Chapter 14

I ran as fast as I could in the direction of the gunshot. Within seconds I was at the edge of the woods looking in the direction of the enclosure and our caves. I stopped just inside the tree line and brought up my big .50 sniper rifle. It took me five seconds to tell me what was going on. I had to grit my teeth together to keep from doing something very stupid! We had visitors!

I spotted them easily. They were standing on top of the overhang. One was brandishing what looked like a shotgun. The other was holding an automatic pistol in his hand. He was clenching a person in his arms. The person was wiggling about and trying to get away, but the person couldn’t do it. From the size and shape of the person, and the way she was dressed, I knew it was Clara. The man holding her had her pulled into his body on his left side, with his arm about her torso and his hand grasping her right breast. While I watched the bastard put the pistol to her head to quiet Clara down. It worked.

I flicked on the laser range finder and painted the man holding the shotgun. It looked like he was shouting down into the enclosure at whoever was there. There shouldn’t have been many in the cave. Most of the people should have been out foraging. Zeya might have been in there with her baby nursing it. Maybe Uttar or Vedic were there as well working on a project of their own. And Dobai; she would be with her son, nursing him as well. By my estimate that made four adults at the very most, plus two babies. Not that many, but they were people who trusted me to protect them. I wasn’t going to let them down. The range was fairly far away, but still well inside the effective range of the .50. I took my shot.

The big gun barked once. That was all it took. I watched the round slam into the man’s chest, tearing a great hole in it. The man was thrown backwards by the impact. He went in one direction and the shotgun he was holding went in the other. I was switching targets by then.

The other man flinched as his partner got blown away. Instinctively, he pulled his pistol away from Clara’s head and waved it about, as he looked around trying to spot where I was firing from. Clara started to struggle again. She kicked back at his legs with her heels, and she twisted in his arms. The man stepped back a bit and shifted his grip on Clara. Clara turned enough to get her face into the arm the man was holding her with. Clara bit the guy. It must have hurt! The man looked like he was in pain. Infuriated, he shoved Clara away from him. Clara stumbled and then fell to the ground. The man brought up his pistol to fire, but I shot first.

This time the shot wasn’t perfect. The round hit him from the right, shattering his right arm, his shoulder and his right lung. The impact was just as impressive as the first shot, though. It spun the man around, sending his body in one direction and what remained of his right arm and the pistol he’d been holding went the other way.

I watched just long enough to see Clara get to her feet, and Gabby come running up to her from the brush. Then I saw Rugar as he also appeared out of the brush, armed with his bow. After that I got moving. Gort brought me the bay mare and we were off.

I left the other two behind. I galloped the mile and a bit to the enclosure. When I got there, I found Uttar and Vedic at the gate. They were both armed with bows. I dismounted and left them to take care of the bay horse.

“Is there anyone hurt?” I asked anxiously as I handed off my reins to Vedic, glancing about the enclosure as I did. I didn’t see any bodies.

“No,” Vedic reassured me. “No one was hurt except the strange men that you killed from afar. Everyone is safe.”

Reassured, I headed around the outside of the palisade and up the hill towards the top where the overhang fanned out from the hillside. The others were still standing there. When I got there I found that Ramie, Catta, and Binda had shown up as well. The moment I stepped onto the overhang, Clara ran to me.

“Merci, Jake, merci!” Clara declared fervently as she threw herself into my arms. “That bastard was going to kill me.”

I pulled Clara to me and kissed her. Then I did the same for Gabby. I didn’t leave the other women out of it, either. I kissed each of them in turn, even Binda, with whom I hadn’t slept, yet. I was just so relieved to see them all alive and safe. Then I turned my attention to the dead.

I knew both of the men. In fact, we’d sat across a table once in a while, drinking beer; though their company hadn’t been my choice. Those occasions had been job things; you know, meet and greet. The corpses had worked for Quantum just as Clara, Gabby, and I did. Technically they worked for the same person I did, though we’d never actually worked together while I had been at Quantum. I definitely knew who they were.

They were the other bodyguards that Kim had warned me of, back then when the two of us were talking. That had been just before I got stranded in the here and now; and even then, Kim had warned me off Quantum. Now I could see that she had been right to do so, given that one of these men had intended to kill Clara. That act made all of them the enemy to me.

The men were Alistair Donavan and Kurt Meyer. Donavan was the guy I dropped by putting a hole through his chest; Meyers was the bastard who wanted to kill Clara. They were both ex-military types. Donavan was ex-Australian Army who’d done a tour of duty in their version of the SAS. I’d never liked him. We’d rubbed each other the wrong way from the first day we’d met. The guy was really into himself and he wanted people to know it. I just couldn’t stomach his ego and I let it show. We definitely were not friends; yet professionally, he had seemed okay ... at least, better than Meyer. Meyer had been German GSG9 for a few years before he decided to move on and try something new for a living. I’d always wondered about that after I’d heard I was going to work with him. I certainly had heard a few rumours about what had motivated him to become an independent. Eventually, Quantum hired him. Now he was dead.

“Did they say anything?” I asked Clara once I’d checked the bodies and I’d made certain that neither man were ever getting up again. “Are there any more with them? What did they want with you?”

“They didn’t want me at all,” Clara declared with anger in her voice and tears in her eyes. “They couldn’t care less about me! That bastard was going to rape me and then kill me. All they wanted to know was where Gabby was and if you had survived. That was it.”

I looked anxiously from Clara to Gabby. Gabby just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She didn’t understand why these men had come looking for her. I just cursed aloud at that point and let out a sigh.

“Okay,” I muttered, feeling tired and frustrated. “Let’s get everyone back to the cave and inside the enclosure. I want to see that everyone is safe and then we’ll talk about this so we can figure out what to do next. Obviously we’re not alone, anymore.”

People started to move at that point. The women headed out first. I noted that both Gort and Bogdi were with us now.

Then Clara pulled up short, and looked anxiously at me.

“Jake!” Clara gasped aloud. “They were talking on radios while they were here! They were talking to someone else the whole time they were holding me. Donavan was passing on information about where they were. It sounded like he was calling for a ride. I think we’ve got more visitors heading our way.”

Damn! We really didn’t need this shit right now, not just before winter had set in. From the look of it, though, we were in for more trouble than just these two idiots that I’d already popped. The question was, how much more trouble was out there, and where was it coming from?

While the women went to round up everyone and to get them back into the cave, I went to check out the bodies once again; this time doing a thorough job. Both men were dressed in woodland pattern combat uniforms. They were fully equipped with webbing, side arms, ammo pouches, canteens, and combat knives.

Both also had radios hanging off their webbing. They were set up to transmit and receive using a throat mic and ear bud. The radios were short range devices. It meant that whoever they’d been chatting with were somewhere close, and given the terrain around the valley probably within a couple of miles at the very most. Realizing this I pulled the radio off Donavan’s webbing and I flicked it over to the device’s external speaker. I immediately got chatter.

“Donavan, are you there?” the voice called out sounding incredibly frustrated. “Donavan, this is Blackmore, come in. Answer me, you goddamn Aussie.”

Blackmore was another of the men I’d been working with back at Quantum. Jenkins had wanted him instead of me. Somehow Jenkins didn’t get his way, though for the life of me I didn’t know why, because he usually got what he wanted. I thought it had been the General who’d shot it down, but now I wasn’t that certain. For now that thought had to wait. I needed to deal with Blackmore and whoever else was with him. I pressed the button to transmit and I started to talk.

I didn’t speak English. I spoke caveman. I chattered away in the local dialect asking all kinds of stupid questions. Then I listened in to see what I got. It wasn’t much. Blackmore called a few more times for Donavan and Meyer and then he switched off.

I ordered the bodies stripped. I wanted anything and everything off of them. I also sent Rugar off along their back trail to find their packs. Neither had one on when I shot them and there wasn’t any lying about the overhang. They had to have dropped them just before they struck. I told Rugar what to look for. He took Gort with him. They were back within minutes, toting the packs. I took a quick look through them and when I found what I was looking for I sent them down to the enclosure with the rest of the gear. As for the bodies I left them where they’d fallen. I’d deal with them once I’d dealt with Blackmore and whoever else was out there.

“A tracker,” I declared when I got down to the enclosure. I said this in English to get Clara’s and Gabby’s attention. They were there with the rest of the cave trying to explain to them what had happened. Both looked up at me in a quizzical manner.

“What are you talking about?” Clara asked as I continued to stride towards her holding a device in my hand. It was a small black box and it was going ‘beep’ at very regular intervals. The ‘beeps’ were increasing in frequency as I got closer to Clara and Gabby. All of a sudden both of them went wide-eyed as they realized what I was talking about.

“The transmitters you’re wearing,” I snapped at them, brusquely thrusting my freehand at them as I spoke. “Take them off and give them to me now! The bastards have been tracking you with them.”

Clara and Gabby both gasped in response to my statement, but they did what I told them. The two of them had kept wearing the transmitters that Quantum had given them just before getting sent back to the here and now. I’d noticed it, but I hadn’t said a thing about it. I guess I had simply assumed it was just something that they couldn’t let go of, the way I had. It was their link to our world. Whether they’d known it or not, it was also Quantum’s link to us! I hadn’t thought of that and I really should have.

I took the transmitters and I smashed them with a stone. Then I took another look at the tracker unit. It was a very crude device. It worked on proximity to what it was set to find. It was now silent.

“What do we do now?” Clara asked interrupting my thoughts.

“I need to go hunting,” I told her bluntly, “and I’m going to do it alone.”

“You can’t,” Clara insisted. “It’s way too dangerous. We need to go with you.”

“No, you don’t,” I told Clara, and at the same time Gabby, in a firm but definite manner. “I’m the ex-soldier. You’re not. Blackmore is a killer. He came here with one job to do, and it isn’t to play nice with either of you. From what you’ve told me, Quantum wants Gabby back, and they don’t care who they have to kill to get her. In fact, you’ve told me that compared to Gabby, you’re expendable. Well, I think otherwise; and I’m going to make sure that certain other people get the message, one way or another. Until that happens, you’re to stay put in this cave ... and I mean both of you. We’ve now added a few more weapons to our arsenal. Use them if you have to; but, more importantly, keep out of my way while I’m doing the job I’ve been trained to do. It’ll be better that way.”

Clara wanted to argue about that, but I didn’t let her. Before she could say anything, I turned and walked away. I did take the men with me to have a chat. I had a plan. I just hoped it would work.

Half an hour later I was on the move. I was on foot and heading up my side of the valley, keeping to the tree-line and the woods. I moved from bush to bush and thicket to thicket. I did my best to keep out of sight. Every five minutes I paused and checked what lay about me, so I wouldn’t just walk into an ambush myself. Once I was sure of myself, I moved on.

My goal was to find a hide so I could watch the valley without being seen by anyone already watching it. I figured that Blackmore already knew I was here. He had to have heard the report of my sniper rifle. That big calibre weapon wasn’t silenced. It did make me wonder why he hadn’t come after me yet. If he’d been in a spot to watch the enclosure and to keep an eye on Donavan and Meyer, then he had to have seen me riding across the valley floor after I’d made the shots. Yet he hadn’t. That suggested to me that he was either armed just as Donavan and Meyer had been, with automatic shotguns; or, even more likely, he hadn’t been in the valley when I’d fired my shot. From the frantic radio calls he was making to Donavan and Meyer after I’d shot them, that seemed very possible. I didn’t know for certain, though, and I had to find out.

My plan was to get to a good spot, where I could watch the valley with my rifle and keep an eye on everything. I didn’t think Blackmore was an idiot, but I knew that eventually he would have to come looking for Donavan and Meyer, just to make certain that they were dead. I hoped that when he did, I would spot him first before he spotted me. To help encourage the bastard into doing what I wanted I’d spoken to Rugar before taking off, asking him to do me a favour.

The plan called for Rugar and the men to drag the bodies out into the valley and to drop them off where they could be seen. It was a risky plan. It was founded on the belief that Blackmore wasn’t armed with anything with a longer range than a shotgun. If he did have something with a longer range, my people would be toast. I did warn everyone that if they heard a gunshot to hit the ground and to stay on the ground until I gave them the all clear. I hoped that they would listen. I also hoped that Blackmore didn’t get in a lucky shot. I’d hate it if he did!

I was in position and sweeping the valley with the scope on my big .50, when I spotted Rugar and the men dragging the bodies of Donavan and Meyer out onto the flat. I also spotted the rest of the cavers standing at the gate, packed up and ready to move. That was also part of my plan. I was hoping that Blackmore, if he was watching would see the cavers move out and assume that they were trying to flee any further trouble. It might make him think that he could come out once everyone was out of sight and check on the bodies. I know the plan was weak, but it was all I had at the moment. Any other plan called me to go stalking and that could get really dangerous. It might take days to pick up his trail. By then, anything could have happened.

Anything did happen! My worst nightmare happened: Blackmore had a vehicle, he wasn’t alone, and he definitely had something bigger than a shotgun. He had a machine gun!

It happened moments after the men had dropped off the bodies. They’d just turned around to go back towards the rest of the cavers, when Blackmore rolled into sight.

It took me completely by surprise. He was driving a 6x6 ATV that had a pintle mount on its back deck and a gunner strapped in position behind it. The ATV rolled into the valley like it was in a race. It barrelled past the finger of land that I always pointed out, and it headed directly for the ford. The idiot didn’t even slow down. He just ploughed through the creek and up the other side without a care in the world. The ATV bounced wildly and swerved a bit, as if it was going to roll, but it didn’t. Once the vehicle had all six wheels back on the ground, Blackmore pointed the machine towards where my people were milling about too stunned to do anything but stare. That was when the gunner opened up on them with the machine gun.

The distinctive ‘burp’ of the weapon let me know it was a medium calibre weapon, most probably firing a 7.62mm round. That knowledge didn’t make matters better; it was still a deadly weapon, and it was spitting out lead in the direction of my people. Fortunately the terrain was rough and the vehicle was moving and they were still out of range of Rugar and the other men. However they wouldn’t be out of range very long. I had to do something and I had to do it quick.

I led the vehicle and I took a shot. I aimed for the front tire closest to me. I hit the middle one, but the effect was still the same. The big round blew out the ATV’s balloon tire and ripped out the side of the vehicle. The impact didn’t cause the vehicle to roll, but it did cause Blackmore to swerve to a halt. When the vehicle stopped moving I took another shot. I went for the gunner.

My shot hit the machine gun instead of the gunner. Even so, the final effect was basically what I had wanted. The heavy round tore up the breech on the weapon, before ricocheting off and clipping the gunner’s right arm, jamming the weapon in the process. Shrapnel went everywhere, though most of it ended up in the gunner. He’d been swivelling the weapon in my general direction at the time, responding instinctively to my fire. His trigger finger twitched when the shrapnel struck. The next round fired, and it blew what was left of the weapon to smithereens. That meant more shrapnel flying everywhere and anywhere. When the smoke cleared the gunner was dead.

Blackmore wasn’t dead, though. He was very much alive. He was out of the vehicle and behind it, taking cover from my fire. He was armed and I knew that his mind was racing. He was trying to figure out how to get from the vehicle to the ford and across it into the woods without getting his ass shot off. I didn’t give him a chance to work out the solution.

I put a round through the wall of the vehicle body just where I thought I’d seen Blackmore crouch. The round tore up the vehicle, splattering Blackmore with fibreglass shrapnel and bits of metal. It got the man’s attention!