Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
He froze, his blood running cold through his veins.
Oh, no. Andre looked at Seth, whose expression was grim.
People weren’t running scared. This was excitement, not fear.
If soldiers and civilians in Obsidian Storm knew how dangerous this virus was, they’d be terrified and headed to the nearest hospital. Not that it would do them any good.
Seth tapped his comm device. “Iona, report.”
“We’re outside the main lab. Seth, they’re weaponizing the virus.”
Violet broke in. “We have to stop them. I heard one civilian say he would receive a shot in an hour and then he could cross the border to live his new life.”
Andre closed his eyes briefly. The poor sap didn’t realize he was being set up to die.
Seth glowered. “We must get into that lab. We’re on the main floor of the target building. Shadow, take control of the main floor. M team, take the second floor, then help Shadow prevent access to the building. Echo is going to the lab to back up Artemis.”
Nico and David acknowledged the orders.
Violet said, “Andre, do you know anything about biometric locks?”
“Some. I’ll need Riley’s help to get the job done.”
“You got it,” Iona said. “Just get down here fast.”
“Copy that.”
Seth eased to the end of the short entrance hall and signaled that the coast was clear for the moment. The team left the hall and followed Seth and Noah across the lobby to the stairwell. After a quick check inside, Noah motioned for the rest of them to enter.
Andre plunged into the dimly lit interior and, followed by his teammates, descended two flights of stairs and approached a door marked ‘Authorized Personnel Only.’
Noah checked the doorknob, looked over his shoulder at Andre, and shook his head.
Andre crouched beside Noah and examined the lock.
A locked door wasn’t a surprise. What did surprise him, however, was that the lock required a key to open.
Why didn’t Garcia and Mendoza upgrade the lock to one that used a biometric scanner like the lab?
This door led to the lab area. It should have more protection than this.
He pulled out his lockpicks and went to work. Seconds later, the lock’s tumblers fell into place and the knob turned easily under his hand.
Andre scowled. This lock was a joke. A kid with a credit card and a hairpin could open it. With dangerous contents inside the lab, every access door should be at least biometric with more than one authorization to get inside.
Noah opened the door and peered inside. After a moment, he signaled the others to wait.
Although eager to reunite with Riley, Andre pressed his back to the wall beside the door and waited. Ticking off his commanding officer and the second in command wasn’t in the cards today.
Soon, Seth’s voice came through their earpieces. “At the end of the hall, turn right. The lab is lit up like a Christmas tree. You can’t miss it. Artemis is in the right wing.”
Andre frowned. No one in the lab saw Artemis, Seth, and Noah? What kind of setup did they have? He glanced at Elias, Grant, and Brent, eyebrow raised. The men shrugged.
He opened the door wide enough to slip inside the dark hall, his teammates a step behind him. Weapon at the ready, Andre walked about fifty feet with silent steps and paused near the end of the hall in the deepest shadows.
Andre stepped into another dimly lit corridor, turned to the right, and made his way to the center of the basement.
The closer he walked to the lab, the more he noted the lights burning bright in a large room.
Man, Seth wasn’t kidding about the place being lit up.
He’d hate to pay the electric bill for this place.
At the end of the hall, another corridor circled the lab. The lighting in that corridor was faint, which was good for the operatives but bad for the lab personnel. Stacks of boxes cluttered the corridor.
Riley’s voice came through the comm device. “Andre, look to your right.”
When he did, he saw Riley and her teammates along with Seth and Noah.
After a signal from Seth, he and the others joined the rest of the Fortress operatives.
Wearing the Fortress uniform of black t-shirt, black fatigue cargo pants, and black tactical boots made the operatives nearly impossible to see in the darkness.
The group sheltered behind boxes stacked five deep in the center of the hallway.
Andre crouched beside Riley, squeezed her hand a moment, then focused on Seth.
Echo’s leader looked at him. “Andre, the biometric lock is on the back entrance ten feet behind us. There’s another entrance with a biometric lock in front of the elevator.
You’ll only have two shots at getting through the lock.
If you don’t get it right on the second try, an alarm will go off, and we’ll be hip deep in enemy combatants. ”
His eyebrows soared. “I knew that, but where did you learn about biometric locks?”
Seth smiled. “Zane. Where else?”
Andre turned. “Riley, do you have your laptop handy?”
“I have Zane’s minicomputer prototype. Why?”
“I’ll need your help with the lock. Can Zane’s creation handle the job?”
“Of course.” Riley slid her pack from her back and pulled out a slender laptop the size of a notepad to show Andre, then returned the computer to its case. “I’m ready.”
Seth, still crouched by the corner of the boxes, peered into the lab for a moment, then signaled Andre and Riley to go.
They approached the back door in a crouch. Andre studied the lock for a few seconds, then pulled a black gadget from his pocket. The device didn’t look like much, but it worked like a dream.
“What is that?” Riley whispered.
“A signal jammer, another of Zane’s creations. Can you hook your computer to the scanner?”
She nodded.
“The signal jammer disrupts the biometric reader, forcing it into fallback mode, either needing a keycard or a pin number to release the lock. That’s where you come in.”
“Got it.” Riley slid the pack off of her back and removed her minicomputer and a cable. Once she had booted up her computer and attached her cable, she glanced at Andre. “Ready when you are.”
Andre looked at Seth and nodded. As the rest of his teammates moved toward them, he shifted closer to the scanner. “Three, two, one.” He turned on the signal jammer. “Go.”
Riley plugged her cable into the side of the biometric scanner and got to work. Less than a minute later, a light on the scanner turned red and beeped.
Seth’s heart skipped a beat. “What does that mean?”
She scowled at the lock. “The minicomputer hasn’t figured out the code yet, and the scanner doesn’t like it.”
“Did that count as the first try?”
Riley nodded. “The computer’s still working, so we have another minute before the alarm announces our presence in the hallway.”
Seth glanced at the other operatives. “Get ready. We’re engaging the enemy in another minute.”
“Come on, come on.” Riley glared at the minicomputer. “Don’t let me down now.”
Andre’s gut tightened into a knot. The last thing they needed was a gunfight in this corridor, or worse, inside the lab. Bullets flying around in a lab with weaponized viruses was the stuff of nightmares.
The mission clock ticked in his head. Fifteen seconds before the alarm would sound. He counted down. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven.
The light radiating from the biometric scanner turned green, and the lock made a quiet click as it released.
Riley removed the cable and returned her computer and cable to her pack.
Andre glanced at Seth, who opened the door to the back of the lab and held it for the rest of his team.
Inside the lab, five guards monitored the scientists and their assistants, fingering their handguns. None of the men paid attention to either lab entrance. Too confident in their control of the security, a dangerous and stupid assumption.
Seth found the light switch and began a silent countdown using his fingers. When he reached zero, he turned off the lights. The lab went pitch black aside from lights from the machinery around the room.
Two women screamed. Several men shouted. Some cursed. The guards shouted orders no one obeyed. Madness and mayhem reigned inside the lab.
Amid the chaos, the Fortress operatives took down the guards one at a time.
When the last one was down, Seth said, “Lights.”
Light flooded the lab, and the scientists and helpers stared at the operatives. “Who are you?” one scientist asked.
“What matters is preventing Obsidian Storm from weaponizing the virus,” Seth said.
The hostages glanced at each other, hope beginning to glow in their eyes.
“Stop the weaponization process.”
Three men shook their heads. “We can’t,” Tall One said.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“It is not safe for anyone to refuse.”
Violet stepped up beside Seth. “When will the process finish?”
“Any minute.”
Seth glanced at Violet. “Suggestions?”
“Let the process finish, then destroy the virus.”
A muscle in Andre’s jaw twitched. “We’ll be sitting ducks in here.”
Elias frowned. “We were fast. Still, one guard could have called in and reported trouble in the lab when the lights went out.”
“Nothing like getting caught in a fishbowl.” Brent glanced around the lab. “Sitting tight increases the odds of getting caught.”
“Good thing someone had the foresight to bring along an extra team.”
The boss chuckled.
“Violet, do you know how to destroy the virus?”
“I have a couple of ideas. Having a tour of the lab would help.”
An older scientist motioned for her to follow him. “I can give the tour. Come.”
Noah went with his wife, hand never far from his weapon.
“The rest of you, prepare to engage with Storm soldiers.”
Elias snorted.
Rayne stared. “What’s so funny? We might die in the next few minutes, Elias.”
Grant wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Engaging with Storm soldiers brings to mind various Star Wars battles with stormtroopers.” He waited a beat, then rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, come on. Did you drop off your sense of humor at the dry cleaners?”
Iona frowned for a few seconds, then laughed. “Stormtroopers. I got it.”
That made the members of Artemis laugh. Even though she was slow on the uptake most of the time, Iona had a sharp sense of humor.
Seth rolled his eyes. “Spread out. We need to protect the scientists. Find the best defensible place.
One woman approached Seth. “Excuse me.” She stared nervously at the weapon in his hand.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“The big fellow, Julio, called Mr. Garcia. Soldiers will swarm this place any minute. You should leave.”
Andre’s hand tightened around the grip of his Sig. Ten people upstairs to slow down an army. As good as they were, they wouldn’t last for long against overwhelming numbers. “Zane, can you see movement in the building?”
“Copy that. I was getting ready to report the change. People are also milling around the lab building.”
“Population estimate?” Brent asked.
“About fifty, sir.”
Five-to-one odds weren’t what he wanted to hear. They should have brought double the number of operatives. Good thing they’d brought plenty of ammunition. They might need every bit before the night ended. How many people would die tonight because of the plan set in motion by Garcia and Mendoza?
Seth glanced at Grant. “Rig the doors. Let’s slow them down while we wait.”
“Yes, sir.” He grabbed his pack.
“Give me one,” Brent said. “I’ll take care of the back door.”
“Shadow, M team, come down to the lab.”
“Copy that, sir.”
Teagan looked puzzled. “Why are you bringing them down here instead of leaving them upstairs to slow the crowd?”
“United we stand, and divided we fall. Our mission is to destroy the virus and the lab. We need everyone here to hold back the tide of soldiers while we wait for the machines to finish their work. After that, we’ll destroy the virus.
In the meantime, Riley will upload a copy of their computer memory to Fortress, then wipe it clean here.
We have to be sure a computer expert can’t work a miracle and recover the hard drive memory. ”
Seconds later, M team and Shadow unit streamed into the lab and found defensible places to make a stand.
Grant reached inside his pack and handed a small C-4 bomb to their boss. “Know how to set it?”
“I’ve got it. Take care of the front door while I booby-trap the back one.”
They hurried to opposite ends of the lab and went to work on their respective doors. By the time they finished, none of their work showed.
One minute later, a buzzer sounded in the lab. The scientists and assistants looked at each other with grim expressions on their faces.
“What is it?” Noah asked.
“The weaponization process is complete. One of the most dangerous flu viruses ever known has been strengthened to where people who catch the virus are more likely to die.”