Annihilation: Love Conquers All by Saxon Andrew, Derek Chiodo Page B
Authors: Saxon Andrew, Derek Chiodo
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high intelligence. “I bet she could be distracting,” he thought. He could see in her expression that something was bothering her. “We’ll get to that in a minute,” he decided.
“This is Colonel Ortiz, our hand-to-hand combat expert, and Major Daniels, head of metropolitan monitoring service, whom I think you know,” John said.
“Good evening,” Esa said. “I need some help here, people. Major Daniels, I’m surprised to see you here, but I suspect you have something important to tell us that might help us understand what happened tonight, and Colonel Ortiz, I hope you can make sense of how these men were killed. Who would like to go first?”
“I need to know which man was killed first, then second, third, and so on before I can accurately put together what I think happened,” Colonel Ortiz said. “Then, if you have any video, I’d like to see that.” Colonel Ortiz was dressed in his civilian clothes, but there was no mistaking he was military. He had short hair, a stocky build, and deep-set eyes, and moved with an economy of motion.
“This is a very dangerous individual,” Esa thought, then said, “Okay, Miss Ash, why don’t you share your findings with us so we can get started?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, “but I think you’re going to find them hard to believe; I took the readings three times and they didn’t change.”
“Why is that?” Colonel Ortiz asked.
“Because all four men were killed in less than six seconds,” she replied.
Inspector Connor was stunned and, glancing at Colonel Ortiz, he could tell that he was also surprised by her response. He said, “Slow down, let’s go over your data step by step.”
“All right, here’s what I’ve been able to determine,” Danielle said. “The first one to die was the gunman on the right.” She turned and pointed at the body with the knife protruding from an eye socket. “He died at exactly 11:46:11 by a knife that entered his right eye. The second one to die was the gunman on the left, and he died at exactly 11:46:13 by a knife puncturing the main artery in his heart. The third one to die was this fellow with the broken arm. He died from massive head trauma. Apparently he was slammed into the wall face first. His time of death was 11:46:15. The last one to die was this man with the severed tendons in his wrist. He also died from massive head trauma. Apparently he was thrown back hard enough to fracture his skull on the concrete. His time of death was 11:46:17. I checked my readings three times, and I used a different probe the third time, and the readings still didn’t change. I’ve matched the third victim with the blood on the wall here,” she said, and she pointed to a bloody spot on the wall about head high. “Also, the blood on the concrete here next to the fourth man matches his blood.”
“Thank you,” Colonel Ortiz said. “Is there anything else you’d like to add, Miss Ash?”
“Yes, there is one more thing,” she said. “The first and fourth victim had army serial numbers on their arms.”
“How do you know they’re army?” Colonel Ortiz asked quickly.
“I’ve run into serial numbers on victims before, so I went to defense five months ago and learned how to tell the difference between the different military branches,” she replied. “All army serial numbers begin with a ‘T’ and end with a ‘Z.’”
Colonel Ortiz was impressed. “You’re absolutely right,” he said.
“John, please contact defense and ask them to run a check on those serial numbers,” Inspector Connor said.
“I’ve already done that, Inspector. I used your name and they promised the results within the hour. I also asked them to flash it to the computer on your floater,” Danielle said.
“Thank you very much, Miss Ash,” Esa told her. This young technician impressed him. He made a mental note to get John to look into her work history to see if she
“This is Colonel Ortiz, our hand-to-hand combat expert, and Major Daniels, head of metropolitan monitoring service, whom I think you know,” John said.
“Good evening,” Esa said. “I need some help here, people. Major Daniels, I’m surprised to see you here, but I suspect you have something important to tell us that might help us understand what happened tonight, and Colonel Ortiz, I hope you can make sense of how these men were killed. Who would like to go first?”
“I need to know which man was killed first, then second, third, and so on before I can accurately put together what I think happened,” Colonel Ortiz said. “Then, if you have any video, I’d like to see that.” Colonel Ortiz was dressed in his civilian clothes, but there was no mistaking he was military. He had short hair, a stocky build, and deep-set eyes, and moved with an economy of motion.
“This is a very dangerous individual,” Esa thought, then said, “Okay, Miss Ash, why don’t you share your findings with us so we can get started?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, “but I think you’re going to find them hard to believe; I took the readings three times and they didn’t change.”
“Why is that?” Colonel Ortiz asked.
“Because all four men were killed in less than six seconds,” she replied.
Inspector Connor was stunned and, glancing at Colonel Ortiz, he could tell that he was also surprised by her response. He said, “Slow down, let’s go over your data step by step.”
“All right, here’s what I’ve been able to determine,” Danielle said. “The first one to die was the gunman on the right.” She turned and pointed at the body with the knife protruding from an eye socket. “He died at exactly 11:46:11 by a knife that entered his right eye. The second one to die was the gunman on the left, and he died at exactly 11:46:13 by a knife puncturing the main artery in his heart. The third one to die was this fellow with the broken arm. He died from massive head trauma. Apparently he was slammed into the wall face first. His time of death was 11:46:15. The last one to die was this man with the severed tendons in his wrist. He also died from massive head trauma. Apparently he was thrown back hard enough to fracture his skull on the concrete. His time of death was 11:46:17. I checked my readings three times, and I used a different probe the third time, and the readings still didn’t change. I’ve matched the third victim with the blood on the wall here,” she said, and she pointed to a bloody spot on the wall about head high. “Also, the blood on the concrete here next to the fourth man matches his blood.”
“Thank you,” Colonel Ortiz said. “Is there anything else you’d like to add, Miss Ash?”
“Yes, there is one more thing,” she said. “The first and fourth victim had army serial numbers on their arms.”
“How do you know they’re army?” Colonel Ortiz asked quickly.
“I’ve run into serial numbers on victims before, so I went to defense five months ago and learned how to tell the difference between the different military branches,” she replied. “All army serial numbers begin with a ‘T’ and end with a ‘Z.’”
Colonel Ortiz was impressed. “You’re absolutely right,” he said.
“John, please contact defense and ask them to run a check on those serial numbers,” Inspector Connor said.
“I’ve already done that, Inspector. I used your name and they promised the results within the hour. I also asked them to flash it to the computer on your floater,” Danielle said.
“Thank you very much, Miss Ash,” Esa told her. This young technician impressed him. He made a mental note to get John to look into her work history to see if she
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