Philippe crept between two of the large SUVs, toward the low concrete wall in front, and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a long, cylindrical object lodged against one of the tires. Bending down to one knee, he turned on his penlight and realized it was a monocular.
Out of the blue, Philippe heard an inner voice tell him to pick it up and smell it, which he thought was odd. Nonetheless he stuck it under his nose, running it back and forth across his nostrils. He had always had a keen sense of smell. In fact, it was so developed that he could often detect the slightest scent at great distance, so he immediately recognized a faint aroma on the monocular. It was the scent of a woman, and more specifically, a woman’s perfume.
But whose was it? His thoughts ran over all the women he knew and their associated smells. And then ten seconds later, it hit him. The only problem was that the woman who belonged to that scent would never have left the instrument there of her own accord, which meant she was in trouble.
As the pastor pondered what to do next, he heard the sound of voices approaching the parking deck below. His pulse racing, Philippe turned off the penlight and tucked the monocular inside his jacket.
If he didn’t find a place to hide soon, he — like the woman — would be caught.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
“You were not expecting me?” Keiko asked, blinking in the light.
Zane remained silent for a moment, still stunned at the sight of the humanoid standing in front of him. “No, I wasn’t. I’m not exactly sure who or what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t you. Were you following the two that just walked by?”
“Yes, I was,” replied Keiko, blinking again. “And I might suggest you get me out of sight before another team comes along.”
“Of course.” Zane turned off his flashlight and motioned she and Reid into the room.
When Skinner arrived, he seemed mesmerized by Keiko. It was his first time seeing the robot, and he noted with interest her realistic appearance, particularly the skin of her face and neck.
“I’m assuming Mironov doesn’t know you’re here?” Zane asked, once they were all inside.
“No,” Keiko replied, her eyes glowing aqua blue. “He thinks I am still on the boat. If I am discovered, I have a pretty good cover story, but I am hoping I don’t have to use it.”
“So you do know how to lie.”
“Absolutely,” Keiko said. “It is a part of our design. Dr. Higgs programmed deceit into my system because it has all sorts of practical applications, primarily for use in case I was taken by a group hostile to Renaissance. But I prefer not to use it, if at all possible.”
Zane nodded. “How did you get out here to CERN? And how did you get in the buildings?”
“Let’s just say I’m resourceful. That may be a story I can tell you when we have more time.”
“Agreed. I’ll take you out for a beer when this is all over.” He thought he saw her mouth turn into a slight smile at his joke. “We haven’t received any recent transmissions from you, so we weren’t sure what your status was.”
“I have had to shut down communication because Marrese has turned against me completely. Normally I can transmit a message without worrying about who is reading it, but now I am not so sure.”
“How much do you know?” Reid asked. “Were you aware that they kidnapped a Dutch—”
“Yes, earlier today I overheard talk of the plan. It is one of the reasons I decided to risk coming out.”
“We have reason to believe he’s being used to start up the collider,” Zane offered.
“That is correct.”
“Have you been able to perform any reconnaissance?” Zane asked her.
“Yes,” Keiko replied. “Thankfully, I have been able to move around without being detected, although I have had a few close calls. My sense of hearing is about ten times yours, so I can detect almost any sound within about fifty yards, even someone trying to use stealth.
“After overhearing that they had captured one of your people, I suspected that some of you were already inside the building, and my suspicions were confirmed when I heard him speak to you inside this room.” She nodded at Skinner, who was currently watching the door, and Zane remembered that the operative had said something just prior to Keiko’s arrival. She looked at Reid. “I was then able to confirm your precise location when he cleared his throat.”
Reid felt bad at being singled out but quickly realized it was her advanced sensory perception that had drawn her to them, and not any mistake on his part. No human being would’ve heard him clear his throat at such a distance.
“So are we correct in our assumption that Mironov and Marrese are both in the control room?” Zane asked, trying to turn the conversation back to the situation at hand.
“Yes, that is correct. That is also where they took your friend, at least according to the men I was listening to.”
“Is she still there?” asked Reid. There was something about the humanoid's mannerisms and the soft blue glow in her eyes that put him at ease.
“That I do not know.”
“Do you know what we’re facing between here and there?” Zane asked. When Keiko looked confused, Zane tried asking it a different way. “Are there any guards, any security personnel between here and there that we need to be aware of?”
“I know that there are a couple of patrols moving around inside the buildings — the one who just passed through here a few minutes ago and at least one other one as well.”
“Are you familiar with the area around the control room?” Zane asked.
“Well, when you leave this building you will enter another.”
“The one that houses the elevators which lead down to the collider,” Reid stated.
“That is correct,” Keiko replied. “You will run into the first men on the other end of that building. They are guarding the entrance to the fourth and final building.”
“It’s our understanding that there's a lobby just beyond the entrance to the fourth building, and then beyond that, the control room.”
“I downloaded a layout of all these buildings, and that appears to be the case,” Keiko explained. “Unfortunately I was not able to approach close enough to let you know what you might find once you get there. I’m assuming Mr. Mironov would have the lobby filled with security personnel, but that is just a calculated guess.”
“Is there any other way to get to the control room, other than continuing straight ahead?” Reid asked. “Even if we can get past the two men in the next building, we’re likely to encounter armed personnel in the lobby beyond, just as you indicated.”
“There is no other way to the control room except through a set of doors in the lobby that lead to the outside of the building, and you can rest assured those doors will be well guarded.”
“Even if we thought that was the best way in, we don’t have time to retrace our steps, get outside of the building again, and then come up with a plan to attack that entrance,” Skinner said in a loud whisper from his position at the door. “We’d spend all that time working our way into position, and we'd still have the same issue we have in continuing straight ahead.”
“He’s right,” Zane admitted. “We stay with our initial plan, which is direct penetration through the buildings. And our first task is to take down the two men that Keiko mentioned.”
“We have flashbangs,” Reid suggested, referring to the stun grenades they were carrying.
“No,” Skinner said. “Way too loud. The others would be on us within seconds.”