“I agree, Sydney,” Kanata said enthusiastically. “What’s your plan for getting into the building?”
     “Yea, Sydney, what is your plan?" Pack ask. "How exactly do you intend to get into a highly secured and alarmed building patrolled by armed guards. Please, do tell.”
     “Actually, I haven’t gotten quite that far. I figure we sneak out in the middle of night, dressed all in black, like Ninjas. Kanata drives and parks two blocks away. From there you and I walk to the lab. I sort of thought you’d have a way to get in.”
     “I might,” Pack muttered as he closed his eyes. Kanata glanced at Sydney then back at Pack who sat perfectly still. She wondered if he were going into a trance.
     “He’s just thinking, Kanata. How’s your eggplant? These meatballs are fabulous.”
     “It’s good,” she answered quietly.
     “You don’t have to whisper. We won’t bother him. He’s just thinking.” Sydney twirled more spaghetti onto her fork and sprinkled the pasta bundle with cheese. “I love this stuff.”
     “What food don’t you love?” Pack opened his eyes and couldn’t help smiling at the ring of tomato sauce around Sydney’s mouth.
     “You know I don’t like asparagus, Pack. Come up with anything?”
    “It will be dangerous. There’s no easy way in unless you want to take out the guards. And that would tip off Memmer that his security has been breached.”
     “What do you mean ‘take out’”? Kanata asked nervously.
     “You know, bang over the head, strangle, whatever it takes. Kill is probably best since dead men can’t talk.”
     “Stop it, Pack! You’re scaring Kanata. Look, Kanata, he’s kidding. Killing the guards might be effective, but Pack’s right, it would certainly alert Memmer and the authorities that there’s been a break-in. And besides, we don’t kill people.”
     Kanata looked carefully into the eyes of the two teens. “Well, that’s reassuring. So, Pack, do you have a plan that doesn’t include violence?”
     “I do. Here’re the basics. Syd, you’ll cut into the main electrical feed at the base of utility pole and short the power. I’m guessing I have seven to ten seconds before the backup generator comes on. In that time the alarm control systems will be down. I’ll hit the card reader with a high voltage jolt which should unlock the door. Timing is critical. You have to take down the power when the guard is at the back of the building during his patrol. That will give me time to get in and for you to get away.”
     “What do I do?”
     “We stick to Sydney’s plan. You sit in the car two blocks away and wait.”
     “I can do that.” Kanata said with some obvious relief in her voice.
     “Pack, the electrical feed into the building is through a PVC conduit. Won’t sawing through it alert Memmer to the break-in? We don’t want him to even suspect their security has been breached. Because if he does, he’s going to lock everything up even tighter. And that might cause us problems one day.”
     Pack smiled widely. “You’re not going to saw through it, Syd. You’re going to nibble through it. We’ll use the equipment in the school machine shop to shape the cutting end of a large pair of wire nippers into the profile of rat teeth. It’ll take longer than sawing the pipe, but it’ll look like a big rat chewed through it.”
     “I love it. We can modify the cutter this afternoon. I was going to go to the shop anyway to finish something up. We go tonight, Pack?”
     “If Kanata is free.”
     Kanata nodded. “I just need to buy an appropriate, black ninja outfit.
     Thinking about the adventure ahead, Sydney's face lit up. "Hey, Pack, this will be fun. What can possibly go wrong?"