And so on, the image changing every half second, ending finally with a portrait of a small, scruffy black dog looking at the camera in surprise.
The team leader didn’t understand why Target 7 was an animal. He didn’t need to understand. All he needed to know was that these targets were slated for capture.
… 3… 2… 1…
The leader emitted a whistle pitched so high that only his team members could hear it. He motioned toward the small run-down cabin they had surrounded in the woods.
Synchronized perfectly, as only machines can be, the eight team members shouldered eight portable rocket launchers and aimed them straight at the cabin. With awhoosh, eight large nets made of woven Kevlar strands shot out from the cannons and unfolded with geometric precision in midair, encasing the cabin almost entirely.
The team leader smiled in triumph.
2
“THE PREY HAVE BEEN CAPTURED, SIR,” the team leader said in a monotone. Pride was not tolerated in this organization.
“Why do you say that?” theUber -Director asked in a silky tone.
“The cabin has been secured.”
“No. Not quite,” said theUber -Director, who was little more than a human head attached by means of an artificial spinal column to a series of Plexiglas boxes. Thebioengine that controlled the airflow over his vocal cords allowed him to sigh, and he did. “The chimney. The skylight.”
The team leader frowned. “The chimney would be impossible to climb,” he said, accessing his internal encyclopedia. Photographs of the prey scrolled quickly across the team leader’s screen. Suddenly an important detail caught his attention, and he froze.
In the corner of one of the photographs, a large feathered wing was visible. The team leader tracked it, zooming in on just that section of the image. The wing appeared to be attached to the prey.