فصل 52

chapter-52 Breaking into prison.

Welch anchored the boat about a hundred feet east of the dock and about sixty feet from shore, just outside the reef. He had to swim in to shore, and he was soaked and dripping when he caught up to us. Actually, with the exception of Zeus, with the amount of rain falling we were all soaked by the time we reached the prison’s main entrance.

Unfortunately, the guards had locked up after themselves. Ian examined the kind of lock used, then turned to McKenna. “It’s mechanical. The best thing would be for you to melt the bolt.” “I can do that,” McKenna said. She walked up to the door, pushing her slim fingers as far as she could between the crack. Her hand immediately went bright white. It took less than a minute for the metal to turn to molten steel and collapse.

“Anything waiting for us behind the door?” Gervaso asked.

Ian shook his head. “Just prisoners.”

“Let me go first,” I said. “Just in case.” I put an electric field around me and pushed the door open and walked through.

As Ian had said, there was no one in sight. I turned back toward the others. “Come on.” Gervaso was the first through the doorway, followed by the rest. The next door wasn’t locked, but the power had been shut off inside the building. The room smelled musty like mold and was lit only by our glows, especially mine, which was now as bright as a sixty-watt bulb.

“I can help,” McKenna said. She lit up, brightly illuminating the room.

“How do we turn the power back on?” Gervaso asked Welch.

“The place is powered by a mini Starxource plant,” Welch said. “Whenever there’s a plant, there’s a central power office. It should be near the entrance.” He turned to Ian. “Just look for a room with thousands of wires moving into it. All roads lead to Rome, you know? Just find a wire and follow it.” Ian began panning across the room, then stopped. “It’s over there. It looks like a bowl of copper spaghetti.” “That’s the place. I can turn it back on. I’ll need some light.” “I’ll go with you,” McKenna said.

“Me too,” Ostin said.

They walked off down the hall, and a few minutes later the lights came on. When they returned, Welch was carrying a roll of paper in his hands. “I found this.” Gervaso stepped forward. “What have you got?”

“It’s the building schematics. The Elgen usually keep a set in the main control room. We can use it to plan our defense.” “What are we going to do with these clowns?” Jack asked, nodding toward J.D. and his crew.

“There’s plenty of cells to lock them in,” Welch said. “That hall to the right leads to the interim cell. It’s the closest to the command center.” “How do I open the cell doors?” Jack asked.

“Everything can be controlled from the central control panel,” Welch said.

“I can do it,” Ostin said. “The controls will probably be similar to the academy’s.” “Just hurry,” Gervaso said. “We haven’t much time.” Jack and Zeus hurried off down one hall with J.D. and his crew, while Ostin and McKenna returned to the hallway they had just come from.

Welch took the plans over to a desk and laid them out. The paper had a complete diagram of the prison complex, including the apartments outside the main walls. The prison was shaped like a U, with the open end facing west. The north corridor was where the guards quartered, and there were administrative offices and a small arms closet. At the end of the corridor was the mini Starxource plant.

The eastern corridor was for the laboratory and experiments, and for the scientists’ convenience, the southern corridor was lined on both sides with cells for GPs. Cell 25 was located at the opening of the south corridor. The control room was located on the west side of the east corridor. Above it was the main tower, which had glass on all sides like an airplane tower. Next to it, in a separate building, was the radio tower and building.

“I need a pen,” Welch said.

“Here’s a pencil,” Taylor said.

Gervaso, Welch, Ian, and I crouched over the map.

“First we need to blow that dock,” Gervaso said, looking up at Welch. “That’s the priority. Do they have explosives? Dynamite? C4?” “They wouldn’t need them here. I’m sure they have grenades and some RPGs, something to sink a boat.” “Where would they be?”

Welch tapped his pen on the map. “The small arms armory is right here, but the heavy weapons cache should be here, in the center of the guard complex.” “That’s outside the prison,” I said. “Why would they do that?” “In case there’s a revolt, the prisoners can’t get to the big guns.” Ostin and McKenna ran back into the room. “What’s next?” Ostin asked.

“We need to free Tara and Torstyn,” Quentin said. “They can help us. Especially Torstyn.” “Nichelle, Taylor, and I will go with Quentin to free Tara and Torstyn,” I said.

“What about me?” Ian asked.

“We need you up in that tower,” Gervaso said. “With Tanner.” He turned to Welch. “We’ll need radios.” “Radios should be in the prison armory with the weapons,” Welch said.

“Jack can free and arm the rest of the prisoners,” I said. “Just like he did at the academy. Zeus and Tessa can go with him.” “What if they have electric collars?” Ostin asked.

“We’ll have to shut them off. That’s work for you.” “Just like the academy,” Ostin said.

“After I find the explosives, I’ll blow the dock,” Gervaso said. “As soon as I return, we seal off the place. Jack will take his prisoners to guard the walls. Ian is stationed here in the main tower so he can keep everyone apprised.” “What if they start shelling us first?” Ian asked.

“Are there bunkers?” I asked. “Anything underground?” “Most Elgen facilities have secret passageways that aren’t on the plans,” Welch said.

“Like the Weekend Express at the Peru Starxource plant,” Ostin said.

Welch looked at him. “Exactly.”

Ian panned the ground. “There’s a tunnel near the entry that runs underground. It’s deep enough to provide shelter.” Gervaso looked at Ian. “Where does it go?”

“It leads outside the fence to the guard complex.” Ostin said, “The Elgen don’t know that we know about it, so they’ll probably try to enter in through it and ambush us.” “Which means we can ambush them while they’re trying to ambush us,” Gervaso said. “I’ll go out the tunnel to blow the dock, then set up a nest at the inner end of the tunnel. How do I get to the tunnel?” Ostin looked at the map and said, “North corridor. There’s a utility closet next to the arms closet. There’s a trapdoor in the floor.” Just then Jack and Zeus returned. Gervaso said, “Come over. We don’t have much time.” He looked at Ian. “We’re vastly outnumbered, so communication is crucial. We’ll move to wherever the Elgen are so we’re always matching them.

“We’ll break up into four groups. Michael, after you and Taylor help free the prisoners, you, Ian, Tanner, Nichelle, and Taylor take the main tower. You’re squad A, our eyes and ears. Tanner, you do what you do. Just one aircraft could take us out.” Tanner looked at us dully, but said nothing.

Gervaso looked at him. “You good?”

“I’m good,” he replied.

Then Gervaso turned to Jack. “You, Zeus, Tessa, Cassy, and Abi are squad B. You take the prisoners, arm them, and set up defenses on the ground inside the outer wall. Jack, you’re the general. I want you and the others commanding from up in the towers. I don’t want any of you in the line of fire. Just keep the Elgen outside the concrete wall. If they break through, push them back. That’s where the real battle is. If we can keep them from breaching the wall, we can win this.” “What about us?” Ostin asked.

“You and McKenna take the command center. You’ll have access to all the cameras, communication, sirens, hydraulics, door locks, and electrical power. You can cut power where needed and use the cameras to help communicate to us what’s going on.” “Welch and Quentin will take Tara and Torstyn and guard the north gate. After I blow the dock, most of the attacks will probably come from the east. If that changes, Ian will know long before they reach us, and Jack will send his forces to back you up.” Welch said, “If Hatch hasn’t executed them yet, there’s at least twelve former Elgen guards in the cells. I can take them as well. They’re well trained and they know how the Elgen fight.” “Perfect. Just keep those gates closed.”

“There’s a problem,” Quentin said. “I put some of those prisoners in here. They’re going to want to kill me, not fight with me.” “Times have changed. They can fight with you or die at the hands of the Elgen.” “Guys, we’re missing the point,” Ostin said.

We all looked at him. Jack crossed his arms at his chest. “What point?” Ostin adjusted his glasses. “We came to steal the Joule and end the Elgen. What better chance will we get than right now, when the entire Elgen guard has us surrounded? There won’t be anyone left to guard the Joule. It’s ripe for the picking.” “Yes, except they have us surrounded,” Jack said. “So how are we supposed to get away from the island?” “Easy,” Ostin said. “We can assume that Hatch is expecting J.D. to drop us off and head back to Nike in the Risky Business. Therefore, Welch, Quentin, Tara, and Taylor can take J.D. and sail right through the blockade. They’ll steal the Joule and come back for us.” Jack shook his head. “We’re hopelessly outnumbered, and you want to send away some of our best fighters?” “Well, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Ostin said. “We’re hopelessly outnumbered. We’re probably going to lose the battle, but this way we can still win the war.” We were all quiet for a moment. Then I said, “He’s right.” I looked at Welch. “What do you think?” “It might work.”

“Gervaso?”

He frowned. “Ostin’s right. It’s our best chance to capture the boat. And we’ve got a better chance of escaping than fighting.” “No offense,” Jack said, looking away from Welch. “But if the former Elgen steal the boat, what guarantee do we have that they’ll come back for us?” Gervaso looked at Quentin. “We don’t.”

“So do we send one of our team with them?”

“We’re all the same team,” Welch said. “We can’t afford to weaken our forces any more than we already have.” “That sounds suspicious,” Jack said. “I need a guarantee.” I thought a moment, then said, “There aren’t any guarantees anymore. We just have to trust them.” “We’ll come back,” Quentin said. “If they don’t kill or capture us, we’ll return for you.” “If they capture us, they’ll kill us,” Welch said. “But you have my word. If we make it, we’ll come back.” “The word of an Elgen,” Zeus said.

“Former Elgen,” Welch replied. “Like you.”

Before it could escalate into anything else, I turned to Jack. “So then you’ll have to take the prisoners and cover the north gate as well.” Jack still looked uncomfortable. “Michael, I’m not good with this.” “I could go with them,” Cassy said. “Keep them honest.” “We need her here,” Zeus said.

“If our best shot is the Joule, she should be there,” I said. “She could help them. She might be able to stop them from submerging.” Welch looked at her. “That’s fine. She’s powerful. And Michael’s right, she could help us take the boat.” “It’s your call,” Gervaso said.

“The Joule is most important,” I said, looking at Cassy. “Are you okay with that?” “I’m okay with whatever you need.”

No one else spoke up, so I said, “Then it’s settled. Welch and Quentin will free Tara, Torstyn, and the guards. Jack will take charge of the prisoners while Welch and company take J.D. back to the Risky Business and sail for the Joule.” “I should help them release Torstyn and Tara,” Nichelle said. “We don’t know what Hatch has done to them. Just in case . . .” “That’s a good idea,” Welch said.

“We’ll go out the tunnel,” Gervaso said to Welch. “I’ll blow the dock while you return to the Risky Business. Then I’ll secure the tunnel. If it’s a small enough space, one machine gun could hold it—if we can find a machine gun.” “There should be one in the armory,” Welch said.

“There is,” Ian said. “I can see two of them.”

“All right,” Gervaso said. “We have a plan and not much time. Let’s go. Weapon up first.” We hurried to the armory. The door had a combination lock like a bank vault. Ian turned the dial just four times, then turned the handle and it clicked, releasing the door.

“I’ve always loved that power of yours,” Quentin said.

“Me too,” Ian said.

Gervaso pushed opened the door and stepped inside. The supply room was about the size of our apartment back home in Idaho. One wall had three rows of rifles, forty or fifty in all, Russian-made AK-47s. Beneath them were stacked boxes of ammo. Against the far wall were two RPG launchers, a dozen submachine guns—Israeli UZIs—and about fifty handguns.

“Look at this,” Gervaso said, crouching down next to the largest of the guns. “They’ve got some M2s—fifty-caliber Browning machine guns. That will stop anything in that tunnel.” “I’ve found something better,” I said. “A flamethrower.” “That’s exactly what I need for the tunnel,” Gervaso said.

The opposite wall was a candy shop of destruction—everything a soldier of fortune could dream of. Inside the various cubbies were land mines and rocket-propelled grenades, tear gas, concussion grenades, and smoke bombs.

“This is good,” Gervaso said. “There’s enough here to blow the dock. Ostin and McKenna, grab some radios, then head back to the control room. You’re going to have to start opening the cell doors so we can release the prisoners.” “After we help suit up,” Ostin said.

“I’ll help you set up the tunnel,” Jack said to Gervaso.

Taylor and I helped Gervaso, Jack, Tessa, and Welch get weapons. All Zeus took was a grenade and a bulletproof vest. Jack took an UZI, two handguns, a grenade belt with six grenades, and an ammo pouch. He grabbed two strings of machine gun ammo and draped them crisscrossing over his chest. He also threw the flamethrower over his back. He looked commando.

Gervaso took the machine gun and as much ammo as he could carry.

Ostin calibrated all the radios, six of them, one for each group, and handed them out. “Testing, testing.” “They’re working,” I said.

“Remember, we’re on channel seventeen, as in seventeen electrics.” Gervaso clipped a radio to his belt. “All right. Let’s get going. Michael, you guys get up there. They might be getting close.” He turned to Ian. “Remember, you’re our eyes. Just let us know what’s going on. The more information we have, the better.” “I’ll do my best.”

Gervaso started walking toward the tunnel, then abruptly stopped and turned back. “One more thing. If something happens to me, Michael’s in charge.” No one said anything, but Taylor gave me a sympathetic glance. Gervaso took a deep breath, then said, “All right. Good luck, everybody. Semper Fi. We’ll see you when this is over.” I looked at Gervaso, then suddenly stepped forward and hugged him. “Be safe, man.” “You too. Keep them all safe.”

After he was out of sight, Taylor turned to me. “You don’t think you’re going to see him again.” “Of course I will.”

She knew I was lying even without touching me.