Chapter 194: Meet Roborat

Everyone knew their job and by the time I got back from the mall, they were hard at it. Earl had filled his rental car with boxes and headed to the neighborhood where the chinks had set up shop. The boxes were filled with cameras, repeaters, and other odds and ends, His mission was to set up video surveillance without anyone knowing.

His surveillance was geared to the outside of the building. We wanted a view of the parking lot, the loading dock, and the neighborhood around the old chemical plant. The plant wasn't quite as bad as my fears, of five football fields under one roof, but it was two, half football fields, one on top of the other.

Along the outside walls were true two story portions, while the center area was made up of a few rooms with ceiling thirty feet tall. It was a layout that was going to make cornering the bad guys extremely difficult, but much easier than an old textile plant would have been. That information about the building came from the blueprints Lucas was able to find, then convert to a 3D image on his magic computer.

When I left to be the shadow team's bait once again, Lucas had already been missing for several hours. Where ever he went, he had to leave before sunup to get there when they opened. When he returned around noon, it was with a few small boxes and a huge smile.

While he was gone Earl finished his work. Earl was a more talented man than I had expected. He managed to talk his way into some places and break into the one he couldn't. "I probably could have conned the owner, if he had been around," he explained. "It had to be that building, since it was vacant and had a perfect view of the loading dock. A camera in the second story window would look down into their parking lot.

"Well Lucas, Earl has the outside of the building wired for video and some sound, what magic trick do you have up your sleeve to top that?" I asked smiling.

"I want you to meet the rat cam," he said smiling as he handed me a furry little critter. "I have two of these that will patrol the place 24/7. They each work a shift and then go home to recharge. Their heads are live digital cameras. The resolution is poor, but it is a picture. The computer is housed inside their body along with a compartment which holds 20 tiny bugs. The bugs fall out on demand just like rat turds," he said smiling.

"Don't tell me what this little bastard is going to cost me until this is over." I demanded.

"It's CIA gear. The man said that they had a favor to ask later, but didn't tell me what it was. The guy just said that you wouldn't be bored." Lucas said.

"And how did you find this guy?" I asked.

"Last night on the phone, Mike said you knew him," he replied.

"I don't think I know any CIA types, but then everyone probably knows one, but don't know that they know one. How confusing is that?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's why they call them SECRET agents," he said with a laugh.

"Never look a gift rat in the mouth, I guess." I said it light hearted, but I didn't like the government being even a little involved.

I finally was able to get Abra alone again. "Abra, tell me something, who the fuck is in charge of your little band of merry mercenaries?" I asked.

She laughed at me, then said, "I suppose it is Robinhood, if we are the merry men, and that would make me Maid Marion."

"Okay, now that I know you are well versed in western literature, who is in charge?" I asked again.

"It doesn't quite work that way. However the man responsible for passing along orders and other information is the older man. His name is Damien. Surely you have spoken to him?" she asked.

"Yes, but the Admiral gave me no real idea who was the leader." I said.

"It's because Swamp Thing, as you call us, hires only leaders. On a job like this, one person is responsible to pass on information and see that we all have whatever we need. On this job it was Damien. It could just have easily been me." she said.

"Every soldier a leader, it is an interesting concept," I replied. I really did find it interesting. In a small unit with a close bond that would work, I supposed.

I had not known the middle aged man's name, but I would make a point to remember it. I left Abra in my living room and went to find Lucas. I found him not in my apartment at all but in the TV studio apartment.

"I needed a soldering iron," he explained. "So what can I do for you?"

"I need you to see if you can find out what kind of alarm system they have in the new warehouse. We are going to need to get in there a couple of times at least. That's the downside of having such a big place, it should be easy to find a way in and out without being spotted." I informed him.

"Yeah I need to deliver these little guys," he agreed. "I got about twenty more minutes of work on them, then I will hop right on it."

"Lucas, we also need to move this whole operation to the new office compound for a while. It isn't so spread out." He nodded his understanding.

I left Lucas in the TV Studio apartment, working on his rat cam. I walked over to Lois's apartment to find Damien. "We need to talk," I said when he came to the door.

"Fair enough, how about we go for coffee while these little worker bees make good things for us?" he suggested.

"Sure, why don't we drive by Helen's for coffee to go. We can take it to the marina." I suggested.

"Terrific," he said.

Thirty minutes later we were sitting on the veranda of the marina's office, drinking coffee and looking out at the water. "So Maxine what did you want to talk about?" he asked.