Totem of the Bear - World of Ranicke 1

Prologue

Jim was sitting outside the building he had been assigned to take a look at and infiltrate.  He was sitting in a parking garage across the alley from the building and he had a small micro camera focused on the exit as well as a number of RF receivers as well.  All of the RF receivers were totally passive and had built so they couldn’t transmit wirelessly at all.

There was only one connection that could transmit and that was a mini-satellite uplink on the other side of the parking garage.  It was connected via a fiber line that was connected to the camera and receivers.  He had installed the line earlier when he was playing repairman.  The line was neatly installed and simply looked like a generic cable and easily overlooked.  It was only temporary and would be in use for this evening only.  The cable itself was easily disconnected and the ends removed.  Once that was done it would simply look like an un-used cable.  Before he left he would disconnect the electronics and stow them in his vehicle.  If for some reason he didn’t come back the vehicle would be recovered or disposed of.  The electronics had a small thermo-baric charge inside which would go off if they were disturbed or the timer counted down.

He watched the last known shift leave the building though he was sure there were still people inside.  Jim should be able to avoid them since it would be a night staff.  From about midnight to four AM the door wasn’t used.  That was the best time for him to slide in and find out what was going on.  There was a good chance that he might not make it all the way in.  As long as he could get as much information out he could deal with that.  If he did kick off he wouldn’t be very happy obviously but that again was life.  Just on the off chance he did get terminated he carried a demolition charge to dispose of evidence.

Once he was fairly sure that nobody else was going to be coming in or out he left his post after making sure that all the connections were good.  He was in urban camo and had a heavy harness of equipment that he might need.  One thing he firmly believed in was overkill.  It was something the team he worked with had always believed in.  There had been a few times it was more than handy.  He had his UMP-40 as well as a Glock 22 .40 cal.  He used to carry the MP5 and Beretta 9mm but preferred the heavier punch from the .40. 

Once on the first floor of the parking structure Jim pulled out a small single monocle night scope.  He carefully scanned the area from a dark shadow inside the entrance.  The bulb for the light in that area had been broken earlier.  After ensuring there weren’t any additional trip wires, sensors, or other traps he pocked it.  Before he crossed the alley he pulled out a small device and pointed it at the camera over the entrance.  He sent a signal to the camera which would force it to freeze for a moment.  The camera would pause the sweep long enough for Jim to get to the door and underneath the camera.

The micro receiver connected to the fiber cable would pick up his signal and route it to the uplink.  His helmet cam would send bursts of compressed and encoded data on the inside of the building.  It would be picked up and transmitted to the main offices to be reviewed later.  The uplink was a tightly focused beam that was virtually impossible to pick up. 

If you asked him how the various devices worked he couldn’t tell you since he was just an operator but the darn things worked as advertized.  For all he cared they were full of magic pixie dust that made them work.  When the dust ran out the darn things stopped working.  Until that happened they rarely ever failed to work as advertized.

Jim slipped across the alley and under the camera.  Once across and under the camera’s view he reactivated it.  Whoever set the damn thing up hadn’t done a very good job of it though that could be a smoke screen for a second hidden camera.  It was a chance he had to take.  Once he was at the door he slid a device into the locking mechanism and pressed a button.  Moments later the light turned to green and he pulled the door open just enough for him to slide in.