The Breach

12. Radiologue

Anna breathed in once, twice, hid behind a wall and took out a tablet. The signal was weak, but she might be able to try and hack into the system that was controlling the drones. There was nothing she could do about the robots though; it was never her area of expertise and she has not seen models like that before either. So she just stuck with what she knew and hoped that it would be enough to neutralize the rest. It was almost impossible to prevent her hands from shaking, but as soon as she felt the adrenaline rush she simply went with the flow and somehow managed to clear her mind enough to focus on the task at hand. They had to succeed. There was no other option.

She glanced at Paul Bosevi who was already aiming at one of the robots, his hand ready to go for an EMP grenade. The range of those grenades was not too wide but it should be enough to help them for a while. She decided to trust Paul and not interrupt him. She asked for five minutes and decided to assume that she was going to get it.

Her control program was running a scan and it was probably going to take a moment with such a weak signal, so she decided to use this opportunity to finally make that phone call she dreaded the most. She didn't want to drag Paul Rhodes into all this, but there was one thing Keener was right about. It was bigger than any of them and if there was even a tiny chance to make a difference, they should take it.

Anna selected Paul's number quickly, but decided to run a scrambler in the background just in case. She was hoping that Paul would realize that this unknown number was her.

He did. He picked up almost immediately.

„Paul," she said, surprised with the tremble of her own voice. „I'm sorry to contact you like this, but this is a life and death situation. I need your help."

There was a pause. Probably just a few seconds long, but enough for Anna to feel her heart sink again. And to almost lose her resolve when she heard a sniffle on the other side of the line.

„I'm glad you're alive," Paul's voice was exactly the way she remembered, with just a tiny hint of a sore throat. „I'll do what I can. But I'll need an explanation later."

„I promise I'll tell you everything you need to know. For now, I need you to call off the assault on the Tombs. I have all the information on Keener that you might need. I'm willing to share it with you in exchange."

Another pause. This time for Paul to think this through and decide what the best outcome would be.

„I'm afraid it's too late, Anna," he said after a while, making her bite on her lower lip so hard it drew blood and she could immediately taste the metallic tang on her tongue. „The agents went in half an hour ago."

„Tell them to retreat. Please. I need Theo Parnell alive."

Another pause. Very meaningful.

„I'll see what I can do. I'm gonna need the information first though. It's the only way I can reason with Kelso and Lau."

Anna put her watch up and used the interface to transfer the location to Paul's watch.

„He managed to locate me, but it worked both ways," she said, looking at the tablet at the same time. Still no reliable signal. „I got him too. He's on Liberty Island. I'm sending you all the coordinates."

„So you were onto him as well?"

„Yes. Just with different resources, I guess. Can you call the agents off?"

„I don't know if I can, but I will. Give me a moment. And please get back to me soon."

„I will. Thank you."

„Stay safe."

„You too."

With that, Anna ended the call and came back to her tablet, trying to blink away the tears again. She owed this man so much. She had to explain everything to him.