Page 116 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

“We’ll make him talk.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Friday

HORVAN WAITEDuntil Saul gave him the nod before moving to stand in front of the men and women who’d squeezed into the command tent. Behind him was a white screen, and Dellan was in charge of the laptop, the images ready. Low chatter filled the air, but what was noticeable was the absence of laughter. After three days of exercises and preparation, these guys were more than ready to get into the action.

That was fine in Horvan’s book. He wanted every last one of them to be focused on the briefing.

“Okay, guys.”

That was all it took to gain complete silence.

“We go in before dawn tomorrow, and we have only two goals—to remove every last prisoner unharmed, and to capture a Tier One personality. I repeat,capture. We need this guy alive.” He gestured to Saul, who joined him at the front.

“We’ve had eyes on the enemy camp since we got here, and everything we’ve seen so far confirmed our intel.” He glanced at Dellan. “This is our target.”

On the screen a detailed sketch of Fielding’s face flashed up.

“We don’t have photos of this guy, but believe me, this is as close as it gets to a likeness. I should know. I’ve seen him, and it isn’t a face you could easily forget.” Saul straightened. “So here’s what you all wanna know. Mission time from incursion to extraction is to be no longer than thirty minutes.”

That didn’t cause a ripple. The team was used to tight schedules.

“Every one of you will have facial recognition software linked to your headgear cams. We have photos on file of all the prisonersandthe guards and other personnel. So checkeveryone. There will be no guards claiming to be prisoners, you got that?”

“Affirmative,” Crank muttered.

Horvan had no clue how Crank and Saul were holding it together. Vic had to be in their thoughts constantly, and if it had been Rael or Dellan in the hands of the enemy, Horvan knew he’d be sorely distracted. To their credit, Saul and Crank both put on a brave front. Vic’s capture wasn’t common knowledge, and they were keeping it that way.

Let’s pray Fielding knows where Vic is.

As for him sharing that knowledge? Horvan would leave that interrogation to Saul and Crank.And if he won’t tell us what he knows, we might need to lock him in a room with Brick for a while with a reminder that he was responsible for them holding one of his mates. I hope he enjoys pain.

“Crank is in charge of taking down our target. He’s one of only a few who’ve seen this guy.” Saul scanned the faces before him. “Under no circumstances is lethal ammo to be used on this target. Crank will be armed with tranq bullets.”

Horvan stepped forward. “Dawn is at oh five twenty-eight, so infiltration is set for oh four hundred. We’ve timed it to coincide with the scheduled arrival of a delivery truck. We’re gonna hijack it to gain entry to the camp.”

“Yeah, about the delivery guys…. Do we eliminate them?” Dex asked.

Horvan frowned. “They’re not the enemy. According to our source, they just work for the delivery company.”

Dex frowned. “The Gerans let humans on the base? I didn’t think they’d be happy about that.”

“Of course they’re happy,” Crank retorted. “Weak humans serving strong shifters? What’s wrong with that?”

Dex huffed. “I see your point.”

“You’ve all been assigned your teams,” Horvan continued. “So listen up. Team A will be led by Saul and Brick. You’ll be approaching the camp through the forests to the north and west. Your first tasks are to take out the perimeter guard towers on those sides and secure the airfield. We’re gonna need that for evac.”

“Team B will be led by Johan Deerling, and they’ll be approaching in RIBs on the Saint John River that runs along the south of the compound. Hashtag’s already with Johan’s team, and he’s in charge of drones. He’ll be our eye in the sky.”

Murmurs of appreciation followed Saul’s words.

“Team B will take out perimeter guards to the south and east.” Saul gave the nod to Eve, who rose to her feet. “Duncan will lead Team C, along with Roadkill and Crank. They’ll be waiting on Old River Road to intercept the delivery truck. Then they’ll drive to the camp.”

Horvan glanced at Dellan, then pointed to the screen. “This is the map of the compound. You’ve all seen it. Well, now we can confirm locations.” He indicated the upper righthand corner. “This is the gate. One way in, one way out. Now get this.No oneis to make a move until we have confirmation that Team C is inside the campandhas control of the gate. They’ll take out the guards on duty and cut off the power to the electrified fence. Once they’re in place, no one gets to leave the camp. Our trucks will be waiting at the gate to bring us back here.”

Saul indicated the blocks to the northeast corner. “This is the medical block, and this is the experimentation block. Doc Tranter and his medics will go in with Team A, and their job is to seize all records, drugs, tech….” He paused. “Okay, here’s the bad news. We know the Gerans have developed a drugthat can suppress shifts. And the good news? Thanks to our source, we know where this is stored. Once the guards have been incapacitated with tranq darts, we intend using this drug on them. We don’t want any of them coming round and shifting on us.” He pointed again to the screen. “These five blocks contain the prisoners, roughly thirty to each block. I want every last one rounded up and moved toward the airfield to await evac.” He pointed again. “These four blocks are the barracks, housing roughly seventy guards. We use flash-bang grenades and gas bombs to gain entry. Both lethal and nonlethal ammo are authorized, but get this—lethal ammo only to be used if you’re fired upon. And once the perimeter guards have been immobilized, all teams will mop up any remaining guards. All weapons will have HK417 laser flashlights, and all headgear will have thermal vision eye pieces.”

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