THE GEMINI EFFECT
PART ONE
'This is. . . impressive. . .' she thought to herself.
The young woman was crouched down outside the high iron fence that marked the boarder of a massive private estate in upstate New York. She was examining a metallic box attached to the base of one of the posts. The technology was unlike any she had ever seen, and she had seen plenty in her line of work.
She’d been called a mercenary. She’d been called a vigilante. She called herself Legend. She was considered one of the best in her field and so naturally she had obtained quite a number of enemies in her short life. Only a handful of people knew the real face behind the Legend. People hired her for things. To fight in a little war in a little country that no one has ever heard of; to enact justice on a criminal who has beaten the system; to reclaim items of value; and others. She didn’t take every job; she couldn’t be hired by the highest bidder. In fact she often worked for free, if she felt the situation deserved it, like the job she was currently on.
Two weeks ago, she had agreed to a meeting with a man who had gotten in touch with one of her contacts. They had met in a bar of her choosing, in Texas. He was in his sixties; gray had begun to replace his auburn shoulder length hair. He had a handsome face and a strong build. His demeanor however, was that of pain. It worsened as he recounted his tale to her:
"‘Been lookin= for my boy goin’ on twen’y years now. Didn’ t’ink he even ‘member me after all dis time." He said sorrowfully. "D’en, couple weeks ago, I get dis postcard. It be from my boy. He begin' me t’come get him, t’save ‘im. He says d’ems dat took ‘im, been doin exper’ments on ‘im all dis time an’ can’ take it no more. He say dey killin’ ‘im!" The man took a moment to compose himself. "I wan= to go get ‘im myself, but as y’ can see, my health ain’t de best it’s been." He had been showing difficulty in breathing since he arrived and now her eyes quickly glanced at his walking cane that was propped up against the table. "You my last hope." He continued, his pride on the floor. "De police won’ go near de place; de man in charge, he got too many connections. I pay you anytin’- take anytin’, anytin’ you want from me. I jus’ want t’see my boy again, see ‘im free one more time b’fore. . ." His voice trailed off.
Legend, who was sitting in the shadows in the corner of this back booth hadn’t said a word to this man. She avoided speaking directly to people unless necessary. As her face was hidden by the shadow, she had merely motioned a greeting with her hand when he had arrived. She remained silent at the end of his tale, thinking. She didn’t buy his story. Something about it, about him didn’t feel right. Still she was intrigued. She wanted to know why this man had gone through all this trouble to contact her. What did he want from her? What was his real motive? She decided to play along.
"Picture?" She asked in a whisper.
"Uh, yeah… here." He handed her an old photograph from the inside pocket of his jacket. "It be d’only one I got left of ‘im. But you c’n have it, if it’ll help ya bring ‘im back t’me." The picture was of a young boy around four to six years old. He was sitting on the steps of a red brick building. There was indeed a strong resemblance.
"He prob’ly look like me now, a few years younger ‘course." He reached into the pocket of his jacket, a second time. This move would normally put her on edge, but she sensed that whatever he intended for her it would not play out here or now. He pulled out a postcard. "Dis what he send me. It got d’address on it. Don’ know how he send it. He maybe got someone on his side in dere."
Legend accepted the post card and looked at it a moment. She sighed. "Bye." She said and the man correctly took it as an indication to leave. He got up from the booth with difficulty, then stopped.
"W-What ‘bout payment?"
She made a slashing motion with her hand, indicating ‘nothing’.
The man smiled gratefully. "T’ank you. T’ank you." He blubbered. Then he took his leave.
And so here she was outside one of the most formidable security nets she had ever seen, preparing for her next move. She had been staking the place out for the past two weeks. The man she believed she was looking for was there. It had to be him: same height, same build, and the same mop of shoulder length auburn hair. That was all she could get. She had only seen him twice, each time only for mere seconds, and only from the back or side, always from a distance.
There were others there as well, quite a few, and all just as illusive. Then again she was only allotted a partial view of the estate. The house was situated far back from the road and a forest and massive lake ended the other side of the property.
The longer she watched, the more she disliked this situation. She disliked not knowing what was going on. It was throwing her off. She decided that whatever was going to happen she was going to get it over with, and find out what was happening.
It was now four thirty in the morning. Most people were asleep at this hour and if they woke up, she chanced that they would be slightly disoriented, enough so for her to make an escape.
The technology was impressive, but not impossible. She attached a devise of her own design to the security box. It recorded the flow of current. When she wanted, she would emit a pulse via remote that would disconnect the system at one point for an extremely small window of time, while mimicking the signal, so the system would not know anything had happened. Legend had adjusted the toy three times in order to match the strange technology. She finally found the correct flow frequency.
After a final check that all of her gear was secure, Legend activated the device, and vaulted the fence in its weak interval. The grounds were overlaid with a series of complex laser sensors - invisible to the eye, of course. But Legend had special talents. She could sense where the beams were located, and easily traversed them with a skill and ease that would make any cat jealous.
She reached the main without and crept along under one of the many windows. Her plan, find this guy and remove him from this situation so she could talk to him on her own grounds. She didn’t know how he was really involved in all of this, but she hazarded a guess that he didn’t have a clue about any of this. She hated having to kidnap a possible innocent, but for his safety, and her sanity, it had to be done.
CLICK, CLICK
‘Or not.’The sound of a weapon being cocked behind her put a quick end to her plans.
"May we help you?"
There was a gun pointed at her. She could sense that. Just as she could sense the five people that had suddenly appeared behind her.
She made a vertical jump that belonged in NBA, and at it’s apex, pushed herself off the wall with her legs, flying backwards over the heads of the on-lookers. She hit the ground running, only to feel the cold grip of ice form on her leg. Her first thought: ‘Mutants’. Her second: ‘The disrupter!’ The device that had neutralized the fence was very sensitive to extreme temperatures. Too hot, or too cold, the circuits would explode. It was fastened to her now frozen leg.
She pried the ice-covered device from her body. She didn’t know the intentions of these people, but she did know they had every right to go after her. They hadn’t given her reason to harm them -- yet. She tossed the device in the air. It exploded, and Legend was caught in the wake. When the fireworks ended, the Legend was down, unconscious, and her opponents were closing in.
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"Way t’go Bobby."
"Aw, Warren, I was jus’ tryin’ to low her down!"
"She is an intruder."
"She could have thrown that thing at us, you know, Bish. She can’t be all that bad."
"Enough! All of you. We can figure out her motives later. Right now, let Hank tend to her."
"I thank you oh fearless leader, for silence is truly a blessing we rarely are permitted to appreciate in these-here-parts."
Moments later four occupants of the mansion had filed into the med lab observation area. They had brought the unconscious guest inside and the good doctor was about to tend to her injuries.
"She could be faking."
"I guarantee she’s unconscious." A beautiful redheaded woman commented as she entered the room.
The man with the gun still looked unhappy.
"Well, if it will satisfy our friend, I was about to perform the standard check of her retinas to make certain they are sufficiently dilated, anyway." The vigilant doctor mused.
A medical light in hand he proceed to open one of the Legend’s eyes.
"Oh my stars and garters!" The doctor jumped back.
"What is it Hankster?"
The doctor collected himself and moved to the top of the examination table so the on lookers could see. He opened his patient’s eyelids with his blue fingers, to reveal the stranger’s eyes.
Red on black.
To Be Continued…
On To Part Two