The impact of the second explosion caused Parris to lose her footing and tumble down the rest of the hill. The dust cloud did not completely settle, but she covered her eyes and took shorter breaths to avoid inhaling the large amounts of dust. She heard less gunfire, but more explosions came from the same area where the landslide had originated.
“Fox,” she gasped as she looked in the direction of the blasts. Something told her that Fox had a lot to do with the explosions that she heard earlier. Lord knew the mayhem that he went through before and after they were reacquainted. And he was most likely doing it in order to lure the enemy towards him to allow her a safer passage. Hopefully he could hold them off long enough to allow either the Japanese or American troops to arrive.
She crouched and pulled the jacket of her pantsuit over her face as a strong wind gust helped to blow away the dust cloud. It was about a minute later when most of the dust had cleared that she spotted two bodies on the ground a few yards away. She released her jacket and immediately drew her HK. One sudden movement from either one, and she’d fire. To make sure she wasn’t being set up, she checked her surroundings before she got any closer. At about four feet away, she stopped. From there she was close enough to see them better and far enough not to be grabbed had either one been faking. She saw that neither were fighters from the same squad.
Parris saw the bullet wound to the ninja’s chest and the throwing star that stuck out from his attacker’s forehead. Convinced they were both dead, she holstered her weapon. The ninja was close to her height. She could easily fit into his clothes and his boots. And as an added bonus, the ninjas wore facemasks with mesh-covered eye slots. It was the perfect disguise.
Parris removed the ninja’s clothes and changed into them. She took out the case containing the vial of serum from her clothes and put it inside an outer pant leg pocket. She attached the scabbard with the M-11 to her waist and tucked the HK away in her pants. She then hid her clothes.
When she got nearer to the five Hexagon helicopters, she saw the two furthest away from the blast tunnel had sustained the most gunfire damage. Whether they could still fly or not remained a mystery to her. To her dismay and relief, she saw Fox escorted at gunpoint by Tanaka. He looked roughed up, and had the cuts and bruises to his face to prove it. He also limped on one leg. But if a small man like Tanaka did that to a man like Fox, she could only assume there was more to Tanaka than she thought.
She saw the recruits, visibly shaken, being led back to the rest of the group by two ninjas. Seeing the group and how vulnerable they were when Marx preyed on them made her breathe hard and clench her right fist. But then again, she knew she had to share some of the blame. When she looked back at Fox, the only thought that came to her was that he held them off for as long as he could and was lucky to still be alive. Now the baton was passed on to her to finish what he started.
Three more ninjas hastily returned. They ran up to Tabitha Marx and bowed before her. “The Arms of Ares has been dealt with. The landslide did away with many of them. My men and I finished off the survivors.”
Tanaka ordered two of the ninjas to guard Fox closely before Marx turned to Tanaka. “Has he been searched?”
“I took the liberty. He’s clean,” Tanaka replied.
Marx then handed her AK-74 to the ninja next to her. “Somehow I get the feeling you’re partially responsible for this. Maybe I should be thanking you.”
“I’m flattered,” Fox replied. “But I was hoping you’d be among the buried.”
Marx laughed as she made a point in showing Fox her Px4 Storm Type F Sub-compact Beretta, holstered at her waist. “From the way you look, you’re better off taking care of yourself. Come along, there’s still much work to be done.” She then turned to the two ninjas that watched over him. “Tie up his hands. I don’t want any more trouble from him.”
The ninjas did as they were told and tied Fox’s left hand to his disabled right arm in front of him. Marx led the rest of the group into the blast tunnel.
Frantically, Hashimoto ran up alongside her as they entered the blast tunnel. “I must protest Fox’s presence with us. He’s caused us too much trouble already, and he nearly got us all killed back there. We should kill him now and be done with him.”
“Pandora’s safe behind several feet of steel and rock. The best way to punish Fox is to make him watch the destruction of the human race. Show him how he’s failed. He’ll be so broken he’ll beg to be killed.”
When she came to the combination keypad beside the door, she punched in the seven-digit access code. There was a beeping sound and the heavy steel door dragged against the ground as it opened.
Fox was behind Marx, Hashimoto, and Tanaka as they walked through a darkened corridor until they reached a wider, well-lit entrance area with a marble staircase that led down into the foyer. There were four majestic white stone pillars, two on either side with a ceiling that was at least twenty feet high. From that room, there were hallways leading off in three separate directions. Had he been blindfolded before being brought to the bunker he might have mistaken it for a palace. It made sense-it was all part of the setup to convince The Promise’s members that they would always live in the best conditions. With the exception of the recruits who were led down a separate hallway, Fox, along with the others, made haste straight ahead into a room that was less picturesque.
In actuality, they were on the inside of a cave with lamp fixtures and equipment, with short staircases that connected three adjacent floors. The only things that were missing were the stalagmites, the stalactites, and the bats hanging from the ceiling.
One of the male workers in a white lab coat ran downstairs to greet Hashimoto and Marx. “We’re relieved that you’re safe. The ninja reinforcements you dispatched earlier were sent out the moment the Arms of Ares arrived, just as you instructed, Dr. Marx.”
“Is everything else on schedule?” Marx asked.
“We’re moving forward. Pandora’s Box is up and running. Additional amounts of the food supplement are waiting to be added at your request, Doctor,” replied the white-coat.
Marx nodded. “Do it now. We need to move up our timetable.”
To no surprise to Fox, the ninjas made him follow Marx and Hashimoto upstairs, where they walked to the end of the deck, to a glass partition. Through it, Fox recognized Pandora’s Box. It matched the schematics Parris had shown him on the laptop earlier. It had a cylindrical glass tube that was about two feet in diameter that ran through the ceiling, through the rock and out above ground. It was attached to a broad, round base console that was four times its diameter.
Marx glanced at Fox. “I introduce you to Pandora’s Box. It’s different from the legend, in appearance that is, but can yield so much devastation when opened.”
“So this is it? I got to hand it to you, using Valerik’s knowledge of this abandoned bunker’s whereabouts and Hexagon’s resources to make the necessary adjustments, you’ve managed to brainwash some helpless young people into worshipping the ground you walk on.”
Hashimoto stepped closer to Fox. “It had to be done.”
“I’ll bet,” said Fox. “Although you see yourself as their savior, I see you as nothing more than another terrorist organization, albeit of a different breed.”
Hashimoto gasped as he looked at Fox. “Your government has started more wars and created more problems worldwide than any other nation. Yet, you have the audacity to call us terrorists?”
“Come on, Hashimoto. You’re just a drone, or should I say, a puppet.” Fox then turned to Marx. “Isn’t that right? When you sum it all up, you’re more than a terrorist, you’re just plain sick.”
Those eyes of hers grew cold again. But Fox wouldn’t be intimidated by her this time. He stared right back into them.
“Dr. Marx, we’re ready to proceed,” said one of the scientists. She looked over her shoulder at the man, then back at Fox and walked up to him. When she smacked him, the stinging remained on one cheek for a few seconds before she back-handed him across the other cheek. Her slim figure doesn’t make her much of a combat fighter, but fuck, she hits hard.
“I’ll be right there,” she answered. No sooner had she said so, than the room fell into complete darkness.
“Secure Fox!” yelled a panicked Hashimoto.
Fox was grabbed and forced face-down into the floor. Fox grunted through gritted teeth at the searing pain in his shoulder, ribs, and ankle.
“What’s happening?” yelled Marx, who was a bit calmer than Hashimoto.
“The primary electric generator’s gone out! The secondary one should pick up any second now,” came a reply. Darkness remained for a few more seconds before the lights came back on.
“How long before the full systems are back online?” Marx asked.
“In a few minutes,” said one of the white-coats.
“Make it less,” yelled Marx.
Marx looked at the ninjas. They had pinned Fox to the ground. “Take him to the side and don’t take your eyes off of him.”
The ninjas pulled Fox up and led him away. He had finally gotten to Marx. When he was at the top of the staircase he glanced back. She still had not stopped staring at him. He then limped down the stairs as the ninjas held onto him, wondering how he could stall them until the reinforcements arrived.