Masked (24 page)

“Well let’s make sure I can stand
first,” I said.

With some effort I lowered myself
from the table. I was able to stand; not exactly steady but I quickly gained my
balance.

“They’re moving,” Alex said. “It
should only take them ten minutes to get here.”

Alex tossed Sara and I each a
holstered weapon. I inspected the weapon. It was just like the sonic weapon Sara
had used in the tunnels.

I looked up at Sara. “Just point
and shoot?”

“That’s it,” Sara said. “These
are just in case Alex does miss.”

“Those will knock an elephant on
its ass,” said Alex.

“Or as you have already seen, someone
like us,” Sara added.

“It’s still midafternoon out
there and it's a bright sun shiny day, so you’ll need these.” Alex passed over
a black face mask, cap, goggles and gloves to both Sara and I.

We finished gearing up and moved
out of the truck, which was just a generic looking black tractor trailer rig. The
words TRT Trucking Co. were painted on the side. Once Alex closed the back
doors of the trailer, the truck started to move.

The deserted industrial complex was
everything you would expect from a condemned factory used for a secret
rendezvous. The site was in ruins, scattered with debris and what remained of
the buildings was looming and decrepit.

We’d arrived via the only road to
the facility. It led to an open parking area that sat in front of the central
building, which was the largest of the four or five structures I could see.

To the right of the central
building, were two smaller buildings, one directly to its right and the other
to the right and forward. On the central building’s left, there were two
similar buildings positioned much the same way as those on the right. Behind
the left side buildings, was another structure, taller and narrower than the
rest.

Old metal, grease and something
rotten combined to give the complex just the right ambiance.

“Alright, I’m going to position
myself on the top of the building directly to the left of the central building.
I’ll be able to see their approach. Our friend will let us know when they’re
close. Once in range, I’ll load them up. If something goes wrong, well that’s
what those are for,” Alex said and then gestured at the sonic weapons.

“We’ll be positioned just behind
that same building. There’s plenty of cover, just in case they do slip past
Alex,” Sara said with what I could imagine was a sly smile behind the mask.

“You know I may just let them
slip by just to spite you,” Alex said and then took off at a jog towards the
building, a rifle in hand.

“Are you ready?” Sara asked.

“As ready as I’m going to be. If
we can help them, let’s do it,” I said.

“I’ve sure missed you. Have I
told you that yet?” Sara said.

“I think you’ve mentioned it. I’ve
missed you so much.”

We stared at each other for
several seconds in silence, face mask and goggles to face mask and goggles.

“Here take this,” Sara said as
she handed me a small earpiece, breaking the silence. “Just put this in your
ear. It’ll link you up with the rest of us. Anything you say will be heard by
the group as well as you will hear what anyone else says.”

I took the ear piece, moved it
under the mask and inserted it into my ear.

“We better get going,” Sara said
and we moved into a jog towards our position.

A few seconds later Alex reported
he was in position.

“That was quick,” I said. “How
did you get up there so fast?”

“Vertical jump. We’ve upgraded
our PTD units.”

“Sounds like I need to get myself
one of those,” I said.

“We do have some pretty cool
toys,” Sara said.

Several moments later we were in
position behind the same building Alex was on. The open area was scattered with
broken pieces of equipment both large and small and various crates. We took cover
behind one of the larger crates, so we were facing the direction they were most
likely to approach.

“Alex, get ready. They’re here,” said
a female voice over the ear piece.

It wasn’t Sara so I assumed it
must be “their friend” the person who was driving the truck.

Alex’s voice came back. “Okay, I
see them. A black SUV is coming up the main road.”

“Okay, the vehicle has stopped at
the edge of the complex,” Alex reported over the earpiece in a calm, down-to-business
tone. “The windows are tinted and I can’t see whose inside. No wait, the doors
are opening. They’re getting out.”

It was silent for a few seconds.

“I have two figures dressed in
black combat gear, heads covered. They’re definitely Titan. They’re both armed,”
Alex reported.

“I have two signals moving
towards the facility. It’s them,” the unfamiliar female voice, their associate,
confirmed.

It was absolutely unbelievable
how only that morning I thought I was alone in the world, the only friends I had
ever known gone. Now, it was only hours later and I was reunited with the
people most important to me and working with them as if we were in some sort of
covert military unit, maybe a little half ass, but still.

I wanted to know what they’d been
doing for the past year. Who was this friend they kept referring to? I couldn’t
push the questions aside.

Sara and I were crouched in
position, side by side, silent, waiting for Alex’s next update. It was the
perfect opportunity to scan Sara’s thoughts, just for a second, to try and get
some answers.

I didn’t doubt they’d explain everything
to me eventually, but I didn’t understand why they had to be so vague and
secretive. Part of me said by doing so, I’d be violating the trust I should
have had with Sara, but they knew where I was for a while. They’d known I was
in the same city and they still let me go on alone.

As I tried to break through into
Sara’s mind, I felt a barrier. I tried to intensify my focus, but the temple
pain I hadn’t felt in weeks quickly started to build. I couldn’t break through
whatever the barrier was. I realized whatever was preventing me from entering
her mind must be the same thing that prevented Peter from controlling her.

Sara was looking at me, the dark
lenses of her goggles fixed on me. Her masked head faced me silently for
several seconds and then turned forward. She knew what I had just tried. I felt
like a jerk.

Alex’s voice came back. “Okay,
they’re in range. I’m ready to take them out.”

I had the sudden feeling Sara and
I were not alone and as if to confirm my premonition, Sara dropped next to me
without a sound. I pounded the PTD control as a reflex and appeared twenty feet
away from where Sara was motionless on the ground. I turned towards her and saw
a figure completely in black just another fifteen feet behind Sara. The figure had
a rifle raised and pointed at me.

I dove behind a nearby crate just
large enough to give cover and un-holstered the sonic weapon.

“Dammit!” Alex said franticly.
“They’re not dropping. I fired two darts at each and they had no effect. They’ve
spotted me. One headed into the building and the other is heading your way.”

“Sara is down,” I reported.
“There’s a third. They got behind us.”

“Is she okay?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. I jumped away
before they could hit me. I think the shooter was just using darts,” I said.

I was panicked and quickly trying
to decide my next move.

“I don’t see a third on my
sensors, only the two that came in from the front of the facility,” the female
voice said.

“Well there is a third. I
promise,” I spat back, irritated.

If all I learned, in our short
little briefing before our botched up trap was true, then the third soldier had
to be somehow different from James and Rachael. The third soldier wasn’t broadcasting
a signal, so he wasn’t being controlled by Titan, at least not in the same way
the others were. I thought maybe that meant he may not have the abilities the
rest of us had as well. I decided it meant my chances of succeeding in a rush
against the third soldier rather than whoever was about to turn the corner were
greater. Maybe.

My position was midway between
where I had seen the third shooter and the corner of the building either
Rachael or James would be turning from in any second. I lifted my head slightly
to see if the shooter was still where I’d seen him. Of course he wasn’t.

As long as he was still to the
same side of me, I had some cover but I was completely open to the building
corner.

“Hey! Mysterious friend,” I called
out to the unknown woman.

“Go ahead, Michael,” she said.

“Where are the two you can
track?”

“One signal is not moving at all,
still on the side of the building and the other is approaching Alex on the roof.”

“Yeah, I see the one up here. He’s
making his way towards me. I have some cover but not for …” Alex said but was
cut short.

I heard him blurt out a few four
letter explicatives and then nothing.

“Alex. Alex,” I said but got no
response.

“Dammit,” I shouted.

There were at least three Titan
agents and it was most likely just me left. Well, just me and the truck driver.
It sure had been one heck of a plan.

To my left, about fifteen feet
away, was the building. The back of the structure wasn’t completely flat. There
were several places where the back wall cut in a few feet for a six foot wide
alcove in each instance. One of these indentations was directly across from me.
I thought getting to that position would let me better see the area in front of
me and still have some cover, as long as the third agent was still somewhere in
front of me. I jumped to the alcove.

I appeared right where I had
estimated and scanned the area with one hand on the PTD control and the other
holding the sonic weapon, ready to jump again. I could see the place where Sara
still lay on the ground not moving.

Seeing Sara laying there
motionless, made me instinctively want to rush to her, to help her. A stupid
move like that though would have been just… well, stupid. The shooter had used
darts. That meant capture, not kill. At least that seemed to be their initial
aim. Once they had us, our disposal could be next on their list of to do’s.
People of our type were far easier to incapacitate and then kill than to just
out right kill. We were too damn resilient to the results of conventional
weaponry.

I scanned the area, ensuring I had
as much cover as possible from the area now to my left.

“Hey. Are you still there?” I said
in a whisper as I looked for movement. “Mysterious friend?”

I sure wished I at least knew
what to call her.

There was no reply.

At first I couldn’t see anyone
else, no sign of the attacker, and then behind a large rusted piece of
machinery, a large shaft of sorts with discs spaced a few inches apart, I saw something.
There was dark movement between the small gaps in the spaces between the discs,
smothering the lighted space on the other side.

I didn’t hesitate. I jumped the
sixteen feet the PTD was set to, closing the twenty-five foot gap to the
machinery.

I fired the sonic weapon at the
machinery and the person behind it, not knowing the range of the unfamiliar
weapon and hoping I was close enough. The weapon made the same thrumming sound
as it had when Sara used it before and the agent I targeted stammered out from
behind his cover, hands at his head, and then collapsed to the ground.

There was a crashing sound,
distant, that came from above, on the rooftop, and then a crunch of gravel not
so distant. I spun to my right to see another Titan agent right behind me just
as his fist said hello to my jaw with a right hook and a crunch.

The blow was powerful, throwing my
body off balance and causing my hands to drop the weapon. I hit the ground and
rolled instantly onto all fours. I was moving to stand when a boot hit the side
of my face. The even more powerful impact of the kick caused me to twist back
and flip.

I hit the gravel again, this time
landing on my back.

Looking up from the ground, I saw
the darkly clad Titan agent standing above me with weapon raised. I didn’t get
a chance to recover before the agent fired a shot.

Luck was on my side and the dart
hit the leather of my weapons holster. The thick material didn’t allow penetration
through to my skin and I used the time it took for him to realize the shot was
ineffective to sweep my legs out.

I caught the attacker with my
legs and twisted, sweeping his legs out from under him and sending him to the
ground. I used the momentum to jump back onto my feet. I rushed to my fallen
weapon and had it pinned on the now downed agent before he had any chance to
recover.

Behind me was a loud crunch and
out of reflex, I turned back to see the cause. There was Alex’s crumbled form lying
motionless on the ground. There was a swift black movement right above me as
another agent appeared in midair already in motion with a downward punch. The
blow met its target, my unprepared head, and I stumbled backwards and into the
now standing form of the agent I had just downed. With another right hook to
the head, I was sent spinning and falling back towards the ground.

This time it took several seconds
to gather my wits. There are only so many times you can get hit in the head
before it starts to affect you. I looked up and saw the two black forms of the
agents standing above me with their weapons raised.

“That is enough, Michael,” said one
of them.

The voice was a man’s voice, a
familiar voice, James.

“No permanent harm has been
inflicted yet. We can end this now. Come without any more resistance and that
will stay true.”

“James. I know they’re
controlling you. Fight it. You’re not their puppet. You’re more than that.” I didn’t
have much hope my words would really do any good.

I heard movement in the direction
where I’d hit the agent with the sonic weapon.

“Are you functional?” James asked.

There was a second’s pause and
then an unfamiliar male voice responded. “Yes, the effect of his weapon has
subsided.”

The agent came into view and stood
with the others.

“Good. Get the female you put
down over there,” James ordered pointing towards where Sara still lay.

Less than a minute passed before he
brought over the limp, unconscious form of Sara and dumped her unceremoniously on
the gravel just in front of where I still sat.

“For all we can do, as powerful
as we are; it is amazing something so essential to all life is the one thing
that can harm us so easily. It is so dangerous to us we dare not come out in it
unless impeded by all of this cover,” James said, gesturing his hands from head
to toe.

“We would prefer to take all
three of you back alive. Those are my orders. However, two would be acceptable
if I find it necessary to employ certain measures,” James said and then gestured
his goggled gaze towards the motionless Sara.

“How convenient the sun is in
just the right spot to shine down on us here.”

I hadn’t noticed, because the
shielding from the goggles blocked out the light but he was right. The sun was shining
directly on the area we were gathered.

“I would like to take one of you
back still conscious. It looks like you are the one, but don’t think you can
use that as leverage. There is plenty we can do to make you comply and plenty
we can do if you try not to. If you come quietly, we will all make it back without
incident.”

I laughed. “Yeah, safe and sound
and then made to be the puppets of those bastards like you three?”

“I have explained the situation.
You know the consequences of any action you try to take. If you do not comply,
Sara is the one who will suffer. As you know, it only takes a matter of minutes
for the sun to completely consume us.”

I was surrounded by three armed
agents, all with the same abilities as me and probably with more extensive
combat training. The chances were extremely slim I’d be able to overcome all
three of them without getting Sara, Alex or myself hurt or killed. I couldn’t let
them take us back to the HUB.

“Okay. What would you like me to
do?” I asked; having decided compliance with their demands was probably the
best course of action for the time being.

James made an upward motion with
his weapon.

“Get up. We are moving into the
building.”

In my apparent, complete
compliance I got up and walked towards the door he’d motioned to. James and the
other two followed carrying Sara and Alex.

The section of the building we
entered looked like it used to serve as a warehouse area for the factory. Old
grease and rusted metal filled the air of the open space, stronger than
outside. Evidence of the heavy shelving used to fill the space still remained as
large pieces scattered the floor.

James led me to a position just
inside the door and ordered me to sit on the ground with my back against the
wall. The other two dropped Alex and Sara’s motionless bodies another twenty
feet from where I sat.

The agent I had hit with the
sonic weapon went back out the door. That left James and Rachael with me. They
removed their headgear and looked down at me. They were two more faces I
thought I’d never see again before three weeks ago when they ambushed me. Now there
we were again, my stupid ass once again duped into their trap.