Mark Young - Off the grid

No one seemed to be walking the grounds.

He pulled himself up and rolled onto his back after slipping out of the backpack. Catching his breath, he quickly wrapped the end of one rope securely around the largest boulder and dropped the line below.

He knew the kind of weight Willy would bring up the face of the cliff. Stuffed inside a backpack to leave his hands free to climb, Willy carried a 9mm Beretta that he sweet-talked Alena into giving him, his laptop, and a small digital reader. He peered over and saw Alena grasp the other end of the rope. He waited until she had Willy positioned, then he dropped the second rope, tying one end around his waist. Even from this distance, Willy looked scared.

Great, I can see the headlines now: Ex-Cop Killed by Falling Ex-Gangster.

Alena tied the second rope around Willy’s chest and under his arms. Gerrit pulled the rope until it was taut, signaling down to Willy to begin his climb. Hand over hand, Willy moved up the face of the rock, using his arms to climb and his feet to brace against the cliff. Gerrit braced himself, set his feet firmly, and began to pull on the second rope to give Willy additional support.

Again, he felt the fire in his arms and strain to his lower back as Willy’s dead weight pulled against him. He continually pulled the rope upward. In this position, he couldn’t see behind him. Couldn’t see if any security patrols came his way.

After what seemed like hours but could only be a few more minutes, Willy reached the top of the cliff. Gerrit pulled even harder, helping the younger man clamber over the edge. Gasping, Willy lay on his back, trying to catch his breath. “Man, I feel like Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix.”

“Shh,” Gerrit warned, glancing around. He untied the rope and started to lower it down to Alena when he saw she was already halfway up. He watched her agilely ascend with what seemed like effortless grace.

A few minutes later, her head emerged and he started toward her to help lift her over the edge. She swung a leg over the top and rolled onto solid ground before he could reach her. He quickly pulled the rope up, stashing both ropes at the base of one of the boulders.

They were ready for the next phase.

Willy lowered his backpack and pulled out the handheld readers before slipping the pack back on. As Willy flicked on the reader, Gerrit whispered, “Okay, when we move out, only use hand signals. We need to make it inside that building without being spotted.”

They nodded, and Willy turned the face of the reader toward him.

Gerrit eyed the screen. “Okay, where’s the enemy?”

Willy motioned to what looked like a ring of red dots in a semi-circle on the screen, only two positioned near the cliff where they stood. The red dots lay between them and the building.

Alena edged closer to Willy. “They’re not going to see our thermal signatures?”

Willy smiled. “Trust me, thanks to Beck and Thompson, we have our own drone overhead to give us cover. Watch what happens when we move out. Oh, don’t bother using your night-vision equipment. Just turn it off now.”

“Turn it off?” Gerrit shut his system down.

“Yeah, Beck just sent me a message that Thompson made the impossible a reality. And I’d do it real quick. The drone’s almost here.”

Gerrit shrugged and pointed to where the closest security guards stood. “As soon as Alena and I put those two guys out of commission, we’ll move toward the building about two hundred yards away. Willy, stay right behind us. If you spot anyone coming on your reader, tap Alena on the shoulder. When it’s clear to move, tap again and point in the direction you want us to move. Okay?”

Gerrit heard the engine of a plane overhead. It sounded like the drone was at tree level.

Willy reached up and grabbed his shoulder. “Wait, Mr. G. One, two…bam.”

A man screamed about one hundred yards away. “Man, I can’t see anything. What was that-?”

“Shut up, stupid. Our targets are somewhere out there,” another voice hissed through the night air. The voice came from the same location where the first man’s voice rang out.

“But I can’t get a reading. Where is everyone?”

“Will you shut up? You’re going to get us killed.” The man finally quieted down.

Gerrit felt Willy tap him on the shoulder, motioning toward his night vision glasses. “I can turn them on?”

Willy nodded. “Those two are blind as bats. Their night vision gear is fried.”

He slowly rose, flicked on his night vision and signaled the others to follow.

Richard screamed across the room at a man frantically switching from one camera site to another. “Tell me what’s going on out there, you idiot. I pay you big money to take care of problems like this. And you can’t tell me what’s happening?”

The man, huge enough to scare a pro-bowl offensive line, cowered over the console. He was afraid to face Richard. His big paws danced across the keys, trying to access their wireless surveillance monitors.

Flashes of brilliant light had blinded the cameras, and from what he heard over the air, ground-support units were walking around in a daze. The blinding flashes came across intermittently, followed by long periods of blindness as the lens of thermal-imaging readers and night-vision scopes filled with images of snow.

“Someone’s got a drone working directly overhead. Each flyover, our guys get hit with electronic pulses that make their Night Optical Devices go blind. Some of their equipment has been permanently put out of commission.”

“I can see that, you moron. What I need from you is how to take this drone out.”

The huge man shrugged helplessly. “We don’t have any surface-to-air capabilities. We never imagined that-”

“Correction. You never imagined. And yet, I pay you to anticipate these contingencies. Well, now we must react.” Richard paced back and forth, thinking. He thrust a finger at the hapless giant. “Pull everyone back. Ring the perimeter with security units. Gerrit and his people are trying to get inside the compound.”

The man turned back to his console.

“I’m not finished with you.” Richard peered down at the man seated before him. The man was twice his size, but at this point he seemed to shrink next to his boss. “Start checking for incoming aircraft. I imagine they’ll chopper in reinforcements to back up Gerrit. I want to make sure when they land, our welcoming surprise is ready for them. My demolition team set up claymores ready to go off on my command.”

Richard leaned over and pointed to a small case on the console. He opened it and carefully pointed to a series of switches inside. “Any aircraft sets down on the pad, I want you to trigger these switches. Just make sure that no one walks away from those aircraft when they land. Think you can handle that?”

The Hulk nodded, starting to disseminate Richard’s orders to all security units on the ground. Perspiration ran down his armpits as he watched Richard storm across the room and take an elevator belowground. Relieved, he breathed in easier, his giant forearms laying across the console for support.

Denver, Colorado

Beck dashed toward the waiting jet as frigid winds cut through his thin suit jacket. He bounded up the stairs and into the belly of the craft. The moment he was inside and the stairs raised, it began taxiing toward the runway.

A crewmember closed and locked the hatch before Beck could grab a seat. Colonel Jack Thompson emerged from the cockpit and made his way to Beck. “Got my pilot initiating takeoff. We need to talk right now.”

Beck leaned forward. “What’s the latest?”

“Sent that drone in at your request and pulled together a small unit to hit the place as backup. But we can’t go in blind. What are we up against?”