“Okay let’s go,” Alastair said.
The eight of them moved stealthily out of the forest toward the imposing wall of the dish compound. The enclosure was even more impressive up close. It was more than twice his height. As they drew nearer he could hear the purring sound of generators. There were generators everywhere—at the Barnyard, at the stadium and now here. To Alastair, these generators were the voice of the damned.
Alastair pulled up the rear. Madison had insisted that Alastair not include himself in the raid, but he refused. Leaders didn’t cower in the darkness while their men were put in harm’s way, especially mule leaders. Besides, he needed to make sure the job was done right.
The dish compound was laid out as two concentric circles, an outer wall and an inner wall. They ducked through the outer wall one at a time, lining up behind a wooden dumpster. Along the inner wall were a number of doors but no sign of guards. From their position, two partially enclosed watchtowers could be seen perched above the walls, one to the East and one to the South.
“There are two in the south tower, and one in the east tower. I don’t see any patrols,” Rennick whispered. “It looks like the diversion worked.”
“Any way to take them out by stealth?” Alastair asked.
“I don’t think so. We have good clear shots.”
Alastair hesitated. If he gave the order, there was no turning back. But the presence of the circular abomination looming above him, this symbol of novation being so close, gave him confidence in their mission. “Do, it,” he said. “Take them out.”
Rennick issued the commands. “Guthrie, you take the left-most man in the south tower. I have the right. Santos, take the man in the east tower. Fire on my mark. Then we advance east.”
“Check.”
“Check.”
“Mark!”
Shots rang out. Two of the tower men were hit; one of them screamed in agony. They missed one in the south tower. He managed to duck down, and they lost sight of him. A moment later a rifle poked out and a shot was fired in their general direction.
Rennick pointed four fingers to a group of them. “You, take position under the north tower. We’ll stay here and try to finish off the south tower guard. Be ready for patrols and watch anyone coming out through the inner doors. Remember to stay on the northeast side of the facility.
The four men split off, keeping low as they circled around the perimeter of the enclosure.
For a few minutes, they exchanged periodic shots with the guard on the south tower, with none of them ringing true on either side. Alastair helped Rennick and another man pull up some old crates to create better cover for their position.
The man in the tower shot another flurry of bullets at them, and they all ducked down further. When they looked up again, two patrolmen had advanced along the inner circle from beyond their line of sight. These two had found cover at the base of the south tower.
Then a shot came in from another direction, flipping one of his men backward onto the ground.
“There!” Rennick said, pointing to a door that was slightly ajar on the inner wall. Two railroad men jumped out, firing again in their direction. They had a better angle than the ones near the tower. Alastair’s men fired back at them. They adjusted their cover and ducked down.
When they were comfortable they were protected, Alastair took a look at their downed man. He was shot squarely in the temple. It was a mule Rennick knew, a friend of his from a long time ago.
It was their first casualty. Alastair felt a strange lack of empathy for the man. Perhaps it was because he didn’t know him, or perhaps it was because Alastair knew there would be more—perhaps many more.
Rennick made a leveling motioned with his hand. “Stay down as much as possible. Suppressing fire only. Conserve your ammo.”
Alastair nodded. He looked behind them, in the direction of the north tower. His other men were around the corner. He couldn’t see how they were faring, but the echoing sound of gunshots and flashes of light suggested that they were similarly engaged.
This was it. They were held down, unable to move forward, both sides firmly entrenched. They were doing their part.
This wasn’t obsession, Alastair told himself. It was a one-time necessity. This wasn’t recklessness. It was a prudent course of action to prevent the recklessness of the railroad. It was competition, to be sure, but only because rational cooperation in the council had failed.
He felt comforted by the fact that in this moment of uncertainty he could consult the Credo—that he could still claim to be a devoted Adherent, perhaps now more than ever.
But the others better deliver, and fast.
TRULY A BEAST
“Well?” Mehta asked. “Is it time?”
“For someone who originally refused to go on this mission, you’re remarkably impatient to get it over with,” Owen responded, lowering his scope.
Mehta had slandered the mission from the get-go. He was only swayed once Flora adamantly insisted on her own involvement. How this changed Mehta’s mind Owen would never know, for any time they were together it was clear they didn’t see eye-to-eye. The two of them hardly ever spoke, and when they did it was like two children arguing over a lost toy. All of Monticello would brace for the inevitable flurry of yelling and name-calling.
At least Owen hadn’t seen any sign of these antics on the mission. At least not yet.
Mehta’s face was deadpan in the weak moonlight. “The fighting is heavy on the far side of the compound. There’s no one at the gate, and the towers are undermanned. That’s our cue.”
He was right, of course. “Okay, let’s go,” Owen said.
Mehta took the lead, waltzing out of their cover with reckless abandon, fully upright. Owen, Flora, and the handful of Yorktown men stayed low to the ground on their approach. Mehta applied the wire cutters to the fence while the rest looked around nervously. The only guard that could see them at the gate would be the man in the south tower, but he was focused on his targets on the opposite side of the compound.
Once through the gate, they circled around the perimeter southward and found the inner door Alastair’s man Ben had left unlocked. They opened it and went through, into the innermost circle of the compound. It housed a few sheds of various sizes, as well as the main dish control station and the massive dish perched on top of it.
Owen began by placing a packet of explosives close to one of the main structural supports that protruded from a side of the building. He let out a good fifty feet of fuse.
“That door, there.” Owen pointed.
Mehta tried it. It appeared locked, but it also looked to be made of a flimsy fiberglass. He kicked at the handle, and in three swift blows the door handle assembly fell to pieces. Mehta then pushed the door in, and they all followed.
“Stay here, cover our rear.” Mehta said to one of the Yorktown men with them. The man perched himself outside of the door.
Inside was an open room with a number of control panels in various states of assembly. Mehta stormed into the place, forcing a table of components into a wall with a crash. He pushed another rolling table into the opposite wall and began chasing after two men that were running to a door on the far end. They didn’t appear to be guards, although one of them had a gun holstered in his belt.
This man pulled out the gun as he ran, but he wasn’t nearly quick enough. Mehta grabbed his hand before he could take proper aim, and his shot went wide. Mehta wrapped the arms of the man around himself from behind and threw him at the other runner like a ragdoll. The impact made the other man trip and fall into the exit door before he could open it. Mehta then followed up by inserting his brawny hands into the entangled bodies, finding their skulls, and rapping them together, once, twice, and three times.