LIttle

[xp-cuckoos.livejournal.com]

The team arrives in Canada and quickly track down the source of the strange telepathic message. Things don't quite seem right, however.



The base was, for the most part, invisible. Surrounded on all sides by dense, temperate coniferous forest, the only direct approach involved a thin, dirt road that ended in front of a concrete bunker right out of a Cold War spy novel. The only other building in the immediate area was a detached security stand, complete with a rickety gate. The gate appeared to be the only way onto the base that didn't involve excessive amounts of barbed wire.

A heavy, metal door appeared to be the only thing keeping would-be thieves out. That steel door, however, was covered in various electronics and heavy-duty reinforced steel.

"At least," Emma observed, "when they made five of me, they had the sense to realize they needed a really big door." She tapped one elegantly boot-clad foot hard on the ground. "And a really big hole. Apparently this thing is like a TARDIS - much bigger underground than it looks on the surface, according to Wade. How did we go on the security, Doug?"

"Thoroughly," Doug replied with a wicked grin. "Dom and I already played merry hell with the security grid. Cameras and motion sensors are completely spoofed, and the henhouse is..." He poked at the keypad next to the handle, which beeped helpfully and a latch audibly released. "...open for the wolves."

Jean eyed the gate with a healthy twinge of suspicion.

"Is it me or does this seem too easy?" she said, then paused, glancing around like she expected to be struck by lightning or being jinxed for her comment.

"I expected a little more gunfire and violence going in. Not that I'm complaining."

"I wouldn't trust this place as far as I could kick it," observed Emma. "There's probably a lake of fire and sharks with laser beams on their head in there." She inclined her head at the look Doug gave her. "I may be exaggerating slightly," she conceded, "but I think all of us are aware that this thing has trap written all over it in sequined letters ten feet high. And we've got at least one telepath in there with an awful lot of power and a fair possibility of going kaboom. I think splitting up the teams is probably the way to go."

"We can take point," Wade said, indicating Dom and Marie-Ange with a tilt of his head. "Once you guys have the door open, we'll go in and make sure the coast is clear. If you guys hang back a bit, you could do the brain searchy thing, figure out where the TP in distress is?"

Emma flashed a quick look at Jean, noted her nod. "I think that will work best," she said. "If you three can clear the door, and get Jean and I inside, we can keep out of your way while we see if we can find... the person who was inside my head." The hesitation was minute, but it was there. "Doug, happy to stand point over us? If she does go kaboom, we could be distracted."

"Wherever I'm needed." Doug noted the hesitation, but said nothing about it. "After all, what's a Knight for?" he asked with a wry smile. "There's definitely a fair number of people in there," he said. "RFID on the passcards, Dom and I noticed a fair bit of movement while we were hitting the rest of the system."

"We've got an idea of numbers, at least, and locations where security and staff should be. It'll make clearing things out a little easier, hopefully," Dom agreed. "So I guess that's our cue."

"I think wait on our signal, yes?" Marie-Ange flicked through a few cards in hand and dropped some back into a pocket. "Not rochambeau, Doug." She paused. "Or Wade. No Hamilton sing-alongs, no rock scissors paper. Save that for something important, like another apocalypse."

"Well, they don't have any ships here, anyway," Wade muttered. "No matter how many guns we've got." He half-hummed Guns and Ships as he moved to the fore with Marie-Ange and Dom. Glancing back toward Doug, he waggled his eyebrows. "On your mark."