Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (24 page)

"Well, it's a good thing you're still here," he said. "I need your help."

"Where else would we go?" Bethany said.

"Good point. When you have time, you should start looking for an apartment. You'll also need to create new identities for yourselves. You can't sign a lease with your real name. Bethany and Leanna Satin don't exist outside these walls."

"We want to stay with Norbert, sir."

He raised his eyebrows. "I see. That's a discussion for another day. Get back to your computers. We have important work to do."

The twins returned to their workstations. As they settled into the reclining chairs, their skinny bodies relaxed completely. The soft webbing and cushions looked very comfortable.
I need to get one of those things for my office,
Aaron thought.

"Your first task is getting Marina's exact location," he said. "Every Spears phone has a built-in tracking system so we can find people when they're in trouble. It's probably the most important feature."

"We know, sir," Bethany said. "We read the manual."

"What manual?"

"For the phone, sir."

"There's a manual?" Aaron said.

The twins didn't answer. They were already typing at high speed and staring up at their screens. Apparently, they hadn't heard the question.

Thirty seconds later a satellite image appeared on the largest of Bethany's monitors. It showed a lush corn field with a dirt road along one side. There was a blinking, green X by the road.

"Marina is right there, sir."

"Zoom out," Aaron said.

The view changed, and now he could see several corn fields arranged in a rectangular grid.

"This isn't right," he said. "She told me there is a large building in front of her. Is this a recent image?"

"Taken three weeks ago." Bethany narrowed her eyes. "Hold on, sir."

There was more rapid typing. Aaron saw windows pop up, and they contained highly technical information about image analysis. She had a brief conversation with Leanna, but the words were more jargon than English. A short time later a large, red blob appeared on the satellite photo.

"What's that?" Aaron said.

"It shows where the pixels don't match," Leanna said. "This image was manipulated."

"Where did the image come from?"

"A satellite operated by the United States Air Force."

He furrowed his brow. "Hmm. I guess White Flame Technology has friends in the Air Force. We need pictures taken from a Russian or a Chinese satellite. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir," Leanna said. "We have access to every satellite in orbit."

He smiled. It was a pleasure working with real talent.

The image changed. He was looking at the same field but from a different angle now. A large building had taken the place of the red blob.

"Damn," Aaron said. "That's a small fortress! Zoom in."

The image magnified until he could see fine details. A tall brown wall surrounded the central structure. Heavy bars covered all the windows like an old-fashioned prison. Guard towers had clear views of every approach, and there was no nearby cover to hide behind. Concrete pavement covered the space between the main building and the outer wall.

"Put on your thinking caps girls," Aaron said. "We have to figure out how to get our team in and out of that place alive."

"Norbert, too?" Leanna said.

"Maybe not him. He doesn't have enough training for an assignment like this. Marina and Smythe will do the hard part, and I think he'll just have a supporting role this time."

The twins visibly relaxed.

As Aaron studied the picture, he started to pick out useful details. There was a very large transformer just inside the wall. Knocking it out would cut off power to the entire complex. Cars were parked on the interior pavement, and they could provide cover. The roof of the building was open and flat.
That's the way out,
Aaron realized. A narrow road led to the main gate. It was protected by a separate, small guard post, which was far from everything else.
And that's the way in.

"Find the nearest state police helicopter unit," he said, "and get its exact distance from that building. I want to know the flight time down to the minute."

"Why, sir?" Bethany said.

"Save the questions for later. I also need you to hack into the state police dispatch system."

He paused. He still didn't have any proof the enemies of God were behind this craziness. Technically, he couldn't justify violence, and the plan he had in mind was far from peaceful. He couldn't think of a less aggressive approach though. Abandoning the investigation at this point was unacceptable.
I'll just have to hope Marina and Smythe act like professionals and don't kill everybody,
Aaron thought. In Marina's case, it was a faint hope.

Chapter Fifteen

Marina was lying in the grass by the road. She had been in that position for an hour, silent and still. Smythe was on the other side of the road, but she couldn't see him in the darkness. They didn't dare talk to each other. Voices travelled a long way on a still night like tonight.

A bug crawled on her leg. She quietly brushed it off.

Finally, she saw headlights. An ambulance was coming. She pressed her body flat against the dirt and drew a gun from a holster on her thigh. As the vehicle went past, she shot at the tires and popped one. The ambulance slewed back and forth on the dirt road before coming to a stop.

She crept up to the door on the passenger side. When a man climbed out, she jabbed her fingernails into his neck and covered his mouth with her other hand. He slumped to the ground.

She heard two thumps on the other side of the ambulance. She walked around and found Smythe standing over the unconscious driver. She gave the man a shot of venom to make sure he stayed that way.

Smythe dragged the bodies deep into the tall grass. He and Marina quickly exchanged clothes with the paramedics. Finding hiding spots for her weapons required extra time in the darkness. She held onto a black satchel full of items she would need later.

Marina took the driver's seat in the ambulance, and Smythe sat beside her. The engine was still running. She drove slowly on the dirt road, fighting to keep the ambulance straight. The blown tire pulled hard to the right. Fortunately, they didn't have far to go.

A guard post and a steel gate forced her to stop. A guard came out, and he wore a generic blue uniform without any insignia. However, he carried the same combination of pistol and nightstick that Marina had seen during her visit to White Flame Technology.

She rolled down her window.

"Let me see your badges," the guard said.

With a lightning fast move, she grabbed his hair and pulled his head towards her. She jabbed her fingernails into his neck. He barely had time to cry out before he fell asleep.

There was a second guard in the small post. He had been reading a magazine, but the noise made him look up.

Smythe was already out of the ambulance. When the second guard came out to investigate the disturbance, Smythe knocked him down with a straight punch across the jaw.

They quickly hid the bodies in the grass.

"I wish I could do that," Marina whispered.

"What?" Smythe replied.

"Knock out a guy with a single punch. I'd break my hand if I tried."

"I'm jealous of your venom, so that makes us even."

She whistled softly. Norbert rose out of the grass and approached. He quickly changed his clothes with one of the unconscious guards.

"Your job is easy," Marina said. "Stay in the guard post and act like you belong there. If anybody drives up, ask for badges and let them through. If you get a call on the radio, say everything is fine and we're cleared to enter. Take off when the fireworks start."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

Smythe pushed the steel gate out of the way, and Marina drove the ambulance through. He climbed back in.

They reached the tall brick wall that surrounded the main building of the fortress. There was an opening large enough to admit a vehicle, but a fence blocked it. Marina couldn't proceed. She was starting to worry when the fence slid out of the way on a track. As she went through, she nodded politely to a guard standing there. The blown tire made thumping noises.

"You have a flat," the guard declared as if it were a revealing insight.

"I know," she replied. "We must've hit a sharp rock or something. We'll fix it after we drop off our patient."

She drove forward, and the fence closed behind her.
We're not getting back out that way,
she thought.

Even though it was the middle of the night, plenty of cars were inside the wall. Smooth concrete covered the entire ground, so people could park anywhere. Marina drove around to the back corner of the property. A very large transformer stood on the ground, just as Aaron had predicted. She and Smythe got out.

She grabbed her black satchel, checked for witnesses, and walked around to the back side of the transformer. It hummed loudly, and she could feel warmth without even touching it. She took a large block of C-4 and jammed the soft white material into the transformer's radiator fins. She attached a radio detonator to the explosive.

"Now I feel better," she said.

"That's odd," Smythe said. "Huge bombs make me nervous, not happy."

Guard towers stood at all four corners of the outer wall. Ladders attached to the inside of the wall were the only way up. Marina headed confidently to the nearest ladder.

"Give me a five second lead." She handed her satchel to Smythe. "Then follow me up."

He nodded.

She climbed quickly and silently. Poor lighting provided some cover but not enough to make her feel safe, so she hurried along. The thousands of hours she had spent practicing her ninja skills paid off. She was able to get into the guard tower without either of the two guards noticing her. They sat on stools and watched the night though large windows.

She jabbed her fingernails into their necks. The guards made a little noise before they went to sleep, but nobody could hear them.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She automatically spun her body and lashed out with her foot to strike whoever was behind her. A strong hand grabbed her ankle in mid-air.

Smythe was standing there. "I can move silently, too." He released her.

"Stop screwing around," Marina said. "You're lucky I didn't knife you."

They swapped clothes with the guards and took their weapons. When she buckled on the gun belt, the extra weight on her hip was very comforting. She practiced drawing the gun to get a feel for it. It was a powerful and accurate HK USP 40. She chambered a round and clicked off the safety before holstering it.

She hid the rest of her weapons in various places under her blue uniform. The fit was baggy, so there was plenty of room. Smythe had a harder time because his clothes were tight, particularly around the chest. He had to store a couple of his spare guns in the black satchel.

Marina took out her phone and pressed a speed dial button.

"Hello?" Aaron said.

"We're in the guard tower."

"Casualties?"

"No deaths so far," Marina said. "It's been easy."

"Well done. How much time do you think you'll need in the building?"

"It's big, sir. An hour?"

"That's too long," he said. "You'll get caught. I'll send the chopper in fifteen minutes, and it will be there in thirty. Don't miss your ride."

"You're rushing us."

"You just wasted five seconds. I love you and good bye." The call ended.

Marina put away her phone. "Thirty minutes," she told Smythe. "Move fast."

They climbed back down the ladder.

She looked for a way into the main building. There was a back door, but to open it she would need a keycard and a code.
I wish Aaron were here,
she thought. Aaron's corrosive saliva could open any lock in seconds.

"I have to blow the door," Marina said. "Create a noisy distraction for me."

"That will alert the guards," Smythe said.

"Can't be helped."

He ran back to the ambulance.

In the meantime she took a small wad of explosive from her satchel. She pressed it into the space between the handle and the door frame. Hopefully, the surrounding metal would muffle the blast.

Smythe started the engine of the ambulance. He turned on all the sirens, jumped out, and ran back to her. The wailing sound was deafening.
Certainly is noisy,
Marina thought. Apparently, he had put the vehicle in gear because it rolled forward on its own.

She watched its slow progress across the yard. She estimated when it would hit a wall, and she set a small detonator for that amount of time. She and Smythe stepped back.