The Black Guard: Book II: Evolution (Black Guard Series 2) (29 page)

Goebel's face turned ashen and he remained silent for a
long time. "The games …" he mumbled.

"Sir, authorize an extension to the current Jax
contract for marine support. My current detail can't hold off your security and
guard the eight I'm currently assigned. And then there are the other fifty-six
contestants who are unprotected.

"Will it help?"

"I can't promise anything, as the situation is
escalating quickly. I can only promise that we will do our best to minimize the
damage. The alternative is to cancel the contract with the Jax and let Kesslar
take responsibility."

"No!" he shouted, then took several deep
breaths before continuing. "I, Harold Goebel, chairman of the Draco War
Games, do hereby authorize an extension to the current Jax contact to include
whatever marines you need to protect the contestants."

"I'll be in touch." I clicked onto my link to
Colonel Wolfson.

"Sapir, how are things—"

"I need thirty combat marines as fast as you can
get them here. Goebel has agreed to an extension to the current contract."

To his credit, Wolfson didn't ask why, and I could hear
him giving orders to someone. A few minutes later he smiled. "Gunny Trapp
is getting the team together as we speak. I estimate he should arrive in less
than two hours. Captain Hwang is lowering our orbit to help shorten the time.
Trapp will contact you on Jax channel eighty-eight. Good luck, Sapir."

"Sir, all Guards are now in the hallway between
rooms 205 and 220. We've four guarding the stairway to the first and third
levels and the elevator," Ceder said after a quiet talk with Elijah. "They
report the fighting is intensifying at both ends.

"That stairway will be critical. Colonel Wolfson
has thirty marines on the way. I'll want to clear the lobby to open the door
for the marines. What's our medical status?"

"We have three wounded: two are minor and one
semi-serious. All three are functional. They are reporting seven security
guards dead," Elijah said, then smiled. "That leaves only a piffling
ninety-three. Are you sure we need the marines?"

I loved these people. Not a hint of nerves.
Professionals engaged in doing their jobs. They didn't hate the security guards,
nor would they take pleasure in killing them.

"I feel sorry for the marines up there with nothing
to do, so we should save a few for them," I said, trying to look serious.
Fortunately, I had sent Zenaida's three companions into another room, although
Zenaida had insisted on staying, saying she wanted to witness the real action.

* * *

"Captain Sapir, we are about twenty minutes out. We
could blow out the front door and save you the trouble of opening it,"
Trapp said, grinning. From the look on his face, he was hyped and looking
forward to the coming action.

"It may come to that. Contact me when you reach the
entrance," I cut the connection. "All right, the marines are within
twenty minutes of the front door. I want two teams of five, designated team Alpha
and Beta, ready to engage the security forces at Rooms 205 and 220, and a team
of ten, designated team Gamma, to clear the lobby. The attack will occur
simultaneously on my command. Teams Alpha and Beta will clear level two, then
use the second stairs to engage the security force in the lobby. Team Gamma
will distract the lobby forces until teams Alpha and Beta arrive."

Elijah and Ceder nodded and were out the door to get the
teams organized.

"You need the marines to manage the contestants,
not to remove security," Zenaida said quietly as if to herself but
watching me as she did. "Kesslar will know through his contacts that the
marines are coming and will have most of his troops in the lobby, thinking he
can hold you up here on the second floor with only a small number of his
forces. So you have them collected in the lobby, thinking the marines are the
real threat and preparing to defend the entrance, not access from the stairs."

I nodded, mentally conceding I was glad Kesslar and not
Zenaida was commanding the security troops.

Ten minutes later, I stood at the door to the hallway stairs
we controlled. I had briefed everyone that they were to use stars and lasers
only, to avoid notifying the lobby troops what was happening on the second
floor. I typed, "Go in fifteen seconds," and tapped on the icon that
would send the message and start the countdown clock running.

When the clock hit zero, Mintz opened the door and
Corporals Markov and Preis threw stars into the stairwell—one upward and
one downward—and Mintz shut the door. Random shots from automatic weapons
could be heard in the stairwell as we waited the count of five. Then Mintz
opened the door and first Markov then Preis slid into the landing, firing.
Seconds later the rest of Gamma team and I rushed in. Two men lay on the stairs
to the third level and three lay dead on the stairs to the first. When the
Gamma team had assembled on the first level landing, I waited for Ceder to send,
"Second level clear."

"Now," I said, and again Mintz opened the door
and several stars sailed into the lobby and the door slammed shut. Automatic
weapons erupted, sounding like a firing range gone mad. At the count of five,
Mintz opened the door and I and then several others slid into the room. The
room had been organized to provide cover for the troops, who were positioned to
face the entrance to the facility. Right now the room was in chaos. A few men
were standing blindly shooting waist high in every direction, wounding and
killing their own comrades and drawing their fire with the sound of their
weapons. Others lay behind their cover rubbing their eyes, and yet others
crouched behind cover waiting for their sight to recover.

Their problem was that a large number had their backs to
us and no cover.

The Guard and I were using our lasers to silently kill those
standing in plain sight and those who were not protected by some object. At
least twenty went down before their sight had cleared enough for them to begin
to grasp what was happening and to seek cover behind something and begin returning
fire, although still not able to see properly.

"They're coming from stairwell two," Kesslar's
voice shouted, and troopers began shifting around and away from the stairwell
we came through.

We also sought temporary cover and began picking off
those stupid enough to rise up from their cover thinking their automatic
weapons would keep them safe.

"Freddrix, on my command your unit will rush them.
Symth will cover you," Kesslar shouted, urgency in his voice knowing the
marines would soon be arriving.

I knew Alpha and Beta Teams were ready in stairwell one.
I clicked on "Go in ten seconds," waited five seconds, then covered
my eyes with my arms only seconds before stars came flying into the room. After
five seconds I looked up to see the door to stairwell one open and several
Guard slide in and begin shooting. At the same time, Gamma team was on their
feet and we were moving, shooting anyone we could see moving or as we passed
their cover.

"Hands in the air or die!" I shouted.

Slowly, men began standing up with their hands raised.
About half still fought, but it was hopeless—they were all in sight of the
Alpha, Beta, or Gamma team—and their own sight was impaired. Someone shot
Kesslar as he rose screaming and spinning with his weapon on automatic. He hit
at least one Guard, who went down.

"Ceder, the door. We wouldn't want Gunny Trapp to
get impatient and blow the damn thing off its hinges."

"No, sir. It's a beautiful door," he said with
a grin.

"Medics, see to the wounded," I said, hoping there
were no dead. We had a huge advantage but security was armed with automatic
weapons and there had been a lot of metal flying around. I clicked on Elijah's
channel. "Elijah, the lobby is secure. Lock down the contestants and
guests until we can get the marines in place."

A few minutes later, the marines came running in. Gunny
Trapp stopped a few meters from me, saluted, and frowned. "Where's the
party?' he asked, looking around the room.

"They knew you were coming and had barricades set
up to ambush you when you entered. You would have won, but I couldn't live with
Jax dying needlessly."

"Thank you, Captain. As much as my men and I were
looking forward to a good fight, I wouldn't want any Jax dying needlessly
either. Where do you want us?" Trapp said, disappointment evident in his
voice.

"The assignment may not be as exciting as boarding
an enemy cruiser, but believe me, there are hundreds of billions of credits
being wagered on these games and there are
Wanted:
disabled or dead
posters on many of the contestants with who knows how many
bounty hunters in this facility." The chance for quick riches could make
potential bounty hunters out of otherwise normal people. "That doesn't
include fellow contestants who stand to get rich if they place in the top five.
To make matters more interesting, every inhabitable system is watching to see
if the Jax are worth the cost."

"I'll make sure my troops understand the stakes
involved."

* * *

Goebel called the next day. "What's the status,
Captain Sapir? Powerful families are nervous, both on Draco and other systems."
He gave a choked laugh. "That doesn't quite capture the situation. If the people
wagering on the games think they're rigged, Draco is finished. Not only the War
Games but as a system. Isolating Draco or even a revenge strike … And if they
find one or more of our citizens were responsible … war." His voice
alternated between hysteria and a whisper.

"We have accounted for all of the security
personnel we documented when we entered the facility—one hundred and one.
The same is true for the staff. No contestants or their guests were killed,
although five were injured. Your medics on staff have treated them and I'm told
no contestant's life is in danger."

I paused to let him digest the relatively good news.

"We have searched each contestant's area and
dismantled the monitoring devices we identified. Your police will have to
determine if the security people we captured knew of the devices and whether
there are any more. Of course, I don't know whether the War Game software has
been tampered with."

"No!" he shouted. "Sorry, our security is
extremely good and it's monitored by an independent group appointed by several
of the affluent systems. For now, I'll report that security attacked the Black
Guard when the Guard discovered a plot to influence the games."

"I'll leave what you tell the universe and Draco
investors to you. But you have to realize that people were paying for the
opportunity to listen in on the contestants and their guests."

Geobel laughed. "I think they all know and understand
they are not above cheating and to some extent feel it's part of the games.
It's Draco's cheating they wouldn't tolerate."

"Unless you have a reason not to let them, I'd like
the games to continue on schedule. The quicker we can get down to sixteen
candidates, the better I'll feel."

"Yes, the games should continue as scheduled."

"The Games currently have thirty-two contestants.
The contract calls for the Black Guard to watch eight until after the second
round, when we will assume responsibility for the remaining sixteen. Consequently,
I brought thirty-six Black Guard, sufficient to assign two to each of the round
two survivors—sixteen. Even without the loss of three Black Guard in the
firefight and one on the second floor, that is insufficient to adequately cover
thirty-two contestants and provide building security." I said, cursing the
space gods for the bad luck.

The three serious injuries I understood, but the death had
been a freak accident. Blinded, many of the security guards in their panic
turned their guns on automatic and sprayed the area without knowing what they
were shooting at. In fact, an autopsy would undoubtedly prove that they shot
more of their own security guards than the Black Guard. Even so, our body armor
intercepted most of the pellets that did hit. The killing shot had been a
random shard to the eye, the one killing area not protected.

I deliberately brought myself out of the memory. "First
you need to authorize another twenty marines. Without the additional marines, I
can't adequately protect thirty-two contestants and provide facility security."

"I, Harold Gobell, do authorize the addition of
twenty Jax marines to the current contract," he said quickly, knowing the
Jax had sufficient justification to cancel the contract.

"Thank you, Mr. Goebel. I will get back to you when
things get settled."

I clicked off and immediately called Colonel Wolfson,
who said the additional twenty would be at the facility within three hours.
Then I called my lieutenants, senior sergeants, and Gunny Trapp and initiated a
lock down of all contestants and their guests. It took an hour to get everyone
into their rooms.

"Here is the situation …" I spent some time
detailing my talks with Goebel and Wolfson. "When the additional twenty
marines arrive, I will reduce the current two Black Guards on our current eight
contestants to one on each contestant along with one marine. That will leave me
my senior sergeants and officers along with you, Gunny, and the remaining
thirteen marines for building security."

"How are a Black Guard and a marine going to guard four
people twenty-four hours a day?" Trapp asked. "That sounds
impossible."

"It's only temporary, and it's more like room
monitoring than guarding. For now I want someone in the room with each contestant.
And no contestant will be allowed to leave the room without a Black Guard to
escort him or her."

When everyone nodded they understood, I continued.

"After each round, the number of contestants will be
cut in half and we will adjust assignments accordingly. The senior sergeants will
have to ensure no contestant is out of their room without a Black Guard escort,
and Gunny needs to ensure that the unassigned marines cover facility security.
And the four of us," I looked to Elijah, Ceder, and Trapp, "will
ensure nothing slips through the cracks. The world is watching the Jax. Not the
Guard or the marines but the Jax. So the threat is to our family. And we aren't
going to let them down."