The Swords of Babylon

CHAPTER SIX

Mai Kitano struggled through a storm of emotion as the fast jet touched down just outside Moscow. Would the adversities of her life never let up? Having fought clear of her conflict-laden past and her demanding government employers, she had now rediscovered the man she had once loved, only to lose him again.

The life of a… she paused her thought. What the hell was she anyway? Ex-ninja. Ex-member of one of the most notorious clans in Japanese history. Trained assassin. Yakuza infiltrator and destroyer. Cosplay champion. Sprite.

That last description entered her head when the face of Alicia Myles popped around the corner of the open airplane door. Myles didn’t look happy.

“What the fuck, guys? I’m gone two days. In Alicia-time, that’s eight shags. And you can’t even hang on to my favorite team member? Fuck!”

Dahl approached her. “We have a few bits and pieces to catch up on.” He motioned her back down the steps. “Shall we?”

“Oh, we shall,” Alicia mimicked the Swede’s accent. “But it’s a bitch of a day out here, Torsty. Better bring your long johns.”

Mai rose from her seat and grabbed her pack. Kinimaka lumbered along before her, barely able to squeeze down the aisle, following in Hayden’s footsteps as ever. She drifted patiently in their wake. Once outside, the sharp air whipped her face and stung her eyes. The group wasted no time in hurrying inside, traversing a drafty corridor before Hayden led them into an enormous hanger. A gleaming black Chevrolet minivan stood before them, doors flung wide.

“This is it,” Hayden said. “We have the timber yard’s address. We go in hard, fast and without mercy. This is not an exploratory mission, guys, this is search and destroy. Are we ready?”

Everyone nodded. Alicia quickly suited up. Dahl had one last thing to say, “And when we grab one of these bastards, you do anything necessary to make them talk. Anything.”

Hayden pocketed two Glocks and hefted a bigger gun. “That’s one of our own out there. Let’s go send these assholes straight to hell.”