seen.”
Aramis nodded his agreement, and Athos stroked his chin before nodding. “That’s a very good idea, Porthos. I’ll ask you to contact the lab about that. Aramis, I’ll need you to find any plans on the security systems guarding that community. We need to make sure this will work before we get started. I’ll make reservations at a hotel nearby. We’re probably going to have to go there to do research before we can figure out how to run this.”
The others nodded, and all three Hunters got to work on their assignments.
●●●●●
“That place is a fortress ,” Aramis said when the Hunters reconvened. “It’s a shame we have to go full human in trying to get inside those walls, because no human is going to get into that place.”
“Explain,” Athos said.
“Computer, display De Gray Estates as a hologram,” Aramis said by way of reply. The walled community wafted off the table surface and reformed in the air as a three dimensional image that could be viewed from any angle. Athos and Porthos walked over to Aramis to get the same view.
“The walls, as previously noted, are twenty feet high and circle the entire community, which is roughly twenty-five hundred acres in size.” Two humans appeared on the screen to give perspective; the walls were nearly four times the height of the man and woman standing next to them. “The walls are solid concrete, so blasting your way in isn’t something you can do quietly. The walls slope out from the base on the ground up to the the top, and supposedly Stark’s engineers figured out how to seal the concrete on the outside with a material that makes the walls slick. Try climbing at a forty-five degree angle with your back facing the ground, on a surface that’s basically ice. It’s not happening. If we gave our lab guys a few months they might be able to come up with something that would work, but…”
“But we don’t have months,” Athos said, sighing. “We have days. Maybe.”
Aramis directed their attention to the top of the walls. “If by some miracle you manage to scale the walls, you’ll find yourself face-to-face with a ten-foot high barbed wire fence.” At the looks of confusion, Aramis explained. “It’s basically a cross between a metal wire fence and a thorny rose bush.”
“So, sort of like Athos,” Porthos said. “Do go on, Aramis. You’re giving me such a profound sense of confidence and optimism.”
“Oh, it gets better, Porthos,” Aramis said, rolling his eyes. “There are actually video cameras mounted within the wall, monitoring the perimeter, and they’re difficult to see and thus difficult to disable. Everything captured by the cameras goes back to the two guards. Why two guards? Because if one of them is incapacitated, the other can watch everything until the human police or a replacement guard arrives.”
“That means we’ll need to incapacitate the guards at the same time,” Athos noted. “We can’t have either calling for backup. Ideally we get the sleep potion in with an extra-powerful mixture and they both sleep immediately. Anything else?”
Aramis nodded. “The humans have only two ways to enter the community. If they’re in their vehicles, there’s a concrete gate that’s ten feet high and two feet thick they need to go through. If they prove to the guards that they’re permitted in, the guards can activate the gate and it lowers into the ground. Once they’ve entered or exited, the gate goes back up. Cars have tried to ram the gate; those cars have all been completely destroyed in the effort.
“If they’re on foot, there’s a double-door system called a man-trap. Basically, you open a door and enter a small room. A system there reads your fingerprint and scans your eye and verifies your identity. The guards receive information on whether your identity is confirmed as someone approved to enter. They then open the locked inner door, and the person walks into the community. If you’re not
Aramis nodded his agreement, and Athos stroked his chin before nodding. “That’s a very good idea, Porthos. I’ll ask you to contact the lab about that. Aramis, I’ll need you to find any plans on the security systems guarding that community. We need to make sure this will work before we get started. I’ll make reservations at a hotel nearby. We’re probably going to have to go there to do research before we can figure out how to run this.”
The others nodded, and all three Hunters got to work on their assignments.
●●●●●
“That place is a fortress ,” Aramis said when the Hunters reconvened. “It’s a shame we have to go full human in trying to get inside those walls, because no human is going to get into that place.”
“Explain,” Athos said.
“Computer, display De Gray Estates as a hologram,” Aramis said by way of reply. The walled community wafted off the table surface and reformed in the air as a three dimensional image that could be viewed from any angle. Athos and Porthos walked over to Aramis to get the same view.
“The walls, as previously noted, are twenty feet high and circle the entire community, which is roughly twenty-five hundred acres in size.” Two humans appeared on the screen to give perspective; the walls were nearly four times the height of the man and woman standing next to them. “The walls are solid concrete, so blasting your way in isn’t something you can do quietly. The walls slope out from the base on the ground up to the the top, and supposedly Stark’s engineers figured out how to seal the concrete on the outside with a material that makes the walls slick. Try climbing at a forty-five degree angle with your back facing the ground, on a surface that’s basically ice. It’s not happening. If we gave our lab guys a few months they might be able to come up with something that would work, but…”
“But we don’t have months,” Athos said, sighing. “We have days. Maybe.”
Aramis directed their attention to the top of the walls. “If by some miracle you manage to scale the walls, you’ll find yourself face-to-face with a ten-foot high barbed wire fence.” At the looks of confusion, Aramis explained. “It’s basically a cross between a metal wire fence and a thorny rose bush.”
“So, sort of like Athos,” Porthos said. “Do go on, Aramis. You’re giving me such a profound sense of confidence and optimism.”
“Oh, it gets better, Porthos,” Aramis said, rolling his eyes. “There are actually video cameras mounted within the wall, monitoring the perimeter, and they’re difficult to see and thus difficult to disable. Everything captured by the cameras goes back to the two guards. Why two guards? Because if one of them is incapacitated, the other can watch everything until the human police or a replacement guard arrives.”
“That means we’ll need to incapacitate the guards at the same time,” Athos noted. “We can’t have either calling for backup. Ideally we get the sleep potion in with an extra-powerful mixture and they both sleep immediately. Anything else?”
Aramis nodded. “The humans have only two ways to enter the community. If they’re in their vehicles, there’s a concrete gate that’s ten feet high and two feet thick they need to go through. If they prove to the guards that they’re permitted in, the guards can activate the gate and it lowers into the ground. Once they’ve entered or exited, the gate goes back up. Cars have tried to ram the gate; those cars have all been completely destroyed in the effort.
“If they’re on foot, there’s a double-door system called a man-trap. Basically, you open a door and enter a small room. A system there reads your fingerprint and scans your eye and verifies your identity. The guards receive information on whether your identity is confirmed as someone approved to enter. They then open the locked inner door, and the person walks into the community. If you’re not
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