Initially, all these attacks were meant only to create a large-scale diversion from the real operation to take Dream Sky. But they were taking on a life of their own, and delivering not only diversions but a solid body blow to the Project.
As for Dream Sky, she had received very little information.
“Try Captain Ash again,” she said to Crystal.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Crystal spent a few moments talking into her headset before turning back to Rachel.
“He isn’t in a position to talk right now,” she said. “But I’ve been told he and a team have made it inside.”
They’re in! Rachel felt a rush of adrenaline.
“Keep checking with them every ten minutes. I want to be kept up to date.”
9
Most funicular trains were single enclosed cars divided into two or three seating areas, each on a different level. Like giant stair steps.
Dream Sky’s funicular did not have any seats or walls or windows. Rather, it consisted of two open platforms, the upper one set back and elevated a good four feet above the other. Each was encircled by a waist-high, removable railing.
The team split between the two platforms, Chloe hopping on the lower one so she’d have a clear view of what was coming. Once everyone was on board, Robert pushed the button that started their descent.
To Chloe the train moved at a snail’s pace. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply to ease her restlessness. When she finally parted her lids again, she studied the landing at the bottom. It was partially shadowed but the platform looked deserted. Still, someone could be waiting out of sight.
“Keep sharp,” she said. “Shout if you see anything.”
The train continued its monotonous voyage through pools of light and strips of shadows, until it finally neared the end of the run and slowed. As soon as Chloe felt she could make the jump, she leaped from the train onto the arrival platform and raced through the door that led from the deck into a hallway.
Gun in hand, she cleared the area, then followed the corridor to a large, empty chamber. Once she was sure no one else was about, she lowered her weapon.
On the opposite wall was a large, closed door that looked similar to the Bunker’s blast door back at the Ranch. Apparently the tunnel had not only been sealed at the top, it had also been cut off at the bottom. No wonder there had been no response to the explosion.
“How in God’s name are we getting through that?”
Chloe turned and saw Robert, Estella, and the others trickling out of the hallway.
“There has to be a release here somewhere,” she said. “Spread out and help me find it.”
A guy named Tanner discovered a metal box that matched the one at the top of the funicular, only this one was locked.
“Who has tape?” Chloe asked.
A roll of duct tape was passed forward. She used a small piece to affix a blasting cap to the box right where the lock was, and then set it off with another remote. The sound was nothing like the explosion up top, but still enough to make her wince.
The twisted front panel of the box hung precariously by a single hinge, but there was little other visible damage. Inside the box was a softly glowing touch screen. After tapping it, a dialogue box appeared that read:
INSUFFICIENT DATA POINTS
A palm reader. She glanced back. “Diaz, bring your friend here.”
Diaz led the prisoner forward. The Project Eden man’s eyes were half-closed, his mouth slack from the weak dose of sedatives they had given him to make him compliant.
“Will your palm activate this?” Chloe asked.
His brow furrowed. “Uh…”
Instead of asking again, she forced his right palm against the panel. The screen brightened as it scanned the hand and then darkened again after a beep.
For several seconds, nothing, then:
NAGEL, TIMOTHY
SECURITY SECTION
CLEARANCE LEVEL 4
OPEN
Yes No
Using the prisoner’s finger, Chloe touched YES.
Immediately, the screen went blank and the door began moving inward with only a faint hum. As soon as it stopped, Chloe motioned for everyone to stay where they were and then peeked around the door into Dream Sky.
Beyond the opening was a large, well-lit concrete room, half filled with crates. A man and woman stood by a table near the center of the room, pulling up hospital scrubs as they gaped at the opening.
Chloe stepped out, her rifle raised. “Don’t move.”
Leaving harden in the control center to monitor the security cameras, Ash and the others descended into Dream Sky. Their first priority was to disable the remaining members of the base’s security team, and then subdue the rest of the Project personnel, preferably without anyone sending a distress message.
From the base schematics, they discovered that the security team’s barracks and the apartment used by the security director were on level three.
The short-distance elevator took them down to level one, where they switched to the eastern elevators for the ride to three.
The doors whooshed open on a brightly lit hallway that arced to the right and left, following the outer edge of the circular floor.
Following the directions from the map, Ash led the team to the right. For a few moments, they were the only ones there, but then, just ahead around the bend, he heard footsteps heading in their direction.
Ash fought the overwhelming urge to pull his rifle off his shoulder, and instead tried to project the appearance of a tired and bored security guard.
The person approaching was a woman in blue hospital scrubs, her attention focused on a tablet computer. When she noticed them, she glanced up for a brief second and then returned her gaze to her work, unfazed by their presence. Before finally reaching their destination, Ash and the team passed three other people — a man and then a pair of women, all in the same blue scrubs, not one even acknowledging them.
The map showed that the barracks consisted of three rooms — an outer one for storing gear, a large central room where the bunks were located, and a room with showers and toilets in the back.
Ash quietly opened the main door and stepped inside the gear room. A dim light on the wall was the only illumination. When he was sure all was quiet, he signaled the others to join him.
Holding on to only their pistols, night vision goggles, and individual packs of syringes, they silently removed their packs and any other gear that might get in their way.
“The magic number is thirteen,” Ash whispered. “Any fewer and we’ve got stragglers to find. Everyone ready?”
Three nods.
To Powell, he whispered, “You and Sealy take the right. I’ll go left.”
They moved over to the door and Ash cracked it open. As he suspected, the central room was dark. He lowered his goggles over his eyes and pulled the door open.
Ash counted ten bunk beds on either side of the room, enough beds for forty people. At least three guards were snoring, while several more were breathing loudly.
Moving to the left, Ash found the first bunk bed empty and stripped of blankets and sheets. Bunk two was also empty, though both beds were made up, so they likely belonged to two of the six guards Ash and his team had already dealt with. He came across his first occupied bed on the bottom of bunk three.
Ash jabbed the needle into the man’s arm and emptied the syringe of the sedative it contained. The man blinked and started to speak but Ash pushed a pillow over his face, tightly enough to muffle the sound but not suffocate him. He used the same method on the two men in bunk four. Bunk five was empty, two more guards in six, and two in seven. That was it for the left side.