Jak Koke - Stranger souls

Axler led Ryan inside the warehouse, which had obviously seen better days. Its panels hung askew, the metal rusting in places. Huge hangar-type doors opened into the haphazard mess of Dhin's rigger shop where oil, grease, and engine parts were strewn everywhere. Ryan saw the skeletal remains of an Aguilar attack helicopter and what looked like a mostly functional T-bird.

Axler led the way through an innocuous door in the side wall. And into a small, functional changing room. Lockers and closets full of uniforms, disguises, and body armor of all sorts lined the walls. There was an adjoining room stocked with all but the heaviest weapons and ammunition, which Ryan knew were kept in separate sheds.

Axler kicked off her boots and indicated for Ryan to do the same. He complied, then followed her through the far door and down the four flights of stairs and into the command center. McFaren and Grind greeted them as they entered the command room. It was clean and very modern, with a communications array to rival the security bay of any well-protected installation.

There was a workout floor with weights, a sparring mat, and a simsense deck to hone skills in simulated real life. There was a large trideo surrounded by couches, a kitchen

and dining area, plus a conference table and desks. McFaren had a separate room, down one level, for his magical work.

Ryan quickly revised his opinion. Dunkelzahn had obviously seen fit to upgrade this base since Ryan had last been down here. Axler and team had far better facilities than he'd realized. Dunkelzahn and Jane valued them highly, and they had managed to rescue Ryan from a well-protected delta clinic in the heart of Aztlan-a hostile country under the best of circumstances. Ryan was starting to believe that they could actually pull off this run to retrieve the Dragon Heart.

The trideo came to life in front of him, showing Jane's three-dimensional construct of the Atlantean Foundation building. The walls were a transparent gray, and the floor plan of each level showed the interior design, at least from when the structure had been built.

Grind came up to Ryan, extending one of his metal hands. "Hoi."

Ryan shook the dwarfs hand. "Good to see you, chummer."

Grind nodded. "We've been going over Jane's data," he said. "We've got a few ideas for infiltration, but the detail on security is slim. We're hoping this spirit, Lethe, can help."

"Me, too."

McFaren joined them as they sat down on a couch. "He's not here yet," the mage said. "He?"

"The spirit, Lethe."

"Why do you call it a he?" Ryan asked.

McFaren scowled. "I thought you would know," he said. "You've got the sight. It's a he."

"Oh," was all Ryan said. But the mage's comment bothered him, as though his perception had been impaired somehow by what had happened to him at Roxborough's clinic. The freakish duality of his mind, of his past, which made no sense unless he considered that he'd been two people up until a few days earlier.

Ryan suppressed a frown. "He should be back soon with the recon data."

"Let's proceed without him for now," Axler said. She held a remote in her hand, which she used to point out the outer defenses. "Now, let's get the basics down. First of all, the

Atlantean Foundation is a highly magical corporation with an interest in obtaining items and artifacts of an arcane nature. The Eugene facility is located in the Riverfront Research Park, right on the Willamette River. It's in the heart of Eugene, nestled between Franklin Boulevard and the west bank, surrounded by an arboretum of pines and maples and such. The arboretum extends for about twelve kilometers along the river on both banks. We could come in from up- or down-river and travel to the facility on foot using the paved pathways or through the trees."

"Any local heat to worry about?" asked Grind.

"Perhaps," said Axler, "but not more than elsewhere. Once we get inside the border, we shouldn't have to worry about cops, only corp security. We know the perimeter from the recent photos. Standard electrified cyclone topped with monowire."

"Any drones?"

"No drones," she said. "No cameras either. They saved those for the outer wall. There are paranimals, however."

"What kind?"

"Hell hounds," she said.

McFaren shuddered, but said nothing.

"There aren't very many, maybe five or six," Axler went on. "They patrol the space outside the building between the perimeter fence and the security wall." The pointer followed an open area just inside the outer fence. "The second obstacle is the wall," she said. "It's a five-meter-high cinderblock construction with our favorite Ares Sentinel track drones and security cameras."

"Might also be spirits and watchers, or maybe a ward there," McFaren said.

Ryan felt a presence around him, and he pushed his sight to see into the astral. Lethe had joined them. "He's right," the spirit said. "Tell him that there are air and fire elementals and several dozen watcher spirits."

Ryan relayed the information, serving as translator for the big spirit. Jane joined them as soon as she heard that Lethe had come with new data. Ryan translated for the spirit, and Jane modified the 3-D holograph in front of them to be consistent with the new information. Within a few hours, the

detail had increased tenfold, and they had formulated an infiltration strategy.

Their plan was far from perfect, and they didn't have all the data. Lethe had been reluctant to enter the chamber that held the Dragon Heart. The room was warded, and he hadn't wanted to break the barrier and warn the researchers of his presence. So Axler and Jane and Ryan went over the plan several times, suggesting alternatives, weighing options, and ironing out any potential glitches.

Excitement gripped Ryan as they finalized the timetable; he was anxious for action. He worked well with these people. Especially Jane, who had an amazing knack for coming up with the simplest plan, which despite its simplicity included provisions for failure at any step along the way, and for escape after the item had been retrieved.

Grind and McFaren dressed in their disguises, got fake System Identification Numbers from Jane, and left right away. They needed to be on site first. It took a few additional hours for Ryan and Axler to prepare everything and get underway. A thrill raised the hackles on Ryan's neck as Dhin lifted the helo from the tarmac. Axler was strapped in next to him, a look of stone-cold determination on her pretty face.

Ryan smiled; it was a good plan. One that took into account almost every contingency. Almost. There was just one thing that bothered Ryan. One intangible that could frag everything to hell. Lethe. They were relying on the spirit for entirely too much, and Ryan wasn't ready to completely trust him. The spirit was alien and very powerful; there was no way of knowing his real motivation. His real intentions. If Lethe wanted to double-cross them, it would be far too easily done.

Jane-in-the-box surveyed her sensory feeds. She was in the brushed steel cube of her box, the video and audio feeds of her team spinning around her as she changed point of view and checked the inputs from each runner.

Axler and Dhin were with Ryan in the approaching helo, the night wrapped around them like a black velvet blanket. They were vectoring down from Willamette Pass east of Eugene. Their estimated time to target was nine minutes. Jane didn't have a feed on Ryan, though she could contact him by his wristphone if necessary.

Grind and McFaren were already on site, presumably with the spirit Lethe. It had been early evening by the time McFaren had managed to get inside under the newly created identity of Dr. Jack Rinehart, a leading researcher from the Illuminates of the New Dawn magical order. Dr. Rinehart wanted protection from the Atlantean Foundation until he could cut a deal with them for the sale of an item he deemed to be very powerful.