The Edge Of Justice

The Edge Of Justice Chapter 21

Blaster looked horrified. “One man with knives against four with automatic weapons? Are you out of your fucking mind? There's no cover, so you'd have to walk right up to them. There's forty feet of ground to cover, and I don't care how fast you are, you're not covering that amount of space before they shoot you.”

“I've been up against much worse, and I've got a plan.”

Blaster cursed. “Not gonna happen, Ghost.”

I ripped my mask off in frustration. “Listen, I don't care if you are the best fighting force in the world, but that's information leading me to my fa-objective. We also need to know if there is another way out of the complex, and they can tell me that. So either you listen to me as team leader, or you hike right back down that fucking path and leave me to my work. I don't need you here, much less want you here. You're in my way, and you're holding me back. Got it?”

The Marine pursed his lips, before sighing in resignation. “You're gonna get us all killed, but fine. Do what you want.”

“Good,” I said, pulling my mask back on. “Stacey, can you patch me in to Katrina please?”

Blaster raised an eyebrow. “Now he's talking to himself. They send me to die with a crazy person.”

Katrina buzzed into my ear a second later, and I turned to where I knew her position was. “Katrina, I'm going toward the door. Do not fire unless you see I need you. If this goes bad you might need to put one or two of them down.”

“You got it, boss,” she said. “And could you lay off of Blaster a little? He is a friend of mine you know.”

“How many people do I have in my damned ears?” I questioned to no one in particular, but Stacey answered me anyway. “Five.”

I stood and sheathed my ninjato, took a deep breath, and walked out, past the alcove which had three men in it, not two. I showed the Marines behind me three fingers, hoping they got the message, and then I was in the view of the men guarding the door. They all wore dark fatigues, with full masks that only showed their eyes. Three torches in sconces bolted to the rock wall gave off a reddish dancing light, and I could see clearly without using my night vision so I blinked it off. I walked straight up to the guards as though I belonged, and they didn't even flinch at the sight of me in full mission gear.

“Malcolm made you running the valley again?” one of them laughed in a deep Russian accent, and I immediately began breathing hard, going along with the facade he had just given me. “Yeah, I dropped my blade in training.”

The four of them laughed, and I walked past them and right up to the door, grasping one of the large iron rings that served as doorknobs. The sound of a bolt sliding back made me freeze, and the barrel of a Kalashnikov pushed into the back of my neck. “Problem here, comrade, is that we be on duty for twelve hours. We no see no one leave compound in that time.”

I hung my head, looking up through my eyelashes at the shadows on the doorway, estimating their positions behind me. All three had their guns trained on me, and I held up my hands. I turned slowly, and began counting down with my right hand as I spoke. “I came out the back way.” Katrina's voice crackled in my ear, telling me that the bullet flight time was three and a half seconds. I nodded slightly, and noted the position of the two guards behind the leader, waiting to give Katrina the go.

With only three fingers up, the Russian laughed again. “No back way in mountain. This only entrance.”

One finger up, and I smiled. “Thanks. That's all I needed to know.” I let my last finger drop, and began counting the three seconds.

“We take you to Malcolm,” he said, raising the barrel of the gun to my head. “He will kill y-.” The guard's head suddenly exploded in a mist of red blood, brain fragments, and particles of skull. The bullet 'thunked' into the heavy wooden door, and I was already moving. My right hand came up to my shoulder holster and removed a throwing knife, while my left pulled a sai from the sheath on my hip.

The throwing knife left my hand in a blur of matte black, driving into the man's throat He clawed at it, and pulled it free to a burst of arterial blood. He would be dead in less then twenty seconds, I estimated. If he had left the knife in he might have survived long enough for one of the Marines to patch him up, though I doubted Katrina would have let them. The second man was pulling the bolt of his weapon back, but had no time to release it before I was on him. I swung a hand around to the back of his head to hold him there, and pushed the sai in behind his jaw, driving the tip upward into his brain. He twitched once, then his legs gave way and he collapsed to the dirt.

Raising a hand in thanks, I nodded toward the darkness, toward where I knew the shot had come from. “I appreciate the help and all, but maybe next time try to give my head some clearance? The bullet almost hit me too.”

Katrina laughed. “Maybe I was aiming for that and I missed.”