Guardians of Eden (9 page)

“What’s necessary to survive, Shaw,” Miller repeated through his struggle, trying to tilt the balance. Shaw then took aim, breathed and fired.

***

O’Brien pulled shut the door, silencing all sound from outside, then stood guard beside it with her blade in hand. The room was tightly packed and cramped. On one side was a row of packed bookshelves filled largely with ancient looking books, all surprisingly well preserved. On the other side was a small, intricate wooden desk atop which sat a computer console. Undoubtedly that was what gave access to Rodriguez’ isolated database, whatever it contained, but that was no longer Owyn’s concern.

“What was that?” Rodriguez pressed, himself breathing a little more heavily now.

Owyn ignored him and instead placed his gun down on the desk, pulled the chair from beneath it into the middle of the room and instructed Rodriguez to sit. After a brief moment of reluctance he did as he was told.

Owyn calmed his anger and spoke softly. This was his only shot to get Rodriguez on side. He had to make it count. “Who are you?” he asked.

“What do you mean
who am I
?” Rodriguez replied, letting his own fury ring out loud and clear. “You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t know the answer to that.”

“All we know about you is what we’ve been told, and I’m starting to question how much of it I can believe. You have no reason to lie to us so I want to hear it from your mouth.”

“Let’s just get the files, Carter,” O’Brien said, making her way over to the console.

“And then what?” Owyn raised his voice suddenly. “The mission’s gone. Miller fucked us. Those men won’t leave until they get Rodriguez so the only way we’re getting out of here is by turning ourselves in.”

“He’s right. It’s over.” Rodriguez smirked.

Owyn turned his attention back to Rodriguez, undeterred. “So you have nothing to lose, right? The quicker you answer my questions the quicker you get out of here. All I’m asking for is clarity.”

“You took me hostage, held a gun to my head, threatened to torture me and now you expect me to answer to you?”

“That isn’t who we are. That was Miller.” The resentment was clear in his voice even without trying to force it. “It might look a lot different to you, but we aren’t criminals. If we were I’d have put a bullet in your brain the moment you opened that door. Until now I thought we were on the right side, but I won’t know unless you tell me the truth.”

“Fuck you.” Rodriguez spat in Owyn’s direction.

Owyn’s patience was beginning to waver. He kneeled down and looked Rodriguez straight in the eyes. “We aren’t going to hurt you, Mr Rodriguez. All I ask is that you answer my questions and we can all walk out of here. You’ll go free and we’ll rot in a prison cell.” Rodriguez remained stubborn. “Alright.” Owyn sighed. “We’ll go at this from a different angle. What is Installation 3?” he asked.

The question immediately drew a reaction from Rodriguez. The colour drained from his face. “Installation 3?” he asked back, although lacking his previous conviction.

“The first time I heard your voice was from an audio recording in an underground facility on the edge of the Tajari desert,” Owyn explained. “I want to know what that facility was and what you had to do with it.”

O’Brien, who had been biting her tongue since the start of the conversation, suddenly found herself being drawn in by curiosity. She knew nothing of what Owyn had seen in the Tajari and this was the first time she’d heard a mention of Installation 3.

Rodriguez’ expression turned to disbelief. “How can you possibly know of that place? Who are you people?”

“I can’t answer that question, and I’m willing to bet
it
that
’s for the same reason you can’t answer mine,” Owyn replied. His mood had brightened a little as he sensed he was getting through to Rodriguez. “Let’s go for something a little easier then. Who do you work for?”

“The Department of Planetary Defence,” Rodriguez said tentatively.

“We were told you were an independent weapons manufacturer for the DPD. Is there any truth in that?”

“No, no,” Rodriguez quickly replied, shaking his head. “I’m a researcher – a scientist. I oversee high level scientific projects for the DPD.” He hesitated. “…Installation 3 was one of the facilities I worked with.”

“That can’t be…no,” O’Brien stuttered, unwilling to accept the truth she was putting together in her head.

Owyn turned to her. “That base didn’t belong to rebels. It belonged to the DPD.”

“Rebels?” Rodriguez jumped in. “There aren’t any
rebels
. Everything on this planet is so heavily policed and regulated that there never could be.”

Owyn was hardly surprised by the latest revelation. “We were told that you were a weapons supplier for those very same rebels. Interesting, isn’t it?”

Rodriguez’ expression suddenly transformed again as he had a moment of realisation. “Good God. You’re ISO aren’t you?”

This time it was Owyn’s turn to be struck with shock. “How the hell do you know that?”

“You were the people who destroyed the facility, yes? At Installation 3?”

Owyn had given up on keeping secrets. “We were,” he answered without hesitation.

“You’re starting to see how little secrecy counts for on this planet,” Rodriguez said with venom in his tongue. This time, however, his anger wasn’t directed towards Owyn. “I first heard of ISO months ago. Even then I suspected you were going to attack Installation 3, not that I had any idea who you were or what to expect. I tried to evacuate the facility and save our work, but they refused to listen. I had to send soldiers to remove the personnel by force in the belief that the facility could be protected. I was wrong.” He dropped his head and rubbed his eyes. “After that I had no desire to find you. The damage was already done. I’d lost more than six months of work and with it several dozen DPD soldiers’ lives. I nearly lost my own life as a consequence of that attack.”

“How did you know about us before?”

“The facility had a few…system breaches, let’s say. The plans of the above ground compound were compromised along with the co-ordinates of the facility. As well as information being taken, two encrypted entries were added into the security system. I couldn’t get close enough to fully decrypt or delete them, but I managed to extract a small amount of information from one.

A bit of digging through my colleagues in the Diamond Tower connected it to a top level classified section of the DPD’ personnel database linked to an organisation called ISO. Further investigation yielded nothing, but you must understand; that system was virtually uncrack-able – almost impossible to locate let alone infiltrate. The only way it could have been more secure was to isolate it from the network, but that would have prevented us from exchanging data with the Diamond Tower. To break in once is unbelievable, but three, four times. We knew something was coming, we just couldn’t do anything to stop it.

I couldn’t even report my findings to those above me. Doing so would have admitted that I had been digging through highly classified sections of the Diamond Tower database –not just on one occasion. The consequences of that would have reached much further than myself so I couldn’t allow it.”

“Why did we attack that facility?” Owyn asked. “What were you doing there for us to take interest?”

“There isn’t much I can tell you. You should know the sorts of consequences I would be subject to if I did. What I can tell you is that your ranks are rotten to the core, as are mine. This world isn’t what it was made out to be. It never was. You have been kept as blind to it as everyone else – perhaps even more so.”

“What was the piece of data you extracted?” Owyn asked. “Maybe we can make more sense of it.”

“It was nothing more than a simple code,” Rodriguez recalled. “A08A if I remember correctly.”

Owyn took a deep breath. “Ambrose,” he said out loud.

Rodriguez raised an eyebrow in question.

“Lieutenant Ambrose, the former Commanding Officer of ISO,” Owyn explained. “He was the one who got me into that facility. A few hours later he vanished without a trace.”

Owyn had wished with all his might for it to be anyone else, but there had only ever been one answer. Everything had stemmed from Ambrose’ last mission and departure. It couldn’t be anyone else.

“What did I destroy inside that facility?” Owyn asked. “Was it a weapon?”

“A weapon? No, no. It was far, far more valuable than that.” Rodriguez stopped. He pulled a pendant chain up from beneath his shirt and presented it to Owyn. “You’ve seen this symbol before, yes?”

Engraved upon the pendant was a circle with three lines cut upon it; exactly the symbol Owyn had seen on the canister in the facility. He nodded.

Rodriguez lifted the pendant over his head. “Find your Lieutenant and show him this,” he said, holding it by the chain for Owyn to take. “I can’t give you your answers but he may be able to. I can’t promise you’ll like what you hear, but at least then you’ll know what you’ve been fighting for.”

“Then what should I do? Put a bullet in his head?”

“There’s no use in that anymore. Whichever side you fight for you’ll lose. One way or another this world will burn.”

“How the hell are we supposed to find Ambrose while we’re stuck here?” O’Brien intervened. “You said it yourself. The only way out is turning ourselves in.”

“This is my safe room,” Rodriguez replied. “Why would I make it a prison?” He gestured to be allowed to access the computer. “May I?” Owyn agreed and O’Brien made way.

“Why help us?” O’Brien asked. “Nothing changes the fact that we took you hostage and held a gun to your head. If what you said about your facility is true then you have even less reason. We almost cost you your life.”

“The loss of that installation destroyed my reputation and left me trapped in my own home by Bauer and his men, but it may yet be my salvation. I’ve known the truth for years but never been able to tell it. If I had then they would have killed me and my family and incarcerated everyone who had ever known me. I no longer fear for my own life, but I won’t allow others to suffer because of me. You can find the truth and tell it in my stead. The people of this planet deserve to know what it really is.”

“Thank you,” Owyn replied.

Rodriguez looked back at him with a grave look in his eyes. “As I said, this world will burn either way. I would just rather the people responsible burn with it.” He activated the console and entered a few security codes before coming to a list of the floors of both his estate and the building below.

“A moveable safe room,” Owyn said, impressed at the ingenuity.

“As I said, I’m a scientist. I’m paid to solve problems – even those I’m yet to face. You were the only problem I failed to solve.”

Once a destination had been selected the whole room began to creep silently downwards.

WAR

Shaw’s bullet shattered the window before nestling in the throat of one of the men holding Miller. Shards of glass sprayed into the faces of the others allowing Miller to wriggle free. With nowhere else to go he toppled helplessly over the edge, involuntarily pursued by two of his captors. They hurtled downwards and smacked against the stone paved floor below.

“Shit,” Shaw cursed under his breath. He peered over the edge and saw Anderson coming around from the back on the building en route to his position.

Having collected his drop he was now kitted out in his full combat suit with a stocked belt and pistol in hand. Originally the plan was for just one fully equipped Operative to be sufficient to move Alpha Squad to evac, but given the force they were now up against that wasn’t going to be the case.

“Hold your position, Sergeant,” Shaw instructed.

Anderson acknowledged the command, coming to a halt before rounding the final corner. “On your order.”

Leaving his rifle behind Shaw leapt back onto the ladder and slid down to ground level. He stood up against the door. “Cover me,” he told Anderson.

Shaw burst through the door and rushed over to the side of the manor. Miller was lying still on the ground a few feet ahead of him. One of the other men was flat out on his back with eyes wide and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The second was desperately struggling to lift himself up through the agony of two broken legs. Shaw dealt with him first, planting a boot onto his chest and cracking his skull against the paving.

Peering down from above were the remaining members of the assault squad. As one leaned over the edge to get a sight on Shaw, Anderson fired an explosive round into the side of his head. The bullet found the gap beneath his helmet, impacting with a part of his face covered only by a black fabric mask and showering the others with a burst of blood and jagged chunks of broken bone.

Miller had been knocked unconscious by the impact and his head had taken the most of it, although despite the odds he was still breathing. “Anderson!” Shaw yelled.

Judging to have adequately stunned his targets, Anderson answered his call, sprinting over and taking one of Miller’s arms to help haul him towards the tower. From around the corner at the front end of the mansion came another group of armed men. They opened fire, but fortunately could only strike the tower’s doorframe before Miller had been dropped inside and Shaw slammed shut the wooden door.

“That ain’t going to hold,” Anderson pointed out as he helped prop Miller up against the back wall. “Get those crates down and barricade the door. We’ve got time to buy yet.”

Shaw felt a little reluctant to shut off their main escape route but Anderson, unlike himself, was a squad leader. Squad leaders held that role for a reason; they had specialist training for taking charge in situations like this. He didn’t, meaning that despite his superior rank he was inclined to let the Sergeant take the lead. “Copy. Head up top and cover the balcony.”

“Two steps ahead of you, big man.”

While Anderson climbed Shaw grabbed hold of the top crate from a ground floor alcove and pushed it up against the door. Although they weren’t quite as weighty as he would have liked, their metal casings would no doubt prove an asset against the bullet showers that would soon begin the coming storm.

He activated his comms before taking hold of the next crate. “What’s our situation, Sullivan? How long until we can get an evac?”

“I can’t do it. There’s no way. It’s like a whole private army is coming down on you. Another wave of ground troops are coming in and they’ve got armed aircraft nearby. There’s nothing I can do against that sort of firepower.”

Shaw felt the frustration but kept his cool. This wasn’t the time to resort to anger. “What’s Carter’s status?”

“He and O’Brien are sealed inside Rodriguez’ safe room. From what I can tell there’s only one way in or out.”

Shaw slammed the wall with both fists. “Give me something, for fuck’s sake, Sullivan.” He sighed. “We’ll hold out here as long as we can. Work something out.” Shaw cut the line.

Having emptied all of the alcoves on his level he judged his time to be up and headed back over to Miller. Still showing no signs of consciousness Shaw carefully turned his head around to look for the impact wound. A narrow stream of blood was running from the base of his skull. Shaw gritted his teeth. The signs weren’t good. He checked for a pulse. It was there but was rapidly weakening. The bleeding was most likely internal as well as external, and that couldn’t go on for long before he was beyond saving.

“You all done down there?” Anderson called. “We’ve got two more squads inbound. One high one low. I’m going to guess these bastards aren’t about to play nice.”

“We’re set,” Shaw answered.

“Get the LT up here. If we don’t cut this ladder soon it ain’t going to be the last climb you make today.”

Doing his best to be delicate Shaw took hold of Miller by the arm and slung him over his shoulder. He didn’t know whether or not he’d be carrying anything more than dead weight by the time he reached the top but that wasn’t going to stop him from trying. Holding firmly onto the first rung he heaved both of them upwards.

Figures were moving across the roof and the ground squad had arrived at the base of the tower. The door splintered as a swarm of bullets pierced the wood and clanged against the crate casings. Some ricocheted and veered away but others made it through, shaving the soles of Shaw’s boots as they passed. A crunching thud then echoed up through the shaft as one of the men barrelled into the door, dislodging the top few crates.

“Put those quads to use and get the damn hell up here,” Anderson called to him.

Shaw took a deep breath and pushed on once again. Next came a second volley of shots, but by now he was safely clear of the line of fire. Anderson pulled Miller up allowing Shaw to clamber over the edge, then laid the Lieutenant down in the corner and retook his position beside the open balcony entrance. At least a dozen more armoured men were setting up a position behind the nearest peak of the roof, some carrying rifles and others equipped for close quarters combat. “Come on, Shaw. As much as I’d love to I can’t fight all of them on my own.”

“Your gun. Now,” Shaw shouted back at him. Anderson fell back and handed it over. Shaw used the explosive rounds to blow apart the two poles of the ladder and send it crashing to the ground.

Meanwhile, Anderson had his sights set on Shaw’s rifle, still lying out in the open at the far end of the balcony. He took another glance towards the roof. All of the soldiers were still in cover, preparing for the assault. What was the harm in taking his chances? He dived out, grasped hold of the rifle and ducked back inside. Just a split second after he was clear, a bullet whistled past and cracked against the wall behind him. He grinned widely to himself, buzzing with adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Now that the ladder had been dealt with Shaw handed back Anderson’s pistol and in return he received his sniper. “My pleasure,” Anderson said with smug satisfaction, still savouring his minor victory. “The LT?” he asked, looking over at the stricken Lieutenant, crumbled in a heap in the corner.

“Fractured skull. He won’t last long without medical attention,” Shaw answered gravely. “We’re on our own.”

“The lord demands a fair fight…” Anderson declared loudly, accentuating his Alabama twang. “…and a fair fight he shall receive.”

They heard a crash below them. Shaw’s barricade had finally given way. One by one the squadron moved inside, creeping around the walls and staying out of sight. Anderson tried a snapshot but it was never on. The bullet missed everyone and blasted apart against the wall. He took a deep breath and spat at the floor. 

Although the tower had been breached, they were still succeeding in buying themselves time. The rooftop assault would need to wait until the ground team had decided upon a strategy for ascending to Shaw and Anderson’s position. Anything they could do to stall that would help their cause. That was the best they could do for now.

Shaw looked over as Miller, whose skin was beginning to pale as blood continued to seep through the fissure in his skull. “What the fuck were you doing, Cap’?” he said under his breath.

There had always been something suspicious about Miller’s sudden appearance – Shaw had never doubted that – but this just wasn’t right. He hadn’t intended to survive this mission. Everything about his actions suggested this was how the plan was always supposed to end. Why? He hadn’t a clue, and the chances were Miller himself wasn’t going to be able to tell them. What was certain was that whatever was going on was more than just a grudge match between Miller and Carter. This took it far beyond that.

Anderson noticed Shaw’s blank stare and needed to thump his shoulder to snap him back to reality. “Take the roof.” he instructed. “We’re keeping those motherfuckers the hell out of here.”

“If Sullivan doesn’t come up with something quickly we’ll be fucked either way.”

“Come on, big man. Have a little faith. We’re doing the lord’s work tonight.”

“What good has faith ever done?” Shaw muttered to himself.

The movement below had silenced. All was set for the assault. Shaw readied his rifle and crouched next to the opening. He took a deep breath.

***

The door opened to a luxury suite where two of Rodriguez’ henchmen were stood waiting. It continued the theme from inside the estate, decorated almost exclusively with wood and furnished with red cushioned seats and glass topped antique-styled tables. Rodriguez stepped out first. O’Brien still had her knife in hand, keeping the blade concealed inside the sleeve of her jacket. Owyn followed her lead, putting a hand on his handgun before he moved inside. As he did they were each greeted by a gun pressed against their skulls.

“I might believe what you told me, but that doesn’t mean I trust you,” Rodriguez said, now behind the defensive wall of his men. “Trust isn’t something I like to openly throw around. You should follow my example if you want to survive here. Escort these two to the landing bay if you would, gentlemen.”

He then turned and made his way towards the door, where another of his guards was waiting. However, instead of leading his employer out, the third man drew his weapon and, before the shocked expression could fully form on Rodriguez’ face, shot him dead. O’Brien immediately slashed the arm of the guard holding her, flinging his weapon from his grasp before he could shoot. Owyn made use of the distraction to dodge clear of his man, draw his pistol and finish off the pair of them. O’Brien then lunged forward and halted the advance of the third with a sharp jab in the gut to stun followed by a finishing stab to the heart.

She kicked the body to the floor and wiped the blood from her blade. Owyn walked over to Rodriguez’ stunned corpse. “He should have listened to his own advice.”

“He made the mistake of believing these men belonged to him.” O’Brien was searching one of the other men and had hold of his comms device. She threw it to Owyn and stepped back inside the safe room. “They had the whole place bugged.”

Her voice came out loud and clear through the device. “So much for privacy,” Owyn said. “They heard everything.”

“Assuming Rodriguez was telling the truth about being trapped inside his home then so did Bauer. He probably figured we’d given him a perfect opportunity to plot an escape, but it looks like Bauer had a tighter grip on him than he thought.”

“Fuck,” Owyn cursed.

“There’s no use crying over it yet. We need a way out of here.”

“Do you think we could recalibrate one of these things?” Owyn suggested. Their best bet of finding a way out was by contacting Sully.

“I don’t know about ‘
we’,
but I don’t see why not.”

Owyn handed the device back over and after a little fiddling O’Brien returned it. “Sully, do you read?” he said.

“O? Did you get the intel?” Sully’s answer was frantic. He was panicking.

“We got what we needed,” Owyn answered, knowing this wasn’t the time to start explaining.

“Where are you? It’s all gone to hell up top.”

“A few floors below the estate. Are you open for evac?

“I’m clear for now. Give me a spot to land and I’ll see what I can do.”

“There should be a landing bay near us, you see it?”

After a few seconds of tinkering with his controls Sully locked on to Owyn’s comms. “Got it, I’m setting you a route.”

“What’s Shaw’s status?”

“Shaw and Anderson are holed up in the eastern tower, but they’ve got a whole strike force coming down on their heads.”

“Miller?”

“He’s with them. He took a hit just after you two went in with Rodriguez but he’s still alive for now. Is Rodriguez still with you?”

“Rodriguez is gone. Just get me that route.”

After arriving at the landing bay to find Sully’s cruiser already in place Owyn and O’Brien headed straight for the armoury where Owyn was finally reunited with his suit and Gratia. As soon as they were suited up they headed to Operations.

“What’s the plan?” O’Brien asked as they joined Sully.

“First I need to know what we’re up against here,” Sully interrupted. “These guys are far better equipped than they should be. We weren’t prepared for this.”