Rising Tomorrow (Roc de Chere Book 1) by Mariana Morgan (essential reading txt) 📕

closer to the door frame, missing her armour’s heavy boots for attack and defence more than she missed the rest of her clothes.

No boots were necessary though. The two security guards in the room were unconscious, but otherwise undamaged. The room itself was a large VR lab able to house dozens of VR experts, but it was currently unoccupied except for the two unconscious bodies. The equipment looked mothballed, and it was clear no one had used the place for quite some time. Which apparently didn’t stop the security guards from including it in their patrol rounds.

Ingram closed the door behind her and set to work. The two unconscious bodies were replaced by two very dead bodies, both with well-singed holes right through their foreheads, courtesy of a laser gun at very short range. Only a day earlier, she had been determined to avoid the senseless slaughter of the Leech security guards, but after she had seen them manhandle Megan, she felt far less charitable.

Frankly, she’d just lost it.

Pushing aside the little guilt she felt, she efficiently stripped the smaller of the guards down to his underpants. She appropriated not only his black uniform trousers, jacket and boots but also his chemical projectile gun, laser and other accessories. Including an earpiece.

‘Ms Moretti? Colonel?’ It was too much to hope for, but Ingram couldn’t resist calling for them the moment the earpiece activated.

‘It’s us, Aisha,’ Gonzalez replied, bringing the first genuine smile to Ingram’s face in what felt like ages.

‘Where the hell are you?’ While stripping the guard she had also checked the time. It had been barely six hours since they had begun their raid the night before, and the thought that Colonel Larsen might not only be back with fully armoured troops in such a short period but had actually had enough time to take the whole compound down seemed unlikely.

‘VR. Inside the security system.’

Ingram blinked.

‘How?’ She knew better than to waste valuable time asking, but the word popped out anyway.

‘Later, Aisha. You are currently in the south-west building, some fifty metres away from the main one,’ Gonzalez explained, pausing for a heartbeat to give Ingram time to recall the map they had studied during their briefing. ‘All the guards and any employees who were working the morning shift are down for the next few hours, courtesy of a knockout gas Eloise released into the ventilation system everywhere except the interrogation room they kept you in. The gas has been vented now, but there are a few pockets where fresh air is thin, so don’t go haring off on your own. We’ll guide you. We’ve got the main, south-west and south-east buildings, as well as the administrative complex, under control. The residential and entertainment complex is another story.

‘We have everyone in there locked in, and the security system is outside of their control, but they are still conscious. Eloise is looking for a way to neutralise them. So far, they have no idea anything is going on, but it might be a matter of minutes before they learn the truth and try some old-fashioned way of getting out. Your way out is clear for now, but you need to hurry. The hangar with a collection of flying toys is about three hundred and fifty metres directly north. But I need you to do something first.’

‘Data files?’ Ingram asked, and emptied a guard’s canteen greedily into her mouth.

‘No, we got all that while we were waiting for you to get up.’ Gonzalez laughed, and Ingram rolled her eyes.

‘I guess I did take my sweet time.’

‘It also gave me a moment to briefly browse through what they had on their network,’ Gonzalez added. ‘It’s gold, Aisha.’

She wanted to ask questions. She wanted to know just how golden the gold was, but she pressed her mouth shut. There would be time to wallow in the spoils of war later.

‘It’s the thirteen hundred plus Leeches in the basements,’ Gonzalez continued. ‘The files indicate some have been in captivity for months, and the records kept on most of them are too sketchy to even begin guessing what skills they might have had before their capture. The majority are young pleasure slaves, sixteen to thirty years old according to the records. Even if we open the doors, too many of them won’t be able to walk to save themselves, and they are definitely not up for a fight and a long hike into the Alps.’

‘Back-up?’ Ingram asked.

‘We didn’t get cleared for a direct assault on Cassandra. Even if the General was to change his mind now in lieu of all the evidence, it would be a few hours before we could expect any help. We don’t have that long. There’s no saying who might already be en route, or how close their own reinforcements will be if or when they get suspicious about any unanswered comp calls. For all we know, Wagner has already missed his check-in.’

‘Wagner is still here?’ Ingram paused, her hands frozen in mid-air on their way to securing a shoulder holster with a spare gun and ammo.

‘Yes, and he isn’t going anywhere. Leeches first.’ Gonzalez paused for a second, waiting to see if Ingram would try to argue, but as the woman remained silent, he continued. ‘There are a few transport shuttles in the main hangar near the landing pad, Moebius class, three of them, and one Chimera.’

‘A Moebius holds fifty passengers—maybe we can squeeze in seventy if we get creative. We would need to make something like six or seven trips fully loaded, assuming there are at least two pilots among the captives who still remember how to fly.’ It was hard to take her thoughts away from Wagner and the burning desire for revenge, but the idea of saving so many young Leeches won.

‘Forget the Moebiuses—we’ll use them as decoys if we have to. Remotely controlled. We’ll use the Chimera to evacuate.’

‘The Chimera is a cargo freighter,’ Ingram replied while searching the other guard’s pockets for anything else of