It only took the security forces five minutes to reach Damen's apartment block. They arrived out of breath and gathered in a small group, pressing their backs against the wall. When Drefnig raised his hand, they shuffled around to the front of the building in single file. Nobody spoke. They moved slowly, keeping their eyes open for any signs of a trap.
The apartment block was a residential building. The wide glass doors at the main entrance were not locked. Drefnig stared into the spacious lobby inside. He couldn't see any signs of movement. He waited, listening near the door until he had convinced himself that it was safe to proceed, and then stepped aside, nodding for Entworth to take the lead.
Entworth pulled the door open, and the security forces rushed into the lobby behind him. They held their impact repeaters tucked under their arms with the muzzles pointing down towards the floor.
Rutter ran ahead like a prancing gazelle. He pressed all the lift buttons at once before staring at the wall console's flickering display and muttering something under his breath. After pressing all the buttons again, he turned to face the others, and let out a long sigh. 'Only one of the lifts is working,' he said.
Entworth strode towards him. 'Your job just got a whole lot easier then, didn't it?'
Rutter frowned. He lifted his impact repeater and aimed at the lift doors. His arms looked thinner than the repeater he was holding.
The rest of the squad fanned out around the single working lift with their weapons held high. Entworth turned to face the door that led to the street, covering their backs. Drefnig stood to one side, keeping an eye on a hallway that led to the stairs. The lobby felt colder than outside. It was silent except for a strange rattling sound that got louder and louder as the lift descended towards the ground floor. Boland looked as though he was about to say something, but when Drefnig raised a hand towards him, he chewed his lip and kept his mouth shut. Entworth stood beside him, scratching at the back of his leg. He mumbled something under his breath that was barely audible. Tim Polowski waited on the other side of the lift, staring straight ahead. He had a strange intensity in his eyes. The strap of his impact repeater dug deep into his shoulder as his finger rested gently on the trigger.
When the lift finally reached the ground floor, the doors opened with a painful grown. It was empty. A pale white light flickered from a single LED bank on its ceiling. Nobody moved.
Drefnig signalled for everyone to stay back. He stepped closer to the lift, and pointed a small black device through the open doors towards its ceiling. When he raised his wrist console closer to his face, a diagram of the lift shaft appeared in outline on its small display. The shaft was empty, apart from the usual cables and wheels. He couldn't see any traps. There were no heat signatures to indicate that anyone might be standing on top of the lift roof.
'Clear,' Drefnig said, stepping away from the doors.
Everyone relaxed a notch. Some glanced around the lobby as though seeing it for the first time.
'Put a web on the stairs,' Drefnig said.
Carol Smart nodded. She hurried across the lobby and headed for the narrow staircase at the far end of the room. When she reached the stairs, she lowered her backpack to the floor and pulled out a handful of web blocks. Her hands moved with a well-practised series of movements as she attached the blocks to the walls on each side of the stairs. Nobody would be able to enter the lobby without triggering the web blocks. Anyone who tried it would find themselves entangled in a sticky net of reinforced polymer strands.
'Ready?' Drefnig said to nobody in particular.
Smart ran back to join the others. 'I'm ready,' she said.
Boland blinked slowly with a determined look on his face. 'I'm always ready.'
Tim Polowski nodded and rubbed one hand across his chin. Sam Tapenocki looked eager to get started. Rickworth was the only one who looked worried, but he smiled when he saw Drefnig looking at him.
Drefnig looked them all in the eye, one by one. 'We follow the plan,' he said. 'No deviations.' When nobody objected, he turned and walked into the lift.
Carol Smart followed close behind. 'It smells of vomit in here,' she said.
Sam Tapenocki joined her. 'That's rank,' she said. 'Why don't they ever clean these things?'
Drefnig shook his head. 'Come on. Everyone get in. We're on a timeline here.'
Tim Polowski, Ken Boland and Dan Rickworth joined him in the lift. It was just big enough for them all to stand around the side walls with enough space between them for a couple of equipment sacks. Entworth stepped in last and hit the button for level 119, leaving Rutter standing in the lobby on his own.
'Don't turn your back on the front door,' Entworth said.
Rutter nodded, glancing from side to side as he scratched the back of his neck. 'Have fun,' he said.
Entworth winked as the doors slid shut and lift started slowly ascending.
Tapenocki stepped over to the opposite wall, wafting one hand in front of her face. 'It stinks in here,' she said. 'And what the hell is that on the wall?'
Drefnig turned to see what she was looking at. Something wet and frothy was running down the lower part of the lift wall. He didn't want to think about what it might be. Boland winked at Tapenocki, but for once he kept his mouth shut.
Polowski looked pale and subdued. He leant back against the wall and straightened his helmet with one hand. 'Standard procedure then? We're getting off on the level below?'
Drefnig nodded as the lift rumbled in discontent. He checked the stun grenades on his belt before switching his comms unit to silent mode. 'Yes. We'll stick to procedure on this one. We don't want to spook Trent any sooner than necessary.'
Polowski considered Drefnig's words while he rubbed the stubble on his chin. 'Shame we can't shoot him,' he said in a quiet voice.
The lift ascended with a variety of juddering movements as it scraped against first one wall, and then another.
'I think I'm starting to see why the other lifts didn't work,' Boland said.
Tapenocki stretched her neck from side to side. 'I guess nobody pays their rent in this block, not for the last few years at least.'
The lift shuddered, making several popping sounds. It let out a last deep metallic groan, and then the doors juddered open.
'Silence from here on,' Drefnig said, pushing his hair back with one hand. 'I want Trent brought in alive. We can't afford to make any mistakes.'
He didn't wait for a response. Instead, he popped his head out into the corridor, glancing first left, and then right. When he pulled his head back inside the lift, he raised one finger to his lips and requested silence from every one of them. A range of grumpy expressions stared back at him. Only Smart looked happier than she had been before.
Entworth stepped out into the corridor and pressed himself against the opposite wall. He looked up at the ceiling, raising his impact pistol to shoulder height and glancing from side to side. Drefnig raised an eyebrow. Entworth nodded, signalling for the others to join him in the corridor. When they were all out of the lift, Drefnig leant back inside, and hit the button for the ground floor. The doors slid shut, and a series of clanks and scrapes told him that the lift was on its way back down to the lobby.
Boland and Rickworth gave silent salutes then set off towards the stairs at the end of the corridor. They moved on the balls of their feet, staying close to the walls. The others followed close behind, keeping their eyes open for anything unusual. When they reached the stairwell, Boland walked over to the stairs that led down to level 118. He held his impact repeater in a loose grip, with the muzzle pointing down at the floor.
Drefnig led the rest of the squad up onto level 120. Rickworth positioned himself near the stairs that led up to level 121. He looked unusually nervous. Entworth patted him on the shoulder and then followed the others as they headed through a corroded metal door that led onto the main corridor.
They walked in single file, creeping towards room 105. Drefnig headed for the opposite side of the corridor, facing the door that led to Damen Trent's apartment. The floor creaked as he walked over it, and when he looked up, he saw Entworth frowning towards him, with a bead of sweat forming on his brow. Drefnig glanced down at a dim light shining beneath the door. He pointed at the light, gesturing for Tapenocki and Polowski to stay near the lift doors. They nodded and backed away.
The corridor was silent. Drefnig raised three fingers towards the others. When he was sure that he had their full attention, he showed them two fingers, and then one. As he lowered his last finger, he slammed his boot just above the door lock. The frame cracked, bending inwards, and Entworth ran forwards, slamming his shoulder into the middle of the door. The frame broke loose and crashed onto the floor inside the apartment. Entworth continued his forward momentum, stumbling into the darkness beyond, while Drefnig and Smart ran in behind him. They did their best to fan out once they were inside.
Dim wall lights did little to illuminate the small apartment. Thick blinds had been fitted across all of the windows, blocking out even the faint light of the night drones. Drefnig wondered whether the blinds were thick enough to make the apartment appear dark from outside, even when the lights were on.
The place was a mess. The living room smelt of junk food and cheap alcohol. A pizza box held pride of place on a wide padded chair and plates lay scattered across the floor. The apartment's rough polymer floorboards looked as though they hadn't been cleaned for months. Entworth had stumbled onto the floor and was just climbing back to his feet. He rubbed his shoulder and nodded to Drefnig, walking a slow circuit around the padded chair. Drefnig glanced towards Smart, pointing towards the broken door frame. Smart nodded and then walked across to the door, lowering her backpack onto the floor. She pulled out a handful of web blocks and began attaching them to both sides of the door frame. When she was done, she stepped back and swung the backpack over her shoulder once more.
Something rattled at the back of the room. Drefnig and Entworth locked eyes and walked silently towards the only other door. Entworth gestured for Smart to stay back. He pushed the door open with the toe of his boot as leant back, taking cover behind the wall. Drefnig ducked, and ran past him into the room beyond. He glanced around, holding his impact pistol in a loose grip. There was nobody there.
Entworth joined him in the small workshop, his eyes alert and looking for any signs of trouble. Dim lights hung from cables, dangling from small holes in the walls. A range of tools hung from hooks, and more tools were scattered across a workbench that stood in the middle of the room. Some of the tools were laid out at odd angles, as though someone had been using them recently. Drefnig touched one of them and was surprised to find that it felt warm. He leant forwards, peering behind the workbench, but there was nobody there.
Entworth checked the other side of the room and pulled back a dark curtain, revealing another door behind it. Drefnig walked slowly towards him and stood with his back against the side wall. Light shone under the door from an adjacent room. He raised one hand to warn Entworth as he heard a strange sound coming from the other side.
Click, click, click.
Drefnig tensed, holding his impact pistol close to his shoulder. The light flickered beneath the door as a shadow moved across it.