by Jack Parker
Instinctively, she pulled out her gun and aimed. The Elonsican's finger was on the trigger. Before he could pull it, however, she shot. He fell to the ground, clutching his side. More Elonsicans arrived.
Cal and Lia ran, swerving around the corner and darting into the open corridor. They could hear the rushed sound of footfall. Cal grabbed the handles from the inside, pulling the door shut.
The door slid open again.
He pulled it shut once again. "How the fuck do we keep it shut?"
That had to be the first time she had ever heard him curse.
Lia dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out the lock; it slipped in her damp palms as she handed it to him. He caught it and used it to secure the handles.
A click issued through the corridor.
A moment later, there was a heavy banging from the outside of the door.
"They won't be able to open it from the outside because we've locked it from the inside," breathed Lia, slumping against the wall and dropping to her knees. She leaned against the wall and took in a few deep breaths.
Cal nodded warily and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He sat against the wall opposite her and reloaded his gun, then ran his eyes over his watch.
"Six-forty. Twenty minutes left to find Ted."
Lia groaned. "Joy."
He stood up. "Let's go."
She nodded, and followed him down the corridor.
So much for an event-less mission.
* * *
Jack signalled for the car to stop. He pulled open the door and walked out into the empty street. The rest of the police cars had also stopped; the men were piling out.
The street was deserted save for two bodies strewn across the middle of the road. An officer bent down beside them and checked their pulses.
"They're not dead," he announced. "Only unconscious."
Jack nodded with relief. The fewer casualties there were the better. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the media more than was necessary. One of the officers climbed out of a broken café window. Jack looked toward him.
The officer bit his lip. "There's a man in there. I think he's dead."
So much for less media coverage.
Jack frowned, then pulled out his gun. "I can hear gunshots from the direction of the cinema. Be ready."
The officers nodded in affirmation and pulled out their guns. Jack peered at his watch. It was six-forty.
"Let's go."
* * *
Lia ran her eyes over the walls. They were plain – painted a dull cream – and clad in layers of chipped plaster. Once in a while, her eyes strayed upon a tattered poster advertising one of the latest releases.
When she had been in school, no-one had actually gone to the cinema to watch films; it was just a place to hang out, mess about, and get kicked out of. It used to be like a game, a competition –who can get kicked out of the most shops in one day? And the cinema had always been the most fun out of all the places, seeing as it was so big and the guards usually put up a chase. She remembered running down these corridors; Carmon and Dan were always in front whilst she tagged behind, the guard at her heel. But she had always known she wouldn't get caught. They all knew that if they got caught, Dan would "come to the rescue." As weird as it sounded now, she was pretty sure that that's how she had thought at the time. That's what they had all thought at the time.
It had always been here, Dan and Carmon and sometimes Katie. She had never liked Katie. She always got the feeling that Katie didn't like her –that she was trying to take her place. Or maybe she had been jealous? It was far too long ago for her to remember her exact feelings. Katie had been Carmon's girlfriend, his girlfriend at the time anyway. Carmon nearly always went for Elonsicans, she noticed, and out of the lot of them he had always been the one most likely to get into a relationship with someone. She and Dan had never really cared about any of it; they had been perfectly content with being alone.
She wondered whether it was still like that, minus Dan of course. Carmon always had a girlfriend, but her –she had never really bothered. And it wasn't like she couldn't –if she tried she probably could. She just liked to be on her own. At least, she thought she did. Maybe she didn't like to be on her own but she just didn't realize it. Maybe there was some long, psychological explanation for everything she did. She wasn't quite sure.
If you don't understand yourself, how do you expect others to? A voice chided at her, scathingly.
No-one truly understands themselves. If they did, they wouldn't make so many foolish mistakes –they would always be in control of their own actions.
"Do you know your way around this place?" Cal's voice snapped her out of her reverie.
She nodded. "Yeah. I know the entire layout." We had to, to get away from the guards.
"We haven't got much time. Did Ted say he's going to meet us at a specific place?"
Lia bit her lip. "He didn't specify a checkpoint, no."
Cal ran a hand through his hair and sighed. It was probably the most humane action she had ever seen him do. It made her look at him in a new light.
Maybe he is a human after all.
Or an alien in a very clever disguise.
"That means we're going to have to search for him."
Lia shook her head. "The place is way too big for us to go everywhere. It would take us an hour to go through every room, and that's if we're really fast and we don't encounter anyone."
"Do you have any suggestions?" Lia was shocked by his tone of voice. He didn't sound sarcastic; he was just asking her a question like a normal person would.
An alien in a very clever disguise who can, in addition to being cleverly attired, act extremely well.
Maybe he can even do ballet. I'll make a note to ask him next time.
She ran her eyes over the walls, desperately thinking. "He would want to go in a place where no-one would see him and he wouldn't get attacked. But it would also be in a place which would be obvious for us to look in, but at the same time not obvious for anyone to randomly go into."
"A place which we couldn't miss."
"Exactly. But the problem is there are plenty of those in a cinema."
Cal sighed. "Any ideas?"
"The only solution is to split up, but you don't know the layout of the place so it'll be harder."
"Just because I don't know the general layout, it doesn't mean I can't search it." The condescension was back.
Are you trying to imply that I couldn't search it if I didn't know the layout?
"Fine, then. This corridor should stem into two at the end. I'll take the right side and you can take the left. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes and if either of us run into Ted, we'll bring him with us."
Cal watched her expectantly.
"What?"
"Are you forgetting that I don't know how he looks like, or did that small detail just 'happen' to escape your head?"
He used head instead of brain, she noted. It was as if he were implying that her head was hollow; he was implying that she didn't possess a brain.
Or maybe he wants to possess your head with an evil alien brain, which he has brought back from his planet.
How would she describe Ted? She had only seen him once and she herself did not remember him all that well.
"He's tall, pretty weedy. About five eleven, I reckon, and he's old, older than fifty, anyway. I don't reckon there'll be many people around here who are over fifty, so that'll make the job easier-" she bit her lip, desperately trying to picture him in her head "-his hair is a mousy sort of color and he has this big bald patch in the middle of his head. His head is pretty long, too; it's like a stretched out oval. And Michael told me he would be dressed totally in navy-blue. Just use the code words on him and if you think it's him and if he is Ted, he'll reply."
"And if he isn't, I'll shoot him."
He had said that just to unnerve her. She put on an obviously forced smile. "With the darts, of course."
"Of course, seeing
as real bullets might give you nightmares."
The sheer irony of that statement made her want to laugh.
She quickened her pace as the stemming corridors came into view.
"Bye."
He smirked. "Make sure you don't get shot."
Was it just her, or did he sound hopeful?
She pivoted. "Make sure you do."
He didn't reply, but she could almost feel his smirk upon her back. That retort had been lined with more venom than she would have liked and the sheer display of hatred made him aware that he was getting on her nerves.
He had won that one.
He won every one.
A very manipulative alien, too.
* * *
Jack raised his head. "You've seen the state of things around there. We're going to have to split up; half of us will need to sort out the outside while the rest infiltrate the interior of the cinema-" The men nodded. Jack inclined his head toward the main officer "-I expect your men are quite experienced in these matters, so they won't need any further instruction."
The officer saluted, then replied, "Your presence was requested under protocol, Sir. And it is advised that we ask for your command upon such matters."
Jack liked this guy. He addressed him with a certain note of respect; there was nothing patronizing within his tone of voice, even though he was marginally older than him.
"The question is who's going to go where?"
One of the younger officers spoke up, "Permission to speak, Sir?"
He liked being called "Sir." It had a nice ring to it.
"Permission granted."
"I think it would be best if the more experienced men went inside, because we're not trained well enough to be able to cope with people jumping out at us –as is expected within the cinema, that is."
Jack nodded. He was right. It would be harder and, ultimately, more dangerous inside; therefore, it would be best to send in the most experienced of members. "Good idea. But we'll need one of the senior officers out here to command you."
The head officer spoke up. "I'll stay out here with them and you can lead the operation inside, Sir."
They already trusted him that much. A few of the more senior officers looked uneasy, he noticed, but the head officer trusted him.
You didn't get the job so early for no reason at all.
He trusts you with their lives. Don't let him down.
"Okay. But it'll take a long time to get this place under control-" he aimed the next question to the head officer "-are we able to call in reinforcements if the matter gets out of hand?"
"We are, yes. But it isn't advisable."
Jack understood as the sheer idiocy of his statement sunk in. If they called in reinforcements, they would probably have to consult people who were not within the Sector. It would make the Sector look incapable of handling the problem on their own and, seeing as he was the leader and it was his first proper assignment, it would make it look as though he was not suited enough for the job –he could not handle it on his own.
First impressions always count.
He couldn't mess up on this. If this went right, he would finally have proved it to the others that he wasn't just some amateur –he would finally gain their trust. But, even if he tried, would he ever truly gain their trust?
"In a world of politics you can trust no one, not even your own boss. Remember that."
Could what Jessica Coles had said work the other way around or, the question would be, did it work the other way around? Would his officers, his men, ever trust him, or would they just pretend and bide their time –wait for him to stab them in the back or vice versa? How could you trust someone you barely knew? And even if you knew someone really well, how did you know that you could actually trust them –trust them with your secrets, your hopes, your life?
You're still so young, Jack, so naïve
Was it naïve to trust people? Was that what she meant? But if you didn't trust anyone at all, you would never achieve anything –you would always have to rely on yourself. It just wasn't practical.
Maybe he had misinterpreted her.
Women.
"Understood."
The head officer nodded and split his men into two groups. It took him less than a minute. Jack envied the way that he commanded respect –the way that they looked up to him and followed his every order without a second thought.
Maybe one day they'll trust me like that –they'll look up to me like that.
One day.
Jack loaded his gun, then turned to his men. "Ready?"
They all nodded.
"Let's move."
* * *
Lia made her way down the corridor, slowly. She had always hated these corridors; the space was so restricted. If one of the doors along the side suddenly opened, whoever was inside would see her immediately. Each door led to a separate screen and she was sure that this side of the building had over twenty screens. She doubted that Ted would hide out in one of the screens, though. It was far too impractical, especially since he hadn't told them where he would be. He benefited from this mission just as much as they did.
She neared the end of the corridor. She knew that it led to one of the main parts of the cinema: where they distributed the tickets. It was quite an open space, she noted; therefore, there would be a greater likelihood of her getting attacked. If it was just as it had been the last time she had came, there would be a few benches that she would be able to use for cover if she encountered anyone.
She just had to pray that she didn't.
Lia took in a deep breath, her finger resting on the trigger of her gun –ready to shoot. She stepped out onto the carpet. It was a dusty scarlet, stained a deep brown by the many muddy footprints stretching over its surface.
She ran her eyes over the room, warily. She began to walk, constantly scouring the room for any signs of life. There were counters nearby and the small blue screens listing whatever was going to come on during the day were still flashing. Everything was just as it should be in a normal cinema.
Only it was empty.
She could hear a whirring sound near the refreshments stand where some sort of sweet was going around on a wheel. She couldn't remember its name, though. The whirring was the only sound in the silence.
She continued to walk toward the center. Suddenly, her trainer made a squelching sound on something. She looked down. She had stepped on one of the footprints. The mud was still fresh – wet – which meant...
Gunshots filled the air.
Lia dived and rolled on her side as a bullet crashed into the carpet, tearing through its surface and hitting the floorboards. She ran –sprinted- toward one of the benches and dived behind it, then brought up her gun and began to randomly shoot, ducking occasionally to avoid a bullet.
She wouldn't get anywhere this way. She had to aim and shoot whoever it was down. There was only one person, though, she surmised. At least, there was only one gun being shot. And whoever it was, they were probably not properly trained –not as trained as her, anyway.
A bullet tore through the bench, sending a shower of splintered wood raining down upon the floor.
They may not be trained, but they sure have good guns.
The bullets were strong. She had to get whoever it was soon; otherwise, they would end up destroying the bench which was her only cover. But how was she meant to aim when the opposition was still shooting? And then it hit her. Whoever it was, he was just shooting at her absently which meant that, eventually, he would run out of bullets and be forced to reload.
And that's when she would strike.
She just had to make sure that she didn't use up too many bullets; otherwise, her plan could be used against her. Eventually, though, he stopped, if only for a few seconds. She shot up, then scoured the room quickly. He was behind the counter. He spotted her and poised his gun.
She aimed. His finger rested on the trigger. A split-second before he pulled the trigger, she dived to the side. The bulle
t whistled past her, crashing against the wall and splaying plaster over the carpet. Before he could comprehend what had happened, she had already shot him.
Blood poured out of his leg and he fell to the side, clutching it in pain.
Lia's eyes widened as she looked down at her gun for a moment. She had used bullets, real bullets and not the darts. And then she remembered shooting off the lock and how she had reloaded her gun beforehand.