Andy McDermott - The Hunt For Atlantis

“No!” Volgan shrieked. Even though his hands were cuffed behind his back, he threw himself against the bodyguard holding him, slamming him off balance.

The other bodyguard whirled, releasing his hold on Kari’s arm-as the Russian drove a kick deep into his stomach. Volgan jumped over the bodyguard as he fell, and ran awkwardly for the farmhouse. The soldiers overcame their surprise, weapons coming up.

“Don’t shoot!” cried Hajjar. Mahjad looked startled, then urgently repeated the order.

The soldiers paused for an instant, caught between trained instinct and the orders of their superior officer.

The instant was all Chase needed.

He grabbed the barrel of the nearest soldier’s rifle, jerking it out of the startled man’s grip and twisting his wrist to flip the gun over onto its back as his other hand stabbed at the trigger.

He felt the heat of the bullet through the metal barrel as the gun fired, scorching his palm. The soldier lurched backwards, the bullet ripping right through him and showering the Land Rover with blood and mashed lung tissue.

Before any of the other soldiers could react, Chase flipped the gun over again, jamming the selector switch to full auto and unleashing bursts of fire at the soldiers with the Dragunovs. They fell. If the remaining soldiers fired at him, they ran the risk of hitting their own comrades, which would deter them for a moment.

“Nina!” he shouted. She stared uncomprehendingly at him, totally unprepared for his lethal flurry of action. He reached out to grab her arm, but one of the soldiers reacted more quickly than his companions and tackled Nina to the ground. Chase couldn’t shoot him without hitting her-

He immediately changed tactics. “Hugo!” he yelled, jerking his head at the Land Rover. Castille was already following his example, grappling with a soldier for his rifle.

Another soldier smashed his rifle onto the back of his skull. Castille collapsed.

Chase snapped his head around at the sound of a pained gasp. Hafez was trying to get to his feet, but one of the guards kicked him back down. The other was aiming at Chase with his G3-

Chase dived into the back of the Land Rover. He had just enough time to slam the door shut before the window blew apart, bullets chunking through the 4×4’s aluminum skin.

“Eddie!” Nina screamed as the soldier pulled her to her feet, hauling her roughly away from the Land Rover. She struggled and kicked, but he was too strong for her to escape. Another two men pinned Castille to the ground.

The soldier kept firing, emptying his entire ammo clip into the vehicle.

For a moment, everything was silent. Then he grabbed the handle of the bullet-riddled door and yanked it open.

The Land Rover was empty. The soldier stared in confusion. Then he heard a faint noise and looked down.

In the rear footwell, the hand grenade rolled to a stop.

He opened his mouth to scream-

The scream never emerged. The grenade exploded, blasting him backwards in a storm of jagged metal.

The soldiers holding Castille were caught in the blast, as was Hafez’s remaining guard. But their prisoners, flat on the ground, escaped unharmed as the deadly shrapnel shot over them.

Lying against the rear wheel on the other side of the Land Rover, Chase clamped his hands over his ears as the door above him was blown from its hinges. He watched it whirl away like a giant square Frisbee and crash down on the slope below.

Chase looked under the vehicle. The nearest soldiers were all either injured or dead, but the others were recovering from the shock of the explosion. At least ten of them, all armed.

All angry.

Kari’s long white coat immediately caught his eye by the helicopter. One of Hajjar’s bodyguards held her, and the Iranian captain was covering her with his pistol as he screamed orders to his men.

Nina -

The soldier who’d tackled her had his arms wrapped around her in a bear hug as he dragged her backwards.

No way he could risk a shot. And his G3 only had a few bullets left anyway.

Mind racing, he assessed the situation.

Nina was relatively safe for the moment, even as a captive, but it wouldn’t take long for one of the Iranians to get the idea to use her as a hostage, forcing him to surrender. Hajjar and Captain Mahjad spoke English-and they had heard Kari order him to protect Nina above everything else…

Which meant that to protect her right now, he had to abandon her.

He grabbed the G3 and crouched in the cover of the smoking Land Rover as he backed away-then sprang up and fired his remaining bullets in a sweep. He was deliberately aiming high, not trying to hit anyone but instead forcing them to duck, confusing them as he ran, sprinting for the steep slope down to the valley floor.

Rifles crackled behind him as the solders opened fire.

The valley opened out below, the lazy curve of the railway lines vanishing into the tunnel.

A bullet hissed past his head, close enough for him to feel its shockwave. He jumped, clearing the edge of the slope, and flew through the air to land on-

The Land Rover’s door!

It skidded down the hill in a flurry of dust and gravel, Chase clinging to it like a child on a speeding sled.

He knew it wouldn’t take him far-the slope was too rocky. But he didn’t need it to. He just needed the extra yards it could give him before the soldiers reached the edge and fired down after him.

A boulder loomed ahead, poking out of the hillside like a bad tooth. Chase jumped again, throwing himself sideways and hitting the ground hard as the door smashed into the rock and crumpled like cardboard. He tried to use his feet to brake himself, but he was moving too fast and tumbled helplessly down the hill. Grit spat into his face, blinding him.

Gunfire from above!

Something whipped against him. Not a bullet, but plants, tough grass and scrubby bushes. That meant he was near the bottom. But how near?

He forced his eyes open against the stinging dust… and saw the ground drop out from under him.

With a yell that echoed all the way back to the top of the slope, Chase fell into empty space.

One of the soldiers winced. “Ow. That’ll hurt.” The foreigner had shot right over the top of the entrance to the railway tunnel and plunged out of sight onto the tracks.

“Serves the bastard right!” snarled the man next to him. Special forces or not, a drop that high onto the unforgiving steel and concrete of a railway line would break a bone or two, maybe even kill a man.

Mahjad strode over to them and looked down. The Englishman’s route down the steep slope was easy to follow, a trail of drifting dust winding down to the tunnel. “Get the ropes,” he ordered. “I want three men to go down there and find him. If he’s dead, take his body to the train yard. If he’s alive…” his face twisted with a mix of anger and sadistic humor, “take his body to the train yard.”

“Sir!” The soldiers saluted, three of them preparing to descend the slope.

Mahjad walked back to Hajjar. The fleeing Russian had been recaptured, and now stood under guard with the other prisoners. “This is all your fault!” Mahjad snapped, jabbing a finger into Hajjar’s face. “You didn’t tell me he was some sort of trained assassin!”

“I didn’t know myself!” Hajjar blustered. “I thought he was just an ex-soldier she’d hired as a bodyguard!” He gestured at Kari, who glared back with chilly disdain.

“I’ve got four dead men and another three wounded! How am I going to explain this? How?”

Hajjar licked his lips nervously, sweating even in the cool breeze. “Perhaps… a donation of some sort to their families? And their commanding officer?”