by T E Stouyer
This presented Sonar with a real opportunity to sneak out unnoticed. And with the two guys probably still hot on his tail, it wasn’t an opportunity he could afford to pass up.
Staying low, he made his way out through the hole left by the shattered window. He then turned right, and scurried away along the railings.
It was purely by chance that Doc Chen spotted Sonar emerge from the clothing store on the second floor. He immediately pressed on his earpiece to activate the microphone, and whispered, “Sonar. Do you copy? Sonar. Come in.”
It was no use. The signal didn’t go through. And before Doc had time to try anything else, he saw the redhead run off and disappear down the walkway.
He’s headed to the meeting point, Doc thought.
He then tried to raise the others on the com line. “Rock. Nate. Anyone?”
Still nothing.
“What’s going on?” Marie asked.
“Our radio signals have been jammed,” Doc replied. “I guess we should have seen that one coming. It’s not like—” He stopped mid-sentence and turned towards the walkway intersection. Then, almost immediately, he dragged the detective deeper into the shadow of the jewelry store’s alcove and whispered, “Speaking of seeing things coming …”
Light footsteps could be heard approaching from the eastern wing of the shopping mall. The same direction from which Marie and Carson had come in, earlier. It sounded like a small group. Half-a-dozen people or so. No doubt more of Jenkins’ men. He had obviously decided not to take any chances this time. He had sent a small army to deal with Arianne and the mercenaries.
Doc Chen and Marie stood still and listened as the footsteps got closer. They were waiting to see if the new group of soldiers would follow Rock and Carson into the clothing store. If so, the pair would have no choice but to go in, as well, and back-up their comrades.
But instead, to Doc’s relief, the men headed straight for the escalators and hurried up to the second floor.
Doc and Marie exchanged a quick glance, and then looked up at the ceiling above them. They knew exactly where the masked men were going. They could both still hear the repeated bursts of gunfire mixed with shouting and screaming, and the occasional thump of a large and heavy object being toppled over. An intense battle was raging on inside one of the big stores on the second floor, between Jenkins’ soldiers and someone from Damien’s group.
This new squad of masked men obviously intended to join the fray. They had ignored Rock and Carson to pursue a more valuable target. It was just as Lucielle had predicted. Agents of WIAS would always prioritize going after the clones whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“It’d be nice if they could keep one another busy for a while,” Doc said, still staring at the ceiling. “But I doubt we’ll be that lucky.” He started moving, and headed down into the smaller and darker south-walkway and motioned for the detective to follow him. “Come on, we should get going.”
“What about them?” Marie asked, nodding towards the clothing store.
“Don’t worry,” Doc said. “Rock may be an idiot, but this is the one thing he’s actually good at. Plus, Carson’s with him. They’ll be all right. I’m more worried about Sonar, right now. It looked like he was headed to the rendezvous point, but I don’t like the idea of him being on his own out there. He has a real gift for getting himself into trouble, that one. We should go find him.”
Inside the clothing store, Rock and Carson had moved away from the entrance to a less exposed area near a check-out counter.
The giant crouched down and put his finger to his ear. “Sonar, come in, man. Sonar!”
There was no response.
“Argh, this thing’s useless,” he grumbled. He removed his earpiece and tucked it inside his pants’ pocket.
“Looks like something’s blocking our com signals,” Carson said.
“Yeah, looks like.”
“I guess we have our new friends to thank for that.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Rock and Carson stretched their necks and peered deeper inside the store. The soldiers who had tried to ambush them as they had come in were now maneuvering to outflank their position. The masked men seemed to number only four. Which was something of a surprise since the other squads had consisted of at least twice that number. The four soldiers had split up into two-men teams, and were circling around to attack from opposite sides in order to catch their targets in a crossfire.
It was a good plan. Simple and effective.
But neither Rock, nor Carson, seemed particularly troubled by it. Both men had survived far more perilous situations in the past. Their skill and experience had allowed them to prevail on the fields of countless battles, and in the face of far worse odds.
When it came down to it, this was just a four-against-two scenario.
They liked their chances.
“I hope these guys didn’t get the jump on your friend when he rushed in, earlier,” Carson said.
“Who, Sonar? Ah! Not a chance,” Rock said in a confident tone. “It’s damn near impossible to sneak up on that slippery bastard.”
“All right, then. In that case, maybe they know where he went,” Carson suggested.
“Yeah, maybe. Why don’t we go ask them?”
Chapter 14 – This is Bad
Jenkins studied Leicester’s expression.
The Briton appeared surprisingly unconcerned by the news his plan would most likely fail. The four strike teams sent by Jenkins would recapture his analyst, as well as one of the fugitives—maybe even two—and with any luck, they would even retrieve the real data card.
Leicester cast an interrogative glance at Adria.
She shrugged as if to say, ‘Don’t ask me. I don’t know.’
“Perhaps this time, you’re the one who thinks I’m bluffing,” Jenkins said.
“Oh no, Mr. Jenkins, I believe you,” said Leicester. “Adria and I were just wondering if that was going to be enough.”
Jenkins and Schaffer exchanged a quick look and then turned to Leicester with wary frowns.
“If what was going to be enough?” Jenkins asked.
“The men you sent,” Leicester replied. “Quite frankly, we were hoping for a few more.” He looked at Adria and said, “I guess it’ll have to do.”
She shrugged again, and turned to Sigvard. “What do you think, Sig?”
Sigvard’s gaze shifted towards her briefly, and then shifted back straight ahead towards the front. That was the only reaction she managed to elicit from him.
Leicester stared at Adria’s companion for a moment and said, “It just occurred to me, Sigvard. You and Darius would get along quite nicely, I think.”
“What are you two talking about?” Schaffer asked in a pressing tone. “What do you mean ‘you were hoping for more’?” At this point, the German made no efforts to conceal his growing apprehension.
“I’ve already told you,” Leicester calmly replied. “This wasn’t my plan.”
“Yes, Arianne and the analyst contacted you,” Schaffer curtly summarized. “What of it?”
Leicester sighed. “Perhaps you’ll allow me to answer your question with another question,” he said. “What makes Lucielle so valuable to us?”
As soon as the question was posed to them in those terms, Jenkins and Schaffer tensed up. It was as though a something inside of them had just clicked. And a growing sense of foreboding began to fill the air. The point Leicester had taken such wicked pleasure in making so slowly had finally dawned on them. Lucielle and Arianne had come up with the plan. Was it even conceivable that those two would not have anticipated every possibility? Planned for every single contingency? As Jenkins himself had said, he’d spent a lot of time near the clones. Which meant the opposite was also true. They had spent a lot of time near him. Given that, was there even the slightest doubt that Arianne would have been able to guess his motivations? And that Lucielle would have been able to predict his actions?
“You knew Ra
ndall and the detective would be followed,” Jenkins finally said.
“We did,” Leicester confirmed. “Mr. Carson was supposed to make sure of it before meeting up with Arianne and Mr. Kincade.”
“You led my men straight to their intended targets? How does that make sense?”
“Let me answer you with another question, Mr. Jenkins. What would your men do if they came across Damien and his group?”
A chill ran up Jenkins’ spine.
His men would engage. They had a standing order to apprehend Damien and Johann, on sight. But between the mercenaries—which Jenkins knew were a handful—and Arianne, Soran, and now Damien’s faction, thirty-two men suddenly seemed woefully inadequate.
Sure, his squads had been briefed on the clones’ abilities. But confronting them in a real life-and-death situation would be a completely different matter. As long as it was just Arianne and Soran, it would have been fine. But Damien and Johann? Those two were killers. Cold and ruthless. Dealing with them would require much more preparation, and probably Jenkins’ presence as well.
Under the current scenario, Jenkins knew his men wouldn’t stand a chance. They were doomed.
“That’s insane!” Schaffer exclaimed. “If Damien and his lunatic siblings are there, what’s to stop them from going after Arianne and your band of mercenaries? What’s to stop them from acquiring the data card?”
“It’s a risk, of course,” Leicester said. “But Kincade and his team will try to avoid all unnecessary confrontations. Arianne simply needs time. While Damien’s group and your men are busy fighting one another, she’ll go and retrieve the data card.”
“And you’ve agreed to this?” Schaffer growled. “You’ve been searching for it for years, just as we have. You would simply give up on Adam’s last project? After all this time?”
“Well,” Leicester said. “Arianne correctly pointed out that until I uncovered the identities of WIAS’s spies within our ranks, there was little point in searching for the data card. Or tracking down the fugitives, for that matter. As this little experiment of ours has just proven, you were never going to let me keep either it or them. So, can you really blame me?”
Schaffer gritted his teeth and shot an intense glare at the Briton.
“Besides,” Leicester continued. “Both Arianne and Lucielle have agreed to take on certain … special assignments for me, in the future. It won’t be the same as having them work for me directly, but at least it’ll keep a line of communication open between us. All things considered, I think that’s more than I could have hoped for, in this context.”
Like the German, Jenkins was also burning with a cold fury. His jaw was just as tense as his associate’s, and his glare just as piercing. “And why would Arianne and the analyst agree to do that?” he asked, trying to maintain an even tone of voice.
“Actually, Mr. Jenkins, it was all thanks to you,” Leicester replied.
Jenkins’ brow twitched. But he said nothing.
“As it turns out, you have something they want very much. Or I should say, someone. I’m talking about Mitsuki, of course. I promised to help them get her back.” Leicester promptly raised his hand to stop Jenkins from responding too quickly, and then added, “Now, before you say anything, I realize that neither you nor Karl have the authority to decide something like this on your own. Which brings me to the other reason I welcomed the opportunity to have an open and frank discussion with you both. I would like you to arrange a meeting, Mr. Jenkins.”
“A meeting, sir? With whom?”
“With the man who controls your organization from the shadows. I would like you to introduce me to Gabriel Cain.”
Schaffer’s eyelids stretched to the point where it looked like his eyes would pop out of their sockets. “Andrew …,” he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper. “How do you know that name?”
Leicester smiled.
“It’s going to be difficult to question them now,” Carson complained.
“Hey, you say that like it’s all my fault,” Rock protested. “I only took out two of them. The other two are on you.”
“Sure, but you’re the one who finished off the last one.”
“He was shooting at me! What was I supposed to do?”
Carson sighed. “I guess that means we’re gonna have to look for your friend ourselves.”
“I guess so.”
All of a sudden, Carson paused and took a long look around.
“What is it?” Rock asked.
“I’ve been wondering … I know the area around the mall is pretty much just offices and all, but we’re still within walking distance to some residential buildings. There are even a few of them all the way down at the end of the promenade. Isn’t there a chance someone might hear all the gunshots and call the police?”
“We’ve thought about that,” Rock said. “It’s OK, Soran’s got it covered. He said something about hacking the phone towers in the area and intercepting emergency calls if there were any.”
Carson gave the giant a dubious look. “You sure that’s gonna work?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. He knows what he’s doing.”
“I have no idea what I’m doing!” Soran wailed.
He was still in the back of the van, frenetically typing on his computer keyboard and adjusting various controls on his electronic panel.
Lucielle was also in the exact same spot as earlier, on the padded seats behind the young man, on the other side of the vehicle.
“What’s wrong?” she asked in a worried voice.
“Some guy from a night-cleaning crew in one of the office towers heard something. He just tried to call the police. Fortunately, I was able to redirect his call to Ashrem and the professor.”
“You mean it worked?” Lucielle said, the pitch of her voice belying her surprise.
“Yeah, this time. But I’m finding it very difficult to filter all those calls on my own. Don’t people sleep anymore?”
“I thought you were supposed to be good at this,” the young girl criticized.
“Technically, this is more Darius’ specialty,” Soran argued. “I’m better at programming and … other stuff.”
“Well, Darius isn’t here.”
“I know that.”
“If you screw up, you’re going to get everybody in trouble,” Lucielle chimed.
“You’re not helping, Luce. And watch your language. If Arianne hears you talk like that, you’re the one who’ll be in … uh-oh, trouble.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, this is bad,” the young man said, staring at the split video feeds on his screen.
“What happened?” Lucielle repeated in a more forceful tone.
“It’s Sonar … Sean.”
“Yes, I know. What about him?”
“Two guys were chasing him.”
“Oh, that is bad,” Lucielle agreed.
“He got away from them.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“But Johann saw him. And now, he’s the one chasing after him. And Sonar doesn’t know it.”
“Ooh, that’s very bad.”
“I know.”
“You have to warn him!” Lucielle bellowed.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“The radio frequencies of our com equipment are all jammed,” Soran explained. “I can’t contact anyone from the team. I’m pretty sure Jenkins’ goons are behind it.”
The young girl leapt to her feet and clenched her tiny fists. “We have to do something!”
“Yeah, but what?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But you have to find a way.”
“Look, I’m a genius, not a magician.”
Soran paused and stared at his screen for a short while.
Then, he started typing really fast again as he mumbled, “Maybe I can use an ATM to send a message to him. Or to the others. I would have to do it quickly, though. Unless I’m mistaken, Hulin and Marie will be passing clos
e to one, very soon. If I can make the machine beep repeatedly, it’ll draw their attention and—”
The young man stopped mid-sentence. It struck him that Lucielle had been silent for a while now. Which was not at all like her, especially under these types of circumstances.
He swiveled around in his chair and saw that his younger sister was no longer inside the van.
He knew right away where she had gone.
He placed his hands on his head and said, “Oh, no. It’s all over. I’m dead. Arianne’s going to kill me.”
Arianne stopped when she reached the top of the stairs leading to the base of the Grande Arche monument. She turned around and gazed at the shopping center, her hair waving in the breeze as she stood motionless.
Kincade, who had been running alongside the young woman, also halted and turned back, wondering why she had stopped. He waited a couple of seconds, and then jogged over to her, intending to rush her along. They didn’t have a lot of time.
But as he got closer, and saw the somber look of concern on the young woman’s face, he took a moment to reassure her. “I trust my team,” he said. “They’ll manage until we get back. And Luce is safe in the van with Soran.”
“I know,” Arianne said. “I just had a bad feeling for some reason … I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Look, the best way to help the others is to hurry up and find that card so we can all get out of here.”
She turned to him and gave a slight nod, and said, “You’re right. We should keep going.”
La Grande Arche de la Défense—or Great Arch—is one of Paris’ most emblematic monuments. Aligned with other landmarks such as the Louvre museum and the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Élysées, it’s part of what is known as the Historical Axis of Paris.
But unlike the other arches on this axis—l’Arc du Carrousel du Louvre and l’Arc de Triomphe—which are adorned with intricate artistic figures, la Grande Arche de la Défense has a smooth, simple, and elegant design that is representative of a more modern era.
