Sniper Squad

by Meg Buchanan

  So, Levi had noticed all the preparations too. Yeah, it could be a long night. But with all that firepower, why would they need snipers?

  Jack lay back on his bed like Levi had and forced himself to relax. He’d find out soon enough.

  It was a couple of hours before Leach came and found them. He walked into the dorm room looking serious.

  “Gather around,” he said. Everyone had eased themselves to standing as soon as he arrived. He sat on the end of the nearest bed and waved at them to sit too.

  “Now,” he said. “You will have noticed the activity outside.” He nodded at the window.

  “Yeah,” said Levi. “Looks like a big operation.”

  Leach nodded. “It is. Tomorrow this Cell won’t know what hit them. But tonight, we have a job to do first. There are a few key people we know about that we want to talk to. We’ll be going with the Vector MPs to make sure they don’t escape. We’ll be in position before the troopers go in for the arrest in case they try to make a run for it.

  Same orders as before. Shoot to maim, not to kill., We need to take the leaders alive, so we can find out what they’ve planned.

  Then tomorrow everything else will be taken out. Nothing will be left standing. Just this place and the City.”

  Leach looked at each member of his squad. “Think of it as getting rid of a rat’s nest. Rats that have been nibbling away at our way of life for years.”

  Jack watched as each member of the squad nodded. It had to be Jacob and Fitzgerald at the top of the list of people Vector wanted to arrest. And maybe his mother, and friends of his father, and parents of kids he went to school with. In fact, if Vector’s Intel was good, pretty much everyone he knew. The time had come to do something.

  They had their weapons with them. Usually they’d have to go to the armoury to pick them up before an exercise, but Jack guessed this was part of the urgency. Did soldiers keep their weapons with them when they were really at war? If they did, surely, they’d get in the way all the time, and there’d be accidents. How tempting would it to be to play with them?

  They weren’t leaving until after dark, so they all went to the Mess to get something to eat.

  “Did the Captain mean what, he said?” asked Levi. He spooned a glob of something indistinguishable into his mouth. Even in the OutPost right in the middle of the Hinterland, VTroopers didn’t get to eat real food.

  “About what?” asked Gregor.

  “About going to all these Local’s homes and getting them out of bed and maiming them if they object.”

  Dante looked at Levi and shook his head. “How else are they going to do it? They know they’re terrorists; do you think they should wait until they’re setting a bomb?”

  “I guess,” Levi put his spoon down and reached for a slice of bread. Still not real food. Just like real food. He looked across the table at Jack. “This is where you come from isn’t it?”

  Jack nodded. “In town.”

  “What if it’s someone you know?”

  Jack wiped up the last of his food. It probably had tasted vaguely like stew. If it was someone he knew, it would be every nightmare he’d had over the last year come true.

  “If they’re Terrorists they deserve what they get,” he said. Saying what he was meant to say. Still, he’d found a way to get Ela away safely. He’d work something out here.

  Jeron looked at him, eyebrows almost at his hairline. He’d seen Jeron’s mother give Jeron that look. Jeron had to be a Natural like Ela. It all fitted together. There must be other Naturals if the Administration had a register. When Jeron’s parents had been in South America, maybe Jeron’s mother had a baby.

  Jack put his spoon onto this plate and stood up. “Anyone else up for dessert?”

  The others shook their heads, and he went over to the servery on his own. When he got Jeron alone, he’d ask him. But maybe he wouldn’t know. Maybe his parents had never told him. Ela didn’t know until a year ago.

  He moved along the servery looking at the desserts on offer. Nothing tempting. He needed to work out a way to get the message out to everyone. Maybe when they were sent to their posts to cover a building, he’d have time to send out a CatchingFire. Maybe he’d come across someone he knew and could tell them, and they’d get the message out.

  But would they believe someone in full Vector combat gear? Of course, they would. Why else would a pack of soldiers be in town setting up sniper posts.

  Just so he didn’t look completely unsettled, he spooned something that looked like ice-cream onto his plate. He’d just have to wait until he got outside the OutPost and then play it by ear. He was even less use to everyone if he was dead or confined to Barracks. So, play the game and watch for a chance to get the warning out.

  Chapter 19

  THEY MARCHED UP the ramp into the Viper behind Leach. One of the Cobra’s used by the Vector Military Police, was loading too. About twenty men, it’d be half empty. Just a small squad, with sniper cover, to make these raids and pick up these Terrorist leaders.

  He settled on a seat beside Jeron, did up his seatbelt and rested his laser across his knees. Would they go into town first and pick up people like Fitzgerald and his mother or go to the farms and get Jacob and the others.

  The horror he felt after he’d seen Ela and Nick in the carpark was back full force. What would he be part of in the next few hours if he didn’t come up with something to stop this?

  The Viper shuddered as it too off. Or what if there were other small groups being sent out now too? What if a heap of raids were going to happen simultaneously?

  He gripped the laser tighter so no one would see his hands shaking. What if everyone he cared about was being arrested or maimed right now and he couldn’t do a thing about it?

  “You all right, Jack?” Jeron asked quietly.

  “Yeah, fine,” he said. He’d better settle down before anyone else noticed. But Jesus, the last time they went on a mission he found Nick and Ela, and the time before that he’d watched a couple of kids commit suicide. Who wouldn’t be tense?

  It seemed no time before he felt that shudder again that told him they’d landed. He waited the few seconds it took the Viper to UnHaze, the doors to rise up and the ramp to be lowered then he leaned forward a little to see if he could recognise where they were.

  The town clock, they’d landed right in the middle of the town square near the old post office.

  How many people did he know close to here? All of them. But he’d bet it was Fitzgerald and his mother they were after. He breathed in slowly and fought the temptation to jump up and run to warn them. How far would he get? Ten metres, twenty metres, to the clock? No, he’d keep playing the waiting game.

  He saw the commander of the other VectorMPs and watched him talking. He couldn’t hear what he was saying through his earpiece. Must be separate instructions.

  Then he saw Leach stand. This time there was that crackle in his earpiece that came before someone talked.

  “Right,” said Leach. “You’ll be split into pairs. Each pair will cover one building where we know Insurgents are. You know your job. I’ll assign you to your squad and that commander will give you your instructions.”

  Jack saw all his squad nod. They were to be split up. Good. It gave him more chance to get away and get the word out.

  Two by two the squad were assigned.

  Finally, there was just him and Levi.

  “Frazer, Levi. You’re with Lieutenant Ryan here. You’ll be covering his men. Follow his orders.” There was a crackle in his earpiece as Leach signed off and Lieutenant Ryan took over.

  “Our target is in the store opposite the pub,” said Ryan. “Follow me.”

  Under the cover of darkness, he followed Ryan and three other VectorMPs down the street. They were after someone in Lucinda’s family. Well, in this town it was always going to be someone he knew.

  “Sir,” Jack said into his mic. “I know the area. Levi and I will go and take up our positions.”

&
nbsp; There was a moment of silence from Ryan like he hadn’t expected that. And it wasn’t normal, usually Leach told them exactly where they had to set up, but Jack was counting on the Lieutenant not being too sure of what they’d been trained to do.

  “Go for it. Let me know when you’re set.”

  Right, he had permission to get away. Now he had moments before every part of the town would be covered by someone in the squad. He had to make those moments count. His big advantage was, he knew the territory.

  He nodded at Levi to follow him and took off at a jog. No one else would be in position yet. He had time to get into the pub and warn his mother and Fitzgerald.

  But how was he going to get the warning out to Jacob?

  He couldn’t save everyone, so he’d save the two he knew were the leaders. The others might betray them, but at least they’d have time to get away.

  At the first corner, Jack turned into the alley and stopped.

  Levi followed him, then pressed himself up against the wall and looked out into the main street. “What the fuck?” he said. “This isn’t what we were meant to do.”

  “I know,” said Jack. “But do you want to watch another couple of kids commit suicide?”

  “There are no kids here. They’re all in the City.” Levi had a point. Anyone they were going after tonight had to be at least in their mid-twenties or older. Maybe the Administration had decided it was too much trouble trying to keep the Locals in order. Maybe the new policy was to knock all Locals off once they were past being any use for breeding.

  Horrific.

  “No,” said Jack urgently. “But my mum’s here. She’s got to be one of the targets.”

  “Fuck,” said Levi.

  “I need you to cover for me,” said Jack fast and quiet. Levi owed him big time after the strike, and he wasn’t exactly wed to obeying rules anyway. Levi might do it.

  He wasn’t too sure what he’d do if Levi refused. Would he kill him to save Patsy? He had no idea.

  Then Levi nodded. “Yeah. Fine.”

  “Okay.” Jack looked around the corner again. Still twenty odd VectorMPs on the main street. Maybe they were all still waiting for their sniper detail to get into position.

  “First we need to make it look like we’re doing what we’ve been told. Come on.” He slid down the alley with Levi behind him and jogged down the back street until he came to the back of the store where Lucinda’s parents lived.

  He swung up the fire-escape ladder, expecting Levi to follow. When he got to the top, he pulled the wrist shield out of his pocket and started to strip off his helmet and coat.

  “I’ll leave the coat, helmet and laser here.” He kicked a handy box into position and draped the coat over it, positioned the helmet and laser. He figured to any surveillance it would look like he was in position.

  “I’ll keep my headset on.”

  Levi watched him slip the shield over the Locate on his wrist. “You came prepared,” said Levi.

  Jack nodded. “If you really need to say something, I’ll answer if I can. If I don’t answer cover for me.” They were meant to keep radio silence anyway until the end of this, so no one should try to contact them. This was just an extra precaution.

  “Fuck Jack,” said Levi. “Whatever you’ve got planned it better not go wrong. You’re going to get us both on charge. Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?”

  Now he was just in his compression suits and boot, almost invisible in the dark and untraceable if he had the Locate on his Com turned off.

  “I don’t have time to fill you in, I need to move. Trust me.”

  “Trust you,” said Levi. “I should be shooting you and saving my skin.” But he lay down in position and started covering his quadrant. “If this turns to shit, I’m not covering for you. You’re on your own.”

  “Fine,” said Jack. “Just give me ten minutes. You won’t even know I’m gone.”

  “Yeah, right,” said Levi. But it looked like he was going to do it.

  Jack climbed down the ladder again and swung down into the alley. The hard bit was going to be getting across the road to the pub. He had the HazeApp on his Com still. It would cloak him in invisibility for fifteen minutes. That should be enough.

  Even Hazed, the five minutes it took to get across the road and around to the back of the pub were some of the longest he’d ever lived through.

  The main street was still swarming with VectorMPs. Every now and then one would pause, tilt his head with his hand to the earpiece of this helmet, getting an order or an update.

  No sign of the hovers, they must have hazed and lifted up into the clouds. He guessed, in the dark, if anyone looked out a window, they might not see the men moving into position to wait for the orders to storm the houses of the targets.

  He made it to the footpath outside the pub and then to the carpark, and got to the steps that would take him up to the living area. He just hoped his mother and Fitzgerald had gone away for a few days. Or were staying at Fitzgerald’s place, or Jacobs.

  It was unlikely. The pub would have been open tonight and his mother would have been working, so he was pretty sure they’d be inside, and if he walked in on them making love, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  He crept up the stairs and could hear his own breathing. The door was in a covered porch so when he opened it no one should see. Any of the squad could be getting into position to cover this door right now, but there wasn’t anywhere that would cover the door easily so he should be all right getting inside. The trick would be not tripping over the cat because he couldn’t turn on any lights.

  He felt along the top of the doorframe. Patsy had always left a key there for him when he was living at home. Hopefully, it was still there.

  He found it. It felt rougher than it used to. Probably had rusted from disuse over the last year.

  In the darkness, he found the lock, fitted the key then carefully turned it, then the handle, opened the door and slid through the gap and closed the door again before he Unhazed.

  He looked around the faintly illuminated kitchen. Only the small points of light on the appliances lit it.

  Then headed for the passageway, Jack figured by now he had a matter of minutes to get Patsy and Fitzgerald away. Now and then he’d hear an order or an update in the headset, but nothing that suggested Levi was going to tell anyone he was on his own, or that anyone had guessed. Just a, in position from the other members of the squad. Then he heard Levi’s voice too. “In position,” was all he said.

  There was probably a team of MPs standing ready to break down the pub doors. Hopefully, they’d just come in through the downstairs entrances and leave the snipers to cover the door he’d used.

  He stood by the side of his mother’s bed. Sure enough, two heads. His mother’s blonde one and Fitzgerald’s darker in the faint moonlight, both asleep.

  He touched Patsy’s shoulder. “Mum,” he said quietly. When he was a kid, she used to wake up immediately if he needed her at night. Hopefully she still had that mother’s instinct.

  She turned over, her eyes dark pools in the faint light. “Jack?”

  “Shhh,” he said. “Wake Fitzgerald. You two need to get out of here fast.”

  “What?” came from the other side of the bed and Jack saw Fitzgerald roll over fast as if he was going for a weapon.

  “It’s just me, Jack, you’ve got to get out of here.” As he said it a loud crash came from downstairs. The MPs had broken into the pub. Now they really only had seconds.

  Fitzgerald started at the noise from downstairs then nodded.

  Jack went to the door. “Get dressed, I’ll meet you in the kitchen. Don’t make any noise. And don’t turn on any lights.”

  As the covers of both sides of the bed were thrown back, he slipped out of the bedroom and went back to the kitchen.

  He tried to peer out through the lace curtains. Who got to cover this building? It didn’t matter, all the squad were good, and they’d shoot to maim anyone they sa
w.

  He could hear noises coming from the bedroom. Hopefully Fitzgerald and Patsy had clothes ready. They’d both been part of the Resistance for at least a year he knew of and probably for way longer. They must have been expecting something like this.

  Then the two of them turned up in the kitchen. Patsy was in the same outfit she’d worn the night he killed Vincent. Dark jeans, dark jersey, boots. She must have kept them somewhere easy to find.

  “What’s happened,” Fitzgerald asked quietly.

  “You’re about to get arrested.” Jack glanced out the window again. Would anyone be monitoring the heat sensors. Would anyone know there were three people up here now? Nothing he could do about that. They just had to get out. He could hear the MPs searching the pub room by room. As they checked each area, he’d hear them yell, “Clear.”

  It wouldn’t be long before some of them would come up the stairs.

  He heard another crash from the floor below. Probably just broken into the cellars where the barrels and wine were kept, and a couple of fridges and freezers with cheese and ham and other food.

  “They’re raiding the houses of all known Resistance leaders. You two must be on the list. You need to get out now.”

  “How?” asked Fitzgerald. Now the noise from below was getting louder. He heard boots on the stairs.

  “HazeApp,” said Jack. “Give me your Coms.” He took both Coms, and as he transferred the App onto them, he spoke rapidly. “This will Haze you for about fifteen minutes. I want you to get out of here and get to Jacob’s. He’s next on the list. Then get him and Ela to the Vault. I think you’ll be safe there. I’m going back. I’ll try to slow Vector down.”

  “You on your own, slowing down Vector?” Fitzgerald had a point. How could he do anything that would count. But he had to try.

  Jack nodded, “Get out, get away, and get Jacob and Ela to safety.”

  Patsy put her hand up to her mouth. “Oh God, Jack. What about everyone else?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I had to make a choice.”