by Jan Domagala
“You’d better hurry he’s at my door now,” she said not bothering to keep her voice low as panic tightened its grip on her.
Temic heard her through the door and stepped away levelling his pistol at the door lock. His time had run out and his suspicions had just been confirmed. There was someone on the way to help her.
He fired his Magerov P9 at the door lock blasting it apart in a shower of sparks. The door slid open.
Joanne Watkiss stood in the centre of the room her hands bunched into fists near her mouth, abject terror in her eyes as she stared death in the face.
“Hello, Joanne, aren’t you pleased to see me?” Temic said with a snarl across his lips.
She let out a scream as he levelled his Magerov P9 at her in preparation to fire.
HAWK WAS ONE FLIGHT down from them when he heard the door lock explode. Increasing his pace he powered up the last few stairs knowing that if he got there too late he had failed not only Joanne Watkiss, the unwitting pawn in this power play, but Captain Stryder too.
He was not about to let that happen.
The scream alerted him to her plight and he pushed himself to his absolute limit, sprinting up the last few steps. Reaching the top of the landing he saw a man outside a doorway aiming a pistol towards the inside of the room.
He’d already got his own pistol out and primed. If he shot the gunman, he’d lose his chance of finding Stryder; on the other hand he couldn’t allow him to kill a defenceless woman.
Deciding what to do in a flash, he made his move.
Watkiss saw Temic’s finger start to tighten on the trigger and she knew what was about to happen. She had hoped that her saviour would get there in time to help but it seemed that wasn’t to be. She would die there and then in her apartment.
The blast of the pistol going off was as loud as anything she had ever heard. She expected excruciating pain like she’d never felt before, but flinching reflexively as she expected the shot to hit her, she was amazed that she felt nothing.
She glanced up and saw a shower of sparks erupt at the side of the door next to Temic.
Temic was about to fire He had his target in his sights when he heard another shot. The plasma bolt struck the doorway at the side of his head showering him with sparks from the impact.
He turned to see a rather large man standing almost at the top of the landing with a pistol in his hand.
It must be her rescuer.
Turning quickly, Temic dived into the room just as his attacker fired once more.
Hawk fired another shot just to discourage and rattle him. The more he thought about his own safety the less he would think about killing the Watkiss woman.
He still had to get up there quickly though or he’d be too late.
Watkiss had flattened herself against the far wall as Temic came bursting into her room. The gun in his hand looked huge and powerful and the mere sight of it scared the crap out of her.
Temic rolled to his feet then ran farther into the room. He narrowly evaded Watkiss as she dodged out of the way and pressed herself against the wall to his left. He turned to face the door from where his immediate threat would come. Whoever her rescuer was, he would be coming through the door any second and he had to defend himself. The woman could wait until he’d taken care of this fool.
Hawk came storming up the last few stairs his pistol aimed ahead of him in a double-handed grip. He stopped as he had a clear view into the room. Temic was standing there in plain sight, his pistol aimed straight at him. Then he fired.
Hawk dived to the left. The pulsed plasma bolt flew past so close he felt the heat from the blast sear his flesh.
Hitting the floor he went into a roll and came up on one knee, his pistol out in front.
“This is not gonna be easy,” he said to no one in particular.
Knowing time was against him he peered around the doorframe to see the gunman turn towards the woman, his pistol aimed directly at her.
Temic had fired at the hulking brute and was amazed at the reflexes of the huge man. No one should be able to move that fast, especially one so big.
He had to finish what he came for and then he’d take care of the big lummox.
Taking his eyes off the doorway he turned towards his original target and aimed at her head.
He couldn’t miss.
Hawk fired around the side of the door jamb; deliberately aiming high, yet close enough to Temic to put him off what he was doing.
The bolt passed by him so closely it seared the cloth on the shoulder of his jacket. Spinning round just after firing at Watkiss, he aimed his pistol at where he thought the shot had originated.
Hawk dodged back behind the door jamb just as the bolt struck the wall at his side and passing through the open doorway.
Temic howled in fury at not being able to complete his mission and he stormed towards the doorway firing continually in an attempt to destroy the wall Hawk was using as cover.
Hawk had to get back behind the door jamb as fast as he could to evade the plasma bolt shot at him. He knew it had been fired blindly but wasn’t about to take the chance of a random hit. Then the firing started and there was nowhere for him to go.
With each successive shot from the Magerov P9 more of the wall was blasted away along with any cover he might have had at the start. As chunks of masonry were blown apart, holes started to appear, getting closer with each passing second.
He had to do something, but his options were dissipating as rapidly as the wall in front of him.
“I have no idea who you are but you’re going to die right now!” Temic shouted above the sound of gunfire. He continued to fire as he approached the doorway, each shot blasting away more and more of the wall. His next two or three shots would blow away what was left and he would be able to kill his attacker.
Hawk had to do something, he couldn’t let this continue and he wasn’t about to let this asshole get the better of him.
Rolling across the floor and into the doorway he fired his own pistol at the legs of his attacker.
Temic saw him come into view too late to do anything about it. The blast from Hawk’s pistol struck him halfway between his right knee and foot knocking him over as the bottom half of his calf was almost blown away in a shower of blood and tissue.
Hawk continued his roll past the doorway and got to his feet the second he heard his attacker scream in pain. Framed in the doorway he had his pistol trained on the prone form of the Alliance soldier who was holding onto his bleeding leg.
When Temic saw Hawk he pointed his Magerov straight at him.
“Don’t!” commanded Hawk as he aimed his own pistol directly between Temic’s eyes.
It was a standoff. Who would fire first?
BELIEVING IT WAS SAFE her anger got the better of her. Watkiss had watched the exchange in abject terror. The thought that the man she loved had duped her to betray the Confederation and was now here to kill her was all too much. Her anger erupted like a volcano and she rushed at the prone form of her former lover screaming at the top of her lungs.
“How could you, you animal!” she shrieked punching and slapping at him as she fell upon him.
Temic fended off her attack and grabbing hold of her he pulled her down on top of him, one arm around her throat whilst the other held the Magerov to her head.
Hawk saw what was about to happen and was powerless to prevent it.
“Back off or she dies right here and right now!” Temic growled through the pain from his leg.
“Now just hold on. You know I’m not gonna let you out of this room alive if you harm one hair on her head. You know that right?” Hawk said. He kept his pistol centred on Temic’s forehead.
“You aren’t in a position to negotiate. I’m the one with the gun to her head, don’t forget that.”
“I disagree, you have nothing to bargain with. If you kill her then whatever leverage you think you have will be gone. I’m in control here, I have the power to either end your life or allo
w you to live. If you let her go I’ll let you live, but if you kill her then you’ll be dead one second later.”
“You need me alive for what you think I can tell you about the whereabouts of your Captain Stryder. I know nothing, and even if I did, I’d never tell you.”
“Are you telling me you have no idea where he’s been taken?”
“Why would they tell me, that part of the operation was on a need to know basis?”
“I suppose they kept it from you just in case this happened?”
“You’re not as stupid as you look are you? So you see I am in control.”
“Wrong,” Hawk said and shot him once in the centre of his forehead. The back of his head exploded backwards in a mist of blood and gore.
Watkiss was released and she screamed as she realised just how close she’d come to being killed.
Hawk accessed a comm channel through his NI and called Gemmell. “Sir, we have a problem,” he said.
“TIME’S UP DOC, WE NEED to start the injections. You had better have them ready,” General Solon said as he strode into the lab again.
“Yes, sir, we’ve got a batch of the serum ready but I can’t guarantee the results, not without the proper testing,” the lab tech replied with a trace of fear in his voice.
“That’s what these boys are here for Doc, for the testing. Now let’s continue shall we?” Solon said as he indicated five soldiers who had followed him into the lab.
The soldiers, having walked into the lab in single file, stood ready for whatever was going to be done to them. They were all hard faced, tough looking young men no more than twenty-five years old.
“Continue Doctor, the Alliance will owe you a great debt of gratitude if these tests are as successful as I hope them to be,” General Solon said as he stood to one side.
The lab tech had readied a series of hypo sprays for immediate use and with the General watching began to administer the serum to the neck of each soldier.
“Good, good. Let me know the second we have some results. Monitor them closely Doctor, your reputation rides on this, as does my career,” Solon said as he turned and left the lab.
The lab tech watched him leave having completed the injections. He hoped they worked too; this was a huge risk. It was not one he would not normally take, especially when it involved someone else’s life. The General though was not the type of person one said “no” to, not if life was something he wished to cling on to.
He turned to the lab tech standing just behind him and said, “Monitor their vital signs closely, the moment we have anything I want to be informed.”
“Yes, Doctor,” replied the tech as he watched his boss walk towards the door.
“I’ll be in my quarters. I just need to lie down for a while,” he said then turned and left the lab.
STRYDER KNEW SOMETHING was going on; he wasn’t sure how he knew, he just did.
He’d pondered how to get out of his cell for the last few hours and all he’d come up with was that it was impossible. There was no way he could see of escaping without any weapons.
He would just have to wait until they came for him and hope that a chance arose once he was out of there.
NORSKY WAS IN HIS QUARTERS contemplating the evening meal with Hardy when he was notified of new orders concerning Stryder and her, which would be issued to certain personnel on the base. It was a little bit of a shock even though he had half expected it. They had been listed for termination pending the results of the serum tests to be carried out by General Solon’s personal guard.
The news hit him like a fist in the guts. Hardy was to be terminated! The feelings he felt for her came to the surface making him feel sick at the thought.
What could he do to prevent it happening? Wracking his brains for some solution to this new problem he began to pace up and down his quarters. Nothing seemed to work out of all the scenarios he came up with and each one was discarded with equal rapidity.
There seemed to be nothing he could do to prevent their deaths and then it occurred to him that if he approached the problem from a slightly different angle then he might just come up with something that could work.
The tests would be concluded soon. He had tracked the lab’s progress through a remote monitor and so would have to move soon before the order to terminate was carried out.
The injections had been administered and they were simply waiting for the serum to begin taking effect. From the lab records he knew that would not be long. They must be expecting positive results because more of the serum was to be produced from the blood sample they had taken from Stryder. From this, a batch of replicated blood had been produced so that they had an almost endless supply from which to produce the serum.
Things were progressing quite nicely which could only be regarded as bad news for Stryder and Hardy.
If he was going to do anything, he would have to do it now.
Making a decision fast, he knew once he made his move there would be no going back. What he was contemplating was tantamount to treason and if he went through with it, he would end up a wanted man.
He had to ask, was she worth it? He would lose everything he had worked for, trained for and loved about the Alliance. It would all be lost to him, forever.
There was only one answer he could come up with. He had no idea how it had happened, but he had fallen for this woman, he loved her. He could not stand by and allow her to be killed, even if it meant he would lose everything he had. If he had her at his side then all the rest didn’t matter.
The decision was made; he had to save her.
Foregoing all the plans he had thought of for the night, he left his quarters and headed straight to where he’d left Hardy.
INSIDE HER QUARTERS Hardy had been pacing the small room wondering what she could do. She felt trapped and it was beginning to get to her. Low in her stomach she could feel panic begin to bubble up and threaten to engulf her. It didn’t seem there was anything she could do to escape. Having evaluated her situation she came to the conclusion that she was royally screwed.
After her brief conversation with Stryder her spirits had lifted slightly, but it had been a while now since she’d heard from him and despair was beginning to set in again.
When the door to her quarters suddenly opened she thought Kurt had been as good as his word.
Spinning around to greet him she exclaimed, “Kurt, you c- You!” as she saw who it was.
Norsky couldn’t help but show the hurt he felt as he heard that name, and then as her expression changed, it was like she was turning a knife in his gut.
“No, Miss Hardy I’m afraid I can’t help your friend, but I can help you,” he said quickly entering the room.
“I don’t understand?” she replied as she watched him.
“You will be terminated shortly, you and your friend. I’m here to help you escape,” Norsky explained.
“Good, let’s go get him then, no doubt we haven’t much time,” Hardy said as she made her way past him towards the door.
“Excuse me, didn’t you just hear what I said? I can’t help your friend but I can save you,” Norsky reiterated.
“Well, that’s not good enough, either we all go or we all stay. No, we all go or we all die!” she said stepping up to face him looking him in the eye, her gaze not wavering at all.
“You would die for him, you love him then?” he asked.
“We are both Recon Delta and we don’t leave a fallen comrade behind” she replied evading the question.
“Yes, but do you love him?” he asked again.
There was a pause until finally Hardy said, “That’s none of your business,” watching for his reaction hoping that his feelings for her would outweigh his patriotism.
She readied herself to take action just in case he would not go along with her wishes. Balancing herself lightly on the balls of her feet, she was ready to move in any direction. She waited hoping that he would agree and help her to free Kurt, but if she had to she would attack hi
m and then go to find Kurt on her own.
Norsky was going through hell in his own head. On the one hand, he wanted to get her out of there and out of danger but on the other hand, he was loyal to the Alliance. He had grown up and been nurtured by the Alliance his entire life and if he helped this woman he would be betraying all that he believed in. It was a quandary that seemed to have no answer. How could he choose between that which had nurtured him and the woman he loved? It seemed an impossible choice but he realised it was one he had already made just by standing there. He had chosen the woman he loved.
“Okay, let’s go, we haven’t got much time,” he said.
They walked down the corridor and luckily for them, met no one. When they came to a corner Norsky stopped her and turning to her said, “Wait here, there will be guards outside his room. If they see you they will ask questions.” Hardy nodded her approval and watched as he rounded the corner on his way to Stryder’s cell.
The second Norsky was out of sight she accessed a combat channel through her NI and said, “Kurt, we’re coming to get you out of there. The door will be opened in a moment, be ready to move.”
Stryder heard the call and prepared himself, not questioning the veracity of it for he knew it to be true the moment he recognised the voice. All his senses went into overdrive, ready to move in an instant. His hearing picked up the approach of footsteps. He felt his pulse quicken as adrenalin flooded his bloodstream ready for the upcoming action.
Outside the door two guards stood dressed in battle fatigues with blast-resistant body armour and combat helmets. As Norsky turned the corner and walked towards them they turned to look in his direction eyeing him warily. When they recognised him their stances altered slightly, becoming more relaxed as they saw he was no threat.
“I’ve come to take the prisoner to General Solon’s office; he wants to question him further,” he said amiably.