“We’ve got it,” Catie announced.
“Good, I’m calling in the rest of our team,” Baker said. “Everyone, converge on the tunnel. Meet Howard in the bunkhouse.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Howard, we’re going to go through the tunnel. You hold the bunkhouse. Once we know the situation in the house, we’ll decide if you follow us or hold here during the assault.”
“Wilco!”
“Assault Group Alfa, begin moving in. Assault Group Bravo, give them five minutes, then start your assault.”
“On the move,” Cadet Lieutenant Harper, the leader of Assault Group Alfa, announced.
“Watanabe, Delacroix, MacGregor, you’re with me. MacGregor, lead on,” Baker ordered.
Catie led the way down into the tunnel. The tunnel was dark, so everyone used the night-vision in their helmets.
“Fifty meters is a lot farther when you’re being sneaky,” Catie thought. The tunnel was well maintained, the floor was flat and even. It looked like it was made of pavers, although without light, it was hard to tell.
“We’re at the end,” Catie texted to the team.
“How can she get messages off so fast?” Baker wondered as he inched his way forward until he was next to Catie. “Okay, Delacroix, you’re on.”
“Why her?” Catie asked.
“Lighter, less noise, smaller target,” Baker said.
Julie smacked Catie on the butt as she walked by and started up the stairs. After a bit, she signaled that all was quiet.
“You’re next,” Baker said as he tapped Catie on the shoulder.
Catie climbed the stairs and joined Julie at the door; she was a bit surprised that it was a door instead of a hatch in the ceiling.
“No hatch?”
Julie pointed to the open trap door that was against the wall. Looking around, Catie realized that they were in a coat closet.
“Anything?”
“No.”
Catie armed her lasers and readied her rifle, then gave Julie the nod to go ahead and crack the door open. All was quiet. Catie tapped Julie on the shoulder, then reached into the ammo pouch on her thigh and pulled out a surveillance puck. “Slide this against the wall and then close the door,” she texted Julie.
Julie hesitated a moment. “It’ll stick to the wall,” Catie texted.
Julie nodded and slid the puck into place, pulling the door closed right after. Catie tapped into the feed, sharing it with the rest of the team. It showed a short hallway with what one would guess was the great room to the left, the main door to the house was to the right. There appeared to be a stairway just to the right of the closet.
Baker and Watanabe joined Catie and Julie in the closet and prepared to clear the house.
“Go!”
Catie and Julie exited the closet and turned toward the left. Her guess had been correct, it was the great room. It was empty with a set of French doors leading to the outside. As they moved farther into the room, they could see another doorway leading to the left behind the dining room. “Probably the kitchen,” Catie thought.
They used the puck from Julie’s ammo pouch and slid it into the kitchen. The video showed clear, so they entered. Just when they made it inside the kitchen, someone came out of the pantry. Catie wheeled, leveling her rifle at the person, who dropped the bag of flour she was carrying and raised her arms.
“Solamente soy la cocinera,” she said. “I’m just the cook,” their Comms translated.
Catie motioned for her to take a seat on the floor, which the cook was happy to do since it didn’t look like she was going to be standing much longer anyway.
Julie checked the pantry, then moved the surveillance puck so that it covered the delivery door to the kitchen. “Quédate aquí, no te muevas . . . Stay here, don’t move,” Catie ordered the cook. She and Julie then went back and joined up with Baker and Watanabe.
“Cook in the kitchen; we put the surveillance puck on the wall so it can watch the delivery door. I think that’s an office down that way,” Catie reported, pointing to the small hall that went to the left of the main door.
“You and Watanabe clear it,” Baker ordered.
“Yes, sir!” Catie motioned to Watanabe to follow her. They set up next to the hallway and used the puck to verify that it was clear. Turning down it, they eased their way to the door. There was a large one to the left and a small one to the right. “Bathroom, we’ll do it first,” Catie texted Watanabe, pointing at the small door.
Watanabe nodded and took up position. When Catie was ready, he reached over and tried the knob. The door was unlocked. “All the way at once,” Catie texted.
Watanabe pushed the door open and dropped to one knee, his rifle level, Catie came in high. She could hear water when the door opened, so Catie fired as soon as her rifle was inside, sweeping right to left with the laser pulse.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” the man standing at the toilet cried out.
“You’re dead, so you cannot talk!” Catie snapped. “Now, clean up, then sit on the floor!”
Watanabe grabbed the towel and wiped the moisture off of his armor, Catie smiled and tried hard not to laugh, but a little snicker came out.
“What happened?” Baker asked.
“We took one tango down,” Catie said. “We still need to clear the office.”
She and Watanabe set up next to the big doors into the office. Watanabe tried the knob; again, the door was not locked. Catie held the puck up for him to see, telling him to open it only enough to roll the puck through the gap.
There were three tangos sitting around the room at various stations that had been set up. None of them were in armor, nor did any of them have a rifle handy. Since their armor could handle anything a handgun could deliver, Catie texted Watanabe to go in low on three.
“One . . . two . . . three!”
They pushed the door open.
“Jack, you’re finally done, took you long enou . . .”
Catie and Watanabe fired three bursts
