Page 50 of Yankee in the Wind

Fox pulled out his gun and screwed the silencer onto the muzzle. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Lilly, you and Michelle stay here until we know what’s going on inside,” Jack said.

“Be careful,” Lilly said. She looked worried.

“I’m always careful,” Jack assured her.

Moments later, Ace, Fox, and Jack exited the vehicle.

“Fox, you take the back entrance, I’ll take the front,” Ace said, “Jack, you’ll take the loading dock.”

They fanned out and marched into the woods. The trees and brush provided good cover. Smith and his cronies had probably chosen this location because the building couldn’t easily be seen from the street, thus hiding their nefarious activities from the public. But the hidden location also meant that Jack and his fellow Stargate agents could get close to the building without being seen.

Jack hurried through the woods, constantly scanning the area for any trip wires or cameras. He didn’t detect any. If he were to set up a facility like this, he’d make sure to spread motion sensors amidst the trees around the building to be warned about an ambush.

Jack was almost in place, when he heard Ace in his ear. “I have a visual of the camera over the front entrance.”

“Getting closer,” Fox said.

“Almost there,” Jack added.

He was approximately a hundred yards from the building now, and as he snuck past a large tree, he spotted the loading dock. A white van was parked there, but the driver’s cabin was empty. Jack let his eyes roam, but he couldn’t see anybody. He had to assume that the driver was inside the building.

The double doors leading from the loading dock into the building were in Jack’s sight, though he had to aim at the camera above it from the side, since the van blocked his direct view.

“In position,” Jack whispered into his microphone.

“Same,” Fox said.

“On my count of three,” Ace said. “One, two, three.”

Jack squeezed the trigger. The bullet found its target. The camera’s lens shattered, and the glass fragments fell on the ground. “Direct hit.”

“Front door camera is destroyed.”

“Back door too,” Fox added.

“Approach your ingress points,” Ace said. “Report when you’ve cracked the lock.”

Keeping as low as possible, and using everything at his disposal for cover, Jack approached the loading dock. He glanced around but saw nobody. The windows on this side of the building were high up, and he was pretty sure that nobody was looking through them. If his premonition was correct, they were too busy inside. He glanced at his watch. Five minutes to five p.m. They were cutting it close, too close for his liking.

When Jack reached the double doors at the loading dock, he realized that they were ajar.

“Loading dock doors are not locked,” he reported to Ace.

“Working on the back door,” Fox said.

“I need a few seconds at the front,” Ace replied.

Jack pressed himself against the wall next to the double doors, his eyes scanning his surroundings. Seconds felt like minutes.

“Ace?”

“Got it,” Ace said.

“Me too,” Fox replied.

“See you inside,” Ace said.