Page 54 of Static/Cling

“You see?” Leif smacked Kassian with the back of his hand. “Dogs are useful.”

Kassian grunted and adjusted the straps of his equipment. “Let’s see what we’re up against, then.”

Carefully, they followed the dog, who led them down a deer track winding through a ribbon of trees towards where they had heard the cars passing. Sure enough, when they got to the edge of the trees, a wall of metal sheeting topped by razor wire came into view between the leaves and branches. From their vantage, it looked like it surrounded the compound.

A gate of steel bars offered the only opening through the four-meter tall wall. That gate loomed behind a stone-block, waist-high wall with a set of iron gates across the top of the drive, right by the road.

A guard hut sat outside the stone wall’s gate, and a solid wall of steel, knee-high, crossed the drive just inside the inner gate.Between the two fences was a wide swath of neatly cut grass with no cover in either direction for ten metres.

Even as they watched, a pick-up truck approached the first gate. A guard came out, talked to the driver, finally nodded, and waved at the hut.

“Two guards, then,” Kassian whispered.

One outside to talk to the driver, one inside, to operate the gates.

First, the gate in the stone wall swung inward, then the taller gate in the metal wall rolled open, rattling across the gravel. Finally, the steel wall retreated into the ground, allowing the truck to roll over it.

As soon as the truck was past each barrier, it began to close, so that by the time the truck’s back tires had passed over the lowered wall, the first gate was already closed.

“Shit,” Bjorn said. “They are really serious about their security. Are we sure about this?”

Kassian pursed his lips.

“I thought Sal said it was a swipe card entrance. You can’t just walk up to that gate and stroll inside.”

“There.” Roger pointed a little way down the outer wall to where a person-sized door offered access off a path branching away from the main road. As they watched through the bars of the main gate, someone on a bicycle approached from the interior of the compound.

Waving to the guards, they swiped a card over a pad near the smaller door in the fence, wheeled their bike through, then did the same at the stone wall.

“Guess that’s us,” Kassian said.

“Well within sight of the guard hut,” Leif agreed.

“Well, good thing we have Dash.” Roger scratched behind the dog’s ears.

“How’s that?” Kassian asked.

“You guys move down there.” Roger pointed in the general direction of the smaller door. “Get ready, and when I toss the ball, and Dash goes after it, slip in while the guards are distracted.”

“That is an extremely risky plan.”

“But it’s the one we got.”

He wasn’t wrong. Even had they brought the entire situation to someone like April’s attention, their organization just didn’t have the pull necessary to get them access to a super secret military base at anything like a legit angle.

One way or another, they were always going to have sneak in, and if it had been left to people higher up than them, Kassian’s brother would surely have been pulled into the mission. Kassian would never have agreed to that.

“Let’s go,” Sal said. “The sooner you get in there, the sooner you can get out and come home.”

Kassian heaved a sigh. “Fine.” He pointed at Bjorn. “You. Come with me. You’ll get the gates open, but you stay out of sight between the walls. I want you close in case I need you to get out, but I do not want you in there. Or anywhere they might get their hands on you.” He turned to Leif. “Stay with Roger.”

“No.” Leif moved subtly to be closer to Bjorn.

“I’ll be fine out here,” Roger assured Kassian. “Bjorn will need Leif more than I will.”

“I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’m not.” He tapped his ear and if everyone’s wince was an indication, his wasn’t the only earpiece that buzzed and crackled. “Sorry! But Sal’s right here in my head. I’ll be fine. I’ll sit tight until you get back. Promise.”

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