Rogue (17 page)

‘Bring the chopper in,’ the panicked voice yelled. ‘Bring it in now!’

Rafael leant out of the side of the military helicopter as it rose up around the mountain. The observation deck at the foot of the statue was obscured by a thick shroud of white smoke and he could make out nothing of what was happening within the billowing cloud. All he could see were occasional muzzle flashes and a strange, flickering purple light that seemed to almost dance through the enveloping mist.

‘Get me in closer,’ he shouted at the pilot. ‘Clear that smoke.’

The helicopter banked towards the platform, the downdraught from its rotors blowing the smoke away to reveal a scene that made his blood run cold. Raven stood motionless in the middle of the deck, a black-bladed sword in each hand, their dripping tips lowered, pointing to the ground. Around her lay half a dozen bodies, Rafael’s best men. None of them were moving. The woman looked up at the helicopter and smiled as she slid the swords into the crossed scabbards on her back.

‘Take her out!’ Rafael yelled at the operative manning the mini-gun on the firing mount next to him. The man swung the heavy machine gun towards Raven, squeezing the trigger, the multi-barrelled cylinder spinning up and spitting out a metre-long tongue of fire with a deafening roar.

Raven was already moving, sprinting across the observation deck towards the escalators as the stream of heavy-calibre bullets chewed up the concrete behind her. She leapt on to the smooth steel plate between the two escalators, sliding gracefully down the fifty-metre ramp on her back. The top of the escalator disappeared in a cloud of debris as the mini-gun shredded the spot where she had been a split second before. She hit the ground running at the bottom of the slide, sprinting across the car park towards the waiting 4x4. All around her, terrified tourists were scrambling for cover in a blind panic. Raven suddenly saw Wing racing to meet her from the other side of the lot; he was carrying a sub-machine gun that he threw to her as they both sprinted for the black 4x4. Raven turned and fired at the helicopter as it rounded the statue at the top of the mountain, bullets pinging off the armoured glass of the cockpit. She knew that there was next to no chance of downing a military helicopter with a light weapon like that, but her strategy had the desired effect. The pilot of the chopper instinctively banked away from the incoming fire, disrupting his gunner’s aim and giving her and Wing the vital few seconds they needed to reach the car. Raven climbed into the driver’s seat and gunned the engine as Wing leapt in the other side. She floored the accelerator and spun the wheel, weaving between the fleeing sightseers and heading for the exit. In the air behind them the pilot of the helicopter regained his composure and banked the chopper hard, setting off in pursuit.

The 4x4 roared down the twisting mountain road with the helicopter close on its tail.

‘Do you know how to use one of those?’ Raven asked Wing urgently, gesturing at the gun that lay on the centre console between them.

‘Yes,’ Wing replied, gripping on to the dashboard as Raven swung the car into a tight bend, ‘but I would rather not. I dislike them intensely.’

‘Now would be a good time to get over that,’ Raven snapped. ‘If that helicopter gets alongside, it’ll rip this car to pieces. You’ve got to keep them off us.’

Wing stared at the gun.

‘NOW, Wing!’ Raven yelled as she watched the helicopter bank around the mountain and prepare for an attack run.

Wing grabbed the gun and hit the button above him to open the sunroof. Standing up through the hole, he braced himself with his legs as best he could, pulled the gun’s stock hard into his shoulder and squeezed the trigger as the chopper dived towards them. He was surprised by how little kickback the weapon had as he opened fire, forcing the helicopter to jink to one side and break off its attack.

‘Short, controlled bursts,’ Raven yelled from inside the car. ‘Save your ammunition.’

She fought to control the car as it swept through another bend, tyres screeching.

Wing fired again, the bullets sparking as they struck the armoured nose of the helicopter. He tried not to think about the promise that he had made to his mother many years ago, that he would never take a life. He reasoned that she would probably not have anticipated him being in a situation quite like this. The helicopter dropped out of sight.

‘I can’t see them,’ Wing said as he sat back down inside the car. ‘But I think they’re going to be waiting for us somewhere below.’

Raven tightened her grip on the wheel as they tore round another corner of the road snaking down the slope. Halfway down the short straight section that led to the next bend, the helicopter popped up ahead of them, its side-mounted gun pointing at them. Raven jerked the wheel to one side as the mini-gun opened up, sending a blazing trail of tracer fire racing up the road towards them.

‘Get down!’ she yelled, pushing on Wing’s head with one hand as the bullets tore a chunk out of the roof of the 4x4. She fought to control the vehicle as it careered around the corner, keeping her left hand on the wheel, grabbing the gun with her right and pointing it across her chest and out of the driver’s side window. She fired a short burst and the gunner behind the mini-gun staggered backwards and collapsed on the floor of the helicopter. She heard the click of an empty chamber and knew that her own clip was empty. Pushing the accelerator harder to the floor she rounded the final bend and ahead of her saw the temporary sanctuary of the short tunnel through the mountainside that they had passed through earlier.

On board the helicopter, Rafael saw where Raven was heading. He unclipped himself from his safety harness and stepped over the injured gunner, grabbing the twin handles of the enormous gun.

‘Take us to the other end of that tunnel,’ he yelled to the pilot. ‘Nowhere to run, Corvo.’

In the speeding 4x4 Raven looked across at Wing.

‘Are you hit?’ she asked as they shot into the tunnel.

‘No,’ Wing replied.

‘Good, then get out.’ She reached across him and opened the passenger door, hitting the brakes with a screech.

Wing leapt out of the car and into the dimly lit tunnel. He could hear the helicopter somewhere nearby.

‘Stay here,’ Raven yelled, pulling the passenger door shut and hitting the gas. As she raced towards the daylight at the end of the tunnel she saw the helicopter drop down, blocking the road ahead. She grabbed the empty gun from the seat next to her and used it to jam the accelerator pedal down before unclipping a small black disc from her harness and tossing it into the back of the car. Opening the driver’s door, she took a deep breath and dived out. She hit the asphalt hard, rolling to a stop as the 4x4 roared away down the tunnel.

Rafael squeezed the trigger on the mini-gun, the bullets tearing through the windscreen and shredding the vehicle’s roof, but it kept on coming.

‘Pull up!’ he yelled.

The pilot panicked as he saw the car racing towards them and pulled hard on his control stick, sending the helicopter soaring upwards. Rafael was caught off balance as the deck tipped beneath him, losing his grip on the handles at the rear of the heavy machine gun as he tumbled out of the helicopter’s side hatch and on to the road below. The roaring 4x4 missed him by centimetres as it shot out of the end of the tunnel and under the climbing helicopter. At the same instant Raven’s thumb pressed down on the small radio trigger in her hand and the black disc in the back of the car detonated. Both 4x4 and helicopter were enveloped in a huge explosion, the helicopter swatted out of the sky and tumbling down the side of the mountain, a flaming ball of debris.

Rafael lifted his head groggily from the tarmac. He staggered to his feet as he saw Raven walking out of the mouth of the tunnel, twin swords drawn. He was badly burnt, but there was no way he was going to let her get away.

‘Come on,
cadela,
’ Rafael spat, drawing his own twin machetes from their scabbards on his belt, as Raven walked up to him. ‘Let’s dance.’

‘No,’ Raven said, her blades singing as they flashed through the air in a blur, ‘let’s not.’

The twin machetes fell to the ground with a rattle as Rafael dropped to his knees, clutching his throat and toppling forward, dead before he hit the ground.

‘Amateurs,’ Raven said with a sigh, sliding her swords back into their sheaths.

Wing walked up behind her and looked down at the body at her feet.

‘I assume that merely incapacitating him was out of the question?’ he said, raising an eyebrow.

‘Not really my style,’ Raven replied. A moment later a musical ringtone started to come from somewhere and she bent down and pulled a mobile from Rafael’s pocket. Raven looked at the display and smiled before putting the phone to her ear.

‘Is it done?’ a familiar voice on the other end of the line asked.

‘Hello, Carlos,’ Raven replied. ‘I’m afraid that your men ran into some . . . difficulties. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. Don’t worry, I won’t be long.’

She hit the disconnect button and dropped the phone to the ground. In the distance they could both hear the wail of sirens.

‘Let’s get going,’ Raven said. ‘It’s a long walk back to town.’

Chavez put his phone down on the desk, his face pale. He realised with a sudden sense of horror that he had miscalculated badly. He had always supposed that the legends he had heard about Raven were nothing more than ghost stories. He was starting to realise, too late, that they were not. His mind raced. He knew what would happen if Raven found him, but there was no way he was simply going to give up everything he had built just because of this.

An idea flickered across his mind and he latched on to it. There was only one way to solve this. It was not perfect, and it would undoubtedly bring him into conflict with Nero, but at the moment that was the least of his concerns. He began to draft a bulletin for distribution by G.L.O.V.E.net. After a few minutes’ work he finished writing and reviewed the message.

M

Urgent bulletin for all G.L.O.V.E. stations

Termination Order

Operative codename RAVEN has gone rogue. Operative has carried out hostile operations against G.L.O.V.E. facility in Rio de Janeiro. Urgent assistance requested. Rogue agent to be terminated on sight.

M

He nodded and smiled to himself. It would be her word against his, and any retaliatory action she took now would simply serve to reinforce the impression that she had turned traitor. In the meantime he could simply disappear for a few days and wait until the all-clear was given. Raven might be good, but she was not good enough to survive if the combined resources of G.L.O.V.E. were turned against her. Certainly he would have to deal with Nero, but that would be easier now that Darkdoom was out of the picture, especially if someone had taken care of Raven.

Chavez called his assistant into the room and handed the drafted communiqué to him.

‘Put this on G.L.O.V.E.net immediately,’ he said, trying not to smile. ‘Priority One.’