Four of the men moved forward. They took away the gun Edie held, Abel's belt of vibrators, and Jane's bag and shoes.
"Um, can I wear those?" Jane asked hopefully. She still had her laser bracelet and bomb earrings, but the shoes had six unspent darts in one heel and four in the other. They could come in handy.
Her mouth dropped open when the man shook his head, turned, and shot a dart at the wall. "How did you...?" She paused when he smiled and pointed to a camera in the corner of the guard room.
"Smile. You're on Candid Camera," he said dryly.
He held out his hand. "Earrings, necklace, and bracelet."
Sighing, Jane slipped off her jewelry and handed it over. She and the Andrettis were then quickly searched. Abel's tie clip was taken away, but then the sound of an approaching shuttle could be heard and they were directed to the platform.
Chapter Twenty-One
"Move."
Jane jerked her arm away from the guard who grabbed her and stepped out of the shuttle of her own volition. She, Abel, and Edie had been separated into three different cars for this trip. They'd traveled farther than she'd expected, passing a good forty doors along the way. She assumed those doors led to housing for the guards and technicians, maybe even for Lydia, Dirk, and their father as well. It would explain the un-lived-in feel of the Ensecksi house.
Now Jane found herself standing in a large shuttle bay, standing before huge double doors at least twenty feet tall. She barely gave them a glance, her interest focused on the two cars that had pulled up behind her own. Edie and Abel were being urged out and led toward her by guards.
Jane wanted to say something reassuring to Edie--her friend was pale and trembling, obviously terrified--but she didn't get the chance. The moment the brother and sister reached her, one of the four guards who'd ridden with Jane took her arm and led her away. The huge double doors parted, and she gaped as bright light and sound exploded out.
Jane wasn't sure what she'd expected, but it hadn't been this large white dome-shaped room that rose a good ten stories overhead and bustled with activity. Men and women--some in the black Ensecksi uniforms and some in lab coats--hustled about. It was as if someone had hollowed out the inside of a mountain and set up shop.
"Here's the satellite dish Nancy couldn't find."
Jane nodded at Abel's words from behind her, her gaze already taking in the monstrous apparatus. She'd never seen one quite so big. It filled most of the huge room, leaving a ten-foot walkway cluttered with computers, desks, chairs, and people.
The guard at her arm urged Jane forward, and she moved into this assault of sound and activity. Her eyes went everywhere. At first sight, their situation seemed even worse than it had been. The number of people to overcome here was staggering, but then she took a second look. There were a lot of people, but most of them were unarmed technicians and scientists. They wouldn't be much of a problem and were likely to stay out of any battle that might take place. Jane hoped. It was the security men she had to be concerned with.
Gazing around, she saw that there were very few of those: Just the ones who had accompanied them into this dome--six in all.
She wondered briefly if the others who had captured them had again dispersed to wherever their guard stations were, or if they stood waiting out in the shuttle bay in case of trouble. She might need to blow up the control panel for the door, locking them out. In any case, she had to stop that satellite dish from doing whatever it was the Ensecksis planned. She wished she had her bag. Her earrings and vibrators would come in handy about now.
"Jane and Abel Goodinov, I presume. I've heard a lot about the two of you." The voice was deep and strong and seemed to come from everywhere. Loudspeakers, Jane thought and turned slowly, trying to find the man behind the voice.
"In the control booth," the voice instructed. "On your left."
Jane turned to the left and peered at several men all seated along a panel comprising at least thirty screens. She didn't see anyone who might be the speaker, but she did see her bag, her jewelry, and the vibrators that had been taken away from Abel. She considered the distance to them, but didn't think she'd get far. Two-to-six weren't good odds. She could count on Abel to aid her, but not Edie. As far as she knew, her friend had not taken martial arts. And what if some of the technicians jumped in to help?
"No, that's the security panel," the voice said. "Up here."
Jane looked above the screens, but all there was to see was smooth curving wall. It was like standing inside an egg. Well, half an egg, anyway.
"No, no." The voice was growing impatient and sounding a little less deep and booming. "Over here. Someone show her where--Never mind, I'm coming down there."
Jane's eyes followed the wall around to the right, and she finally spotted what she thought was the control booth. It was a booth, anyway--all glass on top with a metal bottom. She even spotted a microphone that the speaker might have been using. However, if that was where the speaker had been, he wasn't there now. The booth was empty. She saw a door and glanced along the walkway leading down from it, then at the expanse of walkway between it and where she stood, but she didn't see anyone moving toward her.
Shrugging, she shook her head.
"How much trouble are we in?" Abel asked by her shoulder. Glancing back, she saw he'd sidled closer to her. Edie was nearby, too.
"You don't want to know," Jane answered with a sigh. It looked to her like they were in pretty deep. She just hoped B.L.I.S.S. was on its way.
"Well, you were right about the basement and the technicians and security," Abel admitted. "And about Edie."
"Somehow being right doesn't make me feel better," she said. "Besides, this isn't exactly a basement."
He was silent as his gaze slid over the satellite dish. "So, this is how they've been making everyone in town wear yellow dresses and Hawaiian shirts."
"It looks that way," Jane agreed.
"How could a big satellite dish make anyone do anything?" Edie asked, moving up next to her brother. "I mean, I overheard Dirk talking about something like this, but--I understood just enough to be scared and call C.I.S.I.S., but I don't really get how they could control people. How could a satellite dish control what people do?"
Jane explained, "Some researchers believe that EMRs can control human impulses as easily as ESB."
"EMRs? ESB?"
"EMRs are electromagnetic waves, like microwaves. And ESB is electrical stimulation of the brain."
"Oh, you mean the electrodes on the brain thing," Edie said. "We touched on that a bit in a psychology course I took at the university--or was it biology?" The woman paused then shrugged. "Whatever. They put the electrode here and the cat licks itself, put it there and it does something else--is that what you mean by electrical stimulation?"
"Yes. I think the Ensecksis are doing the same sort of thing, only using focused microwave beams and intending a more complex reaction than licking."
"Oh." Edie peered at the dish with new respect. "That can't be good."
"No. It isn't," Jane agreed. After a moment she admitted, "I'm sorry, guys. I should have insisted you leave the moment we got out of those rooms."
"We never would have made it out." Edie sighed unhappily. "None of this is your fault, Jane. You guys wouldn't even be here if I hadn't accepted that stupid date. If I'd used my head, I wouldn't have gone. I should have realized something was up. Dirk had never looked at me twice before--"
"Shh. Both of you," Abel said firmly. He slipped an arm around each of their waists. "No one is at fault but the Ensecksis. And I'm glad I'm here. There's nowhere I'd rather be than here with my two favorite ladies."
"Isn't that touching."
Jane jerked out of Abel's embrace and turned. It hadn't come from the loudspeakers this time, had seemed to come from--
"Down here."
Jane lowered her gaze to stare at the prune-faced midget standing next to her. Dear Lord, he couldn't be more than three feet tall. With his shock of white hai
r, big dark eyes, and sour expression, he could have been Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. "Who are you?"
"I am Robert Ensecksi," he announced with the self-importance of a god. Then he waved a stubby little arm. "And this is my empire."
"That's Dirk's father?" Edie gasped. "No way!"
Jane bit her lip to keep from laughing. It didn't help when Abel murmured by her ear, "I think Mrs. Ensecksi may have been friendly with the milkman."
Jane gave both Andrettis a reproving look, then offered a polite smile to a scowling Robert. "Your...um...empire is Quite impressive, Mr. Ensecksi."
"It is, isn't it?" His little chest was puffed with pride.
"Hmm." Jane nodded. "What does this do?"
The dwarf smiled and Jane saw a hint of Dirk in the expression. Mrs. Ensecksi had not been unfaithful. "My people found the way to control the masses with EMRs."
Just as Jane had feared. "To what end, sir? Surely not simply to make everyone wear yellow dresses and tacky Hawaiian shirts?"
"That was just a test," he admitted. "Lydia thought that--people being vain by nature--if we could control the fashion sense of an entire town, then we could control and rule the world." Robert Ensecksi's deep voice was filled with glee.
"You and Napoleon. Why is it short guys always want to rule the world?" Abel muttered.
Jane was pretty sure no one else had heard, but she glared at him anyway. It was difficult enough taking this little fella seriously without Abel's cracks.
"But how can you rule the whole world with one satellite dish?" Edie asked. She looked rather suspicious, as if she thought the man was trying to pull one over on her.
"One satellite here," Robert Ensecksi corrected. "We have--" He stopped as the huge doors behind them swished open again.
Jane turned to see Lydia and Dirk. She was in time to catch the surprise on their faces as they spotted her standing with their father.
"Jane." Dirk smiled and moved to her side. "You're awake."
"They broke free, knocked out the guards, and locked them up," Robert Ensecksi accused. Lydia gave her brother an I-told-you-so look.
"So you are spies?" Dirk asked. Jane suspected it was loss of a potential sex-fiend partner that had him looking so blue.
"I'm afraid so," she admitted, not seeing any reason to deny it now.
"Oh, Jane." He sounded disappointed.
"I was just going to show them what we've accomplished here," Robert Ensecksi announced. "Why don't we move to the control booth?"
His children started toward the walkway, and Robert took Jane's arm. He led her along at a slightly slower pace, leaving Abel and Edie to follow, and the guards to bring up the rear.
"I've worked very hard over the years at acquiring the finest technology and scientists that money can buy," the little man announced grandly. "We have the finest minds in both microwave technology and neuroscience here--as well as the most up-to-date security, of course."
He waved toward the security video panel with its many screens as they walked past, but Jane's eyes went to the things that had been taken away from her. If she could just get her hands on a weapon...
"Oh, look. Your grandmother is going to save us the trouble of going to fetch her."
Jane turned back to the screens. One showed Gran and Nancy entering the living room of the Ensecksi house. Nancy made a quick sweep of the rooms; then the two women moved to the wall where the elevator was hidden. One of Jane's cameras must have transmitted its image after all!
"Send an escort for the ladies," Robert Ensecksi ordered, and several men immediately left to do as he commanded.
Jane remained silent as she watched Nancy and her gran travel down in the elevator on another monitor. Neither woman appeared terribly surprised when the doors opened and they were met by armed men. Gran was wheeled onto a shuttle, Nancy was seated in another, and then everyone disappeared from the screens. They popped up on a new one when their shuttles pulled into the bay outside the doors to this dome.
Jane turned to the doors as they swished open and watched Nancy wheel Gran in under an armed escort. Neither woman looked alarmed. Jane hoped that meant B.L.I.S.S. backup was on the way.
"Oh! There you are, Janie, dear." Gran stopped petting Tinkle long enough to push the button on the arm of her wheelchair. She rolled toward Jane. The men escorting her immediately raised their guns, but Gran continued forward. "Have you been having fun with your friends?"
Jane almost laughed at the question, not to mention Robert Ensecksi's expression. The old man obviously thought her dotty. Shaking his head, he gestured for his guards to lower their guns. That's when Tinkle went into action. The furry beast had spotted the object of her affections, and leaping from Gran's lap the dog hurried to Dirk. She did her butt-wiggling love dance at his feet, then rolled onto her back, legs in the air and tongue lolling. When none of it had the desired response, Tinkle proved herself a shameless tramp and resorted to trying to crawl up the man's leg.
Yessiree, all the gals want your bone. Jane thought with amusement as Dirk began hopping about, shaking his leg to dislodge the Yorkie.
"Will someone shoot this damned dog?" he bellowed finally.
Jane decided it was time to move. She didn't care for Tinkle much herself, but Gran would be heartbroken to lose her. Noting that everyone was concentrating on the dog, Jane jammed her elbow into the stomach of the man beside her and snatched his rifle in one motion. She rammed the butt of the weapon down on his head as he bent forward in pain.
"Stop her!" Robert Ensecksi roared.
Jane sent him sailing backward with a well-placed kick. "Watch him!" she ordered Edie.
"Okay." The other woman hesitated, then dropped to sit on the dwarf's chest. When he began to kick and flail at her with his tiny fists, screeching at the top of his lungs, she tweaked his nose and grabbed him by the hair. She gave his head a shake. "Be good, short stuff, or I'll put you over my knee."
Deciding Edie had that particular foe under control, Jane glanced toward Gran. The older woman sat calmly in her wheelchair, powdering her nose with a compact. There were four unconscious guards on the ground around her. Not far away, Nancy and Abel were standing back to back, preparing to take on several guards who were closing on them. They were going to kick some butt!
She wished she could watch, but a yelp of pain drew her gaze. Dirk had sent Tinkle flying through the air with a well-placed kick. Mouth flattening, Jane charged him. In her stocking feet, her approach was silent. Still, something made him turn just before she tackled him. Instead of sending him crashing to the ground on his face, he landed on his back with her on top. She expected him to be stunned, or to have the wind knocked out of him, but he recovered quickly and rolled. A moment later, he was on top of her.
To Jane's amazement, he pinned her arms on either side of her head and drew back to smile down at her. "I've wanted to get you in this position since we met. As I expected, the fit is just right." He ground himself against her. "You and I could be so good together."
"Thanks, but I prefer a personality to complement the looks," Jane said sweetly. And with that she slammed her knee into his groin.
Dirk's smile disappeared. He paled, then flushed, then dropped off of her to curl into a fetal position. Jane stood up and stared down at him. He was moaning and rolling around on the floor, clutching himself.
"I seem to have that effect on all the guys," she told him cheerfully.
Glancing around, she checked how things were going. Gran's pile of unconscious men had grown by two, Abel and Nancy were whaling on several guards as she'd expected, Edie was tormenting Robert, and--
Jane's heart stopped as she spotted Lydia in the control booth. The blonde was flipping switches like crazy. Before Jane could even try to stop her, a loud whirring sound came from above. The top of the mountain opened to reveal a starlit sky. The huge satellite dish started to rise.
Jane looked at the control booth. Inside, Lydia smiled at her triumphantly. The blon
de leaned forward to speak into the microphone: "The door to this booth is locked, Jane. You'll never get in. And even if you do, I've locked the program in. You can't stop it without the password. You might as well relax. In exactly two minutes and thirty-two seconds, it's going to be you five against the world. Join us now, or die then. It's up to you."
Jane hesitated. All fighting in the room had stopped. Everyone was waiting to see what would happen. Her gaze slid from Robert Ensecksi to the man's son. Since Dirk was at her feet, she chose him. Lifting her foot onto his neck, she faced down Lydia across the room.
"Shut it off, Lydia, or I'll break his neck, then your father's," she bluffed.
"Jane!" Dirk gasped in wounded tones.
"Go ahead!" Lydia laughed. "Then I'll be queen of the world!"
"Lydia!" Dirk shrieked.
Jane glared at the blonde for a minute, then glanced to the satellite. It was halfway out of the mountain and starting to tilt upward. Nausea began to swell in her at the thought of a world full of brain-dead drones following queen bee Lydia's orders; then she remembered her vibrators and glanced wildly around. Abel and Nancy were nearest them. "Abel! The vibrators!"
Lydia realized she intended mischief. "Stop them!" She shrieked into the microphone as Abel grabbed the belt of missile launchers.
Several technicians moved toward Abel, but Nancy stepped into their path. Abel didn't even look back. He pulled a vibrator from the belt, glanced from it to the satellite dish, to Jane. Then, apparently realizing there wasn't time to waste, he twisted, aimed, and fired.
There was a hiss of smoke and then the satellite exploded with a deafening boom, bits and pieces of it flying every which way. Jane dropped instinctively, hands going over her head to protect herself from falling objects. What sounded like World War III erupted above. It went on for what seemed forever.
When at last it stopped; Jane lifted her head and blinked her eyes against the dust and smoke filling the air. She made a quick check of those around her. A few of the Ensecksi people had been injured, but most had escaped. As for her friends, Abel had a cut on his cheek, but everyone else seemed fine.
"You do care."
Jane glanced down at the man she was lying on. She'd dropped where she stood and landed on Dirk, unintentionally protecting him with her body. Jane didn't even respond to his husky comment. Suddenly aware of the hand sliding toward her butt, she reached down and caught him in a wrist lock that made him squeal like a girl. She kept her hold on him as she got to her feet, forcing him up as well, then stiffened when she heard the doors to the dome room swish open. Forcing Dirk around before her, she faced the doors ready for anything.