Silence greeted them. After a few seconds had passed, Thad felt comfortable enough to drop a surveillance microdrone inside.
The fact that its signal did not immediately cut off once it disappeared from sight suggested the BC was functioning as Aviva had promised.
{Looks like her contact inside the ministry came through. I think it’s safe to proceed. Removing the grate.}
Thad pulled on the cover and cursed softly as he realized he’d sorely misjudged its mass. With a silent “oof,” he wrenched up on the metal plate, putting his back into it.
As the rounded metal plate began to swing upward, Ell stepped in, lending her strength to the task.
{That’s going to be fun to lift from inside.} Her mental voice was strained as they muscled the hinged lid to its upright position.
{Let’s just hope we’re not in a hurry on our way back up. You ready?}
For answer, she levered herself over the side, hooking her toes into the shallow indentations that served as rungs. He could see her silhouetted form send him a quick glance before she grabbed the railings and began to ease her way down.
Thad looked over to where Jonathan stood, one hand placed on Joule’s head.
{We’ll stay close by,} the pilot assured him.
The Marine nodded and then pressed a ball of ActiveFiber against the metal rim. When he pulled his hand away, a small amount of the material remained adhered to the frame, while the rest stuck to the palm of his glove. A thin fiber communications line extruded between the two, spooling out behind him as he turned to follow Ell.
He spared Jonathan one last look. {I’ll check back in at the top of the hour. Stay hidden until it’s time to connect to the fiber.}
{Copy.}
Thad saw Jonathan lift a hand right before he moved out of sight.
{I’m at the fan,} Ell called from below.
Thad cycled his optics to night vision, craning his neck until he could see the slow turn of blades beneath him. It spanned the full diameter of the metal cylinder, windmilling at a stately pace.
He kept his eyes on Ell as he descended. His climb was mainly done by feel, toes scraping the sides until they found purchase at the next indentation. As he lowered himself rung by rung, Ell’s shadowed figure leaned forward to place a second Bravo Charlie onto the center of the motor.
The breaching canister’s blinking light flashed from red to green just as he came to a stop immediately above her. He heard a low thrumming cut off, and watched as the blades feathered to a stop.
Ell’s silhouette turned to look up at him, and he gave her a nod.
{After you, cher.}
It was a much tighter fit for his broad shoulders to squeeze through than for the former sniper’s lithe frame, but Thad managed—until he found himself dangling from one of the blades when his foot slipped off the indentations in the wall.
He looked down and realized the conduit ended a mere two meters below him, and decided he’d drop the rest of the way. Still, habit had him releasing a cloud of colloid audio chaff in order to muffle the sound of his landing before he let go.
Ell looked over at him as he took a knee beside her.
He pointed to their exit, a vent that fed fresh air into the prison’s environmental control center, and said, {You take one end, I’ll take the other.}
Once they had the enclosure loose enough to hinge outward into the room, Thad directed the surveillance drone inside, ordering it to sweep for monitoring devices.
{Looks clear,} he told Ell.
He unholstered his CUSP, bringing the weapon up and pointing it out at the room.
He nodded. {Go.}
She slipped through, and he dropped lightly beside her.
Ell glanced his way. {This is too easy….}
CONFIRMATION
Shar-Kali Correctional Facility
and Reeducation Center
Aksu Desert
The tracker the Dagger’s inside source had managed to plant onto the two Alliance operatives flashed to active status the moment they breached the facility.
Knowing the other woman was quite capable in her own right, Dacina didn’t worry about Ell or her partner getting caught. Instead, she focused her energies on gathering her small cadre of twelve warriors and ordering them to their prearranged spots.
If things went as planned, not only would she shortly be coming face-to-face with the former sniper, but she would yet again be partnering with the woman.
A voice broke in suddenly over the private, encrypted channel she’d established for the Dagger’s Dozen.
{Team one in place.}
On its heels came a second voice.
{Team two is spread out among the guard. All report readiness.}
{Good,} Dacina replied. {Remember the plan. Drive the Alliance agents toward the ravine at all costs. And remind the prison guards who accompany you that these people are to be taken alive and unharmed, or they will pay the price.}
{As you say, Fermanedh.}
Dacina was not their fermanedh, their commander, but she remained silent and let it ride.
Her players in position, the Dagger settled in to watch and wait.
* * *
Thad wasn’t necessarily a superstitious man, but Ell’s words about their insertion being too easy caused a ripple of apprehension to curl around his spine.
{Let’s not borrow trouble, cher.}
His internal chronometer told him they had forty-five minutes, give or take, before their first contact window with Jonathan lapsed.
Maybe it would be a good idea to snoop around their network systems before proceeding any further.
He nodded to the door and the keypad beside it. {Think you can hack their system through that?}
Ell stepped forward, dipping a hand inside her tac vest. {Worth a try. I have one more of Aviva’s Bravo Charlies left. Let’s see how robust their network security really is.}
A few minutes later, she made a pleased sound. {We’re in.} She forwarded him the connection.
When he accepted it, his overlay flooded with information, and they settled in to review the data.
Something caught his eye, and he highlighted it, pushing it to Ell. {Is this what I think it is?}
She studied it silently for several minutes.
{If you’re thinking it’s a lab and there’s some sort of experiment going on here, then I have to say I agree with your assessment.}
She held up a hand. {Wait. There’s more information here.}
She brought up a secured data file that linked the lab’s access with approved ID tokens.
Thad let out a low, mental whistle. {Well, well, well. Would you look at that. I guess we found our traitor.}
Before him floated a familiar name: Clint Janus, the biochemist who had gone missing shortly after the foiled attempt to attack the Defense Summit.
{What are you up to, Doctor?} he murmured.
There was a pause, and then another name floated to the foreground.
Ell highlighted it. {Look who just arrived for an unscheduled tour of the prison today.}
Thad studied the name Ell had found: Che Josza. {Guess we know who was in that transport. Isn’t he their minister of state security now?}
{Yes.} The tension in Ell’s mental tone suggested that she also recalled the woman who was Che’s right hand; the assassin who would very likely be with him.
{You might end up bumping into your buddy after all,} he observed. {Stay frosty, cher.}
{Oh, I will, believe me.}
{She is not to be underestimated.}
{I know.}
Her voice held an edge that warned Thad he was entering dangerous territory, so he backed off.
{Looks like Aviva’s contact gave her accurate intel,} he said, switching topics back to their objective. {Prisoners are being held four levels below that lab you just spotted. Got a roster for me?}
In response, up popped a list of names with corresponding head shots.
Thad began to scroll through
them, pausing here and there to note names and dates. His jaw clenched as he noted several with Geminate nationality.
He had to forcibly stop his teeth from grinding when he saw how many of those were deceased.
{Wait, stop. That one right there.} He zoomed in on the man’s image.
Ell pursed her lips. {That’s the guy who stopped Micah and Sam outside the restaurant, isn’t it?}
He nodded, and she began to manipulate the feed.
{Hang on, I think I found him listed as one of the—}
Her voice stuttered to a stop, and she wordlessly displayed the notation that had been added to the man’s prison record.
Chris Williams: Junior analyst-in-training.
National Security Agency, Geminate Alliance.
Obtained March 24 while vacationing Ganymede.
First session in cloning lab: April 3.
Viable subject created: April 5.
Subject terminated.
{Any others that they’ve done this to?} Thad asked quietly.
{Other than Garza?} Ell shook her head. {No. There’s a listing of several who were briefly ‘held as guests,’ but then let go.}
{What the—? ‘Held as guests’? Is that what they call torture and brainwashing now?} Thad felt anger surge. {Show me.}
Another list popped up, and the name at the top snagged his eye.
General Harris Carlisle, Vice Chief of Joint Operations.
“That bastard? The Akkadians know how to pick them, don’t they.” The Marine’s voice was soft—very, very soft—but it reeked of disapproval. “Shit, I’ll bet he holds the land speed record for fastest enemy asset turned into an Akkadian spy.”
Though a general, Carlisle garnered little respect. It was a known fact the man had never seen combat; it was also well-known that he liked to let civilians think that he had. Rumor had it that his office was littered with articles of war that had never seen a minute’s use: a sniper rifle, a carbyne-tipped combat blade.
On the general’s walls, holopictures were proudly displayed of him standing beside special recon teams—people whose lives were endangered by the public display of such images, and yet the general didn’t seem to care.
For him, it was nothing but an ego trip. Stolen valor.
It didn’t surprise Thad in the least to learn the man had been turned.
{Package that up, and let’s send it up to Jonathan over that fiber line before we go any further. He can begin transmitting it to Micah while we infiltrate. It will be my great pleasure to take that fils-putain down.}
{Copy that.} Ell’s response was terse, but those two words held a wealth of emotion.
She crossed the room on light feet, reaching up to where the fiber clung to the side of the vent.
{Done,} she said after a moment.
{Okay then,} Thad straightened. {Let’s do this.}
TRAITORS NAMED
Task Force Blue HQ
Humbolt Base
Back at Task Force Blue headquarters, Micah walked the room restlessly, maintaining a light touch with Jonathan as Ell and Thad breached the facility.
Gabe gave Micah a questioning look as he passed. He shook his head; no news.
Off to one side, Katie had her feet propped up on a console, and was rotating a pair of Chinese medicine balls in one palm. The spheres made a light clacking sound Micah could hear above the murmur of voices that came from the headquarters element staffing the communications array.
You there?
Micah came to an abrupt halt, his head jerking around to seek Toland’s gaze.
The admiral held up a hand, bringing the casual conversation in the room to a stop. “Captain?”
Micah focused on his connection with Jonathan. That was fast. Recon over?
Jonathan gave a mental shake of his head. No, but they managed to break into the prison’s network and found a shit-ton of intel that they thought you should have. They sent it up to me so I could update you while they obtain visual confirmation that Garza is here.
You have non-visual confirmation?
Yes.
Micah motioned to Toland as he grabbed a seat at the table. I’m going to repeat everything you say aloud, and they’re going to record it. If I say something wrong, stop me.
They went through all the information Ell had discovered on the prisoners. When they got to the list of victims’ names, Micah had to swallow and clear his throat before continuing.
That all you have for us?
No.
Micah felt a swell of anger emanating from Jonathan.
This next list isn’t victims. It’s agents. Moles. Traitors.
They began anew, Micah repeating back what Jonathan shared. When his twin reported on Clint Janus and his lab, Micah felt his anger build. So when Jonathan sent the intel on Harris Carlisle….
Micah shot to his feet. “That fucking bastard!”
Gabe, who’d taken a seat beside him, stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Report, Captain.”
The man’s calm, steady tone pierced the haze of red that had clouded Micah’s vision.
He turned blindly to face Gabe, and then pushed an image onto the bullpen’s holotank. “Recognize this asshole?”
An exclamation from Katie Hyer confirmed it.
“Hey! That’s the creep I nailed in the eye!”
“That is General Harris Carlisle.” Toland’s voice was devoid of emotion—the way it got when she was very angry. “He’s the vice chair of the joint operating committee.”
Micah met her eyes. “He’s also a traitor. No wonder I’ve always hated that guy.”
TRIGGERED
Shar-Kali Correctional Facility
and Reeducation Center
Aksu Desert
Ell slid the environmental room’s door open a crack, far enough to release a reconnaissance microdrone.
{Hallway’s clear,} she reported a second later.
She palmed the door fully open and slipped through, Thad following at her six. A map settled onto his overlay, their destination highlighted and waypoints identified.
They’d agreed earlier that they’d stick to maintenance shafts when they could.
Wordlessly, Ell pointed up ahead, and Thad saw the microdrone dip inside the stairwell located beside a bank of lifts. They caught up to it just in time to see the tiny machine plummet four stories to the detention floor.
{Clear.} Ell wrapped her hands and feet around the ladder’s side rails, and dropped.
He followed after.
{Hang on.} Thad caught her just as she was about to step out into the hall.
If what he suspected was true, this area’s security would be far more difficult to get past than the level they had just left.
He released his own microdrone, and almost immediately, a warning ping sounded.
He ordered the drone to retreat as he studied its sensor feed, then shared the warning that flashed on his HUD with Ell.
{Well, shit. Colloid mist,} she muttered. {Sorry. Should have seen that one coming.}
Her disgusted comment brought a grin to Thad’s face, which he didn’t bother to hide, since his suit’s hood shrouded it from her view.
{No worries. Remember back when Jack rigged those paintball guns for that op at Cobalt Mining?}
Her head cranked around in his direction. {You mean those paintballs he injected with the tagging program? Yes, I remember.}
He jerked his chin in the direction of the hallway. {That mist’ll do the same thing to us.}
She tilted her head, and then pointed. {Okay then, how about we use that little guy for recon?}
Thad followed her shadowed hand and spied a cleaning bot parked in its charging station across the corridor. {Good idea. That’ll do nicely.}
He directed one of the microdrones toward the resting bot. It floated across the hallway, coming to rest in the crevice between the automaton’s forward sensors. He then ordered the drone to inject a filament of nanomaterial into the sensors, using the connectio
n to deliver the breaching code.
After a moment, he nodded. {Okay. Control’s ours. Now let’s see what this thing’s programmed to do.}
Thad threw the cleaning bot’s routine up onto his HUD, sharing the connection with Ell.
{Looks like its standard setting sweeps the corridors,} he said. {If we have it run its regular loop, it’ll give us a good feel for how many prison guards we’re up against.}
{Works for me.} Ell highlighted a subroutine in the program. {They send the bots in to clean the cells, too.}
Almost instinctively, Thad leaned forward as he scrolled down, seeking the number of Garza’s cell. {Bingo.}
Ell made a satisfied noise. {Okay, then. Bot’s in play.}
They sent it off to make its rounds, and Thad’s gut tightened at the tally of guards they were up against on this level. Between them and the colloid mist, their chances of getting Garza out safely weren’t good.
{They sure as hell aren’t taking any chances, are they?} he murmured.
He tensed as the bot came to a stop in front of the cell that held the prime minister, but the guards seemed oblivious to the little machine.
It docked with a small service hatch and then cycled through to the other side.
He heard Ell suck in a breath as the hatch opened, and they got a clear visual of the cell’s inhabitant.
They now had a positive ID.
Their connection to the microdrone abruptly cut out, and Thad jerked.
{What the fuck?}
Ell pointed, highlighting the message error:
Connection Lost.
{My guess? Faraday cage.}
Thad scowled at the readout. {Makes sense. Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.}
He saw Ell’s outline move in a graceful shrug. {The drone has its commands. It will ping Garza with the challenge codes whether we’re there to watch or not.}
Thad grunted his agreement, and then stood. {Stay here and keep watch. It’s about time to update Jonathan. I’ll retrace our steps, report in, and be back here before the bot’s completed its cleaning routine.}
Chiral Justice: A Hard Science Fiction Technothriller (The Biogenesis War Book 3) Page 26
