The doors opened and Kaufman immediately lifted his rifle as he stepped forwards.
“We can’t let them get the jump on us. Hit the stairs. Go!”
He reached into the elevator and pushed the button for Levin’s floor, and let it carry on empty. Reaching the entrance to Levin’s floor, Kaufman peered in through a small window on the doorway. Three guards were waiting by the elevator and another one walked back from the stairs. Kaufman turned back to his team and nodded the signal to move. He kicked the door open and shouted out.
“Police! Put your weapons down!”
The first turned and fired but was quickly silenced by a burst from Kaufman’s rifle. Barski continued after him and didn’t hesitate to fire at the second guard. The other two quickly dropped their weapons.
“Get on them!” Kaufman ordered.
The three officers rushed past the goons and went around the corner. It led to a vast hall that was laid out for a banquet, but there were no staff in sight. Kaufman did not break stride and made for the vast door at the far end of the hall.
“That must be Levin’s office.”
The doors opened as they approached and a tall, broad figure stood silhouetted in the doorway. He did not appear armed, but they didn’t take any chances. They advanced cautiously with their rifles at the ready.
“Eric Kaufman!” the man shouted.
The Captain slowed and lowered his rifle just slightly as he tried to identify the man. It was Levin, but he had never met the man before. Kaufman signalled for the other two to move forward with him. They reached the doors and there was no one else in sight.
“I thought I might be seeing you,” said Levin.
“You weren’t too well prepared for it.”
“I am not looking for a fight. Captain. Far from it, I am a businessman.”
Kaufman slid his rifle around to his back and stormed towards the arrogant and sleazy gangster. He took him by the throat and squeezed. Levin immediately dropped to his knees and gasped for air. He was clearly not a man accustomed to violence.
“You handle business for Munoz and that much is not in doubt. All I want to know is how to find him. Tell me that and you may walk out of here.”
“You are an officer of the law,” gasped Levin, barely able to speak.
“Not today. Munoz is mine, so you have nothing left to fear from him. You’re just another scumbag to me, Levin. You could just as easily take a dive off this roof like a certain former employee of yours. In fact, why don’t we head up there right now.”
“No, no! I’ll tell you want you want to know!”
He smiled and was glad to be proven right. Kaufman knew that his own colleagues would not sell him out so quickly. Munoz’s circle was growing ever smaller, and Kaufman could feel he was close now. He turned to his team.
“Any comms equipment you have has to be ditched now. We can no longer risk being tracked. What we do from now on, we do it alone.”
“When we get out of this shit hole, I’ll pick up some fixed frequency comms gear for our use only,” said Barski.
Kaufman nodded and turned back to Levin. He waited for him to pour his guts out.
* * *
“ETA 2 minutes!” shouted Singh.
“You heard the man, so let’s do this!” shouted Lin.
She would never in a million years have chosen to partake in a space operation. The Sergeant could not help but think that their new commander wanted to see them fail, or perhaps to even die. She waited ten metres back from their doors where Wilson stood ready to place the entry charges.
“Patch me through to their ship, Singh.”
“You’re on with them now, Sergeant.”
“This is Sergeant Lin of the IBI. You are ordered to power down your engines and prepare for immediate boarding. Failure to comply will result in lethal force!”
She looked to Davis. She was hoping for a response, but she knew they would not get one. A gang in their position would never give up without a fight.
“I say again. Power down and prepare to be boarded!”
She briefly waited, but already knew that she’d failed in trying to spare any bloodshed.
“Take us in, Singh,” she said into the comms.
“Got it,” he replied.
Seconds later they felt a small jolt as the Intrepid ran alongside the Challenger that was half her size. The docking clamps hooked the two ships together. She turned to Wilson and nodded for him to continue. He rushed forward and activated the docking tunnel to clamp against the hull of their ship. He attached the magnetic charge and took a few steps back, looking around at Lin for the go ahead.
She uneasily nodded once for yes, but she wished it had not come to it. Wilson lifted the control module and pressed his thumb down on the firing switch. A small explosion rang out and blasted inwards to the Challenger. Smoke blew out all around them. They waited for it to clear and to be certain it had worked. As the dust settled, Lin could see that the hole was almost as large as two men.
“Go!” she shouted.
Davis fired several flash grenades into the opening and ran through the door with Wilson behind him. Before they had even cleared the smoke, the gunfire had started. Lin followed to backup the first team. They rushed into the ship as quickly to gain a foothold and get as many officers into action as possible. She could already see the flash of several weapons as bullets landed all around.
Breaking left, Lin rolled behind a counter and looked back at her team who were following suit. Ryan was hit by three rounds and knocked to the ground. Davis had a substantial hole in the shoulder of his body armour, but it did not appear to have breached the suit. She popped up from behind the cover and took a quick aim at the nearest target and quickly fired two headshots. Blood splashed all over the wall. She turned to acquire the next target as she saw one of the enemy fire a huge revolving grenade launching device.
“Get down!”
Lin ducked down quickly behind the counter. Her warning was too late, and the shell hit Zaya and erupted. Her body was blown apart across the corridor. Lin looked around her shocked colleagues. They were in disbelief at the brutal and sudden end of their friend.
Wilson was the first to recover. His military background allowed him to switch off from the tragic loss of life. He jumped from cover and rolled out into the open corridor. He lifted his rifle and fired on fully automatic into the killer’s body. Lin saw Wilson’s initiative and drew a fragmentation grenade from her chest. She threw it over the counter towards their enemy.
Before the grenade had even landed, the Sergeant was on her feet and advancing with rapid fire. The rest of the team quickly joined her. The grenade ignited and launched the burnt body of one of the gang members out between the tables. They had breached a cargo compartment where much of the weapons cache was stored.
Wilson leapt to his feet and ran at the enemies’ position. He fired continually until he reached them. Lin watched as he pushed his rifle over their defences and fired repeatedly at the helpless gang members. His brutality would normally have appalled her, but she was still too mortified by the loss of Zaya. Blood soaked Wilson’s MILAL suit from firing at point blank range. The rest of the crew looked to Lin for command, but it took her a moment to recover from the horrors they had witnessed.
“Clear the rest of the ship! Clear all sectors!” she shouted.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later Sergeant Lin stood where Zaya’s twisted remains were scattered, but it was little more than burst flesh and metal. Davis and Wilson looked at the carnage with her.
“This mission should never have been,” said Davis.
“Denton would never knowingly have put us in this danger,” Wilson added.
Lin nodded. She had disliked their new Commander from the moment she’d laid eyes on him, and now all her suspicions had been confirmed.
“Desal is in charge now. I am not sure if he is just an idiot or if his intentions are more malicious.”
“Yo
u think he wants us to fail?” asked Davis.
“Yes, either him or whoever put him in charge.”
“Giving us such a leader is the sure fire way to ensure that the IBI is finished for good,” said Wilson.
“The Captain needs to know about this. We already couldn’t afford anymore bad press, so this could be the final nail in the coffin,” said Lin.
“Kaufman only needs time, so us being sent out here will help buy it for him.”
“With our lives?” asked Davis.
“If need be. When are you going to realise that as things stand, all our lives are over? The Senator will hunt every one of us to the end of the universe to protect himself. This is just one victory for him,” she replied.
* * *
Kaufman’s team sat in a hotel room. They had booked in under their new IDs and separately to three different rooms. Kaufman’s suite was large enough that they could gather and plan their next move. Despite the progress with Levin, they could not help but feel miserable at the state of affairs. They had to hide in the shadows of the city they used to protect.
Denton put the news on. It was almost enough to break them once and for all. Reports of an IBI officer’s death during a raid had already reached the agencies. It was most likely leaked by officials. Zaya’s name and picture were already slapped all over the evening news, and used as more ammunition to bring the organisation to its knees.
“This was no accident,” said Kaufman.
“That bastard Desal!” replied Denton.
“We can’t take much more of this,” said Barski.
Denton looked back at Kaufman who was sick to the stomach.
“Tell me, Captain. What information did Levin give up?”
“The location of Munoz and his current name.”
Denton got up and walked up and down the room trying to put the pieces together.
“Munoz is a crook, a thief, and probably a murderer. He would kill you if you gave him reason, but right now he is not our greatest problem,” he said.
“I am positive that Munoz can lead us right to Malory.”
“Maybe so, but you are chasing one ghost to get another and there are too many things to go wrong. We must focus our efforts on Malory or we will likely not see the end of the week. Any of us!”
Kaufman stood up abruptly.
“May I remind you that you are no longer our Commander, Sir?”
“Put your revenge aside, Captain, and see the bigger picture. Your father is dead and you can no longer save him, but you can save yourself and your friends.”
“What are you talking about, Sir?”
“I know a way to end all of this. Now, Kaufman, you must decide what is more important to you. Will you pursue your father’s killer or the Senator who has caused the death of your friends and may well do far worse?”
Chapter 10
Kaufman sat with his head in his hands. He knew he had let his desire for revenge control too many of his actions. He wanted Munoz more than ever, and he finally had the man responsible for his father’s death in his grasp. He never expected to see the day when his father was avenged, yet it was now so far away.
“You know what you have to do,” said Barski.
Kaufman nodded. He could not let it get in his way.
“The day will come when we nail Munoz to the wall, but it is not now.”
“I know, Sir. Tell me what you have.”
Denton nodded in appreciation. He knew letting Munoz walk free was not an easy decision to make.
“Shortly before I was forced to resign, I decided to take this back to the beginning. Your first experience with the oddities of the Senator’s actions was when you discovered a Secret Service agent among a gang with no good reason. You knew in your guts that something was wrong then.”
Barski nodded. “The whole situation stank. Sir.”
“All this time we have been chasing odds and ends, when we should have been focusing on that one event. It was the catalyst for all of this. My investigations may likely never have been pursued if it wasn’t for that one contact you made. That one incident tipped my theories over to suspicions to the level that I pursued it.”
“Doyle, the agent. I am guessing he is a goner?” asked Kaufman.
Denton turned with a smile.
“You have every reason to think that, Captain. The Senator has proven that he is quite willing to kill anyone who gets in his way. And yet, Doyle lives.”
“What! How?” shouted Barski.
“That’s what I have spent some time digging into. It took long enough to discover his true identity. He is the only person we have had contact with, who could potentially testify against Malory, and that is not dead.”
“Malory must surely have seen to it by now?” asked Kaufman
“Indeed. All our experiences would suggest so. However, Doyle is currently being transferred to a high security prison base facility known as Caral.”
“Christ, that place actually exists?”
“Yes. Barski. It’s home to the worst of society’s criminals, religious fanatics and political prisoners.”
“A dumping ground for anyone that the government wants to deny the existence of,” said Kaminski.
“And you think Doyle is there?” asked Kaufman.
“I know so. I still have a few loyal contacts outside of this room.”
Kaufman got to his feet and strolled up and down. He was trying to put the pieces together. He turned back to Denton with a puzzled expression.
“You still haven’t told us why Doyle is alive. It makes no sense at all. He is too much of a loose end for the Senator to leave alone.”
“I agree fully. Only a fool would allow the man to live. Especially when Malory has proven quite willing to execute others.”
“Doyle means something to him,” said Kaminski.
Denton turned with a wicked smile.
“Of a sort. It took some digging to uncover the reason. It was clear to me, when I discovered he was still alive that he was even more vital to our case than any other lead. I simply didn’t have time to pursue it. Doyle is the son of William Malory who is the Senator’s brother. Doyle is the Senator’s nephew.”
“He would really not kill family, a man as brutal as this?” asked Morrison.
“I think he probably would if he could, but the Senator has a close relationship with his brother. William would never let him take away his only son.”
“But he would send him to Caral?” asked Kaufman.
“Think about it. The two brothers argue over it. The Senator tells William that his son must die. William won’t accept it, so the Senator reasons that imprisonment will suffice. It’s a deal which mostly fulfils each of their desires,” said Denton.
“Doyle looked pretty pissed off when I spoke to him. I don’t think he’s too keen on the Senator. A prison sentence, without chance for reprieve, could be enough to push him onto our side of the fence,” said Kaufman.
“Agreed.”
“So how do we get him out?”
“We can’t, Wells. Not by any legal means.”
“Hang on, what are we talking about here?” asked Wells.
“Fucking right, we have to bust him out!”
“I agree, Barski. The Caral is a privately run facility that I would bet good money Malory has a hand in. None of us here have the power or authority to get Doyle out through the proper channels,” said Denton.
The room went silent. They had already been forced to break many laws in recent days, but none were compared to breaking a prisoner out from a maximum-security facility.
“The Caral is not funded or controlled by any public money, is that correct?” asked Kaufman.
“Yes.”
“So it is not an officially recognised prison facility. Doyle is being held against his will, without prosecution, by an unsanctioned detention facility.”
“What are you getting at, Eric?”
“Even if we can break Doyle out, Max, we have to
be able to justify our actions or none of the work we do will be admissible in court.”
“The Captain is right on both counts. I like your thinking, Kaufman.”
“We are still officially IBI officers and we so have colony-wide jurisdiction. Doyle is a Secret Service agent who is being held against his will and illegally held from testifying in a Bureau case. We have a duty and responsibility to get him out of there.”
“Let’s just hope the authorities still give a shit for right and wrong and see it that way,” said Barski.
“They will or we’ll ram it down their throats,” said Kaufman.
* * *
Lin sat in the briefing room with her dusty armour still on. It was the first operation she had led and one of her very own team was killed before her eyes. For the first ten minutes she had blamed herself, but that had soon turned to a bitter anger towards the man who had ordered the operation. Desal had already been trying to reach the ship but she had been ignoring his transmissions. Every few minutes a new call would come through. She finally answered. The sleazy and despicable man appeared on the screen.
“Sergeant Lin, I am once again being ignored by the Captain. Please get him immediately.”
She looked at the rude man and wondered whether he genuinely was hapless and a bastard, or his intentions were far more malicious.
“Sergeant, I am giving you an order!”
“A good officer just died because of you. I suggest you call back later when we are in better spirits and you have collected your manners, Sir.”
She could see his face redden with anger, but it was too late. Lin reached forward and cut off the transmission before he could speak another word. She was disgusted by Desal and no longer cared about showing it. Her insubordination would get her fired and she knew it, but it no longer mattered. Lin was well aware that if Kaufman failed then they would all be in far worse a predicament.
Davis and Wilson strode in, and both were freshly cleaned up. They sat down beside her and could only imagine her pain at being in charge during the bodged mission.
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