NINE

COLE WAS POKING IDLY THROUGH A BOX OF bipolar transistors, thinking that he was an idiot; he should be sleeping. It had to be close to midnight, he'd been breaking his ass all day for Mr. Blue, and he'd have to drag said ass out of bed in another six hours to do the same. He was tired and sick to death of being picked on just because the last happy asshole to go through the Planet with a toolbox had done everything wrong. It's not my fault, he thought sullenly, that the dumbass didn't connect the leads on the MOSFETs before he installed 'em. And his outdoor conduits are crappy, he didn't figure on the Planet's inductive load… incompetent jerkoff…

Maybe he was being harsh, but he wasn't feeling particularly forgiving after the day he'd had. Mr. Blue had distinctly told him to get to the surface cams first – and then chased him down and insisted he'd told him to take care of the intercom system first. Cole knew he was full of shit – along with everyone else working at the Planet – but Reston was one of the top guys, a real heavy-hitter, when he said jump, you jumped, and there was never a question of who was right. Cole had only worked for Umbrella for a year, but he'd made more money in that year than he had in the five before combined; he was not gonna be the one to piss off Mr. Blue (so-called because of his perpetual blue suit) and get himself canned.

You sure about that? After all you've seen in the last few weeks?

Cole put the box of transistors down and rubbed at his eyes; they felt hot and itchy. He hadn't been sleeping all that well since coming to work at the Planet. It wasn't that he was some bleeding-heart type, he didn't give much of a shit what Umbrella wanted to do with their money. But…

… but it's hard to feel good about this place. It's bad news. It's a freak show.

In his year with Umbrella, he'd wired a chem lab on the west coast for power, installed a bunch of new circuit breakers for a think tank on the other coast, and generally done a lot of maintenance work wher– ever they shipped him. Incredible pay, not too hard, and the people he usually worked with were decent enough – mostly blue-collar types doing the same kind of stuff he was doing. And all he had to do out-side of the work was promise not to talk about whatever he saw; he'd signed a contract to that effect when he'd first hired on, and had never had a problem with it. But then, he'd never seen the Planet. When Umbrella called you out on a job, they didn't explain anything. It was just, "fix that," and you fixed it and got paid. Even within the working crews, discussions about the job site's purpose were heavily discouraged. Word got around, though, and Cole knew enough about the Planet to think that he maybe didn't want to work for Umbrella anymore. There were the creatures, for one thing, the test animals. He hadn't actually seen them, or the thing they were calling Fossil, the frozen freak, but he'd heard them, a couple of times. Once, in the middle of the night, a screeching, howling sound that had chilled him to the bone, a sound like a bird, scream– ing. And then there was the day in Phase Two, realigning one of the video cameras, when he'd heard a strange chattering sound, like nails being tapped on hollow wood, but the sound was animal, too. Alive. He'd heard that they were specially created for Um– brella, some kind of genetic hybrids that would be better for studying, but hybrids of what? All of the creatures had bizarre and unpleasant nicknames, too. He'd heard the "research" guys talking about them on more than one occasion.

Dacs. Scorps. Spitters. Hunters. Sound like a fun bunch – for a horror movie.

Cole crawled to his feet, stretching his tired mus– cles, still thinking unhappy thoughts. There was Res– ton, of course; the guy was a grade-A tyrant, and of the worst kind – the kind with a lot of power and not a lot of patience. Cole was used to working with managerial types, but Mr. Blue was way too high on the food chain for his comfort zone. The man was intimidating as all hell.

But that's not the worst, is it?

He sighed, looking around at the dozen cells that lined the room, six on either side. No, the worst was right in front of him. Each cell had a cot, a toilet, a sink – and restraining straps on the walls and at-tached to the beds. And the cell block was less than twenty feet from the "foyer" of the first environment, where the doors had locks on the outside.

After this one, I do some serious thinking about my priorities; I've got enough saved to take a break, get some perspective…

Cole sighed again. That was fine, for later. For now, though, he had to try and catch some sleep. He turned and walked to the door, slapping the lights off as he opened it…… and there was Reston. Hurrying around the corner where the main corridor turned toward the elevators, looking extremely upset.

Oh, hell, what now?

Reston saw him and practically ran to him, his blue suit uncharacteristically rumpled, his pale gaze dart– ing left and right. "Henry," he gasped, and stopped in front of him, breathing hard. "Thank God. You have to help me. There are two men, assassins, they broke in and they're here to kill me, and I need your help."

Cole was as much taken aback by his demeanor as by what he said; he'd never seen Blue with a hair out of place, or without that small, smug smile that was the sole property of the incredibly wealthy.

"I… what?"

Reston took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly.

"I'm sorry. I just – the Planet has been invaded; there are two men here, looking for me. They mean to kill me, Henry. I recognize them from a thwarted attempt on my life not six months ago; they've posted a man on the surface by the door, and I'm trapped, they'll find me and…"

He broke off, gasping, and was he trying not to cry? Cole stared at him, thinking he called me Henry. "Why are they trying to kill you?" He asked. "I was the chair for a hostile takeover last year, a packaging company – the man we bought out was unstable, he swore he'd get me. And now they're here, right now they're locking up everyone in the cafe– teria – but they're only after me. I've called for help but they won't get here in time. Please, Henry will you help me? I… I'll make it worth your while, I promise you. You'll never have to work again, your children will never have to work…"

The open plea in Reston's eyes was disconcerting; it stopped Cole from mentioning that he didn't have any children. The man was terrified, his lined face quivering, his silver-shot hair sticking up in tufts. Even without the monetary offer, Cole would have offered to help.

Maybe.

"What do you want me to do?"

Reston half-smiled in relief, actually reaching out to grasp Cole's arm. "Thank you, Henry. Thank you, I… I'm not sure. If you could – they only want me, so if you could distract them somehow…"

He frowned, his lips trembling, then looked past Cole to the small room that marked the entrance to the environments. "That room! It has a lock on the outside, and opens into One – if you could lure them to you, slip into One… I could lock them inside, lock down the entire room as soon as you were out. You could go straight through to Four and out to the medical area, I'd unlock it for you as soon as they're trapped."

Cole nodded uncertainly. It should work, except…

"Won't they know I'm not you? I mean, they'll have a picture of you or something, won't they?" "They won't be able to tell. They'll only see you for a second, when they come around the corner, and then you'll be gone. As soon as they get inside, I'll hit the controls – I can hide in the cell block."

Reston's pale eyes were swimming, overbright with unshed tears. The guy was desperate – and as plans went, it wasn't a bad one. "Yeah, okay," he said, and the look of gratitude on the older man's face was almost heartwarming. Almost. If he were a decent human being it would be. "You won't regret this, Henry," Reston said, and Cole nodded, not sure what else to say. "You'll be fine, Mr. Reston," he said finally, un– comfortably. "Don't worry." "I'm sure you're right, Henry," Reston said, and turned, and walked into the dark cell block without another word. Cole stood there for a second, then shrugged in-wardly and started for the little room, nervous but also a little peeved. Mr. Blue was scared, but he was still pretty much an asshole.