The shadows on the dock were lengthening, and Marek was struggling not to stare at Elayna while Rulio talked to her. Was she actually as beautiful as she seemed? Or was it just because she was a girl, and she was talking to them? Whatever the case, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. The setting sun was splashing warm orange light and soft shadows across the curves of her face. Marek was becoming increasingly convinced that she really was as beautiful as she seemed.
“We don’t have a new mission yet.” Rulio was saying. “How did you know we were setting off?”
“McEnroe told me,” Elayna said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Ah,” Rulio said, though her answer hadn’t explained anything. “But why are you here now? We aren’t setting out to do anything related to the Port Authority.”
“I told you – McEnroe gave me my instructions. I’m to accompany you now.”
“I don’t particularly want you to.”
Elayna frowned. “Do you really want to make a big fuss, and try to go through McEnroe, only for me to just join you next time anyway?”
Rulio looked at her silently for a while, then sighed. “I suppose not. But if McEnroe wants you to be an observer, then you are going to be an observer. You’re not going to be anything of consequence – just observing to your heart’s content from a distance. Understood?”
Elayna crossed her arms and scowled. “As you wish, Captain.”
“Good.” Rulio looked around the dock. “Now, our last crew member should arrive shortly, and then we can be on our way.”
“I’m Marek,” Marek announced suddenly. Somehow his mouth had managed to bypass his brain, and he immediately flushed with embarrassment. Elayna nodded at him tentatively, as though she were acknowledging a child. Marek stared at the ground, wishing he could disappear.
A whistle sounded out from back down the shadowed docks behind them. “And who is this fine lady?”
Marek turned to see Seren strolling towards them, carrying a rifle and a duffel bag.
“Elayna… this is Seren,” Rulio said, gesturing. He sounded rather apprehensive.
“Are you going to be able to keep him under control?” Elayna asked him. Whatever else she was, she wasn’t afraid of being direct.
“Hey!” Seren looked genuinely affronted as he joined the group. He shifted his bag, then pointed at Elayna. “I liked you a lot better before you started talking.”
Elayna pushed her lips together and raised an eyebrow at Rulio.
“We’re… we’ve just met,” Rulio said uneasily.
“Again – who is this?” Seren asked.
“She’s from the Port Authority,” Rulio replied. “She’s going to be observing us.”
Elayna nodded. “That’s right.” She either missed or ignored Rulio’s disparagement.
Seren’s swagger deflated. “Shit… so we’ve got no choice, then?”
Rulio shook his head. “Seems not.”
“Well then,” Seren said, turning to Elayna, “we’re just going to have to learn to coexist.”
“I look forward to it,” she replied politely, but her statement didn’t ring very true.
“Alright – enough introductions.” Rulio said. “You can all talk later. Let’s get going, before the light goes entirely.” With that, he made his way towards the gangway that led up to the Steel Turkey. Marek moved with the others to follow him, noticing that Seren and Elayna were keeping a conspicuous amount of space between them. Already, Marek was becoming increasingly wary of all the sparks that were going to fly thanks to Elayna’s presence on the ship – and he doubted any of them would be the kind of sparks he was hoping for.
Elayna and Seren continued to bicker as Rulio threaded them through the harbour and out between the towering guns that stood guard at the entrance to the Port, before setting them on a course that would take them around the southern end of New Caledonia and on towards Vanuatu.
Marek walked into the bunkroom and set his backpack down next to his bed. He unfastened the top flap, and Muno pushed his head through the small gap with a loud meow. He continued to open the pack, and Muno jumped out and sprang up onto the mattress.
Next to Muno, who was pawing at the mattress and readying himself for a nap, the crystal shard was where he’d thrown it the other day, half-concealed beneath the covers. It was still glowing a faint, stable violet. He stared at it for a while, transfixed, then caught himself, shook his head, and returned to his unpacking.
Once they had cleared the shallows and entered deeper waters, Rulio called Marek and handed the helm over to him. Marek was happy to take over sailing duty – this, at least, was something he felt quite confident with already.
“Will we need to keep a lookout?”
Rulio shook his head. “There’ll be no Japanese ships this far east. We’ll be fine all the way to Vanua Lava.”
Rulio left, and after settling in behind the wheel Marek turned to squint out of the window, back towards the south-east. There was a belt of grey cloud there, creeping over the horizon. A storm, perhaps, although he remembered the Captain had told him the rainy season wasn’t due for another half a year.
The voices of Elayna and Seren beginning to bicker again floated towards him from elsewhere on the ship, muffled by the wind. He sighed, and focused on keeping the ship’s wheel steady. It was shaping up to be a long voyage.
After an hour or so, Rulio came to relieve him. Roused from his daydreaming, Marek was initially at a loss as to what to do; eventually, he decided to find Seren and Elayna and make an effort to be sociable.
“Are you always this abrasive, or just when you’re around me?” Elayna was asking Seren as Marek entered the dining room.
Seren pointed at her aggressively. “Listen, you stuck-up – you – I have half a mind to… slap you –” he seemed flustered, unsure of how to appropriately deal with a female adversary.
“Oh, really?” Elayna spiritedly tapped his finger away. “Well, I have a whole mind to slap you, so –”
“No, no, no!” Rulio shouted as he marched into the dining room. “Nobody is going to be slapping anyone.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Marek, take the wheel again. I need to sort these two out,” he muttered, before pulling Seren away towards the deck.
Marek was already halfway out the dining room and making a beeline for the wheelhouse, eager to distance himself from any drama. He’d try and be sociable another time.
Once inside the wheelhouse, he sat himself down in the chair and took the helm, focusing on the horizon ahead. He was glad he wasn’t a Captain.
Outside, the wind was beginning to pick up, whipping between the railings that skirted the deck and sporadically rattling the windows. The line of cloud off to the south-east didn’t look like it had moved any closer, but it had noticeably darkened.
Rulio returned to the wheelhouse sometime later, assumedly having set Seren and Elayna straight.
“Thanks, Marek,” he said. “I’ll take over now.”
“Is everything sorted?”
“We’ll see. There’s usually an adjustment period whenever new crew members join, but these two seem… particularly difficult. If it continues on like this, I think I’ll have to leave one behind. And damn it, it’s probably going to have to be Seren.”
Marek understood the politics of why that would be, but it still seemed crazy they’d have to get rid of a sharpshooter in order to keep Elayna. Although honestly, he didn’t want Elayna to leave either. “Hopefully they get along, then.”
Rulio nodded. “We’ll see,” he said again, and that seemed to be the end of it. The windows continued to rattle.
Marek pointed out at the dark band of cloud on the horizon.
Rulio nodded and frowned. “Storm’s coming.”
When Marek entered the dining room again, Seren was sitting at the small dining table, cleaning their guns. In addition to all the weapons they already had, he had brought along his personal rifle, a variant of a Springfield with a potent-looking scope.
Seren turned to face him. “You handy in a fight?”
Marek shook his head, immediately feeling self-conscious.
Seren raised an eyebrow. “You do know how to shoot a gun, though?”
Marek nodded.
“Good. And are you familiar with the principles of stance, grip, breathing, trigger control? Range and elevation? Wind speed and direction? Humidity, temperature?”
Marek considered qualifying his answer, as he did know a little bit about stance, grip, and trigger control now, but decided just to shake his head.
“Ah. Well, it’s lucky I’m here then,” Seren said with a smile. “Don’t worry, once we finish with Graves, I’ll teach you a thing or two.”
“Thanks.”
Seren nodded and returned to his work. Marek thought about asking him if he knew where Elayna was, but things seemed to have calmed down now, and he didn’t want to rekindle any conflict by bringing her up.
He found Elayna on the deck at the back of the boat, staring out at the darkening sea. She was sitting with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. She looked quite statuesque – save for her hair, which was flicking around her head erratically in the strengthening wind. She turned to look at him.
“Oh. It’s you.”
Marek wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad. “Do you want me to go?”
“No, it’s okay.” She turned to stare back out at the waves. “You haven’t annoyed me yet.”
“But others have?” The answer was obvious, but Marek wanted to know more about why Elayna and Seren were at such loggerheads.
“I’ve seen their type before,” Elayna said, still staring out at the sea, her expression taut. “The little comments, the disregard. The hostility. I know it’s not them, really, it’s just the ways things are, but… I can’t help getting angry, and retaliating anyway. To them, I’m always just an annoyance.”
“What… what do you want to be?”
“Respected. And I will be.” She turned to face him again. “I’m going to learn all about this fog, and then report my findings to BARO. I’m going to become the leading authority on it. Then people will have to take me seriously.”
Marek looked at her, unsure of how to respond. Her eyes seemed to peer into him, and he quickly looked away.
“What about you? What do you do around here?” she asked.
“Me? Well, I’ve only just joined the crew recently, within the last two weeks actually… I’m still learning the ropes, I guess.” He perked up. “But I do know how to sail, now… kind of... though I’m not much use at anything else yet.”
She looked at him, and her face softened. “Well, at least you seem to have a bit of decency.”
Marek half-smiled, buoyed by her words. “Thanks.”
He sat down near to her, trying to act casual even though he was shaking with nerves. Together, they gazed in silence as the sun finally plunged behind the ocean and threw the world into a purple twilight. The wind continued to pick up, and the warmth of the day quickly evaporated, leaving a chill that began to settle into his bones.
It wasn’t long before Rulio appeared, and called them for dinner.
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Over a meal of tasty sausages and pasty mashed potatoes, Seren regaled them with stories of his time in the army, while Muno eagerly feasted on a pile of canned tuna that Rulio had upended into a bowl. Rulio offered commentary every so often, and even Elayna seemed to be engrossed in Seren’s tales, although she was trying to appear disengaged. Like usual, Marek mainly listened in silence, gleaning Seren’s tales for anything useful or interesting.
After dinner, the night passed by in an anxious calm; Rulio and Marek took shifts sailing, pushing to reach Vanua Lava as soon as possible to catch Graves before he departed, while Seren and Elayna slept. There was no immediate cause for him to feel nervous, but Marek felt like they were all being drawn taut by something unseen, pulled towards the island and an unknown fate.
What little sleep Marek could find when he was off duty was mostly shallow and unfulfilling, a fragmented haze of shifting, half-formed images.
When at last he managed to slip deeper, he dreamed of a hazy man he didn’t recognise, dressed in a military uniform. He called out, but the man didn’t respond. Then the dream broke, and the half-formed shadows returned.
Later again, another dream took clarity. He was with Amy, and they were finally together. It felt like the most real thing in the world, in the way only dreams can manage. He was holding her hand; he had finally done it, finally won her over. He didn’t know how – didn’t even consider the question, or the unlikelihood of it all. He was just happy, being with her. But was it still Amy, or was it now Elayna? He tried to focus, but the girl’s face blurred, until she became more of a feeling in his heart than a defined individual.
Marek turned in his bunk and groaned as he woke up. The sun had barely risen, but the air in the ship was already stiflingly humid.
It all came back to him in an instant. His situation, the boat, and the fact that he had little hope of ever seeing Amy again. A deep yearning seized him. The memory of the dream seemed as real now as any other in his mind. How could he have experienced such a vivid life within just a few short hours? All the better if he hadn’t.
He kept his eyes closed, savouring the half-remembered non-reality for as long as he could. He hated himself for pining after his own subconsciously created world. What was the point of dreaming things like that? What was his mind trying to do to him?
Once again, he reminded himself that the old world, the world with Amy, and his family, was gone. There was only this world.
Only the war, and the fog, and his crew.
Steeling his thoughts, he hoisted himself off his bunk. He was dreading the day to come – each hour that passed would be like the turning of a screw that pushed him further down into an inevitable pit of anxiety. He was dreading confronting Roland, but at the same time he wanted to rescue Beck. There was a sense of momentum, of rushing towards something that he had no real sense of. He was caught in a current now, and would have to go where it took him.
Rulio called a meeting just before midday, and they all gathered around the dining table. “Let’s make sure we’re all on the same page,” he said. “This is going to be a smooth operation – I don’t want a repeat of the last one.” He shot Marek a glance; they alone knew exactly how badly the last one had gone.
Rulio retrieved a map from a drawer and unfurled it across the dining table. “Vanua Lava is only twenty kilometres or so across each way, with most of the civilians based on the east side.” He ran a finger down the right side of the island’s outline. “The outpost is situated here, south of the Red Cliffs and at the northern end of Vureas Bay.” He tapped a spot on the middle left of the island’s coast.
“What’s the plan?” Seren asked.
“I’ve never been to the island before, so I’m not sure of the best way to approach things just yet. We’ll hang back, make sure Graves is inland, and then I’ll work out what to do next once we’re ashore.”
Seren crossed his arms. “So, no plan?”
“The plan, currently, is caution.” Rulio met Seren’s incredulity with an emotionless stare. “I’m not going to be blindsided again.”
“I think it makes sense,” Elayna said. “We can’t make a plan without knowing what’s waiting for us.”
“I suppose.” Seren uncrossed his arms. “Just as long as you come up with a plan at some point, before it all kicks off.”
“I will,” Rulio said, sounding slightly annoyed. “Now, what can you tell us about Graves? What’s his current situation?”
“Well, I haven’t seen him since we went our separate ways, which was a month or so ago. But back then, he always had two cronies accompanying him. A heavy, Jonny, and a sadistic little stick called Daziel.”
Rulio nodded. “We saw them on Obelisk.”
“Ah. Still business as usual, then. Jonny’s the easier target, but Daziel is the more dangerous one.”
“That’s good to know.”
“There’s also a woman – a Japanese woman who crews with him. I don’t know her story. Didn’t see much of her, to be honest.”
“A Japanese woman?” Rulio rubbed at his chin. “Interesting.”
Seren nodded slowly. “I couldn’t make sense of it either. But she might prove to be a wildcard, of sorts.”
“Thanks, Seren. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“By the way – why exactly are we going after Graves?” Seren asked. “I mean, I’m happy to. I’m just wondering.”
“He kidnapped one of our crew, and we’re going to get her back.”
Seren considered this. “And are you sure she’s still with him?”
Rulio shook his head.
Seren looked mildly surprised. “And so, what if she isn’t?”
Rulio waved his hand dismissively. “Either way we need to deal with Graves now. If she isn’t with him, then we can still find out her whereabouts, and go from there.”
“Uh-huh.” Seren didn’t sound convinced. He raised an eyebrow. “And what’s the stance on lethal force?”
“Graves is out of control, but he’s still on our side, technically, and I don’t want things to get messy for us back at Port if it all goes sideways. Having said that, if he starts something, then we’ll have no choice but to meet him with an equivalent response.”
Seren smiled. “Understood.”
Rulio took a deep breath. “That’s it then, for the time being. There’s not much else to do but wait until we get there.”
Marek was still feeling anxious, but there was also an undercurrent of excitement now. He was eager to turn the tables on Graves, and get some payback for Obelisk.
A rushing wall of cold air built up as they sailed, and the sky continued to darken. To the south, the sun was being eaten by the now-surging cloudbank, black and heavy with rain. Marek spent some of the morning running through some drills with the Thompson, trying to get a feel for the gun.
It was a couple of hours later, and the island had just risen into view, when the clouds above them burst and a forceful, icy rain began to lash the boat. Marek and Elayna, who had been chatting at the prow, quickly dashed back to the cabin, almost slipping several times on the slick painted metal of the deck.
Once safely inside, they stood for a few moments, gathering themselves.
Marek was – and Elayna looked – quite stunned by the rapidity of the deluge’s arrival.
“Well… that was quick,” he said, running a hand over his hair to shake off the water.
Elayna smiled. Her long brown hair had turned black where the rain had found it, and small beads of water were speckled across her face. Her large eyes began to study him, and he forced himself to look away. “We should find some dry clothes,” he said.
Elayna nodded, and they walked towards the bunkroom.
They reemerged onto the deck a few minutes later wearing various combinations of rainclothes, and were soon joined by Rulio and Seren.
Marek was sporting his new boots and raincoat, and had wrapped a thick stormcloak around his shoulders for another layer of protection. His clothes seemed to be keeping out the rain so far, but his exposed face was still subject to the sharp, lashing downpour. So long as his feet and body stayed dry, he felt he could manage.
Everyone was staring out at the approaching island, their posture hunched and their faces down against the biting rain. Ahead of them, Vanua Lava rose from the grey sea like a vast green anthill, spanning the horizon.
Rulio had told them the outpost here was nothing special – just another one of the dozens of nearly identical outposts scattered around the Pacific. At any one time, it was home to perhaps half a dozen men, who spent their time scanning the radio waves for Japanese transmissions and then reporting their findings back to the centralised intelligence facilities at Nouméa or Pearl Harbour. While some of the larger outposts had small airfields from which they could launch the occasional scouting run, Vanua Lava had been afforded no such extravagances. Marek had no idea what the men stationed there did to fill out their days. He imagined the levels of boredom must be significant.
As they drew closer to the island, Seren pointed at something bobbing in the shallow, rainswept waters.
Marek looked and saw it: anchored just off the beach was a black ship, all angles and menace.
“That’s him.” Seren said.
Rulio raised his binoculars and peered through them. “No sign of any activity.”
Seren’s eyes flashed. “We going ashore?”
Rulio nodded. “Marek, take us in slow.”
Marek returned to the wheelhouse, keeping the ship below quarter throttle as he slowly guided them towards the dark ship. Rulio remained at the prow, his stormcloak thrashing wildly while he kept his binoculars trained on the ship and the beach, searching for any movement. The world seemed to hold its breath as they inched closer to the shore.
They reached the beach without any difficulty. Marek took them toward a suitable stretch of sand a few hundred metres distant from Graves’ ship, and then Rulio completed the final approach before anchoring them. He had instructed Elayna to join them on shore; with so few crew members, it was likely he would have to use her for something.
As they all made their final preparations, Marek was struck by a sense of déjà vu as he remembered the last time he had geared up. He had been full of optimism, then, excited for his first mission. Beck and Keresi had been there, too, but they were gone now.
He wasn’t feeling so naively optimistic this time.
When they were ready, they each clambered over the side of the ship, scrambled down the swaying rope ladder, and dropped into the shallows. Then they waded slowly through the water towards the shore, four silent intruders entering a primal land.
His new boots were waterproof after all.
Once they had gotten across the damp beach and reached sturdier ground, Marek took stock of his surroundings.
At first glance, the place looked like any other tropical island, albeit one currently quenched with a dismal rain instead of sunshine. The only sign that humans had ever been here was a narrow dirt track, now engraved with thin muddying gullies, that ran up the hill through the jungle, and disappeared from view as it snaked off to the left.
“That’s where the outpost is,” Rulio announced, pointing up at the hill’s summit. “Somewhere up there.”
Marek groaned inwardly. He hated hills at the best of times, let alone in this horrible weather. He tapped his canteen and made a mental note to pace himself this time.
Rulio’s head darted around as he scanned the area for a couple of minutes.
“Tell me you have a decent plan,” Seren said, pulling his hood further down in a futile effort to ward off the rain.
“Oh, I have a plan. We’re going to use Graves’ own tactics against him. We’ll wait for him here, and then Marek and I will confront him – but you’ll skirt around and take up an overwatch position from the jungle behind that bend up there in the track. I’ll tell Graves we have several people aiming at him, and then I’ll give you a signal and you can fire off a warning shot to show I’m not bluffing – Graves won’t know it’s just you back there.” He turned to Elayna. “Elayna, I’ll also need you to be a part of this. I’ll give you my handgun, and then you can go into the jungle off to the right here. Fire it once you hear Seren’s shot.”
“I don’t–” Elayna started to say, but Rulio cut her off.
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry. You’ll be as far as practical from the rest of us. You’re only there to convince Roland we have enough people to outgun him.”
Elayna frowned, blinking the rain from her eyes. “I thought I was only allowed to observe from a distance.”
“Yes, well – you will be observing from a distance, it’s just going to be a bit loud,” Rulio replied, with no small degree of attitude.
Elayna didn’t push the point, but looked none too happy about her inclusion in the plan. She pulled her hood down and stared at the ground.
The main thing Marek had taken from the discussion of the plan, apart from the pleasing fact that he wouldn’t need to walk up the hill after all, was that it was just going to be just him and Rulio confronting Graves. He’d definitely need to pull his weight this time. The pit of anxiety inside him deepened further at the thought.
Seren eagerly set off into the jungle, rapidly disappearing from view as he made his way to the overwatch position, while Elayna moved off into the trees to the right of the path with significantly less enthusiasm. Marek and Rulio lay down just off the edge of the path, concealing themselves in the underbrush as they stared up the hill at the place where the path curved down into view.
Rulio had said they would wait for Graves, and wait they did. The minutes ticked by, and then the hours started to pass. The rain lightened, and worsened, but it never stopped. They had taken cover under a large, sprawling tree bursting with large, heart-shaped leaves, pastel yellow flowers, and a kind of woody, brown fruit. It provided some shelter from the worst of the rain, but small streams of water still cascaded down through the foliage to spatter onto their backs.
While the weather was miserable, the jungle was rather peaceful, with only the chittering of insects and melodious birdsong to break up the endless pattering and dripping of rainwater as it tumbled through the jungle’s greenery, compelled by gravity to descend from leaf to leaf in search of the damp forest floor. The air smelled of dirt and leaves, saltwater and petrichor.
It was all a complete mismatch for the anxiety that seized Marek. Physically he was stationary, but he could feel himself racing through time and space, faster than he could process. The rain continued to run down his face. Marek pulled his cloak tighter around him. An unseen animal called out a strange noise from somewhere. He began to think of home, although he wasn’t sure if that was for the best. The hours passed.
Marek was so lost in thought that he didn’t register the movement on the hill for a few seconds, and then he had to consciously shift his focus back to the real world to actually process what he was seeing.
Three figures were walking down the path, uniformed in black.
Two men flanked Graves. One was a huge, muscled man wearing dark sunglasses and a grin under his buzz cut. That must be Jonny. The other – though also wearing sunglasses – was thin and severe-looking, yet somehow felt the nastier of the two, in line with what Seren had told them earlier. Daziel. The two men were wearing only regular black military uniforms, but looked completely unphased by their completely sodden state. Graves was wearing the same clothes as he had on Obelisk, with the addition of a thick black stormcloak.
When Graves and his men were about fifty metres away, Rulio rose to his feet and stepped out onto the path. Marek hurried to join him.
He felt his pulse hammering in his skull. This was it.
Graves made no reaction to their initial emergence, but an inscrutable smile slowly formed on his face as he continued to saunter towards them. To each side of him, Jonny and Daziel casually unslung their weapons. Jonny was holding a large Browning machine gun, while Daziel cradled a Thompson.
Graves stopped about a dozen metres away from them. They all stood in silence for a few moments under the cascading rain.
Then Graves calmly unholstered his revolver, snapped open the barrel, inspected the cylinder, and flicked it shut again. He looked up at Rulio, rain trickling off his peaked cap. “Why am I seeing you again?” He smirked. “I suppose I can take a guess.”
Rulio’s face was stone. “We’ve come to get Beck.”
Graves pinched his chin and squinted thoughtfully. “Beck… was that the girl’s name?” He smiled. “Well, you’re wasting your time. She’s not here.”
“Fine. Take us to her, then.”
Graves shook his head, staring at Rulio. “That’s not going to happen.”
Rulio met Graves’ stare. “You should know that I have the backing of BARO Agent McEnroe, and his express authorisation to retrieve my crew member. You would do well to tell us where she is.”
Marek almost frowned at that, but caught himself; he hadn’t heard Rulio say anything of the sort before. Was he bluffing?
“BARO backing?” Graves wiped the rain from his face absentmindedly. “I suppose that makes two of us, then. So really, it all cancels out.” He smiled. “I’m not giving up the girl.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Rulio unslung his Thompson. “I don’t want to escalate this, Graves. But I’m prepared to.”
Graves glanced at Marek. “With two against three?” He scoffed. “You don’t ever seem to learn, Captain. Do I need to kidnap another of your crew, perhaps?”
“I think you’ll find I’ve learned quite a lot from our last meeting,” Rulio replied. He racked the Thompson’s slide. “You see, I have you surrounded.”
Graves chuckled. “Oh, really? A taste of my own medicine, is it?”
Rulio raised his hand, and a moment later Seren fired a shot from the jungle behind Roland. A few seconds later, another shot sounded out.
Graves tilted his head around to look in the direction the noises had come from. “Surrounded…” His eyes narrowed. “No, I don’t think you do.”
The actual numbers were even – three against three, not counting Elayna – but Marek knew he wasn’t a match for either one of Graves’ henchmen. If this came to violence, they would have to count on the element of surprise, and Seren would need to prove his worth.
Rulio’s face didn’t give anything away. “I really don’t think you want to find out.”
Graves smiled. “I saw your little poster at Port Authority. It was there when I arrived, and there when I left. Something tells me you didn’t get a lot of interest.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, actually, there–”
“Enough!” Graves snapped, and his face darkened. “I don’t care if you have two dozen of your useless people scattered around this jungle, it’ll make no fucking difference to your chances. Are you really going to persist in challenging me?”
Rulio’s face hardened. “I am.”
“And you’ve thought through the consequences?”
Rulio nodded.
Graves smiled again. “Well, alright then.” His smile disappeared, and his gaze narrowed into a scowl. “Here’s the first one.”
The last thing Marek saw was the barrel of Graves’ gun swinging up towards him.