Trident Fury (The Kurgan War Book 3) (25 page)

“Did you cause this?” Cole asked.

Angela shook her head and fought to catch her breath. “No. Something else is up. I thought I heard explosions in the distance, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“Thunder perhaps?” offered Wendy.

“No, the sky is clear. There isn’t a cloud in sight.”

“Quickly, before the guards get here, what did you manage to bring back?” Cole asked.

Angela dumped the contents of a small bag onto Wendy’s bed. Right away, Cole scooped up the pistol and spare magazine. He rummaged through the rest of the stolen equipment until he found an explosive charge with its detonator still attached. He picked it up and saw that it looked to be in perfect working order. “How the hell did you get your hands on this?”
 

Angela smiled. “The guards aren’t that observant. It really wasn’t that hard to do. It’s pre-set for ten seconds before detonation.”

A voice boomed through a speaker on the wall of the cavern. “All prisoners are to remain in their cells. Do not attempt to leave or you will be shot.” A couple of seconds later another announcement was made, this time in Kurgan.

“What did he say?” Cole asked.

“All of the Chosen soldiers have been ordered to report to their duty stations,” said Angela. “I think the mine is under attack.”

“I thought you said we had another day to wait,” said Wendy to Cole.

“Things change. Come on, we’ve got to keep the Kurg bastards off this floor.”

Angela said, “How do you propose we do that?”

“First, we take out the guards and then we disable the elevators.”

“I’m a navigator, not a soldier,” protested Wendy.

“Wendy, I know that you had to pass basic marksmanship training in the academy. Soon enough, there’ll be plenty of Kurgan weapons laying around. They’re not that different than ours. Just pick one up, make sure the safety is off, and pull the trigger,” replied Cole as he bent down and pulled out a ceramic knife from a sheath hidden under his pants leg. He handed Wendy the knife while Angela picked up one of her own from the pile on the bed.
 

“Okay, Angela, how many guards are there on this level?”

“There’s usually around one hundred around during the day and only about fifty at night.”

“We’ll never take on fifty soldiers with one pistol and two knives,” said Wendy.

“You forget, most of them will be pissed out of their minds,” said Angela. “They’re probably scrambling about right now trying to find their weapons and gear before a sergeant or a Kurgan officer gets down here to take charge.”

Cole liked the sound of that. “Where is their duty station?”

“It’s down the hall and to the left,” replied Angela.
 

“How far?”

“At least five hundred meters.”

“Okay, let’s get to work.” He took one last look around at the other prisoners and saw that many had already gone back to their bunks as if nothing was happening. A handful of others stood there staring at Cole and the two women. Their faces were a mix of suspicion and curiosity. Cole checked that his pistol was loaded, moved to the tunnel entrance, and looked both ways before stepping out.

The noisy alarm switched off. An uneasy silence gripped the passageway. With Wendy and Angela close behind him, Cole led the way to the guards’ quarters. When they were halfway there, Cole stopped and raised a hand telling the others to freeze in place. On the other side of the tunnel was an elevator shaft. Cole could hear the sound of an elevator descending from above. With his pistol raised, he walked straight at the opening and waited. Less than ten seconds had passed before the elevator came into view. In it was a Kurgan officer with a couple of Chosen soldiers by his side. Cole never hesitated. He shot the officer dead with one shot to the head before turning his pistol on the two warriors trapped inside the cramped elevator. By the time the elevator came to a stop, it was over and all three lay dead. Cole moved the safety bar aside, grabbed the two rifles lying on the floor, and tossed them behind him. He turned and waved for Angela to come to his side.

“Which button is for the top floor?” he asked as he dug out the explosive charge from a pocket in his pants.

“This one,” she replied, pressing the button.

Cole activated the timer and tossed in the explosives. He watched as the elevator began its return trip to the surface.
 

“Hey, you, what are you doing out of your cell block?” called out a voice from farther down the tunnel.

Cole hid his pistol behind his back, turned his head, and saw a man in prison clothing walking toward him. Behind him were four Chosen soldiers with rifles in their hands.

“Who is that?” Cole asked Angela.

“He’s another collaborator.”

Cole waited a few seconds. He wanted the Chosen to get closer before he opened fire.
 

The traitor opened his mouth to say something when the elevator exploded. The sound of the explosion rocketed down the shaft, surprising the Chosen warriors, who were now less than ten meters away. Cole dropped to one knee, whipped his pistol from behind his back, and shot the closest soldier in the chest before firing on the next man.
 

Angela dropped to the ground, picked up one of the rifles, and pulled the trigger without aiming. She had never fired a gun in her life. Rounds flew everywhere as she sprayed the Chosen soldiers. One man fell right away, the other was killed by Cole. The only survivor was the human traitor who stood there with his mouth agape.

Cole brought his weapon around and fired off one shot. The collaborator fell back onto the ground. Cole bent down, picked up the other rifle, and tossed his pistol at Wendy. He looked into the faces of the two women and saw fear. He was scared too but would never admit it. After checking that the Kurgan rifle’s safety was off, he said, “Follow me.”

They began to jog the last couple of hundred meters to the Chosen duty station. A soldier with his hand on his aching head stepped out into the tunnel to see what all the ruckus was about. His curiosity cost him his life.
 

Cole leaped over the dead body and kicked in the door to the quarters. He brought his rifle to his shoulder, and with merciless intent, he shot down everyone he could see. He was so focused that he never heard Wendy and Angela join him. For the drunken Chosen, staggering about the room, it was as if the Kurgan version of the Grim Reaper had appeared to take their souls.

In less than ten seconds, the deed was done. The guards’ bodies lay sprawled about the room. Rivers of blood flowed along the ground. Cole lowered his rifle and saw Wendy still looking through her weapon’s sights. He put a hand on her rifle and gently pushed it down toward the ground. “It’s okay. It’s over. Now, Wendy, I need you to guard the door while Angela and I look for ammo and any more explosives.”

Wendy nodded and stepped back to cover the entrance.

A few minutes later, they all stood in the tunnel with their rifles in their hands and their pockets full of grenades.
 

Cole said, “Okay, we need to split up and disable the rest of the elevators. Angela and Wendy, you go to the left and I’ll go to the right. We’ll meet up back here when the job is done. Also, look for anything that could be used to block the tunnel at both ends so the Kurgs can’t get to the prisoners before the Marines get here.” With that, they parted and rushed off to find the nearest elevators. Cole wasn’t bothered by what he had just done. It was his job. He, however, doubted that either woman would ever forget the sight of the Chosen dead until the day they died.

Chapter 34

Sheridan felt the train begin to decelerate. He took a fleeting look into Tarina’s eyes before leaving her with the other prisoners. He joined Sergeant Lee in the engineering compartment.
 

“How long until we come to a complete stop?” Sheridan asked the engineer.

“Less than a minute,” replied the man without taking his eyes off the computer screen in front of him. A digitized speedometer raced down toward zero.

“The very second this train stops, I want you to input the code for the return trip. I’ll be watching you, so don’t try anything foolish.”

“Just keep your sergeant away from me and I’ll do whatever you say.”

Lee chuckled when he heard the translation.

The engineer began to count down. “Ten-nine-eight.”

Sheridan leaned forward to see out of the compartment’s front windows. At first he couldn’t see a thing in the dark, then ever so slowly he began to see a long line of torches spread out in front of the track.

When the engineer said zero, the train came to a smooth halt. Lee jammed the barrel of his rifle against the man’s temple to encourage him to type faster.

“My God,” said Sheridan when he realized that he was looking at hundreds of Kurgans formed up in three ranks across the tracks. He saw an officer with his sword in his hand move in front of the formation and point at the train. A loud growl erupted from the throats of the Kurgan soldiers as they drew their swords and held them above their heads. The razor sharp blades gleamed in the light of a hundred torches. As one, they began to chant. Sheridan’s mouth turned dry when he recognized that they were repeating the words ‘no prisoners’ over and over.

“Get us the hell out of here, now!” yelled Sheridan at the engineer.

“I’m going as fast as I can. I’ve typed in the command, but I’m getting no response from the station back at the mine.”

“Call them and tell them to input the return code from their end.”

The engineer picked up a phone from the console and tried to reach the duty engineer back in the prison. He shook his head and looked up at Sheridan. “There’s no signal. It’s as if the prison has disappeared.”

The sound of the chanting from outside grew louder.

Sheridan ground his teeth. There could only be one explanation: the task force had arrived and destroyed all of the comms towers around the mine. There would be no return signal coming for their train. He was glad that they had arrived, but their timing could have been better.

“What’s going on, sir?” asked Lee.

“We’re going to be attacked by a battalion of Kurgans in the next few seconds if we don’t get this piece of crap moving again.”

Lee dropped his rifle, drew a knife from behind his back and jammed it against the engineer’s throat. “Do something or I’ll slit your throat.”

The terrified man did not need Sheridan to translate for him. The message was clear enough. He turned in his seat and pointed to a panel on the wall. “Please don’t kill me. The manual override is in there.”

Sheridan opened the box, saw a switch and flipped it down. For a second the lights inside the compartment went off and then came back on again. The engineer’s fingers hurried to type in the necessary commands to get the train moving.

Outside the chanting stopped. With a loud, lusty cry, the Kurgans surged toward the train.

With a slight shudder, the locomotive’s engine kicked in. Far too slowly for Sheridan’s liking, the train began to pull back from the onrushing mass of soldiers. He flipped his rifle around and smashed open the glass windows at the front of the compartment with the butt of his weapon. The Kurgans were barely ten meters away when Sheridan brought his weapon to his shoulder, flipped the selector to automatic, and opened fire. Several soldiers fell to the rocky ground while others, although hit, kept on coming.

“Give me your pistol,” said Sheridan to Lee.

“What’s up?” Lee asked as he handed over the gun.

“The train isn’t moving fast enough. We’re going to be boarded.”

“I can fight.”

“No. I need you to encourage our friend to get this thing out of here before we all die.” Sheridan drew his own pistol and moved to the back of the engine compartment. There were doors on either side of the carriage that led to the outside. He brought up both pistols and waited. Within seconds, the door to his right was yanked open and a Kurgan jumped inside. Sheridan turned at the waist and fired off both weapons into the stunned soldier’s face at point-blank range. His body fell backward knocking another Kurgan off the train. Sheridan dashed over and closed the door just as the one behind him opened. He spun about and opened fire. His first couple of shots went off to the right of the Kurgan, but the next two hit the soldier in the neck. Blood sprayed the wall of the compartment as the dying Kurgan dropped to his knees before falling face-first to the floor.
 

The train began to pick up speed. Sheridan saw a Kurgan reach for the outside railing by the open door but was too slow. His gloved hand couldn’t grab hold in time before the train was moving too fast for the armored warrior to catch it.

Sheridan warily edged to the door and pulled it closed. Out of a small window, he could see dozens of Kurgans give up the chase and yell impotently at the escaping locomotive. He bent over and paused to catch his breath when he heard gunfire in the next carriage.

Tarina watched in horror as one of her fellow prisoners was cut down by a Kurgan soldier. Behind the Kurgan, another one appeared. People screamed and pushed at one another to get back from the murderous-looking soldiers. Tarina had no idea where the Kurgans had come from, nor did she care. There was nowhere to run. She could fight or die. She yelled at the top of her lungs as she pushed a man out of the way and brought up her rifle to her shoulder.