Marc smiled as the bolt took Dankworth square in the chest. For good measure, he shot the woman as well. Stunners were a cheap way to handle prisoners.
“Find the other two,” he ordered brusquely.
It became clear within moments that Morty and Xiomber weren’t anywhere in the suite of rooms, and there were no more hidden doors to blow open. Nothing but this operating theater, a control room, and a small lab, and no indication a pair of Yuudixtl had ever been in here.
In a way, that made it worse, because it suggested that those two knew he was going to catch up with Liamssen and Dankworth, and had already moved on, probably hoping to find another Field Agent from Earth Force Sky Patrol, or maybe even a Special Agent.
He couldn’t put any of his other plans into action until he had cauterized this wound. And now he might have to start over.
How long had those two been planning to betray him?
“The place is empty, Maximus,” Maiair confirmed. “What’s next?”
“You two grab her,” he said, pointing at the doctor on the floor of the operating theater. “Bring her along to the truck. I only gave them a medium stun, but they won’t be conscious for at least thirty or forty minutes. Then I need to know where the other two are.”
“What about the human?” Yooyar asked.
“I’ll bring him myself,” Marc said.
It was almost like picking up a ten-year-old child, using his enhanced muscles to lift up the man who had once been his best friend and toss Dankworth over a shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“What about the rest?” Maiair pressed.
Marc looked around at the space. There was no way to hide the kicked in front door of the other suite, nor the destroyed hidden door between the two flats. It would only be a matter of time until someone called the police, and the place would be crawling with badges.
Still, he had the doctor. He could get what he wanted out of her before he killed her. And still had enough connections to the authorities to get copies of her files once the police impounded them. He was pretty sure all of the corrupt locals he owned would be in jail fast enough as a result of this fiasco, but not before he could get that much out of them.
“Leave it,” he decided. “I’ve got what I really need.”
The girls were gone first, lugging the Nari traitor between them. Zorge was covering the front door when Marc emerged from the bathroom with his own burden.
“So that’s him?” Zorge tsked. “Doesn’t look like much.”
“Neither would you, stunned,” Marc snapped. “This man, this human, is orders of magnitude more dangerous than you ever dreamed of being, Zorge. He might be the only person in the universe that could stop me.”
“Why haven’t you killed him, then?” the spymaster asked abruptly.
“I need to know what he knows first,” Marc promised. “After that, it’s a whole different ballgame.”