Surmounting

"Angel, I know you're there." The man, stumbling into the darkened room, sent the verbal plea ahead of himself as he was pushed into the chair by the silent sweeper. "Please, Angel!"

"I believe, Mr Parker, that it would be wise for you to display a little respect to your new leaders."

"Jarod!"

"Very impressive, sir." At this instant, the lights flashed on, revealing the group at the table and the man slowly ran his eyes along the length of the group. Terror mounted until his artificial confidence was broken down.

"W...what are you going to do to me?"

Jarod turned and picked up a bundle of papers from the table behind him. "We thought that, as you were so keen on this project which would create the perfect human, we would allow you to remain involved in it. No," thanks to Angelo's insight, Jarod was able to answer the unspoken question, "not as the experimenter. With your record, we could not trust you to that extent. Rather, we believe that you would make a perfect subject."

The man began to protest, his panic mounting almost to hysteria, until his eye fell on the woman to whom he had once been married. "Catherine, you wouldn't let them do that to me."

"Really, considering the way you've treated me, why would I consider showing anything but the same...courtesy to you?"

The man, instantly understanding, threw himself forward out of the seat and towards the group, but the two sweepers came forwards and picked him up, dragging him away.

"Yes, take him back to his room. I'm sick of the sight of him." Jarod repeated the words that Mr Parker had used about him on several occasions. "Bring Raines here. We may as well finish this unpleasant task as soon as possible."

Raines made no protest but attempted to keep his dignity as he was dragged into the darkened room, despite the words that greeted him.

"The greatest criminal of all."

The man lifted his head proudly and glared at the group. "I am no criminal. I have done everything in the name of science."

"Hah! Kidnapping, theft, extortion, murder - yes, I can see how science would be involved." Jarod’s tones were filled with amusement but there was something in them that also displayed a note of disgust.

"So what decisions have the glorious leaders come up with?" Raines injected a note of sarcasm into his voice.

"We thought it better to leave your fate up to others. Steve!"

The other sweeper stepped forward. "Yes, Mrs Parker?"

"You and Sam bring the others here, please. Excluding, for the moment, Mr Lyle."

"Yes, Mrs Parker."

Raines’ eyes were wide and he had been spluttering incomprehensibly, but he finally managed to frame words. "Steve? Steve McCaffrey? Alive?"

"It's a shame," Jarod's voice held a note of amusement, "that you don't check to ensure whether your orders have been carried out. If you had, you would have discovered that Steve managed to survive all of your attempts on his life. A shame, really. It means that he had loyalty to us and none to you."

"Loyalty?" The prisoner's eyes lit up but he tried to hide the glee he felt. "Yes, loyalty is very valuable."

"Whereas false loyalty is not so valuable, nor as strong as genuine loyalty. A lesson you could do well to learn, Mr Raines."

At this juncture, the door opened and a large group of men appeared, dragging Mr Parker and Brigitte with them. The man sitting on the chair turned. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he saw the expressions his formerly well-trained army turned on him, visibly shuddering.

In the meantime, the group at the table activated a large screen that sat behind them, on which a series of faces appeared. The other two prisoners were put beside their former leader and the group of sweepers fell back and awaited former instruction.

"Before we begin with this tragic but unnecessary step, I have one question." It was the first time that Sydney had spoken in nearly twenty minutes. "Mr Parker, where is your compatriot?"

"Who, White?" Mr Parker still tried to project a false sense of bravado. "I put a bullet through his head three days ago. And I'd do it to all of you in a minute if I could. I'm not scared of you." At this point one of the sweepers stepped forward and put the tip of one finger gently on the man's back. The older man leapt off the chair that had been provided for him and began to cower on the ground.

"No, of course not. I can see how that bravery is holding you in good stead." Miss Parker's eyes twinkled as she looked at the sweeper, who held up one finger and blew imaginary smoke away from the tip. "Now, shall we begin the conference?"

Broots looked up from the computer where he was keeping track of all that occurred and leaned over to Jarod. The whispered conversation was inaudible to anyone else in the room.

"Do I need an account of all this?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Well...it's just...this might look bad for you."

"Unlikely, Broots. We're not going to be that harsh."

"Sure?"

"Absolutely."

As Jarod pressed a series of buttons, a number of faces appeared on the screen. At the sight of many of these faces, the three people in the chairs lost even more of their composure and Brigitte began to whimper softly.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Or, for some of you, good evening."

The series of greetings came in German, Japanese, French, Spanish and many other languages.

Catherine continued. "We apologise for bringing you away from your work, but we felt that this was a series issue which warranted discussion."

The head of an English company had earlier been elected spokesman and he now spoke for the others. "You are quite welcome, Mrs Parker. We have all been looking forward to this, particularly since a development which has occurred for all of us within the last few days and which has been traced back to one of our former partners."

"Hydra," Jarod murmured under his breath, his brown eyes gleaming at his success.

"This virus, which we have discovered has been sent by the man who seemed to want our help," at which point Mr Parker slid down in the chair as far as the ropes would let him, "has been responsible for the loss of all data connected with the Centre. Millions of dollars worth of damage."

"I understand your frustration. However, you will soon discover that this is a blessing in disguise for you all. After much discussion, it has been decided that the best thing would be to hand these three over to the authorities, here in America. Of course, other nations will also be interested in possible legal proceedings, with the Centre's actions spreading so far across the globe. But with their connections to yourselves dissolved, you will in no way be incriminated."

Smiles began to appear on the faces of the people on the large screen, a very different series of expressions from those on the faces of the prisoners.

"We appreciate your consideration, ladies and gentlemen. Be aware that we will help with this activity in any way we can."

"And you may all be assured that this will wipe out the financial and other debts which you all owe to the Centre, thanks to the people that you see in front of you."

"You are very kind."

"Now we will call to an end this pleasant discussion and allow you all to return to your work. However, if Mr Tanaka is willing to remain, we would wish to speak with him."

"Of course, madam. And it is a pleasure to see you again." Over the greetings, Jarod turned to Sam.

"I think it is time for Mr Lyle to be brought in. Return these people to their cells and give them breakfast. We won't be accused of mistreating our - guests, regardless of whether we hand them over to the authorities or use them for medical experiments of our own."

Part 32

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