Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [77]
Cole was breathing hard. “Now what?”
Annja eyed him. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just winded. I think that last Taser session took a lot more out of me than I thought.”
“If you need a break—”
“What I need is to get out of this place. So don’t even think about leaving me behind. I can hold my own. Just point in the direction you want me to shoot and I’ll get it done.”
“I noticed.”
Cole shrugged. “Boy Scout camp.”
“Right.”
“Okay, I took an auxiliary police course one time. The highlight was getting down on the ranges and going full-auto. Guess it stayed with me.” He nodded at Annja. “What’s your excuse?”
“Classified,” Annja said. She pointed back down the slope. “We need to get back there now that we’ve eliminated this threat.”
“You think they’ll be waiting for us?”
Annja nodded. “I’d bet on it.”
“Great.”
Annja held his arm. “If we get down there and fight our way through, we head for the dock across the way. It won’t be easy, but if we can make it, then we can get on board and escape.”
“You know how to pilot a submarine?” Cole asked.
Annja tried to grin. “How hard can it be? As long as I’m surrounded by metal and bullets can’t get to me, I’ll be happy to learn as I go.”
“Stick with me,” Cole said. “I’ll get us out of here. Or at least into the water. I have no idea what direction to head once we do that.”
“We’ll figure it out.” Annja slowed her pace as she came around a shallow curve in the corridor. Noises drifted up to her. She motioned for Cole to stop.
Cole came closer and whispered in Annja’s ear. “Did you hear that?”
She nodded. “Probably the other half of our welcome party.”
“Now what?”
Annja shook her head. “What option do we have? We can’t wait here all day and risk them getting more reinforcements or sending another party down behind us.”
“Best defense is a good offense?” Cole said.
Annja nodded. “I’ll take the lead. You come second.”
“Right behind you.”
Annja ducked down and slid out into the straight portion of the corridor that opened up on the lower level. She could see a stack of wooden crates near the doorway. This contingent was obviously smarter than their brothers on the upper level.
As soon as they saw Annja, they opened up and sent a volley of bullets shrieking at her and Cole. Annja barely had enough time to register what she saw and push Cole back before the first rounds slammed into the walls near them and ricocheted up the corridor.
Cole fell down next to her. “Shit!”
Annja frowned. This wasn’t good. The longer they were trapped there, the better the chances of them getting captured again. She had to do something to break the stalemate or it would be all over for her and Cole.
She looked at him. “You trust me?”
Cole frowned. “What—I have to prove that to you now? Of course I trust you. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I’m going to do something that will probably seem pretty damned crazy.”
Cole smirked. “So, business as usual apparently.”
She rolled her eyes and then handed him her submachine gun. “Here, take this.”
He frowned. “What? You need this. Why give it to me?”
“Be quiet, Cole.” Annja summoned her sword. Next to her, she heard Cole gasp. “What th—?”
She put a finger to his lips. “Not a word. I don’t have time to answer any questions right now. If this doesn’t work, then don’t bother asking anyone about it. No one else knows.”
Cole’s eyes were wide but he accepted her response and nodded dumbly. “All right.”
“Here’s the plan,” Annja said. “I’m going to charge their position.”
“With that?”
Annja smiled and looked at the sword. “You’d be surprised what this blade can do.”
“Or where it came from,” Cole said. “But I won’t ask.”
“Thanks.” Annja smiled. “When I charge them, they’re going to be a bit surprised.”
“You don’t say.”
“That’s your opportunity to get some good fire on them. See if you can take out as many as possible in the short span of time the surprise will give me. It won’t be long if these guys are any good. They’ll switch back on and start shooting at me. And I