Did she have any other choice than to try?
No. She didn’t.
Once she started moving, she’d have to keep going, every second critical, so she needed to plan it all out. She checked the roof, looking for the best spot to break through. She settled on an area a few feet beyond the chimney, where it sagged as if the addition of a single leaf on top would cause it to completely collapse. Hopefully, it would take little effort to finish the job herself.
She took a deep breath, and another, imagining what she needed to do. She placed her hands on the beams to either side, slowly transferring her weight, and was pleased that they made little sound.
“Up. Through the roof. Down to the edge. And run,” she whispered to herself as if giving an order.
Then, just as she was about to move, she heard a whoosh.
Out of reflex, she looked toward the part of the house the noise had come from, the part where the container was.
What is that?
Rather than fading away, the sound continued. Whatever it was, it was scaring the hell out of her.
Go! Go! A voice in her head screamed.
Not her voice. Rodrigo’s or maybe Uncle Hector’s. Maybe both.
She pulled herself up onto the beams, no longer concerned about the noise she might make. She needed to get out of there. That’s all she knew. She needed to get out of there now.
She forced her fingers into one of the cracks near the bottom of the sag in the roof, and pulled with all her strength. The ceiling groaned and cracked and protested for as long as it could, then broke free.
While Patricia had tried to position herself as best as possible, part of the roof glanced off her arm. She fell backward toward the hole she’d had just climbed up through. The only thing that kept her from falling all the way to the ground was the beam she caught with her arm.
As she pulled herself back up, she could feel heat coming from somewhere in the house.
Fire!
With renewed horror, she scrambled to the break in the roof and climbed outside. She couldn’t see the fire, but she could smell it now. There was an unfamiliar tang to it that was repulsive. She gagged and nearly threw up as she slid down the slope of the roof to the eaves. The second she got there, she took a quick look at the ground and jumped.
Safely away from the house now, she glanced back. Smoke had begun to billow out of cracks in the building, but that was nothing compared to the heat. It almost felt like she was walking on the sun.
Run, the voice ordered. Run. Run!
Patricia ran.
18
I.D. MINUS 7 DAYS
Richard Heath heard shoes echoing off the concrete floor, heading in his direction. As much as he wished it was another member of the depot’s security team, he knew it wasn’t. No, it was one of them. Because, unless he was completely mistaken, he was the last one of NB328’s detail left alive.
What he couldn’t understand was how the attackers had snuck into the facility without sounding any alarms. It shouldn’t have been possible, and yet it had happened.
Initially, he and his colleagues had thought it was simply some kind of raid to steal whatever could be grabbed. That was the type of incursion the security team had prepared for and been told by those above them in the Project to expect, but it quickly became clear that this wasn’t a group of local thugs just looking for something they could sell. The people who snuck in were professionals who worked silently, and they had eliminated most of the security detail with single shots from sound-suppressed weapons.
Heath had no idea why he was still alive.
Luck? Not hardly.
If he’d been lucky, he’d already be dead. One against God-knew-how-many? He didn’t have a chance. He checked his gun. Only five shots left. The way he figured it, that meant four for them, and the last for himself.
Dammit! Who the hell were these people?
The steps were much closer now. Surprisingly, he realized it was only a single pair. Did they not know he was here? Or did they think he was already dead? Whatever the case, the person walking in his direction didn’t seem to be concerned that he might put a bullet through their head.
He leaned against the crate closest to the end of the aisle, and wrapped both his hands around the butt of his gun. A little closer, he thought as he listened. Just a little closer, and at least I can take out one of you.
The warehouse was as big as an American football field, and, full or not, the sounds inside were deceiving. Though the steps were still headed in his direction, he couldn’t be sure if they were thirty feet away or seventy. He should be able to hit the target at both distances, but he wanted to ensure that he didn’t miss, so the closer the other person was, the better.
With a suddenness that surprised him, the steps ceased.
Fifty feet for sure, maybe closer. He breathed deeply, trying to psych himself up. Just do it. Just roll out and take the-
“Hello. You hiding back there. I know you can hear me.” The voice was female, coming from where the steps had stopped. “I’m sure you realize there’s no way you’re getting out of here, so I’m guessing you’re probably trying to figure out how you can do the most damage while you have an opportunity. It’s the way I’d be thinking, anyway. I should tell you, though, no matter what you try, you won’t succeed.”
The hell I won’t!
Knowing it was now or never, the guard twisted out from the cover of the crate, and brought the barrel of his gun around to point at the spot where he knew the woman would be. His first shot left the chamber before he registered what he was seeing.
Rather, what he was not seeing. Where the woman should have been standing was…nothing.
He swung the gun left and right, looking for her, ready to pull the trigger at the slightest movement.
“Sorry to disappoint,” she said, far closer than he expected.
Even before he could respond to her voice, something hit him in the chest, and his whole body seized in uncontrollable spasms. His gun flew from his hand as he fell writhing to the floor.
Finally, the source of the pain stopped.
A Taser, he realized, his mind able to focus again.
He lay panting on the floor, every muscle weak and tingling from the massive jolt of electricity. Though his mind was screaming at him to get up, he knew that was impossible.
He heard movement, then footsteps walking right up to him.
Clack, clack, clack.
It was over. His end was coming. He trembled as the woman stopped beside him. She had short blonde hair, and what he would have called an Eastern European face-high cheekbones, slightly Asiatic eyes, and full lips. He had never seen her before.
“Go ahead. Do it,” he said, his eyes glancing quickly at the gun in her hand.
She leaned down and touched something near his waist. When she stood again, she was holding his security badge.
“Good. You have full access.” She smiled at him. “Relax. It’s not time for you to die yet.”
“Sir, we’ve received a message I wanted to make you aware of.”
The DOP looked up from this computer. Major Ross had entered the conference room at the back of the Cradle, and was standing just inside the door. “What is it?”
“An emergency signal from NB328.”
“What kind of emergency?”
“A break-in, sir.”
The DOP frowned. “Verified?”
“No, sir. It was the automated signal. We haven’t been able to reach the security team there yet.”
“Where is NB328?” While the DOP was familiar with their storage depot locations, he didn’t even try to remember what each had been designated.
“Costa Rica. Outside Carrizal.”
Carrizal. A basic storage depot if he wasn’t mistaken: food, clothing, fuel, some vehicles, and the standard weapons cache. Nothing particularly special about it.
“How long have they been out of contact?”
“We just received the message
. I came straight here.”
The DOP considered their options. If they weren’t so close to Implementation Day, he would have automatically said they should just wait for someone at NB328 to check in, but time was one thing they no longer had. “How quickly can you get someone down there to check?”
“There’s a team in Monterrey, Mexico, but they’d have to fly commercial, so it would be at least four or five hours. There is another option.”
“Yes?”
“Perez, in South America. He finished up with the job in Argentina last night, and is flying to Colombia as we speak. He should be landing in thirty minutes. He could refuel and be in Costa Rica in under two hours. The drawback, of course, is that he’s alone.”
“Send him, and get the Monterrey team moving, too. Perez can scope out the situation, and if it’s more than he can handle on his own, the team will be there soon enough.”
“Very good, sir.” Ross turned to leave.
“Major?”
“Yes?”
“Keep me in the loop. I want to know everything that’s going on.”
“Yes, sir.” Ross left.
The DOP returned his attention to his computer terminal, but instead of continuing what he was doing before, he brought up the specs on NB328. It was just as he recalled-a basic depot.
Potential raids on the warehouses had always been a possibility. The world was a violent place, and stores of goods were vulnerable. Because of this, the security had been beefed up at all the depots in anticipation of Implementation Day, so he was confident the team at NB328 could deal with whatever the problem was. If they ran into problems and losses were incurred, it would be unfortunate, but negligible when it came to its effect on the Project as a whole.
He switched back to his previous screen, certain that the matter would be satisfactorily resolved.
As with all the Project’s warehouses, there was a vault on the lowest level, protected not only by the secured entrance to the underground floors, but also by an impenetrable composite door on the vault itself. Impenetrable by force, at least, not if you had the key.
Karie and Gleason accompanied Olivia and the prisoner in the elevator to NB328’s lowest level. When the door opened, Gleason pushed the man out, and Karie and Olivia followed.
There was no need for directions. While each of the facilities might vary in size, all were laid out basically the same. This way, if personnel had to be moved between locations, they could jump in immediately without the need of an orientation period.
Olivia led the way, passing contingency dormitories and the medical wing before turning down the short hallway to the vault. The first door they came to was similar to the others on this level, the only difference being that it needed to be opened via a security code.
“Enter the code,” Olivia told the guard.
“No way.”
She’d expected that response. She looked at Karie and held out her hand. “Radio.”
The woman handed it to her.
Raising it to her lips, Olivia said, “We’re outside the vault room entrance. Looks like we’re going to need that information.”
“Got it right here,” a voice came back, crisp and clean. “You were correct, ma’am. Mr. Heath does have family on the survival roster.”
The guard tensed.
“A sister and a teenage niece. They live in Arlington Heights, outside of Chicago. Both have already been administered the vaccine. You want their address?”
Olivia looked at the guard, an eyebrow raised in question. “Do I need it?”
“No,” he said, then punched the code into the keypad.
The room inside was about the size of a small studio apartment. Along the opposite wall was the actual door to the vault. It had a blue-gray sheen and fit flush with the wall. There was a control panel mounted to the left.
“You know what I want,” Olivia said to the guard. “And you know what we’ll do to your family if you don’t cooperate.”
“And if I do?” he asked. “You’ll leave them alone?”
“As long as you do as I ask, yes.”
He studied her face as if trying to determine if she was telling the truth. She was, but only because it would be a waste of time to bother with his family.
“Okay,” he said. “I…I’ll do it.”
He started toward the control panel.
“Mr. Heath,” Olivia said.
He looked back.
“I know there are two different codes you can use to get the door open. If you use the one that will activate the vault self-destruct, your family will die.”
He shook his head. “I won’t.”
The control software was set up so that it needed not only the code, but also scans of the authorized person’s eye and left hand. It could detect blood flow in the eye’s capillaries, and the body heat in the hand.
Olivia watched him as he punched in the code, then scanned his eye and his hand. Once that was done, the code had to be input once more.
When he finished, there was a second of silence. Then she heard the locks pulling open.
As the door swung out, Olivia looked at the guard. “Thank you.”
She nodded at Gleason, who raised his gun and shot the guard in the head.
The private jet carrying Perez from South America touched down in San Jose, Costa Rica, at 10:04 a.m. Thirty-seven minutes later, he pulled his car off the road, about half a mile from NB328, and covered the remaining distance on foot.
Judging by the exterior of the building, nothing looked amiss. That, of course, meant nothing. When he’d checked in with Bluebird upon arrival, they told him they still hadn’t been able to reach anyone inside the facility.
Staying at least a hundred yards away, he made two complete circuits of the building, but saw nothing unusual. Even the three satellite dishes on the roof that kept NB328 in contact with Bluebird looked untouched.
About the only thing he could say was that the place seemed to be too quiet. He knew that was his own bias, though, having spent much of the last several weeks in crowded, South American cities. Unless a depot was receiving a shipment, there was no reason for anyone to be outside.
The main door was in the middle of what was considered the front of the building. Perez watched it for several minutes, but decided not to approach it. If there were hostiles still around, they’d no doubt have someone posted just inside. The better bet was to use the emergency entrance. After all, it had been built for circumstances such as these.
He headed northeast to a point five hundred feet away from the building. The emergency entrances were all the same, designed to look like an abandoned concrete slab. He found it easily, but someone had released the locks that held it in place, and had slid it to the side, exposing the entrance to the tunnel.
He slipped his gun out from the holster, and pointed it at the opening. He couldn’t see far. At this angle, the sunlight went down only ten feet. Beyond that was darkness.
He circled around the hole, checking the ground for footprints. He needed to determine if it had been opened from the inside by people trying to leave, or from the outside by someone trying to get in. If it had been the latter, that would definitely be troubling, because that meant the attackers knew ahead of time about the emergency entrance, and how to open it, which meant they knew about the Project, too.
Footprints. Leading to the slab.
So these weren’t just some random thieves.
Perez looked at his watch. The team flying in from Mexico was not due to arrive for another hour and a half. Under normal circumstances, he would have waited, but nothing was normal anymore. He pulled out the small flashlight he carried in his pocket, and descended the steps.
“It’s Perez, sir,” Ross said over the speakerphone.
The DOP snapped up the receiver. “Transfer him to me.”
There was a click.
“Perez?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Where are you?”
“I�
�m inside NB328.”
“And?”
There was a pause. “Everyone’s dead, sir.”
The DOP didn’t move for a full second. “Everyone?”
“Yes, sir. The entire security team.”
“And the people who did this?”
“Gone, sir.”
“What about bodies? Surely a couple of them must have been hit.”
“If they were, they’re not here now.”
The DOP was stunned. A whole security team wiped out by a local gang? How in the hell did that happen?
“Figure out what they took,” he said. “If any of it shows up somewhere, we can trace it back and deal with them.”
Perez took a moment before he replied. “This wasn’t a random robbery, sir.”
“What do you mean?”
“None of the supplies are missing.”
“That can’t be right.”
“I could be mistaken. I only did a quick look-through, but…well, sir, whoever it was entered through the emergency entrance using the code.”
“The what?”
“It was open when I got here, so I checked the surveillance footage and the sensor logs, knowing there should be a record of the break-in. Whoever they were, apparently they were able to hack into the system before they came in, and turned off all the surveillance.”
If the DOP wasn’t stunned before, he was now. The emergency entrance? Knowing the code and hacking into the security system? What the hell was going on?
“And something was taken.”
“What?”
“The vault was open. Two of the numbered boxes are missing.”
The boxes were similar to deposit boxes in a bank. Each contained printed-out, detailed instructions to be used in specific situations. They were the hardcopy backups in case something happened to the computer system after Implementation Day. Another redundancy in the Project’s desire to make sure nothing went off track when they set about rebuilding the world in the way they knew it should be. Every depot had a set of the boxes in its vault.
That someone had purposely broken into NB328 to get to them was unbelievable. The only people who knew about the boxes or the vaults were members of the Project, or at least that’s what he had thought.
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