“Which means?”
“Which means,” Zane said, “that we’re going to have to bull-rush that control room before they blow this place sky-high.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Reid arrived at the glass doors on the east end precisely seven minutes later and briefed the two on what he had seen outside. While there seemed to be no patrols in the area, he guessed that every square foot of the property would be searched within the hour.
Knowing that they needed to get away from their exposed position just inside the glass, Zane led Reid and Skinner back into the room where the two Renaissance goons were tied up.
“Okay, we have very little time,” he whispered. “I’m guessing they’ve already started the collider. So we’re going to travel to the other end … but we also conduct due diligence on the way. If Mironov is done with VanGelder, it’s possible he’ll have both he and Carmen taken out of the control room, just to get them out of the way. That said, look for light underneath doors, security personnel stationed outside doors, that kind of thing.”
“And what happens when we get to the other end?” Skinner asked.
“Good question. And unfortunately, I don’t have an answer. We have no idea what may be waiting for us down there, nor do we even know the specific layout yet. My hope is that we’ll have time to conduct due diligence, but if unforeseen circumstances arise, we’re going to just have to react as we go. It’s an unfortunate aspect of this operation.”
Skinner nodded.
“How are you on Taser cartridges?” Zane asked. “I think you should have two left?”
“Correct,” Skinner replied.
“And I’m fully loaded,” Reid said, patting his coat.
“Then we’re all—” Zane was cut off by the vibration of his phone. He pulled it out and looked at the text message on the screen. “Okay, Brett says he’s disabled Carmen’s unit, so we can go live with radios again.”
All three turned on their transmitters and tested the system. Brett’s radio was also connected to the three, so Zane briefly filled him in on what they were going to do. After Brett confirmed he understood, Zane gave a signal and led the group back out of the room.
It only took the group a few minutes to travel through the first building and the enclosed corridor that linked it with the second. They found a couple of rooms with light spilling out from underneath the door, but they only contained boxes and assorted containers. From all appearances, the first building was some sort of supply depot.
The second building was a much larger structure, with a maze of hallways. It was also darker than the first one, forcing the operatives to slow their pace. They glanced in the occasional open door, which usually revealed either a classroom or a laboratory.
“Building two is much larger with a lot of intersecting halls,” Zane whispered to Brett through the microphone on his cuff. “So far, no tangos and no sign of the packages,” he continued, referring to VanGelder and Carmen. “We’re going to keep moving forward. Do you have anything on the buildings up ahead?”
“Not much,” was Brett’s crackled reply in their earpieces. “I’ve done a little online research, and the building you’re in is apparently a research facility for visiting physicists.”
“We gathered that from some of the rooms we looked in.”
“If you keep moving straight ahead then you should hit the third one in about five minutes or so.”
“So that we don’t have to keep getting updates, what can you tell us about that third building?” asked Zane.
“It’s a smaller structure. I was able to find some diagrams online, and as best I can tell it contains the elevators that take you underground to the collider itself.”
“Will there be any reason for us to use that?” Skinner asked.
“Negative,” Zane replied. “Our goal is to keep moving forward until we get to the control center on the far end.”
“And speaking of which,” Brett continued, “the control room will be in the fourth and final building. I watched an interesting video taken by a female physics student who was touring the facility. She was originally underground viewing the collider, and then she took the elevator back up into the third building. When she got out it was a very short walk from there to the control room. There is… lobby…” Brett’s voice broke up into a gargled mess.
“Brett, do you read? We lost you.”
“I’m here,” Brett replied after a few seconds. “I heard the same thing on my end. We’re getting interference of some sort. In any event, what I wanted to tell you is that when you get to the fourth building, there is a large lobby before you get to the control room. In other words, when you reach that lobby, you’ll know that the control room is just through the doors on the other side.”
“Copy that,” Zane said. “And I can tell you right now that the lobby is going to be filled with tangos.”
“Agreed,” Brett replied.
“Over,” Zane said. He then turned to Reid and Skinner and said, “All right, we keep moving straight, unless we see lights or movement down one of the crossing hallways.”
The first two intersections showed little activity, other than a couple of rooms with lights turned on. As with the other rooms they had searched, those were empty. There was also an eerie silence in the hallways that bothered Zane. With the whole Renaissance team on alert, he figured they would have heard distant shouting or movement. The silence told him that the enemy was actually doing their job in a professional way, silently and methodically searching the interior block by block in a deliberate attempt to clear each sector.
A few steps before the third intersection, they heard distinct footfalls approaching from one of the crossing hallways. There was no time to waste, so Zane signaled that Reid should enter a room on the left, while he and Skinner took up a position in one on the right. All three then entered their respective rooms, leaving their doors open a crack.
Seconds later, the footsteps approached the intersection just ahead. There was also the sound of soft voices speaking in Russian. Zane knew that it wouldn’t be possible to use a Taser in the dark environment, so he slipped a finger behind the trigger of his Glock, ready to use lethal force if necessary.
When the Russians reached the intersection, they paused. There was a clicking noise as one of the men began to shine a flashlight in each direction, including the hall that Zane, Reid, and Skinner were hidden along.
A few seconds later, the man extinguished the light, and they began moving again but more slowly and without talking. Zane’s heart began to pound as he saw two shadows draw even with their doors and pause. Had one of the men seen something? Or were they just debating whether or not to check the rooms? Either way spelled trouble, so Zane tightened the grip on his Glock.
Just when it seemed as though the men were going to begin a search of the rooms, one of them said something in Russian, and they both started moving again. Their voices faded into the distance. When they could no longer be heard, Zane opened the door and began to step out when he stopped suddenly. He stood silently as if listening, and then motioned for everyone to get back into their respective rooms.
“What is it?” Skinner asked in a low voice but was silenced by a lifted hand from Zane.
Soon a new set of footsteps approached from the same direction the last group had come from. The operative only detected one set, and they were loud and unhesitating. The person arrived at the intersection and immediately turned down the hall where the operatives were hidden.
Zane maintained his position as the shadow approached and then suddenly stopped. Who was it? It was impossible to tell if it were friend or foe, so Zane lifted his Glock and pointed it at the head of the silhouette through the crack in the door. If the person made any quick movements, the operative was prepared to blow his brains out.