The Deaths of Tao (36 page)

He continued south alone, abandoning his men. Zoras’ life was more important than all of theirs anyway. It stung to have walked into this trap, though. This Prophus commander had a lot to answer for when Enzo got his hands on him. He continued through the thick forest and ran into Palos and two of the vessels pinned down by enemy fire.

He spoke into his comm. “Palos, I have eyes on you at your nine. You’re caught in the crossfire at eleven and three. Take out the three. I’ll take care of the eleven. Out.”

Before Palos could respond, Enzo charged behind the firing nest and took out three of the enemy before they could respond. He saw a shimmer in the air as a Quasing left one of the dead soldiers and floated away into the air. This vessel must be a person of rank. Enzo searched the body and found the vessel’s comm. It came alive.

“Jackson, this is Stephen, you got more incoming your way. Fall back. Jackson, report!”

Enzo picked up the comm. “Hello, Stephen.”

The only Stephen we have on file with Prophus Command is their Field Marshal. His standing is just below the Keeper’s.
 

“Who is this?” Stephen said.

“I’m the mouse that got away,” Enzo replied. “Your trap failed.”

Stephen laughed. “It’s messy, but I’d hardly call it a failure. Who am I speaking with?”

“The only person worth trapping,” Enzo snarled.

“Let me guess,” Stephen said. “You sound young. And pretty high on yourself. And you’re a little pissed off.” There was a pause. “Did Zoras’ new boy toy leave the hidey hole for our little party?”

“The name is Enzo,” he replied haughtily. “And Stephen, I thank you for letting me know who my enemy is. You have been a worthy opponent so far.”

“I’ve been kicking your ass is what I’ve been doing.”

“Maybe today, but not as of late. I’ve swept over a dozen of your camps the past few days.”

“Well, hell, let me outnumber you five to one, boy, and let’s see how you fare.”

Enzo bit his lip. “We’ll see, Stephen. You have failed to rescue your fellow betrayers. Rest assured they will all die well for the Holy Ones.”

“We’ll see about that. Oh, by the way, I just captured a whole bunch of your guys, including several hosts. I don’t have a nice camp to hold them in and can’t really follow the Geneva Convention right now. You wouldn’t be up for a trade, would you?”

Enzo threw the comm against a tree, shattering it into pieces.

 

THIRTY TWO

ADVANCE TRAINING

The history of the war is well documented. Both the Prophus and the Genjix suffered and gained equally in it, having lost much of our European networks and influence. There was a lull in our war after the Second World War. Both sides were weakened and we worked to reposition ourselves in the world.
 

The Genjix moved their influence to Russia while we stayed to rebuild Europe. Both fought for control of the vast lands in China and for the unblemished industrial might of the United States. The Genjix came out victorious in with their support of the Communists and fought us to a standstill in the United States.
 

Baji

 

Jill frowned at the row houses in the affluent part of the Georgetown neighborhood. She checked her watch and then took out the small piece of paper he had left in her mailbox. It was two in the morning and this was the right place. She looked down the block at all the attached homes, then back at the note.

“Says third floor. They’re all two stories.”

Marco is just being cute.
 

The transition to city training was not all Jill had hoped. Now that they no longer had to commute outside the city, they held two practice sessions a day. The new early-morning workouts were kicking her ass. And to make matters worse, Marco was always so chipper in the mornings. She just wanted to break those perfect white teeth of his. It should be illegal to smile that much before dawn.

She was also acquiring an impressive collection of bruises. When she wasn’t diving on the concrete or practicing changing directions like a stripper spinning on a pole, he made her hang off ledges and scamper up walls. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was making her jump through hoops for his amusement. And then when her arm muscles failed, he had her sprint intervals. Jill could jog practically forever, but interval training was pure torture.

“I think being in labor was less painful,” she had said.

Oh really? You should tell Roen that. Remember when he said he knew what being in labor was like when he had to hold his...
 

“He said that to my parents!”

Jill scanned the roofs. That guy had to be up there somewhere, waiting to spring one on her. Well, hated to disappoint him. It was too risky to scale the walls from the front. She walked around the back and trespassed through the backyards, easily scaling wooden fences. Training was starting to pay off. She still couldn’t melee worth a damn, but her agility had improved, literally, by leaps and bounds.

It is the house with the blue trim.
 

She reached the backyard of the address on the paper and looked up. Marco, leaning against a chimney, gave her a lazy wave and beckoned her to join him. Jill scanned the wall and noticed the neighbor’s gutter pipe. A moment later, she scampered up the two-story building and sat down next to him.

He was sipping a cup of steaming coffee in an open Styrofoam cup. “Nice of you to join me. Ready?”

Jill wondered how he had gotten that up here. She smirked at his cat burglar outfit, half-cap and all. Somehow, he still made it look stylish.

“Give me your best shot,” she said.

He stood up, dumped the contents of the cup and wiped his hands. “Right then, let’s give it a go,” he grinned. He touched her shoulder. “Tag, you’re it.”

He took off, sprinting south haphazardly across the tops of the row houses. A second later, Jill was nine steps behind, trying to keep pace without stumbling on the uneven surfaces, assorted pipes, satellite dishes, and vents littering the roofs. She was surprised that he was running at full speed. It would be a minor miracle if one of them didn’t sprain an ankle or break their neck falling off the sides. Regardless, she wouldn’t let him get the better of her. Besides, they were six houses down from the end of the block. Where exactly did he think he’d go next? She found out the hard way.

Just as they neared the edge, he turned on a dime and launched himself at her. Her training and instincts kicked in as she ducked to the side, feeling the whoosh of his fist brush her hair. She tumbled onto the roof and skidded along the descending slant but was able to stop from falling over the edge. She put her hands down to maintain her balance and palmed a small piece of roof tile. Watching her closely, Marco feinted to the right and cut her off from getting away from the ledge.

“You’re trapped,” he grinned. “What are you going to do now, little girl?”

Little girl? That smirk again. While Marco had a beautiful smile, he used it far too often. And not only that, those oh-so-confident words grated on her. He obviously considered her harmless. Well, she’ll show him.

“Here’s what I’m going to do,” she said, hurling the tile at Marco. He stumbled as it smacked him in the face. She then grabbed his arm and yanked. She watched with satisfaction as he yelped and toppled over the edge, landing on a row of shrubs below.

“I hope he isn’t dead.”

His legs moved.
 

“Good. I’d have a hard time explaining to Paula how I killed James Bond.”

A minute later, she climbed down and found him sitting on the grass at the side of the house rubbing his forehead. There was a two inch gash from the center of his temple down to his cheek. It was turning a nice plum red. He shot her the same look that Cameron did every time she gave him a bath.

“Not a bad arm,” he forced a smile, albeit not so wide this time around. “Could have picked a less beautiful place to mar.”

“Good lord,” Jill rolled her eyes and pulled him to his feet. She looked at the time. “So, how did I do?”

“Oh, we’re not done yet,” he said, drawing a very high-tech looking pistol. He pointed just to the left of her head and squeezed the trigger. The gun popped softly and a small puff of smoke exploded from the wall behind her, leaving a red circular imprint the size of a marble.

“Training gun. Fires projectiles that hurt,” he warned, aiming it at her chest. “Can break bones at close range.”

“You wouldn’t!” Jill gasped.

Duck left!
 

Jill dove just as Marco pulled the trigger and another puff of smoke splattered the wall.

“Thirty seconds,” he yawned, pretending to dig dirt from his fingernails.

Jill looked for cover. They were in a suburban block filled with houses! Where would she hide?

Quick, around back and up.
 

“How long do I have to escape for?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I got two clips worth, so until I run out of pellets.”

She took off, hopping over the fence and sprinting through the back yard. She found another drain pipe three houses down and scurried up. She heard a soft poof and a puff of smoke exploded at her feet just as she pulled her leg over the side. Those thirty seconds went by really fast. Jill felt another zing past her ear and saw Marco scaling the wall. He couldn’t be more than fifteen seconds behind.

Topple the piping.
 

Jill suddenly saw an image of a medieval siege. Baji’s host at the time, a foot soldier by the looks of it, was on the parapet defending against a horde of armed soldiers with large red crosses emblazoned on their chests. Then her host used his pike and pushed against a ladder leaning against the castle wall. The ladder tipped over and crashed back to the ground, taking the nine men climbing with it.

Jill looked down at Marco, who was now halfway up the house. It felt almost cruel to do that to him again. Marco looked up and tried to shoot her in the face. She pulled back at the last second and narrowly avoided eating a dust pellet. The feelings of guilt disappeared.

Jill gave the gutter pipe a solid kick, snapping off the links holding it in place and sending it careening onto the lawn. She watched with satisfaction as Marco, flailing, fell into the pool.

“At least he fell into the water.”

He will have a more difficult time chasing while wet.
 

Apparently, his gun still worked underwater because a second later, his head broke the surface of the pool, and he shot three more times at her. By now, the ruckus had woken up a bunch of dogs in the neighborhood.

Time to go.
 

Jill took off, speeding north along the houses. She reached the end of the block and looked over the edge. Across the street, there was a small open field and then the Potomac River. Very little cover in either case. To her left was another block of connected buildings, taller than the ones she was on. A small alley separated them.

Two meters across. Jump it.
 

Two meters might as well be two miles to Jill.

“Uh... I can break my neck here.”

She turned and saw Marco halfway down the block. He would catch up to her in seconds. She looked back at the chasm between the two houses.

Jump or surrender.
 

The thought of surrendering to Marco made her queasy. Jill scrunched her face, took a deep breath, and sprinted toward the alley. Just as she was about to hurdle the chasm, she balked and almost tripped over the edge.

“Should have made the jump,” he singsonged from behind her.

Voice coming from your back left. Duck right to the skylight. Grab the satellite dish. Fight!
 

Well, if she was going to get shot anyway, she might as well go down swinging. Jill dove behind the skylight, rolled to her feet, and yanked the satellite out of its base. She turned just in time to hear two patters strike the round dish.

Lean left and find cover behind the chimney. Get to open space to retreat back the way you came.
 

“It’s not fair. I should have a gun as well.”

Disarm him and take it, then.
 

Jill reached the chimney just as Marco fired another half dozen rounds.

“I can’t believe your aim is that bad,” she called out.

“It isn’t,” he replied cheerfully.

Then she heard the click of an empty chamber. This was her chance, else she’d just be target practice when he reloaded. She charged, wielding the satellite dish as a weapon and crashed into him. The exchange was short and brutal. She knocked the gun out of his hand and gave him a sharp rap on the knee with the dish. In doing so, however, he caught her in a choke hold from behind and squeezed tight. They spun in circles as she squirmed.

“You smell nice,” he said.

That cheerfulness again. Well, she’d show him! Right as they spun next to the chimney, Jill pushed off it. Marco lost his balance and fell backward. They both fell on top of the skylight and crashed through into the house below. Thankfully, Marco’s body cushioned her fall as they both lay gasping among the wreckage of broken glass.

Empty room. Door to your three. Get out!
 

Jill rolled off of him and checked for injuries. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“Now you care,” he groaned. “Well, that escalated quickly.”

They were in a guest bedroom by the looks of it. Thankfully, they had landed on the bed. The two stood up and brushed the glass off of each other.

Then the lights turned on and a terrified elderly man brandished a golf club at them. “Get out of here you thieves! I’ve called the police!”

There is our exit cue.
 

Marco reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of money. “Sorry about your window, mate. I hope this covers it.” He tossed it to the old man who bungled the catch. And in that moment of lost concentration, Marco grabbed Jill by the hand and pulled her past the old man. They scampered down the stairs and out the front door, laughing like teenagers.