Chapter 384

The man who approached me in the general aviation waiting area looked even less like a pilot, than the others from pig shit air, who had previously flown me around. The one that afternoon looked like a funeral director, I thought. Not a good look for a pilot, I decided.

"Ms. Stone?" he asked in a dead pan voice.

"Yes, I'm Maxine Stone," I replied.

"If you are ready, we can leave now?" he said still showing no emotion at all. Not even a smile of any kind.

"Sure, I have very little luggage," I said holding up a small canvas bag left on the cruise ship by someone from the farm.

"Good, then we can be on our way."

"How long will we be in the air?" I asked.

"The flight will take about five hours. We have to make a couple of other stops," he informed me.

The plane was the eight passenger thing I had flown in previously. It appeared to be a kind of shuttle plane for them. We stopped two places with no names posted on either of the buildings used as offices. Each time we stopped the pilot went inside the small metal garage looking things to pick up boxes. There were never more than a single person could carry, but each time at least two.

We arrived on the grass strip of the farm late in the afternoon, but it wasn't dark when we landed. It was a small covered pickup truck which met us. The truck driver loaded the boxes, then opened the door for me. He had not said a single word to anyone. He did however have a nice sized bulge under his jacket. I don't think it was because he was glad to see me.

The ride to the building hidden in the trees took about five minutes. Before we arrived, there were two check and choke points. I knew the layout of the place pretty well. At least the drive past the offices and down to one of the barns was familiar. From the air or the ground the technical facility looked just like a cattle barn. There were even tractors parked around. I was sure they got moved about now and then, but they also looked brand new.

The truck stopped long enough for me to exit. After I was out it most likely returned to the office building entrance, or on to one of the other barns.

I was met by a young woman, who at least smiled.

"Ms. Stone, how nice to finally meet you. It is a real pleasure as well as an honor." she said falling all over herself.

"What the hell is that all about," I asked her. "You do know that I can not get you a raise or anything else for that matter."

She laughed then said, "They told me you were brutally honest. I see that it is true. You are a bit of a legend here. There are not many female operative that actually go to war these days."

"We aren't at war are we?" I asked. "If we are someone should tell the troops."

"I meant into actual combat. Most of the female operatives tend to be more the kiss and tell kind. They might shoot someone or plant a bomb, but they don't really stand and exchange gunfire with the enemy."

"First you have to know who the enemy is," I suggested. "For that kiss and tell works pretty damn well." I paused a few heavy second then added. "I really don't like kiss ass very much, so can we just get on to it."

She looked hurt but she led the way to the tack room door, which actually concealed the elevator. The elevator took us down to a basement, which was filled with very clean rooms. Rooms where they did things no one talked about. Things which people with good sense didn't ask about. So the ass kissing chick dropped me in a small office.

I sat alone where I assume I was supposed to contemplate my sins. I really didn't consider many things to be a sin, so I just stared at the wall. I had my MP3 player in the back pocket of my jeans, so I looked around for a plug. I found one behind the desk with Doctor Bennet's name plate on it.

"I see you made yourself at home," he said when he entered.

"Just making the best use of my time. That is one of my long, long list of directives," I informed him.

"Well we are ready for you in the lab. It will take a few hours to make the repairs so we can hook you up while we do," he advised me.

"Can I get some real music while you work this time?" I asked.

"You don't like sound tracks from all the great movies?" he asked as a reply.

"Sorry the wailing of Broadway has-beens, isn't my idea of music," I said.

"Oh well you need to suffer at least a little." He stood in front of me as he spoke. I stood to follow along beside him as he led me from his office.

Once inside the lab, I lay on the table in a room that was as clean as any operating room in any hospital in the world. They would be vacuuming and sterilizing all the openings I had made in the skin like covering. They would also be evaluating and replacing any contaminated circuits or components.

"It is a mess when you get shot," Bennet said.

"Tell me about it," I said in agreement.

"Knock off the wise cracks the crew will be here in a minute," he said.

"Yes boss," I said. All the other workers thought I was just another Eve unit. The mechanics were pretty much the same inside both of us, so they didn't need to know anything else. The fewer people who knew, the less likely they were to pull the exploding head trick on me. A couple of the Eves and Lucy units had blow apart to keep them out of the hands of the bad guys. I would be a real coup for some intelligence agency, if they could take me in working condition. I knew and accepted that as a possibility.

For the next slightly more than three hours, I spoke only when asked to speak. I played dumb ass Eve unit quite well when necessary. I did appreciate that the music being played in the work room was at least a mixture of modern tunes. I hate elevator music.