We landed about ten miles from the safe house. The house itself was essentially in the middle of a forest, but the last thing we wanted was give the handlers any reason to suspect something out of the ordinary. As anxious as I was on the plane, I found myself snapping into mission mode once we hit the ground. I let the adrenaline push my nerves aside and control my focus. The IDA had sent a two-man advance surveillance team an hour ahead of us to get a couple cars on the ground and eyes on the house. The two agents, Parker and Mills, met us when we landed. 
 
The first thing I noticed was the cold. It threw me off even though I was prepared for it. We were dressed in layers—the last of which was a thermal hooded sweatshirt. Mine was zipped up to my chin.
 
"We didn't learn anything new," Agent Parker said. He looked like he might be a little older than Cody. "We managed to get close enough to put a tap on their security system, so Command has access to it. They're waiting for your word to shut it down." 
 
"Excellent," Cody said. As the most experienced and highest ranking agent, he had point on this mission. Though, he and everyone else deferred to me fairly regularly. 
 
Agent Mills started her car while Parker jumped into the second one. We partnered off. Cody and I took the back seat of Mills's, while Nikki and Rachel took Parker's. We went in opposite directions. The plan was for each team to approach from either side of the house, which would ideally reduce our visibility. 
 
"You guys are clear on the extraction protocol, right?" Mills asked before she dropped us off. 
 
"We're good to go," I said, answering for both of us. Two cars brought us in, but only one was picking us up. Our plan was to gas the house, which would leave everyone unconscious. If things went smoothly, we would be able locate Eliza and leave through the front door before the handlers started to wake. We had a ten minute window to make this happen. 
 
"We'll see you on the other side," Mills said, her ponytail swaying as she turned back to the road. She drove off quickly and quietly. 
 
Once Cody and I settled on the perimeter of KATO's security, Cody pushed his comm in. "Alpha team in position."
 
"Copy." It was Walter. He was running Command for this mission, which was one of the main reasons why I would be doing as little communicating with Command as possible. The two of us hadn't gotten along that great on our last missions. He didn't trust me, which made it difficult for me to trust him. He was supposedly the best tech, which was undoubtedly why he was assigned to a mission like this one.
 
"Beta team in position," Rachel said shortly after us. 
 
"Command, we're waiting for your word," Cody said to Walter.
 
"Stand by," Walter said. The line went quiet for a moment. "Security system is disabled. You're clear to move in." 
 
We'd each been given a dart gun, equipped with darts designed to pierce glass and release a knock-out gas. I felt good holding the gun—if I remembered correctly, my mother had developed something similar. I would bet this weapon was based on her technology. 
 
"On my mark," Cody said. I took aim and waited for his signal before firing off my dart. I had the upstairs, Rachel had the downstairs, and Nikki and Cody had the basement. "All right, we're on the count." We had to wait fifteen seconds for the gas to disperse, do its job, and dissipate. When the time had passed, Cody signaled us in. "We have ten minutes to get in, get the girl, and get out." If we were inside longer than that, the handlers were likely to wake up and catch us. "Let's move."