picks up the bill for room, board, and all other expenses.”
How could someone have that much money and be so completely anonymous? No one knows his real name and I don’t recognize his face...
“Which apartment was it again?”
“ I believe its apartment 321.”
“Right. Why is it necessary that I sleep here?”
“Well, part of that is convenience. You’ll be easier to reach if you stay here. The other reason is security. If there are any traitors among us, it would be easier to catch them sending information to the government to the government or Sheepdogs; not that you would, but better to be careful. We’d all be executed for high treason if word of what we’re doing gets out. Here we are apartment 321. Before we move on, do you have any questions?”
“Two actually. Can I bring anything from my house and what would you guys do if I refused to live on the premises?”
“You can bring your personal hygiene supplies, two weeks worth of clothes, and some personal items like pictures or something. A one-size fit all sheep costume is in your apartment complete with a stun glove. As for refusing to comply, we would put you in a warehouse with everyone else we kidnapped. You know way too much about what we’re doing to let you go free."
He’s smiling, but I can tell that isn’t a joke. Speaking of security problems… “What about the people that aren’t in our little group?
“The neighbors? There aren’t any. When Ramirez agreed to let Animus make these apartments our base of operations we got rid of the other tenants.”
“You didn’t kidnap them all, did you?”
“Of course not! We aren’t stupid. That would be over forty people including children; way too many people to go missing all at once from the same small area. We filled some of their apartments with opossums, bought some others out of their leases, and we recently used the Black Sheep legends to scare the rest of them away.”
“That’s very impressive.”
I suppose I should expect nothing less from a group of people plotting the over throw of the government. “Now for a quick tutorial on how to use the stun glove. Come on, lets go to the cellar.”
* * *
Not very much light down here huh? “Here, put this glove on.”
So, they keep some of their equipment in the cellars. Wow, the stun glove is really soft. Like high quality wool. A little bulky with the battery pack though. “One-size fits all. You might even say it fits like a glove.”
That’s nice, making a joke as he’s about to show me how to use a weapon. "I’m not sure if that joke was genuinely funny or if I’m only smiling because it was the most exceedingly corny thing I’ve ever heard.”
How cute, Lucian kind of looks like a little kid when he blushes. “Anyways. Do you see the button on the back of the glove? Press it. To shut it off press the button again. When the glove is on do not touch the palm, it will shock you.”
“So, you said you designed these gloves?”
“Yeah, I reverse engineered the technology from the shock batons the Sheepdogs use and put it in glove form. Now prepare yourself.”
“Prepare for wha–“
You son of a ****! “That’s what it feels like to get hit in the gut and have every muscle in your body contract all at once.”
“You son of a ****!”
“Hey, hey, I’m really sorry, but you need to know what that feels like. We’re doing something big tonight and if we run into trouble you could find yourself up against a Sheepdog and his shock baton. Not that it’s likely you’ll run into anything with the position you’re taking, but still."
“What’s the mission and my part in it?”
“Animus is going to fill in everyone who’s coming, but for the moment thrust your palm into my gut as hard as you can.”
“Can do.”
That was actually very satisfying. “I enjoyed that more than I thought I would.”
“Good for you.”
The little punk shouldn’t have shocked me like that. My pocket is vibrating. A text. Meeting in building A. Probably the mission. “Come on. Building A is the big one.”
* * *
“Tonight, we shall descend upon the XYZ news station. We will be sending a very important message to the people of Querra.”
So, we’ll be going after the Omega line, the override channel for government announcements. Yeah, this is definitely high treason. “Weir, Poolhaus, and Shackleford are going to remotely set off twenty different silent alarms in banks to distract the police. Orion, you will kill the power on the block and restore power once we get to the broadcast room. Adair will run mission control from one of the vans; she’ll be monitoring the police radio and guiding us to our destinations within the buildings with blue prints. Washington will set up the smoke machines and guard Adair. The rest of us will enter the station, subdue the workers and commandeer the broadcast. Large and imposing, with a deep booming voice, and knows exactly what he’s doing. I can see why he’s the leader. Though I wonder why he’s so devoted to this cause, I’d figure someone with the means to fund something like this would be content with the status quo. “Remember, we are the vanguards if change! We will bring about the future! The politicians would call us traitors, stray sheep, but it is them who have strayed from the path of the righteous protectors their namesake implies. They see Sheep and Sheepdogs as noting more than animals, existing only to serve them. So, I’ll say it again. We are the vanguards of change!”
We may dress up like sheep, but I can see that we’re wolves in sheepskin, and we’re going for the jugular.
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