“She’s packing!” he yelled as she brazenly advanced on them, firing as she came. “Get back!” Expecting her to be cowering in fear, they were somewhat caught off guard by her unexpected frontal assault. They both stumbled back through the narrow entranceway by the bathroom, retreating back into the hallway for cover, but not before both got a few more blistered spots under the chest armor.
Seven peered around the doorjamb, rifle at ready, but the vixen was nowhere to be seen. She’d retreated back into the room, probably to the far side of the bed. What he did see through the window, however, immediately demanded his full attention. As he watched, the clamshell door of the Pegasus split open and he saw the driver raise a very nasty looking spingun. One of those badass Krueger Spittin’ Cobras, with the six rotating barrels and a fifty-round magazine using twelve-millimeter shells made with Alchemy ultralight casings. All powered by a twelve-volt micro-battery that recharged itself through blowback. That bastard could spray hot lead as if it was biblical hellfire and brimstone. Where in the hell would some ol’ fart get a cannon like that? His eyes grew wide as the business end of those barrels seemed to grow in size, the man aiming them straight toward him. Instinctively, he drew back, just as the muzzles whirled and flashed. He immediately returned the fire, with Six joining in. After each three-round burst, the Pegasus driver blasted back. After several exchanges, Seven began to notice something unusual.
Nothing was happening!
Nothing was happening to them. Nothing was happening to the shooter on the outside. He continued to fire at Six and Seven through the window, seemingly impervious to what should have been withering fire from their rifles. And that was because nothing was happening to the window. Neither assailants’ fire had succeeded in penetrating it. It was as if it was some sort of force field.
What the fu— Maybe it had been the drugs, but it took him a moment to realize exactly what was going on. There was no force field. The goddamned window was polyglass! Shatterproof. Bulletproof. Laser proof. Relaxing slightly, he allowed himself the luxury of a smug smile as he stepped into the open doorway.
“Well, would you lookee here, now!” He fully exposed himself as he called back over his shoulder to Six, who now joined him, standing and staring in amusement at the frustrated Pegasus driver. He was also now looking with bewilderment from his gun to the window and then back to his weapon. He was beginning to figure out for himself what Seven and Six had just discovered.
“Stupid hick!” Seven called to him, even though he knew polyglass to be soundproof. “Your badass li’l Hand Gatling won’t do you a damned bit of good now. Will it?”
Obviously, the driver had already reached that conclusion. Seven watched in triumph as he threw the gun into the cab in disgust and closed the door back up.
“Sorry, dude! Looks like you’re S.O.L.!” he jeered at the window, watching the big Pegasus begin to pull away. He was helpless to save his bushy-tailed damsel in distress.
Enough of that! Seven breathed a sigh of relief, as the confrontation had gone a lot easier than he’d thought it would. It was time to turn his attention to the reason he was here.
He felt the blisters on his chest smart every time his vest rubbed against them. It was time for payback. He turned back to Six, the hardness in his face a mix of determination and revenge.
“Switch to heavy stun,” he told him, as he flipped the “settings” lever on his own rifle. It would be so much easier just to toss a stun grenade into the room and close the door. But there would be no satisfaction in that. Not after all the pain he was feeling. Not after she’d sliced the team to ribbons. Not after putting ol’ Number Two down for the count.
I’m so going to enjoy lighting your ass up! A vindictive little smirk crossed his face. I can’t kill you, but nobody said I couldn’t shoot you. He raised his rifle, ready to breach the room proper. Sorry, bitch! This is gonna hurt like a motherfu—
He never finished the thought before the room exploded.
***
Outside the window, the Pegasus had been taking heavy fire ever since it had banked around the corner and sidled up to the window. Frost had positioned a two-man team at the rear of the motel to prevent escape from ground level. As such, their angle of fire was mostly concentrated on the underbelly of the truck. The pulse rifles were no match for the Deflect-O-Shield coating that Tiger had applied years ago when he’d decided to foray into the smuggler’s trade.
That was the least of Tiger’s worries. Now that it had become apparent that he wasn’t going to be able to breach the window by shooting it out, he knew he had to think fast. In fact, he had only seconds. By now, the mercs on the inside had figured out the same thing and would no longer be concerned about his intervention. Amber would be outnumbered and outgunned. If they didn’t already have her, they would soon.
He saw only one option. It was a dangerous one, especially for her. But if she was the creature he sensed she was, and there was more to her than met the eye, she might just have a chance. Setting his jaw determinedly, he closed the door, tossed the spingun and fell back into the driver’s seat.
With one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the throttle, he brought the Pegasus around hard, as if attempting a hasty escape. However, watching his driver’s side rearview cam, once the port engine was lined up with the window, he stood on the reversing retrorockets. At the same time, he pushed
