Special Forces 01 (43 page)

A door opened, there were shouts from a chorus of male voices to lower their weapons, and one shot rang out, informing him that someone had declined.

“We have three unhappy no-gos,”
Seger informed him with deep satisfaction.

“No-gos with the civilians are attempting to exit their room,”
Gremlin broke in sharply.

Rys immediately swung his weapon up into a shooter’s profile, edging the door out of his line of sight. He waited until all three were out of the room and in the hallway before he started firing. He didn’t aim for their chest – with the body armor, it would be useless to hit them there. There was also the risk of a ricochet hitting one of the hostages. Instead, he aimed for their knees, intending to render them immobile on the first shot. He hit the first mark easily, as the no-go crumpled with a sharp cry of pain, slamming into the carpet. Rys spared no attention or remorse for him, rapidly snapping the weapon to his next target. This guard was in the process of jumping over his fallen compatriot, while he scanned for the shooter. With a fluid squeeze of his trigger finger, Rys caught the hapless Novian in midair, and he collapsed on the man directly below him. The carpet was starting to get soggy with the accumulating blood.

The third no-go, sizing up the situation, and being comparatively faster than his comrade, dove head first for the first open doorway he saw.

This did not appear to be his lucky day, as it was the same office currently occupied by Erksome.

Even from five offices down, Rys could clearly hear his Lieutenant issuing orders in a no nonsense tone of voice, “Turn around and kneel down with your hands on your head. I wouldn’t advise making any unnecessary moves, if I were you. I am the only member of my unit without a kill to my credit today, so don’t tempt me to correct that embarrassing oversight.”

Shaking his head, he relaxed a little.
Gremlin, is the building clear?

“Nary a mouse, sir.”

Finally. Rys allowed himself a second to just breathe.
Status report, people, and give it to me by the numbers.

“No one has been hit, sir,”
Capson answered immediately.

“The President got out safely, just a bruised ego from his undignified exit. His doctors are checking him over now just to be on the safe side,”
Snelson added.

Thank all the Guardians for that. Rys had been flying by the seat of his pants for the last twelve minutes at least, so hearing that he hadn’t gotten anyone killed or wounded because of an unfortunate snap decision was a blessing showered down from the heavens themselves.

Now came the most unpredictable part of the operation. Rys kept his rifle at the ready, trying to anticipate a final act of desperation. Nova had a reputation to defy rational thought in these situations. They hated to lose, and often opted for death before dishonor. His finely honed survival instincts wouldn’t allow him to relax, and kept his adrenalin levels pumped at combat ready. He slowly stepped out of the office and headed directly for the civilian hostages at the far end of the corridor, scanning for possible threats as he approached. Erksome handed off his shackled Nova prisoner to Becks before joining his Captain, and dropping into lock step at his side.

Rys paused before reaching for the knob to open the door into the expansive room beyond. He clicked on his DIVs and intently scanned through the wall, assessing the group for any signs of hostile intent. He didn’t see any rifles or obvious weapons. The group was bunched near the far wall, and there didn’t appear to be anyone in the attitude of being on guard. That was a definite plus in the good guy’s column.

Jumpy hostages under a prolonged strain might be unstable, and could operate outside the bounds of rational thought. He wasn’t taking chances at this stage, so close to achieving his mission objectives. With Erksome at his back he cautiously took the open doorway in small increments, giving himself time to evaluate the room as it came into his view. Most of the people inside were sitting down on the floor with their backs to the wall or standing next to the windows. They all looked very tense and were keeping an anxious eye on the doorway. Once he cleared the threshold, he side-stepped inside, seeming to move at random. “Everyone stay down, hands were I can see them at all times!”

Erksome was right behind his captain, hand on his shoulder, rifle up, eyes constantly scanning everyone and everything in the room. Erksome split off to the right, Rys to the left, staying close to the walls and scrutinizing every angle looking for something that did not fit. Every person in the room turned to keep them within eyesight, growing more nervous by the moment.

Rys could almost feel their fear but he blocked it out, focusing on the job at hand. He saw no signs of a bomb, no suspicious wiring or switches, nothing to indicate that Nova had decided to cut their losses by booby trapping this room and killing their hostages.

Erksome had been around his captain far too long to not be able to pick up on his elevated tension.
“Sir?”

I can’t shake the feeling that this was way too easy,
Rys admitted to him.

“You call having to orchestrate a drop and snatch of the President by air easy?”
Erksome intoned in response, trying to take the edge off of moment.

I know, I know, it’s just…when have we ever encountered a situation like this with Nova, and they DIDN’T have at least two backup plans in place?

Erksome frowned as he thought that over.
“No matter how you look at it, we’ve only encountered one backup. They were definitely intent on keeping the President, no matter what the tab.”

See?
Rys felt less paranoid when his Lieutenant gave a slow nod, acknowledging his solid point on the scoreboard. Putting out a general alert to everyone on both teams, he ordered
, Stay sharp, people. Something about this just feels off, my instincts are screaming at me that we are missing something vital. Let’s not get comfortable until we have everyone safely out of the building.

“What are you thinking, Rys?”
Miles questioned, picking up Rys’s edge in his own voice.

I’m thinking we’ve only encountered one backup plan,
Rys answered grimly.
I feel like I am waiting for the other boot to drop.

“That is definitely out of character for Nova. Okay, everyone initiate another headcount of our hostages. Make sure we have the right number of people, and no one’s trying to join up and slip out with the herd. See if there is someone who can recognize and vouch for every person on our roster.”

That was likely a tactic Nova might employ, when all of their other avenues of escape were blocked off. Rys blinked, considering the simplicity of that plan, and turned his attention sharply to the people sitting so deathly still in the room before him. Most of them were obviously not military with their elaborate haircuts, tailored suits, and professional manicures.

It was the haircuts that caught his attention first. There were two men with crew cuts that seemed out of place in this crowd. He shifted his focus to them, and other smaller details started to emerge and add up fast. They both sat with such rigid postures, like there was an iron bar threaded into their spinal cords. Then there was the way they shifted ever so slightly, to keep both Special Forces officers within line of sight, at the same time trying to appear nonchalant. They were also careful to avoid eye contact, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves. One of them turned, and for a moment his shirt pulled just tight enough to give the impression of an outline enhanced by body armor.

Rys took a quick snapshot of the two men with his eye and sent it directly to Erksome.
We are going to nail those two, Erksome. On my count. Three, two…one!

In a synchronized move, they grabbed the men, flattening them against the wall with a no nonsense gun barrel etching a crease against the back of their skulls.

The civilians in close proximity to them jerked back in alarm.

Found them,
Rys informed Miles with vicious satisfaction.

“What are you doing?!” the man trapped under his hand protested in innocent confusion. “We’re with the press!”

“I might have let the crew cuts slide,” Rys informed him in a low threatening tone, “but that aura of military bearing you display without thinking, accompanied with the distinctive outlines of body armor under your shirts were a total deal breaker. Sorry, no-go, you’ve been tagged.” Rys switched to the Guard’s comm.
Major Ray, this is Savar, over.

“We read you, Savar. Situation?”

All known Nova forces are down, sir. We’re experiencing a bumper crop here, and wouldn’t mind a little help evacuating hostages.

“Understood, Savar. We’re deploying some extra wranglers now.”

Rys switched over to the dart function on his weapon and shot the no-go in front of him on the neck near his ear. The dart’s tranquilizer agent was strong enough to take down a rampaging elephant, so one luckless Novian soldier didn’t prove much a challenge. He lasted a full second before passing out cold. Rys attempted to catch him before he landed face first on the floor. He must have been overly tired; his reflexes were usually much faster than that. The Novian soldier was going to have a serious case of duck lips in the morning from doing a one point landing on the marble floor. Erksome followed suit, and his prisoner slumped over his companion, sparing himself a serious case of fat lips.

With that, “I am Captain Arystair Savar, Special Forces 01. We have secured all known Nova forces in this building. You are now safe, and under our protection. Please relax; this nightmare provided by the Novan Government is now over. We will be evacuating you from the building as soon as our back up arrives.”

Dorian slowly stood with wide eyes, a slow smile spreading over his face.

“Sir,” a tall young man at his elbow was protesting, trying to pull him back to his seat. Clearly he was concerned that he should continue to keep a low profile.

“No, Mr. Hoffman, it’s alright,” Dorian assured him firmly. “Rys, I am delighted to see you.”

“So am I, sir,” Rys responded with a genuine smile and refrained from adding:
especially in one piece.

Hoffman paused and looked between them curiously. “You know this soldier, sir?”

“I am proud to say that I do.” Dorian looked directly into Rys’s eyes as he responded, a private message passing between the two men.

Rys had never once been praised by this man, or publicly acknowledged the way he was now. He could feel his fair skin heating up, heading for a full boil. In an effort to stay professional, he added, “Sir, we are going to escort everyone out of the building, in case Nova is more clever than we have given them credit for. We have not had time to do a thorough search of the area to insure there are no booby traps or delayed incendiary devices that have evaded our detection.”

Dorian gave him a relieved nod. “I am certain we would all be grateful for that. What about the President, and The Joint Military Liaison?”

“All safe and secure, sir,” Rys assured him. “We have had no deaths or injuries.”

Dorian’s eyes closed momentarily in a heartfelt, silent prayer of thanks.

“If you could follow Miles, sir,” Rys pointed to the lanky Captain standing patiently in the hallway, “he will lead all of you down the safest, most direct way, to the ground floor where you can exit the building.”

Dorian gave him a casual salute before heading out the door and leading the rest of the group to freedom. People began bunching up as they filed out after him, most of them still appearing rattled and shocky. It was probably the worst day in their lives, and it still hadn’t sunk in that they had just experienced an incredible turn of fortune. Rys kept a watchful eye on all of them as they passed him.

“Sir, Major Ray is sending up Security Forces to take the no-gos off our hands.”

Excellent. Gremlin, just to make sure, do a facial scan as they pass the security camera in the hall, and double check with the Capitol database photos that the rest of the hostages are legit.

“Capson and I are doing facial recognition now, sir.”

Within seconds, ten men in the Guardsmen’s uniforms came jogging around the corner. Rys surrendered the enemy combatants he had in his custody over with relief. They were now someone else’s problem, and good riddance.

“Sir, we’ve done a double security screening, and all of the hostages check out. Major Ray confirms that all Nova Forces are under Level One custody. If any of them had dates tonight, they will have to send their apologies, as they are all tied up.”
There was a smile in Gremlin’s voice.
“Oh, that reminds me, Anne, Candace and their mother arrived on scene about two minutes ago. I suspect they will get the clearance they have requested to enter the cordoned off area in record time.”

What, how could they be here already?! Anne must have been behind the wheel, and fractured every speed limit all the way to the Capitol. If the traffic was gridlocked, she’d probably used the sidewalks too. Rys tried not to smile as he headed down the stairs, tailing after the last of the hostages.
Have they seen Dorian yet?

“Just now, sir, as he exited the building. The Press is still being kept back, but they look like they are trying to cut themselves in half on the cordons, trying to get photos and B-Roll for the nightly news.”

Good.
Rys rolled his head around on his neck back and forth several times, easing the tension that had been building up there, and finally allowed himself relax. He glanced to the side and found Erksome grinning like he had just been to the best party since they got planet side.

“You had fun, didn’t you?”

“Hostage situations aren’t really my thing,” Erksome responded, smile widening, “but doing a major beat down on Nova using its favorite game for a hammer? That’s always a pleasure.”