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“Affirmative,” Eric replied.
Juan hoped repositioning the Oregon would allow a few free shots with the rail gun before Jin could bring the plasma cannon to bear.
Juan turned to Hali. “Tell Max to commence his operation.”
* * *
—
Eddie, dressed in forest green camos like Linda, Raven, and Linc, was having his team do one final check of their gear when Max turned to them from the cockpit.
“Juan says they’re in position. You ready?”
They confirmed their comms were working, and Eddie said, “Take us in.”
This mission was all about stealth. The tree cover ended a few hundred yards from the base buildings, a lot of open ground to cover in daylight. Eddie, Linda, and Linc were carrying suppressed M4 assault rifles, but gunfire would alert the entire facility to their presence. After using up most of their limited supply of tranquilizer serum during the raids on the Dahar and Shepparton, they were down to only a few darts left. Instead of a dart pistol, Linc was armed with a tranquilizer rifle. He would tranquilize any guards between them and the buildings. Raven had brought MacD’s crossbow instead of a gun.
Once they subdued the guards, it would be a simple matter of questioning one of them to find out where MacD was being held. Speed was of the essence. A missing guard would rouse suspicions just as much as gunshots would.
Max brought the Gator close to shore, making sure there was no one around to observe them before he surfaced. He got as close as he could to the beach. They climbed out and waded to shore. The Gator moved back to deeper water and resubmerged, where Max would wait until they returned.
The sun was starting to set behind them. If their timing was right, they would be hard to spot coming out of the trees.
“Let’s move,” Eddie said.
Based on the recon from the drone, they hadn’t seen any security precautions on this side of the island. Nevertheless, they made their way carefully through the forest as they climbed, wary of any motion sensors or cameras.
When they reached the top ridge, they had an expansive view of the harbor below. Eddie used a pair of binoculars to watch the movements of the guards. None of them seemed to be on an active patrol pattern. Instead, they were busy moving equipment from the buildings to the ship, with the clanging of metal and shouts of instructions in Mandarin drifting up the hillside.
“Looks like they’re getting ready to leave,” Eddie said. “We need to hoof it.”
They double-timed it down the ridge until they were at the tree line closest to the cluster of buildings, nine of them in all.
Beside the one farthest from the dock, a lone man was leaning against the wall taking a smoke break. If they could get to the edge and take him down, they had a clear path to the buildings.
They moved along the trees to a point where Linc had a clear shot from a hundred yards away. He put the scope to his eye and held his breath as he aimed.
He pulled the trigger, and the rifle puffed as the air cartridge ignited. The guard grabbed his chest where the dart hit him. He dropped his cigarette and slumped to the ground.
Eddie said, “Come on.”
The four of them sprinted across the open ground in a two-by-two formation. They had nearly reached the tranquilized guard when a second one rounded the corner of the building. He was carrying a rifle in his hands. Detecting a noise, he had come to investigate.
When he saw the four of them running toward him, he raised the gun to fire. Raven stopped and snapped a shot with the crossbow. The bolt went through the man’s cheek before he could get his finger on the trigger.
Linc dragged the body over to the still living guard, and Eddie knelt beside the man.
“Where is your prisoner?” Eddie asked him in Mandarin.
“The American is in the main building,” the man slurred, his eyes barely open.
“Where in the building?”
“The bomb shelter in the cellar.”
Eddie translated for the others.
“That explains why we couldn’t read his signal,” Linda said.
