Jude (sci-fi romance - The Ember Quest Book 5)

by Arcadia Shield

  This had to be Hell Cat. She’d imagined she’d look just like this. Octavia stepped forward, and the woman slowed. “Flame?”

  “It’s me,” said Octavia.

  Hell Cat grinned and opened her arms. “I’d recognize that sexy-ass voice anywhere.” She ran forward and engulfed Octavia in a hug. “You’re a tiny little thing.”

  “You’re just as I’d imagined.” Octavia smiled up at her. Hell Cat was over six feet tall and her curves were packed into a fitted jumpsuit.

  “Sexy and sassy, that’s me.” Hell Cat’s green eyes softened as she reached up and touched Octavia’s bare head. “I like this look. Maybe I should try it myself.” She flipped her long dark braid over one shoulder.

  “I didn’t get this by choice.” Octavia’s hand strayed to her head and then slid down her scars.

  The humor in Hell Cat’s eyes died. “I imagine you didn’t.”

  “Hold on for us,” said a deep voice from the shadows. “We don’t want to miss the fun.”

  Octavia turned and saw a broad-shouldered, grizzled man with a black beard and dreadlocks. He had three firearms looped over his shoulders and a pulse laser in one hand. Beside him walked a tall, thin, gray-haired lady, and a short, curvy brunette.

  “I’ve never seen three sorrier-looking sons of bitches.” Hell Cat grinned and slung an arm around Octavia's shoulders.

  “Love you too,” said the gray-haired woman.

  “You all know each other?” asked Octavia.

  “We meet from time to time.” The man extended his hand. “I’m Mad Dog. It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Flame. Or do you prefer Octavia?”

  “Either’s fine.” Octavia smiled. It felt like meeting old friends. She knew these people. She trusted them.

  “I’m Gray Fairy,” said the tall woman. “Just in case the hair color didn’t give me away. This is Ozone.”

  The women greeted each other.

  Octavia felt Jude’s presence behind her. She turned and held a hand out to him. “This is Jude Ember.”

  “Oh my, a real, hot-blooded Ember brother.” Hell Cat fanned her face with her hand. “My dreams have come true.”

  Jude’s eyebrows quirked.

  “Ignore her.” Mad Dog shook Jude’s hand. “She’s hot to trot for any fine-looking piece of ass.”

  “I’m flattered,” said Jude.

  “So you should be.” Hell Cat winked at him. “And ignore the women at your peril. Now, tell us what we can do to help.”

  Jude looked around the group. “It’s a big risk going in there.”

  “We’re up for a few risks,” said Ozone. “We wouldn’t be standing here if we didn’t know how to handle ourselves.”

  “This way,” said Jude. “Tobias is coordinating.”

  “Another Ember brother.” Hell Cat grinned at Gray Fairy and Ozone. “Our luck is in, girls.”

  “Lincoln’s here as well,” said Octavia.

  “He’s the hot one, isn’t he?” Ozone grinned.

  “They’re all hot,” said Hell Cat. “I’m not fussy which one I have.”

  “You might be disappointed,” said Octavia. “They’re almost all taken.”

  Hell Cat nodded at Jude. “Is this one yours?”

  Octavia glanced at Jude and saw him suppress a smile. “He might be.”

  “Then hands off, ladies,” said Hell Cat. “As for the others, we’ll see if they can handle us.”

  They joined up with the rest of the group. Jude made the introductions quickly. “Tobias, what’s the plan?”

  Tobias opened a 3D image of the building. “We’re hitting the power lines going to the building. There are five sites to attack: the four corners of the building and one inside. We set the explosives, and they will trigger a chain reaction that runs through the building.”

  “You want us to plant the explosives?” asked Mad Dog.

  “That’s right,” said Tobias.

  “We can handle explosives,” said Gray Fairy.

  Tobias nodded. “The timer is set on each one to blow in fifteen minutes. That will give us enough time to plant the explosives and get a safe distance before they blow.”

  “You make it sound so easy, sugar,” said Hell Cat.

  “I didn’t say that,” said Tobias. “We’ve already seen two rounds of patrols pass by since we’ve been here. Security is tight in this place. They want to protect this vaccine.”

  “I still can’t believe what they’re planning,” growled Mad Dog. “Those sick fuckers are going to kill off anyone they don’t think can give them something.”

  Tobias gestured to the 3D image. “Hell Cat and Mad Dog, I want you to take the south side of the building. These small buildings are set away from the main site, they house auxiliary power lines.”

  “The explosives will set off a chain reaction into the main building.” Mad Dog scratched his fingers through his beard. “Nice thinking.”

  “Ozone and Gray Fairy, I need you on the north side doing the same,” said Tobias.

  “We’re on it,” said Ozone.

  “Colton, you’ll need to run a mission on your own,” said Tobias. “Take the west side.”

  “I’m big enough to handle this without backup,” said Colton.

  “You can say that again, sweetie.” Hell Cat stroked his arm. “Are these muscles natural?”

  “Every hard inch.” Colton grinned at her.

  “Evan and Holden, you take the east side.” Tobias handed around bags of explosives as he talked.

  “What about me?” Lincoln still lay on the ground.

  “You’re staying here,” said Jude.

  “I can almost walk.” Lincoln flipped his feet up and down.

  “No can do,” said Jude. “If you collapse out there, this mission could go to shit.”

  “You’re saying I’m not reliable?”

  “I’m saying you’ve been badly injured,” said Jude. He looked at Tobias. “Where do you want me?”

  “Inside, with Octavia and me. We need to plant the largest pack of explosives in there.”

  Octavia felt Jude tense next to her, but he didn’t protest about her going inside.

  “Is everyone clear on where they need to be?” asked Tobias.

  They all nodded and spent a moment checking the map and explosives.

  “Is everyone ready?” asked Jude. “We’ll get one chance at this.”

  Mad Dog slapped him on the shoulder. “You can count on us.”

  “You need these.” Tobias passed around earbuds for everyone. “This is an open comms link. Activate it by pressing the earbud. Everyone will hear you.”

  “I’d better keep the cursing to a minimum.” Hell Cat grinned as she inserted the earbud.

  “Cursing is fine,” said Tobias. “Just keep everyone informed as to your movements. Good luck everybody.”

  After moving Lincoln to the concealed vehicle Tobias and the Hive Two squad had arrived in, the group divided into smaller units. Everyone headed into the darkness.

  Octavia kept close to Jude as they moved around the edge of the building.

  “The door we want is fifty yards in this direction,” said Tobias. “It’s a service entrance. It’s locked but not guarded.”

  Octavia scanned the gloom, trying to pick up any signs of the militia. It was quiet outside. The night felt like it was holding its breath, watching to see what they were doing.

  Tobias ducked down and inspected the door lock when they reached it.

  “There will be more security inside,” said Octavia. “It will slow us down.”

  Jude squeezed her arm. “We’ll get in and out. This will work.”

  She hoped it would. Even if they got caught after placing the explosives, that would be enough. They just had to make sure the State failed to distribute the vaccine.

  “We’re in.” Tobias stood back as the door clicked open. He poked his head into the corridor. “It’s all clear.”

  They followed him inside.

  “How
’s everyone doing?” Jude kept his voice low as they continued along the slate-gray corridor.

  “We’re at the location,” said Mad Dog. “Just breaking through the security and we’ll be inside.”

  “The same here,” said Gray Fairy. “Shouldn’t be more than five minutes and the explosives will be ready to go.”

  “Colton,” said Jude. “How about you?”

  “I’m waiting out some guards,” said Colton. “Looks like they’re taking a break right where I need to be.”

  “Take them out if you have to,” said Jude. “We haven’t got time to waste.”

  “Copy that,” said Colton.

  “We’re all good,” said Evan.

  “We’re almost there,” said Tobias as they hurried along the corridor and turned a corner, reaching another locked door.

  “We need to get through the security doors quicker,” muttered Octavia. “We’re wasting too much time.”

  “I’m going as fast as I can.” Tobias spent a couple of minutes deactivating the lock before inching the door open. “We’re moving into a central part of the building. We’ll find somebody here who will help get the rest of the doors open.”

  They hadn’t taken ten steps before Tobias raised his fist, signaling them to stop.

  Octavia held her breath. Two men wearing white lab coats rounded the corner, their gazes fixed on the port screen one of them carried.

  The dark-haired guy on the right raised his head. For a second, he stared incomprehensibly at them before blinking and coming to a stop.

  His colleague glanced up at him. “What’s the matter?”

  “Holy crap!” The dark-haired guy took two steps back.

  “Don’t go any farther,” said Jude. “Keep walking toward us. If you do as we say, you won’t come to any harm.”

  Both men stared at them with wide eyes.

  “What are you doing in here?” stuttered out the dark-haired guy. “You don’t have authorization to be in this building.”

  “No shit,” said Jude. “Do your passes open the doors in this place?”

  The dark-haired guy turned his fearful gaze to his colleague. “What if they do?”

  “Then we need them,” said Tobias. “Take off your passes and throw them to us.”

  “We can’t do that,” said the dark-haired guy. “We’ll lose our jobs.”

  “You’ll lose more than your jobs if you don’t do as we say.” Octavia leveled her pulse laser at them. “Give us your passes. Now.”

  With a shaking hand, the dark-haired guy unclipped his pass and threw it along the corridor. It hit Octavia’s boot.

  The other guy did the same, a scowl on his face as he slung the pass at Jude.

  “Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” said Tobias.

  Slowly, both men turned, faced the wall, and placed their hands behind their back.

  Tobias made short work of tying their hands together.

  “Whatever you’re planning, you won’t get away with it,” said the dark-haired guy.

  “Whatever you say,” said Jude. “Where’s the nearest storage closet?”

  “Storage closet?”

  “It’s either that or you wake up with a sore head and no job.”

  “Two doors down on the left,” grumbled the dark-haired guy.

  “Let’s go.” Jude marched them along the corridor before gagging them with cleaning rags and pushing them in the closet. He slammed the door in their faces and then jammed the lock. “Let’s go.”

  They hurried to the next locked door. The passes they’d stolen worked perfectly.

  Inching the door open, Jude checked the way was clear before gesturing the others through.

  “The room we need will be right around the next corner,” whispered Tobias.

  Octavia could feel the hum of power lines beneath her feet as they stopped by a door.

  Tobias scanned the card over the access panel. The light remained red.

  He cursed and tried again. The same thing happened.

  “We’ll have to break the lock,” said Tobias. “Those idiots we found don’t have clearance to get in here.”

  Jude ducked and looked at the panel. “There’s no easy fix to this lock. The quickest way will be to blast the panel.”

  “And bring guards to see what we’re doing?” Tobias shook his head.

  “Octavia, check the end of the corridor. I’ll go to the other end. We’ll make sure no one’s nearby,” said Jude.

  “What about people on the other side of the door?” asked Octavia.

  “It’s automated in there,” said Tobias. “If there’s anyone, it will only be a technician. They’ll be easy to deal with.”

  Octavia ran to the end of the corridor, her weapon tight in her grip. She looked both ways. It was empty. She turned and gave a thumbs up sign to Tobias.

  He nodded.

  Octavia held her breath as Tobias aimed at the lock and blasted it with his pulse laser. She waited a few more seconds before checking again. It was quiet. Hope slid through her. They’d gotten away with it. She raced back and joined Tobias and Jude.

  Tobias had the door open, his weapon raised as he looked inside.

  In front of them was a bank of computers.

  “We need the main power line.” Tobias walked in ahead of them. “Keep an eye out for any workers. I doubt they’ll be armed.”

  Octavia felt Jude’s reassuring presence by her side as they looked around the room. They were so close to success.

  “This is it,” said Jude. He stopped by a wall of lights, a series of cables fed into the panel. “Tobias, over here.”

  Tobias joined them. Octavia watched as he checked the power lines. “This is perfect.” He removed his backpack and set the first explosive.

  “Put this at the end.” He handed Jude an explosive. “We’ll trigger them at the same time. If one fails, the other won’t.”

  Octavia hurried alongside Jude to the opposite side of the room, tracing the power lines as they walked. She jumped as a switch activated, sparking a computer into life.

  Jude glanced up as he activated the explosive. “We’ll be out in a few seconds. Don’t worry, this will work.”

  She let out a sigh. It was if he could read her thoughts. “I know. I trust you.”

  “All set?” Tobias walked over.

  “Let’s do this.” Jude slid the door open and checked the corridor was clear before the three of them hurried out.

  He checked around the corner and cursed. “Six guards coming this way.”

  “Let’s try the other way,” said Tobias. “It will take longer to get out, but it loops around to an exit door.”

  Octavia’s heart slammed in her chest as they dashed to the other end of the corridor.

  Jude poked his head around the corner. “Shit! More guards. Shooting that lock must have triggered an alarm.”

  “That’s our ways out blocked.” Horror slid through Octavia’s veins. They couldn’t be caught now, not when they were so close to beating the State.

  Jude grabbed her arm. “We’re not done yet. We’ll hide, wait for the guards to pass. We’ll get out.”

  “Hopefully before the explosives go off,” muttered Tobias.

  Jude tried the first door in the corridor but found it locked. The second was open. The three of them hurried in. He eased the door shut. They were just in time. A few seconds later, the sound of several feet hurrying toward the power room could be heard.

  “If they find the explosives, they’ll disarm them,” muttered Tobias.

  “We need to cause a distraction.” Jude’s hand went to the door.

  Octavia grabbed his arm. “You can’t go out there.”

  “If we don’t take their minds off the disturbance in the power room, this will have been for nothing,” said Jude.

  “We go together,” said Octavia. There was no way in hell she would let him sacrifice himself so she could get out.

  “Octavia’s right,” said Tobias. “W
e go together. We can cause more damage that way.”

  Jude smiled at his brother before winking at Octavia. “Okay then. Let’s go and cause some trouble.” He inched open the door and checked along the corridor.

  The three of them crept out, Octavia being sure to keep a grip on Jude’s arm to stop him from doing anything stupidly heroic.

  They made it to the end of the corridor before a shout rang out behind them.

  “Run!” Jude grabbed hold of Octavia and propelled her along the corridor. Tobias was right alongside them.

  “We’ve got them,” yelled a guard as he rounded the corner behind them.

  “Keep going,” said Tobias. “We can get out up ahead.”

  Octavia pumped her arms, certain the guards’ footsteps were getting closer by the second.

  The door they headed toward opened. Three armed guards stepped through.

  Octavia skidded to a halt. She shoved Jude and Tobias along the corridor that branched off to the left.

  “This won’t take us outside,” said Tobias.

  “It will stop us from getting our heads blown off,” said Octavia.

  “Good point.”

  “We’re running out of time,” said Tobias.

  “We’ve got ten minutes,” said Jude. “We’ll find a way out.”

  Octavia glanced over her shoulder. Six guards pursued them.

  “Lab workers up ahead,” yelled Jude.

  “Don’t worry about them.” Tobias waved his pulse laser at them and they scattered.

  They raced past the startled-looking lab workers before turning another corner. There were more people around now. They had to get somewhere quiet, get away from the guards and the cameras that would be watching their every move.

  They concealed their weapons as they hurried past other workers. They turned down an empty corridor.

  Jude shoved open a door and discovered a row of lockers. “In here.”

  “I don’t think the guards saw us come in.” Tobias stood by the door, his pulse laser raised.

  They waited a moment until the hurried footsteps of the guards passed.

  “We’re good, for now.” Tobias turned and looked around the room.

  “Put these on.” Jude handed over two white lab coats. “We’ll blend in with the others and work our way out.”