| CHAPTER 6 “You ready?” “Yeah...you?” “Affirmative. Everything check’s out. The area’s clear, let’s get in position.” The two men avoided each other’s eyes as they ran a checklist on their weapons. Knives, garrotes, restraints, air-hypo’s filled with both poison and fast acting sedatives. The checklist was routine. The evasion wasn’t. They’d been sent on other assassination’s. It had forged a bond of affinity between them. They were a well oiled killing machine who could almost sense each others thoughts. Too ruthless and cold to call each other ‘friend’, they nevertheless knew each other well. Killing, quietly and efficiently, was their job. They’d taken out plenty of military targets. But nothing of this sort. Killing civies, especially a woman civie, just wasn’t sitting right with either soldier. But General Bieti had left no room for doubt, or hesitation, in his instructions. Take up positions as passed out drunks across from the cantina and lie in wait for the couple seen and memorized in a hologram provided by the General. Once their identities were without question, the two-man infiltration squad was to ‘dispose’ of the couple with the least amount of mess and noise. If they situation wasn’t resolved within thirty seconds into the attack, they were to request back up. A transmitter sewn into their jackets their mode of communication with Bieti and Bigsby. Seeing the man in the hologram, the two could entertain the idea that he could be dangerous. Due to their many missions for the General they considered themselves good judges of people on sight. They recognized right off the bat the man’s aura of menace. The woman looked, and ‘felt’, harmless. But theirs was not to question why. They were Bieti’s own private clean-up crew. They took care of General Bieti, and he took care of them. Money, sex in whatever form they wanted, and all the drugs they could do. He turned a blind eye to all of their extracurricular activities as long as they got the job done. They weren’t given the names of the targets. Just allowed to view the hologram. That was all they really needed anyway. As they hunkered down in the alley waiting for the couple to come out, both felt a ripple of unease shiver its way down their spines. Resolutely avoiding each other’s eyes. Something didn’t feel right. They knew Bieti’s agenda wasn’t always the ASF’s. But the officer always got away with it. Could this unease be a premonition of the first time he wasn’t going to slick his way through? Didn’t really matter though. If they didn’t do the ‘job’, Bieti’s payback would be phenomenal. People had a habit of disappearing after disappointing the General. Long minutes had passed since taking up their positions. They had sabotaged the lighting in the alley as a precaution. That, along with the asteroids simulated ‘natural’ low lighting provided their murky cover. They watched as various people went in and out of the cantina. The targets had been in the establishment for over three hours. It wouldn’t be long before they called it a night. Five minutes later Zar and Richard, along with Esker and Amy, walked out the lightweight steel doors of the cantina. He in his normal black, she in a dark gray cotton top and pants. She looked sleepy, he just looked in a state of relaxed nastiness. A snake sunning itself lazily on a rock was no less dangerous than the one hissing at you. Black goggles, a sure sign in this gloom of having been optically altered, hid his eyes as he walked with his arm around her shoulders. Their pace was slow, but steady. Their momentum due to his arm around her shoulder propelling her forward. The other couple followed loosely behind. Talking and kissing. Richard didn’t like being here. Period. How in the Hell Zar had talked him into coming here...well, must’ve been the sex the night before. But what sounded cool the night before, when Zar had suggested their outing with Esker and Amy, now sounded, and felt, downright stupid. The alley leading from cantina seemed darker than normal. Something was seriously off. He could smell it, as well as he could smell the spicy food Zar had indulged in clinging to her clothes. That itchy feeling on the back of his neck, the one that he come to trust implicitly, was kicking up something fierce. There weren’t that many people around. Just a couple of drunks sleeping it off on the alley floor. But still... Scanning the area carefully, he couldn’t pick up on anything. But his mind was alive with the echoes of his dreams. He made a conscious effort to speed Zar up. She smiled with heavy lidded eyes up at him. Staggering more from lack of sleep than booze. He felt the movement behind him only seconds before he heard the unmistakable sound of a something sharp sinking into flesh. Instinctively he pushed Zar behind him. Hearing her grunt, the sharp slap of her palms as she fell to the ground from the force of his push and her uncoordinated state. He hoped she would be less of a target closer to the ground. His night vision assessed the situation instantly. Amy was dead, staring sightless at the ceiling. A pool of blood spreading from the deep slash at her throat. A throat made useless for making cries of pain or warning. Esker was grappling with the other ‘drunk.’ But it was a loosing battle, for even as Richard started backing up to prepare to grab Zar and get her out of there, Esker was gutted from stomach to sternum. His intestines and stomach making a slippery sucking noise as they slithered from his body. His eyes wide with disbelief even as they started to cloud with death. Twenty seconds from the start of the attack, Esker and Amy were dead. Their deaths had been fast, silent and complete. The two assassins turning towards him and Zar. Right away Richard could tell he was dealing with professionals. He knew he could handle them...if he’d been by himself. But with Zar there, his options were limited. From the example of the other couple’s death, it was obvious they weren’t in the alley for robbery or rape. They were there to deal death. To him and Zar. He caught the quick look the two exchanged as they circled in. A well rehearsed signal of some sort. They were moving in for the kill. Their knives dulled from blood, poised to add more. Automatically he took up a defensive fighting position. Ripping the goggles from his eyes. The shiv, never far from reach, appearing magically in his hand. Placing himself between the killers and Zar, who was still on the ground, trying to come to grips with what was going on. Zar watched helplessly as the killers came toward them. All sleepiness had been wiped from her mind. To be replaced with heart pounding confusion and terror. Time seemed to bizarrely slow down. She’d been walking sleepily with Richard’s arm around her shoulders, then in a flash she was on the ground. It seemed as if Esker and Amy had been walking behind them days ago instead of the minute it actually was. Now they were dead, their blood and flesh mixing as they lay next to each other. The attack had left her breathless, disabled. The viciousness of it bringing back memories, and panic, from the past. Stunned, she sat on the ground. And probably would’ve stayed there if not for hearing Richard’s voice. “Zar, get up and behind me now.” His voice was calm and deep with purpose...and menace. Seeing at how her position made it hard for him to protect her, she quickly got to her shaking legs and carried out his instructions. Lightly touching his back to let him know she was there where he wanted her. She vaguely considered screaming, but the culture of the mining colony wasn’t one of civic concern over crime. People would as likely turn a blind eye than help. He had a shiv while she had nothing. And these two were obviously more than drunks out to make a bloody buck. She realized quickly that she was more of a hindrance to Richard than a help. He had to worry about protecting both her and himself, dividing his attention to a disadvantage. Maybe she could even the odds a bit. Both of the killers seemed intent on him, so she slowly started to back away, down the alley. But with snake quickness the one on the left switched his eyes to her, freezing her in her tracks. Richard weighed his options. His fingers itched to attack, but his common sense held him back. If he attacked, Zar would be left open. Just then one made a movement with his head. Moved his mouth close to the raggedy collar that edged his decrepit coat. A small metallic gleam caught Richard’s eye. A text book military action. They were calling in back up! Ambush!!! They were being fucking ambushed by the ASF! The reality of the situation didn’t faze him as much as he thought it would. But then, he always knew, in his heart, that this moment would come. Someone or one’s in the ASF knew he was alive and wanted him dead. Along with whoever was with him. Capture didn’t seem the objective. Just death. Miriam Gonzalez must’ve given her info to them. The bitch was probably watching somewhere. Salivating over his and Zar’s imminent bloody demise. They had to get out of there now. Before the reinforcements arrived. Talking his way out was not an option. Both murderer’s had the frigid, calm eyes of practiced hitmen. Bullshitting just wasn’t going to cut it. They were only leery of him and his shiv, not afraid. He saw that Esker’s and Amy’s combined blood was slowly seeping towards the heels of the attacker’s. Blood was slippery. The alley had been eerily quiet through out the double murder and stand-off. A little noise to spook, a little element of surprise, and he and Zar might just have a chance of getting out the alley. Giving them a chance to regroup and form a plan of escape. At least for her. He howled and rushed them at the same time. His deep, rage filled voice slicing through the early ‘morning’ air, raising the hair on Zar’s arms. She’d never heard such a sound before. The two had been unprepared for the strategy and instinctively took a couple of steps back. Right into the blood. Falling flat on their backs as their heels made contact with the slimy body fluids. Richard was on one of them in seconds. Sliding to his knees while still howling and rushing, he caught one behind the knees with the shiv while he was still falling. The assassins blood adding to the gore already on the floor. The grunt of pain mixing with the sound of air rushing from lungs as a body hit the floor. Richard landed on top of his victim. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the second killer gain his knees. Knowing his back was vulnerable, he quickly switched positions. Flipping the man under him to on top of him. Preventing the other from attacking. To Zar it seemed as if the two bodies struggled for control forever, but it was only seconds before she heard a death gurgle. Dear God! Was it Richard?! Or the killer?! Suddenly her view was blocked by the form of the other killer moving towards her. Absently she noted that he had blue eyes. Almost the same colors as hers. But with a degree of determination to kill and coldness that had never been a part of her. Zar started backing up, trying to put as much space between them as she could. Praying, screaming in her mind for Richard to still be alive. Knowing that if Richard was dead, so was she. And realizing she didn’t really care to live if he was dead. The shiv had sank deep into his groin. The cut upward to his throat like a knife through butter. The strength of it’s user making the obstacle of bones and muscle a non-issue. The jerking of his body announcing death’s winning’s. He was dead before Richard pulled the weapon out of the throat. The life leaving his eyes as quickly as the blood leaving his body. Rolling the dead man off him, Richard didn’t have time to savor the kill. The other was heading straight for Zar. He’d gained his feet and was rushing toward the woman. Not willing to waste time by waiting to see who won the battle between the man and his partner, the other killer knew there was no way he could take on Richard hand to hand. He had to have leverage. The woman would stop the man from attacking. Make him vulnerable. She looked understandably shaky and dazed. So much blood and death. The almost sure fact of her lover’s death. The knowledge of her own impending end. He guessed she was going into shock. Easy picking’s. But he didn’t smile in triumph. It was just a job. Another ugly job for the General. Maybe when he and his partner were done with this assignment they would find a way to leave Bieti far behind. Hey, everyone had to have a dream. He made it to within three feet of her. The shiv imbedded in his neck, sticking out of his mangled throat. He hadn’t heard the man come up behind him. With his last bit of strength he turned around and saw that the man was right there. The eerie glow of his eyes burning within inches of his dying ones. What he saw there was death. His sure and imminent death. Richard grabbed the shiv by the hilt. Turning it slowly. Inflicting untold pain on the killer. The blackness had hold of the brutal escapee now. The urge to kill those who would attack him and his. It welled up and took control of his reactions. Demanding vengeance. Demanding pain be repaid a thousand fold. The coldness of hate filling him. It had sank it’s teeth in him at the first sight of the blood of the dead lovers who had called him and Zar friend. Gnawed to the bone when he’d seen the second killer stalking Zar. The man was making the motions of crying out in pain. But his voice box had been sliced in two. Only the gurgle of blood coming from his lips made any discernible noise. Seeing the assassin would be unable to give him any kind of answers, he ended it. Turning the shiv so that it now lay horizontal with the chin. A quick flip of his powerful wrist and the weapon sliced free from the left side of the man’s throat. Leaving him partially decapitated. The body slid heavily to the ground, after spraying him with more blood. Adding to the coating he’d already received from both rolling around in the couples blood, and then from killing the other. Flecks of it covered his face and arms. Patches gleamed wetly over the rest of his body. Only the black of his clothes stopping it from being readily identifiable as being blood. He turned his cold gaze to Zar. She was backed up against the wall. Hands splayed flat against it. Her mouth open with her labored breathing. Her eyes devouring him. His very alive self. The fear and shock left her. Leaving weak, but also freeing her to launch herself into his arms. Reassured that she wasn’t hallucinating by the strength of his arms surrounding her tightly. “Oh God! I was so sure he’d killed you. So sure...” The cold look left his eyes as he felt her shiver. The warmth of her body transferring itself to his. Bringing him back once again from the edge of his soul’s oblivion. Framing her face, he forced her head back from his chest. Kissing her deeply. Tasting blood and the cold saliva of fear. The smooth/rough flesh of her tongue, the softness of her lips. Her breath becoming his. Reassuring himself that they were both alive. Pushing the coldness back into it’s little hole. But time was precious. The killer’s had called for back up. There wasn’t much time to be wasted. She looked sadly at Esker and Amy’s body. Sorrow making a ball form in her throat. Tears welling in her eyes. She didn’t know what made her grieve more, their deaths, or her growing ability to accept the carnage in her life. Richard watched her face. A small part sympathizing with her pain, the larger part screaming at him to get her out of there. “We have to go. Now. The ASF isn’t far behind.” Zar nodded weakly. He had just confirmed her own theory. Miriam had forgone the reward and was now out for revenge. They would have to run again. But this time at least they were both healthy. “Where should we go?” “The mines. There are some unused shafts. It’ll be rough...” Wiping the blood off his cheek, she smiled at him. It had felt like an eternity since she last had smiled. “Not as rough as being without you” |
| CHAPTER 7 |
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