My favorite Lego creation!
B.U.Z.Z
Website Links
The corridor was dark and musty. The stainless steel walls were like a mirror, for they showed the whole room. The black floors gave off a metal sheen.
Suddenly, a soft footstep could be heard. Then another. Then another, growing louder with each step. If you had good ears you could hear shallow breathing. Occasionally there was a squeak and a muffled curse, but that was all.
The one who was making the noise was me. I was pressed against the wall. My gun was out and positioned to face the darkness looming ahead of me. I was walking along the wall, trying (and failing) to make as little noise as possible.
As I neared the end of the corridor, I saw an elevator. By just one look I could tell that the doors were bulletproof. The control panel was protected by two layers of defenses: first a password then an iris scan. The worst part was that some was coming up.
As for me, my gun’s clip was full, but I had no extra ammunition. My knapsack was lying on the ground outside and the guards would shoot me before I could get to it. Luckily I had the foresight to pack some stuff into my pocket. I emptied my pocket and groaned: 3 smoke bombs, 1 sonic grenade, and my pocket knife. Looking around, I discovered that the only defensive cover I got was for the shadows of the hallway.
Now that, I berated myself, was stupid, leaving your knapsack behind…again! If I get out of this…
The elevator dinged, shaking me out of my thoughts. I quickly melted into the shadows. The doors opened and one security guard strolled out. He was about 18 years old with yellow-gold hair and a pig-like face, no offense to the kid. As he strolled leisurely by me, he forgot the basic rule of security checks: always look in the shadows.
As quick as a cat, I jumped the guard from behind. Surprisingly, I felt myself fly through the air a few seconds later, with the stainless steel wall closing in fast. The kid seemed to have grabbed me and thrown me over his shoulder and across the hall. The only saving grace was that I had pinched his walkie-talkie while he wasn’t looking.
I hit the wall with a thud, winding me. I struggled to my feet, checking my gun to make sure the muffler was on. I didn’t want to shoot the kid but I wanted to be ready, just in case.
The guard charged at me, swinging his fists. I ducked them with ease and delivered a kick to his solar plexus. The teenager swore and doubled over in pain, allowing me to give him a devastating karate chop to the back. The guard fell to the ground, unconscious.
As quick as I could I swapped clothes with my victim, making sure to grab my equipment as I went. Then I dragged him over to the elevator’s control panel and dropped him to the floor. Remembering that my quarry was an egomaniac, I typed in the most likely password: Bu Shing.
After a few breathless moments, the password indicator showed green, allowing me to access the iris scan. Hauling the napping security guard to his feet, I opened his right eye for him and waited as he was scanned. After the scan was approved, I dropped the guard and opened the elevator. I stepped in, hitting a random button on the wall next to the door.
The doors closed and I grinned as I sped down. I was in.
* * *
When the elevator opened, I discovered that I was in a computer lab. Several desks with chairs and state-of-the-art computers crowded the room. A large screen took up most of the left wall. The only other exit was a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the room, for there were no windows.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Without thinking, I dived behind the nearest desk and got into a position where I could see most of the room. A minute later, three people walked into the room.
The first was a girl. She was handcuffed and gagged. Locks of raven-black obscured her face. She was about 5 feet tall and clothed in black.
Next was a security guard. Enough said.
The last figure made my blood boil: Bu Shing.
The power-crazy old popinjay made his way to the screen. With a spoken word, the screen turned on to reveal…
“President Bush” Bu Shing said smoothly.
“Bu Shing” The President of the United States of America said in a barely civil voice. “What do you want?”
Obviously they’ve done business before, I thought.
“I was wondering if you had considered my offer” Shing was saying as I turned back to the conversation.
“If you think that I’ll give in to baseless threats you big-headed—”
“Before you continue with your insult, turn your attention to the girl behind me” Shing smirked. “One word out of line and she dies.”
The President’s eyes roamed to the captive girl. After a few seconds, his eyes grew wide and his face paled. His mouth moved but no words came out.
“You have five hours” Shing said with finality. “Make the right choice, or your daughter dies” With that he shut off the screen.
Daughter?!?! I thought incredulously. That’s it. I hate terrorists in general, but anybody who holds a kid hostage is downright sick. At that moment, I didn’t really care about my assignment to retrieve the defense chip. I even forgot about my vow of revenge on Shing. The only thing I was focused on was the present moment. It was my moral duty to protect Bush’s daughter. Besides, if I let her die, President Bush would probably find out via the CIA that a French Special Agent was at the scene, dig a little more and discover that I failed to save his daughter, be led to believe that France was behind the whole kidnapping gig, and invade France in retaliation.
Suddenly, an image of America invading France came unbidden into my head and almost burst out laughing. He may have tons of weapons, but Bush could barely keep the Iraqis and Afghans in line. His chances of succeeding in conquering my country was next to impossible, no matter hoe much men and ammunition he had. We had all of our army stationed at home. America was wasting men on trying to stop the Middle East Crisis from erupting into a third World War. France would cut down the American troops like a lumberjack does to a redwood tree.
Why was I struggling to keep in my laughter? I am a secret agent for crying out loud! I must be calm, cool, collected…I…must…be…in…control!
After I finally mastered by emotions, I looked at the room again. To my horror, Shing, the President’s daughter, and the security guard were about to leave. If I was to save the girl I had to act!
But why wasn’t I doing anything? Another though buzzed in my skull: would the girl slow me down? I had a mission to complete and babysitting a pampered daughter of a big-headed, trigger-happy President would throw a big wrench into my plans. What if this was all a trap? What if the CIA got involved? I had to get my revenge on Shing and if the CIA came storming in, I wouldn’t be able to punish Shing.
The trio was nearing the stairs. If I was going to act, it had to be now.
I hope I’m not signing my death warrant, I though grimly. I took out my gun and leapt to my feet. “SHING!!!” I hollered. “I’VE COME FOR YOU!!!”
As the three figures in the room whirled to face me, I reached into my pocket and took out my whole stock of smoke bombs and threw them into the midst of the group. Right when they hit the floor, the bombs exploded, releasing a thick, black smoke into the air.
“Miss Bush, get down!” I yelled as I fired every bullet I had. I heard two men cry out in pain and saw several machines explode; causing sparks to fly into the air. Ducking my head, I rushed into the smoke, searching for the girl. When I found her lying facedown on the floor with her hands over her head and breathing, I swiftly took out my pocket knife and picked the lock on her handcuffs and undid her gag. I then lifted her up and led her to the elevator, taking my sonic grenade and throwing it behind me as I went.
Right when we entered the elevator, the grenade exploded. The doors closed before the shockwave reached us, but I doubt that the rest of the room was as lucky. As the Taipei 101-like elevator sped downwards, I thought I distinctly heard more machines explode.
There no way Shing could’ve survived that blast, I thought. I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t get to torture him, but I had saved Bush’s daughter. I had taken out the snake’s head, leaving the rest of the operation is disarray. This made my assignment to retrieve the chip a lot easier. Little did I know that my assessment of the situation was completely wrong.