Cade 2

by Neil Hunter

  “Let’s go,” Cade snapped as Janek slid into the pilot’s seat.

  “Can I strap in first? Time you took some stress counseling, Thomas. Times are when you’re a real pain.”

  “Just stress this damn thing off the ground, Janek.”

  The cyborg powered the chopper’s motors. It rose quickly, and Janek set the course that would bring them over Amos Sinclair’s sprawling estate.

  “Should get us there in a little under two minutes,” Janek said.

  Cade swung his seat around and checked the chopper’s rear compartment. An array of weapons was clipped to a rack against the bulkhead, including SMGs and assault rifles. There were also throwaway rocket launchers with armor-piercing missiles.

  “Janek, it’s like Christmas in July back here.”

  “You want to translate that for me, T. J.?”

  Cade picked out one of the rocket launchers and waved it under Janek’s nose.

  “So Sinclair wants to start a revolution? I’ll show that son of a bitch how to stop one. The hard way.”

  Janek groaned. “I just knew you were going to say that.”

  Ahead of them they picked out the fenced-off estate.

  An indicator light began to flash. Moments later a voice came through the speaker system, asking for the chopper’s ID code.

  “Well, don’t look at me,” Janek protested. “Just figure us a way out.”

  “Sinclair doesn’t miss a trick,” Cade said.

  “Neither will they,” Janek said meaningfully, and Cade followed his gaze.

  A pair of choppers identical to their own were rising from the grounds of the Sinclair estate, locking on to a course that would bring them on line for an attack.

  “No pain, no gain,” Cade said through gritted teeth, and reached for the rotary cannon’s control system. He swung the handset into position and slipped on the helmet that would lock him into the weapons system. The laser-enhanced fire control, relayed through the helmet, enabled the wearer to lock on to the target through a high-definition display. The rotary cannon would track the target by following the wearer’s eye movement.

  Activating the weapons system, Cade picked up the first of the ascending combat choppers. He keyed in range information and directed the on-board computer to provide coordinates. As they flashed up on the helmet display, Cade locked in on the chopper, waited the requested time span to bring the target within effective range, then opened fire.

  The 30 mm rotary cannon, set in the nose of the chopper, exploded with sound. Its six barrels sent a stream of armor-piercing shells at the distant chopper. They caught the chopper’s whirling rotors and blew them apart, then dropped to chew ragged holes in the fuselage. The chopper began to fall away, spinning out of control.

  Janek angled his machine away from the second chopper, which was still climbing and at a disadvantage. The cyborg used their height and speed to bring him in on the other chopper’s tail, giving Cade the opportunity to gain target acquisition and repeat his performance with the cannon. The blast of fire tore through the chopper’s fuselage, puncturing the “fuel tanks and turning the crippled machine into a ball of expanding flame.

  “Okay, hotshot,” Cade said, “let’s get down there before they send anything else at us.”

  Janek put the chopper in a long dive that took them inside the estate’s boundary fences. He flew across the wide expanses of expertly tended lawns and gardens, heading the chopper toward Sinclair’s massive residence. On a wide concrete pad were a number of combat choppers, two of them with spinning rotors.

  “In close,” Cade directed.

  He targeted the chopper pad and raked the standing machines with cannon fire, reducing the sophisticated military hardware to burning hulks and their crews to shriveled corpses. As Janek overflew the pad, he saw armed figures running for cover.

  Dumping the helmet, Cade swiveled his seat. He began to arm himself with weaponry, aware that there was going to be fierce resistance the moment Janek put the chopper down. His choices, in addition to an assault rifle with spare magazines, were rocket launchers and a loop of stun grenades.

  As the combat helicopter touched down, Janek cut the power. He also armed himself from the rack, adding a number of the rocket launchers to his selection along with a belt holding HE grenades.

  Cade had already unsealed the hatch and was out of the chopper. Janek landed on the far side of the concrete pad, using the drifting smoke from the burning helicopters to provide temporary cover.

  “Every man and cyborg for himself,” Cade said as Janek joined him, but Janek merely punched him in the arm, not deigning to say anything in reply.

  They pushed through the smoke and emerged on the far side, with the wrecked choppers between them and the house.

  “Vehicle coming,” Janek warned. “On your left.”

  Cade picked up the roar of the motor. He hefted one of the rocket launchers and unclipped the safety cover, automatically priming the launcher.

  As the 4x4 emerged from the smoke, Cade dropped to one knee, the launcher over his shoulder, his eye pressed to the inbuilt laser sight. He settled the red dot on the 4x4’s front and depressed the button. The launcher coughed, and a jet of flame gushed from the end of the tube as the missile fired. It sped toward the truck, locked on target. The explosion flipped the shattered vehicle over on its back, and it skidded across the ground, spilling its six-man crew in all directions.

  Janek, moving in from the flank, picked off the three men who managed to survive. His assault rifle put them down for good, the stream of slugs tearing them apart before they had a chance to use their own weapons.

  With Cade in the lead, they made an all-out dash for the house. The layout was familiar to them from their previous visit, saving them valuable seconds as they broke through to the patio area.

  Resistance heated up then, and the rattle of small-arms fire greeted them as they skirted the area. Taking cover behind the low wall, Cade and Janek reviewed the situation.

  “We’ve got eight, maybe nine guns between us and the house,” Janek said. “And there could be more ready to back them.”

  Cade unlimbered his second launcher and activated it.

  “You ready to go over the wall when this explodes?”

  “The tradition is to toss a coin to see who goes,” Janek grumbled.

  “You wouldn’t want to admit to using old-fashioned methods like that.”

  “If it saves my ass—yes!”

  Cade grinned. He laid the launcher across the top of the wall and fired. The missile struck on the far side of the pool, sending a shower of patio tiles into the air. Water began to fountain up from a ruptured pipe.

  Janek rolled over the wall when the answering fire petered out for a second. He was on his feet and running before they opened up again.

  A pair of uniformed men broke cover as they spotted the cyborg, their weapons turning in Janek’s direction.

  He kept on moving forward, the assault rifle tracking in on its targets. Janek triggered the weapon and blew them both off their feet in sprays of misty red. He half turned as he caught hurried movement off to his right, then traded shots with another attacker. That one went down with ragged holes in both legs, clutching at his shattered limbs.

  Reaching the cover of the side of the house, Janek paused to scan the area. He picked up one gunman firing across the pool. Janek saw Cade cutting across the far side of the patio, weaving as he tried to avoid the deadly stream of the mere’s slugs. Janek shouldered his assault rifle and snap-aimed. He triggered a single shot and saw the mere’s head jerk sideways as a gout of dark fluid erupted from his skull.

  Cade had completed his run for the far side of the pool, crossing the patio in an uninterrupted dash. As he approached the wide picture window that led inside the house, he lifted the rifle and triggered a burst. The bullets bounced off the shatterproof glass. Cade unhitched his last rocket launcher, primed it and fired. The missile hit the glass and exploded, blowing the great expan
se of glass into the house.

  Tossing aside the empty tube, Cade brought his rifle into action as he stormed the house, firing in through the now-open window. He caught sight of movement on the far side of the smoke-filled room, spotting the gleam of metal as someone turned an auto-weapon on him. Cade took a sideways dive, landed on his shoulder and rolled. He could hear and feel the march of bullets tearing into the thick carpeting in his wake. He came to a stop against a holo-vid player and pulled himself into cover.

  He heard a man yelling defiantly, still firing blind. Hot lead tore into floor and walls, gouging and chewing away at the expensive decor.

  Cade rolled to the far end of the wide holo-vid unit and pushed to his feet. He located the figure of the man doing all the shooting.

  The uniform gave him away. It was Colonel Clayton Munro. He was facing Cade now, anger clouding his features.

  “Goddamn it, Cade, you had to keep pushing! Couldn’t leave it alone. We almost had it made. Another few hours, and we’d have had it all.”

  “It’s over now, Munro,” Cade called. “Give it up. Your way wasn’t the right one.”

  “It had to be done!” Munro yelled.

  “Throw down the gun, Munro. Now!”

  Clayton Munro ignored the request. He moved, swinging across the room so he could expose Cade.

  Cade saw his strategy. He didn’t hesitate. The assault rifle came on line, catching Munro’s figure as he stepped into view. Cade pulled the trigger. The impact slammed the colonel against the wall, spattering it with bright beads of blood. Munro gave a low groan, rolling around to face the wall. His fingers splayed out, slithering across the smooth surface as the renegade colonel lost his struggle with life and went down.

  Cade gained his feet and crossed the room in long strides. A wide archway led him through to an even larger, luxuriously appointed room. One wall was composed of high-tech audio and visual equipment. On the far side of the room, wide double doors opened on a spacious walkway that pushed deeper into the vast house.

  Cade reached the doors, peering around the edge of the wall.

  An auto-pistol fired, and a long splinter of wood was torn from the door frame. As he jerked his head back under cover, Cade spotted a group of people making their way along the wide walkway.

  He made out the uniformed figure of Colonel Edwin Poole. Just ahead of Poole was Amos Sinclair. There was a trio of civilians dressed in expensive suits, and Chief of Police Norris in his NYPD dress uniform. They were all in a ring of armed mercenaries, backed up by Lukas Tane himself. The group was moving purposefully, headed deeper into Sinclair’s expansive home.

  Cade saw it as running.

  The conspirators had accepted their plan wasn’t going as well as it should. Now they were looking for a way out, an escape from the results of their crimes.

  “No damn way!” Cade muttered to himself, jamming a fresh mag into the assault rifle. He slammed the bolt back, cocking the weapon, and broke cover.

  The gunman who had fired the warning shot saw the Justice cop erupt from the doorway and swung up his auto-pistol for what he figured would be an easy shot.

  Cade got there first, his actions generated by a burning need to stop Sinclair and his followers.

  The assault rifle slammed out its sound, and a trio of bullets caught the mere in the chest, driving him to the floor.

  The other gunmen closed ranks around their charges, moving them at a faster rate.

  Cade, keeping his back to a wall, stalked them, waiting for his chance.

  He saw one pause to lift his weapon. Cade’s shot took him in the left shoulder and knocked him off balance, making him fall against one of his own. The action caused a ripple of unease to run through the protected group. A man began to protest until Lukas Tane shouted him down.

  Cade used the moment of panic to lay down a burst of rapid fire that cut into the line of armed men, dropping two of them and wounding another.

  The group broke apart as Tane’s mercenaries laid down a covering round of loose fire. They were attempting to protect the unarmed section at the same time, so their fire was erratic.

  Breaking a stun grenade from the loop he carried on his belt, Cade flicked off the breakaway cap, priming the egg-shaped device. He tossed it, then turned his head away and covered his ears. He heard the grenade detonate, the sound muffled to his protected ears. As the echo died away, Cade turned back. A thick cloud of smoke filled the walkway, and he could hear groaning. When the smoke began to clear, Cade saw a number of figures down on their hands and knees, blood trickling from noses and ears.

  The assault rifle tracking ahead of him, Cade advanced on the scattered group. He triggered the weapon hard and fast, taking out the mercs who were already reaching for their weapons, though still dazed.

  The next moment, Janek joined him, and added his firepower to his partner’s. Between them they drove the remnants of Lukas Tane’s mercenary group to the floor.

  The last line defense of the mercenaries allowed the remainder of the straggling, desperate group, including Sinclair and Edwin Poole, to reach the far end of the walkway. A sliding door opened to allow them through. The last man to leave was Lukas Tane himself.

  Cade caught a glimpse of daylight on the opposite side of the door. “Move it, Janek,” he yelled. “They’ll have transport out there somewhere.”

  He put on a burst of speed that brought him to the door in a rush. Cade was ready to burst through in pursuit. Before he did, Janek shouldered him to one side. As Cade stumbled, banging against the inside wall, he heard a heavy concentration of auto-fire, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Janek reel back as he took a number of hits in his midsection.

  Cade glanced through the door.

  Striding toward it, weapons up and firing, were three of the Amosin combat droids. The black-clad figures were directing their combined fire at Janek.

  One swung up a heavy, squat piece of hardware that Cade recognized as a grenade launcher. The droid leveled the weapon and touched the trigger, sending a small, powerful mini-grenade winging toward Janek.

  The cyborg twisted his body violently, managing to avoid the grenade’s full blast. But there was enough impact in the explosion to spin Janek off his feet, his left leg disintegrating in a blur of flying fragments.

  Janek felt his leg give way. He reached up and snatched the remaining launcher swinging from his shoulder, fingers activating the firing system even as he fell. He thrust out one hand, bracing himself as he struck the floor. Pulling the tube around, he leveled it at the bunched combat droids and fired. The launcher gushed flame as the missile burst from the tube. It struck the center droid and detonated with a blinding flash. The trio was engulfed in the explosion that followed, the impact ripping them apart and spewing debris into the air.

  “Go!” Janek said. “I’m fine, so don’t stand there staring.”

  Cade ducked through the door, stepping over the smoking remains of the combat droids.

  He was faced by a wide, curving concourse that provided access to Amosin’s production facility. A gleaming monorail swept across the concrete apron, offering comfortable transportation to anyone needing to travel deep into the production complex. To the left was a fully equipped helipad, with four machines parked on it. Two bore military markings. A third belonged to the NYPD.

  Cade oriented himself with a sweeping glance as he located his targets.

  Colonel Edwin Poole had stopped running. He was facing Cade, sunlight glancing off the gleaming medals pinned to his uniform. He was in the act of pulling his service automatic from his uniform tunic, an expression of utter resignation on his face.

  Across from Poole, the NYPD chief, Norris, was hurriedly squeezing his uniformed bulk into the hatch of his helicopter. Norris threw a hasty glance over his shoulder, sensing Cade’s approach. Confirmation of his suspicions forced him to move too quickly. He missed his footing and slipped from the hatch, slithering down the shiny curve of the chopper’s gleaming black fuselage. T
he renegade cop stumbled awkwardly, broad face red and sweaty, remaining bent over for a few seconds. When he began to straighten, he had a gun in his hand.

  The three civilians, now recognizable as local politicians and one state senator, had thrown themselves to the ground at the sound of combat.

  Amos Sinclair, shielded by Lukas Tane, was cutting across the concourse. The industrialist was leading his bodyguard toward the monorail access platform.

  Cade assessed the situation in one swift take, marking his prime targets and acting on that information.

  He swung up the assault rifle and locked on to the bulky torso of Chief Norris. The cop already had his weapon out and leveled, finger squeezing back on the trigger.

  The boom of Cade’s weapon drowned out the sharp cry of pain that burst from Norris’s lips. Cade’s slug caught him in the upper chest, slamming him back against the side of the chopper. Feebly he lifted his weapon to return fire. Cade’s next bullet caught him in the neck, and a gout of blood arced from the wound. Norris fell over backward, turning in mid-fall, his arms thrown wide. He crashed against the fuselage of the chopper, sliding down it with a curious limpness and flopping face down on the concourse.

  The muzzle of Cade’s weapon flicked across to pinpoint Edwin Poole. The black muzzle of Poole’s military-issue handgun had locked on target when the sound of a third shot split the air. He was hit between the eyes, and the handgun flipped from his suddenly nerveless fingers and clattered on the concrete. Moments later Poole lay sprawled across the concrete, the back of his shattered skull leaking blood.

  Cade glanced behind him and saw Janek, propped against the wall, his smoking assault rifle in his hands.

  “Thanks,” Cade said.

  “Go get Sinclair,” Janek said. “I can tie things up here.”

  Cade worked his way past the helicopters, using them as cover. Peering across the concourse, he saw that Sinclair and Tane had made it into one of the sleek monorail cars. It was already picking up speed as it followed the steel rail that would take it into the complex.