Labyrinth (31 page)

Chapter 35

Annja turned as she heard the noise behind her.

Kessel.

He came lumbering out of the control room, reaching for Annja, as if to embrace her. Except Annja knew it would be a deadly embrace. One she would never emerge from alive.

She had to think quickly. Was she going to kill Kessel? No way. But how in the world was she going to handle him when he seemed hell-bent on killing her? How could she reach him? Break through the influence Fairclough had over him?

Annja put her sword away. If it was in her hands, she might be tempted to use it. Without it, she’d have to rely on speed and agility to outwit Kessel.

Kessel’s movement suddenly became a lot more fluid. And when he launched a roundhouse kick at Annja’s right side, she was caught unawares. Kessel’s shin slammed into Annja’s rib cage and she grunted through gritted teeth as it felt like some of her ribs broke under the force of the impact.

Dammit, that hurt. Annja grabbed at her side and jumped away, forcing herself to keep breathing. That was the most important thing right now. If she seized up, she’d have no energy.

Kessel circled her like a shark, but his eyes were still vacant. He was running on remote control and Annja caught glimpses of the red light at the base of his skull.

He feinted and came down on her with a lunging punch that Annja just barely avoided. She drove an elbow into his midsection as he went past her and she heard him grunt.

His breathing seemed more labored. And his speed had slowed considerably now that Annja had managed to score a hit.

She moved around him and he mirrored her perfectly. If there had been life in his eyes, he would have seemed like a giant jungle cat. But the vacancy only made Annja hate Fairclough all the more for what he’d done.

She wanted to reach out to Kessel. She wanted to pull him in and tell him it was going to be okay. But she wasn’t sure it would be. Sooner or later, she was going to have to take him down. And Annja wasn’t positive how she was going to do that without hurting him. Or possibly even killing him.

He came at her again. This time with a straight kick aimed at her midsection. As Annja evaded it on the outside, Kessel suddenly dropped the leg and planted a hook into Annja’s left side. If there’d been more power to it, Kessel would have broken ribs on that side for sure. But Annja twisted as the hook came in and the force was somewhat nullified.

Still, the punch hurt. And Annja drew herself back and away. If she could grapple with Kessel and get him into a hold, maybe she could rip that antenna off.

But what if it killed him?

It might just be a chance she’d have to take. The only other choice was to actually kill Kessel.

Because Annja was pretty sure he wasn’t going to stop.

At least, not until Annja was dead.

“H
E
’
S
REMARKABLY
AGILE
for someone not under his own control,” Fairclough said. “That was quite a hit.”

Jonas smiled. “The technology uses the person’s own skill to their advantage.”

“And how did you come up with this?”

Jonas shrugged. “I had plenty of time to experiment when I was working in Southeast Asia. Lots of patients, too. All I had to do was convince them that they needed brain surgery and they were more than eager to participate.”

“Remarkable.” Behind him, Fairclough was eyeing a drawer across the room. Inside there, he knew he’d find a pistol with a full clip ready to fire.

Something told him he was going to need it to convince Greene that his personal plans were insignificant compared to Fairclough’s.

A
NNJA
BACKPEDALED
AWAY
from Kessel as he advanced on her again. He was breathing hard and there was sweat on his brow. Annja stared into his eyes and thought she saw something there, some sort of glimmer of the man he used to be.

Did he realize he was trying to kill her? Was he trying to fight the command? Was there a way he could overcome the instructions he was being given? Could Annja interrupt the transmissions?

But just as she thought she might have a chance to get through to him, Kessel’s eyes clouded and he threw a series of kicks at Annja, backing her up toward where Kozumi’s body lay in a widening pool.

Annja managed not to retch at the grim stench of death. She took a breath and forced herself to accept the stink invading her nostrils.

Kessel drove in again, his feet slipping in the blood. He nearly went down. Annja jumped over him as he skidded to a stop, getting herself closer to the control room.

The answer was there, she thought. If she could get into the control room and rip that transmitter away from Jonas, she might have a chance to reach Kessel.

But Kessel got to his feet quickly, his hands now stained with Kozumi’s entrails. He rushed at Annja and she was forced to duck away. Even as she did so, her ribs howled in protest and Kessel dropped an elbow on her back, slamming her into the floor.

She rolled and came to her feet, panting, trying to relieve the pain in her side. It was no use; Kessel was driving her back too hard and she was going to have a hellish time trying to reach the control room without him getting to her first.

Annja drew her sword.

F
AIRCLOUGH
’
S
EYES
LIT
up as he saw the appearance of Annja’s blade. “This is it! This is the moment that will ruin her—the moment where she has to kill a friend to save herself.” He rubbed his hands together. “Fantastic!”

Greene eyed him. “You’re already celebrating? You think that’s wise?”

Fairclough waved him off. “You know, I’ve had just about enough of you. Allow me this small pleasure. It’s the very least she deserves.”

Greene looked at him and then shook his head. But Fairclough was too excited to care.

A
NNJA
CIRCLED
Kessel.

She didn’t want to have to do this, but the giant man in front of her was leaving her no alternative. With each attack, Kessel was hurting her more and more. Annja would reach a point soon where she would be incapacitated by one of his strikes. And at that moment, Kessel would kill her.

I can’t let that happen, she thought.

She circled him, and he watched her through squinted eyes. Was he still trying to regain control of himself?

But in the next moment, he drove in despite the presence of Annja’s sword and attempted to backhand her across the jaw. If he’d connected, Annja would have gone down for the count. He was aiming at the precise spot where she’d been nailed earlier.

But as he came close, Annja used the flat of her blade to smack Kessel in the face. The force broke his nose and blood poured out.

Annja saw his vision cloud and she used the opportunity to evade another one of his kicks.

I can’t keep this up, she thought. He’s too strong for me. And I can’t break through to him. I can’t do anything.

She steeled herself for what she had to do.

What she must do.

F
AIRCLOUGH
RECOGNIZED
the look on Annja’s face. “There it is,” he said quietly. “She’ll do it now.”

Greene stared at the monitor. “How can you be so sure?”

“I know her limits. She’s been taken to them and beyond through the course of the maze. There are lines even she has to cross. Things even she has to do.” Fairclough smiled. “And I’ve so enjoyed inflicting such pain upon her.”

“Well, then, I suppose this is the proudest moment of your life?”

Fairclough looked at him. “Not even close. Once this is done, we’ll all sit down and discuss my plans for the future and what your roles will be. And I can assure you, it will blow your mind.”

A
NNJA
WAITED
UNTIL
she felt Kessel was committing himself to an attack. She could hear him breathing harder, trying to get more air into his lungs and his muscles for the effort it would take.

And then he came at her harder than he ever had so far. His kicks and punches rained down on her and Annja did her best to avoid each of them. She backed up, circled and dove twice out of the way. But with each attack, he grew closer to landing the decisive strike that would finish her.

Annja dove a final time and came up, her sword in front of her.

“I’m so sorry, Kessel.”

And then he launched himself at her in a flying tackle meant to take Annja off her feet and slam her into the ground.

If Annja had been there.

Instead, she leaped over him as he flew at her and cut down, her blade swinging freely.

God help me, she prayed.

And God help Kessel.

I
N
THE
CONTROL
ROOM
, everything went silent as they watched Annja jump into the air. Kessel’s body passed underneath her.

And then Annja’s sword came down like a final judgment.

And Fairclough held his breath.

A
NNJA
’
S
SWORD
SLICED
the antenna off the back of Kessel’s skull, sending the little piece of metal skittering across the floor into the excrement and blood. She heard a faint hiss and then the red light went dark.

Kessel slumped over.

Annja ran to him and rolled him over, still on guard in case she hadn’t severed the connection.

“Kessel?”

His eyes blinked and then opened. There was something there.

“Annja.”

She smiled and sobbed at the same time. “I’m here. I’m so sorry I had to do it. I tried to avoid it, but—”

He grabbed her hand. “You did the right thing. Thank you.”

Then his eyes closed.

And Annja Creed felt her world shatter.

Chapter 36

“Bring her to me.”

Fairclough’s words were hushed and tinged with excitement. Greene was genuinely disturbed for the first time since he’d known Fairclough. He nodded at Jonas and, together, they left the control room.

Annja Creed sat in the blood-slick hallway, cradling Kessel’s head in her lap. She wept quietly. Greene, despite himself, felt a twinge of compassion for her. He might have condoned violence to support his aims for saving the world, but even he thought that Fairclough might have taken this a bit too far.

He glanced at Jonas, who only shrugged. What could they do now?

Greene got his arms under Annja, aware that her sword was gone. At least they didn’t have to contend with that right now. With Jonas’s help, he got her to her feet.

She didn’t fight them. She now seemed as vacant as Kessel had been when Jonas got done tinkering with his brain. Without a word, Annja let them lead her to the control room.

Behind them, the body of Kessel lay still.

“I’
M
PLEASED
TO
SEE
you again at last, Annja.”

If she showed any sign of hearing him, it wasn’t evident. Greene and Jonas stood on either side of her, ready to tackle her if she exploded into action. But Annja’s body was slumped forward, as if someone had let the air out of a balloon and was left holding the limp rubber itself.

She was destroyed.

Fairclough swiveled his chair around. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”

“I don’t really care what you have to say,” Annja said finally. “You’ve finished what you meant to accomplish. Congratulations.”

Fairclough stopped spinning. “You think this is finished? Oh, I’m not done with you.”

Annja looked up at him, her eyes bloated red. “I don’t care what you do to me.”

“Good,” Fairclough said. “Then you won’t mind if I have Jonas over there take you into the examination room and perform a similar operation on you as we did to your friend Kessel. Would you?”

Annja’s answer was so flat and monotone that Greene wondered if she’d already been lobotomized. “No.”

Fairclough clapped his hands. “Excellent.” He gestured to Jonas. “Can you be ready to perform the operation, say, in about ten minutes?”

Jonas looked stunned. “I wasn’t aware I’d be doing two operations. I’m not really outfitted for it.”

Fairclough waved his hands. “I took the liberty of making sure we had enough supplies on hand. You’ll find everything you need in the examination room.”

Jonas raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

Fairclough nodded. “Absolutely. I’ll have Greene bring her down in a few minutes. Once you set the proper mood and all.”

Jonas grinned. “Okay.”

Greene watched him go and then turned to Fairclough. “What would you like me to do?”

Fairclough smiled. “I’ve got quite the idea for you, Greene. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought. And I think what would work best for all of us is if you would be so good as to die.”

Fairclough raised the silenced pistol he’d stored in the control room and shot Greene twice through the head.

Annja, standing beside Greene, didn’t even wince as the two bullets smacked into his forehead and exited the back of his skull, taking a large amount of his gray matter with them.

The smell of cordite hung in the air and Fairclough blew across the smoking barrel. “Now, that’s much better. Don’t you think, Annja?”

Annja looked down at Greene’s body. The stench of death was rapidly becoming too much for her to stand. “It’s whatever you think it is.”

Fairclough laughed. “Maybe I don’t even need Jonas to perform that operation on you, do I?”

Annja stared straight ahead with a blank expression.

Fairclough frowned. This wasn’t as much fun as he’d thought it would be. He would have preferred to have a defiant Annja Creed standing before him instead of the zombie that faced him now. Still, he had at least accomplished what he’d set out to do: reduce Annja Creed to nothing.

J
ONAS
WONDERED
WHERE
Greene was with Annja. He shrugged. Probably helping Fairclough with something related to the woman. No matter, Fairclough was right—there were plenty of supplies here to perform the operation.

The thought of poking around another brain actually made him almost giddy. Things had gone so well with Kessel, he couldn’t wait to see if he could improve his technique when he operated on Annja.

Maybe tweak the transmitter a little to improve reaction time?

Anything was possible, Jonas thought. As long as Fairclough liked what he was getting out of the deal, Jonas saw no reason not to stay around for a while.

He just hoped Greene felt the same way.

F
AIRCLOUGH
WALKED
OUT
of the control room and eyed Kessel’s body as he passed it. The transmitter had indeed been broken. He could see where the antenna lay in the coagulated blood.

Beyond Kessel was the body of Kozumi. Fairclough held up a handkerchief to his nose and winced.

“A shame she was able to kill you,” said Fairclough to the corpse. “But I thank you for your service.” He reached down and patted Kozumi’s shoulder in a brief display of affection.

The Japanese mercenary had been loyal.

And that was considerably more than Greene had been able to muster.

Fairclough knew that was the risk one took when dealing with the younger generation.

But whatever. He had Annja Creed and he had Jonas.

And that would be enough. For now.

Fairclough rose. He’d have to make arrangements for the man’s body to be shipped back to Japan, of course. It was the least he could do for the loyalty he’d shown. And he’d also send some money back to Kozumi’s family. Kozumi had known the risks associated with his profession, of course, but that didn’t mean his family had. A severance package was the only proper thing to do.

Fairclough made that mental note and then walked back toward the control room.

Annja still stood exactly where he’d left her. She was now his to do what he wanted.

“Annja, can you hear me?”

“Yes.”

Fairclough nodded. “I want you to come with me. Do you understand? It’s time you were seen by the doctor.”

“All right,” she said.

This was even easier than he’d expected. He wondered what sort of fun he could have once Jonas was done working on her.

“Follow me.”

Fairclough walked out of the control room and Annja followed him. Down the corridor, Fairclough turned left and headed toward the medical examination room. Annja trailed a few paces behind.

Together, they exited the bloodstained corridor.

But in their wake, something stirred on the floor.

K
ESSEL
GROGGILY
LIFTED
himself off the floor and stretched to his full height. Looking around at the scene, he quickly surmised what had happened.

And then with a more normal gait, he took off down the corridor after Annja and Fairclough.

Kessel, the man, had returned.