CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: SEARCHING FOR DR. BENNETT
Walker Innovations was now well within eyesight. The tall concrete building was taller than any of the other crumbling buildings in the district and the only one illuminated – it easily stood out in the dark night. So far, so good; the team remained undetected. They pulled both vehicles into a small alleyway a few buildings away but parked them in position for a quick retreat if necessary. All four soldiers - Jinx, Mayday, Scarlett, and Ripcord stepped out of their vehicles, fully armed and ready for anything.
Ripcord stepped out of the vehicle, rolling his head side to side while working the kinks out of his neck from the long drive. Scarlett unstrapped her crossbow from her leg, loading two arrows – one for each crossbow deck. Although the others harassed her for carrying it around, she still preferred it over her M-16 assault rifle. She had her rifle with her, just in case she needed serious firepower, but... it wasn't anything she planned on using. She'd take her crossbow any day over a rifle. If there was one thing she had learned from Snake-Eyes, it was that quiet precision weaponry was the way to go over loud attention-getting firearms. Especially on a mission like this where stealth was everything.
Mayday and Jinx, however, preferred the traditional American made assault rifle, although Jinx also had a long, thin sword strapped to her back. Scarlett raised her eyebrow but also had a slight smile; she noted how Jinx looked something like a female Snake-Eyes in her black outfit, albeit without the mask.
Ripcord carried most of the gear; on his back was a large but standard black military issue rucksack. In his hands he held his M-16; his finger rested lightly on the trigger. Scarlett noticed he had just the slightest smile on his face… a testament to his confidence. Or cockiness; she wasn't sure which.
Team Sierras pre-coordinated plan was set and they were ready to execute.
Sneaking up to the building as quickly and as silently as they could, they remained just out of the vision of one of the buildings security cameras – which, in particular, swept the area back and forth on a timing relay. The blueprints they had scanned earlier in Dr. Walkers office had proved vital; apparently the building had a blind spot. Fully aware of this, the team gathered at the base of the building and just out of the cameras view, ready to climb up and into the second story window. Ripcord stood at the base, slinging his rifle over his shoulder, holding his hands together in front of him for Mayday to step on so he could lift her up to the window. It took less than ten seconds for her to fiddle with the window and get it open; Mayday shimmied through the small opening like a slippery, graceful minx.
Jinx went next. As Ripcord held his hands for her, she actually leaped up over him, grabbing the ledge and hoisting herself up and through the window in a flash, which made Mayday seem a lot slower than she actually was.
Show-off, Scarlett thought, getting ready to go through the window herself.
Scarlett helped Ripcord up through the window as Mayday and Jinx secured the room. The room resembled something of a storage room; there was no enemy presence. Shelves and boxes littered the messy room in no particular order; torn cardboard boxes full of decade's worth of paperwork predominantly filled up the area. Scarlett couldn't help but wonder who on Earth could actually have cataloged all the junk in the room. Geez, get a computer people. Talk about a serious lack of organization. This wouldn't be a job I'd want, that's for sure. Then again, I've had some pretty bad jobs before, but still…
Ripcord sorted through some of the boxes randomly while Scarlett performed a broader search around the room; both were attempting to find anything useful but came up empty. Mayday took a knee in front of the door; the team knew that, according to the blueprints, a hallway lay on the other side. She carefully inspected the door for any type of trap or electronic warning systems.
Mayday motioned to the team and signaled that the door was unlocked. She slowly opened it, giving Jinx a moment to peer through and spring on any unsuspecting opponent on the other side of the door. Fortunately it opened up into a wide and empty hallway. Jinx gave the "all clear" sign and stepped out. Multiple doors lined the corridor on each side, but based on the blueprints they had a good idea where Dr. Bennett was being held. He would be held in the room that appeared to have the largest working space for equipment and building material, as well as the most secure and protected room… both inside and out. The four invaders moved swiftly but cautiously down the hallway and to the door they suspected led to the scientists working area.
Turning to Jinx and the others, Mayday signaled that it was also unlocked, but that she heard voices on the other side. Jinx took position by the door with her assault rifle drawn, in case someone on the other side might open the door prematurely. Ripcord had his back to the women, his rifle was aimed down the hall and he appeared intent on making sure no one would sneak up on them from behind.
Mayday ducked down, sliding a miniature snake camera underneath the door. Looking at the live feed on a camera smaller than her palm, she held up two fingers and mouthed "guards". She then held up six fingers and mouthed "civilians". Scarlett knew these were the civilians they were looking for. Mayday quietly and carefully opened the door just a crack while Scarlett and Jinx aimed their weapons through the shallow opening, giving them a small and narrow visual angle inside the other room.
Scarlett noticed that the room was very large - and well guarded. There were three isles in the room made up from two long rows of computer desks with multiple consoles stretching across; the far shelf had all kinds of parts and equipment from wall to wall. It definitely had the look of a scientist's or an engineer's laboratory.
There were also two guards with machine guns well within eyesight – the ones that Mayday mentioned. Several other men wearing long white lab coats walked back and forth across their narrow angle of vision. Jinx must have sensed it too, Scarlett thought. Shana noticed just a small – almost insignificant – shudder from Jinx out of the corner of her eye. Confirming Scarlett's suspicions, Jinx slowly put away her rifle and pulled out her sword, gripping it carefully with two hands and settling into a stance… a stance Scarlett often saw Snake-Eyes do before he was ready to run full-speed at a target. Scarlett's eyes widened. This is it! One of these men has to be Dr. Bennett!
Mayday held her breath, nodding to Scarlett and Jinx, waiting for their confirmation. They both nodded.
Mayday understood what they meant; they were ready. She nodded acknowledgement to the others and held up her fingers... three fingers to be exact. Then counting down, two fingers remained. Then one.
Mayday yanked the door open allowing Scarlett and Jinx to move quickly in the room and take up strategic positions in an effort to quietly incapacitate the two guards before they knew what hit them.
Scarlett fired her crossbow into the guard that stood furthest away – he fell before he knew what hit him. Like a flash of lightning, Jinx lurched forward... timed with Scarlett's trigger finger, and ran her sword through the nearest guard.
There were about seven white coats in the lab; each and every one had been startled and, frozen in their tracks, dropped their paperwork.
With an urgent but hushed whisper, Scarlett waived for the scientists to head out the door they just came through, saying "Let's go, let's go! We're Americans, we're getting you guys out of here and to safety..."
Scarlett never had a chance to finish that statement; six of the scientists had pulled out heavy assault rifles hidden underneath their coats.
"Wha... a trap?" Jinx whispered, staring at them like a deer caught in the headlights.
Pointing their weapons at Scarlett and Jinx, they shouted in a broken English, "Drop your weapons! Drop your weapons!"
Scarlett saw her life flash right before her eyes. I can't believe how stupid... dropping her crossbow, she raised her hands in the air. Jinx, knowing they couldn't fight the six-to-two odds, also dropped her sword and surrendered. Scarlett turned to Mayday with wide open eyes, as if she could telepathically communicate Run, Mayday! Even though Mayday was still armed and the armed men hadn't seen her, it wasn't likely that she could get Scarlett and Jinx freed up. Murmuring a reluctant sigh of defeat, Scarlett put her hands behind her head.
Mayday already knew that they were in deep trouble even though she hadn't been seen. She backed out, getting ready to head down the hall and get Ripcord.
But as she turned and started to sprint down the hallway, she ran right into Ripcords chest. With tremendous force, Ripcord shoved Mayday into the room. She tumbled off balance from the force of his shove; her gun flew from her hand, landing across the room, as she slid across the floor. Ripcord pulled out a nine millimeter and pointed it at Mayday as she sat sprawled out on the floor.
Behind Ripcord, a large soldier – over seven feet tall with muscles larger than most men that were on steroids had – stepped into the room with an AR-15 pointed at the three captured women. As if that wasn't enough, the gigantic man had a minigun strapped to his back as if it were a backpack – and there was nothing mini about it.
Mayday, having landed between Jinx and Scarlett, slowly started to get up. The three women were stunned… absolutely stunned. Here was one of their own with a weapon trained on them… a traitor.
Jinx regretted that she dropped her sword; if she had known that one of their own was about to turn on them, she would have charged him and run him through before the bullets could have reached her. Besides, Borovians weren't known for keeping prisoners alive in the long run, so she'd be more than willing to give up her life if it meant taking him down. "Ripcord, you bastard!"
Ripcord laughed. "Ripcord is dead. Not figuratively; literally. I killed him back at the mansion and assumed his role. You ladies really made it easy for me to infiltrate your little group; I honestly thought it would be harder. Your military was counting on a young group of rookies to save the day? How America remains the superpower that it is is beyond me." Ripcords face... at least the man who was pretending to be Ripcord, flickered with a blue flash, as if it was some kind of hologram. "Of course your death is imminent, but that does not grant you permission to see my true face."
All three women were shocked, and felt sickened at his revelation – he definitely wasn't Ripcord, and he probably wasn't lying about killing him, either.
That infuriated Scarlett. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" Like the sword of Jinx, Scarlett's crossbow had also been dropped to the ground. Being unarmed, her threat meant little to him.
The Impostor smiled, crossing his arms and tapping on the side of his nine-mil with his finger. "Scarlett, I don't think you'll get that chance. It's going to be a shame, really... killing you. I thought we were on to something, really. I thought I almost blew my cover when I was staring at your legs," he said coolly, intentionally fixing his eyes on her legs with his head cock to the side. "I have to admit, I liked them better when you were in your dress."
It made Scarlett angry, thinking that the entire ride up to Walker Innovations... the drive that took hours and hours, that it wasn't Ripcord sitting next to her but instead it was this puke. And it made her even angrier that she actually thought that he seemed charming at the time, even though she knew it was nothing more than an act. She'd never be able to forgive herself, remembering how she allowed herself to be so laid back around him, not realizing he was a cold blooded killer the entire time. How did she miss it? All she could think of was clawing his eyes out. Better yet, taking one of her bolts and running it through his face.
Scarlett did notice that all of the "scientists" save for one had long since dropped or opened their lab coats, revealing black body armor underneath. They looked like the other guards.
Like Jinx had observed, it had all been a trap; a set-up. That asshole must have contacted them, giving up our position long before we even arrived. Scarlett did notice, though, that one man still had his coat on... and looked terrified.
Dr. Bennett? That has to be him.
The Impostor, done with his flirting for the time being, walked up to the doctor. "Boa," he said to the large muscular soldier, "Watch them. You and you," he told two of the guards, who still hadn't bothered to remove their white laboratory coat disguises, "Guard the hall. The building is already on alert, but I have to talk to our good Doctor Bennett for a moment."
Speaking with confidence as he removed his rucksack, the Impostor said, "Doctor, I am told you recently finished the E-bomb. Would you be so kind as to place it within here, please? I have a tight schedule, and there is an American aircraft carrier I need to catch."