Over the comm unit, there was a crackling noise and then a strong voice interrupted his reverie demanding, “Ray, do you copy?”
The Major immediately lifted the comm back up to his mouth. “Ray, go.”
“The Command Center has just beamed us a Priority One Directive, you are to hold your position. I say again, hold your position. Apparently, there are two Special Force 01 Teams who will be going in. You are ordered to give them whatever support and materials that they require. Arnold, over.”
“Acknowledge, we have a good read, Arnold. Ray, out.” The Major lifted one eyebrow. “Apparently, Captain, your clearance has arrived.”
That had certainly been quick work on Bloch’s side. Rys idly wondered how many bodies were lining the halls of Central Command. “Apparently it has. Major, if you wish, I can have my tech stream you real time updates so you have an accurate idea of what’s going on inside.”
“We would very much appreciate that, Captain,” Major Ray answered dryly, but with a slight smile on his stern face.
“Consider it done.” With a smart salute, Rys executed a perfect one eighty and headed back in the direction he had come, contacting his team on the fly to save time. Gremlin, tell me we’ve got visual inside that building.
“I live to serve, we do indeed, sir.”
Rys sent up a prayer of thanks, and he could almost hear the grin on Gremlin’s face. Is everyone online? He waited as a chorus of acknowledgements from all of the Teams came through simultaneously. Good. Gremlin, what are we looking at?
“Nova has been their usual brilliant selves, sir,” Gremlin responded dryly. “They’ve split up the hostages into three groups, most on the third floor. It looks like they have the President secured in his own bathroom on the second floor. On the third floor all of the generals and their staff are in one large office on the far east corner of the building. All of the civilians are sequestered on the opposite end of the hallway, on the north side. That was smart on Nova’s part. The civilians won’t have any access to leadership and experience, being isolated from the military brass.”
Rys felt like banging his head against a rough, hard surface. Why did Nova have to be so good at hostage situations? Perhaps it was because it was one of their signature strategies, when they needed leverage to get their way in a negotiation. If they had just kept everyone in one place, it would have been far less complicated to rescue them. With them divided, the rescue would have to have a razor sharp edge, with flawless timing to preserve the element of surprise. He thought for a moment, running through various scenarios, missions, and plans that he had used in the past. Miles, I’m thinking the Snafu Plan will work.
“I agree, but maybe with one minor alteration? After all, we do have a whole group of experienced Bijordan military personnel just sitting there, bored, and dying for a chance to redeem themselves by handing Nova a little down payment on some payback.”
An unholy grin rapidly spread across Rys’s face when he divined Miles’s meaning. The Nova operatives were sitting there on top of a time bomb, just waiting for him to kick the clock into life. An excellent suggestion, divide and conquer. I think we should do something about that; no sense letting a valuable asset just sit around gathering dust. Rys stepped around the last of the people blocking his access to the teams still patiently waiting at the Sweet Aroma Café. The whole area was swarming with Guardsmen, tactical teams, heavy armor, and a handful of reporters particularly deft at blending in with the woodwork. It was like trying to navigate a moving labyrinth to just cross from one side of the street to the other. Since the place was so crowded, having a secure, private conversation was out of the question. Even though he was easily within normal speaking range now, he didn’t dare say anything more out loud, preferring to keep all of his thoughts on the private narrow beam comm line. Seger, I’m sure there must be some spare munitions just lying around, waiting to be used. Central Command ordered full cooperation with coverage and logistics. Why don’t you go see if you can’t appropriate some for us, and get a nice assortment?
Seger was within line of sight of Rys, and the immediate feral smile he shot the Captain was enough to unhinge even a brave soul. Rys felt a moment of sympathy for anyone who possessed something that Seger wanted. “With pleasure, sir.”
Rys tried not to be distracted by the inordinately jubilant flourish that Seger employed to empty out the contents of his pack, right there on the ground at his feet. He immediately started appropriating small weapons and side arms from anyone that happened to walk by his location, and he cast a very wide net.
Instead, Rys turned his whole focus on the imposing building in front of them. Miles, your priority is the President. He is Nova’s prize, a prize I intend to deny them. Snails and Martin, you’re sniping, and I need the accuracy of the Guardians with a finely tuned scope, do you copy me? Get a good view of the President’s rooms, and make sure you know them better than the contents of your own foot locker on inspection day! There were two separate “Roger that” responses, in near simultaneous stereo.
Erksome, have we got enough merchandise yet to play with?
“Two packs brim full, sir, and some really prime toys they are.”
That would probably be enough to bring the entire building down, if Erksome was that pleased. Rys nodded to himself in satisfaction. With his own bag of special high tech party favors designed for just such an occasion, Nova was going to be in for a seriously bad day. Gremlin, tell me that you have complete control of the security system on that building and persuade me that Nova doesn’t know about it.
“They don’t suspect a thing, sir. I am sending everyone a copy of the building’s blueprints now. We are good to go.”
Good. What about the Novan Embassy? Do we have a current blue print of that building, and an idea of where the communications center is?
“Roger that, sir. The updated plans are fresh from the oven, less than a week old when they completed a scheduled ‘building inspection’ for all of their fire alarms and safety equipment. I have their comm center pinpointed. There has been a lot of interesting chatter with the Capitol Building, and even more spellbinding communications with the Novan home world.”
“Excellent! Everyone, you know the plan. Let’s move.”
Rys brought up the blueprints to the Capitol Building in his head, reviewing it as everyone moved closer to the building. This was a typical government office building in many ways, almost a universal cookie cutter structure. There was one underground tunnel that went straight into the basement parking garage. Three stories on top of that, both wings were provided with long hallways that went the length and width of the building, opening up into multiple office complexes.
If they were to have a prayer of containing the situation, they had to get to the storage room in the basement before Nova realized they had been breached.
Now, as long as all of the terrorists were more or less where he expected them to be… Gremlin, give me an update of what’s going on in there.
“Sir, it looks like they’ve shoved about fifteen people, by my count, into a small conference room on the north side. We’ve got about ten no-goes in the room, two in the hallway outside the door, and another ten guarding the main entrance. One no-go is sitting on the President and two more are outside in his office, standing on either side of the room.”
Rys’s mouth twitched in a quick smile at hearing the old slang expression for Nova’s forces. It had been explained to him that the nickname had come about because of a word from an old Earth language. The word “va” meant “to go,” so if you added it to Nova, it was a splendid commentary on the Novan forces response time. It was accurate, which only served to make it all the funnier. Needless to say the nickname caught on and stuck fast to their enemies. So they’re deployed in their standard patterns?
“Yes, sir.”
“That was stupid,” Miles noted idly. “They have underestimated the Bijordan forces by forgetting they are breathing the same air we are. That is going to cost them
!”
“They have sealed all of the other doors,” Gremlin continued, his tone radiating a very serene smile. “I get the impression they thought that would keep us out.”
It did keep Bijordan forces out, Rys observed. Gremlin, I assume those doors are no longer sealed?
“You assume correctly, sir, I can spin their locks on the head of a pin.”
Good. They headed for the dry and largely deserted viaduct in the rear section of the square. The walls of the viaduct exhibited no signs of use in the past decade. Its surface was marred with small cracks and fractures, with native vegetation infiltrating at every opportunity. The stairs leading down to it were surprisingly well maintained, and led directly to the generic metal door that he was looking for. Rys went for the entrance of the tunnel, doing a headcount as he did so. This entire area was thankfully clear, probably due to the serious nature of the Guardsman making certain that it stayed clear. Rys made eye contact and gave him a nod of acknowledgement as his team lined up in single file near the door. Gremlin, how much time do we have once we breach this door?
“About a minute and a half, sir.”
That wasn’t much time, and no margin for error. They’d have to sprint flat out in order to have enough time to get through that door, down the corridor and into the cover of the storage room it led to. Gremlin had already arranged for a loop feed on security to show no activity in the storage room, but they had to get there first without being detected.
Acknowledged.
Rys unslung the rifle from his back and switched off the safety. Weapon in hand, he took a deep breath, gripped the handle of the door, and jerked it open. Execute, execute, execute!
They pelted down the narrow tunnel at a dead run, gear jangling slightly as they moved. Rys garnered little impression of the tunnel except for the fact that it was grey, narrow, and lit with fluorescent bulbs overhead. They reached the basement vault door in less than thirty seconds. Rys reached for the handle, turned it…nothing happened.
He frowned, turned it harder, and pulled but without any noticeable progress. Gremlin, you said the doors were not sealed.
“They aren’t,” Gremlin protested in confusion. “At least, not electronically.”
“Rys,” there was grim note in Miles’s voice, “look at the discoloration of the edges of the lock. This door has been welded shut!”
Chapter Twenty-One
Rys stared at the door for a full second, feeling the weight of time bearing down on him. It was welded shut, alright. Maybe Nova wasn’t as predictably cocky this time around as he had imagined. He consulted the blueprints in his head again, looking for an alternate route, smiling in cold satisfaction when he found what he was looking for.
Erksome, plant a diffuse charge here, he slapped the wall to the right of the door in illustration. When that clears, go through and put an identical charge on the basement wall.
Erksome nodded sharply as he was given his marching orders, already unslinging a pack off his shoulders and digging out the required explosive. With trained efficiency he wired and charged the small block in his hands, standing only long enough to place it against the wall with a single line of adhesive tape to hold it in place. The rest of the team backed up five feet to give it room.
“Cover,” Erksome warned before he activated the switch and set the explosive off. With a muted bang followed by several crunching sounds, a man-sized hole opened up in the thick block wall. Erksome kicked out the few oddly balanced blocks that remained as he pushed his way forward, already priming another brick in his hands. The team stayed back as he primed the outer wall of the basement. Erksome stepped back out again into the tunnel long enough for the charge to do its job. He placed a nondescript plug into the electrical outlet closest to the door, and dribbled several drops of a clear liquid on the floor underneath it.
“We’re clear, sir.”
Go, go, go, Rys ordered as he led them through their new doorway. The metallic scent of solvents, metal shelving, concrete dust and the distinctive tang of ionized metal assaulted his nose as he pushed through into the basement room. Without a break in stride, he led the four men at his back straight through the breach, across the hallway outside, and into a room filled with small cubicle offices on the other side. Erksome, plant our welcoming present.
“Already done, sir.”
Rys turned just inside, waving everyone through so that they could duck behind the portable cubicle walls, concealing themselves from sight. He remained just inside the doorway, rifle held at the ready, peering out cautiously into the hallway. Erksome was already behind the now open storage room door, invisible to anyone approaching from the stairs at the far end of the hallway. Gremlin, do our no-gos know that the room has been breached?
“I made sure lots of alarms went off, sir, even they couldn’t miss it.”
Rys shook his head at the evil glee in his Lieutenant’s voice. How much company do we have coming?
“I count seven, sir. They were pulled off the main doors on the third floor.”
Well, that was nice of them. It was so accommodating of the Novan commander to send the very men that Rys wanted safely tucked away first. Rys cocked his ears, waiting for the tell-tale sound of boots thundering down the staircase. In moments he heard it, combat boots creating a rapid staccato against the wooden stairs, mixed in with the unmistakable sound of orders being issued in Novish.
Cover, he warned everyone. Judging from past experience, Nova would throw…indeed, there it went. Even though he was expecting the flash bang that was lobbed into the empty hallway, Rys involuntarily winced at the loud sound and the flash of intense light that penetrated even his closed eyelids. His cochlear ear protection and the instant polarization of his optometric implants easily compensated for the effect of the grenade. He had heard party poppers that made a bigger bang.
He understood that they threw the flashbang as a diversion to buy them enough time to safely get down the stairs, blinding anyone that might still be down below them. It was just extremely annoying that they used the same tactic every time. Didn’t they have any tear gas, or perhaps a grenade launcher? Just a little creativity, or variety, that was all he was looking for.
He kept one eye on them as they spread out, taking nothing more than a brief glance in either direction, completely ignoring the cubicle offices as they passed them by. All seven went straight for the open storage room, guns at the ready, obviously expecting their intruders to still be in that room.
Rys shook his head a little. He could almost imagine the myopic tunnel vision in these men’s eyes, diminishing their peripheral sight to the point that they couldn’t see anything but their presumed target. He knew it was just a by-product of intense stress and fear in these situations, but still... He waited until the last man was in before giving the mental command, Now, Erksome.
Erksome calmly closed and locked the door behind them, clicking the electronic release of the catalyst on the plug inside the room as he did so. There was an instant result that was almost anticlimactic. You could barely hear the thuds as seven bodies hit the floor before they were aware that there was anything amiss.
Rys didn’t pause to savor the moment, just waved everyone back out of the room, heading straight for the elevators at the far end of the hallway. Gremlin, have you tapped into the comm channels?
“Yes, sir. I just used their security code to alert them that their men were ambushed and made an urgent request that they send reinforcements. There was a residual of the squad commander’s voice pattern still in the buffer, so I tapped into that and made the request using his voice in real time. His own mother wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
Good man. That safely pared down another five men or so, as any seasoned commander would immediately send backup to blockade that stair well to prevent intruders from gaining access to the higher floors. There was several more gift packs waiting for them in the electrical sockets in and near the stair wells. These had sensitive proximity switc
hes that would release the catalyst and insure them a very long and restful sleep. Excellent, that was roughly half the Nova force kissing the tiles on the floor, and so far not a shot fired.
They reached the main elevator and Gremlin triggered the doors without it showing the elevator was in use. Rys urged everyone quickly inside, turning and giving a boost to Miles so that he could reach the emergency hatch on the top. Miles popped it open with a single grunt of effort before hauling himself up. By the time the elevator doors slid silently closed, Seger had already planted a flashbang on the motion sensor for the doors. Erksome and Becks scrambled up on top of the elevator with Miles.
Rys surveyed their work and was satisfied with the results. The canister tucked neatly into an access panel. Pity there wasn’t an electrical outlet in the elevator. He put his foot on the hand railing and hauled himself up after Seger. The top of the elevator was very crowded with five fully armed men crouching on top of it, but they managed. The gears quietly whirred as the elevator rose, as it automatically responded to a request for service. As they passed each floor, the seconds ticked by unrelentingly, as if they were coated in molasses. There was only so much time for them to arrive at the third floor. If it took too long, the Nova commander might suspect that something else was going on and shift people around, putting Rys’s team badly out of position. For the sake of the hostages lives, and for the safety of his own men, they could not afford to be even a few seconds late.
In a space that was never designed for more than rudimentary ventilation for the machinery, it became stifling very quickly. Rys blinked sweat out of his eyes, feeling it begin to trickle down his torso.
The Novian commander, being no fool, knew that if they didn’t come up the stairs then they would come up by the only other possible route – the elevator. Rys had clicked on his DIVs when they passed the first floor, looking up so that his enhanced vision could penetrate through the walls of the elevator shaft as they went up. He could make out two men standing guard in front of the elevator, rifles at the ready. He could also pick up that there was no electronic signature on their goggles. That meant that they either didn’t have DIV capability, or they were shut off. From their perspective it made sense. They knew that Rys’s team had to be on the elevator, as it was the only unexpected movement in the building. Why would you use the DIVs, risking disorientation at a critical moment, when you already knew what was coming?
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