Mark Spaid - Falcon Down

“The weapons aren’t necessary. We’re not armed,” Vladimir.

“Put your weapons down, you fools,” a voice commanded as a fifth man walked inside.

“The house is clear, Comrade,” one of the two who had checked the house said.

“Good, now holster your weapons, take them into living room and tie them to chairs.” A man grabbed Olga roughly and the man in charge slapped the guy across the face knocking him to the floor. “Gently, you idiot. This is the Prime Minster and his wife and they’ll be treated with dignity.” Vladimir and Olga were tied up as the man in charge made a phone call.

“What did you do to our guards outside?” Vladimir asked.

“They’re dead; casualties of war,” the leader said and Vladimir lowered his head.

“What are you here for?” Olga asked.

“I can tell you my name is Andrei Nalkovitch. I am a representative of the new Soviet Union,” the leader said.

“Kulagin?” Vladimir asked but already knowing the answer.

“That’s right and by the end of the day Comrade Kulagin will be in control of Russia.”

“How?” Olga asked.

“There’s no support for Deniken and his appeasement ways. The people won’t let him give away The Crimea or anything else. They’ll not tolerate a treaty with the Americans.”

“What makes you so sure the people detest Deniken as much as you say?” Vladimir asked.

“You’re in the government. You do not hear the voice of the people. I’m a working man; I hear them every day and they hate Deniken and his ways. They’ll relish the end of the traitor president and welcome Comrade Kulagin as leader of the New Soviet Union!” The fervor in his voice and the look on Nalkovitch’s face indicated to Vladimir that these people meant business and there was trouble ahead. He also thought there was little chance that he’d come out of the whole thing alive.

“And you’re in control,” Kulagin said into a cell phone to Nalkovitch.

“Yes, Comrade.”

“Good, be vigilant and if there’s a rescue attempt then you know what to do.”

“I do, Comrade.” Kulagin ended the call and put the cell in his pocket.

“They have Berelenov?” A confederate asked.

“Yes.”

“What next?”

“We have to get to the floor where the Presidents are hiding,” Kulagin replied.

“Where are you?” Manatov asked another man by radio.

“The fortieth floor and nothing so far.”

“Keep going but be prepared. They might go on the offensive.”

“We’re prepared, Comrade.”

“Proceed?” A man asked.

“Yes, let’s go to the top.”

“They’re a couple of floors down, I can hear talking,” Trent said as he and Andy were on the forty-third floor waiting.

“What do we do?”

“Let’s go, follow me.” The two eased their way down the back stairs as quietly as possible, listening all the way. In a minute they were one floor above their enemy.

“Through this door,” they heard a man say in Russian. Trent was not fluent in Russian but he understood it well enough.

“Get down,” Trent said as he went to the other side of the door and waited. The door swung open fast and two men jumped through. Trent stabbed one in the neck and he fell to the floor. Andy froze and was shot in the left arm. Trent didn’t wait long as he grabbed the guy from behind and snapped his neck. When you train as a Green Beret, you never lose those skills.

“I’m hit in the arm.”

“How bad?” Trent asked as he looked through the door.

“Not bad, it’s near the surface.”

“Don’t wait the next time. We’re not here to talk. Kill any of them you see. The less there are the better chance the President has to survive.”

“Right.”

“Let’s go down this hall.” They moved slowly and quietly.

“What do you see or hear?” Vladimir Zhadanov asked his partner Gregori Retzlaf.

“Talking and movement one floor below us.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes,” and before he got out the words the door to the stairway flung open and three men charged in all holding pistols. Vladimir shot one in the head then tackled another. Gregori lunged to stab the third but was shot in the chest first. He fell to the floor motionless. Vladimir stabbed the second man then turned to face the third. Though it was close range the shot fired at Vladimir somehow missed and he had the guy down on the floor instantly. There was a struggle but Russian security agents are well-trained and a quick jab to the throat rendered the guy dead. Retzlaf was moaning and Vladimir turned him over to see a large wound to the center of his chest. It was a fatal wound and before Vladimir could say anything Retzlaf was dead. The two men had worked together for five years and though agents are encouraged to forego friendship, there is a connection. Vladimir hung his head for a moment then got up and slid Gregori’s body in the corner by the stairs and continued the search for more enemies. It was a cold business but agents on both sides know that when they sign up and the life of the agent means nothing… only the life of the President matters. Right now, both President Lexington and President Deniken were alive and unhurt but there were many well-armed and dangerous men who could change that.

“What do we do?” Julieta asked as she followed closely behind Tatiana while they slid along the hallway on the forty-fourth floor.

“Kill the bad guys,” Tatiana responded nonchalantly.

“Yeah, I forgot.”

“Shh,” Tatiana said as she turned and put her finger to her lips and pointed to the corner they were approaching. They stopped and Tatiana listened to men talking then she put two fingers up and whispered something to Julieta who recoiled but a look from Tatiana indicated that Julieta must do what she was told. The two men came around the corner to find two women standing there with hands together at their waist and simpering looks on their faces. The two men looked at each other and Tatiana said something in Russian and the men smiled and chuckled. Both women put their arms out in a help me posture and the men put their guns away and approached the damsels in distress. Tatiana had said they were running from the Russian agents and needed someone to help them to safety. It achieved what Tatiana wanted and when the men were ten feet from them, she pulled out the .38 from her back and shot them both in the head. Julieta jumped back.

“How do you do that?”

“Instinct, we kill them or they kill us. Always be the first to strike if you can. Do it before they have a chance to react. You know the environment where I grew up and you know my past. Killing is nothing to me. You’ve never experienced that but you are now so, I’ll say it again… don’t think… just kill.” Julieta nodded then looked down at the two dead men and sighed. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”

“How are you doing, Ma’am?” Dave asked Clarice who’d been shot in the arm.

“Not bad, the pain has subsided.”

“I wish I had something for the pain besides these headache pills.”

“I’ll survive,” Clarice said and laid her head on a pillow and rested. Dave went to see Johnny Rodriguez.

“How’s the pain?” Dave asked.

“Still there.” The bullet nicked the lung and breathing was painful.

“I wish I could do more,” Dave said.

“Me too.” Dave patted Johnny’s knee and went to Little Wolf.

“Feel like dancing?” Dave asked and Little Wolf grinned.

“Maybe tomorrow.” Dave examined the wound.

“The bullet is still in there.”