Angel City (51 page)

“Ten rounds left, make them count. Let them get close, two shots to the head between the eyes. Understand?”

“I'll try.”

“There's no trying now, Kat. You were right. All your nightmares were real. I've been trying to protect you from them. But now you need to fight with me to protect Max. He's all that counts. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

“Yes.”

Officer Jannsen turned back to the steering wheel, floored the motor:
rrrnnnn, rrrnnnnn.
The tires caught traction and the truck jumped back. Officer Jannsen shifted gears, stomped on the accelerator, and the Explorer raced from the burning town. Max was wailing under the blanket. Katherine stuffed the Glock in her belt, pulled up the blast blanket.

“Come here, honey. Mommy's got you.”

“Kat, you should keep him under.”

“No way . . . he's a wreck, he can't breathe down there.”

“Then lay him on the seat and cover him with your body. Put the blast blanket over the both of you.”

Katherine did, dug through her pockets, found his pacifier.

“It's okay, honey, we made another funny tent, isn't that funny? And look, Mommy has Mister Gummy. Where's your book . . . here it is. Let's look at some pictures. Oh, look, here's that big fat caterpillar.”

Max settled a little in his mother's arms, sucked on his pacifier, making little choking sounds in his throat. He looked at the sketchbook, tapped Pompidou the Flying Caterpillar with his rubber hammer. “Pomdoo.”

“That's right, silly old Pompidou, and now we're going home, and we're going to go for a ride in the yellow submarine, okay?”

She poked her head from under the blanket, saw Luc coming to, pulling himself up.

“Are you with me?” Officer Jannsen said to him.

“Ich bin bei euch.”

“Is our heads-up display still working?”

Luc pressed buttons, flipped switches. “All we've got is radio contact with the house and local radar. No comms to HQ.”

“Get the Brügger and Thomet, give me your sidearm.”

Luc pulled his Glock, loaded a round, handed it to Officer Jannsen. He picked up the submachine gun, made it fire ready.

“What happened?” Officer Jannsen said.

“Just before the bomb, Control radioed flash traffic,” the guard said. “Time warps went down in Berlin, Toulouse, Lausanne, and Hong Kong. Light scans picked up thousands of goons taking form and overrunning the orphanages.”

“Status?” Officer Jannsen said.

“Offline.”

“All of them?”

“Ja, Chef.”

Katherine watched Officer Jannsen swallow hard, watched her mouth form silent words.
Mein Gott.

“What's he talking about, Anne. What orphanages?”

Officer Jannsen didn't answer.

“Hey, Anne, remember the part about you telling me what the fuck's going on because we're getting fucking married?”

Officer Jannsen checked the dashboard, watched the radar sweep from side to side.

“There are three orphanages in Europe, one in Hong Kong. They're for special children we care for.”

“Children like Max? That kind of special?”

“No, children like Marc Rochat.”

“What?”

“There's no time to explain, we have to get you into the safe room.”

They came to Carson Highway. Officer Jannsen stopped, checked the radar. There were blips running left and right across the screen. Katherine looked both ways down the road, saw nothing.

“What are we waiting for?”

“Traffic.”

“What fucking traffic?”

“It's there, you just can't see it.”

The blips on the screen disappeared. Officer Jannsen hit the accelerator, and the Explorer shot across the road and into the cover of the forest.

“Not that I know what you're talking about, but why are we going to the house, anyway? Why aren't we following the invisible cars to Carson City or Portland? Why are we going where the goons are?”

“Our defensive perimeters are jammed, Kat. We're locked in. We just have to hold off the goons till reinforcements get here.”

“Bullshit, let's just jump the fucking wall and blow this place.”

“We can't.”

“Why not?”

“Our defensive perimeter isn't a wall, it's time.”

“Are you telling me we're trapped in time?”

“I'm telling you we have to hold out till we get backup.”

Katherine tried to make sense of it.

“Bullshit, turn around, get on the highway, get us away from here.”

“Listen, Kat, this is the only chance Max has. The bad guys know who he is. Out there, in real time, there are millions of goons; he wouldn't stand a chance. In here, we can fight as best we can.”

“Out there we can hide.”

“Kat, there is nowhere to hide in the world. You found that out at Lausanne Cathedral. There's only here and now, and you've got to focus on not letting Max fall into the hands of the goons. Your only chance, Max's only chance, is the safe room.”

Katherine saw herself in the belfry again. The tall silver-haired goon with the silver eyes, ramming a knife into Marc Rochat's stomach, raising his crooked body on the blade and dropping him on the ground. She looked at Max, still tapping the pictures of Pompidou the Flying Caterpillar. She suddenly knew she was two places in time at once. She looked at Max, felt herself tremble.

“Get us home, Anne.”

Officer Jannsen sped ahead. Goons rushed from the trees, raised weapons, and fired.

“They're trying to cut me off,” she said. “Give me cover.”

“Roger,
Chef
,” Luc said.

He hit a button on the dashboard and a section of the Explorer's roof blew off. He stood on his seat, sprayed a ninety-degree arc of bullets into the trees. The Explorer rounded a turn. A huge log had been dragged across the road.

“Scheisse!”

Officer Jannsen pulled the emergency brake, turned the wheel, and forced the Explorer into a spin. Luc dropped back into the truck as its rear wheel hit a stump—
wham!
The truck flipped onto its side and skidded over the road. Katherine had Max in her arms, covered his head with her hands. Max screamed and from the forest there rose a howl of ravenous voices. Then:

Quiet.

“Everyone good?” Officer Jannsen said.

“I'm good,”
Luc said.

Kat twisted Max in her arms.

“Yeah, we're okay.”

Officer Jannsen crawled over Katherine and Max into the back of the Explorer. She kicked the release and the hatch blew open. She crawled out, reached back.

“Give me Max and come.”

Katherine held out Max to her. He waved, kicked his legs, and shrieked,
“Maman! Maman!”

The goons howled from the trees hearing Max's voice.

Officer Jannsen got her hands under Max's arms, pulled him out. Katherine quickly crawled out, then Luc with his Brügger & Thomet slung over his back. Max flew into Katherine's arms.
“Maman!”
She put her hand over his mouth.

“
Shhhh
, it's okay, honey. It's okay.”

The forest fell quiet again.

She heard Officer Jannsen and Luc whispering to each other in German. He nodded, reached back into the truck, pulled out two bags. One was a medical kit, the other a backpack. Officer Jannsen found a pressure bandage in the med kit, tore it open, and wrapped it around her thigh and the jutting glass.

“Aren't you going to pull it out?” Katherine said.

Officer Jannsen shook her head. “Too close to an artery. I'll bleed out.”

Luc fitted the small canvas bag around his shoulders. He reached in the truck again, pulled open the side panels, took out two more Brügger & Thomets, handed one to Officer Jannsen, draped the other around his neck; now he had two. Officer Jannsen reached in the truck, pulled out an ammunition case, and opened it. It was stuffed with loaded clips. They continued to whisper in German, slapping clips into their weapons, stuffing extra clips into their pockets.

“What is it, what are you guys saying?” Katherine said quietly.

Officer Jannsen looked at Katherine.

“The goons are regrouping for an attack. The house is sixty meters through the trees. You and I will run with Max.”

Katherine looked at Luc.

“What about you?”

“I will stay and give you cover.”

“But the radio said there are hundreds of goons inside with us, maybe thousands.”

Officer Jannsen touched Katherine's arm.

“Kat, they're coming at us from all sides. We must cover our rear or we'll never make it to the house.”

“Yeah, but how?”

Luc opened the backpack. Katherine saw a timer, watched the guard set it for two minutes, hit the switch. The timer started counting down.

“I will fire double taps for ninety seconds, then stop. The goons will think I am out of ammunition and charge. That will be your signal to get down.”

“No,” Katherine said. “You can't do this.”

“Madame Taylor, it is my duty,” Luc said. He looked at Max, smiled, and gave him a salute. “And may I say, Captain Picard, it has been a great honor to serve with you.”

Max stared at him as if knowing the true meaning of the man's words.

“Woof,” Max whispered.

The guard checked the timer.

“One hundred seconds.
Ich wünsche Ihnen alles gute, Chef.
”

Officer Jannsen grabbed the guard's hand.
“Im namen des lichts, mein bruder.”

“Und du bist, meine schwester.”

Katherine leaned to the guard, kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

Officer Jannsen pulled Katherine's arm.

“Let's go.”

They ducked into the forest, heard the Brügger & Thomets open fire in succession. Pause, speed reload, fire again. Bullets counting down like ticks of a clock, then the guns stopped and ravenous howls sounded through the forest. Officer Jannsen led Katherine into a gully.

“Get in, get down, cover Max.”

Katherine jumped into the gully, lay Max on the ground, and curled her body over him. She covered his ears . . . a great
crump
rocked the earth, and bits of metal screamed through the air and smacked the trees. Katherine looked at Max. His eyes were wide, fear was clawing at his throat.

“We're almost there, Max, we're almost there.”

Officer Jannsen peeked over the rim of the gully; Katherine did, too. A ten-meter-wide section of forest was burning. The Explorer had been ripped apart.

“Let's go,” Officer Jannsen said.

Katherine picked up Max, his arms dangling from his sides.

“Max? Max?”

Officer Jannsen checked Max's eyes.

“He's falling into shock. Keep talking to him, but keep moving.”

They ran ahead, autumn leaves and brittle twigs snapping under their boots. Katherine saw Officer Jannsen wasn't running, she was limping. A burst of automatic fire crackled and echoed through the forest. Katherine got down; Officer Jannsen turned back, pulled at her arm.

“It's outgoing, Kat. It's not coming at us. The house is twenty meters away. Keep moving.”

Katherine held Max close.

“It's okay, honey. We're almost there, Mommy has you. Mommy has you, Max.”

The guns crackled again, the forest filled with death squeals. Then quiet. Officer Jannsen stopped, leaned against a tree. Blood was dripping down her leg and onto the ground. She tightened the pressure bandage, grimaced with pain.

“Anne, you're really hurt.”

“It doesn't matter. All that matters is getting you and Max into the safe room. Let's go.”

Officer Jannsen limped ahead. Branches of the trees began to sway, the entire forest seemed to bend.

“Down, Kat.”

They ducked behind the widest tree.
Crump, crump.
Then a blast of heat.

Up ahead, through the trees, Katherine saw the house. It was in flames.

“Holy fuck.”

Officer Jannsen nodded to the thick of the forest.

“We'll circle around to Control. Come on.”

Branches of pine slapped at their faces. Katherine tucked Max inside her cloak as they ran. Two minutes later, Officer Jannsen stopped, called out, “
Hold fire at your rear!”

A voice answered from ahead in the trees, “Blue Four, where are you?”

“Ten meters out on your one-sixty. Is it clear?”

“They've taken the house, they're trying to take Control. We've held them back twice. We can't do it a third time.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Five.”

“Post two men at the top of the stairs to the safe room. When they're set, give it five seconds and open up on the goons. We'll come in on your left, copy?”

“Hurry,
Chef
, here they come.”

Then the howl of goons closing in for the kill. Officer Jannsen looked at Katherine.

“I'll lead you to the guards, you keep going into Control and down to the safe room.”

“What about you?”

“Don't worry, I'll be right behind you.”

Officer Jannsen jumped to her feet, hurried ahead, broke through the trees and into a clearing. She called back to Katherine.

“Now, Kat, move it!”

They dashed from the trees. A wave of goons charged from the forest to cut them off. Officer Jannsen dropped to a firing position, let off a spray of automatic fire. She ejected the clip, reloaded, fired again. Something caught hold of Katherine's legs, pulled her to her knees.

“No! No!”

She held on to Max, kicked herself free, saw two goons crawling toward her.

“The child is ours!”

Katherine looked at Officer Jannsen, reloading again, firing into a second wave of goons from the left.

“Oh, Jesus.”

She swapped Max to her left arm, covered him with her cloak. She pulled the Glock from her belt, her hand shaking. She fired two rounds wide. Max screamed at the sound. The two goons howled, got to their feet, rushed ahead.