SHADOWCORP Episode 5 by kayemjay

SHADOWCORP Episode 5 written by kayemjay

Steven checked his wristwatch. It had been three minutes since Stella shot James and she was still hovered upon him, making sure his vitals were strong. There was worry written all over her face as she feared that the worst would happen if she left him alone. Steven put a hand on her shoulder.

“James will be fine. You took a great shot. We have to hurry. They will be here any minute.” He said

“We could have done this in a different way. What if he doesn’t wake up? What if I had missed?”

“Sister, we don’t have time to argue about this right now. You trust me don’t you?”

Stella looked up at her brother and nodded feebly.

“I give you my word. He will not die. Now we need to attend to our visitors. I cannot do this without you.” Steven said.

He had barely finished speaking when an alarm went off on both their wrist watches simultaneously.

“They are here. We have to move, now!” Steven barked.

His countenance had changed. It seemed a new being had taken him over. He moved away from Stella, grabbed his twin silverballers and passed the Glock17 to his sister. They moved out of the hut and walked north of the hut, as far away from James as possible. A few minutes later, they came to a different shed. Steven pulled out two night goggles and handed one to Stella. They were at a vantage point and could see both entry and exit points of the beach. With their backs glued againt one another, the pair waited.

But they did not wait for long.

A team of three men, fully armed and in combat uniforms walked in formation towards the hut that James was kept.

“I see three hostiles,” Steven said without looking back.

“None yet from here, brother. You think they would bother with a squad for just a few killers?”

“Trust me sister. We are more than a few killers. I am sure there will be more.”

“Well, if they are which I honestly doubt, I say we take them out together. Not in bits. But in one whole ka-boom!”

Steven ignored her, adjusting the zoom on the night goggles. The armed men were getting closer. He was tempted to take them all out but he had to be sure.

“Stella, anything yet?” he asked.

“Nothing, Steven.”

The armed men approached still. They got into the hut, found James and made some sort of signal because at the very moment they entered the hut, Stella spoke hurriedly.

“Steven…you need to see this.”

Steven turned and zoomed in on the exit point Stella was facing. There were three five man squads set in formation. All geared up. Steven took back his position and screwed tight the silencers to his guns.

“These men are known as the Shadow Squad. They infiltrate, kill and evacuate with ruthless efficiency. They are not known for their subtlety. And that is why I have a plan of my own.” Steven said.

He waited for the three armed men in the hut to carry James out. As they began to move off with James’ body, Steven gave the order.

“Now Stella! Headshots!”

Steven took the armed men in three precise shots releasing James onto the beach sand. He turned his attention to his sister who had only managed one headshot and injured two of the men. Bullets were fired sporadically in their direction. Steven held his sister by the back of the neck and screamed to her:

“Roll with me!”

They rolled on the sand, moving east wards as the bullets kept on flying. Steven stuck a hand in sand and stopped their toss. Two broken formations were now at the place where Steven and his sister had hid. Steven brought out a detonator. He counted seven men. That was more than enough.

“Once I hit this, there would be a loud bang. You need to go quickly and pick James up. I will meet you and then we can get the hell out of here.” Steven finished.

Stella nodded and began to move slowly in the direction of the hut when Steven pressed the detonator and there was a loud bang. The explosion took out the men and scattered a lot of sand in the air. By the time Stella picked James up, the dust had settled and the squad had just three men left. Steven watched as they radioed in for back up and moved towards Stella. As Stella carried James heavy bulk  away from the hut, she was stopped suddenly by one of the armed commandoes who pointed a gun to her head.

“Freeze. Drop the body and put your hands where I can see them.” The man said.

Stella tried to turn, in hope that she would see Steven coming to her rescue but she could not. She dropped James, removed her night goggles and raised her hands in the air. The man spoke into his collar,

“Suspect apprehended. Extraction requested, over.”

“Roger that soldier. Keep suspect detained, we are coming to you,” came a response from the other end.

Two minutes later Stella was surrounded by the three commandoes left. The captain took Stella’s hands, putting her in handcuffs. As they moved in formation, away from James body, three shots came in quick succession. Stella looked around her and found the three soldiers dead on the ground. She knew Steven had done it. Hurriedly, she searched the waist pouch the captain wore, took out the keys to the cuffs and freed her hands. With James on her shoulder, she hurriedly left the beach, climbed the paving stones, and located their getaway car.

Steven joined her almost immediately.

“Are you good” Steven asked, firing the car to life.

“Yeah, never better.” Stella replied.

Steven felt the coldness from his sister but waved it aside. Using her as bait was the only way they could have escaped. He did not think she would understand and decided to let her be.

‘She would come around’ he said to himself.

Stella was boiling within her. How could her brother have done that to her? She had no problems with being bait, but he should have run it by her. She would have been prepared if things had gotten out of hand. She hated being at the mercy of anyone and he knew it. She looked at him as he sped through the freeway and shook her head.

She was losing her brother.

*******

Sensei Magnum paced in his office at The Dome. He had sent the Shadow Squad out to capture Steven and his accomplices based on verified information and had watched in horror as every member of that squad was killed by Steven and his sister. He had taken the advice of one his generals, and now he had lost good men. Someone had to pay.

He pressed a button on his desk and spoke to the receiver,

“Defence Captain Frank and Lieutenant Martha, report to the mission room with immediate effect.”

Less than sixty seconds later, both agents walked into the room. Sensei Magnum was in his chair when they arrived. No sooner had they got in than the Sensei pulled out a Taurus PT 9mm pistol, and aimed at Captain Frank. Without saying a word to either of them, he pulled the trigger. The bullet lodged itself in the man’s forehead and he fell to the ground.

Sensei Magnum pulled out a tissue from the box on the table, cleaned the barrel of the gun and placed the gun back in its box.

“Agent Martha, you have now been promoted to Head of Defence Unit. Congratulations Captain Martha,” he said stretching his hand for a shake, with a wide grin on his face.

Captain Martha had no choice. She could not reject the appointment. She feared she may end up one day like Frank but she knew she had to look tough. So she took his hand, bowed and then left the room.

*******

THREE DAYS LATER

James lay on a small bed in a hospital bed watching his favourite television series. He had healed quickly after Steven had brought him in and taken care of him. The door opened and Steven walked in, beaming a smile.

“Hello strong man. How are you feeling?” Steven asked.

“I am good.”

They had small talk and then James asked a question that had bugged his mind for days.

“Why did you shoot me?”

“I did not shoot you. Stella did.”

“You made her do it! So please answer me!” James screamed, spittle dropping from his mouth.

Steven did not know how to respond. He knew he could not hold back the answer anymore and decided to tell him.

“We needed to know how ShadowCorp operated and if they had changed their codes. We needed bait and it had to be one of us. It had to be the weakest link and neither Stella nor I could have sufficed. It had to be you. I tampered with your codes, placed a bug on you and made it possible for you to get on ShadowCorp’s radar. We had to make it look real.”

“And you thought I would not understand, so you did it behind me.” James intercepted

“Not so James. We just wanted it to be perfect.”

“You keep saying we, we, we. Was Stella a part of this?”

Steven kept quiet.

“Was Stella a part of this?!” James screamed.

“No, she wasn’t. It was all my idea” Steven replied.

There was silence. A few minutes later James spoke.

“Please leave.”

Steven looked at James but the latter took his face away.  Steven got up, left the room and shut the door behind him.

DROP YOUR COMMENT