Chapter 25
This mission was going to be tricky as hell.
Nate’s first task was to get into the Sims Center, undetected, while not drawing attention to himself.
He couldn’t drive with his full suit on, nor could he go as himself.
He didn’t have the cover of darkness to work with, so some quick planning would have to be done.
He called Stratton, who got in touch with his hacker friend. Within a half hour, Nate had stolen a refrigerated food delivery truck and was heading to the Sims Center for a food drop-off.
Nate pushed a baseball cap on his head and grabbed a fake beard from one of Stratton’s boxes. It wasn’t bad looking, and the applicator glue held.
It hadn’t been the first time Nate had driven a semi.
He had learned as part of his Conglomerate training since some missions could require it, so driving wasn’t a problem.
When he got into the Sims Center parking lot, he was immediately flagged by a Conglomerate soldier.
The guy wasn’t even trying to hide that he looked the part with his black cargo pants and combat boots.
No wonder Stratton and Gray Tower had tagged them so easily.
“You can’t drive that here,” the guy said with a glare.
“I have a delivery, and I’m not hearing my boss bitch when I bring back perishables. Why don’t you go talk to whoever you need to, so I can drop this shit off?”
The man narrowed his eyes, but instead of protesting, he took out a radio. After a few moments of talking back and forth, the guy shook his head and said, “Follow me. Do exactly as I say, or you won’t like the consequences.”
“Bro, chill,” Nate said, raising a hand. “I’m just doing my job.”
Nate slowly drove around until he found a loading bay at the back of the building. There were two slots; one was taken. It had pieces of tarp thrown over it so you couldn’t see what was loaded off the truck. Or on. Who knew what the Conglomerate was up to?
It took what felt like hours to back the damned truck up to the dock. When he was done, the Conglomerate soldier he had talked to motioned him out of the truck and pointed to the loading dock.
“I’m going to inspect your cargo, and then we’re going to get you in and out of here as quickly as possible,” the guy grumbled.
“Sounds good to me,” Nate said, shrugging nonchalantly.
He had been hoping he’d only have one Conglomerate babysitter. That would make things easier.
Once the back doors swung open, they were met with a blast of cold air. The soldier muttered something under his breath as he stepped in with Nate.
“See? Look good?” Nate said, holding both hands out and turning slowly.
“Open a couple of the boxes.”
“Bro, I’m not supposed to—”
“Just do it.”
“Fine, but if I get in trouble, I’m gonna get pissed.”
The soldier froze and turned toward Nate, a glare forming.
“You’re going to shut the fuck up and do what I say,” the guy said, opening a flap under his armor, showing a handgun.
And that was where his sidearm was. Bingo.
“Woah! Sorry! Just let me do my thing, and I’ll get out of here,” Nate said, holding up his hands.
“That’s right, you’re sorry,” the soldier said, turning his back to Nate to inspect a box.
Wrong move.
Nate was on the guy immediately, flipping out a concealed knife and cutting the man’s throat before he could even make a noise.
Carefully laying the soldier on the ground and shoving him behind a few food boxes, Nate went to the opening of the trailer, peering around to see if anyone was there.
The area was clear. He closed the trailer doors enough that he would be concealed when he changed.
His suit was hidden in pieces among the boxes, and he’d have to act quickly before someone checked on him.
The only good thing was that if there were super soldiers on the grounds, they couldn’t see what was in the truck because it was refrigerated.
It was the reason Nate had chosen this type of truck.
It made their infrared scanners useless.
He could put his suit on without the danger of the other super soldiers noticing.
From there, he could mask his presence with the cooling system and leave the truck safely.
Hopefully, the suits would be visible, and he could take them out easily.
Knowing that Gray Tower would be mixed up in this op made it a priority to get in and out as quickly as possible.
It took a few minutes to put his suit on, but once he was secure, his nerves died down. The mission was still dangerous. However, he was now protected by his suit. Of course, there were a few wildcards like how Sally would behave and if or when Gray Tower showed up.
“I can’t see anything past this trailer,” Sally immediately complained once his helmet was on. “It’s blocking most of my sensors.”
“Yes, that’s the point.”
“I don’t like it.”
“What? That you’re not some omniscient being, looking down on everything?”
“Exactly. I’m glad you see my perspective.”
Nate shook his head and carefully left the trailer after he adjusted his suit temperature to blend into the environment.
“I don’t see any of the suits on infrared,” Sally told him.
“Great,” he muttered. “So, this was a bust?”
“No. I didn’t say that. I said I didn’t see them on infrared. But I can hear them.”
Nate frowned.
“Hear them? Like sound vibrations?” he questioned.
“Well, that too. But I can hear them talking to one another—both the chatter between the soldiers and the information the suit computers are passing between each other.”
Nate stiffened.
“In that case, can they see us?”
“No. Like I would give away our position by talking to those inferior AIs.”
“Okay, but what about before, when it was the previous AI. Could they have seen me?”
“If the inferior AI weren’t looking for a rogue super suit, it would all blend in as background chatter. It really is a terrible design flaw. I guess the Conglomerate never thought a suit could be stolen.”
“But you’re different now. So even if they are looking for us…”
“It’ll be a nice surprise. Plus, I have all your countermeasure hacks Kat Langely provided, and we’re such a good team, Nathan.”
“And you said you can deploy all those backdoor commands?”
“Yes. I saw what was programmed in…terribly, might I add. It looks like you tried to add in more and broke the AI.” She laughed. Laughed. “Silly Nathan. I put together all that mess you created and figured it out. All fixed.”
She didn’t have to be so mean about it.
“So, are you still patched against the same type of attack? Just in case Gray Tower becomes a problem.”
“Yes, which is a good thing because two people are walking toward the building to the front entrance.”
“What does that mean?”
“Given the size of their bodies and cadence of their steps, I’m going to say, professional soldiers. Since I doubt a Conglomerate soldier would use the front entrance, that means—”
“It’s Gray Tower men. Fuck.”
? ? ?
Joel Keller put on his biggest smile as he strolled up to the front desk of the Sims Center.
Mercer Cade trailed behind him, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
It was obvious the man didn’t want this role; he’d prefer to be on the strike team that would come in later.
However, the guy had the perfect look for what they were going for—scarring along his face from his time in the military—so he got suckered into it.
Joel also knew the man didn’t want to work with him, mostly because his bipolar meds were still being adjusted.
He knew everyone at Gray Tower thought he was a loose cannon.
He probably was, but he promised he’d get the job done, and since he was the one who knew the ins and outs of the psychiatric world due to his job, he’d won.
The man at the front desk looked up from his computer and asked, “Can I help you?”
He seemed annoyed. Good. He was about to get way more flustered.
“My friend and I…” Joel began, gesturing to Mercer. “…were sent from the VA for treatment. So…treat us.”
He then brought his arms up and proceeded to do jazz hands. Mercer snorted but kept silent.
“Um, what?” the guy said, scratching his head.
The guy was middle-aged with a balding head and an unshaven face with flecks of gray in the beard. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but at work, and Joel’s antics weren’t helping.
“Name?” he asked, shaking his head.
“I’m Joe Heller. This is my friend, Matthew Cadence. We served.”
That was not a lie. Joel had a stint in the Navy before they booted his ass when they found out about his mental health issues. Mercer had been a Marine.
The man turned to a keyboard and began tapping away. After a moment, he frowned.
“I don’t see you here,” he said.
“We don’t have appointments yet, silly,” Joel said, grinning. “I have paperwork to turn in so that we can get appointments.”
The man sighed and said, “Well, then, where’s your paperwork?”
Joel began patting around his T-shirt and jeans. He looked at Mercer, who was still scowling, and shrugged.
“I think I forgot it!” Joel exclaimed. “I’m such a fuck up! Father told me I wouldn’t amount to anything!” He slammed his fist down on the counter. “I can’t even remember simple things. No wonder they kicked me out!”
“I thought they kicked you out because you were bipolar?” Mercer asked.
The fucker. They were supposed to be acting. That hit a little too close to home. However, Joel could work with that.
“Shut up, Matthew. You know I’m off my meds right now!” Joel yelled.
He strolled over to a coffee table and pushed off the old magazines. Then, he kicked over a fake plant in the corner.
“You got anyone to call?” Mercer asked the guy at the desk. “He gets like this sometimes.”
The man quickly grabbed a phone, hit a button, and said, “I need security to get a guy stabilized immediately.”