Resurrection

Tough Choices

"He's not answering," Green muttered as he got into the passenger seat of Jones' cruiser. The lenses of his glasses lightened instantly in the dim interior allowing Jones to see the look of concern that flitted across his face.

"Try his mobile."

"I did." He waved his own mobile in Jones' view as if to demonstrate that he hadn't put it away again yet.

"Comms?"

"Nothing. I've asked HQ to run a trace on him. After what you said earlier about Gould, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Let's not get excited just yet. The hospital is a very public place, I doubt Gould would try anything. That's assuming he has a slug inside him, of course."

Green made no comment, but continued to redial Black's number in the hope that it was just poor reception on Black's side. The two minute journey from the pub car park dragged and the elevator ride to the ward Gould was bedded in seemed to take an eternity. Both Green and Jones checked the power levels on their weapons as it neared its destination, replacing them within easy reach as the doors opened.

It may have been the unusually quiet atmosphere that set Jones on edge or it could have been the lack of staff at the nurse's station. Whatever it was, her weapon was in her hand when she paused at the door to Gould's room.

She nodded at Green and counted with her fingers: three, two, one. The door swung inwards with the nudge of her hip, her gun swinging with her eye-line in search of any threat. When none presented itself, Jones walked further into the room allowing Green to enter and inspect the adjoining bathroom while she covered the bed.

"Clear," Green whispered, barely audibly.

Jones nodded once in the direction of the bed, indicating that Green should pull the covers back. She kept her weapon trained on the sleeping bulk.

"It's Black," Green rasped. "He's dead. I guess that proves your theory."

"When was the last contact you had with Black?"

"I don't know, maybe a half hour. Gould has Black's clothes, he could be anywhere."

Jones did some mental calculations. "It would have taken Gould at least twenty minutes to incapacitate Black and strip him of his clothes with a broken wrist. Getting dressed would also take time. He may still be in the hospital," she surmised. "Get on to HQ and put out an AOS on Gould, security code red. This is not good news."

Using the computer system to access the hospital's intercom, Jones did the only thing she could think of to minimise civilian causalities. "Gould, we have you surrounded. Give yourself up and we can help you."

Laughter erupted from somewhere behind her. The sound echoed along the narrow corridor, concealing the source's actual position. Her weapon was up and aimed in the general direction by the time she swung around to face the right way.

"Green," she whispered, after touching her ear to change the comms channel. "He's still on this floor. Let's move. He has Black's weapon, shoot to kill."

"Right with you, Boss," Green replied, taking up position at her side. He adjusted the power level from stun to lethal on his gun, nodding his readiness to proceed.

They moved in unison, grateful that the floor was already empty of civilian patients. Jones blinked to alter her vision to thermal and scanned the rooms through the thin walls. A human heat source moved from a crouch to standing three doors down. He stood with his arms raised to his chest, the cold black silhouette of his weapon obvious against his body temperature.

Jones’ hand on Greens chest stopped his advance. "Cover me," she mouthed as she pointed to the room.

She moved silently, each step placed with utmost care. Once she reached the exact spot on the opposite side of the room wall, she stopped and switched her weapon into her left hand. Her right shot forward and through the thin wall beside Gould's head, snatching his gun from his grasp before he knew what happened. Gould, being a highly trained soldier, recovered quickly and came through the door at her with a speed to rival her own. The ensuing close combat had them rolling around the floor, each landing blows that would normally incapacitate their opponent with ease.

The first shot Green got off, skimmed Jones' shoulder, the second Gould's foot. "For Christ's sake, quit moving," he yelled. His third shot knocked Jones off her feet and into the wall. His Fourth, a few heartbeats later, saw Gould dead. He sprinted the short distance to Jones' side and released the breath he'd been holding since he made the rash decision to shoot his commanding officer. "Ma'am?" he asked with trepidation. He tapped her cheeks lightly in an attempt to bring her round. "Come on, Jones," he pleaded, going over the last minute of the fight in his mind - he was sure he set the gun to stun before he shot her.