Page 73 of Pride
He dropped his mask to his mouth and tipped his unhindered nose, scenting the air. “There’s plenty more around.” He pulled the mask back up. “We wait for darkness.”
“Agreed.”
Complete nightfall was only a few minutes away. Parker used the time checking on the functionality of the small drone he’d brought. Alice swept the perimeter, staying on their line of communication the entire time. When she returned, night hid her shadow, but he scented and heard her movement.
“There’s a back entrance and an open window at the farmhouse,” she said, coming up to him, quiet as a wraith.
“Guards?”
“A lot. Maybe fifty.”
“Easy.”
She snorted. “But they’re reckless, untrained and irreverent. Some are shooting tins and drinking.”
“Idiots.”
“Maybe. Prudence said there were some sites where the security was shit. I guess they rely heavily on this territory being run by Cartel.”
She was probably right. More fun for Parker, then.
“Window.” He pointed at the farmhouse.
Without another word, they crouched low and hid behind shrubs along the fenced property line, then deployed the palm sized drone he’d packed. Each team deployed around the world with a similar device. They were all under strict instructions that this would be a reconnaissance mission and to only engage if it was safe.
The drone whispered into the air and zoomed through the open window. AIMI had been installed on the drone along with manual override. For now, he kept control. There might come a time when the signal would cut, and AIMI would have to take over. With any luck, they’d be in and out of there with their intel and no trouble.
Unless, of course, they found Daisy. Or Prudence. Then trouble would find them because, despite Parker’s instructions to the rest of the team to wait for backup, he never followed his own rules.
On the drone’s controller screen, they watched the scene play out. The warehouse was empty except for an industrial elevator at the back. Parker piloted the drone to sit on top of the metal cage and waited until someone walked in and activated it.
“Biometric access,” Alice mumbled. “Eye and palm print. We’re definitely in the right place.”
“Agreed. In line with what they’ve used at the other sites. Getting one of us down into the basement won’t be as easy.”
They were lucky the elevator was a cage. The drone was as stealth as you could get, but it wasn’t invisible. They had to rely on skill to keep it out of sight. Alice and Parker both counted the floors as the elevator descended. There had to be at least five levels, possibly more. With each level of descent, AIMI used the drone to map the layout. The worker stepped out and Parker maneuvered the drone through the tight space between the cage and door before it closed.
“Nice work,” Alice said.
“I know.”
“Looks like your fine motor skills have improved.”
He paused. “Shibari helped.” And the piano. And… her.
“Any time.”
He wanted to smile, but something on the screen stole their attention. The glow of dormant replicate tanks, all filled with full grown bodies.
“Fuck, that’s a lot,” he said, and piloted the drone around the room. “At least a thousand.”
“Jesus Christ, there are more behind those locked doors. Look at the power cables leading into those rooms.”
“Enough juice to power an army.”
“Looks like a closed-circuit computer system down here. Just like they had at the other base.”
“Meaning…” Alice thought about it. “Oh shit. That means we can’t hack into it over Wi-Fi.”
