David Leadbeater - Weapons of the Gods

“And nobody else knows?” Wu asked.

“Nobody. Don’t worry, we’re safe.”

Dino was staring at Wu. “You know that, man. You’ve been with us at every step.”

“I like reassurance.”

“What you need is a mother.”

“My mother died when I was six.”

Karin didn’t want to get into it. FrameHub were officially shut down and she didn’t feel an ounce of regret. The world was a hard place. If you faced it head on, messed with it, you deserved whatever harsh fate came your way.

The world is better off without them.

“Let’s leave these bastards to rot.”

Dino and Wu made ready. Karin grabbed anything she owned and a few items she could see that were of value. They relieved the dead of their cash simply because they needed it no more. Karin did have access to funds, but was always aware that, in the game she was playing, the need might arise for even more. Most of FrameHub’s valuable information was stored away in her memory.

Dino headed for the door. “C’mon. We can make contact with SPEAR up top.”

Karin followed, but then her phone rang. When she fished it out the screen read: Unknown Caller , which wasn’t surprising in their line of work.

“Hello?”

“Is this Karin Blake?”

“Who wants to know?” The voice held a heavy, thick accent she recognized as Russian.

“You don’t know me, Miss Blake, but you will. We should meet, because we have the same goals.”

“Who is this?”

“Someone planning something very big. Worldwide. Devastating. They destroyed my legacy and I will have my revenge.”

“They?”

“SPEAR. Drake and the rest. Even that sniveling weasel you call President. Plans are in place, but they don’t know I am coming.”

Karin couldn’t help the hollow fear that started to churn around the pit of her stomach. “Who are you?”

“Meet me.” He reeled off an address. “Meet me there and let me show you. Bring your companions. You will be safe, for now.”

“I’m not meeting you. I couldn’t possibly trust you.”

“Of course you can, Miss Blake. My machinations will not begin until SPEAR have finished with Tempest. I want their full attention.”

“So you’re saying Tempest are a hindrance to you too?”

“Let’s just say I want them out of the way. Then… the day of death begins.”

“That’s a bit corny, bro,” Karin tried to bait the man.

“Corny? I do not know. I do know that your only chance of survival during the coming weeks is to meet me.”

Karin sighed. “You’re fucking up my timetable here.”

The man gave her a date and time. “If you don’t turn up you will be the first to die.”

The phone went dead. Karin stared at it for a minute before including Dino and Wu in her thoughts. “You hear all that?”

“Sure. Just another psycho.” Wu shrugged.

“Really? Then how did he get my number? How did he know we’d just finished here? How did he know our agenda? And, if there’s a threat to SPEAR, there’s a threat to the world at large.”

“SPEAR won’t go down easy,” Dino said.

“Not just that. He mentioned the President too. This could be huge.”

“So, you wanna meet the psycho?” Wu said it as if resigned. “Of course you do.”

“I think we have to, guys.”

Dino shouldered his weapon. “Best get moving then.”

Karin didn’t look back.

The HALO jump should have been exhilarating, a heady rush from beginning to end, but Drake barely felt it. Risk lay everywhere, from the size of the team jumping to the chances of being spotted from below.

And then there was the landing area.

Close to an IS stronghold and a mountainous ridge, they were trying to come down as close as was reasonably possible. Drake had never seen a team so tooled up; they were literally burdened with weapons. Enough to win a war.

It might come to that. Luther had been grinning from ear to ear.

Drake landed and rolled, catching his hip on a rock but coming away with nothing more than a nasty bruise. The others came down one by one, pitch black their ally, stiff chutes guided by GPRS. Despite more bruises and scrapes the team came together in a reasonable mood.

“All quiet?” Mai whispered.

“We’re a few miles from the town,” Drake said. “You see that ridge over there?” He pointed at the horizon where an uneven line was outlined against a silvery sky. “That’s our target. We need to be there before first light.”

They moved out. The air was cold, biting even, chilling Drake’s blackened face. They couldn’t help but make a small amount of noise, weighed down by all their gear, so they took it easier than normal and stayed low. Underfoot, the ground was hard-packed and uneven. Drake heard no sounds drifting along on the slight breeze that scoured the desert. They could easily have been alone.

Very soon, they found they were far from it.

Dahl, ranging to the left, came across a man seated next to a battered-looking rifle. The man didn’t see Dahl at all, but his eyes grew wide when the enormous shape loomed over him. He opened his mouth to scream.

Dahl jabbed a knife into his throat to stop any sound, and caught the fighter as he fell. Then, steadily, he laid the man down next to his unused rifle.

“Guard?” Drake asked through the comms.

“Think so. We’d better range further to the right if they have sentries this far out.”

They followed the Swede’s advice and moved ahead with extra care. To be sighted at this point would be ruinous, terminating the mission. An hour passed as they moved light-footedly through the oppressive gloom, danger to every side. No unnecessary words were spoken; no observations raised beyond terrain and destination. Finally, they reached a ravine and allowed themselves ten minutes respite after sliding carefully down to the very bottom.

Drake shifted close to Alicia. “Not long now.”

“Yeah. You want chocolate?”

“Hell yeah.” Through the years it had become a tradition whenever they could possibly manage it.

“I’ll take some of that.” Dahl was beside Alicia.

“You ready with that tracker, mate?” Drake asked as he chewed.

“Ready and willing,” Dahl said.

Drake checked his watch, then clicked the comms. “Move out, folks.”

Another thirty minutes and they were approaching the foothills. Here, Drake saw several campfires dotted around the folds of the lower mountain and some small structures that looked like tents. The trouble was, they stretched all around the wide, rocky base.

“I’m guessing it’s some kind of overflow,” he presumed, knowing the reason didn’t really matter. Knowing wouldn’t clear the obstacle.

“They’re not so close together,” Luther said. “We can go straight through.”

Drake winced, positive now that Luther was looking for an excuse to start using the hardware. The trouble was — he was right, and dawn wasn’t too far away.

With great care, he crept silently over the nearest rock, then used leg muscles to ease down the other side. Skirting the closest fire, he embraced the shadows, checking every footstep, every rough obstacle. A figure lay wrapped in a blanket next to the fire, snoring loudly as they came closer. Drake held his breath, but slipped past without bothering the man.

And into the second small camp.

Like the first, it consisted of a small fire and a tent, but this time there were two figures sleeping outside — both women. Their faces were blank, pointed up at the stars, their chests lifting and falling gently. Drake stepped across a narrow crevice before negotiating a slight slope on the other side. The tent rustled suddenly, its outside bulging. Drake froze, HK ready, hoping it was just a man turning over in his sleep.