Exodus: Empires at War: Book 11: Day of Infamy (Exodus: Empires at War.) by Doug Dandridge Page A

hood.
    Devries motioned to the
Dealer, who nodded and moved off.  Angel realized that was more trouble, but he
would have to deal with it.
    “Well, let’s step into my
office,” said Devries, pushing back his chair and getting up, the other men
following suit.
    Angel nodded and followed
Devries and one of his men, the other two falling in behind.  They went through
the curtained door, into the back of the bar, where the smell and sounds of sex
permeated the air.  They continued through to a solid alloy door.  Angel had no
map of this place, is was on none of the city databases, but his sensors told
him there was a long narrow open space behind the door, probably an alley.
    Devries opened the door
and went through with his lieutenant, while one of the following men put a hand
on Angels back and pushed him through.  The Assassin didn’t resist.  It suited
his purposes to go into the alley.  But he knew he had to be careful from this
point on.
    The alley was dark, but
to Angel’s enhanced eyes it was like bright twilight.  He could see the other
men waiting in what they must have thought were shadows, two on each end of the
alley.  Devries turned toward him while the other three formed a circle around
him, surrounding him to prevent escape.
    “And just what the hell
can I do for you?” asked Devries.  The men around him laughed, and Angel was
sure that this meeting was not going to end well for someone.
    “I understand you did
some work for some people.  Involving the use of some muscle to acquire some
specific items.”
    “Who sent you?” growled
Devries.
    “I’m here on my own,”
said Angel.  “This is a personal matter.”
    “I don’t quite believe
that,” said Devries with a grin.  “Take him.”
    The other three men
started to move while Devries reached into his jacket to pull a weapon.  The
men must have thought they could surprise and overpower the Assassin.  Why not,
since they were used to dealing with the scared and the weak.
    As soon as the words left
the crime boss’ mouth Angel began to move, his body going into the fugue state
of the enhanced.  Everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl, while to his
sensibilities he was still moving at normal speed.  To the criminals attacking
him it seemed as if he was moving in a blur, three times the speed of a normal
human.
    Angel grabbed the first
hand to reach for him, grabbing the wrist and twisting, feeling satisfaction as
he felt the bones snap.  The man opened his mouth in a scream, but Angel was
already moving to deal with the second man, planting a powerful side kick into
his solar plexus, doubling him over and flinging him away.  A spin on his foot
and he was bringing a fist into the throat of the third man, crushing his
larynx and sending him to his knees, choking.
    Devries had pulled his
pistol by this time, an illegal high powered laser, a military weapon forbidden
to civilians on the core worlds.  He had pulled the trigger before lining it up,
meaning to sweep it through Angel like an infinite sword.  The beam may have
moved at the speed of light, but the arm of the man wielding it did not.  Angel
ducked and blocked at the same time, pushing the man back, then pulling a hard
uppercut into the jaw of the boss.  Devries fell onto his back, out.
    Muscle Number One tried
to hit Angel with his good hand while his other flopped on the end of his arm. 
Angel gave him another broken limb for his trouble, this time at the forearm,
then kicked the hood in the groin, doubling him over.
    He hit the second man,
the one he had side kicked, now stumbling toward him with a hand on his side,
in the head with a spinning backhand, sending him off his feet and out of the
conscious world.  Man three was on his knees, still choking, now spitting up
blood.
    The other men came out of
the shadows, weapons in hand.  None had lasers, and he made all the guns out to
be magrails, projectile weapons that could send a round through him at