She went to the door and pushed, throwing her body weight against it. It wouldn't budge. She crouched in a corner of the bunker, memories of her night in prison vividly coming back. That night she had hoped for help to come, and it never did. Would this time be different? She felt chilly, despite the afternoon heat that persisted in the bunker. She put her hands deep in her pockets to warm them. In her right pocket, she felt an unfamiliar object. She took it out and felt it — not realizing what it was at first. It was the bomb-dismantling robot's remote control.
The glimmer of hope started to shine again. She opened the remote and activated the robot's camera. She could see inside her car. She started operating the remote, trying to get familiarized with the robot's capabilities. She made it extend the claw and look out the car window. She rotated the camera, to get a 360-degree view of the surroundings. No Kramer anywhere. Good, she thought optimistically, maybe there's a way out of this mess.
Alex settled on the floor more comfortably, crossing her legs. She took the robot's claw lower and tried to unlock the car door from the inside. It was a tricky move, requiring a firm grip, a pull-out movement against the handle, and a push-out movement to open the door, all synchronized. Her first attempt failed, the robot claw losing the grip on the car handle before it could pull it out. Her second attempt also failed; better grip on the handle, wrong movement altogether. The third attempt didn't work either. Alex was biting her lips, concentrating hard to get the door opened.
"Shit, this is hard," she muttered. "Common gestures we do every day and take for granted." She tried again, this time splitting the complex maneuver into multiple components. Grab the handle with the claw. Good. Lock grip. Done. Pull out the handle to unlock the car door. Complicated. There was a dilemma here. If she wanted the robot's arm to push open the car door, it would have to first release the door handle, which would lock the car door again. Unless… Unless she could pull the handle with the claw, and push the door with the entire arm, by flexing it.
"Yes," she yelled, the moment she saw the car door open. "You are the robot!"
The car door was wide open. Now she had to safely get the robot on the ground. Careful not to tip the robot upside down, or damage it in the process, she made it tightly grab the door handle, lock the grip, and then she moved the robot forward on its tracks. It made it over the edge of the car door with ease, pulling itself against the handlebar, and barely making it out from between the car seats. Hesitating a bit, it dropped to the ground, undamaged.
"Yes, great!" Alex stood up, ready to proceed to the next phase. She moved the robot's camera around, looking for the laser spot. There it was, just a few feet away. She pushed the controls and moved the robot closer. Then she grabbed the laser spot with its claw and crushed it to pieces. She stepped the robot back a foot, rotating its camera to look for any other signs of a laser beam — none in sight. Now it was time to set herself free.
She rotated the robot's camera to bring the bunker into view, and then "drove" the robot to the bunker door. Extending its arm fully and tilting it, she was able to see the door lock. A massive handle that would have to be moved sideways to get the door unlocked. That wasn't the worst part, though. The handle seemed to be really high. Alex frowned. Would the robot arm be able to extend that far?
She set the robot in the closest, most direct position against the door, and extended the claw arm straight up, full length. The camera didn't capture anything but a dark gray door background — no door handle in sight. She pulled and tilted the claw backward, to get an upward view. The door handle appeared to be at least six inches higher than the robot claw could extend.
Tears of frustration burned her eyes. She looked at the time; it was 6:24PM. In six minutes, a drone looking for a target would be cruising above. While the laser spot was gone, there was no telling whether the drone operator would not suddenly decide to whack this bunker, as opposed to any other available bunkers. Why not this one?
Anything is possible, she thought. She resumed working with the robot, not hoping for much, just to keep herself busy until the drone came. She tried to make the robot climb the door, at least partially. The robot's track length was at least 15 inches, so if it started climbing the door, maybe that would get it close enough to the handle to be able to grab it.
A loud noise disrupted her concentrated efforts. Someone was unlocking the bunker. She froze. The door opened wide, letting the sun in and blinding her for a second.
"There you are. Come on, let's go!"
Alex recognized the familiar voice. Louie grabbed her arm and pulled her up on her feet.
"You? What are you doing here?" Alex asked.
"You're welcome," Louie answered.
A drone was buzzing in the distance, barely visible.
"You need to trust me on this. I'll explain later," Louie said, taking off his jacket and putting it on her head. "Look down, so you see where you're stepping, but keep this on your head until I tell you it's OK to take it off, all right?"
"Uh-uh," she agreed, without knowing why.
He continued to guide her at an accelerated pace, almost running, holding her shoulders in a tight, supportive grip.
"Where are we going? Aren't we taking the car?"
"Too late for that," Louie responded, leading her in the opposite direction from where both their cars were. The drone was seconds away.
"Why is it coming for us?"
"Long story, but I promise I'll share," he said, running faster now.
She could barely keep up with his pace, but he wasn't letting her slow them down. The jacket she was wearing on her head was disorienting and causing her to be a little dizzy.
They reached a small ridge in the terrain and Louie crouched behind that ridge, dragging her down with him. She landed hard on her knees and cried in pain.
"Sorry," Louie said. "You can peek at the bunker now, but keep that jacket on your head."
The drone was heading for the bunker, flying at a moderate speed and a low altitude. It launched a missile, which whooshed loudly for a few seconds, before hitting its target. It was a direct hit on Alex's car, a deafening explosion that resounded in her stomach and chest, making her feel like she'd been pummeled by a huge fist. The explosion threw balls of fire in the air, engulfed in black clouds of smoke.
"They're not very precise, these drones," Alex said bitterly.
"Quite the opposite," Louie said. "Your car was the intended target, not the bunker. I knew that, you obviously didn't. I'll explain in a little while. The problem we have now is that, despite the fact that I knew your car was going to be targeted, I parked mine right next to it. Very smart…” he said sarcastically, “so, now we're pedestrians."
"How did you know I was here?"
"Bob called me, the minute you stepped out of the office."
Alex looked at him, surprised.
"I knew you were in some kind of trouble, and that coming anywhere near flying drones would probably not be good for your health. Let's go," he said, suddenly worried. He pulled her to her feet and started walking toward the plant building, barely visible on the horizon line. A faint, choppy noise, approaching overhead from a distance, made their attention go toward the northwest.
"What's that?" Alex asked. "Another drone?"
"Nope. Choppers," Louie said, squinting to distinguish markings. "Unmarked, heavily armed, two of them."