They entered in two-man tactical stack. That meant Zeke was in front, Daniel slightly crouched right behind him with his left upper arm firmly pressed into Zeke’s back, so Zeke knew where he was. Daniel held his M4 to the right and down, covering the right side. His eyes swept the hallway automatically, center-up-right-down and back to center in a fraction of a second, the barrel of his weapon following in a tight circle. Zeke did the same on his left, and they heard the click of the door behind them as Larry closed and locked it from the inside, then took a knee.

They needed to get out of the hallway as fast as possible, to let Larry dominate it with his street-sweeper, and to give him a covered position. They took the first door on the left as planned. Daniel stayed stacked behind Zeke as Zeke reached out with his left hand to try the door. It opened into a tiny closet with cleaning supplies. Daniel turned and waved Larry forward. This would be his best position, allowing a right-handed shooter like him to keep good cover and still lash the hallway with heavy fire.

The plan was to stay to the left side of the hallway. They might find doors between rooms, and they wanted to avoid causing confusion if Larry had to start firing. Crossing and recrossing the hallway unnecessarily to opposite doors was asking for trouble. So they moved along the left side of the hallway to the next door on the left, passing a solid steel door on the right. Larry would have to cover that.

Zeke tried the handle. It was locked. They could call Spooky in to try to pick the lock, or they could break in.

Sticking to the plan, Zeke decided to break in as quietly as possible. The building was filled with the low rumble of the generator and the rushing sound of the air system, so there was a good chance they could get away with it.

Zeke pulled a crowbar out of the small of his back, where he’d had it taped. He fit it between the door handle and the jamb, leaning his weight on it slowly until it popped with a muffled clang.

***

Elise thought she heard a noise. It’s probably just Miguel doing a security check of the building. Damnit, I hope he doesn’t come in here and bother me again. She checked her watch. 3:17 a.m. No, Miguel went off duty over an hour ago, he’ll be fast asleep, Karl’s on watch now.

When no one materialized in the doorway she shrugged to herself, figuring it was just the sound of the building settling or the wind. She finished her coffee, rinsed her cup and set it on the counter. With renewed energy she returned to her station and began another drug model run. Beta blockers. Who knows, might have some effect.

***

Zeke immediately shoved the door open and swept the left side of the room. Daniel followed him in and swept the right. Each of them moved to their sides, out of the death funnel of the doorway.

A dark figure on the lower bunk of two rolled heavily out, tangled in blankets. “Wha-” they heard before Zeke stepped forward and gave him a left-handed whack on the head with the crowbar. The man dropped to the thin-carpeted floor like a sack of potatoes.

The room was lit only by the dimness of the corridor and the green numbers of a clock-radio on a night table. It read 3:17.

Perfect. Daniel poked the upper bunk with the barrel of his weapon, finding no one and nothing there but bedding.

Zeke whipped out zip cuffs and hog-tied the fallen man, then taped his mouth shut. He popped a pillowcase over the man’s head, then taped that loosely around his neck.

Daniel checked his pulse. Good and strong. Zeke knows his club work.

“One hostile neutralized,” Zeke reported over the net.“Still quiet.”

Daniel hoped that was true, and he hoped it stayed that way. He rolled the man under the bunk bed, out of the way. If he was smart, he would stay there until it was all over.

There was a door with a mirror on it in the wall to the right. Logically that would be a bathroom or closet. Zeke reported quietly, “Interior door. Opening.” It was a closet, with some security uniforms and civvies in it. The wall at the back seemed solid, made of the same thin industrial steel construction as the rest of the building. Too bad. If it had been drywall they might have tried to breach it through to the next room.

“Emerging left,” Zeke called, and they moved back into the corridor. It was going to get harder fast, because the next door on the right had a big square window in the top half, with wire mesh inside, the kind designed to let people look into the room before entering. Or vice versa. But this window was dark, and they hoped that meant unoccupied. The next one up on the right was lit.

Their door to the left was not going to be as simple as the last one. There was an external deadbolt fitted, like an afterthought. Maybe it was meant to keep something in, not out. They retreated back to the room they were in before, and spoke in low tones.

“That must be Elise’s cell,” Daniel offered.

“Maybe. What if it’s a berserk gorilla with the XH in it they are keeping for experimentation?”

“Ugh,” Daniel said. “Yeah, point taken. We can’t be sure. All we know is it’s built to keep something in, not out.”

“Jury-rigged for that, anyway. So we clear the rest of the building and tackle that door last, with more information.” Zeke’s tone brooked no argument.

Daniel nodded in agreement.

Zeke called softly, “Zeke to Larry. We’re changing to the right side of the corridor. Emerging left.”

They moved out into the corridor and Larry moved behind them up to the open door of the bunkroom. They went back to the windowless door on the right side of the corridor. It turned out to be a half-full storeroom with lab supplies and machinery in it, unlocked. They came back out.

Edging up the right side to the next door, Zeke looked in the dark window for a long moment. He shook his head, unable to see anything. He reached over to test the door handle. It turned. He pressed it gently inward, and it opened a tiny bit. He nodded, then gave a three count with his fingers; one-two-three and in they went.

Murphy always wins, they say. Nothing ever goes smooth. All hell seemed to break loose inside that room. Screeching sounds, zoo sounds, howls and a clattering of metal together. Something soft and smelly spattered on the wall next to Daniel, and it was only lack of targets in the dark that kept him from firing.

He flipped on the light.

Monkeys. Apes, animal figures in cages stacked along the far wall, and a never-ending racket.

***

Elise heard the sudden commotion in the next room. The lab animals were all going...well...ape. Maybe it was Miguel after all, trying to mess with her by provoking the animals. Maybe they had changed their shift times.

She pushed her chair away from the screen and stood up, mentally preparing herself to have it out with Miguel for screwing with the chimps. She knew Durgan would be on her side on this one.

***

“We’re blown,” Zeke spoke into his mike. “Execute Bravo.” That was plan B. Always good to have one of those, because Plan A never survived contact with the enemy, or even with Murphy.

Zeke led the way back into the corridor, fast. They hugged the right wall to the lighted-window door and Zeke dove across the doorway to the other side, low, below line of sight. From there he reached up to the door handle, gave a quick three-count and went in low from that side, flowing around to the left.

Daniel went in right and higher, trusting to his helmet, vest and XH. He was the biggest target, and an alert enemy would have had ten seconds to prepare.

He saw Elise standing inside, her mouth agape, getting ready to yell. Daniel held up his left index finger to his lips in an emphatic gesture for silence. He closed with her quickly, crossing the big laboratory in two long seconds, still holding the finger to his lips. A rush of emotion swept through him even while he was supposed to be paying attention to the mission. So good to see her; thank God she’s all right.