Thanks for reading and the encouragement everyone! Off now to write some more of my crossover hehe.


I don’t know why, but as soon as I got into my truck, I felt like eyes were watching me from a distance. Now it could have just been my imagination running riot, or, maybe, just maybe my intuition from all those years back is still pretty sharp.

Either, way, I had to read the file in my pocket and decide on a plan.

I cranked up the engine and slid the old beast into gear, heading downtown to a little café I frequented.

It might not sound like a safe place to read a secret file, but it was popular, and that meant always busy.

Bad guys tend not to like shooting up crowds just to get to one man – at least not when they’re after information rather than an actual hit.

I was lucky enough to park right outside, and quickly slid into my usual corner seat while Cindy, the waitress poured me a coffee.

I waited until she retreated back to the counter, then tugged out the folder Pete had sent me.

My hands shook slightly as I opened it and retrieved the contents, my eyes skimming the details quickly, and yet as methodically as I could.

There wasn’t much to tell, really.

The government had basically ridden into ZaliPharm on Phoenix’s coat tails. They could do things the foundation couldn’t, after all.

Once “Reaper” had been located, it had been assessed and deemed too important to destroy.

Yeah, right, typical political spiel that basically meant it might be a handy weapon one day.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the virus had eventually been relocated to a secure facility in the wilds of Canada.

Classic hide your dirty laundry in someone else’s backyard.

And I’d bet a hundred bucks the Canadian government knew nothing about it.

I looked at the map Pete had also sent and cringed.

There was no easy way in or out.

I had to hike through some tough terrain before I even got to any security measures.

Sheesh, Pete, don’t make it too easy on this old man will ya?

I smiled to myself, wishing my friend could have been sat beside me to chide.

Then I took a sip from my coffee and continued reading.

Once I got to the lab, there were guards on the outer perimeter, a security gate, and then a high tech entrance that only base personal could enter. There were no details on how that actually operated, which meant I would have to wing it – nothing new there, then.

I have no idea how the U.S. sold the place to the Canadians, but I’m sure there would have been hell to pay if the truth ever came out. Maybe that was something to think about.

Inside there appeared to be several floors, and the one I wanted was typically the bottom, hidden one. There were fire stairs, but access was usually made via a lift system only.

I pinched my nose, my tired eyes hurting after staring at the schematics for too long.

According to the details, if I could get in this far, there was an emergency suppression system that would let me destroy Reaper on the premises.

If, and only if, I could convince said system I had access, or that there was a breach in containment and a real threat existed.

No pressure, then.

But, just to add a little spice, the fun stuff didn’t end there.

You see, according to the information Pete had, Reaper was going to be moved and soon.

According to the dates before me, I had two weeks to pull this thing off, or the virus would be lost forever again in a sea of red tape.

I finished my coffee and instinctively glanced out the window.

There was no one around, just some old guy walking his dog and a meter maid.

Was I being paranoid?

I stuffed the folder’s contents back inside it, and then returned the folder to my pocket.

It was time to go home, dig out some gear I hadn’t needed in years, and then book the first available flight to Vancouver.

Oh, but first I needed to make a couple of calls.

Because I was going to need those aces up my sleeve on this one for sure…

* * * *

Big Bear Forest
British Columbia


It had taken two days to find myself in the Canadian wilds, and during that time I still hadn’t been able to shake the feeling of being watched.

At least, not until I’d gotten out into the mountains. Here, I’d know if anyone was tailing me for sure, but so far I’d detected nothing.

Well, except that the forest around me was awash with creatures that seemed to ignore my alien presence, but that I couldn’t help but stop and admire.

There were wolves up here, cougars, even the elusive Kermode, or as it was better known, the spirit bear.

Of course, there really wasn’t anything spooky about the famous white bear, it was simply a black bear with a genetic anomaly, but even so, I hoped I didn’t see one on this trip.

I’m not superstitious as a rule, but something in the back of my mind was niggling me on this one.

I stopped to take a gulp of water from my canteen and check out my location.

Not much further now.

If my calculations were correct, the facility should be visible just as soon as I’d passed through an area of Sitka spruces.

I put the canteen away and shielded the sun from my eyes. The narrow shaft of warm light was sucking moisture up from the forest, leaving a thin mist hanging over and around the trees on the hills above me.

It was a gorgeous sight, and part of me wished I was here on vacation, enjoying nature as it was intended.

Maybe, once Reaper is gone…

I moved on, shifting the weight of the pack I carried every few minutes.

It shouldn’t be cutting my shoulders, but it was, I was so out of practice at this kind of thing.

I ignored the soreness, and the aches and pains from the rest of my body as I picked my way to the edge of the spruces.

As the trees thinned, the ground began to slope away downwards away from me, and below, I could see the stark grey walls of the labs.

I hunkered down and pulled a small pair of binoculars from my belt, surveying my target from a distance.

There were a couple of sentries to deal with, but neither seemed the kind of highly trained individual I’d have expected to be guarding a deadly virus.

The building was just as unimpressive, had I not known what it contained.

I looked to the roof, and was rewarded with a satellite dish – just as I’d expected, there was no cable or phone lines out here, and any communication to the outside world was done via a secure satellite uplink.

This would be my way in.

I was far too old to be punching people out these days, and with the advancement of technology, I sure hoped I wouldn’t have to.

I still have a few friends in the right places, and for what I was about to do, I’d sure needed them.

You see, the government use several different operating systems at their facilities, depending on the nature of said facility.

With the help of my old DXS pals, I’d managed to discover the system here was likely to be one of three used over the past five years.

Using that information, I’d checked out each system and written a small virus that could infiltrate and corrupt them all.

Not a destructive virus, just a very invasive one that would write my details into the personal files to make it appear I was on staff. Not only that, but as I was “on staff” it would gain me security access to at least the entry level sections of the labs.

Way better than punching people out, don'tcha think?

My little bug would leave me on the system for just twelve hours, and after that all trace of me would be deleted, including any security footage.

And while inside, the virus would also render me invisible to other security systems, like motion sensors.

The only downside was, I had to be in and out in the twelve hour window, or my goose was cooked.

I slipped the backpack from my shoulders and tugged out my laptop, a small specialized printer and various other goodies I’d need to transmit my bug and make myself a fake pass.

Right about then, the forest decided to live up to its name and it began to rain.

I rolled my eyes, sure that nature was having a little dig at me, then quickly rummaged further into my pack to retrieve a small tarp.

Using a couple of pieces of thin rope and my favorite duct tape, I swiftly slung the tarp between two of the tall trees and fashioned a crude lean to. It didn’t need to be pretty, just keep the rain from my equipment while I worked.

I rolled into its shelter with the laptop in hand and dragged my pack and other gear in behind me, just as the fine droplets turned into a somewhat heavy downpour.

I ignore the pelting of the rain on the canvas and began tapping away frantically at my keyboard.

The program and files had to be ready the next time my computer detected a downlink being established, so that I could piggy back in on it.

It took about an hour, but finally it came.

My laptop began to beep and then it automatically hooked itself up to the downlink like a parasite attaching to a host.

I watched as a green bar began to move across the screen, charting the progress of the virus until it beeped again and I knew my bug had been sucked into the facilities complex systems. I tapped another button, repeating the procedure again with another packet of data – part of my backup plan.

Once it too was in, I looked at my watch and began to count down in my head. I figured the virus would take about fifteen minutes to completely establish on the network.

While I waited, I took out the final items from my pack, fabricated a badge, and began to change my clothes into something that would look more appropriate for a lab.

By the time I’d finished, the fifteen minute wait was over, and I could make my move.

I took down the lean to and rolled it back into my pack along with the rest of my gear. Then I hid everything under as many leaves and twigs that I could find.

I didn’t think the guards would come up here and check until it was too late, but there was no point in leaving things out in the open, just in case.

Okay, Mac, show time…

I took a look at the guards’ positions. The two seemed to patrol their own little areas and never actually met up, so I only had to take one out to reach the entrance.

I waited until his back was turned away from me and then scrambled down the slope in front of the trees, trying desperately not to take out my worst knee on the rough terrain.

I stumbled to a messy halt just behind a rather lovely red cedar and caught my breath, waiting until the guard returned to make my move.

Eventually, he was close enough, and I pulled out my secret weapon – the infamous duct tape.

With a swift flick of my right wrist, the roll of silver wonder stuff bounced across the ground and rolled straight to the tip of the guard’s boots.

It glanced off his right foot and then rolled a little further before stopping.

The guard instantly looked down and traced the tape’s journey, eyes wide as to where such a thing could magically appear from.

Before he had time to calculate there was an intruder, and where I might be hiding, I was out from the trees and had my arm around his neck.

Two seconds later, a nice soft cloth doused in chloroform was over his nose and mouth, and he was shortly out for the count.

I dragged him backwards past the red cedar I’d used for cover, and into a more dense area of trees that surrounded the labs. Then, using the reel of duct tape that I’d retrieved, I secured his hands and feet, and taped over his mouth.

Before I left, I checked him over to make sure all was well, and then jogged back towards the gated entrance he’d been watching over.

In my younger days, it would have been more of a sprint, but I tried not to dwell on that fact.

The entrance to the facility had an array of cameras that locked onto me as I approached, but if I’m honest, I was surprised at that lack of further human presence.

Pete, I sure hope you’re right about this, ‘cause this place doesn’t look like somewhere you’d hide Reaper!

I paused at the gate and waited, noting a thin red beam scanning my eyes, reading my retinas.

It was what I’d expected, and what I’d included in my personnel file.

The gate beeped and clicked open without as much as an “access granted.”

My virus had worked.

Well, either that, or some government goons would be waiting to kick my rear end all the way to hell and back once I got inside.

I swallowed hard, considering the last option, then stepped into the building.

The corridor was narrow and white, smelling like a hospital, and looking very much like one too. I followed it into a locker room and beyond that the staff quarters.

This place was too far in the boonies for people to go home at night, so they had their own little areas to stay in.

Again, it all felt very insecure, like a civilian run operation as apposed to something the military or CIA might be behind.

I pushed on, taking an elevator to the next level, where the actual work seemed to be done. Another scanner awaited me as the doors whooshed open, but of course my details were once again on file.

Once I was passed the scanner, I was into the first set of labs.

People bristled past me in white coats or those full white coveralls you sometimes see. Others sat at desks, working on samples, or peering through microscopes.

I breezed through them like I belonged and headed to an office area in the corner that seemed unoccupied. There was a computer in there I might be able to use to find Reaper.

I checked over my shoulder as I entered, then closed the blinds and the door in the hope no one would realize I was an interloper.

Amazingly, the computer was booted, and the system open. It did ask for my password once I started to try and access files, but it shouldn’t have been that easy.

I tapped rapidly at keys, checking out just what kind of horrid government research was going on here. How many viruses like Reaper? How many biological weapons?

My eyes darted across the screen, taking in each separate project until realization dawned on me.

No wonder Canada had given the go ahead for this place. If the computer was to be believed, everything that was going on here had a genuine, humanitarian reason.

The research covered cures for strains of Ebola, Marburg, even the Hantavirus.

What the heck?

I pushed further into the files until I came across the schematic for each area.

There was a lower level, just like Pete’s information had suggested, and it was way more secure than the rest of the building.

So was all the genuine work just a cover, or was someone using this place to hide Reaper without most of the people here knowing it?

Either way, I had to get down there and destroy the thing.

That was going to be the hard part.

My little bug hadn’t given me access to the lower section, and given the lack of human security, I wasn’t about to be able to lie my way in. You can’t sweet talk a computer.

I pushed up from my chair, ready to go try anyway, when the door decided to swing open.

“Just exactly what do you think you’re doing in here?” A white coated blonde of about fifty was peering at me with eyes that could bore their way through a man’s soul. She looked at my badge. “Dr. Fillmore?”

I licked my lips and took precious seconds to answer while I looked at the name on her badge. Dr. Anna Spencer. My mind processed the information I’d just read moments earlier.

Dr. Spencer was head of research here. She might be able to get me into the lower level.

But was she a genuine scientist out to save lives, or one of the corrupt management here hiding a deadly virus?

I’m a pretty good judge of people, although I admit with women I have been known to get it wrong.

My “Macsense” was currently telling me to trust the doc – heck, did I even have a choice?

She could easily call security on me whatever my next move.

I sank back down into my chair.

“I’m looking for something,” I offered honestly.

Spencer’s’ eyes narrowed and I felt she was trying to form an opinion of me, just like I had her. “Looking for what, exactly? I don’t know you, do I? When did you transfer in?”

Okay, truth or dare time.

“I didn’t exactly transfer in,” I admitted. “There’s something here, something stored in the lower level that shouldn’t be, and I’m here to um…neutralize it.”

I watched her for a reaction, but she seemed genuinely puzzled by my statement, rather than angry that I knew about Reaper.

Spencer looked over her shoulder, and I half expected her to scream for help. After all, I probably did sound like a madman.

Instead, she closed the door and slipped into the chair opposite me.

“Who sent you?” She asked warily.

How did I answer that? I decided the truth was probably the best option. “Let’s jut say it was an old friend’s dying wish that this thing is destroyed.”

“You’re not from the government?” She seemed shocked.

“Why would the government send me here to destroy what they’ve hidden?” Now I was getting confused.

Spencer sighed. “Dr. Fillmore, the government didn’t hide anything here, at least not directly. I’ve seen things I shouldn’t, memos, e-mails…”

I held up a hand. “Firstly, call me Mac, and second, if this isn’t U.S. sanctioned, then who?”

She shook her head. “Someone on the board here named Paul Ashmore seems to call all the shots when it comes to what goes on in the lower level. He has his own security people down there even. I don’t know what they’re hiding, but it scares me.”

My brow furrowed. It scared me too, but things were falling into place now.

I’d heard of Paul Ashmore before, back in my DXS days. He was ex-CIA, emphasis on “ex.” The guy had been booted out for misconduct in the 90’s. And trust me; you gotta do some pretty nasty stuff to get canned from the CIA.

That meant that Reaper wasn’t actually in the hands of the government as Pete had suspected, but in the hands of a rogue agent who was probably going to store it until he could hike the price and generate global interest.

And then…

I shivered.

“I know of Ashmore, he’s bad news,” I finally answered. “We need to destroy anything he has down there and get as much evidence out of here to the authorities as we can. Are you up for helping me?”

I hated asking, but the doc had way more chance of getting into the lower level than I did.

Spencer took a breath, and I could see she still didn’t trust me one hundred percent. And why should she?

I could be an enemy agent tricking her into helping me get the most deadly virus on the planet.

But…hey, old or not, I still must have some of my charm, because eventually she caved.

“Well…alright, but I don’t know how much I can actually do. I can get down to the basement, but the guard down there will never give me access to the containment area. I’m not one of Ashmore’s crew, after all.”

“What if there was some kind of systems failure that meant there might be a breach down there?” I was thinking fast. “Do you think we could scare them into giving you access? Make them think their bugs might be about to get out?”

“I can’t fake a containment breach.” She shook her head.

I grinned. “No, but maybe with a little improvisation, I can…”


* * * *


It’s funny, but labs are such great places to find what you need. There is almost always something you can use to cook up a bomb, a nasty smelling gas, or in this case, a little smoke without fire.

When I’d asked for my shopping list of ingredients, Dr. Spencer had known right away where to get them, and it hadn’t taken long to mix up a batch of Mac’s finest.

A little dry ice here, a little fizz added there, and now here I was scrambling down an elevator shaft to place the stuff where it would flow through the air system down below.

Now of course, a lab like this has a perfectly good venting system for clearing contaminants, quickly, but I was banking on Ashmore’s goons not to thinking about that when Spencer told them there might be a containment breach.

No, I was hoping they might be so scared when they saw the smoke that they’d let us right on into fix our fictional problem.

Maybe.

I winced as I stretched to place my concoction, my back telling me I was way too old to be hanging around like this.

I ignored the pain and scooted back up the elevator cable wishing I was a few pounds lighter.

Spencer was waiting for me at the top, and handed me my white lab coat back.

“Now for the real fun.” I winked as we stepped into the elevator I’d just been dangling above.


Spencer nodded, but I could see from her expression and the way she was wringing her palms, that she was terrified.

I wanted to console her and tell her I’d done a hundred jobs like this before, and it would be a piece of cake.

But then, I didn’t know how fit the goons below were going to be, and the last time I’d done anything like this was about twenty years ago. So, no, maybe I wouldn’t say anything at all until it was over.

Because deep down, I was kinda scared too.

After what seemed like forever, the elevator opened and we were presented with something that looked like a blast door with key card and retinal scan access.

Spencer used her card and let the scanner read her eyes, and I scooted in behind her. The cameras and motion sensors would normally have kicked off an alarm at my presence, but it appeared my hack was still doing its magic.

I looked at my watch, only two hours left to get out.

The other side the blast door, a man wearing a shoulder holster was waiting for us, separated by a Plexiglas security screen.

He looked kinda spooked, which was what I’d hoped for.

Behind him, tendrils of lovely white smoke ebbed from one of the room’s air vents.

“You shouldn’t be down here,” he barked at Spencer.

I put on my best Dexter Fillmore panicked expression and kept behind the good doctor so he hopefully thought I was a geek, not an adversary.

“We have a systems failure showing upstairs. If it isn’t dealt with we could lose containment down here as well.” Spencer sounded so serious, I almost believed her.

The guy thought about it for a few seconds, then hit his palm to a reader on the wall, allowing the clear screen to open up and let us in.

Spencer immediately headed for another door that had huge biohazard signs on it.

I guessed this was it.

“You don’t need to go in there, do you?” Holster guy sounded suddenly very, very afraid, but then we knew why.

“Afraid so.” Spencer was good. If we hadn’t been in such a dire situation, I would have suggested a career change to Hollywood.

Holster guy nodded, opened up the containment lab for us, and then backed away quickly to the security screen.

This was it, we had Reaper right where we wanted it.

Access to everything in this area was done through yet another specially designed glass wall using robotic arms.

At least we didn’t have to don suits to kill the virus.

I let Spencer take lead, as she obviously knew these systems better than I did.

“There are three different cultures in here,” she finally said after examining the files relating to Ashmore’s little stash. “Think we should destroy them all?”

I nodded, it wasn’t worth taking the chance. If Ashmore was involved, it was most likely something bad.

Spencer took a deep breath and took the controls moving the contents of a large titanium flask out and into the line of fire of a very accurate laser.

At the push of a button, the sample was fried into oblivion.

She continued with sample two until we were just left with Reaper.

I swallowed hard as I watched the vial come out of its flask and slowly maneuver under the laser.

My heart was pounding.

This was for Pete.

And then I heard the doors behind us swish open.

Both Spencer and me spun around instinctively at the sound, and my jaw almost dropped at what I saw. You see, it may have been years ago, but I have a darn good memory, especially when it comes to faces.

And standing in front of me right now, a .45 in hand, was the goon I’d knocked the cabin roof on back at Wolf Creek.

The goon who had originally worked for Zalister and who had probably sold Reaper to Ashmore.

I could tell from his eyes that he recognized me too.

I guess I expected some smart remark from him, that’s always the way it works on the big screen. But instead, he simply gestured with the gun and hissed, “Move away from the controls, and make it slow.”

I raised my hands and started to move, thinking if we complied it might buy us time – for he would surely kill us if we didn’t get a plan and fast.

To Spencer’s credit, she didn’t intend going out without taking Reaper with her, even if it was a suicidal way of thinking.

Before I could get in the goon’s line of fire, the doc had made a lunge for the laser controls and pressed the execute button.

I saw the flash of the red beam destroying Reaper about a millisecond before I saw the flash from the goon’s gun.

As the bullet hit her, Spencer was thrown back onto the glass wall. I felt the impact for her as the thud echoed around the room.

After a moment, her body slid down the glass, leaving a bloody streak behind.

Then the goon turned, the barrel of his weapon now targeting me.

At least we took Reaper with us…

The sound of a second gunshot rang out, followed by an unearthly silence.

TBC...