The Doc Justice Files - Three Card Monty part 6
by Direwolf

Chapter 6- Fire and Sword

The billowing heat and smoke threatened to overwhelm Justin. His friends were trapped behind a wall of flames. Justin knew that trying to get to them by running through the fire was suicide and wouldn't help. But he saw one way that might work, if he was fast and lucky enough.

Choking on the thick smoke, Justin pulled himself to his feet. But before escaping, he reached for the metal pin by the rolling door. That pin, wedged through a link of chain, secured the entry. He yanked the pin free and tugged on the chain. With a grate of metal, the counterweighted door began to open.

The rush of fresh air fed the fire and it roared with greater intensity. Justin bolted out the ruin of the wooden door. He expected to find the assailants gone with the mysterious crate. That wasn't the case. He came out into the middle of a fight.

Eyes streaming from the tar-thickened smoke, Justin tried to take in what was going on around the roadster. The man he had shot in the leg was down as was one other man whom Justin didn't recognize. Another, this one dressed in a military tunic with twin gold bars on the collar, was dodging back from a small oriental man in black clothing. Something bright flashed in the firelight. Justin realized the oriental was wielding a straight bladed sword.

The man in the tunic reeled back and fired the automatic in his hand. The swordsman seemed to lithely turn aside just as the gun fired, twisting in mid strike. The bullet missed the swordsman and passed uncomfortably close to Justin's ear. The sword stroke didn't miss. The gunman cried out as the blade struck home, slashing across his chest. He spun, clutched at the car and slid to the ground, leaving a long smear of blood on the side of the car.

"Thanks for your help," Justin said.

Without warning, the oriental turned, leapt forward a good ten feet and lashed out with a blindingly fast side cut.

Only years of training with Fu Lee allowed Justin to evade that first attack. He ducked low and tumbled to the side. The blade sought him like a living thing, licking out from all directions. Justin back flipped away. The sword sparked off the asphalt. Justin retreated. The swordsman closed in.

By the sound of the fire, Justin knew it was spreading. Lucas and Go-on had no way out. He had to do something, but the grim faced Chinese swordsman wouldn't give him time. Justin spun to the side as he backed up, drawing his gun. The assassin slashed. Justin ducked but a spinning kick from the black-clad man knocked the pistol from Justin's hand. Doc Collins tried to land a kick of his own but a quick backswing of the sword forced him back. Justin realized there was nothing he could do except give ground so long as the flashing blade menaced him. But by retreating, he was abandoning his friends.

Justin reached the street, still dodging the blade. He nearly stumbled off the curb. The swordsman lunged and Justin spun aside. The sword speared through his coat, momentarily tangling in the heavy leather. Justin took the moment, stepped forward and delivered a hammering blow to the man's side.

The assassin fell back, favoring his injured side. Justin closed but a sweep of the blade towards his legs threw him back. There was no way around it. He had to get rid of the sword.

Justin turned and ran.

The assassin followed.

Justin only had to run a dozen yards before he spotted what he needed. There was a trashcan sitting on the curb, the heavy wire mesh showing it was nearly a third full. Without breaking stride, Justin grabbed hold of the trashcan, pivoted and drew it back, as if to throw. His pursuer paused, dropping into a fighting crouch, sword ready.

Doc Collins didn't throw. Instead, he stepped quickly forward and thrust the trashcan at the sword. The blade speared through the mesh and emerged on the far side. Justin twisted the can, locking the blade in place. The swordsman tried to yank it free but the young industrialist was too fast. He threw the can to the side. The sword went with it. Before the swordsman recovered, Justin lashed out with a spinning kick of his own. His foot connected with the pit of the man's stomach. With a grimace of pain and surprise, the Chinese man folded in half and hit the ground, gasping for breath and out of the fight.

Justin took a half step towards the fallen man just as an explosion ripped through the burning warehouse, blowing a fan of flaming debris out the open doors. He realized that securing the fallen killer would take precious time, time Lucas and Go-on couldn't afford to loose. If it wasn't too late already. Justin raced back to the pier.

Smoldering timbers and clots of burning tar were scattered in front of the open door. Through the flames and smoke, Justin saw the inner door to the office was still closed. There was a chance he wasn't too late. But the roadster was blocking the path into the building, he couldn't use the coup. Justin didn't hesitate. He sprinted to the smaller car and threw open the door. The body of the driver, throat cut from ear to ear, spilled out. Justin dragged the limp body free and sat behind the wheel, ignoring the splattered blood. The key was in the ignition and he turned it savagely while pumping the gas.

For an instant, he was sure he'd flooded the engine, but then it caught with a roar. Justin spun the wheel in a tight circle and stamped on the accelerator. Tires screamed on wet pavement as the car surged around, jumped the curb and sped for the open door.

Jaws set in a death's head grin, Justin drove into the billowing fire. Burning tar spun up in twin arcs from the tires as the flaming wood groaned. He knew that at any moment the pier could collapse, dumping them all into the cold water of the San Francisco Bay. Or the roof could cave in. Or Lucas and Go-on could be dead of the smoke already. None of that stopped him. He hurtled across the burning floor, knocking the remains of Jeff's desk aside and hit the door to the inner office. The sheet metal wall crumpled in.

Through eyes nearly blinded by heat and smoke, Justin saw Go-on and Lucas huddled in the far corner, handkerchiefs pressed over the mouths. The open bottle of liquor told Justin the rest. Go-on had wet the fabric to help filter out the smoke.

"Come on!" Justin roared, his voice raw from the thick smoke streaming through the now open doorway. He felt two of the cars tires pop.

Lucas dragged Go-on up and the two of them staggered towards the car. Justin pulled them in then shifted into reverse. The engine howled in protest as the car fought to back up. The sheet metal walls screamed along the car's sides as it pulled free. Some inner sense drew Justin's gaze upwards. The loss of the inner office wall was the final straw. The roof was coming down.

Burning debris rained down around them. Much of the rubble missed the car or slid off the canvas roof. But not all of it. Flaming fragments pierced the thin roof as a beam hit the hood, dented the metal and fell to the side. Justin ignored the pain and smell of burning hair until Go-on knocked the ember from his shoulder. He was too intent on controlling the car as it sped backwards through the ruined building. Justin's hands were locked on the steering wheel as he fought to control the car. In the mirror, he saw the open doors. Then the floor shifted sickeningly under them as they careened back.

Justin was sure the floor was giving way. It held, but the car lunched enough to throw it to the side. They hit the brick wall beside the door. Weakened by the machine gun fire, the explosion and fire, the wall gave way with an explosion of broken bricks. The car fishtailed back as Justin fought for control. Having escaped the burning building, he didn't want to kill them all in a wreck.

Between the brakes and the wheel, the car lurched to a stop. Moments later, the walls of the warehouse fell in. That was more then the weakened pier timbers could take. With a protracted groan, the flaming wreckage fell into the bay, throwing up a column of smoke and steam.

"Well, that was an impressive display of quick thinking," Go-on gasped.

Justin chuckled. "You didn't see the half of it."

"Oh, go on! I was referring to my brilliant idea of these filter masks. Best use I can think of for Chinese Whisky."

Justin didn't offer a comment. He forced open the dented, warped and singed door and pulled himself out of the car. The trunk was sprung open. Inside was the crate of stone tablets. Justin pulled it out. He saw there were a number of other metal cases in the truck as well, each one stenciled with the emblem of a eagle clutching a sheaf of thunderbolts in each claw. Justin reached for one of the cases.

Warwick knew he was dying. The sword had cut deep and he felt his life seeping away one drop at a time. The mission was a failure as well. From his vantage point, on the ground, he'd watched Doc Collins defeat the swordsman, drive the car into the burning building and emerge. He'd rescued his friends and recovered the crate of tablets, now it seemed assured he would gain control of the field equipment as well. That would imperil the Imperum and must not happen.

Hand shaking from blood loss, Warwick managed to reach into his tunic pocket and pull out a silvery metal box the size of a package of cigars. There was one switch on the top of the box, a switch that had to be turned and then pressed to prevent it from being triggered by accident. With fingers wet with his own blood, Warwick turned the switch. But he had to make sure. He set the box down and reached for his fallen gun. The heavy automatic seemed to have tripled in weight but Warwick managed to lift it, and center the sight on Collins' back.

"Semper Imperium," he breathed and squeezed the trigger.

At the car, Justin bent down to get a good grip on one of the metal boxes. The bullet missed him by inches, punching through the open trunk and into the shredded fabric top of the battered roadster.

Under fire yet again, Justin dove for cover, grabbing the wooden crate at his feet as he went. Lucas leapt away from the car. Go-on drew his revolver and fired once, catching Warwick in the chest.

"Good only for killing snails is it?" Go-on asked no in particular as Warwick slumped forward, the weight of his body pressing the switch on the small metal box.

With an ear-searing flash of white light, the four bodies on the pier burst into flames. And a sudden eruption of fire boiled out of the roadster's trunk while another charge went off in the front seat. Lucas, Go-on and Justin all retreated from the intense fire. Justin dragged the crate. Moments latter an explosion lifted the remains of the roadster from the ground and flipped it over as the gas tank went up.

"What was that?" Go-on shouted, batting at his smoldering clothing.

"Thermite, I think," Justin announced.

North of the city in the small town of Mill Valley, one man was still awake despite the hour. He moved through a moonlit green house admiring the plants growing from the rich beds of soil. One cluster of pail pink blooms hanging from a moss-lined basket took his attention. There were a very rare species of night blooming orchid collected in Madagascar. They had never been described in any scientific journal and were unknown in the western world. As far as he knew, these were the only specimens beyond the shores of that island. He paused to enjoy the faint perfume rising from the flowers.

There was a soft knock at the green house door.

"Enter," the man said.

An elderly man in servant's clothing entered, bowed low and said, "I regret to inform you, sir, that the radio has received the coded signal.

After one last breath of the night flower's perfume, the man straightened. "Thank you, Benson, you may retire for the night."

Benson withdrew without a word, closing the door. The man stood in the moonlight, looking at his flowers but not seeing them. His mind was elsewhere, planning his next move.

"Thermite? How'd that happen?" Lucas asked, shielding his eyes from the glare.

"Must have been some sort of deadman switch on the fellow that Go-on shot," Justin said. "Not that I'm complaining seeing as he was shooting at me. If only I could have gotten something more out of the car. We still don't know who these men were or why they were after the stone tablets."

"And I don't think we'll be getting any answers tonight. They are all dead, burned to cinders and the shipping office's gone as well. I think my sister will be mad she missed all the fun."

"I never thought gun battles were her idea of a good time. Wait a minute, I left one of them on the side walk!" Justin ran over to where he'd left the Chinese swordsman but the man was long gone. Even the sword was missing.

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather not answer a whole lot of tiring questions from the friendly police officers yet again. And there's not much we could tell them that would help much, is there?"

"For once, I got to agree with the clothes horse here. I say we head out before the police or fire department arrive."

"All right," Justin agreed. If need be he could call the police later.

A quick bit of searching turned up Justin's gun from amid the wreckage of the pier. Then the three of them walked west until they found a late night taxi willing to take them back to Justin's apartment.

Fu Lee was waiting for them when the elevator opened. This time with hot toddies to pass out. Go-on failed to comment on the timing.

"A difficult evening I gather?" he asked as he passed around the drinks.

Justin laughed without humor. "You might say that, what with gun fights, sword battles, bombs and burning buildings. But we made it through reasonably intact."

"And that is what matters, sir. I see you brought back the crate. Do you plan to examine the bricks further?"

"No, we found the missing pea. Let's take a look."

Together, they unpacked the seven stone tablets and set them on the desk in the library. Fu Lee hissed softly through his teeth, running his fingers gently over the worn stone surfaces.

"Amazing, sir! These are funeral stones."

"I know, the seven virtuous demons. I think the writing is Chinese."

Fu Lee nodded. "It's weathered. This will take us some time to translate."

"I figured that was the case. But not tonight. I think we have all had enough. It will be dawn soon and Alex is going to expect me to talk compasses this afternoon. Go-on, you're welcome to one of the spare rooms, as always."

"Right-o. Though I must place a quick phone call to make sure my sister hasn't been pinched for indecent behavior."

"If you gentlemen will leave your clothing outside, I'll take it with me to Chinatown in the morning. It may be salvageable."

"Sounds fine by me," Go-on added as they left the library. "Just make sure they do a proper job on my shirt. Do you know how hard it is find a good linen shirt in this town?"

Fu Lee paused at the door and switched off the library lights. In the darkness, the stone tablets took on a faint, violet glow as if lit by an ultraviolet lamp. Silhouetted in the doorway, Fu Lee watched the stones, as if expecting them to move. He heard Go-on, Lucas and Justin open the doors to their rooms. All was silent. The glow on the stones was slowly fading.

Fu Lee nodded to himself and shut the door.

Fin