Armageddon, page 17
part #9 of Col Sec Series
As she rolled free and into a crouch she looked across to see Kurt look at her, his face already repaired. As their eyes met Kurt’s were filled with a fury she had rarely seen.
Kurt was filled with a rage now and determined to finish this. Those people and all those in the surrounding area would not succumb to the Quantum bomb like those in Washington had. This time he would save them.
He looked from Zara into the eyes of the giant as he was getting to his feet. Wiping blood from his face Kurt walked forward, his eyes blazing. The tension in the small area seemed to increase in intensity; the air around Kurt was almost crackling with electricity.
He neared Marek watching for the slightest movement, when it came he was ready.
Marek threw a right hand at him aimed straight for his face. Kurt slipped the punch and slammed a fist into the nerve cluster under the armpit.
Marek brought the arm back immediately, pain lancing down his arm. He threw another punch at Kurt who, again slipped it then buried another punch of his own in the opposite side.
Again Marek tried to hit Kurt, this time he blocked the arm, grabbed the wrist then smashed his other hand against the elbow joint. The arm should have irretrievably broken but it just snapped back into place.
Marek grimaced from the blow then smiled a cruel grin which only determined Kurt to act again. He punched Marek in the face several times then received a backhanded strike that snapped his head around so fast he spun off his feet.
From the ground he saw Zara leap at Marek landing on his back grabbing his head trying to choke him. His strength was enormous though and he easily ripped her arms free then tossed her over his massive shoulders onto the floor at his feet.
He knew the air would be blasted from her lungs from the impact and she would have to be careful not to black out. She kicked out straight up into the approaching face of her attacker with both feet though, knocking him back a few steps giving her enough room to flip herself back onto her feet.
As she landed Kurt saw Marek grab her from behind, again going for the chokehold.
What was keeping this guy on his feet? He was like a robot.
Before he could act Marek had snapped her neck and she was falling to the ground, dead.
Kurt screamed in grief and fury. Seeing Zara die again brought all his former memories flooding back. He was on his feet in a flash rushing at the behemoth who merely smiled.
Kurt attacked with punches to his face and body pummelling him, forcing him back by the sheer force of the blows. Blood flowed from several cuts to his face but nothing he did seemed to faze him, it was almost as if he felt no pain.
Kurt was moving in a blind fury now, his actions so fast they seemed a blur to anyone watching and Marek could not keep pace. In desperation he flailed his arms around hoping to catch his attacker but Kurt saw the blows coming and easily ducked beneath or slipped them.
Kurt noticed a pattern to his flailing attacks and he fell into a rhythm in avoiding them then noticed the trap too late.
Anticipating his movements Marek changed his attack one last time and as Kurt came up from beneath a swinging left arm he grabbed Kurt by the neck with his right hand.
Kurt felt his neck crushed in a vice as his face was brought close to the giant’s. He saw the damage he’d inflicted on the killer, both eyes were closing from the bruising, he had cuts on both cheeks as well as above both eyes but the evil grin was still in place as he applied pressure to his grip.
He was about to push his thumbs into Marek’s eyes when the massive head in front of him exploded spraying blood and brain matter all over his face.
The grip on his throat was instantly released as his arm fell to hang by his side.
Stepping back Kurt watched as the giant fell to his knees then fell face first into the gore.
Standing behind him was Zara holding a Sig still aimed at where Marek’s head had been seconds earlier.
“Laugh that off mutherfucker,” she snarled, clearly she was alive and well answering his earlier thought.
“C’mon, let’s go we’ve still got work to do,” Zara said without a second glance at the dead man.
42
As the two of them reached the Situation Room door the marines were still trying desperately to get inside.
“Still locked out?” Kurt asked Colonel De Boer. The Colonel glanced at his blood-spattered face and asked, “Cut yourself shaving?”
“Something like that,” he replied with a deadpan expression.
“What can we do?” Zara asked hoping to steer the conversation away from Kurt’s appearance.
“The door’s locked solid, we can’t breach it in time, not with what we have here,” De Boer stated.
“I have an idea,” Kurt said.
Zara looked at him and he could see in her expression she was not going to like what he was going to do.
“I need both of the SUTs,” he said holding out his hand for hers. Reluctantly she passed it over as he strapped his on his wrist.
“Jake, I need you to come into a low orbit right over our location and be ready to move away fast,” Kurt said through a comm. channel.
Jake’s voice sounded loud and clear in his ear when he said, “Copy that.”
“Tell me you’re not thinking of doing what I think you’re thinking of doing,” Zara pleaded.
“Okay, I won’t.”
“Kurt!” Zara said her eyes pleading.
“This is our only chance of getting that bomb to safety and I will not allow millions more to die while I stand around and do nothing,” Kurt said adamantly. Then stepping closer he said softly, “You just saved me, let me save you and everyone else.”
Knowing he was right but not liking it, she nodded and he was gone in a blinding flash that startled the marines who were witness to their argument.
“What just happened?” one of the marines asked.
“You don’t want to know,” De Boer told him.
Kurt stepped out of the blinding flash inside the Situation Room to startled faces.
“Stand back everyone, I don’t have time to explain or answer questions,” he said as he strapped the spare Single Unit Transporter device to the container holding the Quantum bomb. Activating both devices simultaneously he vanished once more taking the container with him.
He materialised high above the ground with the container next to him. The first jump completed. He activated the second jump and vanished once more this time materialising on the bridge of the Pulsar.
“We need to get away from Earth now then dump this into space,” Kurt told Jake as he recovered from the two rapid vertical jumps, something they had never attempted before.
“You heard the man, Artie, make a short jump to anywhere at least five miles from Earth,” Jake said to their AI.
The hyperspace window opened before them once they had cleared the atmosphere. In seconds they emerged from the window in time to throw the container through an airlock into space before opening another window for the return to Earth.
As they cleared the window the forward viewport lit up with a bright light as the Quantum bomb exploded.
“Jeez, that was close,” observed Kurt.
Artie said, “I thought you might want to observe the blast from a safe distance, sir, to ensure it detonated safely.”
“Thank you, Artie, very thoughtful of you, I appreciate the light show,” Kurt said.
“What now, shall we drop you back off at Headquarters?” Jake asked.
“If you don’t mind, I still have some loose ends to tie up. Just go low enough and I can make my own way from there, there’s no need to land and I’ll see you at HQ,” Kurt replied.
Jake said, “Okay, Artie, take us down.”
“Copy that, sir.”
Kurt opened a comm. channel through his NI, this was one call he was only too glad to make.
43
As he stepped through the light show from the distortion Zara and the others were still standing where he had left them just moments earlier.
Zara came rushing into his arms and they embraced passionately.
Leaning back Zara looked into his eyes and said, “I thought I’d never see you again.”
Smiling at the comment he said, “Really, knowing what we can do, you still thought that?”
“I know you Kurt, you were desperate to save these people. I know you’d do anything, sacrifice anything to make them safe after what happened in Washington. I just thought you might.”
“Might what? Sacrifice myself? I can’t argue that it didn’t occur to me but I have too much to live for right now, and I’m right where I want to be.”
“Can we save all this for later, we still need to get inside that room,” De Boer said coming to stand by their side. The marines were all smiling at the interaction between the two of them and when Kurt saw them all staring he looked at them, “What’s the matter with you guys, never seen a guy make out with his girl before?” he chided repressing a smile.
De Boer said pointedly, “The door, please.”
Kurt broke away from Zara’s clutches and approached the door. He accessed the control panel via his NI and hacked into the software.
“This may take a while, it seems they used a random code to generate the locking mechanism... no wait,” Kurt said as he concentrated. The door mechanism unlocked loudly releasing the door that opened on a soft cushion of air. “There it is,” he added, turning to the others.
“How’d you do that?” Zara asked after hearing about the random code.
“No idea, guess it’s another of our little things we can do.” When he saw she wasn’t satisfied with his explanation he added, “I just visualised the door unlocking and it happened.”
“Just like that?”
“More or less, yep.”
People were beginning to exit the Situation Room and Kurt saw Franklin appear, his eyes wide with terror.
“Colonel arrest him under charges of treason, terrorism and a few other things I’m sure I’ll remember in a little bit,” he said placing a hand on the man in question’s shoulder.
“This is an outrage, do you know who I am?” Franklin sputtered in mock indignation.
“Save it buddy, you’re busted. Your whole operation is crumbling around you so I’d save my breath if I were you,” Kurt replied.
Franklin’s expression suddenly changed to a smug smile. “Really? I doubt that very much.”
De Boer said, “Take him away,” to the two marines snapping the cuffs onto him.
“He has a point,” Zara said once Franklin had been taken away. “This isn’t over yet,” she added.
“C’mon, there’s somewhere we need to be,” Kurt said.
CORDOBA
Haskins stood looking out of the window, it was his favourite view in all the places he owned and he knew he wouldn’t see it for very much longer.
The New Order didn’t look on failure favourably and this latest debacle had signed his death warrant. His actions had precipitated their presence being made available to the authorities they had worked so hard to prevent, and now he would pay the price.
He took a sip of the thirty-year-old Scotch he was nursing in his hand and savoured the taste and how it warmed him as it slowly travelled down his throat, another simple pleasure he would soon miss.
He wondered who they would send, Marek was no longer available seeing as how he was dead too, but there seemed no end to the talent they could tap into when the need arose.
He heard a sound behind him and glancing over his shoulder he saw who it was.
“Conrad, I should have known it would be you,” he said as he realised the truth. Conrad had never worked in his employ; it had always been the New Order who signed his pay cheque.
“My loyalties have always been to the New Order,” Conrad affirmed.
“Don’t be such a hypocrite Conrad; you’re a mercenary, pure and simple. You work for whoever pays you,” Haskins said spinning around to glare at him.
“And they pay the highest so don’t even bother to try and barter, besides if I fail to deliver then they’ll just send another and I’ll be next on their list. It’s nothing personal you understand, this is purely business.”
Conrad brought up a pistol and shot Haskins in the head. Blood sprayed out from the gunshot impact as Haskins fell stiff-legged backwards. Conrad watched him fall then accessed a secure comm. channel.
“It’s done,” he said.
“Good, you know what to do next. As soon as that’s done move on to your next post,” said the voice on the other end. Conrad listened as the line went dead. He knew what he had to do, so he set about doing it.
CELERON
When Kurt and Zara walked into the main bar area of the Golden Palace they were surprised to see President Takagi tending bar.
Kurt stopped in his tracks, smiled to himself and strolled up to the long mahogany-topped bar.
“Having fun, sir?” he asked when Takagi, a towel draped over his shoulder and his sleeves rolled up to his elbow, came to greet them with a wide grin across his face.
“I am rather, what can I get you?” he replied.
“After the day we’ve just had, Scotch, neat,” Zara interrupted before he could say anything.
Kurt gave her a stern look and she simply shrugged as Takagi reached for an expensive bottle of Scotch. He placed two glass tumblers on the bar and poured good measures in each.
“It’d be rude not to now that they’re poured,” Kurt admitted taking the glass and downing it in one gulp.
A smile crossed his lips as he began to relax a little seeing the President was well and enjoying himself.
“I must admit I never expected to see you like this, sir, but then I suppose Abe was never one to miss an opportunity. Having the President as your barman is a fantastic way to bring in the punters. I bet he’s already got a sign made to place over the bar once you’ve left.”
“Did I hear my name mentioned?” a voice said from behind him. Kurt turned to see Abe standing there looking resplendent as usual dressed immaculately in a dark coloured suit.
“I asked you to keep him safe, not set him to work behind your bar,” Kurt admonished.
“You never said not to either,” responded Abe with a sly glint.
“I take it that you’ve resolved the situation back on Earth,” Takagi said cutting through their conversation.
Kurt turned to him, “We have, sir, and we need you back there to take control once more.”
Rolling down his sleeves Takagi said, “I’ll get my jacket.”
44
Area 15
Kurt and Zara returned to HQ and were met by General Gemmell.
“Congratulations on the success of your mission. It was inspired thinking on your part Kurt to get the bomb free using the SUT device. We really need to look into getting that to work for everyone.”
“Thank you, sir; as they say desperate measures for desperate times.”
“Where are we on the Colonel Boerkamp situation, sir?” Zara asked the question on everyone’s lips.
“We were waiting for the situation in Geneva to stabilise before taking action against him. We have all the evidence we need to make the charges against him stick, there’ll be no escape for him this time.”
“What about Haskins, sir, are we moving on him?” Kurt asked.
“While you were away we heard that he was dead. It looks like the New Order has closed off that loose end. By the way, where did you go?”
Just then President Takagi entered the office.
Kurt saw the expression change on Gemmell’s face. They hadn’t told him Takagi was still alive just in case he was New Order too; they took no chances. The relief in his face was all the assurance he needed; he also saw that he wasn’t okay with the deception.
“The rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” Takagi said.
“So I see, sir. It’s nice to see you alive and well.”
“It’s nice to be alive and well, General, and it’s all down to the actions taken by this remarkable pair. You should be very proud of them and hopefully appreciative of their loyalty. I do hope you treat them accordingly. Now, where are we on this New Order group?”
“Unfortunately, not as far forward as I would like. Our lead with the Haskins family has run dry with the death of Jacob Haskins. Our only link to them now is Colonel Boerkamp.”
Takagi nodded as he took in what had been said. Nodding gently he said, “I see, and is he in custody?”
“I was waiting for everyone to return from Geneva before moving on him, sir.”
“Don’t let me stop you, if you need answers I suggest you go get them.”
“Allow me, sir,” Kurt said as he walked off.
Opening Boerkamp’s door he marched inside with a purpose followed closely by Zara.
“It’s over Colonel, we know everything.” He announced.
“And that means what, exactly?” Boerkamp asked calmly getting to his feet.
Kurt was about to answer when he noticed something but it was too late to act. Boerkamp raised his hand and fired the Sig he was holding.
Even with his hyper-accelerated senses Kurt saw the motion too late to fully move out of the way. The first plasma bolt struck him high on the shoulder as he twisted trying to get out of its path. The kinetic force from the bolt spun him farther around and, because he was a passenger of his momentum and not controlling it, he couldn’t evade the second shot at all. The second plasma bolt hit him on the side of his head sending him to the ground.
If anyone else had sustained these injuries they would surely be dead but Kurt was no normal person. As he hit the ground he looked up, his wounds already healing and he saw the Colonel switch his aim to Zara. She had been caught as unawares as he had by the swift reaction of Boerkamp. Clearly he had been anticipating something like this happening and was prepared for it.
He heard him order Zara not to move as he moved from the back of the desk on his way out towards the door. Boerkamp had his pistol trained unwaveringly on Zara so his focus was entirely on her. He had forgotten about Kurt and what he could do. Boerkamp knew he was special but just how special he was about to find out.
