Chapter 18 Project Y
Vincent
"How did Hollander's surgery go?" I asked Kael as he drove us to the factory that afternoon. It's been two days since he got attacked and a full twenty-four hours since he went in for surgery.
"Well. Dr Frank said he just needs to be monitored now till he wakes up."
"And how long will that take?"
"Forty-eight hours at the most. He had to be patched up a lot so maybe a week of recovery too and some physiotherapy before he can be out and about."
Fuck. That bastard. "That means we have to delay the opening."
He nodded. "Except you're willing to use Caleb. He's just as good."
"No. Hollander is our main associate and knows the process already. I can't risk messing up that night just because I want everything to go according to plan."
"So..."
"We postpone the opening. Thankfully, we haven't announced a date yet, so I'll just call Gabriel to have a talk with the board." I need to ask him about the star entertainment takeover too.
"Okay, sir."
"And the Richard case, how is it going?"
"I've sent the location to John. He said they'll go over there tomorrow."
Good. It's about time the case got closed. We need to move on to the next thing.
"Make sure to keep an eye out on the girl and her performance. I'll be going over to Mexico soon."
"If she fails the assignment?"
I didn't even bother to ponder the question. I knew there was the possibility of that happening and I knew there was only one solution to it.
"Get rid of her. All of them."
The factory was rowdy as expected when we walked in. Metal grinding against metal, machines roaring in every corner as they worked and sparks cutting through the air in sharp bursts.
I moved past the workers that were stationed in a controlled line at the centre of the room performing the tasks assigned to each of them. Some cutting, some welding and some assembling.
Overhead, on a narrow steel walkway lined by the edge of the wall were multiple armed men, staring straight ahead and looking stiff.
Good. Nothing was out of place.
"Boss!" I recognized the loud voice even before it got to me. Diego. The manager I'd put in charge of the place. He dipped his head slightly and flashed me a crooked smile that made the goggles on his face look weird.
"Has Adrian arrived?"
He nodded vigorously, maintaining that crooked smile. "Yes sir. He's in the vault."
"How is it going with the current batch? I haven't heard anything about them being distributed."
"That's because we had a little hiccup. One of the machines stopped working but we've taken care of that and are set to start distributing soon. The cases are being loaded onto the containers as we speak."
I nodded and glanced at the Colt M4 Carbine, one of the workers was assembling together. "Let's head to the vault then. I need to be on my way in thirty minutes."
He scooted to the side and stretched his hands out in the direction of his office, where I knew the vault was. It was hidden behind a large bookcase and equipped with a face and fingerprint that only a number of people had access to.
Diego, I, Kael and the ten vetted engineers who carry out testings and modifications of our prototypes.
"Right, has the batch from Voss come in yet? He said he needs some altering done." I asked Diego as I placed my fingerprint on the biometric sensor.
"Yes sir. It came in last night."
"Did he send the cash with it?"
"Yes, sir. It has been sent to the casino."
I nodded satisfactorily as the face scanner beeped and analysed my face. Then we all went in when the large steel doors opened.
The interior of the vault was eerily quiet and white. Like those creepy mental institutions where patients were experimented on and tortured. The only difference between the two was that the vault was used as a lab for weapon prototypes.
Research and development if you will.
I moved past the boxes of glass in which previous prototypes we've worked on were stored in and acknowledged the workers who were scattered across the room at their stations, also decked in white.
I sighted Adrian in the glass room at the corner way before he noticed us. "Vincent!" He said excitedly as he walked out to meet me halfway. "Looking good as ever."
I nodded curtly, looking past him into the glass room. "Did you bring it?"
He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Would it kill you to loosen up a bit?"
Probably. You can never let your guard down, as I've learnt many a time.
"I did," he said when I didn't respond to his whine. "Right there." He pointed to the black briefcase on the table, also visible through the glass.
I headed straight for the room, the others behind me. I sat on the chair available around the long conference-style table and signalled for Adrian to open the case.
He sat down opposite me, opened the case with a code I know I'll be getting in a few minutes and turned the case over to face me.
I sucked in a breath, quite mesmerised by the product. "Wow."
Adrian nodded. "I know, right? MRX-13 Viper, our latest invention at the base. It has an estimated velocity that pushes well over the standard. A thousand metres per second."
I leant forward to take it out of its custom-cut form in the briefcase. Dark, sleek and compact. It looked refined. More refined than most of the products we already have and Adrian confirmed that with its features that he started to list out. "Advanced assault platform, gas-operated, which optimises its cycling system, a 700–800 metre range, and lightweight, as you must already feel. It’s perfect.”
I ran my fingers across it. "And how many days do we have it for?"
"Five at most. It can't be gone away for too long or our cover will be up."
I turned to Diego. "Do you think we can make ours within five days?"
He nodded. "We'll make sure of it, sir."
"Good. I'll leave you to it."
On our way out of the factory about ten minutes later, Adrian took out his phone to check something. "Right, have you found out anything about the rumoured project Y? I heard General Yuri has been meeting with... people.”
I pondered that. "Not yet but I have a plan."
"And what is that?"
"Nothing to worry yourself about. Once I have any information on the project, you'll be the first to hear about it."
He pursed his lips and stared at me for a while even after we got on the small elevator that'll take us up out of the factory and into the hallway that will lead straight to our front cover. The warehouse.
"What?"
He shrugged. "Nothing. Just curious as to what you have in mind."
"Hmm."
I was curious too, but not about my plan, about the girl Ariel. Would she be able to carry out my plans for Project Y or will she be a bad investment?