Gibbs swung the butt of the M16 at Butler’s head, connecting with his jaw. His head snapped to the side, and three teeth fragments flew out onto the rooftop. Butler moaned and held his jaw. Staggering upright again, he stood swaying. Gibbs stepped forward and head-butted the man. His head snapped back, and he fell against the air conditioner unit, screaming in pain as blood dripped to the floor.
'Gibbs, step away from him,' Andrei shouted from the stairwell door. 'We need to take him alive.'
Gibbs swung the M16 up and pointed it at Andrei. ‘Stay out of this, Andrei!'
'Look, Gibbs, I know that you want retribution, but he has to be taken alive. Those are our orders. Direct orders from Chancellor Rolin, who sent us here to capture this scum. You cannot kill him, or you will go to prison. What of Stuart then?'
Lord Butler's cries of pain started to morph into a maniacal laugh.
'Ignore him, Gibbs,' Andrei shouted, taking a few steps closer.
Lord Butler stood up again, blood seeping down his chin. 'I have destroyed all the stockpiled Kharon vaccine, so the world is going to lose a lot of people. You have all failed in your mission. Once again, Captain Gibbs, you have failed in your mission.'
'What would Christina want you to do?' Andrei said.’
'Don't listen to that dumb old Russian, Gibbs.' Lord Butler laughed. 'What does he know? This was all about getting revenge on the person who wrecked the Phoenix Council. Your sweet bitch of a wife whose life I took great joy in taking.’
Gibbs launched at the man with his bare hands. Lord Butler drew his mother's dagger and swung it up into Gibbs in a fluid motion. He saw it coming, but couldn't change direction. The small four-inch blade sunk into his lower torso and Gibbs groaned with pain as he fell forward onto Lord Butler. Pulling back, he looked at the knife and swung a last ditch sledgehammer right hook across the jaw of Lord Butler. A loud crack rang out as the man staggered a few steps to the edge of the building. Spinning around, he laughed a throaty laugh, his dislocated jaw hanging at a strange angle.
'Gibbs, leave him,' Andrei shouted.
Gibbs held the knife with his left hand as he walked backwards towards Andrei. 'Okay, mate. You and Rolin have your man.'
Andrei nodded and walked towards Gibbs, who slumped forwards into his arms. 'You have made the right decision, friend. Let's get some medical attention for you. Leave the knife in. It will halt the bleeding.'
Gibbs slipped his right hand onto Andrei's holstered Glock and ripped it out, pushing the Russian backwards. Spinning around, Gibbs squeezed the trigger twice.
Lord Butler's head snapped back from the force of the bullets, taking him off balance as he fell backwards through a mist of crimson. He landed on the bricked edge of the building then rolled back over it.
Gibbs staggered to the edge and looked over. A lull in the wind allowed the noise from the swirling river that was in full flood to drift up the side of the building. A grin spread across his face. Floating face down on the choppy torrent of the tide, Lord Butler floated out to sea. The flowing water had its own rhythm. He felt mesmerised by it and took a step closer to the edge. Christina was so near. He just had to fall after her. A hand slipped through the crook of his arm and pulled him back.
Gibbs smiled in pain. 'That was for everyone who died.'
Andrei smiled and nodded.
'What now? Rolin won't be happy with me.'
'He won't be happy with any of us.'
'Sorry, old friend,' Gibbs said. 'I seem to have landed you in it again.'
'Your son needs you now, Gibbs, so let's just start with that,' Andrei said. 'Rolin is a long way away from here. If he is unhappy with you, he can come and find you.'
Chapter 44
NAG Headquarters, Hamburg- 2033
Andrei Kirilenko sat in the velvet-covered chair and looked at the ornate wall behind the desk he was facing. White wooden cabinets with gold-leaf ornaments clashed with garish tapestries of noblemen on deer hunts. Next to him, a Louis XIV gilded clock chimed in a bookcase, breaking the silence of the office. A smell of mould and old age filled the air. He glanced back to Chancellor Marc Rolin, who was sitting back in his red and gold chair, his fingers pressed together and his head tilted to the side.
'Well, Andrei?'
'Well what, Chancellor?'
'Do you expect me to believe the bullshit report that you submitted to the Council?'
'That is what happened.'
The double door behind Andrei opened, and the Chancellor beckoned someone to enter. A tall staff aide, dressed in a dark suit, walked up and said something in French to the chancellor. The head of the NEG Government grunted and opened the folder he was handed. Scanning a document, he nodded his head and reached for a gold pen from inside his cream coloured jacket. Scribbling his signature at the bottom, he handed it back to the aide.
'Do you know what that was, Andrei?'
'I am sure I don’t care, Chancellor.'
'That was a combined NAG and NEG arrest warrant for Kyle Gibbs. For the murder of Lord Francis Butler.'
'Ha! Good luck with that, Chancellor. You will never find him or his friends. They will have disappeared into the wilds of America by now.'
'Oh, but I will, Andrei. I have two crack teams assembled in Southampton. They will find him and bring him back to Hamburg for trial. He will pay for his crimes. I gave him a direct order that he chose to disobey.'
Andrei smiled.
'You have nothing to smile about, Andrei. I gave you that same order. You assisted Gibbs, and now the entire Council wants you to be charged as an accessory to murder. You are facing a lengthy prison term.'
Andrei sighed and reached into the black suit jacket he was wearing, pulling out a white envelope. He threw it across the neat desk.
Marc Rolin shifted in his seat. He glanced from the envelope to Andrei and then back down to his desk. Lifting his hand to his chin, he stroked it slowly.
'What is that?'
Andrei flicked his hand at the envelope.
Chancellor Rolin flashed him a disdainful look, then snatched up the envelope and ripped it open.
'This better not be what I think it is. We had a deal.'
'Read it,' Andrei said.
The chancellor's complexion changed and his face reddened as he flicked through the three pages.
'You told me that you had destroyed all this evidence. You assured me of that fact when I gave you this role.'
'I lied,' Andrei said. 'I am Russian. You should know better than to trust a Russian.'
'I did what I had to and have no regrets,' the chancellor said, throwing the document onto the table. 'This will only save you, Andrei, not Gibbs.'
Andrei nodded.
'I will smooth this over with the Council, but I want all the original evidence returned to me so I can destroy it.'
'Then I will lose all my leverage, Marc, and you would have me incarcerated anyway. Do you think that I am that stupid? I have two sets of copies, sealed and in the care of two young ministers. If something happens to me, I take you and your family members listed in that document down with me.’
The slow ticking of the clock filled the silence in the room.
'Fine,' the chancellor snapped. 'Now get out of my office.'
Andrei stood up and turned towards the door.
'So much for your loyalty then, Andrei. You didn’t even bother to try and negotiate for Gibbs's life.'
Andrei smiled and reached inside his jacket to pull out his cigarettes.
‘There is no smoking in my office, Andrei.’
The Russian placed one in his mouth and lit it with a Zippo lighter, blowing out a cloud of smoke. Taking a step backwards to the door, he buttoned up his jacket.
'Marc, it will take you years to find him, and many men will die trying to bring him in. I can promise you this. Captain Gibbs does not need my help.'
The End
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Other Books by Wayne Marinovich
The Kyle Gibbs Series
GIBBS: The early years (a Free short story)
CELT - book 1
PHOENIX - book 2
KHARON - book 3
ANHUR - book 4
The Hudson Drake Series
IGAZI
ORANG
TIGER
Published Short Stories
FLOODLANDERS
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Acknowledgements
To my parents, Mark and Jenny, for allowing me to spend time reading, instead of doing my chores.
To all the teachers at boarding school, who believed my bullshit excuses at evening study, and allowed me to do my homework in the school library. There, I escaped from the boring world.
To Bill King and Walker Cairns, two noble Scottish lads, who listened to my book ideas over many drinks in bars across Aberdeen. Thanks for being my beta-readers and whisky companions.
To Matthew Dannatt, a school friend of old. Thanks for all the great ideas, and military knowledge you brought to the table.
A warm welcome to Lee Hardy and Jane Dagnall, thanks for joining my beta-reading team. Your work is much appreciated.
Author Bio
Many of you know about my passion for our planet. I write about it, and I try to capture its wonders through the wildlife and landscape photographs that I take.
For as long as I can remember I have loved reading books and studying nature. Growing up on a farm in South Africa meant that I was always out and about, up to mischief somewhere. My imagination flourished and ran wild as I spent my childhood sitting in trees, climbing on rooftops, fishing in our local dam and bird watching from one of the hides that I built.
My love of the outdoors developed in those early years and my passion for all things wild and natural meant that my reading, writing and photography inevitably followed that path.
Now, many years later, I am moving ahead with writing and photography on a more serious basis. I hope my passion for conservation and environmental issues will make some small contribution to opening people’s eyes to the beauty and fragility of the planet we live on. I intend to use my blog as one of a few platforms to share my creative content and the content of others who share the same passions.
The first major environmental piece of work that I am working on is the Kyle Gibbs series. A series set in a climate changed world, which is a topic very close to my heart. My current focus is to write novels and short stories that span the action/adventure/ thriller genres, with particular emphasis on the environment and our planet.
I invite you to take this journey with me and look forward to chatting with you as we go.
Kharon Page 29