Chapter 17

Mason and Bridges creep through the wintery terrain using the snow dunes as cover. The Titan Armor they wear mimics the color of the snow further camouflaging them. They blend in so well with their surrounding environment they can probably walk out in the open and straight into the side entrance unnoticed. Mason is tempted to try just that, but it is Bridges that reminds him of Nash’s orders not to push anything to the limits. The suits allow both men to traverse the land quickly and efficiently slowly down only to observe a guard to ensure there is no radio communication and to eliminate him. Killing isn’t something either man would condone outside a war-like setting, but when it comes to the enemy and leaving your back exposed to them, neither man gives it a second thought.

Once the door to the east entrance is in sight they hunker down behind a dune and wait. They run into a total of eight guards in the last hundred yards to the facility, but are taken back by the fact they see no one guarding the entrance itself. Something doesn’t settle in Bridges gut at that moment. “Why have guards out there,” he says pointing in the direction they just came from, “but not have any at the door?”

Mason shrugs. “Maybe we already killed the guards at the door.”

“Come on man, you really think they’d leave their post to do some patrolling?”

“I don’t know. They could be inside getting warm or who knows.”

“Well I don’t like it,” Bridges says peering over the dune once more.

Nash and Matthews have a system set up before they even begin their trek to the southern entrance. Matthews sets up atop a dune that gives her a view of roughly fifty meters while Nash scouts ahead. In case he is to miss a target, she eliminates it before it becomes a threat. The system works great with Matthews only having to take out a target once. While Nash is busy slitting the throat of a guard, another is attempting to sneak up behind him. The guard never has the inclination that he is being targeted and never feels the bullet sending his brains to litter the arctic ground.

“Thanks Matthews,” Nash says sliding the knife back into its sheathed.

“No problem, but with these suits I doubt you had to really worry much.”

“Not a chance I wish to take. It might lead to sloppiness.”

Matthews lets the comment hang knowing what it means. Like Nash she doesn’t fully trust technology no matter how well it performs or how well it will when it’s based on someone else’s assessment. It is like going into the field with an untested weapon. It just doesn’t sit well.

After a short time they reach the sight of the southern door and find it in the same situation as Mason and Bridges ... empty.

“What do you suppose the odds of this happening are?” Matthews asks.

“Too good to be true for my taste,” Nash remarks. He then opens a line to his other team members. “Mason? Bridges?”

“We read you, LT,” Mason replies.

“What is your situation?”

“We’re at the door but it seems to be deserted.”

“Same here. Proceed with caution and be on the lookout for cameras or motion sensing devices.”

“Copy that.”

“Same goes for us Matthews.”

“Yes sir.”

The two jump over the dune they are hiding behind when the alarms begin to blare.

The line goes dead clicking back to the two way Mason and Bridges have set up.

“Well you heard the man,” Mason says jumping to his feet.

Bridges follows suit and begins to step over the dune. Just before he sets his foot down, an alarm sounds in the distance causing him to hesitate. Mason though, is already in full motion stepping over the dune. The instant his foot touches the ground alarms begin blaring, red light bathes the area in red.