by D. N. Leo
“How many can you spare?” Stefan laughed. “You’ve never been to this planet, have you? You can’t send hundreds of your men here to run around civilian areas with guns and scanners and not alert the cops. I’ve already killed a cop, and Ciaran would turn me in to the police in a heartbeat. I need men strong enough to go against Ciaran but subtle enough to stay off the police radar . . .
“I’ll take fifty. Ten on the ground and forty to back them up. Can you provide that?” Stefan asked. “I’ll need to talk to them, but not here.” Stefan seemed to finish his conversation with Richard. “Madeline,” he said, “we need to go back to the villa . . . take . . . what’s this?”
“I don’t know,” Madeline said.
“It’s a bug. Douglas, do you know what this is? It was in her pocket.”
Ciaran hit the brakes, and the car fishtailed as he swung to the side of the road and stopped. They heard struggling—and then static.
“Let go of my arm, Stefan,” Madeline said.
“She bugged us. Probably sent signals straight to Ciaran. Give me that rope,” Stefan said.
“Don’t you dare, Stefan! Douglas, you work for my grandfather. If I lose a hair, you’ll answer to him.”
“Take your hand off her,” a male voice said.
“Let go of me!” Madeline yelled.
“Weapons down. Put them away,” the male voice commanded. “She’s right, we don’t work for you. Let’s get back to the villa, and then we can work things out.”
The signal died.
Ciaran stepped out of the car. He needed some fresh air. His world had stopped and started so many times in the last two minutes.
He couldn’t make that mistake again. He couldn’t let that happen to the woman he loved . . . again. Then it dawned on him that he’d never told Madeline he loved her.
He wasn’t sure he was capable of delivering that emotion.
He inhaled deeply, scolding himself, then regained control of his temper and stepped back into the car.
Chapter 66
The dusk was settling on the horizon when Ciaran and his troops got back to Fountains Abbey site. The soldiers came equipped with a lot of rope.
Ciaran spoke softly but firmly to the robotic soldiers. “I remind you again, only discharge your weapon if it is absolutely necessary. The best-case scenario is that we do not have to kill anyone. However, casualties might be unavoidable. Our opponents are dangerous, and they are trained to kill. I believe we will be outnumbered. Within the best of my capability, I promise to return you to your employer, as much as possible in the same condition that I received you. Am I understood?” They all nodded.
Ciaran spoke to James, the leader of the soldier group. “Can these soldiers perform advanced tasks?”
James shook his head. “Unfortunately not. But they’re very stable and expendable.”
“How long have you been working for these people?”
“Five years. I have enough experience, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
“No. I’m not concern about your experience. But we are going against robotic soldiers, and I don’t care to have any human casualties.”
“I signed up for it. It’s the same at the other end. The commander is going to be human. They don’t have robots that can carry out complicated tasks yet.”
Ciaran nodded. “Is twenty the maximum number we can get.”
James nodded. “For now.”
“This morning, they scanned half of the right-hand side of the lake, looking down from the abbeys. So we’ll set our people up on the left-hand side only. My prediction, however, is that the crucifix is not lakeside but somewhere in the abbeys. Thus, when they get there, I want only their key people left. By key people, I mean Madeline and Stefan. It might not be possible. But that’s the best scenario.”
James nodded.
“Focus on parts of the lake that have hillsides as close to the water as possible. Get your men up as high as they can go, and work in groups of three.”
“Why?”
“Have you ever read Sun Tzu’s Art of War?”
James shook his head.
Ciaran smiled. “You don’t need to. You’re practicing it now.”
At the villa outside of London where they had received the holocast of Richard Kelley, Madeline and Stefan stared blankly at a group of fifty men in heavy-duty military uniforms.
Stefan yelled, “Michael!”
Five soldiers stomped their feet in a military style and saluted.
“Yes, sir,” they responded.
“Oh, yes. Dandy. Ten percent of our troop is called Michael.” Stefan laughed. Then he grabbed the phone again. “Richard, on which planet are you living?”
“You wanted fifty men, I gave you fifty,” Richard responded.
“I told you, I need soldiers that can fight. Not these meatballs.”
The head of the fighter group, Douglas, looked angry at Stefan’s comment.
Madeline knew they needed the fighters used at Robert’s place—the flying and dart-throwing men. But she wasn’t going to help Stefan get better men to fight against Ciaran. She just wanted Stefan to march in there and get the crucifix. Ideally, there would be no fighting.
“Let’s get to work,” Stefan said and pointed at Douglas. “You, with me.” Then he stomped off.
Madeline saw the look on Douglas’s face. Keep that going, Stefan, and you’ll catch a bullet very soon, Madeline thought.
“The five of you with me this morning? You will be right behind Madeline and myself. We’ll get ten men to do the scanning. The other forty will surround us from the outside. We’ll be working our way from the lake up to the abbeys, as planned. My guess is that if they attack us, it will be lakeside. The abbeys are too confined for large numbers of men. So I want you five to stick with us, all the way to the abbeys. These meatballs? They’re expendable. Got that?” Stefan commanded.
Douglas nodded coldly.
“The forty surrounding men, tell them to shoot at anything moving,” Stefan directed.
“They were hired for you. Why don’t you tell them? I only handle my four fighters,” Douglas responded.
Stefan glared at Douglas. Then he nodded and walked toward the hired soldiers.
Later at Fountains Abbey, Madeline looked at the site. Cold wind twisted between thousands of trees, making an eerie chanting sound. Despite the wind, the water in the lake looked calm—too calm, as if there were legions of ancient soldiers hiding underneath that would rise up and charge at them at any moment.
It was getting colder the later in the night it got. Ten of Stefan’s soldiers were hunched down behind some small bushes. They needed to have a clear view of the lake and the team down there. They could see ten men with scanners, working slowly in a line on the left bank of the lake. Madeline and Stefan walked behind them, followed by the five fighters.
Except for the eerie sounds from the bush and the crackle of occasional movements from wild animals through the forested area, it was quiet and seemed as if there was nothing much to worry about.
At a distance, on much higher ground and far behind Stefan’s men, were Ciaran’s people. There were many trees around that blocked their view. However, Ciaran was certain that they had the ground covered.
He moved stealthily between the trees. He wanted to get closer to keep an eye on Madeline, but to do so, he would have to get rid of the first line of Stefan’s men.
Ciaran signaled. His flashlight revealed a very small white dot. In the night, it looked like a reflection from an animal eye. He flashed three times.
A bird was released. It made a quacking sound and flew into the bush, flapping its wings and rustling leaves and tree branches.
A couple of men in Stefan’s troop looked up. Seeing nothing, they focused once again on the team down at the lake. They did not realize that the last two men in their line had been taken when the bird distracted them.
From the back, Ciaran asked James, “How many men are down there?”<
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“Forty in the bush, ten scanning at the lake, and five walking with Madeline and Stefan.”
Ciaran nodded. “Those five will be tough to get rid of. They’re real fighters. And we don’t have enough tranquilizers for the rest. So some of them will have to be taken down by force. How far along are they in the scanning of the lakeshore?”
“About twenty percent complete.”
Ciaran contemplated. Then he said, “I’m changing the plan a bit. I need a direct path to get down there, and this line of ten has to be taken down quickly. We only got two of them, and they haven’t figured they’re missing guys yet. If you give me another three men from the north corner, I’ll take down the remaining eight at once.”
“Will do, right now,” James responded and disappeared into the trees.
Stefan’s eight remaining men were watching the team down by the lake. The last man looked behind him and found that the last two men in line were missing. He turned to alert the others. But before he could say anything, Ciaran’s men released a cage full of bats. They flew straight into the group of soldiers. The men jumped, and some yelped.
Stefan looked up at the chaotic sounds coming from above the lake and saw soldiers dodging the bats. He rolled his eyes and said to Madeline, “Like I said, meatballs.”
Madeline merely smiled and said nothing. She looked up and saw a white dot blinking three times. She smiled again and kept on walking.
While the men danced amid the cloud of bats, lines of rope dropped down at them and hoisted them up to the trees. Tranquilizers worked very efficiently, and the eight soldiers were quickly tied up, gagged, and put snugly to sleep among the small bushes.
Ciaran closed the gap and moved to a closer position. There, he could see Madeline clearly.
They were getting close to the temple. Ciaran wanted the next group of ten taken down as they were standing right behind it. He used his flashlight to signal again. A blue dot blinked three times in response.
Tadgh got Ciaran’s signal. He was to take down the second line of ten men. He had three men, including himself. It would be four against ten.
Tadgh held two tranquilizer guns, one in each hand. The four men approached the line of ten from behind. On Tadgh’s signal, they shot tranquilizers into five of the men. As soon as they were down, Tadgh charged forward, and with two kicks, he knocked the gun away from one of the soldiers. Tadgh’s three other men threw ropes around the remaining soldiers’ arms, effectively incapacitating their ability to shoot. They wanted to avoid any gun discharge as much as possible because they were still outnumbered by a large proportion.
Tadgh went one-on-one with the soldier and lost his gun. He took the soldier down very quickly. Looking around, he saw his men had restrained the other four. Tadgh said, “Let’s just gag them and save the rest of the tranquilizers for the others.” They secured the captured soldiers, and Tadgh signaled Ciaran.
Seeing Tadgh’s signal, Ciaran smiled and moved down closer to the temple.
Ciaran could see the scanners had gone inside. He’d wanted that, however, the fighters were still behind Madeline and Stefan. He could see them approaching the temple.
Ciaran signaled.
Jo was at the far end with a remote control. As soon as she saw Ciaran’s signal, she pressed a button. Smoke exploded from inside the temple just before Madeline and Stefan walked in. Five of the scanning soldiers collapsed, and the other five hurried outside.
Douglas darted to the temple. He looked inside, and when the smoke subsided, he stepped in.
Stefan looked around the hillside. He saw no one but his men.
Douglas exited the old building. “It wasn’t a bomb. Just tranquilization,” he reported.
Madeline smiled.
Stefan walked around. “So this is how he wants to play. Smoke people to sleep. I know he’s up there. Where are my men? Go check on them.”
Douglas raised an eyebrow. “Me? You want me to leave you?”
Stefan waved his hand absently. “No, you stay here. Send one of your fighters.”
Douglas nodded and sent a man up the hill to check on the supporting soldiers.
Ciaran signaled Tadgh. Tadgh prepared his men. But when he looked back again, the fighter had disappeared.
Chapter 67
Ciaran’s view was blocked. He didn’t see Tadgh’s signal that he had lost sight of the fighter. It was way too quiet from Tadgh’s direction. Ciaran moved a bit closer.
From the darkness, the fighter flew out with a forceful kick. Ciaran dropped his gun, fell, rolled down the hillside, and dropped onto the stone below. The fighter raised his gun to shoot at Ciaran.
Tadgh jumped out from behind the tree and kicked away the enemy’s gun. The encounter was too close to use handguns, so they used their fists instead.
Tadgh was a skilled fighter and quickly dominated the fight as Ciaran climbed back up. With one last kick, Tadgh sent the fighter down. He stayed down. Tadgh moved to grab him and restrain him, but the fighter suddenly swung at him with a knife.
Ciaran saw the flash of the blade, but it was too late for Tadgh. He ducked, but the knife still slashed through his side.
Tadgh was on the ground. Ciaran flew at the fighter and pounded him. He had to take the man quickly. He took the knife and restrained him. The man pulled out a dart, and Ciaran knew exactly what it was. With lightning speed, Ciaran’s fist landed on the fighter’s neck. There was a snapping sound, and the fighter went limp.
Ciaran ran forward, pulling Tadgh up. Tadgh puffed out the words, “No worries, just a flesh wound.”
Jo rushed toward them. She touched Tadgh’s side. “Jesus Christ, this is a lot of blood,” Jo said.
“It’s a flesh wound,” Tadgh grumbled again.
“You’re going back to the van,” Ciaran said. “Jo, he’s all yours. Please take him back to the van and do what you can to stop that bleeding.”
Jo pulled Tadgh up, ignoring his protests.
At the lake, the head of the fighters looked up the hill. “Fighter down,” Douglas said dryly.
“What about the rest?” Stefan asked.
Douglas shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re your men. Who did you set to report?”
“I thought it was you,” Stefan said.
“No, I told you, I only handle these men. I have one man down now, and I won’t send more up there to get killed.”
“Isn’t it your job to protect us?” Stefan asked.
“No, we work for Richard Kelley. We’re here to protect Madeline. He hired these soldiers for you. They won’t listen to me.”
“Son of a bitch,” Stefan growled and grabbed Douglas’s collar, barely moving him an inch.
“This is your first and the last warning. Take your hands off me,” Douglas said.
Stefan released him.
“We should keep going,” Madeline said. “If Ciaran has us surrounded, we need to keep these fighters with us to get to the crucifix and get out of here. There’s no time for you to throw a tantrum.”
“Throw a tantrum? I’ll show you what it’s like when I throw a tantrum.”
Stefan grabbed Madeline at the back of her jacket and dragged her close to the edge of the lake. He held her in front of him to block any shots from the hillside.
Stefan yelled out, “Ciaran, I know you can see me. I want to play nice, but you’re playing some psycho game with me. Ciaran!”
Silence.
“Ciaran!” Stefan yelled again. “If you don’t come out, I’ll put a bullet in her head. You hear me?” Stefan’s voice bounced off the water, to the hillside, and through the trees. He could hear his echo clearly.
Silence.
Stefan fired into the air. The loud boom from the gun discharge tore through the darkness. Birds flew out from the trees, and some wild animals leaped from the bush.
Sounds came from a tree right in front of them. Ciaran stepped out. “You have to give me time to move from one place to another. I don’t fly, Stefan.”
> Madeline could see disaster coming. She could smell the hot blood in Stefan’s breath. And there stood Ciaran, alone, against ten armed soldiers, one of them a mad man who was holding her captive. She had done all this to prevent Ciaran from getting to the stupid crucifix, and she could not let him finish in this way.
“My grandfather won’t be happy with this,” Madeline spoke to Douglas. She could see him straining against Stefan when he grabbed her. But he was in the same boat with Ciaran because Stefan was using her as his human shield.
Madeline was angry. How many times had Stefan used her in this manner? What a coward.
“Let her go. As you can see, I’m unarmed, Stefan,” Ciaran said.
Stefan laughed. “I don’t think you’re stupid enough to come here unarmed, Ciaran. How many of your men are up there? How many bombs did you plant down here?”
Madeline’s body was pressed against Stefan’s. She could hardly breathe. He held her so tightly and had his gun pressed right against her temple. Madeline thought if he didn’t shoot her, the pressure from the gun would punch a hole in her head anyway.
“If you want to find the crucifix, go find it yourself. Why do you always hide behind women? First Juliette, and now Madeline,” Ciaran said.
“I don’t hide behind women!” Stefan screamed out the words and moved the gun to shoot at Ciaran.
Ciaran dodged. The bullet grazed his left arm.
When Stefan took the gun off her, Madeline tilted her head forward and then flipped it back as hard as she could, hitting Stefan on the nose. When he staggered, she turned around and shoved him full force into the lake.
Madeline ran toward Ciaran. He grabbed her hand, and they both took off into the bush, disappearing into the shadowy recesses among the trees.