Mandy continued opening many Internet pages. We just huddled behind her in silence, waiting.
“Right,” Mandy said. “I’ve got it up: Wilson Research Facility. They’re apparently working on all sorts of stuff: neutron generators, aeronautical research, diabetes. The list goes on.”
We all studied the overhead pictures that filled her laptop screen. It looked like a satellite shot, with trees and grass surrounding a one-story building the size of some of the largest in Silicone Valley.
“So how do we do this?” Doug said.
Mandy covered her fountain pen and held it to the screen. “We start here.”
We spent almost an hour planning our entry into the facility. By the time we left for Sacramento, it was a little after 8 p.m. An orange haze surrounded us as we cruised along I-80. Michael drove this time. Mandy sat by herself on one of the extra seats behind Manuel, Doug and Curtis.
I found myself sneaking peeks at my new team. Together we were attempting to foil the Orchestrator’s plan, whatever it was, but what a mix of people we were. I gazed at Michael. His dark hair wasn’t as neat and tidy as when I’d first met him, but his blue eyes and handsome face still tugged at my heartstrings. I felt pity for him. Going from a billionaire who never had to do much to being part of a resistance army must not have been easy.
Manuel, as always, wore an obedient look, but he could just as easily have been a bullfighter, with his broad shoulders and thick chest. Doug, with his stubble, carried off the rugged, brooding look better than anyone I had ever met. Even with the pain in his heart over the loss of his wife, he exuded as much authority as Michael. But I saw the sadness buried deep inside. I empathized with him and found myself drawing closer the more time we spent together.
Curtis was Mr. Supercool. His gorgeous blond hair and smooth face would have brought any catwalk to a standstill, and yet he had a creature of pure menace within him. And Mandy was just the girl I’d have loved to hate, with her perfect figure and pearly white teeth, but she was just so darn nice and helpful that I couldn’t help but love her. And there I was, the future girl trying to save her son but running out of time. My medication looked as if it would run out in a few days, but the adrenaline surging through my blood kept pushing me further and further. We had to succeed. There was no alternative.
After a half-hour on the road, Doug opened the two bags with the guns. He held the SV98 in front of Manuel, who smiled and took it. Doug reached into the bag again and looked at Michael. “And which one’s yours?”
Michael shifted lanes and glanced back. “The Glock will do for now.”
Doug pulled the Glock from the bag and studied it for a moment. It was black and had a silencer over the muzzle. He slipped it to Michael. When Doug turned his gaze to me, I just nodded at the AN-94, which was sticking out of the bag. He smiled and passed it to me. Then he faced Curtis, who hadn’t taken his eyes from the road the entire time. “And which gun is yours, future boy?”
Curtis gave Doug a firm look. “I’ll take my gun back if that’s all right with you.”
Doug nodded and smiled. “You know, I forgot I even had it.” He leaned over to the extra seat, past Mandy’s legs, and grabbed a suitcase. He opened it and pulled out a small sterling-silver gun. It immediately stood out from the others. The chamber was not much larger than the eye of a needle, and yet it packed so much punch. He put it in Curtis’ hand.
“Thank you,” Curtis said. He returned his gaze out the window.
I stared at the gun on my lap for a moment and then faced the road again. We continued on in silence. Michael gave me a few brief glances, occasionally asking if I was okay. I nodded each time without speaking. Things were just about to move to the next level.
We got onto Jackson Highway just before ten-thirty. We drove for a short while and took a right down a narrow path lined with tall trees. Our surroundings told me we were in the correct place, judging by the images Mandy had shown us on her computer.
A car’s headlights came on in the distance, shining on acres of grass all around it. The trees were even larger than I’d thought. Another set of lights came on, and both cars started moving. None of us uttered a word. The cars turned right and then left. Their lights shone straight at us.
“Reverse, reverse,” Doug shouted.
Michael turned the SUV’s headlights off, shifted into reverse and floored it. The car shuddered as it struck the trees’ branches. The lights drew closer. I glanced back into the pitch darkness, scared that we would crash into a tree or something much larger. Our car kept charging backward until I saw a glimmer of the street lighting. We backed out to the road, and Michael spun the car and backed into a narrow road opposite the path to the facility. He shut the engine off and put both hands on the steering wheel.
We sighed almost simultaneously and stared at each other. Then the headlights appeared in front of us. The cars took a left and headed in the direction from which we’d come. I tried to catch a glimpse of who might have been in the cars, but the windows’ tint was too strong.
The engines faded after a few minutes and I glanced back at everyone. “That was close.”
“Too close,” Michael said. “We need to go the rest of the way on foot.”
“But we don’t know what’s waiting for us there,” Manuel said.
“Yes, we do,” Mandy said. She climbed over her seat. Manuel, Doug and Curtis all slid up. She sat beside Manuel with her laptop in front of her. A grid of sorts was on the screen, with a number of red dots spread around it. “Heat signatures,” she said. “We can see everyone out there.”
“Maybe not,” Curtis said. He leaned forward and studied the screen. “My people don’t always show up on those things. I wouldn’t rely on it.”
“But they must, right?” I said.
Everyone gave me blank stares.
“Especially if they’re trying to pass for humans.”
“That’s true.” Curtis nodded at the laptop screen. “But those things aren’t the most reliable when it comes to my people.”
Doug grimaced as if he were considering options. “You got those binoculars?” he asked me.
I reached into my pocket and handed them to him.
“Can I have that?” he said to Mandy.
She passed him her laptop. He studied it for a moment and then placed his hands on the western section of the grid. Three dots moved around in close proximity to each other. “Three people there, right?”
We all leaned closer to the screen and nodded.
“Okay,” Doug said. “Let’s see what we’re really dealing with.” He held the binoculars to his eyes and twisted the knob. Anxious, I pressed my palms together.
“Damn it,” he said.
“What is it?” Mandy said.
He handed her the binoculars.
She looked through the binoculars and turned the knob right a few times. Then she dropped them to her lap and grimaced. “Five people.”
I took them from her and looked. A building’s light shone on five men, all fully armed with machine guns. I looked at the infrared display and it still showed only three men. I looked through the binoculars again.
“Hang on,” Mandy said.
I took the binoculars from my face and saw Mandy pointing at the screen. Two extra dots appeared and then disappeared after a few seconds. Then they appeared again.
“I told you,” Curtis said. “With my people, heat signatures aren’t the most reliable.”
We did the same with other sections of the grounds surrounding the facility. It was much the same: guards appearing and disappearing on the infrared display. After covering the entire ground with the binoculars and the heat signatures, we concluded that twenty men stood between us and the facility. The only good news we got from our reconnaissance was that each guard frequently left his post to roam the grounds, sometimes patrolling in groups of two.
“How heavy is the muscle once we get in?” Michael said.
“It depends,” Curtis said.
I frowned at him. “What does that mean?”
“Put it this way: Most of the guards are outside or guarding the portal.”
“What about the journal?” Doug said.
“There are a few, but only a few people know it’s even there, so they keep security around it light. I guess they figure no one will be stupid enough to try and take it.”
“And we definitely don’t have to go past the portal to get to the journal?”
Curtis shook his head.
“What about my son and Doug’s wife?” I said.
Curtis didn’t answer.
“What?” I said. “What is it?”
“They could be in the containment chamber, but it’s too dangerous. There are Shriniks in that section of the building.”
My eyes widened. “And you didn’t think to mention that before?”
“It’s not as bad as you might think. They’re all locked up and shouldn’t cause too many problems if we stick to the plan.”
I leaned toward him. “Let’s get this clear. I’m here to get my son first. I don’t really care about the journal.”
“And I’m here for my wife,” Doug said.
“Guys,” Michael said, “let’s get in there first, okay? And then we can decide what to do. We don’t know how long we’ve got to do this.” He got out of the car and popped the trunk. The rest of us followed him, and he pulled out a large suitcase and grasped a thin metallic-black case that looked like my powdered-foundation case. He popped it open and I saw what looked like green paint: camouflage. Doug helped to apply the paint to his face, and after Michael returned the favor, he tossed it to Manuel, who did the same to Curtis. After Curtis applied it to Manuel’s face, he turned to face Mandy, but she lifted her hands.
“I’m not going in there, remember? That’s for you guys.”
Curtis turned to me. I glanced at the case and swallowed. Doug took it from him and walked toward me. “Here, I’ll do it.” He ran his hands back and forth across my face, the liquid coating my skin. It felt gross, but I stopped myself from heaving.
He stopped and smiled. “Perfect.”
I smiled. “I don’t even want to know how I look.”
Michael tapped me on the shoulder. “You look great.” He laughed.
Mandy handed us all earpieces the size of ear buds, with built-in micro transmitters. “We’ll be able to communicate with these.” She inserted one in her ear and faced Michael.
Michael put his in, too. “Testing, testing.”
Mandy held her right ear. “I hear you.”
The rest of us put our earpieces in and spoke. The signal was clear. Next, Mandy gave us infrared goggles. I put them on and jerked my head back. Everything around me changed to a deep shade of blue—the trees, the grass, the roads. Everything looked like incomplete CGI sketches.
“You okay?” Michael said.
I spun around a few times. “Fine. It’s just … Never mind.”
“Okay,” Doug said. “Manuel and Michael will cover the perimeter. The rest of us will go in.”
“No way,” Curtis said. “I can’t go in there. They’ll sense me right away.”
A cloud of doubt filled my mind. Was Curtis leading us into a trap? Maybe, maybe not. But there was a chance that Dylan was in there and I had to go.
Doug opened the car door, picked up another SV98 sniper rifle and threw it at Curtis. The Shrinik caught it and studied it for a moment. Then he nodded. He, like the rest of my team, looked weird through the goggles, like an outline of a featureless man.
“Then you stay out here with Manuel and Mandy. The rest of us will go in.”
Curtis nodded.
Doug pulled two M4 assault rifles from the rucksack and threw them into the trunk. He placed two more on the car hood and looked at Manuel and Curtis. “Just in case you need more firepower.” He threw a Glock to me and strapped the rucksack still bulging with the remaining guns and explosives across his back.
Manuel picked up one of the guns and grinned. “Nice.”
I put the Glock in my pocket and ran my hands across the AN-94 strapped over my shoulder. Then I checked the magazine and saw that it was full before putting it back in place.
“All right then,” Michael said, “let’s go.” He crossed the road, with Doug close behind. I followed them with my right hand holding my gun steady and the left in front of me. I glanced back to see the outline of Mandy entering the car with her annoying perfect figure. Manuel and Curtis caught up to us and we walked along the path until we reached the wide pathway surrounding the grass and trees. I watched the stocky outline of Manuel take his position on the ground beside me, fiddling with his two guns. I shifted my gaze a few yards to the right and saw Curtis do the same. I started to appreciate just how amazing these glasses were.
Then I smelled Michael’s aftershave. He grabbed my right hand. “If anything happens, you just start blasting, okay?”
“I can look after myself, Michael.”
I heard Doug walk past us. “Okay, let’s go.”
Michael went first and I followed close behind.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Two on the far right are moving toward your position,” Mandy said through the earpiece.
We all stopped and crouched. I heard distant footsteps and faint chatter that I couldn’t make out. Leaves brushed my face, but I didn’t move an inch in the pitch darkness. I could feel Michael’s heart beating as he leaned into me. I wasn’t sure where Doug was, but I knew he was close. The footsteps drew closer but then stopped. We just waited. After a few minutes, we heard them drift away until the eerie silence returned.
“Two by the house are moving right,” Mandy said. “I only have one left on my screen, but I don’t know where the other two are.”
“On it,” Doug whispered.
We remained still.
“Got them,” he said a few seconds later. “Two are still there. I can’t find the last guy.”
“Neither can I,” Mandy said. “He’s disappeared from my screen.”
“I see him,” Manuel said.
“Me, too,” Curtis said. “He’s walking straight toward you. You might have to take him out”
“Won’t that mess the plan up?” I said.
“Not if we move quickly,” Michael said. He backed away from me and I heard him draw a dagger from its sheath. “I’ve got this.”
He edged past me. Doug tiptoed forward and lay a few yards ahead to my left.
“Easy,” Curtis said.
Michael stopped.
“He’s ten yards away,” Manuel said.
My knees knocked against each other as I began to panic. There would be no turning back after this.
“Eight yards, … five, … four.”
I could see an outline of the man through my goggles, but I’d lost Michael.
“Three, … two. He’s right by you.”
We all stopped speaking. I squinted but still couldn’t see Michael.
“Michael,” Curtis said. Nothing came back.
Manuel called out to him, too. Still nothing.
“He might be hurt,” I said.
I heard the guard whistle. He’d turned around and started heading back when Michael rose from the ground in a flash and wrapped his hands around the man’s neck. I shifted and rose to my knees. The man shuddered before his hands fell to his sides. Then I saw Michael pull the blade from his neck and ease his body to the ground.
Doug helped him move the corpse. They covered it with leaves, and Michael wiped the dagger on the ground. I hated that yet more people had to die in order for our plan to work, even if it may have been a Shrinik that Michael had just killed.
“Rachel,” Doug said through the earpiece.
“I’m coming.” I stood up and walked to them. We stood still, listening.
“The two on my screen are now coming your way,” Mandy said.
Doug confirmed it with the binoculars. We waited as the footsteps drew nearer.
/> “Damn,” Mandy said. “They’ve stopped.”
We crouched and waited but didn’t hear any more footsteps.
“What’re they doing now?” Michael said.
“Nothing,” Curtis said. “They’re just standing there.”
“We’ve got to go to them. Take them out.”
“That’s too risky,” Manuel said. “From that distance, the other two will hear and might call the others.”
Two minutes went by, but the guards still didn’t move. “I’m telling you guys, if we don’t make a move now, we might not get this chance again.”
“Michael’s right,” Curtis said. “But we’ve got to take them all out at the same time.”
“Can you get the guys by the house from your positions?” Doug said.
“That’s the thing,” Curtis said. “Maybe not.”
This was it, my time to step up. And why shouldn’t I? They were here to help me save my son, after all. “You and Michael can get the ones by the house,” I said to Doug. “I can take the two closest to us.”
No one said anything for a moment.
“Let’s do it,” Michael said.
“You sure about this?” Doug said.
“Why not?” Michael said. “She’s part of the team, right?”
Silence returned. I moved toward Doug. “I need the sniper.”
Doug screwed the silencer onto the SV98 and hooked an infrared scope to the top. He placed the gun in my hand, and I moved a few yards to the right and lay on the ground.
“Okay, guys,” Mandy said, “you need to do this now. The men on the other side of the perimeter are moving closer together. The window will soon be gone.”
Michael lay on the ground beside me. “You sure you’re okay to do this?”
I looked at him for a moment. I probably wasn’t completely okay, but I was going to do it anyway. “I’ll be fine.”
Michael stood up and moved toward Doug. They took steady steps before I saw them duck. I took my goggles off and looked through the infrared scope. I could feel my hands quivering, and my breathing grew ragged. I lowered the gun and waited for their signal.
The Children Who Time Lost Page 29
