“Good call,” Steve said.
“So, um, Steve, is it okay if I take one of these?” Karl was holding the Colt. “I mean, if it’s not cool . . .”
Steve laughed. “Go for it. I’ve already broken any number of regulations by bringing you here.”
Steve grabbed a black duffel bag and loaded it with their selections. Pausing for a moment, he grabbed another vest and threw it in, and then added a set of transceivers. Karl helped, and when the bag was full, Steve picked it up, barely feeling the weight.
“You really are feeling better, aren’t you?” Karl said. “How close are you to peak performance?”
Steve shrugged. “Eighty percent, maybe? It doesn’t really matter, I have to be good enough for what we’re about to do. Katherine needs us.”
Karl was still stuffing his pockets with extra rounds and a number of magazines for his new toy. “Don’t worry, those guys aren’t going to know what hit them.”
“I hope not. I hate hostage situations—there are too many variables, too many things that can go wrong.”
“Yeah, I’ve been involved in my share. But that’s the thing, I have the experience and the training to deal with exactly this scenario, and you . . . well, you’re Captain America.”
When Steve didn’t return his grin, Karl frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
Steve simply held up the phone, putting it on speaker and letting Karl hear it ring out.
“I’ve been trying to contact my source at S.H.I.E.L.D., Katherine’s aunt, Maria,” Steve said. “She isn’t answering my calls and I’m starting to worry. It might just be that I’m using one of our burner phones and she doesn’t want to take even the small risk it could be compromised. My phone was packed with all sorts of extra tech, and she knew the number, but it didn’t survive the fight that laid me up. I hope that’s it, anyway.”
Steve tried not to think of the alternatives. He had to trust that Maria could look after herself—after all, she had certainly shown she could in the past.
“So, no cavalry?” Karl asked. “No one else you can contact?”
“I can’t just get anyone involved. If anything, this is a S.H.I.E.L.D. operation, so really I should be calling them for backup.” Steve said. “The problem with that is I simply don’t know who I can trust. Maria is the only one I can be sure of.”
Karl shrugged. “If that’s the way it is, then I guess it’s up to us, Cap, and I’d back us any day,” Karl said. “Like I said, we have unique talents that make us perfect for this. And we have one advantage that I never had on any of my past missions—something that would have made those extractions so much easier.”
“What’s that?” Steve asked.
“Katherine is no good to them dead. They need her research, and that means that they need her.” He looked up at Steve. “That’s our trump card.”
Steve suddenly felt a whole lot better about things. He had been so caught up in his concern for Katherine that he had forgotten that simple truth.
“Thank you, Karl,” he said. “I needed that.”
Karl shrugged uncomfortably.
“It’s no big deal, just spelling it out for you. Now, are we going to stand around here chatting, or are we going to go get Katherine back?”
Chapter 13
Washington D.C.: 2300 hours
Are you sure you’re up to this?” Karl asked. “You still don’t look like you’re at your best.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” Steve said, with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Just a bit sore. Once I get moving, I’ll be as good as new.”
They were prone on the roof of a tall building that overlooked the Four Seasons Hotel. They were up high enough that they could see down into the penthouse suite, which took up the entire top floor of the hotel. Steve had discarded his civilian clothes and was back in his uniform, shield strapped to his back. He felt much more comfortable—and ready for anything.
“For freedom fighters, these guys certainly live the high life, don’t they?” Karl remarked. “So much for this ‘every minute we wait is a minute my people are suffering’ and all that.”
Steve had to agree. He had nothing against enjoying the comforts of life when you could, but they had been watching the TLF for hours now through thermal imaging scopes, and had counted at least six room service deliveries.
“So, I’ve got eleven men.” He swept the scopes back across the room one last time just to be sure. The walls may as well have not been there; the occupants of the penthouse showed up as crystal clear, if green-tinted, figures. Steve counted them off.
“One at each compass point, that’s four. Two on patrol, that’s six. One at the main door, that’s seven. And four in the main rooms, that’s eleven, plus a smaller image that I assume is Katherine. Is that what you have?”
“That’s affirmative. Looks like the smaller figure is seated and restrained.” Despite the neutral language, Steve could hear the anger simmering below Karl’s words.
“When we go in, we go in hard and fast. But remember, emotion can’t come into it,” Steve said. “That’s the only way we’ll get her out.”
“Don’t worry, Captain. I’ve been here before.”
Steve clapped him on the shoulder. “I know you have. Glad to have you on my side.”
Steve got to his feet with barely a twinge. He really was getting better, but whether it was better enough was something they’d find out soon.
“Are you ready?” he asked Karl.
“No time like the present,” Karl said. He gathered up his equipment, double checking that his shotgun was loaded with bean bag rounds. He hesitated, then slid his M1911A1 into the holster at his side.
“Remember, nonlethal rounds unless absolutely necessary, okay?” Steve said, noticing Karl’s motion.
Karl nodded. “It’s just some insurance, that’s all. Absolute last resort.”
Steve took the strange, hybrid crossbow and walked to the edge of the building. “So, when we get over there, you go left, I go right. We take out the men at the compass points, scooping up the patrols on the way, then meet at the main door and take out the sentry. Then we worry about the ones in the main area of the room.”
“They’ll know we’re there by then, and they’ll be waiting,” Karl warned, even though they’d gone over the plan a half dozen times by then.
“I can’t see anything we can do about that,” Steve said. “We just have to hope you’re right about Katherine’s value to them.”
“It’s risky, but I don’t see any other option. There’s only two of us.”
“Then we’ll have to be twice as careful.” Steve looked across the gap and nodded to himself. “Let’s do it.”
Steve raised the crossbow and sighted across the gap between the two buildings. He squeezed the trigger and, with a puff of compressed air, a bolt shot out, a line of cable unraveling behind it. The bolt hit the concrete above the balcony door, setting off a tiny charge in its shaft that drove metal spikes deep into the wall. Steve tugged on it and grunted with satisfaction—there wasn’t any give, no matter how hard he yanked on it. He tied off the cable around a metal bar protruding from the rooftop and then walked over to the duffel bag.
“Here you go.” He tossed a harness over to Karl, who looked at it, then at the cable.
“Are you sure that’s going to hold our weight?” he asked doubtfully. “It looks awfully thin.”
“It’s a spider silk and steel composite,” Steve said. “You could suspend a truck from it. I think you’ll be okay.”
Karl shrugged and put the harness on. Steve did the same, and then clipped them both to the cable.
“Here’s the quick release. As soon as we hit the balcony, unclip, and go hard and fast.”
With that, Steve kicked off the rooftop, his weight sending him hurtling across the gap between the two buildings. When
he neared the Four Seasons, he hit the quick release and was already moving when his feet landed on the balcony. Using his momentum, Steve dove through the balcony windows, tucking himself into a forward roll. He hit the first of the men in a spray of wood and glass, sending him flying into the wall with a nasty crunch. Steve was already up by the time the other man had recovered enough to reach for his gun, and he sent him flying with an uppercut. He heard a crash and a stream of profanity behind him; Karl arriving, he assumed.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Rogers headed right, trusting Karl to do his job. As he rounded the corner, Steve came face to face with a guard armed with a shotgun. Rogers didn’t even slow down, instead charging the TLF man, who only had time to get off a single round, buckshot screaming off Steve’s shield in all directions. Rogers used his momentum to carry himself past the man, clipping him on the temple with the rim of the shield and sending him crumpling to the ground. He kept moving, listening for the sound of the patrol. There. The other two men came rushing around the corner, pistols already in hand. It did them no good; Steve was already on them. He dropped his shoulder and sent one of them flying, then kicked out, sending the other man’s pistol spinning through the air. The TLF soldier was experienced enough to not waste time scrambling after his gun, and instead reached for his hip and pulled out a knife. Its edge gleamed wickedly as he came in low and fast, the knife heading straight toward Steve’s stomach.
Steve brought the blade of his hand down on the other man’s wrist, sending the knife flying. The other man again showed his experience by not letting the loss of another weapon distract him, and immediately brought his other hand around, driving his fist into Steve’s side. The body armor absorbed most of the blow, and Steve brought up his elbow, driving it into the other man’s solar plexus. As the man fell forward, Steve rapped him on the skull with the rim of his shield. That was another man down.
For the first time since he had entered the penthouse, Steve had a chance to look around. He’d made a mental diagram before launching the raid, but that hadn’t prepared him for the sheer opulence of the place. It was built in a pattern of concentric squares, the big center square of the main living areas surrounded by a square hallway that ran the whole way around it. At each corner was another square that held a luxuriously appointed room with its own en suite. The decor was old world—leather and oak with gold fittings and meticulously replicated oil paintings of dead generals. Steve wondered how much a place like this cost, then gave up—it was too far outside his experience to even guess.
He kept moving around the hallway, thankful for the sloppiness of the TLF guards. Instead of standing right at the corner, where he could have seen all the way down the corridor in either direction, the next guard was lounging against the wall, smoking an evil-smelling cigarette. He didn’t even have time to straighten up before Steve was on him; he was down in seconds. Steve considerately butted out the man’s cigarette.
“I’m doing you a favor. Those things will kill you.”
By the time he reached the main entrance, Karl was already there. The last of the guards had turned to deal with him, and it was a simple matter for Steve to come up behind the guard and catch him in a sleeper hold, Rogers’ muscular arms compressing the man’s blood vessels and cutting off the circulation to his brain. The man struggled in his grip, but to no avail, and was soon unconscious on the floor.
They’d been quiet, and the walls were thick, but Steve had to think that the men in the other room were aware of the intruders. He regretted letting the guard get off even one shot, knowing it might have been enough noise to give them away, but he wasn’t sure what other option he’d had.
“So, what’s the plan, Cap?” Karl whispered. “Are we going with the full frontal assault?”
“I have an idea,” Steve replied.
He knelt down next to the unconscious man and shook him. When there was no response, he slapped the man across the face, forehand then backhand. The man groaned and stirred, weakly pawing at Steve’s hands. He opened his eyes, only to flinch as he looked straight down the barrel of Karl’s Colt.
“Hello, friend,” Steve said conversationally. “I just wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?” the man said on confusion. “My English, I don’t think you mean what I think?”
“Oh, I do. You’re going to help us out. You just don’t know it yet.”
Steve hauled the man to his feet and spun him around.
“You were right, Karl. We needed that last resort.”
Karl cocked his pistol and nodded.
“Ready?” Steve asked.
“Always,” Karl said. “I’ll cover the left—you take the right.”
Steve pushed the man in front of him. “Knock on the door and tell them that you need to speak with your leader. Make sure you sound convincing—Karl here knows enough Temasikian to catch you if you try and give us away.”
Steve didn’t know if that was true, but the man took one look at Karl’s expression and gulped, then nodded. Rogers pushed the man up to the door, and he rattled off a few sentences in Temasikian. Another voice replied from behind the door, eliciting a back-and-forth between the two. Finally, after what seemed to be an incredibly long time to Steve but which was probably only a few minutes, the door slowly opened. The second man’s eyes widened as he took in the sight in front of him, but before he could react, Steve barreled his captive into the other man, sending him crashing to the floor.
Before the two men had even hit the ground, Steve and Karl were though the door, Rogers’ shield ready and Karl’s gun pointing at the TLF members in the room. Four of them stood in a semicircle with Katherine in the middle. She was seated, bound to her chair, and Ernst held his gun against her head. Her eyes were wide and frightened, staring at Steve over the gag that covered the bottom half of her face.
“Don’t move or I will splatter her brains all over this room,” Ernst said, venom dripping from his voice. “Drop your weapons.”
“Before you do anything hasty, why don’t you ask one of your men what’s on your forehead right now?” Karl said.
Ernst looked baffled for a moment, then rattled off a question in Temasikian. One of the men replied in the same language, pointing at Karl and then at the red dot that sat in the middle of Ernst’s forehead.
“I love this gun,” Karl said. “I can blow your head off right now, and know within a millimeter where the bullet will enter your brain.”
“That might be true, but can you be sure I won’t get a shot off first?” Ernst asked. Despite himself, Steve had to admire the man’s self-possession. He could have been discussing the weather for all the emotion in his voice.
“That’s the only reason you’re still alive,” Karl said. “Steve may be one of the good guys, but I would have no compunction at all about putting a pill in you right here and now. Tell your men to put their weapons down on the ground.”
Ernst gave him a venomous glare, then nodded to his men. They laid their weapons on the ground and kicked them over to Steve.
“Now what?” Ernst asked. “This is a standoff. You can’t shoot me, and I can’t shoot you.”
“There is a big difference, though,” Karl replied.
“And what’s that?” Ernst asked.
“We don’t need you alive,” he said coldly. “But you need what’s in Katherine’s head. The only thing in your skull is something that, unless we get the girl back, has an appointment with my bullet in about five seconds.”
Ernst laughed. “I think you overestimate her value. Yes, what she has will help our cause, maybe even be a turning point. But we have fought for decades without her, and we will fight on for decades more if need be.”
“I don’t believe you,” Karl said uneasily.
“Believe this—I will sooner kill her than give her back. If we cannot have her research, then no one will.” The mask had
dropped fully now, and Steve could hear the fanaticism burning in the man’s voice.
“You’ll die, too,” Karl said weakly.
“You think I am scared to die? I have been dead for eighteen years, since the moment I joined the struggle. It is only a matter of time.” Ernst smiled a death’s-head smile. “It may as well be here, among such comforts, as anywhere else. And if I take down Captain America with me, there will not be a person in the world who doesn’t know of the TLF and our glorious struggle.”
“You’re insane,” Karl said. “You want to die.”
“No; if I can walk away from this, I will do so happily. I still have much to offer my people. I just wish to ensure you are under no illusions as to how much leverage you have in this situation. My willingness to negotiate has its limits.”
“Then I guess we have a stalemate,” Karl said. “It’s okay, I can wait as long as you can.”
“Do you have reinforcements coming?” Ernst asked abruptly. “Are you so confident they will be here soon?”
Karl hesitated. “Of course we do.” It was too late; his pause had given them away.
“I thought as much. Time was of the essence for you. No time to arrange backup,” Ernst said. “Well, I have been in this country for a few weeks now, and I have had my men in meetings all up and down the East Coast. This is our rendezvous point; we meet here before we leave for the airport. There’s a half dozen of my soldiers on their way here as we speak.”
“You’re bluffing,” Karl said.
“Why don’t you just wait and see about that?” Ernst said. “They are meant to be here in five minutes, and my men are nothing if not punctual.”
Steve and Karl looked at each other. Steve knew that the delicate balance that they had been able to create would not survive the introduction of more variables.
“What if I go with you?” Steve stepped forward, lowering his shield to rest at his side.
“What?!” Both Karl and Ernst said at the same time, then stopped and looked at each other suspiciously.
Marvel's Captain America: Sub Rosa Page 13
