Sphinx punched him on the arm. "We're on a mission. You need to be straight."
He turned to look at me. "Bear, how many times since you've known me have I been straight sober?"
"I think once," I said.
"I do fine stoned," Thomas said.
I went down for a nap. I talk to those fuckers all the time, rather nap. I woke up as the plane started to descend. We drove out of the bowels of the plane. Their kitchen was closed for the night, and I needed a big snack. Sam finally texted me, "How is the mission?"
I texted back, "Hasn't even started really."
"Be safe."
She did like me. I really didn't get why she was on a psych probation either. Maybe she was like me, and I was crazy?
I punched the button to get two microwaveable sausage biscuits.
A siren started going off. "Intruder alert. Intruder alert."
I knew where the armory was. I took off in a run.
Chapter Thirty
It came across the intercom. "The main threat appears to be drones packed with explosives."
I ran through the hallway to the stairs. Went down them three at a time. The armory doors were open. People were grabbing guns and ammo. I put on a leather jacket and a helmet. I tapped the com gear as I pushed forward for a weapon. "Bear team report."
"You've got to shoot the drone before it is within ten meters," Thomas said. An explosion followed across the com gear.
"I've made it to the prison level," Zen said, "but it's quiet."
"GeoSix and I are almost to the prison level," Sphinx said.
I grabbed a 5.56mm submachine gun and a spare magazine. Tank was right next to me. How the Hell did he sneak up on me? He was almost two meters tall and well over one hundred kilos of solid muscle. He was wearing a jacket but no helmet.
I said, "You need a helmet."
"They give me a headache," Tank said.
"I'm making that an order."
"So be it."
I attached the spare magazine to one of my belt loops.
Tank put on the helmet and grimaced. "It's not my size."
Now is not the time. Do we patrol or head for the prison level? The drones had to be going after our 'D' prisoner.
"Prison level," I said.
Tank took off in a run, and I chased after. We were heading down the stairs when an explosion echoed from above. "Keep running," I said. We had to get out of this stairway. There just wasn't enough distance up to kill a drone without dying.
We reached the bottom of the stairs, and another explosion echoed from above. We ran down the hallway. Thomas, Sphinx, GeoSix, and Zen were on guard. The hallway was long, and I wondered if the drones would show on infrared.
Tank said, "Mine." Then he blazed off three quick rounds from his gun, and a reasonably massive explosion boomed at the other end of the hallway.
The next drone flew through the smoke. It had four propellers on top, with a round body below. I aimed for the body part and squeezed off a three shot burst. It exploded in a great ball of white fire and debris.
Two more back to back explosions echoed from behind us. Another drone came into view on our side, and Tank and I got it at the same time. Two of the things flew past the falling debris. I shot the left one, and the explosion detonated the right one.
"You're a good shot," Tank said. "The next three are mine."
The next one appeared, and sure enough, Tank fired first. The 2nd one after that, Tank shot first again. I was determined to prove him wrong.
I fired on the third one, but I missed the body and hit one of the engines. It started to careen out of control. Tank shot it. Why was it just Tank and me on this side and four people on the other side? The debris from the explosions was only about twenty meters away from us, and I was getting worried.
Another drone appeared at the end of the hall. I shot it. Because I'm not slow. Maybe Tank let me fire first. Before the debris even fell, another drone took its place. Tank shot this one. A drone followed it up promptly, maybe twenty meters away. I shot it. A fourth drone appeared about ten meters away, and Tank got it. The shrapnel landed on my chest but didn't punch through my armor.
If they kept advancing at that rate the fifth drone would be right on top of us. Explosions danced behind us. A dull thump sounded from above, and dust fell. It happened again. "They're coming through the ceiling," Thomas shouted.
Tank pushed me. I fell down the hallway. A giant explosion ripped through the floor above and decapitated Tank. He dropped. Drones plowed through the hole. I moved. I pushed myself up and down that hallway. The drones detonated on the door to the cell we were protecting. Somebody on the other end of the hall was shooting. And I popped a drone. It detonated along with about five other drones heading for the cell. The blast knocked me down.
I picked myself back up. Drones where coming through the ceiling still aiming for that cell. I blasted one then I looked behind me at the other end of the hallway. A drone was about fifteen meters away flying right at me. I shot. It detonated, and there must have been drones behind it because it was a big explosion. Things got eerily quiet. I switched back and forth between watching each way.
"Bear?" Zen said across the com gear.
"Tank is dead." Damnit.
I walked back towards the cell. Our prisoner was a bloodstain at that point. I wanted to smash something.
Sam sent me a text. "Goodnight, sweet dreams."
Yes, I was sure I'd have really good dreams that night.
Chapter Thirty-One
We flew back to Arizona. They held a memorial service for Tank. Archangel cried. I felt down about it, but he wasn't a close friend. Just one more body in a bag. I felt more grief as a reflection off of Archangel than anything else. He said some words at the service.
Sam sat next to me and held my hand. Archangel's wife held him tight. She wore coverings over her face, but she was a tall and fit woman.
The memorial was in the afternoon, and it was my day off from classes. Sam kissed me on the cheek. "Classes." Then she disappeared. She didn't run away, no, she disappeared. First, she dissolved into a misty cloud, then the cloud evaporated and thinned out to nothing. Damn vampires.
I started seeking out a book to read in my room. It took a while, but I found a book that looked interesting. The first two chapters were solid. Soon enough it was dinner time. I went through the food line first and sat at the usual table. Zen and Enigma joined me. Sam came through the food line and sat with her friends, GreenMel and Jack. I picked up both of my trays and stood up.
"Bitch," Zen said.
I walked over to Sam's table and sat down. Jack started dealing cards.
"Do you always eat two trays of food?" GreenMel asked.
"Do I look fat to you?" I replied.
"No. Not really."
We played a few rounds of euchre and ate.
I looked into Sam's eyes. "Movie tonight?"
"Tonight is a danger room session for us," Jack said with a bit of a gleam in his eyes. "Stage 2."
"First time Stage 2?"
"Yup."
I wanted to watch. "I'll watch."
"Hell no," Sam said.
"Why not?"
"Do you really want to see me die, even if it's only in a simulation?"
She had a really awesome point.
I asked, "Movie after?"
"I'm going swimming after."
"I love to swim."
She nodded and left. No goodbye kiss or anything.
I kind of wanted to play a video game, but the tablets we used were mostly designed for easy on the eyes text on a white background. It was actually a 3D display, so the fonts had depth to them like they were printed with a thick ink. The terminal in my room, that was too old to have a Centurian chip in it, wasn't fancy enough to play a modern wargame. What we needed were new computers. I started reading instead.
After a while, I realized I didn't know when their danger room session would be over. I tried accessing the schedule w
ith my team leader dude credentials. They were scheduled from six to nine pm, plus two more sessions within a week. When I was at that level, it was one danger room session for one hour a week.
I figured Nancy would know the answer, but it seemed like a pitiful reason to call her, when I could just ask Sam tonight.
I read for a while longer. Grabbed a food bar out of my stockpiles and ate it on the way to the pool. Climbed into a whirlpool and watched the door. A few people came in and started swimming or hit the saunas. Sam stepped in and smiled at me. She set her towel on a chair and descended into the whirlpool. She was still wearing a button up white shirt over her suit. She sat right next to me.
"How is it that you're spending nine hours a week in the danger room?"
She pushed away from me to the other end of the pool. "You looked up my schedule?"
Well. Yes. "I guess so. I just wanted to know when to join you tonight."
"Dick."
"Hey, no harm no foul."
She tilted her chin up and pointed her nose off to the ceiling.
I swam over to her and wrapped my arms around her. I pulled her in close and kissed her on the neck.
She pushed me away. "Stay on your side."
"Aren't we dating? Can't we be close?"
"I never said we were dating."
Now I knew why she was on a psych probation.
I sat on the other side of the pool. "I'd like for us to be dating."
She shook her head just a bit. "Too bad."
A Chor'Tan, Ti'Kasha, came into the complex hand in hand with Thomas.
They climbed into the whirlpool with us.
Thomas looked at me. "Too bad about Tank."
I sighed. "The last thing he did was save my life."
Ti'Kasha leaned in close and started rubbing on my arm. "You know Chor'Tan females usually have more than one partner."
I swam out of her reach.
"It kind of sucks from my perspective," Thomas said. "She could at least wait until I'm not around, or if she's hoping for a threesome, a cute male would be in order. But Bear?"
Hey now.
Sam swam over and put her arm around me. "He's taken."
I leaned in and nibbled on her ear. "Thanks."
Ti'Kasha let out a snarl. "He is Chor'Tan male. No rights."
"I'm not fucking Chor'Tan!" I shouted.
"Have you found any scales growing yet?" Thomas asked.
A kind of reddish haze bled across my eyes. I pushed over to Thomas and stood. My hands reached Thomas's throat and picked him up off the ground. He started struggling, but I was stronger.
Sam's voice carried through the haze. "Let him go!"
I dropped him, and he scurried out of the pool. The Chor'Tan female chased after him.
"You could be charged," Sam said.
I shook my head. "I didn't even think. It's like a rage just took over. If you hadn't shouted, I'd have killed him."
Chapter Thirty-Two
I sat back into the waters and rubbed at my temples. A kind of instant headache hit me, a kind of nagging that made me think, you weren't there before.
"I've got an early class," Sam said as she climbed out of the whirlpool. But us, tonight? Still too soon.
I didn't even ask for a goodnight kiss, and none was offered.
I had an email from Nancy when I got back to my quarters. I make that sound so easy, but on the, almost twenty-year-old, historical record of a computer I had, checking email was iffy at best.
"Skip breakfast," she wrote. "Meet in the conference room first thing."
The next morning, my growling stomach and I walked into the conference room. Sphinx and Thomas were waiting. Nancy stepped in and hit a button.
A group of buildings appeared in a hologram over the table. There was a pool, and it sat beside a regular road. Each building was surrounded by lush plant life that was clearly meant to transform the landscape into art. If I had to guess, I'd label it a spa or retreat of some kind for rich people.
The three of us turned our eyes to Nancy.
"Ralan was at this location four weeks ago," Nancy said.
Four damn weeks tracking was such garbage.
I must have said that out loud, because Nancy raised an eyebrow. "It's not garbage. It's the best the Chor'Tan can do under rules of conduct."
"We have prisoners," Thomas said. "We show them the site or give them the location."
"Every prisoner gave us a different story. It's a place that rats are taken to be tortured. It's a pleasure retreat according to some." Nancy said. "A vacation spot for high-ranking people under him. Others have said it's a major drug distribution center."
"We should have some place like that," Sphinx said. "The vacation part, not the other things."
My eyes kind of bugged.
"We should. I agree." Nancy shrugged. "Seems like Centurian has a larger budget than us."
I took another look at the satellite photo. "It seems like there's a fence, with two entrances. There isn't a gate across that. We could drive right up to the front."
"It's about guaranteed there are a few kilos of explosives under the parking lot," Thomas said. "Drive in, boom."
He could be right, too.
"Chances are the gate is not watched by a human all the time, and it is likely just a parking lot," Nancy said. "Drive up to the front gate and run in with guns blazing."
Sphinx smiled. "We're going in with guns blazing?"
"I meant stunners."
Sphinx quit smiling.
"There's got to be a third exit," I said. "Out the rear under cover of heavy trees, but there are trees on three sides."
"Zoom out of the satellite map and look for roads," Thomas suggested, "or zoom in on the borders of the complex. There's got to be something."
"I'll put Joe on it," Nancy said.
"Bribe him with chocolate," I said.
"He's on a diet!"
"Every day he looks thinner than yesterday."
"You cannot give him food," Sphinx said. "He has a serious heart condition."
Fair enough. "Yeah, put Joe on it," I said, "no chocolate."
Nancy touched the map and isolated three main buildings. "I want three vehicles going in. Split into two-man teams. Hit them at the same time."
"GeoSix," Sphinx said as she put her hands on her hips.
Thomas did a little three-step dance. "Zen. I want Zen with me."
Leaving me with Enigma or Archangel. While it would be nice to bring Archangel, Enigma was a medic.
"Enigma with me," I said.
"How long will it take Joe to analyze the photos?" Thomas asked.
Nineteen seconds? A minute? "Not long. Call him."
"You call," Nancy said. "You have Information Technology training beyond mine."
I called him. He answered, "Bear!"
"I need--" I said.
"More wheat crackers!"
"I can't help you, but you can help me."
"What?" He asked.
"We have some satellite photos," I said, "and we're looking for roads covered by tree leaves."
"Send them."
Nancy clicked a button.
"Give me a minute," Joe said.
So I spent about a minute looking at Sphinx's breasts. I'm not going to lie about it.
"I don't think it's going to work," Joe said.
"How can it not work?" I asked.
"The trees in this forest are not from Earth, man. Any forest I've ever run through this process, it'll find trails and roads. This is not a human forest."
I didn't like that at all. "Keep trying. Try a different analysis engine or some other comparison object." I hung up the phone. "We still have to have somebody covering the rear."
Thomas looked at Nancy. "You were kidding about the stunners, right?"
"If they're armed, kill them. We don't need prisoners that badly," Nancy said. "If they're unarmed, stun them first for good measure, then zip ties on wrists and ankles."
"When do
we leave?" Thomas asked.
"Food bars on the plane for breakfast. You're flying to Southern California. The clock is ticking."
I paged Enigma, and the others paged their teammates.
We explained. The lot of us drove three sedans to the airport and parked in two planes.
I sent Sam a quick text. "Do me a huge favor and take a box of the low sodium wheat crackers that populate every damn vending machine in the Agency to my buddy Joe in the main server room. Thanks!"
Then I ate food bars. I ate all the food bars. No, I had three of them which is a pitiful 600 calories.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The plane landed. Thomas undid his belt and attached a knife in a sheath. "Non-Earth trees could mean you may need a knife."
Zen, Enigma, and I added knives to our arsenals. I had my 9mm in a hip holster, two grenades in my jacket pockets, plus a stunner in my left armpit. I had four magazines in total, including one magazine loaded with Chor'Tan explosive tipped bullets. Those were a new addition to our typical armament and according to specs would have a one-meter blast radius. I was hoping not to need them or the knife, for that matter. We put on helmets, too.
My mind had meticulously constructed a fantasy realm where all I was going to need was the stunner. Enigma poked me. "Into the car."
I climbed in and drove out of the plane, followed by Thomas and Zen. Sphinx and GeoSix were ahead of us. Sphinx turned towards the rear of the complex. Thomas and Zen pulled into the first entrance, blocking it. I pulled our car to the second entrance. This road was wider than the first, and I couldn't completely block it.
Trees dotted the courtyard, easily 40 meters tall and three meters around at the base. The leaves were a darker shade of green than I'd seen before. The building I intended to enter was about fifty by a hundred meters with windows all along the sides and front.
Shrubberies were planted on the edges of the building, some with purple flowers. A kind of ivy was growing all over the ground and up the side wall of the structure. I drew my pistol and pulled the carved wooden door open. It was dark inside, and shadows danced from the sun and open door. I didn't have what looked like a target, and I stepped into the room.
Codename: Bear II: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 2) Page 11
