The Milestone Protocol Ernest Dempsey (best short novels of all time .txt) 📖

He’d fought alongside Tommy and Adriana more times than he cared to recall. Most of those times, his instincts and training had kicked in, leaving little room for doubt or concern. He’d trained Alex and Tara over the years, making them lethal in the field when the need arose. June and Emily could handle themselves, too, better than most special agents anywhere in the world. And Niki had, by all accounts, also been well trained.

None of those facts soothed Sean’s nerves as he slowed down near the end of the tunnel. They were outnumbered, and there was no way to know by how many.

A man in a black sweater and cargo pants—seemingly worn by everyone in the tunnel—waved at him as he approached and motioned toward an open parking spot near a maintenance lift. Signs on the rock wall and yellow paint on the asphalt designated the Loading Area.

Sean waved to the man and steered the cargo truck to the right, stopping just short of the elevator. Dak pulled into the spot behind him, leaving enough room to unload the cargo between the trucks, but also close enough so that no one could get a clear view as Emily and the others in the back snuck out between the crates.

Sean climbed down from the cab and clapped his hands together as the armed guard approached. The man carried a submachine gun slung over his shoulder, but kept it under his armpit instead of high and tight, ready to fire if necessary.

Complacency, Sean knew, was the mother of destruction.

“Right on time,” the man said in a Swedish accent. “I would get you some guys to help unload, but everyone is down in the control room right now. Boss called everyone down about a half hour ago.”

A half hour, Sean thought. That didn’t give them much time. By now, Magnus could already have the diamond in place and begin the process—whatever that was—to start up the machine.

“No worries,” Sean said, imitating the man’s accent. He looked up at another control room at the top of a metal platform overlooking the tunnel. A staircase went up to a catwalk and then continued up to the room where two men sat inside, probably watching video monitors. “We loaded the things. We can unload them. They were pretty heavy, though. Any idea what’s in those crates?”

The guard snorted, rocking his head back. “The boss doesn’t tell us much about that stuff. We just open doors and tell people where to take it.”

“Sounds like my boss,” Sean quipped. “We’ll get it unloaded and get out of your way. Where should we take it?”

The guard extended a finger toward the maintenance elevator. “Over there. Apparently, it’s going down to the control room. You’ll have to take two elevators, so it may take a while. But you get paid by the hour, right?”

“You know it,” Sean agreed, happily. “Plus a little overtime pay, too.”

The guard smiled a toothy grin. “That’s good. I’ll escort you down once you have the boxes unloaded.”

“Good deal.”

Sean turned and twirled his finger in the air toward Tommy, who had been waiting in the passenger seat. He nodded and climbed down out of the cab. Dak and Alex did the same.

The four men followed the guard over to two loaders. The machines were flat on the surface, like hardware store carts but with electric motors and control panels on one end, along with a steering mechanism akin to a wheel.

“You ever used these before?” the guard asked.

“A few times,” Sean lied. “But I have to admit, I like the older machines better. More power.”

“Afraid I don’t know much about that stuff,” the guard confessed. He scratched at his neck, revealing an ankh tattoo. “I’ll be over there at the lift when you’re ready.”

“Thanks,” Sean said. “Won’t take long.”

The man sauntered away, holding the gun against his side like it made him tough.

“Any idea how to work these things?” Sean asked when the man was out of earshot.

“I would try the power button,” Alex offered, pointing at the red button with the universal symbol for power.

“Good start,” Sean laughed. “Come on. We need to get these crates unloaded.”

He fumbled with the first loader for a minute but quickly got the gist of how it worked. The green up and down arrow buttons on the panel raised and lowered the platform, which would make unloading the crates easier. Blue forward and reverse buttons made the machine go.

“Simple enough,” Tommy said as he pressed down on one of the buttons. His loader jolted forward and bumped into the one Sean had been inspecting. He narrowly jumped out of the way.

“Yeah,” Sean said, shaking his head. “Real simple.”

“Sorry.”

Dak chuckled. “Come on. We’re running out of time.”

Sean and Tommy steered the loaders over to the back of the trucks while Alex and Dak flung open the back doors. Dak had to work a little harder with the frozen clasp, but the snow that had gummed it up was mostly melted, and unhinging it only required a firm pull.

The second the occupants in the cargo area saw the light pour in, they gripped their pistols and waited behind the big boxes.

“We’re clear for now,” Dak said. “Time for phase two.”

The group inside stood up from their crouching positions and nodded. They’d already emptied the crates of the supplies, which were mostly freeze-dried food and bottled water.

One by one, the members of the team climbed into the open boxes while Dak pulled himself up and started resealing them. Sean was already lowering his cargo to the asphalt by the time Dak and Alex got the first crate onto the loader. They slid the container with Adriana onto it first, then to the back of the machine.

“I hope this works,” Niki said as he lowered himself into a crate and pulled the flaps down.

“You and me both, kid,” Dak grumbled.

He folded the flaps over themselves to close the box and then, with Alex’s help, slid the box over to