Three-Way
A group of three Germans held position at the corner of the building opposite city hall; a couple of the bowler-wearing gang members waited at the other side of that same building, as well as a team east across the square inside a small deli. Farther up the eastern side, one of the Japanese team had commandeered a taxi to hide within, taking the occasional shot while trying to start the engine.
Agent Hessman was at the western end of the square, and south of him, the German was shooting with a not-quite-period pistol, while another Japanese man hid behind a corner of the city hall building. He was alternating shots with Hessman and the German behind him, then in another direction as some cops tried running across from the steps to get to him.
The police had formed a nearly solid line around the steps, with a ring of plainclothesmen on the top landing before the dignitaries, who seemed to be having some trouble getting inside the safety of the building. Agent Hessman could hear shots ringing out within the building behind them, leaving the dignitaries pinned.
Looks like that gang got inside city hall in advance, he realized.
The dignitaries had spread themselves across the landing to avoid being a single easy target. Toward the left-hand side was the first dignitary they had seen exit from the line of cars, with the Japanese contingent roughly center, and Congressman Lodge along with a few other men and his own private security off to the far right. Everyone with a gun was taking a shot at someone, while the dignitaries crouched low to keep out of harm’s way.
From what Agent Hessman could see, the Japanese team was alternating shooting at both the Germans and the Japanese delegation, while the Germans seemed to be concentrating on Congressman Lodge, as well as the Japanese team. He could see Captain Beck and Dr. Weiss behind their cover, and saw Claire and Professor Stein heading for cover behind a large marble pillar behind the base of the steps.
“What about that derringer of yours?” Dr. Weiss asked the captain.
“Out of ammo,” the captain replied. “When I stuck it into that guy’s back, I was bluffing. Not to mention I dropped it somewhere. Besides, it doesn’t have the range for this sort of gunfight. Strictly a holdout weapon. That’s why I only brought two shots with me. What about yourself?”
“We weren’t supposed to bring any weapons with us. This was supposed to be a covert mission so we don’t muck up the timeline.”
“Well,” the captain began, “as long as no one from the past gets killed, we’re still okay.”
At the next gunshot, one of the policemen in the front ring fell dead. Dr. Weiss shot the captain a hard glare.
“It looked like he was shot by one of the gang members, so that should still be okay, right?”
From behind the car, the policeman with Agent Hessman was leveling his pistol at the Japanese man against the city hall wall.
“Just one good shot,” the officer said as he took aim. “That’s all I—”
A shot splintered the air, but it did not come from the officer in question. It came instead from the German behind them, and the officer now dropped dead. With shooters on either side of the car now, Agent Hessman was left with few choices.
“Bonsai!” The cry was accompanied by the roar of a car engine as the taxi came charging across the square directly for the steps. A Japanese man drove it with one hand, while with his other he took shots at the Germans and gang members, then at the line of cops between him and his target. His goal was easy enough to determine, as he made a straight line to the Japanese delegation at the center of the landing, where several of his team were shielding General Tojo with their bodies.
Professor Stein saw the car coming and realized their opportunity. Grabbing Claire’s hand, he pulled her into a run along the western length of the building, just in time to hear a storm of gunfire erupting behind him. Twenty police and a dozen plainclothesmen opened fire on the taxi and its driver as he was drawing a bead with his own gun on Tojo. The car was riddled with nearly as many holes as the man within it was, and the vehicle spun off and crashed to the side of the steps.
“That was insane,” Claire remarked as they scurried away.
“He probably vastly underestimated how much armor your average car can provide—currently.”
He glanced back to see the limp, dying form of the taxi’s driver weakly reaching into his shirt to activate something and begin his process of imploding into a point of light before his last breath. That glance, though, nearly cost him dearly.
Before Claire’s warning cry came, Professor Stein bumped into the Japanese man who had been hiding behind the front wall. For a moment they stood facing one another before the Japanese man remembered to bring up his gun threateningly in their direction. Professor Stein threw his hands in the air as Claire connected a foot to the man’s shin.
The Japanese man cried out, his finger reflexively pulling the trigger. Much to Ben’s shocked surprise, however, nothing fired off.
Out of ammo! Ben realized, and he voiced his thought aloud with a grin, “You’re out of ammo.”
The other cursed in Japanese, turned, and ran off in the other direction. This left Professor Stein free to assess his surroundings.
“There.” Claire pointed. “Behind that car. It’s Lou.”
“But it looks like he’s got someone else pinning him,” Professor Stein noted. “One of the Germans, I think.”
“Not to mention the firefight in the middle of the square itself,” she pointed out.
“Germans look to hold the east and south ends,” he summed up.
“Where’s Sue? She should be able to mop up half of them all by herself.”
“No idea and no time to wonder. Come on, we’ll make a run for Lou.”
With the taxi now overturned and burning off to one side, a small group of cops ran toward the fallen vehicle to use it as a shelter while they attacked some of the people shooting at them. Because the Japanese man had left his post, Agent Hessman was able to scurry over to that side of the car and gain some protection from the German still firing at him as well as from the general fight that had broken out across the square. He now had a better vantage point to observe what else was going on.
He could see Ben and Claire, and now Robert and Sam as well. The latter remained in the deli across the street to stay clear of the shootout. Captain Beck was just poking his head out from behind a wall when a bullet shattered the glass window in the deli front. One of the gang members tumbled out of the doorway facedown onto the concrete. Captain Beck motioned to Dr. Weiss to take a circuitous route around the square.
Ben and Claire dashed over to join Agent Hessman when the German behind him sent another bullet whizzing by his ear. But Lou noticed that the bullet chipped a section of wall behind where the delegation on the left-hand side of the landing was taking cover. Curious as to the different teams’ motives, Agent Hessman ducked low and waited for the next shot to come.
He was not disappointed. This time a shot cleared his head but drew an even closer bead on that first delegate. He’s not shooting at me, Agent Hessman realized. He took a fresh analysis of the dynamics of the shootout. The ones hiding behind the corner of the building across from city hall seemed to mostly be aiming their shots for Congressman Lodge and the Japanese, while the remaining Japanese seemed intent on getting to Tojo and the Germans. A few of the Germans’ shots, however, were also landing close enough to that first delegate to be less than mere chance.
They’re after that first delegate and Congressman Lodge, he realized. But then, who is he?
The police opened up a solid mass of gunfire against the gang members hiding behind the building across the square, dropping half of them on the spot, as well as one of the Germans. The remaining gang members responded with a few shots of their own as they shouted their retreat, while the ones remaining in the deli had apparently found the back door. Some fighting still took place in the corridors of city hall, but that, too, was starting to turn in the direction of the defenders.
“Okay,” Professor Stein said to Claire, “no better opportunity. Now!”
They made a mad dash over to Agent Hessman’s position, while at the other side of the square, Captain Beck and Dr. Weiss saw the gang retreating and realized their own opportunity for escape.
“Lou,” the professor said once they had joined him, “what’s our situation?”
“Changing by the minute,” came the reply. “That delegate on the left side: Can you identify him? The Germans seem as interested in him as they are in the congressman.”
“Didn’t see his face before,” Professor Stein replied.
“The markings on his bodyguards’ uniforms look German,” Claire said. “But I wouldn’t think any German delegates would be over here after the war.”
Gunshots still rang out, but the captain and Dr. Weiss made their way across the square, pausing when the army of police made a final charge for the remaining gunmen. Within city hall itself, the fighting was nearly finished, and the delegates were ready to withdraw. There was little time left for subtleties.
Professor Stein took out his pocket computer, aimed it in the direction of the one in question, zoomed in for a good image, and snapped a picture.
“Running a search now,” he said as he tapped the virtual keys.
When Claire glanced back at him, her eyes went wide at what she saw Ben holding, and wider still as the pictures flashed across the small window on the device. She was speechless until a cough finally escaped her throat. The device settled upon a name and accompanying dossier.
“Gustav Noske,” Professor Stein reported. “Founder of the German—holy cow, I think we hit the jackpot with this guy. This is the guy responsible for the rise of Adolf Hitler himself! Lou, take a look at this.”
He leaned in closer to show Agent Hessman what he’d found, the revelation immediately catching the latter’s attention. But beyond that information, the device they’d used to retrieve it held Claire’s bug-eyed attention. She remained speechless in her incomprehension.