The Dictator

Chapter Thirteen

As they walked, Alina stared up at the ceiling at the strange electrified metal domes she had noticed earlier. Flickering bright sparks flew from ball to ball. Strangely, there seemed to be a sort of rhythm involved in the system; all the sparks flew in the same direction. Flynn saw her looking and explained.

"Apart from serving as lighting, those orbs are like wires. They channel electricity from the school system into the experiments. Now and again they discharge some electricity, and its probably not a good idea to be standing under one when it happens. It's not particularly dangerous, but it will hurt a lot. I learned the hard way."

Slowly, Alina nodded. The pair continued to walk, until they reached a massive tangle of grey metal and wires. "I figured I should show you this first." he said softly. "This the nuclear bomb he's building. Or rather making me build." he sighed and drew the test tube Miles had given him reluctantly out of his pocket. "I asked for ammonium in the hope of slowing the process down. It didn't make a difference. Soon he'll find a way to get hold of some uranium... And then it's all over." he paused and looked down at the test tube in his hand. "It's a pity to waste it, but this stuff is way to dangerous to leave around here. "

He dropped the test tube to the ground and brought his foot down on it with a crash. Green liquid leaked out onto the cold stone floor. He glanced round nervously, but there was no sign of Miles. Out of his pocket, he brought out a white cloth, already stained and burned by countless chemicals. He quickly bent over and mopped up the now useless ammonium.

Returning the cloth to his pocket, he led Alina to the hard grey wall of the lab, to an old wooden door. It creaked open revealing another much smaller lab, with a single wooden bench. Before it stood another teenager, a boy with short night-wreathed hair. He turned around, removed his transparent safety goggles and nodded as Aluna and Flynn entered. Suddenly seeming quite cheerful, Flynn grinned. "How's the gas going, Jack?" he asked.

Alina stared at Jack. He was quite tall, like Flynn but looked like he could beat him easily in any fight. The muscles in his arms looked hard and dangerous. Despite the friendly smile on his face, there was something unnervingly hostile about his manner. Jack grinned at Flynn.

"The hydrax is going fine. Give me a few more weeks, and we'll be ready to take down the FBI. They won't stand a chance. How's the bomb going?"
"Brilliantly." Flynn replied, a little too quickly. Thankfully Jack didn't notice. Alina had worked out by now thaf Jack wasn't the brightest spark around. "All I need now is the uranium, and its ready to go." Alina noticed Jack looking quizically at her, then opened her mouth to speak. However, Flynn beat her to it, and explained.

"Alina is new here. She has already taken part in minor operation." He said, loosely referencing the recent raid on the school chemistry storeroom. "Miles believes she will be extremely useful in our efforts."
This was good enough for Jack. He nodded, giving the pair a look which was probably meant to convery wisdom an knowledge.
"Well if Miles believes she's good, then she probably will be." he said confidently. "Miles is always right."

Flynn just nodded curtly back at him, and backed out of the room, muttering something about showing Alina around. Alina followed him out, and he quickly shut the door behind them. Once outside, he leaned back against the cold stone wall, cursing under his breath.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting him to be in there." he told Alina apologetically. "He only really turns up half the time, and almost never on Fridays. As you probably guessed, he's working on a corrosive poison gas. Miles intendeds to take the FBI out with it." he paused, then added "It's nasty stuff."
Alina was only half listening. She was thinking about what Jack had said.
"He said, Miles is always right. It's like 1984!" Flynn just stared at her, confused.
"You know? The book by George Orwell? About the dictatorship?" Flynn just shook his head.

"I'm not really a big reader." he told her. Alina opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, the silence was broken by ear-piecing scream. Alina jumped, but Flynn seemed to have been expecting it. He gave Alina a half-hearted smile and grinned ar her expression. "We should get going." he said. "That's Miles' version of a school bell."