“Something she's undoubtedly already done. And this is not the first time she's ordered rangers to chase us, remember.” His voice was grim. “If she is on the Council of Lords rather than merely one of their advisors or a government worker, then few in the military would gainsay her.”
It was still a very large risk, but maybe—given she'd now lost two of her three installations—she thought it worthwhile.
I glanced out the window to judge the amount of true darkness we had left—an easy task for someone with vampire in their blood. “How long will it be before they catch us?”
“Given their speed, about twenty-six minutes.”
We had a good thirty-three minutes left before the dawn robbed me of the ability to shadow without a protective light screen and a whole lot of effort. “What sort of radar system have the scooters got in them?”
“The scooters are designed to quickly transport a small number of personnel from one place to another, and are therefore stripped to basics.” He glanced at me. “Why?”
“Because if we're going to do something, we need to do it now, while we've still got the night on our side.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You've got an idea?”
“That would depend on whether their radar systems are capable of seeing beyond the surface.”
A slow smile touched his lips. “I like the way you think.”
“Thanks. Shall we stop?”
“Indeed. Let's do this.”
I stopped the ATV as he climbed out of the seat and moved to the back of the vehicle. The range of weapons he produced out of the storage bins had me smiling.
Nineteen minutes later, we were ready to rain hell down on our pursuers.
Chapter Five
What's happening up there, Cat? I asked, as I struggled to keep my mouth clamped around the plastic breathing tube that was my one and only source of air right now.
It would have been a whole lot easier to simply shadow, as dawn was still at least eight minutes away, but we had no idea what might wait in Algar. Given it could take every bit of my vampiric shadowing skills to get us both into Warehouse Five, let alone back out, we’d decided to save my strength and go with an old-fashioned ambush instead.
They're doing a slow circle around the ATV, Cat said. The jets are stirring the sand up, but they're not close enough to reveal either you or Jonas.
Good.
Sand trickled past the collar of my shirt and itched at my skin. I resisted the urge to move, knowing it would only cause more sand to fall and possibly reveal my location. Burying ourselves in what amounted to a shallow grave close to the ATV had seemed like a good idea at the time, but six minutes of lying here with the weight of the earth pressing around me and the sand getting into unmentionable places was more than enough.
One of the vehicles has landed, Cat said.
The other two?
Hover.
Damn. We needed all three on the ground before we could move. It was the only hope we had of taking out all of our hunters without anyone either escaping or having the chance to warn Dream of the attack.
I continued to draw air from the short plastic tube, my body tense and muscles twitching with the desire for action.
The door opens on the one that has landed, Cat informed me. Three men have gotten out.
Are the other two crafts still in the air?
Yes.
I silently cursed. Bear, can you go investigate the airborne scooters, and see if it's possible to disable them? Cat, can you check the landed one, and see how many men remain within?
Already on it, Bear said.