Cole felt a moment of savage glee when he heard them taking off

Cole felt a moment of savage glee when he heard them taking off. When she got to her parents, nobody was going to be able to touch her. Cole knew Alicia made him look timid when it came to someone messing with her kids. She had proven that point once before.

The explosions had disoriented several of the men that weren't killed outright. There were snowmobiles over to the right and he and Janice made for them fast. Three men on the snowmobiles were taking off after the kids, and there were more. They couldn't risk shooting and hitting one of their own. It was hand-to-hand combat now. Four men went after Cole with a vengeance. He couldn't do high jumps right now because his knee wouldn't allow landings. Not good. He was still fast, but he was moving at fast human speed rather than Manticore speed. For a second the air seemed to be filled with flying fists and legs as they all attacked at once.

Janice was trying to get through the melee as best she could. The guys were bigger, but she was faster. One attacked and she dropped low, her kick catching him in the knee, hearing it shatter with a satisfying crunch. Her rifle was empty, but it still made a great weapon as she swung it into another man's skull. Someone grabbed her arm, and she twisted fast into him, her elbow driving into his ribs. He grunted, and shoved her forward into another man. He managed to grab her, his leg flying into her midsection, knocking the wind out of her. She fell towards the ground, but still managed to drive a punch directly into his groin. He gasped, but someone else grabbed her from behind, twisting her arm viciously behind her. There was a hard kick to her back, and she was slammed hard into the rocks, her vision blurring for a moment as she hit the ground.

Cole was holding his own, but not gaining ground. He was too strong for them to take out, but he wasn't moving well enough to get away from the sheer crush of them. Suddenly, one of them made a lucky kick and slammed into the side of his knee. He was on the ground before he knew it. There was a low zapping sound, one he knew all too well. He was on his feet, but not fast enough. The tazers hit him from two directions, electricity arching his body, throwing him backwards. He fell back, landing on the ground next to Janice.

There was a moment of dead silence. Cole and Janice were both breathing hard, hurting, and there were seventeen gun muzzles pointing at them from all directions. Bad situation. There was a slight commotion behind the mercenaries, and then their leader walked up with another man. She was looking pissed. They were there for the girl, and her soldiers had let a mere child escape. They better get her back.

Janice saw the man clearly, and her jaw dropped. This was not happening. His eyes met hers, and the same shock ricocheted through him.

"Kevin?" she managed to get out, staring at her teammate, her brother. The man she had sacrificed her career for to revenge.

He smiled incredulously. "Jan, what the hell are you doing here?" He glanced over at the woman. "You never said anything about her," he accused.

She shrugged casually. "She was merely an added bonus, quite unexpected at that."

He glared at her. "She's not for sale."

She smiled, completely unintimidated. "You may want to remember who works for who. This is all business, nothing personal."

"You said a million each," Kevin said quickly. He nodded towards Cole. "There's one. I'll trade my fee for her straight up."

The woman looked thoughtful for a moment. "That is a profit margin that I can simply not ignore," she answered. "You have a deal, sir."

Kevin looked back at Janice who was still on the ground, stunned. "Why?" she finally asked. How could he do this? Sell out? This was so wrong.

"Come on," he replied, sounding disgusted. He knelt down next to her, speaking quietly. "We're nothing to them. What they did about Melissa proved that. The only people that we can count on are ourselves. They sold me first. Fuck them. These guys want bio-synths. Brickman had a ton of stuff about Manticore, and I got offered a million bucks for each one I delivered." He could tell she was far from convinced.

"Jan, it's not like they're real people," he continued. "They belong to the US government. They're just pieces of equipment that have been surplused. Surplus equipment needs to be sold." He paused, and then reminded her of something she had come to believe. "We're the only ones that care about each other. We were willing to do anything for the agency, and look what happened. You're stuck in a lousy job instead of getting a medal for doing what you did, and I'm just a desk jockey, running paperwork now. I'm selling the surplus equipment, and getting me and my boy out of this miserable rat-hole of a country."

He stood and held his hand out to her. "Your choice, my sister. You're free to go now. They're not going to bother you. You want to stay in this miserable life they forced on you, or do we get to see Nightshade back in the saddle?"

A thousand emotions passed over Janice's face. She could feel Cole's eyes boring into her. The memory of all his accusations ran through her. She knew what she wanted, what she had to do. The decision was obvious. She smiled up at Kevin and took his hand. He helped her up into a hug. "Knew you wouldn't let me down," he said softly.

She took a step back. "A million for each right? The girl will come to me, no problem. She trusts me. You know about the ESP right?" Kevin nodded. Mental ability had been in Brickman's notes. "It's just her and her siblings. She's telekinetic. They other three are going to be a little harder because they're telepathic, but we can work that." She grinned wickedly. "We've worked worse, haven't we?" He was grinning back.

Janice turned back to Cole. Three of the mercenaries were yanking him to his feet, chaining his wrists together. One took a look at the back of his neck and nodded to his leader. She looked pleased. "Sorry, Cole," Janice said placatingly. "You're great and all, but this is family. You of all people should understand that. No hard feelings?"

An ice-cold smile touched the edges of his mouth. There was something in it that made the mercenaries want to back off. They were killers by trade. That smile alone explained that he was a killer by design. "Of course not," he replied, his tone sounding friendly, but was still colder than the snow itself. "As a matter of fact I'll even send flowers to your nephew's funeral." His eyes met hers evenly, and she couldn't help a shiver at that promise. At any rate, her plans were set. It was too late to turn back now.