“Alright, let’s summarize, so I am sure that everyone is on the same page,” Gail strode towards the service doors at the back of the arena, and we trailed behind her. “Luke, you are coming with me and a few other agents. We are going to try to identify and detain as many members of Wallace’s cell as possible. The anti-terror taskforce guys are going to handle finding and disarming the six devices. They will send messages as they get them. To cover our bases, in case they can’t get to them quickly enough, Ray, you are going with Mark. You’ll head for the control room and try to shut things down from there. If you spot anyone you recognize, take care of them if you can, but your priority is disabling the trigger.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” I protested.

“You absolutely do,” Gail retorted. “Also, even if you didn’t, you will still need backup.”

“I’m a little offended, honestly,” Mark placed a hand on his heart. “Am I really that objectionable? Here I thought we worked well together.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes. “I know what you are doing, and it isn’t necessary.”

“Seriously, Ray,” Gail pinched the bridge of her nose. “I am not arguing with you about going in, you could at least give me this without a fight.”

I wanted to argue, but she did have a point.

“Alright, fair enough,” I relented. “I’ll go with Mark.”

“Now, any other questions?” Gail seemed to almost be daring me to speak up again, but someone else beat me to it.

“Who am I going in with?” Simon asked.

“No one,” I replied. “You are staying out here with Liz. It would be insane to take an ubarae into this place unnecessarily. It is much more dangerous for you than it is for us. That is the whole point of this.”

“Well, I am not just going to stand out here while everyone else goes in,” he crossed his arms over his chest.

“No one said you had to stand around,” Gail broke in. “You are going to help Oliver and Jess. They are across the parking lot, setting up to brief the emergency responders and treat anyone who is injured or exposed. That is where you can be the most useful, don’t you think?”

Simon opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it before any words came out. He took a deep breath, then nodded,

“You’re right. Be careful in there,” he turned to me. “Especially you. I haven’t had a chance yet to tell you what an asshole you are, for lying to my face and going behind my back like this. So, you’d better be planning to come back, because I have a lot to say.”

“Well, it’s always nice to have something to look forward to,” I chuckled lightly. “Oh, and Simon? Thanks for taking care of my plants while I was gone. Maybe next time, I’ll ask you to get my mail, too.”

“It’s on your hall table,” he called back over his shoulder.

I snorted a laugh, shaking my head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid,” Liz made to follow him to join the others but paused and turned back. “You know who will probably be in that control room, right?”

“Of course I do. I am kind of banking on it, honestly,” I replied.

“And you are… ok with that? I know he is your friend.”

“Yeah, well, we all make mistakes. Tom isn’t the man I thought he was. Probably never has been.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain of that. I think… I think that trauma can affect people in unexpected ways. Not that long ago all our lives changed; hell, the world changed. What makes you think he didn’t?” Liz studied my face. “Tom lost a lot of friends, experienced a lot of betrayal. What happened with the Domini really affected him, I think. I am not excusing it, obviously. What he is doing is abhorrent and he needs to be stopped. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say that everything you knew about him was a lie or a mistake. I met him back then and he seemed genuine to me, too.”

“Why tell me this? Whoever he was, I have to deal with who he is now.”

“I know. I guess I just… I can tell it hurts you, to believe that the person you knew was never real. That it was all fake. That everything you did to try and help him was a waste. I don’t think that is true. That’s all.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong. It had been bothering me. But I wasn’t sure the alternative felt any better. I decided it was better not to dwell on it. It was what it was, ruminating on it wouldn’t change anything. We were past that. I nodded and moved on,

“Take care of everyone out here, alright? Anyone in the building that slips out could be a danger to you and the others.”

“Understood. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on them. Just be careful in there.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I make no promises,” I turned and jogged to catch up with Mark.

The arena was crowded. Inside, the building seemed to hum with energy. The puck was about to drop any moment, so most people were, fortunately, in their seats, ready to see the game begin. We had split up into our teams as we went in, to avoid drawing too much attention. Ideally, the cops would get to the devices before anyone even knew that we were on to them. But I wasn’t putting any money on that.

“Ok, the controls for the ventilation system are in a maintenance room at the top of the arena. It is in an area that isn’t open to the public, because it connects to the catwalk system running above the rink, and to the scoreboard,” I led us through the hall and towards the closest stairwell. “So, we need to head upstairs, and then we can either break in, or we can find someone with keys who is willing to help us out. Voluntarily or not. Any thoughts?”

“I’m sure we can manage it,” Mark shrugged, unconcerned. “How many people do you think they have in here?”

“Shouldn’t be many. The setup would have been done yesterday; they really only need one person here to trigger things. In the original plan, there wouldn’t have been anyone else in the building, as things won’t exactly be safe once the release begins. But I gathered that when they found out about me, they decided to send some of their people, to make sure nothing went wrong. However, we probably don’t need to worry that much. Since they have so few people with real experience, I doubt Wallace would have wanted to risk them. I suspect none of them will be anywhere near this place tonight.”

“If they don’t have many with experience, then who are they sending?” Mark asked, taking the stairs two at a time as we climbed.

“Their ‘recruits’,” I sighed. “Wallace had been recruiting from the list of Immune and Partials that the Domini had falsely rejected over the years. They are mostly scared kids who don’t know any better. Wallace wasn’t all that concerned with their safety, so if he was going to risk anyone, it would be them.”

“Shit, we really could have used those recruits on our side,” Mark shook his head.

“Well, don’t count them out, yet. I am hoping some will be amenable to changing teams.”

I was pleasantly surprised with how well I was keeping pace on the stairs; whatever Simon had given me was working a treat. We had already reached to top floor, and I paused for a moment before I opened the door. Mark slipped his weapon into his hand, and I followed suit. If there was going to be anyone waiting for us, they would be here. With a nod from Mark, I pushed through the door and into the hallway. Three figures standing guard in the hall immediately turned towards us.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“I take it you know them?” Mark asked quietly.

“Uh huh,” I nodded.

I recognized all three, through I only remembered the name of the man in the front of the group. Tony.

“Stop right there!” Tony barked, hand going to his belt.

I raised my hands but kept walking closer. Mark seemed content to follow my lead, for now.

“No need for concern, we are just here to talk to Tom,” I smiled.

“You really think we don’t know what you did?” Tony asked, incredulously.

“No, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to try,” I continued moving closer. “Now, are you going to let us in, or not?”

“No! We have orders to d detain you here. Or kill you, if you refuse. Where is Luke?”

“He had other things to do today. I am sure you and I can sort this out without him.”

“There is nothing to sort out. You betrayed all of us!” he spat.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It happens in this business. You should probably get used to it,” I shrugged, close enough now to reach out and touch him.

I heard Mark draw his gun behind me, clearly sensing that this conversation wasn’t going especially well. I raised a hand to stop him from taking it any further.

“Now, nobody here needs to get shot, today. We already have the building surrounded, but it isn’t too late for you all to get out of this alive. Just put your weapons down and we will take you out to the authorities, ok?”

There was more than one reason I didn’t want this to end in gunplay. For one, I truly didn’t want to kill anyone, if I could avoid it. For another, well the door to the maintenance area was around the corner and a bit further down the hall. The room itself was noisy, with ventilation and other equipment running, so Tom likely didn’t know we were here yet. I needed to keep it that way.

“Bullshit. No one is surrendering to you,” Tony snarled. “We have you outnumbered.”

“Maybe technically. But come on, Tony, I’ve seen you all shoot,” I reasoned. “I’ll take my chances.”

“We’ve improved since then,” Tony jutted his chin out in an effort to look confident. It didn’t really work.

His companions standing behind him shifted uncomfortably.

“I don’t know, Tony,” one of them cleared his throat. “Maybe we should just…”

“Shut up, Todd,” Tony barked. “This isn’t the classroom; she doesn’t get to tell us what to do.”

And that was when he took a swing at me. I think he thought he was seizing the element of surprise, but honestly it was a clumsy, telegraphed punch. I ducked it easily, then hit him in the throat. When he bent over, clutching his neck, I kneed him in the stomach and brough a fist down on his cervical spine. He crumpled to the ground, groaning.

“You’re right. It isn’t the classroom,” I kicked his fallen gun away from his hand. “If it was, I would have been much gentler when I reminded you, for the thousandth time, to keep your fucking hands up. Honestly, some people refuse to take good advice,” I turned to the others. “How about you two?”

They glanced to me, then back to Mark, then tentatively raised their hands.

“Good choice.”

I quickly seized all three of their weapons and passed them to Mark. That taken care of, I checked my phone. The taskforce guys worked fast, there were already six messages. Five of the devices had been found and disarmed. The sixth hadn’t been where it was supposed to be. Shit.

“Alright,” I turned back to Mark. “You take these three out to the parking lot, get them secured, ok?”

Mark raised an eyebrow,

“Surely you don’t think I am leaving you here alone?”

“What choice do you have?”

“You can come out with me, we get them secured and then we come back together,” Mark offered.

“We don’t have time for that. And we can’t just leave them here. Go. If you hurry, you can catch up with me.”

Mark was not convinced. Of course he wasn’t, the man wasn’t stupid. But I was right, we didn’t really have a choice, here. I saw him check his phone and realize the same thing I had.

“Maybe you should take them out, and I should stay here,” he suggested.

“Not going to happen. And we don’t have time to argue. So, do what you will, I am going,” I turned and started walking down the hallway.

I heard Tony struggling to his feet behind me, and Mark cursed before restraining him.

“Alright, you three are coming with me. Let’s go. Now.”

I smiled.

“Ray!” Mark called down the hall after me. “Do not get yourself killed before I get back; Gail will have my head.”

I didn’t turn back as I replied,

“Well, if it means that much to you, I can probably hold off on that until you return. But you should probably be quick about it.”