"There's nowhere else they could've gone but this way, LT!" bellowed a deep, serious male voice from the darkness. The man flicked on the LED lights mounted on each side of his helmet. The action preceded the ignition of two more sets of lights. The beams cut through the blackness to illuminate the hallway and the faces of three individuals, one of which belonged to a tall, slender man well into his sixties.
"LT! LT! There you are!" shouted a fourth soldier sprinting down the hallway toward the others.
All three helmet lights turned in the approaching man's direction.
"Yes, what is it, PFC Cheong?" the older man asked in a thick Scottish accent.
As he arrived, the young man stopped, bent over, and took a moment to catch his breath before speaking. He clicked on his helmet lights and handed an empty liquor bottle to his commanding officer. "Sir...uh...LT, sir...it's confirmed. There's a runner here."
"Interesting. I thought this polygon of the city was sprayed for life. Sergeant Yost, am I incorrect?" the officer inquired.
The heavy voice spoke once more in reply, "Yessir, it was. Nothing native should be alive. It would have to be either a miracle, The Phantom, or..."
The lieutenant interrupted his NCO (noncommissioned officer) by presenting him with the empty alcohol bottle. "Well, whoever this phantom is sergeant, they have excellent taste. In fact, I would like to point out that this particular ghost wiped out a $7,000 bottle of scotch."
A bony, pointer finger emerged from the dark and moved to within inches of the NCO's chubby, stubble-ridden face. "Either way, it's confirmed. Sergeant Yost, you, PFC Waite, and PFC Cheong continue to search this hotel. Find my runner."
"Lieutenant?"
"You heard me." The old man's eyes narrowed in an attempt to see the sergeant's face through the piercing white lights shining over him.
"What do we do if it's him, sir?"
"If it's who, Yost?"
A set of lights panned down the hall to the left and then the right. "You know...Parker Raymond. The Legendary Phantom everyone's been talking about. The one who has killed every Negexis Agent sent in after him," Sergeant Yost whispered.
"Legendary Phantom, bah! He is just a man. And to that end, what would it matter if it was the devil himself, sergeant? You have your orders, soldier, and they're not debatable...that is unless you want to become part of a Negexis experiment. Is that what you want?"
Sergeant Yost quickly stood at attention. "No sir, Lieutenant Sir!"
"Then, find whoever this straggler is...Parker Raymond or not, and bring them to me!" The officer paused for effect. "Look, I know we have been told to capture this threat alive, but at this point, I'm not willing to lose anymore soldiers chasing after dangerous runners. So, do your best to take this one alive, but do not hesitate to use force, understood?"
"Sir, yessir!" the three soldiers shouted in chorus.
"Very well, carry on, gentlemen," the officer said and briskly left.
The trio of remaining soldiers watched their senior officer's helmet lamps disappear down the hallway that led toward the street.
"Let's fan out..."
"Hold on, Sarge. You are joking, no?" PFC Waite exclaimed with a slightly French accent.
"You heard the LT, Waite. It's not like we have a choice," PFC Cheong said.
"Mew!"
"What was that?"
"It sounded like a felinamalis! I do believe the sound came from that direction," PFC Waite responded with a tilt of his helmet.
<<*>>
"Shit," Parker thought, clutching his pistol in one hand and the strap of his haversack in the other. He had nowhere else to run and he could now see the lights coming his way. "Wait a second...that guy called me a phantom right? Alright then, I'll give them a phantom!"
Parker reached in and briefly ran his fingers over Broadway's soft warm body in an attempt to reassure the kitten everything was alright. He removed his bag from his shoulder and set it aside. With it on the ground, Parker quietly ejected a bullet from his pistol into his palm. He knelt down, eased just the edge of his face around the corner, and tossed the bullet down the hall. The shell made a decent amount of racket as it made contact with something metal hidden in the dark.
Parker watched the three helmet lights all turn away from him and down the hall. He ran over to the exit and quickly slapped the bar, careful not to open the door. Parker narrowly made it back into the cover of darkness before the lights turned in his direction.
<<*>>
"What the hell is going on, Sarge!?!!" Cheong inquired.
"I don't know, but it sounded like he just went through those doors! Let's go, Waite!" the large man barked and immediately began jogging toward Parker's direction. "Cheong, you go find out where that other noise came from, there might be more of these bastards!"
"Roger that, Sarg!"
<<*>>
Parker slung the bag with Broadway still inside over his body just as the rotund soldier called 'Sarge' blew by and sailed through the opening door. He screamed as he fell, tumbling to his death in the crater below.
"Sarge!" The second soldier stopped, teetering on the edge of the doorway. As he began to fall, the man grabbed the center brace between the double doors, only narrowly avoiding his date with death.
Taking the opportunity to rid himself of one more threat, Parker ran up to shove the soldier. His plan suddenly went awry as his intended victim turned and grabbed the haversack's strap, yanking Parker and Broadway with him toward their doom.
YOU ARE READING
Voynich Shift - Season One (COMPLETED)
Science FictionParker Raymond recently inherited his estranged grandfather's large plantation home in Savannah, Georgia. The Spanish Moss hanging from the estate's large oaks, its massive gardens, and a near endless bank account were, in the end, not what captured...
