A quarter hour later, Benny emerged from the guard shack and graced the night with an enormous belch. Stretching his back, he rounded the right side of the perimeter wall and shuffled a few dozen yards along its exterior length.
“Now’s our chance!” whispered Kevin. “Let’s go!”
The newly-expanded Alpha team slipped through the entrance. They darted into the heavy shadow at the base of the perimeter wall and scurried south along its length as fast as a noiseless approach would allow, heading away from the Menagerie.
Mallory looked behind her. Benny had not yet returned. So far, so good.
After traveling along the wall for another ten minutes, the team stopped opposite a fenced motor pool yard.
“There’s Bravo team’s SUV,” said Silva, pointing. “Safi’s guys must have found it and brought it here.” She thought for a moment. “Bravo team’s extra gear should be inside it, unless Safi’s had it removed already.”
“It’s probably still in there,” said Kevin. “Now that the car’s been impounded, there’s no need to rush to clean it out.”
“I hope you’re right,” said Mallory. “We won’t get far without our equipment.”
Kevin grinned. “Let me see what I can do to reunite you with it.” He rose from their hiding spot, emerged into the pale lighting illuminating most of the landscaping, and motioned as if zipping up his pants, just in case someone had seen him emerge from the shadows.
He strolled in the direction of the motor pool and entered its small administrative office. With barbed-wire fencing encircling the vehicle facility, the diminutive building offered the only means of accessing the parking lot.
Several minutes later, Kevin and another man entered the parking area through the rear of the administrative building. Kevin headed for the SUV with keys in his hand, while a man wearing a soiled “DTI” baseball cap unlocked a large, double gate and swung it open.
As agreed, Mallory and the rest of Alpha team moved further south along the wall until they reached a spot directly across from an employee soccer field. Kevin had already parked the vehicle in the field and had strolled back across the access road. He scanned the dimly-lit sidewalk for witnesses. Seeing none, he rejoined the team against the wall.
“How’d it go?” asked Silva.
“Piece of cake,” said Kevin. “I told Jackson, the motor-pool bloke back there, that the Director wanted me to move your vehicle to the Menagerie.”
“Did he ask why?”
“Yeah. I told him so his guards there could check it for clues to the trespassers’ identities, just like we discussed. Don’t worry. He didn’t seem suspicious.”
“Good,” said Mallory. “The easy part went well. Now the real fun begins.”
CHAPTER 70
While his new friends crouched down in the back seat, Kevin drove Alton’s SUV in the direction of the Menagerie. He followed the road as it hung a left at the northern perimeter wall and ended in an expansive employee parking lot several hundred yards down the road.
Kevin made his way underneath a burned-out streetlamp and pulled into the deepest part of the shadow. He killed the engine.
“Anyone around?” asked Mallory.
Kevin studied the area. “Nah. This time of night, this parking lot is emptier than a banker’s heart.”
Mallory snickered as she raised herself a little in her seat—not much, just enough to keep her back from cramping up from its unnatural position. Silva and Mastana followed suit.
She peered out the window. This northern section of the Goldmine was indeed deserted. The vehicles of a few night-shift workers dotted the parking lot, and the dark shape of the Menagerie loomed in the distance, its great form obscuring lamplight from the eastern wall for a good hundred yards.
“First things first,” said Silva. “We need to inventory our gear, see what we have to work with.”
“I agree,” said Mallory. “And once we’ve done that, we’ll need to decide the best way to use it to free Bravo team.”
Silva murmured as she rummaged through the items piled up in the vehicle’s rear cargo space. “Smoke grenades, frags, timed fuses, A4s, ammo. Plenty of weapons, that’s for sure.”
“What about tactical gear?” asked Mallory.
“Let’s see…helmets, body armor, Tasers, mikes. Looks like our share of the supplies is here. Kinda surprises me, actually. I would have thought they’d leave it behind.”
“Maybe they didn’t want to attract attention by dragging it out of the vehicle in the middle of a hotel parking lot. Or they wanted to have some redundancy in case they lost or broke something.”
“Either way, I’m glad they didn’t clear it out,” said Silva. “That’ll make our job easier.”
“How much is this stuff really going to help?” asked Kevin. “Lucas told me the EGs have a whole armory in there. You saw how many guards captured your friends. How much can the three of you do against fifty or sixty armed guards before you get shot?”
“He’s right,” said Silva. “A frontal attack would be suicide.”
“So we use a diversion,” said Mallory. “The next logical question is what kind of diversion to use.”
“An explosion?” said Silva, glancing at the frag grenades.
“But will that draw away the folks guarding Bravo team? If they have fifty guards, probably not. We need something better.”
“Perhaps we use a diversion like Kevin’s,” said Mastana.
“What do you mean?” asked the guard. “Benny’s still over there at the gate. And I don’t think I can get them all to leave for a piss at the same time.”
Mastana smiled. “I don’t mean that exact technique. I mean we start by thinking about the people we are trying to divert. What is the thing most likely to make them leave the Menagerie, or at least leave the area where Bravo team is being held captive?”
Kevin nodded in approval. “I see what you mean. Anyone who catches you ladies will score major points with the Director. Those EG wankers are already falling all over themselves trying to do it. You give them one of you to chase…that might do the trick.”
“It’s a risky plan,” said Mallory, “but it has the highest chance to drawing them out. Maybe not all of them, but enough to give us a fighting chance to break Bravo team out of there. What do you think, Silva?”
“I think you’re going to need me to lead these guys on a merry chase,” she said with a grin.
“What’d you have in mind?” asked Mallory.
“I say we take a two-pronged approach. I lay down a grid of remote-controlled C-four, make it look like we’re trying to blast our way through the wall. Just before I set them off, Kevin here sounds the alarm we’ve been spotted. The guards will converge on the blasts, thinking we’ll be nearby.”
“I like it,” said Mallory. “Kevin, do you think it’ll work? Will the EGs fall for that?”
He nodded. “Yeah, it may not clear out every single one, but it’d probably be your best bet.”
“Good,” said Silva. “Let me load up, and we’ll get this party started.”
CHAPTER 71
Mallory held Alpha team a bit behind Kevin as he traveled down a dimly lit sidewalk in the direction of the Menagerie. Knowing he would spot any approaching DTI employees first, Mallory and Mastana trailed the man by a few dozen yards. They stayed well off the sidewalk, skirting several trees and a moderately sized building. All the while, they maintained a vigil on Kevin, who had promised to warn of anyone’s approach.
They entered the last open stretch before the Menagerie. A chilly breeze stirred, prompting Mallory to zip her jacket up to the top. Yet the crisp night air felt exhilarating—a sensation perhaps enhanced by the danger she would soon encounter. The evening remained strangely quiet, much as it had the first night in Alice Springs. Mallory hoped to have a chance to return to the outback someday, hopefully to a spot not overrun with mankind and his creations.
Kevin moved across a sprawling brick courtyard on the Menagerie�
��s western side, past a dozen or so picnic tables and oversized umbrellas. He stopped at a tiny, wooden structure at the far edge of the brickyard. Withdrawing a keychain from his pocket, the guard unlocked the door and waved for his comrades to follow.
Mallory and Mastana scurried into the dark structure. Pulling the door shut, Mallory used the light from her cellphone to navigate around a large grill and several deep fryers and found a small, square window on the back wall. She used a hand crank to raise the window’s screen cover a few inches. It wasn’t a perfect view, but it would let Alpha team monitor the enemy’s movements from a comparatively safe spot—certainly better than she could have hoped for.
Mallory raised Silva on the encrypted mike. “How’s it coming?”
“Give me another fifteen or twenty minutes. I’ll signal when everything’s set.”
“Roger.” Mallory turned to her companions and shared the news. The trio spent those minutes firming up the details of their plan, knowing the success of their rescue mission would hinge on the synchronization of their actions.
Nearly an hour after Silva’s departure from the parking lot, her voice came over Mallory’s earpiece. “I’m ready. Just give me the word.”
Mallory nodded to the others, who activated their communication equipment.
“Silva, wait for my signal,” said Kevin. He slipped from the cooking stand, ambled toward the Menagerie’s main entrance, and disappeared inside.
Mallory kept an eye on her watch, estimating how long Kevin would need to report to EG control—the supervisory office of the Elite Guard—that “some guards” had spotted the fugitive women at the southwestern edge of the perimeter wall, the Goldmine’s most distant spot from the Menagerie.
At a moment when minutes felt like hours, the lengthening wait for action seemed interminable. Had Kevin been taken into custody? Is so, how should their plan be modified? And would a new one have any hope of success?
She hated to consider the possibility, but what if Kevin had been a loyal DTI guard all along? Could he be mustering a squad of EG troops to capture them this very moment?
Mastana stepped to Mallory’s side and looked out the window. The teen said nothing but gazed towards the Menagerie with furrowed brows. Mallory pushed aside the jumble of thoughts. She gave her companion’s hand a squeeze and tried to produce a comforting smile.
The doors of the Menagerie’s main entrance crashed open, and men in smart, red uniforms bearing “EG” insignia began to stream out. Veering left, they loaded into matching red security pickups emblazoned with “EG” on their doors. Most of the men brandished AK-47s. A few officers carried sidearms.
Engines roared to life, and tires squealed. The trucks pealed out of front-row spots and sped south down the access road in pursuit of their quarry.
More EG guards poured out of the doors and swung right in a direct course for the western perimeter. Perhaps these foot patrols were meant to prevent Alpha team from fleeing away from the wall and escaping into the tangle of buildings in the Goldmine’s interior.
Mallory tried to count the hoard, but the figures flashed by too quickly. She guessed thirty men, perhaps a few more, had exited the Menagerie. That left another thirty inside, more or less.
A voice crackled over Mallory’s earpiece.
“Silva, now!” said Kevin.
“Roger. Lighting the candle!”
Mallory and Mastana rushed to the front end of the food shack and cracked the door to peer in the direction of the Goldmine’s western wall.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then a low boom rolled across the desert, and an enormous mushroom cloud of fire rose into the night sky. Moments later, a blaring claxon pierced the air, rising in pitch until it fell into a steady, oscillating pattern like that of an air-raid siren.
As planned, the detonation had occurred on the perimeter wall’s northwestern section, a good mile away from the point of Kevin’s “sighting.” A squad of eight EGs raced from the Goldmine’s main entrance. They piled into a pickup and raced down the access road towards dancing flames that continued to lick the night sky. As anticipated, this new event had forced the deployment of even more guards from the Menagerie to investigate.
Mallory activated her mike. “About eight guards just left the Menagerie. That means there’s probably only twenty or twenty-five still inside.”
Another titanic blast roiled the evening sky, this one a bit further south on the western wall. This time no additional EGs exited the building.
“At least that will keep the ones who’ve left already occupied,” said Mallory murmured into her mike. “Kevin, ready for the next phase?”
“Yep. I’ll be there in a minute or two.”
Mallory returned to the food shack’s rear window to watch an unguarded exit on the Menagerie’s western side, only a few dozen yards away. The light over the exit shifted from red to green, and the door cracked open. A hand popped through the crack and motioned them over.
Mallory returned to the food shack’s door, where Mastana waited. “Let’s go.”
Mallory pushed open the door a few inches and peered outside, studying the surroundings. She found no one in sight. Presumably, the EGs were either occupied with the explosions or hunkered down inside the Menagerie.
The two NSA agents crept through the door and pulled it shut. They slipped across the open ground and reached the Menagerie’s open entrance. Kevin waved them through with a frantic motion. “Hurry, before the timer expires.”
Mallory and Mastana bolted through, and Kevin yanked the door shut. Before he could release the handle, the light changed back to a pulsing red signal.
“Over here,” whispered Kevin. He ushered them into a room full of custodial supplies. “I couldn’t find any of the clean-room garments. Maybe it’s just as well. People only wear those in the clean room. But there are a bunch of janitor coveralls hanging in the corner over there. Think that’d work?”
“It’s better than what we’re wearing now,” said Mallory. She and Mastana donned caps and pulled on the smallest garments they could find, which were still too large. They rolled up the pant legs and sleeves, producing a slightly comical effect. For easy access, the pair stuffed their communications equipment and Tasers into the overalls’ pockets.
“Let’s push this mop bucket down the hall,” suggested Mallory. “Maybe people won’t notice how big our clothes are.”
“I’ll push this trash can,” said Mastana, motioning to one mounted on wheels.
Kevin nodded. “We have to hurry. Once the EGs work out there’s no one on the western wall, they’ll be back in a jiffy.”
“Agreed,” said Mallory. “We’re going to the back of the building, near the loading dock, right?”
“Yes. The prison cell used to be a storage room for the supplies that are delivered at the loading dock back there. Take a right out this door, then take a left onto the main hallway and follow it all the way to the back of the building.”
“Got it.” Mallory pushed the mop bucket towards the hallway door, determined to prevent her husband from suffering the same fate as her father. “Now to bust Bravo team out of their cell.”
CHAPTER 72
Farid Safi looked up from his microscope. Had that been an explosion? A few decanters tinkled as vibrations caused them to jostle.
His phone rang. “Hello?”
“Director Tahir, this is Nabib. There’s been an attempted breach in the western wall!”
“The Americans—the ones posing as tourists. They must be trying to blast their way out.”
The security chief on the other end of the call chuckled. “Good luck with that. I wonder how long it’ll take them to figure out steel doesn’t blast so easy.”
“Send four squads of men there to explain it to them. Hurry, before they leave the site of the detonation.”
“Yes, sir!”
Safi ended the call and drummed his fingers on the lab table. Nabib wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and Safi
had to ensure these loose ends were tied up. He hit a number on his speed-dial list.
“Hello, Director.”
Damn, even her voice projected an alluring, raw power. Safi focused his thoughts. “Vaziri, did you hear that explosion just now?”
“Yes, I’m going to investigate.” The noise of a whining engine could be heard in the background.
“Perfect. Nabib is sending four squads to look for our fake tourists. Make sure they do their job and catch them.”
“Yes, Director. I’m almost there. I’ll report back soon.”
“Perfect. I knew I could count on you.”
* * *
“Did you all hear that?” asked Alton, rising from his cot. “What the hell was it?”
“Yeah, I did,” said David, also standing. “It sounded like an explosion, but from far away.”
Alton cracked a smile and lowered his voice. “Think that has something to do with us?”
“Probably, unless Safi decided to start a nightly fireworks show.”
“But what exactly is happening?” asked Gilbert.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Alton. “I have a feeling we’ll find out soon enough.”
The sound of men shouting and feet pounding down a hallway drifted into the cell. Gilbert peered through the cell door’s grilled window. He turned away and shrugged.
Alton walked to the room’s minuscule table, picked up the bottled water left for them by the guards, and passed them out to his companions. “Everyone hydrate.”
David took a swig and grinned. “You expecting to be on the move?”
“I hope so,” replied Alton. “And if we are, I want to be ready. Speaking of movement, how’re you feeling?”
“I’m sore, but my legs are fine.”
David had been the last to undergo Vaziri’s vigorous brand of questioning. The DTI martial artist hadn’t seemed to show any signs of fatigue from her previous rounds. David had returned with bruising to his arms and chest and a face glowing with a crimson hue. “Think this disqualifies me from Dr. Frankenstein’s experiments?” he had asked.
Tears of God (The Blackwell Files Book 7) Page 25
