The driver got out and Frank aimed his SCAR-Light, pulling the trigger. The man’s head popped like a grape before the sound of the gun firing ricocheted off the walls. Two soldiers on patrol saw their co-worker fall to the ground and they spread out to investigate.
Frank motioned to the team and split up. The guard on his right walked toward the alley and after a cursory glance, seemed to think it wasn’t a threat. Picking up a loose piece of concrete, Frank tossed it to the side of where they were hiding.
A moment’s hesitation and the guard resumed his inspection. As soon as the muzzle of his weapon came into view, Frank sprang up from behind the pallets and grabbed the man’s right arm, yanking it high and hard. The shoulder came out of its socket with an audible pop. Before the guard had a chance to scream, Frank reached up and around his face, taking hold of the neck and pulling hard.
He caught the body and pulled it to where they hid. A second later, the other half of his team appeared, their target neutralized.
“Alright, girls, you ready to earn your money?”
Frank kicked the door in and put a bullet in the forehead of the secretary before she had time to hit the alarm. The back of her skull hung next to the plastic fichus. The security cameras, disabled a few moments earlier by the EMP, didn’t muffle gunfire. Frank knew they needed to move fast. They had to take everyone out; no one left alive.
Several guards rushed out of a side door, but the small entrance created a bottleneck and Frank’s team picked them off easily. Within seconds, a pile of dead bodies lay on the ground, blood and guts covering the once pristine walls.
Frank walked to the open doorway and tossed a flash bang grenade down the hall to be safe. When it exploded, shrieks echoed down the corridor and sent his men ahead. More screams and gunfire. When it stopped, he crossed over the threshold and headed for the containment room. He pulled out a small piece of paper to cross- reference the lot numbers.
The board wanted four cases in particular, based on the results they’d intercepted from the IDB server. Some naughty people, not unlike those he worked for, wanted the rocks all for themselves. Some sort of new life was discovered and they discarded Covington like trash.
They’d never expected his new engine design to work, and therefore, didn’t expect his probe to make it back. When it landed, the stir it caused was extraordinary. Of course, Covington would never know any of this. Poor guy would never know he did something people thought impossible, and discovered a new life form as a bonus.
Then again, when they showed him his lab and set him to work, he’d uncover more than these idiots. A whimper caught Frank’s attention and he saw a short stocky man crawling toward him. Bullet holes littered his legs and a nasty looking wound in his side hemorrhaged blood.
“You can’t take those. You have no idea what sort of foreign matter is in them.”
Frank met the man half way while he motioned the others to take out the crates. “I can do whatever I want.” A crunching noise was heard as Frank’s boot crushed the shredded side of the man. His screams bouncing around the room slowly faded.
Pulling the bag off his shoulder, he unzipped revealing a bomb with enough C-4 to demolish a small city. He stuck the timer in the clay-like substance and set it for five minutes.
Outside the building, the seaplane was loaded, while the engine roared to life. He sloshed his way over and climbed inside. The pilot was one of corporate’s guys. They winked at one another and the plane moved out, soaring into the air as a fire cloud erupted behind them.
An hour into the flight, Frank pulled out a bottle of rum and passed it around to the others. Three of the four took healthy swigs, but one declined. Frank pushed the bottle at him.
“Come on, it’s how we celebrate a job well done.”
The man said no once again. Frank mentally sighed. Why was there always one health nut on a hit squad? With a smile, Frank put the bottle away and waited. A few minutes later, the others let out jaw cracking yawns. Time was up. Frank pulled a serrated blade from a sheath on his hip and drove it into the chest of the goody two shoes.
The man clawed at Frank’s hands and twitched underneath him with wide eyes. Pink froth bubbled out of his mouth and Frank eased the knife out.
“Martin, it’s time,” Frank called out to the pilot.
Martin secured himself and waited as Frank tied a belt around his waist and then clipped it to a metal loop above the door. Then he pulled a lever and opened the entry. He rolled each body out and watched as they plummeted to their death.
As the door closed, he let a genuine smile cross his face. His time was almost up and then he would get his posting in Weapons Development. The only thing left on his list of things to do was shove Dr. Covington into his lab.
He unclipped the safety belt and sat in the co-pilots seat with a sigh.
Chapter 3 –
Arthur sat in his apartment letting fear and dread seep into his bones. Any minute, the well-manicured man with the nice suit would knock on his door and demand to know why there were no samples to work with. What could Arthur say? They were all contaminated with something unknown? Sunset Inc. would not buy it and they certainly would not appreciate the fact they’d spent God knows how much money on a lab for him, which was now utterly useless.
He reached a shaky hand out and grabbed the bottle of whiskey he bought at the corner store when he arrived back in the city. New York always overwhelmed him, but today it seemed more ominous. Strangers turned into potential assassins. Panhandlers followed him with the intention of slitting his throat. Neighbors had been bought off to throw him off the roof, a suicide note attached to his rumpled lapel.
The top of the bottle popped off in his hands and he drank like a man who’d been stranded in the Sahara for a month. The burning sensation helped with the image he created in his mind. Not caring what the neighbors thought of him anymore, he let out a scream.
For the last ten years, he’d made the Pluto Endeavor his life. He’d endured laughter, lack of faith or support from friends and family, and the break-up of his marriage. No matter how bad things got, he’d convinced himself the information gathered by his probe would change the world. He would change everything.
Now he would be the laughingstock of the science community again. More of the amber liquid filled his gut and he swayed as he stood. Someone was at the door, probably an angry neighbor. He put the half-empty bottle on the chipped imitation wood coffee table and tried to tuck in his shirt as he made his way to answer the incessant banging.
He slicked his hair back with his left hand and opened the door with his right. The litany of curse words he planned to unleash died with a croak. The man with the nice suit smiled back at him. The large man with hands the size of basketballs didn’t.
“Uh, Mr.--” Arthur couldn’t recall what the man’s name was, but then remembered that he never told him.
“Dr. Covington, your lab is ready when you are, and by that I mean go pack your bags now.”
Arthur attempted a smile but failed. He moved aside to let the men in and thought about how he could escape. Obviously, they thought he was back, because he acquired the samples.
Damn! What was he going to do now?
“Have a seat, it won’t take me long. I’ll be right out, just stay in here.” He wondered if his words sounded as slurred to them as they did to him.
The moment he entered the bedroom, he checked the window. Fifth floor and the fire escape were busted. Jumping was an option. In fact, it was his only one. He took a deep breath and unlatched the window, cringing at the creaking sound it made.
A glance toward the door confirmed he was still alone. Arthur placed both hands on the top part of the window and pushed with all his strength, which wasn’t a whole lot. Nothing happened. He tried once more with the
