Anachron - 07

Anachron Field Log: Sequence 4

Security was tight inside the lobby of Burnett Tower.  It was lunch hour and people were milling about.  A campaign tent could be seen through the East glazed wall. The President had begun his speech only minutes ago.

A large man with a black military backpack pushed his way through the security checkpoint line at the entrance of the lobby.  People shouted angrily as he forced his way up to the metal detectors.  He ran right through the metal detectors triggering blinking lights and a siren that sounded as angry as the people in the line behind him.

Without hesitation he pulled out a handgun and skillfully shot both security guards at either side of the metal detectors before they could draw their guns. The lobby erupted with screams as a fire-fight broke out.  The man ran as fast as he could, soaking bullets and frantically returning fire, towards the East wall.  He made it three-quarters of the way across the lobby where bloodied and firing his gun with both hands, he exploded.

In the debriefing room after the Anachron run:

The Anachron Team dissected the last moments of Cane's life.  Cane as always seemed rushed.  It was as if he were late for his own suicide mission.  Cane exploded without warning.  Had he planned this or was the bomb set to blow on a timer?  The team begins to question whether Cane was in control of the situation in the lobby, in the taxi, or back in Wichita.  Why is he always so desperate in all of his actions? Perhaps someone else is pulling his strings.  Could it be General Hills?

The team couldn't be certain until they got the missing video surveillance video from the military prison Cane escaped from.  Jeremy loaded a flash drive with a hacking program that the women could use to retrieve the missing surveillance video once they infiltrated the prison.  All they had to do was get to a computer on the network and plug it in and let the hacking program do its work.

10 pm - On the tarmac of a military airfield only a few miles from the military prison in Wichita

Only 34 hours had passed since the President was killed, but four Anachron runs and lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on Lauren and Alex.  Two hours ago they were in the basement of the IRS building experiencing the explosion Cane set off in the Burnett lobby via the Anachron, and now they were in the present, in Wichita, attempting to covertly recover missing surveillance video from a high security prison.  The present and past were blurring together, it was hard to judge when and where they were.

They were picked up and driven to the prison by a lieutenant.  They entered the facility under the guise that they were investigating Cane's escape for the investigation back in Ft. Worth.  They quickly learned that someone had already been sent by Weiss just a few hours ago to check the prison.  The agent that came before them was named Davis.

The women were shown around the prison, but they speedily turned their attention to finding the missing video.  The lieutenant brought them to the surveillance control room, but he forewarned them that Davis came up empty handed after looking for the missing video.  The lieutenant introduced the agents to the security guard in the control room.  His name was Evans, he looked exhausted.  It was explained that another guard named Mitchell usually worked nights and Evans worked days. However, Mitchell went missing along with the video feed the night Cane escaped and Evans had been covering both shifts ever since.

The lieutenant left to get back to his duties, and Evans left to refill his coffee which left Lauren and Alex alone to poke through the video archive.  Just as Davis had, they hit a wall.  The video they wanted was missing from the archive.  Even Jeremy's flash drive couldn't find the video.  They simply weren't in the archive.  Someone had to have moved them somewhere else, but where?

Hills' computer!  Both agents came to the same conclusion simultaneously.  They had to get to Hills' office and run the hacking program on his computer.  They used the cameras to make sure Hills was not in his office.  He wasn't, so they sprang into action.  Alex stayed in the control room and Lauren rushed through the prison hallways to Hill's office.

Hills' office was locked, so Lauren picked the lock.  She had never picked a lock in her life, but her hands moved with the dexterity of a master thief.  As the lock clicked open something in Lauren's subconscious also clicked.  She felt white hot heat wash over her and an explosion threw her against a wall.  She could feel warm blood rushing down her forehead into her eyes.  Suddenly it all went away and she found herself unharmed in the prison hallway with the door to Hills' office open before her.  She had had a flashback, but the memory was not her own, it had come from her experience in the Anachron.

She shook off the flashback, entered the office, and plugged the flash drive into Hills' computer.  Jeremy's program worked its magic.  The missing video files were there, but it would take a couple minutes to download the videos to the flash drive.  Meanwhile Alex was back in the control room watching as Evans returned from his coffee break.  Alex kept Evans' eyes off the surveillance monitors long enough for Lauren to slip out of Hill's office unnoticed by flirting with him.

As Lauren made her way back to the control room Hills turned the corner and started walking down the hallway towards her.  He was headed for his office and they were going to walk past each other.  Lauren couldn't help herself not use this opportunity to talk briefly with Hills and see if she could psychoanalyze him.  The two had a quick exchange of words that was more like a sparring match than a conversation.  Lauren walked away certain that Hills was somehow involved in the assassination, but she let slip that she was working on the same investigation as Weiss.

Alex and Lauren reunited, and left the prison with little fanfare.  They had got what they came for,  all they could hope for was that the reward was worth the risk.

2 am - In the debriefing room after the trip to Wichita:

The Anachron Team loaded up the recovered surveillance videos and watched.  There was no sound but the image was clear enough to work out what was being said by reading lips.  Each of the 3 videos held incriminating evidence:

Video 1 -  Shows Cane being loaded into the prisoner truck.  The guards are dismissed by Hills, who then tosses something (presumably handcuff keys and a handgun) into Cane and cuts the pad lock that holds the doors shut.

Video 2 - Shows Mitchell sitting in the control room.  Hills comes in and says "I've got a bad feeling about that prisoner transfer."  Hills tells Mitchell to radio the truck and make sure everything is okay.  Mitchell radios the truck but gets no response.  Hills leaves the control room.

Video 3 - Shows Hills returning to the control room a few minutes later and ordering Mitchell to come with him to go find out what happened to the truck.

The Anachron Team has the video evidence they need to connect Hills to Cane.  The team plans to show Weiss the video first thing in the morning.