Cliff Ryder - The Ties That Bind

She did and between them, they dragged the crate along the ground, and Jason thanked God that it wasn't the full rocket, but just the warhead itself. They were barely able to lift it as it was. He guided them toward the docking bay where he'd left the Scorpion.

Nearby, Jesse continue to fire off 3-round bursts, and between that and the smoke, the guards were keeping their heads down pretty well.

"No time for anything fancy," he grunted. "Push it into the water."

"The water?" she said. "Won't it sink?"

"That's the general idea," he said.

They both moved to one side of the crate and shoved it into the water. The container was airtight, but the pure weight and density of it caused it to sink quickly out of sight.

The air began to clear and bullets began to fly closer to the Scorpion, pinging metal and forcing Jason and Tina to dive back to their makeshift cover. "Drop that last smoker on 'em!" he shouted at Jesse.

Jesse used his last grenade and once again, smoke billowed out.

"Let's get this last one moved," he said, feeling every muscle in his body cry out in protest. He didn't mind the bumps and bruises, but the bullet graze on his arm was stinging like a bitch and was still bleeding. He knew for a fact that he had a least one cracked rib and the others were badly bruised. Thinking on it, he wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he had other injuries he hadn't even noticed yet.

Tina helped him move the last crate over to the water and shove it in. It sank as rapidly as the first one, and Jesse did his part by continuing to keep them covered with short bursts. They dived back behind the crates just as the smoke began to clear again and Jesse loaded a fresh clip into the rifle.

"Okay, the nukes are taken care of, at least for now," Jason said. "It's time we got out of here."

"You won't get any argument from me," Tina said. "Just tell us how."

"We can use the Claymores," Jesse said. "As they start getting closer, they're going to bottleneck some. I've been saving them for last."

"Good call," Jason said. "But we've got to get them in closer, so it's time to do a little acting."

"Acting?" they both said.

"You'll see," Jason replied. "Where do you have the switches for the Claymores?"

Jesse shoved one crate to the right, and Jason could see all the lead lines running to a set of four switches. "The whole area in front of us is covered by the arc," he said.

"Okay," he said. "Tina, when they fire their next barrage, I want you to let out a scream, and, Jesse, I want you to start cursing. Keep your hands on those switches and wait for my signal."

They both nodded and Jason took the rifle back from his brother and put it to his shoulder. There was no point in wasting shots. He peered through the scope and looked for someone of rank. He finally found the man, talking rapidly into a microphone.

He exhaled and took the shot, then cursed as it went wide, only hitting the man in the shoulder. "The damn scope is off," he muttered. It must have gotten knocked around some. Still, the man went down, cursing, and Jason heard him order the others to open fire.

He dived back down just as the barrage hit. Tina took a deep breath and screamed while Jesse began to curse like a sailor on shore leave. Both of them were quite convincing.

"Now," he whispered. "Be silent."

Both of them went quiet.

"I think we got 'em, sir," one of the guards yelled.

"Move in and check it out," the wounded officer called. "Nice and easy."

Jason found a space between the crates and eased the barrel of the rifle through it, adjusting the scope slightly once it was in place. The sound of cautious steps approaching could be heard.

"Hold," he whispered.

He sighted in on the man farthest away.

"Hold," he repeated, his words barely a whisper.

The guards moved closer and were now inside the Claymores' arcs.

"Ready," he said, his finger tightening on the trigger.

"Now!" he shouted, his shot taking the guard in the chest.

Jesse pressed down on the switches and the Claymores went off with loud whuff ing sounds, followed by the screams of dying and injured men as shrapnel filled the air.

Jason used the cover of the crates and the confusion to continue taking shots, piling up the bodies behind them, even as they turned and tried to escape. As his brother had predicted, there was a bottleneck and the men went down easily.

The way ahead was all but clear, and Jason gestured for them to follow as he stepped around the crates and began the cold process of finishing off the injured. They couldn't risk having one of them creep up behind them.

Both Tina and Jesse seemed appalled at the carnage they'd wrought, even more so as Jason gunned down a young soldier trying to crawl away.

"Why?" she asked him. "Why?"

"Because to leave them alive puts all of us at risk," he said.

The words had no sooner left his mouth than a nearby rifle sounded and Jesse went down, cursing for real as his blood began to flow.

"Jesse!" Tina cried out, rushing to his side.

Feeling a wave of cold wash over him, Jason tracked the source of the shot without thought and fired in the space of a heartbeat or two. The guard he'd wounded earlier had propped himself up against a crate and waited for them, much as they had waited for his men.

Jason's shot took him in the heart, killing him instantly.

He scanned the area for any other dangers and, seeing none, turned back to his brother. "How bad?" he asked, kneeling down.

"I'm okay," Jesse said. He held up his left hand, which was bleeding profusely. "It passed right through me."

"Yeah, and took several bones with it," Jason said. He pulled out his knife and cut a long strip away from his shirt. "It's a good thing you're right-handed."

"It's a good thing he's not dead," Tina snapped.

There was an unspoken accusation in her voice, as if Jason had done something wrong. He could feel the waves of anger coming off her.

Jason didn't respond to her tone, but nodded his head in agreement, then wrapped the hand carefully. "This is going to require a lot more medical care than we can give it here," he said. "Try not to bump it on anything — it will hurt like hell if you do."

"Can we get out of here now?" Tina asked.

Jason got to his feet and helped Jesse to his, holding him steady while he caught his breath and his balance returned. A nearby guard had a canteen on his belt and Jason took it, pulled the cap and handed it to his brother. "Take a drink. You can go into shock later if you feel like it," he said. "Right now, you've got to stay focused."

"How can you be so cold?" Tina asked. "Look around you!"

The high-tension wire inside him frayed a little bit and he turned on her. "You don't get it, do you? You were an analyst and it wasn't real to you. You do all those translations, but they don't connect to what happens if you pass on certain information. This is my life. This is what I do. I kill people, Tina, bad people who will hurt others for pay or power or even those just stupid enough to work for those kind of people. And if I don't do it just right, people die — but the wrong ones."

He jabbed a finger in her direction. "You've switched back and forth between treating me like a schoolboy to treating me like a lover to being my partner and back again, but, Tina, this is who I am. Now, I'm getting you two out of here, then I'm going to hunt down Feng Li and put an end to all this once and for all. Until then, I'd appreciate it if you'd do less talking and more shooting!"

Even as he finished his sentence, he raised the rifle once more and fired it over her shoulder, his shot taking a guard in the back who'd been trying to sneak away.