Out of Time r5-2

by Cliff Ryder

  “Not quite feeling yourself, are you, Mr.

  Tempest?” Dayne gloated. “Not quite the man you were a year ago, or even a month ago. Not so sharp now that your body is failing. It’s almost a shame to waste my time killing you—you’re as good as dead anyway. If you’d minded your business and stayed clear, I’d have been in and out of here with no one the wiser.”

  “You talk a lot for an idiot,” Alex said. He was trying to anger his opponent and get a break.

  Dayne was wound so tight he might snap, and it might be his only chance. The hell of it was that they both knew Dayne was right. Alex couldn’t trust his body to respond to his commands. Any moment he might try a block or an attack, and find that he couldn’t follow through. If he collapsed, he’d be dead in an instant.

  “She’s a pretty lady,” Dayne said. “Your wife, I mean. It will be a shame, you leaving her all alone.

  Brilliant, too, I understand. There’s always work for someone like her with the people I work for.

  You think she’ll like me? Maybe…”

  Alex shut the man’s voice out. He couldn’t allow himself to be baited. He needed something, anything, that could spin the odds back in his favor.

  As long as Dayne remained on the attack and held that damned knife, all he could do was defend and hope for a mistake. It was a bad plan, and he knew he’d need a better one.

  The 9 mm pistol was fifteen feet down the slick, tiled hall. He saw no way to reach it on his damaged legs before Dayne caught him. He’d have to turn his back on the man to make the effort.

  Then it came to him, and he almost smiled.

  Alex turned to face his opponent, crouching low. He leaned heavily to his left, favoring his right leg. He blinked his eyes, as though focusing, or blinded by sweat. He didn’t look straight at Dayne. His left hand trembled.

  “Leave her out of this,” he said. “She isn’t part of it. This is between you and me.”

  “Spoken like a true hero,” Dayne said, circling slowly.

  Alex spun, trying to keep the man in front of him, but it was difficult with only one leg supporting him. He nearly toppled, then righted himself.

  “Unfortunately,” Dayne continued, “I’m not made of the same stuff. I don’t believe in wasting feminine beauty or perfectly viable weapons, and when I leave this complex, I intend to have both with me, one way or the other. The work isn’t done, you see. What we did in Beijing has to be replicated. We have some of the files here, and we have the prototype, but if we deploy that, what will we have left? We need your wife, Mr.

  Tempest. I’m afraid that means our use for you—

  and yours for her—has come to an end.”

  “And yet I’m still here,” Alex replied. His voice didn’t tremble as he spoke this time, but Dayne didn’t notice.

  Without warning, Dayne moved. He launched himself at Alex, sending a roundhouse kick at the weak knee and thrusting the blade toward Alex’s eyes. The man was damned fast. He moved like a big cat, and the blade might as well have been an extension of his hand.

  Alex was ready. The second Dayne moved, Alex threw himself to the side and kicked. He’d been forcing his right leg to hold his weight, pretending that there was no strength in the left, and when he launched his kick, Dayne was taken completely by surprise. He felt his foot connect and Dayne flipped over it, crashing face-first to the floor. Alex tried to spin back and take advantage of the moment, but this time the weakness in his leg was real. He staggered.

  Dayne’s nose dripped blood as he lifted himself from the floor and scooted forward. He still moved quickly, but he wasn’t as steady on his feet, and when he turned back he didn’t smile. He still held the knife tightly, and his eyes, which had been intense, had gone wild.

  “You missed,” Alex said softly.

  That was all it took. Dayne rushed at him, slashing wildly with the blade. Alex caught his wrist again. This time, when the man tried to shift the blade toward his free hand, Alex was prepared, and snatched at it, knocking it away, and trying to ignore the bright sliver of pain in his palm as the blade sliced across his hand. It caromed off the wall and spun away.

  Alex drove his wounded hand toward Dayne’s damaged nose, but the man was already moving again, so he struck high on his cheekbone instead of smashing into the wounded area. Nonetheless, the force of the blow was enough to send the man staggering a step to the side, and Alex kicked out again. This time his leg obeyed and he felt the contact. Dayne’s legs flipped out from under him.

  He dropped heavily, trying to spin and get a grip on Alex. Dayne hit hard, striking the tiled floor with his hip.

  Alex backed away and crouched, ready for another attack, but instead, Dayne screamed. He’d landed badly, and Alex thought he must have snapped something, probably his hip or his tailbone. Alex stepped forward and kicked Dayne in the face so hard the man’s head snapped back.

  The 9 mm pistol was still out of reach, but Alex lurched in the other direction and found the hilt of Dayne’s knife.

  When he whirled back Dayne had managed to slide to the wall and was struggling to get to his feet. Alex faced him and watched. If he’d mis-judged the damage done by the fall, he might still have a fight on his hands. Dayne tried to pull himself up, screamed and started to drop.

  Alex didn’t hesitate. He ran forward and drove the knife blade into Dayne’s throat. He felt the blade bite deeply and he twisted it, jerking up hard.

  The motion lifted Dayne again, and their gazes met. Alex held it for a long moment, then pulled out the blade. Dayne tumbled to the floor and tried to scream but couldn’t get sound past the bubbling mass of blood and froth that had been his throat.

  Alex turned away. There was a single light glowing down the hall, and he knew it had to be Rand’s office. He limped toward the light, recovering his 9 mm pistol and gripping it tightly. His legs ached, and he was having trouble focusing his eyes, but his mind was clear. At least, he thought, it was clear enough.

  He slipped along the wall, trying to keep quiet, but knowing that the time for such caution was probably long past. If Rand hadn’t heard what was going on in the hall outside his office, then it didn’t matter how much noise Alex made. If he had heard, or had been watching on one of the security monitors, then there wasn’t any chance of surprise.

  Alex followed the barrel of his pistol slowly around the door frame to Rand’s outer office. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find in that office, but what he expected to.

  There was a woman standing at the end of the room. The lights were dim and at first, he thought it might be Rand’s secretary. Then he looked closer, and his heart nearly stopped. He choked up, and he had to bite back a sudden, overpowering wave of emotion.

  “Brin.” The word had been barely audible, but she heard him—or sensed him.

  She spun, her eyes wide and her lip trembling at the sight of him. She began to shake.

  “Alex?”

  She launched herself at him, crossing the room and throwing her arms around his neck.

  Alex barely had time to brace himself. The force of her leap was nearly enough to topple him, but he held her tight, keeping himself upright for a few moments, one weakened leg stretched behind him to keep his balance.

  Even in that moment, his arms finally sliding around her, the emotion and the pain and all the things he needed to say rushing to his lips, he kept his head. He knew she couldn’t be there alone, and he knew that Dayne was not the only dangerous man in the building.

  “Shh!” he whispered into her hair, clutching her to his chest and trying to spin, keeping his eye on the door to the inner office. As he spun, her hair brushed over his face, and in that moment something shifted.

  He brushed her hair away almost frantically.

  When he cleared his vision he saw that he was too late. Hershel Rand stood in the doorway of his office. He watched the two of them coolly. His eyes were wide and his jaw was set. He raised his arm and Alex saw that he was gripping a gun so tightl
y his knuckles were white from the strain.

  Perhaps Rand had thought he was being stealthy, waiting for the two to be distracted before making a move.

  Alex saw the motion of Rand’s arm, and he reacted. He still held the 9 mm pistol in his hand.

  Brin’s body had blocked it from Rand’s sight. In a single, smooth movement he spun Brin away and pressed her to the wall. He held her there with his hand on her chest and raised the 9 mm handgun. He fired without aiming, trusting his instinct to make his aim true.

  The bullet found a home in Rand’s chest, right below his left shoulder. The impact spun him around. There was a quick suck of air and a yelp of pain. Rand stood, leaning against the door frame, and stared down at the wound as blood soaked his shirt. He turned and looked at Brin, ignoring Alex, and it seemed as if he wanted to say something. The gun dropped from his hand and clattered to the floor, and Rand followed, sliding slowly down the wall. As he dropped, he picked up speed. He landed with a teeth-jarring thud, his eyes wide with shock and dark with fury.

  Alex released Brin and kicked Rand’s gun away from him. “Stay there,” he said quietly, then turned to stand over the dying man.

  Rand gasped, pressing his hand to the wound in his chest and fighting for air. “Wasn’t destroying our lab in China enough for you? What is it with you, some sort of weird vendetta?”

  “You’re playing a nasty game with dirty little germs, Rand. It’s the kind of thing that catches people’s attention. You were ready to kill people, betray your country, hell, maybe destroy the world. Did you really think that we’d just let that go?” Alex said.

  “We?” Rand asked. “Who the hell is we? Maybe if you’d made nice with the boys in Beijing, they’d have cut you in.”

  “The way you cut Brin in? When were you going to tell her it was a weapon? How far in did you plan on dragging her before you mentioned that you didn’t have any intention of ever curing anyone with your new toy? Cut me in? It’s not about money—it never was. Where will you spend it if you can’t live in your own home, or if you start an epidemic? It’s about all the lives you would have taken. Not just a few, but possibly millions. My problem isn’t personal—it’s a mission. I’m going to destroy the weapon and kill everyone associated with it.”

  “So it’s my turn now, is it?” Rand sneered, grimacing at the pain in his chest. Blood leaked out between his fingers and most of his shirt had been stained red. “You’re just going to stand there and shoot me?”

  “It’s what I do, you asshole,” Alex said. He pulled the trigger. Rand slumped over, blood pouring from the second wound in his chest, just over his heart.

  Brin stared at the man on the floor, then turned her gaze back to her husband, who she was seeing, Alex realized, in a way she’d never previously imagined. There was so much to say, but now wasn’t the time. “I’m sorry Brin. This is what I do,”

  he said. “Or at least I did.”

  Brin nodded, then knelt down. Rand’s breath was winding down like an old clock with worn-out springs. “Rand,” she whispered. “Can you hear me?”

  He panted and nodded, his face filled with the desperate hope of the dying.

  “Rot in hell, you son of a bitch,” she said.

  They stood quietly and watched as Rand took his last few breaths and died.

  Alex turned to study her face, wondering what he would find there. Condemnation? Anger? Fear?

  He knew that any and all of those emotions would be justified and that he was to blame for that.

  “I’ve worked on the weapon, Alex.” Her eyes found his, hers glistening with tears. “Am I next?

  Is part of your mission to kill me?”

  Alex shook his head. “Does it work?” he asked.

  “It would have, yes. Not like they thought it would—the research isn’t complete—it would have been much, much worse than they thought.”

  He reached out one trembling hand and stroked her hair. He scooped up Rand’s gun and put it into his belt. He could get rid of it later, just little pieces of metal, scattered haphazardly into the ocean.

  “Let’s go get that thing,” he said. “I need your help to destroy it without letting any of it escape.

  Can you do that for me?”

  “Of course,” she said, watching his face. “I’ve already started.”

  They returned to the elevator and rode back to the level of Brin’s lab. She led the way, and when they reached the door to the lab, she tapped in her code and set her thumb on the scanner. She set the door on lockout once they were inside. She didn’t want that door to reopen until she was good and ready. If anything went wrong, it would never open again. And if everything went right, she didn’t want anyone disturbing them until it was complete.

  It was hot in the lab, and they were both bathed in sweat within moments. Red sensors were lit on many of the panels, but no one was around to read them or heed their warning.

  Alex looked at the containment unit sitting so benignly on the counter. “So, this is it, huh?”

  “Was,” Brin replied. “I have all the data on the laptop. I was supposed to be backing it up and sending it back to them when I was done. But I didn’t do it.”

  “So, you knew something was wrong?” Alex asked.

  “Damned straight, I knew. I mean, at first, it just looked like their data was skewed. They didn’t carry the research through logically, just stopped each time it seemed to be going their way. Then, when I got a good look at this thing, saw what happened after the nanoagents did their intended job, I saw that I had a pretty unstable component. It didn’t always progress as they thought it would, and they didn’t care. Research like that was never meant to be presented to any medical board.

  “I was going to drop the work and walk out, but they had video, Alex. They had video of you, and you were in trouble. I stuck with it when they threatened me, but only because I knew that if you didn’t make it back, it was up to me.”

  “Can we get rid of it without putting anyone at risk?” Alex asked.

  “Like I said, I’ve already started. It’s supposed to be kept at a fairly constant temperature. I turned up the heat as far as it will go, and I left the containment unit open. It’s a powerful weapon, but it isn’t invincible. The extreme heat alone would kill it in due time.”

  “Okay, see if you can be sure it’s destroyed. I’ll take care of what’s on that laptop. We’re going to take the building out, too, but I don’t want anything surviving that they might dig out of the rubble. Is there any data anywhere else?”

  “Rand had me sealed off in here, no access to the company network. They didn’t want anyone looking over my virtual shoulder except them. I thought they were worried about corporate spies, until I got further into it. What sucks the most is the basis for it all is good work. With time, with a proper study and controlled environment, amazing things could have come of this research. As it is, it’s too dangerous. I don’t even know if you could find a place that would be safe from someone who wanted to put it to the wrong use. It makes me sick inside.”

  “That’s my girl!” He gave her shoulder a reas-suring squeeze and was only a little surprised when she recoiled from him. “So, if I smash this thing into a thousand pieces, it’ll all be gone?”

  “Yeah.” She thought for a moment, one fingernail tapping lightly on the temperature control of the containment unit. “Except that I can’t really be sure that Hershel didn’t come in here when I wasn’t here. I mean, he might have made copies….”

  “And he might have stored them anywhere.”

  Alex sighed and leaned against the table. “We’re going to have to be very thorough. Whatever we do has to wipe out every bit of data in this building.

  Take out the whole network.”

  “We have no idea how much data Hershel had, or where he might have hidden it. He probably didn’t trust those Chinese bastards any more than I trusted him.”

  “Then there’s really only one way to take care of this. Make sure that
nothing survives, and that anyone who might remember is silenced.”

  “Alex,” Brin said softly.

  He turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m the only one who worked on it. I’m the only one, besides Rand, who knows.”

  Alex crossed the lab and hugged her tight.

  “Don’t worry. We just need to get through this—

  it will be fine. I promise.”

  “And what about you?” she asked. “Will you be fine? Will we? You know about the weapon, too, Alex.”

  “One thing at a time, okay?” he said. “Let’s get this handled, then we’ll start figuring out the rest.

  It will be okay.”

  She studied him, as if trying to judge if he was telling the truth, then nodded and turned back to the canister on the table. There wasn’t much time.

  “You’re sure that crap can’t survive if we blow it to bits?” Alex asked. “I’d hate to think I just ended one threat to create another that’s airborne.”

  “Like I said, extreme heat will kill it for sure.

  You’re going to blow the whole building, then?”

  Brin asked.

  Alex saw her hesitation. He knew she had years of research tied up with MRIS, stored on their computers and tucked away in their files. All the work she’d been doing, all the work her colleagues were doing, would be destroyed right along with the nanoagents. He wished there was another way.

  More than that, he wished she’d never been dragged into any of it.

  “It’s the only way,” he said as gently as he could.

  “We have to neutralize the threat, and we can’t take a chance that Rand backed up the data or kept a second sample on ice in some hidden lab you don’t even know about.”

  He hesitated a second, and then added, “I’m sorry, Brin.”

  “But everyone who works here—”

  “There’s no one here,” Alex said. “But sometimes you have to sacrifice a few people to get the job done. It’s sounds cruel, but it would be worse if we didn’t do what we had to do. The best thing we can manage is to get moving before people start to arrive. We need to get out.”