Something grabbed my leg and pulled. I fell. I started firing into the dark where I thought the body should be attached to the arm on me. Enigma stepped into the room and screamed. I hit the light on my pistol. It wasn't a damn arm on my leg. It was some kind of tentacle, and there was another one reaching for my waist.
The thing was purple with suction cups and holding on tight to my leg. It was attached to a globe kind of body. I started firing rounds into the body, and the tentacle wrapped around my ankle pulled me closer to the maw. I pulled my knife and started cutting. I tried to steady the appendage with my left hand while I cut with my right, and by touching it, it cut deeply into my hand. I looked at Enigma. She had three of the tentacles wrapped around her, and her left leg was pushing against a globe thing with a maw of teeth trying to eat her.
Had to move. I cut faster on the tentacle to free up my leg. Another tentacle grabbed my right leg, and I tried sawing on that. My left ankle the pants were shredded, and I was bleeding a bit. I cut on the tentacle on my right leg and pushed myself over to where Enigma was to cut on the tentacles attached to her. They were too slippery. I pulled my jacket sleeve down, so my hand was inside it and then grabbed a tentacle and started cutting. I got one free, but Enigma's shoe was inside the maw of the thing, and it was chewing. My hands reached into Enigma's armpits and pulled with all my strength.
Her foot, covered in saliva, emerged out of the creature's mouth. She had a tentacle around her left wrist and right leg. Her left hand was covered in blood, too. I grabbed the left appendage with my jacket sleeve and started cutting. She had her knife in her right hand and cut on the one on that side.
Both tentacles let loose, and I pulled her away. She started wrapping bandages around her left wrist. I pointed my flashlight into the room. More globes with maws of sharp teeth and tentacles approached us.
I pulled the magazine out of my pistol and loaded the explosive rounds. I tried to conserve ammo, but I wanted all of those things dead. The explosions were pretty, and from the flying shrapnel's glow, I had to assume they had some white phosphorous in them. The tentacles didn't stop moving even with an explosive bullet right to the creature's body. Enigma stood up.
She handed me her magazine of explosive bullets, and I shot every one of the creatures at least once. The fact that even the tentacles we chopped off were still moving freaked me out. I had maybe six of the magic bullets left. I wasn't sure if I wanted to save them and load regular hollow points, or keep them ready.
Enigma pulled her stunner and barked it like an order, "Advance."
Chapter Thirty-Four
There were maybe fifteen meters of space between us and the door at the opposite end of the room. Some of the whatever-the-fuck-those-things-were still moved, but they seemed unorganized at best. I moved towards the door. Tentacles reached for my feet. They were clearly blind and dumb.
I opened the door. A room full of tables greeted me. Then I looked again. Some had blood stains on them and leather restraints on the four corners. Three of them had human beings strapped in. Two males and a female. The males were staring forward like brain-fried automatons. The female was letting out these little whimpering noises.
In total, twenty of these tables filled the room, each with some kind of control panel. The room was about twenty-five meters square, with a door at the other end. Enigma started examining the people on tables.
Thomas radioed. "We found a spa with whirlpools and saunas. Massage tables in every room. Two men were armed, but a dozen more were in towels."
Must be nice to find that. I hit the radio button, "We found victims."
"Light resistance here, drug warehouse," Sphinx radioed.
"I need to get these people free," Enigma said. "Continue your sweep."
I ran to the next door and kicked it in. Some kind of control center greeted me. There were easily ten big computer screens, four of which were split into separate camera views. The remaining six were just timers counting down. Each one was the same, and they read 4:25, then 4:24. Underneath the monitors were desks, and underneath those, there was a computer for every monitor. What the fuck should I do? Thomas was the expert on bombs, and those timers had to be counting down to explosions.
"Thomas… I found six computers with timers counting down," I said over the radio.
He replied, "Then we're doomed." Fucking stoner.
"Do something, Bear," Sphinx said.
Yes, do something. What choices did I have? Unplug the machines at the power supply? Unplug the network? Blast the computers with explosive bullets? While that would have made for a nice pyrotechnic show, I started unplugging network connections. I did all ten computers.
The computers displayed 1:15 and were still counting down. I held my breath. If I was going to die in an explosion, it made sense to be holding my breath. There were three doors in the room I was in. One was open, and I inched in that direction. The timer reached zero, and no boom.
I stepped through the open doorway. That led to a hallway. I ran down the passageway. It opened to an empty parking lot with a dirt road that led into trees. I backtracked to the room with the computer terminals.
"We need to bring in the locals," Enigma radioed. "These people need medical care I can't provide."
"I agree," Thomas said.
"I've got two doors left," I said.
"Hurry up."
I tried the left door, and it wouldn't budge. I stepped away and raised my pistol. Fired three quick rounds. The door was a twisted hulk of metal afterward. I pulled on it, and it came crashing down. Once inside, I found an armory of some kind, including Razdoran blast rifles, grenade launchers, plus rockets and machine guns. No doors led away. I was lucky my bullets didn't set off any of the ammo.
I went back into the room with the computers. I had three explosive bullets left, and one steel door. This time, I aimed for the locking mechanism. The lock ended up a huge mess. When I pulled on the door, it did not budge.
I tried harder. No luck. I stepped back into the room with the tables. Enigma had two of the captives freed. She was sawing on the third's straps with her knife.
"How far away are the locals?" I asked.
Enigma shrugged. "They don't seem that interested in hurrying."
Damn. Sent Nancy a quick text. "Need reinforcements."
I helped Enigma saw on the straps holding the last prisoner. Wanted to just unhook the belts, but they seemed to have computer controlled locking mechanisms. I got to thinking. The dimensions of the building didn't add up. There had to be secret rooms on the side with the armory. We got the last prisoner free, but they couldn't walk.
"I need to check out that armory again," I said.
"I'm fine here," Enigma said. "If you can find some fluids, bottled water, a water tap, anything, let me know."
"If you can take these people to the building Thomas is in, I haven't even seen a restroom in this building yet."
"I'll call the locals again."
I went back towards the armory. Felt along the edges of the wall I thought a door would be. I didn't find anything other than a smooth wall.
Removed weapons from that section of wall and examined everything closely for false panels or a switch. I found neither. Sirens in the distance made me smile.
Touching the wall around knee-high, my fingers depressed a panel. Part of the surface slid out of the way. Towers of C-4 greeted me. Enough explosives to level the whole compound. Lucky for me, there was a passageway through. I turned on the light on my gun and stepped into the narrow stretch between the explosives.
Chapter Thirty-Five
I realized I was surrounded by explosives, and I moved my pistol to my left hand. My knife found its way to my right. I advanced into the narrow passageway. It traveled in a mostly straight line. A light gleamed up ahead, and it turned out to be a mirror. I tried pushing on it every which way, but it didn't budge.
"Locals are here," Sphinx said.
I really didn't like being around thi
s much explosives, so I quickly exited.
I made it to the room with the tables, and paramedics were hauling off the captives. I motioned to Enigma. "There are a lot of explosives."
"The locals have a bomb robot."
"It's going to take weeks with a robot. Those things are not exactly fast."
She put her hands on her hips and gave me a patented glare. "What do you propose?"
"The locals may not have one, but the Agency will. A portable disposal unit, each block of C-4 is one-kilo, and that will fit in the mobile unit. Set it up in the parking lot out back, carry out each kilo, boom inside the unit."
"Fucking Aye."
"We need to call for a welder, too," I said. "There's a metal door in our way.
I called Nancy on the radio and requested the disposal unit. She told me two hours. I went back to the armory with the secret door. The other end of the room had to have a door too, or maybe a door in the hallway to the parking lot. I searched at knee-high first, and a door-sized panel slid out of the way. Another passageway lined with explosives greeted me.
I did the thing with the gun in my left, knife in my right. The hallway led to another mirror. I wanted to smash it, but bad luck. I walked back to the armory. I sent Sam a quick text, "Mission is almost over, I'm looking forward to dinner and a movie."
She texted me back, "Highly improbable."
I smiled. The welders showed up. I texted her back, "You know you love me."
"Not."
"Give me a chance."
I put my phone away after that. The welders pulled the door out of the way. I stepped through with Enigma at my side. I had my 9mm in my right with a fresh magazine, and Enigma had a stunner out. Inside was a warehouse full of electronics: high definition televisions, computers, house-cleaning robots, and remote controlled drones still in their packaging.
Enigma and I worked through the room, but the dimensions were right to span the whole building. I checked my phone. Sam wrote, "Maybe I'll give you a small chance."
Enigma and I went outside. Locals were all over the place. Thomas, Zen, Sphinx, and GeoSix were milling about. Thomas asked, "How much explosives are we talking about?"
"About ten percent of the building we scouted is just packed," I said.
He pointed at my chest. "When the disposal unit gets here, it's up to us."
"Locals can do it," I said.
"They'll use the robot, and it'll take months. We're the experts."
I nodded. "Locals can give us armor that will not help."
Thomas reached out and touched my arm. "Carrying a kilo of C-4 we might as well be naked, and we might as well get started."
"Are you mad because I tried to choke you?"
"Not at all. I said something rude. I blame the lack of weed."
"Ok."
Thomas and I went in the building with the explosives. He grabbed a one-kilo brick and marched it outside. I did the same. We must have walked that hallway a hundred times when the disposal unit arrived. The unit had a three-man crew, and two of those men helped us haul bricks.
Hauling blocks of explosives really gets the adrenaline flowing, and I was sweating like a pig by nightfall. The disposal unit went boom every few moments. The moon rose, and we kept at it. Sphinx and Enigma went for pizza, and we took a break to eat. By midnight, the explosives were all destroyed. I wanted to relax in a sauna or whirlpool or something, but the local Agency building was not properly equipped. I lay in bed and shivered.
I went to the vending machines. Thomas was there. He smelled of smoke, of course. "Long day."
"Longest day I've had in a long time," I said.
"Adrenaline junkies would have loved it."
"I should stick to bungee jumping."
I got a number of snacks out of the machines and feasted. Sam texted me, "When will you be back?"
She wanted to see me. I smiled. I wrote back, "Tomorrow maybe."
"Was the mission a success?"
"Nobody died, but I don't think we captured anybody important. Saved a few lives for sure."
She paused for the longest time. I made my way back to my room. I lay in bed clutching my phone. Hoping, begging. Not really, but it had been a while since I had a woman in my life.
She finally texted me back. "If you saved lives it was a success, even if you didn't capture anybody important."
"I agree."
Chapter Thirty-Six
Woke up and had breakfast with the guys. We piled into the vehicles and flew home. Nancy paged us when we arrived.
"You captured 16 people in total," Nancy said. "Ten of those were MindBender addicts and are talking. So far they haven't said anything useful."
"What about the people we rescued?" Enigma asked.
"Two males are still catatonic. The female tells us she was being readjusted because she wasn't a proper prostitute."
I rubbed at my temples for a moment. Centurian and his entire organization needed to be shut down, and it seemed like they were just getting stronger and stronger. "We captured ten computers."
"I actually found four computers in the drug warehouse," Sphinx said.
"We found six," Thomas said.
Nancy pushed a few buttons on her computer and sighed. "The ones Bear found are encrypted, so maybe. The others weren't and have nothing useful on them."
I asked, "Do we have any leads at all?"
Thomas said, "Raid more drug houses?"
"In some regions, we are raiding drug houses for sure," Nancy said. "Your team will stay on Ralan and other Centurian top men. The men we captured on this mission, who are not talking, may start talking."
"Meeting adjourned?"
"That's fine."
I sent Sam a text, "Back in Phoenix. Meet me for lunch."
"Like I really have to meet you?" Sam texted. "There's one cafeteria, and we play cards at the same table every day."
Fucking bitch. It's one thing to play hard to get, but she was a challenge.
I went through the food line and sat with GreenMel, Jack, and Sam. The euchre cards were dealt. Sam and I won. Which is what mattered. Sure, it was fun to play, but I like to win at cards.
Sam leaned across the table and kissed me on the neck. It sent a shiver down my spine. My heart started to race a bit, and I knew I had the right idea with her. We played a little more euchre. She said, "Class."
The three of them left. I went to the gremlins class. It was an interesting lesson. They could essentially live off minerals in the sand and nitrogen in the atmosphere. They pooped, but not like animal poop, more like greasy sand. The next class they talked about all the different cages people have tried to contain them. So far, none worked. The gremlins seemed to assimilate the matter in each cage, and rip it to shreds. Concrete seemed to slow them down the most.
The third class of the day: they talked about the gremlins' frenzy ability. They had a kind of adrenaline gland similar in structure to a human's, but it released super high octane fuel into their body, and they could rip, tear, and shred things at a massive rate. In a frenzied state, they can run up to eighty kilometers per hour.
I sent Sam a text after class, "Dinner?"
She texted me back, "Jack wants to have a threesome, are you interested?"
Hell no, if I'm having a threesome it needs to be with two women. I texted her, "I'll have to think about that."
Jack was not a bad looking male, I guessed, but I could see a threesome going in a lot of different directions, some gay, some not so gay. What was I thinking about this for? I didn't want to have a threesome. I texted her back. "The answer is no. You want to be with me and me alone, or you want to be with Jack."
"Good. Meet me for dinner. No danger room tonight."
I went through the food line and sat with Sam.
Jack glared at me. "No threesome?"
"Just not my thing, Jack," I said.
"What are you afraid of?"
I am not going to have this discussion with this punk. I reached over and tou
ched Sam's hand. "Movies tonight?"
"Only if I can pretend to be a gel-based dessert," she replied.
GreenMel scowled. "No pretending to be gel."
"I love that, though."
I finished my food. Grabbed Sam's hand. Walked towards the rec rooms. Crowded. We relocated to her room. We cuddled on her bed and watched a new action movie. It was nice to cuddle with a female. The movie ended. I leaned in and kissed her.
She said, "Not tonight."
"I wasn't even interested in that. I'm content to cuddle."
"I don't believe you."
I may in fact have had an erection from the close contact. I may in fact have wanted nothing more, but I am patient, and she was clearly not ready. "Another movie?"
"Let's go swimming."
Only if we swim naked. I went to my room and put on trunks. She was swimming laps when I got to the pool. I did laps in the pool next to her and retired to the sauna. Zen joined me wearing a two piece red bikini. Sam stepped into the sauna, too.
Zen reached over and hit me on the arm. Sam sat next to me and put her hand on my leg close to my crotch. Then she leaned in and kissed me. She reached to my crotch and started rubbing.
Swimming trunks do not hide erections well, and I pulled her hand away.
"I'm leaving," Zen said and left.
Sam moved to the other side of the sauna, and I slept alone that night.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I glanced into the cafeteria, and there was no Sam. Waited by the entrance. She rounded the corner and smiled at me. I did a little one-two, one-two dance. She leaned in and kissed me on the lips. Yes. Just what I needed.
She stopped with the kissing. "I want food."
We went through the line and sat with GreenMel and Jack. We played euchre and ate. I leaned across the table and whispered in Sam's ear. "Sex after breakfast?"
She slapped me.
"You can have sex with me after breakfast," Jack said with a stupid shit-eating grin.
GreenMel said, "Or me."
I am only interested in Sam. "How did you guys hear that whisper?"
Codename: Bear II: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 2) Page 12
