When Lynn got back to the S-4 facility she went straight to Bay-1 and immediately went back to work. She knew that whatever Angie had passed to her was important but it was probably dangerous to do anything out of the ordinary. Keeping to her normal routine seemed like the best thing she could do at this point.
After working for an hour she told her crew that she was going to the restroom. Once inside she went into one of the stalls and locked the door. It was a strange feeling, like she was doing something wrong, but she knew she wasn’t. She slipped the note and badge out of her pocket. The badge belonged to Raymond Eller and the note read:
I don’t know what’s going on but this man is being held in a Cell at the Beacon site* He is not dead like they would have us believe& At least he wasn’t when I saw him%. I was ordered to draw blood from him which they must have used to convince everyone he was Dead.(I am Being watched so I can’t do much at this point( You are probably being watched too. Be careful*#
She reread the note three times, making sure she really understood what was being said. He was alive? Raymond was alive. None of this made sense. What was this Beacon site and where was it located, she thought? What should she do now? And what was the point of all the parenthesis and other strange marks at the end of each sentence? Who could she trust?
She folded the note back up and placed it, along with Raymond’s badge, in her lab coat pocket. Having second thoughts she took the note and badge and wedged it behind the lavatory tank and wall. It was too dangerous to carry around if Angie was right. Her mind was racing but she couldn’t really come up with a plan to help Raymond.
Lynn couldn’t go to the general or security. She was going to have to think of something, but what? When she went back to the lab she must have looked different because several of her team members asked if she was all right. She realized she needed to shake it off and act natural. She blamed it on her hand hurting and the medication wearing off. She began to concentrate on the project they were working on, trying to put the note and Raymond out of her mind.
They were all emerged in trying to get the hydraulic couplings attached to the flow control nozzles so they would not interfere with the directional flairs. The team had been working on solving this dilemma for about an hour when General Devin and two guards came into the bay. One was a man that Lynn had seen around lately and the other was a woman that she didn’t know.
“Good day Doctor Yurris. How is everything progressing?”
“Oh, hello general. Right now we are struggling with the control unit. We may have to find another type of coupling or a different routing sequence for the hydraulic hoses,” she said, trying not let fear creep into her voice.
He could be here just to check on progress, but she knew in the back of her mind, it was more than that.
“Yes, well I am confident that you will figure it all out. You have done such a magnificent job up until now,” he said, a quick smile flashing across his face.
“We will get it, one way or the other,” she assured him.
“Dr. Yuriss, I would like to have a word with you in private if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. I’ll just have Alex take over,” she said, calling him over.
“Alex, take the hoses back out of the fittings and grind the opening a little more and see if that will let them clear. I’ll be with the general,” she said.
She wanted to make sure someone knew where she was. The general led her to his Hummer and asked her to get in. It was all she could do to climb in and shut the door.
“Dr. Yuriss, how well did you know Raymond Eller?”
“I don’t know. A little. We talked a few times. He seemed like a really good person. You probably know, you saw us talking a few times. I am sorry for what happened to him if that’s what you mean,” she said.
“Do you know why he was really here?”
“Only what he told me, to visit the site and make a report on how the various projects were going,” she replied.
“Who was he going to report to?”
“I have no idea. He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. Why? What’s this all about, general?”
He didn’t bother to answer her question but said, “The security log shows he came here to Bay-1 after his return. Did you see him at that time?” he asked.
“You asked me that before. The answer is the same. No. General, I want to know what’s going on. Why are you asking me this again?”
“I just want to be sure I have done all we can to locate the poor man. With your relationship, I thought it would be best to go over it one more time.”
