Jared
Two days later, he still couldn’t shake that foreboding feeling.
Something is wrong.
He didn’t say anything out loud, because he knew it would distract the others. They were all standing around a wall devoid of anything except paper tacked to it. There were nine sheets, each four feet on a side. The blue paper was filled with a crazy pattern of white lines that slowly resolved themselves into shapes as his eyes refocused.
Blueprints.
Not just any blueprints either. These were the plans for the building that the Agency now occupied and called their headquarters. Because the building had been constructed before they bought it, the plans were public property, and the Underground had been able to procure a set. It was likely that the interior had been changed to a degree, but they all agreed that any changes would likely not be to the fundamental structure of it.
So now his team was poring over them, studying them, committing them to memory at the same time they devised various strategies to assault the building as a whole, and the individual floors.
“How high is the nearby buildings?” Josh asked. “Could we rappel down to the roof?”
Justin shook his head. “No, it’s only seven floors aboveground. The other two are well over thirty. There’s no way that would work; it’s far too steep. No balconies or other such things either.”
“Could we parachute in over the city?” Connor asked. “It sounds stupid, I know. I’m just throwing anything out there that might be better than a ground assault.”
The others didn’t poke fun at him. Jared had instilled the mantra that no idea was too stupid a long time ago. Sometimes the most outrageous ideas spurred other thoughts that led to successful plans. He didn’t want to have anyone not commit a thought, just in case that was the one that worked.
“I don’t think so,” he said aloud instead. “Too risky, tight confines, and the wind shear could slam us into any of the nearby buildings. We don’t have the experience for that.”
“What about from below?” Madison asked. “If we can’t come from the sky, what about underground? Sewer or other access points?”
“Not a bad idea. We’d have to survey the tunnels around it, find access, and see what we’re up against. I can’t believe they wouldn’t have either placed guards or fortified it in a way that makes it near impossible for us to get in,” he said. “But still worth checking out.”
He frowned. “Let’s move past that. Let’s assume we make entry. What are our goals?”
“Bring it to the ground.”
“Burn it.”
“Blow it up.”
“Eliminate anything that would allow them to rebuild.”
Jared nodded as the answers were shouted back at him. He looked around the table at the pairs, noting the way they stood close to each other. It brought warmth to his heart to see his team so happy. All of them had found mates that in some way or another had complemented not only them, but had brought something to the Underground as well.
It also made him ache not to be able to experience the same feelings and emotions himself. But that didn’t seem to be on the table for him just yet, so in the meantime he would be content with being happy for the others, and ensure he did everything he could to get them home safely into each other’s arms.
“All valid points. I don’t think we really have the capability to blow it up,” he said. “But smashing everything and burning it, making it unusable, is definitely right at the top of our list. As is rescuing anyone they may be holding prisoner there. We know they’ve done it before. I’m not going to risk leaving anyone there.”
There were approving nods around the table at his words. Leaving someone to be experimented on by the Agency was not an option. The Underground had done its best to get vulnerable shifters out of King City before the Agency found them, but they hadn’t always succeeded. That knowledge ate at them, and the idea that they might be able to rescue even one of those that they had failed before was popular.
“So how do we go after this?” Josh asked. “Let’s say we get inside. Are we all going via the sewer? Do we split up once we’re inside?”
Jared nodded. “It will be confined quarters, which should work to our advantage, as they won’t be able to bring their greater numbers to bear. So splitting up will allow us to inflict more damage, I think. We should have a few reinforcements. Ajax and Arianna will be coming by on another tour, and I hope to get them to stay and help out with the assault.”
“So that brings us to what, eleven?” Madison asked, doing some quick mental math.
He nodded, grateful that so far she was letting him run the show. Madison was a strong, powerful leader for the Underground, but she was no tactician. Assaulting a building like this was much more his and his team’s strong suit. Her willingness to give him tactical command was appreciated. She could approve or veto the plan, but she would let him make the final decisions on what the plan was. It was a good system that had worked well for them so far.
“Yes, if we can’t get any more reinforcements from Genesis Valley,” he said. “I think three teams of three and one team of two,” he explained. “That will allow us to hit for maximum damage, while also splitting their forces up and hopefully catching them in some crossfire or other situations partial to us.”
He opened his mouth to divide them up into teams so they could start planning and train together, but he was interrupted by the sound of shoes slapping against the concrete as someone came along the hall outside and burst into the conference room.
“You all need to come with me, right now,” Kendra, one of the analysts who worked for the Underground said, out of breath.
“What is it?” Madison asked, reassuming command instantly.
“Bad,” Kendra said, her eyes wide as she dashed from the room.
Jared met his team members’ eyes. They paused for a split second, then as one dashed from the room. Madison and the werewolf siblings were right behind them.
“She looked terrified,” he grunted to Justin as they ran in strides through the hallways made of canvas slapped over metal framing.
The other man just grunted. They emerged into the command center to find everyone clustered around the television. There was a newsman talking, but his words didn’t immediately register on Jared as his jaw dropped open at the headline displayed.
Local King City Terrorist Base Discovered!
Behind him were images of their warehouse.
“What. The. Fuck,” he said into the stunned silence.
“Terrorists?” Madison said in a small voice, equally shocked.
Jared was the first to snap out of it. “Okay, this is a complete clusterfuck, but it’s out there now. Kendra,” he said turning to the young woman. “How long has this been broadcasting?”
“I noticed it and came right to you,” she said, her eyes darting left and right nervously. “It may have been on for a few minutes beforehand though.”
He nodded smartly. “Okay, we need to get non-combatants out of here ASAP. Madison, how long for them to start computer wipes and evacuate?”
Madison turned to him, and he saw her eyes focus as she got a hold of her shock. “Five minutes, tops.”
She turned and began barking orders before he could say anything, and the handful of techs jumped into motion. Jared nodding approvingly. They had already been poised and ready to dump everything. Screens started flashing immediately as they gathered paper files and dumped them into a bin. A moment later flames burst from it.
“Sentinels, to the garage!” he shouted over the commotion.
They had their own evacuation procedures to follow. As he ran back down the hallway he couldn’t shake one particular thought.
How did it get on the news before the Agency got here?
“Somebody fucked up,” he said aloud with a little smile.
“What do you mean?” Connor asked as they started tossing bags of gear into their trucks.
“If they know where we are, why isn’t the Agency already here in force?”
“Hah, good point,” the other shifter said with a laugh.
The mood went somber as the human contingent of the Underground poured out from the tunnel and headed for a pair of sedans. They purposely did not drive trucks, to better differentiate themselves from the shifters.
Without a word being said, Jared and his team moved to the big garage door and peered out through concealed holes to ensure the path was clear.
Justin and Josh both gave him thumbs up immediately. Connor took a moment longer to reach his post, as he was the farthest, but after a brief survey his thumb went up as well. Jared hit the button and the door swiftly opened. They nodded to their comrades, and watched as they departed, driving out into the industrial area and splitting up. The news copter was nowhere in sight, which Jared took to be bad news.
“Newsies are gone,” he said as the door closed. “We don’t have much time.”
The sound of frantic honking outside drew his attention. He peered out under the door.
And threw himself violently out of the way just before a vehicle came flying through the door, bending the metal and ripping it from its tracks. Sparks flew, metal screamed, and rubber screeched to a violent halt.