by TR Cameron
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As they waited for the evening’s adventure to begin, Diana, Rath, and Bryant sat in a circle, talking easily over the comm with Cara and Tony. After the fear of the unknown had faded into the exhaustion of waiting, Diana made up an excuse and sent Rath up to check on the other two, which left her and Bryant alone.
He wasn’t fooled. As soon as the troll was out of earshot, he gave her a searching look. “What’s up? Are you okay?”
She nodded.
Except for the incredible awkwardness of this moment, I’m great. Thanks.
A part of her wished there would be a sneak attack to forestall the next few minutes, but it didn’t come. “So, I know.”
He frowned. “What do you know?”
“What you are.”
“Handsome? Charming? Smarter than average? A real prize, like my mom always said?”
Classic. Humor to deflect pain.
“A wizard.”
He blinked, seemed about to speak, then blinked some more. Finally, he said, “Samuels.” She nodded. “Did he tell you all about it?”
Diana shook her head. “Nope. He only said that you had chosen a different path than most.”
“Well, that’s true enough.” He laughed. “Although technically, I’m descended from wizards, not an actual wizard.”
She waved her hand. “Semantics. Is the different path the whole no-wand thing?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“Well, I’ve been collecting these when I can in case they’re useful.” She extended the canister she’d used to store the wands she’d taken.
He opened it and grinned. “There may be one in here that would fit the bill. But, generally, I prefer guns.”
“Why?”
His grin stretched wider. “Any fool can throw people around with telekinesis. Bullets take skill.”
She flicked the container with a bolt of power, tumbled its contents into his lap, and stood. “Now you have something to entertain you, skill-boy,” she snarked and stalked off in a dramatic huff.
Rath chose that moment to return, stared at them both, and shook his head in the same manner as a despairing parent would. Humans would never, ever, make total sense to him.
The crowds began to gather a half hour before the listed protest time. Kayleigh fed images from their own sources and local news to the team’s glasses. They showed a diverse number of people carrying a wide variety of signs. As the group had managed to put a name—Stuart Young—to the lawyer’s face behind the fearmongering, it was merely a matter of weeding out the Remembrance plants from the concerned citizens.
The next twenty minutes were more of the same, albeit with larger crowds as the people closed on the Cube from all directions. A street-level shot from the facility’s cameras showed the office building illuminated by decorative floodlights, the epitome of corporate America. Unfortunately, it hadn’t managed to hide the prison beneath for nearly as long as they’d intended.
Kayleigh’s voice was energized, and Diana pictured her striding around the core, reviewing data sources, and interacting with several computers at a time. The thought brought a smile to her face despite the gravity of the situation. “All right. I see patterns in the crowd’s movement. Most notable are two suspicious groups incoming from north and west. I can’t get close enough for facial recognition for fear of spooking the crowd, but they seem to be traveling together and in larger numbers than any other group on my scans.”
“Got it,” Diana replied.
Bryant added, “Essentially what we expected.” She looked at him and had to admit it was strange having him along. There was a certain out of sight, out of mind advantage at work. Switching back and forth between regional SAC and BAM field agent didn’t seem to be a problem for him, though. His fingers drummed on the trigger guard of his carbine as he waited and scanned the data in his lenses.
Kayleigh’s voice took on a note of concern. “The bigger worry looks like it’s coming from the east.” The feed shifted to a drone in motion, presumably under the tech’s control. It rocketed forward, then paused and hovered with its camera centered on a pack of Kilomea moving from rooftop to rooftop. Diana counted eight in total as they crossed hand-over-hand on a line strung from one tall building to the next.
“You know, if that drone had a gun, you could probably shoot that rope right out from under them,” Tony said matter-of-factly.
“I wasn’t lying when I said they weren’t armed, detective.”
Cara added, “Maybe the warden’s drones?”
“I don’t have control over them, and her people made it clear that they were needed for their own protection.” Another window opened, and they could see the scene from the Cube’s hardware, which hovered high above the main routes. The feed homed in on three smaller drones that flew lower and seemed to prefer stealth rather than overt action.
“Okay, so they belong to either the Remembrance or the protestors,” Dianna said. “What are they doing with them?”
“My best guess is data collection for possible prosecutions if things go bad. Since they’re located on the way in, rather than around the facility itself, they can fly a little lower.”
Diana barked a laugh. “So, what, it’s okay to get the crowd riled up before they’re all gathered together, but not when they are?”
“Apparently,” Bryant replied.
She refocused on the feed. One of the Kilomea had noticed the drone and held a knife in his hand. Her mind corrected—huge knife—when she remembered that although they looked normal size in the drone’s view, they were far from it. The image the feed caught before it went black was that of the blade spinning toward the drone with wicked accuracy.
Kayleigh was irate. “Shit. I do not have an endless supply of drones. You make sure to smack that guy at least once for me.”
They laughed, and the overhead drone camera replaced the lost one. Diana asked, “What’s the timing?”
“The big guys will arrive immediately before the others. My estimation is less than a minute’s difference.”
Diana shook her head. “No coincidences. Alert SWAT and the PD about the ones to the north and west. They’ll want to be ready in case they do something crazy like threaten the crowd. They should try to funnel them toward the office building where we can deal with them.” She looked at Bryant and saw her own worries on his face. “In fact, Kayleigh, tell them they should consider pushing the protestors back while they can. That’s a lot of potential firepower coming in.”
Diana, Bryant, and Rath moved into position. The floor was essentially a wide central area with five offices along each side. Diana had chosen an office on the left as she faced the lobby, and Bryant had chosen the same office on the right. Rath had stationed himself one room back from her in a good position for a surprise attack if she were forced to retreat. She lowered to one knee and aimed her rifle at the entrance. Bryant would do the same on the other side. She triggered her mic. “Floor B, what’s your status?”
Tony replied immediately. “We’re hiding out in cubicle land, with overwatch on the stairwell.”
“Waiting is boring,” Cara whined dramatically.
Diana laughed. “It’s too late to switch, I’m afraid. If it’s any consolation, if they do make it to you, they’ll be fired up.”
The data feeds in her glasses disappeared to avoid distraction. Kayleigh had promised eventual upgrades that would let them see heat signatures, but for now, a clear view was a better view. A single loud crash was rapidly followed by several more in the lobby, and she tensed. The doors banged wide, but no one came through. She whispered, “Contact,” and received a click from Bryant followed by a quiet, “Acknowledged,” from Cara and Tony.
A single Kilomea entered. She ducked into the office as he checked the first one on her side. She delayed, hoping to hear another enter before she revealed herself. Another click sounded over the comms that she took as Bryant’s signal that the intruder was about to step ou
t of the second office. She waited a moment longer, then leaned around the corner at knee height. Diana pulled the trigger in two sets of three and allowed the recoil to lift the barrel, and the hulking brute fell as blood spurted from his wounds. His dying shriek shattered the stillness, and more creatures burst through the doorway.
Rifle fire roared from her right as she rose to add her carbine to the assault. In a sight that had to be seen to be believed, the Kilomea intercepted the bullets with improvised shields. It looked like they had broken the heavy guard desk apart and carried large sections of it in front of them. Most of the agents’ barrage was deflected, and what did manage to penetrate didn’t stop the enemy’s progress. The ones with the barriers angled toward the BAM team. Both humans backpedaled ahead of the advance.
Diana shifted her aim to their feet, but the two closest managed to bring the furniture down hastily to deflect. Bryant tried firing across at those nearest her, but the one near him interposed his shield to protect them. They were both forced to evade when the advance guard hurled the pitted chunks of desk at them. Bryant ducked back into an office, while she rolled into the center. True, it made her an easier target, but she didn’t want them too close to Rath.
She thrust up from her roll and fired into the kneecap of the lead Kilomea on her side, but the second one was on her almost immediately. Normal-sized beings flooded through the entrance behind the brutes, some with rifles and others without.
“Watch the door,” she shouted as she ducked a horizontal slash from a giant sword the brute had drawn from over his shoulder. He chopped it down at her, and she spun away. She flicked his leg with her telekinesis like she’d done to Rath in practice, but the Kilomea didn’t budge. A force blast provided a follow-up to her attack and spun the blade from his grasp to fling it across the room and embed it into the wall.
Rath careened into view and landed on the Kilomea’s shoulders to stab at the beast’s neck with both his batons. They sizzled, and he held them there until the monster dropped to his knees. The hulking brute’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell onto his face as the troll pushed clear.
Diana dove, too, as a direct line of sight to her opened for a rifleman and he sprayed bullets at her. She finished her roll and brought up her own weapon to return fire, but her target was now blocked by another Kilomea, this one with long knives in each hand. Long long knives. She’d barely registered his presence when his giant foot delivered a kick that launched her through the open doorway of the next office to land on the desk. The Kevlar at her back took the brunt of the impact, but she sighed inwardly as she thought of the bruises that waited in her future and staggered to her feet.
Bryant drew his pistol and fired anti-magic rounds at the wizard and witch on his side of the room as a Kilomea closed. He holstered the weapon as the giant kicked at him, stepped nimbly aside, and ducked to avoid the follow-up jab. The agent grabbed its outstretched arm and delivered an uppercut to its elbow. The silver studs on his glove crackled on impact. The Kilomea looked confused as his limb numbed, and Bryant used the moment of distraction to draw his Glock again and deliver two shots into the creature’s face at close range.
The body collapsed, but the man was now the focal point of three rifles. He hissed, “Scield,” and his shield materialized. The bullets and magic failed to penetrate it, and he grinned as he counted down the remaining time. He repositioned, grabbed a sonic grenade, and primed it. His protection dropped as he hurled it and he raised his rifle. When it detonated, one rifleman went down, but the other two reacted in almost the worst way possible. Their fingers tightened on their triggers to spray the room on full auto.
Bryant fell to his stomach and sighted along the floor to fire his M4 at the aggressors. Two collapsed with wounded legs, and the third staggered into a nearby office. A shimmer surrounded the witch and wizard, and his bullets bounced off. He scampered for cover as a wash of flame filled his half of the room.
The sprinklers activated, and he had to grin as Diana shouted, “Again? Damn these people!” He ejected his rifle magazine and slapped in one loaded with anti-magic rounds.
Cautiously, he crawled forward and aimed at a wizard’s torso. The mage grunted and staggered back, then straightened and released a focused cone of fire at him, which forced him to duck into the cover of an office. He triggered his mic. “Some of them are wearing Kevlar.”
Curses filled the channel. Diana grumbled. “We need to find dumber enemies.”
When he stuck his head out to review the situation, he had to agree. The force now advanced in an inverted V, with the riflemen in front on the outside, the wizard and witch a couple of steps back toward the middle, and a giant Kilomea in the center. The massive creature had retrieved a desk from one of the offices and carried it before him like a riot shield. Bryant wasn’t sure if he intended to block with it or use it as a projectile, but both options were troubling. His eyes widened when he saw more reinforcements enter the room behind them. “Kayleigh, have they abandoned trying to break into the Cube?”
Kayleigh was slow to answer. “Affirmative.”
“That’s bad.”
Diana had to agree with Bryant’s assessment. It was time to get serious about delaying the bastards. She tripped her mic. “Five seconds, Bryant. I’ll distract them while you retreat to the stairwell. You too, Rath.” The troll had hidden in the office nearest the stairs after his first attack since a direct charge against the enemy wasn’t a viable option. She raced from her hiding place, summoned a force shield before her, and flicked the right-hand wizard’s wand away with her telekinesis. The rifles tracked her, but their fire couldn’t penetrate her shield.
So this is how that feels. No wonder they like it.
She swerved to the right and felt the presence of her comrade fleeing behind her. The angles were perfect. She dropped her shield and directed a wave of force forward in a semicircle. The wizard closest to her managed to call his own shield to insulate against the attack. Beside him, the rifleman was thrown into a nearby wall that separated the room from the lobby. The other three were hurled through the windows to land in the streets outside. Panicked screams echoed as a flaming bottle sailed in to burst on the floor. She rolled into cover, away from the remaining enemy, and shoved a wet strand of hair out of her face after the sprinklers activated for a second time. “Kayleigh, trigger lockdown.”
“On it,” the tech replied. An instant later, heavy metal covers descended over the windows, and a massive door slammed down to block the lobby off. Heavy fists battered against the barrier with no success. The wizard hid in an office now that the odds were no longer in his favor. Diana and Bryant took the opportunity to relocate and she raced up the staircase to bypass the second level and climb to the third.
She took the moment of reprieve for the short respite it offered and breathed heavily. “Status outside?”
“It’s a little rough out there,” Kayleigh reported. “More stuff is being thrown at the building, some fistfights, and general pushing and shoving. The local PD has set an airspace perimeter. They’re afraid any helicopters might cause panic. I think they’re mainly scared of the TV ones riling the crowd. Your chopper is hovering just outside it, two minutes, plus or minus fifteen seconds, away.”
“We can work with that.” Bryant pounded up the stairs with a grin.
“Where were you?” Diana asked suspiciously.
He shrugged. “I left them a present.” The nature of the gift became clear when an explosion roared from the bottom of the stairwell. He shook his head. “It’s like rule number one. Gotta watch for traps, right?”
“Okay,” Kayleigh said, “I have a large group of signatures heading onto the second floor—about two-thirds of the entire group. The rest are coming to you.”
Diana sighed. Break time was over. “I guess we all get to play, then.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Cara inched her eyes the side of the cubicle she hid in, enough to see the stairwell through which troub
le would come.
The second floor of the office building was full of squat, gray interlocking cubicles and only four actual offices, one at each corner. They had decided that the enemy would most likely expect them to take position in the small rooms, so they crouched in the central area, instead. It felt terribly exposed.
A series of explosions had rebounded from the stairs a short time before, and Cara’s fingers itched for action. The metal support splint that encircled her forearm irritated her, and she tapped it absently against the desk. Finally, the time had come for action. The enemy crept in from the staircase—a mixture of humans, wizards, witches, and two giant Kilomea. That was all she was able to identify before she ducked to avoid detection.
She whispered into her comm, “There’s a bunch of them, Tony.”
“The plan’s still good.”
They’d agreed to wait until their opposition exited the stairwell, then would aim the rifles over the barriers and spray on full auto. It was a sound strategy for an opening salvo. Several more seconds passed before he said, “In three, two, one.”
She extended her rifle over the cubicle wall with the trigger depressed and swept it from left and right as the magazine emptied, prompting roars of outrage and pain from the invaders. She popped the mag and replaced it with anti-magic rounds to deal with those who’d blocked her first salvo. Somewhere across the room, she knew Tony would be doing the same.
Cara remained low but repositioned and moved to a cubicle several back from where she had been. Several shouts indicated that the enemy had spread out in search of them.
This is about to get seriously messy.
She stood, assessed the scene, and targeted the witch nearest her. A triple burst dropped the woman, but the ex-marshal was forced to duck and scramble away from the electrical blast discharged by the wizard beside the fallen opponent. She leaned out and fired low, but the wall of the cubicle between them somehow interposed itself and it's metal frame deflected the bullets. The entire section of cubicles tilted and skewed, and she raced around to the far side. She crouched and caught her breath for a moment and grinned at an angry shout from near the stairwell. “There’s nothing here, boss. No computers. Nothing worth taking.”
