by Jan Domagala
“You’re quite mad you know Jonas and this can only end badly for you,” Sinclair said.
“Am I, General? That may be one opinion, history may record another,” Wilde countered confidently.
“You know what they say about history Jonas, that it’s written by the victors and this isn’t over yet,” Sinclair said.
“We’ll see, General, we’ll see. Now move, our chariot awaits,” Wilde said ending any further conversation.
As they approached Docking Bay Four Sinclair hoped that Hawk would make his move soon for time was running out for them all.
THE CORRIDOR LEADING to Docking Bay Four was curved. As Wilde and his two hostages reached it Tanis Rygar appeared from another direction.
“Hold it right there, Wilde, you’re not going anywhere without me,” Rygar shouted, his voice booming in the confines of the corridor.
“Ah Tanis, you figured out my little plan then. You’re smarter than I gave you credit for,” Wilde replied, surprised to see the ex Black Knight.
“Tanis Rygar, I read your file when you were with the Black Knights, quite impressive. Tell me, what made you leave the Alliance, was it purely the lure of financial gain?” Sinclair said as he recognised the name.
“I really must get those files updated you know. Did you know we didn’t have an image of you on file, anywhere? I must commend you sir on being so illusive,” he added, hoping that Hawk was still listening in.
“Thank you General Sinclair, you on the other hand are in various files with many images available,” Rygar replied.
“The price of fame my boy,” Sinclair said with a mock bow.
Rygar drew his Sig so quickly he startled Wilde.
“Okay Jonas, before you get any ideas, I’m coming along too,” Rygar said as he aimed the pistol at Wilde.
“No need to get aggressive Tanis, your appearance here is fortuitous for both of us. You can help with piloting the transport while I ensure the General here tries nothing foolish to prevent our escape,” Wilde said in agreement.
MATT HAWK HAD BEEN just a few steps behind Wilde when Rygar confronted him. He had to drop back and hide around the curve in the corridor so he wasn’t seen while he listened in to what was being said.
As the group entered the docking bay Hawk came out of hiding and ran to catch up with them. With his gun drawn he arrived at the door seconds after it closed. Timing was of the essence here and he had to get things just right if he wanted to catch them unawares. He needed to catch them when they least expected it otherwise his plan would not succeed. The odds against him had just doubled so he had to be careful.
Waiting for ten seconds he opened the door and entered.
This bay was the same as the other three with one exception, there was a craft on the pad ready for take off.
Wilde, the man he now knew as Tanis Rygar, General Sinclair and Tanya were half way to the sleek transport as Hawk entered, the sound of the doors alerting them.
Rygar was the first to turn around, he spotted Hawk and his mouth formed a satisfied grin.
“I was beginning to wonder when you would show up,” he said as he brought his Sig around to aim at Hawk.
Before he could fire Sinclair rammed into him in a shoulder charge that bundled him over, his shot going wild and impacting several feet above the door.
Hawk returned fire but not at Rygar, instead he fired at Wilde. Caught off guard, the supreme commander of OMEGA shifted his aim from Sinclair for just a second and that movement saved his life, for Hawk’s shot missed his head by a mere fraction. Wilde flinched as he felt the searing heat from the pulsed plasma bolt scorch his forehead as it passed him.
Quickly regaining his composure Wilde got off a shot that went wide of the target then, as panic took hold, he turned and ran for the sleek transport, his one thought that of escape.
Rygar got to his feet, looked at Sinclair who gave him a wink, then, as Wilde fired at Hawk, he turned to look at him. When Wilde moved, Sinclair went after him.
“I’ll get Jonas, you take care of him,” Sinclair said as he pointed at Rygar.
The ex Black Knight smiled as he watched the General leave and he turned to look at Hawk who stared back at him with those ice cold eyes.
“It’ll be my pleasure,” Hawk said.
“Just you and me then, hero. Exactly as it should be,” Rygar said as he squared his shoulders in preparation for the meeting he knew must come.
Tanya Wilde stood to the side not knowing what to do or where to go, except that she must watch and hope that Hawk could win the fight.
Rygar came forward with his Sig still in his hand staring hard at Hawk with a sadistic smile on his face. Whatever happened after this, whether he escaped, was left behind by Wilde or captured by the Recon Delta marines, one thing was certain, he would enjoy the next few minutes.
Hawk tried to size his opponent up. He looked strong with good musculature and his gait was evenly balanced which usually signified good coordination. With him coming from a military background, specifically the Black Knights, the Alliance’s version of Recon Delta, it meant his training would have been comparable to Hawk’s own, so his close quarter combat skills should not be taken lightly, and he still held his Sig.
He had a feeling though that Rygar would want to test himself. He’d called Hawk the hero and considered himself therefore to be the bad guy, so he would want this to end in a classic confrontation between them, man to man.
Holding the Sig loosely out to his side Rygar said, “We don’t need these, you and I, not for this,” then he tossed the pistol to the floor and came at Hawk.
“Thought you’d never ask,” Hawk replied and he braced himself for the onslaught.
“STILL TRYING TO GET away, Jonas?” Sinclair shouted after Wilde as he chased him on board the transport.
Wilde turned around and saw Sinclair come running onto the vehicle. They were in a corridor that ran almost the length of the craft with doors leading off to various compartments. It led forward to the flight deck where the pilot would fly the craft.
“Well, again General, so glad you could make it,” Wilde said as he brought his pistol up. In that split second Sinclair realised he had forgotten to arm himself, which meant there was only one thing left for him to do.
Hoping he was close enough, and that the surprise would be enough for Wilde not to shoot him in mid-air, he dived full length at him.
RYGAR THREW SEVERAL punches in rapid succession at Hawk, which he managed to either block on his forearms or dodge out of the way of.
A left hook caught Hawk squarely on his bruised ribs forcing him to drop his guard as he winced from the pain. Rygar saw the opportunity and delivered a thunderous right cross straight onto Hawk’s jaw snapping his head viciously sideways which he followed up with a left roundhouse kick again to his injured ribs. Hawk almost doubled over from the pain as he took a step backwards and Rygar went into a spinning back kick, which crashed against the side of Hawk’s head sending him sprawling to the floor.
Rygar looked at him with contempt and with a sneer said, “Thought you Recon Deltas were supposed to be tough!”
SINCLAIR LANDED ON Wilde and they both went crashing to the deck. The breath was knocked out of the General and as the two of them lay on the floor momentarily dazed from the impact he forced himself to his knees.
A quick glance at Wilde told him that he too was suffering from the impact and was trying to gather his senses but, more importantly, he still had hold of the Sig.
Hurling himself across the floor he landed on top of Wilde, frantically trying to grasp the hand holding the pistol.
Grabbing the wrist with his left hand he chopped at it with his right sending the Sig spinning across the deck.
Wilde punched Sinclair in the face splitting his lip and was then able to pull himself from under him and scramble to his feet.
Shaking the cobwebs free from his mind Sinclair got to his feet a second later. As they stood facing each other, Wilde asked,
“Don’t you think we’re a bit too old for all of this?”
“Speak for yourself, Jonas, there’s still plenty of fight left in me yet,” Sinclair replied and he spat out a wad of blood-soaked spittle at Wilde’s right shoe. As he looked down at it, Sinclair punched him squarely on the face with a straight right that rocked him back on his heels to such an extent that he landed on his back.
“Too old indeed,” Sinclair derided and stepped forward to finish it off. Wilde had other ideas meanwhile, and lashed out with his right foot from his prone position on the deck, catching Sinclair fully in the groin with his heel. The General almost puked from the intense pain as it doubled him over and he collapsed onto the deck in the foetal position, hands clutching his vitals.
Wilde slowly, and with deliberate calm, got to his feet, wiped blood from his damaged nose then retrieved the Sig from the deck. Standing over the General aiming the pistol at him he said, “Yes, General, too old and now I think it’s time for you to retire.”
HAWK MADE A SHOW OF struggling to his feet. “We’re tough enough,” he said as he stood in front of the sneering Rygar. “Well, I’ll show you what tough looks like,” Rygar said and he aimed a straight right at Hawk’s face.
Having tasted what Rygar had to offer, Hawk decided to join the fight instead of being a bystander. He caught the fist in the palm of his right hand, a hair’s breadth away from his face. Calmly he forced the hand down away from its intended target and with a slight smile said, “Okay, when you’re ready.”
Rygar couldn’t believe what had just happened. The man was beaten, and now he was standing there as if nothing had happened. What the hell was going on?
Hawk smashed his left fist into the befuddled expression on Rygar’s face sending him staggering backwards.
Shaking his head in disbelief, sending bloody spittle flying from his cut lips, Rygar charged at Hawk in a blinding rage.
Hawk sidestepped to the left blocking a punch with his right forearm, forcing his attacker to keep that arm extended giving him the opportunity to smash his left fist into Rygar’s unprotected ribs.
To retaliate, Rygar brought his right fist back, hoping to smash it into Hawk’s skull but it swept harmlessly across empty air as Hawk ducked beneath it.
Using a palm heel strike with his right hand, Hawk aimed the blow from his stooped position to come up at an angle of forty-five degrees and impact on the point of Rygar’s nose forcing that small strip of bone to travel up at the same angle.
Hawk came up, using the power of his legs and a twist of his hips at the last second to add power to the strike and his hand shot out at almost blinding speed.
Rygar had no idea what had hit him. He saw the hand come towards him, felt a sharp pain from the impact, then his brain shut down as the bone pierced his brain killing him. He fell to his knees, his eyes blankly staring ahead, before falling forwards onto his face.
Tanya rushed forwards, hurling herself into Hawk’s strong arms.
“Is, he... er... dead?” she stammered, choking back tears of relief.
“I sure hope so,” Hawk replied.
A quick glance told him all he needed to know. “C’mon we’ve got to get on that transport to help the General,” he said, pushing Tanya away just enough so he could look her in the eye, “We can pick this up later, when it’s all over.”
26
Hawk entered the transport holding his retrieved Sig out in front of him. In the corridor ahead he saw Jonas Wilde standing over the prone form of General Sinclair aiming a Sig P996 at him. He looked ready kill the General, which was something Hawk just wouldn’t allow to happen.
“Freeze, Wilde, or I fire and at this range I won’t miss,” Hawk said, his voice stern in the narrow corridor.
“And neither will I, so I suggest you do nothing if you value this man’s life,” Wilde replied without taking his eyes off Sinclair.
Slowly he raised his eyes from the prone form below him to that of the man challenging him, his aim unwavering. His intense gaze took in the situation with that first second: the tall muscular man with the cold hard eyes holding the pistol expertly aimed at him and just behind him the frightened form of his daughter.
“I take it that you left Tanis out there somewhere?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yep, he won’t be joining us, ever,” Hawk replied. He knew he would have to wait and see what Wilde was going to do. There was no way he was about to shoot Wilde, not in front of his daughter and besides if he did shoot him he didn’t want to risk him shooting the General in a reflex action. He would just have to allow this scene to play out and see where it took them.
“You’re not going to do anything stupid now are you, whoever you are, and risk me shooting the General here,” Wilde said. When no reply was forthcoming other than the intimidating stare he added, “No, thought not, now here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to keep this Sig trained on the General here as I back away towards the flight deck and you’ll continue to do nothing because if you do...”
“Let me guess, you’ll kill the General, how original,” Hawk interrupted sarcastically.
“You won’t goad me into doing anything foolish you know, that’s because I hold all the cards,” Wilde stated calmly.
“Now you’re beginning to sound like a bad comic book villain,” Hawk said, wishing that Wilde would move his pistol away from the General just enough so he could take the shot and end this, but that wasn’t going to happen. Whatever Wilde had become since leaving Col Sec he hadn’t forgotten his training and he kept the Sig aimed unerringly at his target as he backed away down the corridor.
The moment Wilde went through the door at the bottom of the corridor Hawk holstered the Sig and rushed to the aid of the General who was still curled up in agony on the deck.
“Why didn’t you take the shot?” Tanya asked from the doorway. As she moved forward the door closed behind her and they all heard the sound of the engines firing up.
“Excuse me?” asked Hawk as he knelt by Sinclair’s side.
“Why didn’t you shoot him, my father, when you had the chance?” she reiterated.
“Because he’s your father,” Hawk snapped back.
“Well, you should have,” she replied tersely.
Hawk looked at her not knowing what to say and before he could think of something, anything, Sinclair said, “Yes, you should have,” in a voice that was gravelly and still full of pain.
“Well, I couldn’t,” Hawk said finally, softly, for he knew his failure to act could have cost them all dearly.
“Matt, if you get the chance again don’t hesitate, shoot. You have to stop him,” Tanya said and Hawk looked at her to see if she meant it.
Could he shoot him? Well of course he could shoot him, he’d done that more times than he cared to recall, but could he kill a man in front of his daughter? No matter what that man had done, no matter how many lives he’d taken or would take, should he be allowed to continue? That man was still her father and seeing him shot dead in front of her would have an untold effect on her.
During this mission he’d grown closer to her and now he found himself thrust into an intolerable situation. He wanted, more than anything he could imagine, to try and build a relationship with her, but how would that be possible should he take the action she told him he must and that he knew he must?
Simple answer, it wouldn’t be possible.
He would do what he knew he had to do to safeguard the lives of Tanya, the General and the possible millions of other lives put at risk by her father’s actions should he continue down the path he was on. He would kill Wilde at the first opportunity and he would never see her again, for if he did all she would see would be the man who had killed her father.
Glancing at her he simply nodded his head and said, “Okay.”
The transport lurched off the pad, spun on its axis horizontally then powered out of the open docking bay out into space. Almost immediately a hyperspace window opened and the s
leek craft shot through it seeming to stretch out to infinity then vanish, the window collapsing in on itself as it closed.
Inside the transport the inertial dampeners prevented the passengers from being splattered across the bulkheads but they were aware of what had happened.
The internal speakers came to life as the intership com. unit was activated and they heard Wilde say, “Well, gentlemen and daughter of mine, we have made our escape from Earth and within a few moments we’ll be met by more of my men so please make yourselves comfortable while you can.”
Hawk helped Sinclair to his feet supporting his arm, which the General yanked away from him angrily.
“I do hope your inability to act earlier hasn’t cost us dearly, Matt,” he said fairly spitting the words at Hawk.
“We’re not dead yet, General, so just hold tight,” Hawk replied with altogether too much confidence for Sinclair’s taste.
“Hold tight?” Sinclair muttered as he watched Hawk grab hold of Tanya and brace her against him, almost as if...
A sudden explosion erupted in the rear quarter of the craft throwing it into a spin.
Hawk held Tanya tightly as the three of them went sprawling across the deck of the corridor.
“What the hell just happened?” Sinclair asked as he leant against the bulkhead.
“I’ll explain later, sir, now I’ve got to get to Wilde,” Hawk said as he headed towards the flight deck, gun drawn and ready to use.
Once within sight of the door he started to blast away at the locking panel at the side which, after being hit by a couple of pulsed plasma bolts, burst into flames and blew apart opening the doors.
Hawk entered the flight deck, his Sig held out in front in a two-handed grip moving from left to right as he swept the small room for his target.
Jonas Wilde was just pulling himself back into the pilot’s chair as Hawk burst into the room. He saw the tall agent over the back of the chair and quickly reached for his Sig and fired.
