[Sticks]

Chapter 14

Shoot out

"How did you know who I was" Asked the Steve as he eyed the two MP's. Their eyes were glazed as they both simultaneously chewed upon the drugged chewing gum. Their machine pistols had bolt on stocks to turn them from hand guns into a form of rifle, which they were holding at waist height.
"A guy called Joe said you were in town" Explained the General, "he was very talkative, it was a shame to have him executed. But as they say C'est la Vie. Oh By the way Mr Gryson, don't count on Marie and Garry Tavistock to tell anyone. I have personally authorised their sentences of death for collaborating with an enemy of the state".

"You Swine" The Steve answered back with every ounce of hate in him.
"Don't worry it was quite quick and relatively painless. One shot through the back of the head, so I believe. And don't worry, we will find the Smiths. I understand that Mr Smith's white van was seen around this area."

Then Steve looked at the Generals stone face, and his evil grin, this man according to reputation never bluffed. He must have killed Marie and Garry in order to silence them. Now he would get Priscilla and Philip and kill them as well. No one would ever know that he had ever survived. He had wanted to set the record straight, and then stop what ever clean-wipe was. All he was doing was bringing death to innocent people. He just stared at the general, the man that seemed to be responsible for wrecking his life, and the man that would end it, was about to win. No he could not allow it; he had to think of something.

"I suppose you even had Drafaus killed as well, to cover up your operation black-out" The Steve cried out.
The general's countenance dropped, "You surprise me, Mr Gryson, you haven't realised, he was terminated long before Blackout. In fact, it was his action that precipitated the need for Blackout"
"But he was one of your own guys, wasn't he" said Steve with a false air of concern, as he slowly started to crawl towards his kit bag.
"That Drafaus was a traitor to the cause, he had proved himself unworthy of the work he was doing. His actions would lead to the exposure of the greatest project of social engineering. He had to die, just like you have to now"
"What cause was this general, do tell" Steve said, playing for time.
"Very good Mr Gryson, you could have done well as an interrogator. But I quite like the idea of you not knowing why you have to die." he said sadistically, "But while we are talking about Mr Drafaus's work" he added. The General snapped his fingers at one of the MP's and pointed at the print outs that were on the floor of the computer room. One of the MP's went through the airlock and entered the computer room. The other MP covered the people in the computer room with his machine pistol. The first MP came and picked the print outs up, folded them up and walked over to the shattered window. He handed them through the window to the general and then continued to level his machine pistol at Steve and the others.

Then Steve remembered the name of the first file "Biovac", and the second file "Biokill". A light dawned across his mind.
"So he developed a way of genetically engineering a germ warfare agent which creates the effect of a nerve gas. A germ warfare agent which could be vaccinated against"

The General laughed. "I am going to regret killing you, you are truly one of the best adversaries I have come across, even if you were a bit clumsy."
The sound of footsteps coming down the corridor interrupted the general. He turned around to look at who it was. Steve could see a man he had not seen before. The general showed him the printouts for a moment.
"That's it" he said in an English accent, "This has saved us two years of research general"
"So anyone can follow the instructions on this print out to institute clean-wipe?" the general asked
The man nodded, "any technician with a gene constructor could follow those notes, I remember Drafaus was very particular about writing things in plain English"
"That's very good Frazer, just what I needed to know"
Suddenly a single shot rang out, the man collapsed and the general blew across the muzzle of his small hand gun.
"Thank you for your time Frazer" The general sneered, "But I have my own technicians who are not contaminated"
"Now for you lot" The general said turning back to Steve.
"General" came a shout down the corridor, the voice sounded like that of J W Samson. The general turned around to see the man running down the corridor.
"What is it now Samson, I have an execution to supervise here" the general asked.
Samson arrived out of breathe; he caught sight of the man lying dead on the floor. "What the Sam hill are you playing at sir; he was working on Clean-wipe"

The general waved the printouts at Samson, "we don't need him any more, as we have the original clean-wipe. Now what is it Samson"
The commander caught his breath and then answered, "General, its Colonel Samuel Travers, he has just ordered the marines to arrest all personnel from Edzell"
"What!” exclaimed Reynolds.
"It seems he has some sort of evidence to connect us with the white slavery rackets, and he is closing in on us now. We have to go now sir, we may just make it to the Shetland base"
"But your hover-car does not have the range commander"
"I have the Mig ninety eight outside sir, it’s the only aircraft we have with the range, plus it can make short work of any hover-tank. If we leave now, we can get away before any of the troops arrive."
The general turned back to the two MP's. "We have to go now, wait one minute and make sure every one is dead"
"Yes Sir" replied the MP in the computer room

"After you have killed every one, you are to shoot yourselves"
"Yes Sir" they both answered, the loyalty drug was very effective. It was a pity the general thought, that he could not use it on the [strike]army[/strike] marines, but couldn't have everything. With that, the General saluted the MP's, the MP's saluted back. Steve reached his kit bag and felt inside for a distress flare, while the Americans attention was elsewhere.

Samson and Reynolds left the centre and walked swiftly through the corridors to the main exit in stony silence. Why hadn't Samson taken care of Travers a year ago he wondered? Now they had to withdraw and regroup. Reynolds reached the exit first, he looked at the sky. The sun was breaking through the clouds as the snow storm faded away. He looked across the quad to the captured Russian helicopter, its blades rotating and waiting for take off. He un-holstered his machine pistol and walked up to it; Samson only just managed to catch up.

"Where to" Asked the pilot as the general got in beside him.
The general told him "It's ok I have another pilot". He levelled up his gun so the bullets would not harm the helicopter, and then fired a burst of gun fire through the pilots head.
"Are you crazy" Yelled Commander Samson, "He was the best pilot I had"
The general pointed the gun at Samson, "you can still fly these things can't you"
"Why, sure I can, and you don't need to point that thing at me sir" the commander replied.
"Then let’s get out of here"
Samson pulled the body of the pilot out of the helicopter and got in the pilot seat.
"Move" yelled Reynolds.
Samson pulled back on the stick and lifted the helicopter off of the ground. At once the hover-car containing the two marines, assigned by Colonel Travers, came into view "This is lieutenant Daniel Peters to the Mig ninety eight" came a voice over the radio as the helicopter rose up, "You are ordered to put down"
"That's what you think, boy" Samson said under his breath as he launched a diamond-back air to air missile. The missile streaked from the launch tube and twisted to home in on the hover-car. The hover-car dived to avoid the missile, but it was useless and the vehicle exploded as the missile struck home.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Unknown to Steve, the Computer operator that he had shot with his stun bolt gun was recovering. The operator had heard what the general had ordered, he didn't care much about the group that had invaded his computer room, but his colleagues were a different matter. He leapt up at the marine left in the corridor, caught him with a right hook and knocked the MP to the ground. The MP dropped his gun, so the computer operator went to kick it away, but he never made it. The marine in the computer room turned round, and in seconds the computer operator was thrown forward, as he was hit in the back by the full blast of the machine pistol. Then Steve saw his chance, and launched the signal flare at the MP in the computer room. He screamed and dropped his gun, as he tried to shield his face from the burning flare that had ignited his combat suit. He walked backwards and fell through the broken window. Steve got up and grabbed a fire extinguisher and played it on the burning MP.
"Anyone still alive back there" Steve yelled, half expecting there to be no reply.
"I'm ok" shouted David
"So am I" Trevor shouted
"And me, I'm ok" Sam added.
"Untie the other operators and tie these two MP's up" Steve ordered. He rushed over to Patricia, she had been shot. He put his fingers to just below her jaw and felt for a pulse

"Don't let her be dead, please God, don't let her die" he kept saying to himself.
At last he found it, it was faster but weaker, but there was one there. Her face looked pale, as she lay unconscious in the pool of blood. She had been hit twice, once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen. The bullets had passed straight through her, but she was still alive, barely. David checked over Neel, while Sam checked over Mike. Neel and Mike had similar wounds; miraculously both were still alive, Neel was just semi-conscious.
"I'm back" came Philip's voice, "what the hell happened here?”
"We've been shot at" shouted David answered, "can't you see?”
"Need any help", came another voice that seemed familiar to Steve.
He looked up at the shattered window; he could not believe who it was. He had aged since he had just seen him, but it was him, Bradley Peters.

"I left well alone twenty years ago Steve, but I can damn well interfere now"
"Patricia's been shot, she's dying Brad" Steve told him.
Brad went through the airlock and looked at the other two who had been hit by the gunfire. "I'm afraid medicine is not one of my talents" he said.
"Do any of you know first aid?" Steve asked the computer operators who had been released.

"I did a course last year" said one, "I got the Red Cross certificate"
"I'm sorry I had to pull a gun on you, but please help them, especially the girl. Now I have to try and stop the general and the commander. Sam, David come with me. The rest of you just do what these operators tell you" replied Steve.
Brad took out a portable video phone, "I'm going to get an ambulance Steve" he said tapping in the emergency number.
"Ok Brad" replied Steve.
"Hey, what about the Marines, their closing in on this place" asked Philip.
"If its [strike]army[/strike] marines surrender, they may be on our side." answered Steve "Right David, Sam come with me". Then Steve grabbed a Machine pistol and his bag and the three of them ran down the corridor. A minute later they reached the outside in time to see both General Reynolds and Commander J .W. Samson flying off in the Soviet marked attack helicopter.
"We've got to stop him before they get a chance to make up that biological weapon" Shouted Sam
"Who are you?" Came a voice from behind. It was the MP they had met when they first came in. He had lost the glazed expression; evidently the CIA mind control drug had worn off quickly due to the neurological effects of the Stun bolt gun.
"Your Commander and the General have used all of you to try to get hold of an illegal biological weapon for themselves." David explained
"He has also drugged every other MP with a banned CIA loyalty drug" added Steve
"So that explains what the Sam hill I’m doing here" Shouted the MP.
"The marines are coming" Steve told the MP, "you will have to surrender to them; Colonel Travers has ordered the arrest of all MP's. Now I need a way of intercepting that helicopter."
The MP looked around the snow covered quad, then a metallic glint caught his eye, "Over there, its the wing commanders hover-car"
"Is it armed?" asked Sam.
"Yes, but it has a hand print recognition system"
"Only Sam and I will take the hover-car Dave, to cut down on weight, you stay here and deal with the marines" Steve said to David, and then he and Sam legged it to the hover-car.

It was by luck that Samson had not locked the hover-car, perhaps under martial law; no one would dare steal it. Steve threw Sam his kit bag in and jumped into the driver’s seat, Sam got into the front passenger seat. Then they saw there was no ignition key.
"Sod it" yelled Sam
Steve reached inside his pocket and pulled out, what looked to Sam, like a Perspex car key. He placed it inside the ignition, the hover-car started up.
"Handy things electronic skeleton keys" he said as he pulled the hover-car straight up, "Sam, in my bag are some signal flare, we may need them to divert heat seekers from either the marines or the helicopter"
"No problem Steve"
Steve put his foot hard on the accelerator; both were thrown back in their seats as the hover-car accelerated over the tops of the university buildings, in pursuit of the helicopter.
"Are you sure we can catch up with them?" asked Sam.
"The military hover-car can fly faster than most helicopters" explained Steve, "in fact the helicopter is being replaced by the hover vehicles. Just try and bypass that palm print recogniser Sam"
"Then why have helicopters now" Sam asked as he started to unscrew the palm print recogniser"
"Because the helicopter still has a longer range"

General Reynolds looked at the radar screen; he could see two hover-tanks in front of them. "Take them out Samson" he ordered.
Wing commander Samson flicked a switch on his control stick with his right thumb; a TV screen flickered on, showing graphics of various weapons and missiles. Samson touched screen with his left index finger at the icon of a long range air to air missile. He put his hand back on the control stick and pressed the fire button twice. Two missiles dropped from the helicopter, a second later the rocket motors ignited. The missiles screeched forwards towards the two hover-tanks. They tried to take evasive action, but the missiles had locked onto them. One missile struck home, and the hover-tank exploded in a fire ball, there had not been time to bail out. The other hover-tank ditched into the sea, hoping that the cold water would hide it from the heat seeker. The missile was not fooled, and it homed in on the sinking hover-tank anyway. Once again, there were no survivors.

"We have a clear run to our Shetland base now sir" Samson said to Reynolds.
"What about the other hover-tanks Samson, there were supposed to be four patrolling the coast and two over Deeside?"
"I have no idea sir, but they can't catch up with us now"

It was five minutes into the flight when Steve located the helicopter on the radar.
"How are you coming along with that palm print recogniser" Steve asked Sam.
"This is more Neel's line Steve, so don't hold your breath"
"Great!, have we got any weapons working"
"No, not even the guns"
"Brilliant"
Suddenly an alarm went off in the car. Steve cancelled it.
"What was that Steve" Sam asked with apprehension
"We've been scanned by the radar from the helicopter Sam" Steve said and then picked up the radio mike, maybe he could bluff his way out. "You return that helicopter to Aberdeen, you are under arrest" Steve said over his radio.

As General Reynolds heard this order, he looked at the radar screen, a blip was coming up from behind. He pressed a button on the battle computer to get identification. The computer threw up a schematic drawing of an armed military hover-car. "Looks like someone's got an armed hover-car Samson"
"There were only two of them in Aberdeen sir, the one we destroyed and mine"
"If you don't return now" came a voice over the radio, "we will open fire"
"He's bluffing general, only my palm print can activate the weapons system in that vehicle"

"Take it out Samson, I recognise that voice now" General Reynolds told Samson, "It's that Mr Gryson, he must have escaped some how"
Commander Samson switched on the ordinance selector and put his finger on the icon for a rearward firing missile. He pressed the fire button. Another missile fell from the helicopter and ignited its rocket motor. The missile went through an immediate U turn, and headed for the hover-car

Steve saw the missile coming in on the radar. "Sam fire one of the signal flares out of the window" Shouted the Steve.
Sam dropped what he was doing to the palm print recogniser, and hastily picked up one of the signal flares and fired it out of the window. Steve immediately banked the hover-car away and headed downwards towards the sea, to try to avoid the incoming heat seeker.
As the signal flare exploded in an orange spectacular, the missile diverted from its collision course with the hover-car, to the new hotter target. It homed in and detonated on the burning remnants of the signal flare
"I'll try to hot wire this palm print thingy" Shouted Sam "I have an idea, we may get at least one shot"

"I'll need to engage in combat sir, so I can use the Diamond-backs" Samson said as soon as he realised that the missile had failed.
"Just do it, I want him dead" The general replied.
The helicopter slowed down and banked around. The commander selected the diamond-back, advanced medium to short range, air to air missile. The helicopter managed to get on to the hover-car's tail. The hover-car dropped until it was just skimming above the swells of the North Sea. Samson set the aiming lock onto the hover-car and pressed the fire. The missile streaked from the launch tube on its final journey to the hover-car.

Steve noticed the missile on the radar. "Inbound missile" Yelled Steve
Sam dropped what he was doing with the palm print recogniser, and fired another signal flare out the window in the direction of the missile. Steve banked the hover-car and clipped a wave. The signal flare exploded into its characteristic orange ball, the missile diverted its course towards it, and exploded on the burning flare. The hover-car started spluttering, the water from the wave had overwhelmed one of the minor thruster units.
"We've problems Sam, we may not have much flying time left" Steve said as he looked at the various warning lights that had come on.
"Your telling me Steve, that chopper's probably got more missiles than we have signal flares, we can't keep this up, he may have one that locks on by radar" Sam replied.
"Good point Sam" said Steve as he shut down the radar, now they were flying blind.

Samson launched two missiles, one had to get through this time, he thought. Steve saw the missile launch in the rear view mirror. "Two" he yelled.
Sam grabbed at two signal flares and fired them at the helicopter. Steve banked the hover-car again, but he could feel that it was starting to give out. He crashed through another wave and tried to pull up. The two missiles began homing in on the hover-car's exhaust; suddenly one of them saw a better target and left the other missile to carry on alone.
"****" Yelled Sam, "one of them hasn't taken the flare." He launched another signal flare at it, but it had no effect. In desperation he switched the radar unit on at full power. "Take us up" he screamed.
The missile was homing in on the nice neat radar footprint of the hover-car, when suddenly it was blinded by the power of the hover-car's radar output. It continued straight on, it had no choice as it delicate radar unit had just been fried. A second later the missile exploded as it hit the surface of the water. The water plume hit the hover-car, and it shook as the blast wave caught up with it. Another warning signal sounded in the hover-car. "That's all we need" shouted Steve
"What's happened now?" asked Sam
"That last explosion has damaged a thruster unit." explained Steve, "we're dead unless you have anything"
"I have Steve, but the only way around the recogniser is to burn it out, which means we will loose all power. You will have weapons for five seconds before we drop like a stone"

"Damn it" said Samson, as the helicopter flew over the hover-car. "I really thought we had it then, I'm switching to cannons". He touched the screen to select the seventeen millimetre cannon. A red phrase in Russian filled the screen for a moment. "What the hell is that?" he asked.
"It means out of ammunition Samson, the Mig had a non standard calibre, I could not find any ammunition in time" explained the general, "it was bad enough fitting our missiles to it". He glanced out of the window at the hover-car in the distance, he could see a trace of smoke from the rear. "It looks like he may have sustained some damage, he's a sitting duck" the general added.
"Then lets finish this b*****d off and get going" said the commander, "the radar shows a hover-tank nine miles and closing"
"Fine by me Samson"

The commander banked the helicopter around again. He selected two more diamond-back missiles. The hover-car seemed to have stopped moving and was just hovering above the height of the waves. He noticed that front of the vehicle was tracking him, no matter, no one he thought could bypass the palm print recogniser. It was as though they were waiting for death to swallow them up. He dived the helicopter at the hover-car, and fired the two missiles.

"In" started Steve as he saw the missiles race from the helicopter.
Sam fired a signal flare out of his window, Steve did likewise.
"Now" shouted Sam as he stuck a pair of pliers into an open panel in the dash board. He shielded his eyes from a large flash of burning electronic circuits. Steve started pressing several times on the missile launch button. The two diamond back missiles of the armed hover-car screamed out from the launch tubes, up towards the helicopter.

Samson and Reynolds looked the incoming missiles in horror. Samson tried to bank the helicopter around to avoid the deadly missiles. But the speed of the dive meant the helicopter could not pull away in time, and it strayed fatally into the path of the diamond-back missiles. The helicopter transformed into a brilliant red fireball as the hydrogen fuel, and the other ordinance exploded as well.

Sam and Steve felt the lurch of the hover-car as the motors failed utterly.
"Life jacket, under seat" Yelled Steve as the car splashed into the sea. Water started rushing through the open window as the hover-car started to sink. Sam and Steve undid their seat belts and grabbed at a cord between their legs, and pulled. Out came two bright yellow deflated life jackets. Steve motioned to Sam to swim out of the window, as the hover-car was sinking rapidly. Sam had to will himself to move in the icy cold water of the North Sea, he kept his grip firm on the kit bag and the life belt. The water seemed dark and his lungs felt like bursting, as he swam upwards. He struggled to get his life jacket on and pulled the pin on the canister of compressed gas. As the jacket inflated, Sam's rate of ascent increased. A moment later both Steve and Sam broke their heads above the surface.
"We'll be dead in five minutes from the cold" gasped Steve, "I'm sorry Sam, I thought we would come out of this alive"
"I don't think we will have that long" Sam gasped back, as he pointed at a hover-tank that was diving straight at them.