55 Hide and Seek

Once the group were out of the capital and a safe distance for them to stop, they then began to figure out where Klaue and the royals could be hiding.

"We broke you out and you have no idea where Klaue could have taken the King and Princess." Ondati said with no small amount of disappointment. Her ever silent accomplice sharing her severe look.

'Everyone is always so critical.'

"Look, I have suspicions of where they could be holding out. That being said I can't be 100% sure. If I was then we would be well on our way to kick their asses. So, shall we focus on figuring out where they are?" Devin said as he turned to look at T'Challa.

"What are your suspicions?" T'Challa asked as he pressed a button only for a small orb to appear and light up. A holographic map popped up midair and showed a map of the country.

"Okay, we know that at some point Klaue was at that hill we were gonna inspect the first time, but I doubt that they are still there. Their home base is way too far away from here and-" Devin began talking before a choking noise interrupted his speaking.

"You know where their home base is?!" Okoye asked while the other two and T'Challa looked like they had eaten something incredibly rotten.

"Yes. Now I believe that if we are able to get an aerial vi-" Devin tried to continue only to have Ondati interrupt this time.

"If you knew where their home base was why didn't you report that when you were speaking to the council?!" Ondati demanded as the others frowned. With a sigh Devin stopped.

"Yes, I knew where their home base is. No, I did not tell the council where it was. This is because at the time it had no relevance to what was happening and it still doesn't. Now, if you are done, can we focus on narrowing down where the king and princess are instead of talking about irrelevant things?" Devin said before looking at each of the other occupants before looking back at the map. To their credit they all stopped talking.

"Okay as I was saying. If we can get an aerial view of the outlying areas we might be able to find them using thermal imaging. Since they would have a significant amount of mercenaries and personnel to do this op then we might be able to find them through their collective heat signatures as long as they are outside though the canopy might obstruct things a little." Devin explained as he looked over the map once more.

"Okay that might not be possible as we don't really have anyone to access any tech and do the scans. Not without contacting others in the labs which I'm sure would alert the capital to our location most likely." Okoye said as she focused on the map. This gave Devin an idea for later, but for the moment he continued to focus on the present.

"Okay then. Do we have any knowledge on the subterranean area or cave locations that are large enough to contain roughly fifty plus men including large amounts of equipment and supplies?" Devin asked only for Irindi to point at the map.

"There is only two such caves that I know about that fit that description. One is usually filled with water at this time of year and the other has a floor riddled with stalagmites." Irindi said which surprised Devin.

'She never speaks! I was beginning to think she was mute!'

"We know that Klaue has at least one mutant and he could possibly have more so the water thing isn't necessarily a deterrent to using the one cave." Devin said as he marked the two caves along with the hill they were originally gonna raid.

"Are there any more areas that could be used as a refuge that we will need to check?" Devin asked as he looked at each of the others and getting nothing from them.

"Alright where should we check first?" Devin asked as he looked around at the individuals around himself one more time.

"I think that we should check the base that we were going to in the first place just in case they want us to look somewhere else and throw us off." T'Challa said as as Okoye shook her head.

"I think that the caves might be a better chance at finding the king and princess." Okoye stated as the other two women looked from the prince to their captain.

"Okay, okay. I have to agree with the prince here. We need to sweep and clear the known before moving on to the unknown. So lets get back there and check." Devin said as the others nodded and the vehicle started up again.

***

Turns out the original base was a dud. When they breached the entrance after ten minutes of searching for said entrance, they found nothing but an empty concrete bunker with empty shelving here and there.

Moving on to the caves, they started with the cave with the stalagmites first. They approached the entrance to the cave and waited to see if they can hear movement or voices, but the sound of water dripping and insect calls were the only thing they heard. Slowly they entered the cave, weapons drawn and on high alert. It looked like any big, natural cave you'd see on National Geographic, but nothing looked disturbed.

"Nothing, Let's go on to the last one." T'Challa said as they turned and began to leave only for something to catch Devin's eye out of his peripherals. Walking over he crouched down and inspected a patch of dirt that seemed to be disturbed. He then saw what looked like a partial tread from a boot while the rest looked like it had been swept to make the mark disappear.

"They were here." Devin said as the others ran back and inspected the patch he was staring at.

"Then they have to be here." Ondati said as she started looking around once more.

"No, not necessarily. This track is at least a week old so most likely they sent a small team to scout out this place, but lets double check everything. Just in case." Devin said as he stood up again, dusting off his hands. Spreading out everyone was checking for anything that could have been possibly missed. They combed over everything looking for switches or hidden passages.

Just as Devin decided to take a second to think, he rested his hand on the tip of one of the stalagmites only for it to shift slightly under his hand. Removing his hand, Devin looked carefully at the formation in question and found a hairline seam where the two pieces met. Putting pressure on the tip pf the rock caused it to tip over revealing a what looked like a fingerprint scanner.

"Found it!" Devin said as he looked at the small scanner. Soon everyone was surrounding the object.

"Okay, we found how to get in. Now the only question is, How do we activate it?" Ondati said as she looked at the scanner before turning to the others.

"It looks like either a biometric scanner or a fingerprint reader, Either way we're gonna need a volunteer to open this thing up for us." Devin said as he gestured with his hand.

"And where exactly are we going to find your so called 'Volunteer'?" Okoye asked. The faint sound of voices reached their ears and were steadily getting louder.

'Speak of the Devil.'

"Everyone hide!" Okoye hissed as the group scattered for cover. Everyone took a spot, either hidden by stalagmites or large piles of rock. In came two men dressed in shorts and tank tops holding AKs and ammo belts strapped across them in various fashions. The man on the left had on a hat while the other a bandana.

"You think that Klaue will be able to get the goods from the Wakandans?" Mr. Bandana asked as they continued through the cave.

"If the Wakandans are smart then he will. If not they might need to crown someone new. Then we'll kidnap them as well! Haha!" Mr. Hat said before stepping up to where the fake formation was and tipping the top back. Placing his middle finger on the scanner, an electronic beep was heard as the man removed his finger and closed the top of the fake.

Just as T'Challa and the dora milaje were about to act Devin was already on the two men, daggers in his hands. With two quick swipes, Devin has impaled his daggers straight through the sides of the two men's necks. A few gurgled noises were the only sounds made before Devin pulled the daggers back and the two men crumpled to the ground.

Stowing the two men off to the side of the door. Devin waved for the others to enter before following.

"Lets go say hi."