A hail of bullets ripped through the remnants of the glass wall, sending everyone scurrying behind the rows of consoles. Jill dove just under a stream of bullets, sliding along the floor next to Marco.
“Jill, I have a team pinned down from the northeast on the second level sixty meters directly south. Can you do anything for them?”
Jill nodded. “I can recall two groups. We’ll hit them from both sides.”
“Perfect, love. My boys appreciate it.” He looked over the edge and returned fire. Then he broke into a grin. “Just like old times, eh?”
“You’re one twisted bastard,” she said, pulling up the GPS on the tablet. “Team nine, back forty meters left and help out team fourteen at junction. Seven, hold that intersection. We are entrenching. Two, you are over-extended. Sixteen, you’re not moving. Sixteen?”
On the other side of the room, Jill saw Dylan creep closer along the wall toward the shattered windows. “Give them something pretty to look at,” he yelled.
Marco stood up and strafed the opposite direction. With the enemy’s attention focused on Marco, Dylan broke a window and sent down barrages with his combat shotgun. By the time he pulled back, enemy fire had noticeably lessened.
Faust dove by next to Jill and pulled her to her feet. “My guys east said they found a couple of civvies and maybe our scientist. And one of my teams in the south says there’re at least three sets of shitheads heading this way. Come on, get going.”
Marco and Dylan had finished off their attackers. The small group at the command center ran out and made its way east, their heavy footsteps clattering on the grating. The lime green hallways were a mess of bodies and lingering smoke. On the ceilings, the row of harsh fluorescent lights flickered and sparked over the double-wide main corridors.
“Jill, we have a concentration incoming from two levels below,” Dylan said. “Pull support from the south side. My guys up there say it’s still relatively quiet. Also, get word from the platform. We need to keep that egress route open.”
“You got it,” she answered. “Keep communications open while we move. Faust, I need a group to help squad nine flush out a nest at the intersection. Can you assist?”
The four of them headed down the hallway, continuing to direct their forces as best they could while on the run. Around them, Marco’s scout team tried to keep them protected, but the entire operation had deteriorated into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Jill looked back at the four metal columns further west down the hall. That’s where Roen and Cameron were. She prayed her family was all right.
The first half-hour guarding the platform was peaceful and boring. The agents guarding the Chinooks – Ms Gwenda’s team of four, three pilots, and Cameron – were assigned two to each stair, one at the elevator, and one watching the skies. Cameron unfortunately had drawn the short straw and was watching the damn night sky and seeing nothing. It was pitch black outside. He took his job seriously, though, and walked a big circle around the triangle that the three helicopters formed.
“This job sucks ass, Tao. This isn’t what I signed up for.”
Oh, I am sorry. You were expecting to be entertained? Clandestine agent work is filled with a lot of tedium. Ask your father sometime. You should be used to this by now. The two of you have gone on missions several times already.
“That was different. Hunting or tracking isn’t the same as guard duty. I never want to do this again.”
Ha. Boy, did you pick the wrong profession. Next thing you know, you will tell me you think fighting is bad.
“Well, now that you mention it -”
I swear if you say the p-word, I will throw you over a balcony while you sleep just to get a new host.
“Punctual? Predictable? Pedagogical?”
Too bad you didn’t embark on a career as a professional spelling bee competitor.
“Oh, lighten up. Come on, entertain me. Be my shiny bauble.”
There was a long pause before Tao finally spoke. Right there, you remind me so much of your father. I miss him. My time with him was far too short.
“Well, if something happens to me, you guys can meet up and date again.”
Hush. Do not say things like that.
“I’m just kidding.”
I am not.
Roen calling temporarily broke up his boredom. He could hear the chatter in the background down wherever his father was, and it all sounded so much more interesting than what he was doing now. In typical Roen fashion, his dad began to spoon-feed him advice that Tao had already given him a hundred times before.
The sound of automatic fire on the southeast corner punctured the otherwise quiet and calming sound of waves breaking against the columns. One of the guards yelled something and more gunfire blended with the waves and screams into a cacophonic mess. Cameron got off the comm and ran to that corner, just in time to see four Genjix rush out of the stairwell. One of the guards was lying face-down, while the other was on his back, writhing in pain and trying to return fire.
“Spread out,” Gwenda barked. “Flanking positions!” She looked over at Cameron. “Commander, inner triangle. Please.”
“But I have no sights from there.”
“Go!”
One of the most important rules is to follow orders.
“This is bullshit,” Cameron grumbled as he climbed through an open door of the helicopter on one side and then out the other to the inner triangle. He kept his rifle against his shoulder as he swiveled back and forth through the opened doors, ready to shoot if the enemy came into his sights. The violence continued for a few more seconds before silence fell again.
Cameron heard a few calls of “clear” followed by a “stairwell clear.”
He saw a shadow blur to his left through one of the helicopter doors, and before he could yell a warning, he heard a cry of pain followed by three gunshots. Jumping into action on pure instinct, he dove and slid under the nose of a Chinook to roll to the other side.
Cameron aimed his rifle at the new threat and stopped, mouth agape as he stared at the most incredible sight he’d ever seen in his life. Unfortunately, the incredible sight was busy killing the team guarding the platform. A small woman, wearing what looked like a full-blown armored ninja costume, was moving so fast she was almost a blur. She carried a strange, spear-like blade on both wrists and a pistol in her right hand. She moved with the grace of a dancer, slicing through the team like a shadow. The only time she was still was when she pulled the trigger, which to Cameron’s horror, was aimed point-blank at Ms Gwenda’s face. Within seconds, the bodies of the entire team were slumped on the ground, throats slit or gunshot wounds in their heads.
Get moving and shoot that bitch!
By the time Cameron snapped out of his trance, she was gone. He scrambled to his feet and ran to each of the bodies. Everyone was dead, killed cleanly and quickly. A new sort of terror gripped him as he looked around for this woman. This was vastly different than when he had had to fight Jacob. Then, he had been raging too hard to think. He just wanted to protect his mom. Now, he was alone, and the intense fear was overwhelming.
Keep it together, Cameron. Stop holding your breath. Exhale. You are dealing with an Adonis Vessel. It is nothing you cannot handle. You have already fought one before. In fact, she is not better than Lin, and you have sparred with him dozens of times.
“Well, Lin is eighty, and beat me while he was reading the newspaper.”
He just likes to show off.
“What is a boy doing here?” the woman’s voice said from somewhere in the air behind him. The wind was blowing so hard, it seemed to come from everywhere. “Are the Prophus that lacking for men?”