Resident Evil: Underworld by S. D. Perry Page B

been a bad idea, as sweat started to trickle down his body—and wondering, quite abruptly, how things had gone so wrong so fast.
    * * *
    Reston had an idea.
    He’d almost panicked after he’d heard them saying things that they shouldn’t have known, hiding in control with the door cracked open. When he’d heard one of them say his name, he’d felt the panic rise into his throat like bile, coloring his mind with visions of his own horrible death. He’d closed the door then, locking it, sagging against it as he tried to think, to sort through his options.
    When one of them had rattled the door, he’d very nearly screamed—but had managed to hold still, to make no sound at all until the interloper had moved on. It took him a few moments to collect himself after that, to remember that this was something he could handle; strangely enough, it was the thought of Trent that did it for him. Trent wouldn’t panic. Trent would know exactly what to do—and he most certainly wouldn’t run crying to Jackson for help.
    In spite of that, he’d almost picked up the phone several times as he watched the monitors, watched the two men terrorizing his employees. They were efficient, unlike their fumbling counterparts still working to figure out the elevator on the surface. It had taken the two men all of five minutes once they’d reached the living area to get the workers together; it helped that five of them were still awake and playing cards in the cafeteria, three of the construction crew and both mechanics. The young white man watched them as the other one went to the dorm and roused the rest, marching them back to the cafeteria, crowding them with his automatic weapon.
    Reston was disappointed with the lackluster performance of his people, not one fighter among them, and was still very afraid. Once the teams from the city came in he’d have something to work with, but until then, all sorts of bad things might happen.
    “Dealing with Reston will just have to wait…” What happens when they realize I’m not in their hostage group? What do they want? What could they want, except to hold me for ransom or kill me?
    He’d been on the verge of calling Sidney, in spite of the fact that Jackson would certainly find out about it—but he’d risk his colleague’s disapproval, he’d risk losing his place in the inner circle if it meant he could survive this invasion.
    He was actually reaching for the phone when he realized that someone was missing. Reston leaned closer to the cafeteria monitor, frowning, forgetting the phone. There were fourteen people grouped together in the middle of the room, the two gunmen standing some distance away.
    Where’s the other one? Who’s the other one?
    Reston reached out and touched the screen, marking off the faces of the bleary-eyed hostages. The five construction workers. Two mechanics. The cook, the specimen handlers, all six of them… .
    “Cole,” he muttered, pursing his lips. The electrician, Henry Cole. He wasn’t there.
    An idea began to form, but it depended on where Cole actually was. Reston tapped at the buttons that worked the screens, beginning to hope, to see a way not only to survive, but to, to— win. To come out on top.
    There were twenty-two screens in the control room, but almost fifty cameras set up throughout the Planet and in the surface “weather” station. The Planet had been built with video in mind, the layout fairly simple; from control, one could see almost every part of every hall, room, and environment, the cameras placed at key points. Finding someone was just a matter of pushing the right button to switch between views.
    Reston checked the test rooms first, each set of cameras in phases One through Four. No luck. He tried the science area next, the surgical rooms, the chem lab, even the stasis room; again, he didn’t see anyone.
    He wouldn’t be in quarters, they’ve certainly cleared everyone else out… and there’s no reason for him to be on the