Drake studied the landscape. The parking area made an L-shape around the building, front and east. To the west was a steep grassy embankment. No fence. The whole area was open plan. A network of roads ran around it, and dozens of smaller office buildings, warehouses and a strip-mall made up the immediate prospect.
“Police,” Dahl said.
The DPD were already on site, parked outside the area along the side of the road. Hayden told their drivers to park up alongside, and jumped out.
Drake was quick to follow.
“You guys seen anything? Anything at all?” Hayden asked.
A tall bewhiskered officer looked up. “What you see is what we got, ma’am. We were instructed to watch and not take action.”
Hayden cursed. “So we have no idea what we’re walking into. Just a madman’s promise that it’s about as bad as it gets.”
Alicia shrugged. “Hey, what’s new?”
“If they have a bio-weapon in there, or a bio-device specifically engineered to target our crops then we don’t have a choice,” Dahl said.
“And how do you suggest we get inside?”
“Head on and head first,” Dahl said with a smile. “Is there any other way?”
“Not for us,” Drake said. “You ready?”
“Shit,” Alicia mumbled. “I really hope you two aren’t about to hold hands.”
Hayden asked for the items they’d requested and handed them out. Drake took his gas mask and slipped it on. No chances would be taken at the lab.
Drake then slipped down the grassy embankment, and hopped over a gully at the bottom and into the parking area. About forty cars were dotted about, everyday runners in varying stages of age and cleanliness. Nothing out of the ordinary. Dahl jogged at his side, Alicia and Mai to the right. They were fully prepared and guns were at the ready. Drake was expecting the worst, but so far all that had greeted them was an ominous silence.
“You think word did get out to the other teams?” Kinimaka was staring around the perimeter. “If some of those countries get wind that such a bio-weapon is here and vulnerable in this lab we could face an attack. And Strask is far less protected than Fort Sill.”
“Other teams?” Lauren sighed through the comms. “I’m worried the Order’s recording was broadcast without restriction. And that the shitstorm might well and truly be on its way.”
Kinimaka’s mouth turned into a large circle. “Ooooh.”
Drake and Dahl pushed on, threading through cars and keeping a watch on all the windows. Nothing moved. No alarms were sounding inside. They reached the walkways that led to the front lobby, and saw even these smaller windows were obscured.
“If I delivered here,” Dahl said. “I’d guess straight away that this was no normal lab.”
“Aye, mate. A nice pretty little reception is always best.”
Dahl jiggled the door handles, and looked surprised. “Unlocked.”
Drake waited for the team and Hayden’s order. “Go.”
Gas mask restricting his vision, he watched as Dahl threw the doors wide open and then slipped inside. Drake’s leveled his new HK, searching for enemies. The first thing they saw were bodies lying next to the reception desk and in the hallways behind.
“Quick.” Dahl ran to the first, covered by Alicia. Mai ran to the second, covered by Drake. The Swede checked quickly for a pulse.
“Thank God,” he said. “She’s alive.”
“This one too,” Mai affirmed, and pulled the victim’s eyelid open. “I think he’s been drugged. Sleeping gas, or whatever fancy term they call it.”
Hayden carried a gas, vapor and fume detector. “It’s something along those lines. Not toxic. Not deadly. Something light to put them to sleep, perhaps?”
“Weaponized vodka,” Alicia said, her voice distorted by the mask. “That’d do it.”
Kenzie looked over at her, shaking her head slowly.
“What you looking at, Bridget?”
“Well at least with that mask on I can look at you without needing to throw up.”
“The gas must have been fast-acting with full coverage,” Hayden said. “How the hell did they do it?”
“Vents,” Lauren said. “Heating system, air con, that kind of thing. There may be some scientists locked in their labs somewhere though. Considering the type of facility this is, not every lab or storage unit will be connected to the main hub.”
“Okay,” Hayden said. “Then why? What have they gained by putting all the staff to sleep?”
A new voice broke into their conversation, not through the comms system but over some kind of loudspeaker system that probably covered the entire building.
“You’re here? And the others? Oh, good. We can begin in around twelve seconds then.”
Drake spun swiftly, watching the door. Lauren’s voice broke across the comms like a tidal wave.
“Incoming! Israelis, I think. Breaching right now. And the Swedes!”
“If ever there was a place not to have a gun battle…” Alicia pointed out.
The gunfire had already started; the Dallas cops no doubt drawing on the infiltrators. Despite that, the attack came incredibly fast. Drake was already walking along the corridor and keying his comms, asking for the emergency override code that would open most of the interior doors. At this point, beyond the first set of doors, a large bank of windows exploded, grenades making short work of the triple-glazing. Drake saw razor sharp splinters imploding in a deadly, unstoppable wave, spilling through rooms. Shards embedded into every surface. Interior partitions and office windows also smashed or wilted. Drake aimed his gun at the doors.
Lauren’s voice: “Two, three, five, eight, seven.”
Quickly, he input the override code, then ran through, followed by the rest of the team. There were bodies everywhere, knocked out by the sleeping gas.
“Are we safe to remove the masks?” he asked.
Hayden had been monitoring the air quality. “I don’t recommend it. Yes, it’s now clear but whoever introduced the gas could do it again.”
“With worse,” Dahl added.
“Dammit.”
Drake opened fire as he saw masked figures entering. Five at once, so that was probably the Russians, making free with their bullets and indifferent to whom they hurt along the way. Drake hit one on the vest, the others scattered.
“I think we can safely say the Russian team isn’t government sanctioned. No government in their right mind would go along with this.”
Kinimaka grunted. “We’re talking about the Russians here, bud. Hard to say.”
“And if they thought they could get away with it,” Kenzie said. “The Israelis too.”
Drake took cover behind a desk. The partitioning all around inside this inner maze of offices was flimsy at best. They should keep moving.
He waved Alicia and Mai past. “Lauren,” he said. “Do we know where the bio-weapon is?”
“Not yet. But the info is coming.”
Drake made a face. Bloody bureaucrats were probably weighing the cost of lives versus revenue. Hayden pushed past. “Go deeper,” she said. “It’ll be this way.”
The Russians strafed the inner offices. Bullets shredded fiberglass paneling, sending the panels crashing down and aluminum struts tumbling everywhere. Drake kept his head down. Hayden crawled onward.
Drake glanced between debris. “Can’t get a bead on them.”
Dahl sat at a different vantage point. “I can.” He fired a shot; a man fell over, but Dahl shook his head grimly.
“Vest. Still five strong.”
Lauren broke over the comms. “Just a snippet of info, people. The command that released the sleeping agent definitely came from inside the building.”
“Understood,” Hayden said. “Lauren, where are the Swedes?”
Silence, then, “Judging by the way they came in I’d say on the other side of the building coming right at you.”