He Who Dares: Book Two (The Gray Chronicals 2) (21 page)

“The Lion and the Unicorn Bar and Grill.”  A woman answered, seeing a fuzzy image on his video screen.

“Hello, can I speak to Taffy or Jenks, please?”

“Who?”

“Um, I mean Mr. Jones or Mr. Silverman.”

“Oh them,” The woman laughed, “just a second ducky.”

“This is Mr. Silverman, how can I help you?”

“Jenks!”  One look and Jenks face light up like a fireworks display.

“My grief! Tug, where the bloody hell have you been hiding?”  He turned away from the pickup.  “Taffy, guess who’d on the blower.”

“Now how the hell would I know, man, I’m not a bloody mind reader.”

“It's his nips himself, Sergeant Grayson.”

“Don’t be funny you little twit...” Taffy came into pick up range.  “My God, it is him… you… him.”

“Told you.”

“Shut up and let the man talk would you!”

“Taffy, Jenks, I need a little help.”

“Name it and it's yours, including my first born.”

“That’s if you can find some woman to have you.”  Jenks added.

“I need someone to go clear out my rooms in Devonport, and pay the landlord.”

“No problem there, this useless cockney twit can run down there tomorrow and do that.”

“Um, I need it done tonight.  Taffy.”

“You in trouble boyo?”

“Me, no, what gives you that idea?”

“Heard that story before.  Where do you want him to bring your things?  Mike thought about it for a moment.

“Jenks, clear out my room, and that of CPO Conner Blake.  Take everything and go to the main gate at Devonport, take your porta-comp with you and I have someone meet you tomorrow evening.”

“Will do, Sarg.  We going to see you soon in our fine establishment?”

“I hope so.”

“Right then, be off with you and don’t let them catch you.”  With that, Jenks cut the connection.  That took care of his things, and their landlord.  It wouldn’t look good having him call the Admiralty and complaining that a certain Naval Officer had left and stiffed him for the rent.

CHAPTER TEN:

Silently as a snowflake, in stealth mode, the scout car drifted to a halt beside some bushes in the small park, its cammo in full active mode. The moment it touched the ground, Sergeant Rice and the two Marines exited.  Dressed in white cammo smocks they vanished into the darkness, armed with shock batons and service blasters just in case.  Mike and Conner waited in the car, both with their night vision visors down, scanning the darkness.

“Couple over there necking, Skipper.”  Conner said softly, unconsciously nodding his chin in the direction.

“I see them, just keep your eye on them once in a while, just in case.”

“Looks peaceful enough.”

“True, but after what’s been happening, I’m not taking any chances.”  Mike heard Conner’s soft chuckle.  “Got a man standing on the corner over here.”

“Ummm, odd, he standing in an alleyway in the dark.”

“Eagle to Hawk!”

“Hawk here.”

“Have one nightingale in an ally to the Southwest.”

“We have eyes on him, Eagle.”

“Seems like just a quiet suburban street, sir.”

“Could be.”

“Have the house under surveillance, Eagle.  Nothing out of the ordinary to report, so far.”  There was a pause, and the slight ping and hiss of static, then “One person inside, watching the vid, Eagle, and...  Hold one...”

“Ummm, now what?”  Conner muttered.

“Hawk, to Eagle, have a vehicle parked down the street in an ally, the engine is hot and I have heat traces of people entering the house recently.” 

Mike tried to imagine what they were seeing through the scanner.  Even with the latest technology, they could only interpret what they saw through the walls.  Fuzzy red and blue images, hot spots, latent traces, all adding to a confused picture they had to interpret.

“Hawk Two to Eagle, have four people in the vehicle, three in the rear, one apparently asleep, and one in the driver's seat.”

“Hmm, that’s odd.”  Conner muttered.

“Hawk, Two, can you get closer and look, possibly listen in?”

“Can do, Eagle.”

“Hawk leader, to Eagle, not sure I like the look of this.”  It was clear that Rice was seeing something he didn’t like.

“Talk to me, Hawk?”

“I get the impression of a fight, or struggle in the house, Eagle.”  There was something definitely out of place here.

“Hawk, Two and Three, neutralize the occupants of the car, Hawk Leader, do the same with the people inside the house.”  As he spoke, Mike opened the door and they slipped out. 

“Eagle one and two will take the nightingale in the alleyway.”

“What about the love birds, Skipper?”

“Just keep an eye on them.  If necessary, we can send Sergeant Rice out to take care of them.”  Even so, he still felt there was definitely something out of place here.  He wasn’t far wrong; as they approached the shadowy person in the alleyway sensed something and turned, reaching under his coat as he did.  Even as the man turned, there was a soft cough from behind Mike, and a moment later he slumped to the ground.

“Sorry, sir, couldn’t risk him giving the alarm.”

“You kill him?”  Mike asked, moving carefully over the fallen body.

“No, sir, just a stun dart.  A stun pistol makes way too much noise.”

“I’m not complaining.” 

“Good - Eagle to Hawk, nightingale naturalized.”  The man was armed, and not just a stun gun.  He was carrying a service blaster set on full.  Whoever he was, he wasn’t playing around.

“No ID, sir.”  Conner reported after searching them fallen man.

“Intelligence, then, but who’s?”

“Woman in the house naturalized, Eagle, no one else here.”  Something like a loud ‘POP’ sound down the street, preceded by a blue/white flash.  Conner and Mike tensed, recognized it as a blaster discharge, and immediately headed towards it.

“Sorry about that, Eagle, one of them was wearing light body armor and managed to get a shot off before we took him out.”

“No problem, anyone hurt?”

“Yes, Skipper.  One dead, theirs.”

“No matter.  They are all lethally armed, and would probably have killed us if things didn’t go according to plan.  Whoever they are, they are playing for keeps.  Is the vehicle secure?”

“Yes, Eagle.”  Without waiting, Mike and Conner made their way through the snow-covered back yard, and entered the house through the rear.  They left unavoidable tracks through the pristine snow, but now it wouldn’t matter.  Sergeant Rice let them in.

“That lady watching the vid was armed, sir.”

“So was the man down the street, lethally so.”

“Same with the people in the car, whoever they are, they’re playing rough.”

“Go bring the car here and help Hawk one, and two bring the people inside, maybe we can figure out what’s going on.”  It was clear the opposition, whoever they were, had got here before him.  The question remained, how had they known?

A search of the woman produced no ID, except the service blaster, and Conner confirmed the evidence of a struggle with broken dishes and cups in the dustbin.  The vehicle produced three men and a woman, who was still asleep, or stunned.  The Marines used thick plastic security snap-ties to truss all five of them.

“Now the question is, who is who.”

“Keep your masks in place!”  Rice hissed as one of the Marines started to remove his.

“Good idea, no sense in letting them see our faces.”

“Sir, I think the lady in the vehicle is the one who lives here.”  Sergeant Rice held out a Holograph photo of a family group.

“Take them in the other room and see what you can get out of them when.”  He said, nodding towards the people on the ground, wishing he had some TD-Penta.  “Conner and I will talk to the woman.”

“Aye-aye, sir.”  Twenty minutes later, the young woman started to come round, but it was another five minutes before she was able to talk.

“Who are you people, and why am I trussed up like this?”  She demanded, still groggy and looking scared.

“Precautions, Miss, until we establish who you are.”  Mike answered.

“I live here, and I want to know why you people invaded my home?”

“Us?  We rescued you from a car parked down the street, don’t you remember?”

“No, the last thing I remember was sitting here watching the news, then people rushing in a grabbing me, if not you, then who, and who are you people?”

“That’s a good question.  I don’t know who those other people are, but I came here to pick up a package.”

“Can you prove who you are?”  Mike could see the fear in her eyes and he didn’t blame her.  This was much more than she’d been lead to expect.

“Yes, Miss, I’m Mike Gray, and this is CPO Conner Blake.”  Mike produced his ID and showed it to her, as did Conner.  After that, she seemed a little more relaxed.

It was clear that she was the occupant of the house, and she’d been stunned by the other people and had no idea she’d been taken out of her house.  Conner undid the snap tie and took her to the doorway to the other room so she could look inside.  The other five people, including the woman lay hog tied on the floor, facing the other way, so they didn’t see her.  Sergeant Rice looked up and shook his head.  They weren’t having much luck in getting any information out of them.

“Oh my!  Who are those people?”  She asked when she came back.

“We don’t know, but they stunned you, and substituted the woman, obviously to catch us, or me more precisely.”

“I think I believe you, Captain Gray.”

“Leftenant Gray, Miss?”

“Beckman, Susan Beckman.”  She looked uncertain, first at Mike, then at Conner.  “Can I make a call?”  Half expecting them to refuse.

“By all mean, Miss Beckman, I think you need to get the R&D security here to collect these people, and provide you with a guard.”  He answered.

“Thank you, Mr... Leftenant Gray.”  She made her call, and all though they didn’t listen in, both of them could see she was in a heated conversation with someone.  Then she came back.

“I have been ordered to give you the package.”

“Thank goodness for that.”  She walked over to a draw and opening it, then stood back.

“What?”

“This isn’t my package.”

“Oh no!”

“No, please, you don’t understand, wait,” she pulled the draw out and felt in the back and pulled something out,

“I hid a dummy package in the draw, just in case something like this might happen.  From the look of it, they substituted this for the dummy package.”  She held out the packages she found in the drawer, and handed Mike the fake one to Mike.  Conner took it and scanned it carefully.