The Hunted Chapter 30 snippet

“…There will be four marine skin suits stationed around the property,”

Kate had set the canopy on opaque mode and a holographic image of the Presidential Retreat played over their heads. It was going to be the ingress from hell. The facility had been designed to keep the chief executive safe and correspondingly, its defenses were formidable.

Pursing her lips, Kate grunted at what Thad had said. Skin suits were a device that fit between a tank and a battle robot. The wearer was incased in an armored suit with enough weaponry attached to destroy a small city.
One of them would be more then a match for her, but four? Trying to beat them all would be pure suicide!

“The standard ammunition for them are sixty millimeter armor piercing rounds,” Kate shook her had while Thad spoke. “So don’t think you’re armored body will protect your vital organs.”

Like I was thinking that in the first place, she thought.

The bigger question she had after looking at the layout was how to get past the electronic surveillance. There was literally thousands of motion sensors planted around the facility, each of them wired to alert the security forces if tripped. How would they get past them without alerting the enemy?

“Those suits will be easier to evade then the sensor grids,” Kate ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “Do you have any plans for dealing with them?”

“I’m working on it,” Great, Kate thought, we’re less then twelve hours away and he still doesn’t know what to do about them! “It’ll take some time.”

“Time,” Kate said. “I’m afraid isn’t on our side.”

“I know!”

Kate closed her eyes and let the autopilot control the fighter. There had to be a way to get through the property without being detected! What was it going to take to make it happen?

Wales, however, Kate noted, was a planet full of mountain, valleys and dense forests. Tourists, according to the computer, would travel from throughout the Alliance to see the massive trees and forests there. Could they provide a way around the sensors?

“Thad,” Kate kept her eyes closed while working on a plan. “Are the trees on Wales big enough to support a person?”

“I would say so,” Thad said. “The make the earth sequoia look tiny.”

“Then I think there’s a way to get around the sensors,”

“Are you thinking what I think you are?”

“Why not?” Kate said. “You just said they were big enough to hold a person.”

“It’s never been done before.”

“That’s the beauty of it,” Kate said. “It means no one will be thinking of it.”

“Or it could get you killed,”

He had a point there, Kate mused. Even if she managed to avoid the sensors, there would still be snipers, patrols and the damned skin suits to navigate. While it wasn’t an impossible task, the odds were daunting and they were growing higher every minute.

“There isn’t much choice in the matter,” The pilot’s seat felt comfortable against her back. “Since we’re all Fleet has to try to stop Ferini with.”

“How could he fool so many people?” Thad’s question was a good one. Just how had he done it? “It just seems so improbable that he could accomplish such a goal.”

“It was easy,” Kate said. “Once he set the price on my head, everyone was looking in that direction. It allowed him free reign to make moves that otherwise would have been seen.”

“So,” Thad said. “You were just a pawn in the game.”

That summed things up, Kate thought. A chess piece in a game that, once again, was life or death has been the story of my life.

“Basically,” Kate shifted in her seat. “But that’s going to come to an end.”

“How’s that?”

“Cloning or not,” she said. “I’m going to put an end to his life.”

“What’s this about cloning?”

“Ferini is a clone of himself,” Kate said. “All Games Master’s are cloned. Add that to the things I didn’t know about Necko.”

“How can you kill someone who will just clone themselves?”

“I don’t know,” Kate admitted. “But I’m going to try.”

“For what it’s worth,” Thad said. “I’m going to do everything I can to help you.”

“I know,” Kate whispered. “But this isn’t going to be easy. I don’t know if I’m ready to die yet.”

“Are any of us?”

“I guess not,”

“Let’s just do our jobs,” Thad said. “And hopefully we’ll both see our futures.”

Kate let a smile cross her face as she started to drift to sleep. Thad had always known when to say the right things, and that made him a valued friend. If anyone could help her succeed, it was him. Now, though, it was time to get some rest.

Soft snores filled the cockpit.