Agent Matt: Academy of Shadows

Chapter 18: Shadow Storm

They came skiing down from the mountain. There were seven of them, Dragon in front, Matt at his side. The other five men followed behind. They had changed into white trousers, jackets, and hoods camouflage that would help them blend into the snow. A helicopter had dropped them two miles north and two hundred yards above Ombre Académie, and equipped with night-vision goggles, they had quickly made their way down. The weather had settled again. The moon was out. Despite himself, Matt enjoyed the journey, the whisper of the skis cutting through the ice, the empty mountainside bathed in white light. And he was part of a crack SAT unit. He felt safe. But then the academy loomed up below him, and once again he shivered. Before they had left, he had asked for a gun, but Dragon had shaken his head.

"I'm sorry, Cub. It's orders. You get us in, and then you get out of sight." It was the same old story. When they needed him, he was a man. When he asked to protect himself, he was just a kid. There were no lights showing in the building. The helicopter had arrived back from Rome, crouching on the helipad like a glittering insect. The ski jump stood to one side, dark and forgotten. There was nobody in sight. Dragon held up a hand and they sliced to a halt.

"Guards?" he whispered.

"Two patrolling. One on the roof."

"Let's take him out first." Mrs. Jensen had made her instructions absolutely clear. There was to be no bloodshed unless absolutely necessary. The mission was to get the boys out. The SAT could take care of Dr. Sorrow, Mrs. Stenavich, and the guards at a later date.

Now Dragon held out a hand and one of the other men passed him something. It was a crossbow-not the medieval sort but a sophisticated, high-tech weapon with a microflite aluminium barrel and laser scope. He loaded it with an anesthetic dart, lifted it up, and took aim. Matt saw him smile to himself. Then his finger curled and the dart flashed across the night, travelling at three hundred feet per second.

"Lights out." Matt muttered. There was a faint sound from the roof of the academy. It was as if someone had coughed. Dragon lowered the crossbow.

"One down," he said.

"Sure," Matt muttered. "And about twenty-nine to go." Dragon signalled and they continued down, more slowly now. They were about twenty yards from the school when they saw the main door open. Two men walked out, machine guns hanging from their shoulders. As one, the SAT men veered to the right, disappearing around the side of the school. They stopped within reach of the wall, dropping down to lie flat on their stomachs. Two of the men had moved slightly ahead. Matt noticed that they had kicked off their skis at the very same moment they had come to a halt. The two guards approached. One of them was talking quietly in German. Matt's face was half buried in the snow. He knew the combat clothes would make him invisible. He half lifted his head just in time to see two figures rise out of the ground like ghosts from the grave. Two blackjacks swung in the moonlight. The guards crumpled. In seconds they were tied up and gagged. They wouldn't be going anywhere that night. Dragon signalled again. The men got up and ran forward, making for the main door. Matt hastily pulled his own skis off and followed. They reached the door in a line, their backs against the wall. Dragon looked inside to make sure it was safe. He nodded. They went in.

They were back in the hall with the stone dragons and the animal heads. Matt found himself next to Dragon and quickly gave him his bearings, pointing out the different rooms.

"The library?" Dragon whispered. He was totally serious now. Matt could see the tension in his eyes.

"Through here." Dragon took a step forward, and then crouched down, his hand whipping into one of the pouches of his jacket. Another guard had appeared, patrolling the lower corridor. Dr. Sorrow was taking no more chances. Dragon waited until the man had gone past and then nodded. One of the other SAT men went after him. Matt heard a thud and the soft clatter of a gun dropping.

"So far so good," Dragon whispered.

They went into the library. Matt showed Dragon how to summon the elevator, and Dragon whistled softly as the suit of armour smoothly divided into two parts. "This is quite a place," he muttered.

"Are you going up or down?"

"Down. Let's make sure the kids are all right."

There was just room for all seven of them in the elevator. Matt had warned Dragon about the guard at the table, in sight of the elevator, and Dragon took no chances: he came out firing. In fact, two guards were there One of them was holding a mug of coffee while the other lit a cigarette. Dragon fired twice. Two more anaesthetic darts travelled the short distance along the corridor and found their targets. Again, it had all happened in almost total silence. The two guards collapsed and lay still. The SAT men stepped out into the corridor. Suddenly Matt remembered. He was angry with himself for not mentioning it before.

"You can't go into the cells," he whispered. "They're wired up for sound." Dragon nodded. "Show me!" Matt showed Dragon the passage with the steel-lined doors. Dragon pointed to two of the men. "I want you to stay here. If we're found, this is the first place Sorrow will come."

The men nodded. They understood. The rest of them went back to the elevator, up to the library, and out into the hall. Dragon turned to Matt. "We're going to have to deactivate the system," he explained. "Do you have any idea ... ?"

"This way. Sorrows' private rooms are on the other side." But before he could finish, three more guards appeared, walking down the passageway. Dragon shot one of them another anaesthetic dart-and one of his men took out the other two. But this time they were a fraction of a second too slow. Matt saw one of the guards bring his gun around. He was probably unconscious before he managed to fire. But at the last moment, his finger tightened on the trigger. Bullets sprayed upward, smashing into the ceiling, bringing plaster and wood splinters showering down. Nobody had been hit, but the damage had been done. The lights flashed on. Once again, the alarm began to ring. Twenty yards away, a door opened and more guards poured through.

"Down!" Dragon shouted. He had produced a grenade. He tugged the pin out and threw it. Matt hit the ground, and a second later there was a soft explosion as a great cloud of tear gas filled the far end of the passage. The guards staggered, blind and helpless. The SAT men quickly took them out.

Dragon grabbed hold of him and dragged him close. "Find somewhere to hide!" he shouted. "You've got us in. We'll do the rest now."

"Give me a gun!" Matt shouted back. Some of the gas had reached him, and he could feel his eyes burning.

"No. I've got orders. At the first sign of trouble, you're to get out of the way. Find somewhere safe. We'll come for you later."

"Dragon!" But Dragon was already up and running. Matt heard machine gun fire coming from somewhere below. So Dragon had been right. One of the guards had been sent to take care of the prisoners-but there had been two SAT men waiting for him. And now the rules had changed. The SAT couldn't afford to risk the lives of the prisoners. There was going to be bloodshed. Matt could only imagine the battle that must be taking place. But he was to be no part of it. His job was to hide. More explosions. More gunfire. There was a bitter taste in Matt's mouth as he made his way back to the stairs. It was typical of M16. Half the time they would happily get him killed. The other half they treated him like a child. A guard appeared suddenly, running toward the sound of the fighting. Matt's eyes were still smarting from the gas, and now he made use of it. He brought his hand up to his face, pretending to cry. The guard saw a fifteen-year-old boy in tears. He stopped. At that moment Matt twisted around on his left foot, driving the upper part of his right foot sideways into the man's stomach-the roundhouse kick or mawashigeri he had learned in karate. The guard didn't even have time to cry out. His eyes rolled and he went limp. Matt felt a little better after that. But there was still nothing more for him to do. There was another round of gunfire, then the quiet blast of a second gas grenade. Matt went into the dining room. From here he could look out through the windows at the side of the building and the helipad above. He noticed that the blades of the helicopter were turning. Somebody was inside it! He moved closer to the window. It was Dr. Sorrow! He had to let Dragon know.

He turned around.

Mrs. Stenavich was standing in front of him.

He had never seen her look less human. Her entire face was contorted with anger, her lips rolled outward, her eyes ablaze.

"You didn't t die!" she exclaimed "You're still alive!" Her voice was almost a whine, as if somehow none of it had been fair. "You brought them here. You've ruined everything!"

"That's kinda my job," Matt said.

"What was it that made me look in here?" Mrs. Stenavich giggled to herself. Matt could almost see the sanity slipping out of her. "Well, at least this is one bit of business I'm finally going to be able to finish." Matt tensed himself, feet apart, gravity centre low, just like he had been taught. But it was useless. Mrs. Stenavich lurched into him, moving with frightening speed. It was like being run over by a bus. Matt felt the full impact of her body weight, then cried out as two massive hands seized hold of him and threw him headfirst across the room. He crashed into a table, knocking it over, and then rolled out of the way as Mrs. Stenavich followed up her first attack, lashing out with a kick that would have taken his head off his shoulders if it hadn't missed by less than an inch. He scrambled to his feet and stood there, panting for breath. For a moment his vision was blurred. Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth. Mrs. Stenavich charged again. Matt threw himself forward, using another of the tables for leverage. His feet swung around, scything through the air, both his heels catching her on the back of the head. Anyone else would have been knocked out by the blow. But although Matt felt the jolt of it running all the way up his body, Mrs. Stenavich hardly faltered. As Matt left the table, her hands swung down, smashing through the thick wood. The table fell apart and she walked through it, grabbing him again, this time by the neck. Matt felt his feet leave the floor. With a grunt she hurled him against the wall. Matt yelled, wondering if his back had been broken. He slid to the floor. He couldn't move. Mrs. Stenavich stopped, breathing heavily. She glanced out the window. The helicopter's blades were at full speed now. The helicopter rocked forward then slowly rose into the air. It was time to go. She reached down and picked up her handbag. She took out a gun and aimed at Matt. Matt stared at her. There was nothing he could do. Mrs. Stenavich smiled.

"And this is my job, to deal with the rats," she said.

The dining room door swung open.

"Matt!" It was Dragon. He was holding a machine gun.

Mrs. Stenavich lifted the gun up and fired three shots. Each one of them hit its target. Dragon was hit in the shoulder, the arm, and the chest. But even as he fell back, he opened fire himself. The heavy bullets slammed into Mrs. Stenavich. She was hurled backward into the window, which smashed behind her. With a scream she disappeared into the night and the snow, headfirst, her heavy, stocking legs trailing behind. The shock of what had happened gave Matt new strength. He got to his feet and ran over to Dragon. The SAT man wasn't dead, but he was badly hurt, his breath rattling. "I'm okay," he managed to say. "Came looking for you. Glad I found you."

''.,,Dragon. . ."

"It's Okay." He tapped at his chest and Matt saw that he was wearing body armour under his jacket. There was blood coming from his arm, but the other two bullets hadn't reached him. "Sorrow . . . " he said. Dragon gestured, and Matt looked around. The helicopter had left its Launchpad. It was flying low outside the academy. Matt saw Dr. Sorrow in the pilot's seat. He had a gun. He fired. There was a yell, and a body fell from somewhere above. One of the SAT men had been shot. Suddenly Matt was angry. Sorrow was a freak, a monster. He was responsible for all this-and he was going to get away. Not knowing what he was doing, he snatched up Dragon's gun and ran through the broken window, past the dead body of Mrs. Stenavich and into the night. He tried to aim. The blades of the helicopter were whipping up the surface snow, blinding him, but he pointed the gun up and fired.

Nothing happened.

He pulled the trigger again.

Still nothing. Either Dragon had used all his ammunition or the gun had jammed. Dr. Sorrow pulled at the controls and the helicopter banked away, following the slope of the mountain. It was too late. Nothing could stop him.

Unless ...

Matt threw down the gun and ran forward. There was a snowmobile lying idle a few yards away, its engine still running. The man who had been riding it was lying face down in the snow. Matt leapt onto the seat and turned the throttle full on. The snowmobile roared away, skimming over the ice, following the path of the helicopter. Dr. Sorrow saw him. The helicopter slowed and turned. Sorrow raised a hand, waving goodbye. Matt caught sight of the red glasses, the slender fingers raised in one last gesture of defiance. With his hands gripping the handlebars, Matt stood up on the foot grips, tensing himself for what he knew he had to do. The helicopter moved away again, gaining altitude. In front of Matt loomed the ski jump. He was traveling at seventy, eighty miles per hour, snow and wind rushing past him. Ahead of him there was a wooden barrier, shaped like a cross.

Matt smashed through it, and then threw himself off. The snowmobile plunged down, its engine screaming. Matt rolled over and over in the snow, ice and wood splinters in his eyes and mouth. He managed to get to his knees.

The snowmobile reached the end of the ski jump. Matt watched it rocket into the air, propelled by the huge metal slide. In the helicopter, Dr. Sorrow just had time to see five hundred pounds of solid steel come hurtling toward him out of the night, its headlights blazing, its engine still screaming. His eyes, bright red, opened wide in shock. The makeshift torpedo hit its target full-on. Like a bullet fired from the shadows. The explosion lit up the entire mountain. The helicopter disappeared in a huge fireball, and then plunged down. It was still burning when it hit the ground. Behind him, Matt became aware that the shooting had stopped. The battle was over. He walked slowly back to the academy, shivering suddenly in the cold night air. As he approached, a man appeared at the broken window and waved. It was Dragon, propping himself against the wall, but still very much alive. Matt went over to him.

"What happened to Sorrow?" he asked.

"It looks like I 'sleighed' him," Matt replied.

On the slopes, the wreckage of the helicopter flickered and burned as the morning sun began to rise.

The shadows of darkness were disappearing from the Shadow Academy.

.