The Next Chronicle (Book 1): Next by Joshua Guess Page A

equipment had already been set up inside. It was an old bakery, the rear entrance shielded from the road by other buildings. The bay door was open to let agents move in and out quickly.
    Kit followed Archer into the building, which sat four blocks north of the warehouse. The bakery took up only the bottom floor. The rest were being used by agents to set up observation posts. At the center of the flurry of activity stood Deakins, a mountain of calm taking in information from half a dozen people at once without blinking.
    Archer wasted no time slipping in front of the largest computer monitor and putting on an earpiece. Deakins joined him, and Kit followed.
    On the screen was a detailed blueprint of the warehouse, with points marked in yellow across each of the levels. Deakins expanded the image, pointing to the dots on the first floor. She motioned for Kit to lean in closer.
    “ We've got eyes on the ground floor. The front is all windows, and three quarters of the floor space is one room. There are old shelves and fixtures in there. The guards are hiding behind them. The building is offset just enough that cars going across the bridge can't really see in. We've got an agent who can remote view watching the place.”
    Kit pointed to a cluster of marks next to one of the dots. “What are these?”
    Archer answered. “Shorthand. One mark means small arms. Two means long weapons. A dash is armor. There are others, but they don't apply here.”
    “ Why is that?” Kit asked.
    Deakins motioned for a nearby agent to join them. “Because most of the other shorthand symbols deal with identifying Next. And this Charmer isn't using them. He's sticking with regular humans.”
    “Jesus,” Kit said. “Those could be innocent people in there.”
    Archer frowned. “Chances are they're criminals, but you nailed the gist of it. We have to act like they're victims.”
    The new agent, a tall black man whose suit looked a few sizes too big, put a hand out toward Kit. “Agent Singh, I'm Ben Carlton. I'm one of the unit telepaths.”
    “ One of them? How many do we have?” Kit asked.
    “ Three,” Carlton said. “The other two are upstairs making sure we stay unobserved. They're general telepaths. I'm not.”
    Deakins pointed to the shorthand marks. “Ben is the agent remotely viewing the target. He looks around places we can't see into, collects information.”
    “That's pretty useful,” Kit said. “What's the catch? I don't see as much information next to the people on the lower floors.”
    “ It's not perfect,” Ben said. “I don't see things as clearly as if I were looking at them with my eyes. I can see general shapes, though it gets clearer when I'm looking near a person. Their background thoughts and feelings help sharpen my impressions. Ground level has more data because we can physically see in there somewhat. The rest is all me.”
    Kit pointed at the screen. “There are no side entrances. The walls are cinder block. One front entrance, but almost the whole facade is glass. The only other way out is on the bottom level. Rear exit.”
    Kit took the mouse and scanned over the information. “Your ringleader is probably on the lowest level, surrounded by guards. He'll want to stay close to a way out. Chances are he has his heaviest hitters down there with him. But you can't just burst in through the back door and take him down, because the rest of the guards will hit you like an avalanche after you make entry.”
    She pulled back from the screen and looked at Archer. “Sorry. You wanted me to sit back and watch.”
    The big man shared a glance with Deakins, but raised his hands in surrender. “Go on. I want to hear your full assessment.”
    Kit stared at the computer screen and blew out a breath. “I can see why you hate dealing with these guys. Anyone you send in there is at risk of being taken over by your Charmer. You have to risk a lot of personnel here because you have to cover both exits as well as the entire