Mysterious Cairo (31 page)

She nodded. It was obvious she still didn't understand, but didn't care to pursue it. He had other concerns as well.

"Listen, Jasmine," he said. "I doubt you like me much better than I like you. But we're in the same mess, so I suggest until we find a way out of it, we work together. Deal?"

"There are some in my land who would say the honorable thing would be for me to die," she said quietly. "But I was raised to believe that honor can be regained through revenge. My superiors allowed me to err with the intention of eliminating me as a potential threat to their positions — so yes, I will help you . for now."

"Not exactly the ringing endorsement I'd hoped for, but it will have to do," he said wryly. "Now the first thing we should do is —"

Bennington was interrupted by the sight of the pillar at the far side of the basement moving toward him. When it stepped into the light, it became clear that this was no thing of unliving stone, but a man, taller and more massive than any he had seen before. He was unmistakably Asian and clad only in a loincloth. Bennington watched him move closer, stunned, while Jasmine retreated and assumed a defensive posture.

When she saw Bennington freeze, she reached out and yanked him toward her. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

"Sumo," she breathed. "Among the most powerful unarmed combatants on the planet. Let him get a grip on you and you are as good as dead."

Bennington watched the mass of muscle move slowly toward them.
He's big, but slow. That might work in our favor,
he noted. He considered telling Jasmine to try and escape while he held off the side of beef, but reminded himself she was an agent of Nippon. They did things differently there.

He cast his eyes about for a weapon and spotted a piece of iron pipe lying on the ground. With one fluid motion, he grabbed it and swung for the sumo's head.

The behemoth moved faster than he had thought possible and caught the pipe in his hand before it could strike. With no apparent effort, he crushed the metal in his huge hand.

"Your turn!" Bennington said, narrowly avoiding a blow that would have crushed his skull into paste.

Jasmine let out a shrill cry and rushed at her opponent, launching herself into the air and striking him hard in the chest with both feet. It was like attacking the side of a mountain — the sumo seemed not to feel it, while she flew back to land against the wall.

Bennington considered trying to land a few fists in his foe's face, but then remembered what Jasmine had said about a sumo's grip. Best not to get that close, he decided. But the brute would have to be distracted long enough for Jasmine to recover.

Saying a little prayer, he dove through the sumo's legs, rolled, and came up beside one of the cellar's wooden support pillars. Keeping his back to it, he shouted, "Nice outfit you're wearing! I didn't know they made diapers in that size!"

Bennington had hoped the giant would take a swing at him, shatter the pillar, and bring some masonry down. That might buy some time for an escape. But apparently size didn't equate with stupidity in Nippon—the sumo ducked low and tried to scoop Bennington up in his massive arms. Only quick reflexes saved the club owner from being caught in a devastating embrace.

By this time, Jasmine was back in the fight, landing two quick punches to the wrestler's kidneys then maneuvering too quickly for the brute to lay a hand on her. Bennington realized the only way to win was to harry their opponent like gnats around an elephant. He grabbed a plank and smashed it over the sumo's head, then slipped out of the way of an answering fist.

Jasmine picked up on his strategy and closed for a blow, then moved away again. For the next few minutes, she and Bennington took turns mounting quick attacks, then retreating. As long as they stayed on opposite sides, the sumo couldn't commit to attacking one without leaving his back exposed to the other.

It couldn't work for long, though. They were both slowing down, and the wrestler finally succeeded in tagging Bennington with the back of his hand, sending him sprawling against a pillar. Jasmine responded by leaping high into the air, landing on the giant's shoulders with her legs wrapped around his throat, cutting off his air. The sumo tried desperately to shake her off, to no avail, then raised his hands and slammed them against her sides, trying to crack her ribs.

The color of his face showed the wrestler couldn't last much longer without oxygen, but it might be long enough to cripple Jasmine. Bennington fought down his own dizziness and fired a piece of stone at the sumo, catching him square in the face and shattering his nose. The giant let out a roar and brought his hands down to his face — in that instant, Jasmine whipped a wicked-looking pin out of her hair and plunged it into the sumo's ear.

The brute screamed and tore Jasmine from his shoulders with the strength of a maniac. She crashed into some shelving and lay still. Blood streaming from his nose and ear, amazingly still upright, the sumo turned his attention to his remaining foe.

Bennington backed away, moving toward the staircase. His only hope was a maneuver he had seen a bullfighter try once on Terra — unfortunately, he had no cape to wave, and his whole body felt like one big bruise. He tossed another brick at the onrushing mammoth, then dove out of the way, expecting to hear his opponent crash through the stairs.

The sight he saw was something quite different. The sumo passed through the stairs as if they weren't there, and his screams were cut off seconds later by a huge splash and a horrifying sizzling sound.

Bennington pulled himself painfully to his feet and tentatively reached toward the floor beneath what had appeared to be a solid staircase. His hand passed right through, and the stench coming from the area was unmistakable — sulfuric acid. Had they taken a step on those "stairs," the powerful liquid in the pit below would have taken care of the problem of disposing of their corpses.

He moved to where Jasmine lay. Her pulse was strong and it took only moments to revive her. He helped her to her feet and she pushed him away, wanting to stand on her own. Her black dress was in tatters, but she didn't seem too badly hurt.

"I have been most fortunate," she said coldly. "The sumo did not break my bones. But I will inflict double the pain I have suffered upon my former employers."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Bennington asked.

"When one is trained in the art of arousing a man, one must be prepared to deal with some of the possible consequences of that situation," she replied. "A well-placed blow has allowed me to escape a number of unwanted embraces."

Bennington chose not to follow up on that. "As much as I hate to say it, it looks like the elevator's our only way out of here. It turns out the stairs weren't stairs."

He explained the fate of the sumo to her. She seemed unsurprised. "I knew we . they had purchased crude hologram technology from a weird scientist. I was not made aware to what use it had been put."

They both entered the elevator as if stepping into a coffin. Bennington pulled the gate shut after them. He hesitated before pressing a button — there were certain to be guards waiting by the first floor doors. Better to ride up to the second floor and take them by surprise coming down. He pressed "2."

"There's no way it's going to be
this
easy." he muttered as much to himself as his companion.

The elevator began to move, making far too much noise for Bennington's tastes. So much for our nice, quiet escape, he said to himself. They were almost to their destination when the car stopped and the hissing sound began.

His eyes widened as he saw the red vapor seeping through the floor of the elevator. "Gas!" he shouted, taking a handkerchief from his pocket and placing it over his nose and mouth. Jasmine tore a piece off her skirt and did the same.

The ceiling hatch was the only escape. Without a word, Bennington hoisted Jasmine up into the air and she climbed through the small doorway. It was a tighter squeeze getting him through, but soon they were on top of the car, the hatch shut against the lethal fumes.

"Whatever happened to just giving somebody a pink slip?" he said aloud. Jasmine gave him a puzzled look.

Before them were the doors leading to the second floor, firmly shut. Working together, they managed open up a gap of a few inches in the portal, not enough to get through but at least a start.

"What do you think we will encounter on the other side of this door?" Jasmine whispered.

"Death rays, gorillas with brain transplants, animated plant life," he answered. "The usual."

She nodded and went to work steeling herself against these anticipated threats. Despite himself, Bennington found himself thinking how much Natalia would like this young woman.

Or really hate her guts,
he added, before turning his attention back to the door.

Desperation lent strength to their limbs. The doors were perhaps one more shove from being open wide enough for Jasmine to slip through when Bennington happened to look up. What sixth sense alerted him to do so, he did not know, but had he done it a second later, it would not have mattered.

There was a second car in the shaft. And it was plunging toward them, ready to take man, woman and the car they stood upon straight to Hell.

Bennington slammed into Jasmine, sending her through the half-opened door and sprawling on to the carpet. He sprang through himself, landing on top of her just as the cars met with a resounding crash and continued their journey toward the depths of Cairo.

"I hope your company has a good health plan," Ben-nington said, his heart racing in his chest.

"Adequate," Jasmine answered. "Would you please get off of me?"

He rolled on to the carpet. He would have liked nothing better than to go to sleep, but there was no time to rest, no time to worry about the pain now. They were still a long way from escape.

The staircase was down the corridor. They stole up to it as quietly as possible — any guards downstairs would have to have heard the smashing elevator cars and would be on their way to investigate. Cautiously, Jasmine peered around the corner.

"Anything?" Bennington whispered.

Jasmine's answer was a shout, as she flung herself around the corner and sailed down the staircase, slamming like a piledriver into three armed men. All four hit the landing together, Jasmine using one of her foes to cushion her own landing.

One guard rose immediately and grabbed the woman by the shoulders, trying to drive her to the ground. Bennington winced as she brought her knee up and taught the man the true meaning of pain. It was at that moment the second guard revived, rising to aim his gun at the back of her head.

Bennington let out a yell and dove head first down the stairs, crashing into the guard as the gun discharged toward the ceiling. Both men struggled to rise, but Bennington managed to do it first, sending the gunman into oblivion with a left to the jaw.

"Next time, wait for me," he said, as Jasmine took a gun for herself and handed him one.

"Why?" she answered. "I was doing quite well on my own. I was disarming attackers lurking behind me when I was five."

"I'm surprised you lived to be six," he replied, as they started down the stairs.

* * *

Only one more corridor before the lobby, and the door out of the building. A few yards to freedom. They didn't speak, fearing it would betray their location. Since reaching the first floor, they had encountered no opposition, something that had Bennington worried.

They made their way to the simple wooden door that opened on to the lobby. If there were any other traps waiting, they would have to be in there.

Bennington waved Jasmine over to the left side of the door, while he took the right. With one solid kick, he stove in the door, then ducked back to wait for the fireworks.

Hmmm,
he said to himself.
No heat beams. No giant robots. No nuclear explosions.

Heartened, he stuck his head around the corner.

Just ten guys with guns. No problem.

Bullets tore through the door jamb, and the two would-be victims replied with a few shots of their own. Bennington knew there was no point retreating back into the building — there would just be more obstacles to overcome. Eventually, fatigue would cause them to move a second too slow, and it would all be over.

He caught Jasmine's attention and managed a smile. He had always figured he would die in the company of a beautiful woman, but not in quite this setting.
Still, we gave them a run for their royals,
he thought proudly, squeezing off another round and bringing down an opponent.

That was when things got strange.

Powerful yellow light streamed into the lobby from all around the blackout shades. A voice amplified by a megaphone arose over the sound of the gunfire, saying, "All right, Bayan, we know you're in there! Come out with your hands up!"

The shooting stopped abruptly. Jasmine shot a glance at Bennington, wordlessly asking if this was his doing. He shook his head to say no and fought down an urge to burst out laughing.

"I mean it, 'Mad Dog'!" the megaphone voice was continuing. "You've got five seconds, or we bring that rat trap down around your ears!"