MJ-12: Inception

24

Ellis dove for cover behind one of the Volkswagens with a multitude of oaths and profanities in mind that he had no time to use. Gunfire erupted from the trees to their left and in front of them — thankfully not from behind, or they’d all be dead from the crossfire.

“What the hell happened to Plan B, Frank?” Ellis growled as the Army man clambered down next to him, gun drawn.

“This was Plan B,” Frank groused. “Someone’s on to us.”

Ellis turned and fired a few shots blindly into the trees, then ducked back down as the other guns barked back and bullets whistled past overhead. “Good thing I reinforced that little hidey-hole we stuffed INSIGHT in. Now what?”

Frank popped up, fired, and flopped back down to the dirt in one smooth motion. A second later, the glass from the passenger window shattered all over both of them. “We’ve walked into a trap. I think someone’s found a way to dampen our Enhancements.”

“I hope you didn’t just realize that.”

“Grab INSIGHT. We’ve got to go backward, away from here, circle around.”

Ellis looked over to the other car, where Maggie and Cal cowered. Yushchenko was in the modified trunk in the front of that car. “Now, how the hell we gonna do that?”

Frank jerked the car door open and, staying low, climbed back inside. “Use this car for more cover. I’m going to drive it over there. Keep up and stay low.”

Before Ellis could give a highly negative assessment of that plan, Frank had revved up the car, and as he lay across the two front seats with one hand on the wheel and a foot on the gas, the vehicle slowly began to move. Despite his better judgment, Ellis popped up and emptied the rest of his clip at the trees ahead, and saw Cal and Maggie doing the same. Guess the training really worked.

Then Ellis realized he was exposed and raced after the car, a trail of bullets in his wake sending dirt streaking through the air around his feet.

“Shit shit shit shit!” he swore, diving down behind the other Variants. “Damn fool gonna get us killed.”

“What’s the plan?” Maggie asked after she hit the dirt.

“Get our boy out of the car. Then run like hell,” Ellis said.

“Shitty plan,” Maggie said.

Ellis grabbed another magazine from his belt and shoved it into the gun. “Don’t I know it.”

He popped up and started firing again as Frank kept low, scuttling to the passenger door of the other VW, wrenching it open, and fiddling with the hatch in the floor. A moment later, a pale, terrified Yushchenko crawled out and flopped down onto the dirt beside them.

Meanwhile, Ellis noticed Cal tinkering with his lighter — the one Mrs. Stevens had given him. “What the hell you doing, you jackass?”

Cal scowled up at Ellis. “Just get ready to run.”

A moment later, all five of them were behind the second VW. “We need to go,” Frank said. He then saw Cal hold up the lighter and nodded. “Good call.”

Frank took the lighter from Cal, and fished his own out of his pocket. One was placed under the VW, the other he held onto. “Maggie, you and Ellis give us some cover fire. Cal, run directly away from the car, stay low. And… go.”

Uttering another ferocious string of swears, Ellis popped up and started shooting madly toward the woods. He thought for a moment he heard a scream, which felt good. He then ducked back down as the return fire whizzed past, coming face to face with Frank.

“Now?” Ellis asked.

“Now.”

The two got up and ran for their lives, heading toward Cal, who now stood at the edge of the other treeline. Frank paused, turned, wound up, and threw the lighter in his hand, which arced over Ellis’s head.

“Aw, hell.” Ellis didn’t bother running anymore — he just hit the ground and began praying.

A moment later, the night lit up with a fiery explosion as the lighter erupted. Ellis could feel the heat on his backside as he scrambled up and started running again. A second flash produced even more heat. That would be the second lighter. And then…

Ellis reached the treeline as the first VW exploded. It was another five seconds before the second car blew, and by that time, they were well into the woods, down a ravine and running through the dark undergrowth at a desperate clip.

“You’re scared,” Maggie said as he caught up to her.

“Damn straight I’m scared, woman!” Ellis panted as she fell in beside him. “What else am I supposed to be?”

“No, you’re scared! I can feel it!” She seemed almost excited.

Ellis reached out and touched a leaf as he went past, feeling it turn into water on his fingers. About damn time.

Frank led them deep into the woods, running for a solid fifteen minutes straight, weaving back and forth, up and down paths, through undergrowth. He hoped it would be enough to buy them a quick break, because Yushchenko was winded and Cal looked pale from blood loss. Finally, Frank raised his hand, signaling for everyone to stop, tucking them under a ridge out of sight so he could work on Cal’s shoulder with a proficiency and dexterity born of years of experience — someone else’s experience, sure, but what did that matter right now?

“Where to now, boss?” Maggie asked him when Frank was done. “Any idea where we are?”

Thankfully, there was enough light from the gibbous moon to let Frank pull out his map — a waterproof, silk-screened handkerchief, one of the neat tricks developed during the war. He pressed it to the ground where a patch of moonlight shone down through the trees, and traced his finger over the route it seemed most likely they’d taken.

“I think we’re about… here,” he said, pointing as Maggie looked over his shoulder. “About ten miles from the West German border.”

“That’s a long hike,” Cal said, keeping his hand on the slipshod bandage Frank had improvised from his shirttails.

“Gonna be longer than you think,” Frank said, stuffing the map back in his pocket. “We need to stay away from the roads, from villages, from rivers — all of it. The hard way, all the way.”

Ellis peered at his watch. “About 5 a.m. Gonna be light soon.”

Frank turned to Maggie. “Any luck getting through to him in the car?”

She grimaced. “Something’s not right. I couldn’t seem to grab him. I nudged him a bit, but he wouldn’t open up. I feel like I could do it, but it would take a while. Hours. Don’t know why, but he’s a hard nut to crack.”

“That’s not good. All right, everybody on your feet. Let’s move,” Frank said. “I’ll take point. Maggie, I need you with me. You’re the only one who can sense other people at range. We lose that, and at least we know that whatever dampened our abilities is back and we’ll have bought ourselves a little bit of time before trouble arrives.”

The group formed up and headed northwest. Ellis pointedly left Cal to fend for himself, but Frank saw Yushchenko fall in beside the injured man and offer to help. Ellis and I are gonna have a real long talk if — no, when — we get back, Frank thought.

“What was that?” Maggie asked Frank quietly as they walked steadily through the forest.

“What was what?”

“Whatever stopped our powers.”

Frank sighed. “No idea. The science guys at Area 51 have been studying the energy coming out of that white light. I imagine the Reds’ scientists have been doing the same. Maybe they invented some kind of… antidote.”

“Really comforting to hear right now,” Maggie said. Frank looked over and saw she was looking particularly grim. “I didn’t like that feeling one bit.”

“Why? Aside from the obvious reason?”

“I felt cut off. Trapped in my own head. Not to mention powerless.”

Frank let it drop but eyed her carefully regardless. Frank had never really identified with his Enhancement in any way — it was just something he did. But Maggie had really embraced hers. It had become part of her personality. Or maybe it had taken it over.

As Frank trudged through the undergrowth, away from the dawn, he felt the strings of patriotism and practicality holding the group together growing thinner and thinner. Ellis was never in it for anyone but himself, and when his time was up, he’d be long gone — no matter how much time the MAJESTIC-12 folks added to his “deal.” Maggie was an absolute cipher at this point. Cal seemed on board for now, but the more violence he saw, the more likely he’d bail out, Frank wagered. And as for Frank himself, how many voices could he manage before they proved to be too much?

“Idiots,” Frank muttered.

“Who’s an idiot?” Maggie asked quietly. “You’re all worried all of a sudden.”

Frank shook his head and smiled at her; he ought to have known better than to let his mind wander near her. “Us. MAJESTIC-12. We thought that we had the advantage, just like we have the bomb and they don’t. We keep thinking that the Soviets just aren’t as good as we are. But they took away our Enhancements. They obviously have their own Variants. We simply assumed that they couldn’t possibly keep up. And yet here we are, with the one guy who can clue us in to what we’re up against, and we’re this close to having it all blown.”

Maggie nodded. “We may have to go to Plan B here. Or Plan C. Whatever letter we’re at now.”

“What’s Plan C?” Frank couldn’t think of any more contingencies in the ops plan — they’d run through the big ones already.

Before she could answer, the muted pop-pop of distant gunfire sent them all crouching for cover. Frank looked at Maggie, who shook her head in confirmation. “Four of them. About a mile away. And they’re gaining,” she said, just loud enough for the rest of the team to hear. “They’ll have figured out that we’re racing to the border. We have to move. Double time.”

Frank scrambled to his feet, pulling Maggie up, and turned to face Ellis and Cal, who looked worried. “We move that fast, we’re gonna leave a trail for them to follow and they’ll catch up quick. And then radio for help up at the border,” Ellis said.

“No choice. Move out.”

Frowning, Ellis took off at a light jog, while INSIGHT helped Cal move as best he could — Frank had managed to stop the bleeding, but Cal remained weak. Frank screwed the suppressor onto his pistol and made a note to take down whatever the hell wildlife existed in this godforsaken forest in the hopes that Cal could use it to heal himself before it died.

Maggie followed suit, holding back to keep from passing Cal and Yushchenko. Frank knew she would automatically feel new minds entering her range, but by that time, it would be too late, so he held back as well to walk with her.

“Any other ideas?” he asked her.

She gave him an incredulous look. “I got nothing. You’re the military genius. Anywhere on the map we might go to catch a ride? Call in an airlift?”

“I don’t think invading Czech airspace is a great idea,” Frank said, panting. “Border. Only way. The guys in my head agree.”

“Then we’re screwed,” Maggie said, stopping to pull her own kerchief-map from her pocket. “We go here… I think they’re gonna wait for us… here.” Maggie’s finger pointed to a glen near the road from Prague to Munich, about a mile from the border. “If we go here, toward Austria, it’s a longer hike and I bet Cal gets worse.”

Frank nodded. “We head for the road.”

“Showdown,” Maggie said.

“Only way.” Frank gazed at the map for several moments longer. “I think we have a shot. We’ll be there in about three hours. I should have a better plan by then. But if they have a way of sensing us, just like we sense them, we’re really screwed. Colonel Yushchenko, anything you can tell us about what we might be up against here?”

The Ukrainian looked pale and wide-eyed and could only shrug. “I am not cleared on many individuals in the Bekhterev program. Yes, there is one who may take your powers, but you know this. As for others, I cannot say.”

Maggie stared hard at Yushchenko for a moment but seemed to think better of it and turned back to Frank. “They’ll take away our Enhancements soon as they find us, one way or the other,” Maggie said. “Put that into your plans, too.”

“Your situation is terrible but not impossible. Focus on the soldiers, stay away from any Variants,” General Davis said in his head, bringing Frank a strong sense of relief he didn’t know he needed. “So long as it’s a squad or less, you have a chance to take a vehicle and make a run for it. Look for other opportunities to fire at range — snipe your way through if you can.”

Frank smiled sadly at Maggie. “We better hope they don’t have more than a squad with them. Otherwise, we’re done. Let’s stop about a mile before, on this ridge here,” he added, pointing to a spot on the map. “We’ll have work to do.”

“Already got a plan?”

“Mostly complaints,” Frank said with a small chuckle. “I’m being chided for placing ourselves in such a poor tactical position.”

Maggie forged ahead up the path. “They can blame Danny.”

“I already do.”