THE GATE

Fort Tortuga, Laboratory Complex Perimeter

5 hr 27 min to Birth

At the end of the road, past the woods and hills, a twenty-foot rough concrete wall served as the perimeter of the Laboratory Complex. The area around and inside the wall was clear of foliage.

The Jeep pulled up at a gate with a guard booth. A security guard stepped out of the booth and came up to the vehicle.

"Hi, Raymond," he said, looking in the vehicle. He pointed to the others. "Visitor passes?"

"No. It's an emergency."

The guard nodded. "Okay. Let me snap a couple quick photos then." He walked back inside the security booth and returned with a digital camera. He shot one photo of each visitor through the windows of the Jeep.

"Has there been any unusual activity on the video cameras?" Raymond asked the guard.

"No, sir."

They drove in. Flannigan calculated that, since there were five staff members on the island, including Raymond, there had to be a maximum of two on duty inside the Laboratory Complex.

She asked why the guard had taken photos of them.

"We take photos of our visitors and upload them to our camera system," Raymond said. "Every visitor gets a digital file. And the files are connected to our camera system. We have cameras all along the wall. And the cameras work together to identify animals or humans and alert us when they find something. We have some other cameras throughout the island."

"And we're getting a scan of your video footage? To see if the kid is here?"

"Any minute," Raymond said. "They will buzz me when they have the results."

"Are you running any tests on flybots right now?" Gene asked.

"No," Raymond said. "Not without the scientists here."

They found themselves in a gravel lot at the center of three large buildings. The building on the right was the scientists' residence or barracks. It was four stories and looked like a college dorm out of the 70's. To the left was the main lab building. It was not quite as tall, but it was broad, in the shape of a fly, with a small central area and two wings, the research and development wing on the left and the indoor testing area on the right. Lastly, straight ahead and set off slightly from the other buildings, was the computer building. The computers in that building were dedicated to the simulations and tests operated by the scientists in the Laboratory Building.

"Nemo said he was in the lab building," Flannigan reminded them. "That's the fly-shaped building here."

The Jeep stopped. Flannigan spoke into her walkie-talkie.

"Sam, we're in the Laboratory Complex, about to enter the lab building."

They stepped out of the Jeep, their shoes crunching on the gravel. Flannigan kept an eye on Gene. He blinked uncomfortably in the sunlight. He had a lot on his mind. But there was no time to say it now, and he knew it.

Raymond crunched over to the door of the fly-shaped laboratory building. He leaned over to have his retina scanned in a small window by the side of the door. The door clicked unlocked when it recognized him.

"The doors to both buildings are biometric," he said. "So you can't get in without me."

He pushed the door open and led them in. There was a pleasant lobby area with plants and a small electrical fountain.

"The kid must have hacked the biometric system," Simon said curiously. They were walking down a long hall to the indoor testing area.

"Is that doable?" Flannigan asked.

Simon shrugged. "Sure." Everything was doable; it was a question of difficulty.

"You need a hand match to get into most of the rooms, though."

"Maybe an inside job," Simon said absently.

The left way out of the lobby headed to the research and development wing. The door on the right led to the testing area. Raymond pressed his palm next to the door on the right and they headed down that hallway.

The Indoor Testing Room

The hallway to the indoor testing room ended at a door. They went through it into a small changing area.

"In the early days," Raymond said, "the testing area was a clean room. Everyone would put on lab coats, booties, and hats here to control the particulate matter that got in the air on the inside. That was when the flybots were fragile and we didn't want dust to interfere with them."

"Now," he continued, "the double doors make sure flybots could never escape the testing room. It's impossible to open a door unless the other one is closed."

They jammed into the little changing space. Raymond opened the second door. It emptied into another small hallway, with a big window.

"That's the testing room," Raymond said, pointing through the big window. On the other side was a chamber the size of a small gymnasium. It was brightly lit and filled with large, tan-colored structures.

"Let me guess," Gene said. "A small town in the Middle East." It was a good complement to the jungle testing that they conducted outside in the gorilla areas.

To the left, beyond the big window, was a door leading into the control room. Raymond explained that technicians sat at computers in the control room, where there was another one-way mirror, and they controlled and monitored the tests taking place in the big chamber.

They decided that Nemo was in the large test chamber.

Raymond pressed his hand by the door. The lock clicked, and he popped it open. A hot, arid atmosphere pressed through at them. They stepped quietly into the crude simulation of a Middle Eastern town. The cardstock facades were fairly convincing from several yards away, if you didn't look too closely.

They paused at the edge of town.

"Hello?" Flannigan finally called out. "Nemo?"

There was no response. She repeated her call. They were silent, listening for signs of someone else in the chamber.

Flannigan walked ahead of the group into the fake desert city.

"Um, hello?" Simon whispered loudly. "Does anyone think this might be a trap?"

She was quickly out of sight. Gene loped after her into the sand-colored maze. Raymond felt obliged to follow. Kenny, not about to be left alone with Simon, followed Raymond in. Simon muttered a curse and brought up the rear.

They snaked slowly through the town, Flannigan leading the way. Their view was blocked at every turn by large boxes painted with vegetable stands, people, and the profiles of automobiles. Numerous passages led to dead ends, as in a maze.

With each passing minute, it seemed more and more likely that Nemo wasn't there.

"Are we going to get lost in here?" Flannigan asked quietly.

"It's not too hard to get out," Raymond said. "The gorillas can do it pretty easily."

After negotiating some narrow passageways, they found themselves in a spacious square courtyard.

"This is the middle," Raymond said, "This is where we place the gorillas for indoor tests."

They stood around thoughtfully for a moment.

"He could be anywhere around here," Flannigan said. "There are so many places to hide."

"We can check the control room," Raymond noted. "It has tracking instruments."

Flannigan nodded. She turned and opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a loud crackling sound. Echoing over their heads, it was the sound of a speaker system being turned on.