Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2) (22 page)

“Yes, I’d say that’s a safe bet,” Steel replied.

“Can anyone tell me if the guards wear body armor or helmets?” Tani asked, as she retied the knots on one of her
shuriken
pouches.  “I should have asked sooner but I got a little sidetracked.”

“They do,” Marbic said.  “Vests that cover their chests and back, and helmets that cover the top and back of their heads.  Most of them don’t bother with either during the day, but standing orders are to wear them at night on guard duty.  Naran told me that when he was still at the compound there was a big stink about it because some of the Nomen have metal plates in their heads and chests, so don’t feel they should have to wear them.”

Tani grimaced, then sighed.  “Is this going to be a problem?” Steel asked, suddenly tense again.

“No,” she said, waving one hand.  “It’ll just be a bit messier than I hoped for.”

“Messier?”

“I’m going to have to aim for their throats,” she said, then shrugged.  “It’s the best option anyway, since the goal is to prevent them from making any sound.  That reminds me.  I’d like to have a couple of men who can move fast enough to reach each target before they hit the ground.  I’d do it myself, but those Nomen are a bit on the enormous side.”

“Khurda and Marbic are the two fastest on their feet,” Steel said. 

“Are you two willing?” Tani asked, staring each of them in the eyes for a long moment.  They both nodded.  “I’ll take both of you, and you can take turns so you don’t get winded.  Harsh breathing is loud, and absolute silence is essential.  I noticed that the compound is paved, so if your shoes make any kind of noise, you’ll need to go barefoot or let someone else do this.”

“I prefer to run barefoot anyway,” Marbic said, taking his shoes off as he spoke and handing them to one of the older men to hold for him.

“My shoes have rubber soles,” Khurda said.  “What will you have us do?”

“As soon as a
shuriken
hits the target, you’ll need to start running toward him as fast as you can.  I’ll get you as close as I can so that you’ll have the best chance possible of reaching him before he hits the ground.  You need to catch him, lower him quietly, make sure he’s dead, grab whatever weapons he might be carrying, and retrieve the
shuriken
if you can.  Then come back and we’ll move to the next one.”

Tani saw the way some of the men were looking at her and she sighed.  “All right you guys, listen up.  I know that none of you’ve ever done anything like this before, but outside of practice and training, I’ve never done anything like this before, either.  The only time I’ve ever intentionally harmed another person was when those two knife wielding Nomen chased Astra and I into and alley on EDU-12, and that wasn’t planned.  So, if you think I’m bloodthirsty, that’s fine.  I don’t care, because this is what has to be done. 

“I know that you didn’t start this, and you didn’t ask for this, but if you want your freedom, and the freedom of your people, then you’re going to have to fight for it.  Going in there and asking nicely just isn’t going to work, and you know that.  You can’t think of those Nomen as
people
because they aren’t.  If they ever were, they aren’t any more.  They’re clones with a machine in control of their brains.  If whoever or whatever controls them orders them to kill your daughter or sister or wife or brother they will do it without a moment’s thought or hesitation.  And if they see you before you see them, they’ll kill
you
without a moment’s thought or hesitation as well.  Or enslave you.  I’m warning all of you right now; do
not
go into that compound if you aren’t ready and willing to kill them.  If you do, you won’t come back out again.”

“We understand, Tani,” Steel said.  “I think that the looks you’re getting are more along the lines of
wow, I wanna be her
rather than
wow, she’s ruthless
.”

Tani laughed softly.  “In that case, I’m sorry for the lecture.”

“No, don’t be sorry,” one of the older men, Markus said.  “You’re correct, young lady, and some of us needed to hear what you just said.  Because of you, and you alone, we may be able to preserve what is left of the Khun of Garza.”  He shook his head.  “Some of us discussed learning the ways of defending ourselves in case the Xanti or the Nomen came back, but in the end we decided it wasn’t necessary.  I was one who voted against it.  I’ve lived this past year in regret, but tonight, thanks to you, I have a chance to redeem myself a little.”

“Regret does no one any good, Markus,” Tani said gently.  “You made a decision based on what you knew at the time.  It doesn’t help to wish you’d done different, or to beat yourself up for it.” 

“No, it doesn’t, but tonight
will
make a difference,” Markus said.  “If nothing else, they will know that we’re no longer filled with fear as we once were.”

Tani nodded deeply to the older man, respecting him.  She looked up to check the position of the thin sliver of the moon.  “It’s about that time,” she said.  Steel nodded, and everyone stood up and began moving toward the peak of the hill where the rock observation post would give them a good view of the mine below.  The area wasn’t brightly lit, and Tani still had a hard time believing that the buildings weren’t situated so that each guard was in view of at least one other, but as Naran had said, they weren’t guarding against an attack.  They were there to keep the workers in.

They waited silently while Khurda used a pair of night vision binoculars to check each of the Nomen on duty.  It was nearly impossible to tell them apart, especially with helmets on, but there was one Nomen in particular that he was looking for, that Naran had told him about.  That one had massive scarring covering half of his face, and one artificial eye that had night vision.  If that Nomen was on duty, they’d have to change their plan so that Tani could take him out first.  Finally, Khurda lowered the glasses and nodded, relieved that the Nomen he was most worried about wasn’t on duty.

Tani pulled the dark hood attached to her borrowed sweater up over her head and tightened the draw string.  She wished she had a way to cover her face, but they hadn’t been able to come up with anything in the short amount of time they had.  She settled for tightening the drawstring enough that it rose up over her chin, covering her mouth, and pulled it down enough that it covered her forehead.  That left her nose and eyes visible, but from Steel’s nod of approval, it was enough.  She looked down at Wily, whose little head poked just above the edge of the bag, and whispered softly to him.  He mewled back and she nodded, satisfied that he would stay down, remain silent, and hang on tightly.

The first wave of six, plus Tani in Steel’s arms, took off and coasted quietly down to the near corner of the compound, just inside the fence.  They landed and shifted, then everyone stilled, their ears straining for the slightest noise.  Tani was annoyed by the few scattered lights around the grounds because they actually made it more difficult for her to see.  She took her time though, in no rush to make a mistake that could cost someone their life. 

She set out along the fence line, moving past the storage sheds that were clustered around the edges of the compound, then began working her way inward to the first of the Nomen’s two bunkhouses which sat side by side near the fence.  When she was sure the area was clear, she signaled Steel.  He turned and motioned for two men to move into the deep shadows at one end of the building.  If there were any kind of commotion, they’d do what they could to keep the Nomen from exiting the bunkhouse through either of its two doors.  Tani led the way to the end of the next Nomen bunkhouse, and the other two men took up their positions just as the first two had. 

Satisfied that the Nomen’s bunkhouses were covered as best as possible for the moment, she headed for the women’s bunkhouse, using the supply and storage shacks as cover until she had a clear view of one side.  She shook her head when she saw the guard standing with his head tilted back against the wall of the building as though he were either sleeping, or counting the stars.  She inched closer in absolute silence, glad that the three men behind her made no more sound than she did.  She stopped just outside the circle of light thrown by a bare bulb over the door that the Nomen was supposed to be guarding.  She slipped two
shuriken
out of the pouches at her waist and signaled Khurda, who moved up beside her.  She looked at him, and he met her gaze and nodded.  Then, without appearing to aim, she raised one hand and released the deadly, razor sharp star-shaped steel.

To Khurda, the
shuriken
flew so fast that it seemed to disappear from her small hand one second, and appear in the guard’s throat at the same moment.  He took off running, his shoes silent on the rough blacktop surface that covered the ground over most of the compound, his eyes on the guard whose hands had risen half way toward his throat before falling back to his sides.  He slumped to the ground, dead on his feet, but Khurda managed to reach him just before he landed.  He held the heavy Nomen for one heartbeat, then lowered him slowly to the ground before releasing him.  He knelt down, looked into the glassy, dead eyes, grabbed the guard’s laser weapon, and yanked the
shuriken
out of the Nomen’s throat without letting himself pause to think about it. 

When Tani had said she wanted them to retrieve the
shuriken
, he’d felt sick to his stomach at the thought, and resolved not to do it.  Then she’d told them that she’d never done anything like this either, and he’d felt ashamed of himself.  She had the courage to do what had to be done for his people and, if he couldn’t do the same, he’d never be able to live with himself.

He ran back to Tani and offered her the
shuriken
, but she shook her head.  He frowned as he looked down at it, then saw the wet, slippery blood, and understood that it wasn’t safe to be used as it was.  He put it into his pocket and followed Tani as she worked her way to the other side of the building, Steel just behind him.  When she stopped, Marbic moved up and tapped him on the shoulder, so he stepped back behind Steel. 

Tani looked to be sure Marbic was ready, then studied her next target.  This guard was sitting on the ground, leaning against the building he was supposed to be guarding, his head down.  Even if he hadn’t been covering his throat with his chin, she was too high to make the shot.  She knelt down on the blacktop, looked around carefully and smiled when she found a small, pea sized bit of gravel.  She sat down, gesturing to Marbic to stay where he was when he started to sit down as well.  Then she threw the bit of gravel hard so that it hit the wall a foot above the guard’s head.  A heartbeat later the sleeping guard automatically lifted his head to look up, above him, where the sound had come from.  Tani released the
shuriken
and the man’s hands came up to his throat as he slid sideways to the ground before Marbic could reach him. 

Since he slid down there was no noise, but Marbic was still frustrated that he hadn’t reached the guard fast enough.  He checked to be sure the clone was dead, retrieved the
shuriken
and the guard’s side arm, then returned. 

They took out the next three guards without incident, but it was the sixth guard, and the guard on the office, the seventh, that Tani was most concerned about because they were in view of each other.  In addition, the guard on the office was much too close to Brutus.  She had no doubt that the slightest unfamiliar noise would alert Brutus, and that would ruin everything.

According to their plan, the rest of the men should have already flown into the compound and were waiting for them to finish the guards, but she couldn’t rush this.  She examined everything, then went back and examined everything again.  Then she turned to face Steel, Marbic and Khurda.  They leaned in close to each other, all of them having sharp enough hearing to discern the barest whisper, and told them what they needed to do.

They stared at her in surprise.  “You’re both very good at being silent,” she said. “If I didn’t think you could do this, I wouldn’t ask it of you.”

“We know we can do it,” Marbic said.  “We’re worried about you.  You’re going to expose yourself to them both.”

“Only for a moment,” she said.  “I’ve got the advantage because neither of them are expecting anything.  By the time their brains figure out what they’re seeing, they’ll be dead.  Steel can catch the one on the bunkhouse, but I need both of you to keep the one on the office silent.  Once he’s dead, move him off the porch.  Hopefully, Brutus will think he went to relieve himself if he happens to look out.”

“All right,” Marbic said, nodding.  “You can count on us, Tani.  How will you know when we’re in place?”

“I’ll see you,” she said.  Then she patted them on the shoulders and sent them on their way.  She and Steel moved back to the corner of a shed and watched both guards while she listened for any noises that shouldn’t be there.  She felt a rustling in her pocket and glanced down at Wily.  She rubbed his head with one fingertip, then whispered softly to him before reaching for two
shuriken
.  She weighed them in her hands, rubbed her fingers along the surfaces, then held them both in a throwing grip.  She looked up, checking the targets again before looking for Marbic and Khurda.  She spotted them after just a few seconds, one on each side of the office as she’d directed.  The guard between them was sitting on the top of three steps, his elbows resting on his knees.  As she watched, he stood up, and stretched, which bothered her.  This was the fourth of the seven guards she’d observed who behaved like a normal human rather than a human under tight control.  She wondered about that for a moment, then set it aside and focused on the guard who now paced across the porch to one end, turned around and walked to the other end, his back to her.