“If his target moved against him, he may have just gone dark and not trusted his coms,” Knight suggested. “But I’m not sure how to track him down if that’s the case.”
“I have emergency data drops that should have been secure in that case,” Roslyn admitted. “They’re empty. I have nothing suggesting that Killough is still alive except that the apartment is intact and untouched.”
“Do we have the authority to just break in and kick his door down?” Mooren asked. “I mean, I’m up for doing it either way—though if he is alive, that will make for some interesting conversations.”
Roslyn considered the parchment-wrapped datachip inside her overnight case. She probably didn’t even need the Warrant for this, but…
“We have the authority,” she said quietly. “But we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves if we can avoid it. Covert, not exosuits.”
“We left the exosuits on the shuttle, anyway,” the Sergeant replied with a chuckle. “All we have with us is standard body armor.”
“Which should more than suffice right now,” Roslyn said. “I don’t expect to run into Mages or Augments in Killough’s apartment. I’m hoping for information.”
Right now, all she could say with certainty was that all of the companies MISS had been investigating were either headquartered in Nueva Portugal or had major operations there. The city was a nexus of all of the potential players.
“There is one easy way to check it out,” Knight suggested. “I’ve got a case of aerial drones locked in the SUV. They’re pretty sneaky and they should be able to get us a peek into Killough’s apartment without drawing too much attention.”
“What else do we have in the van?” Roslyn asked. “That’s a good idea, Corporal.”
“Most of our gear is still on the shuttle, but we loaded everything we thought we would need quickly into the vans,” Mooren told her. “We have armor, stunguns and carbines in the vans, plus some specialty gear like the drones.”
Roslyn exhaled and nodded.
“I suggest we armor up and get those guns on hand before we send in the drones,” she told them. “Just in case. I’m reasonably sure Killough is dead…but that means I also figure the people who killed him are watching his apartment.”
12
“Well, isn’t that a nice, quiet alley?” Mooren murmured to herself, pulling the van suddenly off to the side of the road.
Roslyn didn’t say anything as the SUV came to a halt in said alleyway, out of view from anyone not directly in front of the exit.
“How close are we?” she asked.
“Forty meters from the back entrance,” the Sergeant replied as the second SUV pulled in behind them. “A block of other apartments, but we can cross it in under a minute if we need to.”
“We shouldn’t,” Roslyn said—but she accepted the black carapace chest-piece Corporal Knight absently handed her, leaning forward to pull it over her head. “But we’ll prepare for everything, I guess.”
“All right, everybody out,” Mooren barked. “Knight needs space to work and we need to stretch our legs.”
Roslyn waved the Marines out and slipped back to join Knight as the EW Marine opened up her case of toys.
The drones varied from a winged unit the size of a large bird to a sphere equipped with miniaturized vertical-takeoff-and-landing systems—and hover systems.
There were four of the VTOL spheres and Knight pulled them out. She set each one on a disk that appeared to link to her wrist-comp for diagnostics.
“Everything green, full fuel,” she murmured. “These guys are quiet, Lieutenant Commander. Mix of ion engines and high-density air jets. They draw less attention than proper military drones, anyway.”
“It’s your specialty, not mine,” Roslyn admitted. “Carry on, Corporal.”
Knight nodded and started entering commands on her wrist-comp’s holographic keyboard. The four drones lifted off, proving out their mistress’s promises of their noise levels, and then flitted out the open side door of the SUV.
Roslyn could see the video feed from all four drones in the holographic display projected by the Marine’s wrist-comp. They lifted up into the air, above the apartments, and swept toward their destination.
For a few seconds, the drones orbited the complex, allowing Knight to pinpoint their target.
“Fuel is limited,” the Marine murmured. “Twenty minutes’ endurance.”
“All I need to know is if someone is in that apartment, Corporal,” Roslyn said. “Then you can bring them home.”
Nodding, Knight sent the four drones dropping slowly toward their destination. The unit had an interior balcony, opening out onto the well-kept gardens in the center of the apartment complex.
If the curtains had been open, they’d have had their answer almost instantly. As it was, the balcony doors were closed and the curtains were drawn behind them.
“That’s a pain,” Knight murmured. “But handleable.”
Roslyn stayed silent as the Marine worked her technical magic. The four drones dropped onto the balcony, one of them moving up to the lock for the balcony door.
A new set of icons and commands popped up on the display for that drone as it extended a toolkit. Knight was focusing on that drone now, taking the little robot in closer as she prepared to pick a lock by remote.
Except the moment the toolkit touched the lock, all four screens died.
“What the hell?” Roslyn asked.
“Drone-killer pulse,” Knight snapped. “Someone had a security system set up to stop us doing just that—and if the drone triggered that, it triggered an alarm.”
The Marine shook her head.
“It shouldn’t have,” she admitted. “Not without my doing a lot more—not unless someone knew our gear perfectly.”
“I saw that pulse,” Mooren interrupted, sticking her head back in the SUV. “What happened?”
“Someone killed the drones with a focused EMP,” Knight replied. “Are there still lights in the building? I half-expect—”
“Everything in the building is fine that Jacques can see,” the Sergeant cut her off. “That’s damn precise and damn specific.” She turned her gaze on Roslyn. “Sir, they were waiting for Marine drones. We need to move now.”
“Agreed,” Roslyn decided instantly, jumping out of the SUV as she spoke. “Let’s go.”
The Marines took off at
