Damn. We have a small army of scientists trying to make heads or tails of those blueprints.
“Can you steal the real ones?” Sonya looked over her shoulder. “Do you know what the later phases are?”
Gaston shook his head. “They have me studying Quasing physiology relative to earth compounds. Penetra is only the tip of the iceberg. P1 is only the beginning that will lead to something even bigger. P3 is supposed to have planet-level ramifications. I’m not sure how everything is related. Here.” He handed her a piece of paper. “This is the best I can do. The Genjix are at the prototyping stage of P1 development. Here’s the material manifest for the next few months. The two critical ones are coming from Canada via Wisconsin by freight and Utah by air.”
Sonya took the paper and put it away. It was something at least. “We’ll have teams ready for intercept.”
He grabbed her by the arm. “Look, when I broke into their system last night, I tripped several security protocols trying to access the later phases. I covered my tracks the best I could, but they’re going to figure out there’s a mole in their midst soon. I need to get out.”
Sonya nodded. “I’ll talk to Command and see what we can do.”
Gaston kept his grip on her arm and pressed his face close to hers. “You don’t understand. Sean’s moving the entire research division to the underwater facility as we speak. It’ll be impossible to leave. They have a team going over the security breach right now. When they add all the bits and pieces left from my countermeasures, they’ll realize it’s me. And by that time, I’ll be trapped down there.”
Sonya’s hair rose on the back of her neck. Was Gaston asking to be pulled out right now? He couldn’t be serious! “I can’t authorize this,” she hissed. “We need to talk to Command. Can you wait until tonight? I can have a team ready by then.”
Gaston squeezed her arm harder. “I’m saying it needs to be authorized right now! By you. I need to disappear. If not, I’m a dead man.”
Sonya, you are not equipped to extract him. If what he is saying is true, you can be sure the tracers are on. If you pull him out now, you are endangering both of you. You have to get confirmation and back up from Command.
“But what if he’s right, Baji? If I don’t bring him back, he might not survive long enough for us to ever extract him.”
Gaston has been with the Genjix for six years. He should be able to survive three hours. We do not have an extraction team ready, nor do we have the procedures in place to smuggle him out of the country. When the Genjix realize he is gone, you will not be ready to protect or hide him. The odds of the two of you reaching a safe house right now are small; it would be extremely difficult.
Sonya’s mind raced as she tried to consider her options. Her instincts told her Gaston should leave with her now, but her experience told her it was a suicidal move. Even if they got to a safe house, the Genjix could just descend on it before they got a jammer. If they could assemble a team in place, there might be a chance.
“Baji, can we get a team to meet us at a safe house?”
Rapid response at best will be ninety minutes.
“Ninety minutes! How can it be this slow?”
We do not have a large presence in the Midwest. The budget does not allow for it. It is not like Western Europe where we can drop an army at a minute’s notice.
“That’s a long time to hold down the fort on my own.”
It is suicide.
“Gaston,” Sonya tried to keep her voice level. “It’s not a good idea. I don’t have the tracer jammer with me. They’ll know immediately if we go on the move. I’m unarmed, and frankly, I’m wearing sandals. We’re not going to get very far. At the very least, give me three hours. I promise you, I will be back with a team. We can jam the tracer and you can disappear.”
Gaston was squeezing her arm so hard it began to hurt. She could see the tightness around his eyes as he weighed his options. “Three hours, no more,” he said. “Theater on the Lake.” He slowly released his grip.
Sonya gave him a reassuring look and nodded. “Stay low, use protocol three contact handshake.” She turned around and walked as fast as she dared out of the tunnel toward the nearest safe house. She was on the phone with the Keeper within seconds of her arrival there. Within an hour, she was armed and ready to go. Within another hour, a squad of four other agents was assembled.
By two and half hours, they were heading to the rendezvous point. The sun was starting to set by the time they reached Theater on the Lake. It was an old building in a forested area just north of the beach. The area was quiet, with only the sound of cars from the highway behind her.
Sonya’s squad fanned out to establish a perimeter. She knelt down and made a fist with her hand. The squad settled in and waited. At the three-hour mark, all was still quiet. Sonya motioned for cover and moved up to the front door. It wasn’t locked.
She pointed at two of the agents to follow her in and they searched the small theater. Most of the interior was caked with dust, except for a portion near the entranceway; that area was spotless. She motioned to the other agents to search the area. Sonya bent down and sniffed the floor. There was a faint aroma of bleach.
A few minutes later, one of the agents called her into the restroom. He pointed at a soft portion of the concrete wall that was still damp. Sonya drew her knife and cut into the wall. It was patched recently. Embedded into the concrete, she found a bullet.
“Definitely a.45 ACP by the looks of it,” Sonya said. “There’s been cleaners here.” She dug out the bullet and rolled it between her thumb and index finger. Sonya shook her head and buried her face in her hands. If she had only listened to him. At least Gaston might have had a chance then.
You cannot blame yourself for this.
“Of course I can, Baji. I followed orders and protocol when I should have followed my gut. Damn it!”
She checked her watch and looked at the rest of her team. “Wrap it up.” There was nothing else they could do here tonight. Hopefully, she was wrong and Gaston could somehow get in touch with them soon, but she feared the Prophus would never hear from him again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: TRAINING WHEELS OFF
Zhu Yuanzhang was quick to accept me, believing that the Ho Lung had come to him in his people’s time of need. The people of the Han were currently in the oppressive grip of my own creation, as the ruling Yuan Dynasty were the descendants of Genghis Khan. As the leader of the Red Turban sect, Zhu preached a peaceful resolution with the foreign dynasty, balking when all others cried for war. Together, we planned to build a new world through peaceful means. Then one night, I received a visit from the Council.
Roen caught a glint of black hair fifty meters in front of him. It was on the other side of the street approaching the intersection. He kept his face looking forward, only glancing at his mark every few seconds. He nearly tripped on a fire hydrant as he hastened along.
You are too stiff. A good tail is always relaxed and blends in with the environment. Just pretend you are shopping like everyone else down the street. She just turned down Oak. Go!
Roen started sprinting, crossing in the middle of the street, causing a few cars to angrily honk at him.
Stop causing a scene. Blend, I said! That is important even when your mark is out of sight.
“If I don’t hurry, I’m going to lose her.”
Do not forget to report to your team.
“Oh yeah. Sorry. Sky Eagle, this is Training Wheels. I have eyes on the mark. Mark has just turned down Oak and proceeding… um… east, no, west. Mark is heading west. Did you really have to call me Training Wheels?”