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The de facto leader of the Los Angeles Underground, he treated Daniel with the
respect due his accomplishments, but also regarded him as a valuable
resource. Jones was still in charge in
L.A., and Daniel saw no reason to challenge that.
The Los Angeles Underground was several hundred strong by the second year of
Michael s reign. Most of the members were like Ricardo; they d gone into
hiding to avoid being captured because they didn t measure up to the
angels standards of perfection. A small but steadily growing portion
of the Underground, though, was composed of perfectly healthy individuals
that had decided to stand against the angels regime.
The Underground had kept busy, raiding everything from junkyards to the
angels supply depots for supplies, though they never attacked civilian
targets. After two years, they were finally ready for something big.
Daniel and Ricardo sat in a makeshift planning room, going over
some maps and aerial photographs of an area south of Los Angeles.
In the warehouse around them, the
Underground s forces readied for a major assault.
If we come in here, from the north, Ricardo said, they ll be less likely to
see us coming.
They re going to see us either way, Ricardo, Daniel answered. If we
come in from the north and they do see us, we have fewer avenues of
retreat. We should come in from the east, towards the service entrance.
Ricardo leaned back in his seat and rubbed his eyepatch, something Daniel had
often seen him do when he was frustrated or annoyed. Damn, he
said. Why s a damn Care Center have to be done up like a fort?
Because it s not a hospital. It s a death camp. Michael knows by now that I m
one of you, even if he can t find me. He s scared to death that we ll do
exactly what we re doing. Consider us lucky. Last we checked, the camp didn t
have any armored angels as protection. We get in and out fast enough, we can
rescue the inmates and be gone before any armor shows up.
Jones stood and opened the door. That s a mighty big if , Daniel. He left.
Daniel smiled and looked over the maps one more time. He knew what they had
planned was a terrible risk, but it had to be done. More people died in that
camp every day they waited, and to rescue them the way Daniel had suggested
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almost a month ago would draw attention to their cause, and maybe help make up
the minds of the so many people that were uneasy about
the angels, but didn t really know why. Daniel knew that if it
didn t go off well, if he were captured, then he was as good as
dead. Michael still had egg on his face from Daniel s defection, and
Daniel was still considered a Heretic by the government. He didn t care,
really.
He d been a marked man in one way or another ever since witnessing Batarel s
resurrection at that car wreck, so long ago. He d learned to live with it and
do what must be done. This rescue qualified. Rolling up the maps, he followed
Ricardo.
Late that night, they approached from the east, as Daniel suggested. The Care
Center was about the size of a large hospital complex, but most of
the buildings were only one or two stories tall. There were no other
buildings for miles, an insurance taken by the angels that the only view most
citizens would ever have of a Care Center was what they saw on television. The
buildings themselves were clean, white and they looked very medical. The
fences topped with razor wire were far enough away as to not be seen by the
occasional television camera.
Daniel and Ricardo crouched in the brush about a half-mile away
from the fences, watching closely with binoculars. They were surrounded by a
dozen of the Underground s best fighters. Nearly a mile behind them, out of
sight from the complex, was an array of makeshift armored vehicles, all
internal combustion powered, and therefore illegal. Least of our worries,
Daniel mused.
Not much activity, Ricardo said.
Not yet, but there will be. Remember, said Daniel, speaking to all of them,
the angels are fast, even without armor. Don t even get near one
hand to hand. And don t waste your grenades. They re your only
effective weapons. Use them only when you re sure they ll do some
good.
Once we get that fence down, two things will happen. Our people will
haul ass in there and start loading people into vans, and the angels will
try to stop that from happening. Your primary concern is to protect the
vans. Don t go chasing after any angels that might try to draw you away.
That s my job.
Ricardo looked quizzically at Daniel.
The instant we blow down the gate, I ve got to find and destroy the
commandant. It ll buy us more time, and send a message as well. Don t wait for
me.
Ricardo nodded, then spoke into a walkie-talkie. Everyone ready?
He received various affirmative replies, then looked again at Daniel. May
as well get this over with, he said.
Daniel smiled grimly, and nodded.
Ricardo keyed the walkie-talkie again. Go.
Liberation
« ^ »
Once the word was given, things happened quickly. Daniel, Ricardo and the
others rushed the service entrance, blowing it open with their grenades
only moments before the speeding
Underground vans barreled through the opening. Daniel clapped a hand
on Ricardo s shoulder. Don t wait for me!
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Ricardo nodded, then followed the vans. Daniel loped off to the
north, where they were fairly sure the commandant s office must be.
Ricardo was thankful. They d taken the angels by surprise, and met almost no
resistance at all making their way to the holding areas. They d seen
only one angel so far, and Bob dispatched him fairly quickly. Thirty
seconds with no trouble, he thought. Not bad.
He knew the situation wouldn t last, though. Already, the warning
sirens were blazing throughout the complex. Judging by the reaction
times they d recorded at the other Care
Center they d bombed, they had two more minutes until the complex s
unarmored guards arrived, and ten minutes beyond that until the armor
dispatched from Heaven showed up.
They had to move quickly.
On Ricardo s signal, the lead van, one specially modified with an
armored grill, plunged through the wall of central holding facility.
The instant the cinderblocks stopped falling, Ricardo was through the
hole. We re the Underground! he shouted at the pale, emaciated
people inside. We re here to rescue you!
While the others started loading people into the trucks, Ricardo
looked to the north, waiting for the angels to come, and wondering what
Daniel was doing.
Daniel wasn t sure what he was doing. He and Ricardo had studied everything
they could about the layout of the Care Centers, and he thought he knew his
away around one pretty well.
He quickly discovered that knowing the layout of place from the air and
knowing it from the ground were two different things.
He wasn t lost, exactly. He still knew roughly where in the complex he was,
and he knew the route back to the exit and rendezvous with Ricardo
and the others. He just had no idea where the commandant was.
Stop where you are, commanded a voice behind him. And drop your weapon.
Daniel stopped and turned around slowly, dropping his grenade launcher on his
right foot.
One of the dozen or so angels in the complex, one of Gabriel s security goons
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