The Mission
“Who are we going after, exactly?” I asked.
I had hoped she was allowed to tell me more about our upcoming mission now that they had the details ironed out. I opened up another private channel with her as we rode together. Though, even if I wasn’t curious, I would have taken any opportunity to keep playing with this helmet.
“I told you, a Rogue,” she replied quickly.
I was just along for the ride. Holding on to her on the back of the bike was still enough contact to make my heart race, regardless of all the gear between us
“Just one? Is that really even a threat to a group like ours?” I persisted.
“Anyone willing to come after a group like ours is a threat, even if we can’t see it clearly yet,” she answered.
Holly’s name left the private channel and appeared back in the team one. A few minutes passed without any further discussion on the matter. I wondered if I should even continue my inquiry or just leave it. Maybe she was distracted by the upcoming mission. She was probably talking it over on the channel right now. I thought about switching back but instead stared ahead at the road rushing by.
We stopped at a light next to the grey SUV. I wouldn’t have recognized it, except for Derek’s hulking figure barely visible through the tinted windows. I wondered why they always used black SUVs in the movies when grey and silver stood out far less.
“There may be more than one,” Holly said, her name reappearing in our private channel. “Rogue, that is. It would be unusual for a lone actor to do anything other than run as far from us as possible.”
I took a moment to lean back and stretch my arms.
“So you think there might be a real threat?” I asked.
“We’re not sure, but we have to investigate.”
Her head turned back toward me. I couldn’t see her features behind the black face-shield, but I could sense her smile. I shivered. There was something in her voice. I could feel the tension in her body as I slid my arms around her again.
We rode the rest of the way without talking, only the sound of the tires on pavement and the wind whipping past to keep us company.
Derek pulled onto a private gravel drive. All the lights on the SUV flicked off. We followed slowly. Holly rejoined the team channel, and this time I followed suit.
We were a little ways out of the city. There wasn’t much around except frozen farmland, dormant for the winter. A small copse of trees blocked the view down the driveway. This is where James parked the SUV. They exited and pressed the doors closed carefully with a quiet snick. We dismounted right behind them.
There was no moonlight, but the stars shone bright with the light of the city well behind us. Even with better-than-normal vision, I had trouble making out too many details. I almost stumbled into Holly. She showed me how to turn on night vision. Instead of a grainy green glow like I had been expecting, the scene appeared almost as clear as if it were daylight.
We made our way single file down the dirt road. After a little less than a mile, we came around a bend that revealed an unassuming farmhouse.
Even in the dark, the building looked picturesque. It had dark-tile roofing and red siding. The porch light was on. Light trim pieces framed the doorway and windows. I turned off the night vision and found the lighting sufficient. The only other structure was a large, detached garage.
Maybe this Rogue had escaped his previous life to be a farmer. I hoped everything would be resolved peacefully. Something in the behavior of the others suggest it wouldn’t, though.
James’ voice cut in to the silence. “Derek has the back of the house. Mia and Lily cover the garage, Logan go ahead and take point. I’ll back you up. Holly’s on babysitting detail.”
I struggled not to frown, grateful for the helmet masking my expression.
Everyone else just nodded and headed silently to their respective positions. We moved low and fast toward the front door. The only sounds in the night air were our boots on gravel and a few crickets.
“He might know we’re here,” Holly whispered for my benefit, “but as far as we can tell, he hasn’t been communicating with anyone on the outside. It should be an easy capture.”
Their SUV must have had more goodies inside it if they could detect that.
We stacked up outside the door; everyone had their weapons at the ready. James and Logan were watching the high windows, with Holly scanning the lower ones, as well as the porch itself. I tried to my best to imitate them and what I head learned earlier. I struggled to get my pistol free from its holster, making far too much noise. I suddenly felt clumsy and awkward. I was happy James had taken my rifle away; I would have been more likely to fumble it than put it to actual use.
“Just stay behind me,” Holly reiterated.
I gripped the pistol tighter, careful to keep my fingers clear of the trigger guard. I would not be a liability.
Derek gave the ready signal, a single click of the coms, and they all breached at once.
I heard the door to the garage bust open behind me, and farther on, what must have been Derek breaking through a back entrance.
In front of me, James kicked the door right by the deadbolt lock. It exploded inward in a shower of wood fragments.
He stepped aside to the right, and Logan moved through the deluge of destruction.
My view of the front revealed a ranch-style, split-level. Just to the right of the front door were stairs up leading up and a hallway continuing out of sight. To the left was a living room that flowed into a combined kitchen and dining room.
The back door must have been located near the back of the kitchen, because Derek was already moving through it.
Logan peeled left with James providing cover down the hall to the right, and Holly held the center watching the stairs.
Derek and Logan quickly cleared the main living areas.
Once they signaled all clear, I moved to the living room in an attempt to stay out of the way. As I did, I heard the sounds of a garage door behind us, and shots rang out.
Holly stepped back to look out the front door when a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. His hand raised, and a gun flashed.
I planted my feet and sprang forward. I willed the muscles in my legs to move faster. I could feel the floor splintering but holding beneath my boots.
I flew through the air, turning away from the shooter, arms out to grab Holly.
I caught her up and tackled her to the floor.
Derek spun around the corner of the hall and fired up the steps, but the figure was already on the move. Derek gave pursuit, Logan hot on his heels.
They both sprang up the steps in a single bound, caught their balance at the midway landing, turned, and shot up out of sight.
James came out to check on us.
“Ok?” he asked quickly.
“Yep,” Holly replied.
“Yeah,” I answered.
I felt fine, other than my heart beating a million miles a minute.
There was an explosion above us.
We all dropped to the ground. Glass, wood, and burning fragments showered down outside, followed by the dull thud of a body.
I immediately turned away. Maybe I wasn’t up to this.
James covered the body with his gun.
Before anyone could ask, Derek gave the all clear.
James checked to see if the body was still alive. From my cursory glance it looked like it had been the figure I had seen on the stairs.
Everyone regrouped in front of the house.
Mia and Lily reported that at least two got away in a car. There had been two vehicles in the garage. They were checking the first when the garage door opened and the second car had started up. They opened fire, but it had bullet-proof windows and reinforced body plating.
The man Derek and Logan had chased upstairs fled to what had been the master bedroom. They had accidentally triggered a trip wire in pursuit. Luckily the giant wooden door leading to the room had taken the brunt of the blast. The man inside had not been so lucky.
The rest of the team split up to search the premises and left Holly and I to sift through the debris that had blown outside from upstairs.
I stirred the ashes with my boot, sure I wouldn’t find anything of use. What was I even looking for? It was mostly burned-up paper, pieces of furniture, and other unsavory bits I’d rather not reflect on.
“Thanks.” Holly had stopped to watch me. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
I glanced at the HUD; we were back on private coms.
“I think so,” I answered as truthfully as I could.
Was I ok? I had just watched a man die. Well, not technically. But I had been the first witness of him after his abrupt demise. And what had my reaction been? Had I been prepared to shoot him? Where even was my pistol? I had dropped it when I dove for Holly. I had been basically useless.
I moved to retrieve it from the entryway but couldn’t find it.
“Looking for this?” She held it out to me.
I walked back to her, took the proffered pistol, and returned it to its holster, again happy she couldn’t see the humiliation on my face.
“Hey,” She caught my hand, “you saved me.”
“I think you would have been fine.”
We were wearing enough armor. Besides, hadn’t I just received a whole lesson on the uselessness of bullets?
“No. Really. That was a very brave thing you did,” she said seriously.
I smiled despite myself.
“Are you sure you didn’t get hit?” she asked.
I didn’t think so.
I looked down to examine my gear. It was all layers of black on black; I couldn’t even see where the bullet had hit me, if it had. I tried to sense if anything felt off. I would know if I’d gotten shot, right? I just shook my head and shrugged.
“I’m fine,” I answered.
She responded by giving me a quick, sharp hug.
“Holly, you need to come see this.” James stood at the top of the landing.
He had his helmet off, his brow furrowed. He glanced in my direction.
“Ryan…” He paused for a moment, then seemed to settle on something. “I guess this concerns you too.”
Holly took her helmet off as well and followed him upstairs. I left mine on and trudged along behind them.
The stairs went up halfway to the floor above before taking a one-eighty-degree turn and continuing to the second floor. This floor only covered the front half of the house, making it appear like more space from the outside.
In reality, the entire floor was occupied by a large bathroom and master, which appeared to have been converted into an office.
The door was blown completely apart. The landing had large indentations in the wood where Derek and Logan had been thrown from the blast, and the room itself was a mess. Parts of a desk and scraps of papers and folders littered the floor. Some small piles were still smoldering. The desk itself had saved some of the papers from the blast.
Mia was huddled near the floor, sifting through the debris.
“Here.” James took what appeared to be mostly burned papers from a stack that had already been sorted.
“These documents seem to have survived.” He held them out for Holly.
She took them and began flipping through them. After a moment, she stopped and looked at me.
I walked up behind her and read over her shoulder.
The top was fairly inconsequential to me, a bunch of government headers and names of people or buildings stamped with the word “CONFIDENTIAL” in red lettering.
I scanned faster. The document briefly outlined an operation to establish contact with an individual. Approach with caution. Risk of being spotted. Believed that individual had already been contacted… There. Lower. My name, plain as day. Ryan Cooper. I was the individual it was talking about. I was the reason for this little operation. For the Rogues being here. They had been coming for me.
“There’s more.”
We both looked up, and James handed Holly another folder.
Inside were remnants of pictures of me at school.
Pictures of Tom’s house.
Pictures of my house.
My family.
I felt a numbness spreading through my body. My hands were cold. I couldn’t breathe in the helmet but dared not take it off and show them the expression on my face. I took three deep breaths, keeping my fists clenched. Everyone else was watching me.
“What does this mean?” I tried to keep my voice flat, an attempt to keep the dread I was feeling from creeping in.
“We need to get back. Boss needs to know about this,” James said.
The group went around gathering up what they could. I waited downstairs. They used what remained of a desk drawer to carry the papers to the SUV. As we walked away, I looked back and saw Mia and Lily spreading fluid around the buildings.
“Are they planning on burning it down?” I asked Holly.
“Yeah.” She kept walking down the path.
“But why? What if we missed something?” I wondered.
“If they come back, they could find what we missed. Better to think we got everything we needed and left. We won’t be back,” she responded.
“But wouldn’t it be too risky for them to come back?” I pondered aloud.
She didn’t answer.
We arrived at the parked vehicles. The walk back seemed to take twice as long as the walk to the house. My mind raced from what I had seen. The others loaded the papers into the trunk of the SUV and got in. I mounted the bike behind Holly. Mia and Lily arrived last, the light of a fire faintly glowing behind them.
We drove back down the gravel drive as the inferno began to rage behind us.