She was never so glad to hear his stupid voice. “I was worried about you.”
“We’re fine, but I can’t get into that right now,” he answered. “Can you pull up the Keeper?”
Jill checked the time. “Are you sure? It’s the middle of the night in Greenland right now.”
“It’s always night in Greenland. This is important. We need to pow wow right away. Don’t worry, if she complains, tell her it was Marco who called the meeting.”
“Can’t you just take credit for this? She hates you already. Why do we both have to get in trouble?” Marco’s voice joined in the call. “Actually, Jill, he’s right. This can’t wait. We’re sending you the scout team’s intel right now. Forward this on to Command.”
“All right. Fine. Roen, ping me at twenty-three-hundred. You can tell me all about it, and I can tell you about Cam’s new girlfriend.”
“Sure thing. Don’t worry about me, hon. No Genjix can bust your hubby up. Old Roen is as tough as rusty nails. Wait, what girlfriend? What are you -?”
Jill cut him off. It usually was time to do so when he started referring to himself in the third person. A few seconds later, Roen’s report landed on her computer screen. She scanned the contents and switched over back to Shiloh. “Place a priority call to Command,” she said. “Full route encryption. Yes, I know what time it is right now.”
It took some finagling and some time to pull the elderly Keeper out of bed. As soon as she was on, though, they transferred all the photos and files the scout team had acquired. Roen and Marco didn’t have visual on this call, but Jill watched the Keeper’s reaction as she skimmed what they had sent over.
There were several moments of awkward silence as the Keeper read through the materials. Near the end, her eyes widened and she looked up. “How reliable is this information? If these estimates are to be believed, they have something along the lines of seventy thousand square feet of facility, and that’s only what they can see on the outside, not including the underground and in the mountain.”
Jill gasped. “That big? How did they get this cleared without being discovered?”
The Genjix must have spent an exorbitant amount on buying the local officials.
Several blueprints appeared on her screen. The first was of a large rectangular facility nestled in a thickly forested region. The next was of a similar set-up on the side of a snow-capped mountain. Another was in the desert. There were nine facilities in total. Then, each of the blueprints changed into satellite images overlaying different parts of the planet.
If this is what I think it is, this is bad.
“Oh no,” Jill whispered. “Are these…?”
The Keeper nodded. “Catalyst facilities. These are the ones that we’re aware of. Five of them are operational, and four are still under construction. This new one makes the tenth.”
“Why would they build one in Oregon?” Marco asked.
Jill felt a chill down her spine as she manipulated the map of the world. All the other known facilities – northern Russia, Pakistan, Botswana, China, Algeria – were located in firmly Genjix zones of control. They would be impossible to get to. They were aware of other hidden facilities in Sweden, Switzerland, Bolivia, and the United States, but they hadn’t known their actual locations. Until now.
“How many would we have to take out in order to prevent Quasiform?” she asked.
“That is for Rin to tell us,” the Keeper said. “We just don’t know enough to know what it’ll take to stop it. We don’t know how the locations are chosen or how many facilities to disable to stop the chain reaction. How many of these facilities do the Genjix have? Do we need to just destroy one or two of them, or all ten? She needs to help us plan the strategy.”
“I’ll pass this information along to Rin right away,” Jill said.
“Marco,” the Keeper continued. “I need interior data on the facility. Defenses, security systems, infrastructures, anything we can use to plan an assault.”
“An attack on US soil?” Roen said. “That’s dangerous.”
“We have little choice,” the Keeper replied. “Marco, I need full confirmation on this before proceeding. Get this for -”
There was a loud pop in her comm and then the line went dead. Jill clicked over a few more times before pulling Shiloh up. “What happened to our connection?” she demanded.
“All lines outside just went dead,” Shiloh answered. “Hang on. The perimeter alarms just tripped. Multiple signatures. From north and west. Moving in quickly.”
Assume the worst. Cut off connections with Command immediately and ready the wipe protocol.
Jill glanced outside the window and scanned the tree line. “This is Hen House. We are under attack. Prepare to receive. All personnel report.”
The news trickled in in bits and pieces. The supply warehouse to the east and the residence to the south reported nothing unusual. The comm building to the west and the garage to the north were silent. Then Shiloh’s line fizzled and went dead as well. That could only mean one thing. Jill punched the emergency master code on her terminal, setting the network on a thirty minute kill timer unless she entered the unlock pass-phrase. She tore off her apron, yanked a small hidden latch under the sink, and pulled out an automatic rifle from a hidden drawer just as the first sounds of gunfire punctured the air.
Ohr came running downstairs. “I hear gunshots.”
“No shit,” Jill said, pulling out a pistol from another hidden drawer and tossing it to him. “Get downstairs.” Eight more of her agents who were working at the farmhouse or down in the safe house ran into the room. She directed them to defensive positions. She wished she had a few more minutes to organize them. The houses were interconnected through the tunnels underground, but it seemed two of her buildings were hit at once. It was a coordinated attack. How did they even know about them?
“What is the commotion about?” Vladimir said, running up the stairs with Rin. The kitchen was positively crowded now.
Get Rin out of danger now. She is the priority. Relay a message to the outliers to go dark.
“We’re under attack. Don’t know who. Don’t know their strength,” Jill said. She pointed at the weapon cabinet. “Grab a gun. And for God’s sake, Rin, get your ass downstairs. You’re too important.”
“Alex! Where’s Alex?” Vladimir said, as he pulled out an older AK. “Where’s my daughter?”
Cameron went to the forest with Alex after his practice. Do not tell Vladimir; the fool will just charge outside and get himself killed.
“Shut up and man the front door,” Jill snapped. “Protect the house or get out of the way.”
The truth was, she was as terrified for Cameron as he was for Alex right now. She knew he must not have been in the house, or he would have reported in by now. That must mean he was out in the forest, probably with the girl. They had been spending a lot of time together, often going out on their own.
A bullet shattered the window, followed by a dozen more that splattered against the back wall. Everyone ducked and took position under windows or to the side of the doors. Jill looked at Harry, who manned the dining room, and gave him a set of hand signals, which he communicated to the rest of her team.
On my mark. Now!
Jill pushed a button on her console and the exterior of the farmhouse was lit up by a series of large floodlights that shone outward in all directions. Jill stood up at the window and saw a dark figure temporarily blinded and caught out in the open. She pulled the trigger and watched him fall, then ducked and moved to the next window.
The farmhouse erupted with automatic fire as the defenders took momentary advantage of the confusion. Jill heard random shouts from her people, each calling out how many they’d engaged and how many they’d taken down.