Humanity Unlimited 1: Liberty Station (17 page)

Harry nodded. “But you’ve found a weak spot.”

“Right.” Cradock added a layer to the image. “Sewers. BenCorp has them wired, but we’ve spent the last six months hacking the security protocols. We’ll be able to bypass the alarms and slip inside their perimeter when the time comes. The tunnels have a spur that services the target building. We’ll be inside it with no one the wiser.”

“If you believe that, you’re an idiot.”

Cradock bared his teeth. “You don’t know me and you don’t know how carefully we probed this thing. It’s a real weak spot.”

“It’s a trap. My mother is like a spider. She likes people to think they’ve gotten one over on her, right up until the bear trap snaps shut on their hand. There’s no way she’d leave something basic like that unprotected.”

“I just said it was protected. We’ve spoofed all the security monitors. I had a team probe the sewers all the way to the basement of the target building.”

“I’m sure you did. And when your teams come in force, something you never saw coming would blow the shit out of you. I have a genius at security on my team. Let him go over what you have. If he agrees that my mother is slipping into dementia, fine and good. If not, you don’t lose dozens of men.”

“Fine,” Cradock said unwillingly. “Call him down. Use the desk phone. Cell traffic is blocked.”

It only took a moment to call Jeremy Gonzales. Harry returned his attention to the security man when he finished explaining the situation. “Is that where the fuel is, too?”

Cradock shook his head. “No. Mister Rogers has a factory in Northern Africa. They made deuterium-tritium pellets there for years. They have a large stockpile in storage. Unfortunately, the government collapsed and a warlord has taken over the area. He’s probably not aware of what he has under his nose, but there are militants all over the facility. They think it’s something they can use to make nuclear bombs.”

Harry chuckled. “As if anyone sane would allow that to happen after Tel Aviv. Israel turned most of Iran into glowing craters. Good riddance. You’re right. That’s a solvable problem. We can focus on the tough nut first.”

* * * * *

Nathan paused the porn on his tablet and answered the call on his encrypted cell. “Mother.”

“The women in your video are experts at restoring and safeguarding ancient artifacts. The kind of thing one finds in a Mayan pyramid. Or, I suppose, in an ancient spacecraft.”

“Not exactly helpful. Your man on the inside isn’t able to get a bug into Harry’s room and I’ve seen no sign that he or the engineer are coming out any time soon. We’re just sitting here spinning our wheels.”

“Perhaps not. I’ve heard that Harry is calling in his special operations strike teams. Some are on the way down to the spaceport right now. Your window to make any gains is short.”

Nathan sat up abruptly. “He’s calling in his shooters? How many of them?”

“How the hell should I know? All of them, as far as I can tell.”

“Shit. Once they lock the hotel down with that kind of force, we won’t be able to do a damned thing. We need to go after them right now.”

“Exactly my thought,” his mother said. “Except they’re not the most important thing in that building. If you can catch them, great. What I really want are the artifacts. I’m working with my people in Guatemala to take the sites away from Clayton, but he’s spent a prodigious amount of money. It won’t be easy, if it’s possible at all. We need to know what they’re looking at and get samples of it.”

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. “We’ll go in just as the sun goes down. The other teams will be close to landing and their guard will be more relaxed. He only has one team here and they’re probably not guarding the artifacts. In and out. We’ll need to evade the security response long enough to escape the area, though.”

His mother smiled. The small picture didn’t do her justice. “I know just the right kind of distraction to give you the time you need. Call my man and get this rolling.”

* * * * *

The doctors had set up their lab in a large conference room. Jess didn’t recognize most of the equipment, but imagined they used it to stop the deterioration of delicate artifacts. The two women had their heads together over the book.

They looked up as Jess and her entourage entered. Security was tight. There were two Rainforest guards outside and two inside, all in body armor and armed with automatic weapons. Clayton Rogers was taking security very seriously.

Jess’ guard detail peeled off and took up spots against the wall opposite the Rainforest security team.

“How are things going?” Jess asked.

Paulette Young gestured toward the book. “This is amazing. The pages are made from a material somewhat like plastic, but almost as flexible as paper. It’s obviously much more durable. The pen used an ink that bonded with the pages. It’s quite ingenious. I hope the pen turns up.”

“What about the writing itself? Has anyone looked into what language it might be?”

“We haven’t had any luck identifying it yet. It’s written from left to right and isn’t similar to any lettering that I’m familiar with. Rachel scanned it in and we have a search of our offline database running now.”

Rachel Powel gestured toward a computer. “We have samples of every known language on file. If it’s been used on Earth, we’ll find it.”

“What about the tools?”

“They seem to be made of the same material. We took a sample and sent it off to the lab. The tools don’t seem to have lost their tensile strength over the centuries. The only object that seems to have broken down is the satchel and even it has held together surprisingly well. I’m not sure there’s much for us to preserve, other than that.”

“There are other…objects being brought in. You’ll probably need more space.”

The scientist nodded. “Mister Rogers said that he has a lab building that will be ready for us tomorrow morning. It will be more isolated and not disrupt the hotel.”

A flash of light outside caught Jess’ attention. It was getting dark, so the flare was quite visible. Was a cargo shuttle launching off schedule?

She’d taken one step toward the window when Sandra tackled her like a linebacker and covered her with her body. The larger Allen was right behind the sniper and planted himself between the two scientists with his back to the flash.

The large windows blew out in a maelstrom of broken glass. A massive explosion roared in the distance. A few shards nicked Jess’ exposed arm and the sting of pain was surreal.

Her head rang with the aftereffects of the explosion. It was worse than when she’d fired the gun in the jungle.

Dazed, she almost fell over when Sandra yanked her to her feet. “Time to go,” the mercenary said. “Allen, clear the hall. We’re going back to the suite.” She keyed her radio. “Liberty Base, Long Gun. Condition Gamma. We’re returning via the stairs on the south side of the building.”

Jess didn’t have much of a choice. The woman almost dragged her back to the hall. Allen had his weapon up and covered the Rainforest guards as the three of them withdrew.

She didn’t think they were much of a threat. They’d been looking right at the windows when they exploded. The two interior guards were down, clutching their bloody faces. The guards from outside were staring at the destruction in shock.

The Rainforest guard assigned to them must’ve ducked. He had a long gash on the back of his hand, but was otherwise okay.

“Wait,” Jess said. “This had to have been an accident. Something exploded at one of the launch pads.”

Sandra didn’t seem to care. “That’s someone else’s problem. I’m getting you back where I can protect you.”

“What about the scientists and the priceless artifacts? We need to keep them safe.”

“They aren’t my responsibility.”

“Bring them with us. At least grab the book.”

“The other guards can see them to safety. Let’s go.” She dragged Jess down the hall. Allen sprinted ahead to clear the stairs.

The big mercenary had just disappeared when Sandra jerked to a halt and collapsed. Jess had just enough time to turn and see the grinning Rainforest security man pull his stun gun back from Sandra’s neck.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” he said as an automatic weapon started firing in the stairwell. “Mister Bennett wants you in one piece.”

Chapter Sixteen

Harry sprinted out of the Rainforest security center and appropriated one of their vehicles. He cut off a car full of tourists and floored the gas. He figured he’d be back at the hotel in less than three minutes.

“Liberty Base, Liberty Six. Client status?” He had a lot of experience multitasking in combat, but swerving to miss idiots in traffic was new.

“Shots fired upstairs. The protective detail is not responding.”

“Retrieve the client.”

“Copy.”

He cut across a field and made directly for the hotel. Jess didn’t have seconds to spare.

* * * * *

Nathan stepped over the body in the stairwell. Another mercenary, a woman, lay sprawled on the hall carpet. The Rainforest guard on his mother’s payroll stood behind the woman who’d shot him in the jungle. He held a stun gun held to her neck.

“Well, well. What an unexpected surprise!” Nathan said with a chuckle. He gestured for his team to continue past him. “Hit the lab. Take anything of use and kill everyone. Leave my father’s gift on the table.”

The woman trembled, deliciously terrified. It warmed his heart.

“Have you searched her for weapons?” he asked. “She has hidden depths.”

The man pinned the woman face first into the wall and started patting her down. His reach was limited with the stun gun planted on her neck.

“Idiot,” Nathan said. “Keep her still while I check her.”

He started at her ankles and felt his way up. She squirmed when he roughly checked her privates. “Get used to that. I’ll be examining you much more closely.”

“Bastard. I’m going to kill you.”

Nathan laughed. “If only you knew how many women have said that to me over the years. It’s almost an endearment at this point.”

He made a point of fondling her breasts as he finished patting her down. They were his favorite part of a woman and hers were magnificent. Gunfire erupted down the hall. It ended quickly and his team called back in that the room was secure.

“She mentioned a book,” the guard said. “She made it sound like that was the most important thing in the room.”

“Why didn’t you say that earlier, moron?” Nathan updated his team. They quickly reported that they had it.

The woman glared at him. “Harry won’t let you get out of this building alive.”

Nathan grinned nastily. “My brother will be very late to the party. And if you think his people will rescue you, well, you’re in for a very disappointing day.”

The floor jumped and the stairwell door swung open a little. The booby trap he’d left below had found some customers.

He glanced at his watch. “Time to make our way to the roof. Move it along, people.”

* * * * *

Jess knew that time was running out. If the bastard got her out of the building, she’d never escape. Right now, she only had him and the turncoat guard to deal with. She needed to do something while she could.

The guard had relaxed a little now that the heavily armed team had arrived. The damned stun gun wasn’t on her neck anymore. That gave her a small window of opportunity.

Nathan had his attention focused down the hall waiting for his people to leave the preservation room. Jess had to make her move now.

She jammed her hand under her blouse and pulled the pistol free. The guard gaped, probably having no idea what she was doing.

He recognized the pistol, though. She stepped away from him even further, wanting to keep him from grabbing her gun. He was still drawing his weapon when she had hers lined up on his head and pulled the trigger.

The results of that shot would feature prominently in her nightmares for years to come, if she survived.

She turned her attention to Harry’s brother. He had body armor and an automatic weapon. One that was swiveling in her direction.

Jess threw herself into the stairwell just as he opened fire. The doorframe disintegrated, spraying her with splinters of wood.

Allen Ellison lay sprawled on his back in a pool of blood. He didn’t look like he was breathing and his eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling. His weapon still hung around his neck.

She set her pistol on the floor, grabbed the rifle, and waited. If Nathan just came around the corner…

At the first sign of movement, Jess yanked the trigger. She quickly lost control of the automatic weapon. The barrel rose unexpectedly, but she forced it back down on target. The man’s burst went harmlessly to the side as he slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood. Her gun locked open surprisingly quickly.

It wasn’t Nathan. Dammit.

Jess listened to the shouts down the hall as she grabbed her pistol and retreated up the stairs to the next landing. If they came this way, she’d give them something to regret.

* * * * *

Harry was almost to the hotel when his windshield shattered. He’d just hit a big bump in the ground, so the bullet aimed at him blew out the dashboard instead.

He couldn’t stay in the sniper’s kill zone, so he floored the SUV and started swerving. The main entrance to the hotel was right there.

More bullets hit his vehicle, but missed him. He entered the area where passengers unloaded at what some might kindly call an unsafe speed and went right through the big glass doors.

He stood on the brakes and stopped just short of the front desk. He jumped out and ran past the shell-shocked staff to the stairs. Automatic weapons fire came from above.

He passed what looked like an exploded booby trap on the third floor landing. The lifeless bodies of a number of Rainforest security guards lay around it. He reached the hotspot and found his team already in place. Two of them were working on Allen, but it looked bad. Two more had just dragged Sandra in. A dead hostile lay sprawled just inside the hallway.