Saint (Gateway Series Book 2) (13 page)

***

“Damn it,” cursed Martin.

“He’s making a run for it,” added Tacitus.

“Fuck it,” grunted Martin as she opened up with her rifle sending rounds flying indiscriminately into the flames.

Tacitus joined in.

***

Stone heard the
whizz
of bullets around him as he sprinted toward the alley. A sting of pain shot through his arm as a round grazed his bicep but he kept running. Bursting from behind the flames, he dove for the cover of the alley.

“Glad you could join us,” smiled Thay.

“Yeah,” replied Stone. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

***

“Shit,” cursed Martin and she pushed her sniper rifle to the side and stood erect. “We need to get on their asses.”

Suddenly a tree behind Martin exploded, splintering into a thousand pieces. Knocked to the ground, a searing pain blasted through Martin’s back as it had been peppered with small jagged pieces of wood. Firing on Stone had drawn the attention of the approaching Triad armored column.

“We’ve got armor and infantry to our right,” grunted Tacitus.

Martin saw a shard of wood protruding from his shoulder. “No shit,” she replied as she pulled the chunk from his body. “We don’t have time for this shit,” she added as she activated her comms circuit. “
Cerilus
, this is Hunter 1, request ANVIL from CAP. Say again, request ANVIL.”

“Hunter 1, this is
Cerilus
, copy ANVIL. Designate tangos Reaper 21 and 23 in route. Time on top five minutes.”

Martin brought her sniper rifle into position facing the new threat. “Hawks inbound,” she warned as she picked out an officer and fired.

“Targets designated!” shouted Tacitus as he shook off the debris from another nearby explosion.

Martin set her sights on an officer atop one of the forward tanks. She took in a breath. Another explosion almost lifted her off the ground and rocked her forward. With a grunt, she centered her crosshairs on the officer again and fired. Three seconds later the officer tumbled from his position.

“Since everyone’s coming to the dance we might as well get Parsons and his marines in on this,” yelled Martin over the whizzing bullets and explosions.

Tacitus activated his circuit. “Sandman 45, this is Hunter 2, request immediate support at my location. Engaging armor and approximately a battalion of infantry. Be aware incoming hawk attack craft, over.”

“Roger, Hunter 2,” came Parsons’s voice over the circuit. “Sandman 45 in route. ETA six minutes.”

Martin fired again and another Triad soldier fell. She could feel herself growing more anxious every second. Not that Martin didn’t enjoy a good fight, but every second she wasted with these locals meant Stone and the others were getting farther away.

“Hunter 1, this is Reaper 21 and 23, inbound. Keep your heads down.”

“Roger,” replied Martin. “Light ’em up.”

Martin looked up from her sights as the entire column of armored vehicles was consumed in a rolling ball of fire. Seconds later, the percussive sound of the hawk assault crafts’ supersonic engines drowned out the roar of the explosion.

“Hunter 1, this is Reaper 21 and 23. Switching to guns for second run.”

“Reaper 23, this is Hunter 1. Pull off run. Take out all roads, bridges, or moving vehicles from east to west of this town.”

As Martin gave the order, the ground where the fireball had just begun to subside erupted in a rising wave of dirt, metal, and flesh as the rounds from hawks’ Gatling guns tore apart what was left of the armor. Martin looked toward the sky and saw one of the hawks peel off from its run to carry out her order.

“Roger, Hunter 1. Reaper 23 copies.”

Martin’s attention was then drawn toward the roar of a transport passing overhead at combat speed. The craft banked heavily and stopped at a hover two meters from the ground over the now-destroyed park. The rear hatch opened and twelve marines and their officer quickly jumped from transport and rushed toward the bridge and the surviving Triad infantry. Martin soon heard a burst of automatic fire as Parsons and his men began to engage the ground troops. Martin’s attention was then drawn to a loud explosion. Looking to the east, she saw smoke begin to rise from that direction.

“Hunter 1 this is Reaper 23. I just took out a bridge six kilometers north of our position. There was a small motorized vehicle ready to cross. I engaged and drove it off the road. Four armed personnel bailed from the vehicle and disappeared into the forest to your northeast.”

“That’s them,” said Martin out loud. She turned toward Tacitus.

“Let’s go,” he shouted as he sprinted past Martin.

Martin dropped her sniper rifle and followed him. The two jumped, twisted, and bobbed as they sprinted down the sloping hill toward the park.

“Transport 1, this is Hunter 1. Have two hover bikes ready in four minutes,” commanded Martin into the circuit as she caught up with Tacitus. Martin sensed her partner push himself and start to gain on her; she did the same and they raced side-by-side down the hill.

At the bottom of the hill, the two burst from the foliage at full speed and rushed toward the transport.

“Good job, Parsons!” Martin breathed heavily as she and Tacitus sprinted past the marine officer. “You and one of your marines with us.”

The four quickly reached the transport, which had set down in the center of the park. They raced into the open rear hatch and the small cargo bay. In front of them were two hover bikes with their gravity wells activated.

“Thanks,” huffed Martin as she slid her assault rifle into a compartment designed for it on the bike. “Hop on, Parsons,” she ordered and the captain slid behind her on the bike. A corporal did the same with Tacitus. Leaning heavily, she turned the bike and hit the accelerator to force the bike out of the transport. As soon as she was clear, she engaged the thrusters and the bike rocketed forward with Tacitus close behind.

At 160 kilometers per hour, Martin and Tacitus raced through the small town and toward the bridge. In less time than it took to sprint to the transport, they came upon the shot-up vehicle.

Martin abruptly stopped her bike and in one fluid motion leapt from the bike, drew her assault rifle, and brought it to her shoulder. Rushing to the vehicle, Martin quickly looked inside. It was empty but covered in broken glass and blood.

“At least one of them is wounded,” she said to Tacitus, who was now standing beside her.

Tacitus quickly examined the ground around the vehicle. “They went this way,” he said, pointing toward a densely wooded area.

“Let’s move!” shouted Martin and her, Tacitus, and the two Marines rushed toward the forest.

Martin moved swiftly through the wooded landscape, alternating between a glance at the ground for the blood trail and to her front and flanks for signs of an ambush. After several minutes, she stopped and signaled for the group behind to slow their pace and approach slowly. Ahead was a large river that ended in a fifty-meter waterfall a short distance downstream. The sound of the swift water and waterfall required Martin to nearly shout when the others reached her.

“They crossed here,” stated Tacitus as he pointed to a blood-stained leaf at the edge.

“Or they want us to think they did,” interjected Martin. “Parsons, you check upstream for more blood. I will check downstream.”

Martin moved quickly along the riverbank and soon reached the massive waterfall. Peering over the edge, she saw four figures a few hundred meters away disappear into the underbrush on the opposite side of the bank at the bottom of the falls. Martin raised her assault rifle, took aim, and let a burst fly. The foliage around the last figure twitched as the rounds were deflected by the thick undergrowth. The four turned and sent a volley toward Martin, who took cover behind a large rock as the bullets impacted all around her.

“They’re over here,” she shouted.

Within seconds, Tacitus, Parsons, and the corporal were at Martin’s side.

“They returned fire and disappeared into the underbrush down there,” she informed the group as she pointed toward the last spot she had seen the foursome.

“Roger,” responded Parsons as he grabbed the corporal’s arm. “Let’s get across.”

Parsons and the corporal immediately stepped into the river, with the two Paladins behind them. The river was swift but not too deep. What it lacked in depth, however, it made up for in bone-chilling temperature. Martin inhaled deeply as the swift, cold water sent flashes of stinging sensations over her body. Pushing the cold out of her mind, she slowly waded across waist-high into the river. About halfway across the river, the captain turned back quickly to Tacitus.

“It looks like it’s passable up here,” he said as he shifted to his right.

Looking toward Parsons, Martin focused on a small clump of mud and leaves resting on a nearby log jutting out of the water. Looking more closely, she saw a line connected to the bundle of mud and leaves.

“Parsons, wait!” she yelled, but it was too late.

The captain triggered a device hidden under the log and a sudden, powerful explosion sent water, rocks, and Parsons into the air. The corporal, seeing his commander blown apart by the explosion, immediately rushed toward him.

“Stop!” shouted Tacitus.

The corporal looked toward Tacitus and replied, “I’ve gotta get to him.”

“Corporal,” interjected Martin. “That’s an ord—”

Another explosion tore the young corporal apart.

As water from the explosion showered Martin, she looked toward Tacitus, who was slowly retracing his steps toward the river bank.

“We’re not going to be able to cross here,” he shouted over the roar of the water.

“They’re going to get away,” she shouted as her anxiousness returned. They were so close—she was so close—to exacting her revenge.

“They’ve got wires all over this crossing,” replied Tacitus.

“Son of a bitch,” grunted Martin as she paced back and forth in a small patch of the river. “They’re right there over the—” Martin paused midsentence and pulled her sword from her waist belt and slid it into the secondary sheath across her back and locked it in place. She then attached the butt of her assault rifle to the shoulder D-ring on her tactical vest and tied a quick knot around the barrel to the lower part.

“What the hell are you doing?” asked Tacitus.

“I’m not letting them get away,” replied Martin.

Before her partner could respond, Martin pivoted and rushed toward the edge of the waterfall. At the edge she leapt forward and extended her arms above her head. She felt the rush of the air and the mist of the waterfall around her as she plunged toward the water below. The roar of the waterfall instantly transitioned to the bubbling, tumultuous rumbling of the river as Martin’s body penetrated the surface of the water. The force of the impact was powerful, but she quickly regained her composure and pushed her body toward the surface. Breaking the surface of the water, she took a deep breath and looked back toward top of the waterfall with a smile before turning and swimming toward the opposite shore.

In a few seconds she reached the shore. Dragging herself onto the rocky bank, she detached her rifle, scanned the thick undergrowth, and moved into the heavy foliage.

Moving slowly and quietly, Martin looked for signs of movement and listened for the slightest hint of the enemy. She listened for the normal sounds of the forest—birds, squirrels, insects. It was silent except for the rustling sound of the nearby river. They were close—

She immediately spun to her left at the sound of snapping twigs. As her rifle swung around, the silver flash of a tomahawk caught her eye as the weapon was knocked from her hands. She looked up to see another tomahawk coming toward her head.

Martin blocked the downward thrust and brought her right boot against the chest of her attacker. As he fell backward, she could see he was a tall, lean Terillian with a small tuft of hair running the center of his head. His face was painted black with red diamonds around his eyes. Martin saw his eyes open wide and his mouth gape.

“You’re Red Wolf,” he spoke in Humani. “You’re supposed to be dead. The War God has made this my lucky day.” Martin saw his shock replaced with hungry anticipation of a fight.

This was more than any Terillian had spoken to Martin in any language. After the surprise passed, she responded.

“The name’s Martin, Ter. And I’m far from dead, you son of a bitch” she shot back. “And I wouldn’t say what’s about to happen to you is gonna be lucky.” She drew her sword.

Martin saw a smile come to the Terillian’s face. Then he rushed forward.

Martin thrust her sword at her attacker. The Terillian twisted his body and swung toward Martin’s midsection. She brought her knee up to block his forearm. Her knee countered his attack, but Martin felt her feet leave the ground as her opponent lifted her into the air and rushed forward. Most of the air left Martin’s lungs as she slammed into a large tree. Sucking in a short breath, she brought her forehead down into his nose. The man stumbled backward, but as he did he flung one of his tomahawks toward her. She ducked quickly, and the tomahawk embedded itself into the tree just above her head. Martin quickly looked for her sword; it was several feet behind her attacker.