June 19, 2467 Samara Oblast

Xonder

I INHALE THE SCENTS of vodka, cigar smoke and roasted fowl that hang heavy in the air as a thousand memories stir in my mind. Absentmindedly, I reach for my glass of vodka but stop myself before taking a drink. Easy, Xonder. Put the glass down, before you lose it, I chide myself. The last thing I need tonight is a fuzzy head.

My fingers drum impatiently against the mahogany side table as I scan the crowd and I reach for a cigarette from the tray on the table. I light up and take a draw on the cancer-stick, hoping the nicotine will help calm me. Where in the blue blazes is he? Pascal was supposed to be here by now.

A flash of green among the uniforms distracts from my frustration and my eyes drift to the area where it came from, somewhere towards the center-right of the room. There it is again. I lower the cigarette and search the area where the red appeared. I don't see-wait, there it is. One of the girls hired to 'entertain' the party guests slipping through the crowd.

She's attractive in a emerald cocktail dress that showcases her ivory complexion and long legs, and the male soldiers around her take the time to appreciate those long legs. I catch a glimpse of her face, which seems a bit familiar-but, to be honest, her face isn't what I'm staring at.

The red-head seems to have taken my inappropriate staring as interest, because she turns and heads towards me.

Uh-oh.

I swallow hard, racing to come up with a way to dodge her.

And that's when I recognize her.

Katura Bayliss,

Under normal circumstances, I would appreciate the unusual amount of skin the short dress shows off. Under normal circumstances, I would probably stare at her a bit longer than necessary-because, well, I'm male. But right now, it's all I can do not to wrap my fingers around her throat and demand to know what on earth she thinks she's doing.

Katura dodges a very drunk Lieutenant and slides up to me, looping an arm through mine as she smiles demurely. I frown intensely at her and she releases a high-pitched giggle.

"A lovely night for a walk, isn't it Private?" she purrs, leaning into my side. I feel something hard dig into my hip, the unmistakeable feel and shape of a pistol. Great, the last thing we need is her getting caught with an illegal weapon-a mandatory five-year transportation sentence.

I'm planning the easiest and least noticeable way to drag her out by her hair when I feel a small piece of paper being pressed into my hand. Frowning, I look up. The smile is still pasted on, but in her eyes I see fear.

She leans close, painted lips next to my ear.

"They know we're here."

She leans back, flirty smile back in place and sashays towards a side door.

I unfold the small square of paper.

Cover blown, Pascal arrested. Get out now.

I calmly stuff the paper into my pocket and crush the still-glowing cigarette between my fingers, glancing casually around the room. No one seems to be overtly watching us and I don't see anyone pulling a weapon yet.

Heart racing, I follow Katura. If she's is right and our cover is blown, then we have only minutes to get out before we are captured or killed. Both scenarios I'd like to avoid.

I step into the dark hallway that Katura disappeared into only moments ago but see no sign of her. Cautiously, I peer around the corner.

"Behind you."

I jump, and whirl around, hand going to my hip. Katura barely suppresses a grin at my reaction, biting her lip and glancing away.

"Now would you like to explain to me why you blatantly disregarded orders, snuck in here and jeopardized our mission?" I growl, keeping my voice low

Katura scowls. "I came because Pascal was apprehended in his attempt to procure documents from the Colonel's office, and, after a rather gruesome interrogation, informed the guards of our presence."

For some stupid reason, my throat goes dry. I swallow and shove down a siege of memories that threaten to surface. I need to focus.

Now is not the time, Xonder. Get a grip.

"I'll call the others and tell them to get out and head for the river." I dig in my pocket for my comlink.

Katura shakes her head. "I've already alerted the others."

I nod. "Then let's get out of here." I head for the east wing, Katura fast on my heels as I set a new speed-walking record. She slows for a moment, cocking her head and listening.

"What?" I ask, stopping and turning my head but hearing nothing out of the ordinary.

Her eyes widen and she grabs my arm, breaking into a run. "They're coming down the east staircase!"

I yank my arm away, breaking into a sprint. "How can you tell?" I don't hear anything.

Just then, a bullet flies by my head, so close I can feel the breeze of it against my ear.

"Get down!" I shout, ducking and scrambling further down the hallway, away from the exit to the stairway. Up ahead, there is an open door that leads to another hallway. "Through there," I order. We scramble across the carpeting and dive through the doorway. I roll onto my back and draw my sidearm, flipping the safety off with my thumb and sending a hail of bullets in the direction of the approaching officers. They scatter, throwing themselves to the floor and into open doors for cover. I roll to my feet.

"Grab that chair," I order as I close and lock the door. It's made of heavy wood that will at least slow bullets, if not stop them. Katura hands me the chair that was against the wall and I prop it underneath the handle as bullets slam into the other side of the door.

"That isn't going to hold for very long," Katura points out.
I turn and glare at her. "You think I don't know that?" I eject my magazine and snap a new one in, trying to ignore the sounds of splintering wood as I stalk to the window and look down, trying gauge how far the drop is.

"One-point-eight metres," Katura says, as if reading my thoughts.

I open the window and step back as Katura climbs through. After she jumps, I position myself on the windowsill and push off, landing in a bed of pine needles. On the ground, I'm hit by a wave of thick, humid air.

Katura disengages the safety on her weapon and turns to me, her green eyes alert. "What now?"

"This way." I grab her by the arm and head for the wall, pausing under a small group of willows. I wait to see if I detect any movement in the night. Nothing.

"Agent Komerov-" Katura says.

I turn in time to hear the click of a weapon.

"Run!" I hiss as bullets slice through the drooping branches. We tear out of the shadows and towards the wall at a breakneck pace. I look up and realize that the wall is topped with razor wire.

Crap.

A bullet pierces my left forearm and sends a shockwave of pain through my body. Before I can stifle it, a yell of pain escapes me, and I double over. Katura pushes me from behind and somehow, I make it to the top of the fence as she provides cover fire. I throw my left leg over the curls of razor wire, my pilfered NP uniform protecting me from being seriously hurt. I nick my hand climbing down but otherwise make it over without getting cut.

Katura appears at the top of the fence and jumps/falls over the razor wire and to the ground with a yelp. Blood stains the side of her dress.

"Okay?" I ask, barely glancing at her.

Katura nods. "I'm fine."

Another hail of bullets shreds the ground around us and we scramble back, taking cover in a crevice of the wall. I check my gun and find I only have five rounds left. Katura hands me her extra magazine and I nod in thanks, stuffing it in my pocket.

Suddenly, figures appear at the top of the wall and one drops to the ground, just metres away from our hiding spot. Katura and I both bring our weapons up but I quickly lower mine, recognizing the person as J.

"Williams!" I hiss. J turns and spots us against the wall just as Kevin drops to the ground. They join us in our little hiding spot as rounds plow into the spot where they stood moments ago, sending chips of stone flying in all directions.

"We need to get to the river," I order as soon as they're close enough.

"Where is Ian?" Katura asks.

Kevin takes her gun. "Right behind us." He gestures to the wall, but there's no sign of his twin. Fear creeps into his voice. "Or he was." He stands and takes a step towards the section of the wall from where they jumped. "He was right behind us," he insists, starting to look panicked. "Ian!" he shouts, drawing fire.

"Shut up!" I snap at him. "You want to get us killed?" I yank the gun away from him and hand it to J, trying to ignore the sick feeling spreading through me. "There's nothing we can do."

"No," Kevin snaps. "He was right behind us."

Katura stands. "There are two rotor ships inbound from the north."

I spit out a curse. "Great. Okay." I run a hand over my hair. "Run for the river, J and I will provide cover fire." I look to J, who nods.

"Ready."

We rush towards the ledge, J and I firing off short bursts at the men on the wall. Kevin and Katura go over the cliff and I fire one last burst before J and I turn and jump over the side.

The air curls around me for what seems like an eternity before I finally hit the water. Even though it's already late June, the Volga is cold. And I don't mean just a little bit. The icy water rushes around me and numbs the pulsating pain in my arm. I break the surface of the water and barely manage to stay afloat as the strong current tosses me to and fro and pulls me downstream. Katura not only manages to stay afloat but seems to navigate the frigid waters with ease, while a loud splash tells me that the others are not far behind.

I pick up speed as bullets slice into the water some distance away, a few coming too close for comfort. Is it just my imagination, or are the bullets getter closer? Hopefully, someone's just getting off some lucky shots. Some very lucky shots.

Gritting my teeth, I swim towards a rocky beach where an outcropping of trees hangs over the water and form a canopy. At least that will provide some cover.

Reaching up, I grab onto a sturdy-looking branch, grimacing at the pain that tears through my arm as I pull myself out of the water. Im almost in the tree when my injured arm gives out and I have to let go to shake it out.

Here.

I look up and see Katura above me, perched in the tree. She reaches down, offering her hand. Hurry.

Hesitantly, I accept her help and manage to make it onto a lower branch just as the rest of our group swims up. I wrap my legs around the tree trunk and we pull first Kevin, then J out of the water.

We lower ourselves onto the rocky shore and I turn back to face the others. Kevin looks shell-shocked, staring wide-eyed at nothing in particular, and J is watching me, waiting for my next order, while Katura is staring back at the mansion across the river. The sounds of rotor ships grab my attention and Im briefly distracted, looking up to the starry sky.

The ships are barely visible by the light of the moon, but coming in fast. We need to get out of here. Now.

Whats our next move? J asks.

I turn back to him, glancing briefly at Katura and Kevin.

"We need to head for Romanovka."

~*~

Katura

Fear is a force of nature. It has a taste, it has a smell. I can smell it now, hanging over our small group as we rush through the forest, dodging branches and tearing through underbrush. It's all I can do to keep from falling on my face-the fancy shoes I pilfered are most definitely not hiking material. Nor is the dress, which is soaking wet from my swim, leaving it plastered against my skin in a way that doesn't leave much to the imagination. If I weren't running for my life, I'd be mortified.

But right now, there's no time to worry about being modest, no time to think about how appalled my mother would be to see me now. The only thing there's time for is running.

My enhanced hearing picks up sounds that the others can't hear; the rushing of the river, already nearly half a kilometer behind us, the insects flitting through the trees. The sudden absence of sound from the rotorships engines.

Ian.

He's gone, for sure. If they haven't killed him already, then they'll torture him until he breaks and then kill him.

My chest constricts, pressure building around my heart.

There's no time to cry over the lost. No time, no time...

Just then, Xonder comes to an abrupt stop ahead. We all brake, though some of us not in time to avoid bumping into the person in front of us.. I crash into Kevin, who reaches out and steadies me.

Xonder opens his mouth to say something, but his attention-and ours-is instantly diverted as a beam of white light breaks through the trees fifty meters away.

"SearchDroid!" J hisses, backing away.

"Scatter!" Xonder orders.

I sprint away from the group, weaving around trees as a silver orb drops below the tree canopy, its searchlight panning the area where I stood just moments ago. I throw myself at a tree large enough to conceal me and press myself into the rough bark, praying that this particular droid doesn't have heat-sensing technology-which is insane; all SearchDroids do.

I hear the soft whirring draw closer and my fingers wrap around the grip of my pistol. But before I can even disengage the safety, gunfire erupts behind me, drawing the droid away. Taking advantage of the droid's distraction, I sprint deeper into the forest. Catching sight of Kevin, I slow a bit and turn, attempting to locate the source of gunfire.

The first thing I see is J, standing out in the open, gun pointed at the droid as he fires. The second is the droid itself, weaving up and down, but bearing down on him fast. J's gun clicks, his ammunition spent.

"Duck!" I shout to him in Russian, leveling my gun at the silver orb.

J hits the ground as my first two shots ping off of the droid. Immediately, the droid stops and reverses its course. Lowering my gun, I turn and run, heading straight for Kevin. I barrel into his side and we both go down, rolling down into a small gulley where I land on top of him.

"What the-"

I cut off Kevin's curse with a hand over his mouth and motion for him to be quiet as the white beam of light searches over our heads. We freeze and I listen for the soft whirring of the droid. Mentally cataloging my ammunition, I try to calm my breathing. I only have 3-5 rounds left and they have to count.

"Otvali ot menya," Kevin mutters in a whisper. Get off of me.

I turn to glare at him, but stop when I catch sight of the object in his hand. It takes me a moment to realize what it is, but when I do, an involuntary smile spreads over my face.

An energy gun.

Rolling off of him, I resist the urge to ask where he got the weapon, not sure that I want to know.

Kevin holds up three fingers and I nod. We don't need words to communicate, he and I. He trained me, taught me most of what I know about combat. I know how his mind operates, and he knows how mine operates.

Two fingers. I crouch, feet under me.

One finger.

Go.

I explode from the underbrush, firing a round in the droid's direction and racing away from Kevin. The droid turns, firing energy blasts in my direction. One leaves a scorch mark on a nearby tree, barely missing my head. Then, I hear a sharp snap, followed by a dull thunk.

Turning around, I see Kevin, gun in hand as he advances on the downed droid. He kicks the warped hunk of metal and, when it doesn't move, turns to me, his pale-green eyes alight with a mix of determination and anger.

"The National Police will be swarming this area in minutes. We need to get out of here. Now."

I nod, taking in his resolve, his lack of fear, and making it my own.

We set off through the forest again, in the direction of where we last saw J. I flip my safety back into the 'on' position as the others come into view. Xonder turns to us, stoic and stone-faced as always

Fear is a force of nature.

But it can be beaten.