by Liliana Hart
Samantha sighed. “I think we have a plan. I have to admit, I’d rather just stay in bed all day with you.”
“Me, too.”
Her eyes were troubled. “But, I can’t leave my father with these psychos any longer than it takes to bust him out.”
Alex kissed the tip of her nose. “Tell you what. I’ll meet you back here tomorrow and we’ll take up where we left off.”
A gentle smile crossed her face. “I like the sound of your plan better already.”
The ATVs were quieter than she’d expected, but fitting anyone else in them as passengers would be a squeeze. The two they bought weren’t much to look at, but the slim lines of the four-wheeled vehicles made it easier to ride between any trees and rocks as she and Alex climbed higher on the mountain. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be kicking up enough dust for anyone from the compound to spot. The element of surprise was critical. They needed to be in place before dark.
Finally, they reached a sheltered place to hide the ATVs.
Samantha parked her vehicle next to his.
Alex came up beside her. “We’re close to the coordinates and have to tread more carefully now. I saw a trip wire up ahead, so we must be nearing the compound’s outer perimeter security systems. There could be cameras, mines, more trip wires and armed soldiers.”
She saw the trip wire and nodded in agreement. “We’ll definitely have to go forward from here foot, but first we’d better change clothes.” They’d worn touristy clothes for the ATV transaction, but this part of the journey called for stealth.
“Dress quickly, in case we missed any earlier markings and we’re already inside the perimeter.”
“Woodland camo on top and desert underneath?” she asked, reaching for a small duffel bag.
“Yeah.” He checked the sun, now sitting lower on the horizon. “I wish the seller hadn’t talked so long. We have less time than I’d like before twilight. We’ve got to get moving.”
They shucked their outer garments and yanked on the camouflage clothes.
She stopped, watching his persona take on a dark and dangerous edge along with the camo. But, damn, he looked sexy in a uniform.
She walked over and pulled his head down for a kiss. She was breathless by the time they finished mere seconds later. She had it bad. “Thank you for everything, Alex. I wouldn’t have made it this far if not for you.”
“Same here, and we’re not done yet. We still have a compound full of psycho super-soldiers to raid and several potentially injured people to rescue.”
“I know,” Samantha said. “But, somehow, with you, I feel like we have a chance.”
He drew her close, and held her to him, conveying emotions he couldn’t put into words. She sighed. They had to make it. She wanted a chance at a future with him, but if it came down to a choice, she’d give up her life for him without a qualm. He meant that much to her.
After one final gentle kiss, they parted.
Any softness between them disappeared as they prepared for the upcoming battle. He dug out the camo paint and handed her some. “I hate to cover up that beautiful face, but it will stand out if a spotlight hits it.”
They darkened their faces, then stashed their discarded attire in the bags and stowed them in the ATV.
Without another word, they headed deeper into the forest and started the hellish climb.
Two hours later, the red and orange hues of sunset painted the sky as she and Alex hunkered down in the last vestiges of forest and boulders surrounding the compound. They’d scouted as much of the compound as possible, without giving themselves away.
“Everyone is fully armed,” she whispered. “Several helicopters and trucks are being fueled and packed around back. Do you think they’re shutting the base down?
He shifted slightly. “Looks like it, or at least a good part of it is on the move.”
“They know we’re coming,” she said with resignation.
“You’ve got that right. So let’s go get what we came here for before the choppers take off.”
Benson scanned the map pinned to the Admiral’s wall. “No one has spotted them in town. There’s no guarantee they’re within a hundred miles of here. Winters could have taken several alternate routes from the Reservation. They could have headed for Denver, Salt Lake City, Vegas, Santa Fe, Texas. Just about anywhere. If I were him, I would.”
“I told you, they’re coming here. They have the coordinates and the girl wants to save her father,” Midnight answered. “Tell the choppers to focus on the main roads heading this way. Check the satellites to see if we can pick up them up in a vehicle again.” The pilot and co-pilot say that they may have stolen the chopper. It was badly damaged after Winters blasted it, but it may have had enough functioning equipment to make it partway, if not all the way, here.”
The Admiral shoved some more documents in his briefcase as he prepared to evacuate. He did not want to get caught in the crossfire. He had to remain above the fray.
“Time is running out for me to get to D.C. by morning,” he told Benson. “I have to leave within the hour.”
“And the Navy SEALs we have immobilized downstairs?”
“Bring Ramirez, Northridge, and Dr. Gennaro, drugged and in chains, to the helo pad. Make sure Ramirez is wearing the mask and Northridge has the gloves. They are to touch nothing. They are to see nothing they can use to give this location away.”
“And Winters?”
“Leave an armed cadre of guards at the lab to greet him. Try the tranquilizer guns first. Kill him, only if necessary, and save and secure the body, in case he has the same recuperative powers as the other SEALs from the lab explosion.”
“Yes, sir. The trap is set for the woman, as well. The scientists rigged up a machine that should sense her presence and project her physical location on an alarmed monitor.”
“Remember,” Midnight reiterated, “the woman must not be killed. Her powers are too valuable to lose.”
“And the other doctors and scientists? What’s to be done with them?
Midnight smiled at the ring of anticipation in Benson’s voice. “Nothing, my bloodthirsty friend. Most are already on their way to Texas, accompanying the serums to another laboratory. Our work is far from finished, but this incident helped me select our next target for the mind-control test.”
“Where?”
“The Navajo Reservation, of course. The Four Corners area specifically. If Begay wants to mess with us, his people will pay. The water-soluble serum is almost ready. When it is, we’ll hit any of the Rez’s communal water supplies or contaminate the ground water. Let’s see how much bedlam a little mind-control serum will cause.” Midnight smiled. “No one will be the wiser when people start to kill each other.”
Suddenly, the lights went out. It took a minute for the backup generators to kick in, but when the emergency lights came on, both men bore weapons in their hands.
The glint of anticipation in Benson’s eyes pleased the admiral. “It appears our guests have arrived. Go greet them, won’t you? I’m so sorry they won’t find our accommodations welcoming, but life as a lab rat is a bitch sometimes.”
Chapter Sixteen
“What the hell? Why did the lights go out?” Alex frowned, hating situations that changed without notice, especially when he wasn’t the cause.
He and Samantha had maintained their perch overlooking the compound, preparing how they’d strike for the greatest effect. Blowing the transformers had been first on his list.
“Maybe they’re trying to track your heat signature again, and the lights interfered,” Samantha offered. “These boulders probably block your output.”
“Or maybe they’ve found us and snipers are using infra-red scopes on us now. Disappear. That way your temperature will be colder or non-existent and they’ll focus on me.”
“And leave you the main target?”
“I heal faster than you do, and if they can’t locate you, there’s a chance you can rescue me and the others, should
the need arise.
With a click, the emergency lights came on, much dimmer than their original counterparts. Down below, heavily armed men bolted from one protective shelter to the next.
She hunkered down as close to the ground as possible and still see the activity below. “They’re searching for whoever caused the electric failure. Maybe it wasn’t their doing.”
Alex had intended to zap the huge perimeter lights, but now it seemed someone else had had the same game plan. The question was if the culprit was friend or foe?
“This could be a trap to draw us out,” he said. “At least, this position is still secure. Once I blow the emergency generator, that’s going to change. You should slip away from me now.”
“Wait a minute,” Samantha exclaimed. “Did you see that guy limping from the back of big Quonset hut? He went into the tiny wooden storage shed. He had a toolbox in his hand and his movements were furtive.”
“Aren’t everyone’s at this point?”
“Not like this. He looked guilty, not scared. More like he’s the one who blew the security system.”
“That’s a big conclusion to jump to, based on how far away from us he was.”
“That’s not the only reason,” she added, “Because of the lights situated behind the shed, I could see his silhouette through the windows. He, suddenly, disappeared.”
“Disappeared? The same way you vanish into thin air?”
“No,” she whispered. “Down. Like there’s a tunnel or secret passageway in there and he went into it.”
Alex scanned the compound again, figuring their odds. The shed was at the outermost reaches and no guards were there. “Then, I think you just found our way in.”
“I hope so, because if they catch us in that little shed, we are dead.
A few seconds later, a second explosion went off in the Quonset hut. The back-up generator failed, plunging the entire compound into darkness.
“I think that’s our cue,” Alex said. “Let’s go. If it’s a trap, we’ll know soon enough.”
They reached the small shed and threw themselves inside.
Far to the left, personnel, armed with guns and flashlights, swarmed the buildings. Most surrounded the Quonset hut that must have housed the emergency power generator.
Crouching low inside the shed, Alex made the tiniest of flames to illuminate the cluttered interior. He grabbed a pickax and shoved it through the metal security fixtures holding the door closed, ensuring it remained that way.
Samantha yanked him toward the back. “Look, the guy cleared away the tools and dirt covering this steel trapdoor.” A broken bolt lay scattered to one side and impressions of boot prints surrounded the closed metal hatch.
Alex whispered, “That soldier knew exactly what he was doing. Let’s follow him.”
A strong flashlight shone through the window, illuminating a small square of the dirt floor, then swept across the opposite wall full of tools and ladders. Another person jiggled the shed door. The pickax slipped a bit, but held. If it fell, the resounding clang would guarantee the shed would be riddled with bullets within seconds.
“This door’s locked,” said a deep male voice right outside. “I’ve been in this shed before. There’s nothing but a bunch of stupid gardening tools.”
“I don’t know,” said a second voice. “I thought I heard a noise inside when we came up. I’m going to shine the light around some more.”
Samantha vanished just in time as the beam of light swept across where she’d been kneeling. Alex remained pressed to the furthest wall.
“Okay, that’s weird. I could swear I saw something, but then it was gone.”
“Probably a rat.”
“Think whatever you want, but I’m going to find someone with infra-red goggles to scan the shed, then use keys to open it. Keep watch, until I get back. This is not the night to take chances.”
“Why don’t we just bust the door down?”
“Because, if I’m wrong, Midnight’s going to have a fit that we damaged his shed. He’s killed people for less.”
The other man hesitated. “And if I hear another suspicious noise from inside?”
“Blast the shit out of the shed and hope we end up being heroes.”
Samantha reappeared beside Alex and met his gaze. They didn’t have much time.
He shifted position and carefully lifted the cover of the hatch and looked down into the black maw below. He gestured, indicating that she go first. She signaled for him to go ahead instead. He wasn’t happy about her choice, but it was hard to tell if staying or going would prove more dangerous at the moment. The thought that she could disappear helped.
She dug out her red-lensed mini-light and held it down inside the hole and flashed it on and off. The two second glimpse revealed a set of almost vertical metal stairs, like those on the interior of a battleship, descending into the depths.
Alex, thanks to his Naval background, was down in seconds. Samantha took much longer, the footing awkward for her to maneuver, especially in the dark.
She’d made it half way down, then Alex reached up to encircle her waist. He lifted her and set her on the floor. Then, he climbed half way back up and quietly secured the metal door. They’d have to blast through the hatch to get in now.
Even as he thought it, an explosion went off, right above him, knocking him to the floor.
Screams and angry shouts filled the air as all hell broke loose on the surface.
Before Alex could rise from the concrete, the first of several darts hit his back.
“Where the hell is Benson?” the Admiral yelled over the sound of the rotor blades. Two choppers sat on a helo pad at the opposite end of the compound from the explosions. Eddies of dust and sand whirled around the crafts.
Midnight checked his watch and fumed. “He’s supposed to have brought Ramirez and Northridge here already.” Winters couldn’t get to them or the plan was screwed. The three SEALs together might be too powerful to subdue. “Contact Benson about the hold up, and remind him to grab Dr. Gennaro, too.”
A new recruit ran up to the Admiral. “Sir, they’ve got Winters. Shot him full of tranqs. He’s down, last I heard.”
“And the woman?”
“Nothing was said about her.”
“Find out,” Midnight snapped. “I need her alive and mostly unharmed, though I’m getting less picky by the minute.”
“Got it, sir.”
Using her sense of touch and her invisibility to advantage, Samantha yanked out the darts before the men could reach Alex with the chains she heard clanking.
An unknown male voice echoed down the passageway, “They have infra-red goggles.”
So light would temporarily blind them.
Alex flared up, both fire and lightning shooting from his hands. Anything flammable combusted.
The armed men screamed and clawed at their goggles, trying to dislodge them before the searing light burned their retinas. Half the weapons fell to the floor.
Alex and Samantha both grabbed one.
“Go,” Alex whispered. “Find your father. I’ll follow.”
Samantha worried about leaving him, but he seemed unaffected by the tranquilizers. He took down their attackers in quick succession, Samantha raced down the hall, wondering where to go next.
“Gennaro,” a man called to her. The same one who’d warned Alex of the goggles. “Follow me. I know a secret way to your father.”
“I have a gun on you,” she spat back, unready to trust anyone.
“And there are six men with Kalashnikov PPK-12s stationed outside your father’s room and Kirlian sensors inside, waiting for you. You’ll never rescue him without me.”
Dammit. Russian submachine guns and Kirlian photography? Who were they dealing with? This guy was right. Even invisible, she’d never make it past six soldiers with the latest version of an AK-47.
“All right,” she said. “Show me, but if you screw up, they’ll see and shoot you first.”
�
�They’ve already done it once.” He stepped out from a small doorway, his gait uneven, and briefly shined a red lens light on his scarred forehead. Powder burns from a shot fired at point blank range encircled a healing bullet wound right between his eyes. “I lived through this. Maybe I will again, but—” he raised his own weapon, the barrel pointing elsewhere. “I won’t go down alone this time.
“You fricking bastard, Carleton.” Alex stepped up beside Samantha, then stood between the two, shielding her. “Tell me why I shouldn’t take you out now?”
“You know him?” Samantha asked.
“Yes. Lieutenant Commander Carleton. Second in command for my SEAL Team unit. He betrayed me and everyone else, apparently, for this.”
“Alex, he’s the one who helped us back there. The one who yelled about the goggles.”
“Why?” Alex asked, his suspicion clear.
“They tried to kill me, too,” Carleton responded, showing the bullet wound. “In doing so, they destroyed part of my brain, but freed me from whatever mind control they had over me. All I want now is revenge.”
Samantha touched Alex’s arm. “He knows where my father is.”
“And Ramirez and Northridge, too,” Carleton added. but we have to move fast. Midnight’s evacuating them.”
Blood surged and fire lit Winters’ hands. “The Admiral is behind this?”
“Yeah, and it’s big. If we live through this, we need to talk.”
The Admiral watched as the heavily armed guards dragged the chained and drugged Ramirez to the chopper. “Where’s Benson? I have to leave.”
“He should be along with the other SEAL soon. First, he had to check out one of the search parties who stopped responding.”
“The ones who trapped Winters?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
As time passed, the Admiral’s certainty grew that Winters had escaped. He wanted the man dead. The SEAL had screwed things up over, and over again, and Midnight wouldn’t tolerate it. The bastard would be sliced up for slides and studied.