The blonde woman hunched over a terminal barely looked up from where her hands flew over the opaque touch screen on the terminal. “Notyet.”
“Hands up!” Jamie ordered loudly, sighting down his weapon at her. “Hands up!Rightnow!”
Valerie Hayes ignored him, still frantically working to erase her livelihood. Not that it would save her from prosecution. Alexei aimed his weapon at the entrance they’d come through, making sure no enemy would sneak up behind them. He kept scanning his immediate area, staying on guard, but froze when Katie’s telepathic voice ripped through his mind with a tense warning on a broadtelepathiccall.
Declan’s people have rigged the training facility to explode. All teams retreatrightnow!
What about the lab?Trevorasked.
I’m digging through the minds of the few people you’ve left alive. While I don’t think Hayes’ people planted any explosives, I can’t be sure, so just get the hell out ofthere.
Wraith?Alexei wanted to know, his thoughts translating through Russian, but that wasn’t a problem forKatie.
Katie’s few seconds of silence made his stomach sink.He’s afterevidence.
Pull him out,Jamie ordered even as he said, “Back the fuck up,Hayes.”
She spun around to face them, right hand raised in a threatening manner in their direction. At first glance, it looked like Hayes wore a med-glove, but the bulky fit around her forearm had Alexei thinking otherwise. Behind her on the holoscreen, Declan leaned closer to the camera pickup, eyes wide withdenial.
“Valerie! Don’t!” he shouted as she primed the weapon attached toherarm.
In moments like this, they had to weigh their lives and safety over the need for bringing the enemy in alive. It took a split second to make that choice, and they couldn’t know if it was the right one until after, when the metaphorical dust hadcleared.
Jamie didn’t hesitate. He pulled the trigger on his rifle, painting Valerie’s chest with red holes. Declan’s scream was that of an anguished man losing a loved one as her body slumped to the ground, the neuro-jammer blast exploding against the terminal’s heavy base. The electric hit short-circuited the computer, causing the uplink to cut off, silencing Declan’sscream.
“RPGs and stealth gloves?” Trevor asked in the sudden silence. “They’re getting more creativeeveryyear.”
Alexei would’ve responded, but the building suddenly shook around them, making him scramble to keep his footing. It felt like an earthquake, the shaking going on for a good twenty seconds before it faded away. Many loose items on the surrounding lab tables clattered across counters and work spaces before falling to thefloor.
“I thought someone took care of the metahuman with the seismic power?” one of the Strike Force operatives said to no one inparticular.
I need Inferno,Katie snapped through theirminds.
Sitrep,Jamie instantlyreplied.
They blew the whole goddamn facility and it runs deeper than the plans and satellites show. I’m recalling all pyrokinetics and hydrokinetics to my position. We need to get the firecontained.
Alexei was already moving, signaling the closest Strike Force operative to take his rearguard position.Ican make it to the roof. I’ll need apickup.
Icarus willmeetyou.
I’m headin’ your way,Annabelletoldhim.
“Everyone clear the lab,” Jamie ordered over the generalcomms.
Viper?Alexei asked, dread seeping through his mind.What aboutWraith?
Katie hesitated a moment before saying,He’s alive, but he’s notclear.
Katie’s worry spurred Alexei on. While everyone within Vitae Neurotherapeutics made their way to the ground floor exits, Alexei double-timed it to the roof. He took the nearest stairwell all the way up, shooting the lock off before kicking the door open. He came out low onto the roof, trying to make himself as small a target as possible to any remainingsnipers.
The acrid smell of smoke hit his nose, making his eyes water behind his tactical goggles. A bright whiteness washed everything out through the night vision on his HUD. He quickly canceled it out, blinking spots out of his eyes as a red-tinged darkness immediatelydescended.
In the distance, where North Star International’s training facility once stood, a massive inferno burned in a crumpled pit of broken debris. Alexei’s breath caught in his throat as fear washed through him. He could see the fire moving in unnatural ways as the two other pyrokinetics on the MDF roster struggled to keep itcontained.
Alexei fumbled at his belt, withdrawing the flexible filtration mask from a pouch before placing it over his face and snapping it securely to his hard helmet. He sealed the edges over his jaw, taking a couple of deep breaths as the filters kicked in and cleaned the air so he could breathe withoutcoughing.
“Heard you need a ride,” Annabelle called fromabove.
