Chapter 21

Day 16

As planned, they continued north at first light. The topography and vegetation were still the same; relatively level ground with trees and bushes that were not growing densely enough to impede their progress significantly. As sunlight started to filter through the trees, the jungle grew progressively lighter. Every now and then a bird trilled or an insect chirped.

In spite of the peaceful scenery, Bond knew that the closer they got to the facility, the more likely it would be that they would encounter a Kingdom Army patrol.

Bond stopped and retreated behind a tree, raising his carbine. Behind him, he heard shuffling as Madlax stepped in behind him.

"What is it?" Madlax asked as she stepped behind the tree.

"Patrol ahead," Bond said. He gestured around the tree with his left hand before returning it to his G36K.

Madlax cautiously took a look around the tree. Bond was right: there was a fireteam of Kingdom Army soldiers ahead, wearing olive drab fatigues and armed with FAMAS F1 rifles.

"Looks like just the four," Bond observed. "Could be another fireteam up ahead, though."

Easy.

"I'll deal with this," Madlax declared, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Wait!" Bond hissed.

Leaving the cover of the tree, Madlax confidently strode forward towards the men, drawing her P210s from under her flight jacket.

One of the soldiers turned in her direction. He raised his FAMAS.

Madlax raised her right arm, pointing the P210 at him. She pulled the trigger.

He went down with a round in his chest.

The rest of the fireteam immediately moved for cover. One of the soldiers went straight for his radio. The other two raised their weapons, lining up their sights.

Madlax dived for the ground as the first volley came her way. She turned the dive into a roll, coming back up on one knee next to a tree. Turning her head to her right, she pointed her right P210 out to the side at the nearest soldier. At the same time, she brought her left P210 up straight in front of her, aiming at the third soldier in the fireteam.

She pulled both triggers. She barely heard the pained gasps as both bullets struck.

This was her gift; a sense of where people were in relation to her without looking. She just... knew that someone would be there, and all she had to do was point a weapon in that direction, and it would be the end of them. It was this, more than her agility or marksmanship, that had kept her alive and allowed her to thrive in this environment.

From behind the tree, Bond turned around, raising his G36K and looking down the sights at the sound of the first gunshot. What he saw caused him to lower his carbine and stare wide-eyed.

Madlax rose from a crouch and was now twisting and turning in the midst of the trees and the gunfire, seemingly with reckless abandon. She moved effortlessly, gracefully, like a ballet dancer. In fact, that was what it looked like: a dance. Except this dancer was armed with 9mm handguns.

Bond observed she didn't aim her weapons so much as point them at her targets. Somehow, she was able to consistently score direct or glancing hits. The soldiers, however, continued fighting until they were struck with a direct torso or head shot, as several of Madlax's shots were glancing blows to the limbs or shoulders.

Another four soldiers emerged from the jungle, rifles at the ready. Their arrival seemingly meant nothing to Madlax; she continued spinning and twirling among the trees.

She only paused to reload her P210s, her use of both hands to eject a magazine and reload the weapon being the only thing to slow her down, and the fact that she had weapons in both hands and therefore had to juggle pistols and magazines was the only thing interrupting her smooth, elegant gracefulness.

Then she resumed her dance.

In seconds, they were all dead.

Madlax slowly turned on one heel, her P210s pointing away into the jungle. As if satisfied there were no further immediate threats, she finally lowered her weapons.

Bond cautiously came out from behind the tree, his G36K at the ready. He looked down at the bodies, pointing his muzzle at several of them as he did so, then looked up at Madlax.

"What... did... you... just do?"

Still holding both P210s, Madlax shrugged. "I killed them."

Bond stared at her. "You... that was... the most reckless... stupid…"

He barely had words for this. It was sheer stupidity. While he was impressed with her shooting and agility, it was blind luck that she wasn't dead. Was she asleep when whoever had taught her was talking about utilising cover?

Bond sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly. "Whatever."

One of the fallen soldiers abruptly pulled himself up onto his knees, grunting as he drew his Beretta. He had been shot in the left shoulder; his uniform was stained dark red.

Madlax turned at the soft noise of rustling leaves as the man shifted. She raised a P210. Bond whipped up his carbine, his finger sliding inside the trigger guard.

The man's face contorted in pain, and he collapsed, dropping his pistol and falling on his face before Bond could pull the trigger.

There had been no gunshots.

Bond looked down at the fallen man. Sticking out of his back was a knife, nearly embedded to the hilt. The handle appeared to be made of wood, with what looked like brass furniture.

Bond looked up, scanning the jungle behind where the man had stood.

A figure emerged from behind a tree. Bond shifted his G36K, lining up his sights with the figure.

It was a girl.

The girl was in her late teens, with pale skin, light blonde hair that extended halfway down her neck and large amber eyes. A small braid hung from her left temple. She was more or less Madlax's height, perhaps a bit shorter.

She was clad in short blue robes, with a light blue garment tied over her shoulders as an abbreviated cloak, and another piece of light blue cloth acting as a skirt, held at the waist by a cloth belt. The cloak was decorated with two lengths of white cloth. Under these garments, she wore a dark blue shirt and shorts, and she wore form-fitting blue cloth bands that looked like guards on her forearms, and similar lengths of cloth on her shins. She wore leather sandals on her feet.

Madlax shifted to face the new arrival, a P210 raised. "Nakhl?" she asked, lowering her weapon.

The girl nodded and slowly walked over to them. Bond took a step back, keeping his carbine trained on her.

She finally stopped a few metres away. "It's been a long time, Madlax," she said. She bowed to Madlax in greeting, holding her hands together in front of her chest as she did so.

"You two know each other?" Bond asked, turning his head to Madlax, then back to the new arrival.

"Yes," Madlax replied. "This is Nakhl. She helped me once."

"Na-hal," Bond said, enunciating the name slowly. He reluctantly lowered the G36K, still eyeing her with suspicion. Just to be safe, he kept the carbine levelled at her from his hip.

Nakhl bent over and pulled her knife from the man's body. She casually wiped the curved blade against his uniform before returning it to its sheath on her belt. She looked up at Bond. "Who are you?"

"He's with me," Madlax said. "His name is James. James Bond."

Bond nodded curtly.

"I see." Nakhl studied him for a moment, looking into his eyes, before looking up and down Bond's form. Although he was a good twenty centimetres taller than her, and he still had his weapon pointed at her, she did not appear to be intimidated, merely curious.

"You are a foreigner," she finally said.

Bond nodded. "That's right."

"Why have you come here?"

Bond paused. How much should he say? Could she be trusted?

"He's here for Enfant," Madlax replied.

Bond turned to look at her sharply. She had just compromised him. Great. If she was in Enfant's employ...

Nakhl looked back and forth between Madlax and Bond. "You have come to fight Enfant?" she asked Bond.

He was compromised. He might as well play along... for now. "That's right," Bond said slowly.

He carefully considered his position. Nakhl just killed a Gazth-Sonikan soldier who was set on killing them. If she wanted them dead, she could have just let him shoot, uncertain as the outcome was. Then again, maybe she was waiting for them to turn their backs, and the killing of the soldier was an attempt to get them on side with her. Chong's death showed that Enfant weren't above killing their own.

Then again, Madlax knew her already. If Nakhl really was with Enfant, she wouldn't be on speaking terms with Madlax. Or would she?

In the meantime, they might as well ask her if she knew anything. If she really was on their side, what she knew could be useful. If not... what she told them could still be of interest. "Can you tell us anything about any activity in this area?"

"I have been observing the soldiers here for some time," she said. "They're defending something close. A secret facility hidden in the jungle."

"We know," Bond said.

"It's a concrete bunker," Nakhl said, "with a large antenna. I haven't been inside, but I can only assume it is well guarded. If that is where you want to go, the way will be dangerous."

"We know," Bond replied.

"Come with us," Madlax said. "We could use someone like you on our side."

Bond turned to face her, frowning. He still wasn't sure if they could trust her. He turned back to Nakhl for her response.

"As a Discerner, I cannot get involved," Nakhl said. "I can only observe, and wait."

"That didn't stop you from helping me before," Madlax replied.

A faint smile appeared on Nakhl's lips. "I will accompany you... to a point."