Legacy Of Korr (14 page)

“Anything?” Malcolm asked.

“Not yet.”

The ship circled the sky above the area enough times to get him dizzy, but Sarah couldn’t find anything.

“Charlie, let’s cover a bigger area,” Malcolm said.

Sydney was a huge city, and he had no idea where they could be, or if they were still here. The infiltration team, they were good, and they had a head start. They could be half way around the world by now.

Sarah opened her eyes, a victorious smile on her face. “Found him. A coffee place two blocks on the left.”

“Good work! Now, we need to draw him out.”

“We can land, follow him, and wait for an opening,” Dale said.

Malcolm’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at his watch. “No, I don’t want to miss my daughter’s graduation.”

“Isn’t she four?”

“See, the pressure is on. Every minute we waste, they get further.”

Sarah shrugged. “I can use a good cup of coffee.”

Malcolm gave her a long look. “Once you have him, signal for extraction.”

“I’ll change into something casual.”

She walked toward the back of the airship. A minute later, she showed in a T-shirt and short shorts.

Charlie landed the ship in a nearby park and opened the door for Sarah. Malcolm watched her saunter into the coffee shop.

“Which ruse do you think she’ll use?” Dale asked.

Malcolm looked at the T-shirt and short shorts. “Tourist from Perth.”

“No, Melbourne girl,” Charlie said

“With those shorts, it has to be Perth.”

Ten minutes later, Sarah exited the coffee shop with the pilot.

“Bring him home,” Malcolm said into his ear piece.

Sarah turned to the pilot, punched him in the face, and carried him through the empty street to the airship.

“Get us out of here,” Malcom said to the pilot before he turned to Sarah, “Lost girl from Perth?”

She smiled and shook her head.

“Melbourne?”

“No.”

“Tassie?” Dale asked.

Sarah laughed. “Bingo!”

Malcolm frowned and banged his hand against the wall. He thought he had this one. His captive recovered, opened his eyes, looked around, and tried to get up, but Dale pushed him down.

“Who the hell are you?” The captured pilot asked, his voice taut.

He was Australian.

Malcolm’s eyes opened wide, and his fingers clenched into a fist. He resisted the urge to punch the pilot in the face. How could an Aussie break into an army facility and steel top military secrets?

“Who do you work for?”

The pilot didn’t answer. He looked away from Malcolm who motioned Sarah to search him. She checked the pilot’s pockets until she found his wallet.

Sarah opened it and stared at something inside like a bomb about to go off. She waved the open wallet in Malcolm’s face. “ASIO pilot.”

Malcolm’s jaw dropped.

As if the assignment wasn’t complicated enough. Was it an official operation or was someone doing business on the side? One thing for sure, the pilot wouldn’t tell them. Malcolm threw a mobilizing button to incapacitate him.

“Should we call it in?” Dale asked.

“No, not yet. We need to know if it’s official business, or if he’s working for someone else. Our mission is still the same. We have to capture the rest of the team and take them to our base. Sarah, what’s the address?”

“It’s in Chatswood, just minutes away.”

“You got that, Charlie?” Malcolm asked.

“Yeah.”

“One down, five to go.”

They sat down in silence until they reached the industrial suburb north of Sydney. The ship hovered a block away from the innocent looking warehouse where the pilot worked.

“I don’t care if the ASIO Director General is having his morning tea inside the building. We go in like we always do. We hit fast, we hit hard, and we don’t leave without the infiltration team.”

The door of the airship opened. They jumped to the ground and sprinted to the building.

*****

An explosion shook the building. Violet and her team always got in and out without noise. These had to be soldiers. There was nothing subtle or quiet about them.

“Get ready,” Violet said.

She’d called in her team and told them they had to face a powerful foe—five enhanced Australian soldiers. Violet and her team were geared up, and she didn’t care who came forward. Whoever they were, they’d take them.

The sirens sounded in the building. ASIO agents and a sophisticated defense system opened fire and brought the soldiers’ worst nightmare to life. Violet ignored the deafening sounds and stood in a circle with her team. None of them moved.

“She is on the second floor with her team.” A female voice came from the ground floor.

“Dale, you’re up.” A commanding male voice sounded.

Violet frowned. “One soldier? That’s insulting.”

The soldier, Dale, appeared at the top of the staircase. He moved fast, evading the fire from the defense system. He dashed toward them.

She and her team stood still until he was two meters away. Violet flipped backwards to get out of his way. She jumped, pushing her palm forward to hit his nose. A metal plate in her palm delivered a massive electric shock to his face.

The shock didn’t faze him. He punched her with his right fist. Violet leaned to the right to avoid his punch. She raised her left leg and hooked it above his arm. She put her weight on the left leg and lifted her right leg to surround his arm and lock his elbow.

Dale couldn’t move his arm. With her body hanging from his arm upside down, Violet gathered her strength, lifted her upper body up, and punched him again.

His left fist blazed for a quick jab to her face. She leaned to the right and punched him. She delivered the same devastating electric shocks to his face.

The rest of her team attacked Dale. They, too, delivered the same shocks until he was on his knees. Five fists hammered his head until he dropped unconscious.

“Damn, my battery is out,” Violet said.

She replaced it as her agents tied up the soldier and removed him from the area. Violet recouped and moved downstairs with her team.

The army team captain delivered telekinesis hits, taking out the defense units and armed guards with the help of his soldiers. He saw Violet and lifted his hand to release a huge telekinesis wave in her direction.

She dashed to the side. With her body in the air, she threw a compact smoke bomb at him. It exploded. Smoke filled the room. The visibility was near zero, but darkness is where Violet was most comfortable. With her team, she took out another soldier and dragged him out of the area, shrinking the army team.

The leader waved his hands sideways in sweeping motion. Smoke cleared a little. Violet and her team withdrew from the area. Two special forces teams rushed into the hall in heavy armor and surrounded the soldiers. Before the soldiers reacted, Violet showed up. She stood between them and the special forces teams.

The team captain examined her face through the haze. “You need to come with us, Agent.”

“Where? You’re a long way from home, and we have your ship. I bet you thought being enhanced meant automatic win? Some of us are doing fine without enhancement.”

“You are good,” the Captain said and stepped forward with the two remaining soldiers. “If you want a fight, you’ll get one.”

Before they moved a muscle, she activated her cloak and vanished from sight. The special forces teams opened fire. Grenades exploded around the soldiers. Fire and heavy smoke filled the building. Small explosions went off in a quick sequence. It knocked the soldiers back to the walls, against the floor, and toward the ceiling.

Brushing off his pain, the team leader stood up. His eyes turned red. He pushed both his hands forward and sent a giant telekinetic wave toward the special forces team. They spread out, dashing through the air. Again, they fired their weapons.

His powers exploded. He tossed their grenades in the air with a quick swipe and sent more waves. He bashed the teams against the walls behind them. His body blazed forward in the air and chased the rest of the special forces teams at an incredible speed. When he stopped, they were out cold.

“Not bad,” Violet said, standing behind him. She’d taken down the last two soldiers in his team.

He spun around. His panting, bloody nose, and exhausted posture hinted he couldn’t fight much longer.

“You’re tough, but you’re outnumbered,” Violet said as she appeared steps away with her team.

More special forces teams flooded the place and surrounded him.

“There is no way out, Captain.”

*****

Noah skimmed through a large report about the aliens’ anatomy. Edward, the lead scientist, followed through on his promise. The final part concluded the secondary power core in Carilia’s body was likely implanted. It wasn’t native to the body, and they could extract it without harm—not that Carilia would agree to it. That’s why he had to carry on with his plan.

The IT analyst came to see him. He was excited. “We’ve finished analyzing the software. You’ll never believe this.”

Noah didn't expect the results back this fast. He thought it’d take weeks to crack the Korran’s programming. He motioned the analyst to take a seat.

“Their programming differs from ours, but they built a bridge that integrates into our software. We accessed the software on the spot, but extraction took longer.”

That's strange. They knew our software structure, and since they last visited Earth thousands of years ago, they must’ve been monitoring the planet. Why did they hold back this fact?

“What did you find out?”

“Everything. We have the designs for the enhancement process, the space travel technology, the ships, and the weapons.”

This was the best news Noah had heard since the Landing. They’re no longer restricted by the aliens’ level of cooperation. He thought of the possibilities, and they were unlimited. Enhanced soldiers, powerful weapons, instant travel, and a chance to survive the inevitable invasion if they acted fast.

“Isolate two clean software copies for me.”

“Sure.”

“Thank you,” Noah said and watched the analyst leave.

Noah finally caught a break. Aside from the secondary power core and the fact that they could’ve been watching Earth, this was good news. He walked out to Edward’s office in the second floor.

“Agent Noah, what can I do for you?”

“I have gone through your report, and I have a question.”

The scientist tensed up. “I will do my best to answer it of course.”

“If you have the Queen, you reckon you can remove the second power core without harming her?”

The question startled Edward as if he didn't expect it. Then a look of horror filled his face. The mere idea of operating on Carilia terrified him. An understandable, but naïve reaction. Doctors operated on patients to remove infected parts or plant new ones. They did whatever it took to make sure they’re healthy.

“Are… are you asking me to experiment on her?”

“No, I believe someone planted the second energy core in her body to dominate her thoughts, control her actions, and send information to a source in outer space. You’ll be helping her.”

The scientist was skeptical, but Noah knew he had no better explanation or evidence to refute this theory.

“Ok. I will get things ready.”

“Thank you,” Noah said, and left the office. More good news as long as they could put Carilia on one of those tables with minimum losses. It wouldn’t be easy, neither would his next meeting.

*****

Half hour later, Noah joined a high profile meeting with the Prime Minister, Jackie, the Minister for Defense, and his boss Matt. A meeting he’d been dreading.

“I asked you here to get a status update and to make sure we’re on the same page,” the PM said.

Jackie wouldn’t miss the opportunity to point out that ASIO detained her men. In Noah’s defense, this wasn’t the plan.

She glowered at him. “What the hell were you thinking?”

He didn’t comment. She was entitled to be angry.

“You leveled an ASIO building and used a handful of special forces teams to combat the army, our army.”

Noah rubbed his right hand with his left. “It’ll get worse. You should send Mara to retrieve the intruders and get your soldiers back.”

Jackie shook her head. “We’ve wasted enough taxpayers’ money. You got your software. Send the soldiers back.”

Noah smiled thinly. “Still.”

“Your funeral!”

The PM examined the two of them for a moment before he leaned forward in his seat. “Glad we got that out of the way. Now, where are we?”

Jackie glanced at the tablet in front of her. “Five ships capable of deep space travel and hundreds of enhanced soldiers.”

“If we keep going at this rate, will it be enough?” The PM asked.