“But they’ll get here in time,” Trent said.
“Yes.” Trent walked away and motioned for Vladimir to join him. They talked softly for a few minutes. After some more whispers and nods from both of them they turned around and walked up to everyone.
“What should we do?” Dave asked.
“We get proactive,” Trent said. Vladimir was repeating everything in Russian to his agent and the assistants to President Deniken.
“What do you mean?” Jozette asked.
“Some will remain here to guard the presidents and to take care of each other. Some of us will leave and go on the offensive.” They all looked at one another.
“Who will go where?” Warren asked.
“All of the Presidential aides will remain here. Mr. Swanzy, Mr. Weaver, Ms. Fanelli, Mr. and Mrs. Peabody and Ms. Kline will remain here. I need Mr. Andy Kline, Ms. Bogornov and Julieta Kline to come with me,” Trent said.
“Why Julieta?” Little Wolf asked.
“I would’ve taken you too, Mr. Kline but your injury precludes that.”
“But why, Julieta?”
“As I’m sure you know the Secret Service did a thorough job of vetting everyone from your group. We know of Julieta’s abilities as she demonstrated in the jungle. Ms. Bogornov’s reputation precedes her as all of her friends must know. Mr. Kline showed his mettle landing that plane and surviving the “Great Canyon.” As for those remaining behind, you have the task of guarding the presidents. So, don’t take your exclusion from the group that is going on the attack as a mark against your abilities. We need good people here as well.” That seemed to explain everything and there were no more questions. Vladimir said the same thing to his people and it was agreed.
“What do we do?” Andy asked.
“We need weapons and those will be in short supply. We have two pistols and two automatic weapons that we have from the bus but that’s it,” Trent replied.
“The suite must have something there for the kitchen,” Julieta said.
“Mr. Wilson, will we be in pairs?” Tatiana asked.
“Yes.”
“Then may I suggest that Julieta come with me and you and Andy go together.” Trent thought for a moment. His natural instinct would be to pair men and women together but knowing Tatiana’s abilities he nodded agreement.
“Yes, I’ll team up with Mr. Kline and Mr. Zhadonov will pair with agent Retzlaf. We’ll scour the floor for any kind of weapons then meet back here. Lock this door and don’t open it unless you know it’s one of us,” Trent said.
“There’s a supply closet on the other side,” Andy said and he and Trent headed there.
“I have a utility knife,” Andy said as he rummaged through drawers and shelves.
“Is it sharp?”
“Very.”
“Then you’re armed.” Andy shook his head grinning. They found a can of mace, which seemed out of place for a custodian but they took it anyway. Trent, had a pocket knife and straight razor, again why in a supply closet but any reasoning it out was superfluous. They had weapons, of a sort.
“Check the kitchen,” Tatiana said and they began opening drawers.
“Here are some knives,” Julieta said and Tatiana pulled out a handful.
“Yes, these will do.” Tatiana held up one with a long thin blade. Yes, this is like a rapier.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a medieval weapon, very effective. Here’s another one.” Tatiana held them side by side then held them up to look closely.
“A twin pair,” Julieta said.
“Yes, I’ll use these.”
“A butcher knife and its sharp,” Julieta said.
“Good, find another two or three.”
“Why so many, aren’t we using them to fend off an attack?”
“Maybe,” Tatiana said then stabbed a knife hard into the counter top a few inches from Julieta’s hand.
“What!” Julieta said and dropped her knife in terror. “I don’t understand,” Julieta said and stood trembling.
“I’m sorry, Baby,” Tatiana said and held Julieta for a moment.
“Oh, you were testing me.”
“Yes, you have to be strong, girl. These men will come after you with everything and they won’t hesitate to kill you. They may rape you first but they’ll kill you for sure. I don’t mean to scare you but you need to be prepared and maybe a little scared too. Most of all you have to be ready.”
“I didn’t know, I thought we were stalling for help.”
“Humph, hardly.” Tatiana grabbed Julieta by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Listen to me, Julieta, I’ve dealt with this kind of men before. They have no conscience and there’s nothing about them that is good or compassionate. All they know is killing and you have to be ready to kill them. Don’t hesitate for a second. If you see one, stab deep in the eye, the heart, the neck, anywhere to disable them then kill. You can’t delay or think about it, baby. Be ready to kill instantly, you can wrestle with your conscience later. But you can’t make any self-moral judgements if you’re dead. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do, you just caught me off guard.”
“That’ll be the only time until we get out of here.” Julieta nodded. Tatiana found a .38 pistol in a drawer in the bedroom. She tucked that in her belt behind her and they left the suite with strict instructions to Julieta that no one should know that Tatiana had a gun.
“What do you have, Retzlaf?” Zhadonov asked. They’d found another suite that yielded a few knives and a ceremonial sword. But ornamental or not it was steel and very sharp.
“Nothing else except this flying insect spray.” Vladimir examined it.
“You now have mace, congratulations.” They returned to the maintenance room and faced the others.
“Keep this pistol, it’ll come in handy,” Trent said as he handed the gun to Justin.
“I’m not sure I know how to use this.”
“Then find out in a hurry.”
“Here,” Tatiana said and gave a handful of knives to Jozette. “It’s the best I could do.”
“Thanks,” Jozette said as they all looked at one another not knowing what the next few hours or even minutes would bring.
“Folks, we don’t know what is going to happen. How bloodthirsty these guys are we don’t know yet but they’re not choir boys. Their leader is a fanatic of the worst kind. He wants the two leaders as hostages, as for the rest of us, well a prayer might not be out of order. I’ve talked to agent Zhadonov and he is in agreement with me on the temperament of this group. They’ll be coming up the stairs before much longer. The six of us are going to try and stop as many of them as possible. If we stall long enough maybe some help will arrive,” Trent explained. There was silence.
“Is help on the way?” Bonnie asked. Trent looked at everyone then sighed.
“We hope so but there could be Stalinists who’ve infiltrated the local authorities as well. We just don’t know.”
“Good luck, Mr. Wilson,” Dave said.
“Thanks, and take care of Johnny.”
“I will.”
“Be careful, Love,” Dave said to Tatiana. He hugged her and she patted his cheek and smiled.
“I will but you look out for yourself. They nay get past us.” He knew what she meant but said nothing.
“Lock the door behind us,” Trent said and the six “warriors” left.
“What’s first?” Tatiana asked.
“We start making our way down the stairwell,” Vladimir said. Trent and Andy went down the back stairway. Tatiana and Julieta went down the main one and Vladimir and Gregori checked the top floor carefully.
“Is this a suicide mission?” Andy asked.
“The odds are heavily against us.”
“That answers my question,” Andy said as he proceeded grim faced but determined to help.
“Miss Tatiana, I’m scared. Is that bad?”