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WHEN THE order came through to assemble the squads, Mathias and his team were ready. He had been joined by Jerry Ring, Garth Simpson and Tina Lovecraft from his old unit.
“You got called back too, I see,” he told them.
“Yes, but we weren’t told why. Do you know?”
"The Blades have evidentially gotten up enough nerve to try an attack,” Mathias said. “I found out why Alexandre Marconi was so keen to stop Ivette and me moving into the Lake House; he planned to use it as a staging area for his army.”
Garth frowned. “Mathis, I hate to suggest this, but I heard a rumor Cosimo had joined the Blades. Is it true?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t spoken much since I got back. He was mad because Ivette chose me, so I’ve been keeping my distance until he’s cooled off. I hope you’re wrong.”
“Okay, men, lock and load!” McAdams called, and they all grabbed weapons, helmets and backpacks before falling in line to the sled port.
It was full dark when they approached the Lake House. The place was lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Bedingfeld, since this is your place, your team will be first in,” McAdams said.
Mathias and the others got in line to grab the repelling lines.
“I wish the place wasn’t so lit up,” Jerry murmured.
“Hang on a moment, I’ve got an idea.” Mathias sent a coded message squeal to Ivette telling her to cut the power to the estate. He had no way of knowing if she got it or if she was able to do it.
According to the mission plan, the first air sled would hover over the compound while its full team of Wolves rappelled to the ground. As they exited the sled, the grounds went dark.
“That’s my girl,” Mathias said aloud.
His helmet mic crackled. “What did you say?” McAdams demanded.
“I asked Ivette if she could cut power to the estate when we started our attack. I’m guessing she was able to do it.”
Ivette tuned the vid cams to pick up images in the dark. She waited tensely, watching for the attack she knew was coming. Remembering the dead bodies being loaded onto a sled, she came face to face with the fact Mathias was going to be risking his life in the coming attack.
When Grandpa hadn't come back from his last mission, Loren Hayes had behaved as if he had just stepped out and might walk in the door any time. If they lost Mathias, she was going to need to provide the same kind of security for the seven small persons depending on her. Stop it! she told herself fiercely. You're dreaming up horrors that don't exist. Mathias will come through this fine. It's only a poorly trained bunch of would-be revolutionaries.
While the first team was repelling down to attack from the ground, a second air sled flew to the northeast corner of the estate and deployed a vole, his handler, and a team of Wolves to secure the perimeter. The vole was to sniff out any land mines or other traps and his handler was to disarm them. The wolves were responsible for both protecting the vole and his handler and ensuring none of the rebels escaped.
Mathias and his group hit the ground and spread out in a half circle, guarding the descent of the next group. Since it was his home, he had been selected to lead the first group to land. As soon the next group hit the ground behind them, he signaled his men and headed toward the building in a series of short, quiet rushes.
Off to the right, a man and woman abruptly jumped to their feet. Judging by their state of undress they had been indulging a few sexual activities.
“Hey!” the man yelled and was abruptly silenced by the Wolf directly in front of him.
Mathias reached the kitchen door. He stood with his back to it until he saw all his team had also reached the house. He tested the door and found it open. He shoved it and ducked inside, followed by his men
It was dark inside, but his helmet automatically compensated for the change in light from outside. As he rounded the kitchen work island, he saw a man lying on the floor apparently unconscious. Mathias pointed at the downed man and the man behind Mathias broke off to check to make sure the man was dead or incapacitated.
Following standard urban warfare training his men split up as they came through the door, taking cover behind furniture. Moonlight from the tall windows increased the visibility of Alexandre’s men, some of whom began firing sidearms at the invaders. One of them threw a flash bomb and the entire room lit up for several moments. Mathias and his Wolves returned fire at the occupants of the room and a lively firefight ensued.
Outside, the remains of Alexandre’s army had discovered the raid and started shooting as well. The invading forces shot back with devastating results. Better armed and with night vision headgear, McAdams troops quickly located targets. Over half of Marconi's rebels died. The others quickly saw the wisdom of surrendering.
Mathias spotted Alexandre silhouetted in the doorway to the back of the house. He took careful aim and fired, but Alexandre tripped over a fallen man in the doorway and Mathias only burned him with the plasma bullet. Alexandre screamed, whether in fear or pain, Mathias didn’t know.
Mathias ducked as three of Alexandre’s men covered his retreat by firing randomly into the room, backing toward the door to follow him.
Using the furniture for cover, Mathias, Jerry, and Garth darted after them. They ran into a second group of wolves who had entered the house from the west side and were methodically clearing each room they passed.
Alexandre retreated to the library followed by the remainder of his command crew who surrounded him protectively. A hand-to-hand melee ensued as Alexandre’s men tried to shield him from the wolves' charge. The fighting was too tight to allow for the use of firearms. Mathias drew his knife and so did his opponent. Beside him, he could see Jerry had done the same. Both men cut and slashed at the opposing soldiers, who did the same. The Wolves had come better prepared for this encounter than Alexandre’s men, who had been mostly off duty with only personal weapons. Alexandre’s Blades hadn’t been wearing the body armor protecting Mathias and his unit either.
From the great room, Mathias heard McAdam’s voice calling for the surrender of Alexandre and the Blades. Realizing the futility of further fighting, the two remaining Blades raised their hands over their heads. Mathias stopped. He didn’t lower his knife, but he didn’t advance either. “Drop your weapons,” he ordered, and the two Blades obeyed.
Alexandre, seeing a chance to kill Mathias, fired at him from between them. The plasma bullet bounced off Mathias’s armor but knocked him down. As Mathias fell, Jerry emptied his gun at Alexandre, who fell dead on the floor. His men stood stiffly waiting to see if he was going to shoot them too.
Instead, he dropped beside Mathias to check on him. Garth motioned for the two Blades to step away and they did so.
“How is he?” Garth asked Jerry.
“Knocked the wind out of me,” Mathias gasped. “I’m okay.”
Garth walked over to Alexandre and kicked him to make sure he was dead. “This murdering SOB is dead,” he announced.
The house lights came back on to reveal more than half of Alexandre’s army had surrendered.
McAdams appeared in the doorway. “Tomilson said you got the leader. Where is he?”
“He’s dead,” Garth announced. “He tried to shoot Mathias after his men had surrendered.”
“Damn!” McAdams said. “I wanted to question him. Well, there’s no chance of it now.”
“Maybe not, sir, but we found one of his Lieutenants out cold in the kitchen. Maybe he knows something.”
“Who is it?”
The man who had spoken looked apologetically at Mathias. “It’s Cosimo Bedingfeld, sir. Looks like somebody whacked him over the head before we got here. I’m sorry Lieutenant.”
“Is he being treated for his injuries?” Mathias asked.
The man nodded. “We set up a temporary infirmary in the dining room. He’s in there if you want to check on him sir.”
“Later,” Mathias said. He looked over at Jerry. “Sargent, did we have casualties?”
“Just Jameson. He tripped over a planter in the yard and did a faceplant.”
McAdams nodded approvingly. Bedingfeld had his priorities right. His men first, traitorous relatives second. “Lieutenant, please com your wife and thank her for her timely cutting off of the power.”
“Thank you, sir,” Mathias said, stepping away from the group to com Ivette.
“Are you alright?” she demanded as soon as his face came on the Holo screen. It was the living room screen in Sea Dream, and everyone was there.
“Yes. Were you watching us?”
“Yes, we all did. My God Mathias, when you went down—"
“I’m wearing armor,” he reminded her. “It knocked the wind out of me. How did Anastasia and Minerva get out here?”
“He tricked me into leaving school with him. He said he had mom.”
“Then all he had to do was show me he had her,” Anastasia said.
“He left only one man to guard them in the kitchen,” Shifu Abhishree contributed. “He never heard me coming.”
“You took out the man in the kitchen?”
“Mathias I think it was Cosimo," Ivette said. "Is he alive?"
“He was when we left. I didn't have time to finish him off," Abhishree said, adding "You and your men did well Lieutenant, but your men could use a little more coordination of their efforts.”
“Well, most of us are in the reserves; we’re a little out of practice.”
“You should get together more often so that doesn’t happen,” she told him.
“Thank you. I’ll keep it in mind,” he said. “Ivette much as I want to see you and the children, we’re still pretty disorganized here. If you’re okay with it, I think you guys should stay where you are until we can be sure all the insurgents have been rounded up.”
“Alright, but I need to get Anne upstairs as soon as I can. She isn't handling being under the sea well. If you change your mind about joining us, remember the entrance is in the pantry,” she told him.
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