“That didn’t sound like Nova,” Sean said.
“Was boat probably,” Alexei said.
Kyle would have blown the charges either because someone had tried to access the boat, or more likely because he wanted to and in doing so, made sure no one else could use it.
They reached the ground and immediately made a run for the rendezvous point. Brigitte was in charge of their exfil, tasked with teleporting all members of Alpha Team back to the MDF in Washington, D.C. The few members of her team that had joined them for the mission would handle cleanup with the Gendarmerie.
The EAMSG had agreed to turn over Jansen to the MDF on the basis that their people had taken the harder political hits over the past couple of years. Jansen could clear up some of that mess since mental testimony had been valid, acceptable evidence if it came from a government-affiliated telepath for the last fifty years.
Jansen would get his day in court.
Alexei only hoped he’d get a grave soon after.
A minute later they were out of sight of the château, racing through the trees—literally, in some instances—to where Brigitte waited. Alexei knew roughly where they were heading. Orienting their position in the dark without night vision wasn’t impossible, not in a French village with lights burning bright outside the property line. Alexei led Sean to the exfil location, happy to get eyes on Brigitte.
TheChasseurs’captain lowered her weapon, but didn’t move her finger off the trigger guard. “Étoileto Apollo, target secured. Have Viper relinquish his mind for the teleport.”
Alexei didn’t have access to comms to hear Jamie’s response, but when Brigitte waved them closer, he and Sean obeyed.
“Solidify,” Brigitte ordered.
Weight settled back in Alexei’s bones and his feet sank into the grass. He hiked Jansen’s limp body higher on his shoulders, making sure the Dutchman didn’t slide off.
“Ready,” Sean said.
Alexei’s stomach dropped somewhere near his feet during Brigitte’s teleport. His entire body seemed to stretch and snap back, getting twisted all around for an impossible moment before the French night sky was replaced with the walls of the MDF’s teleportation receiving room in Sublevel 3.
A red line cut the room in half, an invisible barrier no one ever crossed without permission to ensure a clear space for incoming teleports. Behind that line stood the director, along with Gracie and some of her medical staff. Standing to the left of Nazari was Mercedes Gaouette. The MDF’s second-strongest telepath had been held back from the field in order to continue Jansen’s psionic containment.
“Got him,” Mercedes said.
Alexei put Jansen down by the expedient way of letting the Dutchman go so he slipped off his shoulders and fell to the floor.
“All yours,” Alexei said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the unconscious man.
He and Sean got clear of the active teleport area, leaving Gracie’s people the task of fetching Jansen and hauling his ass out of there.
“I’ll return with the others, Director Nazari,” Brigitte said.
“Your assistance is, as always, very much appreciated,Étoile,” Nazari said.
She disappeared, air rushing into the void she left behind with a loudcrack. Now that they were back on base and no longer under fire, Alexei let himself feel the aches in his body from the telekinetic attack. Gracie, her eyes sharper than even Kyle’s when it came to her patients, noticed the stiff way he moved when he lifted a hand to pull off his tactical goggles and air-filtration mask.
“You’re heading to Medical,” Gracie said in a voice Alexei knew better than to protest, but he still tried.
“After team gets back,” Alexei countered.
Gracie, proving that she knew when to give ground to her patients in special circumstances, only nodded. Alpha Team never liked being separated, and Alexei would wait as long as it took for his brother and everyone else to return.
8
Teach Me Not to Dream
“He’s still not talking?”Jamie asked.
“He asked for a lawyer.” Nazari seemed amused by that request. “We’re not giving him one.”
Kyle half-wondered how long it would take for any of Jansen’s contemporaries to cry foul and get a writ ofhabeus corpuson his behalf. That would really only happen if Jansen had anyone looking out for him, and considering the MDF had captured the bastard, it was safe to say Stanislav had cut his ties with the Dutchman. Which meant no outside force would be working to secure Jansen’s release—right now, at least. No telling what the future would bring.
