Hell's Hoplites - Book 1 - Thebes - 15 - Chapter 14

Chapter 14 -

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II

November 30th 2535 AD - 00:15 GMT

“How the hell did she get out of her cell,” Patricia shouted standing up and her hand dipping for the .357 magnum holstered on her hip.

“Whoa there trigger happy,” Suzanne said making a placating gesture with her hands.

“Oz this is really starting to be a bad habit,” Jack told the AI standing up himself at his former girlfriend‘s entrance.

“I have no clue as to how she managed to escape her cell,” the AI told them.

“Look I’m not trying to cause any problems but I know where you can get one of those prototype C-Y drives,” Suzanne told them.

“And just where would that be?” Samuel asked.

“Rice had a prototype of the engine installed on the New Edo while he was at Kensington but a second engine was manufactured at the Mansfield facility and was being sent to Kensington to refit the Tendo,” Suzanne told them.

“How do you know this?” David asked.

“I have my sources,” Suzanne said with an impish smile.

“Well that’s a sucky answer,” Marie told her.

“Well it’s the only one you‘re going to get,” Suzanne told the former SSPF officer.

Patricia was still moving towards Suzanne her hand still on the gun on her hip.

“Patricia sit down,” Jack ordered.

Reluctantly Patricia returned to her seat next to Samuel sitting down and Samuel put his arm around her shoulders for a second and then swiveled his chair slightly to face Suzanne more directly.

“You really should give me at least one good reason not to let her shoot you,” Samuel growled.

Suzanne tried to look Samuel in the eye but after a few seconds she turned her head away and her shoulders slumped. She sucked in a deep breath and turned her head to look at the wall past the table and started hesitantly. “Look I know what I did was wrong,” she said quietly. “But when I saw a chance to help Jack get his revenge,” she paused for a second. “Get us all some revenge, it clouded my judgment, I should have come directly to you before I even hooked up with those pirates to kidnap the girl,” she said her voice trailing off.

“Wait, you knew before the pirates were even going to kidnap her?” Jack asked in surprise.

“Yes, one of my information sources told me that someone in Kawamura was going to try and make a power play and oust Toyatomi so the contract went out to Midea and his crew to kidnap the girl,” Suzanne told them.

“Originally they were supposed to take the girl and kill her but I managed to talk them into keeping her and sending out a ransom note,” she explained.

“So you knew that they were going to kidnap this girl and you did nothing to stop it?” Marie practically shouted and joined Patricia in her deadly stare at Suzanne.

“Yes I knew, but if I had tried to do anything to stop it someone would have found out about me and probably killed me and then realized that other members of the squad were still alive,” she told them reluctantly.

Jack sighed and rubbed his face. “Fine we’ll give you a second chance then,” Jack said over the protests of the others at the table.

“That will be quite enough,” he bellowed slamming his hand down on the table and leaving a small dent in the composite surface.

Most of the others just stared open mouthed at the small dent in the table top but Samuel just grunted and looked questioningly at him.

Jack just shook his head in the negative.

“Fine she gets a second chance, but she doesn’t get any weapons unless absolutely necessary,” Samuel told him.

“Fine and she’ll even be confined to quarters unless two or more are with her at any time,” Jack told them as a conciliatory modifier.

The others agree to the arrangement and they moved on with Suzanne sitting at the far end of the table away from everyone else.

“So,” Marie said, “there is a whole planet full of uber tech out there that this Rice guy is trying to get his hands on and if he does he may just attempt to take over the entire Sol System with it.”

“Yeah, but in his case he may just decide to kill everyone in the system and be done with it,” Jack told her.

“Is he really that much of a nut job?” David asked.

“Yes he is, he killed all of the members of the board of directors and their families and even killed his own ship’s crew and blew up a hotel just to make it look like he was also a target,” Jack told them.

“I wouldn’t exactly say he is a nut job but he is the classic version of a sociopathic personality,” Patricia said. “I read his file before I took the assignment and there are so many things they suspect him of that it’s not funny. Unfortunately his generally cool manner and unflappability kept him from being nailed by the authorities since they couldn’t pin him down on anything,” the former federal agent told them.

“Great so he’s a sociopath, we need to find out where he is,” Jack said.

“I did some more hacking and it seems that the drive was installed at Kensington as Suzanne said and he left not more than three days ago to head for these coordinates,” David told them.

“We aren’t going to be able to beat him to the planet then,” Fox said.

“No but we can get there shortly after him and maybe stop him from doing whatever the hell he plans on doing with all of that advanced technology,” Jack told them.

“Oz do a check on Kawamura registered cargo ships and see if you can find the one that is carrying the engine meant for the Tendo,” Jack ordered.

“Searching,” Oz said sounding a bit distracted even for him.

“What do you plan on doing once we have the drive?” Suzanne asked.

“We’re going to install it in the Hoplite II,” Jack told them.

The room erupted in shouts.

“Are you out of your mind,” Suzanne said.

“None of us know how to install a C-Y drive,” Marie said.

“No but we can piggyback the bastard to our own drive system and use it that way,” Jack told them.

“How do you know it will work that way?” Patricia asked him.

“I just do,” Jack said right before Oz came back over the intercom.

“I’ve found only a single Kawamura registered vessel the Kyoto Kaze is currently docked at Cidonia Spaceport,” Oz told them.

“Alright, there we go,” Jack said slapping the palm of his hand down on the table.

“We’ll hit the ship while it’s still docked at the spaceport, abscond with the drive and be on our way,” he told them.

“Only a slight problem with that Jack,” Oz told him.

“And what would that be?” Jack asked.

“The Kyoto Kaze isn’t going to be there when we get to Mars,” the AI explained.

“Why not?” Samuel asked.

“It’s going to take us a week to reach Mars and the ship will have left three days before that on its way to a Jovian shipyard orbiting Jupiter where the Tendo is still undergoing repairs,” Oz explained to them.

“Crap is there anyway to intercept it before it reaches the Tendo?” Marie asked.

“Yes, we’d have to immediately drop out of hyperspace right now and intercept it’s course between Saturn and Jupiter,” Oz explained.

“Well then drop us out of hyperspace and set us on a course to intercept it,” Jack ordered.

“Hold on to your stomachs,” Oz told them as the Frigate violently exited back into normal space causing everyone’s inner ear to react wildly to the shifting gravity and reality patterns.

Marie, David, Patricia, and Rochelle all barfed with most getting them into a receptacle before slopping too much of the vile fluids onto the surrounding table and chairs.

“Oh that was so not cool,” David said wiping his mouth with a napkin from the table’s dispenser and making a face at the aftertaste of the bile.

“Re-entering hyperspace in five seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” Oz counted down and the re-entry to the quasi-realm of hyperspace was less violent than when they left and no one sick-upped during the transition.

“Alright Oz how long before we get to an interception point with the Kyoto Kaze?” Jack asked.

“Four days, thirteen hours, and sixteen minutes as long as the vessel stays on its plotted course,” Oz informed them.

“Alright, everyone has four days to rest up and do whatever you want to do and then we are on standby after that until we intercept that ship,” Jack ordered.

After a few more pertinent details were ironed out the crew scattered to various things.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Samuel and Patricia’s Cabin

December 1st 2535 AD - 12:15 GMT

After Samuel had rescued Rochelle from Niburu it had been agreed by the rest of the team that they could have the captain’s cabin which had a smaller office off of it. The small office had been converted into a bedroom for Rochelle and they’d quickly furnished it for the little girl and filled it with bright toys, décor, and gotten her some new clothes while they had been on Mars.

Patricia had put the four year old girl in a booster seat and the three of them now sat at the small table that sat in the middle of the captain’s cabin and ate dinner.

“So is this going to be over soon?” Patricia asked him as she sliced a piece of lasagna into smaller portions and placed them on Rochelle’s plate for her.

“I’m hoping,” Samuel said swallowing a piece of his own lasagna and washing it down with a sip of beer. “Too many people have died because of this bastard and it needs to end, hopefully we’ll be able to take him out in the process and Kawamura will just tumble like a ton of bricks,” he told her reaching over to cup her cheek.

“Samuel?” Patricia said hesitantly.

“Yes,” Samuel said.

“Do you think…,” She started to say and trailed off.

“Yes, will you marry me Patricia?” Samuel asked.

“Yes,” she told him leaning into his cupped palm and then leaning over to kiss him.

“Kissy, kissy,” Rochelle said giggling.

“What?” Samuel said looking at the little girl.

“I…, I think that’s the first time she’s smiled since you rescued her from Niburu,” Patricia said stunned.

“You’re right it is,” Samuel said and they returned to their meal coaxing the young girl into giggling some more.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Fox’s Cabin

December 2nd 2535 AD - 00:30 GMT

The click snick of shells being slid into the loading gate of the cut down carbine echoed through the quiet dimly illuminated room as Fox pressed shells into each of the two small weapons and then tucked them back into the scabbards laying on the table and then reloaded the two lever action shotguns and then finally moved on to the speed loaders for his revolvers.

Opening up the pockets on the inside of his heavy leather duster he slid the speed loaders as well as several dozen rounds of spare munitions for his various weapons into the pouches and then hung the duster up on a valet that sat against one wall of the room.

Sitting back down Fox pulled out a battered and faded photo and ran the tip of his fingers over the face of the small girl in the photo.

“I’ll get you out some day Carnation,” he whispered quietly to the smiling girl in the photo.

Taking the picture with him he lay back on the cabin’s bed and slid the photo under his pillow and went to sleep.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Samuel and Marie’s Cabin

December 2nd 2535 AD - 12:45 GMT

Having cleaned her Beowulf and gone over her gear meticulously over the last couple of days Marie broke out her old SSPF body armor and made sure that it still fit and cleaned it with a sanitizer to remove the somewhat moldy smell.

Now she stood in front of the mirror in her cabin sans her hoodie for once and had earphones in as she head banged to some music coming from her comm and had a bass guitar in her hands she had picked up while they were on Mars.

Her black painted nails flicked up and down the length of the bass and her other hand strummed the strings as she played along with the music blaring through her ear phones.

Her upper lip and forehead were beaded in sweat as she put massive effort into keeping up with the music.

As she stood there strumming away she thought about what had brought her here and couldn’t pin point a single thing she would have done differently.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Marie’s Cabin

December 3rd 2535 AD - 00:00 GMT

David hunched over the various computer components on his desk and with great care assembled what he was coming to believe was his master piece of computer art. When he was done the computer he was now assembling would be the most powerful portable computer currently in existence and was probably ten to fifteen years ahead of the other companies that currently manufactured cutting edge computer technology.

David clipped the last component in place and then assembled the lightweight but durable titanium casing that would protect the computer and then flipped on the power and then the wireless uplink.

“Alright Oz start uploading the operating system software,” David told the AI.

“Uploading now,” Oz told him.

After about ten minutes the upload bar completed and the computer booted up showing a stylized eye and sword icon that David had never seen before and the words OzSoft floated beneath it.

“What the heck is that?” David muttered.

“That is OzSoft’s newest operating system,” Oz told him proudly.

“What’s OzSoft?” The computer Nerd asked.

“It’s a software company that I registered with the system trade commission,” Oz told him.

“You started your own software company?” David asked in surprise.

“Well yes I decided to start small with operating systems and then move on to making other artificial intelligences once the company has become more established,” Oz explained.

“Whoever designed you created a monster,” David muttered.

“Did you say something?” Oz asked.

“No, no, nothing at all,” David said louder.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Taki’s Cabin

December 3rd 2535 AD - 12:15 GMT

Taki lay huddled on her bed in her cabin and worried at one of her fingers with even white teeth. The drugs that the scientists had given her were finally out of her system and she was more cognizant than she had been for quite some time.

The only thing she could think of however was about her father and why he was acting so strange and why he was putting up with the woman that had kidnapped her.

Why father, why, did I do something wrong, did I not follow the commands correctly, why are you punishing me? The thoughts kept running through her mind as she switched to another nail and worried at it with as much focus as she had the one before.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Med-Bay

December 4th 2535 AD - 00:30 GMT

Med-Bay was silent save for the soft beeping of machines that were monitoring the vital signs of the unconscious plant girl Corona Masloff as she lay in a deep coma that Oz couldn’t determine the cause of.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Jack’s Cabin

December 4th 2535 AD - 12:45 GMT

“What do you want?” Jack asked his voice extremely pissed off as he answered the knock on his cabin door.

“I want what we had once,” Suzanne told him.

“What we had once was over ten years ago Suzanne, I told you then you were a good fuck but I didn’t love you,” Jack told her coldly.

“Jack don’t say that,” Suzanne said tears trailing down her cheeks.

“What do you expect me to say, once again you betrayed me, kidnapped an innocent girl, betrayed others who trusted you,” Jack told her and then slammed his fist against the door leaving a dent.

Suzanne took a step back at the small dent and then looked at Jack. “What happened to you?” She asked.

“I went through hell and most of it because of you,” Jack told her venomously.

“I’m sorry,” she told him quietly.

“If you had just a single shred of decency left in you, you would walk away now before I killed you,” Jack told her.

“I can’t do that, Jack I love you,” She said miserably.

“How can you say that,” He said. “How can you lie like that, how can you stand there and say that,” he bellowed at her.

“Please just give me a chance,” she said miserably as more tears tracked down her face.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit,” Jack said each word punctuated by a punch and another dent in the door frame and blood was starting to spray the frame.

“Stop, please stop,” she said grabbing at his hand as it started to head towards the frame again.

“Dammit,” he whispered and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a kiss.

Both of them were tense for a second and then melted into each other stumbling backwards through the door as it slid shut and they impacted against the bed.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Jack’s Cabin

December 4th 2535 AD - 01:00 GMT

Jack lay back on his bunk one arm under Suzanne’s head as she snuggled into his side on the small bed. Currently he was staring up at the bottom of the shelf that was above his bunk.

He’d tried to harden his heart to Suzanne but he’d loved her since he had first met her and he couldn’t deny those feelings even after all the crap she had pulled; he still loved her and it caused a sigh to escape his lips.

“Jack,” Oz whispered quietly over the comm panel next to the bunk.

“Yeah Oz,” Jack said equally quiet and slid his arm out from under Suzanne’s head as she shifted restlessly at the quiet noise.

“We’ve reached Mars; the Kyoto Kaze is currently 250,000 kilometers ahead of us and trundling along pretty slowly,” the AI informed him.

“Alright let the others know that I want everyone in Skinsuits and on the bridge,” Jack ordered.

“Does that include Patricia and Rochelle?” Oz asked.

“No they can stay in their cabin but I do want them in their Skinsuits,” Jack answered.

“Certainly I’ll inform everyone immediately,” the AI told him.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Jack’s Cabin & The Bridge

December 4th 2535 AD - 01:45 GMT

Jack woke Suzanne as gently as he could. “Suzanne time to wake up the Kyoto Kaze is almost within range,” he told her.

“Wha…, what,” she said blearily and then sat upright wide awake.

“I said the Kawamura ship is almost within range,” he told her and crawled over her body to get to the floor.

“You could have just asked me to move,” She told him in exasperation.

“Sorry I need to get to the bridge before the others do and make sure everything goes right,” Jack told her apologetically.

“You aren’t going anywhere yet,” she told him grabbing his arm and spinning him towards her and locking lips.

After almost thirty seconds she finally released him and let him start pulling on his Skinsuit.

“You should probably get yours on as well,” Jack told her.

“I will, but it’s probably best if I’m the last one to arrive on the bridge,” she told him.

“Alright I’ll see you on the bridge then,” he told her bending down to give her a peck on the cheek.

“Do you still love me?” she asked quietly.

“Yes even after all the stupid shit you’ve done and I’ve never stopped loving you,” he told her.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For what?” He said exasperated as he tugged the legs of the Skinsuit up.

“For still loving me,” She said.

“You’d probably kick my butt if I’d said I didn’t,” Jack told her pausing in dressing and putting out a hand to caress one of her cheeks.

“You better get to the bridge,” she told him turning slightly away from the touch.

“Alright, come to the bridge in about fifteen minutes then,” he told her hurriedly pulling on the rest of the Skinsuit and paying for his haste.

“Did it too fast again didn’t you?” She asked with a wicked grin.

“Yup,” he said with an inhaled breath of pain as he tried to adjust the suit to a more comfortable position.

“You always did the same thing when we were in the marines,” she said.

“I was never one to waste time,” he told her and sighed. “Although it seems I may have wasted too much of the last ten years,” he told her.

“Get out of here,” she ordered him as he paused to grab the helmet for his Skinsuit from the armored locker next to the bed.

“Aye, aye, Sarge,” he said with a salute and a wink as he left the room.

Jack met the others on the bridge all of which were already in their Skinsuits and armed.

“So how we handling this boss?” Fox asked.

“We’ll play it by ear,” Jack said.

“What do you mean we’ll play it by ear,” Marie sputtered.

“Oh did I forget to tell you most of the time he pulls it out of his ass,” Samuel said nonchalantly.

“Pulls it out of his ass,” David said.

“Yeah, as in doesn’t really plan anything in advance,” Samuel elaborated. “Of course when he does come up with a plan it usually ends up in tears like when we lost the original Hoplite,” Samuel told him.

“Uh what happened to the original ship?” David asked.

Samuel was about to start the whole story when Jack looked at him. “You start that again and I’ll seriously kick the crap out of you,” he told him.

“You and what army?” Samuel asked with a grin.

“Boys, boys, enough already,” Patricia said from her perch on one of the console chairs.

“Of course there was that one drop on Venus…,” Samuel started to say.

“Dear if you ever want to see me naked ever again you’ll stop right this minute,” Patricia told him with an evil smile.

“That’s not a very fair way to play,” Samuel grumped.

“Well I could really care less about seeing Patricia naked,” Jack said with a chuckle.

“Yes but if you ever want to see me naked again you better stop,” Suzanne told him as she walked in.

“Why is it women could be in the middle of killing each other, but they’ll stop what they are doing just to gang up on men?” Jack grumped.

“That’s just the way we are sweetie,” Suzanne told him as she walked past and patted him on the cheek.

Jack was half tempted to stick his tongue out but decided against it since he’d done that once before and Suzanne had been quick enough to grab it and hold it the first time they’d gotten into an argument.

After the moment passed Patricia looked at Suzanne. “What’s she doing here?” the former federal agent asked grumpily.

“Calmly,” Jack said making soothing gesture with his hands. “She’s promised to help us and we’ll definitely need all the help we can get once we hit the final stage of things,” Jack assured her.

“Alright but if she so much as thinks about betraying us again I’ll shoot her myself,” Patricia growled giving the other woman the evil eye.

“Don’t worry lady I gave my word and I’m going to stick by it,” Suzanne told her evenly and with a small smile.

Patricia’s answer was to sniff and cross her arms as if saying she would believe it when she saw it.

“Okay now if we are all settled down let’s go get us an engine,” Jack said.

“Oz how much longer till intercept?” he asked the AI.

“Approximately 22 minutes, do you have a plan of action?” The AI asked.

“We fire a shot across their bow tell them to heave to and prepare to be boarded,” Jack told them.

“I guess that’s simple enough,” Samuel said.

“When do you wish to do this?” Oz asked.

“How about five minutes out,” Jack suggested.

“Certainly, counting down from 21 minutes…now,” Oz said and a clock started on one corner of the main screen.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Kensington Mining Facility And Mars

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Bridge

December 4th 2535 AD - 02:22 GMT

“Firing ventral turret three,” Oz said and underneath the ship turret three spun around and fired a shot across the Kyoto Kaze’s bow.

“Cargo vessel Kyoto Kaze heave too and prepare to be boarded,” Jack ordered over the comm.

“You’ve always wanted to say that haven’t you?” Samuel asked dryly after the comm was switched off.

“Who wouldn’t want to say that,” Jack said with a grin.

“Anyone older than ten years old,” Suzanne said sarcastically.

“Ouch, thy tongue is sharper than a blade woman,” Jack said clutching a hand to his heart.

Suzanne gave him the finger and turned back to her console.

“Unknown pirate vessel this is Kyoto Kaze we are heaving to please do not fire again,” came over the comm system.

“Let’s go be pirates,” Samuel said jacking back the bolt on his M30 and leaving the bridge followed by Jack, Fox, Marie, and Suzanne.

On the Kyoto Kaze the group found the entire crew waiting with arms in the air in the main airlock.

“Hi, how’s everyone doing today? We’ll be robbing you today, if you have any questions feel free to ask them,” Jack told the crew.

The dozen or so crew members looked at Jack like he was crazy and then one of them stepped forward.

“Who the hell are you people?” What most likely was the captain asked?

“Just consider us your friendly neighborhood pirates, we’re actually very nice people and don’t ask much,” Jack paused and then looked over at Fox. “Well except for the Viking looking guy there,” he told them and Fox smiled showing even white teeth with overly large canines.

“Uh,” the man said and stepped back into the group.

“Actually we only need one thing from your cargo. So see we aren’t so bad after all,” Jack said.

“What exactly is it you want?” The man asked.

“David,” Jack said.

“Oh right,” David said and started tapping on his wrist mounted computer. “Uh we need cargo crate #KIMF-3999-CY-J-2387,” he told them.

“Well I’m afraid we’re going to have a slight problem then,” the man said and suddenly the entire group of them were reaching behind their backs and scattering behind large pieces of equipment in the airlock.

“Seriously we were trying to be nice,” Jack said shooting the mouthpiece in the head dropping him.

The only answer was small arms fire and automatic weapons.

“I think the time to be nice has passed,” Marie said jumping backwards over a crate and taking cover her shotgun roaring after she’d landed.

“Hey everybody is always saying I need to be nicer,” Jack shouted opening fire with his FN pistols on burst fire.

“Face it you’re an asshole and everyone knows it,” Samuel said.

“I think you’re nice,” Fox said blowing out the spine of one of the crew members.

“I don’t think you’re nice but you are pretty good in bed,” Suzanne told him.

“Now is not exactly the time Suze,” Jack shouted.

“How about now?” She asked dropping the last crew member.

“No not now either, we need to get that engine and get out of here before Kawamura or the SSPF shows up,” Jack said checking bodies to make sure they were all truly dead.

“Fox and Samuel check and make sure there are no more chickens in this henhouse. David, Marie, Suzanne, you come with me and we’ll get our eggs,” Jack ordered.

By the time Fox and Samuel made sure there were no other people on the ship the others had the experimental drive loaded on to a pallet and a forklift ready to move it across to the Hoplite II.

“Well let’s get this puppy back home then,” Jack ordered and they drove the forklift from one airlock to another.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Mars & Saturn

Kawamura Registered Vessel - New Edo - Bridge

December 11th 2535 AD - 12:25 GMT

“Sir we’ve reached the coordinates that the girl supplied,” Pendlman informed Rice.

“Good Colonel, proceed with C-Y drive initiation,” Rice ordered.

“Certainly Sir,” Pendlman said and turned to the navigation officer. “Lt. Jascorby please initiate the C-Y drive,” Pendlman ordered.

“Yes Ma’am,” the navigation officer answered. “Initiating drive procedure,” the navigation officer told her and started counting backwards from thirty.

Just as the countdown hit eight the tactical officer shouted from his console. “Sir I have an incoming bogey just dropping out of hyperspace. Sir it’s squawking the IFF of the Hoplite II,” the tactical officer told him.

“Hmm, how interesting,” Rice said pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

“Sir, they just fired a spread of missiles,” the tactical officer told him.

“Doesn’t matter, we’ll be translated into Thebes atmosphere shortly,” Rice told her.

“…1...” the navigation officer said and then the world turned sideways.

Sol System - Somewhere Between Mars & Saturn

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Bridge

December 11th 2535 AD - 12:30 GMT

“Son of a bitch,” Samuel said slamming a skin-suited fist against the arm of his console chair and then shaking it in pain.

“They seem to have disappeared from all of our sensor systems,” Oz told the bridge.

“Really,” Sam grumbled still shaking out his hand.

“Oz how are the settings on that cobbled together mess in the engine room?” Jack asked the ship’s AI.

“All readings are nominal,” Oz told him.

“Alright folks lets go be explorers then,” Jack said. “Oz engage the drive and let’s see what can’t be seen,” he ordered.

“Everyone ready,” Jack asked the other members of the bridge.

A ragged chorus of no’s came up from the rest of the bridge.

“Yes it is then,” Jack said.

“Affirmative,” the AI said and then everything went sideways.

Sol System - Thebes

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Bridge

December 11th 2535 AD - 13:45 GMT

When things finally snapped back into place Jack found himself bent over dry retching what was left in his stomach.

All around the bridge the rest of the crew were doing the same thing.

“Okay so that went somewhat well,” Samuel said wiping a Skinsuited arm across his mouth and wiping away streamers of bile.

“Oz,” Jack croaked and then cleared his throat. “Oz get me some readings what do we have outside,” he ordered.

“Atmosphere appears normal, temperature is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside slightly higher back ground radiation than Earth normal,” Oz told him.

“Good let’s see if we can find Rice’s ship then,” Jack said.

“Certainly captain, setting sensor systems to maximum and heading in towards largest known anomaly,” Oz said.

They ship moved about a kilometer before it lurched and started sinking towards the ground.

“Oz what’s the problem?” Jack asked.

“It seems some background energy source is draining power from the induction furnace,” Oz told him.

“Can you land us safely?” he asked.

“Certainly as long as we do nothing but move towards the ground,” Oz told him.

“Do it then,” Jack ordered.

“Alright everyone lets get geared up it looks like we’ll be doing this the old fashioned way,” Jack said standing up and heading for his cabin.

“Joy we get to check out the new SUV you picked up while we were putting in that hunk of junk in the engine room,” Fox said.

“Like it’s my fault that Kawamura makes shoddy stuff,” Jack said over his shoulder.

Sol System - Thebes

Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II - Cargo Bay

December 11th 2535 AD - 15:00 GMT

Jack, Samuel, Suzanne, David, Fox, Marie, and Taki gathered in the cargo bay around the brand new Yukon that had been purchased while on Mars.

“What is this the third SUV we’ve had or something like that?” Samuel asked running his hand along the fender of the vehicle.

“Cheap price to pay compared to some of the others we’ve had to pay in the past,” Jack said quietly as he got behind the wheel.

The SUV was somewhat on the cramped side considering six of the seven people in it where in full battle gear and carrying enough weapons and ammo to start a small war.

Jack dropped the SUV into gear slammed his foot down on the gas and the vehicle sped out of the cargo bay and went airborne before slamming down on the desert hardpan that surrounded the ship’s landing spot.

“So uh, which way should we go?” Fox asked from the backseat.

“We’ll head towards that spire or building or whatever it is over there,” Jack said pointing at a tall structure off in the distance.

“Let’s go see then,” Suzanne said putting her sunglasses on.

Even though the planet was covered by a pure black shield that hid it from both visual and technological means the sky only seemed to be overcast and cloudy with only hints of bright sunshine stabbing down through it.

The SUV sped across the desert towards the object in the distance and it took nearly an hour and as they approached it the object grew and grew and grew until they stopped at the base of something that towered over fifty stories high.

Curious Jack, Samuel, and Suzanne climbed out to take a look at it.

“Guys this isn’t a piece of art or a building; it’s a bloody leg,” Samuel said kicking away some of the sand that had pooled around the bottom of the structure.

“A leg,” Jack said in surprise and then pulled a pair of binoculars out and examined the top of the structure.

“You’re right Samuel I can see parts of a blown out knee joint up there,” Jack told him focusing the digital binoculars.

“Yeah and it looks like we’ve got something over here as well,” Suzanne said motioning with one arm. The woman rather than wear one of her spider silk suits was dressed in a black T-shirt and BDUs and combat boots she was wearing an LBE vest over that with numerous magazines and explosives hooked to it. She was armed with a pair of new model MP5KA50 SMGs hanging from straps clipped to the vest and her Glocks were on her hips.

Samuel and Jack walked over and looked where she was pointing. Her finger pointed at a large angular object covered with sand that lay a few hundred meters from the leg. At what seemed an opportune moment a heavy wind came across the desert blowing sand away from the object.

The ship sized object was uncovered showing what looked like a huge metallic chest with massive holes in it and what looked like a head with multiple sensor plates and antennae.

“I’d hate to run into whatever did that,” Samuel said trying to estimate the size of the ragged holes blown into the chest.

“So would I,” Jack started to say but was interrupted by a transmission over his radio.

“Jack, Taki is freaking out over here you might want to come back to the vehicle,” David told him over the radio.

“Shit,” Jack said and the three of them ran back towards the vehicle.

Back at the vehicle Jack and the others found Marie trying to restrain Taki who was trying to run in the opposite direction of the large leg like object. Fox and David stood off to the side near the vehicle not sure what to do from the looks on their faces.

When Jack ran around the side of the vehicle Taki broke free of Marie’s grasp and ran straight into Jack who reflexively wrapped his arms around her.

“Father, father, it’s a war machine, we have to get out of here. It will kill us all, please,” Taki said crying against his LBE vest.

“Ssshhh, Ssshhh, quiet. It’s alright Taki,” Jack said stroking her hair.

“But father it’s a war machine,” Taki cried.

“Dear, that hunk of junk won’t be hurting anyone ever again,” Suzanne told her putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Taki shrunk away from Suzanne’s contact trying to burrow herself more tightly against Jack.

Suzanne hesitantly withdrew her hand and looked at Jack who shook his head over the girl’s head.

“What’s a war machine?” Fox asked.

“Apparently a huge bad ass robot of some kind,” Samuel said.

“Oh, a huge bad ass robot,” Fox said acting like he understood.

“Taki can you tell us what a War Machine is or would it be too stressful for you?” Jack asked.

“No I don’t want to talk about them, or think about them,” Taki said shaking fresh tears starting.

“Okay, okay, it’s alright, you don’t have to talk about them if you don’t want to,” Jack told her.

“They are so scary father,” Taki said.

“We’ll get out of here then,” Jack said and motioned to Marie. “Why don’t you have Marie help you into the vehicle and then we’ll be on our way,” he told her.

“Yes father,” Taki said sniffling and stepping back as Marie helped her back into the vehicle.

Once Taki and Marie were back in the vehicle Jack turned to the others. “Alright so War Machines are a bad thing then and we definitely don’t want to run into any of them,” he told the others.

“Most likely not,” Samuel said dryly.

“Well it’s settled then we’ll avoid these things as much as possible,” Jack said and then motioned to the SUV. “Everyone back inside please and we shall continue on our journey to find Mr. Rice and stop him.”

Sol System - Thebes

Kawamura Registered Vessel - New Edo

December 11th 2535 AD - 15:30 GMT

“Mr. Rice are you sure you should be going?” Colonel Pendlman asked her boss.

“I intend to be the first one through the door to that building, if it is what I think it is I’ll have access to unknown amounts of technology and advanced weapons, ship-building, and spatial navigation data. The information in that building will catapult Kawamura industries to the top of its field and I’ll be able to purchase rather than take over any government I want to,” Rice told her as he slid thin black leather gloves over his hands and snugged them into the sleeves of his BDUs; finished with that he picked up an M283 SAW as if it were nothing more than a toy.

“Certainly Sir,” Pendlman replied.

“Are the vehicles and men ready to go?” Rice asked.

“Yes Sir.” “Well then shall we go Colonel,” Rice said and climbed into one of the four SUVs that had just driven down the ramp from the ship.

“Alright let’s go everyone,” Pendlman ordered waving her finger in a circle and then climbed into the driver’s seat of the SUV and the other fourteen security personnel joined them, two in Rice’s SUV and the other twelve in the other three SUVs.

The four vehicles started off in the direction of a small speck in the distance.

Sol System - Thebes

Several Kilometers from the Privately Registered Vessel - Hoplite II

December 11th 2535 AD - 16:00 GMT

“What’s that?” Fox said leaning over the front bench and pointing at something in the distance.

Suzanne picked a pair of binoculars off the dash and put them to her face. “It’s a ship, looks like the New Edo,” she told them.

“Let’s go say hi,” Jack said pressing his foot harder on the accelerator and racing for the medium sized vessel parked less than a kilometer away.

Sol System - Thebes

Kawamura Registered Vessel - New Edo

December 11th 2535 AD - 16:00 GMT

“Captain we have a vehicle approaching from the west,” one of the half dozen guards still on the Kawamura vessel told his commander.

“Grab a gun and let’s take care of these asshole mercenary scum once and for all,” the Captain ordered his men.

Sol System - Thebes

Kawamura Registered Vessel - New Edo

December 11th 2535 AD - 16:30 GMT

“Piece of shit mercenary assholes,” Samuel said kicking the last body down the cargo bay ramp.

“Now, now Samuel you know they probably thought the same thing about us,” Jack said picking up one of the small assault rifles that guards had been carrying. “Oh hey cool one of the new FN P125 Assault Rifles, I heard these weren’t on the market yet,” Jack said distractedly.

“So who are these losers?” Marie asked.

“Probably ex-military,” Suzanne said pulling up the sleeve of one of the men’s shirts showing a tattoo. “Ex-Delta Force,” she said with a grunt.

“That explains how they were able to hold out for so long,” Jack said.

The four of them heard a gunshot from outside the cargo bay and rushed out to find Fox standing over one of the dead mercenaries now with half his head blown off.

“What the hell was that?” Marie yelled choking back a bit of bile.

“Just a dead check,” Fox said calmly.

“Stow that shit,” Jack said shoving Fox back and down onto the ground with unexpected force.

Anger and hatred flashed across Fox’s face and he started to surge up from his position on the ground.

“Until you can get your head in the game and stop doing stupid shit you might as well stay on the ground,” Jack told him angrily.

Fox gritted his teeth like a feral animal and was still trying to get up when Jack struck out and kicked him in the chest knocking him back and down all the way to the ground.

“Now if you have calmed yourself down enough we can get going,” Jack said resting the heel of his boot on the man’s throat.

Fox’s face contorted in anger and then smoothed out and he seemed to calm greatly.

“Better,” Jack said standing up and moving away. “Let’s get going I think I know where they went to,” Jack said heading back to the SUV that had been left several yards away where David and Taki where waiting.

Behind him and the others as they walked towards the SUV Fox glared at Jack’s back with extreme hatred and his eyes practically glowed with murderous intent.

“How do you know where they are going?” Suzanne asked.

“Well considering that that is the only structure we’ve seen on this planet so far and Rice had better coordinates to work with I’d say that it is his goal,” Jack said pointing at the dot on the horizon.

“What is it?” Samuel asked as they climbed into the SUV.

“It is the Theban Archive, repository for all their knowledge and technology,” Taki said from the rear most seat.

“Wow, that sounds cool,” David said.

“Yeah and we really don’t want Rice getting to it before we do,” Suzanne said.

“I agree totally,” Jack muttered as he dropped the vehicle into gear and started heading towards the structure in the distance.

Sol System - Thebes

Theban Archive

December 11th 2535 AD - 19:00 GMT

“We are here sir,” Pendlman told her boss.

“Alright,” Rice said looking out the window from the E-PADD that he had been studying.

The structure that covered the Ancient Theban archive was somewhat squat and oddly shaped. Anyone that had ever been a student of architecture or archeology would have noted similarities between the architecture of the building and that found at the abandoned cites of Angkor Wat, Tiahuanaco, and even a few similarities of Greco-Roman designs.

The structure was almost squat in its appearance but was probably about ten stories in height with stepped ziggurats on each corner of the roof; the squatness was probably due to the fact that the building sprawled over several acres.

“Alright let the team on the ship know we’ve reached the objective,” Rice said stepping out of the SUV and pulling the M283 out with him and stared up at the 10,000 plus year old building that stood before them.

He could hear Pendlman giving orders as he examined the front of the building. The huge marble plinth above the door was supported by matching pseudo Greco-roman columns and deep incised letters were on the plinth above the doorway; huge marble doors closed off the interior of the building.

“The fountain of knowledge is the path to the future,” Rice spoke quietly to himself.

“I’m sorry sir,” one of the black clad mercenaries standing near him said questioningly.

“Nothing,” Rice replied to the man as he watched Pendlman speak to the Communications Unit Operator.

“Are you sure you can’t reach the ship at all?” Pendlman asked the CUO.

“Yes ma’am I’m certain I’ve tried both the main frequency as well as the three back up ones and they aren’t responding on any of those channels,” the CUO told her.

“Could it be interference of some sort?” Pendlman asked chewing on the inside of her mouth.

“No ma’am I’m not getting anything like that at all,” he said shaking his head.

“So they just aren’t responding,” Pendlman mused.

“That would be my best guess,” the CUO told her.

“That means Sikorsky and his crew made it through the shield just like us,” Pendlman mused out loud.

The CUO knew she wasn’t talking to him so he didn’t reply and just stood their waiting for her to issue the next order.

Walking away from the CUO distractedly Pendlman made her way over to where Rice was still standing next to the SUV with one of the guards.

“Caselles go stand over by Borgnine for a minute would you,” Pendlman ordered.

“Yes ma’am,” Caselles said barely restraining a salute as he trotted over to stand by the CUO.

“Ship not responding?” Rice asked before she could open her mouth.

“Yes Sir,” she responded after a couple of seconds.

“Seems Mr. Sikorsky and his compatriots are more resilient than we had hoped,” Rice said lighting a cigarette.

“Yes Sir, but whatever shut our propulsion systems down most likely knocked out theirs as well and we’ve probably got at least an hour before they get here, maybe as much as an hour and a half,” Pendlman explained.

“Well then let’s get these doors open then,” Rice said gesturing to the large marble portals.

“Yes Sir,” Pendlman said and turned to one of the guards. “Danleone get those doors open,” she ordered.

“You want them intact?” The soldier asked.

Pendlman turned to Rice with a raised eyebrow and Rice just shook his head.

“Whatever way you can Danleone,” she told him.

“Aye Ma’am,” the former marine said and started pulling bricks of C10 from his pack after taking it off. “Yo, Parsons give me a hand here,” he called to another guard.

“On it,” the man said and shrugged out of his own pack and set it to the side to help the man shape his charge.

Fifteen minutes later found the two men with a 25 kilo charge of C10 attached to a blast plate and shaped so that it would blow a hole straight through the heavy marble doors.

“Ma’am we’re ready,” Danleone told his commander.

“Blow it then,” Pendlman said.

“Yes Ma’am,” he said and had Parsons help him emplace the charge.

The two men attached the shaped charge to the door and motioned for everyone to take cover behind the four SUVs and then ran to cover themselves.

Pulling out the detonator Danleone looked around to make sure everyone really was undercover.

“Fire in the hole,” Danleone shouted pushing the button down and trying to cover his ears at the same time.

There was a massive roar and the SUV actually scooted a few inches from the over pressure but when the dust and debris cleared the two huge marble portals had been reduced to rubble and subdued shafts of light speared through the doorway to show the edge of a marble floor.

“Alright let’s see what we have to work with,” Rice said moving towards the door easily cradling the M283 as he stepped past the busted portal.

“Danleone, Parsons, stay with the vehicles,” Pendlman ordered the two man.

“Yes Ma’am,” they replied and took up positions near the vehicles.

The other ten went into the building.

Once through the doorway Rice snapped on the tactical light attached to his SAW and was followed by the others and the shafts of bright white light speared through the large room revealing its details.

“Whoa,” one of the men said shining his light over a large statue that sat in the middle of the floor.

At the noise the other’s lights flared across the statue revealing a dark bronze gold metal studded with emeralds and sapphires as well as several other precious stones.

“Must be worth a pretty penny,” one of the other men commented whistling as his light trailed over it.

“Yes well monetary concerns can be covered later on,” Rice told him as he moved further into the room to a small obelisk about the size of an elevator chamber that sat in the middle of the floor.

Sol System - Thebes

Theban Archive

December 11th 2535 AD - 20:17 GMT

“Sir I think we’ve finally found a way to activate the uh, elevator,” one of the guards told Rice.

“Good lets get it activated and get down to the archive before Sikorsky and his lot get here, I’m pretty sure that the building has defensive systems we can activate from there to fend them off,” Rice ordered moving towards the obelisk.

Stepping up to the obelisk Rice punched a sequence into the key pad that extruded from the control panel and watched as a hidden crack widened in the obelisk and formed a black gaping portal that Rice tipped the barrel of his SAW down so that his light played across the shaft.

“Hmm, there isn’t any type of car at all,” Rice said distractedly.

“We’ll get the climbing gear from the vehicles sir,” Pendlman said motioning for two of the men to go back out to the vehicles.

A few minutes after the men left the roar of an engine was heard and then automatic weapons fire followed by explosions and screams.

“Ma’am this is Danleone the mercenaries are here and we are under heavy fire I…,” the soldier’s sentence was cut off short and a squelch of static blasted through Pendlman’s ear canal.

“Damn,” Pendlman muttered pulling the ear bug out and dropping it to the end of its wire.

“Sikorsky and company I take it,” Rice said musingly as he continued to examine the elevator shaft.

“Yes sir it would seem so, now if you would please take cover,” Pendlman said and then grabbed her boss by the drag strap on the back of his vest and pulled him behind a column.

Pendlman’s ten remaining men spread themselves out behind pillars and the statue at the middle of the room.

“Hey Rice your murdering bastard ass in there,” Jack called past the entryway’s colonnades.

“Yes Mr. Sikorsky I’m right here,” Rice replied.

“So you just want to give up now or are we going to have to come in there and smear you and your boys all over the place,” Jack called.

“You and your rag tag band of misfits and psychopaths won’t be able to smear us as you put it all over the place,” Rice called out.

“I wouldn’t bet on that too heavily,” Jack yelled back.

“Well then Mr. Sikorsky please do try your best to get to us then,” Rice called out.

“It’s not exactly a good idea to bait them sir,” Pendlman said.

“Are you afraid Colonel?” Rice asked.

“Yes sir,” Pendlman answered.

“Too bad that doesn’t make you of much use to me,” Rice said shoving a silenced pistol in a joint of her armor and emptying the magazine.

“Whuh…, Why?” Pendlman asked grasping the sleeve of his black BDUs.

“Because a coward has no place in my organization,” Pendlman told her pulling her grasping hand off of his arm and pushing her away.

Pendlman slid down the pillar she had been leaning against smearing blood down its length.

“Kill them,” He shouted ignoring Pendlman’s gasping breath as she died.

Sol System - Thebes

Theban Archive

December 11th 2535 AD - 20:30 GMT

“Gee I guess that would be his answer,” Jack said dryly as 5.7mm rounds bounced off the frame near his head.

“Sooo, do we kill them all then?” Samuel asked.

Jack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and then shrugged. “Sure why not,” Jack answered.

“How do you want to do this then?” Marie asked.

“David and Taki will stay in the vehicle, Marie give us some cover fire, Samuel you go left, Fox go right I’ll go straight up the middle,” Jack said and lifted the tube of his 40mm grenade launcher and pulled the trigger sending a 40mm beehive round blasting through the doorway.

Thirty feet down range the grenade detonated spewing dozens of finned razor edged flechettes around the large entry way pocking the walls and the huge statue of two men standing supporting each other with a caduceus in one man’s hand and an all-seeing eye in the other statue’s hand.

Jack raced up the middle taking cover behind the statue while Samuel and Fox split to the sides with Marie firing to cover them and taking out one of the remaining security guards.

Using hand gestures Jack gave Samuel and Fox directions to circle around and take out as many guards as they could while he would try and find Rice himself and take him out.

Sol System - Thebes

Theban Archive

December 11th 2535 AD - 20:32 GMT

A flechette buzzed past Rice’s ear as he crouched next to the column and heard the rapid crack boom of a heavy caliber rifle and the thud smack impact of one of the rounds as it hit one of his men.

Peering around the corner Rice saw the muzzle flash of the sniper rifle and felt a chunk of masonry hit his shoulder. The sting of stone cutting flesh and the trail of blood running down his back didn’t deter Rice as he brought the M283 up and peered through the Red Dot sight attached to the upper equipment rail and centered the small red dot on the flash suppressor of the rifle and waited for it to fire again and then ripped off a three round burst.

There was the spang-clank of the round hitting the rifle and then it flipped across the archway followed by a sharp cry of pain.

“Hmph,” Rice grunted and a cold smile split his face.

“Kill them Dammit,” Rice hollered to the remaining men and the rate of fire from them increased as they hosed down the hiding spots of the mercenaries who occasionally stuck a barrel around their cover and fired off short bursts or single shots.

Stone chips and dust flew on the air making it thick and choking as well as obscuring one side from the other.

“Move in, move in,” Rice ordered and started moving through the debris choked room himself.

“Yes Sir,” the other nine men replied and started moving and firing as they closed on the positions of Jack and his friends.

Sol System - Thebes

Theban Archive

December 11th 2535 AD - 20:34 GMT

“Smoke and fire upon the sea, everywhere he looked was the enemy…,” Jack whispered as he fired several bursts into the cloud of dust and debris and was rewarded by a high pitched shriek.

“Fuck that hurt,” Marie grunted over the comm.

“What happened?” Samuel asked her.

“Bastard shot the rifle out of my hand and broke my trigger finger and wrist,” she told them.

“Fall back to the vehicle and protect David and Taki, your scope won’t be able to see through this crap anyway,” Jack ordered her.

“Roger, falling back,” she said.

The amount of fire coming at them increased and the three men were forced to duck back into cover as more shards and chips of stone went flying and singing through the air.

Samuel grunted in pain as a chip of rock slice across one cheek a trail of red blood cutting through the stone dust on his cheek.

“So how many rounds do those FN rifles hold?” Samuel asked.

“Uhm, 250 rounds I believe,” Jack said.

“So it’s going to be a little while before they reload,” Fox commented.

“Ayup,” Jack said.

“Mind if I smoke a cigarette,” Fox asked.

“Smoke em’ if you got em’,” Jack said following suit and pulling a half smoked cigar out of his jacket pocket and lighting it.

It took nearly two and a half minutes for Rice’s guards to burn through the ammo in their assault rifles.

When the gunfire finally stopped Fox whistling off tune could be heard in the sudden silence.

“This is why you guys should fire in stages,” Fox said firing his revolvers into three of the men.

“Either that or wait till you actually have a target dumbasses,” Jack told them firing his SPAS shotgun on semi-automatic tossing three of the men to the ground broken and bleeding as the combination of slugs, flechettes, and buckshot tore the men apart.

Samuel didn’t say anything as he finished off the last three.

“So Rice all of your bully boys are dead so why don’t you come out and face me,” Jack taunted. “Just you me and our fists, or if you prefer knives,” he told the man.

“How do I know you won’t just shoot me when I step out?” Rice asked.

“Well unlike you I’m not a murdering, lying, backstabbing bastard; so my word is generally pretty good,” Jack said and looked back at the others. “My words good isn’t it,” he asked them.

“Sure I’ve never known you to lie,” Samuel said.

“I haven’t known you long enough to really tell,” Fox said.

“You can be an asshole sometimes but that’s about it,” Suzanne told him.

“Great, thanks for the votes of confidence,” Jack said sarcastically.

“That good enough for you Rice,” Jack hollered.

“I guess it will have to be good enough,” Rice said dryly and tossed his side arm, knife, and the M283 along with his LBE Vest into site near the statue.

Jack took off his own LBE and then laid his gun/utility belt, M4, and SPAS on them and then stepped towards the open area at the front of the room.

“Alright Rice let’s get this over with,” Jack said.

“So Sikorsky we finally meet,” Rice said stepping out from behind the column.

“You’re shorter than I thought,” Jack said. “So are you British or what, because you look pretty Asian to me,” he said.

“My mother was British and my father was Japanese,” Rice grated out.

“Kind of pasty and pale too,” Jack said trying to goad the other man into a rash move.

“You might as well give up on the insults Sikorsky because it isn’t doing you any good,” Rice told him.

“Okay,” Jack said rushing forward a flattened hand striking towards Rice’s throat.

The Englishman knocked the stiffened hand aside and tried to land a rabbit punch to Jack’s rib to only have it barely graze his side.

Jack’s next strike clipped the shoulder of the shorter man and he staggered back slightly but Rice recovered fast enough to thrust a palm towards Jack’s breast bone to try and shatter it but an X-block knocked it to the side and Jack launched a flurry of quick strikes that caused Rice to step back to avoid them.

Rice’s return strikes were easily knocked aside by Jack and then the two of them stamped and lunged at each other trying to land a blow but neither could do so and they broke away breathing hard unable to land a single blow on each other.

“Seems you know how to fight,” Jack said flicking a sweat slicked hair out of his face as he looked at the other man.

“As do you Mr. Sikorsky,” Rice relented.

“Just a few moves I picked up here and there,” Jack said modestly.

“Oh come now Mr. Sikorsky I must really congratulate you on your fighting ability,” Rice said moving towards jack with his hand outstretched.

“NO!” the scream tore from behind a pillar and a blood soaked figure surged out of the darkness of the pillar and slammed into Rice.

Rice turned his head with eyes wide in surprise as he saw the blood soaked figure.

Jack turned his head as well and then both were slammed into by the figure, a gun shot echoed through the cavernous room and all three figures were carried towards the yawning opening of the elevator shaft and down it a few seconds later there was a thud of impact.

“JACK!” Suzanne shouted and ran towards the black opening.

“Suzanne,” Samuel said grabbing her before she practically ran out into empty space.

“Hard way to go,” Fox said walking up.