by Utley, Todd
Alan, DC and JC, all loaded up in the lead humvee along with the team Captain, they were dubbed Team Talon. Their mission was to go in moving very quietly and moving as deep into the compound toward Cyrus and Glitch as possible in order to thwart any escape attempts. They had no desire to take Cyrus or Glitch alive but they had all agreed to do so if they surrendered completely without a fight.
The four Navy Seals loaded up in the second humvee, they were Team Tranquil and they would be going in first and followed by team Talon. Their mission was to open doors, snap a few necks if necessary and be very quiet doing it. They were to locate Toby, Todd, and Alice and assist them with getting as many people into the oven as possible. Two of them would go inside the oven with the group to protect them while the other two seals would take up sniper positions outside the oven somewhere on the foundry floor or rafters if possible to protect the oven from Cyrus and his men.
It was go time. John was busy at the main computer console opening up communications with Toby on the inside. They had kept this to minimum until now for fear of being detected but now it was almost irrelevant as the attack would be launched in a matter of minutes and any curious signal that might warrant an investigation would soon become less important in the midst of complete full scale attack.
They had to warn their people on the inside of the impending attack to allow them as much time as possible to get people into the oven. John loaded and started video feeds that two of the Black Ops team members had been working on for weeks. The feeds were a random variety of old recordings from the compound that they had digitally edited, cut, and merged into feeds that would seem like normal activities within the compound. These were now playing on all the monitors in the compounds main security office. To the guards watching these feeds they appeared to be live streaming video. Meanwhile the attack would be going on and they would never realize that the feeds were fakes until it was too late. The same feeds were sent to Cyrus and Glitch’s offices just in case they might be watching the security cams.
Dodge was at the computer cluster next to John’s. His job would be to guide both of their Clones, JC and DC, and Alan in and through the compound, he would be their helmet cam eyes and he would also be looking through the compound ahead of them by moving from camera to camera. He had been practicing with the cameras anytime he could squeeze it in and he had gotten fairly good at it.
Understanding the layout of the compound was important and he had it down really well. They also had a large video screen that displayed the various teams call names in color coded dots with their initials in the center of the dot. The dots were moving on the video screen that also displayed a graphical representation of the compound floor plan and levels so that Dodge could see each members exact position at a glance. It was a very helpful tool that would allow quick strategy decisions to be made by simply looking at the screen.
The trucks moved out of the warehouse single file and then split up as they neared the compound, the first wave had begun. John and one of the Captains right-hand men
“Temple” everyone called him
“Temp” were at the main console.
“Black Ice Teams radio check” Temp said into his headset.”
“Team Tranquil?”
“copy”
“Team Chaos?”
“copy”
“Team Talon?”
“copy.”
This test was followed by each team Captain conducting the same test with each member. They each sounded off quickly. All coms were functional and everyone was wired with cams and health monitors. They were utilizing the latest stat patch, a dime sized round patch that was easily applied to the center of a person’s chest via a peel and stick adhesive. It monitored all vitals of the individual and it transmitted the data to their com link which in turn forwarded it to John’s console. He and Dodge could see at a glance what a person’s vitals were looking like. This was a very valuable battle ground tool.
They were also utilizing John’s latest masterpiece and today would be its debut. Each of the member’s com links had been retrofitted with a miniaturized version of the Lifecorder device. It was live streaming from their implant to the com link and then to a database that John had running right there in the com center. If any member was killed in the course of the fight, they would be restored as quickly as possible. John was determined to have zero loss of team member life in today’s operations.
Jason double checked each team member’s life file to make sure they were secure and up to date prior to the launch. He also checked the status of their clones at the various storage facilities. All clones were accounted for and in adult state with good health.
John also hacked the LifeTech system well in advance and upgraded all the participants’ status from C1 (civilian level one) to G6 (government level six). C1 was the standard level for a civilian. If you had this rating you could only be restored by showing up with a dead body that must be identified with either DNA or signed affidavit from next of kin and either a Lifecorder in hand or a file on record at one of the backup services with the user name and password as well, and only then could the Restoration proceed.
With a G6 level, a phone call from one of the right numbers, and the nearest Lifecenter staff would leap into action with no body or proof of death required. This was reserved for top level government officials and covert operatives only. John just helped himself to a few high level perks for his team, no way anyone was getting “dead” on his watch today.
The Tranquil team leader com line lit up.
“Team tranquil in place, ready for Black Ice, over”.
“Copy that Team Tranquil, you are green light for Black Ice, I repeat green light. Proceed at will.”
“Copy that Command, we’re going in.”
They chose Tranquil for their team name because they intended to make no noticeable disturbance inside the compound; they would be on the inside for the longest period of time between the three teams, first in, last out. The idea was for Tranquil to do as much damage to the internal communications network and security by taking out as many guards as possible before being detected, once detected it wouldn’t matter how much noise they made, everyone would rush in.
“Inside radio check?”
“Copy Inside, what’s your position?”
“In the dorms, 4 strong,” replied Toby.
“Copy that Inside, maintain position and standby for instruction.”
“Copy” Toby was using a vox talkie app “Pretty slick.”
The four of them were nervously waiting in Toby’s dorm room they knew it was about to start and they wanted to get to that oven. Cheyenne brought the caddy in a little early to be sure she got there before the team launched the attack.
If Cyrus got wind of anything going down, he would be sure to transmit the destruct code and everyone with a brain implant would drop dead. It was a true catch twenty-two for him though, if he sent the signal too soon he would have no one to defend the compound, if he waited too long a disgruntled captured soldier might talk.
At that moment Glitch was entering Cyrus’s office.
“Sir, there is something that I thought you should know. It’s not reason for alarm as of yet, but Linsey and Sarah Kerrington have gone missing. Bobby and Matt have not resurfaced yet either. It seems that the latest events at their fire damaged home and the following high speed chase have them spooked beyond return. I believe they have fled to a relative’s house out of town in search of a safe haven. I have several operatives out scouting their nearest of kin and even their friends in an effort to find them. We’ve had surveillance at Alan Kerrington’s place now for over twenty-four hours with no signs of them coming or going. It is possible that they could be there but it’s not like them to stay home for that long with no sign of activity.”
Cyrus looked up from a document he was reading and seemed a little concerned.
“Has Alan Kerrington returned from his vacation yet?”
“No Si
r, he’s not due back for two more days, should I check on his whereabouts?”
“Yes, do check on that, and also tell some of the men to check at Matt’s house, the neighbor boy, maybe Bobby is staying there with him.”
“Yes Sir” Glitch said as he turned quickly and left Cyrus’s office in hyper mode.
Cyrus was getting concerned, they had already bungled way too many things, it was getting serious now and he might have to do something drastic, but what? He needed to come up with something. He needed a new person of interest that could help him get the answers to the LifeTech system, obviously the Kerrington’s were nearly played out.
He turned his eyes back to the document on his desk. In the upper right hand corner he was looking at the name there, he had made up his mind, this man would be his next target, maybe he could get more from this Tim Stance fellow, after all he was Dodge’s boss, and even if he didn’t actually know anything himself he should still have access to the files and information developed by Dodge and his team. He wouldn’t likely be as knowledgeable as Dodge but he would prove to be useful no doubt.
Just to the west side of the compound behind a dumpster and some cardboard boxes sat an empty humvee with a camo net thrown over it. The four Navy seals had split up into two pairs. One of them was running a small laser glass cutter around in a circle very carefully on a small pane in the west entry door of the vehicle maintenance area. It was the really tough glass, extra thick, tempered, with the wires inside of it. Still it was no match for the special issue laser cutter that few operatives could get their hands on, definitely the right tool for the job.
Chapter 33 John had informed them that the area was currently vacant and would be a good entry point. With only a gentle tug the circle of glass came out attached to the suction cup in the center. He carefully peered in through the freshly cut hole with a small cam.
“It’s clear,” he said in a low voice. He reached in through the hole and carefully felt for the lock and opened the door.
They both slipped in very quickly closing the door silently behind them. On the alarm console in the security office a light came on for two seconds and went off. The guards were watching monitors and drinking coffee and didn’t notice the momentary light. On the North side the other pair waited just outside another man door. Someone was approaching, the door swung open and a guard walked through while lighting a cigar. They were highly illegal but remained a perk of working for Slade, he smuggled them in just like John did, but certainly not of the same quality. As he exited the door he was struck hard and fast by one of the Seals right in the larynx. He never made a sound, he just grabbed his throat, fell to his knees, and then fell over gasping for air, he wasn’t dead but he would be in a few more seconds from lack of oxygen.
The second seal grabbed him quickly dragging him behind an old storage locker where he tossed some boxes on top of him. Back at the door the first seal placed a thin magnetic strip over the striker plate on the door before it came to. They surveyed the area and then checked in.
“Tranquil to command?”
John responded, “What’s your position Tranquil?”
“Just out man door north side, need a cam check, any hostiles?”
“Copy Tranquil, stand by.”
John quickly looked at three cams in the area. There were two guards in the next bay milling around talking.
“Two guards in bay west of you Tranquil, stand by for my signal.”
“Copy, we go on your signal.”
John watched intently as the guards continued standing around talking, repositioning themselves every few seconds. They turned their backs to the man door for a moment.
“Go tranquil, I repeat, go now.”
The two seals quickly slipped in through the door and ran behind some drums of cleaning solution.
“Hold position tranquil.”
One of the guards had heard the slight sound of the door coming to against the frame and turned to see what was going on. He saw nothing so they went back to their conversation and the two of them began walking away very slowly and continued to talk as they went. They slowly left the area unaware of the intruders.
“Command to Tranquil, all clear”
“Copy that command.”
One Seal came back on the radio as his partner went back to the door and applied a small magnet near the switch on the upper door frame. The door latch was defeated by the first piece he placed on the striker so it couldn’t latch and the newly placed magnet would now prevent the indicator light from illuminating in the security office each time the door was opened.
“Tranquil to Command, North door defeated, enter at will.”
“Copy that Tranquil, nice work.”
There were now four former Navy Seals inside the compound undetected and the North Man Door was disarmed and open for easy access.
John keyed the mic.
“Team Talon is a go, I repeat, team Talon is a go, use north door, open and disarmed.”
“Copy that command, Talon is a go.”
John looked over at Dodge who was next to him and listening in on most of the radio chatter.
“Hey bro, that’s you in there kicking ass!” He said. Dodge smiled. “It’s weird hearing my own voice over the com link from the inside, I’m already excited about waking up tomorrow morning with the full experience in my head.”
“Command to inside?”
“Inside” Toby’s voice came over.
“Inside Proceed to safety, I repeat proceed to safety.”
“Copy that command, we’re moving now.”
Toby, Todd, Cheyenne, and Alice all walked out of Toby’s room. As they moved down the hall together Todd was looking for his friends Ronny and Lance, he was certain Ronny would come along with very little coercing at all if they could just get lucky enough to see him. Lance might not be so easy but he still wanted to try.
He had already spoken to the other three and they agreed that they would approach Ronny if seen because Todd was so certain that he would join them immediately. As they descended to the second floor they met Ronny on the stairs. “Hey buddy, where you headin?” Ronny asked. Todd smiled and put his arm around Ronny’s shoulder.
“Walk with us,” he said.
“Sure pal what’s up?” Ronny asked as he started walking alongside of Todd.
“What if I told you that we had a really good chance of getting free right here right now what would you say?” Ronny got a blank look.
“I’d say, where do I sign up for that?”
“Well today’s your lucky day bro because all you have to do is come with me and I’ll show you our absolute best and only opportunity to get the hell out of this dump and it’s right now.”
Ronny stopped walking for a second.
“Dude, are you serious?” Todd went back to him.
“Yes I’m serious now come on or we’re going to miss the bus!”
“Whoa, man, what about the things in our heads?” Ronny was whispering now.
“Don’t worry we have that all taken care of, now come on, you know I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”
“Okay,” Ronny said, throwing up one hand.
“I trust you bro, let’s go.”
As they continued toward the oven on the main floor, Toby called command.
“Inside to command, we have a friendly with us, I repeat, friendly.”
“Copy that Inside.”
John contacted Tranquil and Talon and informed them of the situation. Toby instructed Todd and Ronny to hang back a bit, five people all walking together might be too large a group and raise some suspicion. People in this place rarely had that many friends all together at any given moment.
At the command console John was ready to deploy yet another of his nasty little surprises for Cyrus and Glitch. The fake server cable that Toby had installed for John had gotten him into the system undetected. He had located Cyrus’s money and hacked all of his accounts. Glitch was so good at what he did that even if John d
id manage to move all of Cyrus’s money away into other accounts Glitch would simply reverse it. John had already found the tracer program that Glitch had designed and implemented within the system. It was quite a piece of work.
John was impressed and frankly a bit concerned about this one. It’s always more difficult to attack a fortress than defend it. Glitch had built a boomerang hack that would automatically retrieve any stolen funds while at the same time create a trace and then clean out the offenders account. So the hunter becomes the hunted, el-reverse’o on them, quite clever.
John had to write several pages of code to defeat it, or at least in theory, there would be no testing it, only launching it. If it didn’t work it wouldn’t harm them any as the destination accounts currently had zero balances. The plan was to attack them on all fronts at the same time leaving Glitch and Cyrus so little time that they couldn’t do much of anything to ward off the attack, if they got the money great, if not at least they could still take them out of power and maybe still get the funds later.
John had his cyber attack loaded and ready on a very powerful PC dedicated to only this task. He would wait until the last possible second, only when they were detected would he launch the cyber attack. Glitch had returned to his office and went to work on his PC looking for more leads on the Kerrington family relatives. John could see exactly what he was doing on his PC and was amazed at the agility and skill of this man. “Why a life of crime? What a waste of such great talent.”
The com channel lit up.
“Team Talon to command, outside North Man Door.”
“Copy that Talon, the area is clear for thirty seconds, you have two guards approaching the area via the East corridor, proceed with caution.”
“Copy that command, we’re going in.”
The three of them slipped in and behind the drums just as Tranquil had done. The two guards passed through the large area and out the corridor on the opposite side oblivious to the intruders. They were just walking along looking around a bit but not talking. They were conducting routine security beats just like they had a thousand times before.
