Shadow Tyrants

TWENTY-TWO

Juan knew they couldn’t wait for reinforcements from the Oregon, though he had Max start bringing the ship in closer. No need for stealth much longer.

“How many guards are in there?” he asked Lyla. She was sitting cross-legged, still dazed from her near-death experience, and Juan knelt in front of her. MacD and Linc kept an eye on the path, while Eddie and Raven were on their knees on either side of the freed prisoner.

“Fifteen,” Lyla said. “Or fourteen now.”

“Not a great ratio,” Eddie said.

“Anyone else?”

She shook her head. “Just the eighteen other prisoners. Sometimes we get visitors, but not often. All our work is done on the computer, and we communicate by text and videoconferencing with the engineers on the project through a dedicated satellite link. If we don’t perform the way the engineers on the other end want, they tell the warden, a nasty Russian soldier type named Fyodor Yudin.”

She gave them the basics of how the underground facility was laid out. There were three levels accessed by a service elevator and stairs. The first and highest level under the shed was the control center and storage. The second level held the common areas like the computer room and the mess hall. All of the living quarters were on the third level down. Power was provided by a diesel generator inside the shed.

“I’m going to have you draw us a map of the facility,” Juan said. “Then I’ll have Raven escort you back to our vessel.”

“What?” Lyla said. “No, I’m going with you.”

Juan shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. You already had one close call today.”

“Listen, I appreciate you rescuing me, I really do. But I have friends in there. If we don’t go get them now, they’re all going to die. Yudin is probably already wondering what happened to my guard.”

Eddie lifted the radio he’d taken from the guard. “She’s right. They just called and told him to get back on the double.”

“Besides,” Lyla said, “the other prisoners might not trust you if I’m not there.”

Juan didn’t like it, but she was right. They’d have to bring her along if they wanted to do this quickly.

“Okay, but Raven doesn’t leave your side. Understood?”

Lyla nodded.

“All right,” Juan said. “We saw a biometric scanner next to the door. Do we need to bring the guard with us?”

“They never put that into use,” Lyla said. “I guess they didn’t see a need. The place is built to keep us in, not keep us out.”

“So how do we get in?” Raven asked.

“There’s a camera at the door. They open it from the central control room.”

Eddie tilted his head at the dead guard. “So much for using his handprint to get us in.”

“And I don’t think we’re going to fool a camera with that hole in his face,” Juan said. MacD had already taken his crossbow bolt back and cleaned it in the surf. “Nobody has ever made an escape attempt before?”

“I have,” Lyla said. “Twice.”

“Did you get out of the building?”

“Yes, but I didn’t get very far.”

“They must have come after you quickly. How many?”

“Four or five guards came out both times to search for me.”

Eddie looked at Juan. “That would even the odds a bit.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Juan said. Then to Lyla, “What about the large garage door on the shed?”

“Also opened from the inside, I think.”

“And the doors inside the facility?”

“Only the control room and the prisoners’ quarters are locked. We’re monitored closely the rest of the time, and they’re always armed. One of the passengers tried to wrest a gun away from a guard one time and he…” Her voice trailed off.

“We’ll get them out,” Juan said. “But we’re going to need your help getting in there.”

“Anything,” Lyla said.

Juan stood, helped her up, and handed her the radio. “When I tell you, start calling for help.”

Fyodor Yudin was glad to be finally getting off this rock. Jhootha Island had been a prison for him almost as much as for the airplane passengers. When Boris Volanski had told him about the warden job, he’d declined until he was told the fortune he’d be earning. But the isolation had begun to wear on him, despite the beautiful weather and tropical sun. He’d be happy to get back to the borscht, vodka, and nightlife of his native Moscow even if it meant enduring subzero temperatures six months a year.

Now the only things standing between him and freedom were Lyla Dhawan and the boat coming to pick them up. Once he had her locked up in her cell like the others, he could set the timer on the self-destruct mechanism that would destroy the entire prison and all evidence of what had gone on there. The only item remaining intact would be the airplane sitting in the jungle, but there was nothing incriminating on it that would lead back to his employers.

The prison’s control center was bustling with activity as the guards prepared the Bedtime protocol. Like Yudin, they were eager to leave and get back to civilization. The warden stood behind the operator seated at the central control panel while guards streamed in and out of the two doors at either end of the long room. It doubled as a briefing area and also held desks for the officers. With almost all the prisoners secured already, the rest of the guards were in their quarters packing up their belongings.

Yudin was frustrated that he had this one loose end to tie up.

“Call him again,” he commanded.

The German guard with the headset nodded and said, “Come in, zero-six. I repeat, come in, zero-six.” They used only call signs over communications channels.

Yudin glanced at the monitor showing the feed from the camera above the outside door. There was no sign of them.

Static buzzed from the overhead speakers. After a pause, the German said, “No response.”

“Yes, I know.”

Lyla Dhawan had been trouble before, but a single guard could handle her. There must have been a problem with the guard’s radio.

“Send someone to find out where they are and bring them back. Immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

Before the German could summon another guard, the speakers crackled.

To Yudin’s surprise and annoyance, it was his prisoner’s voice. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to listen.

“To anyone who can hear this,” she said, “my name is Lyla Dhawan and I’m being held captive on an island. I don’t know the name of the island, so please respond and home in on this signal to find me.”

Yudin didn’t know how she got the radio away from her guard, but his carelessness meant he was not going to get off this island. It was unlikely that any vessels were close enough to pick up her SOS, but he wasn’t going to take any risks this close to getting away from Jhootha Island for good.

“Can you triangulate the signal?” Yudin asked.

“No, sir. But I know they were going to the beach on the northeast side of the island.”

“Then take four guards with you right now and bring them both back here.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you!”

The German stood and went over to a rack holding an array of assault rifles. He motioned to four guards who’d been listening to the exchange to join him. “Rules of Engagement?”

Yudin didn’t really care what happened to Lyla Dhawan at this point. “You have permission to kill her, but make sure you bring the body back inside… Move!”

The guards snatched weapons off the rack and ran.