Arcane Ops

by T. R. Cameron

  Kayleigh laughed when Deacon finished describing his hacking attempt on the National Guard base. She always enjoyed hearing how his magic worked over the Internet but she could never really understand it any more than she could make fire come from her fingertips. There had been a time when she was jealous of those with abilities she didn’t have, but Emerson had set her straight by reminding her that her brain was something they didn’t have and that teams were supposed to have complementary parts.

  Diana and Tony arrived promptly for the meeting, and the two techs began by relating the newest information from their surveillance on the oversight committee members, including the new potential names that had come to light. “We found nothing of concern on Finley’s but weren’t exactly shocked when we discovered some questionable activity on the part of the VP’s political buddies.”

  The boss shook her head with an angry expression. “That really is unfortunate. I’d hoped he’d be smart enough to avoid it.”

  Tony shrugged. “We all did. But it’s not the first time a politician has gotten his priorities confused. Maybe it’ll work out.”

  Kayleigh doubted it but didn’t voice her opinion. “So, in addition to that, we’ve worked to push Sarah to a new level of frustration and I have to say, it’s been way more fun than I expected it to be.”

  Deacon laughed. “Totally awesome, really. I think we could probably go pro at this.”

  The investigator grinned. “So, tell us.”

  The blonde tech was proud of what they’d accomplished so far and was more than willing to share. “First, we made sure her condo has rolling brownouts that strangely coincide with when she’s home.”

  Her partner nodded. “We’ve tried to catch her in the elevator, but that system is totally local so we can’t hack the interior cameras. Maybe we’ll send Rath in with an access point.”

  “Evil plan,” Diana said with a grin. “I love it. What else?”

  Kayleigh laughed. “Bugs—real and virtual—at the warehouse. Rath put a box of crickets in the ventilation system, and we opened it remotely when he was gone. They hated that, although it didn’t take the magicals long to kill them all. Plus, they’ll find more listening devices the next time they do a sweep to remind them they’re not operating in secret.”

  “We’ve also had a few of them picked up by hacking the police bounty system,” Deacon added. “When we have enough info on someone to isolate them, we throw their name on there. It’s a random tactic but useful. Unfortunately, our security agency hasn’t been available to make the arrests.”

  Tony shrugged. “They’re busy with ARES stuff.” Diana nodded.

  Kayleigh took the briefing over again. “Those have been good, based on what we’ve heard her ranting about in her apartment. But what’s really setting her off are the rumors. Sloan is going—disguised with illusions—to all their hangouts and spreading bad stuff about the gang, claiming they’re led by a crazy person, that they keep getting beaten by the police, and whatever other derogatory comments he can come up with. She doesn’t like that at all.”

  Their boss frowned. “That doesn’t seem like a particularly safe thing to do.”

  The tech nodded. “I told him that. His response was, and I quote, ‘Darlin, this is what I do.’ Honestly, he’s infuriating. Finally, he’s out, and here he is, putting himself in danger again.”

  Tony tapped his finger on the table and looked thoughtful. “Is there a way to amp that up a little?”

  She turned to face him. “Like what? Deacon and I can probably put something out on the web, too—rumor-wise, I mean.”

  “No, I was thinking of something a little bigger. What if, instead of simply spreading random rumors by word of mouth, we involved a few officials? If the chief of police talked about the gang and positioned them as simply another group of criminals, that would be sure to tick the magicals off. Even better, if we could convince them to announce they were considering forming a task force, that would surely make Sarah nuts.”

  Diana looked thoughtful. “That’s definitely a way to up the ante on what we’re already doing. Do you think it puts the police in an unnecessary amount of danger, though?”

  He shook his head. “That’s what they’re paid to do. But no, I don’t think it does. If we continue to run surveillance on them, we can scream a warning if it looks like they’ll make a move. We know that things are moving toward a final action on their part and if we can’t head it off at the very least, it would be good to push them into moving prematurely—into acting emotionally rather than logically.”

  She stood quickly. “It’s a good plan. Make it happen. Let’s put all the pressure we can on them and be ready for something to break. Tony, after you talk to the PD, get with Hank and Anik and double-check that we’re prepared to move on a moment’s notice. Kayleigh, spread rumors on the internet. Deacon, try to find us a way to replace the inside knowledge we lost when Sloan jumped ship. I’d start with watchers positioned overhead or in a continuous pattern. Maybe it’s possible to put better video and microphones on them? Heat sensors?”

  The two techs exchanged glances before they nodded at the same time. Kayleigh said, “We’ll think of something.”

  The worry on their boss’ face was a reminder that despite the joy of playing pranks on the group, the stakes were far higher than anyone would like. Once Diana and Tony had left, she leaned in to whisper to Deacon, “So, are we good for the other plan?”

  He nodded. “We have full access to all their systems, although I don’t know how long it’ll last once we go visible. I’m not doing anything other than avoiding detection and sneaking in deeper when the opportunity presents itself.”

  “It doesn’t sound like there’s much more we can do on that front.”

  “Agreed.”

  “This is probably a one-shot, right?”

  “Almost certainly. If it were me and I found out that such a vital system had been compromised, I’d sever external connections entirely. If they do that, we’re toast unless we physically break in and add our own hardware.”

  She frowned. “Do you think we could do the same thing we did with the PD drones? Have the National Guard ones go missing long enough to alter them?”

  “No chance.”

  “Dang it.”

  He laughed. “You’ve been hanging around Rath too much if that’s all the verbal venom you’ve got.”

  Kayleigh grinned. “Shut the hell up or you’ll see what I’ve got.”

  Deacon raised an eyebrow, which earned him a slap on the arm. “Get to work, slacker.” She called her systems up and began to play with the specs for the watcher drones. Now, if we replaced the standard camera with a heat sensor and used two of them in tandem….

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Pesharn looked at her two lieutenants, then at two humans she had paid to assist in the assassination. “Are there any questions?” Her fellow warriors shook their heads but as expected, one of the locals decided to speak.

  “So, to be clear, you want us to run her down, is that it?”

  The Kilomea hid her exasperation. They’d been over this twice already. Part of her imagined that the witch, Iressa, had deliberately connected her with the dumbest members of this planet’s native species. “Yes. When I give you the signal that she’s left her workplace, you are to crash into her motorcycle with your cars, if you can. The two of you will work together to herd her in a certain direction at the same time in case you can’t catch her.”

  One of them smacked the other on the sleeve and laughed. “Some chick on a bike will actually outrun us? Like hell.” The two were of a type with their flannel shirts, dirty jeans, cowboy boots, and worn leather jackets proclaiming membership in some group. She found them irritating at best and worthy of a long torturous death the rest of the time. Well, if they fail me, at least I can make that vision a reality.

  Her male lieutenant growled, and she touched him gently on the arm. “She has proven slippery before and, in fact, evaded
several highly reputable bounty hunters. If you are able to kill her, so much the better—and you will be doubly rewarded for it. If not, we will be there as a backup plan.”

  They nodded and took the hint from her subordinate’s attitude that further questioning wouldn’t be appreciated. “Okay. We’ll get into position and wait for your call.”

  The men departed, and her female lieutenant shook her head. “You don’t actually believe they will manage to kill this human woman, do you?”

  Pesharn chuckled. “It is virtually impossible, but stranger things have happened. Is the trap in place?”

  She nodded. “Everything is ready.”

  “Very well. Iressa’s subordinates are watching the building that the fools still think is secret. She was seen entering, and they will inform us the instant she leaves.”

  “What if she uses her magic to travel?”

  A low growl escaped her. “She is our prey and one way or another, we will have her. She can’t stay hidden from our spotters forever, and when she reveals herself, we will strike.”

  Cara threw a final rifle to Hank, having disassembled and cleaned it after running a hundred test rounds through it. The new gear was going into the mobile armory, and she’d offered to help wherever she could. Getting paid to shoot was kind of a bonus in any case, and her often frantic mind enjoyed the quiet focus of equipment maintenance. It was one of the things she shared with the former aircraft mechanic, and they had spent many hours together like this since their first introduction.

  “Dinner?” he asked,

  She shook her head. “Nope, gotta get home and hit the sack.” With Anik, unless something has gotten in the way of our plans again.

  He shrugged, unoffended. “Your loss. I’ll try the fondue place. I hear it’s really good stuff.”

  “Well, if anything could tempt me, sizzling steak is the thing, but no, I’m beat.” She waved goodbye as she retrieved her helmet and headed to the parking garage. Her replacement bike wasn’t as amazing as her Arch had been, but she still enjoyed the way the emerald Kawasaki Ninja H2 cornered, and its acceleration was nothing to sneeze at, either. She didn’t have the same instinctive symbiosis with it that she’d had with her own, but it was a good temporary solution until her name came up on the waiting list.

  She accelerated out of the garage and turned right, then zig-zagged onto a street leading into the city’s up-and-coming neighborhoods. Gentrification had spread and she was a beneficiary, having found a decent apartment on the edge of one of the coolest. She took the back way, which meandered through old industrial complexes, rather than deal with the traffic that was already fairly backed up for a weeknight. The streetlights fell away, and only the maintenance and security lamps on the abandoned buildings offered a glimmer of light as she drove along an access road that had once served a steel mill. She realized that she’d vaguely heard the thrum of another engine under the sound of her own only when Quinn’s warning eclipsed them both. “Two cars appear to be exceeding the speed limit and heading in your direction.”

  Cara cursed. While the route provided the advantage of a lack of traffic, it also presented very few options. “Show me.” An overlay map appeared on her display. One of the vehicles came up fast from behind and the other could most likely cut her off at the next intersection. She gunned the engine, and the bike surged beneath her. The other cars matched her acceleration. “Dammit, they must have eyes on me.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Okay, you know the drill. Full alert to ARES in case this is part of a bigger action. Be ready to roll ambulances if necessary. Plot police presence so I can avoid dragging them into this.” She and Diana had concurred on that point. Even though the local authorities were certainly responsible for protecting the safety of their citizens, it didn’t seem right to ask any of them other than the SWAT teams to get involved with the Remembrance goons. They wouldn’t reach out to those highly skilled professionals unless and until things were truly dire. No, this beef is personal and we’ll handle it personally.

  She leaned over the handlebars and accelerated even more while she watched the positions of the cars on the map. It seemed she would beat the one ahead to the intersection and had a surprise ready for him. The vehicle behind had gained, though, and the timing required to deal with the other meant she couldn’t go any faster. By the time she reached the four-way, he’d only be a few car lengths behind…which actually might turn out to be a good thing. Adrenaline coursed through her, and she realized she was grinning. All the sneaking around we do is one kind of fun, but balls-out speed is its own reward. Not to mention explosions.

  The scene played out in slow motion in her mind as it occurred and looked for all the world like an action film sequence. She saw the car approach from her left, an old-school Mustang with a thick white racing stripe on the dark hood. It spewed a cloud of dust that floated and drifted in the red illumination from its taillights. She couldn’t quite see the driver, but whoever it was had earned his or her fate. The bike swerved a little when she lifted her left hand from the handlebars and extended it, her gloved fingers splayed outward and parallel to the ground. Darts of fire burned through the leather, the first volley barely dispatched before the second followed. She secured her grip on the motorcycle and had an instant to reflect on the fact that, before training with Nylotte, the double attack would have probably exhausted her and resulted in a wreck.

  Her aim was true, and the missiles stabbed through the front right tire and into the engine compartment as the car dipped toward the road. The strike caused it to flip when the nose dug into the ground. She was well past before it landed and had a moment of celebration at the sound of crunching metal behind her before she noticed that the second dot was still on her tail. Dammit. Well, that’s one, anyway. She couldn’t make the same attack on the second without losing control, so she twisted the accelerator again and hurtled forward. “Quinn, send an ambulance and a police car.”

  “Done.”

  “Okay, what are my options?” The map zoomed out and three paths appeared superimposed in varying shades of yellow. An intersection lay about a mile ahead, and the yellow lines diverged. The first path led right and down to the abandoned steel mill, and while it would be better for her bike than for the car, there was no telling how well-maintained the road would be. The second was a continuation of this street, which ran flat and straight for several miles more and gave her no particular advantage. The third, however, was a twisting and turning affair to the left that climbed one of the area’s biggest hills. While she wouldn’t manage as much speed as the car might on the incline, the nimbleness of the motorcycle would make all the difference. Plus, all she needed was to get far enough ahead to stop and blast them off the road with her magic. “Good. Onward and upward, as they say.”

  The map showed the car gaining on her, but her instincts told her she would make it to the intersection before her enemy. The driver must have realized the same thing because there was a bang and a whoosh and suddenly, the dot jumped closer.

  “Nitrous boost, apparently,” Quinn reported.

  “Awesome.” She divided her attention between the road ahead, the dots on the display, and the car she could now hear surging up on her left. She leaned forward, drew the Ruger awkwardly from the small of her back, and fired it blindly at the other vehicle, which was now only a single length behind her. It swerved a little in her mirrors but continued to gain. “Dammit.” She gritted her teeth and drew on all the speed she could with the intersection only fifteen seconds ahead.

  With only ten seconds to go, her pursuer pulled beside her and she could see the grin on the face of the man behind the wheel. Four seconds later, he swerved slightly to the left and she realized what he was about to do. With three seconds to go, he swung to the right and tried to ram her off the road. She veered away and onto the shoulder. The bike juddered over the uneven grass and became momentarily airborne when the incline suddenly dropped away. When it landed, she fought for control
and steered back onto the road toward the steel mill. A little more distance, then I can stop and get ready to blast him. She tapped the brakes to slow herself without throwing the motorcycle into a skid. “Quinn, give me a better look at where he’s—”

  She didn’t manage to finish the statement as a chain buried in the dirt in front of the bike suddenly raised into the air. It caught the front wheel and hurled her over the handlebars. The flight was painless but the abrupt and painful impact into the side of one of the mill buildings left her dazed and all but unconscious.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Her senses clawed back to reality when a very alarmed Quinn yelled into her helmet. “Cara. Get. Up. Now. Enemies incoming.” She stumbled to her feet, her brain not able to process anything other than the pulsing yellow line on her display that told her what direction to move in. The helmet made strange noises and the image in front of her slid in and out of resolution, with static filling her vision in the interim. She fumbled at her belt for the healing potion, one of two she’d carried since discovering the existence of the bounty on her head. Once she had it in her hand, she tried to flip the faceplate up, but it was wedged shut.

  “Shit.” Speaking hurt like there was glass coating her throat. “Quinn, call for help. Any help. I have to ditch the helmet.” She ripped it off without waiting for a reply and drank the contents of the vial. Immediately, her head began to clear, and as the pain slowly faded, she realized exactly how many parts of her body were hurting. She considered taking the second as well but decided there was no way to predict how much worse the situation could get. I might need it more later. She pushed ahead, and despite the silence around her, she still felt danger lurking. Since it was a trap, there was doubtless someone moving in to kill her and she needed to get out of the open.