by J. P. Sumner
I was playing out every possible outcome in my head, trying to find something I could work with. Then the decision got made for me.
‘Adrian Hell,’ boomed Ketranovich’s voice. It sounded louder than it did before at the uranium mine, emphasized by the vast emptiness of the compound. It also sounded angrier.
‘We know you’re there,’ he continued. ‘Just come out and throw down your weapons. You will not be harmed. Well, not right away!’
He laughed at his own sense of humor, prompting everyone else to laugh with him. Everyone except Natalia. She looked like I’d just killed her favorite puppy.
Well, this wasn’t going well. I checked my watch. I only had fifteen minutes left until the airstrike was launched, and I didn’t fancy being around here when that started. I had little choice.
I stood up and walked out from under the tent, my gun trained on Ketranovich. There were multiple crunching sounds, as everyone else’s rifles were immediately cocked and aimed at me. I kept one eye on Natalia the whole time.
‘I’m here for Clara,’ I said. ‘Let her go and take me in her place.’
He laughed.
‘You’re as predictable as I thought, based on what Clara told me.’
I took a step forward.
‘If you’ve hurt her, I’ll kill you.’
‘Now, Adrian Hell, there is no need for such hostility. Put your gun down so we can talk properly, one soldier to another.’
‘Not happening,’ I said.
Ketranovich smiled, then looked at Gene Salikov and nodded. Salikov turned and walked back into the hangar.
‘I was hoping to avoid all this,’ said Ketranovich. ‘We could’ve enjoyed the show together, like civilized people. But this... you made me do this, Adrian Hell.’
I kept my gun trained on Ketranovich. After a few moments of tense silence, Gene Salikov reappeared, and he had Clara with him.
FIFTY-SIX
I squinted in the bright, hot sun to get a look at her. She seemed unharmed, but looked tired. Her arms were tied behind her back. He was pushing her forward, holding her right arm in his left hand. He brought her to a stop next to Ketranovich.
‘Clara, are you okay?’ I shouted to her. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘Adrian!’ she shouted back. ‘I’m fine – I’ve not been harmed. You shouldn’t have come, it’s a trap!’
‘Forget about all that. Clara, listen to me. We have to get out of here right now.’
‘And why’s that?’ said Ketranovich, interrupting. ‘What’s your hurry?’
I checked my watch. Ten minutes left. I sighed and shrugged to myself. Nothing to lose by being honest at this stage, I guess.
‘Because in just under ten minutes, three F-22 fighter jets are going to rain down fire from the sky and destroy every inch of this place,’ I said.
Ketranovich looked at everyone and suddenly burst out laughing. Again, everyone with him followed suit, including Natalia this time. I looked at Clara, who was staring at the ground.
I was confused. Normally, the threat of being blown up doesn’t prompt laughter and amusement.
Natalia Salikov walked over toward me. I moved my aim onto her. She didn’t have her weapon in hand. She was walking casually, almost sauntering, like she had all the time in world. She walked right up to me, pausing momentarily in front of me and fixing me with a curious look that was a little bit flirtatious, but mostly threatening, before walking past me toward the large covered rectangles.
Believing I was past the point where anything I did could impact the outcome of this situation, I lowered my gun and turned to see where she was going.
She stopped in between the two large boxes and turned to face me. She smiled at me. It was a smile of pure evil. And coming from me, that’s bordering on complimentary. . .
She grabbed a piece of tarpaulin in each hand and walked forward again, taking the covers with her in a wholly unnecessary, theatrical gesture. By the time she reached where I was stood, the boxes were completely uncovered. She dropped the tarpaulin on the ground next to me and walked back over to stand with Ketranovich without giving me a second glance.
I stood there, stunned. I could feel my jaw physically drop open.
‘As you can see, Adrian Hell,’ said Ketranovich. ‘Your military does not concern me. In fact, I’m rather looking forward to their attempted intervention.’
Underneath the tarpaulin, hidden from satellites by the camouflage tent were two MIM-23 mobile surface-to-air missile launchers.
Known as SAM sites, these mobile launchers are used for defense against airstrikes. The MIM-23’s payload was three mounted Hawk missiles, each around five meters in length and weighing a hundred and twenty pounds each. They traveled at two thousand meters per second, using radar-assisted tracking to target and destroy enemy aircraft up to sixteen miles away.
The airstrike wouldn’t even get close.
I turned to face Ketranovich. I knew Dark Rain was well funded, but this kind of hardware is a whole other level.
‘You know about the airstrike,’ I said. It was more of a statement than a question, as the full gravity of the predicament I was now in dawned on me.
He smiled back at me.
‘We got a lot of useful information from our Clara,’ he said, turning to her. ‘Didn’t we, my dear?’
He grabbed her chin between his thumb and index finger, in a condescending gesture, like he was addressing a small child or a pet. She snatched her face away from him and spat at his feet. He laughed and turned back to me.
‘We are Dark Rain,’ he said, holding his arms out to the side, gesturing to the whole compound. ‘And soon the world will know what we’re capable of.’
I raised my gun again, aiming at him.
‘You’re just like every other crazy ex-soldier with delusions of grandeur,’ I said. ‘You think you’re the next big thing and that your idea of a new world order is so much better than the one that last fucking idiot thought of. But the truth of the matter is, you’re nothing. And you’ll never be more than that. You’ll get squashed like everyone else does, and the world will go on having never heard of you. You’ll die and you’ll take your empty legacy with you.’
‘You have it all figured out, don’t you, Adrian Hell? Well, you know nothing! You think you’re this smart, unstoppable killer. But the truth is, you’re just like everyone else. You’re small and you fight battles you have no hope of winning, fuelled by pride. I know everything about you, your little computer friend, those cowardly, treacherous, backstabbing bastards at GlobaTech Industries and your government, with all their plans for saving the day!’
He turned to Clara, who was still staring at the floor. He put his hand on her arm and shoved her forward. As she stumbled front and center, she looked up at me. Her eyes were full of apology. Full of regret. I felt terrible for her. She wouldn’t have had any choice but to tell them what she knew, and in a way I’m glad she did. At least she spared herself any torture.
‘Clara, it’s okay,’ I said. ‘As long as you’re not hurt, that’s all that matters, alright? But I need to know, how much did you tell them?’
She took a deep breath.
Then she brought her arms from behind her. They clearly weren’t tied, despite how it had looked. There was a gun in her right hand. She raised it slowly and took aim at me. I didn’t understand what was happening. Nothing was making any sense. I looked into her eyes and saw a void. A black hole where humanity had once been. A smile crept onto her face. It was the same smile I’d just seen on Natalia a few moments ago.
‘Oh, I told them everything.’
FIFTY-SEVEN
I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I’ll be honest, I was genuinely speechless. Even after the mother of all shitty weeks that I’ve had, where I thought I couldn’t possibly ever be shocked by anything again, that was one helluva curveball.
My head was spinning and I felt sick. My body gave up and I dropped my gun, sinking to my knees – all the
while unable to take my eyes off Clara. Much in the way you can’t drive past a car crash without looking.
‘I don’t understand,’ I said. ‘I don’t... I just... What the fuck is going on?’
Clara laughed.
‘Poor Adrian,’ she said, patronizingly. ‘Finally lost for words?’
Behind her, Ketranovich and the Salikovs started laughing. She walked toward me, her gun aimed at my head unwaveringly. My eyes flicked between the barrel of her gun and her venomous green eyes.
‘This has been the longest week of my life,’ she continued. ‘Having to listen to you go on and on with yourself. Watch you skate around what’s going on right in front of you, too stupid to figure anything out yourself. I almost wanted you to work out our grand plan sooner – at least then I’d have an ounce of respect for you as I watched you die.’
I couldn’t describe how I felt.
Heartbroken? Maybe.
Betrayed? Definitely.
An idiot? Arguably.
My mind was working overtime, not just playing out every outcome ahead of me, but also piecing together everything that happened to get us to where we are right now.
Clara was playing me right from the start. That much was now obvious. But how? And why? I grimaced at my own ignorance. I hated not knowing everything.
I could see her watching me, struggling to put it all together in my head.
‘Get up,’ she said, laughing. ‘You pathetic little man. The mighty Adrian Hell, helpless in front of me.’
I slowly got to my feet, brushing the dust off my knees. I bent down to retrieve my gun, but didn’t get chance.
‘Ah ah ah,’ said Clara. ‘Don’t even think about it. In fact, you can toss the other one down as well.’
I didn’t move. She took a step closer, re-emphasizing the gun she had pointed at my head.
‘Now.’
I sighed and reached behind me to un-holster my other Beretta. I looked at it in my hand for a moment then threw it to the ground, where it landed next to its counterpart.
We stood in silence for a moment, regarding one another. Her eyes showing no sign of the person I believed I knew well, only a few hours ago. A gust of wind picked up and swirled dust around us. In that moment, there was nothing but me and her. My gaze shifted from her eyes to her gun, then back again.
When I look back on this, I’ll know it was this moment right here when I decided Clara was going to die. She was going to suffer and she was going to know that death would be a welcome, sweet reprieve compared to the pain I would make her experience.
‘Walk,’ she said, gesturing to follow her with her gun.
We walked over to Ketranovich, who was smiling from ear to ear. A smug look of triumph on his face that said he knew all along it would end like this, and I’m a fool for not realizing it.
Maybe he was right.
He turned and nodded to Gene Salikov, who ran over to the MIM-23s and began activating them. The loud whirring of machinery sounded throughout the near-deserted compound as the SAM sites configured themselves and moved into position, preparing to take aim.
The airstrike would be close now. The squadron of jets are zooming toward us at nearly sixteen hundred miles per hour, which means in less than ten minutes, those F-22s are going down in flames. I had to find a way of warning Josh. But right now, like Clara pointed out, I’m helpless.
‘How are your SAM sites going to target the F-22s?’ I asked, trying to focus. ‘They’re stealth fighters.’
‘Adrian Hell,’ said Ketranovich. ‘You worry too much and know too little. Our low frequency radar easily bypasses the stealth capabilities of your fighter jets. Now come – we have much to discuss, and such little time.’
He laughed out loud at nothing in particular then walked off toward the concrete bunker with the metal door. Natalia turned to follow him, but stopped. She looked back at me, then turned and walked over toward me. She stood in front of me, fixing me with her trademark evil death gaze of hatred and contempt, then planted a straight right punch flush on my jaw. She was only a slight little thing, but she had some force behind her punches. I rocked backward, momentarily losing my balance and eventually dropping to one knee. I shook my head in a gesture to clear the cobwebs and looked up at her. She had a wicked smile on her face. She held my gaze for a moment longer, then turned back and followed Ketranovich.
I stood up and looked at Clara.
‘So, everything was a lie?’ I asked. ‘You were playing me from day one?’
She smiled.
‘Don’t take it too personally,’ she said. ‘You’re not the first person I’ve manipulated, and you won’t be the last. Everything was going to plan until that idiot Pellaggio brought you in to kill Jackson. Once we knew of your involvement, our plans had to change drastically. We needed to keep a close eye on you so you didn’t screw things up any more than you already had.’
She prodded me in the back with her gun, and we both set off after Ketranovich and Natalia. I could still hear Gene behind me, fiddling with the controls for the SAM sites.
I sighed. I’d been played. Spectacularly. I was angry at myself for not realizing it before. But I pushed those thoughts out of my head. The only thing that mattered now was stopping Dark Rain doing whatever they were planning to do.
And get my revenge.
FIFTY-EIGHT
As we entered the large, concrete bunker, there was a narrow metal stairwell that descended down a poorly lit shaft. We went down six flights of stairs before emerging into a bright, long corridor. The walls were old brick, mottled with damp stains – the end result after years of neglect. Cobwebs and pipes lined the top of the walls, both attached to the ceiling, which had fluorescent lights flickering all the way along.
At the far end was a set of doors which were a lot newer than their surroundings. Ketranovich and Natalia had just gone through them as Clara and I approached.
‘So is this your little command center?’ I asked, as we made our way down the corridor.
‘You’ll see,’ she replied with a smirk.
I pushed open the doors and walked into a large, circular room full of computers and large monitors. There were three doors leading off to other rooms – one in front and one on either side. From where I was standing, it was like the face of a compass, acting like a hub for the underground network beneath the compound.
There were two men sat down at a bank of computers, working feverishly on their keyboards. Ketranovich was stood leaning over one of them, looking at his screen. Natalia stood a short distance away, staring daggers at me.
Or was it at Clara? I couldn’t tell for sure, but I’m positive I saw her flick her evil gaze over to her briefly.
Interesting. And duly noted.
Ketranovich looked over at me as I entered.
‘Welcome to Dark Rain, Adrian Hell,’ he said, gesturing to the large, empty room and smiling.
‘Oooo, I’m impressed,’ I replied, sarcastically.
Clara hit me on the back of my head with her elbow. It wasn’t too hard, just a little dig to tell me to stop being cheeky, I think.
‘Everything will soon become painfully clear,’ said Ketranovich, cryptically.
He turned back to the two men at the computers and begun chattering away to them in Russian. I turned to face Clara.
‘Okay, so, forgive me if this is a stupid question, but where is everyone? I thought you guys numbered in the thousands?’
She smiled that smile people show when they know something you don’t and want to rub it in your face.
‘Patience, Adrian. All will be revealed.’
I really didn’t like not knowing what was going on, and this whole situation was getting weirder by the second. I also didn’t like being helpless, and right now I could do nothing but stand and watch as three fighter jets were about to be blown to bits.
Behind me, the doors opened and Gene Salikov walked in and went straight over to Ketranovich. He whispered something to him and the
Colonel smiled.
‘Excellent news,’ he said. ‘You have done well, Comrade.’
He turned to me.
‘We are ready,’ he said, gesturing to a huge monitor on the right hand wall that suddenly flickered into life, revealing a large radar screen and a topographical view of the compound.
‘As you can see, we’ve just picked up your F-22s on radar, approximately twenty-five miles away. As you know, they’re on their way here to drop many bombs on us, to wipe the nasty terrorists off the face of the earth!’
He burst out laughing, prompting Clara and the Salikovs to do the same. This was excruciating to watch. Not just because of how smug these Russian bastards were being, but because I was being forced to watch innocent soldiers die in someone else’s war.
‘Missiles are primed and ready for launch,’ said one of the men at the computers. ‘Target will be in range in thirty seconds.’
‘Arm the SAMs,’ replied Ketranovich. ‘Let the American death machines work their ironic magic!’
A few clicks of the keyboard later, and the other man confirmed.
‘Missiles armed and locking on, sir. Firing in ten seconds.’
I made an instinctive move forward, but I felt the barrel of Clara’s gun on the back of my head and I restrained myself. I raised my hands slightly in frustrating resignation.
Above us came the faint whooshing sound of the first Hawk missile launching, quickly followed by the second and third. On the radar screen, you could see the small red objects on the left gradually approaching the three small green aircraft coming from the right.
‘You bastards!’ I yelled, the anger rising inside me. ‘Call them off!’
‘Don’t you see, Adrian Hell?’ replied Ketranovich. ‘You caused this! Those men will die in flames because of you!’
I stood, paralyzed by anger, watching the screen as the missiles crept onwards toward the F-22s. Closer and closer with each blip of the radar.
