When next I awoke, I found our surroundings to be significantly less stylish than the previous opulent office. In fact, I was in the passenger seat of a last millennium Nissan Micra, which smelled of wet dog fur and badly boiled cabbage, along with a hint of tobacco coming from the still smouldering cigarette butt pressed into a makeshift ashtray in the central console. A solitary tree-shaped air freshener hung pathetically from the rear view mirror, having long since given up it's struggle against the foul odour. Ash and Dave were sat behind me in the cramped rear of the car, also rousing themselves into consciousness. We appeared to be parked outside of a church, a few minutes stroll from the University. There was a small piece of folded paper tucked into the steering wheel, which I retrieved clumsily. It read (in a surprisingly floral script)
"Sorry lads, must dash. Plenty to do tonight to stop Devlin. Hope you heed the boss' advice and leave this to those with the experience. I'd hate to have to turn your lights off, for good. (By which I mean kill, if it wasn't clear)
Best regards, Frank
P.S. Feel free to keep the car. Boss has bought me an upgrade, so she'd only be going for scrap anyway."
Understandably, Ash and Dave were confused and anxious about the hours missing from their day, and my brief meeting with "the Boss" had left me with more questions than answers. So, we abandoned Frank's car were it was parked and walked back to the Hub, where we hoped to find tea and answers, in that order. After I'd finished filling them both in, Ash was full of questions.
"So, what you're saying is, there's a local businessman who profiteers on the sale scavenged extraterrestrial tech, who tackles the same threats we'RE supposed to?"
"An alien black market mob boss is pissed with us. Great." Dave muttered into his mug.
"Who has the creepy guy, Frank, on his payroll as an enforcer..." Ash continued.
"I prefer the term 'Leopard Leather Larry' myself." Dave added.
"Well, you would." I replied.
"And he had us kidnapped just to warn us away from interfering, before having Frank dump us in a carpark? All that just to let us go?"
"That's about it, yeah." I said, feeling weary.
"So, how soon until we crash his party and pay him back?" Dave asked, a spark of revenge burning in his eyes.
"I don't even know if he's an enemy." I replied, glumly. "Not really."
"Bullshit! He kidnapped us. He runs a black market!" shouted Dave.
"And, he sounds like a massive space racist. Spacist? Species-ist? Doesn't matter. He's a dick to aliens." Ash added.
"What he's doing, he's doing for the wrong reasons. But maybe he could be a useful ally, if only we could sand off the rough edges. He does have resources and experience with this whole defending the Earth thing." I wasn't even sure how I felt about him myself. Maybe I just wanted to always see the best in people. He also seemed better equipped than we were. He had us all captured and at his mercy without any effort. I'd failed to keep my team, my friends safe. I'd failed to do much of anything so far. Maybe he was the better option to defend the city?
"Either way, we can't let him just bully us out of action. Do you really want to let him resolve the whole Devlin thing? We still don't know what the plan is for the Tech Specs." Ash urged, sensing my own defeated attitude.
"What's to stop a greed driven A-hole like him from using the Auton tech for his own ends?" Dave said, eager for payback.
I sat there for a moment, looking at my friends. They were so eager, so ready, so naive. We were little more than children, messing with forces beyond our control. I was a slave to my self doubt back then, it gnawed away at me constantly, wearing me down from the inside out. What started as genuine concern always morphed into defeatism and self pity, then self loathing. And yet, I found the sheer optimistic determination of my friends infectious. With them by my side, maybe, just maybe, we could prevail. Even if we failed, I'd sooner let them down trying, than by giving up so readily. I'd decided my course of action.
"Firstly, we need to run a trace on our mystery man." I said, resolutely, rolling my chair across the room with purpose. It only took a few minutes to find him in the Chamber of Commerce records.
"Got a match!" I called, to Ash and Dave who were stood over my shoulders.
"Cornelius 'Con' Barron, he runs a number of businesses ranging from transportation to metalwork, to industrial supply and support. He's got a lot of fingers in a lot of pies." said Ash, as she poured over the frankly invasive amount of data the Torchwood systems could access.
"All acting as a perfect cover for the smuggling and sale of dangerous technology, of course." Dave added.
"Look here, he's also something of a politician. Currently a city councillor, ex-mayor and he's chaired the Chamber for a stint. Non party affiliated, and with a bit of a hard-right leaning." I read aloud.
"Oh, he just gets more charming, doesn't he?" Ash commented angrily. "Anti climate change, anti immigration, bit of Euro bashing of course... yeah, we definitely don't want to be pals with this arsehole."
"Agreed" I said. "But let's just park Con for now and focus on Devlin. We lost a few hours thanks to Frank's propensity for violence. It's already 5pm, and the Tech Specs launch in a few hours!" Ash placed her arm over my shoulder, silently supporting me after my moment of hesitation. She could always tell exactly what I was thinking, yet she remained unyielding by my side.
"We need to be direct." She stated. "We don't have time for anything more covert. The press demo was a waste, we need to strike at Devlin's base of operations."
"Most of his manufacturing is done abroad. The Specs are shipped to his facility here, tested, then packaged, according to the website. Might be our best shot." said Dave.
"Whatever Devlin has planned, will be going down at the warehouse in the docks, where the Product Launch is scheduled for. There's already thousands of customers crowded around there, at ground zero of the product launch." Ash countered.
"We only have the time to check out one option." warned Dave, looking at me to cast the deciding vote. He was right, we didn't have time to waste, nor the numbers to split up and search both. I didn't want to risk sending one of us alone into danger, especially with Frank getting involved. My team needed their leader to step up and take charge.
"On balance, I think Ash is right on this one. If things go wrong, we stand the best chance of saving lives if we're at the launch itself." I decided. Dave shot me a withering stare, but said nothing. I knew how it much seem to him, siding with my girlfriend over him, but it was the right call. He'd get over it.
***
The warehouse in question was a spacious three-story building, consisting of red brick and arrays of opaque glass. It had originally served as a Victorian textile factory, changing owners and occupations until it reached it's current state: an exclusive club / arena available for corporate events and music gigs that desire a certain 'dilapidated' vibe. Gigantic banners displaying DevlinTech logos covered the ancient stonework like bandages on a Pharaoh, while multicolored spotlights projected similar images onto the surrounding buildings and into the darkening sky. A ten-foot high metal fence topped with barbed spikes encircled the premises, leaving only a single gate as an entryway. This gate was shut, and patrolled by several private security guards. Outside this fence, a queue of eager gadget lovers snaked over and back, a thousand strong, all awaiting their chance to become an early adopter of the internet friendly glasses. Beyond the official queue was an even larger crowd of journalists and curious onlookers, with a horde of DevlinTech representatives ensuring the keeping the crowds under control. There was even a stage set up between the fence and the building, upon which Ed Sheeran was performing as we arrived to launch our daring plan. Above the stage, a timer counted down to the official launch, with just under an hour to go until the Auton infused specs were unleashed.
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