Project Exodus (Biotech Wars Book 2)

by Justin Sloan

  “At least she’s moving this along nicely,” Alicia said. “Any signs of him?”

  “He’d be around the ambassador, I imagine.”

  Alicia glanced back at the corner of the garden, the covered part where several men and women stood out as obvious guards. She started meandering that way, nudging Shrina to stay close. When they were halfway there, Shrina pulled on her arm and nodded toward the bathroom.

  “Oh, come on,” Alicia said, staring at a large man who was fidgeting with his tie just outside the door to the men’s room, then made a show of adjusting himself before moving on.

  “No,” Shrina said with a laugh. “God, no. Him.”

  This time, Alicia saw who she meant. Impressive! The man had short, sandy hair in little curls, darker skin, and eyes that she could tell even from here were a stark green. For the first time in her life, she turned to her sister and said, “Damn.”

  “Right? But it gets better—he’s a nice guy, and smarter than you, even. Maybe.”

  Alicia laughed. “Let’s not go overboard here.”

  The guy was approaching them with a smile, putting his hands out as if he was ready to greet Shrina with a hug. “Well, what’s this, Shr—”

  “Surprise!” Shrina interrupted, moving in for the hug and whispering in his ear. Alicia was close enough to hear her say, “Don’t say my name. I’ll explain soon.”

  He pulled back, concerned, and gave Alicia a wary eye. “Is there a problem here?”

  “Oh, her?” Shrina grinned. “Yes, she’s actually kidnapped me and will probably kill me later. No, you goof. This is my sister.”

  “And she has a name?”

  Alicia stepped forward and shook his hand. “Patrice,” she said, giving him a brief wink.

  “Okay, um… It’s nice to meet you… Patrice?”

  Shrina put a hand on his back and looked around, then said, “Is there somewhere more private we can go?”

  A look of worry came over him, and he shook his head. “I like you, and I think we have something special.” Then he lowered his voice as he added, “I don’t think we should bring your sister into it. While most guys would love the chance, I’m just not that kind of—”

  Alicia held her hand over her mouth to stop a laugh while Shrina blushed but smiled.

  “Good thing,” Shrina said, “since that’s not at all what I meant. WTF, man? To talk. We have something very important to tell you. That’s why we’re here.”

  “Holy hell,” he said, blushing and now unable to make eye contact with Alicia. “I didn’t mean to assume. It’s just, with that dress and the way the question was worded. You know?”

  “Do you have a quiet place or not?” Alicia hissed, trying to move on from the topic.

  His eyes darted up then away again, and he motioned with a nod of his head for them to follow. They went past the guards and he waved them away, saying the two ladies were with him.

  “Thought you had a girl waiting for you back at Quantico?” one of the female guards said. “You dog.”

  “Oh, now he’ll never stop blushing,” Alicia said once they were past the guards and in a hallway by themselves.

  “How so?” he asked.

  “I’m betting that guard came on to you, and you told her you had Shrina so you refused her. No?”

  He scrunched his face. “I’m not sure I like your sister, Shrina.”

  “She’s just giving you a hard time because I was giving her a hard time earlier,” Shrina said and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. When they pulled apart, she held his head, then kissed him again.

  “Okay, guys,” Alicia said in protest. “I would say get a room, but we kind of have something to deal with.”

  Shrina gave her a scowl, then pulled back and wrapped an arm around Triston. “I think it’s very sweet. We never had a conversation about it or anything, but… wait,” she said, frowning at him. “Am I the one you meant, or do you have some other woman at Quantico I need to know about?”

  “Only you.”

  “Ah, then it’s very sweet.”

  Triston turned to Alicia, unable to hide his curiosity. “So…?”

  “Is a hallway the best place for it? Shrina asked.

  She had a point, and Alicia turned to the guy, waiting.

  “Damn, that serious?” he asked with a sigh, glanced around, and then started walking. “I mean, what should I expect, right? Date a girl long distance, FBI no less, and she shows up at an embassy dinner I know she’s not invited to.”

  “I’m right here, you know,” Shrina pointed out. “Don’t have to talk as if I’m not.”

  “The point is,” Alicia interjected, “can we really trust you?”

  Triston paused at a nearby door and turned to her, making direct, unwavering eye contact. “Yes.” He opened the door and gestured for them to go in. “Enter if you believe that. If you feel otherwise, don’t.”

  Shrina stepped right in while Alicia paused, staring into his eyes and seeing no reason not to enter. Finally, she took a step in and then off to the side to let him enter behind her. She almost expected him to lock them in there and leave, but that was just paranoia playing with her mind. He entered, checking behind him once more before closing the door.

  “So, what’s going on?” he asked Shrina. “Are you safe? Everything’s okay?”

  “Yes, yes. Maybe. We might have a group called the Benendatti after us. Or my sister and her husband, anyway.”

  His eyes went wide. “No.”

  “And you’ve heard of Project Destiny?”

  “No… I mean, of course. What planet would I have to live on not to have? Please tell me you’re asking because you’re thinking about becoming one or something.”

  “Not exactly.”

  Alicia scoffed. “Thank God.”

  “I’m not following,” he said.

  Shrina took a deep breath. “You will in a second. Um,” she said and glanced at her sister, “the simple version? Yeah, the simple version is that the PD soldiers are also after us. The Taipans—”

  “You’re messing with me. This is a joke.”

  “Afraid not.”

  “Tell him why,” Alicia chimed in, but Shrina bit her lip, giving her a look like she wanted her to do it. “Fine, I will. It was me who found out, anyway. Pretty much.”

  Triston held his hands to his head and groaned. “Found out what?”

  “That not only is New Origins taking people and destroying their lives but affecting their memories. These are the soldiers, people like my husband.” She waited for him to process this and then added, “And now we’ve found New Origins’ plans to make a move on Earth.”

  “Make a move?”

  “As in, they’re going to try and take out key governments.”

  “Holy…” He stumbled back, leaned against the wall, and then slumped to the floor, which was the first Alicia realized the room didn’t have any chairs. It appeared to be a briefing room, so the chairs must have been moved elsewhere.

  “It’s bad, I know,” Shrina said, kneeling next to him and rubbing his shoulders.

  “Worse,” he said. “If I’d known you were going to spring this on me, I might’ve recommended somewhere outside.” He waved a hand around the room. “What do you want to bet this place isn’t bugged?”

  Alicia felt her mouth go dry, now looking for signs of bugs. Usually, she would have already thought of that, and she wanted to kick herself for missing it. There could be bugs in the walls, where she couldn’t see, or in the lights. Anywhere.

  “We haven’t given our names,” she hissed. “And we need to figure out the next step. Are you in or out?”

  “You haven’t given me any details or told me what I’d be in on.”

  She leaned in, lowering her voice even though she knew that wouldn’t do much if they had good listening devices. Too much had been said already. “We have proof. We need to get it to the right people—those who can make a difference.”

  “We hoped your boss, maybe,
would be trustworthy enough and have the right connections.”

  “Ambassador Merril?” He blinked, stared at the ground in thought, and then nodded. “If it has to be someone we know, then him. Yes. But,” he said and glanced around the room again, “we’d have to move quickly. Now. Tonight.”

  Alicia nodded in agreement. Shrina looked at her, nervously.

  “I don’t even know how to go to him with something like this, though. I mean, why would he believe me?”

  “We have a lot of information from their systems, enough to both prove the source is legit and what we’re saying is true.”

  “But, I mean, your sister told me about you. Part of that was that you, er, weren’t yourself,” he began to say, choosing his words carefully.

  Alicia imagined he’d said that instead of “dead” in case people were listening.

  “And I imagine you would have the ability to tamper with the info.”

  “True, but there would be signs. Anyone with my knowledge knows how to look for those signs, and they aren’t there.”

  “Can you do it?” Shrina asked.

  He nodded. “It sounds like this is really happening, which means I don’t see that we have any other choice.”

  Shrina smiled wide, looking up at Alicia.

  “Yes, your long-distance boyfriend is both hot and brave,” Alicia said with a laugh. “Win for you. Now let’s score one for the rest of humanity.”

  “I’m your boyfriend now?” he asked.

  “Oh, God,” Alicia said, turning back to the door but waiting.

  “If you want to be, yeah. I’d say so,” Shrina said.

  “Of course. I mean, you already know I turned down the hot guard,” he said and laughed at the look she gave him. “I’m loyal and totally into you, not blind.”

  “Okay, great. You two are officially a couple now.” Alicia said and nodded to the door, holding up her bag that held her wrist computers, one with the disc in it. “Remember—world saving and all that?”

  “Right.” Triston pushed himself up, took Shrina by the hand, and led them out of there. “Let’s go have a talk with the ambassador.”

  They walked back along the hallway with purpose and then into the crystal garden where the ambassador was now deep in conversation with Kazuo. That was the first sign that something was off—she wasn’t supposed to speak with him. The next was the almost malicious way she was looking at his drink and watching as it drew close to his lips.

  A man in a tux and carrying a briefcase—the briefcase looking totally out of place—turned to them and smiled, and it took a second for Alicia to realize that it was Marick.

  The next moment seemed to slow down as everything appeared to happen at once. Crystal sculptures erupted behind Marick, bullets tearing into them as the black and green of the Taipan uniforms appeared. Triston jumped forward, knocking the glass from the ambassador’s hands before it touched his lips, and then he leaped for Kazuo, pinning her down. Marick spun, ducking for cover and then throwing his briefcase open, unlatching his exoskeleton and putting it on. He rose with his DD4 rifle and unleashed fire back at the Taipans.

  And then the black and purple of Nightshade was visible for a brief second, zipping past him. She carried a blade that emitted a glowing whip. It struck and flashed, electricity flowing along it, and nearly took Marick out if not for a quick dive to the side on his part. And just like that, she was gone. Shapes moved behind the crystal statues, but nobody could get a fix on them.

  Embassy guards were now moving into position, two helping Triston as Kazuo pulled weapons on him and the ambassador, but Alicia was more focused on her husband. She had started to dart forward to help him when she noticed Shrina lunging the other way and pulling her gun as Kazuo swung a knife at Triston and aimed a pistol at the ambassador.

  Shrina’s shot rang out, louder than the rest, or so it seemed to Alicia even though she knew it was only because she was closer. Kazuo cringed, dropped the blade, and tried to squeeze the trigger of the pistol she held on the ambassador, but the guards were on her, taking advantage of the moment.

  When Alicia turned back to Marick, he wasn’t there. Neither were Nightshade or the Taipans. A glance around showed the immediate area was swarming with embassy guards, including a few Marines.

  She glanced around, stepped back, and then ducked into the halls. Putting her comms in, she said, “Dear, where are you?”

  “Stay there!” he shouted, too loud for comfort. “Don’t move! Just stay there!”

  “Like hell,” she replied, and then pulled out her wrist computer and turned on the screen, waiting for it to zero in on his location. Of course, she hadn’t told him she’d rigged it, but what good hacker wife wouldn’t do so?

  A green bleep appeared, and she made for the crowd of guests she heard making their way to the gates in case there was more trouble. She would sneak out with them and then go rescue her husband.

  25

  Marick: Italian Embassy

  Marick had been hit the second time the whip came, but it wasn’t a whip in the ordinary sense. It had sent him reeling, nearly knocking him unconscious, and pulled him up and into the air in a levitation style over the crystal statues. He was nearly impaled on one, but had swiped up with his own device and sent two crystal statues to slam into Nightshade, breaking her grip on him.

  He fell, but was instantly up and ready.

  A quick glance around showed he was surrounded by crystal statues and several of the Taipans. He could fight there, risking more people getting hurt, or take the fight elsewhere. He chose the latter, using the levitation function to lift more statues in the way as he darted over to the ledge and leaped down to the next level.

  That was when his wife’s voice had come over the comms, but he’d had to end it, fast. He definitely didn’t want her getting involved in a fight with several Taipans. Since Nightshade was there, he was doubtful about his own chances, but he had to try.

  Somehow, they’d known where they were going. Or maybe they had the embassy bugged and voice recognition running. He wasn’t sure. What he was sure of was that the maze of precious stone walls ahead would be the best place to fight, so he darted in there, finding a good spot to be ready. The first Taipan to follow him in lost his shooting hand first, then found a knife in the neck.

  Marick kept moving, throwing the body up against a wall. As he ran, he heard shots behind him and then saw a Taipan jumping up over the nearby wall. The Taipan spotted him and shot. Marick sighed, wishing he could just fight normal people for once. Super soldiers with exoskeletons and crazy weapons were wearing on him. But he was ready, and the next time one appeared in the sky, the Taipan got a blast of four rounds. He wasn’t sure if it would kill the poor bastard at that range, not with Taipan armor, but it would do some damage. The DD4 rifle was not to be messed with.

  Another turned a corner and one a second later, and Marick found himself up against two at once. Just when he dropped one with a broken neck, a third arrived. Dammit. He had to get them out of commission and move or he’d be quickly overrun. He rolled out of the way of a strike, slammed his rife up under a man’s faceplate, and let off the four-round burst. One more down. The last one actually started backing up, and that was when Marick knew he had him. He leaped up, smiled wide, and then shouted, “Run!”

  It actually worked, and the guy was taking off, tripping over himself, when—BAM! A shot from the other side took him out. Marick glanced over, expecting to see Alicia or someone else, maybe Kazuo.

  First he saw the gleam of moonlight on black armor and then the purple lines of light. The person who had shot the fleeing Taipan was none other than Nightshade herself.

  Marick was back at the edge of the lower level of the embassy, with her at the top of one of the maze walls, walking toward him. Her hips swayed, blades ready in her hands. She clearly had no worries in the world, completely sure of herself with each step. As far as she was concerned, this wasn’t going to be a fight, but a slaughter.
/>   Well, he planned on bringing her down a peg or two—hopefully by removing her head.

  When she pounced, he was prepared for it, already flying at her with a combat knife ready in one hand and a pistol in the other, held against his forearm for accuracy. Shots went off and pinged off of Nightshade’s enhanced armor, but she was fast and brought up her two blades, catching his as he made a strike and then moving to plant the other in his heart.

  He blocked and sent a bullet through her arm, penetrating the armor at point-blank range. He tried for her neck next, but she brought her blade up and into his arm, and he howled in pain. This wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped it would. Sure, he could heal, but not if he was dead.

  He took a step back and considered his options, realizing he was once again in the open with a fighter much better than himself. To make it worse, she didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

  Hating it, he turned and ran. He needed to get her into a position that he could use to his advantage. He had to corner her… or something! The door ahead of him was blocked by a guard, but Marick plowed right past, ignoring groping hands and protestations. He tried to pull the man with him and out of harm’s way, but it was no use. When he was inside, a shot rang out and he knew the guard was dead.

  A room of red lights awaited him, filled with odd guests of the embassy, all nude and wearing strange animal masks. Loud music played as the nasty orgy went on without any notice of his arrival.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Marick muttered, figuring they must have been too into whatever they were doing here to get the memo that the embassy was being attacked. “Get out of here!” he yelled and shot into the sky.

  As nude, masked people ran for their lives, Nightshade entered the room with a kick that would’ve taken out Marick’s leg if not for his exoskeleton.

  He moved in, grabbing her and trying to pry her helmet back to get a clean shot at her neck, but she was damn strong with all of her enhancements. Resisting his strength, she slammed her head forward and hit his face with her helmet, splitting his brow so that blood was immediately trickling down and around his eyes. Not good, if he wanted to see. And he did.