Page 37 of Tracking the Alpha
“Just standard questions for people who come into contact with test subjects.”
“Does it carry something contagious?” Tanis boldly asked, suddenly wondering if perhaps the werewolf thing could be transmitted.
“Of course not. And even if it were, it would take a bite at the very least to infect, but you weren’t bitten.” The gaze lasered in on Tanis as if she could get her to admit something that didn’t happen by sheer force of will.
“No bites. No licks. No nothing. Was there anything else you wanted to know?”
“I think that’s enough for now. You’re free to go.”
“Thanks.” Tanis rose and was headed for the door when Dr. Lindt added, “The major says you’re planning to bait using livestock.”
“A hungry wolf won’t be able to resist fresh meat.”
“Did the major tell you that they’ve already tried that tactic, only to have it fail?”
Tanis paused with her hand on the knob before glancing at the doctor. “No, he didn’t mention that. How did it fail?”
“The wolf took out those watching and left the tethered lamb.”
“I see. I’m surprised you’re telling me this.”
“I’d like for you to succeed, hence the warning so you don’t become its next meal. After all, if you die, we’ll be not only without the subject back where it belongs but also searching for a new hunter to capture it.”
“I don’t plan to fail.” The truth of sorts since Tanis didn’t clarify what winning looked like. As she exited a room simply labelled with a number three, she caught herself eyeing the elevator at the end of the hall. Like the main door, it required a scan of a face to operate. She saw no sign of stairs, and imagined if any existed, they were likely behind a locked door or also secured like all the other important entry points.
If only there existed a way to disable the electrical security measures, the most obvious being, of course, shutting off the power, say by taking out the pole and hydro line bringing it in. However, a place like this most likely had backup generators that would kick in.
As Tanis exited the main building—her people-count at twelve since her meeting with Dr. Lindt—she ran into Wet-behind-the-ears carrying a ladder and a cloth.
“Hey again. You saving a cat from a tree?” she joked.
“Camera lens cleaning. A bird shit on one, and now I get the fun of cleaning it.” He grimaced.
“Yuck.”
“Very gross,” he agreed. “And I gotta go do it ASAP since Jasper is shutting off the power to the cams in like two minutes.”
“Why shutting it off?”
The young soldier half turned to reply as he headed for the gate. “So I don’t get electrocuted. Last week, Harry got zapped when he was up there cleaning one off after a raccoon got to it. Chewed through a wire and zap.” As the soldier laughed, he added, “Harry was jittery for hours after.”
“Do the cameras get damaged often?” she asked, keeping pace with him as he exited the gate.
“The outside ones seem to piss off the wildlife for some reason. It’s why we keep a box of spares so we can swap them out.”
Interesting and it gave her an idea. It would take until dark before she could implement it, though, so she spent the rest of that afternoon gathering items to fashion a slingshot. Rocks were easy to find. Getting on the barracks roof? Not so simple. The upper loft, which would have given the easiest access, had soldiers playing cards. Outside the barracks, she took a moment to look around for any cameras, but to her surprise, nothing pointed at the converted barn or main building. Guess they weren’t worried about the soldiers inside.
Tanis hugged the structure as she circled it, looking for the drain spout coming down from the gutters. It didn’t look strong enough to hold her weight. Annoying. Nothing around offered the height she needed to catch the lip to the roof either. For her plan to work, she needed height and line of sight.
As she went to re-enter the barracks, the three soldiers who’d been upstairs exited, still buttoning their jackets.
“Where you off to? Another training exercise?” she asked.
“Major is holding a briefing,” said the only female of the three.
“At night?”
“He calls the shots,” the grumbled reply as the trio headed for the main building.
