Special Forces 01 (42 page)

Rys shook his head a little. He could almost imagine the myopic tunnel vision in these men’s eyes, diminishing their peripheral sight to the point that they couldn’t see anything but their presumed target. He knew it was just a by-product of intense stress and fear in these situations, but still... He waited until the last man was in before giving the mental command,
Now, Erksome.

Erksome calmly closed and locked the door behind them, clicking the electronic release of the catalyst on the plug inside the room as he did so. There was an instant result that was almost anticlimactic. You could barely hear the thuds as seven bodies hit the floor before they were aware that there was anything amiss.

Rys didn’t pause to savor the moment, just waved everyone back out of the room, heading straight for the elevators at the far end of the hallway.
Gremlin, have you tapped into the comm channels?

“Yes, sir. I just used their security code to alert them that their men were ambushed and made an urgent request that they send reinforcements. There was a residual of the squad commander’s voice pattern still in the buffer, so I tapped into that and made the request using his voice in real time. His own mother wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

Good man.
That safely pared down another five men or so, as any seasoned commander would immediately send backup to blockade that stair well to prevent intruders from gaining access to the higher floors. There was several more gift packs waiting for them in the electrical sockets in and near the stair wells. These had sensitive proximity switches that would release the catalyst and insure them a very long and restful sleep. Excellent, that was roughly half the Nova force kissing the tiles on the floor, and so far not a shot fired.

They reached the main elevator and Gremlin triggered the doors without it showing the elevator was in use. Rys urged everyone quickly inside, turning and giving a boost to Miles so that he could reach the emergency hatch on the top. Miles popped it open with a single grunt of effort before hauling himself up. By the time the elevator doors slid silently closed, Seger had already planted a flashbang on the motion sensor for the doors. Erksome and Becks scrambled up on top of the elevator with Miles.

Rys surveyed their work and was satisfied with the results. The canister tucked neatly into an access panel. Pity there wasn’t an electrical outlet in the elevator. He put his foot on the hand railing and hauled himself up after Seger. The top of the elevator was very crowded with five fully armed men crouching on top of it, but they managed. The gears quietly whirred as the elevator rose, as it automatically responded to a request for service. As they passed each floor, the seconds ticked by unrelentingly, as if they were coated in molasses. There was only so much time for them to arrive at the third floor. If it took too long, the Nova commander might suspect that something else was going on and shift people around, putting Rys’s team badly out of position. For the sake of the hostages lives, and for the safety of his own men, they could not afford to be even a few seconds late.

In a space that was never designed for more than rudimentary ventilation for the machinery, it became stifling very quickly. Rys blinked sweat out of his eyes, feeling it begin to trickle down his torso.

The Novian commander, being no fool, knew that if they didn’t come up the stairs then they would come up by the only other possible route – the elevator. Rys had clicked on his DIVs when they passed the first floor, looking up so that his enhanced vision could penetrate through the walls of the elevator shaft as they went up. He could make out two men standing guard in front of the elevator, rifles at the ready. He could also pick up that there was no electronic signature on their goggles. That meant that they either didn’t have DIV capability, or they were shut off. From their perspective it made sense. They knew that Rys’s team had to be on the elevator, as it was the only unexpected movement in the building. Why would you use the DIVs, risking disorientation at a critical moment, when you already knew what was coming?

Of course, that erroneous assumption was going to cost them.

A pleasant chime announced their arrival on the third floor.

The doors automatically opened, only to reveal an empty car. The Novians knew that something was up. Rys watched as they cautiously approached, talking to each other in wary speculation. From what he could catch of their conversation they were thinking that the empty car had just been a diversion to draw their attention away. He waited until they were both within two feet of the doors before giving Seger a nod.

With a beatific smile on his face, Seger set off the flashbang, blinding the two Novians and making them drop to their knees in agony. Becks, being the quickest shot, dropped instantly out of the hatch and shot them both with a tranq dart. Perhaps it was not as easy a transition to dreamland as their comrades, but they were definitely out for the duration.

Miles dropped down next, rifle in his hands, and skirted the two downed men as he headed straight for his assigned position. Rys led everyone else into an empty office next to the elevators, as he had no desire to be in a possible fatal funnel of cross fire by remaining in the hallway.

It took thirty nerve wracking seconds before he heard finally Miles say: “
Rys, I am in position.”

Copy that, Miles. Go.
Rys tried switching to the frequency with all the cameras, but whatever control system Gremlin had them on was unfamiliar to him and completely inaccessible in his current mode. Giving up, he pinged Gremlin.

“Sir?”

Narrate for me; I need a play by play of Miles’s activities.

“Yes, sir.”
There was a pause as Gremlin no doubt panned through several camera placements to locate the other Captain. When he found him, he instantly dubbed it over with a blank loop, in case someone else was watching at that moment.
“He’s in the room directly above the President’s bathroom. He’s laying down surface detonators on the floor. Oooh, nice pattern!”

Gremlin….
Rys’s tone only one step away from a growl.

“Sorry, sir. The no-go standing guard on the President is firmly parked near the bathroom door. He’s not moving an inch any direction; his back is to the door and he is facing the President. Captain Diener put the charges directly above his head. Okay, he just set the first cascade charge and backed away…”

There was a muted concussive sound, followed by the unmistakable echo of explosives going off in a small, contained area.

“…and he just jumped into the room, using the guard for a mat to cushion his landing. The guard is out of the game. Our snipers hit both of the guards in the President’s office. Top marks for a perfectly timed landing on the floor! Diener is urging the President to go up a rope. The President is shaking his head and looking up at the rope. I doubt if he has the strength to get up that rope, he is pretty chunky. The Captain just tossed two PGs into the outer office to buy them some time.”

Two proximity grenades should certainly stop anyone foolish enough to burst through that office door.

“Four no-gos from the civilian hostage group are heading down to the second floor at a fast pace.”

The words were barely out of Gremlin’s mouth when the sound of men in heavy boots running on a solid surface reached his ears.

“That leaves you with two no-gos guarding the military hostages and another two guarding the civilians.”

Inside or outside the room?

“Outside for the military, inside for the civilians.”

Rys roundly cursed his luck. Why couldn’t they both be outside the room so he could safely snipe them and not worry about friendly fire endangering the hostages?

Seger, it’s time to provide our military hostages an edge. Becks, go with him and cover him.

Both men nodded in confirmation before easing the door open and quickly vacating the room. He knew the instant that they arrived in the adjacent hallway that held their targets, as there were two cries of alarm, quickly followed by two thuds as bodies hit the floor.

“Sir, the no-gos from the front entrance and the basement stairs have been drawn up to the second floor. Diener has run out of PGs and now he’s throwing everything he’s got.”

Rys had grimly expected something like this might happen. He knew getting the President into his hands and safely out of the building was his top priority.
Martin, Snails, I assume you’re helping.

“Trying to, sir, but it is difficult to see through all of the smoke and particulates that’ve been kicked up.”

He could well imagine. There must be little to no visibility in that room.

“Rys, they’re bypassing the door. I can see them through my DIVs; they’re trying to go through the wall to get in at us. I’ve got about ten seconds before they breach the wall of the bathroom.”

Thinking quickly, he ordered,
Head up the stairs. I’ll get air support to grab the President in a jerk harness.

“Roger that.”

Rys switched frequencies and tapped Major Ray.
Sir, are you following us?

“Barely, Captain. Your man is not overly generous with his supply of words.”

That was Gremlin, alright.
Sir, we need air support, NOW. My man will give you precise coordinates on where to pick up our cargo. Make it hot, Major, and don’t spare the engines.

“Understood, Captain,”
the Major calmly responded. “
Pick up for two?”

One,
Rys corrected.
The President is your only concern.

“…one, then.”

Rys flipped back to his team’s comm frequency.
Gremlin, give them the location, and tell them the story in real time. Miles, air support is inbound, this is going to be tricky. Stay in that room until the last possible minute.

“We’re not even in the room yet!”
Miles practically snarled in frustration.
“President or not, this man is seriously out of shape. Screw this.”

Rys wanted to poke Gremlin for a description of what was going on, but didn’t dare. Right now the priority was giving the pilot specific coordinates of where to go.

“Handing out the candy bars now, sir, we have quite an eager crowd,”
Seger happily reported. There was the distinctive sound of metal hitting the floor, almost like an assortment of guns being dumped haphazardly out of a duffel bag. Wait, knowing Seger, that was exactly what it was.
“That’s right, gentlemen, pistols for everyone! Ammo clips for you, and for you, and…no sir, sorry, no rifles. Not enough room in the bag, you see. But I am sure we can pick up a little something for you shortly.”

Rys rolled his eyes, in an appeal to whatever Guardian might be tuned in at the moment.
Seger, be serious.

“Oh, is this line still open? Sorry, sir.”

Not for the first time, Rys thanked the Guardians that Seger wasn’t his.

“There,”
Miles sounded relieved and a little exasperated at the same time.
“I had to go up first and pull him up behind me, but we’re up. Rys, where’s our air support?”

“It should be coming…now,”
Gremlin announced suddenly.

There was another, smaller concussive sound as the building took a hit. Rys didn’t need Gremlin to tell him that the hover jet had just shot a nice, big hole in the roof so that they could extend a line in for the President.

“Line is extended,”
Gremlin factually commented,
“the President is secured in his jerk harness, and they are lifting him up now.”

Snails, Martin, cover the airlift, if anyone even shows a mild interest in that craft you turn them into compost,
Rys ordered.
Miles, get down here on the double.

“On my way.”

“Erksome,” Rys murmured quietly to the man standing at his elbow, “it’s time to get out of this office.”

“I’d thought you’d forgotten about us, sir.”

Rys opened the door, peeked out either end, and went straight across the hallway into the opposite room. This particular office had wide doorways, allowing him a respectable shooter’s profile to take out the last no-gos. He waved his Lieutenant on, to the office directly across the hallway from the civilians hostages.

“No-gos on second level have realized that the President is gone. They’re heading back up to the third floor.”

No doubt to take advantage of the hostages still up here as human shields. The question was, which group of hostages would they be aiming for? Rys’s next strategic move would hang entirely on which group Nova valued the most, and tried to retrieve.
How many, Gremlin?

“I count three, sir.”

Three…plus the three still in with the civilians…good, they still had a chance to end this without anyone dying in the crossfire.
Seger, are our military hostages ready?

“Armed to the teeth and itching for a target, sir. We picked up some nice souvenirs on the way,”
Seger reported with evil glee.

That was a plus, there were sure to be some excellent marksmen in that group, no matter how long they had ridden a desk. Rys kept the office door cracked, just barely wide enough for him to get a view of the hallway. He saw it immediately when three men pelted back up the stairs, as fast as they could climb. He held his breath until he could see which way they were headed. Straight ahead, that meant he would have to move to protect the civilian hostages. If they took the right hallway, he could trust the military hostages with Seger and Becks to take care of it.

He let out the breath he was holding when they opted for the right corridor.
Seger, Becks, heads up, three no-gos coming your way.

“Copy that, sir, we will keep them entertained.”
Seger sounded delighted by this revelation.