“Michael. It’s Anya. My family’s heading to the roof. I’m going back for Joshua. Take them home. Please. Out.”
“Give that to me.” Richert’s man extended a meaty hand.
Anya swiftly disconnected from all broadcast channels. “No.”
“No?” Thick blond brows slammed together.
When his considerable muscles bunched, she said, “I need it to find Joshua. And I need my weapons back, too, in case we run across Onred’s men.”
“We’ll protect you.”
“Will you?” Her level gaze met his. “What orders did Richert give you?”
“Give me the phone.” Menace registered in the low voice.
Anya gave it to him. But she didn’t trust him now. She would lose him and his henchmen at the first opportunity.
“Ty, take the kids to the roof.”
Ty swallowed. “Release them, Major Barnes?”
“Yes.”
Ty directed her family down the hall. They cast terrified looks back at Anya, and she struggled to dispel the notion that they were prisoners being herded away to death camps.
Get a grip, Anya. He ordered them to be released, didn’t he? More importantly, she trusted that Michael would soon arrive on the roof. She had full confidence that he’d protect her family with the same ferocity that his brother possessed.
Joshua. She had to focus upon him. He was the one in danger.
Anya pushed the elevator button. “Let’s go.”
“We’ll take the stairs.” Barnes’ hard fingers gripped her arm. “You’ll stay with me.”
* * * * *
Two men looked up from a computer monitor when Joshua barreled through the holding cell door. Joshua shot one, and the other got a piece of his jacket before Joshua neutralized him, too. Good thing the men hadn’t hit the bombs still strapped to his body.
The room swiveled, and Joshua grabbed the closest object to steady his balance. It was the computer console. When his equilibrium returned, he blinked to focus on the screen. This computer would help him find his prey. He shuffled closer to the keyboard, shoving aside a man on the floor with his foot.
However, his swift keystrokes net nothing but the same blue input screen. The computer appeared to be frozen. Was this why both men had been staring at the screen when he had run in? The computer glitch may well have saved his life.
Joshua rebooted the computer. The screen turned black, and then wavy blue lines bisected it. “Error,” murmured the computer. “System is offline. Corrupt files. Fatal error.”
Joshua tried to wrap his head around this new development. Gorno’s computers were down?
And then he smiled. Pain pulled at his split lip. Anya had done it. Gorno’s systems were imploding, just like Astana’s had. He chuckled and softly said, “Good girl.”
No need for the bombs now. Joshua stripped them from his body, and then pulled out the phone he’d swiped from the guard. Even if Gorno’s main computer was down, the phone’s memory still held the messages and video transmitted on Alpha. Maybe those would give a clue to Onred’s location.
He played the last feed, showing the guard with the knife to Marli’s neck. Onred’s voiceover, however, was far more interesting. “Surrender now, Anya Dubrovnyk. In the shuttle bay. One minute. Or your sister dies.”
Joshua played the previous message, and another painful smile cracked his lips. Anya had captured Emelie, and had threatened to kill Onred’s daughter. The woman he loved was brilliant, and remarkably resourceful, too.
Both messages indicated that Onred would be somewhere near the shuttle bay right now. The shuttle bay was located on the third floor.
Joshua cracked open the door and checked the dimly lit passage. People hurried by. A few ran. Although Onred had confiscated his stolen shirt, Joshua’s snow wear was black. It would blend in well enough in the dim hallways, and the thin fabric would allow greater ease of movement than a uniform. He felt the visceral need to plant bare knuckles into Onred’s face. That enticing thought cleared more of the fog from his head.
Joshua slipped into the hall and headed for the stairs, forcibly shutting out the stabbing pain each movement brought. He strode with calm, deliberate purpose, and no one paid him any attention.
After gaining the stairwell, he joined others trotting downstairs and flipped open the guard’s phone. Swiftly, he scrolled through the phone’s call list. Sure enough. Onred. Time to trap a serpent.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
On the sixth floor, Major Barnes demanded, “Which way?”
He still hadn’t released his tight grip on Anya’s arm, and she was beginning to wonder how she would escape him. On the other hand, maybe a posse of armed men converging upon the well-guarded holding cell would be best.
“Left.”
Barnes’ men led the way, pitilessly shooting every Gorno citizen in their path. Women screamed. Footsteps pounded down the corridor. More of Barnes’ men brought up the rear.
“Here’s Command Central, Major.”
“How much further?” Barnes demanded of Anya.
“Twenty meters.”
“Four men come with me. The rest of you, take Command Central.”
Booted men eagerly darted down the hall toward Gorno’s central command.
Anya wasn’t sure exactly which door led to the holding cell, since she had accessed it through the ductwork. “May I see my phone, please?” Tersely, she explained her previous method of access.
With ill grace, Barnes shoved it into her hand. She drew up the schematics while the major looked over her shoulder.
She pointed. “It’s up… There!” An Altai man barreled out of the door in question.
Barnes swiftly shot, and Anya just as rapidly shoved the phone into her pocket. When she made an attempt to dart through the doorway, Barnes elbowed her aside. He and his men stormed in first, lasers at the ready. Sizzles spit.
“All clear.”
Anya dashed for the cell’s open door, and gasped. The gray, dismal room was empty. “He’s gone!”
* * * * *
“What?” Onred snarled into the phone.
Gruffly, Joshua said, “Captured Dubrovnyk. On way to shuttle bay.”
“Meet me in conference room nine. Out.”
With a grim smile, Joshua pocketed the phone. Onred was about to answer for his hellish deeds.
He exited on the third floor into a crush of humanity. The river of people streamed right, toward the shuttle bay doors. Panic charged the air. Women called for their children, and babies wailed.
Wall markers indicated that the conference rooms were to the left. Joshua shouldered across the torrent of people, heading for the far wall, and then battled east. Twenty yards later, he cut right, down a deserted corridor.
The physical exertion had further cleared Joshua’s mind, although his body ached like a son-of-a-gun. He ignored it.
An arrow indicated that CR-9 was located to the left, and down the next corridor. Joshua stopped just short of the corner and pressed his back to the wall, laser at the ready. He shot a quick glance down the passage and then ducked back. From memory alone, he fired upon the two men guarding the door.
Fire flashed at his toes. Joshua chanced another look. He’d missed both. One man ran toward him. The other raised his hand to knock on the conference room door. Joshua shot him first, and ducked back into his refuge spot. He sprayed the hall with laser fire.
All fell silent.
Joshua’s gut told him not to trust the signal received by his brain. The remaining guard still lurked around the corner. He waited for Joshua to show his face.
Joshua listened closely for breaths or for stealthy boot steps. Nothing.
He refused to waste time playing hide and seek with the guard. Swiftly, he sprayed the hall again. Hot pain licked into his fingers, and he hurled the laser across the hall just before it exploded with bright, popping “boom.” Bits of diamonite sprayed into his face. He bit off a curse. His red fingers burned, but t
hey still worked well enough to rip the spare laser from his belt and spray the hall again.
A man grunted into his transmitter, “Van Heisman…out.”
Joshua shot another glance into the hall. The last moving guard, on his knees, swayed backwards. Joshua shot the laser from his hand. The man collapsed, his face slack and white. Dead. Or close enough.
Sprinting now in his urgency to try to catch Onred off guard, Joshua finished the distance and shouldered hard into the conference room. With swift, deadly accuracy, he shot the two men flanking Gorno’s leader, and growled, “Hands in the air.”
Onred did not comply. Instead, he smiled. “Van Heisman. At last. But the situation appears uneven. Are you scared of a fair fight?”
Joshua carefully checked the conference room for additional guards, and then kicked the door shut. He smiled, showing his teeth. “Not at all. In fact, I welcome it.”
Onred grinned. “Good. First, however, I would like to show you something. May I take out my phone?” The obsequious question grated on Joshua’s nerves. It was a lie, just like every word that left Onred’s mouth. However, much as Joshua longed to shoot the Altai leader right now, killing him with his bare knuckles would prove much more satisfying. Therefore, he would allow Onred this last game.
“Do it.” Joshua’s laser remained trained on the Altai leader. Onred withdrew his phone and lifted it high. His thumb hovered conspicuously over the “play” button.
Slowly, deliberately, Joshua tucked the laser into his belt. If Onred tried to double-cross him, he could easily kill him before the Altai leader drew his weapon.
Onred’s lips curled in disgust. “Fool. Now your fate is sealed. One button push will end life as you know it.”
* * * * *
Heart in her throat, Anya whirled to stare at Barnes. “Joshua’s gone. Where could he be?”
Had he escaped? What if Joshua had stolen one of the guard’s shirts? What if he was the man who had fled the holding cell area—the man Barnes’ men had shot? But a quick glance told her that Joshua was not among the men lying on the floor or in the hall. Another, far worse scenario entered her head. “Onred has him,” she gasped. “Come on! We’ve got to find him.”
She darted past a startled Barnes before he had the presence of mind to grab her. Out in the deserted hall, she sprinted for the stairs and whipped out her phone. Where could Joshua be? Had Onred broadcasted again on Alpha? Maybe that would give her a clue…
“Dubrovnyk!” Barnes bellowed. “Stop!”
Anya slammed through the stairwell door, and on impulse, went down. The shuttle bay was on the third level. Maybe that’s where Onred lurked. She had told him to meet her there. Maybe Joshua was held captive there, too.
As she clattered down the stairs, she accessed Alpha. No recent feeds to replay. A swift tune into housekeeping net no return message from Michael. Was her family all right?
Footsteps thundered on the metal stairs behind her, and Anya burst onto the third floor. She joined the flood of women, children, and old people surging to the right. Schematics said the shuttle bay was this way, too. Were all of these people planning to escape?
Where were Joshua and Onred? Gorno was huge. What if she was wrong, and they weren’t in the shuttle bay? How would she ever find them?
An idea occurred to her. She slowed and ducked down a narrow hallway. Joshua still wore his transponder. A tracking device was imbedded inside—and who knew how to track it? Michael.
Swiftly, she typed into the text channel, “Michael. Need AV’s coordinates. Text me!” She sent it. Her digital signature would verify that it was sent from her phone.
She bit her lip, waiting. What if Michael was out of range? What if he was fighting Richert’s men? What if her family…
Orange text rolled across the screen. “Kids ok. AV these coord.” Three sets of numbers flashed, and she swiftly input them into her computer’s GPS. Exact latitude, longitude, and meters above the earth.
“Thanks,” she typed back.
“Waiting for you and AV,” was the response.
Anya bit her lip in gratitude. “Will text when safe. Out.” If they escaped.
Her small phone computer indicated that Joshua was indeed on Gorno’s third level, and he was eighty-five meters east. Schematics showed the shortest route to get to him.
Anya took off at a sprint and barreled through the crush of people converging on the shuttle bay. No sign of Barnes or his men. Good.
A right turn, and the hall became narrower and emptier as she closed in on Joshua’s location. Was he truly Onred’s prisoner? More practical matters entered her head. If he was, how could she fight Onred’s men and free Joshua? Barnes had taken all of her weapons.
She slowed and tried the few door handles she passed. All locked. According to her computer, the next turn in the hall would bring her to Joshua. Ten meters remained. She pressed her back to the wall just before the final corner. Without a laser, how could she possibly save him? Maybe if she caused a distraction…
She peeked around the corner and took in the closed doors and the two dead men. Joshua must have killed them.
Hope, for the first time, surged. Maybe he wasn’t a prisoner. All the same, he could be fighting for his life right now, inside one of those rooms. She had to find a weapon. Anything to help him.
She checked her belt again. Barnes had left nothing. Even though the hall felt colder by the minute, perspiration sprang out beneath her armpits. This wasn’t a good idea. But what if Onred was about to kill Joshua? Joshua might need her. Now might be her only chance to save him.
The guards! They must have lasers…
Footsteps whispered behind her. She twisted to look. A black clad man with grizzled hair lunged for her. Terror flashed and she bolted sideways, but not quick enough. A thick arm clamped around her neck. “Gotcha.”
Anya tried to lunge forward and bend at the waist, intending to throw him over her shoulder. Unfortunately, his other arm came around her chest with the force of a steel bar and lifted her from the ground. The older man was strong.
In her mind’s eye, his face flashed again, and in horror, Anya closed her eyes. It had taken a second, but now she placed him from ancient news clips. Onred’s father. Jacan, the jackal. The bestial man who had raised Onred and his brother, Cadmus.
A thick, rusty chuckle rumbled from Jacan’s chest. “Onred will be glad to see you.”
* * * * *
“Your phone is not a laser,” Joshua told Onred. “How will you kill me?”
Onred cackled and twitched the phone back and forth in his fingers. The screen faced Joshua. “I don’t have to kill you. Look.” He pressed the button.
Camera footage of an empty elevator rolled. Joshua and Anya entered. After a few murmured words, Joshua tucked the bomb into Anya’s belt, and then tugged her close to him. He kissed her with scorching, clearly possessive intensity.
Onred’s eyes narrowed when Joshua didn’t lunge for the phone, as he had obviously expected. “You’d give up your power for that girl?”
Joshua felt no need to respond.
A complacent smirk curled Onred’s lips. “If you don’t care, then I’ll publish it on Alpha.” He pushed the “send” button before Joshua could blink.
It didn’t matter.
Joshua remained stationary, calculating his game plan. Should he beat Onred bloody, and then kill him? Or shoot him now? Even with reflexes slowed by injury, his military training was so deeply ingrained that he could easily draw and shoot faster than Onred could gain his weapon.
He remained still, watching Onred like a lion his prey. He decided to allow Onred to make the first move. The Altai leader would choose his own death.
Blackness hardened Onred’s eyes, and fury tensed his muscles. “Idiot. You should cower to me,” he screamed.
When he lunged, Joshua was ready. He sidestepped, gripped Onred’s wrist and jerked him forward, using Onred’s momentum against him.
Onred ducked into a
roll and landed on his feet. His lips curled back. “You are going to die,” he snarled.
Joshua smiled faintly. “After you.”
The Altai leader charged again for Joshua. Onred’s shoulder hit him, spinning him sideways. Onred turned faster than Joshua had expected. His shoulder hit Joshua squarely in the stomach, and they both went down. The barrel-chested Altai leader was heavy, and he managed to land one smashing fist into Joshua’s face before Joshua wrestled on top and landed three blows in quick succession to Onred’s nose, jaw and throat. The last made the Altai leader choke.
Onred punched hard into Joshua’s sore belly. They grappled, punching and rolling…and Onred attempted to claw and strangle. Pain roared in Joshua’s head. Although Onred was strong and uninjured, and a formidable enemy, Joshua would accept no thoughts of defeat.
Onred’s fists pounded Joshua’s body. The leader seemed to know just the spots where Joshua had already been beaten and burned by the electrodes. Joshua shut out the pain and willed his body to obey him. With one violent effort, he went up on one knee and drove his fist with brutal force into Onred’s nose. The Altai leader fell backward. Blood flowed like a thick, red river to his chin.
Taking savage advantage, Joshua’s fists drove harder and faster, landing with sickening, cracking thuds. He grunted, “This is for Anya…and Marli, Elise…Damon, David, Astana…” The innocents lost in Astana ravaged his mind, and then strangely, superimposed upon those faces was the image of his father with his lips curled back in the mad snarl he’d always worn when he’d beaten Joshua and threatened his siblings; and forced him to hurt the ones he loved most. “…and the kids you murdered!” This last fist punch landed on Onred’s jaw with every scrap of power he possessed. Onred’s eyes rolled up into his head.
Ice Baron (Ice Chronicles, Book One (science fiction romance)) Page 24