The Great Game

by O. J. Lowe

  Leclerc was still studying the body as he and Montgomery made to move on. Wilsin halted, glanced back. “Something troubling you, Alpha Three?”

  For a moment, Leclerc said nothing and then looked across at him. “This man. I know him. He is… I don’t remember his name but he’s a Fratelli family guy.”

  That brought a reaction. “What?!” Wilsin said.

  “Say again, Alpha Three,” Control said. It was either Brendan or Okocha on the line, Wilsin missed which as he stared at Leclerc.

  “Are you sure about that?!” Montgomery asked. “What the hells is a Fratelli family enforcer doing holding up a hospital in Vazara?”

  Chapter Forty-Two. Timebound.

  “One of the things that I’m proud to say we do make all attempts to do is ensure our agents are effective at fighting when circumstances are less than ideal. Low visibility for instance. Or when distracting stimuli are introduced into the mix. You can never plan for every eventuality but we aim to try. Unarmed combat is always a funny one to plan. It means the weapons have failed and we don’t like to consider failure. Yet sometimes, we must.”

  Tod Brumley, Unisco academy instructor, on training methods.

  The fifteenth day of Summerdawn.

  Wade wasn’t dead.

  It felt like he had died and his body was still just about moving of its own accord but he hadn’t deceased yet. Which was good. The pain was good. It kept reminding him that if he could feel the pain, he was still going. It had happened when Mallinson had been shot, the blaster had skidded back into his room and he’d had seconds to react. Yanking the drip out of his hand had been the worst part initially, he’d almost yelled out in pain as the needle had left his flesh. For a moment, he was worried it had snapped off and embedded in his flesh. Then he’d hurled himself at the weapon, throwing himself out of bed and tipping it over as he caught it with a flailing foot, already sure a bruise was forming up where he’d made impact.

  But he was still alive and no sooner had it crashed to the floor had he scooped the weapon up and stood just behind the door frame. Just in time to see the laser fire rip into the room and demolish the bed where he’d lain moments earlier, shredding the wood and the fabric with absolute impunity.

  He could just about see it, his vision was maybe at about sixty percent, he slid the safety off Mallinson’s weapon by touch and as the first shooter stepped into the room, he could see him well enough through the haze. He didn’t hesitate, just shot him in the back of the head at point blank range. Even if he’d had a shield up, it wouldn’t have made a difference at that distance.

  He went down, Wade went low and spun around the door, weapon up and ready to fire. He had to, the second guy was already aiming the weapon but before he could adjust, Wade shot him three times through the chest, springing up to a standing position and charging past him before he could react. He wasn’t going to be doing much else, he’d seen the entry wounds in the guy’s stomach, he might survive only if he got help immediately.

  All as he ran, not entirely sure where he was going to go, one thought came through his head repeatedly clamouring for his attention.

  They’d come for him. They’d come straight to his room and attempted a hit on him. Someone knew. He didn’t panic, that wouldn’t help him get out of here. He’d been trained to keep a calm head in the worst circumstances and these were slowly approaching that. Compromised vision, unknown number of hostiles, a potentially huge number of hostages… He wasn’t getting out of this one on his own. He still had Mallinson’s X7 in his hand, he didn’t know if he could hit someone at range with it. Those two guys had been easier; it’d have been harder to miss but he wouldn’t survive a firefight.

  Best thing to do would be to hole up somewhere, keep an eye on the door, blast anyone who came through. It’d be about the only thing he could do effectively. They’d find the two guys eventually. There was a theory that in a situation like this, you had half an hour absolute maximum following the first death before more came. As estimates went, he’d always thought it sounded generous. He just hoped rescue mobilised soon. No way could the Carcaradis Island constabulary be able to handle something like this. They’d be horribly outmatched, undertrained and underprepared. No, it’d be either get a team in from the mainland or, more likely, make a request to Unisco to cover it. In their situation, that’d be what he’d do. It’d be embarrassing in the short term but it would be the best thing to do. It was the first time he’d seen this hospital, he didn’t know where he was going, he could be walking into an ambush for all he knew…

  The Fratelli crime family was renowned for being one of the largest in the five kingdoms but as far as Wilsin knew, they didn’t have much presence in Vazara. Their main influence spread through Serran, Premesoir and some parts of Canterage. There was no reason why they should be here. The local Vazaran criminals, just like some parts of Burykia, were just about crazy enough to actively resist any attempts to organise them. They liked doing their own thing and they weren’t about to have anyone come in and tell them how to do it. Their way was the way of violence where the Fratelli’s and their ilk preferred to at least talk about it first before they moved onto dismemberment and actual bodily harm.

  So, with that in mind, what one was doing laid out in a hospital on Carcaradis Island, Wilsin didn’t know, he could just hear Okocha’s voice filtering through his earpiece, almost painfully aware of the seconds ticking by. They’d made the first kill, they didn’t have long to get into position before more started.

  “Yeah, got him, his name’s Richie Capelli. Also known as the Chain.”

  “Lovely,” Lysa muttered dryly. “Who names these people after hardware?”

  “Several counts of suspected trafficking, suspected murder… Yeah pleasant reading. Going to add terrorism to that dossier,” Okocha continued, ignoring her. “So… I’m at a loss here as to what’s going on.”

  “It’s not important,” Leclerc said, surprising Wilsin. “I mean, it’s not. Worry about that later, we have bigger problems now than someone being where they shouldn’t.”

  “Well said Alpha Three,” Wilsin said. “Come on, let’s move out. Worry about it later.”

  “Heh, what chance all of them being Fratelli family goons?” Lysa asked, a question Wilsin had already briefly considered. Even if they were and by some glorious fluke of nature they could take them alive, getting them to talk and admit that Giacomo Fratelli had put them up to it and why would probably be a pipe dream too far. The people who knew stuff tended to be almost fanatically loyal and close mouthed. More to the point, they were probably miles away from here.

  It took them no time at all to run into trouble and Derenko hissed out a curse as they rounded the corner and saw three guys walking the same direction towards them, two of them joking and laughing, another cold and focused. It was that focused man who survived, he saw them and dived for cover into a room, the merry men going for their blasters and a trio of different shots hammered into them, knocking them down dead.

  Cover blown and now they really were pushed for time. He’d shot, Aldiss and Harper had both shot and they’d been good hits, they weren’t getting back up from it, that briefly ticked through his mind as he traced the path the other guy had gone with his eyes. That had torn it. It’d be only a matter of seconds to send a hail and… Couldn’t think. Had to act. He pressed up against the wall, the door had been left open. He briefly flashed his hand across the doorway, withdrew it quickly and heard the shots flash by.

  “Come on in, the water’s lovely!” he heard the cackling voice roar. “I’m waiting for you.”

  Derenko glanced back at his teammates, gestured for them to go back. Find another way into that room, he mouthed at them. They both slunk back out of sight and he kept a tighter grip on his Featherstone. There had to be another way to do this. His eyes went to the two hostiles they’d already dropped, he checked them over, didn’t see any sort of hailing equipment. Maybe it was portable. If he’d been in this situa
tion, he’d have his people hooked up to heart trackers. The moment they were dropped; you’d know about it. Hopefully whoever was organising this thing wasn’t as organised as he would have been.

  “I’ll enjoy it from out here,” he said. Maybe he could distract the hostile long enough for Aldiss and Harper to flank him. This wasn’t the best place for a shootout. Too many places to be ambushed, too many to hide, too many innocents about still. Many might have run out before the shit truly went down but those who couldn’t move still had to be here. Hence the reason he didn’t fire blindly into the room.

  He thought of the grenade on his belt and toyed with the idea for a moment. It still might cause some damage but it’d only be superficial. It’d be more distressing than anything. He’d give them another ten seconds and then toss one in there.

  “Shame, it’s lovely in here. So nice of you to show up, Unisco! I always wanted to kill some of you scum!”

  “Nice accent,” Derenko said. What was it? Burykian? He couldn’t tell above his heart pounding in his ears. He’d overheard Wilsin’s team discussing their corpse with Okocha and Brendan, more questions were being asked by the minute as to who these guys were.

  Come on Aldiss, don’t let me down now!

  “What’s the HSB doing here?” He shouted out at the top of his voice the name of the first Burykian crime group he could think of, the Holy Sun of Burykia, not one of the biggest but one of the most well know due to a series of serials on the viewing screens.

  “Ha! Holy Sun has set. There’s a new sun risi…”

  He was cut off, Derenko cursed the timing as he heard the roar of Featherstone fire and the unmistakeable sound of a body hitting the ground. He threw caution to the wind, stuck his head around the door and saw Harper stood with the weapon smoking in her hand.

  “Took you so long?” he inquired. “Good job, Bravo Three. Now let’s move out. We’ll identify bodies later. We don’t have time now.”

  Wade thought he heard laser fire. He wasn’t sure, here in the darkness of the closet, sound was distorted. Maybe it was close, maybe it was far away and maybe it wasn’t even happening at all. As much as he knew it was the best thing for him to do, he couldn’t help but shake the feeling he wasn’t about to live this down if someone found him hiding away. He was a Unisco agent. He should be out there trying to secure the area and here he was. If he had heard fire, then it was safe to assume that maybe his comrades had entered the building and were already trying to defuse the situation. They’d have it in hand. Nobody would hold it against him if he sat this one out. After all he’d earned his injuries in a more dangerous circumstance than this. That counted for something.

  He just wasn’t sure if he’d be able to live with himself if he didn’t do something more. He’d taken two of them out, more through fortuitous circumstances than skill on his part. He had an X7 with a half-depleted charge, he had vision that was spotty at best and he was walking around in a robe that left his arse hanging out. Not exactly the sort of situation that left you optimistic.

  He didn’t even have his summoner on him. Roper had it for safe keeping as far as he knew. He wondered if Roper was part of the team entering the building. If he was, Wade felt confident that it’d be sorted in no time at all. He’d be able to deal. A fully trained Unisco squad could take on anything short of a full army. In these circumstances, they’d be fine.

  He couldn’t shake that feeling of doom and gloom though.

  They were nearly there. They had to be. Twice they’d encountered resistance, the first Leclerc had tussled with before Montgomery had shot him through the throat while the second had been taken down courtesy of a Featherstone stock to the back of the head. Wilsin’s aim had been good and he’d gone down hard. Three down. Plus, the three that Bravo Team had dealt with.

  They’d seen two more hostiles dead in a room as well as another corpse that vaguely resembled Inquisitor Mallinson. He’d been preferable in death than he had been in life. Wilsin had met Stelwyn Mallinson before and hadn’t much cared for him. Still the loss of any Unisco agent in the line of duty was a tragedy. Very little had been made of the fact he was on the premises, not until Brendan had mentioned over the comms that he had been brought to the island to investigate the ICCC building attack. They’d not known he was at the hospital that day until recently. He’d also revealed the room was Wade’s. With the bed overturned and shattered by rifle fire, Wilsin didn’t know what to think. There was no sign of a body, not the one they were looking for anyway.

  So maybe Wade had gotten away. He hoped so. If anyone had been able to take an opportunity, it would have been him. Wade had all his training behind him, Mallinson was missing a weapon and there was no sign of it anywhere. Maybe he was fine. The hostiles had both been shot with precision, one in the back of the head, one several times in the stomach and it looked like he’d died hard.

  So, eight down. Wilsin wondered how many more of them they’d have to deal with before the day was over. Nobody knew exactly how many of them there’d been to start with. It was a question he vocalised out to Chaos team.

  “Ah, I think there’s at least three in the Administrator office,” Noorland said. “Maybe four. It’s hard to make out. Isn’t less though. Plan for more, you won’t be disappointed.”

  “Roger that Chaos Two,” Wilsin said. “Bravo One, what is your position?”

  “Converging on target,” Derenko replied. “Should be at the hot zone in five. You?”

  “Copy and paste that. We’ll see you there, Bravo One. Good hunting.”

  “You too, Alpha One.”

  So far it was proving too easy and Wilsin was finding himself worrying about that. They’d snaked their way through the hallways, keeping out of the main corridors when possible just in case. As Bravo team had found out by the sound of it, it was just too easy to walk into an ambush when you were exposed in the open like that. He’d insisted on it, neither Leclerc nor Montgomery had complained. They knew the score and they wanted to stay alive. Hence, they weren’t going to moan about it. They were also professional enough for it. He was grateful. Some Unisco agents could be real pains. He was sure he was one of them back when he’d been under command. Not an ideal thing for any field team leader to have to deal with. Still that was in the past now.

  The whole point was limits. He’d known how far to push it before it got insubordinate or ridiculous. He knew how to keep it in line before he became a liability. Everything had a limit and sometimes you didn’t want to risk testing those limits. He’d found himself wondering what the limits would be here. Without knowing what these hostiles wanted, it’d be hard to gauge how quickly they’d start exterminating hostages. If they were after bloodshed, no time at all. They could wipe everyone out before they were killed.

  If they were after something else and he had to believe that they were, then they might not do it as rapidly as they might have otherwise. They might only do it if they were forced. It took a queer strength of will to shoot an unarmed person. Someone who was trying to kill you, Wilsin could testify was an easy mark. Killing them would not be a problem. By that logic, he was probably far more likely to get shot than one of the hostages in the room. Those hostages in there were probably terrified, probably stressed and not a threat at all. If they kept their heads down, they’d likely be okay. That was the theory. Don’t be a hero and you won’t get hurt. Would they do it? Finding out could be an expensive way to call their bluff.

  More to the point, he still couldn’t figure out the logic behind their attack here. He didn’t have all the pieces, putting them together would be impossible but there should at least be the start of a picture.

  Not that it was important right now. The details could be established later. Maybe when they had all those, they could start to put them together. It was a very faint hope.

  He almost missed the hostile ahead, halting his team as the uniformed figure strode through one of the wards, rifle hanging loosely from his hands and letting his other hand trai
l against the thankfully empty beds. He had his back to them. The Featherstone felt heavy in his hand and Wilsin toyed with the idea of giving him one in the back. Except that would bring him back to the line of thought he’d employed before. Shooting someone who didn’t pose an immediate threat to you.

  Maybe he could turn it to his advantage. Get some answers. It was a thought that flitted through his head for a moment and then the hostile turned away out of sight and Wilsin held himself still, letting his breathing come under control. He still pointed the weapon in the space the figure had vanished, his mind already half made up to go after him. He took several steps forward; he knew what he had to do. He could smell a rank cologne in the air, it stank of a scent he couldn’t describe but it had a distinct blend of sweat within it. Lovely. Exactly what you wanted passing through your nasal passages.

  He grinned at that, heard something in the distance, something falling and quickened his pace up, rounding the same corner the hostile had followed at a slow walk. If he was about to walk into an ambush, it wasn’t going to be blindly. His finger sat on the trigger guard, he didn’t need to employ it. Nothing. Immediate area was clear. Leclerc and Montgomery were behind him, they had every direction covered and as three they moved through the corridor in a tight circle, trying to get a lock on the position of the hostile. Leclerc tagged him first and Wilsin heard the tell-tale snap of Featherstone fire cutting him down.

  “Hostile eliminated,” Leclerc reported, before glancing around at his commander. Wilsin gave him a nod and thumbs up.

  “Control, I had a thought,” Montgomery said. “About how we could defuse this situation peacefully.”