Assassin's Apprentice: Chapter 31

31.

Five of the greatest scientists in the world ran together in terror. The three men and two women sprinted to keep up with Kit Carson as he hurried down the peach-colored corridor toward the elevators. But they were all out of shape, softened by too many long hours in laboratories, snacking on packaged food from the vending machines. They huffed and wheezed and held their sides, but they did not stop to rest for fear of being left behind.

Every thirty seconds the public address system sternly warned: “Code Red in progress. Remain in your assigned locations. Stay out of the corridors at risk of deadly force.”

Deadly force. The scientists knew they weren’t kidding.

All the scientists were middle-aged, two of them struggling to adjust to the unspecified aches and sudden melancholies of the mid-forties; the other three had already achieved the grudging acceptance that came with turning fifty. Yet, each was still considered by the world’s scientific community to be a young genius to have accomplished so much at such an early age. Mention any of their names at any international meeting of the best scientific minds and there would be an impressed nod of recognition. They were authors of complex articles that few of their colleagues could fully understand. They were the best, the brightest and, thanks to Kit Carson’s generous salaries, among the wealthiest scientists in the world.

But now these well-respected scientists ran in fear like clumsy children at a fire drill. Expensive suit jackets flapped, Italian leather soles clacked, Gucci purses jangled, and Dr. Karen Langley’s rubber-tipped crutches thumped as they all panted to keep up with Kit’s athletic pace. Every twenty feet or so, the five of them were forced to bunch together behind Kit as another team of armed guards marched by, patrolling the hallways. The guards were mostly baby-faced twenty-somethings, fighting their fear with grim expressions and fingers tensed on triggers. They all nodded respectfully to Kit as they passed. He ignored them, his mind on other pressing matters.