It was Luciel. He pushed the door open hesitantly, revealing Tom standing behind him.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“We need to talk to you,” Tom added.
“OK,” Ali agreed, feeling uneasy. She couldn’t help the thought that all three of them were under a death sentence that at present only she had a chance of escaping. “What about?”
“You’re going to try to escape,” Tom said flatly and Ali started. Luciel was already nodding agreement.
“You’re here for Revenge,” he said softly. “I don’t know why, but I’m sure that’s it.”
“Are you even a Hex at all?” Tom demanded, although he kept his voice low.
“I am a Hex,” Ali admitted, her mind racing as she tried to think of a way to evade the rest of the questions. Where was Raven when she needed her? But the comlink was silent and she had to make the decision of what to tell them on her own. The choice was surprisingly easy. “You’re right,” she said. “I am going to break out.”
“You don’t have a hope in hell,” Tom said, shaking his head. “There’s no way you’ll manage that.”
“She got in, didn’t she?” Luciel said. “If she could get in, and find Revenge, she must have a way to get out.”
“I’ll have help,” Ali said softly. “I’m not here on my own. There’s a group of people, gangers, who’ll be helping me.”
“You mean you and Revenge,” Tom corrected.
“Yes.” Ali nodded.
“Why?” Luciel looked baffled. “Why Revenge? She’s brain-fried. What good would she do you?”
“Her brother’s one of the gangers,” Ali told him. “And her sister . . .” She broke off abruptly, deciding that it would be a bad idea to mention Raven. She’d probably annoy the other girl enough when Raven found out Ali had told them about the rest of the team, without exacerbating that. Ali knew Raven well enough to realize that she wouldn’t take kindly to a betrayal of her identity.
But even without mentioning Raven, Ali was worried that she’d gone too far. They were in a high-security facility and a single word to a scientist would be enough to stop the retrieval before it started. Wraith had kept his team small deliberately, planning to use surprise as his primary weapon. If Ali gave away that element of surprise, the team really wouldn’t have a chance.
“You mustn’t say a word,” she cautioned hurriedly. “Please?”
Tom and Luciel looked at each other. Luciel was the first to speak.
“We won’t say anything, Ali,” he said. “But if you’re really escaping . . .”
“We’re coming with you,” Tom finished. “And so is everyone else kept prisoner here. You won’t be going alone.”
• • •
Kez woke with a start as someone shook him. He opened his eyes blearily to see a ghostlike shadow standing over him. Wraith’s gray eyes stared at him, his mop of white hair blowing out around his face.
“Time for an equipment check,” he said curtly and Kez nodded, yawning as he sat up. “I need you to explain the functions of those devices of Raven’s,” Wraith continued.
“Why can’t she do it?” Kez protested, glancing over to where the three gangers sat against the side of the flitter. They looked as if they’d been awake for some time already.
“She’s still asleep,” Wraith told him. “I don’t want to wake her until I have to. We’ll be needing her tonight.”
Kez wondered if that meant he wasn’t needed. But the fact that Wraith had asked for his assistance suggested he wasn’t entirely useless. He got to his feet, pushing away the coat that he’d been sleeping under, and wandered over to the flitter. Raven was stretched out over the front two seats. She looked exhausted, dark shadows under her eyes. He sighed. The success or failure of this operation was essentially resting on Raven. But although they had to put their trust in her she refused to do the same for them. She pushed herself to the limits of endurance rather than rely on anyone but herself.
A hand dropped onto his shoulder, making him jump, and he turned to see one of the gangers standing behind him. It was Jeeva and he was grinning, somewhat to Kez’s relief.
“Hey, kid. Does he know you’re cruising his sister?” He jerked his head at the flitter. Wraith and the two other gangers were already checking through the equipment.
“I’m not cruising her,” Kez objected, and then shrugged. “And even if I was it wouldn’t make any difference. Raven’s only interested in one person.”
“Herself, right?” Jeeva slapped Kez’s shoulder and gave him a twisted smile. “So, forget about her, kid. Don’t waste the effort on the ice queen. C’mon, let’s go.”
“Yeah, OK.” Kez fell into step with Jeeva, realizing to his own amazement that he had had a conversation with a ganger without getting flatlined.
• • •
Wraith only listened with half an ear to Kez’s explanation of the explosive charges, concentrating on checking the artillery he would be taking with him. All three gangers had a combat rifle slung over one shoulder and the ammunition for it, as well as handguns hanging from their belts. Wraith had chosen more specialized weaponry, but like the gangers he was wearing extensive body armor. He glanced over at Kez, frowning slightly. The boy was demonstrating how to activate the frequency oscillator which would cause Raven’s devices to explode within five seconds. The boy was dressed simply and his only weapon was the laser pistol that hung from his belt.
Wraith wondered if it was too late to forbid Kez to come with them. He seemed more likely to be a liability to the gangers than any assistance. He glanced toward the front of the flitter where Raven was still asleep. Their plan of action called for Kez to act as her cover. If Wraith pulled him off the mission it would affect her the most. He leaned over the back of the seats and looked at Raven. She must be exhausted to sleep so long and he had almost decided not to wake her when she spoke:
“What is it, Wraith?” she asked, her eyes still shut.
“Kez,” he said quietly, too low for the others to hear him. “He doesn’t have the experience for something like this.”
“That didn’t seem to worry you too much before.” Raven opened her eyes and considered him. “And it’s not as if we had a great many options. We needed to keep the team small, and Kez is a streetkid. He can take care of himself.”
“What if he can’t?” Wraith asked. “We need you to get into that computer system, Raven. If something happens to Kez you won’t have any backup, and the rest of us will be relying on you alone.”
“I’ll get into the system,” Raven assured him. “With or without Kez.” She sat up and stretched, sighing a little. “Wraith, we’ve gone over this enough times before. If we change our plans now we’ll only be endangering ourselves.”
Wraith studied his sister for a few more seconds, but he didn’t contradict her. The strategy she was advocating had been his own and he agreed with it. But everything seemed so much colder when it came from Raven. Eventually he acknowledged what she had said with a curt nod. “You’d better get ready,” he told her. “We should be ready to leave within half an hour.”
• • •
The flitter approached the perimeter of the facility, only just above ground level. Raven had relinquished the pilot’s seat to Kez, who was concentrating determinedly on the difficulties of the course Wraith had dictated. They could see the gray shape of the laboratory buildings in the distance, beyond the electric fencing. Melek was studying this intently as Kez landed the flitter.
“That’s not very sophisticated security for a government facility,” he said suspiciously.
“It doesn’t need a lot of security,” Wraith pointed out. “Almost no one knows it exists, and even if they did, popular feeling is so against Hexes that there’s little danger of anyone trying to rescue them from the scientists.”
“It’s not as innocent as it looks,” Raven said quietly. “There are motion sensors and vidcams focused on that fence.”
“How do you know?�
�� Kez asked and Raven gestured to the computer console on the flitter.
“The Countess knew what she was doing when she rigged out this thing,” she told him. “But it hasn’t been able to detect anything behind the immediate vicinity of the fence. As soon as I get into that security system we’ll be OK, but until then it’ll be hard going.”
“Can those motion sensors detect us from here?” Wraith asked and Raven shook her head.
“Not until we’re five meters from the fence.”
“Right.” Wraith turned to the rest of the team. “Don’t let those sensors pick you up. We’ll have to shoot them out, simultaneously. When they’re out of the way we can get through the fence. Stay in contact”—he gestured to the com unit round his wrist—“and try to keep things quiet. We want to get in, pick up Ali and Rachel and get out again. Nothing else. While my group looks for the girls, Raven will hack into the computers and neutralize the security system. Let’s make this as quick and as clean as we can. Is that clear?”
“We scan,” Melek told him. “Stay chill, brothers.” He nodded to Kez, as an afterthought. “Good luck, kid.”
“Raven,” Wraith said. “Are you set?”
“Everything’s under control,” she told him, already unlocking the doors of the flitter.
“Then let’s go.”
• • •
The group approached the fence cautiously as Raven pointed out the sensors that would have to be neutralized. Once she had identified them all, Wraith positioned Kez and the gangers ready to shoot them down. With each of them targeted on a sensor, there were still two vidcams to be put out of action and he intended that he and Raven should deal with those. However, it was not until he’d unholstered his gun that Raven reached under her long coat to produce one of her own. It didn’t look that different from a long-barreled pistol. But instead of loading it, Raven tapped a key sequence across a panel on the butt of the pistol and it emitted a low hum.
“What is that?” Wraith asked curiously and Raven shrugged a shoulder.
“Electrical energy,” she told him. “I designed it. There are certain advantages to it.” As she finished speaking she leveled the pistol at one of the vidcams, then turned to look at Wraith expectantly. He turned to the other, trying to ignore the fact that Raven had sighted on her target in under a second, concentrating on his own. He kept his eyes on it as he asked:
“Ready?” There was a low murmur of assent and Wraith continued. “Fire on three. One . . . two . . . three!”
There was a soft roar, then a flash of sparks as the sensors and vidcams exploded on cue. Wraith checked them instinctively. Apparently everyone on the team had made their targets. Melek and Finn were already moving in to attack the wire of the fence, using lasers to cut through a section without being electro-cuted.
“Security will have been alerted as soon as those sensors stopped transmitting,” Raven reminded them. “We’ve got to reach the lab building before they catch up with us.”
“OK, get going,” Wraith ordered as the section of fence collapsed, sprinting for the building. The gangers were immediately behind him, and Raven and Kez brought up the rear.
It was then that Raven heard a voice in her ears, coming through the comlink that she’d left active before falling asleep.
“Raven, can you hear me?”
“Now is not the time, Ali,” she hissed as she ran, keeping her voice low.
“I need to talk to you,” Ali insisted.
“Are you in danger?” Raven demanded.
“No, but . . .”
“Then, forget it, Ali! We’ll be with you soon enough!” Raven snapped and cut contact. The distraction had left her several paces behind Kez and she speeded up, trying to move faster over the uneven ground.
Wraith had the plans in mind as he approached the lab. However much the facility might have changed on the inside it appeared that the layout on the outside hadn’t altered substantially. Over to the right he could see lights and unhesitatingly identified them as belonging to the approach road and the main entrance of the lab. But he led his team to the left and what had been marked on the plans as a service entrance.
They were still two hundred meters away from the door when there was a sudden glare of lights and the sound of an alarm. Wraith swore under his breath and dropped to the ground, waving the others to join him. The gangers were with him immediately and Kez only a second after them. Raven raced up a moment later, her black coat flapping out behind her as she threw herself beside them. For a while there seemed to be no security reaction other than the siren and searchlights sweeping over the ground, and Melek grabbed Wraith’s arm.
“Those lights are going to catch up to us real soon,” he warned.
“I know. Stay chill,” Wraith told him. He was scanning the area carefully, looking for any signs of response, but it was Kez who noticed it first.
“Wraith! Over there,” he said urgently.
Three uniformed security personnel were approaching from the direction of the main entrance, carrying rifles. Melek reached for his gun but Wraith pushed his hand away.
“Not yet,” he cautioned. “Wait.” Melek halted his motion, but Finn was not as circumspect. Either he hadn’t heard Wraith’s warning or he deliberately chose to disregard it. His combat rifle roared and one of the guards fell. The other two threw themselves out of the line of fire and Raven hissed in annoyance.
“That’s torn it,” she exclaimed.
“Melek, Finn, deal with those two. Try and get them out of the way before they can call for backup.”
“Some chance,” Raven said under her breath but Wraith ignored it.
“Raven, you’re with me,” he ordered. “Jeeva, Kez, cover us.” He leaped to his feet and headed for the service entrance, Raven following close behind. This time his instructions were apparently obeyed. Melek and Finn had opened fire on the guards behind them, and as he and Raven were halfway to the door, he heard more gunfire begin. He looked left in time to see two more guards seeking cover from Jeeva and Kez’s fire. Then they had reached the door and there was no time for him to worry about what was happening. He had to rely on his team’s ability to do their job. Raven was already examining the door.
“It’s physically locked from the inside,” she told him. “We’ll have to blast it open.”
“How many?” Wraith asked, grabbing two of the explosive charges from the bag he had slung over one shoulder.
“Not those.” Raven shook her head. “We wouldn’t have enough time to trigger enough of them. Give me a moment.”
She rummaged in the deep pockets of her coat, producing what looked like a net. The firefight went on behind them as Raven unrolled the object, revealing it to be an electronic mesh of circuitry and explosives, and attached it to the door.
“Come on,” she told Wraith. “Follow me.” They were about ten meters from the door when she turned back and fired her pistol at the mesh. Electricity crackled over it in a glowing net before Raven pushed her brother to the ground. Seconds later the door exploded behind them. As it did so Jeeva and Kez ran toward them. Wraith stood, dragging Raven up with him, and they all headed for the door.
“We got the two who were shooting at you just now,” Jeeva told Wraith as they made it inside. Wraith nodded at him and turned on his com unit, keying it to Melek’s signal.
“Wraith here,” he said. “What’s happening?”
“We’ll be done here in a moment, brother.” The ganger’s voice came from the unit, overlaid with the sound of heavy fire. “You get that door open?”
“It’s down,” Wraith told him. “We’re going in.”
• • •
Ali lay in bed, wide awake. Two of the scientists had patrolled the corridors in the evening, making certain that all the test subjects were restricted to their own rooms. Luciel and Tom had been reluctant to leave, but they were better acquainted with the rules of the lab than she was and didn’t want to risk arousing the scientists’ suspicions. Ali ha
d told them to be ready for anything.
She wore her white coveralls in bed, knowing that she’d need to act at a moment’s notice. But she had no idea of what acting would entail. Somewhere outside, the gangers were breaking into the laboratory, in danger of their lives, and she was stuck in a room unable to do anything. She felt useless and more than that, helpless. Her life was dependent on Wraith and Raven’s ability to rescue her.
A dark shape moved by the door and Ali caught her breath in alarm. Then there was a familiar hum of machinery and she recognized Tom. Luciel wasn’t far behind him as they slipped into the room together.
“What’s going on?” Ali whispered, climbing from under the covers.
“That’s for us to ask you,” Tom pointed out. “You said your team would be breaking in tonight. Where are they?”
“I don’t know,” Ali admitted. “But they are on their way in. I tried to contact Raven, to tell her about . . . about what we discussed, and she cut me off. I think things are getting serious outside.”
“Wait!” Luciel looked stunned. “You can contact them?”
“Only Raven,” Ali admitted, wondering when she would hear the last of this. “And we’re not in contact right now.”
“But something’s happening, right?” Tom said. “What are we going to do if your gangers don’t know that we’re coming with you?”
“I’ll tell them,” Ali promised. “But I can’t do it while they’re breaking in. If I distract them I’d be endangering us as well as them. Besides . . .” She hesitated. “I don’t think we can take everyone with us.”
“What?” Tom looked angry, but Luciel’s eyes were understanding.
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