“That’s what you’re for, isn’t it?” She looked dismissive and almost gratified.
“It is. That is exactly what we are for. Which is the point of the second item.” He watched. She didn’t notice Aramis sidling back along the wall.
“What’s that?”
“We need to vacate this area now.” His voice was calm, but had that professional urgency to it.
“We seem to be perfectly safe and comfortable here,” she said, holding up her open arms. She seemed reasonable, but he expected that would change as soon as he took the next step.
“We may seem to be, but given the progression of attacks, I must consider more explosives to be a credible and expected threat.”
“Then deal with it. That’s what you’re paid for.”
“Yes, ma’am, we are, and my recommendation is to leave.”
She shook her head and turned to her screens, dismissing him with a flutter of fingers.
He tried again while motioning discreetly for the others. “Ma’am, whoever is trying to assassinate you are professionals.”
“That’s ridiculous, it’s some group of backward peasants.”
“No, they want it to look that way. Right now, we need to move, and we have to accept collateral damage.”
She looked up again. “I can’t have that with my poll numbers! It will end my campaign!”
“Ma’am, either you walk or Aramis stuns and carries you.”
She turned to see Aramis holding the baton centimeters from her.
“This is felony kidnapping!”
“Yes it is. Aramis.”
Aramis zapped her, she twitched, her eyes rolled back and fluttered, and she slumped into his grasp.
“That’s a nice perk,” he said, as he heaved her into a fire carry. Shaman reached over and sedated her. They both looked at JessieM, standing in the doorway, who shrugged.
“I will come along without being stunned,” she said, sounding very nervous and fragile.
Jason said, “Jessie, you’re probably safe if you stay here. You’re not Ms. Highland. On the other hand, they might decide to make you a sacrifice.”
“I’d like to come along,” she said. “I expect it to be scary, but my place is with Ms Highland.” She trembled as she spoke, but her voice was firm.
Alex still didn’t know why anyone was loyal to this bitch, but he respected her for it anyway.
He nodded, then said, “Jason, Elke, get us to the ARPAC. I much prefer any real allies be left alive.”
Jason kicked the door, Elke went through grabbing for something off her harness, and they all followed.
Jason ran as Elke did something. It was loud and pyrotechnic, but probably not actually lethal. He wasn’t sure if she enjoyed the hell out of that or hated it for not being potent enough. Still, they were unmolested to the vehicle. There had been some sentries and personnel around, but whatever Elke did had them all behind cover. He jumped into the driver’s hatch and hesitated.
It was good transport, and obvious transport, and that made him scared.
Elke apparently had read his mind.
“I did a multifrequency burn for detonators or links, no hits. I’m checking latches and seals now. Stand by.”
Oh, good.
“Safe to start,” she said, as Alex said, “We’re in, Elke on ramp, ramp up, roll.” There were thumping noises of gear. A glance back showed rucks and a crate, which probably had the jump harness.
He hit the igniter and nothing happened. That is, nothing bad happened. It fired as it should.
He heard and felt movement, and Elke’s hand thrust something past him.
“They won’t be needing this.” It was small and flat and looked like some kind of wire harness fastener.
“Explosive?”
“No, tracker. When we get a moment, I’ll stick it on some other vehicle.”
“Understood. Alex, how’s the fighting?”
“I have only intermittent access, since we don’t want to be tracked. What I saw on the way out was clear in this area, but we should avoid the northeast and south.”
“West it is, then. There’s a lot of clutter that way, though, if I recall the map.” He looked up at the tracking screen.
“There is,” Elke said as she disconnected the unit. That was another hindrance. While it provided fantastic data, and was theoretically proof against enemy cracking, their putative friends could easily get into it-that’s what it was meant for. They’d travel seat of the pants.
Well, it wasn’t the first time. It felt good to be all together, well-armed and with decent protection for once.
“Status,” he asked.
Alex said, “Aramis on top gun, I’ve got the rear, Shaman has witch, Bart monitoring engines, Elke on support.”
“Direction?”
“North for now.”
“Excellent. Rolling.”
It was good to be running a proper military vehicle. The best armored limos were not close to this. That it had largely been for Highland’s image didn’t matter. It was serendipitous functionality.
He also wasn’t concerned about cosmetic wear and tear on the vehicle, nor collateral damage. That let him drive much more aggressively.
Damn, it felt good.
He exploded through the gate-warning barricades, plowed through the movable blocks, which were just sand-filled drums, and slalomed around the sunken bollards.
“Aramis, I may need obstacle removal,” he shouted back.
Aramis replied clearly, “Can you connect? If not, say the word.”
“Elke, do we have internal commo?”
“We will in a moment. I’ll plug you in.”
He rolled over the curb and didn’t notice until afterward, then cleared the bump the stupid limo had hung up on. This was how to travel.
Then Elke shoved ear muffs at him, bulky, but hard wired directly into the vehicle’s system. He yanked them over his head. “Test.”
Aramis replied, “I hear you.”
Alex said, “I’ll direct if needed.” He was at the commander’s console, with screens slaved to Jason’s.
“Understood. We’re in traffic. I’ll try not to kill anyone.”
Alex said, “That would be best. We’ll be hard to hide as is.”
“Do you want to debark for alternate transportation?”
Alex said, “Not yet. Right now, the armor and speed are useful. I’m hearing chatter about pursuit. They’re trying to figure out whose vehicle it is. They’ve just now figured out it’s ours. My phone is ringing. I may as well decoy before I disable it.”
“Agreed.”
Intercom went dead as Alex played stupid and innocent. Seconds of delay there could provide minutes of leeway here. He was back in less than ten seconds, though.
“They didn’t buy it. I don’t think they can scramble aircraft fast enough, but they can get one up for recon soon enough, or even satellite will help once they locate us. They will pursue on ground at once.
“And shit,” Jason said, looking forward. “Homebound convoy about to pass us.”
“I see them. They’re wondering where we’re going in a hurry.”
Aramis said, “I’m smiling and waving. We’re all friends and there’s no threat.”
“They seem to be buying it. We’re rolling.”
They passed out of view, and Alex said, “Thank god for bureaucracy. They still haven’t figured out who’s where, and of course, they dare not shoot at us with Ms. Highland aboard.”
“Do they know that?”
“Yes, I made sure to tell them it was an urgent need on her part.”
Jason smashed into a vehicle that strayed across the road.
“Very urgent. I just crushed a Mercedes.”
“Casualties?”
“I don’t think so, just the nose and part of the side. Occupants should be fine.”
“Cady has a location picked out. She’s stashing a car for us. We’ll debark nearby, hoof it, load up, relocate.”
“Understood. Though I’d much rather fight from this platform.”
Aramis said, “We’ll steal another.”
“Or more.”
Elke had managed to plug herself in, and said, “I can offer distractions if need be.”