A.R.: Beyond the Universe

“Aren’t you done with that?” he quietly asks.

“Almost done…there…its set. Let’s get out of here before they…”

Suddenly, lights everywhere in the building come on, joined by hi-pitched sirens. If they weren’t wearing the special ear plugs as they had been instructed to use, they would have been driven to their knees in pain.

“We have 30 seconds before the guards get here. There’s the ladder from the chopper…grab it!” the second man yells.

As the first man jumps for the bottom rung of the rope ladder connected to the helicopter far above him, the second man screams in pain and falls limp to the ground. His companion does everything he can to climb up the ladder, knowing full well that the other man is dead. He has the information that he was supposed to get and climbs the long ladder as fast as he can. He is 3 feet from the helicopter when he feels a sharp pain in his left shoulder and then his right leg goes numb. Doing everything he can to keep from falling off the ladder, he sees a hand reach for him from inside the chopper. He looks down to see that they have left the area and are now far above the ground. He holds his breath, swings his good arm towards the outstretched hand and let’s go of the ladder. It is a strong grip that takes the man’s hand and pulls him up into the chopper.

“Did you get it?”

The injured man hands the bloodstained envelope to the large man who has just saved his life, then collapses to the floor. The standing man looks down to see a pool of blood on the floor coming from beneath the man on the floor. He rolls him over to see a bullet wound in his chest. He reaches down and puts his hand on the man’s neck –there is no pulse.

“Do we bring him back with us?” the pilot asks.

“No” the large man replies and pushes the limp body out the open door. “We have what we need” and slides the helicopter door closed.

The large man opens the envelope, pulls out the single piece of paper and reads it.

“Send this” the man commands the pilot.

The pilot does as he is told, reading the contents of the paper over the mic attached to his helmet and listens for a reply.

“Well, what did they say?” the large man impatiently asks.

“You listen…I don’t want to get this wrong” responds the pilot, who is clearly nervous with the large man so close. He hands his headset to the man who places it on his left ear.

“I repeat…you are to pick up the rest of your men and go to that address. Get what you need, terminate the man and any witnesses. Do you understand?”

“Yes” the large man responds coldly and hands the headphones back to the pilot. “Get going” the man tells the pilot. “You know where to go”.

The helicopter speeds off into the night sky. In the distance, the horizon begins to brighten as the sun starts to rise.

“What happens if we do not get to him in time?” the pilot asks.

“In that case, we still have someone on the inside” comes back his answer.