The Storm Maker (22 page)

       Sthykar
slowly traced his route back towards the outer wall, the scientist closely
followed him. Sthykar did not know what to think of the information the
scientist had just told him, but seeing the shady goings on here, he could tell
something sinister was definitely cooking. He had to get a message to the army
as fast as possible.

       After
a few minutes, Sthykar suddenly stopped. The opening was just around the
corner, but more importantly he could hear voices. Sthykar got down on his
knees and slowly peeked around the corner of the maze wall. Four Ranxian guard
stood just inside the opening. Two of them had their rifle stocks resting on
the ground; the third had not even taken his rifle from his shoulder. Only one
of them was holding his rifle in his hand with his fingers near the trigger.
They were talking, yawning and laughing; apparently they did not think one
scientist and a pistol with a single bullet was much danger. And they were not
wrong as far as they knew, but what they did not know was that Colonel Sthykar
was there as well.

       Sthykar
slowly turned towards the scientist and put his finger on his mouth, and then
held up his hand to indicate to the scientist to keep quiet and stand still.
Then he turned around and slowly raised his rifle to his shoulder while still
kneeling on one knee. He first aimed at the man who had his rifle in his
hands—the one who could return fire the fastest. The distance between Sthykar
and his target was approximately fifty to seventy meters.

       Sthykar
fired and the first guard was hit in the chest and knocked flat on the ground.
Sthykar slightly turned his rifle and fired two more shots into the two guards
standing to his right. They fell to the left and to the right respectively. The
last guard did not even bother to take his rifle from his shoulder, but ran
towards the maze exit. Sthykar quickly switched his rifle to ‘full auto’ and
let loose a hail of bullets and the running man was hit just as he was about
to  exit to the side of the maze wall. He fell backwards on the tall bush and
slowly tumbled down. Sthykar and the scientist quickly ran to the guards.

       “You
took out four of them in less than ten seconds!” The scientist rubbed his mouth
with his palm. “Unbelievable.”

       “Less
than five. I told you to keep quiet,” Sthykar said. “But never mind; at the
tower they must have heard my shots in the silence of the night. Pick up one of
their radios.”

       The
scientist  grabbed a hand radio from the belt of one of the dead guards.

       “Follow
me and fast,” Sthykar said. “They will be coming here.”

       “Where
are we going?” the scientist asked. Sthykar was already moving at a brisk pace
and the man tried to keep up.

       “Just
stay with me,” Sthykar said. He reached the wall and then started westward
along the side of the wall.

       “Damn,
they gunned him down,” Boss Hantex jumped as soon as they heard the multiple
shots. He was standing with Corporal Montex outside the front door of the
tower, putting together a team of the Ranx soldiers who were coming up from the
underground barracks, yawning and scratching their heads.

       “Must
have opened up on him on sight,” Montex said. He took his personal radio from
his belt and asked, “Alright, which one of you shot him?”

       “Not
us,” said one voice followed by two others and then silence.

       “Must
be the team at northeastern opening,” Hantex said after a while, “Why aren’t
they calling in?”

       “Northeastern
team,” Montex said. “Did you shoot the escapee? Answer me, damn it.”

       Sthykar
and Jalant had stopped at the particular spot along the wall where Sthykar had
come in. He was tying the rope to the grappling hook when the Ranx guard’s
radio the scientist held came alive with loud chatter.

       “What
is the damn radio saying,” Sthykar asked.

       “That’s
corporal Montex’s voice,” Jalant said. “I think he wants to know who shot me?”

       Sthykar
laughed and the scientist chuckled as well.

       “Tell
him we did, otherwise they will be onto us.” Sthykar said.

       “My
voice will give me away,” Jalant protested.

       “Not
on the radio, it won’t. Just say ‘we did’ and that’s that.”

       Jalant
took the radio. His hands started shaking and he looked at Sthykar who nodded.
Jalant pushed the button for ‘send’ and said, “We did” in the Ranxian language.
Then he quickly pressed the ‘send’ button once again to cut off any further
transmission.

       “Ha
Ha,” Sthykar laughed. “Let them wonder.” Sthykar grabbed the radio from the
startled scientist’s and then threw it over the wall and barbwire into the
forest.       

“Who
said that?” Montex said on the radio. “Was that the team at northeastern
opening?”

       “Who
else could be?” Hantex said. “Looks like you won’t have to wander in that damn
maze at night after all. You boys can go back to sleep,” he said to the now
smiling soldiers who had been sullenly getting ready; they were pleased with
this development.

       “Wait,”
Montex said. “They are not saying anything else. What is going on there?”

       “Does
it matter,” Hantex asked. “Maybe they are digging him up right then and there.”

       “I
am going there myself, and taking these soldiers with me.”

       “Suit
yourself,” Hantex said without a care, “But I am going to sleep.”

       As
the boss walked back in the tower, Montex took the soldiers and started down
the road in the middle of the maze towards the gate.

Sthykar
threw the grappling hook over the top of the wall and verified its grip by
tugging on the rope.

       “You
first,” he said to Jalant.

       “I
don’t know how,” Jalant shrugged.

       “Just
try. Grab the rope and walk up the wall.”

       Jalant
tried that a couple of times, but both times he nearly fell on his back and
Sthykar had to steady him.

       “Damn
it, I am going to have to carry you.” Sthykar shook his head. “Alright, now
grab my shoulders and hold strong, if you fall, I am not coming back down for
you.”

       Jalant
grabbed Sthykar’s shoulders with both of his hands; Sthykar then took hold of
the rope and started climbing. Climbing alone was very easy for a mountain
warrior like himself; but having the scientist on his back was no different
than having a big carrying bag. Sthykar climbed rapidly, albeit slower than he
had done on his own, and he stopped just near the top ledge.

       “This
wall has electrified barbwires,” Sthykar said. “I cut the lower wire out here
while getting in. You grab that ledge, pull yourself up and lay on your
stomach. Do not raise your head. Then slide back and I will do likewise.”

       “How
will I do that?” Jalant asked almost panicking. “How will I pull myself up?”

       “Now,
now,” Sthykar said, “You better do it and do it fast because if the guards
come, I am pulling up and rolling on the ledge with you on top. Your back will
be ripped by the barbwire and you will get a shock from the live wire.”

       “Alright,
I will do it,” Jalant said fearfully. He slowly removed his right hand from
Sthykar’s shoulder, lurched forward and grabbed the ledge. Then he did likewise
with his left hand. He tried to pull himself up, gritting his teeth, but he was
only moving slowly.

       Sthykar
realized the man’s hands did not have enough strength and he could fall down
anytime. Sthykar twisted the rope around his left hand then with his right hand
grabbed the back of Jalant’s shirt and shoved him onto the ledge.

       “Thank
you,” Jalant said, panting for breath.

       “Alright
now, slide back, but don’t raise your head.”

       Sthykar
pulled himself up on the ledge on his stomach, and then turned around flat on
his back. He looked up at the second barbwire and the star filled sky beyond as
he took a deep sigh of relief. He had made it back out. Sthykar threw the steel
grappling hook down some distance away from them.

       “What
now?” Jalant asked.

       “We
jump.”

       “Why
can’t we climb down? This is too high.”

       “And
carry you again on my back,” Sthykar laughed. “Man, what did you do when you
were a boy? Had your head in your school books all day? Never ran around
climbing and jumping? Well, I am out of here. You have until I find my hook
down there, then I am gone. You can sleep here if you want.”

       Before
Jalant could say anything, Sthykar tumbled over and jumped down, landing on his
feet. Right away he started searching for his hook. Jalant took deep breaths
for a few moments and then in a state of high anxiety, he rolled himself over
and grasped for the ledge with his hands as he fell down with a panicked shout,
landed on his heels, lost his balance and fell backwards.

       Sthykar
laughed, grabbed Jalant’s shoulder and pulled him to his feet while Jalant was
holding his back with both of his hands.

       “That
really hurt,” he said, and then asked, “Did you find your hook?”

       “Before
you tumbled over and fell like a baboon from a tree,” Sthykar laughed. “But I
wasn’t going to abandon you.”

       Jalant
was still straightening himself out, feeling his aches and pains with his hands
and stretching his back.

       “No
time to waste,” Sthykar said. “Some friends of mine are at a distance in the
woods as back up. Follow me and don’t get lost.”

       Sthykar
and Jalant rushed to the woods and then started making their way through the
forest.

At
this time Montex and his soldiers had reached the front of the maze, and the
two guards on the front gate walked up to them.

       “What
is going on, Corporal?” they asked. “We heard shots.”

       “You
two go back to the gate,” Montex yelled. Then Montex and his team turned right
and walked along the side of the maze till they came upon the opening. Montex
stepped on a dead guard, pulled himself back and exclaimed, “how the fuck does
a pencilhead shoot four guards with one bullet?”

* * *

       Chief
Detective Avyk Wyt knocked on the door of the SPASI Chief Yucker a couple of
times. The chief’s secretary was putting some files in the cabinet with her
back to him. She turned around after hearing the knocks.

       “Oh,
Detective Avyk— I thought you were Yucker,” she said.  “He has gone to get some
coffee.”

       “Just
tell him I was here,” Avyk said to the secretary.

       “Sure.
Wait, look...” She pointed to the outer door of the office.

       “I
am here,” Yucker said holding a large coffee cup in his right hand and a
newspaper in his left. He held up the newspaper to Avyk, “I managed to find
Southstar
Daily News
; wanted to see if the local newspapers had found out about the
ambush.”

       “Did
they?” Avyk asked. “Let me hold that for you.”

       “Fortunately
not,” Yucker handed Avyk the newspaper, took out a key from his pocket and
opened the door.

       “I
found our man,” Avyk said with a smile.

       “Tell
me about it.” They walked inside Yucker’s office and Yucker put down his coffee
cup on his table. Avyk placed the newspaper on one corner and stood facing
Yucker.

       “It
is Lenax Tanx, our guest from the Eye of Ranx,” Avyk said. “Since you told me
that Sayett suspected him the most, I thought why not start with him before I
move to investigate our own detectives on Sayett’s team. So I had a couple of
my sharp detectives strike up a talk with senior detective Zurryvk, who is
Lenax’s personal host and helping him get around. Now hear this, Chief; the
night Sayett told his team about his plans for the raid, Zurryvk took Lenax out
to dinner at Holryth’s Hoghouse and was going to drop him off at the guesthouse
we gave him. But just after dinner Lenax walked to the pay phone and made a
call to his family back at Ranx—or that is what he told Zurryvk.”

       “That’s
the pay phone down the street from Holryth’s?” Yucker asked, “I can see it from
the window when I eat there.”

       “Right,
that is the one Lenax called from,” Avyk said, “but not to Ranx. The pay phone
is owned by the Jakwyk Telephone Company and I called its owner Mr. Jakwyk.
First he refused my request for information on that telephone call, but then I
told him that if I get a Letter of Search from the court, then we are going to
go through all the calls and eat up an entire day of his staff. Then he agreed
to tell me and what he said was that there was not a single international call
made from that pay phone on that day. Not one. Not to Ranx...not to any other
country.”

       “So
where did he call?”