Nirvana just watched with her mouth agape as Kseniya swallowed the mouthful of organic matter and bit another chunk.
Nirvana, there’s a camera at the top right corner of the room. Can you see it?
Yes.
Go plug it.
On it.
Nirvana rushed to the side of the room, shot her KrakGrip at the ceiling and hoisted herself up. She secured the handle of the KrakGrip onto her harness and let Zane take over her body. He pulled out the wires connecting the camera feed, plugged them into a tiny device and fixed it onto the camera feed.
Alright, get down. I’m in.
Nirvana lowered herself onto the ground using the controls on the handle, removed it from the belt of her harness, and retracted the cable after disabling the adhesive function of the tentacle-like grapples. She quickly put away the KrakGrip as she watched Alden inch his way towards Kseniya.
Kseniya looked up, suddenly noticing Alden and shoved the rest of the heart into her mouth. Chewing frantically, she looked around the floor and made a dash for the dagger she’d used earlier. Alden got to it before her and snatched it away.
Kseniya swallowed whatever she was chewing and gagged badly. She covered her mouth to stop herself from vomiting and tried to force whatever came out down her throat.
I think she’s eating it so that he cannot be revived, Zane guessed. Bastard disabled the camera earlier, so no one is going to see what happened here.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Nirvana said gently, heart breaking for this fragile-looking, small woman.
Tell her you’re with Zanetos.
“We’re Zanetos’s friends. We can help you.”
Kseniya’s large hazel eyes went even larger and for a moment, Nirvana thought there was a spark of hope in it, but it dulled quickly.
She shook her head and sank to the floor. “He abandoned me, left me to die.”
“No, he did not,” Nirvana comforted her.
Yes, I did.
Nirvana felt her chest crunch up with remorse.
I left without thinking if she would suffer the backlash from my father.
Kseniya sat up, suddenly remembering something. She crawled towards the body quickly and patted around the hip area of the dead man. Alden rushed towards her in time to wrestle away the gun she found.
Kseniya attacked Alden and struggled to claim the gun. It didn’t take much effort to get her pinned to the floor.
“Please kill me. Please,” she sobbed. “I don’t want to go back in. I can’t do this anymore. Please kill me now.” Suddenly, she retched violently and threw up everything she’d forced down her throat earlier.
Alden got off her quickly so that she could get up and avoid choking on her own puke. It was literally a bloody mess.
“Please.” Kseniya collapsed onto Alden’s feet, hugging his leg. “Please kill me,” she begged. “Have mercy. Obaga will skin me alive. Please.”
For the first time in her life, Nirvana saw emotions on Alden’s face. His ginger brows were pulled together tightly, and she could see the conflict in his cerulean blue eyes as he lifted and put the gun to Kseniya’s head, pulling it back a few times before once more setting it against her head.
“Alden,” Nirvana breathed. She didn’t know whether she was calling him because she was feeling concerned at seeing distress on his face or to stop him from killing Kseniya.
Zane, we have to get her out. I’m not going to leave her behind.
Nirvana looked around. They were in an equipment room where maintenance crew rinsed off and change out of their diving suits after they come out of the water. There were a lot of tool cabinets and shelves. She walked over to the washing area.
“Al,” she called out and gestured for him to come over.
Alden scooped Kseniya up and carried her over to Nirvana, who helped to wash them.
“She can wear one of the suits there.” Nirvana pointed to the diving suits that were hung out to dry. “Zane wants us back on the comms channel.”
Alden nodded and helped Kseniya to a bench nearby. Then, he pulled out his headgear and put it on. He retracted the face shield after seeing the frightened look on Kseniya’s face.
“I’m on,” he spoke into the comms channel.
Nirvana hosed herself down before putting on the headgear.
Kseniya just stared at them.
“Is it safe for her to wait here for us?” Nirvana asked into the comms channel.
“We don’t schedule repair work at night. Since the guards know Obaga’s son is in here, they probably won’t come in either. But I don’t think she’s in the state to wait here alone calmly for you with the dead body over there.”
“I can go in alone. You stay here with her,” Nirvana told Alden. He opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Clearly, he was torn. “I’ll be fine, really.” She tapped on her headgear. “If anything comes up, I’ll let you know. You can try washing the puke off if you’re staying in here for a while. Zane said the camera’s disabled and you’ll be safe here. He’ll let you know if someone’s coming this way.”
He nodded reluctantly. Reaching for his backpack, he transferred some of the items he was carrying into Nirvana’s and some of hers into his. He checked through the contents of the backpack again before handing it to her.
“Alright. I’m going in.” Nirvana shot the KrakGrip at the ceiling again and this time, she hoisted herself up beside the air duct. She unscrewed the grille and handed it to Alden, who was waiting below. Effortlessly, she swung herself into the air duct. She gave Alden a wink before activating her face shield.
“Captain,” Alden called out.
Nirvana could see the man of few words struggling to find the right thing to say.
“I’ll be fine, Alden. Take care of Kseniya. We’ll all get out of this alive.” She gave him a thumbs up and started making her way in.
Chapter 48
Nirvana followed the directions projected by the headgear and continued crawling through the vents. The friction-reducing nanosuit made it easy for her to glide through the metal air ducts with ease.
“Alden, hand Kseniya the headgear. Let me have a quick word with her,” Zane requested.
“Ok.”
Good. Some entertainment since it’s a long climb towards the central air processing well.
“Zanetos?” Kseniya’s voice was shaking.
“Kseniya,” Zane replied gently and started speaking to her in a foreign language.
Damn it.
All that followed was Zane’s soothing voice and Kseniya’s uncontrollable sobbing. At some point she tried to talk to him but was so choked up with tears that she couldn’t continue. Nirvana gave up and focused on the task at hand. Maybe that was why Zane switched to a different tongue.
After a while, the conversation ended and Kseniya’s crying faded away. Nirvana presumed she was returning the headgear back to Alden.
“Back,” Alden said. “I didn’t know you speak Russian.”
“You understood that?” Zane asked.
“That was Russian?” Nirvana asked at the same time. “I didn’t understand a single word so maybe someone can translate for me.”
“My father found out about my defection three weeks ago. He thought I had been travelling. He blamed Kseniya for not reporting my disappearance and punished her for it. Initially, he wanted to banish her to the slums but my brothers stepped in and negotiated. They settled for her being exclusive to men of rank from tier seven onwards, ten being the highest. Obaga’s son-in-law, Maximil, was obsessed with her but didn’t want Obaga’s daughter to find out about it, so he bribed the guards to turn off the camera here whenever he wanted to have a go at Kseniya.”
“Your brothers won’t to be able to save her this time.”
“Which was why she asked Alden to kill her. It would definitely be an excruciatingly slow and painful death for her. Nirvana, you’re approaching the air well.”
“I know.” She saw the grille at the end of
the air duct. Unlike the previous one, this one was upright.
“Secure yourself first before unscrewing the grille,” Zane reminded her. “The ventilation fan is right below.”
“Are you nagging me?!” Nirvana could hear guffaws in the background as she reached for the KrakGrip and secured it near the entrance.
“Take it as a way of helping me alleviate my anxiety.”
“You can see what I’m seeing.”
“Yes, and I saw you examining the grille, so I thought you might have forgotten about the safety harness.”
“I was checking for the location of the screws.”
“Sorry. I’ll try not to nag.”
“No, you can nag. It’s just funny, that’s all,” she said absentmindedly as she switched on the WallHack function on her headgear so that she could see the exact position of the screws. Carefully, she threaded the shank of her tool between the grilles to reach the screws from the outside.
Got it! She felt a click when the tip connected with the screw and proceeded to unscrew everything. She held on to the grille as she removed the last screw and retracted the shank. Dropping the screws in her tiny zip pocket, she pressed against the fabric to check if she had all the screws before clipping a GravHook onto the grille.
She switched off the WallHack so that she could see normally. Sliding slowly outwards, she hooked the grille at the side of the opening and looked down.
Immediately, she understood why Zane had nagged. Four huge fans spun below her. Any slip ups and she’d end up in pieces.
Flipping over, she looked up. It was a huge central air processing ventilation well with a long, columnar air handling unit running in the center. Based on the sensors on her suit, this should be the central cooling that provided cool air to the entire south wing of the stronghold.
There were narrow bridges running across the well for the maintenance crew to access the air handling unit. She would have to use one of those to anchor her climb up to the level where the server rooms were and enter via the air ducts.
“Alright, I’m ready,” Nirvana announced. “Show me where to shoot.”
Zane highlighted the bridge and the air duct she was supposed to enter on the screen of her headgear.
“Roger.” She analyzed the bridge for a good location and fired her second KrakGrip. Giving the cable a tug, she slid out of the air duct slowly, testing the stability of the KrakGrip at the same time.
Once she was completely out, she retracted the first KrakGrip that was anchoring her to the air duct and swung backwards. As she dropped from her position, she shot the KrakGrip she’d just retracted towards another bridge.
Alternating between the use of both KrakGrips, she swung from bridge to bridge towards the air duct that Zane had pointed out to her. Finally, she reached the air duct leading to the server rooms.
It’s such a joy and privilege to watch you work. You move with so much grace and agility.
Does it turn you on?
Zane laughed. My balls should be shrunk and shriveled from watching you navigate those heights, but they are not, so I guess I must be turned on enough to have neutralized that.
Nirvana grinned. She had gone on countless solo missions, and this had to be the most enjoyable one. Technically, it wasn’t really solo with Zane in her head, but she was glad to have him for company, without needing to look out for him physically.
She climbed into the air duct after removing the grille and started crawling towards the server room.
“Alden, how’s Kseniya doing?” Nirvana asked.
“Much better after wearing the suit, but it might have a problem later because she doesn’t know how to swim.”
“We’ll hold her.”
“It’s not the same, holding a person who knows how to swim, and someone who doesn’t.”
Nirvana heard some soft murmuring in the background and Alden replied in Russian.
“Why are you guys speaking to her in Russian when she speaks English perfectly?” she grumbled.
“I speak Russian to her all the time,” Zane said defensively. “Al’s just showing off.”
“Al, I never knew you spoke Russian.”
There was no reply from him. Wasn’t uncommon. Even being with the crew for over a decade, Alden had never participated in casual conversations. He would give curt answers to personal questions, or in most cases, none at all.
It was totally out of character for him, going to Kseniya’s rescue without first analyzing if it would sabotage their mission.
I’m guessing Kseniya probably resembles someone from Alden’s past or someone dear to him who was a victim of rape, Nirvana told Zane. I’ve never seen him treat anyone like this before.
Kseniya’s gorgeous, but Alden doesn’t look like he’s a sucker for looks. You’re very close to the server rooms. Sending you information.
Nirvana crawled to a T-junction, and even though she knew where to go, Zane still sent an arrow pointing to the right with the distance displayed above it. She rolled her eyes and continued to army crawl towards her destination. When she reached the opening, she peeped through the grilles to check for people; the rooms were empty as Zane had predicted. He’d plotted a longer but safer route for her.
However, he did warn her that things would be different once she approached the secured area. People were active round the clock. She slowed down as she approached an opening. Light streamed from the room. It wasn’t her destination, but she thought it would be prudent to know the number of people nearby.
This should be the security room? she asked.
Yes, Zane confirmed.
She switched on the WallHack to look through the walls into the room.
There were several large screens with people sitting in front of them. They all seemed very absorbed with their work so it should be safe to go across. The last thing she needed was one of them to lean back and stare at the ceiling and space out.
After ensuring that nobody was looking up, she slid across the grilles quickly. She repeated the same action for the next four rooms before she finally reached the server room.
It was dark, only lit by the bluish glow from the LED lights of the servers.
Looks clear.
As it should be. There is no maintenance scheduled at this time.
Going in.
Nirvana removed the grille and lowered herself into the server room.
Zane had already marked out the server she needed to go to, so she followed the directions on the screen of her headgear.
This mission was too easy. Far too easy for her comfort. It was the most tedious to plan and should be the most dangerous, but it was going too smoothly, even with the encounter with Kseniya. She couldn’t shrug off her sense of foreboding.
She unlocked the server with the card Ramsey programmed and let Zane take over the technical part.
A slim keyboard ejected from the panel when he pressed a button on top of the server. He unplugged a data cable from the port of the hard drive containing classified data and stuck a small device into it. He quickly reconnected the cable removed through another outlet on the device.
Zane bent down to Nirvana’s bag to reach for his equipment when he noticed a pair of shoes beside him. He jerked back and landed on the butt, giving an involuntary yelp. A flush of adrenaline coursed through his veins as he froze at the sight of the gun barrel pointing at his face.
Nirvana’s first instinct was to fight, but Zane stopped her. He recognized the familiar silhouette of his brother from the glow of the server lights.
I can take him! She yelled at him mentally.
I know you can! Please let me handle it! I think I know him.
You can confirm his identify after I knock him out.
Nirvana!
They struggled for control over her body before she decided to let him handle the situation.
“Remove your headgear slowly,” the man commanded in a low, menacing voice.
Zane retracted the visor on Nirvana’s hea
dgear.
“Ani?” Zane asked, before remembering he was in Nirvana’s body and she wouldn’t address him as “brother”. He was about to explain when the man interrupted.
“Are you MLinked?”
It took them by surprise. How did he know that?
Before they could react, he gave Nirvana a hard kick under her right jaw, and she sank into darkness.
Chapter 49
Zane went into full panic mode the moment he lost his MLink to Nirvana. “He got her. He got her. He got her,” he kept repeating as he tried to steady his breathing before he hyperventilated again.
“You’ve got to calm down. You’re the only one who can save her,” Ramsey spun Zane from the chair to face him. “Look at me! Good, now breathe on my count.”
Zane tried to focus on Ramsey’s lips but he couldn’t hear anything Ramsey was saying. It was too noisy in his head. His chair took a sharp turn to the right and a stinging slap landed on his cheek. It shocked him so much that his mind went blank for a moment.
“If I shoot another one of these into you, you are going to become too stupid to think,” Levi growled. “Decide.”
“Back off!” Daxon barked. “All of you!” He took over the microphone at Ramsey’s seat and spoke into it. “Alden, report your status.”
“I’m still in the maintenance room waiting for Nirvana.”
“Get out now. Nirvana’s compromised.”
“Roger.”
“Ramsey, get Alden out,” Daxon ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
Daxon took his cigarette out, flipped the top cover off and stuck it into Zane’s mouth. “Three,” he stuck out three fingers in front of Zane’s face.
Zane pulled in a deep breath from the cigarette and felt the instant hit. The buzzing in his head stopped and suddenly, his senses returned to him. He took another puff from the cigarette and this time, his head spun a little. “Two is enough. My head is starting to spin,” he handed the cigarette back to Daxon.
Daxon took the cigarette back and flipped the cover on.
“Something’s happening, Dax,” Ramsey called out with panic in his voice. “I think Alden’s fighting. Our comm’s cut off.”
Fatal Extraction Page 24
