Chapter 36

The building was monstrous in size. At first glance, one might have easily mistaken it for some kind of industrial assembly plant. No defining exterior features were advertising the contents within, just a pair of double glass doors in the front and a rectangular stone monument embedded in the turf that read, Western Pharmaceuticals, Research Datacenter, Austin, TX. What had Brandt more surprised was how full the parking lot had been for a Sunday.

Brandt was fidgeting with the USB thumb drive in the passenger seat while Dan, eyes still wide open, gazed upon the sheer size of the structure. They needed to devise a plan to get the workers out of there. While they couldn’t see him, they knew that Sorren wasn’t too far behind, if not already there, hiding somewhere. Neither of them could risk a scenario where Sorren either took hostages or started to mercilessly kill people.

“Well. What do you think?” Brandt said, snapping Dan out of his unblinking daze.

“How are we going to find anything in that?”

“No. I meant how should we handle this? We need to get those people out of there.”

“Oh, right. Well, the way I see it, we have two options.”

“I’m all ears.”

“We could go about it the way that you’ve become accustomed to, running in there like madmen, screaming and shooting our weapons into the air. That might get the message across.”

Brandt had a snide remark but kept it to himself. He needed to be better than that. “I would prefer to hear about the second option.”

“The second option would be us going in there as official FBI Agents and asking them to politely leave without raising the alarm and inciting panic.”

“Do you think they will simply take our word and just leave?”

“Well, we can spin it a little. Say there’s some kind of gas leak nearby that is slowly headed this way.”

Brandt liked that idea much more than the first. “Let’s go with that one. Are you ready?”

“Ready.”

Brandt sent the message to Jean from his phone, and less than a minute later, the display had read, ‘No Service.’ He showed the phone to Dan, who just responded with a nod as both exited the car.

Dan slung the Bushmaster XM15 around his back, and both of them secured their FBI badges to their belts. “Let’s move.”

They took a careful observation of their surroundings as they approached the front door. Sorren was their primary concern, but also any bystanders that may have witnessed them and wanted to become part of an audience. As they passed through the glass doors, they were met with a middle-aged man sitting behind a desk, his eyes clearly fixated on something below the countertop. Brandt approached and asked the security guard who was winning, understanding that football, whether college or professional, was a big deal in this state.

“I missed it yesterday. Longhorns up by ten.” The guard looked up to meet Brandt and Dan. “Oh. What can I do for you, gentlemen?”

“Well. I’m sorry to have to say this, but this is Special Agent Hoskins and I’m Special Agent Brandt with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Unfortunately, you will have to catch the game at home as we need to evacuate this facility.”

The guard looked back at them suspiciously, wondering if this was some kind of joke. “Um, can I see your badges?”

Brandt and Dan simultaneously removed their badges from their waists and presented them to the guard. “We are here by order of the Governor of Texas to have the facilities in the area evacuated. There has been a toxicity leak from railway tanks, and it is for everyone’s safety that they return home and wait for further instruction.”

“I didn’t hear anything about this on the news.” The guard looked to check his phone for any mention from his wife. “Hm. No Service.”

“Sir. Emergency services are currently utilizing the full capacity of the cellular service in this area. I’m sure your phone will be perfectly operational outside the ten-mile cordon.”

“Alright. Fine.” He shrugged. “I was only covering for a friend today anyways.” The guard issued his message over the building’s intercom system. “Attention all personnel in the building. The State of Texas, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, have issued an evacuation order for this facility. There is a potential toxic spill near this location. I kindly ask that everyone calmly and quietly return to their homes and awaits further information about when the situation will be cleared so you can return to work. I will now activate the building’s alarm system for those seeking the nearest exit. Thank you.” He moved his hand toward a button on the desk and pressed it. “Satisfied?”

“Yes. Thank you for your cooperation in the matter,” Dan replied.

It took almost fifteen minutes for the last of the personnel to trickle out of the building. The guard verified through motion detectors and camera systems that no one straggled behind. He calmly got out of his chair, and arched his back, stretching and letting out a yawn. “My wife better have recorded this.” He said as he approached the door. “You’re not leaving?”

“We must do a full sweep and ensure everyone has vacated,” Dan said.

“Well, take this.” The guard removed a lanyard with an ID card dangling from it and handed it over to him. “You’ll need that to access some of the rooms.”

“Thanks again,” Dan said as the guard finally exited the building.

“Well, that was easy,” Brandt said as he looked the door behind the guard.

Dan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. I’ll take up post here and watch for anything suspicious with all of this equipment while you go do your computer hacking.”

“Are you sure that this technology in front of you won’t overwhelm you?” Brandt chuckled.

“I’ll consider it good practice for my future retirement job plans. Or, probably more accurately, my next employment after Hurst runs my ass out of the Bureau in retaliation for all of this.” Dan tossed the lanyard over to Brandt, who caught it with lightning-fast reflexes. “Glad to see you brought your A-game.”

Brandt walked through the door beyond the security desk and came into a long hallway. Strobing yellow lights could be seen throughout the entire length from the alarm set off earlier. This is going to be fun, he thought to himself when he realized that finding where to go may be more of a chore than he had hoped. Walking up to a crossroads he noticed a sign on the left that read Pisser. “Well, that’s classy.” The other side of the wall had exactly what he needed: an emergency evacuation plan that mapped out the entire building. The center of the blueprint had provided the very information that he needed. A large open area labeled Datacenter Main. The main access point was a few yards down the hall to the right.

He finally came open a set of large wooden double doors.

“That’s the spot.” The intercom with Dan’s voice had nearly given Brandt a heart attack.

“Thanks!” Brandt was unsure whether Dan could hear him, but the middle finger that he raised to the camera looking upon him should indicate that the message had been received.

He pressed the badge the guard had relinquished against the gray square pad next to the door. The beep, followed by a click from the door handle, verified that it was functional. He placed the lanyard back around his neck, opened the door and stepped into the room.

Brandt was at a loss for words when he entered the heart of the data center. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The room looked to have the square footage of a large supermarket, but instead of aisles of consumer products, it was filled with rows upon rows of server racks as far as he could see. The sound was near deafening as what must have been thousands of pieces of equipment all had their fans rotating at the same time. After coming to grips with the world he could not imagine, he realized that he had plenty of options to execute his task. Jean told him that any system where the drive would fit would be fine, and she could handle the rest.

As he navigated past a few rows of hot and cold aisles, he looked closely for the rectangular pattern on a machine. He didn’t know if it was the confusion from such an ample space mixed with the loud noise of exhaust fans, or if he was looking for something in particular. He stopped at a particular rack labeled Data Processing A. That looks good. Removing the USB drive from his pocket, he was met with a familiar voice that made him drop the instrument of Avery’s demise.

“Are you sure that you want to do this, Mr. Brandt?” Avery’s voice came over the intercom.

“I don’t know if you can hear me. I understand that you mean well, but I just can’t have you going about your plan this way,” Brandt said as he picked the drive up from the floor. “Goodbye, Avery.” He opened the door that shielded the server rack and noticed another oddity from the corner of his eye.

Turning to get a clear visual, he noticed a man dressed in dark clothing at the far end of the row. Sorren was now holding the very rifle that belonged to Dan, and it was now pointed directly at him. The reflex was immediate; he dropped the drive again as he felt the fiery sting in his left shoulder.