Dead Six

There was a blinding light aimed at my face. The light moved away, and I blinked in confusion. It had been a flashlight. “All yours, sir,” a young man said. “He’ll live as long as you want him to.”

“Thank you. That will be all, Hal,” said the man with an eye patch. He was probably sixty but looked tough for his age. The medic picked up his bag and left us. We were in an old room. It smelled of mildew and decay. The walls were made of rough, crumbling brick, and down the center of the room was a line of rusty iron bars cemented into the floor and ceiling. A jail? On the other side of those bars were two other men, both armed and watching. I was sitting on the floor, back to the damp wall. When I tried to move, a chain clanked. My left arm had been handcuffed to a bar.

The old man was sitting on a folding chair, just out of reach. “This was the original brig for Fort Saradia. Appropriate right now, don’t you think?” He took his time lighting a fat cigar, finally blowing a pungent cloud of smoke in my direction.

I took stock of the situation. I couldn’t have been out long. My vest was gone. My shirt had been torn open, and there was a spreading black and purple blotch over most of my chest and stomach. Something was packed into my ear, and the blood that coated my neck and chest was still slick. I tugged on the cuff. The bar was rusty, but solid.

He got tired of waiting for me to answer. “Why is this important?” he asked, cigar in one hand, Adar’s box in the other. “It’s an Arabian puzzle. Very old from the looks of it.”

“I’m into antiques.” It hurt to talk. My face was too swollen. I bet I looked like a mess.

The old man smiled, only there was nothing friendly about it at all. This dude was dangerous. “I don’t think you realize the world of shit you’ve gotten yourself into, boy, or maybe you do. Maybe you know exactly who you’re messing with.”

I recognized the voice now. I’d heard him on the radio. “So, Big Boss . . . How’s Nightcrawler?” I chuckled. “Did I manage to take his arm off? You Dead Six guys get good medical, right?”

Big Boss scowled. That had gotten his attention. “Mr. Valentine will be just fine. You, I’m not so sure about.” He didn’t seem concerned to drop actual names, which meant he wanted me to know I was dead, no matter what. The only question was how much it was going to hurt first. “I’ll ask you, just one time, who you are and who you work for. You will answer me truthfully, or I’m going to make you suffer in ways you can’t even imagine.”

That’s where he was wrong. I had one hell of an imagination. And I just had to keep these people occupied until whatever apocalyptic thing the Fat Man had been talking about happened at midnight. “I’m not telling you shit. I’ll only talk to Gordon. I don’t have time for his flunkies.”

Big Boss nodded. “I see. Either you know what you’re talking about, or you’re full of shit and I know where that missing radio wound up. Speaking of radios, who were you talking to on yours?” Big Boss pulled my radio out of his shirt pocket. “I tried to be polite, but someone just started calling me names in what I believe was Portuguese. They’re not answering now, for some reason.”

“They’re picky like that.”

Big Boss paused to address the two men who had been watching. “Conrad, Walker, come here for a minute. And remove your sidearms. I’m afraid this one’s tricky.” The two men drew their pistols and placed them on a table, then came through the bars. The gate had probably been missing for years.

One was a taller dude, and he accidentally bumped his head on the only light bulb, sending it swinging wildly back and forth, casting crazy shadows in the old brig. The other was about my size, with sunglasses perched on his head, who looked like he knew his way around the intricacies of hurting people. They grabbed on and smashed me into the wall.

“To warm up, I want you to take our friend here and break every one of his fingers.” Big Boss paused as the door opened.

A woman entered. Young, auburn hair tied back, and rather cute, she was totally out of place in this dismal setting. She seemed a little ruffled when she saw the two goons holding me. It was pretty obvious what was about to happen. “Colonel, we’ve sighted the boat. It’ll be at the dock in a few minutes.”

Big Boss glanced at his watch. “They’re early. Spread the word and start loading. I’m on my way down.”

The two thugs were dragging me to my feet. I didn’t resist and the handcuff scratched its way up the bar until I was standing. The girl’s voice sounded familiar too. It was worth a shot. “Hey, Sarah.” She twitched in surprise. Yep, that was her. “Sorry about cutting up your boyfriend.”

“You bastard,” she spat. “I’ll—” Then her eyes flashed as she changed her mind. She crossed quickly into the cell, apparently surprising the men holding me. She cupped her hand and smacked me upside the head, right across my bandaged ear.

The pain was nauseating. I grunted, but forced it into a laugh. “What kind of limp-dick carries a gun like that anyway? He’s compensating for something.” I forced myself to laugh so hard I started wheezing. It actually hurt. And that’s when I saw the briefest flash of a metallic trinket hanging inside her shirt. The necklace looked familiar. No. That’s impossible. But then she was backing away, hands balled into fists, and it was out of sight.

She was really pissed off now. She was about to come at me again when the old man spoke up. “That’ll be all, McAllister,” he said gruffly. Sarah gave me one last defiant look before leaving.

Big Boss then turned his attention back to me. “Don’t worry, friend. This won’t take too long. I’ll have you singing like a bird by the time my men get packed. I was interrogating Communists when your mommy gave your daddy the clap for the first time.” Big Boss strode out, pausing just long enough to drop the box and my radio on a table by the exit.

“Don’t hurry on my account,” I called after him.

He paused and smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. You don’t have to wait up for me. Walker, start with the pinky.”

Oh hell.

“Yes, sir,” said the shorter one cheerfully, obviously excited. The other dude slammed his weight into me, pinning me into the wall. I thrashed, but with my wrist handcuffed, it wasn’t like I had a lot of maneuverability with that hand. The one called Conrad punched me in the stomach, which got my attention just long enough for Walker to latch onto my fist. While I struggled, he pried my pinky loose and yanked it back. I screamed as it broke with a sick crack.

VALENTINE

Goddamn it, I thought to myself bitterly. I knew it was too good to be true. I cursed myself for staying with Dead Six. We should’ve used the confusion of Project Heartbreaker being terminated to sneak out and link up with Ling’s people. We could’ve slipped away, and with everything being packed up and shipped out, they’d have had no time to try to find us. It would’ve been perfect.

Instead, here I was, decked out in full battle rattle with a rifle slung across my chest and a bandage on my arm. The fort was on full lockdown. Everyone healthy enough to hold a weapon was kitted up and told to be on the alert. Despite Hal’s painkillers, I hurt, and my face was bruised and swollen. Worse, the sky had clouded over. Thunder rumbled overhead; it was threatening to rain.

Most of us were standing by on the docks at the north side of the fort. They sat just beyond a huge stone arch in the old wall of Fort Saradia. Colonel Hunter had ordered patrols of the compound as well. Every person that could be spared hurriedly loaded equipment onto the dock. Word was Hunter was going to try to get the boat to come sooner. My own personal gear, including a backpack full of money, was still in my room. I really hoped I’d have time to get it before we had to board the boat.

We were prepared for the worst. We’d emptied the armory and broken out all of our heavy weapons. We quickly set up defensive fighting positions covering both the gate and the docks, backed up with machine guns, RPGs, Javelin missile launchers, and everything else we had lying around. If the Zubarans came looking for a fight, they were in for a big surprise.

We couldn’t take everything with us. I was shocked at how much weaponry they’d stockpiled in our armory.