“Sounds easy enough…” commented Jericho.
“Things like this always sound easy… But remember, you’re not military anymore, okay? You’re an everyday citizen with a nine-to-five job, so watch yourself. If things get messy, or go wrong, you can be arrested and there’s nothing we can do to help you. The government has the advantage here, so play it smart.”
Jericho nodded. “Understood.”
“I want you all to prepare for this — get yourselves kitted out and ready to move on a moment’s notice. Let me be clear, guys and girls, if we can get more evidence to back up what Adrian Hell’s got, we’re a step closer to bringing the bad guys down… publicly. Which is safer for all concerned. I suggest you head over to the armory now and prepare. Questions?”
Collins raised his hand tentatively, as if unsure whether he should or not. “I might be a little behind the times on a few things here, but did you say Adrian Hell has the evidence against the CIA?”
Josh nodded. “That’s right. He’s public enemy number one right now, and that intel is the only thing keeping him alive.”
“Christ…” He turned to address the others. “Let me tell ya, I helped get that guy over the border and into Pripyat last week. He’s tough as fuck, and a whole other kind of crazy.” He looked back at Josh. “How did he do over there, anyway? Did he get his girl back?”
Josh nodded and smiled. “He did, yeah. And he’s eternally grateful to you for your help.”
Collins shrugged, like it was no big deal. “How did it go down?”
“He stole a tank, blew up most of an abandoned research facility, went underground and took out over twenty guys before walking his lady friend right out the front door.”
The few moments of stunned silence in the room that followed was eventually broken by Collins, who clapped his hands and cheered. “Fuck yeah! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Good for him!”
Josh smiled again. “Indeed.”
Jericho had to admit he was impressed. What he remembered of his brief interaction with Adrian, back in Colombia, left him with the impression he was a capable guy. He let out a heavy sigh and went to speak, but hesitated.
Josh noticed. “What is it?” he asked him.
Jericho sighed again. “Look… I spoke to my old contact at the CIA, which I’m guessing is what put them onto me,” he said. “If the agency is already on Vincent’s trail, involving me will only increase the risk to him, surely?”
Josh shook his head. “The CIA’s involvement with regards to both Daniel Vincent, and you, was inevitable. Yes, it would’ve been ideal if we could’ve gone a little longer without them knowing about you, but it doesn’t matter. You needed to figure things out for yourself, I get that. And now you have, you’re prepared for what comes next, which is a positive thing.”
Jericho stood, which prompted Julie and Collins to do the same. “Okay,” he said, feeling a need to take charge. “We’ll get ourselves ready to move. I’m assuming transportation isn’t an issue around here?”
Josh smiled, glancing out the window before answering. “Yeah, we’ve got most things covered.”
Jericho smiled briefly. “I figured.” He then turned and left the room, followed moments later by his new colleagues. He made his way to the elevator at the end of the corridor, and held the doors for the others. Once inside, he pressed the button and they rode it down to the ground floor.
“So where’s the armory?” Jericho asked.
“We’ve got a couple,” said Julie. “One main storage unit, with another for testing.”
“Aye, this place is like Candyland mate,” added Collins, with his trademark mischievous grin.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened.
“Can’t wait…” said Jericho quietly as he stepped out, allowing Julie to take the lead.
They walked across the compound to the north side, toward a long, low building next to a helipad. Julie nodded a professional greeting to a few people as they made their way over.
“This is the testing area,” she explained. “Probably a good idea to go here first. Some of our weapons and tech will be a little different to what you’re used to.”
“A gun’s a gun,” said Jericho, casually.
Julie met Collins’ eye and exchanged a knowing smile before answering. “Spoken like a true soldier. But we’re a good five years ahead of the military, in terms of technological advancement, so open your mind a little, big boy.”
She strode on ahead with a casual, confident swagger. Collins turned to Jericho. “She’s quite a character,” he said.
Jericho laughed. “Yeah, I’m getting that impression.” He nudged Collins’ arm with his elbow. “I think she likes you.”
Collins smiled. “And who could blame her, right?”
They laughed together and followed her inside the building. The entrance was a large, spacious foyer, with gun-metal gray paneling on the walls; clean, and giving the place an almost futuristic feel. Multiple corridors branched off in five different directions, each with large, stenciled white lettering on the adjacent wall, advising of what lay at the end of each one.
Julie was disappearing down the second corridor on the left, which was marked as leading to a weapons testing range. Jericho and Collins followed her down the corridor, which doglegged to the right and opened out into a large hangar, divided into various sections by a mixture of wooden and glass partitions. The corridor terminated on a walkway, roughly two floors above the ground, which stretched all along the side of the area. A metal staircase descended just to the left of them.
They made their way down, catching up with Julie as she approached a black man dressed in fatigues, wearing a cap, which he had on backward.
“Fisher,” he said, loudly. “What brings you here, girl?”
“Hey, Dev, just giving the newbie a tour,” she said, gesturing to Jericho with her thumb. She turned. “Jericho, this is Devon Green. He’s our resident weapons expert.”
Green looked over, and then up, at Jericho’s massive frame, which dwarfed him by almost a foot. “Christ!” he said laughing before extending his hand. “Call me Dev.”
Jericho smiled politely and shook it. “Good to meet you.”
Dev turned to Collins and gave him a curt nod. “And how you keepin’, Ray?”
They shook hands. “You know me, Dev — I’m doing just fine.”
Dev laughed. “You’re right, I do know you,” he said, pointing to the bruising on Collins’ face, “that’s why I’m asking! Was that over a woman, by any chance?”
Collins touched his face. “Oh, this? Nah — that was just a misunderstanding.”
“Uh-huh… you do have a lot of misunderstandings.”
Collins smiled. “Keeps life interesting.”
“What you got for me today?” asked Julie, changing the subject.
Dev reached over to the workstation he was standing in front of and picked up an assault rifle, holding it out to her. “This is the latest variation of our popular AX-19. As you can see, there’s space for two mags, clipping in at forty-five degree angles here,” he pointed to the underside of the barrel, “…and here, allowing for twice the firepower and half the reloading.”
Julie took the weapon in her hand, feeling the weight and lining a shot up. “Very nice,” she said, handing it back.
Dev smiled. “And for aiming, we have… this.” He picked up a scope and held it out ceremoniously. “It’s the latest piece of tech — been in development for six months. Multiple sights and views.” He pointed to a dial on the side, near the eye piece. “You can cycle through them by turning this — night vision and heat signature are standard… and you can also tag targets for assisted aiming. If there’s more than one of you, there’s the option to wirelessly sync the scope’s display, so if one of you tags a target, it’ll be displayed through all of the linked scopes.”