The deadly combination of water and electricity almost threw his soul from his flesh. Involuntarily, Noah thrashed against the shackles. He was brought up again to catch his breath.
"When and where are they going to strike?" Kain flicked the ashes of his cigar onto the white tiled floor.
"Come on Kain, your power is immense." Noah taunted between breaths.
Webb smashed his right fist into Noah's jaw, then his left.
Noah coughed and spit to the side of his chair. "You know your real problem Kain? It's that you're losing. Your dictatorship is hanging by a frayed thread in Southern. The only place your hold still carries weight is in Midwest and you know that power is shaky at best. The Rebels will overthrow you. You are nothing but a scared, trapped, son-of-a-bitch." Noah started laughing, deep from his gut and coughing painfully at the same time. It felt damn good! Vindicating! "Rachel and Emily are safe and soon you'll be torn apart by the Rebel wolves and my ghost will dance over your grave."
"Keep it coming until he breaks," Kain ordered and exited the room with his guards.
"Looks like it's just you and me Webb." Noah challenged.
~ ~ ~
Rachel paced in her quarters and checked her watch. She had made arrangements for Emily to stay safely with a kind Rebel family who had other children she could play with and assured her she would do everything she could to get back her brother.
A knock at the door brought her to herself. "Lawton, Phone call."
Rachel darted out the door behind the messenger and said "Hurry," as they raced to the communications room.
She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear, "This is Lawton."
"It's Smithy."
"News?"
"Yes, the men are already on their way to the Port of Old New Orleans to retrieve you. They have coordinates to Connor's location - you'll go from there." Smithy instructed.
"You found him!"
"Of course I found him."
"Where are they keeping him?"
"Lawton you are one hell of a soldier, but there is no way on God's green earth I am telling you where he is before your back up arrives. Your heart is too far gone into this one. I'm afraid you might not be thinking too rationally."
Rachel swallowed her pride. He was right.
Smithy continued, "Get your things ready and get to Old New Orleans and be careful, the Sov still controls Southern. And Rachel, stay alive."
"I hear you Smithy."
"Good luck."
Rachel hung up and ran to supply. She grabbed a backpack and packed the gear she and Noah might need. She then grabbed a long black weapons carrier and took off toward the armory.
On the way there she saw Lockport approaching.
"Great," she quipped under her breath.
"Lawton, what are you doing?" He blocked her path.
"Look Lockport, we're the same rank. I'm not required to answer to you."
"You're right," he nodded. "I talked to Smithy."
"So what?" Rachel moved around him and continued at a brisk pace down the hall.
"I heard you needed a ride."
She whirled around on him, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Whoa… Relax… it just means I want to give you a ride." Lockport held his hands up in surrender.
"Why?" Rachel was suspicious.
"Because Connor was a good soldier."
"IS a good soldier… and don't fuck with me! I don't have the time."
"I have confirmation that he has been interrogated for thirty-two hours."
Rachel froze in her tracks. Thirty-two hours. She squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of emotion that threatened to blow her away like a dead brittle leaf.
"Looks like Connor is so important, Kain himself is holding him at the Sov Headquarters." He offered from behind her.
"Houston Astrodome?" she asked softly without turning.
"Its rumored Kain himself is overseeing the questioning…" Lockport continued. "He's losing control of the territories. He may have swept Old Chicago, but he found out there is a wider gathering of Rebels from Northeast and Western who are correlating an attack on Southern and it seems your boyfriend had something to do with it."
"Walk with me," Rachel got her feet moving again toward the armory while her mind moved through the sequence of events between her and Noah.
"He worked to strategize a plan with Rebel officials. He set up a map, demonstrated the Sov's weakest areas, and showed them where to strike the blows."
"He was sent there to kill me and bring back Old Manhattan locations to the Sov." Rachel said as she showed her ID to the guards and they pushed in the armory's doors.
"Yes he was. He was still acting in the capacity of a double agent biding his time. But with closer evaluation, it seems to me he was more than half-Rebel already and struggling with the orders that would have protected himself and his sister. She was last piece of leverage the Sov had against him."
Rachel began filling her weapons carrier, "And he didn't tell me because?"
"To protect you. In fact Lawton, by letting you live through the sweep in Old Chicago he sacrificed his sister. He could have still played double agent and kept her safe until the Rebels gained more ground." He paused. "I'm sure he didn't expect you."
Rachel and Lockport left when the skies turned dark. They drove a Sov medical transport vehicle. When they arrived, they hid the vehicle and waited down by the water. A few hours later, about four in the morning, they spotted three men using oars to silently bring their boat to shore. Rachel and Lockport showed themselves.
"You made good time. I'm Lieutenant Lawton and this is Commander Lockport."
Two of the men stepped out of the boat and helped load Rachel's and Lockport's gear. "I'm Blade, this is Livings and Spencer. We served with Connor. Let's hope time is on our side."
Blade was the roughest looking one of the group. He was tall and big - only a little smaller than Noah - over six feet and looked like he could take on a group in a dark alley and come out the other side. He had several small scars on his face, especially above his dark brown eyes.
Spencer attempted to offer his hand to Rachel to steady her as she stepped in the boat - but as he did, Blade punched him in the arm.
"Hey!" Spencer growled. "Just being a gentleman." He was rough and handsome and looked like the natural charming bad boy. He stood just a little taller than Rachel and had biceps the size of pythons.
They eased themselves to deeper waters and out of target range when they fired up the boat's engine. It was compact and fast. No one was talkative. When they reached Old Galveston the sun had risen. Spencer secured the boat while Rachel and the others quickly removed the gear. Livings, who had fine features with mid-length blonde hair, a smooth face, and grey eyes unzipped his bags and removed two computer laptops. Spencer came over and took out a twelve inch by twelve inch steel case and unlocked it.
Chapter 13
Gnat Bots
Inside the case were small silver specks on black cushioned padding.
"Smithy's a genius!" Spencer said then called out. "Power them up, Livings."
Livings typed into the keyboard, and the gnat bots, which were nearly invisible, became animated, lifted themselves from their casing and hovered in midair. Livings punched a few more keys and the bots soared through the air away from them to the north and were gone. Spencer closed the lid and stashed the case back in the cargo bag. Blade walked over from the boat carrying a considerably larger case - sleek black and about five feet long by three feet wide.
"Combat bots," smiled Blade as he lifted the lid.
"They look like clearance bots." Rachel observed.
"Yes," said Livings continuing to work on his computer as the others armed themselves. "Only modified. Have you known Smithy long?"
"Only a month," said Rachel. "But he's like one of those people you meet and feel like you've known forever."
"We met Smithy a couple years back. He helped us defect from the Sov. Great guy.
" Spencer put in.
Rachel had two sets of throwing knives on each leg and two more on the inside of her jacket. She had a fully loaded Glocks on both hips and six extra clips. In her backpack she carried several bricks of C4, grenades, and a Taser.
In front of her, eight black steel combat bots sprang to life and hovered at head height with the group. They were rounded at the top and squared at the bottom, stood two feet tall.
"The bots will only follow our voice commands. Your personal bot will follow your voice unless you've been silent for too long, then it will fall under the orders of another team member's voice. We already programmed ours on the way here, so I'll only need Lawton and Lockport. Each of us will also be equipped with an ear bud. Blade?" Livings handed Blade the earbuds, which he in turn passed to each of them. "Everyone quiet," Livings instructed. "Lawton say the alphabetical sounds in order on my mark. Four-three-two-one." He pointed to her and Rachel carefully spoke each sound. "Go ahead and take hold of that first bot and move it over there - just keep a bit of a distance for another few minutes." Rachel grabbed the bot and moved to the side while Lockport's voice was recorded.
"All bots release transport bars," Livings commanded. Each bot dropped a folding trapeze, with three simple bars; the third bar at the bottom was a wider seat. Straps and a belt kept the rider locked on.
"Please place your earbuds in and board your bot." As they did Livings gave them the 411. "The bots move at fifty miles per hour. Through the earbuds, you will hear everything anyone says."
"Fuck me," Blade laughed boisterously. "Nothing like having a party in your head!"
"You'll also receive an info feed from the Gnat Bots." Livings went on. "What they see and hear each one of us will see and hear. They project it through a holographic image transmitted from the bot to the earpiece. They will locate Connor and the path of least resistance for us to follow."
Spenser and Blade were hurling good-natured insults at one another.
Lockport announced, "Time is 9:15 a.m. At fifty miles per hour we should be there in an hour."
Everyone went dead silent.
"What is it?" Rachel asked.
No one answered.
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Connor's been scheduled for execution at noon as the kick off for the slaughter. That means we have exactly two hours and forty-five minutes." Spencer said in a strained voice.
Spencer and Blade offered Rachel a sympathetic look. "How did you meet Connor?" Blade asked to change the subject.
"Sov sent him to kill me. He saved my life instead." She said simply.
"Sounds like Connor. Obeying the Sov only so far before he cuts a corner." Spencer said admiringly.
"Connor is being held on the Halo Level." Livings announced out loud what they all could see. "Bot Number Seven come forward." The Bot raced ahead.
"Upload physical dimensions of team." Livings spoke to the bot as it moved along side of him. "Right now the Bot is downloading all of our physical information from Headquarters. Go forward Bot Seven and retrieve a grey uniform for each of us. And retrieve info of a lower level utility room where we can get in, still security in the area and line up our entrance."
The bot raced ahead incredibly fast. "Whoa, I thought they could only go fifty?" Lockport marveled.
"Fifty if they are encumbered with extra weight. Eighty if they're not." Livings explained.
Once they got into Old Houston territory Rachel was surprised to find the streets empty and deserted. "Where the hell is everybody? It's Sov Headquarters!"
"Are you familiar with the Astrodome?" Spencer asked.
"No,"
"It used to be a great American football stadium. It can seat over 65,000 and has a field on the ground floor where the games took place. It's now used for the Sov's entertainment." Spencer paused.
Horror washed through Rachel's veins like ice water. "Public executions…"
"Yeah." Spencer said angrily. "They're required viewing."
"So everyone is in the dome." Rachel surmised.
"Kain is present." Blade interjected.
A million thoughts slammed through Rachel's brain all at once. Everyone occupied would provide a perfect distraction… And with Kain in such close proximity an assassination could happen. They'd never been so close to him before.
"Lawton!" Lockport broke through her thoughts.
"What?"
"There it is."
Rachel wondered how the massive dome survived the bombing during the Great War when so much around it had been reduced to rubble. A powerful reminder of what man can build in one breath and destroy in the next. She thought of the ancient Egyptian pyramids for some reason. A testament of early civilizations engineering capabilities that stood for thousands of years. Now, they were gone and only existed in history books. Why did people always want to ruin everything?
The bots led the way. They froze the east section security systems and electronically opened a secured door into a lower level staff supply room. Each bot lowered, the Rebels dismounted and retracted the transport bars. They were stealth as they made their way into the Astrodome.
The room contained mops, buckets, brooms, and cleaning supplies.
"Keys!" Rachel fingered the hundreds of key rings with multiple keys that hung on a pegboard. Each was labeled and color-coded by floor. "Third floor room 49." She swiped the ring and secured it in her pocket.
Each pulled a grey jumpsuit over their clothes and weapons. The jumpsuits were a larger fit, which went around their weapons perfectly.
Rachel hollowed out the lower shelves of the stocked cleaning carts and hid the bots there with towels. Lockport and Livings each grabbed a mop and bucket, while Spencer and Blade found push brooms.
"The bots have given clearance to the service elevators." Livings said.
They moved through the hall as if they belonged there but saw no one. They could hear the cheering crowd through the earbuds from the Gnat Bots. Once in the elevator, Rachel could see what the bots had zeroed in on. A cell with at least two hundred people - men, women, and children sat at the west side of the arena's floor. At the east was a cage with multiple enclosures and slotted partitions holding hundreds of pacing animals at bay.
Rachel vomited in Lockport's mop bucket.
"Sorry," she muttered and dabbed her mouth with her sleeve.
"We all wanted to," Blade spat.
"Livings send some of the Gnat Bots to find a way to help them." Rachel implored.
"Working on it," from Livings weapons stash; his hand emerged with a mini computer keyboard attached to a cord leading to his pack underneath the suit.
Before the elevator doors opened, the bots alerted the team that a desk occupied with two guards sat at the entrance of the fifth floor. The doors opened and the guards looked up from their television screens broadcasting the happenings in the arena only briefly and went back to their viewing.
Rachel, Lockport, Livings, Spencer and Blade moved swiftly through the curved hallway until they reached room number forty-nine. There was no window on the door. Rachel worked the key into the lock.
"Trouble," Spencer growled through the ear bud as he swept through the hallway with the push broom.
They all heard it through the ear coms, "We are here for the prisoner in room forty-nine."
Even as Spencer said, "There are three of them." Rachel saw the holographic image transmitted by the Gnat Bots.
One of the guards at the desk stood up, "Follow me."
"Buy us time, Spencer - and hold your cover as long as possible." Rachel urged as she pushed through the door.
"Copy, Lawton." Spencer's voice confirmed.
Rachel closed and locked the door behind her.
"Twenty-three seconds to arrival," Spencer growled a warning.
Rachel turned, "Connor…" she breathed, her voice barely audible. She couldn't think about what they had done to him, or what he looked like…
"Fifteen seconds." Spencer said. "Hey guys,
how's it going down in the arena? Is His Preeminence speaking before the festivities?"
Ten seconds.
There were no windows or secondary doors in the little room, not even a bathroom. No chairs, no bed - just a hole in the center of the floor and Noah… naked and chained to the wall, covered in his own dried blood.
Rachel took out lock picks and began working on his shackles.
Five seconds.
"He's unconscious." Rachel reported. "You better be pushing through the door with them, because I'm standing in the open."
The first shackle sprang loose.
Three seconds.
Rachel positioned herself to support Noah's weight with her shoulders as the second shackle released him.
Two seconds.
She heard the key slip into the door lock.
Rachel dropped to her knees as Noah's broken body splayed over her back.
"NOW!" Blade pierced.
The door swung open and the three Sov guards fell hard through the doorway with Blade, Spencer, and Lockport on top of them. Blade had his charge locked in a sleeper hold, Lockport was tazering his guy, and Spencer was pounding his to a pulp. The wheelchair one of them had been pushing ghosted across the cell floor and hit the opposite wall.
Livings came in behind them and lifted Connor off of Rachel and held him. Rachel retrieved the wheelchair and positioned it under him as Livings lowered Noah onto it. Rachel belted him around the waist. Livings covered his nakedness with several clean towels from the cart.
"What's the nearest room with a closet?" Lockport asked.
"Negative," Livings said. "No rooms on this floor contain closets or bathrooms."
"Closest empty room?" Suggested Lockport.
Rachel tossed Lockport the key ring, as she, Blade, and Spencer stripped their own grey jumpsuits and traded them for the fallen Sov's uniforms.
Blade and Lockport bound and gagged the Sov guards, then dragged them into an empty room.
"We need a distraction with the desk guard." Rachel warned. "In ten seconds." She pushed Noah's wheelchair out the door.
Spencer jogged down the hall. Ahead of her, Livings was pushing the supply cart that still had the team's equipment hidden within it.
"Five seconds!" Rachel said urgently as she came closer.
Enemy Lines Page 10
