Chapter 12

Roger Cornelius sits back in his chair, letting the day’s events roll through his head. He knows who is responsible for Senator Rustlin’s death and it definitely isn’t the mysterious assassin. The headquarters for the now secret Terrestrial Defense Force is bustling with agents. A temporary monitoring station has been set up until all the equipment can be assembled. Until then, America has to rely on its other agencies to keep its people protected. Roger has tried to call Major Graves to find out exactly what the man’s intentions were earlier this morning. Of course he isn’t able to contact Graves. Not that he really expected to.

The man sighs just as a flicker across the bare room catches his attention. Averting his gaze, without making it seem obvious, Roger casts a look in the direction of the flicker. It is gone, but he knows all too well what caused it. “I often sat and wondered when you’d come for you revenge,” he says to the seemingly empty shadows of the room.

Several heartbeats pass before the silence is broken. “You underestimate me then, Cornelius,” Natalya says, slowly stepping out of the shadows. “And here I thought you were far better than that.”

“Actually, I almost expected you to send a lackey to do the job for you,” the man says with a sneer. “It’s too bad you had to wait this long for our guard to be dropped.”

“My lackey?” she asks with a laugh, ignoring the other low blow. “Clearly you don’t know anything or you are just probing in hopes that I will give you the information you seek? No, the lackey you refer to wasn’t sent by me. I can assure you that. If she is truly as skilled as proclaimed, then you can count on all her targets turning up dead when she is done.” Roger remains comfortably in his chair, not showing an ounce of emotion of any sort. Natalya though, slowly walks around the room as she continues. “Your rescuers won’t be able to assist you. I don’t even think a tank could break through the barrier I’ve placed.” A smile crosses her face when she sees the slight change in the man’s body language. She refers to the agents Roger alerted the moment he realized that she was in the room.

“I see that you are full of surprises. Since you are here to kill me, why don’t you do it and get it over with?” Roger isn’t certain that he can make it out of the room alive. He is skilled, but not enough to ill Natalya without first being prepared to do so. One thing he is certain about is that he isn’t going to go down without a fight.

“You humans are always so predictable,” she coos. “Rush, rush, rush. You’re always in a hurry. I’ve got all the time in the world and I enjoy playing with my victims before I grant them a much wanted death.”

“Well then, I guess I’m going to deprive you of that pleasure,” he warns. Roger stands, grabbing an object from his desk and throws it at the Goji. The object glistens as the light from the only fixture in the room shines upon its metal surface.

Natalya jumps to avoid it and lands to roll up to her feet, pressing her back to the wall, ready to spring at the man when the door to the room suddenly comes flying off its hinges. Doug Wiltkins rushes into the room flanked by two other agents.

Caught off guard, Natalya focuses on the new combatants, shifting her stance toward them. Each of the new agents brandishes their guns and begins to shoot at her. With amazing speed and agility, she dodges the bullets as she leaps at the agents. Most of the bullets whiz past her, but a couple does manage to strike her. Even though they don’t deal the damage they would to a human, she still feels the pain as each one strikes her legs, arms and torso.

Gritting her teeth as each of the bullets makes its mark Natalya slams into the first agents and knocks Wiltkins off his feet. The man lands against the wall, slightly dazed from the impact while Natalya carries her victim up against the wall. The agent’s back thuds against the surface as the Goji’s had slips into his chest. The man tries to cry out in pain, but the creature’s hand wraps around his organ, cutting off any attempt to do so. With a simple twist, the man’s heart is torn free to leave the light slowly fading from his eyes.

Without wasting any time, Natalya throws the agent’s lifeless body fully into Doug just as he is climbing back to his feet. The corpse slams him into the wall once again. The other unoccupied agent has to reload, giving the Goji a much needed advantage. Natalya takes a brief moment to collect herself and fight off the immense pain coursing through her body. The bullet wounds hurt like hell, but she isn’t going to let a little pain stop her.

Roger, realizing what is about to happen, jumps the desk in an attempt to reach the helpless agent before the Goji does. His efforts are useless as Natalya swoops down, grappling the agent and then shooting through the ceiling. By the time Roger reaches the spot the agent was standing in, it is too late. He has barely enough time to jump away as the man’s body crashes into the floor. Blood flows from the stump where the agent’s head used to be. Two seconds later the head follows the same course, landing on top of the body then rolling off to the side.

Natalya floats down from the ceiling gracefully. “This is the second time I have been shot today. I am really getting tired of you fucking humans and your silly little weapons. And my barrier! There is no way my barrier could be broken!”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but it seems you are the one doing the underestimating,” Roger counters. “I guess you and the Black List aren’t the only ones with the special toys.”

The Goji screams with rage. The one thing that aggravates her the most is being mocked by a human. She rears back to attack when Doug instead tackles her. They both land into the opposite wall, his body hitting first to leave a circular, cracked indention. The walls are made of concrete, but are barely strong enough to absorb the impact. When Natalya stands up, leaving Doug crumpled on the floor and bleeding, she turns to face Roger.

Holding a pistol at her he says solemnly, “I almost believed I wouldn’t make it out of her alive, but I guess it is you that won’t be.” He pulls the tripper and then suddenly everything slows. Roger watches as the bullet leaves the barrel, as the slide moves back to chamber another round. The bullet meant for Natalya flies into the wall, impacting and blowing pieces of the concrete out in all directions. A look of shock slips over Roger’s face at not seeing the bullet hit her. In an instant, time returns to normal, leaving the man a split second to realize what has just happened. By this time, it is already too late. He feels a twinge of pain in his back and he knows right away that it is over.

Natalya looms behind the man, whispering coldly in his ear. “In the end, it is you that has done the underestimating.” With a loud snap, Roger falls to the floor. Landing on his back, he fights the searing pain that threatens to overcome his entire body. He has never felt pain like this before and for the first time in his life he prays for it all to end. Natalya reaches down, grabbing his throat to pin him down—not that he is able to go anywhere. He cannot even feel the lower part of his body anymore. “You should have never crossed me. I offered you a chance to join me and you refused. Now it has all come full circle and I have my revenge.” A twist of her wrists is all it takes for Roger’s neck to snap as easily as a toothpick would.

“What is the status of the American fleet, Captain Tong?” General Wei asks when the captain enters his office. He leaves his back turned to the younger man, not showing any acknowledgement other than the question.

Tong stands at attention, not daring to stand at ease until told to do so. “They are within our firing range, yet holding.”

“No doubt we are well within theirs as well,” the general surmises.

“Yes, sir.”

“And of my commands to move the fleet?” the general asks next.

“They have been moved as you commanded,” Tong’s reply comes. “The fleets arrived at Cape Town before the American fleet did.

“Excellent. We will show the Americans that we are prepared and willing to fight against them.” General Wei turns in his chair to face the young captain. He gestures for the man to finally relax and sit. Tong takes a seat in one of the two chairs in front of the general’s desk. He remains silent, waiting for until he is spoken to. “Delun, you have proven yourself a fine officer and loyal soldier to Mother China and because of you exceptional skill I am going to ask you to become my second in command.”

Tong remains motionless and doesn’t speak for several moments. This is the opportunity he has waited for—the opportunity to expand his military career and bring great honor to his family. He doesn’t want the general to believe he can be taken advantage of by answering so quickly. Even if he didn’t want to take such a path, he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. To not accept this kind of promotion would be to show his upmost disrespect to his commanding officer. “I accept your offer, General, and am most gracious,” he finally says as he stands and shakes the general’s hand.

“This conflict will soon erupt into full scale war,” Wei begins as Tong sits back down. “These westerners poison everything they touch and they believe they have the right to do whatever they want. They only interfere because we have formed a coalition and have taken over a meaningless continent. We have swept in to bring order to the chaos here and to expand our land. And this is what we get in return? Russia has tried to bully us and now the Americans try. Why?” He pauses as if to allow the junior officer a chance to answer the question. But before Tong can open his mouth to give reply, Wei continues. “Because we have taken an initiative that no other country has bothered to take.”

“What will you have me do, sir?” Tong asks, now much more nervous with anticipation than his earlier feelings.

“I cannot be in more than one place at any given time,” Wei says, his liveliness dulling only slightly. “The Americans will try to not just attack using their naval force, but secretly as well. We have an ally that will help us succeed. That, however, brings more enemies to the table. I need you to take control of the First Fleet’s flagship, the Gang Jun.” A look of unexpectancy rolls onto Tong’s face at the announcement of the assignment. “Do not be so shocked, Delun. I have reviewed your record, your academy record, and you showed some promise in the naval field. You are more than able to handle the situation out there. My question to you is, why have you decided to not take that career path and instead the one you have now?”