Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

"So," Jason sneered, "are you actually going to shoot me with the rifle or just hold it and keep on playing soldier?"

Jesse shrugged, indifferent. "You or your girlfriend, bro. It makes zero difference to me. I get paid either way."

"How nice for you," Jason said.

Chris moved away from the group and walked around the Scorpion, then tried to take a look inside. Jason had already set the vehicle to automatically lock if unoccupied for more than two minutes. Chris pried at the door, but it wouldn't budge. He jogged away then returned with a crowbar. Jason couldn't help but laugh.

"You think it's funny to have your little toy smashed?" Chris said.

"No," Jason said. "I think it's funny that you're going to try. The shell is a modified titanium skin, and it's been positively charged."

"What the hell does that mean?" Chris demanded.

"It means that the locking mechanisms have been engaged," Jason replied, "and there's no way in hell you're getting in without a key."

"Yeah, well, I have my skeleton key right here."

Chris took a swing at the Scorpion. The crowbar connected with the hull, and the ion field immediately reacted to the negatively charged magnetic particles in the crowbar. Twenty-five thousand volts of electricity arced through the metal with the tangy smell of ozone and a buzzing noise, tossing Chris to the ground in a jerking heap.

"That's a pretty lousy key you've got there, Chris," Jason said. "And as for what a positively charged field does, I think you probably understand it better now than I could ever explain it to you. Am I right?"

"That's enough!" Giles barked. "Chris, get up, damn it."

Troy moved to help Chris up, and Jason thought about using that moment to launch an assault, but even as he tensed his muscles, he saw that Jesse's gaze wasn't the least bit distracted. "You're not that fast," he said.

Jason felt the muscles along his jawline clench in frustration, but he knew that his brother was speaking the truth. No one was that fast.

"All right," Giles said. "Let's get back to base. Troy, you and Chris in the first truck, with Jesse and Jason in the back. Tina can ride with me. That way, the hero won't get any funny notions about a rescue attempt."

"Fine," Chris snapped. "Let's do it. I know there are a few questions that I would like some answers to."

"What about the machine?" Troy asked.

"Leave it," Chris said. "We don't need it right away and it's not going anywhere. Besides, there are other things that I'd like to focus my attention on right now. There's some information that I need, and Tina and I are way overdue for our heart-to-heart conversation." He turned a leering grin in her direction. "Isn't that right, my dear?"

He leaned in closer to Tina and ran a finger along her cheek. She tilted her head invitingly and he dropped his head closer to hers. Jason saw her muscles tense and knew what she had planned. She launched forward, slamming her head into his nose with a resounding crunch.

Chris screamed in agony, and it was enough of a distraction, moving Jesse's eyes just a fraction of an inch. Jason spun and grabbed the barrel of the rifle, yanking it forward and out of Jesse's hands.

"Wha…" Chris managed to get out before Jason spun the rifle like a baton and drove the stock into his brother's chin with a crack.

Tina jumped away from Giles and Chris, moving to his side, and they began to run when Giles shouted, "Don't!" A shot from his pistol ricocheted off the rocks. They slammed to a halt.

As Jesse grabbed the rifle from Jason's hands, Chris got to his feet, blood pouring from his shattered nose. "Oh, you fucking bitch," he said. "I knew you wouldn't come quietly."

"She isn't the one that's going to have the information your boss wants," Giles said. "We should kill her and be done with it. We've wasted enough time."

"No," Chris grated between his teeth. "We'll bring her. We don't know what she knows. And besides, I know exactly how we can get her to cooperate. Send a couple of deputies over to pick up her grandfather in the village," he said.

"No!" she shouted. "Leave him alone!"

Chris walked up and grabbed her hair, wrenching her head backward. "You want him left alone? Then I suggest you learn to cooperate, starting right now, or by the time I'm through with you and your pathetic grandfather, they won't be able to identify enough of your remains to even conduct a ceremony to get you into the next world." He shook her roughly and a small cry escaped her lips. "Got me?"

She nodded, mute, and Jason knew she was finished. There was little she could tell them, though, and it would go easier for her if she broke sooner. He thought of what they might do to her to make her talk.

Chris turned his cold stare at him. "As for you, hero, I can't wait to see what my boss and I find tucked away in that brain of yours. I bet you know all sorts of things we'll find interesting."

Jason laughed softly. "You aren't smart enough to figure out that an iron crowbar and a charged field don't mix, and you think you can get me to tell you things I don't want you to know?" He laughed again, the sound mocking. "You're the most ridiculous bad guy I've ever met."

"Oh, you'll talk, tough guy," Chris said. "After a few hours or days with me and my boss, you'll tell us everything we want to know and more."

"I don't know anything," Jason said, deadpan. "And my name is Doe. John Doe." He knew talking his way out of this one was impossible, but he also knew that anyone could be broken. He would have to come up with a plan to get both himself and Tina out of this mess and he needed do it fast.

"Get moving," Giles barked. "Save the talk for when we're back at the base."

Chris tied Tina's hands in front of her while Giles continued to hold her at gunpoint, then the sheriff shoved her toward his truck.

The others took far more precautions with Jason. Jesse, his chin dripping blood, held the rifle steadily aimed at his heart and he looked more than ready to pull the trigger. Troy and Chris tied his hands behind him and his feet together, then picked him up and tossed him into the back of the second truck.

Jesse climbed in, holding the rifle firmly. "I should shoot you now for hitting me like that," he said.

Jason kept silent, thinking furiously. There had to be a way to escape and salvage the mission, but he was drawing a blank.

All he could think about was Tina.

The ride was cold and uncomfortable, and the bed of the truck provided little protection from the rough ground they traveled over, so by the time they'd arrived back at the Quonset building, Jason felt bruised from head to toe. Jesse had remained silent the entire way, which suited him fine.

They might be brothers in name, looks and even blood, but Jason held no illusions about their relationship. He would kill Jesse the moment the opportunity presented itself.

When the truck came to a halt, Chris and Troy jumped out and yanked him to his feet, tossing him onto the ground with enough force to rattle his teeth. They picked him up again just as Giles got there, angry, red faced and shoving Tina in front of him. "Don't say I didn't try to help you, girl," he snapped. "Take them inside to the holding cells. I've got to get back to the village."

"What for?" Chris asked. "Don't you want to see them questioned?"

Giles grunted. "You won't get anything out of her short of torture, and he'll be even worse. Besides, your boss called and wants me to search Siku's cabin."

"What, no warrant?" Jason quipped. "I'm really beginning to think that due process hasn't come very far up here." His comments earned him another shove and he almost fell again.

"Shut up," Troy said.

"Come on," Chris said, grabbing one of Jason's arms and gesturing for Troy to take the other. "Jesse, you cover Tina. Let's get them inside. The boss will be here soon enough."