“You sure about this?”Bryn asked Giles as they hung back from the others.“This isn’t exactly your kind of operation.”
“My kind of operation?”Giles gave a feral grin as he removed his jacket and tie.“I’ve been in the GCR since you were in diapers.”He rolled up his sleeves and pocketed his gold cufflinks.
“Yeah, but not doing this.”Bryn gestured to the SWAT team checking their weapons.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”
Bryn didn’t have a chance to respond as Gunnar approached with three radio earpieces.
“Channel three,” he said, handing them out.“Keep radio discipline.Short, clear communications only.”
Bryn inserted the earpiece, wincing as static crackled through it.“No fancy heroics, right?”he said to Gunnar.“We’re here to identify and question, not lead the charge, and I have a vested interest in all your bits staying intact.Giles—not so bothered.”
“Stay close and follow my lead.”
Reynolds gathered his team for final instructions.“Remember, we’re looking for both evidence and potential victims.Anyone not in obvious security or staff clothing is to be treated as a possible hostage, but also a potential threat until proven otherwise.Clear the rooms, secure any evidence, and watch for booby traps or self-destruct mechanisms.”
The mention of self-destruct made Bryn’s stomach tighten.“They’d do that?With their own people inside?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Reynolds replied, sounding grim.“These operations value secrecy above human life.”
The radio crackled.“All teams in position, Captain.”
Reynolds tapped his ear piece.“Copy that.On my mark.”He checked his watch one final time.“Three…two…one… Execute!”
The tactical teams moved simultaneously on all four entrances.The main breach team surged forward, their battering ram making short work of the front door.
“Police!Down on the ground!”Shouts echoed through the building as they rushed inside.
Bryn followed Gunnar, heart pounding.The reception area was empty, the front desk and visitor chairs abandoned.The tactical team split up, clearing side offices before moving toward the main production floor.It was the smell that hit Bryn first.Antiseptic overlaid with something chemical that he couldn’t place.The fluorescent lighting was harsh, revealing a sprawling open space filled with laboratory benches and equipment.And people.Dozens of them, just as the thermal imaging had indicated, but not the way Bryn had expected.
“Jesus Christ,” Gunnar exclaimed.Workers in white lab coats littered the floor, apparently unconscious.
“Police!Hands where we can see them!”Reynolds shouted, but not one person moved.
Bryn approached the nearest figure, a young woman.Her eyes were open but blank and unblinking.“Hey,” he said, waving his hand in front of her face.No reaction.“I think she’s dead.”
Around the room, officers were finding the same thing.Nearly two dozen people lay dead.
Gunnar came across to Bryn, his expression dark.“Don’t touch anything.A medical team will be here soon.”
“Captain!”A shout from the far side of the floor drew their attention.“You’d better come see this!”
They hurried toward the voice, passing through a set of heavy double doors into what appeared to be a more specialized area.The room was colder and full of medical equipment.Curtained cubicles lined one wall.Three of them were occupied.
“Gene-affected,” Bryn observed.The man in the first chamber had visible lupine features, the other two were pale enough to be sanguines.All three were connected to complex monitoring equipment and were either unconscious or sedated.
“Test subjects, I guess,” Gunnar sounded disgusted.
Reynolds turned to a nearby officer.“Get a medical team in here now.And find someone who can safely disconnect these people.”
“Sir,” another officer called from a computer terminal, “you might want to look at this.”
The screen showed a countdown timer.03:42… 03:41… 03:40…
“Shit!”Reynolds grabbed his radio.“All units, we have a potential self-destruct sequence.Begin evacuation procedures right now.We have three minutes.
“We need to find the server room,” Giles said.“That’s where the central data will be stored.”
