Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

Jason dived out from behind the rock, rolling to his feet, and making a dash for the truck. "Get behind those rocks, old man," he said, yanking open the door and diving inside.

Several shots rang out, but his sudden move had surprised everyone and they missed.

He crawled into the back and found the sniper rifle. It was a fairly new Russian model, the VSK-94, fitted with a silencer and a scope. He grabbed the 20-round magazine and attached it to the weapon, then crawled back until he reached the front seat.

A few shots rang out, but the tinted windows and the angle made it hard for anyone to get a decent shot at him. After a quick look to see where the attackers had taken up position, he lowered himself out of the SUV, then onto the ground. He saw that Jesse and Tina were still in the same place and that Tanuk had made it to a better shelter.

He waited a moment until he caught Jesse's eyes, then mouthed, "Get ready." He offered a thumbs-up.

Jesse nodded and whispered to Tina.

Crawling beneath the truck, Jason found a solid position near the right rear wheel. A large stone provided additional concealment, and he slowly moved the barrel of the rifle to the thin window of space between the rock and the tire. His own angle wasn't great, but all he really needed was to thin their numbers enough to get them to rush his position in a panic.

He peered through the scope and swept it over the hillside. "Come on," he said. "Somebody stick your head up."

At that moment, Troy decided to take a look.

"Wish granted," Jason whispered, squeezing the trigger. The weapon made barely a sound, but the impact of the gas-fired round on Troy's forehead was spectacular. He came completely to his feet in surprise, his nervous system taking over, then toppled backward, the back of his skull removed.

The action caused two more men to peer up from their own cover to see what had happened. Jason fired twice more in quick succession, dropping them quickly.

A few scattered shots were fired in return, mostly at Jesse and Tina's position.

"Stop firing, goddamn it!" Chris yelled. "He's got some kind of sniper rifle."

The sound of his voice was enough to get a fix on his position, but when Jason looked through the scope, he couldn't see Chris. He'd picked a good hiding spot.

Patience, Jason counseled himself. The others will get nervous, make a mistake.

He continued to sweep the hillside, and another two minutes passed before one of the men risked a look. Jason squeezed off another round and the bullet took the man in the throat, spraying blood on the person concealed with him.

"Bill!" the other would-be soldier yelled, coming to his feet.

It was enough and Jason's shot found him in the left ear and he dropped. That made five dead.

"Stay down, damn it," Chris yelled.

"He can't take us all," one of the men shouted back. "I say we rush him."

"Be my guest, you moron," Chris yelled back. "It's your funeral."

That was the moment Jason had been waiting for. He'd been betting that Chris wasn't the kind of leader who inspired any particular loyalty in the men he worked with, but those men would know each other and feel a level of loyalty to each other.

The remaining men jumped to their feet and ran down the hillside, shooting as they moved.

"Now!" Jason yelled, not bothering to look to find out if Jesse and Tina knew what to do. The sound of their weapons firing was more than enough information.

He continued to use the sniper rifle, picking his targets carefully. Eight men rushed down the hill, firing as they went. Four were dead before they'd hit the bottom — two from his rifle and one each from Jesse and Tina, who were using handguns and had to pop off their shots and then dive for cover again.

The others suddenly changed their minds and tried to make a run for it.

"Not today," Jason said, flicking the selector switch to full auto. He mowed down the final four like wheat before a combine.

When silence descended, he could hear Chris cursing up a storm. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Guess you're out of soldiers — if you can call them that," Jason shouted. "If you surrender, come down with your hands up and no weapons, I won't shoot you."

"Yeah, and I suppose if I leave a tooth under my pillow tonight, the tooth fairy will bring me money, too!" Chris yelled back. "You killed Troy, you bastard! You killed all of them."

"I'm a little cranky," Jason hollered. "Don't make it worse."

There was a long silence, then Chris shouted, "How about I come down there, unarmed, and we settle this like men and I kick your ass for you?"

"Sounds fine to me," Jason said. "Come ahead."

He watched through the scope as Chris slowly stood up from behind the shelter of rocks he'd chosen, then very purposefully dropped his weapons. He held up his arms and turned a full circle. "I'm unarmed and I'm coming down!"

Jason watched him most of the way, then shimmied backward and rolled out from beneath the SUV on the far side. Jesse and Tina had been joined by Tanuk and they held their weapons on Chris as he reached the rocky beach.

Jason moved forward, still holding the rifle.

"Thought you said we could fight," Chris muttered. "Or maybe you're afraid."

Jason chuckled. "Of what?" he asked. "You?"

Chris nodded. "That's the VSK-94," he said. "A nice weapon. You must have visited Grandpa's stash."

"You never know what you can find lying around in the tundra," Jason said. Turning to the others, he told them to put away their weapons.

"You're not seriously going to fight this guy, Jason," Jesse said.

"It's what he wanted," he said. "Are you worried?"

"He's a good fighter, Jason," he warned. "Really good."

Jason turned his attention back to Chris and studied him. He was standing loosely, weight on the balls of his feet. The muscle tension of his body showed that he was coiled to spring like a snake.

"Interesting," Chris said. "Are you worried now?"

Shrugging, Jason said, "Not really."

"Oh, yeah," Chris said. "I can almost smell your fear. Kicking your ass is going to make my whole year." He inched forward. "Why aren't you worried, hero?"

"I'm not a hero," Jason said. "And what you are smelling isn't fear, you idiot. It's burnt gunpowder."

"How's that?" he asked.

Jason lifted the rifle and shot him twice in the chest. "Because I just shot you, moron," he said.

Chris stumbled backward, his hands pressed against the wounds. "But you…" He coughed and spit blood. "You're supposed to arrest me."

"Sorry," Jason said calmly. He pulled the trigger a third time, and the round hit home, taking Chris between the eyes and silencing him for good.

"Jesus," Jesse whispered. "That…that was harsh."

"Saved time," he said. "Besides, I don't have the energy to waste beating him up. There are things to do and we're running out of time to do that."

"Speaking of things to do," Tina said shakily. "Just before they showed up, Jesse was telling us something I think you need to know."

"Oh? What would that be?" Jason asked.

Jesse sighed heavily. "They haven't finished loading the sub," he said. "It's a safe bet that Feng Li is on board, but Boris will still be at the base, getting those minis loaded up."

Jason shrugged. "I'll deal with the base after I've dealt with the sub. Those minis won't have anywhere to go if the sub is gone, and even if they beat me there, so what? A few weapons more or less isn't going to make that big of a difference."

Jesse shook his head. "You don't get it, Jason. There are still two nuclear warheads at the base. They came in with the Asp the last time it landed. If we don't pin them down there, who knows where those will end up?"

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Jason asked angrily.