Rasputin's Prodigy

by Michael Weinberger

  The room was empty and relief washed over Lei as she quickly bounded to the wall where the various sets of keys were hung. She removed the set she had guessed were the forklift keys and was about to leave when she noticed something through the window on the wall opposite from where she had just entered. She had known the window was there, but while she and Pha were captive in this room the lights had always been out and the adjoining space that the window overlooked had been dark as well. Now the entire space was aglow in the white/blue shine of multiple fluorescent lamps, revealing the entire contents of the adjoining space.

  It was filled with makeshift military cots, hundreds of them, spread out in perfect and precise rows. The sheer immensity of the adjoining warehouse was so vast it must be some kind of an airplane hangar, yet it was filled with cots instead of aircraft, and on every cot was a motionless, supine body. People of varying ages, sizes and ethnicities, all in an apparently induced sleep, each with a single intravenous line extending from the back of their hand. Lei froze, as the nightmare of Pharmanetics and the lab where Dr. Whelan had harvested the blood from her abducted people came back to her with such clarity it was like being slapped in the face. But the more she stared at the scene, the more she realized this was something different. Before, the purpose of the lab was to siphon off the blood of her people for the creation of medicine that was to net the corporation billions, if not trillions of dollars in anti-bacterial and anti-viral medications. Here, there was no indication that the people in the cots were being drained of their blood and Lei recognized that the back-of-the-hand location where the I.V. needle had been inserted was meant to deliver whatever the I.V. bag held into the sleeping people, as opposed to taking anything from them.

  Lei tried to make sense of the whole scene, when the sight of a young Asian woman lying still in a cot reminded her of the younger, smaller Pha lying on the floor of a forklift, awaiting for her return. Lei pulled her eyes away from the scene at the same moment that the door of the office space opened, and she dropped to the floor in a crouch, as whoever entered the office space turned to switch on the lights.

  The man was one of Dimitri’s armed, black clad security people, looked to be in his middle ages and reeked of cigarettes. Casually, he moved from the door to the desk as Lei scurried silently across the floor and into position. She rose to her full height and placed one hand over the man's mouth while encircling her opposite arm around the man's throat. The shock of the attack buckled the man's legs and he fell immediately to the floor, before his brain caught up to what was happening. He struggled against Lei, but by that time she had shifted her leverage on the man and had his body trapped against hers as she applied the “sleeper” hold. It only took a couple of seconds before the cutting off of the blood supply to the brain rendered the man unconscious, and Lei quickly rolled him off of her and returned to the door. Killing the man might be noisy, as some people just don't go quietly into death, so she had let go of the man to allow his blood supply to restore itself. Eventually this would rejuvenate the man, but he would be dazed and confused for a minute or two before he fully regained his faculties, which was all she was going to need to make good her escape.

  Lei peered through the door, checking to see if anyone was looking in her direction, and seeing none, bolted straight for the forklift.

  Chapter 24

  Lei almost made it before a shrill, screeching sound erupted from the far side of the warehouse. Lei looked back as she ran, seeing every head turn toward her to raise their own ghastly sounding cry of alarm, before breaking into a sprint right for her. Lei reached the forklift and opened the door to find the operator's cabin empty. Pha had been lying on the floor of the forklift when she had left her, but now there was no sign of the girl. Panic shot through Lei, but as she moved to the driver's seat she realized that the zombie-like people in the warehouse had only raised an alarm when she had left the office and not because they had seen the child wandering around. Lei tried the first of the three keys on the ring and it fit snugly into the keyhole ignition. She turned the key and there was a slight cough in the engine before it turned over, rumbling into life.

  Quickly she shifted from neutral into drive and slammed the gas pedal to the floor, just as the first of Dimitri's emaciated people reached her. The forklift lurched forward, slamming into the bodies of two zombie-like creatures sending them flying wetly away from the blades of the forklift. Lei was thrust back and forth as well, from the initial momentum of the lift’s movement, before she got herself and the lift under control.

  She turned the steering wheel and aimed the forklift at the rolling doors as more of Dimitri’s people jumped onto the back of the machine. Hands reached for her through the lift mechanisms and Lei had to lean forward over the steering wheel to keep them from being grabbed by her hair or clothes, as the roll up door loomed closer and closer.

  With an explosion of screeching, straining metal the forklift punched straight through the aluminum door scraping all but one of Dimitri’s zombies off the speeding machine. The remaining zombie had his shifted position and held on, until the roll up door's housing mechanism failed, sending the door crashing to the ground like an anchor and ripping away from where it had been installed. The shearing force of the thin metal cleaved straight through the remaining zombie, practically cutting the man in half as blood erupted from his massive wound to saturate the exposed rear engine of the lift.

  Sparks flew up from the engine and a foul smelling smoke, the by-product of the sizzling, burning zombie's blood on the engine, wafted into Lei's nostrils while the forklift's motor coughed and finally stalled. Lei desperately turned the key in the ignition and tried pressing down on the gas pedal, but the engine refused to turn over. A quick look over her shoulder and she realized she had no more time to do anything but run.

  Clamoring out of the forklift just as the first of Dimitri's people reached for her, Lei spun, grabbed the arm that was extended toward her and snapped the bones at the elbow joint. The poor wretch was far too emaciated and, despite his height, likely weighed the only as much as Lei did. She reversed her momentum, flipping the man onto his back and delivered a kick like a footballer's punt to the side of the man's face.

  More arms encircled her from behind and lifted her up and off of the ground, but Lei thrust her head back, hoping to slam the back of her skull into the nose of her attacker. Pain shot through the point of impact on her head as she felt her attacker's nasal bones and cartilage crunch like a potato chip and a high-pitched cry of pain erupted while the grip around her body went slack. Lei spun, found her target and thrust a clawed hand into the her attacker's throat. She could feel her reinforced fingernails sink deeply into soft flesh as she tightened her grip, before they struck something more solid, like cartilage or bone. With a violent, wrenching twist and pull movement Lei tore the flesh away from the body of her attacker opening his carotid arteries and twin fountains of pink blood sprayed everywhere.

  More of Dimitri's people came for her. Dozens were emerging from the warehouse and Lei recognized the impossibility of standing her ground. She turned to run but was hit hard from the side, the shock of the impact knocked the wind from her body as she tumbled to the ground. The arms released her and Lei rolled away before righting herself in a crouched position. Lei's eyes focused on her latest assailant was surprised to see that she faced a woman. Long luxurious brown hair flowed over a sensually curved, yet striated and powerful physique clad in the balck combat gear of the security team. The beautiful face that mockingly smiled back at her was in no way emaciated, nor had she any of the signs of the decrepitude that the other figures in the warehouse sported.

  “Well hello there,” the security woman spoke in a chiding voice, “I’m Andi.”

  Lei’s eyes shot to the side to see more of the emaciated people arrive, but then shuffle to a stop as they looked nervously at Andi. Were they afraid of her the same way they were afraid of Nicholas?

  Lei met the woman’s mocking glare
and smiled pleasantly, “Hello Andi, I’m Lei.”

  “You’re pretty good,” Andi began to circle to the left and Lei matched her by circling the opposite way to the right, “please don’t tell me you are going to disappoint me and surrender?”

  “Well, since you’d be so disappointed, no,” Lei inclined her head toward the others who were watching them, “they aren’t going to help you?”

  Andi chuckled, “Oh no, you’re my prey now.”

  “Prey?” Lei burst out with a laugh, which wiped the smile off of Andi’s face, replaced by anger as Lei noted, “someone has been watching too many movies.”

  The woman moved, no, writhed to the side like a serpent while Lei crouched and matched her movements step for step.

  “You should think about the child,” Andi said confidently, but Lei was sure it was a bluff. If they had Pha they would have dangled the girl in front of her like a worm on a hook in order to get her to surrender.

  “Nice try, but I’m guessing she is so far away by now that you’ll never be able to find her.” And now, Lei thought, time for a little distraction trick of her own, “I wonder what Nicholas will say when he learned she escaped from right under your nose?”

  Without warning Andi lunged forward so quickly that Lei stumbled as she backed away from the oncoming assault, barely avoiding the knife that appeared from nowhere in the woman's hand. Lei rolled and came to her feet just as the woman thrust the tip of the blade toward her face in a fencer's lunge. It was a powerful attack, but left the woman unbalanced on her forward leg, and Lei took advantage by sliding under the attack and slashed her nails at the woman's torso. Lei's nails struck, but succeeded in tearing only fabric as the woman spun with the strike and slashed a counterstrike down the length of Lei's arm. Lei had seen the attack coming but was too slow to act before the blade parted the flesh over the back of her forearm from the elbow to her wrist.

  Pain shot through Lei's arm, but the slash was shallow, despite the copious blood that initially flowed from the elongated wound, and no arteries or nerves had been severed. Lei kicked at the woman, forcing her to retreat a few paces enabling Lei to momentarily distance herself from her assailant.

  The woman smiled at Lei and licked the blood from the blade before looking down and seeing the horizontal tears in her outfit. The smile was replaced by confusionas she looked to Lei’s hands.

  “That was interesting,” the woman stated indifferently.

  Lei smiled back at her having noticed that the woman was slightly unnerved, and asked,”Sorry this turned out not to be as unfair a fight as you had thought?” Lei couldn't restrain the smile that creased one side of her face as she grasped the wound in her arm with her uninjured hand.

  The woman steeled herself and charged in again as Lei whipped her hand away from her wound in response to the attack, sending a stream of her own blood toward the woman's face. Droplets covered the woman's visage and she winced from the mild impacts as instinct caused her to turn away to protect her eyes. Lei ran forward and thrust her shoulder into the woman's abdomen bending the woman’s body over on impact and sending her blade flying from her grasp. The pair tumbled to the ground with Lei controlling her roll so she would find herself straddled on top of the woman. Before her opponent could recover, Lei started raining punches down with her good hand against the woman's face. Blood flew from the woman's nose on the first blow and the second sent her eyes rolling up into her head. The third punch split the woman's lip and her body went limp and, as Lei opened her striking hand to drive her fingernails deep into the woman's throat, she was tackled from the side and knocked off the woman.

  Dimitri's people, seeing one of their people about to lose the battle, came to life and entered the fight. Lei was hit again and again, as body after body fell on top of her, pinning her to the ground and holding her arms and legs in place. Foul smelling breath and body odor made every inhalation cloying as Lei desperately struggled to no avail.

  Only her head was free of the crush of bodies that lay on top of her and, as Lei turned her head away from the blow she knew was coming, her eyes widened in shock to see Pha running away from the warehouse and into the night. Lei watched as the small child disappeared into the blackness unnoticed by Dimitri's people, all of whom had focused their attention on the struggle that had just concluded.

  “Go girl, go!” Lei thought to herself as she quickly turned her head back, so as not to give away what she had seen, and lightning flashed before her eyes as the expected kick connected with her temple.

  Chapter 25

  Moscow, Russia. June, 1938

  The office building was poorly lit and very cold as uniformed men and women went about their daily rituals of cleaning off their desks and preparing for the end of the workday. Soon that time would come and each would hurry to wait in line for various supplies such as bread, milk or other such necessities.

  One office was larger than the rest and stayed illuminated well after the end of a normal business day. The Chief of Soviet State Treasury was known to work late in his crusade for uncovering corruption at any cost. He was deep in thought when his secretary bruskly opened the door to his office and broke his concentration.

  “Will there be anything else before I leave Comrade Yurovsky?”

  Yakov Yurovsky did not look up from his documents as he spoke. “No my dear, I have everything well in hand.”

  The secretary nodded and began to close the door when Yurovsky added.

  “And Tanya…If you ever come into this office again without knocking I will shoot you in the face.”

  In reality it had been a long time since Yakov Yurovsky had killed anyone, he was more of an administrator these days, but his reputation as a “Hero of the People” for the execution of Tsar Nicholas and his family still gave those around the man a sense of wariness that he could make good on his threats.

  At first Tanya smiled awkwardly thinking the man had made a poor joke. Then Yurovsky looked up from his papers and when their eyes met she knew that the man had not just made a joke or even an idle threat. There was a terrifying lethality to his stare and Tanya had to look away.

  “I’m sorry sir.”

  “Goodnight Tanya.” Yurovsky looked back down to the papers he had been studying earlier.

  Tanya waited, afraid to move, and her hands unconsciously let go of the doorknob allowing it to swing fully open before gently striking the door stop against the wall. She only paused another second or two before she finally managed, “Goodnight Comrade Secretary.” Tanya had to reach for the doorknob as she made an effort to slowly, quietly shut the door behind her.

  Unbeknownst and unseen by Tanya or Yurovsky was the space behind the door that was revealed as it was shut. In that space, was Alexei.

  Alexei studied Yurovsky as the man sat behind his desk reading over his papers. The stocky man looked the same as he had over twenty years ago, if one ignored the gray that covered his temples and flecked through the rest of his hair. Alexei stepped forward, his fingertips gliding over one another, as he closed the distance between himself and Yurovsky. When Alexei was standing directly on the opposite side of Yurovsky’s desk he stopped rubbing his fingertips together and waited. All at once Yurovsky seemed to realize he was not alone in the room and, when the man nonchalantly glanced upward, the shock of Alexei being so close, so right on top of him, made him scream in startled fright.

  “Boishe Moi!!! How did you get in here?!?”

  “Relax Comrade, “Alexei chuckled, pleased with the start he had given the man, “I wouldn’t want you to have a heart attack… at least not yet.”

  Alexei turned his back on the man and began to walk to the door as Yurovsky frowned in confusion as he watched the young man step to the door and lock it.

  When Alexei turned back around he saw that Yurovsky had not lost his composure and realized the man must be hiding a weapon somewhere on his person.

  Yurovsky shot the same look at Alexei as he had at his secretary, “I would very muc
h like to know who you are and what you are doing here before I have you arrested,” Yurovsky said in a confident manner.

  Alexei smiled back as he asked, “Who I am? You mean you don’t recognize me?”

  Yurovsky frowned and waved a hand nonchalantly as he shook his head, “No, I am afraid not. Should I recognize you?”

  “You should always remember the faces of those you have killed,” the smile faded from Alexei’s face.

  Yurovsky laughed, “Who I killed? Ha! I am quite sure that anyone I killed would not later show up on my doorstep.” Yurovsky laughed again; however, this time something flickered in his eyes as he quieted and searched Alexei’s face.

  Alexei watched Yurovsky’s face as the man began to remember, “I, for one, have never forgotten your face,” Alexei snarled.

  Yurovsky’s eyes darted from side to side as the images raced in front of his mind, replaying the entire scene from the cellar of the Ipatiev House. When the memories ended Yurovsky seemed to wake from a daydream and his hand immediately shot to a desk drawer and the sidearm holstered inside.

  “It…it isn’t possible!” Yurovsky stammered as he struggled to remove the weapon from its holster.

  Alexei watched, before asking, “Did you want some help with that?” Yurovsky froze at the words and he looked up at Alexei, his eyes now filled with fear as Alexei continued, “the guns didn’t do the job last time. What makes you think they will work now?”

  As soon as Alexei had finished speaking Yurovsky went back to removing the gun from the holster and Alexei quickly stepped foward. The gun came free but Alexei had Yurovsky’s wrist before the older man could aim the weapon. Yurovsky punched at Alexei, but Alexei swatted the blows away with his free hand before slapping Yurovsky across the face so hard that the man’s knees buckled and he fell back into the seat of his chair.