Goran shook her head. “The computer database was erased. Whoever was behind this really knew how to hide their tracks.”
Solari felt the tension ebb from her body.
“The IT techs are trying their best to see how the information was erased, but it doesn’t look good for them. I doubt they’ll ever be able to find anything of value in the hard drives on Tranquility Station. That, however, isn’t the most disturbing part of this report.”
“What is?”
“The maintenance crew on duty the day the stealth ship was stolen have all gone missing. Not a single one of them has been seen in over three days. If the shuttle hadn’t been returned to the station, I would have thought they were the ones responsible, but it doesn’t appear to be that way.”
Solari placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “No one stays hidden forever. Perhaps a new set of eyes needs to look at the station’s database. Perhaps they’ll get lucky and find something that’ll help you solve who is behind all of this.”
“I can always hope.” Goran glanced at her watch. “Sorry, Monica, but I’ve got to run. See you in the cafeteria for lunch?”
“Sounds good.” Solari watched as Goran hurried off down the hall. Inside, she smiled to herself. Another part of their plan had worked. The ten people on duty that day had been forced at gunpoint into the stealth ship. They had been ejected out the airlock near Jupiter after Williams had boarded and taken possession of the freighter they had used to land on Eris. She doubted their bodies would ever be found.
Solari began to walk to the ops center. The image of Sheridan running after one of her assassins flooded back into her mind. If they couldn’t get away, she hoped they had the courage to kill themselves rather than be captured alive.
Chapter 14
Cole stepped out of the elevator and dropped to one knee as he brought his pistol up to fire. He looked over his weapon’s sights and saw that aside from a couple of automated cleaning machines he was alone. A disc-shaped vacuum cleaner came out of nowhere, bumped into his leg, moved back, and continued cleaning the carpet behind him.
A cold breeze flew in from a smashed window farther down the hall. He could see a larger cleaning droid busily sucking up the shattered glass. One floor below the expensive penthouse suites on the top floor, the observation deck was also a botanical garden. Immaculately pruned trees and ferns flourished in the oval-shaped garden.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” mumbled Cole to himself. He had no doubt that if the imposter and his accomplice were still here, they would be hiding in the garden.
Behind him the elevator doors chimed. Cole couldn’t believe it when the doors slid open and a woman and her young child stepped out. He turned his head and waved at them to get back into the elevator. When the woman saw the gun in his hands, she stopped in her tracks, grabbed her child, and pulled him back into the lift. He could hear her frantically pressing the down button.
Cole backed up slightly. He looked behind him and decided to try to make his way around the trees. There was only one problem: the nearest cover was a good ten meters away. He counted down from three in his head before sprinting toward a long stone sculpture of an ancient Chinese dragon. He had gone less than a couple of meters before he heard the sharp crack of rounds flying millimeters above his head. Cole ducked lower and dove behind the dragon. Another volley of bullets fired by his hidden opponents hit the sculpture chewing off pieces of stone.
He rolled over and came up firing. Bullets tore into the woods directly in front of him. Leaves and branches hit in the fusillade fell to the ground. Cole dropped back down, ejected his empty magazine, and jammed home a new one.
Outside of the tower, a police helicopter and a military gunship circled overhead. Cole knew the Wasp gunship could carry four men in the back of it. He had no doubt that the craft would soon drop an assault team on the roof of the tower. What he didn’t want was for them to get here before he had a chance to capture one of the Chosen operatives alive.
His adversaries must have realized that the odds were turning against them and decided to try to escape before it was too late. With a long burst of automatic gunfire, they came out of the trees firing as they advanced toward Cole.
The stone dragon took most of the hits. Some, however, went high and shattered the glass behind Cole. Right away, a cleaner droid rushed over to suck up the mess.
The unnerving sound of the weapons firing grew louder by the second. Cole had to do something fast or die where he was. He gritted his teeth, rolled to one side, and came up behind the sculpture. Without hesitating, he dove out firing his pistol as he flew through the air. The two attackers hadn’t expected such a rash move and were caught out in the open and cut down. Cole emptied the entire fifty-round magazine into the imposters.
When the slide of his weapon stayed back, Cole released his death-like grip on its trigger. He hurried to change out his empty magazine before standing up. The men were dead, but it always paid to be careful. With his weapon aimed at the bloodied bodies, Cole edged over to the prostrate men. He nudged the bodies with his right boot to see if they were alive. As expected, the men lay still. He dropped to one knee, placed his pistol down, and began to rummage through the imposter’s clothes. Cole was looking for anything that might give him a clue as to who they really were and who they were working for.
He had just pocketed the men’s wallets and a couple of hotel room cards when he heard the sound of feet running on the broken glass behind him. Cole slowly raised his hands, stood up and turned about.
“Don’t move so much as a millimeter, you Chosen bastard, or I’ll splatter your brains all over the carpet,” warned a soldier in full-body armor. The man took a step forward, brought his assault rifle up, and thrust it in Cole’s face.
Cole smiled at the soldier. He couldn’t see the man’s face hidden behind his helmet’s darkened faceplate, but he didn’t doubt that anger over the death of the gunship crew burnt like a fire in the soldier’s eyes.
“Wipe that smirk off your face or I’ll take it off for you,” threatened the soldier.
Cole’s face turned expressionless. He’d had enough of sneaking around. He locked his eyes on the man before him and said, “Soldier, my name is Mater Sergeant Cole. I suggest that you and your people go and help out my friend Captain Sheridan chasing down the other police imposter, or you’re going to run the risk of incurring Admiral Oshiro’s wrath.”
“What a load of crap,” snarled the soldier as he shot the butt of his weapon into Cole’s jaw, knocking him out cold.
A burst of gunfire hit the wall, forcing Sheridan to duck behind a thick stone wall for cover. He had chased the imposter inside the medieval castle only to lose him when the man ran through a crowd of tourists. Undeterred, he sprinted toward the only avenue of escape—the cable car station built on top of the castle. Sheridan had just stepped inside a stairway that led to the roof of the castle’s keep in the center of the old fortification, when his opponent unleashed a torrent of bullets in his direction. Sheridan ducked back, brought up his pistol, and returned fire.
In the courtyard behind him people screamed and ran for their lives. Deadly gun fights were not something that happened on Earth very much anymore.
At the top of the stairs, Sheridan stopped to catch his breath. With his left hand, he pushed the door open so he could see out. He ground his teeth when spotted a man lying facedown with blood trickling from a wound in his side. His opponent, however, was nowhere to be seen.
All of a sudden, more shots rang out.
Sheridan pushed the door all the way open and ran out. By the entrance to the cable car station lay a police officer. Sheridan swore and ran over to the man. He winced when he saw a hole in the middle of the hapless man’s forehead. Blinded by a growing rage in his heart, Sheridan no longer cared if he caught the Chosen operative alive or not. The imposter was going to pay for what he had done today and that’s all there was to it.
The sound of a cabl
e car moving away from the keep spurred Sheridan into action. He knew it was too late to try to board the car. Instead, he jammed his pistol into his belt and took off running for the edge of the stone fortification. He never slowed down or hesitated. At the last second, he jumped out over the side of the keep. With his hands and legs flailing in the air, Sheridan dropped down a few meters before landing on the top of the cable car. With a bone-jarring thud, he rolled over a couple of times before coming to a sudden stop when he hit the car’s steel support arm. A sharp pain shot from his collarbone all the way down his right side. The bone wasn’t broken, but it still hurt like hell. He sat up and reached for his pistol only to find that it had fallen out during impact. With a groan on his lips, he reached for the bag over his shoulder containing his disassembled GR-99. When he opened the canvas sack, his eyes widened when he saw that the case was empty. He couldn’t believe his bad luck. It must have fallen out of the bag during his tumble.
All of a sudden the roof of the cable car by Sheridan’s feet erupted as bullets fired by the imposter tore holes through the metal as if it were made of paper. He scrambled back on his hands and feet from the steady stream of fire coming up from underneath him. Sheridan glanced over his shoulder and saw that he was running out of space. He knew he had to act soon or before long he would have nowhere left to go. Out of the corner of his eye, he spied a metal railing that ran along the length of the car’s roof. A plan born of desperation formed in his mind. He jumped to his feet and dove for the railing. He felt his hands grasp hold of the bar just as his body began to fall over the side of the car. Sheridan brought his feet up to his chest and then kicked out as hard as he could, breaking the glass window in front of him. With momentum on his side, Sheridan swung inside the cable car, landing just off to the side of his surprised opponent.
The man quickly recovered, spun about, and brought up his pistol to fire.
Sheridan anticipated the move and lashed out with his right hand, hitting his opponent hard on the wrist. Like a dry twig snapping, the bones in the man’s wrist broke. The imposter howled in pain and dropped his weapon. Sheridan dropped down to pick up the pistol only to receive a knee to the side of his head. Stars filled his eyes as his head shot to one side. A second later, he tasted the warm coppery tang of blood in his mouth. He spat out a couple of his teeth onto the floor just before his attacker struck again.
From a pocket, the imposter, ignoring the pain in his wrist, pulled out a cord and wrapped it around Sheridan’s neck. With a deep grunt, the man pulled back on the rope. Right away, Sheridan could feel the cord choking him. He struggled to get to his feet. He could feel the man’s breath on his neck as the operative tried to choke the life out of him. Sheridan gasped for air. He reached up with his hands and fought in desperation to break the snake-like grip of the cord around his throat. It was no use, the man wasn’t going to let go until Sheridan was dead. With his heart pounding away in his ears and his vision narrowing, he knew that if he didn’t escape in the next couple of seconds, he never would.
The voice of his unarmed combat instructor at the Academy yelled at him. “Fight dirty. It’s you or him!” With that, Sheridan shot his head back, hitting the assailant’s nose with the back of his head. The impact didn’t break it, but it stunned him for a brief moment. It was all Sheridan needed. He dropped to one knee and thrust his right elbow straight back into the man’s groin.
The imposter moaned, released his hold on the cord, and staggered back away from Sheridan.
First, Sheridan pulled the rope from his neck and took a deep breath to fill his burning lungs. Next, he dropped to the floor of the cable car and scooped up the fallen pistol. He swung around, brought up the weapon, and fired a single shot that struck the imposter in the chest. With a look of disbelief on his ashen face, the Chosen agent reached for the door handle. Before Sheridan could get back up onto his feet, the man opened the door and fell out.
“Jesus,” muttered Sheridan when he looked down and watched as his attacker’s body was sliced into hundreds of pieces in an industrial mulcher that was part of the city’s composting efforts. He lowered himself to the floor and laid back. His body ached everywhere. He had just replaced several of his missing teeth with new porcelain ones, all of which had been knocked free and lay on the metal floor in a pool of blood and spittle.
The car began to slow.
Sheridan tossed the pistol aside and sat up as the cable car came to a complete stop at the downtown station. The second the doors slid open, a squad of heavily armed soldiers burst in and cuffed Sheridan. Hauled up to his feet, the soldiers manhandled him into the back of an APC and slammed the doors behind him.
A familiar voice said, “Glad to see you’re still alive.”
Sheridan recognized Cole’s voice. He turned to face his friend and saw a nasty bruise on his face. They both looked as if they had been in the boxing ring and had been pummeled senseless. Sheridan smiled. “I lost some teeth.”
“Again?”
Sheridan nodded. “What happened to your man?”
“There were two of them and they’re both dead. Yours?”
“He’s dead too. Fell into a mulcher. We’ll never retrieve anything of value from his body.”
“Not to worry. Before the goon squad arrived, I went through my guys’ pockets.”
Sheridan perked up at the good news. “Did you learn anything?”
“I sure did.” Cole hesitated. “I’ll tell you later.”
The vehicle’s engine roared to life. A couple of seconds later the APC began to move.
“Where do you think they’re taking us?” Sheridan asked.
Cole shrugged. “I told them to contact Admiral Oshiro.”
“Hopefully he can sort this mess out. I don’t fancy the idea of sitting around in a holding cell while Harry and his cohorts plan their next move.”
Chapter 15
“It’s not the Ritz in Paris,” said Wendy as she looked around at their new accommodations, “but it’ll do.”
“After our last home away from home, this is a little slice of heaven,” said Tarina.
After arriving at the installation on Dorset Island, the women had been given a room to share. Although not large, there were four beds and a locker for each of them to stow their few personal items. To better blend in with the station’s personnel during their stay, they had been issued blue service overalls and ball caps to wear.
“Do you think we will be here long?” Angela asked.
Roy shook her head. “Admiral Oshiro is not known to waste time overthinking things. We’ll know in a day or two what he plans to do with you.”
“What about us, ma’am?” inquired Tarina. “Do you think we can rejoin our squadron?”
Roy smiled. “While we’re here, please call me Carmen. As for your future employment, I have no idea. That will have to be addressed by the medical section at fleet headquarters. You two still haven’t been counseled after your ordeal in the mines. The priority here is getting Angela home followed by some shore leave for you two.”
“Yes, ma’am. Sorry, yes, Carmen. It’ll take a few tries before I forget you’re a commander.” Tarina could see the wisdom of taking some time off to rest and recuperate, but she wanted to get back into the fight as soon as she could. She knew Wendy felt exactly the same as she did.
There was a knock at the door. Wendy opened it and let a female sergeant into the room.
“I hope everything is satisfactory,” said the sergeant.
“No complaints here,” replied Wendy.
“I didn’t know we were having you as our guests until an hour before you landed.”
“Like Wendy said, the room is fine,” said Tarina.
“That’s good news. My name is Sergeant Gloria Rice. I have been assigned to look after you during your stay.”
Roy introduced herself and the rest of the women in the room to Rice. “Sergeant, what were you told about us?”
“I was told not to ask anything about
who you are or why you are here. As this installation is off limits except to authorized personnel, I’m used to not prying into our visitors’ backgrounds.”
“Are there any limits on our movement while we’re here?” asked Tarina.
Sergeant Rice nodded, reached into a pocket, and handed over a map to each person. “The highlighted areas are the ones you can move about freely in.”
“If I’m reading this right, we can use this corridor to get to and from the cafeteria, the gym, and that’s it,” said Wendy.
“That is correct,” said Rice. “The rest of the base is out of bounds.”
“Shouldn’t be too bad. We’re only planning on being here for a day or two anyway,” mused Roy.
“I hope the food here is good,” said Wendy. “I’m all skin and bones these days. I need to put some meat back on this frame.”
Rice chuckled. “It’s too good. That’s why the gym is not restricted to you. If there’s nothing else I can do for you, I have to get back to work. If you need me, just pick up any comms device and ask for me by name. I’m never more than a couple of minutes away from you.”
“Thanks, Sergeant,” said Roy.
Wendy glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Since it’s near lunch time I say we go for a walk and check out the dining facilities.”
Tarina shrugged. “I could use a decent salad.”
“Salad! After all we went through? This base is in Canada; I’m hoping they have that meal they have with french fries, gravy, and cheese on it.”
“It’s called poutine,” explained Roy.
“Whatever it’s called, I want a plate full of it and nothing else.”
Vengeance (The Kurgan War Book 4) Page 8
