Part 7 (2/2)
”So far, no,” she said gravely. ”My inherent sense of altruism and fair play has been strong enougha”barelya”to prevent me from acting on these impulses. But they're quite strong,” she admitted. ”It's been tempting to let go of my last bit of pesky Neanderthal wiring and release myself from all moral and ethical bonds,” she said, a deeply troubled look on her face. ”Very tempting.”
Desh was unsure of just how to respond to this.
”I haven't enhanced myself for some time now,” she continued softly.
”Afraid the pull will become too strong for you to resist?” said Desh She nodded. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly in a humorless smile. ”Sometimes I think of myself as Frodo in the Lord of The Rings. In my case the ring's power is that of almost inconceivable creativity and intellect. But like Frodo's burden it is easily accessible, right there around my neck at all times, exerting its magnetic pull. The temptation to use it, especially when I'm desperately in need of some insight, is almost irresistible.”
Desh considered. He had never really thought about the ring from the Tolkien trilogy as yet another manifestation of the old cliche regarding power, but of course it was. The ring didn't turn its wearer evil; the power inherent in the ring did this. ”Power corrupts,” he began, unable to stop himself from reciting the cliche Kira had avoided using. ”Absolute power corrupts absoa””
Desh never finished his sentence. With a sound like a shotgun blast the door to the room exploded inward, propelled by vicious, simultaneous kicks expertly applied by two men on the other side.
14.
Desh's head jerked violently from the startling intrusion, and his arms were nearly yanked from their sockets as he instinctively tried to a.s.sume a defensive posture: his startle reflex not caring that his arms were immobilized behind his back. Along with the thunderous sound of the door cras.h.i.+ng in, the room was instantly plunged into impenetrable darkness as the rope Kira had attached to the door handle yanked the lamp cord violently from the wall outlet.
The momentum from the intruders' explosive kicks propelled them into the room, guns drawn, and they hit the trip wire instantly, about the same time their brains registered that they were now blind. With two surprised grunts, followed immediately by two loud thuds, they crashed to the floor only seconds after their attack had begun.
They had counted on a precision surprise attack executed so quickly that even if the girl had been holding a gun she wouldn't be able to stop them. They had not counted on their actions killing the room's only light or being greeted by a trip wire.
Kira Miller had also jumped in shock when the door was kicked open, but she recovered quickly. While the attackers lay sprawled on the floor, dazed, wondering what had hit them and why the world had suddenly gone dark, she slid her thermal imaging goggles down over her eyes. The two intruders instantly became visible as glowing, highly resolved three-dimensional silhouettes.
”Don't move!” she barked.
The taller of the two attackers had now fully recovered his wits after the surprise fall. The girl wasn't as clever as they had been led to believe, he thought arrogantly. The room was as dark as a cave, but she had foolishly given them the upper hand by speaking and giving away her location. He ignored her command and soundlessly lifted his arm and pointed his gun in the direction from which her voice had originated.
She shot him in the chest with her stun gun as he prepared to fire.
The tall man convulsed violently and lay still on the ground while Kira quickly retracted the dual electrode harpoons, ready for another shot. The man's partner silently began to change position on the floor so that he could attempt an attack as well, not having learned from his colleague's miscalculation.
”Just because you can't see,” hissed Kira, ”doesn't mean that I can't.”
The man froze in place. Like his paralyzed partner, he had a.s.sumed she couldn't see him or detect his movements, a foolish and potentially fatal a.s.sumption. They had been warned that she was very clever and not to underestimate her.
”That's right,” she said smugly. ”I'm wearing night-vision goggles. So let's try this again. Don't. Move.” She emphasized each word as if speaking to a stubborn toddler.
Desh's mind had been racing since the attack began, considering his options. But he realized that even if he could free himself, escape was hopeless. He couldn't see any better than the attackers could.
Kira pulled a Glock from her bag with a silencer already attached, although given that the sound of the door being forced open would already have awakened every last motel residenta”several of whom, at least, were now calling the policea”the silencer had questionable value.
”I'm now pointing a gun at you,” she explained. ”How many others are with you and what is their location?” she demanded.
”No others,” replied the man, shaking his head. ”Just us.”
Kira fired. The silenced gun issued a spitting sound as she sent a bullet tearing through the meaty part of the man's thigh. ”I'll only ask once more,” she growled. ”How many others are with you and what is their location?”
”One other,” grunted the man as he desperately began trying to staunch the flow of blood from his leg. ”He's taken up a sniper position facing your room to prevent any escape. He's equipped with a thermal imager.”
Kira said nothing. She adjusted a setting on the stun gun and fired. The intruder convulsed and lay still, unconscious. She reloaded the gun, adjusted the setting once more, and shot the first man again, rendering him unconscious as well. She pulled a ski mask from her bag, made from the same material as her jumpsuit, and stretched it over her goggles. The material snapped back into shape to fit snugly over her face and nose, fitting perfectly around the goggles and leaving not a single section of her face exposed.
”s.h.i.+t!” she fumed. ”We needed more time. They shouldn't have tracked us here for five or six more hours,” she said despondently, as much to herself as to Desh. ”By then we would have been long gone.” She had been in complete control when dealing with the two attackers, but she was distraught now, as if she had just suffered a terrible loss. Desh was still blind but could hear it clearly in her voice.
”I have to get out of here,” she said after a few seconds of silence. ”Now.” Desh noted that any hint of vulnerability had once again disappeared from her voice. ”I can't trust you untied, and I don't have time to drag you with me.”
Desh's heart raced furiously. So what would she do with him now? Would she decide to put a bullet in his brain before she left? Desh knew she intended to go through the adjoining room and out the other side of the motel. Her planning had been extraordinary. Just as she had expected, the attackers were only watching the door on the front side of the motel, thinking it was her only exit.
”What if he lied?” said Desh in desperation. ”What if they have a sniper watching the back as well?”
”He'll miss,” she said simply. ”I'm covered head to toe by a jumpsuit, goggles and a ski mask, all designed to completely block my heat signature. I'll be invisible to thermal imaging, from snipers or from the air.”
Desh shook his head. ”That's impossible,” he insisted. ”The military has been trying for years. There is no such technology.”
”There is now,” replied Kira smoothly.
Desh's eyes widened. Could it be true? If she could be believed, she had dramatically enhanced her own intelligence. Had she turned her amped-up genius to the problem of defeating thermal imaging technology? If this were true, it would go a long way toward explaining how she had managed to remain in the US and elude the manhunt for so long.
As this was flas.h.i.+ng through Desh's mind, Kira approached him and quickly sawed at his restraints with a knife until his hands were free, retreating from him rapidly once they were, despite being armed and having the advantage of sight.
”I have to go,” she said hurriedly. ”I'll leave the knife and gun in the bathroom of the adjoining room. By the time you shuffle over there and remove your ankle cuffs, I'll have gotten the head start I need.”
Desh allowed himself to breathe again. Would she really let him go?
”d.a.m.n!” she fumed again. ”There's much more to tell. We should be leaving together as allies!” Kira gathered herself. ”They'll know I took the risk of kidnapping you,” she mumbled rapidly, ”but it's unclear how they'll interpret this. They may decide to kill you or they may decide just to use you. I don't know.” She paused. ”I know you're still not sure about me. But even if you think every word I told you was a lie, your survival depends on believing this: don't trust anyone. Be prepared for anything,” she warned anxiously.
Kira gathered her bag and rushed into the adjoining room. After a ten second detour into its bathroom, she unlocked the room's outer door. ”We'll have to finish our conversation at another time,” she called to Desh through the doors between the two rooms.
There was a slight pause. ”Be careful, David,” she added earnestly. ”I hope you're as good as I think you are.”
And with that, Kira Miller opened the door and stepped out into the night.
PART THREE.
Fountain.
15.
Desh moved the instant the outer door of the adjoining room was shut. He scooted to the other side of the bed and reached out cautiously, probing for the lamp on the other end table. It was identical to the one whose cord had been ripped from the wall. His hand connected with it and he fumbled for the switch at its base, managing to find it and flip it on. Although the lamp was on the dim side, after several minutes in darkness he was forced to squint until his eyes adjusted.
The door frame at the room's entrance was shattered where the lock had been, and the door itself hung awkwardly from a single hinge; a splintered mess. The two intruders were awkward heaps on the thin carpet, and neither was moving. Desh slid from the bed and pressed two fingers into each of their necks in turn, feeling for their carotid arteries and signs of a pulse. Both were still alive. Satisfied, he shuffled as quickly as he could to the adjoining room, his ankles still bound. Making sure not to turn on any additional lights, he entered the bathroom, unsure of what he might find there.
He waited until the bathroom door was closed and flipped on the light. No use sending out a beacon to any onlookers that would remind them of the possibility of front-to-back adjoining rooms. True to Kira's word there was a Browning semiautomatic, its clip full, and a combat knife lying on the floor. Desh was shocked to also find the keys to the Ford and what must have been a spare pair of night-vision goggles next to the weapons. She knew he would be coming after her, despite her brief head start, so why arm him and provide him with night-vision and a car?
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