Enemy One (Epic Book 5) (86 page)

Upon seeing that Natalie was satisfied, Scott said, “Moving on, then.” Tiffany returned to her seat as Scott took back control of the presentation, advancing it to the next slide. It was a zoomed-in map of Japan’s eastern coast. In the middle of the topographical display, the train’s route was highlighted. “This is the Izu Peninsula, located in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture. It’s right here,” he pointed with the laser, “just before this nineteen-kilometer, narrow span between the cities of Atami and Tagata, where we’ll intercept the train. This will give us about twenty-two minutes before we reach Tokyo, which
needs
to be enough time to find the device.”

He advanced the slide again, the map replaced by the picture of the train car. From their seats, Natalie and Javon sat more erect. “The car containing the device will look like this. This is an exact image, so there shouldn’t be any surprises.”
There’d better not be.
“As you guys may or may not know, a vast majority of bullet trains are passenger only. It’s actually somewhat of a rare thing to get a car like this moving, so it shouldn’t be hard to locate. We were able to take a look at the train schedule, and there aren’t many cars to this thing—four, to be exact, none of which are passenger trains at all. This all works in our favor.”

He moved the laser pointer to the top of the train, where a circular hatch could be seen. “This hatch will allow us to enter the car from above. These are all two-story cars, so when we come through here, we’ll be on the top floor. The hatch is manually-operated, so all we’ll need is a little bit of muscle to crack it open. If we land here,” he moved the pointer ahead of the hatch, “we should theoretically be able to open the rear bay door away from the wind, then use the V2 as a wind shield of sorts while we get that hatch open.

“If this looks easy, it’s because it should be. Though there are a lot of moving parts to this operation, the actual infiltration of the train car is fairly linear. Land here, open this hatch, then we’re inside. At this point, though, things threaten to get difficult.” He advanced the slide again. The color image of the train car was replaced by a photograph of a small, cylindrical, black device. At the device’s far end was a trapezoid-shaped block, its surface aligned with various inputs and buttons. On the verge of an impact statement, Scott held his breath. “This…is the device.”

Immediately, the five observers’ ears perked.

“With Ju`bajai’s assistance, we were able to get a concrete look at the device we’re searching for. This is straight from Centurion’s mind, as siphoned by her. We allowed Ju`bajai to connect with Artur, the forge master here, to relay to him exactly what the device looked like.” Scott was actually quite proud of this part. “What you’re looking at is an actual photograph. Once he had the device in his mind, Artur was able to create a replica out of materials he had here at the forge. It’s in his office, and we’ll actually pass it around to everyone going on the mission before we disembark.”

“Well, hot dog,” said Lilan quietly.

Hot dog, indeed.
“This is the device we’ll be looking for. Finding it, however, is easier said than done. Though we know exactly what the device looks like based on Ju`bajai’s siphon, we don’t know where it is in the train car. It could be in a container all its own, it could be in a box full of other things…these are all unknowns.” At the most critical juncture of the mission, no less. “Unfortunately, we are going to have to search through both levels of this train car to try and locate this thing. That’s going to take time, and so for this, we need all hands on deck.

“What I had intended to do was break the group into four teams: two for each level. Those teams start at both ends of both floors and literally tear the place apart trying to find the device.” This was the only part of the operation that truly concerned Scott—at least, on the ground side of things. “This has the potential to really bog us down.”

Rashid raised his hand, drawing Scott’s attention. When Scott nodded in his direction, he began. “Are all of the train cars connected from the inside?”

So far as Scott knew, they were. “Yes, why?”

“It might be wise to send a team forward, through the cars, to the front of the train. If things go too slowly, we may need to isolate the driver and force him to stop the train before it goes into Tokyo.”

Scott hoped things wouldn’t take that long, but it wasn’t a bad idea. “I think we should be able to do that. With that said, if it’s taking us that long to find this thing, we’re going to have some other problems—namely, Tiffany’s friends altering their course and heading our way.” That would effectively erase whatever head start Tiffany was supposed to be buying them. “I like that idea, though. There’s no reason we can’t do that.”

“I got that,” said Javon, the black soldier dipping his head in Scott’s direction. “Me and King can take care of the driver.”

Not a fan of that particular wording, Scott asked, “Now, by ‘take care,’ do you mean…?”

The soldier chuckled faintly. “Take his train. That’s all I mean. We not into killin’.”

That was what Scott figured. “All right. I like it. We’ll do it.” His focus returned to the others. “Which leaves the rest of us to try and locate the device.”

“What about security?” Lilan asked. “Is this thing gonna have a security detail?”

Natalie answered, “Yes. Or at least, we assume. I was going to touch on that after Scott finished up.”

“By all means,” Scott said, indicating for her to do so.

Rising from her seat, Natalie walked to the front of the presentation area then looked at the colonel. “Despite the non-passenger nature of this train, we expect security to be heavy. The moment we land, two things will happen: we’ll be engaged, and the security detail will contact EDEN.” She half frowned. “There’s nothing we can do to avoid that. But what we can and
must
avoid are more civilian casualties.”

Scott had discussed this part with Natalie earlier in the week. That aspect of the operation—the sparing of the innocent—meant as much to the Caracal captain as obtaining the device itself. He had no qualms in turning control of that side of the operation to her.

“We will be going into this operation with nonlethal rounds,” Natalie said, prompting an immediate raising of the eyebrows from Rashid. The others simply listened. “Though confrontation is unavoidable, deaths aren’t. We need to do this cleanly.”

“I wholeheartedly object,” said Rashid.

Raising his hand, Scott said bluntly, “She’s not finished.”

Natalie went on. “What we have to keep in mind is that these won’t be security details in EDEN or Nightman armor. Nonlethal rounds should work well.”

“Now, by nonlethal rounds,” Lilan said, “we’re talking about what? Rubber bullets?”

“That, flashbangs, stun grenades…there are a few things we’ll be able to use, all of which are here at the forge. Fortunately, not all of the forge’s customers are interested in killing.”

That went along with what Scott had already heard, that in addition to serving the Nightmen,
Northern Forge
also served Norilsk law enforcement—among others.

“Our first task,” Natalie said, “before we even start the search, will be to isolate the security team that’s in place. I will be in charge of that particular effort. Once we have them down, we’ll begin clearing the car.” She glanced up at the projection screen. “One area of uncertainty is where exactly in the train our target car is. There are four cars total here, not counting the engine. If our car is between two others, we need to be prepared for security personnel to move in on us from the adjacent cars.” She looked at Javon. “This might make your moving up to the engine more difficult, so I’d advise you make your team bigger. You guys might be fighting through a stronghold to get to the train driver. Depending on the strength of the opposition, it may not even be worth trying to make a run for the engine,” she gave Rashid an acknowledging nod, “though I admit, it’s a good idea if possible.”

“We could try asking one of those guys on the train if they’ve seen that device,” said Lilan, pointing. “We’re planning on bringing that model of it with us, right?”

Scott shook his head. “No, actually. As silly as it may sound, I don’t want anyone accidentally mistaking the model for the real thing and having us leave with nothing. But we will have some photographs with us.”

Lifting her chin, Natalie resumed. “I do agree that talking to the security guards is the right way to go, once we have them isolated. They may not be very inclined to cooperate, but if we can get one to talk, and they know where the device is, it could save us a whole lot of time.”

From his spot on the presenting floor, Scott smirked. “Also, they’ll probably only speak Japanese.”

“Well, yeah,” said Natalie, giving him a look. “Then there’s that.”

“Good overall plan of action, though.” Lilan leaned back in his chair. “I like it.”

It was good to hear the colonel say that. The more Scott thought about it, the more he wished he’d have thought about inviting Lilan to the planning meeting himself, without the colonel having to show up unannounced. “There’s actually not much more to the plan than that. This isn’t rocket science—it’s a smash and grab.”

“Preferably without a lot of
smashing
,” said Natalie.

“Well, yeah.”
Point taken, Natalie.
“But that’s it. We hold off security while we find the device, then we get out of Dodge. It’s not hard, there are just a lot of moving parts.” Moving parts that had to work together seamlessly. But this could be done. For a second time, Rashid silently raised his hand, garnering Scott’s attention. “Go ahead, Faraj.”

Clearing his throat, the Turkish fulcrum leaned forward. “The alien you are bringing on this mission—the Ithini.”

Scott nodded.

“I understand the advantages of having her involved, particularly with the avoidance of radio traffic, as you mentioned earlier. But are you certain there are not alternatives?”

He was talking about Ju`bajai, whose help—and freedom—Esther had adamantly bartered for. “I know having an Ithini work with us is a tough sell for some, but look at things from her point of view. She was a captive with EDEN, and now she’s free with us. Even if she
was
malevolent, I think it’s simply more a personal advantage for her to stay on our side.” It was just the smart decision. “We’ve had people connecting with her all week, and so far every experience has come back positive. Or at the very least, not negative.” There was a not-so-subtle difference, there. “Using her wasn’t my first choice, but considering all she did for us in
Cairo
, she makes sense. Without her help, there wouldn’t have been a team there for you to extract.”

“I understand, captain. I am simply…”

Rashid didn’t even have to finish the statement. Scott knew what he was saying. “I know. Believe me, I know. But I think at this juncture, it’s best to consider her more a blessing than a danger. Whether that changes is dependent on her.”

Nodding his head as if quasi-satisfied, Rashid said nothing else.

Brushing her hair behind her ears and looking up from her tablet, Natalie said, “I’d like to discuss the groupings for this operation—at least with everyone else, here.”

With multiple teams working in conjunction, putting people in the right groups was pivotal. The two of them had done quite a bit of preliminary work in that department, as had Becan with Scott. “Sure. You want to talk about it or should I?”

“I’ll talk about it.”

“Be my guest.” Allowing Natalie to take front-and-center, Scott fell back into the role of listener.

Coughing gently to clear her throat, Natalie began. “So as we all know, we don’t exactly have a great deal of operatives to work with, here—at least not healthy ones. Mister Lukin has allowed us to take a small force of his soldiers on this operation—”

She meant slayers.

“—but this is still our operation. Here is the list of able-bodied operatives who we currently have as a ‘go’ for this.” Her emerald eyes focused on the tablets. “Not counting ourselves—those of us who are going, at least—we have: Becan McCrae, Jayden Timmons, Esther Brooking, Feliks Petrukhin, Pyotr Alkaev, and Tom King.” She sighed. “And that’s it. Oh, and of course, Ju`bajai…” Eyeing Scott, she asked, “Did I pronounce that right?”

“Close enough.”

She smirked. “So with all of those names counted, including ourselves, that’s twelve. Add in the soldiers on loan from
Northern Forge
, and we’re looking at eighteen total. The thought that Remington and I had was that Lukin’s men could clear the initial car, as they’re far and away the best rested out of everyone.”

Scott had selfishly liked that idea. It would lessen the chance of anyone from the Fourteenth, Falcons, or other team in their particular circle from getting injured on the front line—with the exception of himself and Natalie, of course. This was their operation. They had to be among the first in.

Natalie went on. “Once everyone is in, we’ll spread out to search the car that supposedly has the device. The teams we had jotted down were Remington and Petrukhin, Timmons and Brooking, then McCrae and Alkaev with me. So that’s three groups. I’d love to have an even four, but I’d rather not have someone go solo on this.”

Raising his hand, Lilan said, “I can go.” When several operatives looked at him with skepticism, he went on. “Look, I’m happy to stay in the ship, but if you need me, you’ve got me. I can dig around boxes with one hand.”

Eyes settling on him for a minute, Natalie replied with kindness. “You can come with me, colonel. I’ll leave McCrae and Alkaev on their own, and the two of us can start somewhere else in the car.”

Though Scott didn’t react, on the inside he was somewhat uncertain. This was all about speed. He had no issues with Lilan being on board the V2, but as a part of the actual ground op? If Natalie was okay with it, Scott wouldn’t object. He was just glad
she
was the one who’d volunteered to take him.

“Thank you,” Lilan said, bowing his head with respect. “I won’t slow you down, I promise.”

“I didn’t think you would,” said Natalie. She returned her focus to the group at large. “That works out, then. Four pairs to search the car while Quinton and King take the engine, maybe bringing a few of Lukin’s soldiers with them to help. The rest of Lukin’s soldiers can act as defense.” She looked at Scott. “And there’s our ground op.”