‘Are any main systems down?’
‘Uh.’Cole types.‘HVAC.’
‘The vents aren’t accessible,’ Finn points out when he returns to his seat on the opposite side, ‘unless you’re a mouse.’
‘Yeah.’Kade frowns, tries to put it out of his mind.‘OK, show me the tunnel entrances.’
‘They’re clear.’
‘Backtrack an hour ago, count how many Resets came in.’
While they work, Kade looks towards the steel door behind him in the wall.Something just doesn’t feel right, and instinctively, that makes him want to go tell Riley, but he can’t.Protocol comes first.
‘OK, forty-one people came in through the tunnels,’ Cole says.
‘I counted forty-one dead,’ Kade says.‘Echo-pulse motion grid?’
‘So far nothing.’
‘Perimeter breach telemetry?’
‘Untouched.’
‘Tunnel hatch is sealed?’
‘Confirmed sealed, yes.’
‘Finn, show me the tunnels.’
Three of several screens switch to night vision relay of the tunnels.
Kade stares hard, watching for any movement.
Cole asks, ‘Should we not send teams down?’
‘No.’
‘But you took out that wave of Resets no problem.’
‘Pre-jam diagnostic is rare, and something is off.Strange activity.’
‘Strange activity,’ Finn echoes.‘Maybe it’s Brightling!’
Cole groans.‘Not now, Finn.’He looks up at Kade.‘Scan for air drops?’
‘Standard sweep but I know it’s the tunnels,’ Kade murmurs, staring without blinking at the green and black until finally a shadow moves unnaturally.Victory twists inside, adrenaline free flowing.‘Thereyou are.’
The screen flickers.
Kade feels an incredibly fine vibration against the soles of his feet.
‘Heat signatures on generators one through five.They’re out,’ Cole says.
‘Explosives,’ Finn confirms.‘Only nine and ten left intact.How thefuckdid they get to the generators?’
‘How the fuck did they get in?We’d have clocked them coming a mile away.’
‘Stay focused,’ Kade intones.‘Where’s the rest of them?’
