The Seraphim Sequence: The Fifth Column 2 Page 22

  ‘What’s the combination?’ he said, his voice even and measured.

  She shifted her fingers an inch. She could move now, but she wanted him to think she was immobile.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said.

  She heard him punch in a combination, and then another. The door clicked. Probably used the same UV trick as Jay.

  He stepped back to open the door. Sophia seized an aisle post next to her and swung it low, into the back of his knees. He didn’t see it coming and fell backward, rolling over his shoulder. The bullpup carbine slipped from his grasp. He pulled a Glock 17 pistol as he moved into a crouch.

  She was planning on his quick recovery and was already on her feet. As he drew the pistol, she gripped the barrel and turned it outward, bending his wrist. The Glock was hers now. She was quite pleased with that maneuver.

  The shocktrooper clamped down on the barrel with one hand and the trigger guard with the other, peeling her aim to one side and pulling the slide from the pistol completely, leaving her with nothing but the pistol frame.

  OK, Plan B, she thought.

  Something struck her in the ribs—the shocktrooper’s boot—knocking the air from her lungs. She was lifted off her feet and tossed sideways through the air, entangling with more aisle rope until she hit a computer and tumbled onto the floor. She felt like she’d been kicked by a horse. A horse made from steel. She drew breath and her ribs felt ablaze. She breathed in short, sharp bursts. If any ribs were broken this was going to be a very short fight.

  She got to her knees and searched for her next weapon. Big Dog’s bullpup carbine wasn’t in her field of vision, but she spotted her own MP7 inside a half-enclosed office. Problem was, the office was on the other side of the bank. The shocktrooper was blocking her path now, watching her carefully. After a moment’s consideration, he strode toward her. She kicked his leading foot out, forcing his stance too wide. She brought her heel down on his kneecap with a satisfying crack. The shocktrooper barely made a sound. He rolled away, injured leg outstretched. It wouldn’t deter him for long.

  She ran for the office. Made it inside, scooped up the MP7 and aimed over the desk. The shocktrooper was gone.

  ‘Shit,’ she breathed.

  She rushed out of the office, not wanting to be blocked in, and moved for the rear of the bank. The shocktrooper could already be inside, executing Freeman and stealing Schlosser. She was pretty sure she’d broken his knee though. That would at least slow—

  Metal blurred. Something moved for her. She held the MP7 out. A metal post lined up with her chest. Her MP7 took the blow. Better it than her. The shocktrooper was beside her now. She telescoped the MP7’s stock and thrust it into his neck. He ducked and tripped her. She fell forward. Rolled off her shoulder. Aimed the MP7. Half its receiver was hanging from one side, the recoil spring exposed. Great.

  She closed on him, MP7 still in one hand. Against her better judgment, she realized as he swung the metal pole again. She slipped under it, redirected his wrist and sent the pole into a glass wall.

  The shocktrooper reached for his knife and stabbed for her leg. She caught the blade with the shattered MP7, twisted the blade over and disarmed him. She shoved the stubby barrel of the MP7 into his neck. He spluttered, then turned the MP7 over. Her wrist turned on itself and she was forced to drop the weapon. Instead, she released the magazine and, gripping it tightly, smashed it on his fractured kneecap. This time he cried in pain. The edge of the magazine caught his pants and ripped downward, revealing a thin metal brace across his calf.

  Exoskeleton. That explained the powerful kick.

  She sank her fist into his stomach and let the kinetic energy corkscrew its way through his internal organs. He was stunned for a moment, then his working leg shot forward, catching her in the chest. The blow lifted her clear and sent her reeling across the bank floor again. She couldn’t do anything about it once she was in the air. She braced herself and tried to relax her muscles, arching forward so she wouldn’t damage anything internally. She landed on her back. The momentum carried her into a rough tumble that sent her sprawling across the tiled floor outside. She came to rest in the middle of a contact between her team and the encroaching counter-terrorist soldiers.

  Big Dog was lying beside her. He was watching her with an empty stare. Not breathing. Beside him, the shocktrooper’s UMP and attached grenade launcher—discarded and traded in for Big Dog’s.

  Lying on her back, she reached out and touched the grip, pulled the UMP closer. She wrapped her hand around it and drew it in. She tucked her chin to her chest. Inside the bank, the shocktrooper was staggering to his feet. He didn’t seem all that interested in killing her and instead approached the open door. He leaned over and scooped up Big Dog’s bullpup.

  She rolled over onto her stomach. Her body screamed in protest. She brought her other hand over to the vertical grip and steadied the weapon in both hands. They trembled. The tiles were cold against her arms. She lined up the iron sights with the shocktrooper’s center of mass. Rounds cracked over her head. She ignored them and squeezed the trigger. A single round smacked into the security barrier next to the shocktrooper and then the slide on her submachine gun locked to the rear.

  ‘No,’ she whispered, peering into the mag.

  Empty. The extra mags would be on his person. Just her luck.

  The shocktrooper turned to face the three most important people in her world. He raised the L22 bullpup and aimed carefully.

  Sophia shifted her fingers down past the magazine well and squeezed the secondary trigger. The bank rippled before her. Glass exploded from every wall. The vector ring grenade caught the shocktrooper in the hip and pitched him into the far wall.

  She exhaled. ‘Fuck you.’

  ***

  Damien cracked open an Etch A Sketch and poured the tiny aluminum balls and powder onto one of the trays he’d taken from the supermarket. He cracked open another Etch A Sketch and poured its contents onto a second tray.

  ‘You’re not making thermite, are you?’ Grace said.

  ‘No, not this time. Add the coffee creamer. And the other ingredients.’

  Grace ripped open a packet of flour first. ‘In all the trays?’

  Damien nodded, and cracked open the last Etch A Sketch. Still kneeling, he shuffled the trays toward the balcony. ‘OK, guys,’ he said, talking to the rest of their team. ‘Get ready.’

  He lifted the industrial fan and, using the extension cord Grace had found, positioned it behind the trays. All six were loaded with Damien’s particular recipe. He plucked a box of matches from his pocket and waited for Grace to move back. She turned the fan to low, then waited for his word. He was amazed she’d trusted him this far.

  He nodded and she hit the switch. The fan blades hummed to life, kicking the powder mixture under the balcony and out over the atrium into a cloud. Grace coughed and shielded her eyes.

  ‘Get back,’ he said, match in hand.

  She retreated, but not far.

  The soldiers below would be looking up now, so Damien didn’t want to make himself a target for any longer than necessary. He leaned toward the fan, lit a match, ignited a roll of toilet paper and hurled it over the balcony. He dived, stolen subcarbine in one hand, hit the ground and waited. Nothing happened.

  ‘Dude, we need to move now,’ Jay said in his earpiece. ‘Is it clear?’

  Damien lit another roll of toilet paper. He dived clear again.

  The explosion ripped through the atrium, sending him rolling across the floor. He gathered himself up and ran for the balcony.

  ‘Go! Go!’ he yelled.

  The particle cloud ignited into a giant fireball, rippling explosions as it plunged through the atrium. Level by level, glass windows and balustrades disintegrated.

  Holy crap, it worked.

  ‘Now’s your chance!’ Damien yelled. ‘Get—’

  An explosion twenty times the size of the previous ones tore through the atrium, picking him up and hurling him backwa
rd. He landed on his upper back and slid a short distance further. He breathed desperately to draw oxygen back into his lungs, then crawled to his feet. Grace was on his right, similarly tossed to the ground from the secondary dust explosion.

  ‘I asked for a distraction!’ she yelled. ‘I didn’t expect you to blow up the shopping mall.’

  ‘What the shit was that?’ Jay’s voice crackled in Damien’s ear. ‘Godzilla?’

  ‘I’ll take that as our signal to move,’ Sophia said.

  Damien was on his feet, scooping up his G36C subcarbine and running for the now completely glassless balcony. He passed the fan, which lay on its side, blades skewed and distorted. He reached the balustrade in time to notice a shocktrooper at the other end.

  ‘Shocktrooper, moving from second to third level,’ Grace said, calling it before he had a chance.

  ‘What level are you guys on?’ Damien said, throwing himself onto his belly and lining up a new shot.

  ‘Third,’ Sophia said.

  ‘Get to fourth!’ Damien yelled, probably a little too loud for their earpieces.

  ‘Not an option, too far back,’ Sophia said.

  ‘We have CT on our six, in range,’ DC said. ‘If we double back now, we’ll walk right into them.’

  Grace was on her stomach beside him. The shocktrooper was concealed, running up the stairs to the third level.

  Damien peered down his iron sights. ‘Can’t get a shot.’

  Then he realized that if this shocktrooper was on their side, on the third level, then the other shocktrooper would probably be doing the same—right below them.

  ‘I have him,’ Grace said, peering through the holographic sight of her Vector. ‘Wait, wait.’

  Damien spun around on his back, subcarbine aimed. Something rippled in the distance, past the broken fan. He could hear footsteps. Shocktroopers—Grace included—possessed the same sight enhancements as Jay. And without Jay around to help, Grace was the only person who would be able to spot the shocktroopers in their fancy chameleon suits.

  ‘Grace, on our six! I need your vision!’ he yelled.

  ‘I have the shot,’ Grace said, ignoring him.

  Damien saw the ripple again, approaching from the right-hand side. Almost in range.

  ‘I’ll take it,’ he said, turning around onto his stomach. ‘You get Invisible Man on the right.’

  Damien deliberately shot the wall near the shocktrooper, making him spring for cover, forcing Grace to switch targets. She cursed, turned onto her back and searched for the shocktrooper behind them. He left her to it and hunted for another shot, but he wasn’t counting on it.

  Grace opened fire, almost destroying his eardrum.

  ‘Shocktrooper on our side is down,’ she said. ‘Shocktrooper on your side is foxtrot.’

  Now he was out of immediate mortal danger, Damien launched himself to his feet and ran the balcony’s circular perimeter, careful to keep clear of the edge to avoid being seen.

  ‘We’re at the atrium,’ Sophia said. ‘Coming in hot. No sign of that shocktrooper.’

  Damien dropped down, forty-five degrees from Grace. There was a lingering mist as undetonated powder floated past the stairs. He peered through it, hoping to catch the shocktrooper at a better angle. On his left, he saw Grace doing the same. Between them, he hoped they could spot the shocktrooper.

  ‘I have nothing,’ he said. Maybe he was cloaked again. ‘Grace?’

  ‘Negative,’ she said.

  He could hear the crack of gunfire ahead. That meant Sophia and the others were fast approaching. Then he saw them. Sophia and DC advanced, dropped to one knee and watched for movement. Chickenhead and Nasira sprinted past them to the atrium, then dropped to one knee. Between the two pairs, Jay, followed closely by Schlosser and Freeman. Sophia and DC sprang to their feet and covered them from behind. Jay led their precious civilian cargo across the right-hand side, behind the elevator and directly beneath Damien. DC trailed a few steps behind Sophia. He reached a shop corner and sent a few rounds back at the pursuing CT. Damien watched him catch up with Sophia and—

  The explosion rippled upward, throwing Damien into a wall. When he got back on his feet, he looked across the atrium at Grace. She was fine, still in position on the other side. One of their rounds must’ve ignited a lingering cloud, setting off a small explosion nearby. He checked himself for damage and then his subcarbine.

  ‘Everyone OK?’ Grace said.

  Damien couldn’t see below, but he did notice the elevator car rising to his level. ‘Who’s in the elevator?’

  ‘Shit!’ DC yelled.

  Damien snapped his subcarbine to eye-level. No one stepped out on his side. Instead, two figures moved in the other direction, heading south. Peering through the airborne powder, Damien tried to make out who they were.

  ‘Grace, can you ID those two?’ he said.

  ‘Schlosser and someone sticking close to him,’ she said. ‘I can’t—’

  Shots reverberated across the atrium, striking near Grace. Whoever it was, he took a moment to shoot at Grace. Damien adjusted his aim. He couldn’t open fire that close to Schlosser, and neither could Grace.

  ‘Dammit,’ Grace said. ‘Sophia, do you read?’

  ‘What happened?’ Sophia yelled.

  ‘Shocktrooper’s taking Schlosser south, level four,’ Grace said.

  ‘I’m on it!’ Jay said.

  Damien moved through the cloud, sticking close to the shopfronts. He could make out two figures in the distance. Schlosser was lagging behind, the shocktrooper directly in front. Damien couldn’t get a shot from here. He pushed forward, watching in case the shocktrooper decided to send some rounds his way. Instead, the pair of them disappeared from the right-hand side. Into a shop or a passageway, Damien couldn’t be sure.

  He started running to where he’d last seen them. Sophia was yelling commands into his ear, and so was Grace. Jay popped up at the top of the stairs, near where the pair had disappeared. Damien joined him moments later and pointed in the direction they’d gone. The sign showed male and female restrooms.

  Jay took the lead, moving faster than Damien would’ve liked. He forced Jay to pause at the restrooms just to be sure. A gunshot echoed from ahead. Jay moved forward, pistol in hand. Damien kept a few paces behind.

  They reached an open door, its lock destroyed. Damien could hear running footsteps ahead. He emerged first, subcarbine raised. The wind made him squint. They were on the rooftop of the shopping mall. Then he realized it wasn’t wind at all but downwash from a helicopter. He could hear the blades chopping the humid air just above, on his nine o’clock. He took the lead, sprinted for a corner, pressed himself against it. Jay was behind him, face and neck coated in sweat from running.

  Damien checked the corner. Directly ahead, he could see the helicopter hovering in position. The shocktrooper was forcing a reluctant Schlosser inside. Two pairs of hands pulled him onboard. The shocktrooper turned and snapped off two rounds at Damien, then started running farther along the rooftop. The helicopter lifted off, Schlosser inside.

  ‘No fucking way,’ Jay said, running for the helicopter.

  Someone inside it opened fire with a loud, resounding crack. Jay pounced behind an air-vent stack. Damien was happy to stay glued to his corner for the moment. The helicopter pitched and moved south, along the rooftop. Damien took the opportunity to break from cover and track the shocktrooper.

  A ladder took him to a higher level, where he spotted the shocktrooper making good distance across a mammoth-sized curved roof made from sheet metal. Damien aimed his subcarbine, but the shocktrooper disappeared over the curve. All Damien could see were the condos simmering in the distant haze.

  He checked his left. Jay was on the lower level, running after the helicopter. A roll of flexible ladder unraveled from its belly. Not for Jay, for the shocktrooper.

  ‘Jay! Damien!’ Sophia was screaming in his ear. ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘Schlosser’s in a helicopter bearing so
uth,’ Damien breathed. ‘Jay’s in pursuit. Shocktrooper running for helicopter. South wing.’

  ‘Can you stop the helicopter?’ Sophia said.

  ‘How the hell am I meant to do that?’

  He aimed his subcarbine at the helicopter. But he couldn’t shoot. One stray round could kill Schlosser. And shooting the helicopter down certainly would.

  ‘Can’t take the shot,’ he said.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  ‘Everyone, fourth level, south!’ Sophia yelled.

  ‘CT are on third,’ DC called out. ‘They’re right on us.’

  ‘Do I look like I give a shit?’ Sophia hit the elevator button. ‘I’m taking the elevator. You all get to the underground parking lot on the north wing. Find Benito some wheels.’ She tossed Nasira her set of auto tryout keys. ‘Two vehicles. Check if anyone has sealed us in.’

  ‘You got it,’ Nasira said, a little uncertainly.

  Sophia stepped into the elevator. ‘Come on,’ she said, hitting the button repeatedly.

  The doors closed. She used the wasted seconds to check the chamber on her newly acquired UMP and attached grenade launcher. She’d taken a fresh magazine and a vector ring grenade from the shocktrooper in the bank. Freeman was now carrying Big Dog’s L22 bullpup rifle.

  The elevator doors opened on the fourth level. Grace was waiting for her.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she said.

  ‘Getting your scientist back,’ Sophia said, pushing past her and breaking into a run.

  ‘Not without me.’

  Grace ran alongside her, brandished a flashgun, then overtook her.

  ‘Show-off,’ Sophia muttered.

  ***

  Damien sprinted up the curved roof after the shocktrooper. It was slippery on the ascent, and once he reached the apex he could see the shocktrooper sliding to the bottom. He ended in a roll and turned south for the helicopter. Damien blinked sweat from his eyes and ran forward, down the slope. It only took a few steps to accelerate, then he leaned back into it and glissaded down, faster and faster. Between the end of the slope and the edge of the mall rooftop, there was only a short space for him to land and recover. The faster he moved, the more everything blurred and shook around him. At this rate, he was pretty sure he was going to fly off the rooftop and right into the condos.