Jay shoved his way through the crowd and caught up with the knights. They steered him and Grace into a corridor past the restrooms and up two flights of stairs. A wider hallway this time, and then another flight of stairs. There were no patrons here so Jay didn’t try to hide his MP7. He reached the top of the stairs and checked his corners as best he could. The knights hadn’t fanned out to ambush him, they were heading into a room ahead.
Jay held his MP7 firmly as he readied himself to make new friends.
The room looked like some kind of storage area. There was a woman facing him, pistol drawn. She looked like a rock star with her vivid red hair and array of piercings. She wasn’t quite what Jay was expecting. He was relieved to see Damien tied to a chair and in reasonably good condition. There was one other armed man in the room, but he had an AR-15 carbine rather than a pistol. Jay turned slightly to one side to get Grace in his peripheral. She wasn’t holding her butterfly sword any more; she had her Vector SMG covering the armed man.
‘This party is invitation only,’ the red-haired woman said. She was younger than everyone else, although it was clear she was in command.
Jay winked. ‘Consider us invited.’
She kept her pistol on him. ‘You’re outnumbered. I’m no expert in tactics, but I’d suggest you lower your weapons.’
Jay felt the knights close around him. His injured arm was only just getting some feeling back; he didn’t feel like dancing with them again.
‘We came for our friend,’ he said.
She raised an eyebrow. ‘You know each other. That’s interesting, isn’t it, Calvin?’
The man with the carbine grunted.
‘You guys don’t get out much, do you?’ Jay said.
She didn’t like that. ‘I’ve been playing a little game with your friend here.’
She used her free hand to drive a thumbnail deep into Damien’s bandaged, blood-soaked thigh. Damien clenched his teeth, but didn’t make a sound.
The woman looked at his thigh, confused. She pressed harder.
‘Sorry,’ Damien said. ‘I wasn’t focused. Let’s go again. Roll cameras.’
She pulled away the bandage to inspect the wound, and was visibly surprised when she found just a scab. She ripped it off. This time Damien did flinch. Underneath, the skin was pink and fresh.
‘Well,’ she said. ‘That’s even more interesting.’
‘Who are you?’ Grace said, moving wide around Jay.
‘Who I am is not important,’ the woman said. ‘What I need is.’
‘And what would that be?’ Jay asked.
Her expression hardened, along with her pistol grip. ‘Your friend here crash-landed with a rather large supply of rations. We need those rations.’
Jay was confused. ‘Why didn’t you just take them?’
She shook her head. ‘We didn’t exactly have a truck on hand. Police taped off the area pretty quick.’
‘Not our problem,’ Jay said. ‘Step aside.’
The woman smiled and waved her knights away from him. She aimed her pistol higher, at Jay’s head. ‘Let me guess, you’re Jay and you’re Sophia. I’ve heard stories about you two, and Damien here. From before the hurricane.’
In the corner of his vision, Jay noticed Grace roll her eyes. She kept the armed man pinned with her Vector.
Jay sighed loudly. ‘I think you have us confused with someone else.’
‘Sophia and Jay aren’t real,’ Calvin said. His voice was pitched higher than Jay expected.
‘I’m real,’ Jay said. ‘I mean—’
‘Nice one,’ Grace said. ‘I’m not Sophia by the way.’
‘We just want Damien and that’s all,’ Jay said. ‘We don’t have time for this shit.’
The woman cocked her head. ‘And what do you have time for? The Fifth Column? Are they even … is that even real?’
‘No,’ Jay said flatly. ‘Are you going to give us Damien or not?’
The platform shuddered as another train rattled past.
‘Maybe we can come to an arrangement,’ she said. ‘You help us, we help you.’
‘We don’t need your help,’ Grace said.
‘I have an underground army. You have three people.’ She smiled. ‘Two.’
Damien almost choked. ‘Actually, maybe … maybe we can use them.’
‘I’m not bargaining with her,’ Grace said.
‘Then we have nothing more to discuss,’ the woman said.
‘What do you want from us?’ Jay said through gritted teeth.
‘The rations were recovered and stored elsewhere. We’d like to recoup them. A man of your,’ she looked him up and down, ‘supposed talents — two of you — is just what we need.’
‘What talents do you think we have?’ Grace said.
‘You’re like, Tier 1 operators or something, right?’ she said.
Grace, Vector still aimed, shook her head. ‘Jesus Christ.’
‘Been playing a little too much Call of Duty, huh?’ Jay said.
‘You know what I mean,’ the woman said.
‘And you don’t. Tiers refer to funding levels, not how special we are,’ Jay said. ‘And there’s no such thing as an operator. That was used by Delta Force years back to avoid being confused with CIA operatives. Now every man and his dog’s a goddamn operator.’
‘So what are you then?’ the woman said. ‘An operative?’
‘I’m nobody,’ he said.
‘So you’re a deniable operative then.’ She nodded to herself. ‘That’s what they called you.’
‘Not so much any more,’ Jay said. ‘And you’re certainly not Akhana. So why do you need rations? Are you all hiding underground like rats?’
‘The Akhana were cleaned out long ago,’ she said. ‘Some of us are remnants. The rest of us are—’
‘Angry citizens,’ Calvin said. ‘Hurricane survivors, whatever. We see what’s coming down the pipeline and it ain’t pretty.’
‘Half our people have served this country at one time or another,’ the woman said. ‘We have the numbers but what we don’t have is your … interesting skill set.’ She lowered her pistol and instructed Calvin to do the same. ‘I’m Aviary. And this is Calvin.’
Jay and Calvin exchanged a suspicious glare. Begrudgingly, Jay lowered his MP7. His watch read 1000 hours. It was daylight topside.
‘As much as we’d love to stay and chat, Damien and I are crashing a party tonight,’ he said.
‘Where?’ Aviary said.
‘That doesn’t concern you. But if we help you then … you help us.’
‘I’m listening,’ she said.
‘If you can offer a distraction … with your supposed army—’
‘We don’t have an army, we have people.’
‘You just said you had — fine, whatever. Offer us a distraction with your people, then we have a deal,’ Jay said. ‘But I want Damien released now.’
‘That’s not an option,’ Aviary said.
‘It’s your only option.’ Jay raised his MP7 again.
‘We need more than just your word that you’ll help us,’ Aviary said. ‘We need insurance. Damien here will do just fine.’
‘I need him to get your rations,’ Jay said.
‘Don’t see how an injured man will help much.’
‘Not injured any more,’ Damien said. ‘You saw for yourself.’
‘Why should I trust you?’ she said.
‘Keep our radio, keep our phone,’ Jay said, lowering his MP7. ‘We need them. We have to come back.’
‘I’m not stupid,’ Aviary said. ‘You have the number written down. If you need to make contact with anyone, you can do it without this equipment.’
‘And if we wanted to kill you and leave, we would’ve done so by now,’ Grace said.
Something in Aviary’s eyes glittered. ‘Then why don’t you?’
‘I’m considering it,’ Grace said, still aiming her Vector.
Aviary smiled. ‘Why did you come for Damien?’
<
br /> ‘Because he’s—’ Jay began, but she cut him off.
‘Not you.’ She pointed to Grace. ‘Why did you come?’
Jay looked over at Grace. ‘This should be good.’
Grace’s jaws were clenched. ‘He’s my friend.’
‘Oh,’ Aviary said, ‘but he’s more than your friend. Any idiot can see that.’
‘I couldn’t,’ Jay said.
‘I couldn’t either,’ Damien croaked.
‘That’s not surprising,’ Aviary said. ‘One of you,’ she pointed to Grace and Damien, ‘has to stay. I don’t care who.’
‘Well, I’m already tied to the—’ Damien began.
‘I’ll stay,’ Grace said.
Jay wasn’t expecting that. ‘You’ll what?’
‘I’ll stay with them.’ She leveled her Vector at Aviary. ‘But if you even think about restraining me I will hurt you.’
Aviary’s smile faded slightly. ‘You’re my only bargaining chip,’ she said. ‘I can’t have you … wandering off.’
‘No,’ Jay said. ‘If you want your rations, you release Damien and all three of us will bring back the goods. Deal or no deal.’
Aviary pointed her pistol at Damien’s head. ‘No deal.’
Jay snapped his MP7 up, sights on Aviary. ‘You know if you shoot him I will kill you,’ he said.
He could sense the jaguar knights closing around him.
‘You’re telling me that you’ll take the time to recover our rations and deliver them to us?’ Aviary said. ‘You said yourself you’re on a tight schedule, you have somewhere to be tonight. You don’t need this. If I was in your position, as soon as I walked out of here with both of my friends I wouldn’t come back. And I don’t blame you. But I need this. We need this.’
Jay shook his head. ‘You have the worst timing.’
Grace finally lowered her Vector. ‘Just get it over with.’
‘We’ll need to use our satphone now,’ Jay said. ‘To make contact. Tell our friends we’re OK.’
Aviary handed him Damien’s satphone, then pointed to the domed stained-glass ceiling. ‘We’re underground. That’ll have to wait until we’re topside.’
‘Fine. Where are the rations being stored?’ Jay asked.
‘UN headquarters,’ Aviary said. ‘We don’t know which building though.’
Damien’s head slumped to his chest. ‘No way,’ he said. ‘I’m not going back there.’
Aviary looked confused. ‘Why’s that?’
‘Because we had such fun last time,’ Jay said without smiling.
‘Do you have a map of the property?’ Grace asked.
Aviary nodded and Calvin produced a folded map from his trouser pocket. He handed it carefully to Jay.
‘Can someone … untie me now?’ Damien said.
Aviary did the honors while Jay inspected the map.
‘Give that to me,’ Grace said, snatching it.
‘Looks doable,’ Jay said.
‘Really?’ Aviary said.
‘How do you plan on getting in there, Einstein?’ Grace said.
Jay grinned. ‘We get caught.’
Aviary blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Yeah, excuse me?’ Damien said, rubbing his wrists. ‘I’m not familiar with those Tier 1 operator tactics.’
Jay glared at him. ‘On second thoughts, you can tie him back up.’
‘Seriously, that’s your plan?’ Damien said. ‘Getting caught?’
Jay didn’t reply, he was busy inspecting what seemed to be a printout of the UN headquarters from Google Maps’ satellite view. The headquarters was located in Midtown east, a thin rectangle on the coast that overlooked Queens. The center building, the general assembly building, stuck out because it had a glass dome. The tall building below it was the secretariat building, the same building he’d entered with Damien and Denton after the events at Desecheo Island last year. On the eastern coast, adjoining the secretariat building, was the conference building. In front of the secretariat building, he recognized the fountain. There was a building below that, on the south end of the property: a library. Like the general assembly, it looked to be only a few levels high. The northern half of the property was what caught Jay’s attention. Last he was there, it had still been under construction.
‘What’s that massive fuck-off building?’ he said.
Aviary glanced at the map. ‘That’s new. We suspect it’s currently for military use.’
Jay planted a finger on it. ‘That’s where I’d put the rations if I was the UN or whoever’s in charge there. It’s also hopefully where we’ll be taken into custody.’
‘Won’t they just throw you off to the cops?’ Calvin said.
‘Not if we get arrested inside the compound,’ Damien said. ‘Military, private contractors, even the UN, are authorized to arrest US citizens on US soil. If we’re inside, they’ll arrest us. At least temporarily.’ He turned to Jay. ‘This is a really dumb idea, by the way.’
Calvin shook his head. ‘We’re not in a state of emergency at this time.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Damien said. ‘The bill was passed years ago and it’s put through annually. They can arrest whoever they want now.’
‘Shit.’ Calvin scratched his head. ‘That’s heavy.’
‘And it’s also exactly what we need,’ Jay said. ‘Once we’re arrested and taken inside, we’re in the perfect position to take the rations. Dress up as smurfs—’
‘Smurfs?’ Aviary said.
‘UN soldiers,’ Damien explained.
‘Load the rations into a vehicle and leave,’ Jay said. ‘Simple.’
‘It’s never simple,’ Damien said. ‘But, yeah.’
‘Just tell us what you need and we’ll get it for you,’ Aviary said. ‘Other than the rations, obviously.’
‘If we’re going to be captured inside then we need to get inside,’ Jay said. ‘The only way to get inside is when the gates are open.’
‘We’ll have to wait until a vehicle enters or leaves,’ Damien said.
‘Which means we’ll need to be nearby and we’ll need a visual,’ Jay said. ‘A car accident, one runs into the other. Simple, easy. Stolen cars. When someone is at the gates ready to leave or enter, we have an accident right in front of them. Block their exit.’
‘That won’t block the gate,’ Grace said. ‘They can still close it.’
‘Unless you time it so the car is halfway through,’ Damien said.
Aviary frowned. ‘That’s extremely precise timing. You’d need to be ready and have the car nearby. There’s nowhere to park that close.’
‘We could park further away,’ Jay said. ‘There’s no traffic lights to screw up our timing.’
Aviary slumped in Damien’s chair. ‘The nearest place you could pull up is a block away.’
‘Or you drive blocks,’ Calvin suggested.
‘That’s fine if you do one or two,’ Grace said. ‘But how often do people go in and out the gates? You could be driving around for hours; you’d be noticed pretty quickly.’
‘Not at peak time,’ Jay said.
‘That will make the traffic hell,’ Aviary said. ‘You’d never make it around the block in time. Even if you were close.’
‘Fine,’ Jay said. ‘Motorcycles. Or how about bicycles?’
She shrugged. ‘Bicycles could work.’
‘One rides, one walks,’ Jay said. ‘The walker can be distracted, on his cell. Texting at the gate while a car approaches. Since he’s on location he can be the watcher, he’ll see the car and make his move. From a bus stop or whatever’s close.’
‘Make Damien a tourist,’ Grace said. ‘Give him a camera, an excuse to do surveillance. Not so much pointing at the headquarters, though; don’t want to make the soldiers at the gates nervous. He can be busy taking a photo when he gets hit.’
‘Why do I have to be hit?’ Damien said. ‘I just got stabbed twice.’
‘We start a fight,’ Jay said. ‘You can hit me if it makes you feel bet
ter.’
‘We’ll need to move the fight inside the gates fast,’ Damien said. ‘One runs, the other chases. Throw a few punches inside. Soldiers will pull us away.’
‘Maybe I try to punch one of them in anger.’ Jay shrugged. ‘It happens. In the heat of the moment.’
‘We’ll both need to attack the soldiers,’ Damien said. ‘Not take them down, just swing at them. Get us arrested.’
Aviary looked puzzled. ‘And then what? How will you get out of that?’
Jay wiggled an eyebrow. ‘As long as we conceal our tools well, we can get out of anything.’
‘Do you want a protest, a riot out the front?’ Aviary offered enthusiastically.
Damien shook his head. ‘No, we won’t need that. Our fist fight should be enough to get us in, get us arrested. We take it from there.’
‘You do this under one condition,’ Grace said. ‘If things go south, we don’t hear from you, I’m coming in.’
Damien nodded. ‘Thanks.’
‘Since when did you care?’ Jay said.
‘I never said I did,’ she said. ‘Just tell me how long you need before I come rescue you.’
‘What, by yourself?’ Calvin said.
‘She’s … persuasive,’ Jay said. ‘Also invisible.’
‘I can’t let you do that, sorry,’ Aviary said.
‘Do you want your rations?’ Grace said. ‘If things go bad, trust me, you’ll want me out there.’
Aviary looked uncertain. ‘We’ll see if it comes to that.’
‘Best if I come in at night,’ Grace said. ‘You should hit this in the evening.’
Jay checked his watch. ‘We don’t have much time. Can’t we do it now?’
‘You want me to infiltrate the UN headquarters crawling with UN soldiers in broad daylight?’ Grace said. ‘Even with my cloaking capabilities that’s a tall order.’
‘They’re not shocktroopers, just national guard rehatted as UN,’ Jay said. ‘And besides, we won’t need you. Right, Damien?’
‘Actually, they’re regular army and marines,’ Calvin said. ‘Most have done tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.’
Grace frowned. ‘Fine. Go in daylight. I suppose I can handle that.’
‘We have an hour and a half before lunch,’ Jay said.
‘We don’t have time to eat,’ Damien said.
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