Shadow Soldier by J. L. Lyon

Author:J. L. Lyon
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2013-08-18T04:00:00+00:00

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Derek Blaine stared down the guards barring the doorway to where the old man had taken 301, pacing back and forth as though trying to build up enough courage to rush them. He reminded Liz of a wolf circling its prey, and the tension in the room increased with every step he took.

“Will you cut it out?” she whispered to him after 301 had been gone about five minutes. “Are you trying to provoke them to attack?”

“That would be better than just waiting here for the Specter Captain’s next order,” he whispered back. “What good are these prototypes if we don’t get the chance to use them?”

“What good is a fight if you’re not alive at the end of it?” she retorted. “Just chill out for a few more minutes, okay?”

He stopped pacing and crossed his arms obstinately, but he didn’t stop staring down the guards. Every now and then over the next couple of minutes he gave Liz an exasperated look.

Liz was so focused on keeping Derek under control that she didn’t notice the sound at first: a gentle whirring, like a muffled helicopter blade. By the time she realized what it was, and what it meant for their present situation, Derek had already acted.

The guards drew their assault rifles as one and leveled them in the two Specters’ direction, but Derek had already drawn his sidearm. He squeezed off several rounds before rolling out of the way of the rest of the bullets.

Derek’s swift thinking gave Liz the time she needed to get out of the way as well, but she wasn’t content to just evade the guards. She took the Gladius prototype from her side and rushed those that remained. Her weapon came to life just as she fell upon them, and with a violent flash of white light she cut two of them down. A third hit her in the mouth, and she responded with a retaliatory punch to the face. Then she plunged her blade straight through his heart.

Liz raised her weapon to take care of the rest, but stopped the blade in midair. They were already dead, a calm and collected Derek Blaine standing over them with his Gladius humming softly in his hand.

“Well,” Liz said breathlessly. “I guess that means we’re out of time.”

At that moment the front door to the estate burst open and a team of green-clad Great Army soldiers entered the foyer. Derek and Liz turned to face them as their commanding officer barked out his orders, “Secure the perimeter! Collins has at least fifty men on guard within this mansion, and fifty more guarding the outer defenses of the estate. Hunt them down and kill all—” The officer—a major general—stopped short when his eyes fell on Derek and Liz standing in the center of the foyer, blades still active at their sides.

“Afternoon, Specters,” he smiled. “I see you beat us here.”

Gunfire erupted from several directions outside, which could only mean that the Great Army had engaged the estate’s security detail.

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