Chapter 50/51
Chapters Fifty & Fifty-One
Mon/October/2008 07:00 AM
Chapter
50
Raj was shouting something, but his excitement, combined with his poor mastery of the English language, made translating and comprehension difficult. From where Luke and Gomez were standing, they could see the little guy, his moustache dancing like a corpulent lip-dwelling caterpillar, shouting to the men with their arms raised at the far end of the room.
“Don’t move! Don’t move! Don’t move!” he rattled off.
The men stood frozen in place.
“You move and I flip the switch,” Raj continued, raising the canister for emphasis.
The gunmen stood against the wall, their guns slung over their shoulders.
Raj stood at the door, the last of the hostages squeezing by him as he stood at the ready.
“Hurry,” he muttered to the group. “Hurry.”
Men, women, students, all went past him, some casting an appreciative look in his direction, others lost in their own worlds of panic and shock.
Raj’s fingers slipped on the edge of the canister. He glanced down at his hands. He had never set one of these things off personally. Hopefully the diagrams his lab flunkies had prepared for publication had been accurate. His hands went cold and clammy at the realization of what was happening. He looked around, then looked at the faces of the gunmen on the other side of the room.
What was he planning to do?
What had he been thinking would happen all this time?
Nothing good could ever have come from this bastardized research.
This wasn’t science. This wasn’t an experiment.
This was weapon building.
This was terrorism.
The last of the hostages walked past him. Raj felt the panic of a passenger racing to leap into the last dingy on a sinking ship.
One of the gunmen locked eyes with him.
Raj recognized him suddenly. This guy had been one of his lab techs last year. He’d been hired cause he worked cheap, for next to nothing, save for a work VISA.
Raj sighed. Guess his accountant had been right. It never pays to be cheap, something in the long haul always comes back to bite you in the ass!
“Close the door,” Raj said softly.
The man nodded his head and pulled it closed behind him.
The other gunmen started for their weapons and Raj flipped the switch on the canister.
He started walking towards them.
From where Luke and Gomez were standing, they saw only a whirlwind of confusion. The small man with the moustache began walking forward as the gunmen lifted their weapons and opened fire on him. He was hit in the shoulder and chest, blood sprayed out in puffs of pink vapor. Then, in a brief slow-motion hiccup of time, the metal canister in the little man’s hands erupted, sending out a cloud of gas. Just as quickly as it happened, the windows of the back room were covered in blood.
The room fell silent.
“Let’s get these people out of here,” Luke whispered softly.
Gomez pulled his hands from his eyes, shaken, and nodded his head slowly.
Chapter 51
Murray fell from the helicopter, hitting the roof hard.
The bullets had broken at least two of his ribs, but hell, he was still thankful for the government vest, and glad that Halliburton hadn’t gotten all of the governments last equipment contracts. He lifted his head to look up, but the wind had been knocked out of him. He gulped for air, seeing stars and flickering images as the door on the copter swung closed. He watched through the glass as Tim climbed over to the controls.
Inside the cabin, things were really getting interesting.
“Close the doors,” Tim shouted to Simon.
Simon stood, preparing to follow orders.
Nick stood around the edge of the stairs, describing the scene to Ransom.
“The pilot’s down.”
“I think my vision’s coming back,” Ransom responded.
“Can you see what’s happening?”
“Someone’s coming out of the copter!” Ransom shouted, lifting his gun suddenly.
“Caref-” Nick stared, but was cut off by the sounds of Brick’s handgun.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Three gunshots rang out.
The first bullet flew past Simon’s ear, ripping into the headrest of the front passenger seat.
Simon spun to the side and down as the next shot ricocheted off the side of the copter’s frame.
The third bullet hit Jeff Pepper in his left shoulder. Jeff winced in pain, trying to pull his hand up to the wound, but his wrist was strapped to the armrest.
“Stop!” Nick shouted. “You just hit Pepper!”
Brick’s heart sank. “Is he okay?”
“He’s still moving. But yeah, you hit him.”
Brick raised his gun again. “He knows me, it’ll be okay.”
Nick put his hands on Ransom’s arm, shaking his head.
Raj was shouting something, but his excitement, combined with his poor mastery of the English language, made translating and comprehension difficult. From where Luke and Gomez were standing, they could see the little guy, his moustache dancing like a corpulent lip-dwelling caterpillar, shouting to the men with their arms raised at the far end of the room.
“Don’t move! Don’t move! Don’t move!” he rattled off.
The men stood frozen in place.
“You move and I flip the switch,” Raj continued, raising the canister for emphasis.
The gunmen stood against the wall, their guns slung over their shoulders.
Raj stood at the door, the last of the hostages squeezing by him as he stood at the ready.
“Hurry,” he muttered to the group. “Hurry.”
Men, women, students, all went past him, some casting an appreciative look in his direction, others lost in their own worlds of panic and shock.
Raj’s fingers slipped on the edge of the canister. He glanced down at his hands. He had never set one of these things off personally. Hopefully the diagrams his lab flunkies had prepared for publication had been accurate. His hands went cold and clammy at the realization of what was happening. He looked around, then looked at the faces of the gunmen on the other side of the room.
What was he planning to do?
What had he been thinking would happen all this time?
Nothing good could ever have come from this bastardized research.
This wasn’t science. This wasn’t an experiment.
This was weapon building.
This was terrorism.
The last of the hostages walked past him. Raj felt the panic of a passenger racing to leap into the last dingy on a sinking ship.
One of the gunmen locked eyes with him.
Raj recognized him suddenly. This guy had been one of his lab techs last year. He’d been hired cause he worked cheap, for next to nothing, save for a work VISA.
Raj sighed. Guess his accountant had been right. It never pays to be cheap, something in the long haul always comes back to bite you in the ass!
“Close the door,” Raj said softly.
The man nodded his head and pulled it closed behind him.
The other gunmen started for their weapons and Raj flipped the switch on the canister.
He started walking towards them.
From where Luke and Gomez were standing, they saw only a whirlwind of confusion. The small man with the moustache began walking forward as the gunmen lifted their weapons and opened fire on him. He was hit in the shoulder and chest, blood sprayed out in puffs of pink vapor. Then, in a brief slow-motion hiccup of time, the metal canister in the little man’s hands erupted, sending out a cloud of gas. Just as quickly as it happened, the windows of the back room were covered in blood.
The room fell silent.
“Let’s get these people out of here,” Luke whispered softly.
Gomez pulled his hands from his eyes, shaken, and nodded his head slowly.
Chapter 51
Murray fell from the helicopter, hitting the roof hard.
The bullets had broken at least two of his ribs, but hell, he was still thankful for the government vest, and glad that Halliburton hadn’t gotten all of the governments last equipment contracts. He lifted his head to look up, but the wind had been knocked out of him. He gulped for air, seeing stars and flickering images as the door on the copter swung closed. He watched through the glass as Tim climbed over to the controls.
Inside the cabin, things were really getting interesting.
“Close the doors,” Tim shouted to Simon.
Simon stood, preparing to follow orders.
Nick stood around the edge of the stairs, describing the scene to Ransom.
“The pilot’s down.”
“I think my vision’s coming back,” Ransom responded.
“Can you see what’s happening?”
“Someone’s coming out of the copter!” Ransom shouted, lifting his gun suddenly.
“Caref-” Nick stared, but was cut off by the sounds of Brick’s handgun.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
Three gunshots rang out.
The first bullet flew past Simon’s ear, ripping into the headrest of the front passenger seat.
Simon spun to the side and down as the next shot ricocheted off the side of the copter’s frame.
The third bullet hit Jeff Pepper in his left shoulder. Jeff winced in pain, trying to pull his hand up to the wound, but his wrist was strapped to the armrest.
“Stop!” Nick shouted. “You just hit Pepper!”
Brick’s heart sank. “Is he okay?”
“He’s still moving. But yeah, you hit him.”
Brick raised his gun again. “He knows me, it’ll be okay.”
Nick put his hands on Ransom’s arm, shaking his head.