Russell Brooks - Pandora's Succession

Dobbs’s body was thrown onto Levickis, knocking the wind out of him. If fear and shock could really paralyze someone, Levickis now knew this firsthand, as his arms and chest seized up on him, causing him to breathe short quick breaths. When Dobbs’s body rolled off of him, the barrel of a Makarov PM was pointed right between his eyes.

Then the bullet tore through his brain.

Demyan held onto the Makarov and dropped his arm to the side. Pyotr stepped from behind him and pushed Levickis’s body away with his foot, to make room for himself in front of the two laptops. One of the monitors buzzed with static while the other had the image of the security guard at the entrance to the Safe.

“The girl must still be in the Safe.”

Demyan didn’t respond. When Pyotr looked up at him, he had a large grin and he breathed excitedly. Pyotr ignored him and pressed the eject button at the side of the laptop and the disc popped out halfway. He removed it, found its casing beside the keyboard, inserted it, and dropped it in his jacket pocket. He then started to type.

Time to jet. Parris closed the program. Automatically, the mechanical arm behind the window removed the disc from its drive and replaced it into its storage slot. She ejected her disc, replaced it in its case and dropped it into her tote bag. Just as she got up from her seat, a booming sound reverberated all around her and the room lit up dark red.

What the hell? The word lockdown popped into her head, and she sprinted towards the door, slid to a stop in front of it, and pushed down on the handle repeatedly. The door wouldn’t open. She slammed her palm on the door. Shit.

She was trapped. What the hell happened to Levickis and Dobbs? They must have triggered a hidden security feature-or did I do it? But it wasn’t possible. They should have known of any upgrades to the security features. How could they have missed this one?

All communications to the outside were cut off, but they’d have to know what was going on now. You guys better find a way to override the security protocols. But she couldn’t chance them doing so on time. Any moment now, an armed security squad would be bursting through that door.

Parris pulled off her right shoe and turned the heel towards her. She pinched in a camouflaged lever and a thin compartment similar to a miniature compact disc drive popped out-one that was specially designed to hide the one-inch-diameter CD. She knelt down and put down the shoe while she tore into her tote and grabbed the CD case. The tote fell on its side as she opened the CD case, removed the CD, fit it into the slot into the heel of her shoe, and closed it.

She got back up, picked up her tote, and slid on her shoe just as the door burst open. Six guards, dressed in black outfits, helmets, and visors, poured in, surrounding her with electroshock guns. The first one who charged into the hexagonal room stepped away from the rest and approached her with his electroshock gun pointed at her chest. He screamed out something to her in Japanese. She didn’t understand him, but she raised both of her hands above her head. He reached to her right shoulder and ripped away the tote. Another guard came up from behind her, grabbed her other shoulder and pushed her sideways into the wall. She struck the wall and then felt someone throw their weight against the back of her neck to pin her there.

Hands frisked from top to bottom and then from bottom to top. She was then spun around and had the same thing done to her again. First her shoulders, breasts, then hips. At least he didn’t check the shoes. She was then pulled away from the wall and shoved towards the entrance to the Safe. She suddenly felt an enormous surge through the base of her spine that caused her entire body to cramp.

The electroshock gun. It was the last thing on her mind as she dropped to the floor and everything else around her faded black.

Fox forced his foot down on the gas pedal as the heavy rainfall formed lakes that stretched the entire road’s width. Never mind that his view was blinded. He had travelled down this road before. He knew of every pothole and sharp curve long before he came close to them.

The bright flashing red, blue, and white lights he saw ahead through the water-covered windshield became his guide. This time he didn’t stop until he was nearly up onto the Provincial Police cruiser that blocked his path. He slammed on the brakes and his car careened sideways to a stop, just tapping the police cruiser on the passenger side. Fox bolted from his vehicle without turning off the engine, ran around both cars, and was intercepted by two police officers. They both grabbed him and pulled him back.

“It’s all right, let him through,” yelled another man up ahead who was closer to the crime scene.

Fox shoved the two officers aside and bypassed the man who allowed him to pass. He rushed to the stretcher and skidded to a stop in front of it, sending a wave of puddle water over it and the paramedics. He ripped open the zipper of the body bag as a lightning flash streaked across the sky and illuminated the ebony skin of the woman before him. It was Dr. Nita Parris, and she lay serenely with her eyes open and lips slightly parted, as the rain pelted her, running off the sides of the stretcher.

“Ridley?” a voice said from behind. Fox ignored it as he slowly put his hand up to Parris’s right cheek.

“Ridley.” This time Fox felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to jump from his sleep so quickly that he nearly head-butted Sato. Fox looked around him. He was still in the car, only now it was daybreak. That damn nightmare again.

“You okay?” asked Sato. “You don’t look like you slept too well.”

Fox put his hand to his mouth to cover a yawn. “It’s been rough the past few days. Katori said you’d contact me. I just wasn’t expecting you to crash the party.”

“And I wasn’t expecting you to be a guest. You’re a fugitive from the law for murdering Katori. A single gunshot to the back of his head. Your fingerprints were found all over the murder weapon.”

“Yeah, so I’ve been told.”

“Welcome to my life. I’ve been dodging Tanaka for days.”

Fox got out the car and his shoe sunk slightly into the mud. He saw that the whole terrain was like this, no thanks to the rain. To his right, he saw the driveway that was carved out of the woods, with tall pine trees on either side. In front of him was a single-storied house, whose exterior consisted mostly of stone and pine wood. Rain water dripped from the edges of the sloped roof into the underbrush that surrounded the sides. The clearing in front of the house was large enough to accommodate about six vehicles. The smell of damp wood filled the air.

“Where are we?” Fox followed Sato towards the side door.

Sato scraped the mud off his shoes on the iron doormat. “We’re about two hundred kilometers outside of Tokyo.” Fox walked up to the side porch, scraped his shoes and followed Sato inside.

The entrance led them to the kitchen. At first, Fox looked towards the sink. There were no dishes either inside it or in the dish tray beside it. The kitchen table was wiped down clean, with the table mats in the center under a napkin holder. Along the back wall were the stove and oven, along with a small rack of carving knives, a toaster and coffee maker. “So how long are the owners gone for?”

Sato walked over to the counter and grabbed the kettle and pulled it under the tap to fill it. Then he placed it on the stove and turned it on. “For the rest of the month.” Sato walked over to a cupboard and opened the door. “There’s just regular tea here, hope that’s all right.”

“I can use some coffee instead.” Fox sat down at the table and dropped his head into his hands.