“They have a good grasp of tactics and a knowledge of some technology. The reason I have no footage to show you of them and their current position is because they’ve located and shot out the cameras in the lobby of the Pentagon. As far as we know, they’re resting up there right now. Any move outside of that we can pick up on existing cameras.
“We do, however, have some footage of them taken earlier. Watch and digest, people.”
Jorgensen sat down while the lights snapped out and video footage of the earlier journey through the compound played on-screen. It wouldn’t be particularly instructive to the security team in terms of battle strategies, but it would, Jorgensen figured, give them some idea of the number and hierarchy of the opposition.
When the footage had finished, and the screen had gone blank, Jorgensen’s amplified voice rang out from the mike attached to his one-piece suit.
“So that’s what they look like, and this is where they are right now with all possible avenues of pursuit covered.”
A diagrammatic map appeared on the screen. It was the ground floor of the building above. The entrance elevators and shafts to the redoubt below were marked in red.
“You can see where the danger points are, and where we will cover,” he said briskly. “The important thing to remember now is that although we begin from a defensive position, we have an advantage in numbers, we have a knowledge of the layout that it’s doubtful they have—though I stress we must never underestimate them—and we now have an all too clear knowledge of how they make war.” He paused to let this sink in, before adding, “We can’t let them through. We have to wipe them out.”
A COUPLE HUNDRED yards above the sec force, Gloria and Ryan were at Doc’s shoulder as he hunched over the map.
“Are you sure about this, honey?” Gloria asked softly.
“As definite as it is possible to be,” Doc said firmly but equally softly.
“I’m not getting at you, sweets, just remember that I can’t read at all. None of us can,” the Gate queen reminded him.
Doc favored her with a smile. “Of course, dear lady. I should not let my own creeping paranoias get in the way of what is, after all, a crucial point. But yes, let me reiterate for you that this is, without a shadow of a doubt, the thing I have sought. Herein lies the key to our attaining the promised land. If it is so, then indeed this is truly a sacred text.”
Ryan put his hand on Doc’s where the old man’s lay upon the paper, obscuring part of the map.
“Time for the talking later, Doc,” the one-eyed warrior said. “First of all we need to get acquainted with the layout of this place.”
“Very well,” Doc replied brightly, withdrawing his hand.
The map that lay beneath his hand was of the Pentagon—but not the one that had once stood in Washington and had long since been blasted to dust by the nukecaust. This was of an amended Pentagon, a “doppelganger” as the scribbled note on the edge of the yellowing paper described it, a shadow Pentagon with an altered floor plan and hidden extras, all of which were carefully marked on the diagram.
“Dark night, this is just what we need,” J.B. said softly as he peered over Ryan’s shoulder at the map. “It’s got every shaft and elevator marked, and it even gives us sec camera positions.”
“It’s enough to make you believe in God—if he hadn’t put us here in the first place,” Mildred added.
Ryan’s scarred and craggy face cracked into a grin as he looked first at Gloria, then at his people gathered around. “‘Who gives a shit? This gives us an edge over the Illuminated Ones. After all, they’re going to think we’re stumbling around up here like children in the dark. And an edge is what we need, ’cause they’ve got the secured positions and the manpower.”
“Yeah, maybe, honey,” Gloria added, “but we’ve got destiny.”
Chapter Sixteen
Gloria stood before her people, Ryan to one side of her. Despite the fact that the one-eyed warrior, muscular and broad shouldered, stood more than a head taller than the Gate queen, her authority and sense of purpose made her seem his physical equal.