by Matt Rogers
With his other arm, King twisted his entire body into a scything close-range elbow. As the man toppled backwards, the bony point of King’s elbow smashed into his forehead hard enough to give him permanent brain damage.
The blow added extra momentum to the guy’s fall.
Already unconscious, the back of his head hit the wall behind at unfathomable speed.
Crack.
The guy dropped, all tension gone from his limbs.
He slumped into an unconscious pile amidst a scattering of unused shovelling equipment, suffering from internal bleeding at best.
Two seconds after stepping into the shed, King ducked quickly below the line of sight and shut the door behind him.
18
The three prisoners watched him in terrified silence, unsure who or what he was.
What his intentions were…
He looked at each of them in turn. ‘You work for the World Health Organisation?’
They nodded in unison. The woman on the far right made to speak, but something stopped her. Her eyes flicked to the debilitated mercenary in the corner and she faltered.
King understood.
Savage violence was shocking at the best of times. Those who were unaccustomed to it had a hard time digesting its consequences. Especially the kind of violence that King dealt out.
‘Is he…?’ the woman finally muttered.
The one in the middle cut her off. ‘Who gives a shit? You saw what he was about to do, Carmen. I hope he’s dead.’
This woman had light brown hair and pale skin. Her accent was American — midwestern, if he had to guess. Despite the obvious tension and unease of the situation, she kept her chin held high, refusing to cave into the pressure. She spoke reassuringly.
King admired that.
‘My name’s Jason King,’ he said. Slowly. Calmly. ‘I’m a government operative. I’m here to help you.’
The woman nodded. ‘I’m Sarah. We’re all with the WHO.’
‘Do you know how many men are at this outpost?’
Sarah shook her head. ‘We all woke up here, in this shed. We were taken from the village — I know that much. They drugged us. I remember another location. Some kind of mine. We were there first. There are seven other people in our party — all men. I think they were kept at the first location. We were carted up here for … other reasons.’
King couldn’t help but be impressed. For someone being held in captivity against their will for sadistic purposes, Sarah delivered all the information she could in clinical fashion. If King had been an ordinary civilian, he never would have held the same composure.
It set off some kind of memory in the back of his head. He ignored it and pressed on. ‘They separated you based on gender?’
‘I think so.’
‘What makes you sure it was a mine?’
‘We were driven into a huge warehouse. Like an empty airplane hangar. There was one of those cages in the corner — you know the ones with an elevator inside?’
King nodded. ‘I think there’s gold mines in this region.’
‘But I can’t be sure…’
‘Did you see the men taken away?’
‘No.’
‘Just a guess?’
‘Yes. Well, they’re not here, are they?’
‘They could be. Have you just been confined to this space?’
Sarah nodded. ‘I feel like the mine had a purpose though.’
‘Just a hunch?’
She bowed her head. ‘Do you think I’m wrong?’
‘Of course not. Half my career has been based off hunches. What else do you know?’
She shrugged, and for the first time her voice cracked as she spoke. ‘I don’t know. That’s it. Everything’s foggy…’
King held up a hand. ‘You’re doing incredible. All three of you, focus on your breathing. In and out. Slow and controlled. If we can avoid panic attacks until we’re safe and sound, that would be best.’
‘How did you find us so quickly…?’ Sarah muttered.
‘Our government is on the ball with things like this,’ King said. ‘You missed a check-in, apparently.’
Sarah flashed a glance to the other two women. ‘No we didn’t.’
King paused. ‘What?’
‘We weren’t even scheduled to contact anyone until tomorrow morning. They’re not that rigorous about things like that. Probably to our own detriment…’
The woman in the corner — Carmen — nodded. ‘Generally we’re left to our own devices.’
The third woman, who had yet to speak, piped up. ‘There’s no way anyone should have known about our dilemma.’
King didn’t respond. Gears were whirring in his head.
Odd phrases, strange orders.
Puzzle pieces began to fall into place.
Sarah’s mannerisms came to the forefront of his mind again. They reminded him of someone.
He turned to her. ‘Do you all keep in contact with family while you’re out here?’
She shrugged. ‘Some of us do. We have the communication equipment for it. Satellite phones, that sort of thing.’
‘Have you been talking to anyone?’
She hesitated. ‘I’d prefer not to discuss that sort of thing if it’s not necessary.’
‘It’s incredibly necessary.’
A pause. ‘Yes, I have been.’
‘Who?’
‘My sister.’
With one hand, King balled a fist as tightly as he could, clenching his fingers together until his knuckles turned white, preparing for how he would react to the next answer. He had to maintain his composure at all times.
He wondered if he would…
‘Tell me if I’m wrong,’ he said, ‘but your sister’s name wouldn’t happen to be Isla, would it?’
Sarah cocked her head to one side, confused. ‘Yeah … how’d you know?’
King’s vision went red. Insuppressible anger flooded his veins, hot and fiery. He held up a finger.
‘Excuse me for a moment,’ he said. ‘I’ll be back.’
He slipped out of the shed, taking care to ensure the coast was clear before stepping out onto open ground. No-one else had followed the mercenary out of the lodge.
The man had likely requested to be left alone while he took advantage of the prisoners…
Satisfied by the lack of hostiles, King scurried around to the rear of the shed, out of sight from the main buildings. He touched a finger to his ear, barely keeping his temper under control.
It felt like an eternity before Isla answered, even though it couldn’t have been more than a couple of seconds.
‘Yes?’ she said.
‘You think I’m fucking stupid?’ King said.
‘What?’
‘Feel free to correct me if I’m making wild accusations — but this isn’t an official operation. Black Force has no knowledge of it, do they?’
The silence went on for an uncomfortable length of time, to the point where King wondered if Isla would ever respond. Then she sucked in a breath, full of nerves and pent-up stress.
‘No.’
19
‘This whole operation has felt off from the start,’ King said. ‘Now I know why.’
‘I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am.’
‘Doesn’t change a thing.’
‘I know.’
‘Do you realise what you’ve done?’
‘Yes.’
‘You understand the ramifications this will have?’
‘I acted out of impulse. It’s family.’
‘You broke every rule in the book. A hundred times over. I’m in the middle of Russia. I’ve killed a dozen people. None of it authorised in any sense of the word.’
Isla paused. ‘It’s never official. Black Force isn’t on the books. You know that. You practically founded the division all those years ago.’
‘And I work for the division.’
‘I know.’
‘You exploited the fact that I
have no contact with any superiors other than you. You knew you could utilise that to make this feel like another routine assignment. You’d have me back in Sweden in time for an actual mission, and no-one would be any wiser. Myself included. Am I right?’
‘You’re right.’
‘Consider me retired again.’
‘Jason…’
‘I’m done, Isla.’
He meant it. He never wanted to work for any kind of government body for the rest of his life. His blood boiled in that moment. He had never been so furious.
Angry that Isla would use him as a pawn for her own intentions.
Angry that Black Force’s operational structure allowed room for such a gross miscarriage of procedure.
Angry that the true purpose for his presence in the Russian Far East had been covered up.
He’d put his life on the line for a lie.
‘If you’d told me,’ he said, ‘I might have helped you. If you found me in that alley and opened up about how your sister hadn’t contacted you and you feared the worst, I might have offered my services free of charge. Because I like you, Isla. Despite all the official bullshit, you mean well. At least I thought you did.’
‘I do mean well.’
‘Carter,’ King said. ‘Who’s he?’
‘He’s who I said he was,’ Isla said. ‘Air Force. That’s how I got the bomber.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah…’
‘I assume your position allows you all kind of requests to be met immediately. They probably don’t need official confirmation, either. Given what you managed to pull off…’
‘I am the official confirmation. Black Force has clearance at the highest levels. We’re designed to respond to threats by any means necessary.’
‘So you used your position to deceptively take advantage of U.S. military resources? You contracted a bomber to fly over Russia without anyone in an actual position of government aware of it other than yourself?’
‘I have a way with words. People seem to believe me when I’m demanding.’
‘Won’t do you much good in military prison, Isla.’
‘King, I know what I’ve done. I know the consequences it’ll have. I did that willingly. I took that risk.’
‘You could have started World War Three if the plane was detected.’
‘It wasn’t detected,’ Isla said. ‘It never would have been. I ensured that. I always do my research.’
‘Your sister is here,’ he said after a pause. ‘She’s tied up in a remote outpost. A hostage for some kind of mercenary force. I haven’t quite worked that out yet. I just saved her from being raped five minutes ago.’
‘Sarah?’
‘Sarah.’
Her voice turned raw. ‘Jason, please…’
‘Give me one reason not to leave right now.’
‘You wouldn’t.’
‘You’re right,’ he said, teeth clenched, hands shaking. ‘I wouldn’t. And you know that. That’s why you went through with this. You knew that even if I discovered the truth halfway through the operation, I’d see it out if they were truly in danger. You know how I am. And you used it.’
‘I saw an opportunity and I took it,’ she said. ‘It’s my career down the drain, I know. Probably my life, too. Everything I’ve worked for is fucked. But I don’t care. Just get my sister back. Please.’
‘I will,’ King said. ‘I’ll sort this all out, and I’ll bring them back. Then I’ll have you fired, and I’ll never step foot on U.S. soil again.’
He wrenched the tiny speaker out of his ear and tossed it off the side of the mountain.
20
He stood frozen on the other side of the storage shed, looking out at the view. The winds blasting away at the side of the mountain drowned out everything else. They kept him rooted in place, taking the time to consider what had happened.
In the end, he had no choice but to soldier on.
Official or not, he had a job to do. Innocent lives were in danger, and by this point it was inarguable that something sinister was afoot in the Kamchatka Peninsula. If he packed up his gear and high-tailed it out of Russia, ten health workers would die.
Or worse.
Whatever the case, they would never be heard from again unless he acted.
He sympathised with Isla for a brief moment. He didn’t know the exact details of her relationship with her sister, but it must be close. Some kind of check-in time must have been set-up, likely a precautionary measure influenced by Isla’s government roots.
Sarah had missed it.
Isla, panicking, had used the resources she had available to send in a one-man hit team.
If it had proven to be nothing, she would have extracted King and had him back on home soil before anyone knew he’d been used. King would have carried on with his operations, unaware that no-one had ordered his visit to Russia.
But now he did know.
The bureaucracies and politics could be sorted out at a later date. Right now he was deep in enemy territory, responsible for the rescue of ten hostages.
He switched back to focus on the mission, shutting out all extraneous thoughts.
Compartmentalise, he thought. There’s time for everything else later.
He circled back around the shed, staying low, watching the lodge like a hawk. A shadow passed briefly across one of the windows, indiscernible in the lowlight. King kept his barrel trained on the front door and counted out long beats.
One.
Two.
Three.
Nothing. He wanted to avoid confrontation at all costs. For all he knew, there could be an army of hired thugs inside the lodge, restless after long months of nothingness, itching for a firefight.
Just waiting for the opportunity to unleash an arsenal of weaponry.
He wouldn’t give them the pleasure.
He ducked back into the storage shed and came face-to-face with the trio of health workers. They sported confused expressions — eyes wide, brows furled. He realised that in his haste to get answers out of Isla, he had left them to their own devices.
They might have thought he had abandoned them.
‘Where’d you go?’ Sarah said.
He tapped his ear. ‘Just had to check in with my superiors. Let them know I found you three.’
‘How did you know my sister’s name?’
He paused. ‘She was the one to let us know of your disappearance. We acted immediately.’
‘I see.’
‘Are you two close?’
Sarah nodded. ‘She’s going through a messy divorce, and work’s been wearing her down lately. I think I’m the one keeping her sane. We’ve pretty much been in daily contact for the last couple of months. Hence her immediate response, I’d say.’
King cocked his head. The more you know.
‘What does she do?’ he said, innocently enough.
Sarah shrugged. ‘Some kind of government office job. Maybe that’s why she managed to get onto you so quickly. Are you Special Forces?’
‘I am,’ King said. ‘And yeah, maybe that’s why.’
He crouched by the door and stared at the ground, thinking hard.
Finally, Sarah interjected. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Thinking about the best way to handle this,’ King said. ‘You’d recognise the mine if you saw it again?’
‘I’d say it’s the only building around here. So, probably.’
‘I only have a snowmobile,’ King said. ‘I can’t fit the three of you on the back. And the trek down the mountain is going to be risky as hell. We’re sitting ducks if they find the shed empty and spot us on the trail.’
No-one spoke.
‘What are you saying?’ Carmen whispered.
‘I might have to deal with this,’ he said. ‘I can’t see a feasible way of getting you three off the mountain safely otherwise.’
The trio went visibly pale.
‘What are you going to do?’ Sarah said.
King t
apped his rifle. ‘You three stay here. Keep your heads down. Okay?’
‘No.’
King looked at her. ‘Trust me.’
‘You’ll die. You don’t know how many there are.’
‘Doesn’t matter how many there are,’ King said. ‘This is the right way to do it.’
‘But—’
He rose and checked the lodge for signs of life. Its residents were firmly shut up inside. No-one else had emerged from the building.
‘Coast is clear,’ he muttered.
The woman named Carmen piped up. ‘What’s your plan, exactly?’
He glanced at her. ‘To clear the lodge.’
‘How do you propose to do that?’ she said.
He held up the carbine rifle in one hand. ‘With this.’
‘With one gun? There could be a dozen of them.’
King patted the breast pocket of his vest. ‘That’s what the spare magazines are for.’
Astonished, she leant back against the wall and closed her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘You’re going to die, and then they’ll kill us too.’
‘Carmen…’ Sarah muttered.
‘What? You think this is a good idea?’
‘I’m not sure we’re in the position to tell him what a good idea is.’
‘You’re going to have to trust me,’ King said. ‘As much as you might doubt it, I value my own life. I wouldn’t go through with this if I wasn’t confident.’
‘It’s called being delusional,’ Carmen said.
Sarah said, ‘Ignore her.’
King shrugged. ‘I’d feel the same if I was in your position. I probably look like a madman.’
‘You sure do,’ Sarah said. ‘But you seem like you know what you’re doing.’
‘Sometimes I question that,’ King muttered.
Then he threw the door open and stepped out into the howling night.
21
He moved in on the lodge step-by-step.
Locked and loaded.
Ready for war.
It would be a matter of instincts. All combat was. But the few seconds after he smashed the front door in were vital. Those seconds spelled the difference between life and death. He would have to line up his targets in the blink of the eye and execute in devastating fashion.