Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [93]
The return fire obliterated her cover behind the crates. Annja fell back to her second position amid shouts from the guards and Henderson to flank her.
Annja took out another guard at the second retreat point, her bullets ripping him across the chest. He went down and started to get up again until Annja squeezed another double-tap that caught him in the middle of his forehead.
But the others were gaining on her. The two remaining guards of the first patrol split up and got positioned on either side of her in a pincer movement that would cut her apart if she let them.
She opened fire on her right flank and then charged the guard positioned there. She caught him flatfooted and, as he realized his mistake, she squeezed the trigger.
But nothing happened.
Annja didn’t waste time trying to get the gun to fire. She dropped the weapon and jumped on the guard, using her elbows and knees to pummel him. He fought back, scrambling to punch her and drive her away so he could use his gun, but Annja refused to be thrown. She got her hands around his throat, squeezing as if she was holding on to a rope for dear life.
The guard’s eyes bulged out and he gurgled, fighting desperately to get her off him. Annja held on until his body went limp.
A shot ricocheted off the wall close by. Annja rolled and grabbed the dead guard’s gun, bringing it up and squeezing off rounds as she rolled over.
She caught the approaching guard across his thighs as he bore down on her. His feet were blown out from under him and he went down hard, his own gun firing as he dropped. Annja winced as one of the bullets grazed her forehead and she felt the flow of warm blood down her face.
With no time to look after herself, Annja got to her feet and fell back to her last defense position. She dropped the magazine out of the gun and checked it. Seeing only a half dozen rounds, Annja picked up the last remaining magazine she had and slapped it home.
She heard movement and poked her head out. A single bullet exploded near her eyes and Annja jerked back, blinking away tears and the splinter that had lodged under her eyelid.
“Did I get you, Annja?”
Sheila was obviously back.
“No.”
“That’s a shame. I won’t miss again.”
“Maybe that broken wrist is slowing you down some. Maybe you should just walk out into the open and let me finish you off,” Annja called out.
“Keep dreaming, sweetheart.” Sheila laughed. “And I’m a crack shot with only one hand, anyway.”
“How nice for you.”
Annja took a deep breath and tried to figure out from which direction Sheila would come at her. Annja could see off to her left. A stack of crates there would give Sheila cover. But the pile of machinery on the right would also offer a good vantage point. Sheila wouldn’t be able to advance until she knew for certain where Annja was. And if she suspected that Annja might move, it would make things tougher on her.
But Annja didn’t have anywhere to retreat to. She’d built three fallback positions, thinking that she and the others would have had plenty of opportunity to destroy the attackers before it got to this point.
Annja on her own, however, was at a far greater disadvantage than if she’d had help.
Beggars can’t be choosers, she decided.
She poked out and squeezed off a single round at the area where she hoped Sheila was hiding.
There was no return fire.
“Oh, I’m not over there,” Sheila said. Her voice floated around the cavern and Annja frowned. She couldn’t get a bead on where she might be.
In the next instant, gunfire raked the back of the crate Annja huddled near. She dived and rolled out from behind it, her body taking over so her slower conscious mind didn’t waste time trying to consider all its options.
How did Sheila get behind her?
Annja rolled and came up squeezing off two more rounds. Annja saw Sheila duck and run across the catwalk for cover.
There must have been another way to get up to the second level without being seen. And of course, Sheila knew all about it, Annja