SHADOWCORP Episode 8 by kayemjay

SHADOWCORP Episode 8 by kayemjay

Stella sat in front of four big screens hung horizontally in front of her. Lines of code, graphical interfaces, architectural designs and mapping coordinates decorated the screens in geek-like manner.  She watched the screens intently as if waiting for something magical to happen. Her fingers worked fast on the keyboard, hoping to unlock a door or reveal something she was not immediately seeing. The compound that Mr Raymond was held captive in was very traditional. There were no fire alarms, no water sprinklers nor servers, nothing that she could hack into. She had done her best. Or had she? Sean needed all the help he could get and there was no one else. She looked at the map again and zoomed into the compound as far as it could take her. She regulated the frequency of the radio waves and listened in on the conversation between the guards. As it stood, that was the best option of deducing where the guards were at any point. She surely hoped she was not leading Sean into a trap.

Her phone rang but she ignored it. She was not going to let anything distract her from her current objective. As the ringing persisted, she glanced at her phone to view who the caller was. She could not hide her surprise and knew that she had to take the call.

“Hello. James! How are you?” she asked

“I have been better. How about you?”

“I am okay; it’s good to hear from you after so long.”

“Yea. Looks like you need a hand Stella.”

“With what?” Stella asked

“You are in my server room Stella. I designed every inch of the tech in that place, so I know when there is activity going on. I’m coming up. Let me in.” James finished and hung up.

Stella closed her eyes and kept the phone to her ear seconds after James had hung up. The genius was coming in to help. She hoped he would not bolt when he noticed that it was Steven in trouble. Opening her eyes, she pressed a button that unlocked the doors to the house.

She needed all the help she could get.

****

Steven opened the door slowly, taking care not to make a sound. He opened it just enough to view the guards and their position. There were two men facing themselves, guns holstered, conversing in whispers. They did not look like they expected any sort of enemy activity. How could they? They were in the middle of nowhere. One of them brought out a cigarette and asked his partner for a light. There was none so the partner left to get a lighter while leaving just the one guard on duty. On his calculations, Steven saw that it would take him about eleven paces to get to the guard and take him out quietly. He could not bank on the guard’s partner not retuning before then and triggering a gun battle. If that happened he was as good as dead. He moved quickly.

Steven ran towards the guard, with his silenced SilverBaller pistol pointed at him. He was halfway across when the guard turned and made for his gun. Steven was quicker. While still running, Steven fired his gun before the guard could take out his, lodging two bullets in the guard’s chest. He fell in a thud, making the tiniest of sounds. Steven slowed to a walk, moved past the guard and waited at the corridor’s intersection where he had seen the other guard disappear to. Seconds later, he heard footsteps and smelt burning cigarette. He waited for the footsteps to get closer. He stepped out into the intersection, pointed the gun at the guard and fired. The guard was farther and quicker than Steven had expected. The bullet missed its target and the guard charged at Sean. He moved in zigzag direction making it impossible for Steven to get a clean shot. Steven knew he could not afford to waste bullets, so he decided that he would have to take the guard out another way. He waited for the guard to get close.

The guard launched a flurry of punches at Steven, none of which got the intended target. Steven beat off punch after punch as he tried to find a way to get the guard without drawing attention. As the guard punched, Steven saw a small rod from the corner of his eye. He deliberately let his guard down and allowed the guard land a fist on his face. Steven sprawled to the corner where the rod was and picked it, making sure the guard didn’t see him. The guard stood over Steven, brought out his radio and was about to make contact when Steven turned and hit the guard on the leg with the rod, causing the guard to lose balance and fall to the ground, his radio falling away from him. Before the guard could get himself back together, Steven was on top of him. He smacked the guard’s face with the rod ferociously, leaving him unconscious.

“Guards taken out. Took longer than I expected. What’s next?” Steven said, breathing hard with a finger pressed into his ear.

There was silence. Steven repeated himself and waited for a response. None came.

“Stella please come in. What is next?”

“This is James. We do not have much time. I was able to hook up to the radios on the nearby towers. With a bit of triangulation and the connection to your signal I used heat mapping to get the number of hostiles and their particular position. There are only four people in the whole building excluding you. One of these four is Geronimo. His tracker is beeping in the third room to your left. He has one hostile with him, probably armed. Two hostiles are in the adjoining room. I have scanned the whole premises and could find no other sign of activity. It’s either there is no other person in the building or they are cold blooded people.”

“James, I really am…” Steven started but James cut him off

“Let’s just focus on the mission. Whatever you want to talk about can wait. I need you to get close to the door and then put your ear close to the door. That way I can also pick up whatever chatter is going on inside the house.”

“Yes sir.” Steven replied and made his way stealthily to the door. He pressed his ear against the door and waited.

“I am amplifying the sound frequency in your receiver so that we can pick clear distinctive voices. We should be able to listen to them . . . now.” James said.

***

Mr Raymond Onuoha was prepared. Even though what he planned to do was risky and outrageous, it was the only plan that looked good. He went over it in his head over and over again until he was absolutely sure it would work. He had to at least try. There was no guarantee that he would be released in one piece. Heck, he had no idea what would happen if they got the information they sought. He was a loose end. And from what he had gathered about these people, loose ends are not released to go living happily ever after.

The lady who held him captive got up from the chair and paced the room. She was growing impatient. She put the gun behind her and walked to the fridge. Opening it, she picked out a bottle and began to gulp its contents. Raymond saw the opportunity and took it. He crept behind her noiselessly and pulled the gun from her hips. She almost choked on what she was drinking as she was taken aback by his brazenness. She turned, dropped the bottle and raised her hands.

“Mr Raymond, you are making a big mistake,” she started slowly and continued. “Trust me, you do not want to do this. Think about it. You shoot me, and then what? How do you plan to escape? Just put the gun down and I will make you a legitimate deal.” She was walking slowly towards him.

“Stop! Don’t come any further or I will shoot.” Raymond said, pointing the gun at her. He was shaking visibly and the woman saw it as a weakness, and an opportunity to strike. She only had to get closer. She took another step.

“I said don’t move!” Raymond screamed and pressed the trigger. There was a loud bang, the bullet lodged in the door of the fridge. The lady was stunned. Had she not ducked right on time, the bullet would have caught her.

Then she smiled and said, “You missed. Now you are dead.”

She took a step forward and Raymond pulled the trigger again. Nothing happened. He pulled several times but there was no bullet in the gun. He had wasted the only bullet in the gun and now he was doomed. Steven heard the gunshot just as he pressed his ear to the door.

“Shot fired. I am going in.” Steven had said without waiting for a response. His gut feeling superseded any training or caution he felt. He was aware of the number of people he would have to deal with. Armed or not he knew he had a good chance of taking the hostiles down. He pushed the door open, brandishing a SilverBaller in each hand. Just as he went in, the door inside the room opened and the two agents inside came out with machine guns. Steven’s first instinct was to protect Raymond so he lurched forwards, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him down. With his leg, Steven kicked the metal table and together with Raymond ducked by the table using it as a shield.

The men with the machine guns opened fire on Steven and Raymond, their bullets flying everywhere. Steven knew they could not withstand the amount of firepower thrown at them. It was going to be a matter of time before they got hit. The lady had gone behind the fridge in an attempt to avoid the flying bullets. Steven signalled for Raymond to lift the table just about an inch. As Raymond did that, Steven fired for precise and accurate shots from the space between the table and the floor. The bullets caught the men on their legs and the fell to the ground. The firepower died down and immediately, Steven rolled to his side. He caught the lady just in time as she was making for one of the guns the agents had dropped.

“Freeze. Let me see your hands. Now!”  Steven barked, keeping a gun on the lady and another on the guards just in case any of them got any ideas. Slowly she out her hands in the air,

“Now back up slowly.” He ordered.

As she backed up towards Steven, she suddenly dashed into a sprint and picked up one of the guns. Steven had no choice. He let a bullet fly. It caught her in the chest. He fired two more shots. Getting up, he walked to the lady who was barely alive and bleeding profusely.

“You shouldn’t have been so stupid.” He said and shot her in the head.

He walked to the agents who had been shooting the machine guns. They were wounded but they could survive. They were not going to be of any use to him as they were mere foot soldiers. He shot the first one and moved to the next. He pointed his gun and was about to shoot when Raymond stopped him.

“No! Don’t! That’s Biodun. He is the tech guy that has been handling all the work for her. He seemed like her right hand man. He could be useful.” Raymond said

“Okay then, Biodun. Today is your lucky day.”

After stopping the bleeding from his leg, they carried him till they got out of the house.

“James, do you see any exits for me?” Steven asked.

“Yes there is. You just have to walk ten minutes to the freeway and hitchhike, or wait for your sister who is fifteen minutes out.” James replied.

“We’ll wait.” Steven said and turning to Biodun, he continued,

“We have some catching up to do”