He brought in a team from India, very advanced in this kind of thing. According to what squirrel man—and how did you start calling him that?—told me, that team was beyond excited with what little Chandler dangled in front of them to get them to come. They enhanced thirty-one soldiers. Seven died on the table. Twenty-four survived. Of those twenty-four, fifteen are in relatively good shape. Nine are … expendable. The soldiers don’t consider one another expendable. Chandler considers them that way. The one I was interrogating was one of the expendable ones.
Relatively good shape? Rubin echoed. They looked in good enough shape to me.
They continued through the forest, rushing around trees and leaping over smaller bushes, ducking low-hanging branches but never slowing their pace. They had been running for at least two hours when a low hoot came off to Rubin’s left. A great horned owl emerged out of the darkness close to his head, flying low and fast, shooting in and out of the trees.
Rubin and Diego both dropped to the forest floor and made their way to the heavier growth of trees a hundred feet in the middle of the grove they were passing through.
Company tracking us, Rubin announced. Two of them. In the trees. Freaky little squirrel men. That’s how I think of them. They jump from one tree to the next so fast, they remind me of flying squirrels.
They are fast, Diego agreed. Chandler blew up the plane that was taking that first team back home so they couldn’t share what they knew about the GhostWalkers. But then he wasn’t very happy with this team because they didn’t want to run his private missions for him, the ones that would make him money. He wanted another team, one that was loyal to him. Chandler started noticing his team wasn’t quite as up to par as he would have liked.
Rubin hissed his displeasure with the unknown Chandler. He was even worse than Whitney. Do these soldiers think they’re committing to the actual GhostWalker program?
I believe so, yes. They’re pulled from every branch of the service and have to undergo and pass all testing. In any case, this first team is after Jonquille, and they are determined to acquire her at any cost. Five of those they consider expendables have some link to Jonquille. Each has something different. It was all genetic material that Whitney had slated for disposal but gave to Chandler to study in case it helped him in the development of his lightning weapons.
Again, Rubin took time to think that over. That’s how they track her. Get someone in her general vicinity and then seed the clouds to draw her out. What do they need her for? They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get her.
He went up a tree, using his hands only, careful not to leave any trace behind that he had stopped moving and was settled, waiting for the assassins coming up behind him. Very slowly, so that he didn’t disturb any foliage or bark, he placed his pack in the tree and shifted positions again, knowing this particular oak would entice one of the squirrel men to use it as a springboard to the next one.
Rubin waited in silence. The wind ruffled the leaves of the trees. A light rain began to fall. The frogs increased their chorus to a joyful, loud cacophony of sounds. He could pick out the individual species, males calling to females, females enticing males. He heard the rustle of mice in the leaves on the forest floor. The skitter of lizards running over trees. Raccoons chattered at one another and skunks shuffled through the brush. Life moved in the forest.
He didn’t move. Like the great horned owl that elongated its body and was frozen and still during the day, essentially becoming part of the tree it rested in unseen, Rubin was nearly invisible. The tree nearest his shivered, leaves shaking off droplets of water, and then something heavy landed nearly at his feet.
The man was lean and wiry, a compact combination of muscle and bone. He paused for a moment, taking a breath. Behind him, the tree came to unexpected life, Rubin materializing behind him, catching his head in a merciless lock. The squirrel man went crazy, knowing he was in a life-or-death struggle, throwing himself backward, trying to break the hold Rubin had on him. Rubin twisted, breaking the neck with his superior strength, lowering the body to the crotch of the tree, wedging it there so he could examine it.
One down, Diego. Radio is in the ear. Fingernails are longer than usual, and he’s wearing special open-toed shoes that allow his toenails to work the way a squirrel’s might. He’s got venom sacs located along his ankle. Strange place for it, but that means a scratch with his toenails probably could kill, if this venom is lethal. We have to assume it is.
I noticed that the toenails and fingernails were extremely thick on the assassin I was interrogating, Diego said.
That’s how they climb so well and cling to the branches when they land. The clothes they wear are aerodynamic as well. Each piece is streamlined, almost glued to their bodies, although very weatherproof. The vest looks more like you might expect with a wing suit, which when they leap gives them the appearance of a flying squirrel. They don’t have wings or webbing, but they do have artificial help.
Why doesn’t it get caught in the branches of the trees? Diego asked. That would make them larger and bulkier.
They have to train precisely to retract before they hit the branches, Rubin guessed. They moved with such blurring speed. We can’t underestimate them for a minute. Our advantage is going to be that they’ll underestimate us.
So far, I hadn’t noticed that we have too many advantages, Diego said. And we’re on our home turf.
Rubin had to agree with him there. The fact that they hadn’t realized there was an entire team waiting to take Jonquille from them in their own forest, even with the great horned owl watching for them, was humbling. They were so sure of themselves in the woods, and that could have cost Jonquille dearly. Even if they lost her temporarily, they would get her back. He’d call in their team and find a way to track her. He was tenacious, if nothing else. She had to know he’d be coming for her.
Did you bring a tracker with you?
I always do, why? Diego asked.
Just in case, Rubin said. I want to be ready for anything.
We’re going to get her back.
Yeah. I know. But Rubin wasn’t so certain.
Have you located his partner? Diego asked.
No, but he has to be close. This one was no doubt lead. The second one is probably coming up behind him by a mile or so. The good news is, we know the number of men they have in their unit. They’re losing them fast.
From his vantage point in the oak, Rubin looked at the surrounding trees. The oak was the largest and sturdiest of those growing in that particular region. The forest was particularly thick with spruce and oak. The section hadn’t been logged in decades, and many of the original trees were still intact.
The two assassins were following Rubin and Diego to kill them. They didn’t appear to know anything about either man. They hadn’t expected them to be with Jonquille. They didn’t expect either man to turn back on them and hunt them. The squirrel men were moving fast, clearly believing themselves superior to their adversaries. Would the second assassin take the line of least resistance and use the same tree as the first one? Rubin would have boxed Diego’s ears for making a mistake like that, but it was possible these men had never been up against actual soldiers with the same skills and abilities as they had. One of their weaknesses might be that they were just a little bit lazy.
When you interrogated the squirrel man, what did he say he knew about Jonquille? Why did they want her?