“Hmmmm.”

  Maggie burst out laughing. “And you called me lewd. No way.” She flipped the power switch on the comm unit, then rushed into the bedroom, coming out in a robe. Lance was already on the screen.

  “Sorry, I know it’s late,” Lance said.

  Charles laughed. “Yeah, you forced us to leave the Gala early.”

  Maggie sat at the console, shaking her head. “Yes, we had to miss the Cherries Jubilee.”

  “Damn, that sounds good,” Charles said. “Thanks a lot.”

  Maggie shot him a grin. “Mateo’s coming on. Doubt we’ll get Daan, you know what time it is over there.”

  Mateo’s face showed up, a beautiful young woman next to him. “Well this is an unexpected call. Something wrong?”

  “I’ll defer to Lance, he wanted it,” Charles said. “How are things in Halifax?”

  “Better than things at UN Headquarters,” Mateo quipped. “This is Kylie, my second. Speak freely in front of her.”

  “Oh, I thought it was your daughter,” Lance quipped. “Where’s the poodle?”

  “It’s kinda late in France,” Maggie said. “Oh, Daan’s coming on. I’m surprised.”

  “Daan isn’t in Europe, he’s in California,” Lance said.

  “Keeping tabs on me, Lance?” Daan asked.

  “I do my best,” Lance said.

  “Saladin is coming on,” Maggie said, his face showing up a moment later.

  “Why the late meeting?” he asked. “Do we have a new crisis?”

  “Not exactly, but you’ll want the info,” Lance said.

  “Should we wait for Jean?” Charles asked.

  “No, don’t worry about him, and don’t wait for President Simpson either. He’s been detained.”

  “He’s at Gitmo,” Lance said.

  “What?” Daan asked. “No he’s not.”

  “Scout’s honor,” Lance said. “That wasn’t why I was calling.”

  “Wait,” Maggie said. “Gitmo? Really. Are you sure?”

  “His whole administration is down there,” Lance said. “It was pretty easy to get that info. The Federal Government still leaks like crazy.”

  “Why is he there?” Maggie asked, her brow furrowed.

  “They aren’t going to try them in a DC court, with all those government insiders serving on the jury,” Lance said. “It’ll be a military tribunal, and probably quick executions.”

  “For all of them?” Maggie asked.

  “That might have happened already,” Saladin said.

  “Let’s not speculate,” Daan said. “Lance, call me after this and tell me what you know. Let’s proceed with this meeting.”

  “All right,” Lance said. “Something is going on in Manhattan.”

  “What kind of something?” Mateo asked. “I know about Saladin’s premature placement of forces into the area.”

  Saladin started to say something, but stopped.

  “Cat got your tongue, Saladin?” Lance quipped.

  “No comment. You called the meeting. Go on.”

  “I know that the UN forces replaced a bunch of subway cameras, setting them up to show loops instead of the live image.”

  “That was an action that Jerry Poole suggested,” Mateo said. “What about it? It was done a while ago.”

  “Mayor Fine’s people haven’t yet fixed them. I’ve been watching.”

  Saladin sighed. “Is there a point to this?”

  “No, let him finish,” Mateo said. “He’s onto something we need to be aware of. Go on, Lance.”

  “Thanks,” Lance said. “Anyway, there are a lot of cameras that weren’t replaced, and I can still access them. There are some interesting vehicles moving around down there.”

  “What kinds of vehicles?” Daan asked.

  “I’ll share some freeze frames.” His picture was replaced with a dark, blurry shot of a long, thin vehicle riding on the rails.

  “What the hell is that?” Mateo asked.

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said. “I’ve seen them in three different locations. Twice on the tracks. Once alongside the tracks.”

  Charles shook his head. “Alongside the tracks?”

  “I’ll show you the other two shots,” Lance said, the two coming up in succession. Then his face showed up on the screen again.

  “Mayor Fine has some new toys,” Daan said, “or somebody else in that damn city. He’s got a secondary surveillance system in those tunnels.”

  “Yes, he has to,” Lance said.

  “He wants us to think he doesn’t know we’ve compromised his cameras,” Saladin said.

  “Or they’re just not bothering with them, since they’ve got a replacement,” Mateo said. “This is worth knowing about. We’ve used the subway tunnels for operations, and each time we’ve done it, we’ve lost people. I was baffled by that. Now maybe not.”

  “So what do we do?” Maggie asked.

  “Nothing, for the moment,” Daan said. “Let Lance continue to watch on the city’s cameras. We’re concentrating on other eastern cities right now, while we build up forces for the final siege of New York City.”

  “They might get wise and turn off the rest of the cameras down there,” Mateo said.

  Lance shook his head. “That would be too much for them to replace.”

  “It’s possible we can figure out where the resistance bases are due to this problem, you know,” Mateo said.

  “That’s possible, but it’ll be a challenge,” Lance said. “Let me think on it some.”

  “Anything else?” Daan asked.

  “What about that person you were messing with?” Mateo asked. “Mayor Fine’s IT person?”

  “I left them alone, and I’m not going to start up again with them unless I see a profitable reason.”

  “Why?” Saladin asked.

  “If I was still messing with them, I wouldn’t have had the user id for the subway tunnels long enough to find these vehicles.”

  “Stay on your current course,” Daan said. “Anything else?”

  Nobody said anything.

  “Okay, thanks Lance. Remember to call me after this.”

  “Will do,” Lance said.

  The call ended, Maggie turning off the comm unit. She turned back to Charles. “You don’t look worried.”

  “If we still lived there I’d be worried,” he said. “Now, where were we? Take the robe off.”

  She smiled, dropping it in front of him.

  ***

  “Sir, I’m getting reports of UN vehicles coming towards the north entrance,” Burr said.

  Whitaker nodded, then picked up his phone, texting Sergeant Haley. “Keep watching. I’d expect them to hit us from more than one location.”

  “Roger that,” Burr said.

  Haley came in. “Somebody see them coming?”

  “Yeah, towards the north entrance. Get the choppers on alert.”

  “Yes sir,” he said.

  “Burr, what kind of vehicles?”

  “Four UN vans followed by a few semi-trucks, sir.”

  “You’re sure they’re together?” Haley asked.

  “That’s what we’re hearing,” Burr said. “I’ll see if I can get any photos.”

  “Yeah, do that,” Haley said, getting up.

  “Hey, report of a similar procession coming on the south route,” Burr said.

  Whitaker rushed to the door, sticking his head out. “Haley, reports of a convoy headed in on the south route too.”

  “Got it,” Haley replied. Whitaker came back by Burr.

  “I’m expecting to see them on the east route too,” Burr said.

  “Yep.”

  “Surprises me that they’d come knowing we’ve got citizens here.”

  “Doesn’t really surprise me,” Whitaker said. “As long as this base is here, we’re a threat to everything they do. They have to lock us down. They don’t have enough of a foothold here. It’s not like Boston.”

  “Not sure I agree on that,” Burr said. “They’ve used a different strategy here. They’re heavy in the outlying areas around the city… a lot of peacekeepers out there, poised to come in. They could send more at us. If they can’t use our Apaches, they’ll probably try to destroy them.”

  Whitaker eyed him. “You know a lot. How come I haven’t heard about it yet?”

  “If you’d been in charge from the beginning, you’d know all about it,” Burr said. “I wasn’t going to say anything with Clinton and Sibelius around.”

  “Oh. Yeah, I could see that. How many of our guys know about this?”

  “Half of the privates, all the enlisted folks like Haley. He’s the one who told you about me, right?”

  “Yep,” Whitaker said. “You’re a valuable guy. Any others like you in our ranks?”

  “That can hack? A couple, but one of them is also your best pilot. The other is your best guy on rotor maintenance.”

  They heard the Apaches starting their engines. Whitaker went to the window to watch them take off, turning to Burr. “Watch for the eastern route.”

  “Yes sir,” Burr said, shooting a grin at him.

  ***

  The moles stopped at the 103rd Street Station. Tad turned towards Dannon.

  “This one is a further walk, but you only got the two crates, so no need for the carts.”

  “We need to split up while we’re walking over there,” Jones said. “A procession down a couple blocks might be asking for trouble, man.”

  Dannon nodded. “Yep, we break up, and wear the street clothes.”

  The mole canopy opened, the team getting out, going to the second mole, grabbing the remaining two crates.

  “Be careful, this one seems easier but it might not be,” Zev said.

  “Yeah, I agree,” Dannon said. They walked away, Freeze and Jones each carrying a crate.

  “We need a couple of those big white plastic bags,” Moth said. “Then it’d look like you’re carrying Chinese food.”

  Dempsey burst out laughing. “You know, you’re right about that.”

  They got to the maintenance door, Moth opening it, seeing it clear, then getting in, the others following.

  “Did the Falcon drones watch this station too?” Shell asked.

  “We put one here, so I’m thinking yes,” Dempsey replied.

  They entered the station, which was deserted, heading up to the street.

  “Okay, you all know where it is,” Dannon said. “There’s greenbelt between the buildings. We’re going into number one. The delivery door will be unlocked. Freeze and Jones, walk together with the crates, and the rest of us follow from a good distance, right up 103rd Street. It’s just the other side of 3rd Avenue.”

  “Sounds like a plan, man,” Freeze said. Him and Jones took off, the others giving them a few minutes, then following, Moth and Shell going across the street.

  “I feel like we’re being watched,” Dempsey said.

  Dannon nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be glad when we’ve got the packages delivered. We should take a different route back. Won’t be as bad on the roof, at least.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s taller than the surrounding buildings,” Dannon said. “Belongs to our funder. Might end up being an alternate base eventually.”

  Dempsey laughed. “He’s got stuff all over the place.”

  They watched as Freeze and Jones got to 3rd Avenue, waiting for the light, then crossing, disappearing into the garden around the set of high-rises.

  “Good,” Dempsey said. “Look, there goes Shell and Moth.”

  “Surprised you aren’t walking with her,” Dannon said. “Things are getting better, aren’t they?”

  Dempsey shrugged. “I’m still on probation, but I had zero hope before.”

  “Ah, young love,” Dannon quipped, Dempsey looking at him and cracking up.

  “Let’s cross the street, man.” They waited at the light a moment, looking in both directions, then trotting across, meeting up with the others on the walkway in front of their building.

  “Door is around back, right?” Freeze asked.

  “Yeah,” Dannon said, leading them there. The door was by itself, in the middle of the wide structure. Moth was there again, opening the door, turning to the others with a thumb’s up sign. Freeze and Jones went in first, the others following, Dannon bolting the door when they got inside. “Take the next hallway to the right. The freight elevator will be on the far wall, down about ten yards.”

  “You’ve studied this building,” Shell said.

  “Our funder gave me the floor plan,” Dannon said. “He owns it.”

  Shell shook her head. “Used to hate guys like him. Not so much now.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, a lot of guys like this invited the globalists here,” Dannon said. “Always have a healthy distrust.”

  “You trust our funder?” Shell asked.

  “Yeah, because I know him, and understand his motives. He’s a good one, but many aren’t.”

  They got into the freight elevator and rode it to the top, the doors opening to a stairwell, which they climbed, the door to the roof at the end. Moth was at the door again, cracking it open.

  “What is it with you and doors, man?” Jones asked.

  “I’m a smaller target than y’all.”

  Dannon laughed. “He’s right, you know.”

  “Just don’t get shot,” Shell said. The group followed Moth out onto the roof.

  “Where we putting them?” Freeze asked.

  “There’s an electrical outlet by the east air conditioning room, over there.” Dannon pointed at the small outbuilding.

  “Another advantage of owning the building,” Shell said.

  Freeze and Jones had the bases set up and the Falcon drones attached in a few minutes.

  “They’re charging,” Freeze said, walking back over. “What about the crates?”

  “Just leave them by the stair house,” Dannon said. “Let’s get out of here. Take 102nd Street back to the subway station.”

  They took the freight elevator back to the ground floor, going out the back door, headed towards 102nd Street.

  “You felt nervous on 103rd Street too?” Jones asked.

  “Yeah,” Dannon said. “Probably nothing. Have your guns handy.”

  “What if they saw us go in and out of the building?”

  “I locked the door on the way out, and they can’t get to the freight elevator from the front,” Dannon said.

  “Sneaky son of a bitch,” Jones quipped. They crossed 3rd Avenue, going to 102nd Street, in two groups.

  Dannon and Dempsey followed the first group with Freeze. Suddenly three men rushed out of the shadows at Shell, Moth, and Jones. There was a series of clicks, the three men dropping where they stood.

  “Oh shit, man,” Dempsey said, running towards the spot with his gun out, Jones down next to the bodies, pulling back the hoods they were wearing.

  “Islamists?” Moth asked.

  “Kinda looks like it,” Jones said, looking up. “Watch the perimeter, this might not be all of them.”

  Dempsey arrived, gun still in his hand. “Nobody hit?” he whispered.

  “Nope,” Shell said. “Jones nailed them all before I could get my gun out.”

  “Glad you had that silencer on there,” Moth said, watching as Dannon and Freeze got there.

  “Guess we should’ve stuck to 103rd Street,” Freeze said.

  “Check their pockets,” Dannon said, “and take their guns.”

  Jones checked out the bodies, Moth helping, the others watching the street for more enemy fighters.

  “Nothing but pistols,” Jones said, stuffing two in pockets of his Kevlar, Moth taking the third.

  “All right, let’s go, but watch yourselves,” Dannon said. The group headed for Lexington Avenue, slipping back into the subway station, rushing to the maintenance hallway, not slowing down until they were in the tunnel, the mole canopy opening.

  Eve saw the looks on their faces. “You got attacked out there.”

  “We did,” Dempsey said. “Three Islamists, probably out on patrol.”

  “Dammit, did they see where you went?” Tad asked.

  “Maybe, but I locked up on the way out, so they can’t go mess with anything.”

  Eve smiled. “Those Falcon drones are already active. If enemy operatives go near them, they won’t last long.”

  “The drones will only be there for a couple hours,” Dannon said. “They’re flying to the target buildings later tonight. Kinda wish they weren’t, actually.” The moles took off, going backwards towards the main bunker.

  “Why don’t you want them going tonight?” Shell asked

  “We’re gonna kill several of their people on those roofs, the same night that we iced their patrol. They’re gonna know something’s coming.”

  “We may end up not attacking tomorrow,” Dempsey said. “Might want to milk those roach drones for all we can before starting any shit anyway.”

  “You’re right, but we’ll be out of it by then.”

  “Won’t we be placing the missiles?” Dempsey asked.

  “Yeah, but we can do that in broad daylight, and we won’t do it unless the target is worthwhile.”

  Dempsey laughed. “They’ve had second thoughts. I know Cary is worried about this.”

  The moles got back to the main bunker without any problem.

  { 17 }

  Headlights

  W hitaker sat in the combat room at the Army base outside Philadelphia, banks of monitors surrounding him. The video from each Apache was shown, in three groups of screens… three for the northern entrance, two for the eastern entrance, three for the southern entrance. He looked up at the door, Haley coming in, Burr behind him with his laptop.

  “Mind if I plug in down here?”

  “Please,” Whitaker said. “Keep tabs on the civilians. They’re all in place, right?”

  “The initial groups are,” Burr said. “I’m getting an increasing number of citizens saying they’re on the way. They won’t beat the UN here, though, assuming parts of the UN convoys get through.”

  “Hope they don’t clog things up during the fight,” Haley said.

  Whitaker chuckled. “If we’re clogged up with people on our side, I could think of worse situations, Haley.”

 

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