Nuclear Storm. Don Pendleton

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СКАЧАТЬ luxury car they hid behind. As he landed on the concrete, Bolan caught a glimpse of a yellow-and-red motorcycle racing by, its rider snapping off a shot that smacked into the low concrete wall at the head of the row, just above Bolan’s head, showering him with dusts and rock chips.

       “Are we there yet?” Dae-jung asked, looking around.

       “Not quite.”

      Two shooters! Bolan had to admire the relative neatness of the trap they were in. With both ends blocked, no matter how he tried to advance or retreat, Bolan and Dae-jung would always be facing one or both of the bikers. Even with his submachine gun, the bikes were fast and maneuverable in the enclosed space, canceling almost all of the advantage of a fully automatic weapon.

       The bikes roared again, preparing to make another run-and-gun pass. Bolan glanced at the vehicle behind them, a Lexus luxury SUV with a relatively high ground clearance. His plan formed instantly.

       “Doctor, I need you to hide under here for a bit.” Bolan shoved him under the SUV.

       With a strained gasp, the Korean disappeared under the SUV. Bolan hit the ground as well, trying to figure out which biker would be coming for them first.

       “What the hell’s going on?” Tokaido asked.

       “I’ve got two trigger-happy motorcyclists trying to take us both out in the garage!” Bolan snapped. “They’ve got us pinned down in Bay B.”

       “Oh, yeah, I see ’em. Looks like the one above you is about to make another pass.”

       “You can see him? How far away is he?”

       “Yeah, I’m hacked into the security cams. He’s about twenty yards from you. What does that have to—”

       “Perfect! Hold on!” Bolan dropped to his stomach and crawled under the Lexus, bracing his MP-9 with both hands in front of him. The bike’s engine reached a high point as the rider gunned his throttle, then took off down the ramp.

       Bolan gave him a two-count to get up to speed, then squeezed the trigger of his weapon, emptying the magazine. The biker drove straight into the stream of bullets, which chewed up his leg and punched into the bike’s engine. Losing control, he spun out and flipped off the street machine, which fell over and crashed into the far wall, pinning the biker between it and the cinder blocks. Bolan rolled out and took aim in case the shooter was coming up for more, but man’s body lay unmoving on the floor.

       “One down. Where’s the other one?” Bolan asked while ejecting the empty magazine and reloading.

       “At the bottom of the ramp on your six. He seems uncertain—he’s not moving forward yet.”

       “Good. Let me know if he starts moving in the next three seconds.” Still keeping an eye on the downed rider, Bolan moved around the back of the Bentley, crouched and crept forward until he was next to the concrete barrier. There was a chain link fence on the end.

       “He’s starting to move—now!”

       Bolan took a deep breath, centered himself and steadied his hands on the MP-9. The racket from the motorcycle was deafening as it approached. He waited for one more heartbeat, then pivoted around the corner, leading with the submachine gun, every sense tracking where the biker would be as he approached.

       The motorcycle was almost on top of him, the biker looking left, anticipating where he expected his victims to be. He was just starting to lower his pistol, clutched in his right hand and pointed at the ceiling, to aim. But the time he saw Bolan and tried to correct, it was too late.

       Bolan sighted on the rider’s chest and fired a short burst. The dozen or so bullets chopped into the man’s rib cage, pulverizing his organs, one round ricocheting up under his helmet to burrow through his jaw and into his brain. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The cluster of bullets that had mangled his chest, heart and lungs had done more than enough damage to kill him. The brain shot just brought his death ninety seconds faster.

       The man fell off his bike, which, unbalanced, wobbled off into crash to the concrete. Again Bolan was moving, jogging back to the SUV and pulling Dae-jung out from underneath it. The Korean lay motionless, and for a heart-stopping moment, Bolan thought a stray round had found him. Then he twitched and a gasping snort escaped from his lips. Saliva burbled at the corner of his mouth as the scientist snored loudly.

       He’d passed out!

       Shaking his head, Bolan got the scientist up into a fireman’s carry and walked to the next bay. Turning and walking halfway down, he saw the brake lights of a metallic-green SUV flash twice.

       “Tell me you just did that, Akira.”

       “You got it, Striker. I just unlocked your doors. Dump the drunk in the back and hit the road. Your flight out of the city just touched down at Changi. The window’s only open for one hour, so you best get going.”

       Bolan opened the rear passenger door and dumped Dae-jung into the seat, taking a moment to secure him with a lap belt, then got in the driver’s seat and pushed the start button. “Assuming nothing else waylays us on the road, we should arrive at the airport with time to spare.”

       He backed out and headed down the ramp, careful to avoid the wrecked cycles in the lane. There was a stop bar blocking the exit lane, but as Bolan accelerated toward it, it rose out of his way, and he exited onto Bayfront Avenue. The avenue would lead to Marina Square, and eventually to the East Coast Parkway, one of the main highways circling the city, which would take him to Changi Airport.

       Bolan adjusted the driver’s seat and started to breath a little easier as he sped up to match traffic. He checked his rearview mirror but didn’t see any outward sign of a disturbance—no police cars or hotel security cordoning off the entryway, no riot police storming the place. Except for a nondescript panel delivery van approaching fast with its high beams on, it seemed they had gotten away without a trace.

       The van suddenly sped up until it was right on the Toyota’s bumper, its high-beam headlights flooding the entire passenger compartment with light. Bolan flipped up the mirror to redirect the beams and moved over to another lane. The van stayed right with him. Seeing only light traffic ahead, Bolan gunned the engine, the SUV leaping forward. Caught by surprise, the van driver tried to catch up, his engine roaring as he pulled alongside Bolan’s vehicle. The window in the side door opened, and a man poked out a gun barrel, aiming at him.

       The moment he saw the muzzle, Bolan wrenched the Harrier’s steering wheel hard left. The SUV slammed into the van, making it veer into another lane. Seeing a semi truck ahead of them, Bolan swerved right, narrowly missing the trailer. He pushed down on the gas pedal, seeing a sign that read Changi Airport: 4 Km.

       “Just have to keep this sucker rolling for another couple miles.”

       “Tell me you haven’t attracted more attention.” Tokaido’s voice was resigned.

       Bolan checked his mirror—the van was still on his tail. “Must be the motorcycle jockeys’ backup. It looks big enough to hold two bikes. Hang on, they’re coming up again.”

       The van was creeping up on the driver’s side once more. Bolan let it come, even setting the cruise control on the SUV to about eighty miles per hour and resting the loaded MP-9 in his lap. He checked his side mirror, watching the van inch closer to his Toyota. Although traffic on the highway was fairly heavy at this СКАЧАТЬ