“Crap, then we need to reach the center point first. Assuming that’s the way down to the sub levels, Lauren?”
“Yeah, but we don’t know where the bio-weapon is yet.”
“It’s down there,” Hayden said. “They’d have to be stupid to keep it anywhere else.”
Drake nodded over at Dahl. “You okay?”
“Of course. But, like you said earlier, no government would sanction this attack.”
“Now you’re thinking the Swedes are operating independently?”
Dahl frowned, but said nothing. Anything was possible at this point, and the new revelation that the Order may still be operating, updated to a modern infrastructure, also threw question marks across the page. Just how many steps ahead of us are they?
And the fourth? If Famine doesn’t get you, Death will!
Drake rolled. Kinimaka crept toward the back edge of the office and hugged the outer wall, followed by Smyth as they converged on the inner hub. Hayden, Mai and Yorgi went straight through the middle. Drake fired shot after shot to keep the Russians pinned down. Kenzie crab-walked among them, gripping her gun but looking glum nonetheless. Poor thing was missing her katana.
Drake reached the end of the open-plan office area. Hayden was already there, surveying the open space that led to an elevator bank and another large area of offices beyond. Somewhere in there, were the Swedes.
“I hate to keep giving you bad news,” Lauren said in their ears. “But the Israelis just breached too. It’s a war zone out here. You’re goddamn lucky you’re in there.”
Now Kenzie came back. “I highly doubt the Israelis are government endorsed. But I do believe they’re Special Forces. Don’t you have backup?”
“On its way. A boatload of it. I have no idea how these teams expect to get away afterward.”
“Don’t you believe it,” Kenzie said. “There’s always a way. You need to start securing the victims in here. Getting them the help they need.”
Hayden came back. “Sorry, I can’t agree to that yet. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. We don’t know if the Order can release anything more deadly.”
“Isn’t that a reason to get them out?”
“The Order may be wanting us to do exactly that. Open the doors.”
“Umm, dude,” Alicia drawled. “Some twat already opened the windows.”
Hayden thought about it. “Shit, you’re right, but that makes it all worse. What if the Order’s ploy is to release something lethal across Dallas?”
Drake glared at the elevators. “We need to know where that fucking bio-weapon is.”
Bullets exploded from the Russian contingent, making a papier-mâché of various panels. Office implements jumped into the air: a set of pencils, a telephone, a whole ream of paper.
The team hit the ground.
Lauren’s voice was barely heard. “Sub Level Four, Lab 7. That’s where it is. Hurry!”
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Using the bank of elevators as a shield from the Swedes, the SPEAR team fired a non-stop volley at the Russians as they sped toward the steel doors. Hayden and Yorgi were freed up whilst Kinimaka and Smyth kept an eye open for the Swedes and the rest of the team concentrated on the Russians.
Hayden punched the button marked SL4.
If the elevators dinged, the sound was lost under the heavy gunfire. Drake kept low, but the enemy still managed to return fire and creep forward, coming around desk after desk and using the sturdier objects to shelter behind. Even then one man fell, shot through the head. Another shouted in pain as he was winged, and yet another was wounded in the leg. Still, they came.
The lights flashed above the metal doors and then they whooshed open. Hayden jumped inside, the rest of the team following. It was a tight fit, but they managed it.
Drake was crushed up against Dahl, the HK between them.
Alicia was chin-first against his back. “Who the hell is that behind me? With the wandering fingers?”
“That’s me.” Kenzie puffed as the tight space constricted them, leaving no room for movement as it sped down to Sub Level Four. “But my hands are trapped near my neck. Surprisingly, my fingers are there too.” She waggled them.
Alicia felt the movement. “Well, somebody has something pressed into my ass. And it ain’t a banana.”
“Oh, that’s probably me,” Yorgi said. “Well, it’s my pistol.”
Alicia raised an eyebrow. “Your pistol, huh?”
“My gun. My handgun, is what I mean.”
“Is it fully loaded?”
“Alicia…” Drake warned.
“Umm, yes it should be.”
“I’d best not move then. Don’t want it going off in such a tight space now, do we?”
Mercifully, just as Kenzie looked like she was about to send out a pithy reply, the elevator stopped and made its arrival sound. The doors opened and the team practically fell out into the corridor. Drake searched the walls for a sign. Of course, there was none.
“Where’s Lab 7?”
“Turn right, third door along,” Lauren said.
“Excellent.”
Dahl led the way, still careful, but looking confident. The threat was largely above, but Drake didn’t forget for one second the reason they were here. The Order of the Last Judgment. What else did they have planned?
Yorgi removed his mask, grabbing some air. Kenzie joined him, flouting the rules, and then Smyth followed suit, giving Hayden a blank stare when she spread her arms helplessly.
“Rebels,” Dahl said, still walking.
“I’d say rogues,” Kenzie said. “Sounds better.”
She moved up beside him.
“If I weren’t so well disciplined I’d bloody join you.”
“Don’t worry. We can work on that.”
Drake nudged her in the back. “You know he went to a private school, don’t you, Kenz? You’ll never break him.”
“Mossad have their ways.”
Dahl glanced back over his shoulder. “Will you two shut up? I’m trying to concentrate.”
“See what I mean?” Drake said.
“Concentrate on what?” Alicia asked. “Numbers one to four?”
“Here we are,” Dahl said. “Lab 7.”
“You count up all that way yourself, Torsty? Wait, I think I have a sticker somewhere.”
Hayden pushed her way to the front. “Formation, people. Watch the back. Watch the elevators, both banks. I need Lauren on the comms, talking me to the bio-weapon, and I need the lab secure. Think you can do that?”
Without pause, they parted and took up their positions. Drake and Hayden were left to enter the lab on their own. First, they entered an outer office, littered with paraphernalia, every available surface cluttered with all manner of instruments. Drake had no idea what they were but they looked vital, and expensive.
Beyond a glass wall lay an inner, secure room.
“Lauren,” he said. “Lab 7 consists of two rooms. Outer and inner. The inner is probably a control room for chemicals, capable of being sealed off and vented.”
Nothing. The comms were dead.
Drake stared at Hayden. “What the—”
“Sorry, Matt. Hayden. Labs are always frequency shielded so signals can’t get in and out. Lab 7 is on a different level to the rest of the facility and it took us a moment to turn the extra shielding off.”
“No worries,” Hayden said. “Where next?”
“Inner room. There should be a glass cabinet. Do you see it?”
Drake went over to the large glass wall. “Yep. Right in the far corner.”
“The bio-weapon obviously doesn’t look like a weapon. It should be stored in a canister about the size of a coffee flask. It can be identified by the code PD777. Got that?”