Chapter 3
Shot on Sight?
Ryan and Regan set their alarms for five-thirty the next morning and awoke to find that their parents were already out of the house. Just how early had they left? When their dad had indicated they would be working around the clock he had not been kidding.
By six-thirty the two kids were back in the same tree branch they had been in the day before.
“Okay,” began Ryan as he looked out over the Proact grounds from his perch in the tree. “Mom and Dad could be spies and they could be criminals. Worse, they could be here against their will, being threatened in some way if they don’t cooperate. We need to figure this out and we need to do it quickly.” He saw agreement in his sister’s eyes. “Do you have any theories?” he asked her.
She paused in thought for a few seconds and then shook her head no.
Ryan frowned. “Yeah, me neither. And I have a bad feeling that we’re not going to get anywhere by sitting here in this tree, talking about it, and guessing what might be happening. We need more information.”
Regan raised her eyebrows. She could tell her brother had come up with a plan. “What do you have in mind?” she asked.
Ryan took a deep breath and then said, “I think we need to get inside the Proact building and snoop around. See what we can learn. I think it’s our only chance to get to the bottom of this.” He paused to let his words sink in. “But if we’re going to do it, we need to do it now. I mean like today.”
“I don’t get it. Why such a big hurry?”
“Because they’re about to finish putting in all the video cameras.”
“Ryan, it’s not like they need the cameras to keep us out,” she said, rolling her eyes. She nodded toward the fence. “Even if we could get through the million-razor-blades-of-death over there—which is totally impossible—the laser alarm system is still working.”
The corners of Ryan’s mouth curled up into just a hint of a smile. “Who said anything about getting through the fence?” he said. Without another word he handed his sister the binoculars and pointed to the east. “Take a look.”
She put the binoculars to her eyes and followed his finger. “What am I looking for?”
“The woods are pretty thick around here so there are hundreds of trees near the fence. But one of the trees has a branch that’s grown over the razor-wire. Do you see what I’m talking about?”
About thirty seconds later Regan nodded. Very interesting. The branch ended only a few feet inside the fence line, but it was enough. They could easily crawl along it to get beyond the fat coil of razor-wire. Very, very interesting. “What about the laser alarm system?” she asked.
“Not such a problem if you know it exists and you know exactly where it is. Luckily, I do.” He pulled two plastic bags filled with a white powder out of his pants pocket. “I filled a couple of sandwich bags before we left with talcum powder. All I have to do is make the beams visible with this.”
Regan nodded. He had thought things through quite carefully. Once the beams were visible they would be fairly easy to avoid. “Great plan,” she said admiringly. “Well, we won’t be bored today, that’s for sure.”
Ryan nodded. “I’m glad you’re okay with the idea. I was a bit worried you might not be. So you stay in the tree near the fence with the binoculars as a look-out while I check out Proact. Hopefully, I won’t be gone more than an hour or so.”
“What! What are you talking about?” She shook her head adamantly. “I’m not waiting for you in a tree. Even if I saw something I couldn’t warn you anyway. I’m coming with you.”
“I can’t let you do that Regs,” said Ryan protectively. “It’s too dangerous. Remember all the ‘intruders will be shot on sight’ signs?”
“How could I forget. But they won’t shoot a couple of kids.”
“Are you positive about that?”
“Positive. They just put the signs up to scare people so they won’t trespass,” insisted Regan.
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing for them they didn’t use the ‘Welcome to Proact’ signs with bright yellow smiley faces after all. Probably not as scary.”
“Probably not,” agreed Regan, grinning. She quickly turned serious once again. “If we were large men carrying guns they probably would shoot on sight. But we’re just a couple of kids. They’ll even be less nervous if I’m with you. I’m younger than you and pretty short for my age. Since we won’t look threatening, they’ll want to catch us first and ask us questions—you know, before they shoot us.”
“Thanks, that’s very comforting,” said Ryan, rolling his eyes. He shook his head. “But you still aren’t coming.”
Despite his last words, Regan knew she was beginning to convince him. “Come on Ryan. You need me. They won’t hurt a small, harmless girl. And we’re in this thing together. Besides,” she added with finality, “you don’t have a choice. I’m coming whether you want me to or not.”
He sighed heavily. He really couldn’t stop her if she insisted on going with him, and he had seen the determined look she now wore on her face many times before. He had learned from experience that once she set her mind to something, no power on Earth could get her to change it. “All right,” he said finally. “You’re in.”
He was impressed. He and Regan fought a lot but he had to admit she was sharp and gutsy. Now she was showing him that she had even more guts than he had thought. He had worried it would be tough to convince her to let him go on this insane mission, and instead she had convinced him to let her come along. And he realized to his surprise that he was very glad she had.
“Let’s do it,” said Ryan as he rose from his perch in the tree. “I do have to admit that we won’t be bored today. Dead maybe,” he added wryly as he began his climb down to the ground. “But definitely not bored.”