Versatility
part 1

"Where do you think they're going?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know, but let's not lose them," Leo said, his eyes on the van they were following.

He was happy to note that the driver was taking things slow, carefully stopping at traffic signals and stop signs; never exceeding the speed limit. It made tracking the van much easier, considering Leo and his brothers were on foot; using the roof top shortcuts as a way to compensate for the van's horsepower.

"I'm pretty sure they're headed for the docks," Don said as the smell of sea air hit his nose.

"Warehouse maybe?" Raph asked, leaping across to another building as the van made a turn. "Or it could be a shipping container."

They continued to follow the van, unsurprised when they reached the waterfront. It wasn't long before they ran out of buildings and had to continue their pursuit at ground level. As they were now in a shipping area, there were loaders, cranes, and containers for them to hide behind to avoid being seen.

The van pulled up in front of a gate in a fenced in area of the docks, the driver lowering his window as he waited for the security guard. When the guard reached him, they spoke for a moment, then the driver offered the guard a small roll of bills.

As the guard moved to open the gate, the turtles found a spot further along the fence and leaped over it, the eight foot height no challenge for them.

They watched the van pull onto the dock and continue driving past the small trailer that served as an office.

"They're headed for that cruiser," Don said as he observed the vehicles direction. "It's the only craft tied up right now."

Raph looked around too, seeing that Don was right; there wasn't even a rowboat anywhere to be seen. "Oh shell, that ain't good," he muttered.

"I guess we're getting wet," Mikey said.

They were about to start after the van when Don pulled up short, hissing a warning. When he had everyone's attention, he pointed towards a camera mounted on the corner of the trailer.

From its position, the turtles would have to pass directly in front of it in order to reach the water's edge. Leo glanced at Don quizzically and the genius nodded, signaling that the others should stay put.

Pulling his bo staff from his back, Don reached upwards and pressed the end against the camera. Slowly and carefully, he shifted the camera angle just enough to allow them safe passage.

With that done, the brother's moved in closer to where the van had parked. Crouching behind pillars along the dock, they watched men unload the van and stash large boxes inside the cruiser.

"We're not going to be able to keep up with that once it's under way," Don warned.

"Not if we tried swimming after it," Leo agreed. "We need to hitch a ride."

Don dug into his duffel bag and pulled out a length of rope. While his brothers kept watch, he tied a grappling hook to the end of the rope and then handed it to Raph before hiding his bag for later retrieval.

"I hate to leave my bag," Don whispered regretfully as he stuffed some items from it into his belt, "but it'll weigh me down too much in the water."

"Come on egghead," Raph said, flashing his brother a grin. "We'll manage one night without your bag of tricks."

"I hope those aren't famous last words," Don muttered.

They heard the cruiser's engine start and one of the men jumped out to cast off the lines, leaping back on board as the craft began to pull away.

In a flash the turtles raced along the dock's edge. Swinging the grappling hook overhead, Raph released it with an expert flip of his wrist and it sailed out over the water before connecting with the cruiser's back railing.

Each of the brothers got a firm hand hold on the rope and together they dove into the water. The slack was quickly taken up on the rope as the cruiser's speed increased and the brothers were jerked forward roughly.

Hand over hand the four pulled themselves closer to the boat, which helped to lessen the intensity of the wake pounding against them. From his position on the end of the rope, Mikey flipped onto his carapace, lifting his legs so that he could skim the water's surface on his shell. When his brothers looked back at him, he grinned and gave them the thumbs up signal to show he was having a good time.

Fortunately it was not a long ride. The cruiser began to slow and then turn, giving the turtles a quick glimpse of a small island.

Ahead of them was a makeshift boat dock and the turtles could see a group of men waiting there. In another moment the cruiser's engine was cut off and the craft angled towards the dock.

"Make for the rocks," Leo hissed in an undertone.

Raph waited until his brothers released the rope and then with a quick twisting movement he dislodged the grappling hook from the cruiser's railing. Coiling the rope as he swam, Raph reached the rocky outcropping where his brothers waited and handed the rope to Don, who hid it from sight.

The brothers stealthily made their way nearer the dock, remaining unseen as they studied the ongoing activity. An unmarked panel van stood near the dock and the men loaded the boxes from the cruiser into it.

Once the cargo was completely transferred, one of the dock men handed a wad of cash to the captain of the cruiser. Some words were exchanged in Spanish and then the cruiser pulled away from the island.

"There goes our ride," Mikey said.

Leo turned to Raph and asked, "Did you catch what they were saying?"

While Leo was the most fluent in Japanese, Raph was the one most adept at Spanish, a side benefit of the number of hours he spent topside.

"The guy on the dock told the captain ta come back tomorrow night and pick up a finished order. The captain asked if they needed more supplies and the other guy said no, but they'd call if that changed," Raph interpreted.

"I'm sure that wasn't the only craft on this island," Don said. "There's no way they would strand themselves considering the value of their product."

"We'll worry about how to get home after we find their lab," Leo said. "That reference to 'finished product' indicates to me that the drugs are being manufactured here."

They watched as the van drove away, leaving one armed man behind to stand guard over the dock.

"Should we take him out?" Mikey asked.

"No," Leo said. "He probably reports in at regular intervals and we shouldn't give away our presence any sooner than necessary. Let's skirt around him and follow the van."

One by one they slid off the rocks and followed Leo into the heavily wooded area nearby. The guard's focus was entirely on the dock and open water beyond, never appearing to show any concern for watching the island behind him.

"They always leave the lazy ones ta stand guard," Raph observed with satisfaction.

Keeping the narrow paved road in sight, the brothers moved off in the direction the van had taken, ghosting their way through the woods. In less than a mile the trees played out, giving way to about a hundred yards of open ground that surrounded a fifteen foot tall fence topped with razor wire.

The clearing had obviously been man made and the reason for that was equally as evident. Beyond the first fence was a second line of similar fencing and then a wide courtyard which led to a low, sprawling brick building. On either end were two three-story tall towers.

All four of the brothers squatted down within the covering of trees as they surveyed the building.

"Dude, it looks like a prison," Mikey said.

Don snapped his fingers. "You know what? I think it is," he said excitedly. "This is the island the feds used back in the fifties to detain foreign nationals who were in our country illegally. They were the ones who were on their own countries most wanted lists. The government used this facility as a holding center while the international extradition paperwork was completed."

"So they don't use it anymore?" Raph asked. "Why?"

"Monetary reasons," Don answered. "More and more governments started using planes for prisoner transport and it would have cost too much to put in a landing strip. Plus, the facilities were too small and outdated and lacked the technology they required. Upgrading just cost more than moving inland to a new facility."

"How large would you say this island is?" Leo asked.

"Not very," Don told him. "If you're wondering if there is another set of buildings those drug dealers might be using, I'd say no."

"This is novel, we're gonna have to break into a prison," Mikey said with a laugh.

"We need to destroy their labs, the supplies, and all of the finished product," Leo said, his tone grim. "Not only are those drugs illegal, they're deadly if not cut properly."

"They'll be using generators for electricity," Don guessed. "I don't see any cameras along the fence line, but there are probably some on the building itself. The watch towers are problematic; I don't see anyone in them but I think a guard would only show up if they were standing."

"It's a good thing it's dark out," Raph said.

"Not dark enough," Leo said, glancing up at the crescent moon. "We could use a distraction."

"We ain't in the city anymore bro'," Raph pointed out. "Distractions are hard ta come by out here in the woods."

"Maybe we could set a fire," Mikey said hopefully.

"That would just let 'em know someone's out here," Raph told him.

"The road that the van took has to lead directly to the front gate, which would be over on the left," Leo said. "There are probably armed guards at that gate because it's the most likely entry point. If we could create a distraction in the woods just beyond that point, they would either investigate or have the men in the towers do it."

"And while they're looking in the woods over there, we'd be jumping the fence over here," Mikey finished for him.

"Exactly how are we gonna 'cause a distraction way the shell over there if we're here?" Raph asked. "Ya' want us ta separate?"

"No," Don said before Leo had a chance to speak. "Some unusual noises should do the trick."

"What did you have in mind?" Leo asked, recognizing the look on Don's face.

"Hey Raph, you up for playing a little ball?" Don asked

"Got ya' covered bro'," Raph said as he began picking up some golf ball sized stones.

"Mikey and I will keep an eye on the towers and the front entrance," Leo said. "As soon as you get their attention, come straight back here."

Don and Raph darted through the trees, going in the direction of the road. It only took them a couple of minutes to spot the gate, a double wide expanse of fencing on rollers. Two floodlights on high posts illuminated the approach to the gate.

Standing on one side of the gate was a man holding a rifle and on the other was a small structure that had one time been the guard post. Inside of it was a second man and the turtles could both see the walkie-talkie attached to his belt.

"Ready?" Raph whispered.

"Batter up," Don replied, holding his bo staff like a bat.

Raph pitched one of the stones to him and Don swung, striking it solidly and sending it with unerring accuracy straight into one of the lights. There was a loud clang as the rock bounced inside the aluminum housing, and then the shatter of glass breaking as the light simultaneously winked out.

Don immediately hit another stone into the woods behind the guard shack, making sure that it rustled the tree's leaves. By then the man with the rifle was halfway into the road, his face turned up towards the broken floodlight. The sound from the trees made him spin in that direction, his rifle pointed at the woods.

Raph tossed another stone to Don, who sent in careening into the same set of trees. The rifle man yelled something to the one in the shack and started towards the woods. The man with the walkie-talkie lifted it towards his mouth and a second later, bright lights shone down from the guard towers onto that section of woods.

For safe measure, Don sent one more stone into the foliage and then he and Raph high-tailed it back to where Leo and Mikey were waiting.

Those two had seen the tower lights come on and were already running towards the first line of fencing. Don and Raph veered in their direction and as soon as they were close, Don held his bo staff horizontally in front of him so that his brothers could use it as a springboard to clear the top of the fence.

When his brothers were on the other side, Don ran towards the fence, using his bo to pole vault over it. They swiftly repeated the maneuver in order to scale the second set of fencing and then stayed low as they ran towards an area of the yard that contained several picnic tables.

Using the tables for cover, they surveyed the building in front of them. Don immediately spotted a camera mounted under the eaves on one corner.

"That's a cheap, bargain store camera," Don said. "I recognize the model; it has a limited visual range of only a few feet. The problem is that they have it angled towards the windows."

"We wouldn't be going through them anyway," Leo said. "They're too narrow and I don't want to spend time dealing with iron bars. We need to get onto the roof."

"The best approach is towards the corner of the building so we come up behind the camera," Don said. "We'll have to go one at a time in case there's another camera on the back of the building."

Leo dug out his Shuko spikes and slid them onto his hands. "I'll go first and signal you once I'm on the roof and have verified that it's secure. Keep your eyes open, they may decide to patrol the grounds since they're now on alert."

With a last glance around, Leo darted out from around the table, running low to the ground and covering the open space in a couple of seconds. When he was within a few feet of the wall he leaped at it, his spikes digging into the mortar as he began to climb.

It didn't take long for him to reach the top of the single story building. Peeking over the edge, Leo quickly scanned the surface of the roof, assuring himself that there were no guards and no cameras. Vaulting over the edge, he stayed down in order to blend into the roof top and avoid detection from the men in the towers.

Upon Leo's signal, Raph touched Mikey lightly on his carapace and said, "Go."

Mikey reached the roof top without incident and Raph sent Don scurrying off next. Don had just begun to climb when they heard the dogs.

The loud barking was a good indicator that the animals had caught the scent of intruders and Raph raced out of hiding, making for the corner of the building. Don moved quickly, but was only halfway up when Raph made a flying grab for the brickwork.

Three large mongrels appeared practically out of nowhere, teeth snapping at Raph's legs as he tried to get a toe hold. One of them managed to snag a corner of Raph's knee pad, nearly dislodging the turtle from the wall.

Yanking one of his hands free of the Shuko, Don slid his bo loose and used it to pop the dog across its nose. With a loud yelp, it released Raph and fell to the ground where it began angrily snapping at the other two curs.

Don jumped onto the roof with Raph right behind him and they both turned to look for Leo, knowing that the dogs would attract men with guns. They saw their oldest brother halfway across the roof, standing over a large metal door.

"Come on," Mikey said from right next to them, "Leo found a way inside."

By the time they reached Leo, he had sliced through the padlocked hasp and was pulling the door open. Below them was a short maintenance ladder attached to the wall and a very long drop to the floor below.

"I'm guessing that when the staff needed access to the roof, they took a step ladder out of storage and used it to reach this ladder," Leo said.

"Yeah, before they moved out and locked everything," Raph said. "That's one way ta keep the prisoners from making a quick escape."

"Speaking of quick, we might want to get inside before someone comes up here to see what the dogs are fussing about," Mikey said.

"I'll go first," Raph said. "If I meet up with anymore dogs, I'm gonna bust their noses with my sai."

He perched on the rim of the opening and then dropped onto the ladder. At the bottom rung, he took a look around and saw nothing but a dark, empty corridor. Raph back flipped off of the ladder, landing silently on the floor below before waving his brothers down.

Leo was the last off of the roof and he closed the metal door behind him after hiding the broken hasp. Once all four turtles were together, Don fished his pencil flashlight out and sent the beam down the hallway in both directions to try to get an idea of where they were.

"I saw a blueprint of this building once," Don said quietly. "It isn't very big and the layout is pretty simple."

His brothers knew that one glimpse of the blueprints, no matter how long ago it had been, was enough for it to be burned into Don's eidetic memory.

"So where are we genius?" Raph asked.

Don turned his light onto a nearby doorway and said, "We're just outside of the dorms. It's where the guard's rooms are located. Behind us through a set of barred doors are the detention pods where the prisoners were kept. There's a cafeteria in the center of that section and along the farthest wall is an exercise area.

"In front of us are the kitchen, the laundry, the booking and holding areas, the public area where the entrance we saw is located, and then the administrative offices."

"I didn't see the van at the entrance," Raph said.

"They probably pulled around to the other side of the building where the sally port is for the booking facilities," Don said. "That's closest to the kitchen and my guess would be that's where they're 'cooking' their drugs."

"Then the kitchen is where we need to go," Leo said in a determined tone.

They hadn't taken more than four steps when a deep voice stopped them in their tracks.

"You aren't going anywhere."

TBC….