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  Hardy saw him go down and literally leapt to his defence. She landed on top of the nearest thug who crumpled under the surprising weight. She kneed the thug beneath her on the side of his head then tore him away from Stryder sending him spinning across the floor to land at Tony’s feet.

  The guard turned to look at his boss enquiringly and Bane said, “Okay Tony, take out the trash.”

  15

  Having one of his attackers pulled off relieved the pressure on him somewhat, but Stryder still found it difficult to regain his feet. His opportunity came when one of the remaining thug’s attention was diverted by Hardy turning to face them after tearing one of them off Stryder.

  Seizing the opportunity the diversion afforded him, Stryder managed to uncurl a little and lash out with his foot at the thug who had looked over at Hardy. The blow wasn’t powerful enough to incapacitate, but it did unbalance him and enabled Stryder to block the remaining attacker’s blows. Before he could conjure up a counter attack, his assailant was suddenly sprawled out on the floor at the feet of the man mountain Tony.

  “Thanks,” Stryder said as he got to his feet. The fight was in full swing now with chairs flying through the air, bodies being thrown around and plenty of blood flowing from battered faces.

  Stryder quickly looked around for the one man who seemed more interested in him rather than the group who had invaded the club. Finally he found him at the far end of the room leaning nonchalantly with his back against the bar watching the fight with intense eyes.

  There you are. Time you and I had a little chat, he thought as he started to walk towards him.

  Norsky, seeing Stryder approach him decided he’d seen enough and walked calmly towards the exit.

  A sound behind him brought Stryder’s attention back to the fight, the sound of a bottle breaking.

  Turning he saw the bottle in the hand of one of Brown’s thugs. He’d smashed it over Tony’s head and was about to thrust the jagged edges into the dazed man’s face.

  Stryder stepped between them, grabbed the wrist just behind the jagged bottle, and twisted viciously. The sound of the bone breaking was drowned out by the man’s scream of pain.

  His misery was short lived though, as Stryder hit him full in the face with a straight right knocking him flying over a table. He was out cold before he hit the floor.

  Stryder spun back around to look for the mystery man, but he’d used the distraction to exit the club. Thinking he would check him out later, he turned back to Tony who was recovering from the blow to the back of his head.

  “You okay?” he asked as his eyes met Tony’s. He was shaking his head, trying to dispel the drowsiness.

  “Yea, I’m fine, thanks,” Tony replied grudgingly. He’d never expected help from these two and it surprised him a little.

  “Good. Time to end this I think,” Stryder said and he searched the room for Brown. He saw him sitting at the edge of the floor, at one of the few tables not overturned, enjoying a free drink.

  There were just a few strides separating them and he set off to close the gap.

  A thug stepped in his way and was quickly dispatched with a punch to the stomach followed by a knee to the face. Nothing was going to stop him reaching Brown.

  Brown got to his feet to meet Stryder, unnerved by the look of determination on his face. Before he could evade him, Brown found his throat grabbed by a hand with unbelievable strength.

  Stryder pulled Brown towards him and reached for his pistol that was still secured in the waistband of his trousers in the small of his back. He saw terror in Brown’s face then, a face rapidly turning blue from the lack of oxygen.

  Stryder fired his Sig P996 straight up, the sound of which brought everyone in the room to a standstill. All eyes were suddenly on him, combatants separated, the fight suddenly forgotten for the time being.

  Stryder placed the muzzle of his Sig to Brown’s temple slowly so that everyone saw it and understood the implication.

  “Okay, now that I have everyone’s attention, how about you all drop whatever weapons you’re holding and separate. Brown’s men over by the exit and the rest of you over by Bane,” he said, his voice sarcastic yet strident.

  “Do it now or Brown gets his brain scrambled all over the floor,” he added more forcefully.

  Slowly the two groups began to separate, carefully. They knew not to make any sudden moves that would turn an already bad situation into one that could become much worse.

  When he was satisfied with the result and loosening his grip slightly so Brown could breathe once more, Stryder said, “Now then Brown, we’re gonna do something you didn’t expect. You’re gonna get your boys together, those that can still walk, and you’re gonna grab those that can’t and you’re gonna get the hell outta here. You’re not gonna get what you came here for, so I suggest you leave. At least that way you get another shot at me at a later date. If you stay here you’re just gonna lose more of your men because if this carries on it’ll turn ugly.”

  Brown said, “You said we’re gonna do something. You’ve told me what you want me to do, what about the other part of this we thing, what’re you gonna do?”

  “Oh that’s simple; I’m going to let you go,” Stryder said.

  Brown looked at him with mistrust in his eyes; he didn’t say anything but Stryder knew it. “It’s a onetime offer. I’d take it if I were you, before Bane decides he wants your hide.”

  That was plain enough, even for Brown. His shoulders relaxed with resignation. He knew he’d lost this battle but the war would rage on. Not here though, and not now. His time would come later. He vowed that one day he would see Abraham Bane on his knees before him, powerless, beaten and at his mercy and it was with that thought firmly in place that he gestured to his men that they were leaving.

  It was over, for now.

  Stryder carefully released him but kept the Sig trained on him as they all headed for the exit.

  Hardy came to stand next to him once Brown and his group had left and she looked up at him with a smile saying, “Well Kurt, you sure know how to show a girl a good time.”

  “The night’s not over yet,” he replied and as they turned to look at Bane more figures came bursting into the club.

  “Everyone, stand where you are, don’t move and no one will get hurt,” a voice said from the entrance.

  “What now?” Stryder said as he turned to see who the voice belonged to. Standing in a row across the entrance were five Marines from Recon Delta, all armed with standard issue Remm assault rifles aimed at the group of people at the far end of the room.

  “I should’ve known it!” exclaimed Bane angrily then added, “Brown should’ve killed you when he had the chance.”

  Stryder gave him a hard stare, cold enough to chill his blood, and then slowly returned his gaze to the Marines.

  “What’s this about?” he asked, although he suspected he already knew the answer to that one.

  “We were sent to ensure your safety, sir,” said the Marine in charge, who Stryder recognised as Guardian from Research Station Five.

  “What exactly are your orders Captain Storm?” Stryder asked.

  “To contain the situation and place you and Sergeant Hardy under protective custody until the General arrives, sir,” Storm replied succinctly.

  “I’m sorry Captain, but I can’t allow that to happen,” Stryder said calmly yet adamantly.

  “Oh no, here we go again,” Storm said. Then waving for his men to remain where they were he shouldered his assault rifle and slowly walked over to him.

  “Good to see you again, sir. How’ve you been?” Storm said when he was in front of Stryder. He put out his hand and Stryder took it in a grip of steel.

  “I’ve been good, but call me Kurt. There’s no reason to call me sir,” he replied. “Look, you don’t need to place us in custody, the danger’s passed but you could actually help us out here a little.”

  “How so?” Storm asked.

  “How much do you know of w
hat’s been going on down here?”

  “We’ve been kept appraised of the situation. The General requested that my squad and I be on board for this trip, said you might need us and because we were present at Outpost Station Five when all that business went down, he felt we would have a better understanding of it all. We were ordered personally to this location by Sinclair.”

  “Okay, good, that saves us some time. The person who sent those five goons to my house was here tonight; he caused this situation. I had a good look at him but I may need your authority to commandeer the visual records from this place.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Yeah sure, make it quick, time’s running out.”

  “Okay, I’m presuming if he’s Alliance he’d know about the monitors in here and would take precautions.”

  “That’s right. When I spotted him, Bane, the owner of this club said that he wasn’t the guy he’d met with. We both know Alliance agents work alone, so if I can get his face on disc I can get a retina scan, and no matter what he did to alter his appearance, he can’t have changed that.”

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  Bane was waiting for them and when they got there he looked around at the mess the fight had caused.

  “Look at this place,” he said anger boiling just beneath the surface.

  I’m sorry about that,” Stryder said, but Bane waved it off.

  “Oh I don’t blame you, don’t worry. Brown would’ve used any excuse to try and ruin me; he’s been trying for the last decade or so. He won’t succeed though and payback is gonna be a bitch,” he said.

  “The monitors will have caught the guy behind it all, I need to see them.”

  “The Alliance guy eh? Look I may be plenty of things but traitor isn’t one of them. I thought there was something funky about him when I passed him onto Brown. Of course you can have the discs but I don’t know how much help they’ll be, I’ve already told you he wasn’t the man I met with.”

  “Thanks, but you let us worry about that, we just need to see his face.”

  “Okay, this way, we can do this in my office.”

  As Bane, Stryder and Storm moved away, a thought occurred to Hardy. She went to say something then thought better of it. What she had in mind might be nothing but then again it might be something.

  She walked towards the entrance where the four Marines stood guard.

  “Hi guys, listen I think I may have an idea, but I need to get out of here just for a second,” she said.

  Private Wayne, call sign Cowboy, said, “Okay, the rest of you secure the room, I’ll escort the lady.”

  “I’m no lady, I’m Recon Delta, same as you,” she said with a smile. “Let’s go,” she added.

  “I’m with you ma’am,” Cowboy replied.

  * * * * *

  Norsky left the club and mingled with the crowd, which was in mild chaos as people hurriedly exited the club. A good many had arrived earlier in their own transport, and now made their way to the club’s private parking lot. The rest waited around the entrance while they ordered transport. The moment the Marines arrived they decided that was enough and they all left to find some other way home. Brown and his men got lost in the crowd and disappeared.

  Norsky had arrived in his own car and so he casually made his way to it, mulling over in his mind the events that had unfolded inside the club. Watching Stryder, he had learned a few things; mainly that he was no ordinary man. He was in fact, quite extraordinary.

  To take on as many men as Stryder had, showed he was either supremely confident in his own abilities, or extremely foolhardy. Judging by the number of men he faced off against he would normally tend towards the latter, but having seen how he handled himself against them, he wasn’t so sure.

  As he’d watched the fight unfold, he saw the speed Stryder exhibited, both in avoiding attacks from those he fought and in executing counter attacks against the same. He was quite simply amazed by the apparent strength of the man. He also noticed that when Stryder stopped to look for him, once he’d got to his feet from underneath the group that was pounding on him, he didn’t seem fazed by what had just happened. He’d had several guys punching and kicking him and when he got up it was as if it was an everyday occurrence, nothing out of the ordinary. He wasn’t out of breath or unnerved by it at all. There wasn’t a mark on him. He was just calm and collected with only one thought on his mind, the whereabouts of the person responsible for this situation and he had to admit that when their eyes met, that moment had unnerved him.

  The only other thing he’d noticed was the certain bond between Stryder and the woman and as he sat in his car processing all that he’d learned, he wondered if he could exploit that fact in some way.

  He was about to start his car and drive off to formulate a plan, when the ‘some way’ he had just thought about, presented itself.

  * * * * *

  Hardy and Cowboy hit the kerb outside the club. The only vehicles she saw were the Marines’ transport shuttle, which had landed in the middle of the street, and a few cars scattered on the private parking lot across the street from the club.

  “Right, there’s a chance our guy came in his own car so we need to know if all those belong to employees,” she said indicating the parking lot.

  “How do you intend to find that out?” Cowboy asked, not sure where she was going with this line of thought.

  “Get one of the guards, he’ll know, then we can check ’em out,” she replied.

  “Okay, wait a sec ma’am,” he replied and accessed a comm channel. “Hacker, send out one of the bouncers ASAP,” he said.

  * * * * *

  Inside the club William Ives, call sign Hacker turned to the nearest bouncer and said, “You… you’re wanted outside.”

  When the bouncer just glared back at him Hacker said, “Now man, move it,” and he emphasised his point by waving the muzzle of his assault rifle at him.

  The bouncer still glared but moved towards the exit.

  “Bouncer coming your way, Cowboy,” Hacker said, then returned his attention to what was happening inside the club.

  * * * * *

  Norsky couldn’t believe his luck, the woman and one of the Marines he’d seen arrive were outside the club. He’d almost panicked when the transport had arrived but thought he’d have enough time to get away. The only thing that had delayed his departure had been his mulling over what he’d observed of Stryder.

  When he saw the Marine with the woman, panic began to return. He watched as she said something to the Marine then they seemed to be waiting for something. What it was soon became apparent when a bouncer from inside the club came out to join them.

  At first he thought he’d been spotted, a thought quickly dispelled as they continued waiting on the kerb outside the club. Then, when the bouncer arrived, he knew they hadn’t seen him. It was clear they planned on checking the cars in the parking lot and they needed the bouncer to tell them which belonged to the staff.

  Peering through the window he watched as they carefully approached the parking lot. Slowly he opened the door after turning off the interior light so they wouldn’t see his movement. Keeping low, he manoeuvred himself around the back of the small group.

  Silently he came up behind her and placed the muzzle of his pistol, a Sig, to the back of her neck. He leaned in close so his voice would not carry and quietly yet with authority said, “Don’t move.”

  Hardy went limp when she realised her mistake. She felt a hand take her pistol from the waistband at the small of her back and place the muzzle against her spine. Before the two men with her could react, Norsky shot them both at close range with his own Sig.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve only stunned them,” he said. “Slowly open the door and get in,” Norsky ordered, keeping his own pistol trained on her while tossing hers to the ground as proof that he had her when they came looking.

  Once she was inside he came around the front of the car, his pistol aimed at her through the front w
indscreen and he got in beside her.

  “Start the car and drive off, I’ll tell you where to go once we’re away from here. I’ve altered the setting on this thing to full power now. Don’t make me use it.”

  She did as she was told.

  Once they were clear he asked, “Are you Recon Delta too?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “Then you know the risks involved and you know that when I say I’ll kill you if you don’t do as I say, I mean it, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Good. Now use your NI and call Stryder. I want him to know I have you.”

  “Why?”

  “So I can tell him where to come and pick you up.”

  “Why should I, you’re going to kill me anyway, right?”

  “Not true, my orders are to capture Stryder alive. They’re very clear on that part; how I do it is up to me. I don’t see the necessity of causing death needlessly, which I think I’ve already proved by not killing your friends back there. Don’t get me wrong though, if I have to, if I have no other choice, I will kill you; so please, for your own sake, let’s not let it get to that stage.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “We are both soldiers you and I. We are both loyal to our causes and have been in combat where sometimes we have to take a life. That’s what it’s like and we accept that, it comes with the job description, but we are not murderers. We kill when we have to, not because we want to and I don’t want to have to kill you, so please don’t make me. One soldier to another, you have my word on it. Besides, like they say, where there’s life, there’s hope. So stay alive and you’ll have hope that you can get him back.”

  “Okay then, one soldier to another, just so we understand each other, I’ll do as you ask, but at the first opportunity, I will try to escape. I will try to help Kurt and if I have to, I will kill you, you have my word on it.”

  “Oh I think we understand each other just fine,” Norsky said, then added, “Now make the call.”