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The Hypogeum Ch. 12-13 free porn video
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘FELON, n. A person of greater enterprise than discretion, who in embracing an opportunity has formed an unfortunate attachment.’ – Ambrose Bierce
Loki appeared in front of Taika’s house and walked inside, ‘Good news,’ he announced, ‘The wards have been set up at Mayfield Road, but only there.’
Ranulf was pleased to hear that, he had been worried that the wards that WinCom had put in place would keep them out of Salisbury altogether, making the job of getting their gear to where it was needed a little more of a hassle than it really needed to be. The small group waited for Loki to tell them more. He said, ‘I’ve had a bit of a nose around there. The WinCom building has increased security. They’ve got more uniforms on the main entrance and at the entrance to the car park, it also looks like everyone needs to show ID to get in. It’s lit up like a Christmas tree with security lights everywhere and they all have movement sensors.’
Aloysius nodded and then said, ‘I sense a ‘but’ at the end of that sentence.’
Loki grinned and it made him look like a little boy, ‘I spotted a gap. I saw a bird fly in toward the back of the building and it seems that there’s a blind spot that the sensors don’t cover. Oswald street runs parallel to Mayfield, and there’s a builder’s yard where we can get to that backs up against the rear wall of the WinCom plot. I’ve marked the position on the wall where we need to get over, and then walk in a dead straight line to the southeast corner of the building. Once we get there… Well, you already know the rest.’
With nothing to do, other than wait for darkness, Aloysius disappeared back to the New Forest where all of their equipment was stored so he could check and recheck everything again, meanwhile Loki asked Taika if there was any food on the go. Once she had provided him with a large bowl of stew, he sat down and dug in with gusto.
Taika laughed as she watched the young man stuffing his face, ‘You be hungry,’ she observed, ‘It must be at least three hours since you last ate.’
Alma suddenly felt the enormity of adventure she was about to embark on. Alma Baines who had never even had a parking ticket was about to take part in a burglary. And based on she had already seen, it would be a very risky business indeed. Without a word, she got up and left the house, she needed to get outside and get some fresh air.
Surprised at her sudden exit, Ranulf looked in askance at Taika, who nodded toward the door. Ranulf followed Alma outside and didn’t see the twinkle in Taika’s eye.
Ranulf stood on the step and saw Alma wandering toward the trees, he called out and jogged over to where she had stopped and waited for him. As he got closer, he could see that Alma didn’t look happy. ‘What is it?’ he asked.
Alma gave him an embarrassed smile and answered, ‘Just a bit nervous actually.’
Ranulf found that he wanted to reach out and place a reassuring arm on her shoulder, but could not. All he could do was say, ‘Me too. I’ve never been a burglar before either.’
The young woman looked into his eyes, she could see that Ranulf was troubled, ‘What is it?’ she asked, echoing his question to her.
He shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his feet before answering, ‘If you must know, I’m nervous too. No, that’s not right. I’m scared out of my wits.’
‘Why?’
Ranulf hooked his thumbs into his pockets and scuffed his feet on the grass, ‘I’m scared that I’m really going to mess things up. Taika thinks I’m some great leader, but I don’t see it myself and I’m so God damned scared that I’m gonna screw up.’
Alma reached out to touch his arm and felt it tremble beneath her fingers, ‘Everybody has doubts, look at me for God’s sake.’
Ranulf pulled away from her, turned away and almost shouted, ‘Not everybody can get people killed! If I mess this up then people die and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to handle that,’ he turned back to face Alma, ‘Aloysius, Loki and Taika depend on me to make the right choices. Well what if they’re the wrong choices? I could get them killed,’ his voice sank to a whisper, ‘I could get you killed.’
Alma moved close to him, almost close enough to embrace and whispered back, ‘I have faith in you, Ranulf. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m scared witless as well… But I have faith in you.’
Without warning, she moved even closer, lifted her arms and wrapped them around him. They stared into each other’s eyes and kissed savagely. Suddenly, Ranulf broke the kiss and pushed Alma away.
‘What is it?’ she cried.
‘I… Can’t. I’m sorry.’
‘What? Why not?’
Alma could see that his eyes were slightly damp as he answered, ‘Lady… Alma, one of the choices I might have to make is to die so that you can live. You have to live. I don’t want to cause you any more pain. I just…’
Enlightenment dawned in Alma’s face, ‘You just don’t want to get too close in case you have to die for me and leave me alone again?’ tears welled up in her eyes as she continued, ‘I was alone. I lost my husband, my baby. But you saved me, you all saved me. I don’t know what it is that makes me so special… But I’m not the only one. And if what’s happened to me has taught me anything, it’s to find happiness wherever I can and not to miss any opportunity.’
‘Yes, but what if-‘
‘What if we don’t make it? What if one, both or all of us die? Well what about, what if we live?’
Without waiting another moment, Alma grabbed hold of Ranulf again and pulled him close and looked him straight in the eye, ‘I know you’re the leader of this little outfit, but I’ve got an order for you.’
Nonplussed, he asked, ‘What is it?’
‘Stay alive! You bloody well stay alive!’
Ranulf couldn’t help but smile and drew Alma back into a proper embrace.
Back in the house, Taika was stirring the pot over the fire as she prepared to pour Loki another bowl of stew. She took on a faraway expression and tilted her head as though listening. Then she smiled to herself again and ladled some stew into Loki’s bowl.
* * *
Later that night, a WinCom security guard closed and locked the gate to the car park before retreating back inside the building. As he was sitting back down at the security station in the main foyer, four dark figures, three of which carried bergens, appeared in the builder’s yard that backed on to the rear area of WinCom’s land. One detached himself from the group and started searching the wall that separated the two businesses, once he found the small mark in the brickwork that he was looking for, he motioned for the others to join him.
He indicated the mark and said softly, ‘Climb the wall here and head straight for the south east corner. Be careful.’
Then he allowed the largest of the group to quietly hoist him up, so he could slide over the top of the wall. Aloysius then helped Ranulf and Alma over as well, before gripping the top edge of the wall and pulling himself up and over to join them on the other side. The group waited a moment to check that that their initial intrusion had gone unnoticed, before one after the other walking swiftly to the prearranged spot in the shadow of the office block.
Ranulf reached into Loki’s pack and pulled out a long length of nylon rope. He handed the end of it to Loki who tied it securely around his waist. Then all but Loki stood with their back to the wall and remained as still as possible. Loki stretched out his arms with fingers interlocked and palms out before beginning his climb. His previous reconnaissance had shown him that the exposed steel girders that formed the basis of the building afforded good hand and footholds all the way to the roof.
Loki took a firm grip on the edge of the steel and began his assent. As he climbed, Ranulf fed out the rope from the coil over his arm, trying to stop it from swinging about and increasing the c
hance of discovery. Beside him, Ranulf could hear Alma breathing deeply as she tried to calm her nerves. He murmured softly, ‘Are you okay?’
Alma nodded in reply.
Eventually, Ranulf felt the rope start to move very quickly in his grip. Loki was now at the top and was pulling the rope so that he had enough length to tie it off around one of the air conditioning vents up there. Then there were two sharp tugs on the rope, so Ranulf touched Aloysius on the arm and gave him the thumbs up. Aloysius nodded and pulled two small metal items from Ranulf’s pack. He attached them to the rope and used them to pull himself up the rope as he walked up the steel girder. The giant had no illusions about his ability to climb the building in the same way that Loki had done and had insisted that they get him some mechanical Prusiks that were based on an old climbing system of using string to keep a firm grip on a rope.
Once he had joined Loki on the roof, he took a moment to shake the fatigue from his arms before he too gave the rope two sharp tugs. Ranulf tied the end of the rope he still held around himself and Alma, and gave it a quick tug. Then when he felt it start to go taut, he used his arms to stay in line with the girder and not bang into the windows. Alma merely shut her eyes and held on to Ranulf as though her life depended on it, which in this instance, it did.
Soon, but not as soon as Alma would have liked, all four were on the roof. Loki quickly coiled the rope and murmured a question, ‘Ready?’
Aloysius rubbed his upper arms briskly and replied, ‘Give me a minute. That was quite hard.’
Loki took the opportunity to remove his pack and retrieved a few small items from it. Then he tied himself off with the rope and waited for Aloysius to get ready. Once the giant felt able, he grabbed the rope, fed it through a figure-eight carabina on his belt and started to lower Loki back down the side of the building.
Ranulf leaned out over the edge and motioned Aloysius to stop when he figured that Loki was in the correct position at a window on the fourth floor. They were relying on hand signals and murmured voices for two reasons, One, they knew that a whisper could carry quite a long way, whilst a murmur would not, Two, they did not know if the security had radios, and if they did then the frequency used was unknown, there was no point taking the risk that their own communications would alert the building’s security staff to their presence before they had even got in.
Aloysius stopped feeding the rope through his hands and locked it off so that Loki would be held firmly in position. Loki then stuck the small sucker pad he held to the window in front of him and used his glasscutter to inscribe a small circle in the pane. He pulled the circle out of the window and froze as it made a cracking sound. Breathing in and out deeply, Loki then reached through the hole and opened the window from the inside. Once that was done, he applied a small amount of superglue to the edge of the circle of glass and replaced it back in the window. He knew that it would not stand close scrutiny, but hopefully it would last long enough, so that WinCom wouldn’t know they had ever been there.
When he was certain the glue had hardened, Loki removed the sucker and climbed inside, then he held the rope as Ranulf climbed down, closely followed by Alma. The young man pretended not to notice the tight hug Alma received when she was safely inside. Aloysius then lowered himself down, there was a moment of panic when he nearly got stuck trying to fit his bulk through the window, but a few judicious heaves by Ranulf and a lot of squirming by Aloysius, got him inside with his companions. Ranulf then moved over to the door of the office they currently occupied and slowly opened it, he looked quickly up and down the corridor, before motioning to the others to join him and slipped quietly through.
The four made their way to the stairwell, and with the same caution opened the door to make their way down. Once they were at the doorway to the third floor, Loki retrieved a camera, some blu-tack and a wire coat hanger that he handed silently to Ranulf, who accepted them with a nod.
Alma, Loki and Aloysius waited where they were as Ranulf snuck into the corridor, making sure he stuck as close to the wall as possible. He was ensuring that he stayed out of the field of vision of a security camera that was trained on a steel door at the far end with a key card reader set in the wall next to it. Once he was in position directly below the camera, he reached up and held his own camera as close to it as he could, with the lens aimed toward the door. He took a picture and waited as a printed Polaroid ejected from the front. He waved the photograph in his hand to help the drying process and placed the camera on the floor laying the photo on top of it as he unbent the coat hanger. Bending it into a small loop at either end, Ranulf straightened it out as well as he could and then used the blu-tack to affix the photo to the smaller loop of wire. Then, taking a deep breath and hoping that no one was watching what was on their screen in the foyer, he quickly jammed the other loop over the lens. A moment of nervousness as he waited to see if any alarms went off.
The silence remained, so he could only assume that no one had noticed and as far as the security station was concerned, there was nothing untoward happening at WinCom tonight.
Ranulf then moved back to collect his friends and led them back to the door. While he had been working on the camera, Loki had fired up a laptop he carried. It was small, sleek and very powerful. It also had an expensive and highly illegal piece of software installed. Loki attached a ribbon cable to a port in the laptop that had what looked like a key card at the other end and then fed the card through the reader by the door. The laptop worked its technological magic and the program fooled the reader into thinking that a valid card had just been swept. A small light blinked green and the door opened with a slight click.
Alma’s nervousness was almost palpable now. For now she had to do her part and was desperate not to screw it up. All four slipped inside the door and closed it behind them. The men took up stations by the door as Alma made her way to one of the workstations. She sat down and powered up the terminal. The cursor blinked on the screen and then she was prompted for a user name and password. Tempted as she was to use her own, she decided against it and took a chance that she wasn’t the only person who had trouble remembering passwords. She moved the keyboard forward and was delighted to find that she wasn’t.
All the money WinCom had spent on security, all of the mystical wards they had put in place, all of them were defeated by human forgetfulness and human nature. She quickly scanned the small yellow post-it note that had a user name and password scribbled on it in blue biro into the machine… And she was in. Not only that, but she was able to access the secure directories on the server. Alma quickly scanned through the lists of files on her screen until she found the one she wanted, the one called hypogeum_pre-compile. She opened it up and started reading through the lines of code. Something caught her eye and she reread it. Her eyes went wide as she minimised the window and accessed the Internet. A quick check of GoogleMaps told her what she wanted to know. Alma closed the web browser and recalled the program back to full screen, and then she motioned the men over.
‘What is it?’ asked Ranulf.
Almost in shock at what she had discovered, Alma told them, ‘You won’t believe this! DataVault has a hidden purpose in addition to security. What it can do is subvert the host system and force it to accept instruction from the WinCom server.’
‘And?’ asked Loki.
‘And then, they can use the hypogeum routine to use all of the affected computers to help them crack a code.’
‘What code?’
‘The code that controls the launch sequence of nuclear warheads.’
Aloysius was puzzled, ‘How did you work that out so quickly?’
Alma was almost too embarrassed to admit, ‘Actually, when you have a team of programmers working together, they always put remarks and comments in their coding so that anyone from the team can see what they’re doing and where they are. Apart from a few instructions I had to work through, I just read their own remarks.’
It was Ranulf’s turn to ask, ‘Do you know where the nukes they want are? And more importantly, where they want to aim them?’
‘I found what I think are grid references and I Googled them, one points to a place in Ireland called Kenmare and the other is on the Island of Lewis, one of the Outer Hebrides.’
‘That doesn’t make sense. What could they possibly want to destroy there?’
Alma sat back in the chair, ‘They both have stone circles… What if Baphomet is trying to set off another shockwave? Like the one that brought him here.’
Ranulf nodded, ‘Sounds believable. Can you doctor the code?’
Alma shook her head, ‘This is a little beyond me. Quite apart from the fact that this is the written code. The compiled code that the server uses is already sat waiting to be activated. I can’t do anything with this except read it.’
The leader of the team swore, ‘Dammit!’ he glanced at Loki, ‘Can you do anything?’
Loki looked around the room, ‘Well I could plant some charges in nooks and crannies, but all that would do is blow the hell out of these terminals, it wouldn’t stop the server. I’d need some sort of EMP for that, and I’d need to be in the server room to do it.’
‘Server farm’s in the basement,’ Alma supplied.
‘EMP?’ asked Aloysius.
Alma cut in, ‘Electro Magnetic Phenomenon. Like a bomb, but it blows electronics and wipes disk drives clean. Basically, it’ll turn a computer into a doorstop in less than a microsecond.’
Ranulf stood up straight, ‘Right! Now we know what we need to do. Let’s get out here and come back with something that’ll do the job.’
Alma quickly powered down the terminal and all four moved back to the door. Loki opened it and peaked outside. All appeared to be clear so they moved out into the corridor. Loki, Aloysius and Alma moved back to the stairwell as Ranulf quickly closed the door and then stood below the security camera. He reached up and trusted to luck that no one was watching the screen downstairs. When he removed the wire frame from the camera and was moving back to join his fellows, an alarm sounded.
Ranulf ran to the stairwell and could hear the shouts and clattering of boots on the steps as a force of guards made their noisy way up from the ground floor. Aloysius shouted, ‘Get out of here!’ and started down the steps to meet the threat, he turned his head toward Ranulf and screamed, ‘Now! Get her out of here!’
That spurred Loki into action, ‘Come on Lady, gotta go!’
He grabbed Alma’s arm and dragged her back upstairs towards the office where they had secreted their rope. Ranulf was torn between helping Aloysius fight and getting the Lady to safety, but good sense soon overcame personal feelings and he quickly followed Loki and Alma.
Aloysius pulled his Jian sword from its sheath under the back of his coat and met the first guard up the stairs with a sweeping blow that nearly took his head off. The man put a hand to his throat and gurgled as blood spurted from the wound, he sank to the floor and Aloysius stepped over him to meet the next threat. Another guard appeared, a man almost as big as Aloysius and who was also something of a martial artist by the defensive stance he adopted. The giant struck out with his sword, but the other man dodged to one side and aimed a blow at where Aloysius had just been standing. The two men squared up in the tight confines of the staircase. A kick was thrown out, Aloysius stepped to the side, grabbed the leg and brought his elbow down on the side of the guard’s knee, there was a sickening crack and the guard fell to the floor screaming. The giant warrior was implacable in his advance, meeting every threat that appeared in front of him, killing or maiming every man who appeared, until shear weight of numbers overwhelmed even his prodigious strength. Seven men held him down as he struggled to get free until a fire extinguisher was brought down with extreme force on to the top of his head. Aloysius last thought before the black light filled his head was a hope that he had bought his friends enough time to escape.
India
- 18.12.2021
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