Breed

Chapter Fifty-one

 "We shouldn't be here," Iago said as Mikaela's car bounced along the gravel road.

"No," Mikaela said, "we shouldn't."

"For one, this is kind of a four-wheel drive sort of area, and I'm not even sure this thing is getting power from two wheels," Drake said.

"Not to mention some of us are piled onto strange men's laps," Demi said.

"You wanted to sit on my lap," he said.

"I was going to be on your lap either way; I figured this way it would be a little more honest, slash fun. But all the bouncing is making it a little, uh, friendlier, than I intended."

"To say nothing of trespassing on federal land," Mayumi said, as they passed a "No Trespassing" sign.

"It's not ideal," Mikaela said. "But we have to stop Rox, before she makes everything worse."

"I'm not sure we shouldn't be helping her," Iago said.

"Either way, we need to be here."

Mikaela's phone rang, and she put it on speaker. "Mikaela?" Pete asked.

"What is it, Pete?"

"I've lost Linc."

"Lost him?"

"He's not responding on the phone. Its GPS is outside of the facility, but it hasn't moved in five minutes."

"What's that mean?"

"I don't know."

"It means we can't count on him to get Rox out," Drake said.

"So it's up to us," Demi said.

"And there's worse," Pete said. "They've raised an alarm. Agents are incoming- fast enough some will beat you there."

Mikaela pulled her car into a little circular driveway. She could already see cars massing in the parking lot, along with agents in paramilitary garb.

"Can you put me through to Rox?" Mikaela asked.

"We can. They've got a technopath with them, shielding them from phone surveillance, even blocking calls, but I've got several. Hold on."

"Don't bother trying to talk me out of it. It's too late for that. And it isn't safe to talk on the phone," Rox said.

"It is," Mahmoud said in the background. "And given where we're standing, I'm not sure we can complain about her doing something unsafe."

"Reinforcements have arrived around the front of the building," Mikaela said. "We'll give you a distraction. But you've got to sneak back out the way you came."

"I'm not taking orders from you," Rox said.

"I'm not giving them. But I'm telling you we'll give you as much space as we can. I'd suggest using it to sneak away."

After a long moment of silence, Rox sighed. "Thanks."

"Thank us if everybody gets away safely."

"When."

"And we've still got a long talk about your overbearing optimism to come, too."

"Whatever," Rox said, and hung up.

"It just warms your cockles, that outpouring of gratitude for us risking our lives," Demi said.

"They're teenagers," Iago said. "They're self-centered jerks. I mean, so are we- but they just don't realize what self-centered jerks they are yet, which tends to make them more obnoxious about it. I mean, I'm sure you were a jerky teen." She glared at him. "Please don't hit me," he said like he was a deflating balloon.

Demi grinned. "No. I was. And I'd agree, that I become less of a jerk over time; though it's like a limit, I'm approaching my threshold of least jerkiness, but not necessarily no jerkiness."

Another black sedan flew past their turn-out.

"I think we should establish some ground rules," Mikaela said. "You don't hurt anyone unless you have to."

"If you have that luxury," Mayumi said.

"We're here to provide a distraction, to get the rest of our friends to safety. We aren't here to hurt federal agents. If you've got a problem with that, Drake will take you away from here."

"I will?"

"You will."

"Okay."

Mikaela opened her car door. She pulled a duplicate from her rearview mirror, and one from the driver side; her Honda didn't have a passenger-side mirror. The rest of them filed out of the car.

"They'll have cameras," Mayumi said. "This kind of a security response, they'll be wearing body cameras to catch a fleeing suspect on camera. Destroy the body cameras, or our lives are over."

"Drake, "Mikaela barked, "that's your priority. You can get in close and do it."

"Got it," he said.

"Pete? You still there."

"Yup."

"What about cameras on the building exterior?"

"Exterior cameras feed outside the building. So long as you stay outside you won't have to worry about the interior cameras. Those are going to be a problem. I'll pass information to Rox."