Gallery of the Dead

One Hundred

All three teams moved fast and stealthily, easily clearing the gates and the front lawn in absolutely no time at all. The FBI had already been in contact with the alarm company that serviced Arthur Weber’s house and the whole system had been switched off without the owner’s knowledge, so no one had to worry about bypassing circuits or disconnecting wires.

As they approached the house, Alpha team rounded it to the back door, while Beta and Gamma teams stayed with the front one.

‘Beta and Gamma teams in position, over,’ came the announcement from the Beta team leader over their headsets.

‘All right,’ Agent Richardson replied, nodding at the team agent who had slid a fiber-optic tube under the back door. The tube was connected to a five-inch monitor screen.

‘Clear,’ the agent said, nodding back at Agent Richardson before moving to the door locks.

‘Alpha team is also in position, over,’ Agent Richardson replied.

‘Done,’ the agent said, as he finished picking the locks.

‘Back door is breached,’ Agent Richardson said into his microphone. ‘We’re going in, over.’

‘Front door is breached,’ came the reply from Beta team leader. ‘We’re going in, over and out.’

Wearing the latest technology night-vision goggles, all three teams entered the house from both doors, cruising through rooms they knew only from a floor plan like ghosts through a cemetery.

Gamma team rushed through the front door and reached the stairwell that led to the house’s second floor in three seconds flat. A second later the entire team was upstairs.

Beta team followed Gamma team in, beginning their sweep of the ground floor through the entry foyer, before moving on to the living room.

Alpha team entered the house through the kitchen. The door that led them to the basement was identified on the blueprint and sat next to a large double-door fridge on the south wall.

‘It’s unlocked,’ the first Alpha team agent who got to the door hand-signaled his team leader.

He’s probably downstairs, Agent Richardson thought, and signaled the rest of the team to proceed in two-by-two cover formation. He would take point.

The door led to a wide concrete stairwell. There was a light bulb above their heads, just past the door, but it was switched off. Agent Richardson hand-signaled his team that they were moving down to the next door at the bottom. In between the first and second doors there were twelve steps.

The door at the bottom was also unlocked. There was no light from the other side. Another signal told the agent behind Richardson to push the door open while the rest of the team stormed into the next room. Fingers counted down from three... two... one.

The team thundered through the door and into a wide room where the wall across from them was lined with wooden shelves. Those had been divided into separate, different-sized compartments, each holding a clear glass jar. A laboratory-like smell lingered in the air.

What the actual fuck? Agent Richardson thought, as the entire team focused their attention on the contents of the jars.

The team cleared the room and moved to the second door — also unlocked. It dropped them in a corridor where the walls were cinderblock, the floor concrete and the ceiling white, with long strip lights. These were on.

To prevent the team from going blind, their night-vision goggles immediately adapted to the new light. Still, the team quickly removed them.

The corridor was straight for about ten yards before bending left.

The team moved silently and cautiously.

‘This is Gamma team leader,’ Agent Richardson heard the voice come through his headset. ‘Upstairs is clear. Neither of the subjects is up here, but we did find a control room of sorts. There’s a makeshift control desk and no less than ten monitors. We did try switching them on in case they could give us an idea of where the girl is located, but all we got were snowing screens. If they were receiving images from broadcasting cameras anywhere, it’s all been disconnected. There’s also a board covered in schematics of what looks to be plans for remotely activated engines and light switches. According to the schematics, the engines are to be placed on sliding doors somewhere, so they can be opened or closed remotely, so be extra vigilant, over.’

‘Roger that, Gamma team,’ Richardson replied. ‘We suspect the subject, at least one of them, might be down here in the basement. Secure that control room and those schematics and await further instructions, over.’

‘Roger that. Do you need any help down there? Over.’

‘That’s a negative, Gamma leader. Over and out.’

As Alpha team rounded the corridor corner, they saw two doors, both of them on the wall to their left. There was light seeping from under the first door. The same wasn’t true for the second one.

Richardson hand-signaled his team that they would storm through the first door. Once again the team got ready.

One of Alpha team’s agents placed his back against the wall to the right of the door and very carefully tried the handle. A couple of seconds later, while keeping the handle all the way down, he nodded at Agent Richardson, indicating that the door was unlocked.

Up came the finger count.

Three...

Two...

One...

The agent with his back to the wall swung the door open in one very smooth movement. A millisecond later, the other four members of Alpha team blasted through into the room beyond.