by Karl Weber
“Open your mouth,” She ordered.
In response, Patterson kept his mouth as tightly closed as possible.
Anna took her free hand and smacked Patterson in his open wound. When he screamed, she force-fed the Blast Marble into his mouth. Using one hand she held his mouth shut while using the other to squeeze hard on Patterson’s neck. She wanted him to swallow.
After feeling the marble fall down the esophagus, Anna stood back up and tapped on her SCU again as she explained, “The device you just swallowed is a micro-explosive device. It has the power of a hand grenade. I just programmed it to detonate if you get too far away from me. I figured you would like this sort of thing, since you’re into explosions and all.”
“What’s the range?” Patterson nervously asked.
“Stay close to me and it won’t matter,” Anna said as she pulled her Lateral Marksman Rifle 14 off her back. She made the head gesture to follow. “Let’s move.”
Anna approached the door that led back into the hallway. She tapped on the digital panel, and the door slid open. She crouched down and pivoted her rifle’s action and barrel sixty degrees to the left. Being outgunned, she knew that proper caution and execution were going to be needed to survive this conflict.
Her LMR14 was just as much a spotting device as it was a weapon. A hinge being the central part of the weapon that allowed the barrel and action to pivot left or right. On the rifle’s LCD screen, Anna saw no tangos and found it safe to move forward.
Anna entered the hallway as she straightened her rifle. She sensed Patterson following right behind by the sounds of his footsteps. Slowly they made their way down the staircase with Anna constantly looking down the scope of her rifle, ready to fire at any moment.
As soon as she stepped foot onto the bottom step, she saw two soldiers armed for war round the corner on the other side of the long dark hallway. A red light could be seen within their helmets, meaning they had either night or thermal vision activated, not that it mattered which in this case. They raised the barrels of their X-AS18 rifles in her direction.
“Move,” Anna shouted at Patterson. She grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her behind a small corner at the end of the hallway right in front of the big window looking out at the lake. The sounds of suppressed gunfire could be heard as bullets from the 5.56x45mm caliber rifles bounced off the tile flooring.
“I thought you idiots were here to save to me,” Patterson shouted. The gunfire halted. In the brief window Patterson unintentionally gave her, Anna injected herself with a dose of Battle Haste, an amphetamine that greatly improved one’s reaction time.
Anna pivoted the barrel of her LMR14 around the corner with thermal vision activated to highlight the soldiers in the pitch-black hallway. She took aim at the head belonging to the soldier standing on the left side of the hallway and fired. In the time it took to hear the sound of the helmet’s visor being cracked open was all Anna needed to have her next shot lined up on the guy to her right. She fired again. Both targets hit the tile flooring with loud thuds, thanks to their heavy gear.
“Thanks for the help,” Anna teased Patterson.
“Fuck you, bitch.”
On her rifle’s LCD screen more armed hostiles could be seen coming up the stairs. Needing to get out of the corner she and Patterson were trapped in, Anna grabbed another Blast Marble from her utility belt. She set this one to detonate on impact right before tossing it into the hallway toward her pursuers.
“Move,” Anna yelled again at Patterson right after throwing the explosive device. It hit the floor and exploded at the feet of the hostiles. The entire floor shook from the explosion, as if the house had just been hit with an earthquake. All the force from the explosion put the attackers onto their backs. Anna seized the opportunity to head back up the stairs, with Patterson close behind.
“You put one of those things inside me,” Patterson yelled at Anna.
“Stick with me and you’ll live to shit it out,” Anna coldly replied as they reached the top of the stairs. She took out the last explosive she had and placed it on the floor behind the railing while placing a proximity sensor next to it.
Anna holstered her LMR14 and drew her Brigham 2031. She wrapped her left arm around Patterson’s neck to use him as a human shield.
“Why are you doing this?” Patterson asked.
“Because they’ll hesitate if you’re in front of me.” They made their way down the hallway past the doorway to Patterson’s office. Anna knew that she was being flanked by the men who breached the building. It made perfect sense. They knew at least roughly where she was, so the most effective strategy would be to get her pinched.
Anna and Patterson made a forced left turn at the end of the hallway. To their right was a clear glass window that ran along the rest of the house. Through the window the lake could be partially seen along with the identical looking windows that stretched across the first and second floors.
Another heavily armed group of soldiers could be seen heading up the opposite staircase towards Anna and her hostage. She knew, even with Patterson as her shield, she would be too exposed in a direct encounter. Then she looked at the door in front of her right before a group of three red dots appeared on the radar of her SCU from the proximity sensor she left at the staircase. It all helped her hatch an idea.
She released her grip on Patterson. “Stay here.” He watched her run down the short corridor before opening the lone door in front of her. She entered the room right before the armed soldiers could see her.
Patterson stood in place while he looked through the clear window and saw his potential saviors step onto the third floor. There were four of them. They looked in his direction, and when they saw that he was alone, they stepped up the pace.
As soon as they rounded the corner, the one on point asked, “Where’s the threat?” His voiced digitized through his Phantom helmet that was lit up red from the visor’s thermal vision.
Behind the doorway made of frosted glass, Anna had her own thermal vision activated. She counted five heat signatures through the doorway. Subtracting Patterson meant four tangos. She looked down at the radar for the proximity sensor where there were three red dots closing in on the center. After injecting herself with another dose of Battle Haste, Anna tapped on her SCU.
Patterson nervously raised his hand to point at the door but was interrupted by an explosion around the corner. The entire floor shook enough that Patterson fell forward on his stomach. While on the floor, he heard four shots, followed by the four soldiers joining him on the floor.
Anna stepped out from the room she was in with her weapon up and approached Patterson, who was slowly getting back on his feet. She looked around the corner, with Patterson looking over her shoulder, where they saw three soldiers blown to pieces. Ash covered what was left of their corpses and gear that had been blown into several pieces.
Anna looked back at Patterson. “You weren’t really going to rat on me, were you?”
Patterson only answered with a nervous nod.
“Thought so. Let’s move.” She took Patterson as a human shield again and led him around the right-hand corner to the stairway. They slowly made their way down the stairs until they hit the first floor. Anna maneuvered Patterson through the mansion with the barrel of her gun up to prepare for any more hostiles. She counted close to a dozen men killed, so she hoped she might be in the clear.
She could see the small kitchen and back door she used to infiltrate the house earlier when Jack spoke up in Anna’s earpiece. “Anna, I see another van full of hostiles entering the driveway. They probably got worried when their friends went radio silent. Get out of there now.”
You have to be kidding me, Anna thought. She released her grip on Patterson. “Run to the lake,” she ordered.
Patterson just stood there like he was confused.
“Run to the water and don’t stop running or I swear to God I’ll detonate the bomb in your gut just for my own sick amusement.”
That threat got Patterson running full sprint.
Anna activated the cloaking device on her suit and turned herself invisible to avoid being seen on outside cameras and then followed after him at the same speed. Out the door they saw Jackson and his boat, floating next to the mansion’s pier. Halfway between the pier and the mansion, Anna looked over her shoulder and saw a couple of soldiers come out the same door she had just exited.
“They’re in the backyard,” a digitized male voice said in the distance. It was still dark, and Anna was using a cloaking device. None of that mattered since the enemy had thermal vision. Both soldiers took aim at Anna and fired.
The sound of bullets hitting the ground all around Anna could be heard, along with the faint sound of suppressed weapons firing in the distance. The main disadvantage to the X-AS18 when it was in the assault rifle configuration was that it was a carbine. Less barrel equaled less accuracy the further away the target. Anna saw Patterson make it to the pier with Jackson waving at him to get in.
As fast as she could, she ran down the pier and leaped into the boat. She deactivated her cloaking device with the sound of bullets hitting the wooden pier and water. “Drive,” Anna shouted at Jackson. He hit the throttle, and the boat surged forward.
The boat accelerated away from the pier and was headed back down the lake. Anna stood up once the boat was out the attackers’ line of sight. She looked down at Patterson, who was cowering on the floor of the boat. Anna restrained him with some zip-tie handcuffs and laid him face down, not wanting to look at him any longer than she had to. She sat down on the edge of the boat in an attempt to relax. Jack speaking up in her ear didn’t help.
“Anna, did you make it out alright?”
“I did.”
“Good to hear. I’m just glad you made it.” Jack then went from sounding relieved to depressed. “This country has already lost too many good people tonight.”
Chapter 16
The next several hours weren’t exactly kind to Patterson. As soon as he was transported to the Vigilance Headquarters in Baltimore, he was put into a holding cell and given laxatives to help rid him of his explosive problem. The entire experience was about as close and painful as he would ever get to experiencing childbirth. Not long after that embarrassment, having barely had enough time to get used to his holding cell, he was dragged from his cell to the interrogation room where Jack awaited him.
The two agents escorting Patterson forcefully placed him in the seat across the metal table from Jack before exiting the room, leaving only the two men. Jack had a look about him like a father who has just found the culprit responsible for harming his daughter. There were two jugs of water on the table with them, along with a cloth rag.
Patterson looked down at the objects and quickly put together what they were for. “I get that you’re upset.” Patterson slammed his face into the table.
“You could say that.” Jack felt it was necessary, an obligation as a patriot to punish Patterson after what he had done to the president and his cabinet.
Patterson slowly raised his head off the surface of the table. He spent a good few seconds staring at the blood left on the metal surface before coldly stating, “There is nothing you can do to me that they won’t do worse out there.”
“I’d like to disagree with that,” Jack replied.
Patterson looked back at Jack, staring him straight in the eyes. “The organization I work for plays by its own rules. Your laws are meaningless to them.”
Jack raised his hands gesturing at the whole room, as if unveiling something. “Well, if you haven’t already realized, Mr. Patterson, I don’t either. Neither me nor my associate.”
“Yes, she made that abundantly clear when she shoved a grenade down my throat.”
“The way I see it, it’s not going to matter what they plan to do to you out there. Because if you don’t make yourself useful to us really quick, you won’t live to see the outside of here again.” The metal door to the interrogation room opened and Anna entered, dressed in her black pants suit and carrying a tablet. “What did you and Price find out?” Jack asked. He was referring to the data she took from Patterson’s office computer.
Anna took her seat next to Jack before she tapped away on the tablet and brought up a holographic 3D image of a briefcase. She stared straight toward Patterson. “A little project of yours?”
“A briefcase with lead lining to hide the bomb hidden inside. Instead of being detonated remotely, this one was designed to utilize the briefcase’s electronic lock as a trigger.”
Patterson shrugged. “Same principle as triggering a car bomb with the engine’s ignition switch.”
“And Edwards was fine with being a suicide bomber?”
“No.” Patterson shook his head. “We told him we equipped the briefcase with spyware to listen in on his conversation with the president and his cabinet. He was just as surprised when the bomb went off as everyone else in the room.”
“Do you find all your peers this expendable?” Anna scornfully asked.
Patterson gestured with his hand. “Edwards knew his place when he was recruited. He was just a senator nobody cared about that we made Huckleberry’s obvious choice for VP, thanks to our political connections within the party. All so we could keep a close eye on him in case he was elected.”
“Now that wasn’t too difficult to divulge, was it?” Anna said.
“That ship has sailed. The information is irrelevant at this point.”
“Okay, here’s some information that is relevant.” She replaced the image of the briefcase with scrolling pages of financial documents. “The files on your computer indicate you’ve had a number of dealings with the Chicago bank Dixon Edwards. Some legal and on record; most, however, not so much. Care to explain?”
“I cannot divulge that information,” Patterson plainly stated.
“Bullshit,” Jack retorted.
“If I told you anything, my life would be in forfeit. My peers would make sure of that. The next time you would see me, it would be in the news after my fatal heart attack, car wreck, drowning… Whichever was convenient that day.”
“Should’ve thought about that before joining the mob,” Jack stated.
Patterson scoffed. “The mob? Give me a break. You know who I am? I am part of the inner skeleton holding this pile of flesh and blood together we call the world. Without me and my peers, everything falls to pieces.”
“You ultra-rich types all think you have to look after us peasants, don’t you?”
“Somebody has to solve the world’s biggest problems. We damn near had a world war. Somebody had to stop it from happening.”
“By eliminating the entire United Nations General Assembly?”
Patterson nodded. “Sometimes sacrifices need to be made.”
After a moment of silence, Jack decided they were getting nowhere and decided to shift focus. “It’s not up to us to decide what is right or wrong, Mr. Patterson. Me and my partner only strive to find truth in the name of safety for our country.” After a pause for effect, he added, “And right now, you’re in our way.” Jack leaned back in his seat. “The president before his passing armed us with the Shadow Prerogative, the right to do whatever is needed to protect America and her interests. Reserved for me and my partner to use at our own discretion. And right now, I feel like exercising that freedom.”
Jack and Anna both stood while removing their suit jackets and laying them on the back of the metal chairs. Jack grabbed one of the jugs of water while Anna grabbed the cloth rag, making it obvious to Patterson what was coming next. After grabbing ahold of Patterson’s shoulder, Jack tipped over his chair and made the back of it hit the concrete floor with a loud bang.
Anna got down on one knee and covered the entirety of Patterson’s face with the rag. Jack unscrewed the cap on the jug and tipped it over, waterboarding him. The water splashed on his face at a consistent rate with sounds of him gurgling underneath the rag, struggling for air. Jack tipped the
neck of the jug up to give Patterson mercy. Anna removed the rag and stepped back while Patterson coughed up water.
“Why is the bank important?” Jack demanded.
Patterson remained quiet as a response. Jack looked at Anna and gave her the eye gesture to continue.
She placed the cloth back over Patterson’s face, and Jack tipped down the neck of the jug and continued the barrage of water. The water just kept pouring onto the cloth in mass, creating a puddle under Patterson’s head. After almost emptying the jug, Jack tipped the neck up.
Anna removed the cloth followed by Patterson’s coughing up water, only this time for longer. He looked exhausted, as if he were about to pass out. Jack set the near empty jug back on the table and pulled Anna’s arm to bring her over to the corner of the room where Patterson wouldn’t hear.
“This isn’t working. He’s going to pass out if we keep going like this,” Jack whispered.
Anna thought about what Jack said and then recalled some skills she had been taught years earlier but never used. “I could use some more intrusive techniques that I was taught at the CIA,” Anna suggested.
“You don’t seem to be excited about trying them.” Jack could tell Anna wasn’t fully comfortable with the idea.
“I’ve just never needed to use them in the past. Most people break after only a small amount of pain.” Anna took a deep breath to calm herself then looked back at Patterson, who was still laid on the floor completely drenched. “This case, however, calls for something much more involved.” Jack sensed a hint of callousness in her voice. Not that he minded.
“Alright, what do you need?” Jack asked.
“Just get me some adrenaline. I’ll handle the rest.”
Patterson was left in the room alone for about fifteen minutes. When Jack and Anna returned, he was holding two syringes filled with the chemical known as adrenaline. Good for jump starting a stopped heart and keeping somebody from passing out from excruciating pain. Anna carried a small metal case that she set down on the floor next to Patterson.