The Unknown

by Brett Battles

  “Nice distraction,” Orlando whispered.

  “Thank you,” Danara said. “You need to hurry. The male kidnapper has shown up, and he’s holding a gun.”

  “What’s he doing?” Quinn asked

  “I don’t know. He just went inside the room Dr. Brunner is in, and he didn’t look happy.”

  Quinn doubled his pace. “Then get us there. Fast.”

  “You’re clear at the moment. Take a left at the second intersection.”

  “Copy. Tell Jar to hold tight. We’ll be there as soon as—”

  “I believe she is attempting to stop him from doing whatever it is he has planned.”

  As Quinn said, “What?” Nate broke from the others and sprinted ahead, Daeng and Kincaid following a moment later. “Tell her to stop.”

  No reply.

  “Danara, tell her she needs to wait for us.”

  When the AI still didn’t answer, Quinn and Orlando began running, too.

  “The testing of this phase took several months in itself,” Brunner said. His explanation of Danara’s origins was still in the early stages but he was already exhausted. It was from the medicine, probably. Well, that, and the inevitable crash from the adrenaline that had been coursing through him on and off since his ordeal had begun. “The first few attempts crashed her system within the first minutes after—”

  Across the room, the door opened.

  The general didn’t seem to notice at first. Even the woman took a moment before she looked over. Brunner, however, was facing the door, and saw his other kidnapper right away.

  He also did not fail to notice the gun in the man’s hand.

  Grigory’s original intent on reentering Lonely Rock had solely been to seek revenge on Nesterov. But as he made his way from the general’s office to room 17-08, he started to think about his exit strategy. What he came up with was not just a way to get out of the base alive, but one in which he would achieve his initial goal while setting himself up for a large payday.

  He entered the room, his gun leading the way, and took in the scene.

  Nesterov stood in the center of the room, his back to the door. Brunner sat in front of the general, on an old wooden chair. Blood was smeared on the dazed scientist’s cheek.

  Grigory whipped his pistol to his left, training it on Tiana. She’d been leaning against the wall in the far corner but had pushed away when he stepped inside.

  Too late, she reached for her gun.

  “Drop it on the ground,” he ordered.

  She hesitated.

  “You spared my life. If you want me to do the same for you, you’ll do as I say.”

  A derisive snort from the center of the room. “I should have known I couldn’t trust either of you,” Nesterov said.

  Grigory glanced at the old man, said, “Don’t you move,” and returned his attention to his former colleague. “The gun.”

  Tiana slowly pulled the weapon from her holster and let it clatter to the floor.

  “Kick it to me.”

  She did so, the gun stopping just shy of Grigory’s foot.

  “Now sit with your back in the corner, hands on your head.”

  Again Tiana looked reluctant, but she didn’t wait long enough for him to tell her a second time before lowering herself to the floor.

  Grigory turned to Nesterov, keeping track of Tiana from the corner of his eye.

  “I’ve been told you’re no longer in need of my services.”

  The general laughed. “I told her to kill you.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  Nesterov shot a withering look at Tiana. “Weak, both of you.”

  “Dr. Brunner,” Grigory said in German, “how are you feeling?”

  Brunner jumped at the sound of his name. “M-m-me? I’m…I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look so fine.”

  “Please, just…just leave me out of this.”

  “Oh, Doctor, you are at the center of this.”

  Nesterov’s eyes widened. “If you’re thinking of killing him, don’t,” Nesterov said in Russian. “You have no idea what a mistake that would be.”

  “There you go underestimating me again. I have no intention of killing him.” Grigory switched back to German. “Doctor, if you would please stand.”

  Brunner blinked. “I’m okay right where I am, thanks.”

  “I said, stand up,” Grigory barked.

  Brunner jumped to his feet.

  “Now come over here.”

  The doctor glanced at Nesterov, as if part of him was hoping the general would save him, and part fearful of what the old man would do if he did.

  “Dr. Brunner, don’t make me tell you again,” Grigory said.

  Brunner walked meekly to Grigory.

  “Stand next to the door and don’t move.”

  Brunner moved past him to the wall. Grigory would only have to turn his head slightly to check on the man, but he was sure the doctor was too scared to even adjust his feet.

  “I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure working for you, General,” Grigory said in Russian, “but I’m not fond of people who want me dead. I do admire your idealism. I think what’s most impressive is that you’ve deluded yourself into believing that you’re actually going to be able to make Kazakhstan a world power. When the truth is, this whole program, your future planning, is bullshit.”

  Nesterov snarled. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

  “No, sir. You will not.”

  Grigory aimed his pistol at Nesterov’s head.

  Tiana’s mind scrambled for anything she could do.

  If she had been in the field, she would have had more weapons on her than just her gun. But here at Lonely Rock, she sometimes didn’t even carry her gun, leaving her with only her physical abilities. And while those were dangerous weapons in and of themselves, they were worthless if she couldn’t get close enough to use them. At the moment, she wouldn’t be able to make it halfway to Grigory before he shot her down.

  But then as Grigory was telling the general that Nesterov’s project was a waste of time, the door inched open.

  One of the base personnel must have heard the commotion.

  A small smile appeared on Tiana’s face.

  All was not yet lost.

  Ear pressed against the door, Jar could hear two men talking. She assumed one was the man with the gun. She thought at first the other might be Brunner, but then one of the talkers switched to German and said Doktor Brunner. A third voice answered in German. That had to be Brunner, which meant the other German speaker was probably the man with the gun.

  Jar listened as someone moved across the room and stopped near the door. Not the kidnapper; his voice never changed position.

  Brunner, then?

  It made sense, given that he was the last person the kidnapper had talked to, but…

  She allowed herself only a second to debate whether or not she should risk checking. Before she could talk herself out of it, she eased the door open just enough to peek inside.

  Standing right next to the door’s frame was Brunner, his back against the wall.

  She opened the door a bit more.

  “Three more turns and you will be there,” Danara said. “Your next is a right at the upcoming—” A pause. “Hide. Now. The room just ahead on the right might be empty.”

  “Might?” Quinn said.

  “It’s the best chance you have.”

  He hurried to the door, pushed it open, and rushed inside, the others right behind him.

  The room was a dorm space, with five bunks, three beds high, and it was not unoccupied. Four other men were present—two lying on beds, neither asleep, and two in the open space in front of the bunks.

  All four looked over when the team entered. Before the men could react with more than a flash of confusion, Quinn and the others aimed their guns at them.

  The soldiers froze.

  Quinn looked at Nate. “Get ’em up.”

  Nate spoke to the men in Russia
n, and within seconds, he had all of them sitting on the ground. With Daeng’s and Kincaid’s help, Nate secured each man to his bunk.

  “Danara, how much longer do we need to stay here?” Quinn asked.

  “Another twenty seconds should do it,” she replied.

  “Let Jar know we’re delayed.”

  “I would rather not distract her right now.”

  “Why? What’s she doing?”

  “She kidnapped Brunner from his captors.”

  In the beat that followed, glances flew between the team members. Then, without a word, they all sprinted into the hallway, guns ready.

  Grigory smiled and pulled the trigger.

  A split second before the bullet left the gun, Nesterov flipped the metal tray full of tools at Grigory and dove to his right.

  Even then, the bullet missed the general by only centimeters.

  Grigory adjusted his aim, but before he could fire again, something smashed into him and launched him sideways through the air.

  As Grigory raised his gun, Tiana vaulted to her feet and raced at her former colleague.

  She saw the flying tray at nearly the same time as she heard the bang of the gun.

  Lowering her head, she smashed into Grigory’s ribs and rammed him across the room into the wall.

  He crumbled to the floor, his gun jarring loose as he hit the concrete. The collision didn’t knock him out, however. He rolled to his right and reached for the pistol.

  Tiana, who’d fallen in a heap beside him, dove over Grigory, trying to get to the pistol first. Their hands slammed against its grip at the same time, and the gun shot across the floor toward the back of the room.

  She jammed her knee into Grigory’s side as he tried to push her off, then she punched him in the face, bouncing his cheek off the floor.

  She glanced over at the general, not knowing if Grigory’s shot had hit him or not. Nesterov was pushing himself up from the floor. She didn’t see any blood.

  Grigory shifted his weight and shoved her off. As he tottered to his feet, Tiana lunged for the gun a few meters away, snatched it up, and jumped to her feet. She turned toward the door, thinking Grigory would be attempting to escape, but he was near the middle of the room, standing behind the general with his arm wrapped around Nesterov’s neck. His other arm was hovering next to the general’s shoulder, the inside of his wrist poised next to Nesterov’s bicep.

  “Recognize this?” he said to Tiana as he gave his hovering arm a little twist.

  She saw the watch on his wrist, its face pointing at the general, and knew exactly what it was.

  Grigory sneered and said, “Lower the gun.”

  She dropped the pistol to her side but did not let go of it.

  “That corner,” he said, nodding to the one catty-corner from the door.

  As she began to move, he backed toward the door, keeping the general between him and Tiana.

  He stopped beside the exit and said, “Which way did Brunner go?”

  “I have no idea,” she said.

  “Sure. Whatever, Tiana. It doesn’t matter. He can’t have gone far.”

  He used the hand with the watch to open the door, but his eyes never left Tiana. She didn’t move, knowing if she brought up the gun to shoot, Grigory would poke the needle into the general’s back and be out the door before she could pull the trigger.

  “If I hear this door open behind me, I’ll kill him,” Grigory said. “You know I will.” He kicked the door wide and scooted into the open with his hostage. “We’re even now. Don’t put me in a position where I will have to take you out, because I won’t hesitate.”

  She stared back at him. “Neither will I.”

  He smiled. “Come on, General. Let’s find your doctor.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  As Jar yanked on Brunner’s arm, she heard a clatter of metal and the bang of a gun.

  The scientist, disoriented from everything that was going on, put up no resistance as she hauled him into the corridor.

  “Follow me,” she said.

  She hurried down the hall the way she had come, pulling him along.

  “You’ve got him!” Danara said, sounding surprised. “Oh, my god. You’ve got him.”

  “Stop. Just tell me how to get back to the airshaft,” Jar said in Thai, knowing that was a way out.

  “Was?” Brunner said, using the German word for what.

  In English, Jar said, “I was not talking to you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Part of a group here to get you out.”

  “Where are the others?”

  “On their way,” she said, hoping she was right. She switched to Thai. “Directions.”

  “Left at the next intersection,” Danara said. “Go two hallways, then right.”

  “Watch my back.”

  “Of course.”

  “Is that who you are talking to?” Brunner asked. “Your group?”

  “If you do not want to die, then be quiet and run.”

  The daze seemed to be lifting from Brunner, as he went from needing to be pulled to sprinting beside her.

  “Four soldiers around the corner, on the right,” Danara said. “Walking your way. You should reach the intersection five seconds before they do.”

  Quinn, Nate, and Daeng sprinted ahead of the others, stopped just before the turn, and pressed against the wall.

  The soldiers’ footsteps were loud and close. They were talking and laughing. A casual conversation.

  The soldiers passed into the intersection without realizing anyone was there. By the time they did, Quinn, Nate, and Daeng were already behind them.

  Quinn grabbed the one at the back and threw him headfirst into the wall. This sent the man to the ground, dazed. At the same time, Daeng and Nate moved in on their targets.

  Nate got his soldier into a sleeper hold first. Daeng’s man was next. The fourth man whirled around and tried to pull his colleague free from Daeng’s grasp, but Quinn yanked the guy away. When the man tried to twist from under Quinn’s arm, Quinn kneed him in the kidneys, buying enough time to squeeze off the blood flow to the man’s head.

  Behind them, the static of a radio, then a deep “Uh-uh.”

  Quinn, still holding on to his target, twisted around and saw Kincaid pointing his rifle at the soldier Quinn had slammed into the wall. The guy had a radio in his hand but was frozen, staring at the muzzle of Kincaid’s weapon.

  Once the soldiers Quinn, Nate, and Daeng were dealing with had passed out, Nate went over to the one with the radio. With Kincaid’s weapon still aimed at him, the guy put up no fight as Nate sent him to sleep. They then dragged the four soldiers into an empty room and tied them up.

  Total time: a hair under two minutes.

  “Thanks for the assist,” Quinn said to Kincaid.

  “No problem,” the bodyguard said.

  Into his radio, Quinn said, “Which way?”

  “Take the hallway the soldiers came down,” Danara said.

  “How close are we to Jar?” Nate asked.

  “I’m not guiding you to Jar.”

  “What are you talking about? She needs our help.”

  “Exactly. I have calculated her chances of successfully getting Dr. Brunner out are better if you head back to the entrance you used and create a diversion on your way out.”

  “Which way is Jar going?” Nate asked.

  “She is on her way back to the vent she entered through. It will be tight, but Dr. Brunner will fit.”

  “I’ll go help her,” Nate said.

  “You are larger than Dr. Brunner, and will not fit.”

  “But I would,” Orlando said.

  Quinn nodded at her. Jar had done amazingly well to this point, but it would be criminal to let her continue on her own. “Go,” he said. “We’ll draw everyone’s attention. Danara, guide her to Jar.”

  “Calculating route,” Danara said. Pause. “That was a joke.”

  Grigory knew Tiana wouldn’t wait long to come
after him.

  If he could have jammed the door in some way, he would have, but the damn thing was built like a tank, and he would have needed a sledgehammer just to dent it.

  His only hope was to put as much distance as possible between himself and room 17-08 before his former colleague decided it was time to come out.

  Grigory turned down the hallway in the direction he’d arrived from. Though the scientist could have gone the other way, the corridor dead-ended another fifty meters down. Brunner would have been trapped, his only option to hide in one of the rooms down at that end. So if the man was smart, and obviously he was, he would have chosen the only direction that would give him a chance to get away.

  “Stay with me or I will kill you,” he spat into Nesterov’s ear.

  Grigory moved his arm from around the general’s neck down to where it hugged the man’s shoulders, and he pushed Nesterov through the hall. If Grigory couldn’t pick up Brunner’s trail, he could always go back and check the dead end.

  Of course, that would mean he’d have to kill Tiana. But so be it.

  Neither of them owed anything to the other anymore.

  “You really think you’re going to get away with this?” Nesterov said.

  “Shut up. You only speak now when I tell you to speak.”

  “You don’t even realize you’re already—”

  Grigory slapped the side of the general’s head. “I said shut up.”

  They reached the first hallway intersection without hearing the door to 17-08 open.

  Good. Perhaps Tiana wouldn’t play hero after all.

  Grigory listened for sounds of Brunner’s escape. He heard something that sounded like footsteps to his left, along one of the giant circular corridors that ringed the base.

  He turned toward the noise. Within a dozen meters, it grew loud enough for him to positively ID it as footsteps.