James looked quite embarrassed as I explained this to him, but I suspected that most people who had never used sound suppressors before didn’t know how ineffective they were. I hadn’t known myself until Terry told me during my first year of combat training.
“Unfortunately, silencers are expensive and pretty much useless,” I concluded, and then added, “Besides, we already have one silenced weapon.”
“What weapon?” asked James.
I raised my right index finger in reply. While my telekinetic blasts did make little whooshing sounds, they were even quieter than the silenced pistols in movies.
“What we really need to get are some quiet radio transceivers,” I said.
“I’ll handle the shopping,” volunteered Mr. Richardson. “How many do you need?”
I wasn’t sure yet. “Four, just in case.”
“No problem.”
“What else you got, Merlin?” I asked, noticing that Merlin still had two papers.
“Map to the location,” replied Merlin, “but I have that in my head. And this one here is purely hypothetical.” He passed me a set of blueprints mapping out the first and second floors of the Angel outpost. “We’ve never actually been inside, but this is the design of another house with the exact same size and shape. If the Angels’ house follows any logical architectural design, the inside should look something like that.”
“This is good,” I said, looking over the map. “They’ll have made some modifications, though.”
“No doubt,” agreed Merlin. “Probably a pretty extensive basement, possibly multilevel to hold their captives.”
“It’s better that way,” I said. “Alia will be locked out of the way when the shooting starts.”
Looking at the blueprints again, I noticed a back door that led into the kitchen. “Is there a back door on the Angels’ house too?”
“Yes,” replied Merlin. “We don’t have a photo, but our guy who took the aerial shot says there was a door right where it’s shown on that paper.”
“Two teams, then,” I said. “We’ll enter from both sides, and try not to shoot each other by accident.”
Everyone laughed, but I hadn’t meant that as a joke.
“Let me study this map for a while,” I said. “In the meantime, you can all rest or go check up on the injured, and Mr. Richardson can go get us our radios.”
My team complied without question, and I spent the next hour alone, lying on my bed thinking through various ways in which we might go about taking the Angels’ house. I suspected that the Angels would also have a night watch or perhaps an electronic security alarm. Once we were discovered, speed would be everything. I needed to find a sequence of movement that would let us clear the house of threats before the Angels could react.
Staring at the floor plans, I pictured two small teams breaching simultaneously. Team One enters from the front door into the living room, clears the front half of the first floor, and then moves to the stairs leading up into the second floor. Meanwhile, Team Two enters from the rear door into the kitchen, taking the rest of the first floor before heading down into the basement. Team One could follow into the basement after clearing the second floor.
That would keep my teams from bumping into each other, but it was still too slow. The Angels sleeping upstairs could be wide awake before Team One got up to them.
How would Mr. Simms have done this?
When he planned the attack on the Holy Land, Mr. Simms made sure that the first target the Raven Knights hit was the barracks.
Take no prisoners. Kill them in their sleep.
I checked the photo of the front of the house again to confirm what I saw on the blueprints: a second-floor balcony with a glass door that opened into one of the bedrooms. I smiled. This was by far the path of least resistance.
Sally Richardson was putting the final touches on our lunch when I came into the kitchen.
“Chicken soup for the sick,” she announced. “Or rather, the injured.”
Mrs. Richardson explained to me that Rachael, Heather and Walter had returned from Dr. Land’s office and were all resting upstairs in their rooms.
“I’m sorry I didn’t help with lunch,” I said. “The kitchen is usually my station in this house.”
“It’s no problem,” said Mrs. Richardson. “You obviously have more important things to do today.”
I remained silent, and Mrs. Richardson asked, “Are you alright, Adrian?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied.
Mrs. Richardson gave me a sympathetic look. “It’s not easy being the leader, is it?”
“How am I doing so far?”
“You look like a natural to me, but I guess you’re not exactly feeling it inside.”
Time to change the subject. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“By all means,” said Mrs. Richardson.
“Aren’t you scared?” I asked. “I mean, you and your husband could both die tonight. Aren’t you afraid that you’ll never see your son again?”
Mrs. Richardson smiled. “The truth is, Tom and I are more afraid that our son won’t see us in the way we want him to see us if we turned our backs now.”
I nodded solemnly, but inside, I was sorely disappointed. I didn’t appreciate this kind of heroism in the least. People should fight for people, not perception. Still, I wasn’t about to tell her that she couldn’t come. We didn’t have the luxury of being choosy.
I helped Mrs. Richardson deliver her chicken soup to our three injured comrades, and then we set the dining table together. Mr. Richardson had already returned with our radio transceivers, so after a hasty lunch, I announced my revised battle plan.
“Once we’re on target, we’ll divide into three teams,” I began as we sat in a circle around the supposed floor plan of the Angels’ house. “We’re taking no prisoners, so we’re not going to bother with call signs for anyone except Merlin here who we already know as Merlin. Our teams will simply be called Rabbit One, Two and Three.”
“Why rabbits?” asked Mrs. Richardson.
I explained to the Richardsons that Rabbit was Terry’s Guardian call sign, and then continued, “Each team leader will have one radio. We’ll practice using them later. Rabbit One is Merlin and me. We’ll levitate onto the second-floor balcony and enter from there. James will lead Rabbit Two, with the Richardsons, and enter from the front. The front door will be locked, but they’ll breach from the window to the left of the porch. We don’t know what’s behind those curtains, so be careful.”
I stopped to make sure that James was okay with being a team leader. I had originally considered putting the adults in charge of Rabbit Two, but after what Mrs. Richardson had told me, I decided that James was probably more reliable. He was one of Terry’s students, and he knew his CQC stuff as well as could be expected considering the limited time he had spent with us. Besides, I felt a little bad about having publicly humiliated him over the silencer issue earlier.
I continued, “Rabbit Three enters from behind the house. Scott will lead, with Daniel and Candace. There’s a back door that opens into the kitchen, but that will be locked too. The door opens inwards, and isn’t as heavy-duty as the front, so you’ll break it down.”
“Kick it?” asked Scott.
“No.” I gestured toward two heavy red objects that I had placed by the wall, saying, “Those there are multi-purpose breaching tools.”
“They look like fire extinguishers to me,” said Daniel.
“And they are,” I said, smiling. “Rabbit Two and Three will carry one each. Scott can use his as a battering ram to break down the back door. Once inside, pull the pin, tape down the lever and let it create cover and chaos for you. We don’t have gas or smoke bombs, but these will work almost as well. James can turn his on before throwing it through the front window. The smoke will hide you as you enter, but be careful not to breathe in too much of the gas. It’s supposed to put out fires, so there isn’t much oxygen in it.”
“Ter
ry hadn’t taught us this one yet,” said Scott.
I didn’t mention that Terry never expected our students to have fire extinguishers on the Historian’s mountain.
I ran my finger along the floor plans as I said, “Once inside, Rabbit One, that’s Merlin and me, will start clearing the second floor, where I’m hoping we’ll catch most of the Angels in their sleep if we’re fast enough. Meanwhile, Rabbit Two clears the living room and adjacent dining room, as well as this room next to it which I don’t know what’s inside, and then proceeds up the stairs to join us. So far okay?”
James and the Richardsons nodded.
“Rabbit Three clears the kitchen and what I think is some kind of storage room here, and this little hall, and then down to the basement. The basement entrance is here, next to the kitchen.” I looked warningly at Scott, adding, “We don’t know what’s down there. It could be trapped, so take it slow.”
I couldn’t tell them what kind of traps might be set anywhere in the house. Back when the Guardians had raided the God-slayer house where I had been held captive, one of the Knights had been badly burned by acid.
I said seriously, “Remember that you’re looking for my sister and possibly other captives down there, so check your targets carefully.”
“We will,” said Scott, and Daniel and Candace nodded.
I had some misgivings about putting Daniel and Candace on the basement crew, not only because of the possibility of traps, but because they might accidentally shoot a captive, namely Alia. But as my weakest links, I didn’t want them upstairs where I suspected most of the Angels would be. I was counting on Scott to keep his team from causing any real damage.
“Now, most likely there won’t be more than four or five Angels,” I said in a hopeful tone. “If we’re lucky, that’ll be one night guard on the first floor and the others asleep on the second, but don’t count on it. I suspect that their only combat psionics are the pyroid and the telekinetic that attacked us this morning. If they had a berserker or something, he would have come too. The other Angels would include at least one hider, but the rest might be non-psionic. They’ll all be well-trained Seraphim, though, so stay sharp.”
“What if we bump into Steven?” asked Scott.
“Use your best judgment,” I suggested. “Do what you have to, but stay alive.”
“And the monster telekinetic?” Daniel asked worriedly.
“I’m hoping to find him on the second floor,” I replied. “But if you do see the telekinetic, stay clear of him if at all possible. Report where he is, and Merlin and I will deal with him.”
“What if we get a shot?” asked James.
“You won’t,” I promised. “If he sees you point a gun at him, he’ll take it out of your hands and shoot you with it. At least, that’s what I would do.”
“Just out of curiosity,” said Scott, “what does this man look like?”
“Oh…” I said, suddenly feeling stupid. “Um… Candace? You saw him, right?”
“Actually, I think he was a she,” said Candace, “but I can’t be sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“She didn’t look human,” Candace replied uncomfortably. “She was really thin and bony, and she looked more like… like a scarecrow, or a witch.”
“You mean like someone with bad power balance?” I asked.
“Really bad balance,” agreed Candace. “Her hair was all white, and she really looked like a scarecrow.”
I had once seen a man at the end stage of bad psionic balance. He had been one of the Angel Seraphim who abducted Cindy from our penthouse two years ago. Despite his formidable telekinetic power, he had been all skin and bones, his physical body entirely reliant on his psionic power for survival. I had only seen him for an instant, but I would never forget his sunken eyes and shriveled, skeletal hands. It was a fate that I myself had narrowly avoided thanks to Terry forcing me to learn power balance.
“A scarecrow,” I repeated quietly. “That shouldn’t be too hard to find. Again, if at all possible, stay clear and let Merlin and me take care of her.”
Merlin said hesitantly, “Adrian, I’m guessing that you want me to take control of the telekinetic’s body, but if this Seraph is such a powerful woman, chances are she’ll have excellent mental defenses.”
“I guessed as much too,” I said. “Can you at least buy me a little time?”
“If I can catch her off guard, I might be able to keep her still for three seconds or so, but I can’t promise much more.”
“That’s plenty, Merlin,” I said reassuringly.
Merlin stared at me disbelievingly. “Three seconds, Adrian. I mean it.”
I grinned. “A lot can happen in three seconds.”
Of course, Merlin had promised his three seconds only if he could catch the telekinetic off guard, but I wasn’t going to be picky about that. Combat tested or not, Merlin was my only hope in this matter.
I looked around again. “Everyone okay so far?”
Candace asked, “What if they attack us before we even get to the side of the house?”
I shrugged. “Then the plan goes to hell and we storm the place anyway, but nobody shoots till I give the word. Understood?”
Had Mr. Simms been running this show, he would have explained what to do in the event of an abort and retreat. I hadn’t forgotten. I had deliberately ignored it. There would be no abort, no retreat.
Once I was convinced that everyone was still with me, I said, “Okay, so once we’re in position, I will call the breach. If by some miracle the balcony door is unlocked, Merlin and I will enter silently first. I’ll use my telekinetic blasts to quietly clear the second floor and have you all go noisy only after we’re discovered. But more likely, you’ll hear us breaking the glass door and that will be your signal.” I paused, took a deep breath, and finished quietly, “Alright, that’s it.”
“Sounds like a good enough plan to me,” said Merlin.
I stood up. “We’re going to practice.”
For the rest of the day, we went through every detail over and over.
How to quickly prepare the fire-extinguisher grenades. We decided to keep some tape already on the levers so all James and Scott had to do was pull the pin, press down on the lever and pull the tape around it to keep it in place. That still took nearly five seconds, and I wasn’t happy about that in the least.
How to enter through a broken window with drawn curtains. Rabbit Two spent an hour practicing this at the window I had blasted out earlier that morning. To avoid being cut by glass left on the windowsill, Mr. Richardson agreed to carry a thick woolen blanket which he would drape over the bottom of the window frame as soon as James heaved the fire extinguisher through.
How to break open a door with a battering ram. Scott busted every door in our house with his fire extinguisher, and got better at it each time. Rachael, whose burns were causing her severe discomfort, probably didn’t appreciate the noise, but she didn’t complain.
How to use the radio transceivers. I knew the protocols, of course, but James and Scott had to use them too. Fortunately, equipped with head-mounted microphones and earpieces, our radios were nearly silent and could be used hands-free.
How to clear a room as quickly as possible without getting killed. Clearing a room wasn’t nearly as easy as movie heroes made it look. You couldn’t just jump out, pistol drawn, into the middle of an open doorway. Doors were the most obvious of targets, and stepping through one, you could never tell who was hiding behind the wall just inside, ready to empty a scattergun into you. But nor would we have the time to use mirrors to peer into each room before entering. I wanted us to go from breach to clear in thirty seconds or less, which was impossible but nevertheless a nice target to strive for.
We ate another hasty dinner of takeout pizza, and then went back to practicing.
“Everyone study the map carefully,” I had said to them over dinner. “Burn it into your minds. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the house. What is to
your left? What is to your right? Where are the doors? Which door do you go to first?”
Though no one complained, I could tell that they were beginning to tire, and I didn’t want to burn them out before they got the chance to fight.
“Enough,” I said at around 8pm. “Get some rest. Sleep if you can. I’m going to go check on Terry.”
I doubted anyone would be able to sleep, but I knew that my team would want to spend some time with their injured friends before we left – especially Scott, who had bravely put his worries about Rachael aside during our hours of practicing.
Heading out to Dr. Land’s house alone, I hesitated for a second before knocking on the door. What if Terry was already dead?
The door was opened by Dr. Land, who ushered me in, saying, “I saw you coming from the window.”
“How is she?” I asked anxiously.
Dr. Land shook his head slowly. “She hasn’t woken. She’s been pretty stable, but I’m afraid she might still have some internal bleeding. There’s little more I can do in my home office, and considering who she is, I can’t take her to the hospital.”
“We’re ready to go tonight,” I informed him. “We’ll get Alia.”
Dr. Land remained silent. I wondered if he thought I was crazy, risking my entire team for one life. Maybe I was, but it wasn’t just Terry’s life that I wanted to save.
I asked, “May I go and sit with Terry for a while?”
Dr. Land smiled. “Certainly. I’ll be in my study. Call me if you need anything.”
I entered the operating room and, sitting quietly on a chair by the bed, I listened for a while to Terry’s shallow breathing. Terry’s face was deathly pale, and her every breath sounded like it might be her last.
Was I right in waiting for the night? Would Terry really last another few hours? Would Alia even be there?
Back when I was going over the mission with my inexperienced team, I often wondered where we would all be now had I let Alia and Max accompany James and me downstairs this morning. But I didn’t regret what I had done. It had been the right thing to do under the circumstances, just like Terry had done right for me at the Holy Land. Besides, regret wouldn’t bring Max back from the dead, keep Alia from being converted, or save Terry’s life.
The Quest (Psionic Pentalogy Book 4) Page 17