but they'd missed something. The same uncomfortable doubt knotted her lungs, straining, drawing her stomach up. She kept her breath steady, but it took work.
As she approached one of the sets of rusty stairs that dropped from the corners of the building Ana saw pallets that hadn't been there before. A new shipment; others had shifted to accommodate it. The thought that there could be a child inside one of the new, clean wooden boxes flashed through her mind.
Ana would have to subdue the security force before attempting to get inside any of the new arrivals. She counted five guards now patrolling the warehouse, and they were in frequent contact. She didn't need to try to pick up the communications on her handheld, they were speaking loud enough to be heard across the small warehouse. Still speaking into the comms, though. Probably just trying to make their presence known to discourage intruders. Ana wondered if they actually thought they were fooling anyone with that.
Through visual inspection combined with the conspicuous auditory clues, Ana deduced the patterns for three of the five guards. The other two appeared to be what she termed designated roamers.
She set an interception trajectory for the first of the three routed guards and made her way up the now-familiar metal stairway, light steps from soft rubber soles drowned out by the din of the city impinging on the warehouse.
The two up top were on an idiotically predictable timing route , which brought them surprisingly close to the other route-walker on the floor below. Ana felt more than just lucky that the two freelancers were spread at the corners of the warehouse when the three came together. She wrapped herself in a shadow next to a conveniently placed air duct and drew two silenced Raptor X5s from where they lay strapped to her thighs. A quick shot from each Raptor gave the two guards watching the floor below a headache they would never feel.
With two sleeping beauties at her feet, Ana flipped over the railing and swooped down on the third. It was one of those rare times that she wished she had some sort of cape or leather trenchcoat that would fly out around her as she dropped on top of her still -unsuspecting prey. Rare because in every other situation, the skin-tight body armor she wore was more realistic, useful, and appropriate. It did make it easy to grab the guard by the neck with a leg lock and use her momentum to flip him to the ground. Any long piece of fabric would just get tangled, throwing off her precisely executed neck break.
The swift execution and sleek outfit did not mean her actions were silent, though, and even the traffic from the skylanes nearby wasn't enough to cover the sound. The tumble and scuffle sounded to Ana like a train arriving outside her apartment, and she knew one of the rovers had heard her when a deep male voice rang out.
"Infinity check-in!"
Should have just shot the third guy. The flying drop takedown was fun, though. And there were only two guards left now, so the odds were in her favor.
From across the warehouse the other responded, "Infinity Seventy-Two checking in."
"Infinity Seventy-Three checking in." It was the first guard again. Yep, just the two of them. An awkward silence followed as the remaining two realized they were alone. Footsteps clattered across the cement floor toward her position.
A metaphorical hop, skip, and a jump took Ana toward one corner where her Raptor silently dropped the approaching guard identified as Infinity Seventy-Two.
As Infinity Seventy-Three appeared from around a group of large wooden crates, Ana considered some clever secret agent lines.
Infinity ends here.
Welcome to the endfinity.
Infinity minus one, now.
The Raptor didn't let her get any of them out, though. Probably better. Infinity Seventy-Three wouldn't have had time to appreciate them.
Ana walked cautiously —apprehensively—back to the crisp, unmarred crates that had appeared there sometime after her previous
As she approached one of the sets of rusty stairs that dropped from the corners of the building Ana saw pallets that hadn't been there before. A new shipment; others had shifted to accommodate it. The thought that there could be a child inside one of the new, clean wooden boxes flashed through her mind.
Ana would have to subdue the security force before attempting to get inside any of the new arrivals. She counted five guards now patrolling the warehouse, and they were in frequent contact. She didn't need to try to pick up the communications on her handheld, they were speaking loud enough to be heard across the small warehouse. Still speaking into the comms, though. Probably just trying to make their presence known to discourage intruders. Ana wondered if they actually thought they were fooling anyone with that.
Through visual inspection combined with the conspicuous auditory clues, Ana deduced the patterns for three of the five guards. The other two appeared to be what she termed designated roamers.
She set an interception trajectory for the first of the three routed guards and made her way up the now-familiar metal stairway, light steps from soft rubber soles drowned out by the din of the city impinging on the warehouse.
The two up top were on an idiotically predictable timing route , which brought them surprisingly close to the other route-walker on the floor below. Ana felt more than just lucky that the two freelancers were spread at the corners of the warehouse when the three came together. She wrapped herself in a shadow next to a conveniently placed air duct and drew two silenced Raptor X5s from where they lay strapped to her thighs. A quick shot from each Raptor gave the two guards watching the floor below a headache they would never feel.
With two sleeping beauties at her feet, Ana flipped over the railing and swooped down on the third. It was one of those rare times that she wished she had some sort of cape or leather trenchcoat that would fly out around her as she dropped on top of her still -unsuspecting prey. Rare because in every other situation, the skin-tight body armor she wore was more realistic, useful, and appropriate. It did make it easy to grab the guard by the neck with a leg lock and use her momentum to flip him to the ground. Any long piece of fabric would just get tangled, throwing off her precisely executed neck break.
The swift execution and sleek outfit did not mean her actions were silent, though, and even the traffic from the skylanes nearby wasn't enough to cover the sound. The tumble and scuffle sounded to Ana like a train arriving outside her apartment, and she knew one of the rovers had heard her when a deep male voice rang out.
"Infinity check-in!"
Should have just shot the third guy. The flying drop takedown was fun, though. And there were only two guards left now, so the odds were in her favor.
From across the warehouse the other responded, "Infinity Seventy-Two checking in."
"Infinity Seventy-Three checking in." It was the first guard again. Yep, just the two of them. An awkward silence followed as the remaining two realized they were alone. Footsteps clattered across the cement floor toward her position.
A metaphorical hop, skip, and a jump took Ana toward one corner where her Raptor silently dropped the approaching guard identified as Infinity Seventy-Two.
As Infinity Seventy-Three appeared from around a group of large wooden crates, Ana considered some clever secret agent lines.
Infinity ends here.
Welcome to the endfinity.
Infinity minus one, now.
The Raptor didn't let her get any of them out, though. Probably better. Infinity Seventy-Three wouldn't have had time to appreciate them.
Ana walked cautiously —apprehensively—back to the crisp, unmarred crates that had appeared there sometime after her previous
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