“What do you mean?” Ernst asked
“I’m not letting you take her, not by herself. Take me too, and that way I’ll be assured of her well-being. I won’t interfere at all—I’ll just be there as her bodyguard.”
“Are you crazy, Cap?” Karl nearly yelled. “You can’t be seriously considering helping these . . . these maniacs.”
“I promised I would keep Katherine safe, Karl, and I always keep my promises. I can’t really see any other options right now, can you?”
Karl shook his head.
“How do we know we can trust you?” Ernst asked.
“Because I would give you my word that I wouldn’t intervene as long as you treated Katherine with every courtesy,” Steve said. “And in return, you would agree to release us after a set term, say three months—time enough for Katherine to show you how best to implement her research. That way, you get what you want, and I get what I want. Sound fair?”
For once, Steve felt little guilt at lying. He would back himself to find a way to free Katherine, given time and opportunity, but he needed to get her out from under their guns—and to do that he would need to sell them on his idea.
“Very fair. But hard for me to believe,” Ernst said. “You would give in, just like that? Allow yourself to become a tool of our cause? Your pride would surely not allow such a thing.”
“That’s where you and I are different. Yes, I have my pride, but I would never sacrifice someone else to it. A little bit of pride is a good thing—we have to have that to function in this world, to keep our heads up when things get tough. But when it matters more to us than another person—well, that’s when it becomes poison.”
“Very noble, Mr. Rogers,” Ernst said contemptuously. “But I think I will wait for my men to arrive and take my chances.”
“Is that your final decision?” Steve asked. “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider before it’s too late?”
“More threats? They grow wearisome.”
“Not at all,” Steve said. “Just when you leave someone with nothing to lose, you create a very volatile situation.”
The sound of footsteps came from the hallway, and Ernst smiled nastily.
“It looks like you are out of time, Mr. Rogers.”
Steve tensed, ready to lunge across the room and hopefully get to Ernst before his men arrived. But before he could move, there was a series of small explosions, sounding as if they were coming from all around them, and then gunfire and the sound of struggling.
“Rogers, call off your men or I will kill her right here and now, I swear!” Ernst yelled. His knuckles whitened as his finger tensed on the trigger.
“My men?” Steve asked. “I hope they’re coming to help us, but you have to believe I don’t have any control over them. Hurting her won’t stop them.” He looked at his companion. “Karl?”
Karl shook his head wordlessly.
The surprise in Steve’s voice must have convinced Ernst, and he barked orders to one of his men, who took his place covering Katherine. The other men took up positions to either side of Ernst, facing the door, guns drawn.
“If they aren’t with you, and they aren’t with me, then who are they?” he asked Steve.
“A lot of people want that research,” Steve said. “It could be any of number of people.”
“Whoever it is, they are going to regret this,” Ernst said.
He and his men braced themselves. Steve and Karl were still deciding what to do when black-clad men burst thought the door and all hell broke loose.
Chapter 14
Four Seasons Hotel, Washington D.C.: 2330 hours
Four men in black body armor swarmed into the room, and the Temasikians dove for cover. Bullets shredded a very expensive leather couch that Ernst ducked behind. Steve dove too, but toward Katherine, knocking her chair over as he tried to get her out of the line of fire.
“Cease fire! Cease fire, you idiots!” A voice rang out from the doorway. “We’re here for the girl.”
The sound of gunfire cut off as if a switch had been flicked, and an eerie silence filled the room. It held for a moment, and then was broken by a shout from Ernst.
“Get the woman!”
Two TLF men darted across the room, and a pair of the black-clad men rushed to intercept them. As they traded blows, Ernst made a beeline for the door, but before he could make it, the doorway was filled by a squat figure. Steve recognized the man from the safe house even before he pulled the two short staves from the holsters on his back.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Jonah said.
Ernst stopped. “Are you going to try and stop me?”
“No, I’m not going to try.” He twirled the staves in the hypnotic, blurring circles that Steve remembered from their last encounter.
As quick as a flash, Ernst grabbed one of the lamp stands and snapped off either end. This left him with a short staff, about five feet long, that he held with the practiced familiarity of a man who had used such a weapon before. He dropped into a fighting stance and waited for the other man to attack. Jonah swung his staves overhead, bringing them down on the staff with a wooden crack. As if that was merely the opening salvo, the two men shifted into another gear. Their weapons turned into blurs, and the sound of wood on wood filled the room with a syncopated tempo that would have done any self-respecting thrash drummer proud. Behind them, the other men were still fighting, the occasional smack of fists on flesh or anguished groan the only noise.
Steve didn’t waste time staring at the deadly dance going on in the middle of the room or at the other distractions. He was already working on Katherine’s bonds. The TLF hadn’t made his job easy—it looked they had wrapped a whole roll of duct tape around her ankles, and another around her wrists.
“Here.”
Karl passed him a clasp knife, and Steve sawed away at the tape while the other man watched his back. Trusting Karl, Steve didn’t even look up when he heard a meaty thunk and one of the TLF members fell to the ground next to him. Finally, he had Katherine free and her hands went to her mouth and pulled out the gag.
“Thanks, but why leave the gag until last?” Katherine asked, spitting out bits of tape and fluff.
“Because I didn’t want you telling me how to get rid of the rest?” He held up his hand. “Teasing! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just sore and cramped from sitting in the same position for hours.”
“They didn’t hurt you?” Karl asked. His tone of voice made it clear that someone was going to be sorry if she said yes.
“No, Ernst made it very clear that they needed me in a fit state to help with their plans, and I think he was worried if he went too far, they would never be able to convince me to help.”
“That’s good,” Karl said. “I was worried.” He paused. “I mean, I know the research is important and all that.”
Katherine gave him an appraising look, but before she could comment further, Steve interrupted.
“Hate to rush you or anything, but let’s get out of here while we have the chance.”
By then, Ernst was favoring his left arm and Jonah had a nasty bruise flowering above his eye. Both men were breathing heavily and their weapons were moving a touch slower than before, but even to Steve’s trained eye, it was impossible to discern who was on top.
“Karl, deal with the others.”
The former Marine nodded, raised his shotgun and, with chilling efficiency, turned and opened fire. The bean bags might not have been lethal, but they were effective, and in a matter of moments the six men were down, unconscious or struggling to breathe. He swung around and pointed the shotgun at Ernst and Jonah, who froze almost midmotion and dropped their hands to their sides. Before they could say a word, Karl pulled the trigger again. There was only a click, and he cursed. In a blur of motion, Jonah slammed his stave into Ernst’s gut and then smashe
d him over the head, sending him to the floor where he lay motionless. It was the work of seconds, but that was all the time the ex-Marine needed, and there was a gun in Karl’s hand and leveled at Jonah before he could get to his own side arm.
“Drop it!” Karl snapped. “You don’t have a play here, you know that, so let’s save some time.”
Jonah slowly bent and placed his gun on the ground.
“Kick it over to me.”
Wordlessly, Jonah complied, and Karl picked the gun up, checking the safety before shoving it into his belt.
“Now, go and stand facing the wall, hands behind your head. I want you sniffing the wallpaper.”
When Jonah was in position, Karl patted him down carefully, making sure he didn’t leave himself vulnerable to any sudden moves. He found another gun in a holster tucked into Jonah’s sock, and a nasty looking knife with a knuckle-duster grip strapped to the small of his back.
“You can’t escape from here,” Jonah said. “I have men waiting at every entrance to the building, and a dozen more positioned around the perimeter. You won’t make it a hundred feet before they pick you up, and I can’t answer for your safety. She’s safe, but the two of you have targets painted on you.”
“We’ll take our chances,” Steve said. “On your knees.”
When Jonah hesitated, Karl pushed the barrel of his gun into the small of the other man’s back. “Really? Are we going to play these games?”
Jonah said a foul word and dropped to his knees.
Steve had just started to bind Jonah with the tape the TLF had used on Katherine when Karl broke in.
“Hang on, Cap,” he said. “Allow me.”
“Be my guest,” Steve said, stepping back.
Karl grabbed Jonah and pulled him back up. He wrapped his arm around the other man’s neck and held his gun against Jonah’s ear. Karl marched Jonah over to the doorway and down the hall, stopping in front of the fire doors next to the elevator.
“We have your boss.” Karl said. “Come out with your hands up, and no one gets hurt.” He winked back at Katherine. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
There was no answer.
“Tell them I’m not bluffing.”
When Jonah stayed silent, Karl ground the gun into his ear.
“Come out,” Jonah gasped, “and lay down your weapons.”
The doors opened, revealing the three sullen looking men who’d been waiting inside. Their hands were raised, guns in the air. Steve relieved them of their weapons, and Karl gestured them into the bedroom with his gun.
“Down on the floor. Flat on your stomachs, hands behind your heads.”
The men complied, stretching out on the lush carpet. Steve bound them hand and foot with the leftover tape, wrapping it around their ankles and wrists. Karl pushed Jonah toward Steve, and Rogers gave him the same treatment. Just to be safe, Steve bound Ernst and the unconscious TLF fighters, too.
“Who are you working for?” Steve demanded of Jonah. The other man remained silent, staring defiantly back at his captors.
“We don’t have time for this, Cap,” Karl said. “If the building is surrounded, we need to hurry up and get moving.”
“You know you won’t get far,” Jonah said. “You can’t run far enough, or fast enough, to get away from us.”
“We’ll see about that,” Steve said. “All I know is you won’t be doing much running. Or walking. I’d take you with us, but I’m sure you’d do everything you could to slow us down, and we don’t have time for that.”
Steve, Karl, and Katherine hurried into the corridor, scanning for further threats. The hallway was littered with bodies, mainly TLF members, but seasoned with a few of the black-clad men who had come with Jonah.
“Where to now?” Katherine asked. “You heard what he said—there are people surrounding the building.”
“Watch and wonder,” Karl said.
He led them into the elevator and fiddled with the panel.
“In most of these places, you have to have a room key to get to certain floors. It stops the wrong element from wandering around. But even a room key generally won’t get you to the utility areas or the basement. However, a man with the right sort of skills can generally bypass that, and in the basement, there are all sorts of access tunnels. Some for freight, some for waste. It’s . . .”
“It’s a way out of here!” Katherine interrupted. “That’s brilliant, Karl!”
Karl grinned. “Well, I can’t help being a genius. It’s a curse really.”
A shower of sparks fell as Karl pulled his hand away, cursing. The smell of burning filled the elevator.
“Genius, huh?” Steve asked.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Karl said defensively. “And, look, here we go.”
He was right—the number indicator flashed, showing that they were heading down. The three of them kept their eyes on the big letter B, and let out a cheer when it glowed. The doors slid open, revealing the cavernous hotel basement.
“Voilà,” Karl said. “Did I deliver, or did I deliver?”
He held out his fist. “Don’t leave me hanging, K.”
Katherine grinned and bumped Karl’s fist. “Just don’t call me ‘K,’ okay?”
Steve was already in the basement, checking for threats. He stopped when he found a large steel grate.
“I think I’ve found what we’re looking for,” he yelled back to the others. “I just hope neither of you are scared of the dark.”
“Do we have to?” Katherine said. “If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, I’d really rather not.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” Steve said. “It could be worse, trust me on that.”
“What do you mean?” Karl asked.
“Never mind,” Steve muttered.
Steve bent down and grabbed the grate. He braced himself, and with a grunt, lifted it out of place, dragging it to the side. He looked down into the hole. There was a glint of water, and the faint whiff of grease and sewage.
“Okay, this one is much worse.” Steve turned to the others. “Karl, you go first, then I’ll lower Katherine down.”
“Man, why do I have to go first?” Karl said.
“Because you’re the ex-Marine and Katherine is the computer tech. No offense, Katherine.”
“None taken. I’m happy not to go first!”
“And you, Cap? I’m happy to let you go first.”
“Can you pull the grate shut behind us? It weighs about six hundred pounds.”
“You make a good point,” Karl said. “Sorry, it’s just . . . are there going to be rats down there, do you think?”
“Aw, is the big bad man scared of a teensy little rat?” Katherine teased.
“If you’d been captured by insurgents and watched them use rats as a form of torture, you might not be a fan either,” he snapped.
Katherine’s face fell. “I was just kidding, Karl. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it—I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” He turned back to the hole and peered down. “Okay, if I have to do this, let’s get it over with.”
He put a hand on either side of the drain and lowered himself down, trying to get as low as he could before he let go. He dropped, and Steve and Katherine heard a splash followed by the sound of Karl cursing.
“Oh man! It stinks down here. Like a mix of sweaty feet and moldy cheese. I think I’m gonna be sick.”
Katherine was trying not to laugh, and Steve gave her a mock-severe look.
“I wouldn’t say too much; you’re next.”
She sighed and walked over to edge of the hole.
“I really don’t like the look of this.”
Steve ignored her. “Karl, get ready to grab her on the way down, okay?”
“Sure, Cap.”
“I’ve got her,” Karl yelled from the drain.
Steve let Katherine go and stepped back.
“Move a few yards away, okay?” he yelled down. “Let me know when it’s clear.”
“Clear!”
Steve dragged the grate partially over the hole, then lowered himself in. He hung from the grate, swinging and using his body weight to shift it, feeling a jolt as it dropped back into place. He hung for a moment, and then dropped down, bending his knees as he landed. There was a splash of fetid water and a foul smell, but the footing was firm enough, and he walked over to where the other two waited.
“If this is below the basement of the hotel, we’re well under street level. But, I think if we follow it, we’ll either come to a way up, or cross over to another tunnel. We can make a decision when we get to that point, but I want us at least few blocks away before we even surface to check out our location. Sound like a plan?”
The other two nodded, and they set off. As they got farther away from the hotel, the smell diminished; Steve supposed that the hotel had been illegally dumping kitchen grease and waste into what was meant to be a storm-water drain. As the water cleared, their surroundings became a lot more bearable and—much to Karl’s loud and expressive relief—aside from a few squeaking and scuttling noises that came from the smaller side tunnels, there was no sign of rats. Every so often, the darkness was broken by a beam of sunlight shining down a ventilation shaft, giving them a break from the oppressive blackness.
To start with, they tried talking among themselves, but the way that their voices echoed back brokenly from the drain’s walls made it sound as if there were people following them, or even in front of them, and the eerie noises saw even Katherine soon give up on trying to keep the conversation going. Once they stopped talking, the dead silence that enveloped them made Steve think that they had been imagining it.
They walked in silence for almost an hour before Steve decided it was worth checking out where they were. The next access ladder they came to was rusted and broken, so they kept going until they found one that looked capable of bearing their weight.
Marvel's Captain America: Sub Rosa Page 14