Tricks and Traps (Gray Spear Society Book 7) (37 page)

"Some of us are, certainly. We're not done."

She sighed.

"Cheer up. We're doing God's work." He patted her shoulder. "If you want to see something incredible, go up to the roof."

"The twins are still there?"

"Yes," he said, "but I think their transformation is almost complete. Go look for yourself."

Sheryl left the security booth and made her way through headquarters. Aaron was talking on his phone in his office. It sounded like he was discussing architectural plans.

She climbed the staircase to the roof on tired legs. She emerged into the darkness of night and looked up at the sky. The stars were beautiful.

Bethany and Leanna were still hovering a few inches above the roof. Beams of shimmering white light went from their eyes straight up to the sky. Sheryl had to squint at the intense brightness. She wondered if that divine light went all the way to God. Was it a form of communication?

Sheryl approached the twins cautiously. Bright light was leaking out of their mouths, noses, and ears. The skin on their heads had become shiny and metallic. It had a smoky gray finish which blended with the night. The metal extended down the back of their necks. Sheryl lifted Bethany's shirt and found her entire spine was affected.
The twins are cyborgs now,
Sheryl realized.
Their central nervous systems were replaced.

Her acceptance of this fact surprised her. Just a few days ago, Sheryl would've insisted such a thing was completely impossible and therefore, it had to be a trick. Now the word impossible wasn't part of her vocabulary.

Sheryl's phone began to ring. She had no idea who might be calling her. She unclipped it from her belt and answered, "Hello? Who is this?"

"Catch me," a soft female voice said. It sounded computer generated.

"Huh?"

"Catch me now," the strange voice repeated.

The light coming from Bethany's eyes blinked out. She collapsed to the roof awkwardly. Sheryl grabbed her just in time and set her down gently.

Sheryl ran to Leanna just as her divine light went out. Sheryl barely managed to catch her as she also fell.

Leanna's eyeballs had become black crystal spheres with no discernible pupils. She had no eyelids either. It was impossible to tell where she was looking. Moonlight penetrated the spheres, and they glittered internally.

"Leanna!" Sheryl yelled. "Talk to me!"

Leanna didn't respond. Sheryl checked the girl's pulse to confirm she was still alive. Sheryl looked over and saw Bethany was also unconscious.

Aaron burst onto the roof. "Norbert said there was trouble!"

"The twins are OK," Sheryl said, "I think. Of course, that really depends on your definition of OK."

He quickly checked both girls. "They're breathing, at least." He lifted Bethany with his big arms. "Hold the door for me."

He carried the twins down to the guest quarters one at a time. He placed them in bed with their clothes still on. Their skinny bodies were completely limp.

Sheryl stood back and watched with concern.

"Something strange happened, sir," she said.

"What?" Aaron looked at her.

"Bethany called me on the phone and told me to catch her."

"What do you mean?"

Sheryl handed over her phone. Aaron stared at it for a moment. He made a call and turned on the speaker.

"Hello, sir," Bethany replied through the phone. Her voice was made of pure tones, clicks, and hums, but it was definitely her.

Sheryl looked at her unconscious body on the bed.

"How are you doing that?" Aaron said.

"Our new brains have wireless interfaces," Bethany said. "Can we talk later? We're busy right now."

"Busy with what?"

"Rebooting."

"Oh," he said. "Do you need anything? How are you feeling?"

"Please, sir. Communication is difficult at this time."

He furrowed his brow, closed the phone, and gave it back to Sheryl.

She raised her eyebrows. "I guess a girl needs to reboot sometimes. Is it just me, or does this seem extremely freaky?"

"It's not just you," Aaron said. "Even by the standards of the Society, this is pretty far out there. Grab some dinner while you have a chance."

"Are you eating, sir?"

"Later. I have to plan tonight's operation first. It needs to go like clockwork."

* * *

Cantrell walked into his hotel suite. Four beautiful, young women were kneeling by the front door as he entered. There were two blondes, a brunette, and a redhead. They wore tight, golden bikinis and ridiculously high heels.

"I'm in the mood for fucking somebody in the ass tonight," he told the girls. "You." He pointed at the redhead. "Your anus is the lucky winner."

"But master," she pleaded, "we haven't played the games all day!"

"After I'm done."

"But master!"

"After!" he yelled. "I'll give you a half-hour before bedtime."

He had four travel-sized monkey machines, one for each girl. As long as he let them play occasionally, they would do anything he asked. They were his sex slaves.

The redhead pouted.

"We can't stay up late. We're leaving on the first flight out in the morning."

"Where are we going, master?" the brunette asked.

"Away," Cantrell said. "Far away."

His phone rang. He checked the caller ID and saw it was Konstantin. Unfortunately, Cantrell had to take the call.

He answered, "What is it?"

"I'm hearing many reports of trouble at the casino," Konstantin said. "Very messy trouble. It seems more of my men are dead, and a large number of police officers are there."

"We had an incident, but the situation is under control."

"I doubt that. Neville, you've been a good client for a long time. I would almost consider you a friend. But there have been several incidents lately, and it's getting to the point where I must reconsider our business relationship. I can't tolerate these losses."

"If your mercenaries were more competent," Cantrell said, "there wouldn't be any losses! I'm not going to have this conversation now. It's late and I'm tired. Let's both step back from the brink before we do anything rash. We'll talk again tomorrow. Agreed?"

"I'm forced to wonder if you'll be able to meet all your financial commitments. You still owe me money for services rendered. Don't forget your bodyguards work for me. The only reason they're protecting you is because I ordered them to. I can give them other orders."

"Threats aren't necessary. We both know the score. Good bye." Cantrell hung up.

His four girls looked at him curiously, and he glared back at them.

"Come on," he yelled. "We don't have all night."

He headed towards the bed. They followed meekly.

* * *

Aaron looked at his
legionnaires
seated around the conference room table. "Tonight's objective is simple. Burn the Pot of Gold Casino to the ground. Destroy everything. The difficulty is there are hundreds of innocent people inside, including cops and reporters. I'd like to kill any Russian mercenaries that are still hanging around, but the rest should be saved."

"Sorting the wheat from the chaff will be a challenge, sir," Smythe said.

Aaron nodded. "I don't expect a perfect job, but we'll do our best."

"What about Jack?"

"If you find him, capture him. I'll deal with him personally. If he doesn't get out in time, so be it. Before I lay out my plan, we have to determine who is going. You, Tawni, and Norbert will certainly be part of the team. I'll provide support from here. I'm not certain of Sheryl. She's not qualified for this kind of violent assault, but if she does go, it will be a great learning experience for her."

"I vote we leave her behind. She'll endanger the rest of us with her incompetence. No offense."

"None taken," Sheryl said.

"I'll tell her what to do," Tawni said cheerfully. "She won't be a burden."

Sheryl gave Tawni an odd look.

Aaron smiled. "A noble sentiment, but you're barely qualified for this operation yourself. Two months of training isn't a lot."

"I'm with Smythe," Norbert said. "Sheryl isn't ready for this."

"Sheryl," Aaron said, "do you have a strong opinion?"

"I don't mind sitting this one out, sir," Sheryl said. "I've had more than enough excitement today. I'll just stay here and keep an eye on the twins."

"That's fine."

She sighed with obvious relief.

He ignored her. "Marina's hackers stole the architectural plans of the casino." He placed several pieces of paper on the table. "I've studied them. This will be a three-pronged attack. Tawni, you'll operate in the basement..."

Chapter Twenty

Smythe glanced at Tawni. Like him, she wore the advanced body armor reserved for combat missions. The suits were made of thick, coarse fibers knitted to form a densely woven fabric. Overlapping angular plates protected critical areas. A black and gray camouflage pattern was perfect for night operations. The armor covered everything from their necks down. Low profile helmets with integrated night vision goggles protected their heads.

Smythe loved this armor and wished he could use it more often. It was amazingly protective as well as flexible enough to allow free movement. It felt like he was wearing a heavy sweater rather than bulky armor. He could easily fight in this stuff.

The two of them were crouched in the shadows behind the Pot of Gold Casino. Even though hours had passed since Aaron and Sheryl's bloody escape, plenty of police cars and other emergency vehicles were still in the parking lot. Flashing blue and red lights illuminated the night.

Smythe checked his watch. "Time to go," he said. "Wait here for my signal."

He sprinted towards the casino using parked cars for cover along the way.

The casino had four floors, each smaller than the one below, creating a stepped pyramid. He ran to a dark patch at the base of the building. He unclipped a small grappling hook and line from his belt and tossed it up. The hook grabbed the edge of the second level. He quickly pulled himself up.

He repeated the operation three more times and reached the top of the pyramid. Tar and gravel covered the flat roof. Moonlight made it easy to see without the use of his night vision goggles.

He shrugged off a backpack and took out a laser range finder. Using the sides and corners of the building as reference points, he located a spot on the roof. He double-checked that all the distances were exactly right. He needed to be directly above the surveillance control room.

He pulled strips of explosives out of the backpack. He created a one meter by one meter square on the roof using the strips. Finally, he wired everything together and set a timer for two minutes.

The last item he took from his backpack was a gas mask. An air conditioning unit provided a convenient blast shield. He crouched behind it and began to strap the mask onto his face.

He was tightening the mask when the explosives detonated. He felt as much as heard the blast. No doubt everybody in the casino had noticed, but they wouldn't know where the sound had come from.

Smythe ran back to the smoking, square hole in the roof. He took a canister from his belt, pulled a pin, and tossed it down. He quickly ran away so the gas wouldn't touch his skin. He hadn't used this kind of poison before and was a little nervous the mask wouldn't be enough protection.

He counted slowly to sixty before returning to the hole. There was no smoke coming out, a good sign. The poison was designed to break down into harmless byproducts in a minute, so in theory, he was safe even without a mask. He slipped over the edge and dropped down into the room below.

He seemed to be in the right place. Surveillance video monitors covered one wall. Five dead guards sat at control consoles.

Seeing the bodies made him wince. Unlike some other members of his team, he never got any satisfaction from killing people. It was his nature to save lives, not take them. These men probably had families. Their deaths were unmitigated tragedies.

Smythe made sure the doors were locked. He searched until he found the controls for the burglar and fire alarms. He turned off those systems entirely.

He had to remove his gas mask at this point. He waited another minute just to make sure the poison was completely neutralized. He pulled off the mask and sniffed experimentally. The air smelled clean.

One of the control panels was for the radio system used by casino security. He set the switches so he could broadcast to all the guards at once.

He spoke into the microphone, "All security personnel, go immediately to the vault. There are reports of intruders in that area. A robbery may be in progress. I repeat. Intruders may be robbing the vault. All security personnel must respond immediately."

He watched the guards react on the surveillance monitors. Tan uniforms made them easy to identify. They left their posts and ran off.

Smythe smiled.

He called Tawni on his phone and said, "Go."

* * *

Tawni ran across the parking lot at a full sprint. She was on the clock now.

She went to a back stairwell leading down to the basement. She slid under the railing and dropped instead of wasting time with the stairs.

The door was made of metal painted red. She tried the handle and found it locked, which didn't surprise her. A big sign warned of an alarm, but Smythe had shut off the burglar alarm system by now. A surveillance camera aimed at Tawni's face also didn't concern her.

She took a strip of plastic explosive from a pouch on her utility belt. She stuffed the gooey, white material into the gap between the door and the frame around the latch. Aaron had given her some training, but handling high explosives still made her nervous. She was terrified the stuff would go off unexpectedly. Finally, she jammed a detonator into the plastic and set the timer.

She stood with her back to the wall and covered her ears. Even though she was ready, the bang made her jump.

She looked at the door. Thick sheet metal had folded back around the latch. She wrenched the door open using all her strength.