Covert Ops
Page 7
The men joined her and nodded to indicate their readiness. She returned it and gave the command. “Quinn, detonate.”
They had agreed that speed would be essential in order to avoid getting cut down in the defensive hallway, so she was in motion before the smoke had cleared. The shaped charges had blown off a portion of the door, and she crouched to peer through the opening. Their greatest fear during the planning session was the potential for automated defenses and she was ready to magically mangle any turret she saw, but none were present.
“On the move.” She darted into the narrow hallway, which was barely wide enough for her to run in. Hank will have to come through sideways. That’s gonna suck. Heh. The fun never ends. The corridor extended for the full length of the building toward the front, with a turn to the right far ahead. She ran with her rifle held at the ready across her chest and her finger along the guard and increased her speed into a sprint. The thud of boots behind her confirmed that the others followed.
Their first adversary appeared before she reached the end and stepped out with a wand in one hand and a heavy riot shield in the other. He released a cone of flame down the hallway at chest height, everything but his arm protected by the shield. She slid, unable to evade in any other way, and hoped her teammates were paying attention. Despite the awkwardness of the narrow passage, she extended the rifle and pulled the trigger in a frenzy. The mage cowered behind his shelter, which proved strong enough to deflect her rounds. Dammit. I know all the reasons why we don’t carry armor-piercing rounds. But it sure would be nice sometimes. I guess we’ll have to go with Plan B.
She retrieved, primed, and threw a sonic grenade in a single motion. Her aim wasn’t perfect with her left hand, but close usually counted with explosives, gas, or sound. She took some professional pride in the way it banked off the ceiling and the wall to detonate behind her enemy and swamp him with a barrage of noise powerful enough to rupture eardrums. When her earpieces once again picked up external noises, his screams suggested the weapon might have done exactly that. She scrambled to her feet, stepped over the fallen shield, and touched her shock glove to his temple. It sparked, and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Hank’s deep voice commented, “How gentle of you.”
She chuckled softly. “There’s no need to do more damage than absolutely necessary. Karma will get ya.”
Tony laughed as if she’d made a joke. “Karma, right.”
Cara made a mental note to explain the concept to him at a later date as she peeked around the corner. The hallway running along the front of the building was suspiciously empty and twice as wide as the previous one. “Quinn, anything?”
The AI’s tone was sassy. “If there was, it would already be displayed.”
She rolled her eyes. Even my electronic teammates need a good slapping. “Stark, Hercules, something doesn’t feel right about this. Flashbang out.” She hurled the object, braced herself for the concussion, and stepped into the hallway as it detonated. A shimmer three-quarters of the way down confirmed her caution. “There’s an illusion or force wall ahead.” She raised her rifle and sprayed the barrier with anti-magic bullets, which caused it to drop and reveal a witch and a mage behind it. They were dressed like characters out of a vampire roleplay, sporting rich robes, blindingly white shirts with ruffles, sparkling jewelry, and perfectly coiffed hair. They must have had vests hidden under the costumes, though, because they were stunned but not visibly bleeding. She aimed at their heads as they staggered back around the corner, but the rounds smacked into the far wall without any success.
“Damn. Okay, two magicals at least beyond the next turn.” Tony squeezed past her as she ejected the depleted magazine and slapped a replacement into the rifle. He had lost his teasing edge, apparently rightfully concerned about any opponent she hadn’t managed to take down. He got close enough to throw, and the grenade left his hand and bounced into the hallway beyond. “Sonic out.” He hurtled around the corner and she followed a few steps behind.
The grenade had accomplished exactly nothing as it activated near the mouth of the corridor and the enemies were most of the way down it. She knelt and fired at them, adding her own bullets to the ones Tony was already firing, and heard the chatter of Hank’s gun above her. Their foes fell, punctured and moaning from the pain of multiple wounds to their limbs. Miraculously, none of them had managed a headshot. She stalked down the hallway and resisted the urge to kick them in the head and instead, tapped them with her shock gloves to put them out. “Quinn, roll ambulances.”
“Affirmative.”
Cara turned the corner, anger replacing her good sense, and saw nothing ahead. She fired a few rounds as a test, but they encountered nothing as well. The next turn would take them toward the front of the building again and close to where they’d entered. She touched the wall beside her. “They’re probably on the other side of this. We should have brought more explosives.” She thought back to the battle at the Cube. “Quinn, would sonic grenades be able to compromise this surface?”
The AI paused before replying, presumably running calculations. “Yes. If you have four and place them at these precise locations, it would weaken the barrier by about half.”
She groaned. “Well, that won’t do it.”
Hank cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck. “I can provide enough boom to finish it off. Do it.”
“Seriously? It’s that strong?” She raised an eyebrow.
He laughed. “That’s what all the ladies say.” Cara stared at him until his smile was replaced by a frown that she read as concerned. “Yes. It is. You take care of your part, and I’ll handle the rest.”
He handed her his pair of sonic grenades, and she used gaffer’s tape to stick them to the walls in the designated places, thanks to an AR overlay Quinn provided. Tony delivered his and she used her last one and attached them as well. They stood a few feet away in case something unexpected happened, and the AI detonated them. When the vibrations stopped, Quinn confirmed the wall had been damaged.
Hank stepped across from it and squared his shoulders. Cara nudged Tony and mouthed, “Watch this.” The big man pushed his back against the solid wall, then took a long stride forward and delivered a front kick to the target surface. A loud crack heralded an expanding cloud of dust and shrapnel as the barrier disintegrated under the impact. He continued into the room with a shout, and more noise answered him from inside.
“Go, go, go,” she yelled as she dashed after him. Stones from the wall had disabled several defenders, who moaned and thrashed on the floor. Hank had closed with the nearest upright foe and held his opponent’s rifle at bay with one hand while he punched him repeatedly in the head with the other. There were two left standing, both of whom held riot shields in front of them and had backed into a corner, their wands sticking over the top.
Enough of this. With a sigh, she let her Armalite fall on its strap, extended her hands, and hurled darts of fire out of each of her fingers. They traveled the short distance to her opponents and burned through both the shields and the legs behind them. The sight of their protective barriers falling on top of them was funny enough to inspire laughter as the wave of exhaustion from the double draw on her magic surged over. She staggered back a step and slid down the wall.
Tony called “Runners, at least three,” but didn’t pursue.
She managed to say, “Be careful out there, you two,” before she had to close her eyes and focus on not passing out. Shit. My reserves are even more depleted than I thought. The weight that had pressed on her for weeks suddenly grew heavier. Current methods aren’t working anymore. I need to find better ones. I will find better ones.
Her partners searched noisily for items that Diana needed to make her teacher happy or others that might be directly useful to the team or easily sold. Eventually, the call came from below that Starsky and Hutch had corralled the escapees. She laughed. “Great job, Wonder Twins.” She pushed herself up the wall and stood unsteadily, leaning against it.
“Quinn, transport.”
“The police are on their way.”
“I’ve always loved their music.” She snorted at her own joke.
The AI didn’t respond, but Tony did. He took her arm carefully and led her from the room while he tried to hide his concern. “You should sleep a little more, maybe.”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
She pretended not to hear his whispered “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Chapter Nine
What does one pack to visit another planet? Diana stared at the open locker in front of her and shook her head. The bottom level of the base was empty aside from her at the moment, everyone else out on information-gathering tasks as part of the “kick the Remembrance’s ass” initiative. Her duties for the day ran along the same lines but were of a rather different nature.
She decided to wear the vest, just in case, but hid it under a black uniform shirt. The tactical pants and combat boots she already wore matched the top. She snapped her utility belt closed over it all and tied the holster down to her right leg. Her gaze settled on the grenades, but she realized she had no idea whether they’d operate as expected on Oriceran. It’s something to discuss with Kayleigh. Or Nylotte. Or both. But not together. She smirked at the image of putting the two most annoying people in her life in proximity to one another but discarded it as far too dangerous for everyone involved.
Still chuckling, she inserted a magazine of anti-magic bullets into her Glock and slid it into its holster. The Ruger rested in its home on the back of the belt. She slotted two spare pistol mags into the holders at her waist. Without the carbine magazines and the grenades, the belt felt light and empty. She had the Bowie knife, but it was trapped under her shirt and thus mostly irrelevant. If it gets down to melee range, I’ll use magic anyway.
The agent was in no way prepared to portal directly to Oriceran on her own so instead, she opened a rift to the basement of Nylotte’s shop and stepped through. The Drow was gathering her own equipment and placed several objects Diana had never seen into a large courier bag that rested on her hip with a strap across her chest. She was clad entirely in black and wore heavy denim pants, boots that rose to her knees, and a top that buttoned down the left side and looked rather martial. She gave her teacher a half-grin. “You look like you’re dressed for a fight. Should I be worried?”
The Dark Elf laughed. “This old thing?” She gestured at her outfit with a smile that told her she was secretly pleased with the compliment. “No, I don’t think we’ll find any trouble awaiting us. But it doesn’t hurt to be sure.”
She nodded. “Somehow, in all of our conversations, I never asked whether explosives work the same on your home planet as they do here.”
Her mentor grinned, showing her teeth so she looked vaguely like a shark. “Your home planet as well, if we take lineage into account. But no matter. Yes, they should function the same, although many of the creatures on that world would be more resistant to their effects.”
Dammit. I should’ve brought some. Oh well, live and learn. Hopefully both. She clapped her hands. “Okay, then, shall we get this show on the road?”
In lieu of a reply, Nylotte strode to the center of the space and motioned her forward. The floor featured the embedded rings again, and the outermost shimmered with a protective purple barrier as soon as she stepped across it. She raised an eyebrow and her companion replied, “Well it’s best to err on the side of caution when we can, right?”
“That doesn’t fill me with confidence.”
“I wasn’t aware that was my job. Here, let me try.” She put a patronizing singsong into her voice. “It’s okay, Diana. Everything will be fine. The pretty shield is only there to make you happy.”
Diana snorted involuntarily and broke into a laugh. “Wow. Your bedside manner is atrocious.”
Without another comment, the Drow summoned the rift and stepped through the opening to Oriceran. The agent tapped her belt to verify the metal vials with her healing and energy potions were where they were supposed to be and followed.
After the strange distortion of time and space and the disorientation that always accompanied portal travel for her, Diana’s vision cleared to show a hallway. It struck her as familiar, and she turned to find the damaged door and marked wall that confirmed their location outside the chamber in which they’d fought and defeated Nehlan. She wondered why they hadn’t portaled into there since it had clearly been designed for that purpose and realized Nylotte was already explaining. “There are some odd barriers in that room. I noticed them when we last visited. Trying to portal into it without permission might activate nasty things so I thought it best to avoid it. I left my anchor point here last time, but once we’ve had a proper look at the place, we’ll select a different location.”
Diana nodded and followed her teacher as she walked in the opposite direction. She recognized the dining room which they had run through while rescuing Lisa. The Dark Elf gestured around the well-appointed chamber with its elegant furniture and impressive chandelier. “This was an important place for Nehlan. He, like you, had problems concealing his thoughts when excited, and during my single visit here I could tell there was something untoward going on. The foods he offered me were laced with a subtle poison. Because I know this area thoroughly, it was familiar enough that I could detect it without him knowing.” She chuckled. “He was no doubt frustrated at my lack of appetite that day. His human servants watched us the whole time—an elderly pair that I presume were a couple. He had broken their minds and transformed them into little more than obedient flesh with no free will. But I dispatched them when we were here last.”
Diana stopped walking and grabbed her teacher’s arm. “You what?”
The Drow looked down at her and rolled her eyes in annoyance. “No, I didn’t kill them. If I had, you would’ve heard the words ‘I killed them’ rather than the ones I used. I am always precise.”
She squeezed a little harder. “Precision can be as important a part of concealing the truth as an outright lie.”
A grin spread across Nylotte’s features. “My. You are learning. How wonderful.” She brushed her hand away as if her grip was nothing more than a nuisance. “I transported them back to Earth. Human doctors would be useless to repair this type of damage, so I put them in the hands of the Fixer.” She started to walk again, and Diana hastened to catch up.
“I’ve heard of that person. Some sort of magical sheriff, right? Kind of like the Lone Ranger?”
Her teacher clicked her tongue. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, and if you try to explain, I will teleport you into the deep forest and leave you there. If we accept that sheriff is a synonym for do-gooder, and that the lone whatever you speak of is as pretentious as can be, then it is an excellent description of that being.”
“So, you don’t like him?”
She waved a hand airily. “I neither like nor dislike him. He has his uses.” The woman muttered something she thought sounded like “troublemaking troll,” but it was lost in the shock of entering the kitchen.
Diana had never seen such a large space for food preparation and imagined it was bigger than that of most restaurants. “Wow.”
The Drow gave a laugh that was simultaneously amused and condescending. “Our dear departed Nehlan liked to present himself as a gourmet. I wasn’t privy to all his secrets, but I assume he would have had no idea what to do in this space and simply hired or coerced others into cooking for him.”
“Well, in any case, it’s a nice kitchen.” She noticed that several of the items had labels from Earth, most notably the Viking range and the Gaggenau ovens. “Hey, wait. These aren’t from Oriceran.”
Nylotte shook her head in clear disappointment and pointed toward the other exit from the room. “There is a thriving black market for things from your planet and a whole host of beings who spend their time merging technology and magic in useful ways. How could you not have intuited that, given your occupation?”
An opulent red door lay at the end of the hall, and the Drow stopped several feet from it. She raised her palms and spoke some words Diana didn’t understand. The barrier glowed in response. She sighed. “Who puts this many wards on a bedroom?” She fluttered her fingers and delivered more arcane commands, and after a minute or so, the magical telltales on the handle vanished. The agent expected her to step forward and enter but instead, she snapped a command. “Create a force shield in front of me, then open the door with your magic.”
This is a strange time to suddenly start teaching, but okay. She did as instructed, flicked the latch, and pushed the door wide with her telekinesis. An onslaught emerged from the opening—a fan of fire at head level, spikes of ice at knee height, and what appeared to be crossbow bolts firing in a line that spanned the width of the hallway at their stomachs. She grunted with the effort of maintaining her shield but managed and only let it fall once the danger had passed.
“Good work, protégé.” Nylotte allowed the barrier she’d created behind Diana’s to become visible and melt away before she strode forward into the space. To the left was a dressing corner, with racks of robes hanging in an indented section of the wall. To the right, an open door led to an en suite bathroom. The rest of the near half of the room was empty, which allowed an unimpeded view of the tapestry woven into the sumptuous carpet. It displayed a battle scene, and each area she focused her eyes on looked more violent and bloody than the last.