If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck... it might be a decoy.
The team squished through the tunnel, the thick mud on the floor telling the story of flooding in recent times. Even as they walked, they could hear the drip-drop of water in the background. Hitomi did not like this at all. The squishing mud made too good a cover for an ambush. She had a bad feeling about this. Usually, she listened to her gut. Last time she didn’t, she was captured at this very dock. She shook her head, “Hell with it,” she muttered.
Hitomi pulled the heads-up eye piece from her gauntlet and slipped it on. Tapping the side of the head piece, she engaged the scanners she built into her gauntlet. With a soft chirp in her ear, several dots appeared behind them. “Damn,” she clicked her radio and softly notified Siege.
“How many?”
“Ah, five or six. They’re hanging back.” She hit the ignition on the gauntlet’s weapon system. A short, sharp whine faded into a deep hum. “I doubt they’ll stay that way.”
Siege cracked her knuckles, “We’ll be set. Keep us updated.” She heard Jeremy and Alana softly prime their pistols. Silently, she nodded in approval. Trusting Hitomi to follow her lead, she skipped the side rooms and followed the corridor straight on, not wanting to be cornered if she could help it.
“’Omi, once we get in the hub room, flank the door.”
“Got it.”
Once in the larger room, Siege ducked behind the door and made ready. She motioned Jeremy and Alana behind her, while Hitomi stood flat against the wall on the other side of the door. Hitomi raised her arm and just as their lead pursuer entered the doorway, a loud stentorian voice rang out from inside the room, “I wouldn’t bother, ladies. We have this room wired for surveillance.”
They spun around and a figure strode out of the shadows, flanked by guards that resembled the once they faced the other day. Except, these had insignia. Their uniforms had what looked like hieroglyphics on the shoulders and chest. Their leader wore similar garb except for the mask. He wore a mask and headpiece that resembled a jackal. One of the guards that flanked him motioned with his gun for the four of them to move off from the door, herded them in front of the jackal-masked man.
The man casually strolled over to Siege, who stood about as tall as his shoulders. He seemed to look down on her, “You are their leader.” It wasn’t a question.
C.J. said nothing, just narrowed her eyes at the admittedly imposing figure the mask cut. The man just gazed impassively at her. “We are not here to hurt you. Just... see if you were real.”
The only sign of the surprise Siege felt was her slow blink. “If we were real?”
“Indeed.” He turned and walked a few steps away. “I wanted to know if the students of the infamous Buckminster Washington were out there, investigating after all this time.”
She blinked again.
The man laughed, and though it must have been a trick of the light and shadow, the mask’s mouth seemed to loll open in a canine grin. “You must have thought it was odd that we were going through all this trouble to get the plans of a nuclear device? No. This was a test. A decoy to draw out Washington, or his minions. And it worked.”
There was a soft hiss, and the guards in the room roughly whispered “Praise Hem-Netjer Tepey, beloved of Anubis.
Alana stiffened, leaned into Hitomi and whispered, ”I think I know who these jokers are.“
The man turned sharply to Alana and Hitomi. ”Do you now? Speak up, girl.“
Siege looked at Alana, with a question on her face. Alana cleared her throat, ”You’re that Egyption cult from northern Oregon. The Children of Anubis.“
“Beloved Children of Anubis.” He corrected. “I am the high priest, Hem-Netjer Tepey.” he bowed stiffly.
Alana looked at Siege and Hitomi, “They, uh, they’ve been linked to the disappearance of some derelicts, but the police haven’t been able to collect enough for an arrest.”
The man and his guards laughed deeply, “Mere servants of the state could never best us. Our best opponent has always been those like Mister Washington. Now that we know he his still out there, we have a message for him. Tell him to beware. The gods of death always reap their due.” With a gesture, the guards formed up around him and they marched through the door leading farther into the tunnel complex.
Jeremy looked at Siege and Hitomi, “Should we go after them?”
Hitomi glanced at Siege and held up a hand in a “stop” gesture. “No. We get the hell out of here. Now.”
“Bomb?” Siege asked simply.
“Oh yes. Enough to collapse a section of the ground up top,” Hitomi stated, already moving quickly, splashing through the mud towards the exit.
No one else had to say anything. They all followed Hitomi as fast as they could and climbed the ladder and out the shed. Luckily, there were few workers there, so it didn’t take long to round them up and get them safely out of the explosive’s range. They all watched as the fireball roiled from the ground.
Quietly, Hitomi looked at Siege, “Now what?”
“Now?” She meet Hitomi’s eyes, “Now, we tell Buck. And get some answers.”
Hitomi pulled the heads-up eye piece from her gauntlet and slipped it on. Tapping the side of the head piece, she engaged the scanners she built into her gauntlet. With a soft chirp in her ear, several dots appeared behind them. “Damn,” she clicked her radio and softly notified Siege.
“How many?”
“Ah, five or six. They’re hanging back.” She hit the ignition on the gauntlet’s weapon system. A short, sharp whine faded into a deep hum. “I doubt they’ll stay that way.”
Siege cracked her knuckles, “We’ll be set. Keep us updated.” She heard Jeremy and Alana softly prime their pistols. Silently, she nodded in approval. Trusting Hitomi to follow her lead, she skipped the side rooms and followed the corridor straight on, not wanting to be cornered if she could help it.
“’Omi, once we get in the hub room, flank the door.”
“Got it.”
Once in the larger room, Siege ducked behind the door and made ready. She motioned Jeremy and Alana behind her, while Hitomi stood flat against the wall on the other side of the door. Hitomi raised her arm and just as their lead pursuer entered the doorway, a loud stentorian voice rang out from inside the room, “I wouldn’t bother, ladies. We have this room wired for surveillance.”
They spun around and a figure strode out of the shadows, flanked by guards that resembled the once they faced the other day. Except, these had insignia. Their uniforms had what looked like hieroglyphics on the shoulders and chest. Their leader wore similar garb except for the mask. He wore a mask and headpiece that resembled a jackal. One of the guards that flanked him motioned with his gun for the four of them to move off from the door, herded them in front of the jackal-masked man.
The man casually strolled over to Siege, who stood about as tall as his shoulders. He seemed to look down on her, “You are their leader.” It wasn’t a question.
C.J. said nothing, just narrowed her eyes at the admittedly imposing figure the mask cut. The man just gazed impassively at her. “We are not here to hurt you. Just... see if you were real.”
The only sign of the surprise Siege felt was her slow blink. “If we were real?”
“Indeed.” He turned and walked a few steps away. “I wanted to know if the students of the infamous Buckminster Washington were out there, investigating after all this time.”
She blinked again.
The man laughed, and though it must have been a trick of the light and shadow, the mask’s mouth seemed to loll open in a canine grin. “You must have thought it was odd that we were going through all this trouble to get the plans of a nuclear device? No. This was a test. A decoy to draw out Washington, or his minions. And it worked.”
There was a soft hiss, and the guards in the room roughly whispered “Praise Hem-Netjer Tepey, beloved of Anubis.
Alana stiffened, leaned into Hitomi and whispered, ”I think I know who these jokers are.“
The man turned sharply to Alana and Hitomi. ”Do you now? Speak up, girl.“
Siege looked at Alana, with a question on her face. Alana cleared her throat, ”You’re that Egyption cult from northern Oregon. The Children of Anubis.“
“Beloved Children of Anubis.” He corrected. “I am the high priest, Hem-Netjer Tepey.” he bowed stiffly.
Alana looked at Siege and Hitomi, “They, uh, they’ve been linked to the disappearance of some derelicts, but the police haven’t been able to collect enough for an arrest.”
The man and his guards laughed deeply, “Mere servants of the state could never best us. Our best opponent has always been those like Mister Washington. Now that we know he his still out there, we have a message for him. Tell him to beware. The gods of death always reap their due.” With a gesture, the guards formed up around him and they marched through the door leading farther into the tunnel complex.
Jeremy looked at Siege and Hitomi, “Should we go after them?”
Hitomi glanced at Siege and held up a hand in a “stop” gesture. “No. We get the hell out of here. Now.”
“Bomb?” Siege asked simply.
“Oh yes. Enough to collapse a section of the ground up top,” Hitomi stated, already moving quickly, splashing through the mud towards the exit.
No one else had to say anything. They all followed Hitomi as fast as they could and climbed the ladder and out the shed. Luckily, there were few workers there, so it didn’t take long to round them up and get them safely out of the explosive’s range. They all watched as the fireball roiled from the ground.
Quietly, Hitomi looked at Siege, “Now what?”
“Now?” She meet Hitomi’s eyes, “Now, we tell Buck. And get some answers.”
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