Earth Cry

by Nick Cook

As we rounded the corner, I saw every police officer out the front now warily watching the armed Overseers guards standing among them. Though Alvarez’s mercs didn’t seem to care what impression they were making as they scanned every vehicle that passed intently. One of the Overseers’ gazes soon locked on to us.

  ‘Keep it casual,’ I said from the corner of my mouth as we began to cross the street.

  ‘I wasn’t planning on anything else,’ Jack replied.

  ‘Hey, you,’ the Overseers soldier with blond cropped hair called out.

  I forced myself to stay relaxed and not automatically reach for my LRS. The merc began walking over to us.

  ‘The barrel of his Uzi is still pointing down,’ Jack whispered, ‘which suggests he hasn’t recognised us.’

  ‘Here’s bloody hoping,’ I said.

  My heart was pounding by the time he reached us.

  ‘Hey, amigos, have you got a light on you?’ He waved a cigarette at us and then gestured his chin towards the police officers. ‘None of those clowns have one between them.’

  The tension across my chest released a fraction. ‘Sorry, you’re out of luck. We both gave up a week ago. And my boyfriend here is all cranky because of it.’

  Jack sighed and spread his hands. ‘You know how it is, buddy.’

  ‘Dude, I feel your pain,’ the soldier said. ‘I tried to give up several times, but hey.’ He shrugged. ‘Thanks anyway.’ He nodded and headed back to the other mercs.

  ‘As cool as a bloody British cucumber,’ Jack said from the corner of his mouth.

  ‘I’m not sure I was that cool. I swear a little bit of wee just dribbled out.’

  Jack suppressed a smile as we reached the sanctuary of the alleyway running down the side of the police station. Soon we were standing beneath the wall to the rear yard.

  Jack narrowed his gaze at the barbed wire on top of the wall. ‘That’s going to be a real bitch to get over.’

  But I’d already spotted a large wheeled rubbish bin at the back of the bar and pointed to it. ‘That’s why we’re going to use that.’

  ‘See, you’re so the brains in this operation,’ Jack said.

  ‘If you say so.’

  He winked at me as we went over to the bin. We wheeled it back, me wincing at every clatter of the wheels on the uneven ground. But thankfully no curious faces appeared to investigate and at last we had the bin pushed up against the wall.

  I glanced back along the alley to the street to check it was still clear, hopped on to the bin and peered over the wall. It was a good three-metre drop on the other side. The overgrown yard contained a number of rusting chair frames and a pile of scaffolding poles stacked up at the back of the building. It looked as if no one had used it in a very long time.

  I mentally thanked Tom for all our assault-course training, then barely hesitated before leaping over the wall. I dropped down the other side, going straight into a roll to absorb the impact. I sprang back to my feet, eyes already on the rear of the police station. I spotted some upper-storey windows looking out over the yard, but the blinds had been closed, presumably to keep out the bright afternoon sunlight.

  ‘How’s it looking?’ Jack whispered from the other side of the wall.

  ‘All clear so far,’ I replied.

  Within a few seconds Jack was over the wall and crouching by my side.

  I took out my lock-picking kit and unrolled it. ‘Hopefully this won’t be the shortest rescue attempt in history when I can’t get past that lock.’

  ‘I have every faith in you.’

  We crept towards the metal riveted door, its black painted surface bubbling with rust spots. It had a substantial lock that looked as if it had come straight from a medieval dungeon. I put my ear to the door but couldn’t hear anything on the other side. I tried the handle but as I expected it was locked.

  From the pouch I selected the larger of my lock-picking tools.

  ‘You’ve got this, Lauren, just take your time,’ Jack said.

  Unfortunately, time is one thing in short supply at the moment, I thought.

  I inserted the tension wrench – a metal bar that I would need to rotate the lock’s barrel. Next, I pushed the second bar with a bent end, called the short hook, into it. I probed the keyhole and felt the first pin give way as I applied a light pressure to it. Then I pivoted the hook and felt the pin click into place. The tension across my shoulders relaxed slightly. Now I had a real chance of pulling this off.

  As I worked on the remaining pins, Jack kept guard, casting an eye to the windows in case anyone chose this moment to open their blinds. I listened out for his voice, but the only sound was the faint murmur of trucks and cars passing on the other side of the building. The minutes ticked past before the next pin locked into place, but that was quickly followed by the third. Time for the last pin…but it wasn’t shifting.

  ‘It must be rusty,’ I whispered.

  ‘Anything I can do to help?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Can you grab that small aerosol of oil from the pouch and squirt it into the lock for me?’

  Jack did as I asked and oil was soon dribbling out of the keyhole. I smeared the lubricant over the tip of my hook tool and pushed against the last stuck pin once more. With a sudden click it released and locked into place. I chewed my lip as I carefully rotated the wrench. With a graunching sound, the barrel turned.

  ‘That was damned impressive, Lauren.’

  ‘Maybe, but now comes the really hard part – the actual rescue.’

  I withdrew the dart pistol as Jack unholstered his Glock and screwed the silencer on. I started to open the door a crack but its hinges squealed. I grabbed hold of the oil aerosol and sprayed them. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Now would be a good time for some Prozac, but I’ll survive.’

  With one hand on the handle, I raised the dart gun with the other. I slowly pulled the door open, which now gave out only a slight protesting groan. The strong stench of sweat and urine hit my nostrils as we stepped into a short dimly lit corridor. The yellowing walls were pitted and there were some very dubious stains on the floor. A number of large cockroaches scuttled away at our appearance. Yes, this definitely had the je ne sais quoi of a cell block.

  Another door stood at the junction in front of us. My guess is that this probably led into the main area of the police station. Two corridors went left and right of the junction, presumably leading to the two cells with barred windows we’d seen from outside. Voices came from beyond the door, too indistinct to make out, but one was definitely shouting. I hoped that whatever was going on out there would prevent anyone in the police station hearing what was happening in the cells.

  We crept to the junction and glanced left and right to the solid-metal cell doors on either side.

  I gestured to the right-hand cell.

  Jack nodded and we walked towards it. I lifted the hatch set into the door and we both peered inside. My heart jumped to my throat – Ricardo was sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood.

  ‘Lauren, quick, get me in there,’ Jack said. I grabbed my lock-picking tools and worked as quickly as I could while my mouth dried out. Thankfully this lock was far easier than the last and within a minute I had it open.

  Jack rushed into the cell and rolled Ricardo on to his side. I had to stifle a gasp as I took in his blood-soaked face. Ripped flesh exposed the white bone of his jaw.

  Jack checked for a pulse, and sagged on to his haunches, shaking his head. ‘What did those bastards do?’

  Tears threatened my eyes, any hint of the soldier-like calmness of before gone. ‘He’s only in here because he tried to help us.’ The ache inside me hardened into a ball and I swapped the dart pistol for my LRS.

  Jack glanced at me. ‘What happened to not taking innocent lives?’

  ‘You’re telling me that no one in this station knew what was going on back here? Of course they fucking did, but no one stepped in to help Ricardo. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all complicit.’

  ‘T
hat’s quite a sweeping statement, Lauren. What about Anna, Gabriel’s sister-in-law?’

  I knew Jack was right, but my fury was in control now. ‘I don’t fucking care any more.’

  ‘Trust me, you don’t mean that.’

  ‘Oh, but I do. I promised Gabriel that we’d save Ricardo, and now this.’ I flapped my LRS towards the corpse.

  ‘Right…’ Jack said, his eyes slipping away from mine.

  I couldn’t help but feel he was judging me, even though he had a weapon clutched in his own hand. He was a doctor too. Talk about being a hypocrite. What gave him the right? A tinge of anger burned through my blood and I had to turn my back on him to avoid saying something I might regret. This little conversation would have to wait for another time and right now I needed a cool head.

  ‘Let’s check on Mike,’ Jack said to my back.

  My anger was swept away by sudden cold dread and I clenched my jaw as I pulled the door closed behind us. We rushed to the other cell and I braced myself as Jack opened up the hatch in the door. I sagged in relief. There was Mike, very much alive and sitting on a bunk. His head hung down between his shoulders as he stared at the ground, his wig gone.

  I gripped the edge of the hatch. ‘Mike, are you OK?’

  He lifted his face to us and nodded. His cheeks were streaked with tears. ‘You’re here! I’ve been worried sick about you. But…Ricardo?’

  Jack shook his head. ‘I’m so sorry, buddy.’

  Fresh tears tumbled down Mike’s face. ‘That bastard Villca tortured him. I don’t think I’ll forget Ricardo’s screams as long as I live. But he didn’t say a word, not one.’

  ‘Fucking hell. He didn’t deserve any of this,’ Jack said. ‘But why did Villca leave you alone?’

  He shrugged. ‘Maybe they need me alive. After they realised I was in disguise, they took some photos of me. Then a guard told me someone else would come to question me, but, whoever it is, they haven’t turned up yet.’

  ‘Shit, I think they were talking about Alvarez,’ I said.

  ‘He’s coming here?’

  ‘Already is,’ Jack replied. ‘We need to get you out of here fast.’

  I had just inserted the lock-pick wrench into the door when the shouted conversation in the police station grew distinctly louder. Then we heard footsteps approaching.

  Jack stared at me. ‘Fight or hide?’

  ‘Hide. There are too many trigger-happy mercs with Alvarez. And, as angry as I am, we need to pick our moment if we want to stand a chance.’ I pulled the wrench out of the lock. ‘Mike, you’ll have to play along, but we’re going to be right next door.’

  Mike gave us a pale look and nodded.

  Jack and I rushed back to the other cell and dived inside, pulling the door quickly closed behind us. As we pressed ourselves flat against the wall in case anyone glanced in, I looked anywhere but down at Ricardo’s dead body sprawled on the ground. The metallic smell of blood crawled up my nose.

  We heard Mike’s cell door being opened.

  ‘I can assure you, Commandant, that our methods will be more effective in getting this prisoner to cooperate,’ a man said.

  Fresh anger surged through me as I recognised Alvarez’s voice.

  ‘I still say you should let me deal with him,’ another man said. Villca?

  ‘You’ve done more than enough already, Villca,’ Alvarez replied. ‘You’ve learnt absolutely nothing and that guide is now dead – what were you fucking thinking? But we keep our promises – a share of the treasure is yours, especially since you delivered Cristina into our hands. I’m certain she’ll prove a useful asset to us.’

  I exchanged a tight look with Jack. What did he mean? But at least it sounded like she wasn’t in immediate danger.

  ‘That may be great for you, but your damned archaeologist has brought me some serious trouble by using explosives.’

  ‘That damned archaeologist will make you very rich. Now, is there any news about Mr Palmer’s accomplices?’

  ‘No reports back yet.’

  ‘Pity. They are almost certainly Jack Harper and that bitch Lauren Stelleck, who I have a personal debt to settle with.’

  I tightened my grip on my LRS. Alvarez wasn’t the only one. I still vividly remembered what his mercs had done to the guys on the oil rig.

  ‘Guards, make sure no one disturbs us whilst I interrogate the prisoner,’ Alvarez said.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ they replied in unison.

  Jack raised his head a fraction to peer through the hatch in the door, then ducked back down and leant towards me. ‘Two armed mercs are standing guard outside the cell,’ he whispered.

  ‘Then we just charge out of here and take them down.’

  Jack shook his head. ‘Think it through, Lauren. You’re the one who said we needed to take a stealthy approach to this mission. If we go in loud now, there are a lot more armed people around here. And even if we do manage to take out those guards, Alvarez will use Mike as a hostage to gain leverage over us. I’m afraid our best option is to wait this out and grab the chance to free Mike when we can.’

  I gestured towards the body on the ground. ‘And what if it sounds as if Mike is heading towards the same ending as poor Ricardo here?’

  ‘Then to hell with it and we go in guns blazing. But this is your call – you’re the one with the most level head when the shit hits the fan.’

  ‘Not sure I believe that right now.’

  ‘Well, I do, even as angry as I know you are.’ He reached up and gently touched my face.

  I allowed myself a moment and cradled his hand in mine. I breathed in and slowly nodded. ‘Yes, we hold fire…for now.’ I squeezed my eyes shut and lowered my gun.

  Chapter Seventeen

  My eyes kept skating over Ricardo’s body as we listened to the conversation coming from the adjacent cell. The problem was that, even with my ear pressed to the door, I couldn’t quite make out what was being said as Alvarez and Villca questioned Mike. I was also painfully aware of the hulking presence of the Overseers guards just outside in the corridor.

  ‘So what now?’ Jack whispered.

  ‘This is where the other bit of my lock-picking kit comes in,’ I said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘This.’ I took out a bendy black rod with a fisheye lens on the one end and slotted the data plug end into the slot on my Sky Wire phone.

  ‘And that is?’

  ‘It’s a flexible camera, normally used to investigate tricky locks. But in this instance it will give us a look at what’s going on outside and is less likely to be spotted than you trying to peek through the hatch.’

  ‘Neat.’

  I slipped it under door, slow and steady, praying that neither of the two Overseers soldiers noticed the snake-like device. With my breath held, I toggled the camera on via the Sky Wire’s screen and a clear fisheye view of the corridor appeared. Jack frowned at the two mercs with Uzis in their hands. These guys obviously took guard duty seriously.

  The door to the main police station opened. At once both soldiers turned to face the police officer who walked in. He was carrying two buckets heavy enough to stretch his arms out, a towel hung over his shoulder.

  The officer raised his chin at the Overseers soldiers, who nodded and pushed the cell door open for him. The officer disappeared into the cell, out of our view. But we could hear Alvarez’s voice through the open door.

  ‘So how is it that you’ve turned up here, Mr Palmer?’ Alvarez asked.

  ‘Like I’ve said a hundred times already, I’m not going to tell you a thing,’ Mike replied.

  ‘That’s what you think…’

  We heard a chuckle. ‘You’ll be singing like a canary after we begin to waterboard you,’ Villca said.

  ‘That’s where they make someone feel like they’re drowning by pouring water over their faces, right?’ I whispered to Jack.

  ‘Yeah. I’ve had to deal with soldiers who’d been captured and had that done to them. They all told me it
’s bad – real bad. Anyone will crack given long enough if they feel like they’re choking to death. We’ve got to do something.’

  ‘And we will, but we still have to choose our moment.’ I caught the smirk that one Overseers soldier gave the other. This was all a game to them. The utter bastards.

  ‘Leave me alone, you fuckwits!’ Mike shouted before his voice became muffled.

  I might not have been able to see what was happening, but in my imagination it was a vivid movie based on every torture scene that I’d ever seen on TV. Mike was being held down flat on the floor, a wet towel draped over his face. Villca had taken one of the buckets of water and was pouring it over Mike’s head. Almost on cue, a gurgling scream reached us.

  ‘Jesus…’ Jack whispered.

  ‘What can he actually tell them?’ I replied. ‘As far as Villca knows, you and I are still lost somewhere beneath Machu Picchu.’

  ‘It won’t take Fischer and her team long to work out we’re not there.’

  ‘So we’re already out of time?’

  ‘Probably.’

  On the Sky Wire’s screen, the door to the main police station opened again. A female Overseers soldier nodded to the two guards and rushed through Mike’s cell door.

  ‘There’s been a development, General Alvarez,’ we heard her say.

  ‘What sort of development?’

  ‘Fischer has just reported that they’ve successfully gained access to the hidden underground chamber.’

  ‘I’d better head up there immediately,’ Alvarez said.

  ‘What about the prisoner?’ Villca asked.

  ‘I’ll leave him in your hands for now. However, if your techniques don’t work, mine most certainly will. And I suggest you keep a tight guard around him in case his accomplices launch a foolish attempt to rescue him.’

  ‘I can assure you that my police station is a fortress,’ Villca replied.

  ‘That’s what he thinks,’ Jack whispered.

  On the screen we saw Alvarez and the female soldier emerge from the cell.

  Villca appeared right behind them. ‘And what about our little arrangement, General?’

  Alvarez narrowed his eyes at the man, making the scar radiating from one of them deepen. ‘You’ll be paid in full, as we agreed. Fifteen per cent of any gold that Fischer recovers.’