Lorian eased back on the throttle as she circled over the landing field. The sky was absolutely gorgeous today, crisp blue specked with clouds, the Andes mountains just off her bow, nothing around for miles but a few circling birds. She was flying a C130 cargo plane, delivering medical equipment and supplies to some lab in south America. The whole thing was buried under a dozen layers of NDAs and obfuscating paperwork. So far as she knew, all of the equipment she was carrying was perfectly legal. Sure, the lab was in an area known for government corruption and a lack of regulatory inspection, but that was none of her business.

Her copilot swore as they bumped along the dirt runway, but kept her cool. It was Lorian’s first time flying with this pilot, and she hadn’t been very talkative. Lorian had spent the last few hours working her way through Jurassic park on Audiobook. A south-American lab developing revolutionary technology with terrifying potential? Seemed appropriate.

Sophie – the quiet copilot – eyed their surroundings through the windscreen. A trio of Arch steel buildings squatted , with a few guards sitting on the porch, a game of chess in progress between the two. The assault rifles propped up against the barrel implied they were prepared for more than just the local wildlife.

“They always pack this much heat?” Sophie asked.

“It’s not exactly safe out here,” Lorian answered. “Besides the wildlife? I dunno, they might be expecting trouble from the cartels? What we’re hauling isn’t exactly cheap.”

“Right. What are we hauling anyway?”

“That’s buried in the NDA. Medical equipment and supplies.”

“They ever tell you what they’re working on?”

“Dunno. It’s the amazon. They could be trying to pull some discovery out of the local lifeforms before they go extinct, the way the dinosaurs did.”

“Maybe.”

“Come on, let’s go say hi to the guards and stretch our legs for a while. They’ll take a while to unload the cargo. It’s not like they have a forklift out here.”

“That suits me just fine. Do they care if we poke around a bit?”

“Don’t go poking around. The mess hall and restrooms are fine. The rest is just a few offices and a small clinic.”

“Aw, are they keeping secrets?”

“Isn’t everyone? They get really agressive if you poke your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

###

Lorian sighed as Luke, one of the guards, came over to where she was sitting in the mess hall. “What is it, Luke?”

“How well you know that new copilot of yours?”

“This is the first time I’ve flown with her. My usual copilot took sick unexpectedly.”

“Well, She isn’t who she says she is. We caught her trying to plant a satellite uplink in our server room. She shot Mickey in the shoulder.”

“What? You’re serious?”

“Yeah. So, we’re going to have to ask you a few questions.”

“Look, I just fly the plane. She didn’t want to talk much on the flight down, so I can’t really tell you anything aside from the fact she knows her way around a C130. I didn’t find anything particularly suspicious about her. Never met her before last week.”

“Well, we’ll need you to sit in the cells till we finish questioning her.”

“You guys have cells? How long is this going to take?”

“Could be a few hours. Could be more.”

“Darn it. I was planning to catch a show when I got back to the states.”

“You can catch the reruns.”

###

Three days later…

“Yo, Mickey, can you let me out already?”

“The spy still hasn’t said anything. Boss even broke out the needles.

“The needles?”

“Yeah. If she doesn’t start talking by the end of the week, Boss will start pumping things in instead of just poking at nerves and taking samples.”

“I feel like this is stuff I shouldn’t be hearing about.”

“Oh, well, if she gets bored she might come in and start poking at you. Figured you deserved a warning.”

“Wait, what? I have rights, don’t I? Plus, it seems like a bad idea to torture your employees.”

“Think of it as a required medical checkup. If you ask, she’ll even tell you what she’s doing, since you signed all the NDAs.”

“Did I sign some devil’s contract when I was hired?”

“Heck if I know. I knew the job was shady when I took it. The pay was to good to turn down.”

“Yeah, but is it really worth it?”

“Look, I’ll make you a deal. If I get told to dispose of you, play dead. I’ll make sure you survive long enough to reach civilization.”

“That is in no way reassuring.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.”

Lorian pondered her situation for a bit, and then decided to test her cell’s security. Luke hadn’t bothered to search her or confiscate anything she’d had on her, so it was a simple matter to draw her pocketknife and start poking at the walls and ceiling.

The cell was underground, with concrete walls and floor. No windows, just the one door with a sliding panel to pass food through. The ceiling, however, was plaster, and held both a light and vent for air circulation.

“Hey, what’chya doing in there?”

“Poking a hole in the ceiling.”

“Stop that.”

“Am I a prisoner?”

“Yeah.”

“Seeing as I choose not to recognize the authority of your boss to imprison me, I intend to make a nuisance of myself until you let me go. That means either getting a communication or myself out of here.”

“Just chill for a bit, and I’ll get the boss. You can make your case to her.”

“Okay.” Lorian thought for a moment. “I should have just asked to talk with her in the first place, shouldn’t I?”

The guard snorts. “Yeah, but it’s not like she would have come. She’s way to wrapped up in her research. A real mad-scientist type.”

“there are legit mad-scientists?”

“What, you thought the trope was made up?”

“Well…”

“Ha. Good luck.”

###

“So this is the pilot?”

“Yes, Doctor Scarlet.”

“Why was she locked up without being searched?”

“She’s a clueless civilian. We figured having her phone would distract her for a while. Plus, the less trouble we make for her, the less she makes for us. So far we can say we locked her up for her own good while dealing with a dangerous interloper.”

“And she was locked up because?”

“As the only person who actually met the spy before she arrived on our base, we didn’t want her wandering off, or spreading the story around.”

“What about the delay to the plane’s schedule?”

“We told management we needed to check it for unauthorized devices. Make sure it wasn’t broadcasting more than location data.”

“Yes, well, no facility can ever be a hundred percent secure. Have you actually learned anything from the plane or the cargo?”

“No, Ma’am. Neither were tampered with.”

“Fine. I see no reason to keep this, what’s her name?”

“Lorian Smith”

“This Ms. Smith locked up. Why did you call me down anyway?”

“She was starting to damage the ceiling.”

“With what?”

“A pocketknife.”

“I’d like to take a look.”

Doctor Scarlet stepped into the cell and examined the gouges in the plaster Lorian’s knife had made.

“That is a security flaw. I suspect if the spy weren’t cuffed to the bed we’d find similar damage in her room.”

“Eh. People never look up. I doubt everyone is going to see the weakness.” Lorian put in, from where she was leaning against the wall of the cell.

“Still, such a glaring flaw ought to be corrected. Oh, before I forget, are you interested in joining an ongoing clinical trial I’m conducting?”

“Not particularly.”

“A shame. I get so few visitors down here to test on. Maybe next time.”

###

Lorian’s return flight was nearly as uneventful as her flight in had been, once she picked up a fresh copilot. She shivered a few times, thinking of the fact that she didn’t know what exactly had become of the copilot she’d had on the way out. Still, she figured she’d dodged a bullet. Now sounded like a great time to switch to flying for a different company.

When she got home, an unfamiliar car was waiting out front of her apartment. And a man in a grey three-piece suit was sitting on her balcony, enjoying a bottle of water from her stash under the sink.

“Ah, Ms. Smith. So glad you could join me.”

Lorian had a sinking feeling her life was never going to be simple again.