Urban Outlaws

by Peter Jay Black

  Not the most attentive guard in the world, Jack thought. Mind you, who’d be on the lookout for a miniature stealth helicopter?

  ‘Safe,’ Slink said. He turned and looked at the other end of the warehouse. ‘Wren’s back out.’ He groaned. ‘She’s going straight for the main door. No, don’t do it, you idiot.’

  Obi hit the power on Shadow Bee.

  They had one more attempt before Wren triggered the pressure-sensitive mat on the other side of that door.

  ‘The third most popular password this year is “Monkey”,’ Noble said.

  Jack nodded at Obi.

  Shadow Bee moved painfully slow now, as if it was trying to drag a weight. ‘Come on, come on,’ Obi urged it, his fingers tight on the controls.

  ‘She’s heading towards the main door.’ Slink sounded resigned to their fate.

  The security display filled the view again.

  Obi moved the wooden finger over the ‘M’ key and Jack grabbed his arm, stopping him.

  Slink glanced at them. ‘What are you doing? Hurry up.’

  Jack ignored him. Something didn’t feel right and this time he refused to ignore it.

  As Shadow Bee backed away from the keyboard, Jack thought of Proteus. The cameras. The lasers. The security guards. ‘No,’ he said under his breath. ‘Monkey’ wasn’t the password. ‘Noble, tell me the rest of them.’ Noble quickly recited the list of passwords but none of them stood out.

  Shadow Bee stuttered and flew sharply to the right.

  Obi fought the controls and got the helicopter back in front of the keyboard.

  Shadow Bee dropped again, wobbled, its blades scraping the display.

  ‘Jack,’ Slink hissed, ‘what are you doing? She’s almost there.’

  ‘Under the desk,’ Jack said in calm voice.

  Obi frowned. ‘Huh?’

  ‘Under the desk,’ Jack repeated.

  Obi’s eyes widened as he understood. He lowered Shadow Bee below the keyboard and tipped the nose upward.

  Jack smiled and let out a huge sigh.

  He was right. Taped to the underside of the desk was the password: FORTRESS GATEWAY.

  Thank God, because no one would ever have guessed that one.

  Shadow Bee backed up, rose above the keyboard, shook for a moment, and the finger pressed F . . . and again O . . . then, R . . . T . . . R . . . E . . . S . . . S . . . G . . .

  It was agonisingly slow work.

  Slink’s voice was almost a screech. ‘Jack, Wren’s opening the door.’

  A . . . T . . . E . . . W . . . A . . .

  ‘She’s walking through.’

  Jack noticed Slink’s body go rigid out of the corner of his eye.

  Obi guided Shadow Bee to the final letter, Y, and then pressed the Enter key.

  Password accepted. Security disengaged.

  Shadow Bee’s power died and the screen went black.

  Slink gasped and fell backwards, lying flat on his back, his chest rising and falling. ‘Too. Close.’

  • • •

  When they’d recovered, Jack peered into the chamber, working out a new plan of how to get down there.

  He looked underneath the rim of the grate. The lasers were deactivated. Next, he scanned over the internal structure. The crossbeams were too far down and they couldn’t reach them without ropes.

  Finally, he straightened up and looked at Slink. ‘We’re going to have to abseil down there. Find an anchor point.’

  Slink nodded, pulled off his backpack, and slid out a coil of rope. He also removed two harnesses and tossed one to Jack.

  Jack unclipped the extra antenna from his headset, then stood and left the closet to give Slink room to work.

  While stepping into the harness, he spoke to Charlie and Obi, ‘We can’t all go down there. We’ve only got two of these harnesses with us. Obi, go back to the front of the theatre and keep a look out for Del Sarto. Stay out of sight. Charlie, go down the alley and wait there.’

  Charlie frowned. ‘Wait for what exactly?’

  ‘Us. We’ll find a way to get you inside.’

  ‘How?’

  Jack fastened the harness and tightened the straps. ‘You’ve still got the explosives?’

  She tapped her bag. ‘Yep.’

  ‘We’ll use those on the coolant tanks. That should speed things up a bit.’

  Charlie nodded. ‘You still haven’t explained how you’re going to get me inside. Remember the guards?’

  ‘I’ll think of something on the way.’

  Charlie stared at him for a moment, then said, ‘Good luck.’ She gestured towards the door to Obi and they left.

  Jack returned to the broom cupboard. Slink had tied the rope around a metal girder on the ceiling of the chamber, next to the skylight.

  Jack spoke into his microphone, ‘Noble?’

  ‘Here.’

  ‘We’re just about to drop out of comms range.’

  ‘Understood. I’m monitoring traffic cams. So far, no sign of Del Sarto.’

  Jack nodded at Slink. ‘Lower me down.’

  ‘I’ll go first.’

  ‘No.’ Jack was the slowest and if he got caught, at least the others would be able to get away.

  Slink seemed to realise what he was thinking. ‘Jack –’

  Jack put a finger to his lips and swung his legs into the hole. Looking down, his stomach lurched and his jaw tightened.

  Jack slipped from the edge and swung himself out over the chamber. The harness bit into his legs.

  He glanced at the guards by the ramp. They were still facing the other way.

  Wren was nowhere to be seen.

  Quietly, Jack fed the rope through his hands, slowly dropping past the roof trusses.

  Halfway down, Jack looked at the break room at the other end of the chamber, but none of the guards had noticed him either. They were too busy with their poker hands.

  He loosened his grip to feed the rope out some more but it slipped and he dropped six metres in one go.

  At the last second, Jack managed to regain his grip and the rope sprang taut.

  He almost cried out in pain as the harness tore into his leg muscles.

  Jack swung for a moment, eyes squeezed shut, grimacing.

  He looked up to see Slink’s anxious face peering down at him. Jack mouthed, ‘I’m OK,’ though his legs hurt really bad. He now wished he’d let Slink go first.

  The pain eased and when he looked down, Jack was shocked to find he was only half a metre from the ground.

  He unclipped his harness and dropped lightly to the floor.

  Slink pulled the rope back up and, in less than a minute, was at Jack’s side. ‘You all right?’

  Jack nodded and glanced around, getting his bearings. The main door to the offices was to their right and Wren was still nowhere to be seen. He sighed and refocused on what they had to do. First thing was to get the others inside.

  Somehow, they had to distract the guards.

  Jack and Slink jogged up to the door to the offices and crept through.

  Moving fast and as silently as they could, they ran along the corridor until they reached the door that led up to the theatre.

  Jack pressed an ear to the surface and listened. Satisfied he couldn’t hear anyone on the other side, he opened the door. Beyond was the flight of stone steps. Jack and Slink moved quickly up them.

  At the top was a short corridor. There was a door to the right and another at the end. Jack closed his eyes for a moment, figuring out what direction they were facing.

  He opened his eyes again and pointed at the door at the end. ‘That’s the one that leads outside,’ he whispered.

  Slink went to step forward but Jack held him back.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Slink hissed.

  ‘Thinking.’

  Slink huffed, ‘No time.’ He ran forward and knocked on the door. He then sprinted back to the door to their right and threw it open.

  For a split second, Jack stared in stunned
silence, then he realised Slink was trying to get the guards to open the door from the outside.

  Without further hesitation, Jack ran down the hallway and followed him through the door.

  They were now at the back of the stage and Jack felt unnerved. The auditorium was in darkness, but they were out in the open. Exposed.

  Slink peered through the gap in the door. ‘Why aren’t they coming?’

  For a second, Jack wondered if Wren had stolen the only key-card the agents had.

  Another thirty seconds passed.

  Slink opened the door and, before Jack could stop him, he ran back to the main door.

  He paused a second, listening, then knocked, louder this time.

  Slink sprinted back to the stage door and they waited.

  Still no one came through.

  Jack turned and spoke quietly into his headset, ‘Charlie? You there?’

  No answer.

  ‘Charlie?’

  She still didn’t reply. It was probably the thick stone walls that were messing with the reception.

  Jack turned back to Slink and shrugged and then they both crept into the hallway, their senses on high alert.

  They reached the main door to the alleyway and Jack tried the handle. Much to his surprise, it was now unlocked. Slowly, he opened it and peered out.

  He went rigid as his eyes took in the scene before him. The two guards were on the floor, either unconscious or dead. Cloud and Monday had a tight hold on Charlie and Obi.

  Connor lunged forward and grabbed Jack and Slink as Del Sarto stepped from around the corner.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Del Sarto smiled. ‘I knew I was right to follow that phone signal.’ He looked over Jack’s shoulder down the corridor. ‘I assume you’ve taken care of the rest of the security for us?’

  Jack didn’t answer.

  Del Sarto gestured to Connor.

  Connor shoved Slink into Monday’s meaty grasp and grabbed Jack roughly by the shoulders, spun him around and leant into his ear. ‘You try anything funny – don’t think I have any qualms about killing you.’ He shoved Jack down the corridor.

  Monday pushed Slink and Obi forward, and Cloud motioned for Charlie to follow.

  The eight of them marched down the stairs, along the office hallway, through the door at the end, and into the main chamber.

  Connor and Monday raised their guns and scanned around them, looking for agents.

  ‘Which way?’ Del Sarto whispered to Jack.

  Jack pointed and they walked between the server cabinets in silence.

  Where were the security guards? Had they realised what was going on yet? Jack glanced around. Obviously not.

  They walked into the centre of the chamber where Proteus stood. Jack’s mind raced to find a way to get them out of this mess but he knew they wouldn’t get very far, especially seeing as they were escorted by lunatics with guns and a man the size of a house.

  Del Sarto spread his arms wide. ‘Proteus, I’ve missed you so much.’ He turned to Cloud. ‘Do your stuff. Hack all police and government computers, and bring them crashing down. They’ll be too busy putting out fires to realise what we’re doing.’

  Cloud nodded. ‘I need fifteen minutes, then another five to run the deactivation sequence.’

  ‘Good,’ Del Sarto said. ‘Call our men. Have them here in twenty minutes, ready to dismantle and transport Proteus.’

  Cloud pulled a laptop from her bag and walked down an aisle towards the bank of computer terminals.

  Next, Del Sarto looked at Monday. ‘Go find out if there are any other guards. If there are, take care of them, would you?’

  Monday nodded and shuffled off.

  Last, Del Sarto addressed Connor. ‘Please dispose of these children. They’ve exhausted their usefulness.’

  Connor smirked. ‘My pleasure.’

  ‘Get off me,’ a girl screeched.

  Monday reappeared. ‘Look what I found,’ he said. Wren struggled in his arms.

  Del Sarto inclined his head. ‘Ah, the beggar. I was beginning to worry that something nasty had happened to you.’

  Monday dropped Wren at Del Sarto’s feet. He stroked her hair. Wren tried to get away from him but he grabbed her hair and pulled her back. She cried out.

  ‘Leave her alone,’ Charlie shouted.

  Del Sarto looked at her. ‘Or what?’

  There was a gunshot and a bullet ricocheted off a cabinet above Del Sarto’s head.

  He dropped to his knees and scowled at Monday. ‘I thought you were going to take care of that?’

  Monday returned fire and ran down one of the aisles.

  Connor shoved Jack, Charlie, Obi and Slink into a corner, then – gun drawn – hurried after Monday.

  Del Sarto, keeping Wren close to him, drew his own gun and pointed it at the others.

  There were several more gunshots and someone cried out in pain.

  Jack hoped the scream had come from Monday or, better yet, Connor.

  The Outlaws crouched in the corner as more gunshots rang out and shouts echoed around the chamber.

  Jack glanced up as the three guards from the parking ramp ran past.

  Del Sarto raised his gun and fired.

  The guard at the back cried out in pain, clutched his stomach and fell sideways, behind a cabinet and out of sight.

  The other two guards spun around and raised their weapons, but hesitated when they saw the children.

  Del Sarto fired again, this shot hitting one of the guards in the leg.

  He crumpled to the floor.

  The last remaining guard grabbed his companion under the arms and started to drag him out of the line of fire.

  Del Sarto took aim.

  Without thinking, Jack leapt forward and shoved Del Sarto’s arm up.

  A deafening shot rang out. The bullet flew high above the guard’s head as he dragged his colleague around the corner.

  Del Sarto roared and whacked Jack in the temple with the butt of his gun.

  Jack staggered sideways, hit a cabinet and slid to the floor.

  ‘Jack.’ Charlie rushed to his side.

  Jack’s head was dazed with pain.

  ‘Any of you try that again,’ Del Sarto warned, ‘I’ll kill you all myself.’ He held his gun ready, and backed towards the cabinets, pulling Wren roughly after him. He peered around the corner and fired twice. There was a pause of a few seconds, then he fired again.

  Another few seconds and he pulled back, a smirk on his face.

  He moved towards the centre of the clearing, gun still raised, scanning all around them.

  There were more gunshots from the other side of the chamber, and a loud crash before everything fell silent.

  Woozy, Jack looked at the others. They were all staring up the aisle, waiting to see who came out.

  It was Connor who reappeared.

  ‘We got two of them,’ he said. ‘We think there’s at least another two hiding. Monday will flush them out.’ His cold eyes moved to the group of kids sat on the floor. ‘Now, where were we?’ He pointed his gun at them.

  ‘Wait,’ Del Sarto said, ‘not here. You might damage Proteus.’ He holstered his weapon. ‘Get them out of my sight and hold them until we’re ready to leave. We might need the insurance.’

  Connor gestured for everyone to walk down the opposite aisle.

  Slink and Obi stood up.

  Charlie helped Jack to his feet, then stepped forward, defiant. ‘We’re not going anywhere without Wren.’

  Connor shoved her towards the aisle. ‘Move,’ he snapped, and grabbed Slink by his shirt collar. He gestured with his gun for the others to go first.

  Slink struggled. ‘You’re not keeping her.’

  Connor pressed the gun to his neck.

  ‘Come on,’ Jack muttered, touching the wound on his head and wincing.

  Slink’s shoulders slumped in defeat and they walked between the server cabinets, Obi leading the way.

  Jack glanced back at Wren. T
hey had to save her.

  They reached the main door to the offices and Obi turned to face them, his cheeks red.

  Everyone stopped and stared at him.

  ‘What’s wrong with chubby?’ Connor said.

  Obi balled his fists. ‘I’ve had enough.’

  Connor frowned. ‘What did you say, boy?’

  Obi’s body shook. ‘You can’t hurt Wren.’ He hunched down and ran at Connor.

  Connor stepped aside and Obi lumbered straight past him, slammed into a server cabinet, and bounced off like a pinball.

  Connor smirked. ‘Pathetic.’

  The server cabinet rocked and Connor’s eyes went wide.

  He tried to jump clear but it came crashing down on top of him.

  Connor let out a groan and fell unconscious.

  Jack, Charlie and Slink stared in utter disbelief.

  Obi got to his feet and dusted himself off.

  Charlie ran over and threw her arms around him. ‘That was very brave, Obi.’ She let go and kissed him on the forehead.

  Obi’s cheeks reddened.

  Jack shook himself back to reality and said, ‘There’s no time for this.’ He pulled a cable from his bag and tied Connor’s wrists. ‘Charlie, you and Obi go stop Cloud and set the explosives on the coolant tanks.’

  She nodded, smiled at Obi and they ran down one of the aisles.

  Jack stood and looked at Slink. ‘You go and see where Monday is. Distract him somehow, but be careful. I’ll keep Del Sarto busy long enough for Charlie and Obi to do their part.’

  ‘And Wren?’

  ‘I’ll get her too.’

  Slink’s eyebrows rose. ‘On your own?’

  ‘Just go,’ Jack said.

  Slink hesitated, then hurried up the opposite aisle.

  Jack turned and ran between the server cabinets. When he reached the centre, he peered around the corner. Del Sarto was pacing back and forth, glancing at his watch.

  Wren sat on the floor, her back against one of Proteus’s coolant tanks.

  ‘Jack?’ a voice said in his ear. It was Charlie.

  He pulled back and whispered, ‘What?’

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Never mind that, just stop Cloud.’

  ‘I’ve realised we’ve forgotten something.’

  Jack peered around the corner. Del Sarto was still pacing. He pulled back again. ‘What do you mean?’