by T E Stouyer
“I heard something down there. I think someone’s coming.”
They all stood silent, and peered into the shadowy east-walkway as they waited.
Soon, everyone else was also able to make out the footsteps heading in their direction. It sounded like more than just one person. Maybe two. They were moving quickly. But not too quickly. Not walking, but not quite running, either. It was more like a jogging pace.
“Don’t shoot!” Carson called out as he emerged from the shadows, closely followed by the detective.
“Oh, it’s you,” Kincade said as he and his comrades lowered their weapons. “Good, you’re right on time.”
Arianne smiled and nodded at Marie.
The detective smiled back.
“Did you come in through the east entrance?” Kincade asked.
“Yes,” Carson replied. “But it was strange. We didn’t see anyone on our way here.”
Rock shrugged. “At this hour. In the middle of the week. What did you expect?”
“No, he’s right,” Doc said. “We’ve yet to come across even one surveillance guard. There doesn’t seem to be anyone making late-night rounds in this place. That is strange.”
“We convinced the night guards to give us some privacy,” a voice said, coming from the west-walkway, on the other side of the escalator landing.
Damien appeared before the group, flanked by Johann and Kadyna.
The redheaded woman stepped forward and enthusiastically waved at Arianne. “Hello, sis!”
“Kad, why have you come here?” Arianne said. “I know you don’t agree with everything Damien is doing.”
“Maybe not, but I agree with you even less. Face it, Ari. We’ll never fit in with those … people.” As she uttered that last word, Kadyna shot a sweeping look of disdain at her sister’s companions.
“That’s not true,” Arianne said. “Please, let us try. It’s not too late. Not even for you, Johann.”
The blond man rolled his eyes. “Argh please, sister, not another lecture. The truth is, I don’t really care about any of this. I’m just going along with Damien because he’s a lot more fun to be around than you are. I even get to kill a few people, now and then.”
“Whoa,” Rock exclaimed. “I guess everyone was right about you, man. I’ve only known you for like five seconds, but even I can tell you’ve got some serious issues.”
Damien stared at Arianne and said, “I’m missing part of the clues, aren’t I?”
She didn’t reply.
He studied her for a moment and added, “You don’t seem surprised to see us. And yet, you came anyway.” He gave a quick look around. “And without Soran, or Ashrem.”
“Hey, what can I tell you?” Rock chuckled. “We’re thrill seekers. We like to live on the edge. Besides, you guys seem to be missing a couple of people, too,” the giant pointed out.
“Was Mitsuki captured by Jenkins?” Arianne asked.
“Yes,” Damien calmly replied.
The young woman lowered her eyes and wore a pensive frown. “I was afraid of that …” She then gazed back at her brother and said, “Darius went to rescue her, didn’t he?”
“He did.”
“We should all be helping him instead of fighting one another,” Arianne argued.
“We will,” the silver-haired man declared. “But only After we’ve retrieved the data card.” He paused and gazed at the mercenaries, and then turned to Arianne once again. “I didn’t think you’d bring them here with you, knowing you’d be leading them straight to their deaths.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to bury us,” Kincade said. “We might just surprise you.”
Damien gave him a scornful look. “You and your little band of soldiers are in way over your heads.”
Kincade sighed, and then said, “Well, if I’m being perfectly honest, I’d have to say I agree with you on this. But it doesn’t really matter.”
Damien tilted his head to the side. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Because,” Kincade said. “We’re not the only ones you’re gonna have to deal with tonight. We’ve brought friends.”
Damien glanced at Carson and Marie.
“If it isn’t my favorite detective,” Johann said, only now acknowledging Marie’s presence. “And what about your partner? Did he make it?”
Marie glared at him, but said nothing.
Johann studied the detective briefly. “Oh, he’s still alive, I see. Good for him.” He then scratched his head, looking troubled. “I must confess, I have mixed feelings about this news. On the one hand, I’m kind of annoyed he survived. But on the other hand, if I ever stop in Berlin again, I’ll have someone to visit.” The blond man’s gaze sharpened. “Of course, I’m not including you because, at this juncture, it’s hard for me to imagine you leaving this place alive.”
“Are you done?” Kadyna snapped.
“What?” Johann said, putting on an air of innocence.
“Seriously, you need help,” she told him.
Once Damien was done sizing up Carson and Marie, he turned to Kincade and asked, “How will these two make any difference?”
A coy smile flickered across Kincade’s face. “Ah, but those weren’t the friends I was referring to,” he said. Then, all of a sudden, he tossed his automatic rifle to Carson and said to him, “Looks like our friends took the bait.”
“Looks like,” Carson said as he caught the weapon.
Having noticed the change in the pitch of their voices, as well as the strange glimmer in their eyes, Damien’s instincts immediately warned him to be on his guard.
That’s when it happened.
A detonation. A single gunshot.
Damien jumped back just in time to get out of the path of the bullet.
The shot had come from above, fired at an angle. But before the silver-haired man could fully grasp what was happening, more shots followed.
Everyone scattered to safety as bullets started raining down on their positions.
Over a dozen heavily armed men wearing masks had broken through the glass ceiling, opposite the clothing store, and using long ropes, slid down to the second-floor walkway as they fired at the group.
Kincade’s team had been expecting the attack. It had been part of their plan all along for Carson and Marie to lead the masked men here. So, both Kincade and Arianne had intentionally remained close to the escalator landing, and had rushed down the steps as soon as the first shot had been fired.
Meanwhile, Rock and Carson had found cover behind a large counter at the edge of the circular intersection.
“Looks like the party’s started,” the giant said. “What do you say we join in?”
Carson gave him a firm nod.
The two men immediately launched a counter-attack, and engaged the masked men with reckless temerity. They seemed more than willing to take on all the assailants by themselves, and in doing so, forced the masked men to exercise some caution and relent in their assault.
This allowed Doc Chen and Marie to reach a much safer spot. The pair ran into the smaller and darker south-walkway and took refuge inside the marble-laced alcove of a jewelry store entrance. They were now directly under the assailants, and therefore out of their lines of fire.
But Doc knew more would eventually show up. Lucielle had told them that Jenkins’ men would have two clear objectives: the clones and the card. The mercenaries were nothing more than a hindrance, an obstacle to be removed. Therefore, the plan was to keep out of the way as much as possible and let the other two factions—the masked men and Damien’s group—fight each other.
It was a simple plan, easy to follow. But it did have one possible flaw: Rock. The giant had an unfortunate tendency to get carried away when playing with guns and explosives. And to make matters worse, at the moment, he happened to be paired up with Carson who, from the looks of it, was just as unfamiliar with the meaning of the expression ‘holding back’.
Although he was thankful because their actions had made it eas
ier for him and Marie to get out harm’s way, Doc now felt the need to remind his two eager companions that their goal was merely to buy time for Arianne and Kincade, not to take down every single one of Jenkins’ soldiers.
“Hey, you two!” he called to them. “Take it down a notch. Remember, there’s no need for heroics.”
“Yeah, yeah, got it,” Rock said as he continued to return the enemy’s fire. “But you know how much I hate it when people start shooting at me.”
“By the way, where’s Sonar?” Doc asked.
“Into the big store, at your twelve o’clock,” Carson replied.
Marie stared at her companions with disbelief. This was the second time she witnessed the mercenaries engage in casual-like conversation while a group of armed men were actively trying to kill them. There’s something very wrong with these people, she thought to herself.
Doc tried to peer through the clothing store’s windows. But it was too dark inside. And it was on the other side of the escalators. Too far to see clearly. In order to get there, he would need to go around the walkway intersection. But there was no way he would make it. There was too much open space to go across. And besides, he preferred not to leave Marie by herself. It was too dangerous. Being a city cop, even a good one, didn’t quite prepare you for this type of war-like combat zone.
But Doc was worried about Sonar. And since Rock and Carson were already close to their missing comrade’s last known position, he decided to entrust them with the task of finding him.
“Hey, Rock!” Doc called out. “Make sure Sonar’s OK,” he said, nodding to the clothing store.
“I’m on it,” the giant shouted back. He then turned to Carson and said, “Cover me!”
Carson nodded, and then unleashed a barrage of fire on the row of masked men on the upper-level walkway. It created a brief window for Rock to make a run for the store’s glass doors.
Carson was surprised to see how quickly the giant could move, given his size. In almost no time at all, Rock had made it behind a large stone column in front of the clothing store’s entrance.
But by then, more men were approaching from the east-walkway—which was now to Rock’s left. Between them and the men above, Carson would soon be taking fire from two different sides. His position would quickly be overrun.
Having spotted the approaching group, Rock shouted for Carson to toss him his semi-automatic rifle.
Under the circumstances, most people would have found it difficult to comply with such a request. And understandably so. One would definitely expect to be given a damn good reason before relinquishing their biggest gun in the middle of a firefight. But Carson’s experience as a soldier had taught him not to question this type of split-second decisions in the heat of battle. Even when no explanations were offered. He knew that a split-second could sometimes mean the difference between life and death. He lay his weapon on the marble floor and slid it towards Rock.
The giant crouched down and picked up the weapon. Then, with a semi-automatic rifle in each hand, he stood face against the column, stuck his arms out on either side of it, and fired in a sweeping pattern at both the railings above and the walkway to his left.
With Rock providing cover fire for him, Carson seized the opportunity to bolt away from the counter. He dashed towards the clothing store and took back his weapon as he ran past the giant, and then blasted his way through the store’s glass doors.
Rock exchanged a quick nod with Doc Chen, and then promptly followed Carson inside.
“Get down!” Carson yelled.
Thanks to the warning, the giant hit the deck just in time to avoid the hail of bullets that greeted him as soon as he rushed into the store. He crawled behind a display pedestal and surveyed his surroundings. He soon spotted a handful of silhouettes deeper inside the store. More of Jenkins’ men were coming at them from another direction.
Carson had taken cover behind a square post, about ten feet to the right of the entrance. Rock looked up towards him and said, “I’m beginning to think we sent out too many invitations to this party.”
A couple of minutes earlier …
As soon as the attack started, Sonar was forced to make a beeline for the clothing store. Having strayed too far from the others, he had no choice but to run and dive through the nearest window for cover.
He crash-landed face-down and let out an awkward grunt as his forehead bumped against the marble. He quickly shook off the slight dizziness and placed his palms flat against the floor, ready to push off and spring back to his feet.
But then, something changed his mind. He held his breath and lay still on his stomach with his left ear pressed against the cold marble tiles.
There was no mistaking it. The floor carried the faint vibrations of footsteps at the far-end of the vast room. From what Sonar could tell, there was at least half-a-dozen men, maybe more, slowly but steadily moving in his direction. No doubt it was more of Jenkins’ men, intending to flank his team while they were still busy fending off the first wave of the attack.
Sonar tried to warn the others over his two-way earpiece. But nothing happened. The coms were jammed. Jenkins’ men had come fully prepared, this time around.
Just outside the store, the firefight was still going on in full swing, which meant that one or more of Sonar’s comrades could still be pinned down in a vulnerable position.
There was little time. The footsteps were getting closer.
Sonar took a quick look around. He was in the women’s section. There were mannequins spread throughout, displaying coats and jackets from the new collection.
Moving quickly, but quietly, he picked up one of the dummies and placed it behind a square column, and made sure part of its arm was sticking out. Then, staying low, he slithered through the clothes’ racks and hid behind a wall, right next to the escalators. Then, he waited.
As expected, the masked men spotted the dummy’s arm as they moved further into the store. Thinking it belonged to one of their targets, they cautiously proceeded to surround its position.
When he judged that the masked men had gotten close enough to see through his subterfuge, Sonar decided to put his plan into motion. He shot the two nearest to him, and then dashed towards the escalators.
The sneak-attack caught the masked men completely off-guard. And before any of them had time to retaliate, the redhead swiftly disappeared up the steps.
But once he reached the top, Sonar halted and turned around, and then risked a few quick glances down as he waited once again.
Within moments, two men showed up at the base of the escalators with their weapons aimed upwards.
Good, Sonar thought. His plan had worked. He had succeeded in slowing down the masked men’s advance, and had therefore afforded his companions on the outside an extra precious few seconds.
But more importantly, he had forced the masked men to split up into two groups. They couldn’t recklessly proceed forward while leaving their six o’clock exposed to another hit-and-run attack. They had no choice but to send someone to deal with him.
Sonar fired a couple of rounds down the ramp. He knew he most likely wouldn’t hit anything, but that was OK. His goal was only to inspire his two pursuers to exercise a little caution, instead of rushing up after him. He needed time to assess the situation.
First, he had to find out what was happening with the others. He was now one floor above the rest of his team, and on the same level as the first wave of assailants who had come down through the glass ceiling. He would need to be careful not to be seen by them when he approached the windows to take a peek outside. He fired another shot down the ramp for good measure, and then immediately started on his way.
But Sonar had barely taken a couple of steps, when a man crashed through a glass window and dropped less than five feet away from him.
It was one of Jenkins’ guys. And he wasn’t moving.
Once he got over his initial surprise, the redhead knelt down to check the man’s pulse. He was dead.
>
Sonar then raised his head and scanned the walkway right outside the store. He couldn’t see anyone. Where the hell did this guy come from? he wondered. That’s when he spotted a bunch of shadowy figures fighting on the opposite walkway across the small bridge, on the other side of the shopping center’s wing.
Sonar’s gaze fell back to the body next to him, and his eyes stretched wide with a frightful realization. The man had been thrown from the walkway on the other side. That realization greatly narrowed down the list of possible culprits. It had to have been one of the clones.
Arianne’s warning echoed inside the mercenary’s head. Like an alarm set to go off under certain pre-defined conditions. “Do everything you can to keep away from my brothers and sisters,” the young woman had said. “They’re more dangerous than you know.”
You certainly don’t need to tell me, Sonar said to himself.
He turned around and threw a quick glance at the escalator landing. He could hear his pursuers making their way up, emboldened by the fact that Sonar’s rifle had been silent for a while. Each of their steps was careful and deliberate, but also determined. They had already climbed half-way up the steps. They were committed. They would not be forced back down, and were probably ready to shoot at anything that moved. They would arrive any second now.
But then, all of a sudden, all hell broke loose downstairs, inside the store’s lower level. Sonar heard a shout—maybe Carson’s voice—quickly followed by a string of gunshots, and by the sound of a hundred pieces of glass raining down on the floor. The firefight had spread inside the clothing store. Which meant that his comrades had become aware of the new wave of assailants closing in on their position. The enemy had lost the element of surprise.
Sonar was relieved. His actions had paid off. But now, having done all he could to help his comrades, he decided it was time to worry about himself. Cut off from the rest of the team, and unable to contact them over the com line, he was probably the most vulnerable amongst them, at the moment. His best option was to get to the meeting point and wait for them there.
Meanwhile, the fighting on the other side of the small bridge appeared to have moved inside one of the larger shops. The opposite walkway now looked completely deserted.