Arcadian Genesis

from the small man’s dangling hand dripped onto the road.

‘Come out; last one time I ask.’

Alex and Sam stayed down, Alex’s mind working furiously on his options.

Stozer exhaled beside him. ‘He’s gonna bleed out. I thought they wanted him alive.’

Alex kept his eyes on the brutal scene before them. ‘I don’t think they ever did. . they want this.’ He lifted the plate. ‘They couldn’t give a shit about Khamid now.’

‘Okay.’ Borshov pulled the trigger again. The effect was exactly the same on the other hand except this time blood splashed back onto the Russian’s face.

‘Ack.’ Borshov’s face twisted in disgust and he put the gun to the Chechen’s head and pulled the trigger.

The bullet punched through the scientist’s skull — small on entry and fist-sized on exit. Blood sprayed out, and the bullet twisted and spun down the dark street, a plume of gore following it for twenty feet. Borshov hung onto the body, like a hunter with a prized kill.

He laughed. ‘It was worth a try, nyet?’

Stozer turned to Alex. ‘We go out there we’re as good as dead.’

‘We stay here we’re as good as dead.’ Alex tapped the canister, still wrapped up in its dirty towel. ‘But while we hold this, we’ve got leverage. They can’t be sure it won’t be damaged in a full-blown attack, or that we won’t try to destroy it ourselves. Listen, when I give the word, you run, and keep running until you find a safe place to call in the evac. chopper, or cross into Georgia. Either way…’

‘Either way, I miss out on that drink.’ She shook her head. ‘No way, hero.’

Alex rounded on her. ‘That’s an order — I mean it.’

‘God dammit.’ Stozer lowered her head. She spoke softly: ‘No one lives forever, huh?’

‘Only angels and devils, Samantha.’

Alex yelled over his shoulder. ‘We’re coming out!’

‘Good, good, Mr. HAWC. My arm was getting tired holding this dead weight. .’ Borshov dropped Khamid like a bag of trash as Alex stood up, holding the heavy lead canister in front of him. A half dozen Spetsnaz broke cover and moved cautiously toward them, guns raised as the two HAWCs stepped out onto the street.

‘You want this?’ Alex held up the package. He whispered to Stozer: ‘Get ready.’ He closed in on the giant Russian, motioning over his shoulder. ‘Keep them back.’

Borshov shrugged. He signaled for his squad to hold their positions.

Alex was now within ten feet of the man, who was even more imposing up close. He’d worked with plenty of big men, and he was six two himself, but the build of the Russian was like a cross between a human and a grizzly. Alex tensed his muscles and turned as if to check on the Spetsnaz behind him.

Borshov laughed deep in his chest. ‘Don’t be scared; they won’t —’

Alex spun back fast, using the momentum and all his strength to fling the hundred-pound canister at Borshov. At the same time he yelled: ‘Now!’

Stozer took off like a deer, jinking and weaving, flying past Borshov as the canister crashed into his chest. Caught off guard, the impact staggered him momentarily. Alex took his chance: rushing forward, he rained hard- edged blows on the Russian’s broad face. The huge arms blocked his last few punches, but in that short window, his pummeling had split Borshov’s cheek and flattened his nose.

Stepping back, Borshov reached into his mouth and fiddled with a tooth. It came away in his fingers. He pulled a face. ‘Not so pretty now, da?’ He grinned a bloody grin and wagged his finger. ‘I will kill you slowly, little dog. If you are best America can offer, I think soon we will march down your Times Square.’

Alex glanced about warily as more and more Spetsnaz broke cover and circled the two combatants. With every passing moment, Stozer was getting farther away, but he had to keep them busy, make a fight of it. This guy had taken down Bruda, so there was no way he was going to outmuscle him. He had to rely on his speed… That was probably the only advantage he had.

Moving forward, Borshov feinted to his left, but instead of circling in the opposite direction, Alex lunged at him. Landing a flat-handed strike under Borshov’s chin, he ducked under the Russian’s swinging arms, delivering a side kick to the back of his knee. But the big man didn’t go down; instead, as momentum carried Alex through, one of Borshov’s fists slammed into his kidneys, the other catching him just above the eye.

The pain in his side was excruciating, and Alex could feel the trickle of blood from the cut that had opened on his brow. The eye would soon start to close. He staggered back a few steps, trying to clear his head.

Borshov laughed dismissively at his unsteadiness. ‘Good punch, da? I boxer once — Borshov the Beast they called me.’ He grinned again, and held his big fists up, circling them in the air.

Alex shook blood from his eye and moved sideways as a shout rang out from the corner.

Alex’s fists fell by his sides; Sam Stozer was being led back into the street, her hands bound behind her back, her face horribly torn and battered. She shook her head at him, and mouthed a word — it might have been sorry.

It might have been goodbye.

Borshov shouted something in Russian to her captors, and the big man threw back his head and laughed. He turned and pointed at Alex. ‘You get to live a minute longer. First we decorate the street.’

The men brought rope and made a noose at one end, throwing the other up over a power pole. They lowered the noose over Stozer’s head.

Alex needed to buy some time — they must want something from him. He knew their modus operandi — they’d use Stozer as leverage; make demands. He wiped blood from his eye with the back of his hand. ‘What is it you want?’

Stozer continued to stare at him — no fear, no tears. The men pulled and she lifted off the ground.

‘No!’ Overwhelmed with impotent fury, Alex drew his longest K-bar and rushed the big man. It was a tactical error, one he’d never have made normally. Easily avoiding him, Borshov drew his own blade and drove it through Alex’s armor, deep into his side.

Alex tasted blood. He hit the ground, hard, immediately followed by Borshov’s boot, which came in fast, crunching into his chest. Things went black for a few seconds. When his vision cleared, he saw Stozer’s legs dancing like those of a wild marionette, and a wet gargling came from her mouth. Her face quickly turned blue and her tongue seemed to fatten as it protruded. Alex watched in horror — there was no dignity in being hanged.

Then it was over.

Borshov shrugged and glanced up at the swinging woman. ‘Too bad — she looked like good fuck.’ One of the Spetsnaz tossed him his large GSh-18, and he checked it as he strode toward Alex, sprawled on the ground. The Spetsnaz laughed and jeered.

I failed, Alex thought miserably. He looked at Stozer’s lifeless body, then turned away as her face swung toward him. ‘Get it over with!’ he yelled.

But the big Russian shook his head. ‘Patience, comrade. First I blow off left foot, then the right. Then left hand. . ’ He grinned. ‘You ever seen man crawl without his hands and feet? Very funny thing.’

Alex gritted his teeth. In one hand he still held his K-bar; his other hand edged toward the lead canister lying on the ground beside him.

Borshov, satisfied with his gun, raised it and pointed it at Alex’s face.

A sound from the forest made the big Russian frown. It was like a breeze kicking up, but localized in one small area behind the tree line. One of the Spetsnaz shouted something, and Borshov turned. Alex took this last opportunity and threw his knife — it buried itself several inches deep into the meat of the giant’s thigh. Borshov cried out in pain and surprise, but his gun barrel remained steady. He squeezed the trigger.

With his last ounce of strength, Alex grabbed up the canister and held it out in front of him. The bullet tore through its inches of lead, splintering on the glowing disk inside. When a much smaller bullet fragment burst through the other side, it was now coated with a fine powder of luminescent fragments.

A bullet from the massively powerful gun, fired at such short range, would normally have shattered a man’s skull. Now, it retained just enough mass and velocity to punch a hole just above Alex’s left eye, into his brain.

* * *

Blue sky, crashing waves, salt drying on warm skin. And a girl with long brown hair that smelled of green apples…

… Then a whirlpool of darkness.