Four hours in an airplane gave both men just enough time to rest. This time Davidson had called in the two's flight and they got onto the plane without even giving TSA a second glance.
Now they were in a car with two other agents Walter knew in a black Hummer heading towards some mansion at the base of the Rockies.
"Riggs, do you have the NOR's?" The blond man riding shotgun asked looking back.
"Here." Walter passed the man a couple of the cell-phone like devices along with what looked like sunglasses. "That button on top will turn it on and activate the scrambler. After that it does everything for you. The range is only about thirty yards. So keep it on at all times."
The man nodded. "There's only three here." He noted.
"Detective Barnes doesn't need one, remember. That's why he's here." Walter reminded.
"At least we know one of us won't turn into a zombie if these devices fail." The woman driving spoke up. "By the way Detective, I'm Agent Carling."
"Pleasure to meet you ma'am." Rick replied.
Carling giggled. "You really are a gentleman." Rick blushed slightly. "This here is Agent Tomlin. He'll be the one receiving our orders from Davidson. Whatever he says listen to him."
"Will do." Rick replied.
Walter opened up a brief case from under his seat. He pulled out a tiny radio with an earpiece. He stuck the radio into his jacket and then pulled the flesh colored coiled wire behind his right ear fitting the tiny speaker into it. "We use a radio signal that requires a pass-code to even receive it. And I can't let you know it." Walter pulled out another radio and offered it to Rick.
He took it and slipped the device into one of the inner pockets of his coat. He put the piece in his ear. It was unfamiliar to him and he played with it for a few moments until it was as secure as it could get.
"The whole mansion is a façade from what an inside agent told us. It's like a military base bellow. There's at least three underground stories. Abernathy works in the lab most of the time, but he has been God knows where for about six months now. He just returned the other day." Tomlin said.
"Our inside agent is going to scramble the compound's radar for an hour and a half. We'll slip in unnoticed. At that time we'll break into two groups. Barnes and Riggs will search for the main power and cut it. Carling and I will search for any enslaved prisoners. When the power goes we'll release them and you two will create a diversion. Attract attention by causing some damage or even search out Abernathy."
"Affirmative." Walter replied.
"Stay together no matter what. Don't destroy everything. We can still learn a lot from their databanks. And only kill the real bad guys. Even if a NOD civilian pulls a gun on you, your first action is to save them. We need to know what the NOD does in terms of the long run." Tomlin added.
"Passwords are as follows." Carling spoke up. "Talon. That is the word to get into the compound. And when you get to the power grid you'll need to use the code 2529 to access it."
The Hummer pulled up to the start of a dirt road. Carling checked the GPS screen and then turned onto it. "We're about twenty minutes from the target location. Radar indicates no defensive activity."
"We're safe for now. Here." Tomlin handed back a tablet with a building plan laid out. "This is the compound. Try to memorize as much as you can. If you forget where you're going just try to follow someone." Rick didn't think he'd forget. Each level was photographically burned into his memory.
Tomlin then handed back what looked like NOD's. "These are fakes, but if you don't want to get caught right away wear them. It's kind of like a bandage." Rick and Walter took them and peeled off the paper. They carefully stuck them behind their left ears.
The Hummer pulled to a stop. "We're here." Tomlin and Carling put on their own fake NOD's and then the group began to walk in silence.
The compound really did look just like a mansion. In a way it was a lot like the Lawrence estate, except it was double the size. The walls were a warm brown and trimmed with a dark green. There were drawn curtains on all the windows. The door was thick dark wood.
When they got close to the place Rick's HUD buzzed with activity. The dialogue box popped up.
UNDERGROUND FACILITY.
ELECTRONIC SENSORY FIELD.
RADAR DETECTED.
PROXIMITY ALERT: ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS IN PLACE.
APPROACH WITH CAUTION.
"The house itself shouldn't be too hard to infiltrate. But after that we're gonna have to work fast. Try and act like you're following someone else's orders." Tomlin whispered. Everyone nodded.
They entered the building single file. The building looked like a house on the inside, except there were no signs of inhabitants and there was no dust. Tomlin opened the hall door and instead of a closet there was a small circular elevator. It was just big enough for two. There was a keypad on the wall. The shiny silver tube was closed and a single red light glowed around the locking mechanism.
Tomlin motioned for Rick and Walter to go first. "We'll split up from here. Power grid is floor 1." He murmured.
Walter approached the key pad and typed in the word 'talon'. He hit the enter button after a moment. The light changed to green and with a hiss the elevator opened out towards them. Walter and Rick stepped in quickly. Rick was closest to the controls and pushed the level one button.
Carling mouthed 'good luck' as the door swung shut. The tiny tube was now sealed. For a moment nothing happened and then the elevator lurched downwards. Rick and Walter stood shoulder to shoulder in the confined space. The inside was smooth silver metal. The button pad glowed a bright blue and there was a series of holes at the top and bottom of the compartment. For all they knew it could be for releasing poisonous gas into the chamber, or they were just air holes.
Ten seconds and the elevator hung in place. The door opened up into a deserted corridor. Rick checked the first floor diagram floating in his vision where the dialogue box normally was. They didn't have too far to go to find their objective. But they also needed to give the other agents time to get to the third floor. A voice came over the radio.
'Alright. Give us exactly 60 seconds to get to the third floor before you turn off the power. There are stairs between these floors and to an emergency exit that comes out a ways behind the mansion.'
A sixty second timer appeared in the right corner of Rick's vision. "I'm watchin' the time." He whispered to Walter. The other man nodded and then they started walking down the corridor one at a time. Walter led the way. They walked past several adjoining halls without seeing a single person.
They passed a few locked doors and finally came across a young bald man in a crisp grey suit. He looked at them. "State your business down here, and let me see your left ears." He ordered.
"Walking the perimeter." Walter answered. He gave his voice a sense of disconnect." Both men turned their heads allowing full view of their left ears and the fake NOD's.
The man narrowed his eyes as he looked at them and then shrugged. "You may continue." He ordered.
"Yes sir." Walter and Rick answered in unison.
They marched past him and kept on their way. They dared not glance back, by this time the full minute had passed.
Walter finally made a turn into a smaller hall and then in through a door. There was a small empty room. Across it was a door in the wall. The only thing on the smooth steel was a button pad. There were numbers on the buttons and green and red buttons on the side.
Walter stepped to the side, "you unlock the door while I keep watch." He breathed. Rick nodded. He walked to the door and pressed the numbers in order 2-5-2-9 then the green button. A light above the door flashed white and the steel slid across the jam into the wall.
The two stepped inside quickly. Rick and Walter were in a room filled with generators and circuit boxes. A computer bank against the far wall was covered with a series of dials and controls and seated at the computer was a single man. The door to the room slid closed again. There was a similar button pad on this side as well.
The two held their breath.
"Who's in here?" The dark haired man asked. Rick and Walter were at a loss for words. Rick noticed a clip board in a rack on the wall. He pointed at it and Walter grabbed it. Rick reached up and yanked the cord out of a wall camera aimed at the computer bank.
"Here to check up on things." Walter replied in his hollow voice.
The man turned. "You're a little early aren't you?" He looked the two over. "Got the clipboard. Go ahead and read me the checklist." He turned back to the computer.
Walter began listing off the items needing to be checked while Rick came up behind the man silently. Rick's shoes had been equipped with a silencing device that made his approach soundless no matter what he walked on.
"Power Grid A?" Walter asked hollowly.
"100 percent."
"Power Grid B?"
"99 percent, it's been drained a lot in the past half hour."
"Power Grid c?"
"100 percent."
"Radar circuits?"
Rick's hand smashed into his the man's neck before he could answer. The man jolted before slumping over. Rick didn't want to take any chances, they had to make sure he didn't wake up and turn the power back on so he backhanded the man's forehead. The sickening thwack made Rick feel guilty. The man's skin tore a little and a drizzle of blood escaped. Rick pulled him from the seat and averted his gaze.
"How do we shut this all off?" He asked.
"Judging from what this clipboard says all we have to do is cancel the relays." Walter took the seat and looked at the screen. He clicked on a tab that read 'relay access'.
A pop-up asked for a password or key. Walter and Rick shared a look of panic and Rick went to the lying man and searched him for a key. He found a tiny plastic sim card in his pants pocket. He offered it to the agent and shrugged.
Walter looked for a slot to insert it. There was a small dash in the keyboard above the first row of keys. He gently pushed the card in. The pop-up vanished and a new page came up. There was a list of the relays and a slider button to switch them from on to off.
Walter began doing this. A note at the bottom read, 'TO FULLY SHUT OFF RELAYS PLEASE SHUT DOWN EACH CIRCUIT'.
Rick went to the circuit boxes and opened the one marked 'Power Grid A Relays' up. There were a lot of circuits to pop. A warning flashed in his vision. A tiny electric current ran like a force field across the circuits. "Is there a way to access the circuits?" Rick murmured.
Walter's fingers flew across the keys a few seconds and then the field went dead.
Rick used both hands to pop each circuit. He worked quickly. Red warning lights popped up next to each circuit he turned off. He went from box to box as quickly as he could. Slowly lights, generators, and cameras went off. The computer banks grew quiet until finally there was nothing. The lights in the ceiling winked out.
Rick and Walter were in total darkness. Rick's eyes glowed for a brief moment as the night vision kicked in. Walter shuddered at the sight and then returned to the task.
"How are we getting out of here?" The FBI agent asked. He knew he didn't have the power to force the door open.
"First, here." Rick approached and placed something in Walter's hand. "These are what Alex calls Flash-Glasses. They work in the opposite way sunglasses do. Instead of darkening what you see, they make it brighter."
Walter pulled them to his face and carefully put them on. As soon as he had put them over his nose he could see the room. It wasn't daylight bright, more like a room during sundown at about the time most people would turn on the lights.
"I'm guessing these are the other devices Lawrence sent me with?"
"Yep."
"You know, I'm beginning to like those two." Walter said.
"It's kind of fun gettin' to test out their inventions." Rick admitted. He walked to the sealed door and glanced at it for a few moments. "We're in luck. This thing has a manual release."
Walter stepped up, "Great," Rick suddenly braced his legs and grabbed two handles embedded in the door. With a grunt Rick yanked the door to the side. It squealed against the metal floor as it slid halfway. Walter squeezed through followed by Rick.
They heard footsteps racing through the halls. "Guess they're trying to fix it." Walter commented. "We should prevent them from turning the power back on." He added as an afterthought.
"Got it covered." Rick turned around to the door and pulled out a handgun. He pointed it at the computer bank. His HUD targeted a critical point that wouldn't blow up or start a fire. He pulled the trigger and the keyboard shattered.
They turned and headed down the halls. They avoided the men operating the compound who were running blindly through the halls. Their radios crackled. 'Agent Carling is guiding three dozen prisoners out right now. We just made a sweep of the second floor. Time to make some noise boys.'