The Post-Humans (Book 1): The League (28 page)

That was too weird and no one would understand.

When the time comes, I will tell them.

Brad reported his own findings to fill in some of the gaps in their situation.

There was still a lot of material to sift through, but they were on the right track.

“So we need to stop Dereck Lucas and we need to save Furnace from this other facility.” Brad said as he boiled up a plan, moving his fingers quickly over his tablet. “We still don’t know
why
Lucas and Associates needs all of this radiation. We have to assume that it is for some kind of a machine linked to the Seeker girl. The one that can detect Post-Humans. Perhaps they are using it like a giant radar?”

Athan was silent.

He couldn’t say that it was to open a cross-dimensional gateway.

“We probably need to take down the receivers for the device to prevent them from utilizing the radio waves.” Aadi said.

“We need three targets taken out at once,” Brad said looking at the faces around the table.

“Eight,” a voice said from the doorway. It was the short blonde girl from the surveillance office. “There are five transmitters, all aimed at the Lucas and Associates building. Five different parts of the city.” She finished.

Brad made some notes.

“My people can try to take a couple of the transmitters, but there would be risk,” Aadi said leaning back on his chair.

“More risk if the machine becomes operational, while we are off beating up PHC.” Brad rubbed at his short beard.

Aadi shook his head. “It sounds so big, a complex and dangerous operation.”

You have no idea…
Athan thought.

“We are the people in the right place at the right time, even if we wish we weren’t,” Brad said. “Post-Human lives are at risk. This could enable them to commit global scale xenocide or genocide.”

Hours later Brad shook Athan awake with some desperation.

“Come on! They are doing something!” Brad hissed.

Athan got up off the bunk and followed his friend upstairs to where Aadi and a few others were doing the midnight shift. There was a bit of excitement in the office, but people weren’t getting excited about the files on the hard drive, it was security cam footage.

“Sorry to wake you, Sleepwalker, but Apollo and I came upon this three minutes ago.”

Athan rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the blur of the screen. He could make out a few symbols and a whole lot of email text.

“I don’t know what that is, just tell me…” He said.

“
This
screen my friend.” Aadi pointed.

Athan turned to the other monitor and saw security footage of people in protective suits on the top of some buildings plugging in big electronic devices. There were five cameras playing different footage of the same activity happening on five different rooftops.

“Five rooftops?” Athan said as he watched the screens. “Are they doing what I think they are doing?”

“Pretty sure that is exactly what they are doing,” Brad said from behind him. “I recognize the equipment they are using to a degree, and it’s heavy duty. They are beginning to transmit and receive the radio waves from the other companies around the world. Dereck Lucas is trying to activate the machine and it’s going to start tonight, Athan. We were late.”

Athan shook his head. “Bloody hell.”

The next two hours were continual panic.

Aadi tried to ready and equip teams to attack the transmission receivers while Athan and Brad gathered volunteers for the raids on the South East Melbourne holding facility where they thought Furnace was being held.

They also had to break into the Lucas and Associates building where the master receiver was being held.

“It means we need to be split up,” Brad said looking squarely at Athan.

“That worked out for us last time,” Athan said sarcastically to his friend, “but I agree.”

“Hmm…the only way we are going to be able to take any of these targets, is if we take them all at once. Their resources will be thin on the ground, and Dereck, if he
is
the one calling the shots, will be in the middle of something he needs to supervise personally.” Brad pointed out as they climbed down the stairs.

“Our only leadership point, other than Dereck, as far as I can see, is Boothe.” Athan said as he slipped on his suit jacket that was hanging on a rack.

“You’re right.” Brad nodded. “Dereck won’t be unprotected. You will be shot at.”

“This is Australia! I thought only farmers and the military had guns!” Athan said jokingly.

After recently being shot in the arm, he knew it was not something he wanted to experience again.

“Get going you lot.” Brad said slapping Athan on the shoulder. “Good luck. We wont be far behind you. And be careful. If they have Cal, you don’t want a fist fight.”

Athan looked at the shock glove, once again strapped to his right hand.

“No. I remember.” Athan wasn’t sure how he was going to face his old friend, but he knew that avoiding that conflict was the safest option.

It was late in the night.

Athan got into an old Ford with two of Aadi’s men. They left the garage where Brad and Aadi had arrived late that morning.

Athan sat in the back seat talking to the two men, Steven and Dempsy. Both had a little military training and could use a gun. He gave them a run down on what he had seen in the Lucas and Associates building and where the security guards would be potentially located during this raid. Aadi had already shown them the schematics. He also told them about Cal and his ability, and that they were not to engage him in close combat under any circumstances. If they couldn’t avoid the encounter, their best chance was to aim for his head, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Their driver took the most direct route to the centre of the city, which still felt too slow for Athan.

He was grateful for being healed by the secretary, or the Gods, whoever it was, in that subterranean place in the metaphysical plane, but he didn’t feel mentally ready for a full-scale assault.

One epic battle a week was his limit.

After a short drive through the mostly empty streets they came upon the Lucas and Associates building.

It looked as quiet as any other business in central Melbourne at one in the morning. There were cars in the car park and the foyer lights were on inside, but overall it didn’t look as if a large scale, universe rending, project was taking place.

The driver stopped the car a block up from the Lucas building and they crept along the footpath as inconspicuously as possible, until they reached the loading area.

There were clearly more security guards.

Steven watched with infrared goggles in the dark.

“I’ve always wanted an excuse to use these,” he said smiling, clearly enjoying the idea of a secret mission.

“What do you see?” Athan whispered to him.

They hid behind some bins near the edge of the road.

They wouldn’t go rushing in early; they couldn’t risk one of the security guards using their comms to alert the others inside.

“Two,” muttered Steven. “They look bored, but ready. One is bruised a bit. It must be the one Apollo kicked in the face.” He chuckled a little.

“Let me see,” Athan said, taking the goggles from him. The guard was bruised, but alert. You couldn’t catch a man by surprise like that twice in a day.

He recognized the second guard. It was the man he had seen in the break room on level 12. The one he had used as an access point before warning Brad, telling him to get out.

Nice. A conduit.

Athan smiled, he could take this on his own.

“Grab my vest, it may not stay on,” he whispered to Steven as he handed back the goggles. “Approach on my signal.”

Athan had put on a Kevlar vest for the assault, but he found it constricting.

“Sure thing, sir,” Dempsey said getting his browning handgun from its holster at his side and taking the silencer from his pocket, and screwing it on.

Athan looked at Steven, then said. “Sorry.” And disappeared into his body.

The Kevlar flack vest fell to the ground between the two stunned men.

They took deep breaths and tied to maintain composure. They had been warned about Sleepwalker’s ability, but it was different to see it happen in front of their eyes.

Athan stepped out of the security guard, turned swiftly and snapped the man’s neck like Cal had taught him years before.

Without wasting time, he punched the bruised guard in the face with the shock glove and he was thrown a few feet, landing in a broken position on the ground. He was dead.

They were both dead.

It was all so quick and precise.

Steven and Dempsey stood up from behind the bins. They looked at the two crumpled bodies of the security guards, and then at Athan, standing at the entrance gazing back at them as though he didn’t realize what he had done.

Steven scurried over and handed Athan the vest. “I’ve never seen anyone move like that,” he said.

“I am a lot faster than you when I need to be. I still don’t feel any better about killing though.”

“Well, they were probably instructed to shoot on sight, you know?” Dempsey said as he unbuttoned a guard’s shirt. “If this is as big as you say, that Lucas guy will take no chances tonight.”

“You’re right.” Athan nodded. “We can’t take chances either. What are you doing?” he said watching Dempsey stripping off the guard’s uniform.

“It will give us an edge. It may not be more than a second before they realize, but like you said, we can’t take chances either. It’s an advantage, a small one, but an advantage.”

“I’m glad you lads are with me,” Athan said, trying not to think about what he’d just done.

Dempsey used his security tag to open the door just a little to see if the way was clear. It was, at least for the moment.

They slipped into the loading area and headed straight for the stairs that went up, but as they approached, the lights began to flicker.

“Is that ‘cause of us?” Steven said as he looked up at the flickering fluorescent globe on the next landing of the concrete stairs.

Athan watched the globe too, and doubted that it could be due to an alarm.

There was a thickness in the air, something wasn’t right.

“The
machine!
” Athan said. “They’ve started the
machine.
”

“Are we too late?” asked Dempsey, his eyes wide with concern.

“I doesn’t matter, we have to stop it, even if it’s started. There’s no
too late
.
Faster!
” Athan urged as he ran up the steps.

They ran up the stairs until they reached level 12. There was a locked steel grate door on the landing, with a sign that said
No unauthorized personnel beyond this point
.

“Shit.” Athan muttered. “We need to get inside.”

“Lucky we’ve got uniforms,” Steven said as he checked his belt and patted the gun holster.

Dempsey slid his tag through the reader and the door that led to 12 opened. He was as efficient as a soldier in his strategies and his movements.

The door swung open deliberately, and standing in the centre of the corridor was a guard.

He looked shocked at first, about to draw his gun, and then he relaxed.

The uniforms had worked.

The man had let his guard down for just long enough. Dempsey had his silenced pistol drawn and there was a hiss and a thump and the security guard sunk to the floor with a growing dark red mark staining his white shirt.

“Get him in here!” Dempsey barked, and Athan and Steven did as they were instructed and grabbed the man’s body, dragging him back into the stairwell. They closed the door.

“Ok, next floor, we’ll use the inside stairs. This is the first floor monitored by a private system. If they see us, they see us. We just need to be quick.”

All three men ran to the stairs at the other end of the ‘L’ shaped corridor that skirted the offices, and entered 13 running past a guard who was clearly distracted, and 14 then 15.

At level 16 they had to travel down a corridor to get to the next set of stairs.

At the end of this corridor Dempsey caught a bullet square in the chest.

The three men didn’t even see the guard before the shot was fired.

Dempsey was knocked to the floor and down a few of the steps and the others ducked back down to avoid more shots.

“Where did they come from?” Steven hissed, looking back at Dempsey.

“They were here the whole time. We got cocky.” Athan said holding Dempsey’s shoulder. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just hurts like hell. These vests were a really good idea.” Dempsey was pushing his finger through the hole in his shirt.

“Damn right. But the uniforms aren’t any good now. They know we’re here!” Steven said.

“I’m going to try it my way,” Athan declared, “but I need to really see them first. Stay down.”

Athan’s way was the same way that he defeated the guards outside. Using one of them as a conduit and taking them out once he was within the closer proximity.

He stood up and peeked over the rail. Two bullets whipped close to his head and he ducked. He then looked again at the closest guard.

Breathe.

Athan used Steven as a conduit again.

He jumped into Steven’s body while he squatted behind the stair rail and then stepped out of the closest security guard.

The further guard’s eyes were wide with surprise.

Athan grabbed this first guard by the wrists and turned the man’s gun on his further comrade.

BANG!

The guard pulled the trigger out of shock and the second guard dropped the floor.

The first guard turned to Athan with a look of horror on his face.

He was mouthing a word he couldn’t say.

Athan brought his elbow up under the man’s chin and knocked him backward.

Dempsey had composed himself now and approached the first guard and shot him in the chest and then he shot the second, a second time.

Athan faced Dempsey who was taking gun ammunition from the guard’s belts.

“I figure,” Dempsey began, “that with all the shooting, that they know we are here. We don’t want wounded guards shooting at our backs as we head upstairs.”