Learning to Live

Chapter 4: Infiltration

Infiltration

Our landing in Seattle wasn’t as smooth as our departure from India.  In fact I’m still surprised we made it out without being captured.  It was just our luck that the moment we arrived at Seattle, they had a bomb threat issued from the Department of Homeland Security.  Our plane was isolated off of the terminal, giving Stiletto and I no cover to hide behind when we exited the plane.  They popped the hatch on every plane in the airport and were going through the cargo piece by piece.  Stiletto and I knew that before long they would find us.  I also had a feeling that they would shoot first and ask questions later. 

Given we had to other option, we waited until the way had been mostly cleared of luggage, and broke from our cover in hopes of getting past the bomb squad before they knew what was happening.  We made it out of the plane alright, but given the entire tarmac was littered with armed airport security, we didn’t get far before someone spotted us.  Bullets filled the air and I felt impacts along my entire frame as lead bounced off of my armor.  We made for the boundary fence as quickly as we could, dodging left and right to avoid being easy targets.  Needless to say we made it out with little more than scrapped paint, but we knew that our cover had been blown and that CWTF headquarters would now be looking for us stateside, with a very specific starting point.

Just like the first time we made a run for it, we didn’t stop for three days, though we kept our pace slower so it wouldn’t drain our power cores too badly.  We made it to the Idaho/Wyoming border without seeing a soul, but we knew that the closer we got to base, the more likely we’d run into someone.  Using a map overlay with the coordinates I had for the base, I was able to figure out that our former home was hidden in the west Colorado Rockies, out of sight from the plains side of the state.  The security border was marked with a chain fence and sentry posts about two miles from the base itself.  Our first order of business would be to bypass the security systems keeping watch at the fence.  If we could hit one of the few unguarded spots, we stood a chance of getting past the cameras without being spotted, but Stealth-class wolves lay posted along the entire border, so if we didn’t do everything perfectly, we’d get a combat knife to the power core before we knew what happened.

Three more days passed before we crossed the Colorado border, coming from the North to avoid most of the sentry posts surrounding the base at long range.  We managed to get past them without too much trouble, though I was beginning to wonder if this was too easy.  I couldn’t place why I felt this way, but something didn’t feel quite right about our situation.  We pushed on until the border fence came into view, and with a quick run, skip and a jump we were over, though the fact there was no security detail made warning alerts go off in my processor like crazy.  Now I knew that something was wrong, because the entire time I had been at base there had always been a security squad to prevent infiltration. 

I glanced at Stiletto as we crossed the ground between the fence and the base, “You realize we’re walking straight into a trap, right?”

She glanced at me and nodded, “I figured when there wasn’t a Stealth-class group on patrol that they were expecting us, though why they would let us back in without a fight is beyond me.”

I nodded, “I’ve been wondering that myself.  The only thing I can think of is that they want us back inside before they jump us.  I don’t have any idea why they would wait to jump us, but I don’t like it.”