Above From Below Part 5

Rick was dressed and ready to go, after a much needed rest at a local hotel. It was one of those cash by the hour joints, or by the week, as the case was. It served Rick well enough since it had a shower, a toilet, and a sink with running water. There was an ice machine at the end of the structure, and across the street was a greasy diner. Overall, he'd been forced to spend time in worse placed than this.

But, it was almost time to go, and he was loading up his gear bag. Rick had his favorite long rifle, night vision scope, night vision binoculars, and a suppressed Glock hidden in his jacket. The rest of the gear was stored where it would be safe, and Rick would be able to get to it at a moment's notice. As he zipped the bag with his gear, a knock at the door took him by suprise.

Nobody knows I'm here, thought Rick after his head snapped to the right, his eyes locking on the door to his hotel room. He wondered, who the hell would be knocking on his door at seven o'clock at night. He'd never been in the area before now, so nobody should have recognized him. As he wrapped his hand around hte handle of the Glock in his jacket, Rick slowly walked along the wall of his hotel.

Reaching for the lock, he slowly twisted the handle. But, he knew that if they wanted in, these places weren't exactly built securely. He pulled out the piston he clung to so tightly, and aimed it at the door, waiting for the next knock.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

They weren't leaving. Either they knew he was in there, or they were the patient type. The patient type scared him. If they knew he was in there, what were they waiting on? Rick carefully looked through the peep hole in the door. As his pupil shrunk, he saw the brown hair of a woman in an almost civilian outfit.

Rick tucked his gun in his jacket, and unlocked the door. When he opened it, the woman turned. He was staring into the tired eyes of Major Andrea Kohl. But why was he staring at the Major?

"How'd you find me?" he demanded.

Andrea smiled widely at Rick. She looked him up and down, realizing he was getting ready to go do something, and from the looks of the gear bag on the hotel bed, something stupid. She expected as much, but he was moving faster than she imagined.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

Rick moved to the side as Andrea slid between him and the door frame. As she entered, she picked up a backpack that leaned against stone wall of the building.

"I asked you a question?"

Andrea admitted that she knew how to find people. She was actually, as she boasted a bit, good at her job. She'd had surveillance from the night they met, so she pulled an image, and showed it to the front desk at every dive hotel within fifty miles of the observatory where Rick's brother worked.

"Smart..."

Andrea looked at his bag, asking, "Can I?"

Rick nodded. He watched her examining the contents of the bag, looking back at him after each one, until she finished. She was a bit impresed, although, as much as she was impressed, she was worried.

"What's the plan?" she asked. "You're just going to go in and go apocalypse nowish on the observatory?"

Rick shrugged. He was planning things as he moved along. But, Andrea wasn't there to grade him on his field craft.

"Why are you here?"

"I was thinking of going apocalypse nowish on their asses."

The two of them looked at each other, not knowing what to think of the other. Rick was taken back by the brazen style of the Major, and Andrea was still trying to figure out who Rick Steele really was. She looked at the bag, her watch, and then took a seat. Before they went Butch and Sundance on those remotely tied to the murder, she had questions.

"So, mind if we talk?"

"I sort of had plans..." he hesitated, taking at seat at the table by the window.

"Rick," she sighed. "After we met, I got the file back on you. I had requested a full background. Do you know what it said?"

Rick dropped his head, his hands clasped together. He knew that she tried to help him by telling him the truth about his brother. Now, she was going to ask him questions he'd rather not be truthful about.

"I can imagine."

Andrea shook her head. "So, who are you?"

"I'm the last person you want to get to know," he told her.