‘And the dudes with the black hockey masks?’ Jay said.
‘Yeah, they’re my Blue Berets. Ninety-six,’ DC said.
‘Holy shit,’ Jay said. ‘So we run with this and you do what exactly?’
‘DC knows where Denton will be,’ Sophia said. ‘We need to stop him.’
‘I’m coming with you,’ Aviary said.
‘No,’ Sophia said.
‘What else am I meant to do?’ Aviary checked her watch. ‘Last trains were an hour ago. I’m stuck with you whether you like it or not.’
‘She’s right,’ DC said. ‘The mayor signed an executive order today, mandating a staggered evacuation of Manhattan. Which is complete by now. No one can get off the island.’
‘So what the fuck am I doing?’ Jay said. ‘Swimming?’
The color drained from Damien’s face. ‘Oh great.’
‘I cached a news report from earlier,’ Aviary said.
She played a video on her iPhone.
‘Isaias, a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds of 160 miles per hour, is already responsible for 87 deaths in the Caribbean,’ the newsreader said. ‘Isaias is now travelling northward, parallel to the Eastern Seaboard, and at this moment is 150 miles southeast of New York City, moving at thirty miles—’
The video tried to buffer and Aviary closed it in frustration.
‘That’s not going to help us,’ Nasira said.
‘No, but it helps Denton,’ DC said. ‘Timing’s everything.’
‘Speaking of time, when was that announced?’ Sophia said.
‘Video was posted at six pm,’ Aviary said.
Jay checked his watch. ‘It’s 2200 now.’
‘Traveling at the same speed,’ Sophia said, ‘it should have landfall by 2300.’
‘One hour,’ Damien said. ‘We’ll need to head north if we have any chance of getting out.’
‘That’s if we can,’ Jay said.
‘You’ll have to try,’ Sophia said. ‘You should go now.’
‘Wait!’ Aviary reached into her jacket pockets and dug out an iPhone. It had a pink rubber case. She walked over and handed it to Jay.
‘What the hell is that?’ Jay said, inspecting the pink iPhone.
‘A smartphone,’ Aviary said. ‘You might’ve heard of them. Damien has one already; he can fill you in on how it works. We can share each other’s locations.’
‘Can they see the operatives on those?’ Sophia said. ‘Might be helpful.’
‘Sorry,’ Aviary said. ‘Haven’t set these up yet.’
‘It’s fine.’ Jay took the phone.
‘Cool. Our numbers are in there but it won’t work unless there’s a nearby phone or wifi,’ Aviary said. ‘Worst case scenario you can anonymously connect to a cell-phone tower — which is probably the only thing you’ll find right now anyway.’ She cleared her throat. ‘You don’t want pink? I should probably give you another color—’
Jay pocketed the phone. ‘No, no, it’s fine. I like it.’
‘Don’t go through the same tunnel,’ DC said. ‘Head for that junction, and there will be two tracks heading northwest on your ten o’clock. Ladder M or Ladder O. They’ll take you to Track C, which will take you directly north.’
Jay blinked. ‘OK, got it.’
‘Do you want me to write that down?’ DC said.
‘I’ve got it,’ Damien said.
‘In these conditions, the longer you stay underground, the better,’ DC said. ‘The rock is tagged so Denton’s operatives will be tracking you. They won’t know elevation but it won’t take them long to figure out you’re underground.’
‘Oh great,’ Jay said.
‘Hopefully these tunnels should make it difficult to track you. At least until they’re in the tunnels with you.’
‘Given that they’re operatives,’ Sophia said, ‘you won’t have much time.’
Jay nodded. ‘Always comforting, thanks Soph.’
‘Don’t call me that. Go,’ Sophia said, handing Damien her torch, red lens attached.
Jay handed off his carbine mags to her, which she passed to DC. Damien did the same. The carbines themselves were of no use to anyone except DC and he already had his own. So Jay moved to the edge of the tunnel and stashed his against the wall, hidden in the shadows. Damien did the same.
Jay gave Sophia a friendly salute. As he dropped his arm, Nasira grabbed it. She was giving him a very serious, indeed unnerving look.
‘See you soon, OK?’ Nasira said.
That sounded like a demand.
‘You bet,’ Jay said.
He started into a run. The straps on the ruck pulled on his arrow wound so he only made it a few steps before offloading the ruck to Damien. He offered to move ahead a reasonable distance and make use of his infrared so Damien’s torch wouldn’t compromise them both.
Jay figured right now they could move as loud and fast as they needed; the operatives wouldn’t be belowground just yet. But once he hit Track C or whatever DC called it, he was running on borrowed time.
Then again, he was already doing that.
Chapter 24
Sophia’s stolen tac vest was heating up. She unzipped it to cool down. DC was walking ahead of her in silence. He stopped for the first time since they’d sent Damien and Jay off. She watched him splash a finger of red light over an old rail car. It was dusty and blue, probably once used to haul cargo.
‘Alright, we’ve crossed from Track 61,’ DC said. ‘We’re on 11 now.’
‘Care to share your plan?’ Sophia said.
‘To get inside the OSS base, we need to get inside Grand Central terminal sub-basement levels,’ he said.
‘How close are we to the terminal?’
‘Almost under it,’ he said. ‘Technically we should be right below the Park Avenue Viaduct.’
‘So getting inside won’t be too difficult then,’ Nasira said, catching up from behind. ‘Over a hundred train tunnels to take us into the terminal.’
‘Denton will be watching the cameras,’ DC said. ‘He’ll have every platform covered, every level covered, every street exit covered. And we have a problem.’
‘What’s that?’ Sophia said.
‘No one knows where in the terminal you access the OSS base,’ DC said. ‘But I think I know where to start.’
‘Where’s that?’ Sophia said.
‘I need a blueprint of the terminal,’ DC said. ‘Old, new, doesn’t matter. What I’m looking for has been there since World War II.’
‘The base entry will show on a blueprint?’ Sophia said.
‘No, but the clues are in there. Enough for me to find it for you.’
‘That’s handy,’ Nasira said. She turned to Sophia. ‘Guess we didn’t need him after all.’
‘Wait,’ Sophia said. ‘So I’m guessing you don’t have a blueprint.’
‘Get me high enough and I’ll find you one,’ Aviary said, waving her iPhone.
Sophia shook her head. ‘Too dangerous.’
‘I’ll take her,’ DC said. He gripped his carbine.
Sophia eyed him carefully. ‘No. You’re staying with me,’ she said. ‘Nasira, go with Aviary.’
‘You’re assigning me babysitting duty?’ Nasira said.
‘I am trained, you know,’ Aviary whispered. ‘Force Recon and even a little bit by Sophia!’
Nasira rolled her eyes. ‘Then you don’t need me.’
‘Fine.’ Aviary slipped her ballistic mask on. She walked past DC and hesitated. ‘So, which tunnel am I taking?’
‘None of them with your mask on,’ DC said. ‘They’re not wearing masks like my detachment. Won’t help you blend in. It will help you get shot though.’
‘Cool.’ Aviary removed her mask.
Sophia reached into her ruck and handed Aviary a multitool and Gerber knife in its sheath. ‘Here,’ Sophia said. ‘I got these for you.’