“Affirmative,” Weaver replied, trying to sound encouraging. He had long ago learned to read between the lines of Kilmer’s colorful Aussie slang.
Both men had donned climbing harnesses over their jumpsuits prior to exiting the plane, so it was an easy transition from parachutist to rappeller. The plan was for Kilmer to rappel from the roof to the fifth floor, a distance of about fifty feet. He would place a diamond-tipped cutting tool on the tempered glass to cut a twenty- four-inch-diameter hole. Four-inch suction cups would secure the glass while Weaver hauled it back to the roof. Thereafter, Weaver would rappel to the office for retrieval of the equations they were sent to acquire.
Richard Kilmer was a specialist at breaching high-tech security systems, so he would enter the building first. Once he had deactivated the alarm, Weaver could get to work.
Kilmer stood on the edge of the roof and slowly leaned into the climbing harness as the rope bore his weight. He lowered himself over the edge, keeping his feet firmly planted and his knees slightly flexed, making a smooth transition from standing horizontally on the roof to vertical against the side of the Quantum Building. His rappel rope was drawn from a small sack at the rear of his climbing harness so it wasn’t visibly dangling against the building. The length was measured to exactly sixty-five feet; a monkey-fist knot at the end assured he couldn’t accidentally rappel off the rope.
As Kilmer cautiously backed down the building, he was forced to invert as he approached the sixth-floor window. This allowed him to secretly peek over the edge of the window to assure that the room was empty. Even if empty, it wouldn’t be wise to leave two climbing ropes exposed for even a short time in case someone returned from another part of the building. Kilmer stole a furtive look below the ceiling of the brightly lit office, and couldn’t help smiling at what he saw.
Lying bare-chested across the center of a large oak desk was a middle-aged man, his pants hanging loosely around his ankles. On top of him was a voluptuous red-haired woman who had unbuttoned her blouse, exposing her well-endowed breasts. She was astride the man, her skirt raised high above her thighs, riding up and down in a slow, rhythmic motion. The woman’s mouth was open and she appeared to be moaning as she pinned the man’s arms down along his sides.
Kilmer watched for a long moment and then forced himself to refocus on the task at hand. He unclipped a small L-shaped piece of black anodized aluminum from an assortment of climbing gear hanging from his harness. Still partially inverted, he placed the bracket in the top left corner of the window and redirected his rope against this pivot point. This changed his rappel angle, avoiding the illuminated window altogether.
Following this slight diversion, Kilmer re-inverted, continuing his graceful descent past the lit office, all the while avoiding another glance at the happenings within. He finally stopped at the office they planned to breach.
“I’m at the target,” he whispered into his mic. “There’s a Sheila on the sixth floor. Sneak a peek but don’t be droolin’,” he added with a slight chuckle. “Stand by for the glass,” he continued, returning to his normally succinct commands. “It’s out in a quickie.”
“Ten-four, I can’t wait,” replied Weaver. “Is she good-looking?”
“She’s no bush pig,” answered Kilmer
Kilmer repositioned himself squarely in the middle of the plate-glass window of the fifth-floor office. He tied off his rappel device to facilitate working hands free to remove the glass. His night-vision goggles worked perfectly to identify two internal security sensors, the first one located in the corner directly above the entrance, the other positioned in the opposite corner of the room. Kilmer assessed that these electronic sensors were capable of identifying a wide range of subtle changes within the office. Sensors of this type could usually distinguish vibrations from incidental movement: sound disturbances, motion detection, and any change in the ambient room temperature. Simply smashing the glass would trigger the alarm from a number of variables that these sensors were installed to monitor. Fortunately, there didn’t appear to be any photo surveillance to overcome, which made deactivating the physical sensors a bit easier.
Kilmer deftly attached a stainless-steel rod with the suction cups to the window. He then firmly mounted a large protractor to the top of the rod and adjusted the arc to cut a two-foot-diameter hole in the glass. Finally, he attached a diamond-tipped scoring tool to the end of the protractor and rested the tip gently on the glass.
“Gimme the line ‘n heave ho…,” Kilmer radioed.
Weaver was waiting for this command. “Ten-four, rope’s coming from your left side,” he responded. Two swings of the rope later and Weaver deftly delivered the knotted end of the haul line to his partner.
Before cutting the glass, Kilmer reached into his breast pocket and removed what appeared to be a small flashlight. The device was actually a powerful laser that could be used to interrupt the surveillance sensors long enough for him to remove the glass and enter the office. The sensors couldn’t be permanently deactivated or this, too, would trigger the alarm system. Rather, by simultaneously shining the laser directly onto each sensor, the system could be temporarily deactivated as the program diagnostics automatically ran a series of redundant analytical queries. From this point, he would have approximately ninety seconds to cut the glass, enter the building, and reset the sensors.
Kilmer removed a miniature signal mirror from his breast pocket and taped it to the glass. The mirror contained several pivot points that allowed him to reflect both sensors on opposite sides of the room at the same time. Then he aimed the penlight onto the surface of the mirror and two ruby-red laser beams perfectly dissected the interior of the office, neutralizing the sensors.
The countdown began. Kilmer worked swiftly, tracing the cutting tool throughout the protractor’s arc. He connected the haul line to the crosspiece between the two suction cups, securely gripped the tie rod, and flexed his knees to provide maximum force as he jerked the glass toward him in one nimble move. The quarter-inch-thick glass popped out cleanly.
“We’re golden,” Kilmer muttered softly, looking up briefly as Weaver silently hauled the round piece of glass up the side of the building.
Weaver peered over the edge as Kilmer unclipped the rope from his climbing harness and, with two hands firmly placed on the inside of the glass, dove through the opening in the window and disappeared from view.
“I’m in,” Kilmer said. “Hang a tick ‘til I conk the alarm.”
TWO
As soon as Richard Kilmer’s hands hit the floor, he somersaulted, which returned him to an upright position in the middle of the office. He only had forty-five seconds left to reset the surveillance sensors before they completed a diagnostic recalibration. If he failed, the sensors would default to the preset variables, sounding the alarm.
He grabbed a chair from near the window and approached the first sensor located opposite the door. Kilmer deployed a handheld diagnostic device used by alarm companies to set surveillance parameters. By activating the manufacturer default variables, the unit would reset to factory settings, wiping out what the installer had programmed. He connected the unit to the sensor via a small access port and pressed the default button. A series of red flashing LED numbers scaled down to zero, indicating this sensor was now temporarily deactivated.
Kilmer moved swiftly to the opposite sensor over the door to repeat the procedure with only twenty seconds remaining. He climbed the chair then softly cursed under his breath.
“Bugger me. Shit howdy, the access port’s jaked.”
Kilmer’s only recourse was to jam the connecting wire through the obstruction and hope it didn’t damage an integral component inside. Fortunately, the material seemed to be harmless Styrofoam, flexible enough to allow the docking port to access the sensor without difficulty. In less than five seconds, he would know for sure- either a shrill alarm would be triggered or he would once again see the red lights counting down to zeros. The room remained silent. The LED lights began sequencing. The office security system was neutralized.
“We’re aces. System’s down; git in here, pally,” Kilmer smoothly commanded through his mic. “Let’s put a rush on.”
Weaver had finished dragging the glass to the roof, disconnected the tie rod, and then reconnected the rope to his own harness. It was now his turn to rappel over the edge of the building.
“On my way, Boss,” Weaver replied, eager to see what was happening on the sixth floor.
