Shadow zero, p.13
SHADOW ZERO, page 13
The tip of the narrow dagger slid in between the upper and lower latch. She twisted softly, trying to work deeper into the metal. It was slow and agonizing, mostly because she was out in the open, and if she was discovered, she would lose her best chance at retrieving the core.
Just when she was about to give up and hope that Bakari returned, she heard a click. She pulled her knife out and backed away.
The door opened slightly. She pumped her fist, then worked her fingertips against the door’s edge and pulled it open. She glanced around a final time, then slipped inside.
She was in an office. Judging by the mahogany desk, overstuffed leather chair, and Persian rug, it was Bakari’s office. A flag bearing a crest she didn’t recognize hung behind the desk, and two Zulu spears crossed in front of it.
The data core sat on top of the desk. It was about three feet long, one foot wide and ten inches tall. She sighed. When she thought of a data core, she imagined a small brick the size of a normal hard drive, not a massive chunk of metal that probably weighed more than she did.
She tested its weight. It wasn’t heavier than she was, but it was damned heavy. She could carry it, but she couldn’t move very fast. She’d have to take it part of the way from the compound, then hide it until she could contact Todd and figure out an extraction plan.
Speaking of.
She looked around the room for a radio. She struck gold when she opened one of the drawers of the big mahogany desk. A handheld radio sat atop a pile of paperwork.
Really? Terrorists have paperwork?
She picked up the radio and turned toward the door just in time to see it open. She cursed and dropped behind the desk.
Bakari entered, still humming to himself. He closed the door behind him. Maya readied the knife and tensed.
Bakari rounded the desk, and she launched himself at him. He cursed, then moved far faster than Maya thought possible, deflecting the knife and driving his knee into her stomach.
She was trained, but she was also less than half his size, and she was weak after two days without food or water. When his knee hit her, she gasped and dropped the knife.
He held onto her wrist and planted a meaty hand on the back of her head, then drew his knee back. That blow would definitely knock her unconscious, so she rushed forward, driving her shoulder into his hip instead.
He laughed and wrapped his hands around her waist, then lifted her upside down, intending to slam her headfirst into the floor. Maya wrapped her legs around his neck and squeezed. His eyes widened as his air was cut off, and Maya took advantage of his momentary shock to twist her legs forward.
She intended to flip him, but he was too strong. He bent at the waist and stumbled, but didn’t go down. In desperation, Maya aimed for the one part of his body she knew was sensitive enough to feel her blow.
When her fist made contact, Bakari’s eyes popped open. He pushed her off of him, and she rolled to her feet, spun, and slammed her own knee into his face. She felt a rush of satisfaction as his nose burst. Not so invincible after all.
Bakari roared and launched forward, planting his hands on her chest and shoving her backwards. Her feet left the ground, and she crashed into the door with enough force to drive the air from her lungs.
You can’t fight him. Not weakened like this.
She rolled out of the way before Bakari slammed into the door hard enough to shake the entire building. He turned to her, blood and snot streaming from his destroyed nose, his eyes red with pain and animal fury. “You bitch!”
Heard that before.
She dove for her knife, rolled and thrust upward toward Bakari’s groin. He batted the weapon from her hand, then lifted his boot. She rolled again just in time to avoid having her head crushed.
Shouting filtered in through the doors now. The sound of the fight was bringing others.
Maya cursed inwardly. It was too late. She needed to leave now, or she’d be overwhelmed again, and this time, Bakari would surely have her killed.
She would have to come back for the data core.
Bakari roared and rushed her again. She sidestepped, then sprinted for the door, flung it open, and rushed out into the night.
She nearly collided with two terrorists. They cried out and jumped backwards, but Maya was faster. She sliced the throat of one of the men. He dropped to his knees, clasping his hand to the wound.
Maya continued to run.
“Wajinga nyie! Risasi yake!”
Maya didn’t know what Bakari said exactly, but the meaning became clear when rifles cracked behind her and bullets whipped past her head.
She reached the jungle and kept running, sprinting up the steep hill and ignoring the branches and laves whipping her face. Her lungs were on fire, and her legs trembled. Her stomach ached for food and her dry mouth begged for water, but she ignored her body and pushed forward, not stopping until she could no longer hear sounds of pursuit.
Then she collapsed to the ground, chest heaving. She sighed and cursed at her failure to retrieve the core, then cursed again when she realized she had forgotten to take the radio.
Some agent you are, she thought ruefully.
She stared into the night sky and wished that Trent was still with her. The last few days had worn her self-confidence to a thread. If she had her partner, she would still believe that they could stop these terrorists. As it stood now, she wondered if she had escaped one death only to watch a far worse death engulf the entire world.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
When Trent finally looked through the trees and saw the massive building below, he nearly cried out with relief. He’d spent three nights and two days looking for the compound, and he was halfway through his third night. He lost the trail several times, but each time, he forced panic away and kept looking. He couldn’t leave Maya behind.
And finally, here he was. He had found the compound. He had discovered the hornet’s nest, and now he could exterminate the insects inside.
Take a breath, Tiger. You’re one guy, and you don’t know where Maya is. You don’t even know if she’s still there. Information first, then rescue.
He tapped the zoom function on his glasses twice, increasing the magnification to ten times. The night vision was too fuzzy to be useful, so he switched to infrared. He scanned the building slowly. From this distance, infrared was muddy too, but he could distinguish a number of shapes oozing around the grounds. Two of them walked into a central hallway that split the large building in half. Another pair marched around the outside, and a few more drifted lazily back to a side door near one end that Trent guessed contained the barracks.
The patrolling soldiers stopped in front of the slope several hundred yards from him. They faced each other for a few seconds. Their forms seemed to merge for a moment. Then they climbed rapidly into the trees.
Trent had a feeling he knew what was happening there. He would almost root for the amorous couple except for the part where they had left him for dead and kidnapped his girlfriend.
He switched his glasses to optical and realized with a touch of chagrin that the building had lights. That was why night vision was so fuzzy. He felt a pang as it occurred to him that not checking for that was another sign of his inexperience.
This whole assignment was a wake-up call. Trent was sure that he and Maya were more than prepared for the challenged of field work, but the missions they’d undertaken before hadn’t pushed them. They were being pushed now, and two years of relatively easy living had left them badly underprepared for their jobs.
Don’t blame the training. You guys fucked up. That’s all there is to it. Learn from your mistakes and don’t make them again.
Good advice, but he could focus on the lessons later. He had a woman to rescue.
He started down the slope but only made it a few feet when he saw a figure come out of the central hallway. The figure was more slender and much lighter-skinned than the ones that had entered a few minutes ago.
His heart leaped. That was Maya! She had escaped!
Elation filled him. Hell yeah, Maya! Way to go!
He watched with pride as Maya moved along the edge of the building. She wasn’t trying to flee, and that told Trent that she believed the data core was still there.
He thought about the two men who had entered the hallway but not emerged and amended his assessment. She must know the data core was still there. She had probably picked it up from one of those terrorists before incapacitating them.
A door opened seemingly out of nowhere. Maya sprinted to the left (from Trent’s perspective) of the building and hid around the corner. A giant of a man stepped through the door. He looked like a WWE wrestler, nearly seven feet high, and all shoulders and chest. He walked toward the central hallway but passed it and reentered the building through another door.
Maya left her hiding spot and crouched next to the door the big man had exited. Trent didn’t see a doorknob.
He put two and two together. That was a hidden door. That must be where the data core was being kept.
Maya pulled the door open. Somehow, she had managed to jimmy the latch. God, she was so awesome.
He started down the slope, moving as quickly as he could. He would join her down there, and together, they would take the data core away and call Todd. Mission successful. Not clean by any means, but successful.
Getting to the bottom of the hill turned out to be easier said than done. The slope was uneven, and the vegetation obscured the steeper portions. Several times, Trent reached what he thought was a bush, only to discover too late that it was the top of a tree. Most of the time he was able to avoid falling all the way to the ground, but twice, branches broke under his weight and he tumbled to the forest floor, landing hard enough to bruise his already battered body even more.
After the second time, he was forced to accept that he had to move more slowly, or he risked injuring himself and being unable to help Maya.
I should have waited at the top of the ridge, he thought. I could have seen which way she went, and if she was attacked, I could provide cover fire.
Yet another mistake. Another lesson to learn. He could just see Zero’s disapproving stare.
He sighed and resumed his journey. The minutes passed with agonizing slowness. When he finally reached the edge of the compound, he breathed another sigh of relief, but just as he was about to enter the compound, the two soldiers who had left for a tryst earlier burst out of the trees only a few feet to his left.
He cursed inwardly and dove back to cover, bringing his rifle to his shoulder.
They didn’t run toward him, though. Instead, they ran for the building. Trent frowned, confused, but the reason for their approach became clear a moment later when the hidden door opened and Maya sprinted out of the building. She nearly collided with the two returning guards and veered to her right.
As she passed them, she flicked something across the neck of one of the guards. The man clasped his neck, eyes huge, and dropped to the ground. His companion cried out and dropped to his side, gripping the fallen man’s shoulders and shouting at him in Kiswahili.
The giant ran through the hidden door an instant later. His face was covered in blood, and it looked like his nose had been smashed. Trent felt a rush of pride for Maya as the giant screamed at the soldier crouched next to his fellow.
The man kissed the dying man’s lips, earning a look of shock from the giant, then got to his feet, rage in his eyes. He aimed his rifle at Maya, who was now almost at the edge of the forest.
Trent lifted his rifle and fired a burst at the same time as the terrorist. The terrorist’s shot went wide as Maya zigzagged away. Trent’s shot was right on the money. The terrorist’s head snapped sideways as three 5.56mm rounds blew out the right side of his skull.
The giant turned toward Trent, eyes searching. Trent backed away slowly, careful not to disturb any branches in front of him. The big man stomped his foot and cursed, then shouted orders to the terrorists who were now pouring from multiple doorways.
Trent turned around and made his way back up the slope. This time, even though he was moving quickly, he didn’t stumble. A calm had settled over him, blunting both his excitement at Maya’s survival and the tension that the pursuit brought.
He reached the top of the slope after ten minutes of hard climbing, then cut to the right to rendezvous with Maya. She probably had the data core with her, which meant they could evade these terrorists, contact Todd and make their way to an extraction point. They only needed to survive a little longer, and—
He registered the movement but not in time to react to it. A hand shoved his rifle barrel up, and another slammed into his jaw. Stars erupted in his vision, and only his training allowed him to plant a foot on the attacker and kick him away.
Except that the attacker turned his body, and Trent's leg pushed harmlessly past him. The attacker put a hand on Trent's heel and lifted up. Trent lost his footing and fell onto his back. He released the rifle and rolled to his feet, drawing his handgun as he did so.
He came up to find himself looking down the barrel of a rifle, the attacker’s not his. His finger tightened on the trigger, but a voice said, “You’re a half-second away from death, young man. Set that weapon down, or I guarantee you, I’ll pull my trigger before you can pull yours.”
Trent frowned. Something about that voice sounded familiar. He looked more closely at his attacker. The light from the compound below was very dim now, and the attacker’s face looked to be covered in mud, so it was impossible to tell the skin tone, but the voice was very much American. As Trent examined the attacker, he realized the bone structure was Caucasian as well.
The attacker’s eyes narrowed. Then they widened. “Trent? Is that you?”
Now Trent knew who this was. “Zero? You’re here?”
Zero nodded. “Yeah. I’m here.”
“We thought you were dead,” Trent whispered. For two years.”
"Yeah, well, what can I say," Zero said, slightly irritated. "I needed some time to myself. Maya close?"
Anger flooded Trent. He glared at Zero. “You fucking asshole.”
Zero's smile vanished. "Okay. I can accept that I probably deserved that. Starting with a joke maybe wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. Needless to say, it's been a stressful past few days. Now tell me where Maya is."
“She’s out there,” Trent said, gesturing with his head behind Zero. “She escaped, but she’s being pursued. I was going after her, but then you attacked me out of nowhere and… what the hell? We all thought you were dead, you know.”
“I know. Like I said, I probably deserve your anger, but we can save it for later. Let’s go find Maya, get that data core, and get out of here.” In a softer voice, he said, “When we get home, you can tell me everything you want to tell me, okay? For now, let’s just focus on the job.”
Trent glared at Zero, but he nodded in agreement.
“Perfect,” Zero replied. “Come on. Let’s go.”
The two of them moved in the direction the terrorists had taken, not saying another word to each other. Trent was still angry at Zero for leaving and letting them believe he was dead, but he couldn’t shake a feeling of excitement.
Zero was here! The most legendary field agent in history was helping Trent rescue Maya and retrieve the DEDALUS data.
The enemy had no chance now.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Maya heard the sound of her pursuers behind her and forced herself to her feet. She cursed as she realized that she had wasted precious time feeling sorry for herself when she could have been looking for water.
She needed water. At the compound, she had been able to ignore her body’s cry. Excitement at her escape and anticipation of retrieving the core had blunted the edge of her physical suffering.
Now, after a brief but intense fight with Commander Bakari and a less brief and equally intense climb up a thickly vegetated mountain slope, her weakness was glaringly clear. Her legs felt like rubber, and her breaths seemed less effective than before as her dehydrated lungs working overtime to obtain oxygen. Her heart thumped with each beat, and she imagined her blood, thick as syrup, struggling to move through stiffened arteries.
She needed water. Behind her, she heard shouting and gunfire—distant at the moment and not aimed her way, but closer than it was a few moments ago. She didn’t have time to conceal her trail, and she couldn’t move slowly enough to minimize the damage she was doing to the thick undergrowth.
They could track her, and they hadn’t spent the past two days starved and dehydrated while chained to a wall and forced to sleep sitting up on a concrete floor. Nor had they fought with someone the size and strength of an NFL linebacker.
At those memories, her shoulders ached and tingled with the aggregate pain and soreness of sixty hours shackled above her head. Pain radiated from her wrists, and her hands began to tremble.
Neither of those pains was as debilitating as the way her stomach twisted, remembering Bakari's knee as it impacted her abdomen hard enough to lift her off of the ground. Her hunger pangs mixed with that memory, and she cried out and fell to the ground, curling in a fetal position as though she'd been struck again.
She whimpered and pulled her shirt up with her trembling hands. Her only light was provided by the moon and the stars filtered through a canopy of leaves, but that light was still enough to show her the angry purple bruise that covered the top half of her abdomen.
She whimpered again and looked up through the canopy at the stars. It hurt so badly.
A memory flashed across her mind of another incident of imprisonment and torture many years ago. Not so many, actually. It only seemed that way. It seemed almost like another life. She was much younger and far more scared. She didn’t have the skill set she had now, and when the traffickers hurt her, she could do nothing but endure it and hope that her father would somehow rescue her and her sister.
She needed water. Voices carried through the jungle, closer again. She got to her feet and ran, forcing the pain aside, pushing the weakness down, repeating to herself over and over, You are Agent Specter. You will not fail.
