Vengeance (The Kurgan War Book 4) (11 page)

“What a load of crap,” snarled the soldier as he shot the butt of his weapon into Cole’s jaw, knocking him out cold.

A burst of gunfire hit the wall, forcing Sheridan to duck behind a thick stone wall for cover. He had chased the imposter inside the medieval castle only to lose him when the man ran through a crowd of tourists. Undeterred, he sprinted toward the only avenue of escape—the cable car station built on top of the castle. Sheridan had just stepped inside a stairway that led to the roof of the castle’s keep in the center of the old fortification, when his opponent unleashed a torrent of bullets in his direction. Sheridan ducked back, brought up his pistol, and returned fire.

In the courtyard behind him people screamed and ran for their lives. Deadly gun fights were not something that happened on Earth very much anymore.

At the top of the stairs, Sheridan stopped to catch his breath. With his left hand, he pushed the door open so he could see out. He ground his teeth when spotted a man lying facedown with blood trickling from a wound in his side. His opponent, however, was nowhere to be seen.
 

All of a sudden, more shots rang out.

Sheridan pushed the door all the way open and ran out. By the entrance to the cable car station lay a police officer. Sheridan swore and ran over to the man. He winced when he saw a hole in the middle of the hapless man’s forehead. Blinded by a growing rage in his heart, Sheridan no longer cared if he caught the Chosen operative alive or not. The imposter was going to pay for what he had done today and that’s all there was to it.
 

The sound of a cable car moving away from the keep spurred Sheridan into action. He knew it was too late to try to board the car. Instead, he jammed his pistol into his belt and took off running for the edge of the stone fortification. He never slowed down or hesitated. At the last second, he jumped out over the side of the keep. With his hands and legs flailing in the air, Sheridan dropped down a few meters before landing on the top of the cable car. With a bone-jarring thud, he rolled over a couple of times before coming to a sudden stop when he hit the car’s steel support arm. A sharp pain shot from his collarbone all the way down his right side. The bone wasn’t broken, but it still hurt like hell. He sat up and reached for his pistol only to find that it had fallen out during impact. With a groan on his lips, he reached for the bag over his shoulder containing his disassembled GR-99. When he opened the canvas sack, his eyes widened when he saw that the case was empty. He couldn’t believe his bad luck. It must have fallen out of the bag during his tumble.

All of a sudden the roof of the cable car by Sheridan’s feet erupted as bullets fired by the imposter tore holes through the metal as if it were made of paper. He scrambled back on his hands and feet from the steady stream of fire coming up from underneath him. Sheridan glanced over his shoulder and saw that he was running out of space. He knew he had to act soon or before long he would have nowhere left to go. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a metal railing that ran along the length of the car’s roof. A plan born of desperation formed in his mind. He jumped to his feet and dove for the railing. He felt his hands grasp hold of the bar just as his body began to fall over the side of the car. Sheridan brought his feet up to his chest and then kicked out as hard as he could, breaking the glass window in front of him. With momentum on his side, Sheridan swung inside the cable car, landing just off to the side of his surprised opponent.

The man quickly recovered, spun about, and brought up his pistol to fire.
 

Sheridan anticipated the move and lashed out with his right hand, hitting his opponent hard on the wrist. Like a dry twig snapping, the bones in the man’s wrist broke. The imposter howled in pain and dropped his weapon. Sheridan dropped down to pick up the pistol only to receive a knee to the side of his head. Stars filled his eyes as his head shot to one side. A second later, he tasted the warm coppery tang of blood in his mouth. He spat out a couple of his teeth onto the floor just before his attacker struck again.

From a pocket, the imposter, ignoring the pain in his wrist, pulled out a cord and wrapped it around Sheridan’s neck. With a deep grunt, the man pulled back on the rope. Right away, Sheridan could feel the cord choking him. He struggled to get to his feet. He could feel the man’s breath on his neck as the operative tried to choke the life out of him. Sheridan gasped for air. He reached up with his hands and fought in desperation to break the snake-like grip of the cord around his throat. It was no use, the man wasn’t going to let go until Sheridan was dead. With his heart pounding away in his ears and his vision narrowing, he knew that if he didn’t escape in the next couple of seconds, he never would.
 

The voice of his unarmed combat instructor at the Academy yelled at him. “Fight dirty. It’s you or him!” With that, Sheridan shot his head back, hitting the assailant’s nose with the back of his head. The impact didn’t break it, but it stunned him for a brief moment. It was all Sheridan needed. He dropped to one knee and thrust his right elbow straight back into the man’s groin.

The imposter moaned, released his hold on the cord, and staggered back away from Sheridan.
 

First, Sheridan pulled the rope from his neck and took a deep breath to fill his burning lungs. Next, he dropped to the floor of the cable car and scooped up the fallen pistol. He swung around, brought up the weapon, and fired a single shot that struck the imposter in the chest. With a look of disbelief on his ashen face, the Chosen agent reached for the door handle. Before Sheridan could get back up onto his feet, the man opened the door and fell out.
 

“Jesus,” muttered Sheridan when he looked down and watched as his attacker’s body was sliced into hundreds of pieces in an industrial mulcher that was part of the city’s composting efforts. He lowered himself to the floor and laid back. His body ached everywhere. He had just replaced several of his missing teeth with new porcelain ones, all of which had been knocked free and lay on the metal floor in a pool of blood and spittle.

The car began to slow.

Sheridan tossed the pistol aside and sat up as the cable car came to a complete stop at the downtown station. The second the doors slid open, a squad of heavily armed soldiers burst in and cuffed Sheridan. Hauled up to his feet, the soldiers manhandled him into the back of an APC and slammed the doors behind him.
 

A familiar voice said, “Glad to see you’re still alive.”
 

Sheridan recognized Cole’s voice. He turned to face his friend and saw a nasty bruise on his face. They both looked as if they had been in the boxing ring and had been pummeled senseless. Sheridan smiled. “I lost some teeth.”

“Again?”

Sheridan nodded. “What happened to your man?”

“There were two of them and they’re both dead. Yours?”

“He’s dead too. Fell into a mulcher. We’ll never retrieve anything of value from his body.”

“Not to worry. Before the goon squad arrived, I went through my guys’ pockets.”

Sheridan perked up at the good news. “Did you learn anything?”

“I sure did.” Cole hesitated. “I’ll tell you later.”

The vehicle’s engine roared to life. A couple of seconds later the APC began to move.

“Where do you think they’re taking us?” Sheridan asked.

Cole shrugged. “I told them to contact Admiral Oshiro.”

“Hopefully he can sort this mess out. I don’t fancy the idea of sitting around in a holding cell while Harry and his cohorts plan their next move.”

Chapter 15

“It’s not the Ritz in Paris,” said Wendy as she looked around at their new accommodations, “but it’ll do.”

“After our last home away from home, this is a little slice of heaven,” said Tarina.
 

After arriving at the installation on Dorset Island, the women had been given a room to share. Although not large, there were four beds and a locker for each of them to stow their few personal items. To better blend in with the station’s personnel during their stay, they had been issued blue service overalls and ball caps to wear.

“Do you think we will be here long?” Angela asked.

Roy shook her head. “Admiral Oshiro is not known to waste time overthinking things. We’ll know in a day or two what he plans to do with you.”

“What about us, ma’am?” inquired Tarina. “Do you think we can rejoin our squadron?”

Roy smiled. “While we’re here, please call me Carmen. As for your future employment, I have no idea. That will have to be addressed by the medical section at fleet headquarters. You two still haven’t been counseled after your ordeal in the mines. The priority here is getting Angela home followed by some shore leave for you two.”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry, yes, Carmen. It’ll take a few tries before I forget you’re a commander.” Tarina could see the wisdom of taking some time off to rest and recuperate, but she wanted to get back into the fight as soon as she could. She knew Wendy felt exactly the same as she did.
 

There was a knock at the door. Wendy opened it and let a female sergeant into the room.

“I hope everything is satisfactory,” said the sergeant.
 

“No complaints here,” replied Wendy.

“I didn’t know we were having you as our guests until an hour before you landed.”

“Like Wendy said, the room is fine,” said Tarina.

“That’s good news. My name is Sergeant Gloria Rice. I have been assigned to look after you during your stay.”

Roy introduced herself and the rest of the women in the room to Rice. “Sergeant, what were you told about us?”

“I was told not to ask anything about who you are or why you are here. As this installation is off limits except to authorized personnel, I’m used to not prying into our visitors’ backgrounds.”

“Are there any limits on our movement while we’re here?” asked Tarina.

Sergeant Rice nodded, reached into a pocket, and handed over a map to each person. “The highlighted areas are the ones you can move about freely in.”

“If I’m reading this right, we can use this corridor to get to and from the cafeteria, the gym, and that’s it,” said Wendy.

“That is correct,” said Rice. “The rest of the base is out of bounds.”

“Shouldn’t be too bad. We’re only planning on being here for a day or two anyway,” mused Roy.

“I hope the food here is good,” said Wendy. “I’m all skin and bones these days. I need to put some meat back on this frame.”

Rice chuckled. “It’s too good. That’s why the gym is not restricted to you. If there’s nothing else I can do for you, I have to get back to work. If you need me, just pick up any comms device and ask for me by name. I’m never more than a couple of minutes away from you.”

“Thanks, Sergeant,” said Roy.

Wendy glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Since it’s near lunch time I say we go for a walk and check out the dining facilities.”

Tarina shrugged. “I could use a decent salad.”

“Salad! After all we went through? This base is in Canada; I’m hoping they have that meal they have with french fries, gravy, and cheese on it.”

“It’s called poutine,” explained Roy.

“Whatever it’s called, I want a plate full of it and nothing else.”

Tarina smiled. She had been worried that after her experience in the prison that Wendy would have become withdrawn. Instead, the opposite was true. She was more outgoing than she had ever been. Tarina hoped that her friend wasn’t overcompensating and would crash to the ground as an emotional wreck.

“Is it a healthy meal?” asked Angela.

“Nope,” said Roy. “It’s the polar opposite of healthy.”

“Then why eat it?”

Wendy took Angela by the arm and led her out of their room. “I want it because it’s bad for me, that’s why.”

Chapter 16

The secure video conference between Sheridan, Cole, and Oshiro lasted less than five minutes. They were released from custody and quietly escorted from the ADF Headquarters by a military police major who apologized profusely to Cole for ten minutes straight about the soldier who butt-stroked him in the face. Cole shrugged and didn’t give it another thought. The officer had sent some of his men to pick up their packs from their hotel. After what had happened earlier in the day it was deemed too dangerous for them to be seen on the streets. For blocks around the headquarters, a house-to-house search for anyone who could have abetted the insurgents was underway. As they left the base via a side gate, they were given their gear. The major gave them his emergency contact number in case they ran afoul with the authorities again.

They waited a few minutes before melting in with a group of off-duty soldiers. They walked along until they came to a small restaurant a couple of kilometers from the base where they took a seat in a secluded corner so they could talk in private. After their server had taken their order, Cole brought out the dead men’s wallets and room cards.

Sheridan picked up one of the cards and examined it. “Atlantis, isn’t that the name of the floating city halfway between here and Sardinia?”

“It sure is. Have you ever visited one of these floating cities before?”