“Almost, ma’am. We are just outside town, making our final approach on foot.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “Is there a problem?”
“We’ve come in contact with someone who says she’s part of Dream Sky security. She’s telling us that the base has been infiltrated, but I’d like to verify her identity before we assume anything.”
Celeste barely maintained her composure as she said, “Of course. Ms. Dalton? Are you on the line?”
“Right here, ma’am,” Dalton said.
“Go ahead, Commander.”
“The woman says her name’s Reni Barton.”
“Checking,” Dalton said. A brief pause followed. “Confirmed. There is a Reni Nicole Barton at Dream Sky. She’s security level two. Let me send you her picture.” Another pause, then, “Okay, you should have it now.”
“It’s her,” Vintner said after a moment.
“What did she tell you?” Celeste asked.
As Vintner relayed the information the woman had given him, Celeste’s already elevated blood pressure skyrocketed.
“You must get them out of there,” she said after he finished. “At all costs, you must regain control of Dream Sky. Do you understand?”
“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Vintner said. “We can deal with whoever it is. Give us a few hours and this should all be over.”
“Make sure it is.”
21
With Barton’s identity confirmed, Vintner decided, based on her intel, they would ditch the approach from the north and enter Dream Sky the same way the invaders apparently had. Tasking two members of his twenty-one man team to keep an eye on the woman, he led everyone into the woods in case the highway was being watched, and headed south.
A few minutes after his phone call with Director Johnson, he heard a muffled “Ash for Blake.”
Vintner halted and pulled the radio from his pocket.
“They’re talking again,” the woman said excitedly.
“Shut up,” he growled.
“Go for Blake,” another voice said.
“You guys set yet?” the first voice — Ash — asked.
“In position above the northern pass.”
“All right. I want to make sure we stop these people before they even know what hit them, so I’m going to send whoever’s not needed inside over to you.”
“Copy that.”
“I should be there in about ten. Any update on where these assholes are?”
“I sent out a couple scouts to the other side of the pass. They should be there in a few minutes. If they see something, they’ll let us know.”
“All right. Keep me posted. Ash out.”
“Blake out.”
Vintner shoved the radio back into his pocket.
“See, I told you,” the woman said.
He grunted, but said nothing else.
Ash watched the Project Eden team through his binoculars as he talked to Blake over the radio.
For the entire duration of the conversation, they didn’t move, but after Ash signed off, they started up again, their pace quicker than before.
He couldn’t help but smile.
Fifteen minutes closer to Everton, Vintner ordered his team to stop again.
“Here?” he asked Reni.
She scanned their surroundings. “Another fifty yards down would be better, I think.”
“All right. You heard her. Fifty more yards, then up and over.”
The sound had come from somewhere to the right. Chloe scanned the woods. At first, she didn’t pick up any movement, but then a man wearing Project Eden security gear emerged from the trees and jogged toward her.
She whipped up her gun, but relaxed her trigger finger when she realized it was Ash. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Not intentionally,” he said. “Chloe, the Project Eden group is heading this way.”
“Good. I look forward to them trying to get past us.”
He looked around. “A firefight out here — too many variables. They could tell their bosses what’s happening before we could subdue them.”
“I take it you have something else in mind.”
“I do. I want you to let them in.”
“What?” she said, surprised.
“Let me explain.”
Ash worked his way through the woods to where Blake and the rest of the team were waiting.
“Nova just reported they’re heading up the other side,” Blake said. “Should be right in front of us in about seven minutes.”
“Perfect,” Ash said.
Vintner took point, creeping up the final few feet of the hill in a crouch. He paused at the top so he could check the other side.
Everton was a gray mass of buildings in the valley below. No streetlights, no smoke rising from chimneys. A deserted town, like all of them these days.
He waved for Barton to be brought up.
When she joined him, he asked, “Which way?”
She pointed down the slope to the left. “Should be about a hundred and fifty yards that way, give or take.”
“And you’re sure the top is open?”
“As sure as I can be.”
He would have preferred something more definitive, but at this point her word was all he had. Rising to his feet, he motioned for the others to follow and headed down the hill.
Ash counted heads as the Project Eden group moved by his position. There were twenty-three in all. By the way they carried themselves, he could tell they were far better trained than most of his own people. But he’d expected that, and was hopeful his plan negated the advantage.
One way or another, he’d soon find out.
While the members of Chloe’s team had repositioned to several wall recesses nearly halfway down the slope the train used, Chloe had remained in the shadows near the tunnel entrance to watch the forest. She wanted to see the others first, wanted to know who she was dealing with.
A single crunch of snow, then silence.
She leaned forward as if the few inches she gained would allow her to see through the murky early morning light.
Another crunch. Then another, and another. A quiet approach.
From inside the tunnel, it was impossible to tell which direction the steps had come from, only that they were getting closer. When the silence returned, she was sure the approaching Project Eden squad was no more than a dozen yards from the entrance.
She edged backward toward the bend, one hand on the wall, the other holding her pistol. She was nearly at the turn when a flashlight flicked on directly in front of the entrance, its beam swinging into the tunnel and lighting up the area a few feet inside.
As the light moved deeper into the space, Chloe slipped around the corner and pressed against the wall, listening.
Nearly a minute passed before she heard someone move up to the tunnel, and then a low, harsh “Clear.”
She eased the rest of the way around the bend, squeezed by the funicular car that sat waiting at the top, and headed to her hiding spot down the slope.
Barton’s guess had been right. The metal cap covering the auxiliary tunnel had indeed been breached.
Vintner sent pairs of men left and right to circle the area. When they returned, they reported seeing tracks in the snow but no sign that anyone was lying in wait.
He stared at the entrance, a sense of unease growing. It was the perfect shooting gallery. As he and his team walked in, a few hidden gunmen could open fire. But they didn’t really have a choice. Any way into Dream Sky, either here or at the hut, presented the same problem.