Resurrection - Chapter 21
Things just got worse. The mission had always contained too many unknowns, but now there is a known that makes it even worse. Good planning can't possibly overcome this new hitch, and now it's not enough to Win the Day. A short-handed team is going to go up against a superior force, and they're also short on time.
Chapter 21
As the room descended into numerous small conversations Phil considered his next move. He mentally ticked off a half-dozen things to do, and many of them were competing for the “next thing” or the “most important thing.” In truth, they were almost all important to one degree or another so there really wasn’t a “best order” for them. After a few moments of mental discussion, he decided.
“Okay. We have several things we need to do, and the clock is ticking on some of them,” he began. “Let’s work through them.” He looked at Trip, shifted his gaze to Jemma, and then landed on Basil. “Sir Basil, we’re going to need two things from you. First, is there any defense we can use against those blasters, and second, what can you tell us about Melinda. Take a minute to organize your thoughts,” he added, and then turned to Skye.
“Trip brought up the sat views of your encounter. Let’s take every body through the sequence so we’re all on the same page.”
Skye nodded, moved some things around on the holocom and then began. “This is the building complex. This is the area in question. Here we are passing on the south side, and…,” she reached out to put another image on the screen, “here’s the results of the scan.” The video from the camera started playing. “Cameras here…and here…and here. Nothing abnormal. Here’s the same thing in backscatter. Nothing remarkable. An office, an electrical room, and then, behind this roll-up door some trucks, parked in nice neat rows.”
“I’m not sure, but it looks like some sort of delivery company, not UPS or FedEx but maybe something like that. There was nothing on that side in terms of people scanning us. Just the cameras.”
She changed the images. “Here’s the north side. Two cameras…here and here, and then this camera, which was tracking our motion. That may or may not be important. There’s no way to know.” She froze the picture. “Right here you can see the two guys moving into position. They aren’t remotely covert. We, of course, couldn’t see them since they were still behind this loading dock.”
“Now, we lined up for a run down the end of the building.” She pointed to the sat feed. “This is us. Melinda drove around for a couple minutes before we came back. So…we’re lined up to travel down this alley between the buildings.” She froze the images again.
“This is where it all fell apart. The two guys are right here,” she added, putting a highlighted circle on the screen. “They walked forward just before we reached the corner of the building. And here!” she added, adding a red arrow to the display. “The door opens and three guys come out.”
As the team watched the sat feed the front two men exited the building, one going slightly left while the other scanned to the right. Within seconds they confirmed the only two targets were directly across from them, with absolutely no potential cover. There were blasts of red, laser-like light flying across the narrow space, answered by what appeared to be conventional bullet-carrying weapons. One blast struck home and the man’s arm was nearly severed.
Then Skye shifted the focus slightly and the SUV came into view. Melinda was already out, using the vehicle for cover as she moved to the back with her weapon drawn. The original fight continued, with shots and blasters fired at nearly point-blank range. Melinda fired once, and a man with a blaster clearly dropped. Before she could sight and fire a second time the third man, carrying a rifle-type weapon returned her fire, sending an incredibly bright beam of purple light directly at her. Melinda went down, doing nothing to break her fall. She ended up on the pavement, completely limp.
The remaining bad guys started dragging their wounded man back through the door as Skye got out, he icer waving in the air. She got off one shot, but it hit the door just as it closed.
“That’s all there is,” she said, the strain of re-living the situation clear in her voice. “I dragged Melinda back into the car and I pulled up so the other guys could get in.”
Phil glanced over at Clark, wondering what he was thinking even though he didn’t much care. Both of his would be dead if Melinda hadn’t jumped in. Somehow I doubt he cares though.
Phil took a deep breath. “Okay, that’s what we know. We have two priorities for now. First, we need to plan our assault…and…we need to see what can be done for Melinda.” He turned to face Basil.
“What can you tell us?”
Basil had had plenty of time to consider the situation, and it wasn’t significantly different than what he had expected based upon the bodies in the lab. As every eye turned to face Sir Basil, he considered his thoughts and then responded. “From the images I’d postulate they are using Chitauri blasters. After New York we had several dozen working units, and many more that were damaged to one degree or another. We know that many of them have disappeared, contemporaneously with the Hydra uprising. It would seem as if they have some of them.”
“Is there any defense?” Trip asked reasonably.
“We’ve completed an experimental device. It has been tested extensively in the lab, but it’s never been used in the field. If we assume that these weapons are those we captured in New York then yes, I think I can help you defend yourselves. It’s not a sure thing, but it’s certainly better than nothing.”
Trip nodded as Basil continued. “Fortunately we have been able to create a defensive field that does not prevent you from taking other actions, for example, you may create the field…which in theory will block the effects of the blaster, yet still shoot a conventional bullet through that field. Of course,” he added parenthetically, “the field does not protect you from bullets fired in the other direction.”
The team digested his words, concluding that while the defensive force field would be nice it might prove to be a distraction should the other side utilize both conventional and Chitauri weaponry.
Phil responded. “Okay, that’s a start. Do you have those…devices…with you?”
“Yes, I brought them. There are four, but that could be enough if people work together.”
Phil filed that away and moved on. “What about Melinda May? Is there any way to…to fix her?”
Basil nodded. “Perhaps. From the images, and what Agent Skye has said, it appears likely that she was struck by a beam from Chitauri nuralizer. That is a particle beam weapon that emits positrons, the anti-matter equivalent of the electron. We use them for scanning purposes, much like the better known CAT scanner. Actually a more accurate description would be a PET scanner, since they both emit positrons.”
“In this case, however, they have modulated the beam to serve a much different purpose. In its raw form, a positron that collides with an electron will create an annihilation event, where both particles explode, yielding quarks, photons, and neutrinos…along with some gamma radiation. The Chitauri machine is designed to send a stream of positrons directly into the brain.”
Jemma joined in. “The brain, well actually the entire nervous system, operates on electricity. Electricity is simply the flow of electrons, either through wires or, in the case of the body, through nerves. Enough positrons will interrupt that flow, resulting in paralysis. Although that could easily result in death, they have apparently modulated the beam so that it’s ignores the heart and autonomic nervous system.”
She paused, and then continued. “Agent May is incapacitated because the beam wiped out the ability of the cells in her brain to talk to one another.”
Basil nodded. “We have actually had some experience with this. For reasons we do not fully comprehend, the Chitauri weapon leaves a lingering effect, whereas the typical medical scanner uses a much lower powered beam that seldom has any noticeable effect beyond yielding an image for diagnostic purposes.”
“Can you counteract the effect?” Phil asked, knowing it was the question foremost on everyone’s mind.
“We can,” Basil responded. “However, there is a major problem.” He stopped to gather his thoughts and translate them into meaningful words for the team to consider. Everyone else was hanging precariously over the cliff he had just presented.
“We know how to modify the weapon to emit electrons rather than positrons. It then has the ability to restore the flow of electricity within the brain. However, there are two issues that you must consider.”
“Will she still be…Agent May?”
He nodded. “If we can act quickly enough her memory, and hence her personality should be unchanged. However, the clock is ticking. We do not know how long that window remains open. That is one of the two issues.”
“The second issue, however, may be more problematic. In order to reverse the effect we must have the weapon that was used to create it. Each weapon is apparently slightly different, and minute changes in the modulation frequency make the reversal treatment useless. In short, you must capture that weapon, and it must be intact.”
Basil’s words sucked all the air out of the room. All the team silently shared identical thoughts, wondering if it was possible. In unison they turned to look towards the med pod, wondering if the Agent May they knew would return intact, and recognizing that the outcome depended upon their actions.
Finally Phil brought them all back to the present. “Okay. We have a new mission. Let’s figure it out.”
Chapter 21
As the room descended into numerous small conversations Phil considered his next move. He mentally ticked off a half-dozen things to do, and many of them were competing for the “next thing” or the “most important thing.” In truth, they were almost all important to one degree or another so there really wasn’t a “best order” for them. After a few moments of mental discussion, he decided.
“Okay. We have several things we need to do, and the clock is ticking on some of them,” he began. “Let’s work through them.” He looked at Trip, shifted his gaze to Jemma, and then landed on Basil. “Sir Basil, we’re going to need two things from you. First, is there any defense we can use against those blasters, and second, what can you tell us about Melinda. Take a minute to organize your thoughts,” he added, and then turned to Skye.
“Trip brought up the sat views of your encounter. Let’s take every body through the sequence so we’re all on the same page.”
Skye nodded, moved some things around on the holocom and then began. “This is the building complex. This is the area in question. Here we are passing on the south side, and…,” she reached out to put another image on the screen, “here’s the results of the scan.” The video from the camera started playing. “Cameras here…and here…and here. Nothing abnormal. Here’s the same thing in backscatter. Nothing remarkable. An office, an electrical room, and then, behind this roll-up door some trucks, parked in nice neat rows.”
“I’m not sure, but it looks like some sort of delivery company, not UPS or FedEx but maybe something like that. There was nothing on that side in terms of people scanning us. Just the cameras.”
She changed the images. “Here’s the north side. Two cameras…here and here, and then this camera, which was tracking our motion. That may or may not be important. There’s no way to know.” She froze the picture. “Right here you can see the two guys moving into position. They aren’t remotely covert. We, of course, couldn’t see them since they were still behind this loading dock.”
“Now, we lined up for a run down the end of the building.” She pointed to the sat feed. “This is us. Melinda drove around for a couple minutes before we came back. So…we’re lined up to travel down this alley between the buildings.” She froze the images again.
“This is where it all fell apart. The two guys are right here,” she added, putting a highlighted circle on the screen. “They walked forward just before we reached the corner of the building. And here!” she added, adding a red arrow to the display. “The door opens and three guys come out.”
As the team watched the sat feed the front two men exited the building, one going slightly left while the other scanned to the right. Within seconds they confirmed the only two targets were directly across from them, with absolutely no potential cover. There were blasts of red, laser-like light flying across the narrow space, answered by what appeared to be conventional bullet-carrying weapons. One blast struck home and the man’s arm was nearly severed.
Then Skye shifted the focus slightly and the SUV came into view. Melinda was already out, using the vehicle for cover as she moved to the back with her weapon drawn. The original fight continued, with shots and blasters fired at nearly point-blank range. Melinda fired once, and a man with a blaster clearly dropped. Before she could sight and fire a second time the third man, carrying a rifle-type weapon returned her fire, sending an incredibly bright beam of purple light directly at her. Melinda went down, doing nothing to break her fall. She ended up on the pavement, completely limp.
The remaining bad guys started dragging their wounded man back through the door as Skye got out, he icer waving in the air. She got off one shot, but it hit the door just as it closed.
“That’s all there is,” she said, the strain of re-living the situation clear in her voice. “I dragged Melinda back into the car and I pulled up so the other guys could get in.”
Phil glanced over at Clark, wondering what he was thinking even though he didn’t much care. Both of his would be dead if Melinda hadn’t jumped in. Somehow I doubt he cares though.
Phil took a deep breath. “Okay, that’s what we know. We have two priorities for now. First, we need to plan our assault…and…we need to see what can be done for Melinda.” He turned to face Basil.
“What can you tell us?”
Basil had had plenty of time to consider the situation, and it wasn’t significantly different than what he had expected based upon the bodies in the lab. As every eye turned to face Sir Basil, he considered his thoughts and then responded. “From the images I’d postulate they are using Chitauri blasters. After New York we had several dozen working units, and many more that were damaged to one degree or another. We know that many of them have disappeared, contemporaneously with the Hydra uprising. It would seem as if they have some of them.”
“Is there any defense?” Trip asked reasonably.
“We’ve completed an experimental device. It has been tested extensively in the lab, but it’s never been used in the field. If we assume that these weapons are those we captured in New York then yes, I think I can help you defend yourselves. It’s not a sure thing, but it’s certainly better than nothing.”
Trip nodded as Basil continued. “Fortunately we have been able to create a defensive field that does not prevent you from taking other actions, for example, you may create the field…which in theory will block the effects of the blaster, yet still shoot a conventional bullet through that field. Of course,” he added parenthetically, “the field does not protect you from bullets fired in the other direction.”
The team digested his words, concluding that while the defensive force field would be nice it might prove to be a distraction should the other side utilize both conventional and Chitauri weaponry.
Phil responded. “Okay, that’s a start. Do you have those…devices…with you?”
“Yes, I brought them. There are four, but that could be enough if people work together.”
Phil filed that away and moved on. “What about Melinda May? Is there any way to…to fix her?”
Basil nodded. “Perhaps. From the images, and what Agent Skye has said, it appears likely that she was struck by a beam from Chitauri nuralizer. That is a particle beam weapon that emits positrons, the anti-matter equivalent of the electron. We use them for scanning purposes, much like the better known CAT scanner. Actually a more accurate description would be a PET scanner, since they both emit positrons.”
“In this case, however, they have modulated the beam to serve a much different purpose. In its raw form, a positron that collides with an electron will create an annihilation event, where both particles explode, yielding quarks, photons, and neutrinos…along with some gamma radiation. The Chitauri machine is designed to send a stream of positrons directly into the brain.”
Jemma joined in. “The brain, well actually the entire nervous system, operates on electricity. Electricity is simply the flow of electrons, either through wires or, in the case of the body, through nerves. Enough positrons will interrupt that flow, resulting in paralysis. Although that could easily result in death, they have apparently modulated the beam so that it’s ignores the heart and autonomic nervous system.”
She paused, and then continued. “Agent May is incapacitated because the beam wiped out the ability of the cells in her brain to talk to one another.”
Basil nodded. “We have actually had some experience with this. For reasons we do not fully comprehend, the Chitauri weapon leaves a lingering effect, whereas the typical medical scanner uses a much lower powered beam that seldom has any noticeable effect beyond yielding an image for diagnostic purposes.”
“Can you counteract the effect?” Phil asked, knowing it was the question foremost on everyone’s mind.
“We can,” Basil responded. “However, there is a major problem.” He stopped to gather his thoughts and translate them into meaningful words for the team to consider. Everyone else was hanging precariously over the cliff he had just presented.
“We know how to modify the weapon to emit electrons rather than positrons. It then has the ability to restore the flow of electricity within the brain. However, there are two issues that you must consider.”
“Will she still be…Agent May?”
He nodded. “If we can act quickly enough her memory, and hence her personality should be unchanged. However, the clock is ticking. We do not know how long that window remains open. That is one of the two issues.”
“The second issue, however, may be more problematic. In order to reverse the effect we must have the weapon that was used to create it. Each weapon is apparently slightly different, and minute changes in the modulation frequency make the reversal treatment useless. In short, you must capture that weapon, and it must be intact.”
Basil’s words sucked all the air out of the room. All the team silently shared identical thoughts, wondering if it was possible. In unison they turned to look towards the med pod, wondering if the Agent May they knew would return intact, and recognizing that the outcome depended upon their actions.
Finally Phil brought them all back to the present. “Okay. We have a new mission. Let’s figure it out.”