by Cage, Zion
Soon, they were in the uniforms of the soldiers. Suzanne had worn her utility belt over the uniform. Packing her hair tightly, she took out a dart from her gun and held the knot. She took a knife from her belt.
“Turn away, Xander. I don’t think you want to see this,” she said.
Xander obeyed, wondering what she was doing. When he looked again, he saw that she held a bloody thumb in her hand. She wiped the thumb on Cole’s underwear.
“He’s going to wake up in so much pain,” she said as she used her lock-picks to lock the shed with the men inside.
“Let’s go. Keep your head low,” she said as she marched confidently towards the restaurant. Xander gulped before following her.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021
10:09 am
North Star Hotel, 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York,
USA.
Stephen,Bucky and three other soldiers crouched low behind a dumpster, some distance from the hotel. The hotel looked quiet. No one was around. Apparently, they had all moved closer to Staten Island.
They watched the hotel. They were two soldiers before the doors.
“How do we take them out?” Bucky asked.
Stephen thought about it for a while. Then, he looked at Tanner. The dog wore a small bullet-proof jacket.
“Boy, sneak attack,” he said, pointing to the soldiers by the door.
The dog bowed his head before leaving. He maneuvered between buildings and cars. Stephen motioned for the other soldier to follow him as he followed behind the dog. The unsuspecting soldiers were surprised as the dog ran up the stairs and jumped on one of them. He sunk his teeth into the man’s arm.
The other soldier raised his gun to shoot the dog.
Before he could pull the trigger, another bullet came from behind him and lodged itself in his neck. Stephen and the other soldier ran up the stairs. As Bucky passed by the soldier that was struggling with Tanner, he said,
“Privetstvovat’ Solntse.”
The soldier’s eyes widened in surprise before Bucky shot him finally. Bucky followed the other soldiers into the hotel. Their guns had silencers so as not to draw attention.
Raymond, one of the soldiers, looked carefully at the cameras. There were small indicator bulbs on them. The bulbs were dark.
“The cameras are down,” he said, and everyone sighed in relief.
Stephen said to the soldiers.
“Okay, guys, remember what we discussed. We move in a diamond formation. Everyone be your brother’s keeper. We don’t know this place. All we know is that we’re keeping our eyes open for Billy Munroe, and we’re killing everyone around him. Do we understand?”
They all nodded and took formation.
They went up the stairs. Tanner went ahead of them to scout.
Suddenly, they heard sounds from downstairs. Five soldiers jogged in, shouting in Russian. From the loft above, two soldiers aimed at them. Tanner was gone.
That was when Stephen realized some other soldiers must have been placed around to secure the environment.
They were surrounded.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021
10:10 am
Ray of Hope HQ, Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
Khristina stood behind the men in the security room.
“Empress, we just received intel from Manhattan. There’s some disturbance there. It seems the president is under attack,” Mikolas said.
She raised a brow.
“Oh, really? Do we have any military units over there?” she asked.
“No. Just the few that were to protect the president and his central committee. A couple of our agents are with him too,” Philip, the other man said.
“And how large is this attack force?” she asked.
“We don’t know yet. Our soldiers just spotted a few going in. there are probably more around,” Philip said.
“Where’s the closest unit to that hotel?” she asked.
“Fort Drum. But it would take them hours on foot to get there,” Mikolas said.
“Damn it,” she said, “What about the strange man that showed up here? Any news?” she asked.
“Not yet. Mandy and Cole aren’t back, but I’m sure they will return any time soon,” Mikolas said. He was going to call them, but he was sure they were probably hiding to smoke weed somewhere.
“Let me know what they find when they return,” she said. Suspicious activities had been going on for a while. A lot of their agents had died mysteriously. The previous day, their agent in charge of a military base in Brooklyn had been killed. Some agents who had been there had reported that some external soldiers had assassinated him. When they tried to reach the agents to confirm who the enemies were, their devices had been turned off. Till today, there was no response. Two names stood out in her mind. Vivien Dmitri. Stephen Wallace. It was only a guess, but she knew she wasn’t far from the truth.
“Connect me to the men in the Special Forces unit,” she said.
Mikolas and Philip pushed several buttons; then, they motioned for her to speak.
“All members of the Special Forces are to head to Manhattan now with the helicopter. Alexei Igor is under attack. Be on the lookout for Stephen Wallace, former Airforce Captain at AFB Ohio. His pictures will be sent to your devices right now. If you find him, bring him here alive,” she said.
Facing the men before the computer, she said, “Find Stephen’s picture from the Wanted Folder. Send it to the Special Forces. Also, forward it to the soldiers in Manhattan. They are to affirm immediately if Stephen is among them.”
She walked out of the room and took the route leading to the Luxury quarters. The council members’ rooms were all located there. The two guards were placed at the entrance to the quarters hailed her. She didn’t bother replying to them. She passed by her door. She had no intention of sleeping. Soon, she arrived at the door she was looking for. She pressed the doorbell.
Seconds later, the door opened to reveal Adrik. He was in a bathrobe. He’d probably just taken a shower.
“Hello, darling,” she said, tilting her head and eyeing him. “I guess you’re probably hungry,” she said.
Adrik’s eyes ran over her body.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he said. “Nikolas will not be happy. He considers you his property.”
“Just like you considered Vivien yours, right? Girls just have to run rogue sometimes. Relax. Nikolas is probably reading some boring book in his house in Russia now, while we are here doing all the hard work,” she said with emphasis on the last two words.
Adrik stared at her for a while. The mention of Vivien caused hurt to rise inside him. he fought the feeling. He had always told himself that he didn’t want to be attached to her. He just needed her to be on the same path as him. Her intelligence was indispensable. However, after her betrayal, he realized that his feelings for her had gone deeper than he wanted. He had even fancied marrying her.
He needed to drown those feelings.
“Come in,” he said as he turned away from the door.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021.
10:16 pm.
Ray of Hope HQ, Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
Suzanne heard rotating blades. Just before then, the ground had trembled as the sound of a gate opening filled everywhere.
“Special forces,” she said. They had been released from the secret basement exit.
“Follow me,” she said as she led the way to the kitchen. She pulled out Cole’s finger and put it on the keyhole of a door marked, ‘Authorized Personnel Only’. There was a clicking sound as the door unlocked. She led Xander in. She put Cole’s finger on the fingerprint-scanning button behind a stack of supplies and the back wall separated to reveal an elevator. He silently followed her into it.
Xander sweated profusely as he descended in the elevator. Suzanne was by his side with two guns. She held a gun out
to him without saying anything. He had never used one before. He doubted he’d be able to use it now. She shot him a glare, and he took the gun.
The elevator door opened. He bent and took cover as Suzanne began to shoot. Her gun had a silencer attached to it, so it didn’t draw any attention.
She led him into another room where there was a large computer with video footages of the whole facility. They had seen her enter and were about to raise the alarm. She shot one through the head and shot the other through the arm.
She walked to the one she had shot in the arm and looked at him.
“High Priestess, please have mercy. My mother is waiting for me. I don’t want to die,” the young man pleaded.
Suzanne recognized him, and sadness filled her.
“I’m sorry, Mikolas. I really am. But I must do this,” she said as she shot him on the chest. Xander watched with horror as Suzanne bent over and searched through the man’s pocket. She pulled out a card and handed it over to him.
“Follow me,” she said as she led him to a door with a bold ‘AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. DO NOT ENTER!!!’ sign.
“This is the computer room,” she said as she motioned for him to use the card. Xander put the card in a slot, and the door clicked open. She nodded.
“Do exactly what I told you. If you’re done, and I’m not back, go back the same way we came,” she said.
“Okay,” Xander said as he turned to enter.
“And Xander,” she said, and he turned to her again. “Use the gun, please. It’s the only thing that will keep you from dying.”
Xander nodded and swallowed hard.
“What about you? What are you going to do?” he asked.
“I’m going to settle old scores,” she said.
CHAPTER TEN
So this is how this is going to end...
3rd December 2021.
10:15 am.
North Star Hotel, 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York,
USA.
You’re surrounded. Drop your weapons. Hands in the air now,” the leader of the Russian soldiers said from below. He was a blonde man with piercing eyes.
Stephen and his men slowly dropped their weapons on the stairs, as they watched the Russians.
“Who are you?” the leader asked.
“We’re soldiers. Just like you are,” Stephen said. “Only we don’t speak Russian,”
Bucky shot him a glare.
The Russian man smiled.
“You know a lot, don’t you?” he asked.
Suddenly, his tab beeped, and he looked at the notification.
“Shit! He does know a lot,” he said as he looked at the face and description that appeared on his screen.
Screams came from above. Tanner had jumped on one of the soldiers and was biting him. The dog had returned when he noticed his master was missing. The confusion it had caused made the Russians below point their guns at Stephen and his crew.
Just as they fired, Raymond pulled the pin out of a grenade he held at his waist and threw it towards the Russians below. The rest of the team bent down to avoid the bullets coming from there.
Above them, the second Russian aimed his gun at Tanner. Stephen picked up his gun from the step and shot at him twice. The Russian fell over dead.
The grenade exploded at the same time, stunning everyone. The Russians on the ground floor were all dead. Bucky ran up and killed the soldier that was still struggling with Tanner.
Stephen and his team stood up. That was when they realized that a bullet had hit Raymond on the abdomen. He had fallen onto the stairs and was breathing heavily.
“Oh, man, no!” Stephen said as he bent again over his comrade.
“Let’s take him to where he will be safe. There’s no time to waste,” Bucky said from above. Stephen nodded. He stood up and, with the help of Eric, another soldier; they lifted Raymond and hid him in a room.
The men saluted him before leaving the room.
“We’ve been spotted. From here on, everyone be sharp. Expect enemies at every turn,” Stephen said as the soldiers took formation again.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021.
10:26 am.
Ray of Hope HQ, Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
Suzanne walked through the hall, looking around her carefully. As she passed by the kitchen, a waitress came out with a tray of food. Because of the uniform she wore, the waitress didn’t know who she was immediately.
“Hey, where’s that going?” Suzanne asked in Russian.
“To Tsar Adrik’s room,” the lady said.
That was when the waitress remembered the voice. Before she could react, Suzanne said.
“I’ll be taking that, then.”
Immediately, she took the tray and used the end of her gun to hit the lady’s head. The lady fainted. Suzanne shot her once in the chest.
She hung her gun back on her belt. The killing had become too much, but she couldn’t stop until she finished the job. Luckily, she had an advantage. She headed for the luxury quarters. That was where she had been given a room when she came here. She knew she would find Adrik there.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021.
10:30 am.
Ray of Hope HQ, Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
Xander connected his mini tab to the small laptop in front of the grand CPU.
Ok, here we go! Where do I start, though? He thought.
He navigated through the computer. From the keyboard to the names of the programs on the computer, everything was in Russian; it took him a while to find what he was looking for- the browser. He opened it.
He groaned when he saw the home page. As expected, everything was in Russian. Fortunately, he was ready for it. He opened the vault Suzanne had created for him and read through the instructions on setting the language to English. When he was done, he smiled. Now, for the next step.
He put in the domain name Suzanne had given to him. The contact page of the United Nations appeared. He uploaded the information Suzanne had asked him to send. When he clicked send, the prompt came up.
Please Authenticate.
Two squares, representing the spaces for two fingerprints, appeared.
“Whatever,” he said as he opened a tab on the computer and ran his program.
It was taking a long time to be installed. He decided to lean against the wall and wait.
Suddenly, sounds came from outside the room.
“There’s no response from the security room. Something is wrong. We’re going to check it out,” the person said as he passed by the door.
The footsteps he heard belonged to more than one man.
Suzanne was in trouble.
He looked at the computer. It was still at five percent.
He knew it was stupid… it would be wiser to remain at his duty post…
But he had to help. He went towards the door.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021
10:35 am
North Star Hotel, 5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York,
USA.
Stephen and the team ran through the hallway on the fifth floor. They used their guns to shoot the doors open as they checked the rooms. When they reached the last room, a Russian came out with a gun and surprised them. Together, the four of them shot him dead. Tanner barked as though in approval.
Bucky looked up the stairs. There were still so many floors.
“Are we going to keep searching this way?” Milo, one of the soldiers on their team, asked. “There are over ten floors to go. And each floor has at least twenty rooms. He can be in any of them.”
“Well, we don’t have a choice, do we?” Eric asked.
“We’re going to have to split up. Bucky, you, and Milo take the next floor. Eric and I will take the next two. We’ll work that way,” Stephen said.
“But we’ll be more exposed,” Bucky said.
“That’s hardly a consideratio
n. If we get the job done, that’s okay. We don’t have the whole day. We have to be back before nightfall,” Stephen said, and Bucky laughed at the inside joke.
"Everyone, go! Go! Go!” he said, and they went to their stations.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021
10:40 am
New York Harbor, Staten Island, New York,
USA.
Aaliyah stood at the dock and watched the sunset over the waters. Around her stood many people awaiting the promise of the government for deliverance.
Truly ignorance is bliss…
She remembered her first meeting with Suzanne. She remembered the words:
The kidnapped ones are the lucky ones…
Truly a lot of people had been kidnapped. She had heard stories from many families of how they had lost their children and daughters. She remembered her own experience.
She felt Ted’s hand go around her shoulders and pull her close. He felt her tension. As usual, he was trying to protect her. She leaned in and took the comfort he offered.
Suddenly, in the distance, she heard a loud horn. She looked up to see a ship rising on the horizon. Her jaw tensed as fear filled her.
She looked up at Ted, who gave her a knowing nod.
He was ready.
She turned her head and looked at some people in the crowd. They, too, nodded their heads.
Aaliyah swallowed hard. It was time.
◆◆◆
3rd December 2021
10:40 am
Ray of Hope HQ, Staten Island, Richmond County, New York.
USA.
Suzanne paused at the turn leading to the Luxury quarters. She peered over the edge and saw two men standing by the doors. They would recognize her. She put down the tray quietly and pulled out her two guns.
Do this quickly, Suzanne. You don’t want them to raise an alarm. They’ve been tactically trained for special purposes like this, she thought.
