David Leadbeater: Weapons of the Gods

“Believe me,” Alicia still hadn’t taken her eyes away from the showers, “there’s nothing here that should worry you.”

Molokai leveled his gun. “Less talk,” he said. “More death.”

“Whoa,” Alicia reached out a hand and grabbed his cloth-covered wrist, noting the puff of dust that rose. “You can’t just shoot ’em. They’re naked.”

“You think they wouldn’t shoot us, given the same circumstances? They’re mercs — led only by money and power. They have no morals. You know this.”

“I guess.” Alicia nodded. “But don’t join them, Molokai. Rise above and be better.”

Kenzie rose now. “I’m all for killing the fuckers to be honest.”

Alicia regarded her. “And I thought you’d changed.”

“That was yesterday,” she said. “Today… I really don’t care.”

Alicia knew she was smarting badly from Dahl’s rejection. “He has a wife and children. You can’t ask him to give that up.”

“I won’t,” Kenzie said. “Soon, I won’t even be around.”

Alicia didn’t push it. She’d never liked the Israeli but grudgingly admitted she was a powerful asset to their team. Molokai moved again and Alicia strengthened her grip on his arm.

“Wait,” she said. “The guy on the right just dropped his soap.”

Seconds passed. Alicia peered harder, but then the taller of the three men wiped soap from his eyes and spotted them.

“Hey!”

Alicia set off without thinking, blocking Molokai’s aim. She couldn’t watch the bloody destruction of three unarmed men, despite their choice of occupation. An annoyed grunt sounded behind and then she was totally committed, dashing quickly toward the three naked mercs and feeling somewhat surreal.

The things I do for my job.

Kenzie was alongside, clearly wanting in on the action. The mercs lost their expressions of shock and discomfort, and took defensive positions. Alicia knew there was simply no point in bouncing off a musclebound body, so she dropped and slid in, using the water to smooth her approach. A kick upward as she neared the tallest merc, and a foot hooked behind his knee, caused him to buckle and fall forward and then she was up, at his back. She slammed an elbow down on his neck, felt him stagger.

He turned as she struck again, taking a hit to the ribs. His soaking wet body helped divert some of the power of her blow. It also helped him slip closer. She punched again, a double strike to the sternum. He staggered backward this time, head forced forward. Alicia front-kicked his stomach. The man slipped to one knee. She attacked but he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close.

“Shit, dude, this ain’t how I roll.”

“I won’t let go.” He squeezed harder, trying to crush her ribs.

“Didn’t realize you cared.”

She used his own slippery body to squeeze down through his hands, and then they were both rolling on the floor, soaked through.

Kenzie certainly didn’t stand on ceremony, using her opponent’s nakedness to help herself. The blows she struck were telling, and well placed. In his desperation though, the merc grabbed her knees and forced her to the floor, so that she also was grappling through the sloshing waters. The third merc ducked behind the wrestlers too as Molokai lined him up in his sights.

“Typical mercenary,” Molokai intoned. “Yorgi, my friend, go get him.”

The Russian thief stared. “Why can’t you?”

“I don’t want to get my feet wet.”

“Oh, sorry, is that a leper thing?”

“No, it’s a sanity thing. Just lift his head up a little and I’ll do the rest.”

“I remember now. You feel the cold quite badly, yes? Well, so do I. And I don’t want to feel anything else, thank you. Those guys are naked.”

“It doesn’t seem to bother the women!”

Yorgi shook his head at the huge man. “You have a lot to learn about Alicia Myles.”

The showers still surged and the banging sound of guitars screamed from the cellphone. Alicia lifted her man by the ankles, knowing she didn’t have to do too much to set him down hard on his spine. It worked, but she fell onto his midriff, getting a bit closer than she’d bargained for. It was impossible to lay down the power and the telling blows amid such slick mayhem. Her clothing was soaked, her boots filled with water. Maybe this idea hadn’t been such a good one after all.

She used the slick surface to crawl up his top half, grabbed hold of his head and forced it beneath the shower’s pounding flow. He gurgled and struggled; Alicia using her knee to force the breath from his body. To her right Kenzie struggled with her merc and now Alicia saw the third crouching behind her and looking scared.

Molokai?

The man should come with a fucking leash, never mind the enigmatic robes. Alicia held her opponent in place and then heard the sloshing of boots as another attacker came from her right. It was Yorgi, and he launched himself at the third merc with what looked like a broken piece of tile in his hand. Despite all the incredible, witty one-liners this opportunity offered Alicia she couldn’t help but feel a shiver of fear for the Russian.

He was no fighter, and clearly wanted to knock the third merc into unconsciousness rather than kill him. Alicia was forced to wait extra seconds as she saw Yorgi smash the merc across the temple, draw blood, and then slip heavily onto his own tailbone. The air rushed out of him; his face turned white. The merc rebounded and kicked him in the face. The tile went skimming away.

Alicia hammered her merc hard until he moved no more, then pulled him so that his face was clear of the water. She saw Kenzie employing an interesting handhold with her opponent, one arm passing under his groin and half way up his back whilst the other choked him into unconsciousness. Clearly, the girl had a few cool tricks in her arsenal. Alicia met the third merc boot-first, making sure it contacted heavily with his right cheek. Then she rose cautiously and moved in as he fell away. By the time he looked up she was standing over him.

Yorgi scrambled up to her. “Hurry.”

“You sure you don’t want get it on with this mammoth?”

“No. I was just saving his life.”

“You hear that?” Alicia bent down and smashed the merc in the face. “He… was… just—” each word signaled a punch “—saving… your… life.”

The man bellowed loudly and rose up, shedding water. He came at Alicia. She grabbed his shoulders and spun him away, but he somehow arrested the slide with a solidly planted back foot and then came again. Alicia smashed an elbow into his nose, stunning him, then proceeded to lash out half a dozen more times. The merc fell back every time, bleeding profusely from the nose and forehead.

He put his head down and attacked once more, a bull in a shower stall. She stepped smartly aside as he reached her, caught hold of his head, and added some momentum of her own. Unable to stop, he smashed skull first into the concrete wall where the showers were set, then groaned as he leaned there, trying not to slip to the floor. Alicia allowed him no dignity, planting her foot against his ass and pushing until he lost balance, falling among the flowing waters.

She whipped her head around. Kenzie had choked her opponent out and now rose, dripping water and soaked to the bone. Alicia stared at her, feeling the liquid sluicing off her own body in waves.

“Still think that was a good idea?” Kenzie asked.

“It wasn’t my best,” Alicia admitted. “I guess the sight of man-sausage just confuses my brain.”

Molokai met them as they exited the shower area, trying to shake the worst of the water away. Alicia squeezed her hair and Kenzie smoothed her clothes. Yorgi emptied his boots. They turned for a last glance back at the showers.