Dark Lord Rob's DarkForce

We Meet the Guardians

     We pulled up to the outer gate at ten AM the next morning, groggy and lazy-eyed. Okay, just me. Everybody else, they can stay up half the night planning something like this, go home, get two hours sleep, and bound outta bed like squirrels the next day. Not me, dammit! I'm part sloth, I swear.
     And yeah, I said "outer gate". The house they'd bought up was a mansion and a half, dating back to the previous century, and it was stuck smack in the middle of a big expanse of grass and gardens. Totally like some old English manor, I say, old chap. Even in the historical district, with all its old rich guy houses, this was a big ol' house.
     But the Guardians had made a few changes since they'd taken it over. The wall was the first thing you noticed; a tall brick wall had been erected around the entire estate. There were bushes in front of it, so it looked sorta nice... but you'd never forget it was there.
     At the gate was a small hut with glass windows (bulletproof, I'm betting). Inside sat two men with military haircuts, wearing the same sort of outfit that the guy on TV had been wearing, with the cross armband and all that. It looked kind of like a uniform, so these guys looked a lot like sentries. As we pulled up in front of the closed gate, next to a sign that said, "The Brotherhood of Guardians - World Headquarters. Please sign in here," one of the two sentries came out.
     Nathan rolled down the window of his '91 Monte Carlo, which was sort of our Mobile Headquarters. "Good morning," he smiled up at the sentry.
     "Good morning back at you." The sentry smiled, but I couldn't help noticing that he was wearing a sidearm. Hallelujah! "May I ask what brings you to our compound?"
     "The car," I whispered to Maggie, who was sitting next to me in the back seat. She covered her mouth and snickered.
     "We're student journalists," Nathan replied, "Working on an article about local religious orders, focusing on the groups outside the mainstream." He smiled again.
     "You'll have to wait here while I get an OK from HQ," the sentry said, and stepped back into the guardhouse.
     The other sentry scrutinized us through the window while the first guy talked on the phone. Shana quietly pointed out a camera on top of one of the walls, aimed right at us. Pretty buggy about security, they sure were.
     The sentry came back out, smiling again. "Well, you boys can go right in, but the ladies will have to remain here. Women aren't allowed in the compound."
     Maggie's jaw dropped and she looked uncharacteristically angry. Nothing uncharacteristic about Shana's reaction, however.
     "What do you mean women aren't allowed! This is the 20th century, you know!"
     "Steady, ma'am," the soldier replied. "I know it seems sexist but really, we're anything but. It's just too dangerous, that's all."
     "Dangerous! But you're a religion! What could be dangerous?""
     "It's our mission. We're the Guardians, ma'am. And it's a hazardous calling."

Next: Into the Compound