Session 26

Shoulder to shoulder they laid out across the balcony. Colored light from the stained-glass windows splashed across the floor tinting the images through the scopes. Every breath echoed in the stone corridors.

Spike's finger rested outside of the trigger guard of the rifle, a cigarette hanging from his tight lips. Beside Spike with his hands braced on his own rifle, Lin glanced at his right shoulder. "Hey, uhh … ?"

"What?" Spike grunted.

"Did he really … ?"

Spike's steely gaze drifted towards him.

Swallowing the remaining words, Lin snapped his eyes back to the passageway from the basement. There was no other way out than through the main chapel. A path that would funnel any runners directly into the line of fire. The back door remained blocked by stacked furniture from when the church had closed down.

A hushed call from Ironwall over Spike's ear piece lifted his head. "In position. Entry on my mark. Snipers, the snakes are about to flee the warren."

"Roger for 'pop goes the weasel'," Spike replied, his finger shifted to rest against the trigger.

Shin clenched his jaw. "Do you think Ironwall will get them all?"

"I hope not." Spike narrowed his eyes. "I have a bullet in this baby with a name on it."

Deep in the bowels of the church pockets of gunfire exploded, accompanied by panicked shouts. In the balcony Spike, Lin and Shin all mastered their breathing.

Hasty steps echoed up from behind the altar, accompanied by a frantic cry, "I ain't dyin' for this!"

The darting Blue Snake, who looked familiar to Spike from his hazy memory, came barreling into the room flanked by a handful of others. Spike exhaled, and squeezed the trigger. In the scope he was rewarded with the explosion of the grunt's kneecap before he went down. "You're right, you get to live long enough to squeal." Sliding the bolt, Spike ejected the shell with a wry grin. "Sucks to be you, jackass."

Lin and Shin popped off two targets with chest shots. One after another, the victims exited the doorway and skidded to a shocked halt at the bodies piling up plus one man lying on the floor wailing over his knee. In turns, the three Red Dragons played a deadly game of target practice.

"Clear! They destroyed the computer before we got in."

Spike remained alert, poised for any last stragglers. "Krait?"

"No sign of him. You leave anyone breathing?"

"You wanna hear him squeal?" Spike whistled, the man blinked up through his tears and instantly babbled staring down the line of the gun.

"Right. Stay on guard in case reinforcements were called in. We'll finish up the sweep down here."

"Roger. Hey Jovi, by the way, I like your rifle."

"Hey Hellhound, I want it back!"

Mao sat in the throne-like chair before the Van. "The interrogation of the three Blue Snakes left alive from the raid came to a clear conclusion. No one would have withheld information under the treatment they received. Krait was not in Tharsis at the time, apparently having departed on business over a week before. We can deduce from what we gathered that those left behind were planning a raid on this tower."

"The threat has been neutralized?" The Van watched him in triplicate.

"For now. There are no signs of Blue Snake occupation in the city. We have destroyed any chances of reusing those tunnels again. At the moment there are no leads on Krait's whereabouts. However, since the relocation of our suppliers to the secure facility, there have been no disruptions to our trade. There is little they can do now."

The Van smiled in tandem. "Your men have performed remarkably well. Operation Commander Lee Gates deserves recognition for his expert handling."

Holding his hand to his heart, Mao corrected, "With all respect, the break-through was due to a subordinate's collected intelligence."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Spike Spiegel discovered the transmitter on the side of the building which, when traced, revealed where they were hiding. He provided the schematics to the team that made the extermination raid possible."

The Van looked at one another. "The enforcer with the synthetic eye?"

"The same."

"So he continues to prove to be useful. Excellent work, Mao Yenrai. Your initiative in training new recruits is proving wise indeed. Resume regular patrols of the territory for now."

"At the will of the Dragon." Mao bowed.

In the reddish hue of dusk the river ran like blood under the bridge. Cars thumped across the roadway above. Spike gulped down the last of a beer and slammed the empty can on the walking trail rail amidst a row of others. Shuffling from the railing, Spike slumped down against the wall and reached his right hand under his leather jacket pulling out his Jericho. He rested his right elbow on his bent knee, the left hand hanging slack over his other knee. Staring down the sight, he lined up a can and squeezed the trigger. The can hopped off the railing and spun. Before it could fall he squeezed off another shot, sending it spinning again. This time he pelted a second can before sending a shot back to the first. He juggled the two a few more shots before he missed. The gun muzzle flopped down.

"Damn." He took out a cigarette and lit it. About to line up the next shot, he paused, holding his breath to be certain of what he thought he'd heard. A moment later two men came skidding down the bank, padding rather relaxed toward him.

"Heh, there you are." Shin leaned against the wall, his brother joined him.

"Spike, since there haven't been many meetings lately, no one has seen you. You alright?" Lin cocked a brow.

Taking in a lungful of smoke, Spike half-hooded his eyes and shrugged. "I'm fine."

The brothers cringed slightly at the dead tone. After a lengthy silence filled only by the chatter of the river, Lin cleared his throat. "How's the … uhh … shoulder doing?"

Spike leveled the gun and kicked a can in a series of repeated shots.

Lin and Shin both had to pick up their jaws. "I guess … that means it's doing well?"

Releasing the spent cartridge, Spike shoved a full one in. "Actions speak a helluva lot louder than words."

"How much amo did you bring?"

Leveling the gun again, he snorted. "I didn't come here to look at the view." Three more cans performed back-flips from the railing.

Shin blinked and elbowed his brother, concern marking his features. Lin eyed him and nodded before squatting down. "Spike … are you drunk?"

The muzzle of the gun tipped down. Spike blinked slowly. "Probably." He gestured with the gun at the array of cans. "Needed targets. Figured shooting full ones was a crime. Soo … kinda lost count an hour ago."

Lin took out his gun and flicked the safety off. "Yeah, well it's also a crime to hog a prime shooting gallery. Hey, what do you say we put some odds on who can clear the rail?"

Shin shot his brother a dark look.

"I don't care either way." The flat tone alarmed Lin.

"Whoa." Slowly, he lowered his firearm. "You? Not taking a bet? Alright, what the hell is going on?"

Spike looked away, but the silence stretched out too long, forcing him to answer. "Nothing I want to talk about. It's for me to work through."

"I knew it." Lin smacked his own knee. "It's you and Vicious, isn't it!"

Spike failed to hide the grimace. Instead of answering, he leveled his gun on a shot … and missed. His head flopped forward.

Shin shook his head. "Spike, everyone has dropped by the meeting house but you. Even Vicious has been there, off his crutches he's barely limping now."

"Whatever." Spike huffed. "Good for his ass."

"It's really bothering you."

"Almost bleeding out while my partner watched? No, not one fuckin' bit!" His fingers twitched against the trigger. Like to shoot him and watch him writhing on the floor for a while! See how well he takes it!

"Everyone knows." Lin remarked quietly. "Vicious has taken a lot of flack for that, especially after Mao stopped by the house and took him aside. Wish I had been a fly on that wall. The discussion didn't go well. He went off in a raging storm, after that Ironwall and Mao spoke in private for sometime. You've missed a lot."

Spike opened his eyes and laid his head back, staring at the underside of the bridge. "So let me guess, you guys had orders to give me some space, which means you're disobeying those right now." They both blushed. Spike made a rude noise. "Shit, there's hope for you yet."

Lin and Shin blinked before chuckling.

"Alright, let's set some odds." He flicked the muzzle of his gun up. "Try to make this fair … "

Lin eyed him, "Can you even stand up straight right now?"

"Eh … let's not find out. What do you say, four to one odds? Aim is most cans off the railing, once you miss a shot, turn is over. I'll even go double taps on my round."

"No way!" Lin grinned. "Alright."

Shin groaned. "You're never gonna learn!"

See you, Space Cowboy