Chapter 19
It was nearing three thirty when they arrived at an abandoned farm a few miles from the unpaved road leading to the cabin. The winter sun was beginning to hang lower in the western sky. Within minutes, it would drop down behind the mountains that towered in the west.
Already, the shadows were stretching. They had agreed to wait until five to begin moving in on the cabin. By then, the surrounding landscape would be nearly pitch black.
At five o'clock, Michaela pulled the truck back onto the main road. A mile from the turn off, she had K.A.I.S.Y. go into silent mode.
His headlights and running lights shut down, and an infrared H.U.D. appeared on the inside of the windshield. K.A.I.S.Y.'s engine noise quieted to a low purr.
As the truck pulled off the paved road, the loudest noise was the soft crunch of gravel under the tires.
"Surveillance mode, K.A.I.S.Y. I want to know how many people are in there."
A schematic of the cabin and the surrounding area appeared on the dashboard monitor. Seven red dots marked the locations of people on the premises.
"There are four guards patrolling the grounds. The other three people are all in the main room of the cabin."
The cabin wasn't really a cabin to Michaela. To her, a cabin was one room, two at most. The schematic showed that this cabin had six rooms total – the livingroom and kitchen, three bedrooms and one bathroom.
She could see they were quickly approaching the locations of two of the patrolling guards. They appeared to be walking the perimeter to either side of the gravel road.
Letting K.A.I.S.Y. coast to a stop, Michaela pulled a set of night vision goggles out of the glove box.
"K.A.I.S.Y., keep driving slowly down the road, Casey and I will flank you on each side of the road. We have to take out those guards so they don't alert Drakon."
Michaela jumped down out of the truck. Setting the night vision goggles comfortably over her eyes, she set out into the woods.
K.A.I.S.Y. would alert her via the earwig when she got close to her target. Casey was already moving through the forest toward his target.
They each had enough police grade zip ties to immobilize their targets once they had been incapacitated.
The night vision goggles utilized the available light to bring the surrounding forest into stark – if green – relief. Michaela had to adjust the filters on the goggles because the snow on the ground reflected the starlight and increased the amount of ambient light the goggles had to work with. The previous setting of the goggles made the green light nearly blinding, the new setting allowed her to see her surroundings perfectly.
"The four on patrol also have night vision," K.A.I.S.Y.'s voice whispered in her ear, even though there was no chance the slightest sound would escape the earwig to the outside world.
Michaela clicked her teeth lightly in acknowledgment.
Following K.A.I.S.Y.'s directions, Michaela was able to sneak up behind her target.
Kicking his feet out from under him, she brought him down face first onto the fallen pine needles and snow.
Power driving down on top of him, Michaela drove the air from his lungs.
While he was fighting to get his breath back, Michaela rolled him over and quickly used the zip ties to bind his hands and legs. Then she pulled off one of his gloves and shoved it in his mouth.
"Don't worry, we'll be back for you later," she said in parting. Then, "Next target, K.A.I.S.Y."
Taking down her second target went much the same way as the first.
Michaela met up with Casey at the backdoor of the cabin. K.A.I.S.Y. was just pulling up in front, preparing their distraction.
A moment later, they were surrounded by the sounds of several cars screeching to a halt around the cabin.
K.A.I.S.Y.'s voice projected from the front, "Martin Drakon, come out with your hands up."
Michaela and Casey were already moving stealthily through the back room of the cabin.
As they took positions to either side of the door leading from the kitchen to the rest of the building, the door opened.
The first of Drakon's two remaining guards pushed through the door, gun first.
Michaela grabbed the gun barrel with her right hand, pushing it up toward the ceiling. Next, she drove her left elbow into his solar plexis.
He grunted, but didn't go down, so she elbowed him again, this time in the face.
She heard bone crack, and felt a spurt of warm blood hit her.
The guard cursed, and released the gun to grab his gushing nose.
Michaela pulled him out of the way, allowing Casey clear access to the last of Drakon's guards.
Two shots rang out in rapid succession.
Both took Casey high in the chest.
Casey absorbed the impact. As soon as their velocity was shed, he allowed them to pass out of him and fall to the floor. The two holes in his chest had already been closed over by nanites.
"Drakon's running for the front door," Casey informed her.
"On my way," Michaela replied. With Casey busy with the last of Drakon's men in the middle of the doorway to the front of the house, Michaela had to sprint out the backdoor and around the cabin.
Michaela already had her night vision goggles back on, and made it around the cabin in time to see Drakon sprint awkwardly into the trees.
"Track him," Michaela hissed into her earwig. Out loud, she called out, "You might as well give up, Drakon! You're alone out there."
She didn't wait for a reply from Drakon. Instead, she plunged into the trees in the direction K.A.I.S.Y. indicated.
Drakon was moving much slower than Michaela was able to because he didn't have the benefit of night vision goggles.
"He's ahead of you, behind the tree on your right," K.A.I.S.Y. told her a moment later.
The elbow to her face came as a complete shock to Michaela. Her night vision goggles were knocked off, and she lost her grip on the gun she'd taken from the guard in the cabin.
Drakon grabbed a fistful of Michaela's hair and pulled her head painfully back. She could vaguely make out Drakon's silhouette in the faint starlight. It was enough to show that he had on his own set of night vision goggles. He'd let her think he was running blind.
K.A.I.S.Y. had registered her sudden spike in blood pressure. In her ear she heard Casey say, "Hang on, I'm coming."
Michaela reached up to claw at Drakon's face.
"That's not a wise idea," Drakon hissed in her ear, as cold steel pressed up against her side.
"Let me guess, you want me to beg and grovel for my life. Won't happen!"
Just then, Casey crashed through the bushes, stopping in front of them.
"Let her go!" he growled dangerously.
Drakon brought the knife up from Michaela's side to her throat. "I doubt even you're that fast, machine."
Casey took a step back, his hands held out in front of him. His eyes widened, and he tried to cover his momentary shock with, "Please, don't hurt her." He already had his nanites pulling the gun he'd stepped on up through his body to his hand.
Drakon pulled Michaela closer to him, his left hand holding her painfully by the back of the neck.
The shot echoed through the night. Michaela felt the air move as the bullet whipped past her ear by scant centimeters.
The knife and Drakon's hands fell away from her as his dead body collapsed to the ground.
Michaela ran to Casey, who wrapped his arms around her suddenly trembling form. "It's okay. I'm here," he soothed.
"Why?" Casey knew what Michaela's one word question was about.
"My scanner indicated his arm muscles were tensing in preparation to slit your throat. When I backed up, I stepped on the gun you dropped. I moved it up through my body. I used the only option I had available to me to save you."
Casey, sure Michaela would turn from him in disgust, was unprepared for her simple, "Okay," as her arms tightening around his waist.
"It doesn't disturb you that I killed a human being to save you?"
"You said it was the only option you had," Michaela murmured, burrowing her face into Casey's chest, her tremors at last easing off.
"I don't like what I did!"
"Good! It would have disgusted me if you had."
By now, the local sheriff's department was arriving, the red and blue lights on the vehicles illuminating the surrounding forest.
"When we get home, would you go with me to talk to Bonnie?"
"You want her to change your programming." It wasn't a question, and there was no more time for private discussion if it had been, as the first sheriff's deputy was swiftly approaching them, the coroner right behind him.