Ghost Ship (NUMA Files 12)

“Get ready,” he said.

As the men down the hall blasted their way through the barricade she’d built and forced their way into the room, Kurt pulled his own door wide and dashed quietly across the hall and onto the stairwell. Calista was right behind him.

“Two levels up,” she said.

Kurt raced up the flight, moving so quickly that he was skipping stairs.

As he neared the final turn, a trio of men came rushing down in the other direction. Kurt had no choice. He pulled the trigger. The iron shells went right through the first man and into the second, cutting them both down. They fell backward, knocking the third man to the floor, who opened fire with his Uzi submachine gun.

Several shells hit Kurt’s chest plate, knocking him backward. He was fairly certain that at least one shell hit Calista because she screamed and tumbled down the stairs.

Lying on his back, Kurt hit the lower trigger and sent the prongs of the Taser blasting into the man’s neck. He snapped into a prone position as the electricity surged through his body and he began to shake.

Kurt held the trigger and kept the electricity flowing as he got to his feet, ran forward, and kicked the man in the face like he was trying to punt a football out of the stadium. The man’s head snapped back and he lay still.

With the situation in hand, Kurt grabbed the Uzi and dropped back to where Calista had fallen.

“You’ve been hit.”

“My leg,” she said.

Kurt pulled her up onto the landing. She’d taken a bullet to the thigh. It was bleeding, but not enough to suggest it had hit an artery. He took off her belt and wrapped it around her leg as a tourniquet.

“I think it’s broken,” she said. She tried to stand, but even with his help she couldn’t put any weight on it.

“Just go,” she said. “They’ll be coming up here soon enough. You’ll need me to watch your back.”

Kurt hesitated and then handed her the Uzi. He figured she’d earned it at this point.

“Don’t let him live,” she said. “He has no right.”

Without answering, Kurt propped her up against the wall, where she’d have some cover and a good angle to fire at anyone who came her way.

“Don’t go anywhere,” he said. “I’ll be back for you.”

“That’s what they all say,” she replied.

He turned and raced up the stairs, finally arriving at the upper landing. A solid-steel door blocked him. It was bolted shut.

Kurt checked his ammo. Seven shells left. He hoped it would be enough.

Stepping back, he opened fire on the lock. The iron projectiles tore it apart like armor-piercing rounds. The door burst open under the onslaught and Kurt rushed in.

He saw two guards, took one of them out, and then dove for cover as the other one started firing.

Scrambling across the floor as the man unleashed a hail of shells, Kurt rolled and fired back. The lethal shot blasted through one of Sebastian’s computers and killed the last of Sebastian’s bodyguards instantly.

Kurt stood and looked for Sienna. He spotted her at the back of the room. Sebastian had her up against his body and was holding a nickel-plated automatic to her temple.

From where he stood, Joe had the advantage of elevation and could both see and hear the battle raging on the compound’s bottom two terraces. Over the headset he heard Lt. Brooks directing his men, probing for a weakness and being pushed back. Across the dark lawns he could see the burning helicopter and red streams of tracer fire converging on the area around it from three directions.

He pressed the talk switch on his headset. “Dragon leader, this is Zavala,” he said. “You’re being surrounded. Suggest you abandon position and move down the hill.”

Pressed up against the rock wall for cover, Lt. Brooks heard the call and sat dumbfounded for a second. None of his men were named Zavala. Then it dawned on him. One of the oceanographers went by that name.

“Zavala, we cannot pull back, we have five men wounded, two critical. There’s no cover lower down. If we don’t hold this wall, we’re dead.”

A burst of static gave way to the smooth-sounding voice of the oceanographer. “I’ll swing around and try to relieve the pressure on your right flank.”