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.Intruder.He turned and looked right at me.I brought the rifle to bear, ready to take him down, but my gloved hand slipped clumsily on the trigger and he moved.He moved so fast that he reached me before I could fire.I raised the rifle to try to club him down, but he dodged and rammed into me from the side, shoving me hard against the vehicle.A glint of steel flashed at me but I caught his wrist before he could stick me.I dropped the rifle into the snow, and started reaching for my own knife, before realising I'd left it almost unreachable on a belt sheath, under my heavy coat, damn fool that I am.Should have put it in a pocket.Pocket! With my free hand I reached in and grabbed the coffee flask.Not a real weapon of course, unless I could smack him in the face with it.But seeing the flash of metal he grabbed my wrist with his other hand and we struggled, panting, breath freezing on the air.Not feeling like dancing with him like this all night, I decided to call for reinforcements.I yelled and kicked the wall of the vehicle a few times.He looked around, alarmed, and I took advantage of his distraction to knee him in the groin, sending him staggering away groaning.He fell to his hands and knees, but jumped back up right away.Reaching my knife would take too long and I'd lost sight of the rifle, so I grabbed at the nearest thing to hand.As he rose I grabbed and swung one of the snow shovels from the rack.The flat of it smashed into his side and he fell down without even a shout.I wouldn't let him even start to get up this time.I moved fast to stand over him, raising the shovel, ready to bring it down blade first and finish him."No!" He yelled."Wait! I've come to help! I've come to help the Prophet!"I froze, the shovel poised.Help?I caught a glimpse of movement out the corner of my left eye and started to turn, but something grey flew at me and smashed into my head and I went down hard.****I woke up with Tanashi and Diliph hovering and a lot of noise and movement around the edges of my senses."Did you get them? Is Ilyan safe?"Diliph's face fell and he looked at Tanashi."Alright so I owe you ten.He didn't ask about his boots first.""What about my boots?" I said, alarmed, trying to sit up and see my feet."They're fine," Diliph said, helping me to sit up against the side of the vehicle.I groaned at my splitting headache and raised a hand to find a dressing on the left side of my head.Despite blurry vision, I could see well enough to make out a group of people.My people standing, surrounding two others kneeling on the ground.The strangers both wore grey one-piece suits.Their balaclavas had been pulled off."Get me up," I said to the medics.They protested of course, but when I started climbing to my feet anyway they helped me stand and took me across to the others."Jadeth!" Ilyan said, impatiently."You're concussed.Will you please lie down?""I'm fine," I lied.I checked that the two intruders had been cuffed."Right what's the story?"Ilyan shook his head baffled."They surrendered.""What?""Yeah," Rish confirmed."The captain and I came out fighting.You were down, and these two just gave up."I stared at them and then shrugged."I must have scared them," I said, which made Jia laugh nervously."We don't want to fight!" The man said.A lean, intense looking lad, about thirty with very short blonde hair."You tried to stab me," I reminded him."I only intended to disarm you to stop you killing me.""And this one," I looked at the other, a woman a bit younger than him.Dark skinned, short haired like him.Just as intense looking."She hit me in the head.""Kicked." She corrected me in a quiet voice.I should have known.Fancy martial arts skills, knives favoured over guns, sneaking around invisibly.I knew what we had here."They're a couple of fucking ninjas," I sneered."Black Ops assassins?" I kicked the man."Right?""Yes," he said."We're black ops, yes.I'm Akil, this is Esha.""You actually have names?" Maiga said, coldly.She covered the man with her rifle.Rish covered the woman."What do you want here?" Ilyan asked
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