“Nothing heard from the facility for over an hour,” Hayden reported. “Damn. Dudley could have gotten in and out by now.”
“My guess is — he won’t,” Komodo said unhappily. “That man loves his chaos and now he’s brought his friends along.” The soldier shrugged. “I’m surprised the Pythians are still using someone they can barely control.”
“We hit them hard in Niagara,” Smyth said. “Bastards are still in recovery.”
Hayden grunted in approval. “You’re probably right. Which means if we hit them just as hard this time we might take ‘em down.”
The facility appeared up ahead, the mountain rearing up behind it. Soft, sparse floodlights made inconsequential pools around the gated entrance, giving the impression of a low-level building. Kinimaka stopped the car right outside.
“Everybody out. Heads up.”
The night closed in. Hayden raised her gun and approached the entrance. Karin’s voice filled their comms. “Still no contact. It’s now ninety minutes.”
Smyth crouched at the gate. Beyond, splitting a patch of yellow light, a sprawled leg could be seen sticking out. “Contact confirmed,” he said. “Something’s definitely wrong here. Call the cavalry.”
Karin affirmed and then Smyth pushed at the gate. It opened easily. “We still have to secure those tablets,” he said.
“I don’t see any trucks around,” Kinimaka said as he ran through the gate. “How do they intend to move them?”
“Trucks will be inside the facility, I guess.” Hayden moved to the front of the four-man team. “Or they could be taking pictures. Finding the tablets and photographing them could be what’s taking so long.”
The team folded their bodies into the shadows and approached the large entrance to the mountain storage unit. Pausing for a moment they cast about, searching for any signs of life. Through previous contacts Hayden knew Dudley wasn’t exactly the kind for covert and careful infiltrations but she wasn’t about to start taking chances. The entrance was comprised of two doors, one enormous and perfectly able to admit a Mac truck; the other about the size of a large man.
“We need an override code,” she told Karin. “For the facility. Right now.”
Two minutes passed and then they were on the move again. Kinimaka entered the code. The door clicked open. Hayden was first through, squinting slightly and slowing as the light hit her. Komodo produced a prepared map of the unit and pointed off to the right.
“Past the booth, turn right and we’re into a tunnel network. The tablets are on the fourth level if the old timer’s faculties haven’t deserted him.”
Hayden proceeded with caution. The booth was empty, as were the tunnels. Their next problem was the length of the tunnels, hundreds of feet with no niches or exits or junctions; if they were spotted by Dudley and his men they would be sitting ducks.
“Bank of elevators,” Komodo said. “About two hundred and fifty feet ahead.”
“Let’s make it fast.” Hayden broke cover, senses on full alert as she sprinted hard down the smooth, white-painted tunnel. Strip lights mounted to the ceiling lit the way, though her route was arrow straight, angling slightly downward. Kinimaka ran at her back, with Smyth and Komodo behind him.
They reached the elevator bank. Hayden scouted for a set of stairs. “Four down?” she confirmed. “Let’s go.”
The ordinary staircase switched back twice for every level, so it was seven sets later when she slowed. The door to the fourth level stood just below, closed and unmanned.
“It’s been over one hundred minutes,” Karin breathed in their heads. “Be careful.” She added a tender word for Komodo which the rest did their best to ignore.
Hayden approached the door, cracked it open. She took a moment to catch her breath. Beyond, the room opened out into a huge, arched vault, a veritable Aladdin’s cave of unknown and unspeakable treasures. High shelving filled the center of the place but much more space was taken up by haphazard, endless piles of boxes and crates and other paraphernalia.
“It’s a livin’, breathin’ pirate’s cave,” Komodo said, peering over her, grinning. “Used to love all the ole pirate stories, I did.”
“Hey! Where’s that Drake guy? Or Myles? Me brother said yer might be all coming.”
Hayden processed the situation at the speed of light. The Irishman’s voice came from behind, which meant he’d been hidden somewhere in the lower stairwell, and was undoubtedly armed. She dived through the door, rolling; Komodo followed. Kinimaka and Smyth also managed to squeeze through just as the Irishman started firing. Bullets whacked the door and fizzed through the narrowing opening.
“Come on!”
Hayden ducked behind the nearest crate, a high and wide timbered casket large enough to house a small car. Smyth covered the rear whilst the others tried to get their bearings. Komodo referred to the map.
“Um, I don’t think we need that anymore.”
Kinimaka pointed around the left-hand side of the crate. Six men crouched around the bottom shelf of one of the racks, two of them aiming weapons his way.
“They’re photographing the tablets,” Hayden said. “I’d put my sanity on it.” Not the most astute bet she’d ever made. “See any civilians, Mano?”
“No. Just six guys carrying weapons. What do you want to do?”
“Dudley?”
“Yeah. I see him.”
“Take ‘em down!”
Hayden burst out of hiding, firing ahead. Kinimaka ranged to her right, Komodo to her left. All three of them stayed low and veered their run toward another potential shelter. Straw and polystyrene and even dirt coated the floor. High above, strip-lights swung around the rafters. Dudley’s men returned fire, the four who were taking photos cursing loudly and scrambling to the side. Hayden saw one of the tablets fall from its leaning position and crack in half. About the size of two laptops laid on end they were dark gray in color, with the addition of a dull red pigment. Symbols and markings covered their surface. Hayden saw several piles of them just as Dudley’s men started to destroy them.
“Oh no you don’t!”
She fired first, peppering the men and sending them reeling. No blood flowed so she guessed they wore vests, but two fell to the floor, groaning. Dudley’s evil smiling face turned toward her.
“And who the hell are you, missy?”
Hayden let her gun do the talking. Dudley and his men scrambled away, ducking around the end of an aisle. One of them clutched at a leg and this time she saw a trail of blood on the floor.
At her back, Komodo and Kinimaka kept moving. Nobody wanted a stalemate here, too much was at stake. Too many unanswered questions. She kept up a steady fire on the Irishmen’s hiding place as they sought to get closer.
Behind them, Smyth kept the other Irishman at bay. Dudley’s brother. Evidently, they needed to research the whole crew when they returned to the HQ, when and if they captured any of them.
“Where is everyone normal?” Komodo said. “Guards and curators. The question of hostages exists, guys. I just hope these mad Irish bastards didn’t kill everyone on their way down here.”
Kinimaka fired off a shot. “Low key facility,” he said. “Nothing ever happens here. Purposely. I bet their staff numbers in the low teens.”
Hayden was still evaluating Komodo’s other statement — “mad Irish bastards”. The soldier was spot on. They needed to push their advantage because these guys weren’t going to stay pinned down for long whether they had a viable escape route or not. A sudden cry made her look back. Smyth was racing toward them, head down and legs pumping, a metallic object rattling around in his wake.