Psion Alpha (33 page)

Justice
put one ring in Brickert’s nose and two in his lip, while Natalia had an
eyebrow piercing and a navel gem shown off by her shirt cut halfway down her
abdomen. Brickert glanced more than once at her toned abs, looking away each
time, embarrassed and angry at himself. When they finished, Anna reviewed their
orders with them, and then gave Brickert the key to one of the cars parked in
the underground garage.

“Don’t
try to be a hero, Brickert,” Anna said. “Just do the job exactly as
instructed.”

The
silence between Brickert and Natalia felt heavier than usual as they took one
of the team’s cars from the hotel to the park. Part of Brickert wanted to hear
her feelings about the dangers of the mission, but he couldn’t bring himself to
start the conversation. The car’s radio provided a welcome distraction, but the
drive to the skate park was still awkward.

The
park was located two blocks down the street from the weapons storage facility.
The two Betas had spent dozens of hours there over the past six weeks, always
in disguise. Learning to skateboard and observing the mannerisms of the local
teens was part of their duty. The first time they’d gone, it had startled
Brickert to see people his age living such a different life than what he’d
experienced over the last two years. He wondered what it would be like to live
carefree—if he had never been recruited by Commander Byron.

Both
he and Natalia wore nearly invisible earpieces to communicate with Anna.
Somewhere along the street, Justice and Al were camped out and keeping eyes on
the weapons facility. In the meantime, the two Betas had one duty: skate and
enjoy themselves.

“We’re
in place, Anna,” Brickert reported.

“I
see you on GPS. Go play at the park until I call you.”

Brickert
suppressed a grin. He’d never known he could skateboard until Anna ordered him
and Natalia to spend time at the park undercover. As it turned out, he was
actually pretty talented. Of course, being able to try crazy stunts without
fear of injury certainly helped accelerate his progress. Anytime he messed up,
a gentle, subtle blast protected his fall and prevented broken bones or
sprains.

Warm
air pumped up through grates in the floor of the park so that despite the cold
two or three dozen kids occupied the park in various states of dress and
undress. Some rode boards or scooters, others shoe wheels; it didn’t matter. It
was all fun. Brickert showed off the jumps and tricks he’d been practicing; he
only skated on the largest half-pipe now, grinding his wheels and performing
aerials that took him two or three meters above the rim of the pipe.

He
impressed some, others not so much. Natalia also skated around, but she had no
interest in the half-pipes. Brickert observed how naturally she leaned into
turns with her exceptional sense of balance. He also saw how several of the
boys stared at her, eyes glued to her body revealed by her small shirt with a
low neckline and cut off halfway down her torso, and low-riding jeans.

Don’t
let it bother you. She’s not your business anymore.

Per
Anna’s orders, Brickert and Natalia regularly positioned themselves in spots
that allowed cameras posted around the park to see their faces. They made
significant effort to converse with the other kids, especially the teenagers
who appeared to be older than them. Anna wanted Brickert and Natalia to pick up
the lingo of the local crowd. Above all, it was essential to have the enemy
believe that the weapons Anna’s team planned to steal had been taken by
small-time local criminals, not professionally trained operatives.

Anna
and the other females on the team had spent long hours at bars and other
hangouts frequented by employees of the weapons base. Through their
alcohol-aided conversations and flirtations, they’d learned how petty theft had
become a major problem at the base—not just the theft of weapons, but tools and
gear. The security officers believed the skate park was one of the places the
thieves met and made plans.

Brickert
launched himself back down the half-pipe, his speed aided by a strong hand
blast. On the upswing, he straightened his body, leaning back only slightly,
and let his momentum carry him forward until he hit air. High on the familiar
flood of adrenaline, he crouched, grabbed the board, spun himself midair in a
circle, and landed back on the half-pipe—a decent, though not gracefully
performed, aerial three-sixty. His lips pulled back in a tight grin. It was
only the third time he’d successfully done it. When he reached the top of the
half-pipe, he stopped on the platform to allow other skaters a turn.

A
girl approached him, touching him on the shoulder. Brickert turned.

“That
was good. Really good.” She rested her fingertips on his arm, showing him her
straight, white teeth and surrounded by glowing blue lipstick. Her dirty blonde
hair was flat and combed, topped with a skull cap that read
SINNER
. The
diamond stud in her nose caught the light and blinded him momentarily. Her
dyed-pink eyebrows raised up as she spoke again. “Can you show me some moves?”

Brickert
glanced down at Natalia, who had stopped skating to watch Brickert’s
conversation. “Sure. I can show you anything you want.”

Sinner-girl
laughed, and Brickert felt like the king of the world.

He
hung out with her for almost two hours, ignoring multiple stink-eyes from
Natalia. Sinner-girl introduced him to her friends, all of whom he showed the
few tricks he’d picked up over the last few weeks of skating. No one could
figure out how he built up so much speed going down the half-pipe. Brickert
waved it off, telling them his parents had bought him a great board of which he
took excellent care. No one seemed to believe this.

Right
when Brickert started showing them his latest trick, Anna’s voice came over the
earpiece. “Sunset in twenty-six minutes. Wait ten minutes longer, then head to
the base.”

A
half hour later, Brickert glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Snap-o, lookit
that,” he told his new friends in the slang he’d picked up through hours of
careful observation. “Gotta cruise, peeps, but I’ll be back here ‘morrow.”

Sinner-girl
grabbed his shirt and made a pouty face. “Aw, stay a little longer. I didn’t
even get your info so we can hang-a-later.… ”

“Tiberius,”
Brickert said. “Call me Ty. I’ll give you the rest of my info ‘morrow.”

Sinner-girl
winked at him. “Sounds peach.”

Far
ahead of him, Natalia packed up her gear, walked it back to the car, and jammed
it into the trunk. Brickert jogged to meet up with her.

“Have
fun?” she asked, not looking at him.

“Yeah.
Lots. You?”

“Made
out with like two different guys. Totally helped my cover. Didn’t you notice?”

Brickert
clicked his tongue and sighed. “Seriously?” He spoke in a low voice that the
earpieces wouldn’t be able to pick up. “You want to do this now?”

“Do
what?”

“Whatever.
Let’s get dressed.”

From
the trunk, he grabbed their other sets of gear from two small, identical bags.
He climbed into the back seat of the car, changed his clothes, and then kept
watch as Natalia did the same thing. Within minutes, they no longer looked like
skater punks, but two criminals about to break into a bank.

They
approached the large facility from the south—the most secluded side of the
building. The weapons storage represented the tucked away remnants of a former
military base long since demolished and converted into a suburban jungle
comprised of shopping plazas and other community centers. Surrounding it was a
tall, nasty fence that anyone, Psion included, would be crazy to try to climb.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have a choice in case a camera caught them using blasts.

Brickert
started the climb first, pulling the straps of his gloves tightly around his
wrists as he ascended. Small metal barbs jutted out at random points in the
chain links, growing more numerous and sharper the higher he climbed. The
padding in his gloves absorbed the worst of them, but once he reached the top,
where the razor wires curled end over end, the gloves mattered very little.

Taking
great care, he slipped his left leg through the wire and steadied himself with
his right hand. The trickiest part would be getting his right leg through as
well. He tried not to think about what would happen to his legs or groin should
he slip. As he pulled the right leg through, his glove caught on a razor barb,
sliding into the fabric and pricking his finger. Brickert yanked his hand out a
little too hard, causing his foot to disengage from the link where it rested.
He whispered a curse as he fell to his left, but something snagged him,
breaking the fall.

“Bet
that floozy couldn’t have grabbed you,” Natalia teased, smirking.

Brickert
let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

With
her aid, he crossed the razor wire and helped her to do the same. Then they
dropped down to the grounds of the storage facility and sprinted toward a large
tree near the perimeter.

“In
the tree,” Brickert reported as soon as they’d found cover in its branches.

“Wait
for the signal to make the move,” Anna responded. “Remember, whatever happens
inside, no blasts. Use them to reach the roof, but after that.… We can’t let—”

“—the
CAG know Psions are in their territory,” Natalia finished. “We got it.”

“Good
luck, then.”

The
two Betas exchanged a glance. Brickert wondered if Natalia shared his thoughts.
Like a video played at triple the speed, memories of his training at Beta
headquarters flashed through his mind. He only caught bits of it: combat,
weapons, mission training. Realizing how little he remembered from so many
hours in the sim rooms made him feel naked and dumb.

Does
she feel this way, too?

Brickert
suddenly felt sorry for Natalia. He wished she hadn’t been chosen to go along
with him on this mission. He’d wished the same thing weeks ago while in
Glasgow, but for different reasons. How would she fare with what waited for
them inside?

How
will I fare?

As
they waited in the tree, it grew darker and colder. Brickert’s limbs stiffened,
forcing him to shift his weight and relieve his joints. The longer he crouched
in one spot, the more eager he became to do anything except crouch.

“All
right, you two. Move in.”

Brickert
and Natalia hopped down and sprinted across the drive surrounding the weapons
facility. They jumped onto the hood of a delivery truck and scrambled on top of
its trailer. Now out of view of all camera angles, they used strong blasts to
reach the roof of the facility. An access door was located on the far end. As
expected, it was locked. Brickert had a tube of blue goo, which he squirted
into the keyhole. Then he jammed a short spike into the hole and shattered the
knob. The door swung open.

The
urge to turn back almost overcame Brickert. He heard Natalia take a deep breath
behind him.
Let’s do this.

A
narrow stairwell led down to the second level of the complex. They crept around
until they came to a walkway above the enormous warehouse floor filled with a
labyrinth of crates. With most of the employees gone for the night, the floor
was dim and empty. Brickert noted the cameras and sensors stationed at various
points around the room.

“Night
vision,” Brickert said to Natalia as they put on their goggles. While the
resistance had a limited number of night vision contacts available, Anna did
not want Brickert and Natalia to appear too professional, so they wore the
goggles. “Mine’s working,” he reported as the world lit up with a faint tint of
green color.

“Ditto,”
Natalia said.

“Do
it,” Anna ordered.

Brickert
and Natalia climbed over the rails and dropped down on top of a towering stack
of crates. From his pack, Brickert removed a list of serial numbers Anna had
written down. He jammed it into his pocket. All the serial numbers he needed to
know were already in his head.

In
the gloom, he and Natalia stole around the warehouse. They found specific
serial numbers and tagged the boxes’ locations within the building using GPS
tracking. Brickert sensed the security cameras watching them, following their
movements as they went back and forth, stopping at the serial numbers written
on the paper in his pocket. As for the numbers he’d memorized, they walked by
those crates, but never stopped at them. From start to finish, the job lasted
over forty-five minutes.

Their
exit path was the same way they came, climbing stacks of crates and grabbing hold
of the railing of the second floor walkway. However, as they made to clamber back
over the rail, several doors opened around them. Brickert and Natalia quickly
abandoned this route and dropped back down to the crates. From there, they
scampered to the floor as multiple people wearing boots ran down the walkway
toward them. Brickert signaled to Natalia that they should make for a different
exit on the other side of the floor. As they ran toward it, the lights of the
warehouse turned on, blinding them. Brickert ripped off his goggles. Natalia
did the same.