Chapter 24: On the Attack
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Everyone worked though the night, tracking down every aspect of the company’s assets. It was soon established that they owned property all over the world. The gamma scans had worked and trace amounts of gamma radiation were scattered across the world like little pinpricks. 9000 little pin pricks in fact it was thought, the strength of the pinprick signals and their accuracy were all there. Only one satellite could be used to scan though which meant some places were missed. There were about four hundred very strong signals, much stronger than the others, including some in England. Max ordered the capture of one of those sites. Out of that four hundred, ten were immense and nine of these were grouped together in the Midlands. Josh, Chloe, Robert, Ted and Matthew were to fly to the location of the tenth and track the mystery person down. They had identified a large warehouse in the middle of an industrial area of Manchester via the satellites and Max’s team had brought together plans of the layout of the building. It was multi layered as if many buildings had been squeezed into one large building. They would just have to adapt to the strange set up as they searched. Max sent them out for abseiling practice as they would go in from the roof. A quick drop should look appear to be nothing more than a police helicopter flying around. A second team would create a diversion and act as police chasing car thieves on the ground which should would explain the chopper flying around. Max was sure the Simpathes would monitor all frequencies. He could see from the satellites that armed guards were always on patrol. This was a hot location and the team would be supplied with silenced weapon to ensure an easy entrance. It was a capture stealth mission to upgrade their intelligence. Max’s orders were to destroy but he wanted all the Intel he could find first. He thought that the stronger ones would be the leaders with control over what was happening. Max had spoken to the prime minister that day and attempted to secure the satellite usage he needed to track around the globe completely. He wasn’t given it as the new MI6 needed it as well but the minister still wanted progress reports and information. Max delayed and explained it would be ready at the end of the week. He didn’t completely trust anyone and in light of current events he thought secrecy was the best option. Everyone in the camp had been tested and he could retest them at any point in a matter of minutes. Marcus had made up some Simpathe detectors based on the gamma signatures they were emitting. The detectors could identify Simpathes and also give a reading of its strength. Max didn’t really want to put Josh on the front line but he needed Chloe there and she wouldn’t leave Josh’s side. He was their saviour in her eyes. Max wasn’t truly convinced that bit wasn’t made up and thought maybe Josh was a hero simply because his father created Chloe’s people. They had apparently had sent several agents to his location who hadn’t arrived yet. Max couldn’t wait; if they were half as good as Chloe they would give him a great advantage. Chloe had been given an upgrade by her people. She said it meant she would slow down and not eat so much but Max and Josh weren’t convinced. Several generations of her people had died and been reborn since Chloe left. Every so many generations new information and a new understanding of the world came into existence with them, much like us getting better TV’s or cars.
The day of the assault arrived and the satellites were checked to ensure their target was still in place. The Simpathes who moved around the net looked like trails of light on the screen. The main target was still there with another twenty five less powerful beings guarding the perimeter and fifteen others working. It still wasn’t apparent what the warehouse was used for but they had watched it for a day and seen that lorries moved in and out frequently.
Josh, Chloe and the others loaded up. Robert was to lead the team, being the best field agent they had. Josh was nervous. He had simply reacted to whatever had happened before and had never really had the chance of looking at the danger he might be in. This time he knew the dangers in advance and was worried for Chloe and scared she may get hurt. He knew that she was more than capable but he didn’t want to lose her. They were all Simpathes in the building who they would be quick. Josh thought Max should have sent more people. The whole team had tazers fixed to their MP5’s as well as Simpathe finders. They would know when one was coming as they would see it on their geiger counters. Josh pointed his at Chloe and it did nothing. He needed something to do while there were in the chopper. Very soon though they could saw the false car chase taking place below and the pilot told them to ready themselves. They slipped down the rope quickly and quietly, before anyone had the chance to notice them. They were well disguised, wearing completely black outfits apart from Chloe’s uncovered hands as they were her weapons. Josh would have to camo them up next time they were out. They crouched down on the roof top as Robert checked the Geiger counter and picked up a general direction before crawling through a sky light and dropping quietly down into a darkened office. They moved silently and assisted one another to climb down. Robert led the way followed by Chloe. The team stuck close together to maximise firepower. Robert suddenly stopped, holding his hand up to indicate they should not move. They soon saw why: cameras covered every angle of the hallway. They tried another door which led to another office. Robert poked his head through carefully but was seen by a startled looking Simpathe sitting at a desk. Robert immediately fired his silenced weapon and the Simpathe fell to the floor. Robert removed a radio from its body and put it on his belt. Two further doors led out of the office, one obviously into the corridor and the other onto a stairwell which Ted was checking out. The stairwell went down all the way to the loading bay. Josh checked his Geiger counter and saw the Simpathes were congregated in the loading areas. Robert peeked out of the door and saw that further down the corridor there was a blind spot near the next room. His geiger counter showed a strong Simpathe presence in that direction. Robert pointed out the blind spot and they crept to the next room along where Ted tazered the surprised occupant. As Robert finished him off the Geiger counter suddenly chattered into overdrive. They hadn’t noticed the small door leading to a bathroom in the corner until a man walked out. Chloe attempted to take him down with a charge but he was too strong. Josh tazered him quickly and then gagged and cuffed him. He was definitely the one they wanted. Ted and Matthew quickly searched the office obtaining any and all information they could find. They still had to get out. Josh activated his signal to request that a team be put in place, waiting to assist them out. Suddenly voices screeched through the radio that Robert had taken from the fallen Simpathe. His body had clearly been found and Simpathes were searching for the killer. They would be there within minutes at the most. It wasn’t even a minute in fact before Josh dropped the first Simpathe through the door who had rushed in not expecting a group. Robert, remembering Max’s words; ‘there are only twenty five of us and we can’t go to war just yet,’ checked the bathroom looking for a way out. When he lifted the window however he set the fire alarm off. A large open courtyard was below but it wasn’t suitable for an escape. He hoped that everyone would be leaving the building due the fire alarm going off but he wasn’t sure about Simpathes and whether they would comply or just continue their search.
The group bolted toward back the way they had come in, dragging their unconscious prisoner with them. Robert knew this side of the building went straight onto the street. It should be easy to escape without incident. He was right. He led them straight into the offices at the end of the building and out a window onto the street. Matthew radioed in for the car to pick them up while Matthew took Josh, Chloe and the prisoner into a waiting van. Robert and Ted went back. Robert thought it had been too easy; there must be something more valuable there than the Simpathe they had been ordered to capture. The pair sped round the warehouse trying to locate the rest of the Simpathes only to find they had all fled in three loaded trucks which had just left the yard. Robert called it in and Matthew and the support team returned to the warehouse to check it out fully. They managed to pick up the truck numbers; hopefully this would give them a
chance at tracking them. Ted picked up several boxes of paperwork and CCTV footage and returned to base before Max blew a gasket. They were an hour overdue.
Back at base the prisoner was brought into the main billet where they got straight down to its interrogation.
“Well then Sir, would you care to answer a few questions?” Max paced slowly around the prisoners chair. He was using a standard interrogation technique designed to make prisoners feel uncomfortable and small. This method did not appear to be working though. The prisoners appeared relaxed and sat nonchalantly in the chair, eyes narrowed to amused slits while he watched Max.
“Of course Max, anything for a fellow spy,” replied the Simpathe smilingly, “or should I say ex spy?”
“What are you and what are your people doing?” Max asked.
“Well I’m a Simpathe and I am trying to survive, just like you. I see you have developed a tracking method? Very good!” he replied, his tone full of confident arrogance.
“Your tracking system is good but it works both ways you know, so your best bet is to let me go, that’s if you want to live of course.”
Marcus came into the room, his pace urgent.
“Those trucks you told me to track,” Marcus told Max, “they are coming, about ten minutes away.”
“They will have picked up reinforcements by now I expect,” the Simpathe chuckled to himself, “You should go and deal with this.”
“Get Reg,” Max ordered, “Tell him I want something big, very big, and I need it in 9 minutes flat.”
Reg, for all his sins, had always been an avid gun fanatic as everyone knew. It had got him his job. Now, leaving a gun fanatic alone with lots of decommissioned guns means something will be back in commission before very long. Max was relying on this.
The Simpathe’s face dropped slightly and he looked a little worried for the first time. Max guessed it was because he didn’t have all the facts about their arms capability after all, although he seemed well informed otherwise. Max wondered where he was getting his information from.
“How many are in the trucks Marcus?” Max asked.
“A small army, Marcus shook his head worriedly, “At least fifty men I would say at a guess.”
“Warm the chopper,” Max ordered, “Chloe: Josh, Ted and Robert will take the prisoner to a safer location. Make him talk.”
Reg came in the billet, his face alight with anticipation.
“I got a garbled message about you wanting something big,” he said.
“We have three trucks containing about fifty Simpathes on their way to us,” Max told him.
“I haven’t got anything much,” Reg’s eyes narrowed as he mentally catalogued his weaponry, “a bit of c4, a few grenades and the LMG of course.”
“I thought you had a tank working,” Max queried.
“I do but where am I going to get ammo for the thing?” Reg answered, perplexed.
“Bring it round the front anyway, it might scare them off,” Max ordered.
Josh had no idea where they were going. Following Max’s orders, he had taken the prisoner to a waiting chopper with Chloe, Ted and Robert and they were heading south at a great rate of knots. Josh asked the pilot where they were going and he was handed a map with coordinate marked on it by way of a reply. Their destination appeared to be miles away from anywhere, right in the middle of the Norfolk Broads. They had all loaded their emergency backpacks into the chopper before take off under the careful supervision of Robert who was all too aware of the terrible threat they were facing. Josh and Chloe hadn’t been in the billet when Max had been interrogating the Simpathe and Robert realized that Max was protecting the youngsters. He was sending them to an island that a retired friend lived on. The friend was a bit of a paranoid nut but he would know what to do if push came to shove. There were plenty of places hereabouts to dump a dead body away from prying eyes as well. When the chopper came in to land on a well-kept, soft lawn it was still dark although dawn was just beginning to break. They were all exhausted but still had to deal with the prisoner.
“Don’t move,” Josh heard as he jumped first out of the chopper. He looked around in bemusement and saw an elderly man pointing a shotgun at him. The man was dressed in pjamas covered with a paisley dressing gown but his hand was steady on the gun and he looked as if he knew how to handle himself.
“Sorry about landing on the lawn. We didn’t mean to disturb you,” Josh apologised.
“Who are you and what do you want?” the man demanded, the gun not moving from its target, Josh’s chest.
“Don’t you remember me?” Robert asked as he exited the chopper, obviously recognizing the man.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were with Robert,” Graham demanded, his face breaking into a smile as he lowered the gun.
“I didn’t know he knew you,” replied Josh,
Graham watched as the exhausted group jumped from the helicopter, dragging their bound captive with them. Robert carefully explained to him what had been happening. Graham had been Robert’s teacher back in his early days and it wasn’t uncommon to use a former agent’s home as a safe house. They sort of liked it and got to reminisce occasionally. As soon as Graham had taken recent events onboard he commanded everyone on to his yacht. He realised, as everyone did, that the Simpathes could easily trace the prisoner but that they needed to interrogate him. He would have them out at sea inside the day and the Simpathe would make great shark bait.