Swords Of Exodus Part 43

"How are you holding up, man?" It was Skunky. I was outside the safe house, getting some fresh air for just a moment. The air was cold and still. It wasn't snowing, but was still overcast, and thankfully the wind had quit. It was so cold out it froze your boogers right in your nose, though.

I turned my attention to my friend. "All things considered?" I asked, but just left it at that.

Skunky nodded knowingly. "What about your friends?"

"I don't know. They're both still in shock. Jill is . . . was . . . Lorenzo's girlfriend. Reaper's been with him for years. I guess another member of their team died in Zubara. You know how it is, man."

"Will they be okay? Do they have a place to go?"

"Are you kidding? Lorenzo practically owned an island in the Caribbean. He was loaded. They'll be fine, but money doesn't replace the man."

Skunky looked around the snow-covered valley that Olgii sat in. "What about you? Where are you going after this?"

I hadn't actually thought much about it. Now that it had been brought up, I didn't have a good answer. I just shook my head. "I don't know, man. I guess it depends on where Exodus drops me off. I don't know where I could go. It's not safe for me to go home. They're looking for me. The government, I mean. For all I know they have every federal agency looking for me. Anyway the only place I could go in the States is Hawk's, and all I'd do is put him in danger. He already stuck his neck out too far getting involved in this."

"Have you . . . I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm pressuring you, or giving you the sales pitch, but have you thought about becoming a member of Exodus? You already know more about the organization than most of us do. You've been on our biggest op in living memory. There are plenty of us that would sponsor you in. You'd just have to, you know, take the oath and commit. We'd take care of you, though." Skunky lowered his eyes just a bit. "And we could really use new people right about now."

My friend had a look in his eyes that I hadn't seen since the debacle in Mexico, our last operation as employees of Vanguard. There was uncertainty in his eyes, even fear. I could see it on the faces of all the Exodus operatives. It was plain in how they carried themselves now, and in how they spoke. There was precious little laughter or joking. Their ridiculously high morale had been shattered. Those missing or dead would likely never be found, and never be giving a proper burial. It was heartbreaking to watch such a proud organization, one that I owed my life to, smashed like that.

As much as I liked them, though, and as much as I didn't want to disappoint Ling, I didn't feel that joining Exodus was the way I should go. They asked for my help, and I gave it. "I don't know. Let's wait until we get out of this G.o.dforsaken place before we start talking about my future. I need a vacation. I can't go back to Hawk's, but there's got to be somewhere I can go."

Skunky looked thoughtful for a moment. "Speaking of Hawk, have you contacted him at all? You just dropped off the map last year. He probably thinks you're dead."

I suddenly felt very guilty. "I wanted to call him when I was on Lorenzo's island," I said, "to tell him I was okay. But it would've put him in danger. They might be watching him, monitoring his phone. h.e.l.l, they might've picked him up. They f.u.c.ked with my mind when they had me, man, drilled into my head. I don't know what all I told them. For all I know I betrayed Hawk and he's dead already." A pit formed in my stomach as I thought about it. Oh G.o.d, what did I do?

Skunky read the look on my face. "Listen, we have encrypted satellite phones. You can call him. The odds of them tracing the call are pretty slim, and even if they do, we'll be out of here in a few hours, and I'm pretty sure we ain't coming back."

"It's still risky. I'm sure your boss won't approve."

"I don't plan on asking my boss, bro." He retrieved from his pocket a Benchmade Infidel automatic knife. Each member of a Switchblade unit was issued one. "I was Switchblade 4 first. Knife check!"

Allowing myself to smile, I retrieved my own Benchmade and snapped the blade out. "Check!" We both chuckled.

"No time like the present," Skunky said. "Let me go get the phone." It turned out that Skunky's satellite phone was much nicer than any I'd ever used. I had to have him show me how to use it. "Do you remember Hawk's number?" he asked.

I thought about it for a second. "I think so. Hang on." I dialed the long sequence of numbers necessary to connect with a US phone number, pressed send, and waited. It rang several times, then stopped, beeping at me.

I showed Skunky the screen. "What's it doing?"

He squinted and looked at it. "They're requesting a video chat."

"This thing can do video chat? I bet that's expensive."

"Yeah. There'll be lag, too. Just 'press accept' and hold it a couple feet from your face."

I told Skunky to keep quiet while I was talking, and rotated the phone so that the only thing visible behind me was the wall of the warehouse. I suddenly had a bad feeling, and wanted to give as few visual clues to my location as possible. I took a deep breath, and pressed accept.

After a short pause, Hawk's face appeared on the screen. He looked like h.e.l.l.

Oh no. "Hawk? Are you-?"

"Val?" he asked, sounding hoa.r.s.e and raspy. "G.o.dd.a.m.n it boy, you're dumb as a stump! Why the h.e.l.l did you-" Hawk grunted in pain as someone punched him in the head. My heart dropped into my stomach. The phone on the other end was pulled back so I could see him, bound and handcuffed. A man in a suit pushed him onto the floor and kicked him in the stomach.

Somebody has Hawk! I mouthed to Skunky. His eyes went wide.

A new face appeared on the screen. I'll never forget it for as long as I live. He was an old man, with gray hair and hard lines in his face. His eyes were pale and piercing.

"Mr. Valentine," the man said. "We've been waiting for you to call."

"Who . . . ?"

He interrupted me. "Now you listen to me, boy. You have no idea the world of s.h.i.+t you're in. My name is Underhill. You know who I work for. I was retired up until about two weeks ago. They called me out of retirement and gave me every resource at their disposal for the sole purpose of finding you."

My eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

"If you want Mr. Hawkins to live, you'll do exactly as I say. You will tell me where you are, and you will wait for me there, for however long it takes me to arrive. Then you'll come in with me, and we'll sort this whole thing out. If you refuse, I will kill this man, and I'll still find you. That part is inevitable, nonnegotiable. One way or another, I'm bringing you in. You only get to decide how much you, and Mr. Hawkins here, suffer before it's done."

Before I could answer, Hawk shouted to me. "Val! Don't listen to him, boy! I'm already dead! You run! You-" I couldn't make anything out for the next few seconds. The phone was tossed around so fast, with the lag, I couldn't tell what was going on. There was commotion, yelling, a fight. Somebody shouted at Hawk again.

"f.u.c.k you!" was the old gunslinger's reply. Then a pair of gunshots, then silence.

I felt the color drain out of my face. I looked up at Skunky. His eyes were wide, and he covered his mouth with his hands, but he said nothing. My knees went weak. I wanted to throw up. I struggled to maintain my composure as my heart raced and my head spun.

After a moment, Underhill's face returned to the screen. He looked as ice cold as ever. "Mr. Hawkins is dead," he said flatly. "His choice, not mine. Now you have a choice, son. No one else has to die. Tell me where you are, and this all ends. If you don't tell me where you are, I will kill however many people it takes to get to you. Either way, I'll find you. So what's it going to be?"

My heart rate slowed. My senses were heightened. Everything slowed down just a bit as The Calm washed over me. My blood ran as cold as the arctic wind blowing against my face.

"I'll tell you how it's going to be, old man," I said slowly. "You people have taken everything from me. I have nothing left to lose. You won't have to find me, because I'm going to find you. I'm going to find you, Mr. Underhill, and I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill all of you. That is a promise."

There was a pause from the lag of the satellite connection, before an unpleasant, predatory smile split Underhill's face. "We'll see about that."

I pressed the end b.u.t.ton, hanging up before anything else could be said. Skunky stared at me wide-eyed as I slowly lowered the phone. My hands started to shake. My teeth ground together. An icy rage bubbled up from deep inside me.

This isn't over.

BAEN BOOKS by Larry Correia.

The Monster Hunter International Series.

Monster Hunter International.

Monster Hunter Vendetta.

Monster Hunter Alpha.

The Monster Hunters.

Monster Hunter Legion.

The Grimnoir Chronicles.

Hard Magic: Book 1 of the Grimnoir Chronicles.

Spellbound: Book 2 of the Grimnoir Chronicles.

Warbound: Book 3 of the Grimnoir Chronicles.

With Mike Kupari:.

Dead Six.