Armageddon, page 2
part #9 of Col Sec Series
He was met by the rest of his team and saw Parks still sitting in the command chair.
“We are looking for a single person, Karl Vosu, who’s a known terrorist and wanted for several crimes. Our job is to apprehend him and bring him back for prosecution,” Guardian said.
Parks nodded in assent and said, “Ops scan for Vosu, if he’s a known terrorist he’ll be in the data base. Scan for facial recognition, DNA profile, even fingerprints.”
“Copy that, sir,” Ops replied.
“This could take some time, why don’t you wait in your quarters and I’ll inform you when we have anything,” Parks said to Guardian over his shoulder.
“I have him, sir,” Ops said to the surprise of everyone.
“What, so quick?” Guardian asked.
Parks said, “Explain.”
“I tied in our sensors to the local Constabulary and it appears he’s wanted there too, sir. He’s wanted on several worlds and there’s been an active search taking place for him here the moment they were tipped off he’d entered their space.”
“Makes sense I suppose, it would be a huge feather in their cap if they caught him. Where is he right now?” Parks asked.
“He is approaching the city outskirts. I have the co-ordinates here; transferring them to your NI’s now,” Ops replied.
Guardian turned to his team and said, “Right time to go to work.”
6
Karl Vosu was walking through the streets like a man with a purpose. This was not far from the truth as there was someone he was going to see and it was urgent he met with them soon.
His dark eyes watched everything as he passed by shops and storefronts. His training had been such that he missed very little; it was a contributing factor to his continuing survival.
A former Black Knight for the Elysium Alliance he had long since been a mercenary selling his skills to the highest bidder. At the moment he was working for a shadowy entity he only knew as ‘The One’.
He had been contacted and contracted to pick up an object and courier it to a specific location to be designated once the item was picked up. Further instructions as to what he must do with said item would follow at the pick-up.
It was very cloak and dagger, which he didn’t mind so much, as added security was always comforting.
He was dressed in his normal attire, cargo pants, boots and a short-sleeved shirt. The climate on Potera was tropical so the temperature was in the high teens; he felt a sheen of sweat adhering his shirt to his back as he walked. The streets were quite busy at midday anyway which added to the heat.
He approached his destination and entered through a simple door.
The shop front was filled with tools and equipment used for farming and tilling the soil. Behind the wooden counter at the back of the large room, an old man with greying hair stood serving a young woman. He looked over her shoulder at him as he heard the door open.
Vosu met the man’s gaze and he finished up with the young woman who gathered up the few items she had purchased and walked towards the door. Vosu was careful to turn away from her gaze, looking down at something that was for sale. It was best if no one saw him, to remember him later should they be asked by the Constabulary.
“In the back,” the old man said, his wrinkled face displaying a set of old and worn teeth that had not been looked after in a smile.
Vosu walked past him, the smile telling him more about the man than a thousand questions could.
He passed through a set of dusty curtains into another even larger room also festooned with equipment and tools. In the centre of the room a large suitcase-sized container sat on the wooden floorboards presided over by two large brutish-looking men.
“Is that the item?” Vosu asked getting straight to the point.
The larger of the two men spoke for them both, “Yes that’s it. Take a look,” he said.
Cautiously Vosu stepped forward to examine the container more closely. Although it was the diameter of a suitcase it was most definitely something else. It was made of a much sturdier material than any suitcase he had ever seen and his curiosity was aroused.
He placed the case on the floor with the largest area flat against the floorboards. There were two latches positioned on the join where the top met the bottom and he unfastened them. He looked up at the two men who were watching intently to gauge his reaction.
As he slowly lifted the lid his suspicions were confirmed. Inside was a small device that was cylindrical in shape with a small panel on the side with a readout panel visible on it. At the moment this panel was blank which he was thankful for because he knew exactly what this was. Lying by the side of the device was a small tube, wider than the device, with struts folded in place that, when folded out, would enable it to stand upright. This was the delivery system for the device – a mortar.
“What do you want with a mini nuke?” he asked without looking away from it, a little fearful that the readout would come to life should his gaze be diverted from it.
“That’s none of our concern, we were ordered to deliver this to you and that’s it. As soon as you leave here with it, our job is done,” replied the spokesman.
Vosu tore his eyes from the thing lying on the floor and looked at their faces. He saw the fear in their eyes, hidden as best they could, but to a trained eye it was still visible.
“You have plans to leave the city as soon as I leave here don’t you?” he said. It was more of a statement than a question for he already knew the answer by simply looking into their eyes.
The talker held his gaze and said, “You have what you came for; our transaction is complete so we’ll bid you good day, sir.” With a wave of his hand he showed him the door behind through which he was supposed to exit.
Vosu closed the case and hefted it off the floor, nodded his head to them, and left through the door.
As he stood in the alley at the rear of the shop he felt a familiar tingle that told him a call was being routed through his NI.
“Go ahead,” he said.
“Now that you have the device you are to go to these co-ordinates,” a voice said. He didn’t recognise it for it had been altered; he also suspected the call was encoded to prevent any eavesdroppers.
“And do what exactly?” he asked. He had no qualms about setting off a mini nuke, but he had no intention of becoming a martyr or indeed a suicide bomber.
“You will use the mortar and fire the device towards the city, using these co-ordinates.”
The said co-ordinates were delivered to his NI giving him a clear picture of the two locations. It would be close but he would just about be safe from the blast if it were a low yield device, which he suspected it was.
“This has a higher level of personal danger attached to it than you first intimated when I was offered the job,” he said.
“You will be compensated for the discomfort, you have my word.”
“Discomfort? You have a disjointed view of these events my friend; discomfort doesn’t even come close. You expect me to annihilate millions of people that will increase the level of scrutiny I already have from the authorities exponentially. I will be unable to travel anywhere in the galaxy safely if I agree and go through with this,” Vosu said through gritted teeth. He tried to keep his voice down and not bring unwanted attention from anyone passing close by.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying this effectively is my retirement job. Once this is done I’ll never be able to work again, if I get away with it. In that regard I want payment to be commensurate to the task. In other words, my fee just went through the roof.”
It was a bold move on his part, but if whoever was running this op was working to a time scale, which he assumed he was, then they wouldn’t have the time to get someone else to do it should he refuse and walk away.
“How much?” the voice asked after a short pause; clearly they were on a time scale as he had assumed and could not afford any delays.
The second he saw the mini nuke a plan had started to form in his mind. He was rapidly calculating the sums in his head for what he would need to pull this off. When he heard those two words he knew he had them in the palm of his hand.
“Twenty-five million. I want it in Confederation Credits and I want it transferred immediately. The moment I have confirmation of the transfer I’ll continue with the mission and not before. Don’t even think you can transfer the funds then once I’ve started take them back, because I have already thought of that. There are security protocols in place with the account that allows funds in but without the necessary authorisation they cannot be removed. You have the details and this is non-negotiable,” he said quickly not allowing for any interruptions.
“It will be done,” the voice said without a single moment’s hesitation, which immediately set off alarms in Vosu’s head. They had already factored this eventuality into their plan or they had other safeguards in place to get the money back. There was one other option, they had unlimited funds and his fee was a mere particle in space by comparison, in which case he wished he’d asked for more... a lot more.
Before he could say anything more the voice confirmed, “The funds have been transferred.”
It was an easy task to log into the local system via his NI and access the account he had mentioned even though it was kept in a safe location someplace else. He had the details in less than a second and seeing the money had been transferred brought a smile to his face.
“Thank you, it’s been a pleasure doing business with you. This concludes our transaction,” he said.
“You have been paid, do not fail or you will be hunted down and killed without mercy,” the voice warned.
“Yea, right!” Vosu sneered; he was never intimidated by anyone. He had lived this life long enough to plan for every contingency.
“You think that now your fee has been extended you can afford the surgery to change your appearance and that will secure your safe future? We have your DNA profile on record, which means we can find you wherever you go. If you fail, we will hunt you down and we will kill you.”
The words were delivered in such a matter of fact way that it left him in no doubt the man meant every word he said. He had supreme confidence in what he claimed and this gave Vosu cause for concern. This was something extremely rare for him. He’d never felt like this before, not since first starting out in this game.
He was suddenly aware of the call being terminated and he was alone in that alley holding a mini nuke they wanted him to deliver.
He squared his shoulders and walked off for the first time since he could remember feeling like a hunted man.
7
The shuttle dropped them off at the city limits. The co-ordinates they had been given showed Vosu approaching the covered outdoor market just outside the city. They arrived in the suburbs that formed the outer limits of the sprawling city, far enough away from him so he would not suspect he was being followed.
The four team members sat astride Lynx combat cycles, a motor bike powered by a small fuel cell with two over-sized wheels at either end and a sloping seat between them that enabled the rider to lie almost horizontally. It had twin pulse cannons mounted either side of the wheels. They were extremely durable and fast.
Communicating via comm. links through their NIs Guardian said, “Okay team, let’s do this. Stay in formation until we reach the target then we move to surround him before capture, okay?”
He received an affirmative from the others and they set off towards the city.
It was a short journey from their landing area to the market where they had to leave the Lynxes and proceed on foot.
“Can you give us an update on the target’s location and status?” Guardian asked the Hyperion.
“He is travelling in a north-westerly direction from you and he seems to be carrying something fairly bulky,” replied Parks, relaying information from Ops.
“Define bulky,” Guardian said, a frown creasing his brow.
“Seems to be the size of a large suitcase but broader.”
“Can you get any readings from it, perhaps give us an idea of what’s inside it?” Guardian asked, a feeling of dread suddenly spreading through him.
There was a pause before Parks replied.
“It seems he’s carrying what could be a mini nuke and possibly a mortar with him too. Guardian you have to stop him before he decides to launch that thing, he’s too close to the city,” Parks said.
Guardian went cold hearing this news delivered without emotion. He knew Parks was being totally professional about this and he needed to be too but he couldn’t help but think of what would happen if the worst-case scenario occurred though and he launched it towards the city.
“Please confirm last report,” he said.
“Report confirmed, target is carrying a mini nuke with mortar for delivery,” Parks repeated the report.
“Distance to target?” Guardian asked. He needed all relevant data before committing to action.
“Three hundred feet from your present position and moving in a north-westerly direction,” Parks said.
“Stay on this link and relay any new information please,” Guardian asked Parks. Speaking to the others he said, “You heard the man, this just got real. Move out and locate the target.”
He ordered each team member to go in a different direction by using hand signals so they could surround Vosu.
What was his plan, why bring a mini nuke to a populated area? There had been no mention of any threats involving anyone linked to any terrorist cell that would target this city or this planet, so what was he missing here? Clearly something larger was going on and they had to get to the bottom of it. To do that, however, they needed to capture Vosu alive.
He couldn’t think of anything else now; he needed to focus on the target and stop him from launching that mini nuke into the city.
8
They ran through the narrow streets looking for any signs of the target. They knew what he looked like; they had facial recognition tapped into their NIs so that wherever they looked each face they saw would be mapped, scanned and logged against those on the database.
As they entered the market they were surrounded by an array of covered stalls that sold goods to the customers from the city and beyond.
Time was running out and Guardian knew this. He felt his pulse racing at the prospect of the wrong outcome to this situation.
Stalls flashed passed as he ran as fast as he could towards the co-ordinates relayed to them.
“Tell me you have eyes on the target,” Guardian shouted.
THEY HAD FAILED.
He watched as the object went arcing high into the air towards the city.
“Get the shuttle in the air now!” shouted Guardian. Millions of people were about to die and that was something he was not prepared to allow. “Activate targeting sensors and the grapple.”
He was still on the roof of the market stalls looking at Vosu. He would get him but he had to take care of the mini nuke first.
“Do not let that mini nuke land, if it detonates millions will die, us too,” he said.
“Copy that, sir,” replied the voice of the shuttle pilot.
He looked around; his team were still closing in on the target. He remained focused on the mini nuke. His eyes were fixed on the small object as it reached the apex of its trajectory and slowly, irrevocably, began its descent back to the ground.
He heard the sound of the shuttle as it swooped in over the top of the market. He saw the grapple shoot out and catch the mini nuke right out of the air.
“Take that thing into space and let it detonate harmlessly,” Guardian said to the pilot.
In a roar of its engines the shuttle rushed off into the sky.
Guardian turned his attention back to the target. He could no longer think about the mini nuke, its fate was now out of his hands. His focus must now be on the terrorist, Vosu. He had to find out who he was working for, what his agenda was, what his plans were for this planet and if they extended beyond.
He sprinted across the rooftops towards his target.
VOSU WATCHED THE MINI nuke arch towards the sky then begin its descent.
A feeling of triumph spread through him as he watched the small object until he saw the grapple snatch it out of the sky.
“No!” he screamed. He turned and saw the four figures approaching him at speed.
He reached for his pistol, a Magerov P9. He jacked the slide to prime the battery clip then aimed it at the nearest figure.
GUARDIAN SAW VOSU PULL out the Magerov and judge who was the best target.
Drawing his own Sig P999 he fired on the run.
The pulsed plasma bolt struck the floor at Vosu’s feet sending up a shower of sparks causing him to move and miss his shot.
He took off straight away running across the rooftops towards a gap between two of the four newcomers on the roof.
Guardian ran as fast as he could; he was several feet behind Vosu and feared he would not catch him. It didn’t bother him that Cowboy and Hellcat were closing in on him from different angles.
He saw the terrorist look around him then suddenly drop down between two stalls.
They had lost him...
VOSU WAS FILLED WITH rage and fear as he ran. How could those four catch him so fast without his knowledge? They had ruined his plan, which added another complication, not only had he now to evade these four but also the entity that sanctioned this mission.
As he ran across the rooftops of the stalls he saw two of the newcomers gaining ground on him. He had to get away and they were getting closer by the second, then he saw it, a gap.
He dropped down through the space between two stalls onto the floor below. He landed on his feet going immediately into a tuck and roll and was back on his feet in seconds, no harm done except for a few scrapes.
He glanced around; the narrow street was filled with bystanders unaware of the danger they had almost faced.
