Chapter 33: Firefight


    Chapter 33: Firefight


    I’ll have to admit, I was a little startled at that moment, mostly by the scream that echoed off the walls


    and ceiling.


    The two guards standing behind Watanabe drew their guns. They were quick, but a little confused as to


    where to point them. The scream was behind them. Also a voice called out from that direction, ordering


    them, in Japanese, to drop those guns. At the same instant, a gruff voice from off to their right ordered


    them to “freeze!” That one was me.


    The fastest thinker of them all was Gato. While the two guards were trying to aim in two directions at


    the same time, he was moving towards a workbench filled with beakers and sks and other chemical


    type stuff. I swung Wilma round to let go a shot in his direction. A big chunk of the workbench exploded


    into splinters. At the same moment, he was throwing arge bottle at me. Instinctively, I dove to the


    side to avoid the bottle.


    Wilma’s loud bark upset the guards. Both of them swung their guns around towards me. As Iy on my


    side, I was trying to swing Wilma up towards them. It was the kind of race I hate to lose. The closest


    guard got off the first shot. An instantter I fired.


    I’ll bet the bullets crossed in midair. A piece of concrete burst up from next to me and I felt the sting of


    the ricochet as it creased my leg. My bullet, on the other hand, had flown more urately. The guard


    who had shot me was hit in the shoulder. It must have felt like a sledgehammer blow, because he spun


    around very fast, his gun flying out of his hand.


    I had to wait a split second to make sure that he was going down and I didn’t need to fire a second shot


    in his direction. Then I was trying to bring Wilma around to the other guard.


    I could have taken my time. Gunshots from the other side of theb rang out and that guard was jerked


    sideways. Later, I found out that both Hiroshi and Ste had hit him almost simultaneously, one of them


    going into his side, the other making a small hole in the side of his head and a muchrger one out the


    other side, spraying blood and brains all over the old man standing there.


    The guards were both down. I swung Wilma around to the two men still standing. The old guy was


    looking at his bloodstained hands with surprise. The guy in theb coat was just looking surprised at


    everything. He was holding a clipboard and a pencil, looking as if he were taking notes about whole


    scene.


    For a second, nothing changed. Then the old man reached down and picked up one of the guards’


    guns lying on the floor at his feet. He lifted it and pointed it down theb. It was too bad that he was as


    old as he was, and very slow. As he brought the gun up, more shots rang out. The old guy was blown


    backwards into the console behind him. Oddly enough, he was still holding the gun and managed to


    get off a shot in the general direction of his killers. Another burst of rounds rang out and his body jerked


    as they impacted it. His body slid to the floor and did not move.


    Finally, everything was quiet, though there was a ringing in my ears, mostly due to Wilma being so


    damned loud in that underground room. The guy in the bloodstainedb coat was still standing here,


    looking very confused by all this interruption of his experiment.


    A Japanese man came into view. He had a gun in his hand and I started to swing Wilma around at him.


    Then I saw Ste next to him and held my shot. Good thing, too, ’cause Iter found out he was a good


    guy.


    He went over and kicked away the guns, then checked to makes sure the guards were not going to be


    getting up.


    I got to my feet and approached them.


    “ze is in there,” I told Ste. “Who’s this?” I added, pointing to the guy with her.


    Ste lifted one eyebrow and said, “Sled, where are your clothes?”


    “I lost them,” I had to admit. “Long story. I’ll tell youter.”


    At that point I had to wonder if I was getting a little old for this business. In the action, it had slipped my


    mind that there was another potentially dangerous man unounted for.


    “Where’s Gato?” I said, swinging Wilma around towards the rest of theb.


    “Who?” Ste asked.


    “His assistant,” I told her, nodding towards the still-confused Sorren.


    Then I went looking behind that workbench, Wilma at the ready. He was not there. In fact, he was


    nowhere in theb. Apparently, in the confusion and firefight, he had escaped.


    Right then, I had a bigger worry on my mind.


    “ze is in there,” I repeated and went to the chamber. “I hope they haven’t done anything to her yet.”


    I opened the door and went in. ze was apparently unhurt but damned well bound to the pole. Her


    eyes looked me up and down and she said, “Oh, Sled, my big, strong hero.” Funny thing is that she


    was not looking at my face when she said that, but a little lower, about half way between my face and


    feet.


    Once again I saw ze without her bra and panties and nicely disyed the way she was bound to


    that pole. Very nice. Almost nice enough to make me forget Linda Goodbody - almost.


    * * * * *


    In another part of the house, Gato was hurriedly grabbingputer disks and papers and stuffing them


    into a briefcase. Then he was rushing to the garage and peeling rubber in his getaway.Original content from N?velDrama.Org.