by Collin Earl
*****
Canderous entered the main lobby, flanked by the elite members of his Containment squad. The men spread out across the lobby, taking up positions by the elevator and stairwell. Canderous walked calmly to the scrawny-looking man at the main desk.
"You call in the incident?" barked Canderous.
"Uh, yeah, I did. And I followed all my instructions. Master alarm was tripped eight minutes ago."
Canderous nodded and then told his comm officer to check to see if the files had been received. The man logged into MESA's secure server, spot checked the vids and logs, and confirmed their receipt to Canderous.
"Good." Canderous linked to his team. "Now, the master alarm will have locked down the building. Since we are the first ones on scene, we have a small window of opportunity to recover the package. S&D will be on-scene in 10. I want – "
"Uh, sir?" Scott cleared his throat. "Sorry I didn't catch your name. But, uh...about being first on scene." Canderous slowly turned to glare at the man. Scott continued. "I gave an update to the prelim scout you sent. He should be back any minute now."
"Son, I don't have time for your babbling. I got a situation to contain here," Canderous responded impatiently.
"Ok, right. No problem. Like I said, he should be back any minute now."
Canderous turned back to his team and started to finish his orders, but then stopped. He turned back to the stringy man. "Who's gonna be back any minute?"
Scott gulped. "Uh, that guy you sent ahead of your team. He said you would be here in a few minutes and then said he needed to start securing the perimeter, so I unlocked the side entrance and let him out."
Canderous grabbed the man by his uniform and pulled him closer. "And why on god's green earth would you let anyone out of this building when your instructions specifically said not to!?"
"He was your advanced team!" Scott stammered. "He was tact'd out just like you – gear, helmet, assault rifle. He said you sent him ahead and that you would be coming in just a few minutes! I swear!"
Canderous barked for a man to clear the side entrance. Moments later, the man came back holding a tactical gear belt, assault helmet, and a Tiger 35 AR – all exact matches to the gear that the Containment team sported.
Canderous's eyes went wide with rage.
