From No Tomorrow

Assassination

The next morning, Elzbieta awoke to the sensation of Akyta prodding her awake, trying to be gentle.

"What?" Elzbieta mumbled, sitting up. "What is it, Akyta? It's still dark out."

"Exactly," Akyta agreed. "We can still sneak into the compound. I am not waiting all day for sundown."

Looking at Akyta, Elzbieta saw her to be deadly serious. Replacing her usual morning fog was a murderous look in her eyes, which stared at her with a laser's focus.

"Let's go," Elzbieta accepted.

Back up at the top of the building from which they had planned the heist, Elzbieta wrapped the rope around a sturdy protrusion and tied it with a special knot. On the edge, Akyta dialed the amulet to bring them back to the exact time of the latest public execution. She then tucked it back into her cloak.

"Ready?" asked Elzbieta, approaching the edge with her coiled rope.

"Ready," Akyta confirmed.

Draping the coiled rope over the edge, Elzbieta slowly let its end down, watching with nerves like piano wires as the soldiers obliviously continued their watches.

When, at last, the rope was all the way down, Akyta climbed over the edge, then straddled the rope, inching slowly down the shadowy wall.

"Hurry," urged Elzbieta, continuing to watch the guards.

"This is harder than it looks when you've got at least twenty pounds of guns and ammo strapped to you."

Understanding, Elzbieta silenced and tried to tear her eyes away from the guards, before finally deciding that Akyta had enough of a head start. As Elzbieta began after her partner, the rope sustained their combined weight without complaint.

"Hey!" came that inevitable shout, when the two were just over halfway down. "What are you two doing?"

In response, Elzbieta froze in place, while Akyta slid down the remainder of the rope and leapt to the ground, landing with a heavy rattle.

As Elzbieta hastily resumed her descent, she saw Akyta dash for the nearest warehouse. She cringed as gunshots pierced the air, she but did not stop. Instead, as soon as she touched the ground, she identified the warehouse Akyta had run to and made for it. When she did, she heard the gunshots suddenly stop.

"Grenade!" she heard a male voice shout, followed by the ear-splitting pop of one of Akyta's pineapple grenades. A cloudy puff of smoke rose from the epicenter of the explosion, partially obscuring Elzbieta as she slid to a stop in the warehouse's interior.

To her horror, Elzbieta looked around, but could not find Akyta.

"Up here!" called Akyta's voice from behind and above.

Wheeling around, Elzbieta saw her partner standing in the open hatch of one of the vehicles. Urged by the renewed sound of renewed gunshots behind her, Elzbieta scrambled aboard and leapt into the hatch, heaving it shut behind her.

"Why here?" she reprimanded. "Do we even know that this thing was here two days ago?"

"No," Akyta unreservedly admitted. "Now grab on."

Once Elzbieta had a firm grip on the amulet, Akyta pressed the button, and that familiar greenish glow appeared on the amulet before very slowly spreading to its two users. Just as angry footsteps could be heard on the hull of the machine, the world began to go blurry, then glow.

When the glow subsided, all was quiet. A stiff breeze swirled around the cockpit, then stopped as the pair sweated in the suddenly warmer air. The various instruments and delicate protrusions in the cockpit were undamaged.