Cain (32 page)

“
He’d have to fly in
…”

Soloman
turned, mouth opening in horror.

And knew.

Fear exploded as he stared a split-second.

Amy and Maggie were already belted
into the Loach and Malo began to lift as Soloman raised the A-unit to warn him when it happened.

As the Loach rose
Soloman saw the back panel of the helicopter explode before a terrific impact and he moved, hurling the rifle aside as the chopper left the ground. Screams of horror erupted as Soloman leaped to narrowly catch a skid, grabbing with both hands as the chopper took him from the ground in a spiraling twist that wildly cleared the courtyard walls.

Thoughts flashed like lightning as
Soloman saw it all; Cain sensing him inside the closet and understanding the deception, Cain falling through night knowing a trap was laid, Cain searching with fantastic strength and speed to find the chopper hidden so close to the museum, then using his superior night vision to cross the police perimeter and conceal himself behind the coach compartment, waiting ... to be certain.

Soloman
's boots struck stone as they cleared the crest of the courtyard wall and he heard Malo bellow, a shot fired. Then he glimpsed the door opening above him and the big lieutenant was hurled into the night, an angry curse descending with him.

Soloman
threw a leg over the rail as the Loach skimmed low over trees and knew Cain had taken control. He groaned with the savage effort required for climbing to the door and knew that Cain didn't yet sense his presence. But time and night were flying past with such speed there was no time to contemplate anything more. He had to move, and fast.

Almost losing control in the final frantic effort,
Soloman reached up to grasp the handle of the passenger door, heard Amy and Maggie screaming and realized no plan could cope with this, no plan at all. He had to pull a face-to-face, had to dare a savage throw-down inside a helicopter flying a hundred miles an hour twenty feet above trees, and with the thought he drew the Desert Eagle, ripping open the hatch.

Soloman
dove into the Loach and was horrified even in the blinding speed as a fanged face whirled toward him with a bestial roar, glaring red eyes blazing in rage.

Throwing out a massive arm, Cain struck him into the back but Soloman got off a round as he was hit, the Desert Eagle plowing a .50-caliber round deep into the beast's back and then he was fast-firing through the pilot seat, ten slugs blasting into Cain's torso and head.

Descending hard, the Loach soared amazingly through a stand of dead trees before Cain could correct the course, expertly raising the blades and axle to narrowly gain air. Then he reached out to grab Maggie, screaming and kicking, by the neck. He held her as easily as he would hold a doll and Soloman quickly exchanged clips, leveling again.

"Enough,
Soloman!" Cain roared. "Drop the weapon or she dies!" Soloman pressed the barrel hard against Cain's temple. He leaned close, face-to-face, caught the stench of death.

"Tonight you're not taking hostages
!" Soloman snarled. "I'm not taking prisoners! So set it down and we'll settle it face-to-face!"

"You're a fool!"

Soloman pressed the barrel harder. "I'll have them die by my hand before they die by yours!" He wrenched Cain's head. "So set this down or I'll kill us all! You've got three seconds!"

Cain shook his head as he instan
tly angled the Loach, threading a narrow path between night-lit trees to find a landing zone as Soloman increased the pressure of the barrel.

No games now, no moves left to make. When this thing hit the
ground Soloman would be in the last fight of his life and his mind scanned furiously for tactics. Then he saw a glade approaching, tall grass indicating solid ground. He tried to ignore the glaring knowledge that he'd just fired ten rounds into Cain and the giant wasn't even fazed.

"You're about to die,
Soloman," Cain growled. "Then I will kill your woman!"

S
oloman decided every factor in a heartbeat. He knew that he had to wait until the chopper hit the ground or they would be dead. And as the skids settled on the edge his hand tightened on the grip of the Desert Eagle. He glanced down to ensure that the hammer was back and as Cain stepped out, turning with murderous talons to grapple, Soloman fired to send a .50-caliber round directly into his forehead.

The tremendous concussion blasted the giant flat on his back and
Soloman instantly leaped into the pilot seat to hit the rotor controls, wildly lifting the Loach. He cleared the ground as Cain cursed and rolled, leaping with volcanic velocity to snatch a single skid.

The great weight caused the helicopter to tilt madly, sending them spiraling across the glade toward a solid stand of trees and at the sight
Soloman knew they were about to die now. He threw the chopper into a hard collective pitch, tilting all the rotors at once.

At the violent movement the Loach ascended in an almost vertical lift, angling narrowly to clear the branches by a breath, sending them into a roaring and violent night.

Snarling, Cain clung to the skid and began climbing.

He grabbed
Soloman's door to jerk it open and Soloman took a desperate second to kick out, slamming him away from the cockpit again and again, again and again, kicking and kicking, wild with rage. And with each savage kick Soloman lost a measure of control, sending the Loach spinning. Yet he held altitude because he kept his hands on the tilt control and pitch, electrified by the fear that he couldn't free his hands for a shot.

"Take my gun and shoot
him!" he screamed at Maggie and she instantly snatched the gun from his holster, aiming wildly over Soloman's body. She pulled the trigger and the enormous concussion, so close to Soloman's face, deafened and blinded him.

Stunned, he glared down to see Cain hit, blood erupting from his chest. And then Maggie emptied the rest of the clip as they sailed madly through trees and night, shells clattering in the madness of light and flame and noise to create an apocalyptic atmosphere in the helicopter.

There was nothing but battle here, Soloman knew. This was the place where courage ended, where madness ruled. The only way to survive was to become more savage than your opponent.

He threw the Loach into a downward tilt, aiming low for trees and in seconds felt the massive impact. The skid tore a dead limb to lift it into night. Rotors tilting at the collision sent dead limbs whirling over them. And with a downward glance
Soloman saw—

Cain still there
…

Ravaged and wounded, Cain's face blazed with a wrath that made him seem utterly unconquerable. Eyes glaring at
Soloman, he twisted savagely and slammed a hand into the cockpit, lifting himself. Knowing they were going to die if he didn't do something desperate, Soloman swept in four feet above the swamp, slowing to a crawl.

He screamed at Maggie. "Get Amy and jump! Do it now! Do it now! It's only four feet to the water!" He caught a frightful glance of Cain. "Hurry, Maggie! Do it now!"

Soloman was livid as he watched Cain's horrifying climb.

Maggie didn't hesitate at all.

As if understanding that it was their only chance she reached back and snatched Amy in a single violent move, clutching her tight in her arms. And in the next second, to Soloman's amazement, she threw open the hatch and without a glance hurled both of them into the night, descending to the water.

Cain roared in demoniacal glee as he rose, climbing closer to Soloman and
Soloman spun to glare at him, face-to-face.

For a single surreal instant they stared.

Cain laughed, red eyes narrowing.

He lifted a black-clawed hand to—

Soloman tore his hand from the rotor control to send the chopper into an oncoming impact with trees and snatched out the M-79, slamming the barrel hard against Cain's chest.

Cain's eyes widened in shock.

"
Die
!" Soloman shouted.

And fired.

The horrific impact of almost two hundred .00 rounds fired at once, so close in the cockpit, scattered everything with blood and hurled Cain back howling in pain, where he caught a skid. Wounded and raging, he reached up and began – incredibly – to ascend yet again.

The Loach was locked in a spiral toward the trees and
Soloman didn't even try to correct the course. He saw the glistening blackness below and knew they were over the swamp. As the trees swept up in front of him he released all control and dove out the passenger side, instantly meeting night as the helicopter descended with Cain clinging to a skid.

It hit a tree as
Soloman hit the water.

Instan
tly the rotors shredded whatever they struck and in the next split-second the chopper exploded in a firestorm that hurled a volcanic blast over Soloman. He threw himself underwater to evade the molten wave of burning fuel. In a second the lava-like blast passed, and Soloman rose, stunned, staring in a daze at the crumbling wreckage.

He struggled to breathe in the superheated air, was amazed to find
himself still alive, still holding the M-79 in a tight fist. He searched for Cain, heard terrified voices shouting at him,

Amy and Maggie.

Both of them were calling frantically but Soloman couldn't take time to search, not yet. He stood in waist-deep water and wondered if Cain had been destroyed by the blast. Then he saw a humanoid shape horribly burning and disfigured struggling from the wreckage, a figure that stumbled and screamed as it fell toward the swamp.

Enraged beyond mercy
Soloman opened fire on sight, throwing ten rounds at the form as it shambled clear of the burning Loach and then Cain hurled himself into the water, evading the attack. Because of the darkness and the fire thrown from waving shadows, Soloman wasn't sure of his aim, wasn't certain whether he had hit it or not.

Night flew by in flame.

Then, a phantasmic and gory image, Cain rose from the burning black water as if unbound by Hell itself. Hideously ravaged, he glared at Soloman with singular intent and began walking forward.

"Damn,"
Soloman whispered, shaking his head as he vengefully changed clips. "He really can't die ..."

They glared hatefully at each other as
Soloman quickly holstered the Desert Eagle. Then, turning, Soloman began slogging a path through the swamp. The basilica was outlined less than half a mile away and Soloman didn't need to turn to see whether Cain was pursuing.

Soloman
knew
he was pursuing them.

In seconds
Soloman found Amy and Maggie and they began moving together, Soloman holding the six-year-old tight in his arms through stagnant water that shallowed bit by bit as they frantically neared the building. And as they came to the wide stone entrance they heard a shot fired from the tower, heard a wounded roar close by.

Soloman
whirled to see Cain less than fifty feet away, flat on his back from a rifle shot, and he hurled Amy through the gate, snatching a grenade from his vest. Maggie threw herself inside the gate over Amy as he pulled the pin and threw it, and then the explosion created a wall of fire between them and the approaching horror.

On his feet,
Soloman saw Cain striding fearlessly through the flame, fangs extended. The great taloned hands curled in rage as Cain roared above the holocaust.

"Hell awaits you,
Soloman!"

Soloman
cursed and lifted Amy, and with Maggie running beside them they hurried to the church. Once inside, Maggie slammed the huge oak portal shut and bolted it. Then Soloman pushed Amy to the side and fell to one knee, breathlessly leveling on the door as Maggie leaped clear. But almost instantly the child was clutching his side again, screaming in horror.

Scanning, sweating, and adrenalized by the conflict,
Soloman stared at the door a long time, holding a hard aim.

Listening. . .

To silence.

* * *

CHAPTER 18

Soloman reached for his radio and found the holder empty; he had lost it somewhere in the swamp, leaving him no means of communicating with his men. But despite the distraction he tried to regain some semblance of control as they went together through the basilica, reorienting.

Marcelle rushed up. "Is it—"

"
He’s here
!" Soloman shouted. "Lock and bolt the back and get one of my men down here! Now!"

The priest was gone, racing to the back of the building as a Delta commando limped down a stone archway, holding a large bolt-action rifle in a tight fist.
Soloman was shocked to see Malo.

He was stumbling and had a ragged cut on his face, but he was alive. Nor was there time for an explanation. He had obviously hit the water when he was hurled from the low-flying chopper.

"Status!" Soloman shouted. "Have you got a visual?"

Malo shook his head sharply. "I took a shot at him when he was coming up the path. Flattened his ass with the H and H
and then he vanished! We ain't got anything on heat sensors and the motion detectors are flat!"

"Are the Apaches en route?"

"Three minutes out!"

"Then we've got to hold him off for three minutes!"
Soloman grimaced, feeling the sharp pain of a bruised rib. He ripped out the spent canister in the M-79 and inserted another. "Tell the guys on the roof to look sharp! Cain'll probably go high to work his way down!"

Mother Superior Mary Francis rushed up, black habit trailing behind her. Quickly she knelt beside Maggie and Amy, tending to their wounds. Maggie had a large cut on her hand, a wound from a jagged stump, but Amy was unhurt.

"Take care of Amy." Maggie pushed the child into the nun's arms with fading strength. "Hide her in here somewhere!" she whispered. "Hide her quickly, Sister! Quickly!"

Marcelle returned, sweat glistening on his face. "The entrances are locked
but the portals may not be strong enough to withstand his assault! I will go and monitor the back!"

"Good enough!"
Soloman stood. "That's the only other—"

The radio at Malo's waist erupted with a frantic voice, then several voices tumbled over each other until one dominated: "Lieutenant! We've got big-time movement
all over the south side!"

Malo raised the radio. "Calm down, Bravo. Is it high or low? Can you localize it?"

"I ... I can't tell! It ... it seems like it's all over the south side of thebuilding! He's moving fast! He's trying to find a way in! I've never seen anything like it! It's all over the place! I can't tell if he's high or low! I think he might be on the roof somewhere! Somewhere really close! I can't tell! I can't tell! It's impossible to—"

A sharp crack, then static.

Silence.

Scowling, Malo glared at the A-unit. "Repeat!"

Echoing ...

"
Bravo
!
Repeat
!"

"No!"
Soloman snarled, lifting an MP-5 laid to the side. He slammed in a fifty-round clip. "Cain got him."

"I'm going on the roof!" Malo moved for the stairway and
Soloman whirled, slamming the big Delta lieutenant against a wall. "Whoever was on the roof is dead, Malo!"

Malo's teeth gritted a
s he shoved Soloman back. "I've got six men up there, Colonel! Six men!"

Soloman
slammed him back. "
They’re dead, Malo
!
Right now we have to get ready because Cain is coming down
!"

They stood face-to-face and after a moment—a grim and solemn moment—Malo slowly nodded. He bowed his head with a frown and
Soloman released him to glare at Maggie: "Do you want a gun?"

She stood strongly, blood dripping from a crude bandage on her hand. "Give me what you've got."

He tossed her the MP-5 and she caught it from the air, gazing at the weapon before asking without breath, "Just point and pull the trigger, right?"

"Yeah."

Soloman jerked open a duffle bag and removed extra clips for the Desert Eagle. He lashed four antipersonnel grenades to his vest. "Just pull the trigger and hold it. Expect it to recoil, so hold down on the barrel about six inches beneath his chest. You'll hit him dead-center. You've only got fifty rounds so don't shoot until he's on top of you."

He tried to analyze the situation
but decided almost immediately that there weren't many advantages. The room was large and empty except for pews, pro-viding little solid cover for a firefight and no place to make a solid stand. Plus, he was convinced that staying inside this place was death, so they had to get safely outside and lure Cain into the open so that the Apaches could target on him with cannons.

Sister Mary Francis had taken Amy downstairs, hiding her as best she could. But
Soloman knew there was no future in that, either. If Cain wanted to find them, he would find them. He would tear this place apart brick by brick if he had to because nothing on this planet was strong enough to stop him.

With his mind moving at computer speed Soloman knew
there was no way to make a stand in this place.

No,
he had to change the game – create a
new
situation!

Change the game
.
Create a new situation
.

Soloman sensed that he
had to—

He
whirled with a curse as the fifty-year-old elevator was engaged, coming down from the roof. As one, they stared, everyone too shocked to speak. Malo cast a narrow glance as Soloman slowly drew the Desert Eagle, holding the M-79 in his other hand. Amazed at the boldness, the fearlessness of the approach, Soloman motioned for Maggie to aim at the elevator door.

Grindingly slow, coming down with a roar, the elevator descended.

They backed up.

Raising weapons.

***

Sister Mary Francis dropped Amy as gently as possible in a closet and bent close, staring fiercely. Her old hands gripped the six-year-old's shoulders, strong and encouraging.

"Be silent!" she whispered. "I will be close!" She stared to make sure Amy heard. "Do you understand what I'm saying, child? Don't make a sound! Don't make a sound no matter what you hear!"

Amy nodded with fright, straining to catch her breath. She placed both hands against the close wooden walls as if she were already alone in the darkness. Then Sister Mary Francis reached out and touched her face, fearlessly protective. "You'll live, child! Just do what I say! Wait here and I'll be back for you! And make no sound! No sound at all! No matter what you hear! Do you understand!"

Amy nodded.

Hesitating, face twisting in pain, Sister Mary Francis swiftly grasped the crucifix on her cloak, removing the red and black rosary beads. She wasted a single second to wrap them about Amy's neck, then with a blessing rose and closed the door.

Was gone.

***

As the elevator stopped, Malo angrily racked a rocket-propelled grenade into the chute of the M-203. His finger tightened on the trigger as they stood in place, staring and trembling.

Nothing.

The door didn't open.

Stillness.

"I don't like this," Malo whispered. "That door is supposed to open automatically. If it's not, that means ..." He shook his head, cursing in anger and fear. "We need to find the kid and get the hell out of here, Colonel. Let the Apaches center on him."

"Steady, Malo."
Soloman took a light step to the side. "I don't want that RPG going off in here unless we're about to die. It could kill all of us. And we can't go outside yet because we don't know for sure that he's in there. He could be waiting outside the door."

Soloman
saw that the barrel of Maggie's machine gun steadied with uncommon control on the elevator door. She was frowning, her green eyes staring murderously. He reached out to touch her arm. "Be cool, Maggie. Don't start shooting until I say so."

"What are you going to do?"

He edged farther to the side, out of the line of fire just in case they opened up. Silently he holstered the Desert Eagle, leaving his right hand free. But he held the M-79 tight.

"Get ready to fire on acquisition," he whispered as he reached the side of the elevator. Gen
tly, his body flat against the wall he stretched out and punched the button.

The doors opened.

He saw Malo and Maggie flinch at the same split-second, weapons waving on the shaft. But they didn't fire and Soloman knew they saw nothing. So, moving with extreme caution, he edged an eye around the corner, searching the empty lift. Then he glanced up at the ceiling, saw that it was crisscrossed with thin steel beams that resembled rafters. There was also a wide, old-style trapdoor. It was unlatched and easily accessible, but closed.

Heart beating breathlessly, he studied the trapdoor, listening. He detected nothing, but
he knew Cain could be lying up there. And with that thought his finger tightened on the trigger of the M-79, knowing the devastating buckshot round would disorient the giant, if only for a moment.

A long time he stood, finally shaking his head to throw off drops of sweat. His eyes burned and he tilted his head to listen closer, knowing somehow that he wasn't as deceived as he feared. Cain was close, he knew, too close, waiting for an opportunity to—

The sound was so faint Soloman thought it had been a single rustle of his shirt. But he froze in place, utterly still, listening over the pounding of blood in his ears. He tried to control his heartbeat and knew instantly that he couldn't and then he understood ... what it was ...

No
...
Not the ceiling
.

Moving only his eyes,
Soloman peered cautiously at the paneled floor, knowing instinctively as the hairs rose along his arms. Casually, so as not to precipitate an attack, he lowered the aim of the M-79, retreating slowly ...

Have to get outside
...

As he stepped back carefully, he heard what seemed to be the faintest scratching sound that was almost no sound at all
… tracking, tracking, finding a point of aim if he had to—

"
Soloman!"

He whirled as Maggie screamed.

The doors shut behind him.

Malo screamed as he leaped forward to hit the doors like a freight train. When he bounced back, the steel doors were bent.

He staggered at the collision, livid and raising the M-203, not knowing what to do as Maggie frantically pounded the button and they heard the explosion of sundered panels.

Then a demonic, hideous howl of triumph erupted on the other side and they heard
Soloman roar against it in rage as a savage face-to-face fight began within the doors.

***

Soloman had moved without thought, instinct and speed saving him by the |faintest, flashing space as the floor shattered and Cain rose up, explosively hurling off a jagged section of steel.

With ferocious strength and determination
Soloman gained a rafter, leaping high to grab a steel beam with his free hand. He roared with the effort as he twisted and fired the M-79 point-blank into the horrific bestial countenance – a face ravaged by burns and yet the animal eyes blazing in fiendish triumph over monstrous fangs.

As the taloned hands reached up,
Soloman's buckshot blast exploded down and out, devastating in the close confines of the elevator, and Cain took the full force of the blow. Then Soloman could hear nothing but the clash of defiant roars and ricocheting rounds.

Cain had been slammed viciously to his back, twisted by the blast as
blood littered the walls, everything red and roaring in the smoke-filled aftermath of the detonation. Then Soloman swung forward to kick up hard, slamming the trapdoor open, and he was scrambling, trying to clear the elevator before Cain regained his footing.

As
Soloman threw himself wildly through the trap door, Cain lashed out, a titanic fist missing to strike a steel beam, and then Soloman was on top of the lift, safe for a split-second. Moving quick, frantic and desperate, he spun in every direction to find an avenue of escape.

Nothing!

Cain's monstrous head came up through the door and Soloman leaped aside, fumbling for another buckshot round as the monstrosity lashed out, striking him hard behind the shins to take him down.

The M-79 flew wildly into the shaft.

Spinning, Soloman lashed out a kick with murderous force, slamming Cain's head against a beam. And, incredibly, Cain seemed to feel the stunning impact, snarling in rage as he reached out to snatch Soloman by his ballistic vest.

Shouting in panic,
Soloman spun and tore the Velcro straps, freeing himself as one of Cain's mammoth shoulders passed through the trap-door, climbing to finish the kill.