Gifted Connections 3

“I thought he was supposed to meet us out here,” Jace insisted.

“We’ll call him and notify him of your arrival,” the female techie said with doubt lingering in her voice.

“They’re already here,” Herman insisted again, his eyes were wild with fear. I knew he was remembering his time with Horatio, and the idea of being near anyone associated with him filled him with dread. “I can feel them. There is at least…fifteen of them.”

Mr. Moore, Paul, and Will had been hesitant to allow him to accompany us, but Herman wasn’t going to be deterred. He wanted to face his enemy head on instead of cowering before them. He contended that he wasn’t going to take his imprisonment ‘lying down.’

“Is it possible that they already breached the building?” Remy asked as we approached the edge of the tree line that hid us from being detected as of yet.

“Let’s check,” Troy stated. “Mullins, I need you to transform and approach with caution. Report back with your findings.”

“I’ll go, too,” Gavin stated.

“No,” Troy shook his head with a frown. “We need you to mimic the healers today. I don’t want you exhausting yourself, just in case.”

Gavin frowned but nodded. He was a good soldier. He wouldn’t question orders in a time like this.

“I’ll be right back,” Mullins insisted as he transformed into a dog and loped off.

“Do you think when he’s a dog he’s more susceptible to fleas?” Jaxson joked.

“Will he need a flea bath as a dog or a human?” Noah joined in.

A few people tittered with nervous laughter.

“Jaxson, Noah,” Jace warned.

Jaxson shrugged with a carefree smile. “You handle yourself your way, and I’ll handle myself mine.”

“Kids,” Terrance shook his head in exasperation, although laughter danced in his eyes.

“Do you think his favorite position is doggy style?” Noah asked with deep contemplation.

One of the other girls from the Illinois team giggled. “It is!” she covered her mouth.

“Eww, TMI,” another female gave a mock shudder before she gave a cunning look to another girl. “Is it with you, too?”

The other girl glared at her before muttering, “Grow up.”

“Your POC is not responding,” the female techie chirped in our ears. “We also believe that the camera feed we’re looking at is not real time.”

“We need to go in,” Remy said grimly.

“Alpha team will take the entrance closest to the labs,” Troy stated. “Alpha team, to me.”

“Bravo team will take care of the perimeter first,” Terrance stated. “Bravo team, spread out and lay cover for Alpha, Charlie, and Delta team.”

“We’ll take the front entrance,” Remy stated.

Mullins returned and transformed back into his human form. “Those are gifted on the roof top. They’re on the lookout for us, they’re expecting us. They were sent to retrieve something in the labs but are unable to find it as of yet.”

“If those are gifted up there, we can’t directly approach the building. We’ll need to figure out a way to neutralize the guards up top,” Troy said as he rubbed his chin in thought.

>

“I can scale the wall and try to take them out one by one,” a man from the Illinois team said.

“Drake, Sierra, and I can send our best marksman,” Sam said tentatively, referring to Yaris, Ford, and Dawn up. “Drake can get the shield on them, and I’ll push them up with Sierra’s help.”