Author:
Athena4
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Date Posted: 18:23:57 07/20/03 Sun
Madeline blinked in the darkness, looking for movement in the shadows. Something had disturbed her sleep; drawn her out of a fitful dream and back into harsh reality. Neither option was particularly pleasing, but, in general, dreams didn’t get you killed.
Moving slowly, her eyes focused on the supposed emptiness, she reached under her pillow, grasping the cold hard metal of the gun in her hand. Armed, she rose as silently as possible, cursing the irritating squeak of her Section issue cot. This time, that irritant might get her killed.
Madeline paused in the darkness, waiting for a reaction to the noise, but none came. Crossing the short distance to the door, she peered out the port-hole-like window – still no movement. Perhaps she had been dreaming.
No. Something was wrong. She was certain.
Pulling open the door to her quarters, she checked the corridor, then stepped out, letting out a hiss of air as her stocking feet hit the cold concrete of the hallway. Her breath was visible even in the darkness, and she mentally cursed the penny-pushers at Centre, who insisted that the heating systems be set to minimal during sleep shifts.
As she crept further down the corridor, she began to see evidence that her suspicions were correct, or at least that other people shared them. Doors were ajar throughout the habitat area; beds empty, boots and clothing untouched in their storage bins.
Madeline smiled despite her concerns. The men and women of Five had little in common, but if there was one thing that they shared, it was their suspicion that someone was always trying to kill them – and more often than not, their suspicions were correct.
Tonight was no exception.
Madeline paused in her journey as something on the far side of the corridor caught her eye. A body lay unmoving against the wall, one arm twisted awkwardly behind its back, the other across its chest, seemingly trying to staunch a wound. She crossed the corridor towards it, stepping carefully around the puddle of blood that had pooled around it. Tilting the head upwards, she identified the owner as one of their own, and cursed silently. The slaughter had already begun.
Leaving the body, she resumed her course, even more alert for movement and sound. Several more bodies lay along her path, and she identified each one in passing, noting with dismay that even some of the best had fallen victim to their latest enemy.
When she finally reached Systems, her heart dropped into her stomach. Kemal was dead, his body thrown carelessly into the corner, and the rest of the room was crawling with men. At least five of them stood guard in the entranceway. There was no way she could take on that many men alone – and no way to alert the rest of the station with Systems in their control.
Moving back down the hallway in the direction she’d come, Madeline pressed herself against the wall, crouching down with her gun in her lap. This place was a glorified abeyance mission. She’d known that coming in – but seeing how they lived, how poor the security was, she wondered how they survived at all; how she’d survived this long.
Looking back up the hallway, she saw a figure coming towards her in the shadows. Her finger on the trigger of her weapon, she remained still, watching it approach. It moved stealthy, much like she had a few minutes earlier and halfway down the corridor, it paused, apparently catching sight of her at the end of the hall.
Picking up speed, the figure resumed its approach. As it came out of the shadows for a moment, she let out a relieved sigh, even smiling at the figure through the darkness. If there was one of her comrades that she wanted by her side in this kind of fight, it was this one.
Crouching down next to her against the wall, Petrosian glanced quickly towards Systems, failing to hide a pained grimace behind his usual cheerful demeanour – Kemal had been his friend. “How the hell do things like this happen?” he grunted angrily, laying his own weapon across his knees.
“We’re the forgotten, Egran,” Madeline muttered. “No one at One cares if we live or die.”
“Clearly. Do they truly believe we can bring down the USSR with these resources? They need to change their priorities,” Egran grumbled, scratching at the stubble on his chin.
Even in the current situation, Madeline couldn’t resist a smile. “I’ll be sure to mention that in my next report to One, as long as you do the same.”
Egran snorted. “Point taken,” he grinned. “So, my dear, how are we going to get out of this one?”
Madeline shook her head, glancing back at Systems, then up the corridor towards the habitat ring. “Is anyone else alive?”
“No idea. We have to assume the guards outside are dead. I counted six more in the hallway. We’re eight. Kemal was nine,” he frowned again, slamming his fist against his knee. “I promised I’d protect him – he wasn’t a fighter. Don’t know how he got up here anyway,” Egran muttered, finishing off with a curse in Russian.
“Same way any of us did, Egran.” She paused, giving him a moment to pull himself together. “That leaves six of us…”
Egran swore again, this time more forcefully. “No,” he said gruffly, gesturing towards Systems. “That leaves five. It seems we had a mole.” He growled softly, and Madeline placed a hand on his knee, hoping to calm him. She followed his gaze into Systems, and saw Jerry, Kemal’s assistant, helping the intruders.
“Well, that explains how they got in.”
“Among other things.”
“Five operatives – assuming we can find the others. We need options, Egran. Quickly.”
“If we can bypass Systems, we can get to secondary weapons lockup. “
“That doesn’t do us much good – two people and a dozen guns is just as ineffective.”
“True.”
“But…” Madeline’s mind started to process, a mental map of Five forming in her mind. If they could bypass Systems, not only could they get to weapons, but to the generator; they could shut down the entire place – or better, destroy it. “The generator.”
“Ah, brilliant!” Egran smiled, then frowned. “But if we blow the compound – how will we survive?”
Madeline shrugged, nodding towards the group of heavily armed men in the other room. “A few more minutes, and that point will be moot. You think they’re here playing computer games? We’ve got to keep them from leaving here with any information. “
“All right.” He paused, gripping her hand in his. “I’ll warn the others – they deserve a chance….”
She nodded grimly, and they both started off towards the habitat ring, glancing backwards several times to make sure they weren’t seen.
Safely in her quarters, Madeline pulled on her boots, but stopped short of her heavy jacket and gloves. If she was going to move with stealth, she needed to be as unencumbered as possible. The generator was several levels below their current position, the chances of her escaping once the charges were set close to nil, there was no point in her dressing for that possibility.
The other four were waiting for her at the far end of the habitat area, far away from the view of those in Systems. The remaining three operatives looked frightened, and Madeline didn’t blame them. But their wide-eyed fear belied the fact that they were well trained operatives – all of whom had the scars, emotional and physical, that came with time at Five. They steadied themselves at her approach, and the fear vanished.
Good.
“I assume Egran briefed you.” They nodded. “He and I will take out the generator – you three grab some survival kits, and get the hell out of here.” She raised a hand as one of them started to speak. “We can’t fight our way out of this. If we want to survive, we’ve got to run – this is our best chance. But I, for one, have no intention of letting those bastards get away. Don’t worry.” She smiled at Egran, and he nodded, hefting his gun in a mock show of force. She noted he also wasn’t wearing his coat, but had armed himself with several grenades. “Try and contact the Agency, or One, once you’re out of range and out of danger – Egran and I will meet you once we’re done here.”
Even as she said it, she knew they didn’t believe her. But they also knew that it was their only option, and they’d learned from experience that arguing with her, or Egran, was impossible and would only waste precious time.
“Now go,” she said, and they went, heading off in the opposite direction towards the storage area, and hopefully, safety.
She met Egran’s gaze and he shrugged, gesturing that she should lead. They retraced their steps to the corridor outside Systems, then left towards the maintenance tunnels that served the compound. They used the tunnels to reach their destination, dropping down into the hallway outside the weapons lock up.
They took down the guards easily, the element of surprise on their side. Unguarded, the only difficulty that remained was the access code – it was unlikely that they’d been careless enough to maintain the current one. With a quick glance at Madeline for confirmation, Egran took out that problem quickly, using his gun to shoot out the mechanism, and force open the door.
Taking the charges they’d need, they made their way towards the generator room, keeping an eye out behind them for additional guards or anyone who managed to get downstairs quickly. They were almost there when shots rang out behind them.
“So close!” Egran grunted, steadying himself against the wall and firing back. One of their targets fell, his weapon clattering to ground.
“We can still make it.”
They broke into a run, dodging shots, and firing themselves. Finally, they pushed through the door to the generator room, taking out two of their pursuers before barricading the door behind them.
“It won’t hold them long, can you set the charges?” Egran called.
“Yes. How many were left out there?”
“Five maybe. More on the way I’m sure. Why?”
“There goes our exit.” Madeline smiled wanly, meeting Egran’s eye.
“You didn’t really think...” he began, stunned.
“No,” she cut him off, working at setting the charges on the generator. “But it was nice to have the option of trying.”
Egran chuckled. “Ever the optimist.”
“That’s me.”
Their pursuers pounded at the door, by this time well aware of what the interlopers were plotting. Madeline placed the charges quickly, setting a five minute countdown to ensure that their comrades were able to get clear in time. Then, settling herself next to Egran, she levelled her weapon at the door.
That lasted all of ten seconds, then their eyes met and they were up again, unbarring the door. Once again they had the element of surprise on their side – the men outside the door weren’t expecting their prey to come to them. As a result, Madeline and Egran were able to take out three men before the others even opened fire.
A shot grazed Madeline’s shoulder, and she hit the wall , sliding down it until she was seated. Egran moved to come to her, but she waved him away, continuing to fire with her good arm at the men approaching. When the last man fell, Egran left his position of safety and came to her.
“How much time?”
“Don’t know. Two minutes, maybe.”
“Let’s get out of here then.”
Madeline shook her head. “We’ll never make it.”
“Sure we will,” Egran smiled, pulling her up and starting to run down the hallway with her hand in his. “We’re both too crazy to die!”
When he was confident she was following, he dropped her hand and they ran side by side door the corridors, and up the stairs. They felt, rather than heard the first explosion when it hit. Madeline fell to the ground, her injured shoulder grinding against the already falling rubble painfully as she landed.
Surprised she was alive at all, she looked back quickly to find Egran. She saw him struggling to get up, crawling through the rubble towards her. As her gaze shifted to look for danger, she saw it – a ceiling beam had come loose, and was perilously close to falling.
She tried to wave him out of the way, but couldn’t move, her one arm paralysed beneath her, her other immobilized by the gunshot. It seemed to fall in slow motion as she screamed his name.
“Egran!” Following her gaze to the beam, his eyes widened only a moment before he rolled himself sideways; a split second before it crashed to the ground. “Egran?”
A moan came from the other end of the hall. “Am I dead?”
Chuckling wryly, Madeline lay her head down on her arms; exhaustion accompanying relief. “You’re not dead.”
“That’s too bad.” Another moan, this one accompanied by the sound of struggles in the rubble. “I think dead might be preferable.”
“I can’t move yet…How badly are you hurt?” Her own right arm was useless, but the wound itself was staunched by dust and dried blood. A deep breath indicated several broken ribs, and likely severe bruising elsewhere, but she was alive. “Egran?”
“Bruised ribs, not broken - I don’t think,” he called weakly. “And…My leg is broken, probably in several places. Didn’t quite beat that ceiling joist – grazed me on its way down.”
“Shit.”
“That, my dear, is an understatement.” He laughed. “Looks like we survived the explosion only to bleed to death.”
“What happened to, ‘too crazy to die’?”
“It’s possible I spoke to soon.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Your optimism continues to astound me.” He paused, and she heard him shift in the rubble once more. “What do you propose we do?”
“We need to get out of here.” Raising her head with difficulty, she looked towards where she’d last seen Egran fall. “Can you show me where you are? Wave a hand.”
His hand raised slowly, right where she’d expected him to be, but accompanied by a grunt of pain. “Apparently, my shoulder is also badly bruised.”
“All right. Hang in there. I’m coming your way.” Pushing herself to her knees, she made her way carefully through the rubble, favouring her shoulder.
“You’re insane.”
“I didn’t survive this long to give up now. I didn’t think you had either.”
Silence, then a sigh. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Neither do I,” she said softly, coming up beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder. “But we can’t let them win.”
“No,” he smiled. “ I guess we can’t, can we?”
Helping him to a sitting position, she surveyed his injuries. His leg was definitely broken, but fortunately, not crushed. The beam had hit his leg as he rolled, opening a gash from knee to ankle to go with any broken bones, but it hadn’t pinned him.
“We’re going to have to stand.” Disbelief shone on his face, and she smiled. “Carefully. I sure as hell can’t carry you in this condition.”
“Lazy Westerner…” he said with a smirk. “Won’t even try….”
Rolling her eyes, she helped Egran to his feet, fighting to keep her own balance as he leaned on her heavily. As his arm came around her mid-section and tighten, she grunted audibly, stumbling back against the wall in agony. “Okay…little lighter on the ribs.“
“Are you sure we can do this?” he asked, his tone catching as he tried to put pressure on his injured leg.
“No.” She clenched her jaw, pushing away from the wall, and ignoring the pain in her ribs. “Let’s go.”
Slowly, they inched their way through the destruction, stepping over debris and skirting around fallen pieces of ceiling and concrete. More than once they stopped, leaning heavily against the wall, holding each other up – knowing that if they sat, they’d never move again. Pain shot through Madeline’s shoulder and ribs, but she pushed it aside, focusing on one step at a time.
“Madeline?” Egran panted, lifting an arm to point in the direction they were heading. She laughed at the sight, falling to her knees. Main Access was before them; the door ajar, bitter wind blowing snow through the opening. But on the other side, a light shone.
“The bloody light at the end of the tunnel.” She grinned, taking a deep breath, and immediately regretting it. “Oh god....” All the pain she’d been avoiding during their journey washed over her, and she swallowed back bile, black dots dancing before her eyes. She barely heard Egran’s reply.
“I suppose this would be the wrong time to mention it could be another type of light...” he said, his hand resting on her shoulder. There was silence then, and she could feel his eyes on her, expectant.
“I can’t go any further,” she said softly, and was surprised to find tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t, it hurts too much.” Black clouded her vision. She felt, rather than saw him slid down the wall, seating himself next to her.
“We’ll stay here a few minutes. Rest. We’ve made it this far…” His arm tightened across her shoulders, gentle, yet firm on her injured one, holding her close against his chest. “You got us this far.”
“So tired,” she sighed. “Can’t sleep. Need to stay awake.”
“That’s right. Stay with me. Come on, Madeline. Or I’ll drag you out into the cold.”
“Cold now. Hardly a threat.”
“Okay…you’ve got me on that one. But keep talking to me. We need to find the others…”
“If they made it.”
“They made it.”
“Whose the optimist now?”
“I’m the one who saw the light….”
The sharp wind grew stronger, and Madeline shivered, pulling herself unconsciously closer to Egran. “Hey,” he said, and she looked up. His gaze was focused on the doorway. “Looks like they found us.”
Sitting up painfully, she followed his gaze back to the door, where two figures in Section issue parkas were pushing their way through the door. They paused, gazing around the corridor, until their eyes came to the two of them sitting on the floor.
“You’re alive! Thank god!”
With one final glance down the hall, the two joined them on the floor, eyes wide. “We thought….That is – we assumed….”
“You were almost correct. “ Leaning heavily against the wall, Madeline blinked away the black spots in her eyes. Her mind suddenly clear. “Anyone else left alive?”
“Intruders are all dead – we checked that first; once we saw the explosion. Ben is back at the shelter,” Chris said, pointing vaguely west. “We set it up a couple of miles from here – middle of fucking no-where; basically in a snow bank. We’re gunna need supplies - soon. We came back to see what we could salvage.” He scratched his head nervously, shifting his eyes to his companion. Natasha looked back at him, clearly nervous. “We didn’t expect to be salvaging you.”
“What are you not telling us?”
"We were searching the bodies, trying to figure out who it was...." Natasha paused, shifting nervously.
"And..." Madeline prompted.
"The weapons were high-tech. Nothing we've seen on the locals before. Too fancy. Too complicated."
Looking over at Chris, she reached into her jacket, pulled out a gun, and tossed it on Egran's lap.
"I don't know about you," Chris said, as Madeline clenched the familiar weapon in her hand. "But I've only seen shit like that in one place."
Tightening her grip until her fingers ached, she twisted carefully to meet Egran's eye. "Section One."
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