“No one else has come in here. Leave now,” the man ordered.
He must to be the head scientist?
“My apologies. I’ll leave,” said Fox as he nodded and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
There was a commotion ahead, a lot of yelling followed by shuffling feet. Fox recognized it as his cue to hurry. They obviously found the two guards he had taken out earlier-and that he was missing. He picked up the pace as he saw two guards running towards him down the hall, searching the rooms. Five white-coats kept clear by sticking to the walls as the guards swept by. Fox imitated the other guards by running and checking one room after the next, but he couldn’t afford to do it for long-someone was bound to see through his disguise.
That came soon enough when he heard someone yell, “There he is. Stop him!”
He turned around and ducked to the opposite wall, grabbed his AK-108 and fired off a few rounds at the two guards behind him. They ducked around the corner as bullet pockmarks spread across the walls in a straight line, sending a mixture of dust and cement chunks ricocheting off the walls. The others would soon be drawn to his location like bees regrouping to form an assault.
He spotted the entrance close by and he palmed the detonator. Once the structure started to cave in on itself, he’d still have time to make his escape. The euphoria of the thought overwhelmed him, until he heard screams.
“Zacrute,” Fox heard someone yell in Russian-this meant shut up.
“We have your partner. Come back now and throw down your weapon!” yelled the same man, again in Russian. Fox assumed him to be their leader.
Shit, why’d she have to get caught? What the hell didn’t she understand about waiting for me outside?
She had already risked her life to rescue him-it would be inhumane to leave her. Along with knowing everyone in Ares, she might also know who set him up. Fox sighed and tossed the rifle across the floor so that it slid to a stop in the middle of the two intersecting hallways. He slowly walked to where he’d thrown the gun, keeping the detonator closely hidden inside his shirtsleeve and his hands held high enough, but not too straight, to avoid letting the detonator to slip too far inside his shirt. He walked out in full view of the enemy, who were all strategically positioned. Two guards were down on one knee while the other two stood behind them, one beside Sveta, with the tip of his AK-108 inches from her. Further behind them, a few white-coats peeked from around the corners.
“We’ve been given orders not to execute you. But it doesn’t mean that we won’t shoot off your kneecaps if you give us reason to,” yelled Sveta’s captor. “Put your hands behind your head and get down on your knees!”
Fox did as he was told. He went down on his knees and slowly put his hands behind his head and discretely let the detonator slide out from the inner sleeve into his hand. The moment that he would push the button, he knew he wouldn’t have long before the blast caused a lockdown. But he couldn’t do it as long as Sveta’s captor pointed his rifle at her. An explosion would startle him and might cause him to unintentionally pull the trigger. Fox only needed for him to point the rifle away from her for a few seconds.
Although he was a quick draw with a sidearm, his HK versus their AK-108s wouldn’t give him much of a chance surviving. However, their weapons were bigger and heavier than his, making it more difficult for them to aim both quickly and efficiently. The sound of an explosion could distract them even more-buying him more time to react.
Fox played a scenario in his head. The three guards would most likely approach him while the other stayed with Sveta. He’d detonate the explosives when one of them was close enough-using the extra one to two seconds of bought time to grab him in a chokehold with one arm while simultaneously using him as a human shield-then draw his HK with his free hand to dispose of the other guards. Sveta’s captor would most likely use her as a shield, so he would have to be taken out first. Speaking to him in Russian would be a start. “I’m unarmed, and so is the woman. What threat is she to you right now?”
The guard appeared to think about it for a few moments, and then lowered his gun. Fox knew, at least right now, that any misfire would go into the floor a few inches from Sveta’s feet. She’d be fine as long as she didn’t move.
But rather than three, Sveta’s captor only sent the two front guards after Fox, while the other remained behind with him. It wasn’t the scenario Fox had expected, but he’d still have to detonate the explosive to distract them. He only hoped that they would momentarily point their guns away from him, making it harder for them to aim at him properly if he were to rush them.
The two guards were over thirty meters away from him. Fox only needed twelve meters from a dead start-a distance that he could clear in two seconds-in order to gain the necessary momentum to attack the first guard. Sure, using his sidearm might appear to be more efficient, but the chance of hitting his mark was lessened while they were moving. If Fox were off by a fraction of a second, one of the guards might be able to take a decent enough aim to at least put a few rounds in him.
The guards closed the distance to about fifteen meters from him and Fox’s thumb slid over the button of the detonator. The guard to the left was a half step in front of the other. Fox would base his timing on that one. Right before the guard on the left reached twelve meters away, Fox pressed the button on the detonator and an explosion occurred further back in the lab. Fox dropped the detonator and simultaneously launched from his position. He kept low as he drove forward, swinging his arms rapidly as his knees pumped into his stomach. He straightened up prematurely-slightly reducing his forward momentum-as he swung his arms outward a split second before he was between both guards. In a double clothesline move Fox struck them both in their heads-flipping them onto the floor.
Fox used the impact from the second guard to pivot around while he drew his gun from his waistband. As he rotated, he fully extended his arm while the third guard was still in the process of aiming his rifle. Fox squeezed the trigger and watched as the guard’s head snapped back before he lifted off the ground. The guard had not yet hit the ground before he had Sveta’s captor in his sights. Fox pulled the trigger just as he saw a flash of light come from the guard’s rifle, quickly followed by a staccato noise and objects whistling by him. However, Fox’s shot was on target. He saw the guard go down, holding onto the trigger as he did, and shots pockmarked the ceiling and burst one of the pipes.
Sveta was crouched over with both hands covering her ears, as steam from the damaged pipe blew clouds of vapor around her. Fox saw that she was in shock and felt it pointless to yell for her to join him. He yanked her away-nearly dislocating her shoulder in the process. The floor shook as they ran-the chain reaction would catch up to them very soon. Fox heard staccato shots and Sveta cried out. It wasn’t long after that Fox realized he was pulling dead weight. Damn it, she’s been hit.
When he looked down at her, blood stained the back of her lab coat. Fox saw the perpetrator, lying sideways on the floor in the middle of the intersecting hallways. It was one of the two guards he had clotheslined. Why didn’t I kill that son-of-a-bitch?
A rumbling caused Fox to nearly lose his footing. Then bits of the ceiling collapsed around him, and a huge futon-sized block crashed down and crushed the guard before he was able to fire another shot.
“Sveta…Sveta.” Fox knelt down beside her. Still no answer. Shit, don’t die on me now. “Who set me up?”
She was gone.
When he looked over his shoulder, he saw a metal door sliding down from the ceiling. He broke out in a sprint and threw himself under it, seconds before it touched the ground. He was now outside, but still underground. A metal ladder was a few feet away. He ran for it and climbed to the top. He struck the wooden trapdoor hard, and it bounced once before settling open.
The scent of hay and fresh manure struck his nostrils as a small number of horses stomped and whinnied in their stalls. The ground shook, rattling the wooden walls of the stable they were in. A st
able and a farmhouse fronting for an underground bio-weapons facility. Who would’ve guessed?
He climbed out onto the hay in the middle of the stall and ran for the door. The five horses in their stalls stomped and whinnied wildly at the tremors.
Fox ran out of the stable into the crisp, cool air, and stopped at the splintered wooden fence that bordered the driveway. He hopped over, turned left, walked six steps, turned right and walked another three. He knelt down on both knees and dug up a wallet-sized tracking device. Then he bolted across the moonlit field, to the woods where he’d hidden his motorcycle. He pressed a button on the tracker and followed the sounds of a huge flock of grasshoppers that died down a few seconds later. He then came to the camouflage net that covered his motorcycle. He yanked it off and lifted the seat. Underneath it was a lit dial pad. He punched in the numbers 062176, which was followed by a beeping sound and a click. He lifted the cover to remove a satellite phone and dialed a number. The phone on the other end rang once and then he heard the recorded greeting.
“Welcome to Spade Insurance. Please listen carefully for our menu options have changed.” Fox dialed in his code, 062176. The voice recording ended and there was a short pause. A pleasant voice with a slight Jamaican accent replied.
“How can I help you, Mr. Fox?” It was Marie Vasell, General Downing’s secretary.
“The lab’s destroyed. I need to speak to General Downing immediately. We’re going to have to scramble a team to Darfur ASAP. This so-called simple assignment I was given-it just got a whole lot more complicated.”
Chapter 2
Odessa, Ukraine, 8:57AM, the day after
The gentleman stubbed out his second cigarette in the ashtray. The outdoor terrace to the cafe he was at was one of many in this tourist area of the city, within walking distance of the Black Sea.
He wasn’t in town to enjoy the eighteenth and nineteenth century architecture, or the popular beaches. Even back in the days as a KGB operative he rarely took the time to enjoy himself in many of the places his work took him. But those days were long gone. Although he had several aliases, he was best known as Valerik. This was the ideal place for him to meet his Ares colleagues, the first time since getting back from the bombed out facility near Groznyy, Chechnya.
Valerik recognized his ride, as the black, fleet-sedan stopped several feet away. As he got up, his protruding gut bumped the table, a constant reminder of how much weight he had gained since his deactivated status as KGB. It was then that he noticed a black espresso stain on his white shirt. Had the spill been on his brown jacket it would be better concealed. But he left it unbuttoned since it fit him more comfortably. He grabbed his handkerchief and dipped it into a glass of water belonging to another patron as he walked by. He worked on the stain, ignoring the angry protest behind him.
A man dressed in an overcoat stepped out of the front passenger seat to open the back door for him. An overcoat in this weather? He might as well have placed a sign on his forehead that read I’m hiding a gun. Valerik got in and sat down beside his white-haired superior, who was also a former KGB operative. The doors shut and the car drove off.
“What’s your assessment of the Groznyy lab?” asked the white-haired man in Russian.
“The laboratory was on lockdown, indicating Pandora was unleashed inside. I didn’t dare use the override codes to open the blast door to inspect the damage,” Valerik replied in the same language.
“You should’ve gotten there quicker. We’d be rid of Fox once and for all. Now he’s gotten away, along with how much intelligence on us? Only God knows.”
“The guards reported they had captured him. Apparently Stechina helped him escape.”
“Of course she did, just as she led Fox to our lab.”
“We still have our satellite laboratories-”
“Which we’ll have to abandon immediately,” the white-haired man took out a larger than normal pen-like object and twirled it.
Valerik looked away from him, out the window to hide his frown. That damn toy of his. He couldn’t stand seeing him play with that pen.
“With Fox’s escape, those locations may be compromised. See to it that Pandora’s taken to another location until we can set up some new satellite laboratories.”
Valerik looked back to his superior. “I can do that. In the meantime, we should delay the demonstration.”
“If we do that, we risk losing the confidence of our clients-and the billions that Pandora could bring in for Ares.”
“What if Fox knows the location of the demo? If he disrupts it, we’ll lose our clients for sure. We should send a few of our men to accompany our clients while they set up Pandora to be tested.”
“The only Ares members involved will be those that deliver Pandora. Beyond that, if we start chaperoning our clients they’ll ask too many questions about the security of our organization. So far, I haven’t heard from our source that Fox knows anything about the demo or its location. Just concentrate on getting Pandora moved.”
The white-haired man signaled the driver to pull over beside a small marketplace comprised mostly of small tourist shops. When the car stopped, Valerik got out and held the door open as he peered inside. “I’ll contact you once everything’s done.”
“See to it that you do. With positive results, of course.”
Valerik shut the door and walked in the opposite direction. The sedan drove off. When the car was out of sight, he walked into the marketplace and went to a mobile phone vendor. He walked up to the counter that doubled as a display case, pointed inside to the mobile phone, then slapped the cash down on the surface. Once the clerk handed him the phone with prepaid minutes, Valerik left the store. He removed the uncharged battery from the phone and replaced it with a charged one-same brand-that he kept in his jacket pocket. Once outside, he activated it and dialed a number. After the first two rings, the call was answered.
“What do you have to report?” asked an electronically disguised voice.
“It’s me. Are your men on standby?”
“They are. Did anything else go wrong?”
“Not at all. It’s only a minor setback, that’s all. We’ll just have to begin the operation earlier than expected.”
“Do not disappoint me. The success of our operation depends on you getting the package.”
“Yes, sir.” Valerik’s phone went silent as his real superior switched off.
Heathrow Airport, London, England.
Dr. Tabitha Marx sat alone in the VIP lounge as she waited to board her flight to Entebbe Airport in southern Uganda. She downed the last of her Black Russian, rested the glass on the table beside her, got up, and walked to the floor to ceiling window that overlooked the runway and the dozens of stationary planes.
She had cut down significantly on her drinking since she had arrived from Ayles Ice Island in the Canadian arctic two years ago. Before she had arrived, two cryospheric researchers had accidentally exhumed a prehistoric man that was infected with a dormant microbe. Their exposure to the microbe and their eventual death-as well as the deaths of some that came to their rescue-would have made international headlines had she, her colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and both Canadian and American governments not intervened. Fortunately, the outbreak was contained without any repercussions of a mass panic.
Marx’s six-foot stature mostly attracted wealthy and powerful men to her, the rest were intimidated. As she watched the planes take off, her flowing, dirty-blonde hair draped down the shoulders of her pantsuit.
So much had changed over the years. Born to American parents forty-four years before, she was used to travelling, since her father worked at the American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was later killed by the Soviets in an air-raid in neighboring Afghanistan, near the end of the Soviet-Afghan war.
Her hatred towards the USSR and Communism increased tenfold that day-so did her bonding with her mother, but it wasn’t meant to last. Her mother was hospitalized, a few ye
ars later, with severe heart complications.
It was then that her mother disclosed the horrifying truth. Marx’s father was a CIA agent that had aided the mujahedeen to run their training camps in Afghanistan in their fight against the Soviets. What was more devastating was when her mother also told her that she had been recruited by the KGB to spy on her father, and that furthermore, the intelligence that she had provided the Soviets ultimately got her father killed.
It was the most emotional day of Marx’s life. She had screamed at her sobbing mother, telling her that her sickness was well deserved. It was last time that she saw her mother alive. She was bawling as she ran from the hospital room, pushing hospital staff out of her way. She made it outside of the hospital where she collapsed, only to be aided by a few motorists and pedestrians. It was the last time she remembered crying.
The lounge doors opened and a group of men in business suits walked in and headed straight for the bar. Marx glanced briefly at them and sighed, assuming them to either be businessmen or diplomats-the latter she detested-as it was a constant reminder that all the world’s problems could be linked to politics and religion. It was what eventually destroyed her family.
It wasn’t long before one of them approached her. “Good morning. Would you care-”
“No, I wouldn’t.” The man withdrew from her immediately, muttering something under his breath. Just then she heard her boarding call over the PA system. Marx walked back to her seat and grabbed her single travel bag. In a few days, she would make history, and the face of the world would be forever changed.
Chapter 3
West Darfur, 10 AM, local time
The townspeople crowded the town square on market day. Most of the residents of this small dusty town-one of the few on the United Nation’s endangered list that has avoided attacks from both government and militia forces-had left and were making their way in droves to the refugee camps that bordered Chad to the west. For many, this was the last opportunity to stock up on rations before they migrated.
Pandora's Succession Page 2
