The Cylon Curse

by J. Robert Kennedy

  Utkin opened one of the drawers behind him and pointed, Vasiliev grabbing the case inside. In less than a minute, the drone was deployed, and they all watched as Vasiliev guided it into position over the street they had just left, high enough to give them a full view of both police positions and the hostiles.

  Hostiles who had evidently decided not to return to the house.

  Muzzle flashes erupted from one of their weapons, the distinct sound of automatic gunfire reaching their ears two streets over.

  He frowned, thinking of the woman with them.

  And the grad student languishing in jail for a crime he wasn’t certain she committed.

  66 |

  King George Hotel

  Athens, Greece

  They were in the dark. The two camera feeds they still had access to showed empty rooms, and Reading had passed on Major Nicolo’s orders to get the drone they were using out of his sky. Tommy had instead suggested they simply land it on the roof of a nearby building so it wouldn’t be in the way, and they had all agreed.

  But it left them with the view of a rooftop, and nothing else except muffled audio.

  “I’ve got another camera signal. Patching it through now.” Tommy pointed at the screen and they all gathered around the television.

  Acton tried to make sense of what they were looking at. “What is that?”

  Adelaide, an expert in these things as Leather had finally revealed to them, explained as she pointed at various things on the image. “On either side here, we have police positions. They’re obviously not concerned about being spotted since they have their lights going.”

  Acton’s eyes narrowed. “That seems odd.”

  “I’m guessing they were spotted.” She pointed at the center of the screen. “These must be our hostiles, and”—she pointed at a figure held by one of them—“this is probably Professor Galanos.”

  “Juno,” whispered Antoniou, his eyes glued to the screen.

  Acton squeezed the man’s shoulder. “She’s still alive. That’s good news.”

  Antoniou nodded, then gasped as gunfire erupted from one of the hostiles, the muzzle flash lighting up the darkened street. “Juno!”

  67 |

  Outside the Suqut Brigade Safe House

  Athens, Greece

  Reading cursed as gunfire rang out from the officers manning this end of the street, an entirely incorrect response to the situation. They should have remained behind their cover, and let the hostiles waste their ammo as the snipers continued to get into position.

  Yet that wasn’t at all what was happening.

  He searched for Nicolo in the throng of officers, but couldn’t find him, the major probably behind one of the dozen or more vehicles crammed into the area. Reading poked his head up from the retaining wall he was positioned behind, then immediately dropped as a barrage of lead was sent his way. An officer cried out five paces to his left, falling backward, blood oozing from a wound to the arm. Reading crawled over and pulled him behind the wall, checking the wound.

  “Medic!”

  He had no clue if anyone would understand him, so he instead yanked the man’s belt off and used it as a tourniquet on the gushing wound.

  “I need a medic over here!”

  Two paramedics with a backboard suddenly rounded a van. They dropped, crawling the rest of the way, then with Reading’s help, lifted the wounded man onto the more portable stretcher.

  He was gone within what felt like far too long to Reading, but was likely less than two minutes.

  And the gunfire showed no signs of abating from either side.

  She’s going to die, if she hasn’t already.

  Rafiq emptied his magazine, grunting with satisfaction as yet another infidel police officer went down. This was what he had always wanted. This was how he had always wanted to die.

  In battle.

  Against infidels.

  This wasn’t the execution he had feared, the unsatisfying ending that only minutes before was his future. This was a battle against the forces that would dare oppose Islam’s foretold domination of Allah’s dominion.

  Dying here today, in the name of Allah, would guarantee him entry into paradise, entry into Jannah.

  He smiled at the others. “Allahu Akbar!”

  He shoved his body against the woman’s, pinning her to the car as he reloaded, then as he moved back and reached for her, she kneed him in the balls and dropped to the ground.

  “You bitch!” He pointed his gun at her head and squeezed the trigger as she rolled under the vehicle.

  Antoniou cried out as he watched the man who had held his wife fire into the pavement, and they all held their collective breath, leaning closer to the screen, searching for Juno in the dark, but not finding her.

  “Where’d she go?” asked Mai, voicing the question they all had on their lips.

  Acton shook his head. “I think she went under the car.”

  “Oh no!” cried Laura, pointing as the man dropped to a knee, swinging his weapon under the vehicle. “He’s going after her!”

  “Please, God, no!” sobbed Antoniou, tears flowing down his cheeks as he helplessly watched the events rapidly unfolding miles away, and likely the final moments of his beloved wife’s life.

  Tankov frowned as he watched Rafiq about to eliminate the woman. “That’s unfortunate.”

  Utkin agreed. “Too bad we weren’t the ones in there. They’d all be dead already, and she’d be alive.”

  Tankov shook his head. “This operation was botched the moment they were made. They obviously don’t have any snipers in place, and the guys returning fire can’t seem to hit anything. All four hostiles are still in the fight.” He spat. “Amateurs.”

  One of the hostiles dropped, making a liar out of him.

  Utkin grinned.

  Reading peered out from his position and smiled as one of the hostiles was finally taken out, leaving three to deal with, and what he hoped was a dwindling supply of ammunition. But it was Juno that was his concern, and he couldn’t see her.

  “Where’s the hostage?” asked Nicolo as he rushed up beside him. “I lost sight of her.”

  Reading glanced at the missing major then resumed watching the battle unfold. “I don’t know. They’re all between parked cars, so I can’t see. She’s not in the street or on the sidewalk, so she must be on the ground between them.”

  “So, she could be dead.”

  “Let’s hope not, but yes. You have to get your men to stop shooting. We need to negotiate our way out of this.”

  Nicolo shook his head. “Didn’t you hear what they were all just yelling?”

  Reading frowned. He had. Allahu Akbar. God is greater. The rallying cry for jihadists everywhere. These men were every bit the fundamentalists he had been told, and this was their chance for entry into their twisted paradise should they die in jihad against the infidels like him.

  He sighed, Nicolo absolutely correct. “Where are the snipers?”

  “Getting into position now. This should be over in a couple of minutes.”

  “Let’s hope she lasts that long.”

  “Drop the drone down. I want to see her.”

  Utkin glanced at Tankov. “Are you sure? I’d have to land the damned thing. It could get hit, and will definitely be noticed.”

  “Do it. I need to know if she’s alive.”

  Utkin sighed. “If we lose the drone, it’s coming out of your share.”

  Everyone chuckled, even Tankov, as the drone rapidly dropped to the ground, the image turning from a bird’s eye view of the battle, to an up close and personal shot of the pavement. The camera panned and suddenly they were looking at a shot across the street, at ground level, the woman clearly visible under one of the vehicles, Rafiq on one side lowering himself to get at her, and the body of one of the Brigade members lying in a heap on the other.

  “She’s got about five seconds, I’d say.”

  Tankov growled. “Where the hell are their snipers? This is ri
diculous!” He pointed at Vasiliev. “Take a sniper rifle and see if you can get a shot.”

  Vasiliev nodded, grabbing the weapon and hopping out the back of the van.

  Utkin frowned. “I don’t think he’ll get there in time.”

  Tankov sighed. “Neither do I.”

  Acton’s eyes narrowed in confusion as the image changed, showing them nothing but pavement. “Did it get shot down?”

  Tommy shook his head. “I don’t think so, that was a controlled descent.”

  Adelaide pointed as the angle changed. “Look. Is that Professor Galanos?”

  Antoniou was jubilant. “It is! She’s still alive!”

  Acton frowned as the terrorist, now prone, repositioned his weapon. He put a hand on Antoniou’s shoulder. “Basil, you may not want to watch this.”

  Antoniou shook his head. “I-I have to. She’s my wife. She’s all I have.”

  Laura gasped out a cry as the weapon dragged across the pavement, and Acton closed his eyes, praying for someone to save the woman before it was too late.

  Adelaide shot to her feet. “Look!”

  Rafiq dropped to the ground, staring into the woman’s eyes as he swung his weapon toward her. He would be dead soon, and that pleased him to no end. But he couldn’t let the opportunity to kill one last infidel woman pass him by. And as he stared at her one final time, the events of the past two days played themselves out once more, and it gave him pause.

  Damos had said his contact was a woman, and that she worked on the inside. The artifact was found in the trunk of a car at the dig site, which meant it had been hidden there during their attack. Damos’ contact had been the one who told them when to attack, so she would have been ready to hand over the artifact, and when things went wrong, she would have been forced to hide it somewhere.

  But why hide it in her own vehicle? The area was bound to be searched eventually, the artifact found, and she’d be arrested.

  He smiled at her. “It was you all along.”

  She nodded. “I had to help my husband.” She swiftly reached out behind her, grabbing a pistol from the hand of Zaman, dead behind her. His heart hammered and he swung his weapon, the muzzle catching on the rear tire, giving her time to aim Zaman’s gun at his head. “I’m sorry. No one was supposed to get hurt.”

  She squeezed the trigger, cutting off Rafiq’s prayer for entry into Jannah.

  Utkin pointed at the screen, bouncing in his chair. “Did she just shoot him?”

  Tankov leaned back, smiling. “I think so.”

  “Man, that is definitely my kind of woman.”

  Tankov grunted. “You’d be wise to remain cautious around a woman like that. The way you are with them, you’re liable to provoke the exact same reaction.”

  Utkin and the others laughed, then he suddenly became serious, sitting upright in his chair. “Wait a sec.”

  Tankov leaned closer, his eyes narrowing at his man’s concerned expression. “What?”

  “Somebody’s tapped our camera feeds.”

  Tankov’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure?”

  Utkin pointed at one of the technical displays. “Yes. Someone else is connected to our network.”

  Tankov frowned. “How’d they manage that? I thought this stuff was secure.”

  “It is. Normally. But, well…”

  Tankov sensed he was about to get pissed off. “What?”

  “Well, I had to reset this damned thing at the hotel, and there wasn’t time to update it with the latest BIOS. Obviously, there was some sort of security hole that they tapped.”

  Tankov wasn’t sure he bought the explanation. “And they just thought to look for it?”

  Utkin glanced over his shoulder at him as he worked the keyboard. “Any hacker worth his salt will try the known vulnerabilities first, because most people don’t install their updates, especially hardware updates.”

  Tankov exhaled loudly. “How long have they been connected?”

  Utkin cursed. “Pretty much since we set up the feeds.”

  “Unbelievable. Who?”

  Utkin shrugged. “Our Brigade friends?”

  Tankov shook his head. “No, they’d have been going apeshit, and they were genuinely surprised when they found the camera we meant for them to find.”

  “Police?”

  “Possible, but if it was them, then why did they wait so long? It’s been hours. And how could they have found the place so quickly? We only found it because we followed Damos.”

  Utkin turned in his chair. “Could they have been watching him too?”

  Tankov’s head bobbed. “Possible, but again, why wait so long to hit the place? They kept investigating as if they had no clue where she was or who was even involved.”

  Utkin scratched his chin then tapped it. “Yeah, and we kept sweeping the neighborhood. We’d have spotted a police operation.”

  “Not necessarily. They could be monitoring from across the city for all we know.”

  Utkin shook his head. “No, whoever is doing this is here, now.”

  Tankov’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  Utkin gestured at their gear. “We’re not exactly broadcasting across the Internet here. We’re sending signals from our cameras connected to our own private router, sitting in this van. Think Bluetooth rather than cellular. You have to be close to be connected.”

  “So, they were here all along?”

  “Yes, or…”

  Tankov eyed Utkin. “What?”

  “Did anyone spot a drone hovering about?”

  Vasiliev’s voice came in over the gear, their conversation shared among the team. “I thought I heard something earlier, but I thought it was just some kids playing.”

  Utkin rapped his knuckles on the workstation. “That’s how I’d do it. Send in a drone with a cellular connection to the Internet, tap our signals, then transmit the footage to wherever I am.”

  Tankov chewed his cheek. “But they’d still have to have known where to send the drone.”

  “Well, we know they were sending text messages to the woman’s husband. Do you think he’d have gone to the police?”

  Tankov shook his head. “I wouldn’t have.” A smile spread across his face. “But I think I know exactly who we’re dealing with.” He motioned at the camera footage. “Can you override what they see?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Only two remained, yet they seemed to have an endless supply of ammo, Reading having spotted them reaching into the back seat of a vehicle on several occasions. He had no angle on Juno, and for all he knew, she was dead, but the sooner this was over, the more chances she had to survive if it weren’t so.

  A loud shot cracked out, heard above everything else going on, and Reading breathed a sigh of relief as the sniper round took out one of the two remaining men. A moment later, another shot rang out, and the final man dropped, the gunfire dwindling to nothing within moments.

  “Tactical teams, advance!”

  Reading stood, still keeping a wary eye on things in case one of the hostiles was just wounded, and watched as tactical teams from both ends of the street rushed forward, their weapons trained on the bloody scene before them.

  Nicolo came up beside him, watching through binoculars, shaking his head as if confused.

  “Your sniper teams did a good job.”

  Nicolo shook his head. “Thanks, but there’s just one problem.”

  Reading’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that?”

  “They’re not in position yet.”

  68 |

  King George Hotel

  Athens, Greece

  “There she is!” cried Antoniou, pointing at the screen, his wife crawling out from under the car, the gunfire they had been hearing silenced. Black boots filled the screen, then men knelt beside her, revealing their police uniforms as they helped her to her feet. Hugs rounded the room as tears of joy and relief flowed without shame, even Leather, still at the door, glistening.

  Acton’s phone rang and he answe
red it without looking, unable to tear his eyes from the screen. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Jim, it’s me.”

  “Just a sec, Hugh, I’ll put you on speaker.” Acton tapped the display, and everyone cocked an ear, though kept their eyes on the screen.

  “Tell Professor Antoniou she’s safe. We have her.”

  Antoniou glanced at the phone, clasping his hands to his chest in thanks, then resumed his vigil. Acton grinned. “Way ahead of you. We watched the entire thing.”

  “How? I thought the cameras were inside?”

  “Whoever is doing this launched a drone. We watched the whole thing. If you look, it’s probably sitting on the street not ten feet from where Juno was hiding.”

  “I’ll check it out.”

  “Okay, we’re going to head there now. I don’t think Basil can wait.”

  “That might not be a good idea.”

  The video went black. “Wait, we just lost the feed.” A message appeared on the screen. “What the hell?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “The video feed has been replaced by a message.”

  “What does it say?”

  Acton’s chest tightened as he read the white on black message. “I know you’re watching, Professor Acton. Meet me in thirty minutes. Alone.” He drew a quick breath as everyone stared at him. “There’s a set of GPS coordinates.”

  Tommy tapped at his keyboard then swung the laptop around. “It’s the National Garden. About twenty minutes from here.”

  “Then I don’t have much time.”

  Reading cursed. “That’s the idea. It gives you no time to think.”

  “But I have to know what this is about.”

  Laura stared at him, wide-eyed. “You’re not going to meet with them!”

  “Why not?”

  “I can think of a thousand reasons why not.”

  Reading growled. “And I can think of a thousand more. How about we start with the fact we don’t know who they are.”

  Acton pursed his lips. “There’s only one way to find out. They have to be the ones who have Cylon’s urn. Maybe they want to return it.”