Panthera Spelaea

“What are they shooting at,” Zach yelled as a fireball erupted on the road in front of us.

“The bridge to the summer dacha,” the driver said as he saw the damage around the curve in the road. A one-lane wooden bridge was burning. The driver hit the brakes and spun the vehicle around. “They are trying to pin us down!”

Our bodyguards drew their pistols, which was not much of a threat against mercenaries with attack and transport helicopters. The attack helicopter circled our car before flying off to the east. The other helicopter held troops, at least eight I could see. They had side doors open and weapons out, but they kept the guns pointed forward. Zach figured it out. “They are cutting off any reinforcements,” he said as the car moved off the road. “Are Edward and Alexandra in the dacha?”

“Yes, with her security team.” With the helicopters out of sight, we piled out of the car. The driver opened secret compartments under the seats, revealing a .50-caliber sniper rifle, several AK-74 military rifles, and both smoke and fragmentation grenades. “Arm up. With the bridge out, we’ll have to hump it.”

Zach and my bodyguard armed up while I looked at Art. “They aren’t military or police. Think they know about our kind?”

“They are all dead men, so it won’t matter,” Art replied as he pulled his jacket off and tossed it in the back. “You two follow the road in, and we are going through the woods. Kill them all.”

The driver looked at his phone. “They are jamming our communications,” he said as he took out the sniper rifle. “I’ll head to the top of that hill there and take out the helicopters. I’ll provide overwatch,” he said. “The home is just over that rise, twenty degrees left of the bridge. It has an outer fence of barbed wire and an inner eight-foot security fence of reinforced concrete. Alexandra should be in the safe room under the master bedroom on the right side of the house.”

The battle was on, as I could hear automatic weapons fire in the distance. “Work fast and quiet and take them out from behind. They may not know we are here to help. And don’t get scared no matter what you see right now. I’ll explain later.” My bodyguard wasn’t ‘read in’ to the switcher thing; he was only security for my trip here. Former Spetznaz, he had taken an AK-74 assault rifle, extra magazines, and a load of grenades already.

“You want my pistol?”

“We won’t need weapons,” I said as I took off my shoes and pants, tossing them in the back of the SUV. Art shifted into his massive bear, causing my guy to stagger back in shock. “Don’t shoot any bears or big cats,” I told him before I shifted into my Cave Lion.

He looked between the bear and the lion. “трахни меня (Fuck Me!)”

“Let’s go,” Zach told him. The driver was already heading into the woods towards the clearing at the top of the hill. Having a sniper on overwatch would help. Scaring the shit out of the guys moving in would be better. Art started running towards the rise, and my cat followed close behind.

We got a view through the trees as we crested the rise. The attack helicopter was moving in over the home, with four men preparing to fast-rope down onto the roof. The door gunner was laying down machine-gun fire on the reinforced firing positions at the corners of the upper floor. The dacha wasn’t a fragile home made of wood; Mikhail was paranoid enough to build it with thick reinforced concrete and bulletproof glass, painted to look like wood. I knew that if the bad guys reached the roof, they’d make it inside and wipe out the resistance.

The transport helicopter was on the ground and was taking fire from the house. The ten men it carried had bailed out and formed a skirmish line, covering each other with fire as they moved towards the security fence.

Half of the squad headed to the left, coming towards us. I focused on them as we charged silently down the hill towards the attackers.

I heard a loud shot from our right, and it was on target for the attack helicopter as it flared out to approach the roof. Black smoke started to come out of the gearing between the engines and the rotor. Another shot punched through the windshield and took out the pilot. The helicopter lost altitude quickly and swung away from us. It clipped the corner of the home before crashing and burning on the ground outside.

The attacking squad raced to help their comrades, meaning no one saw when Art and I burst out of the woods. Art headed for the trailing mercenary while I headed for the guys in the middle. I heard a scream and a thud to my right; Art had bitten a man’s shoulder then ripped his gun arm off, tossing him aside with a roar. I leaped forward, my teeth grabbing the head and neck of a mercenary as he turned towards the scream of his squadmate. He let out a scream as my teeth punctured his helmet, cut short when I shook my head and decapitated him. Art let out a roar as his claws ripped through the man between us.

The other two men turned their attention to us and opened fire. I felt the bullets hitting my chest and shoulders as I charged towards the nearest one. My front claws landed on his chest, my weight knocking him on his ass. I held him down, my chest blocking his rifle, and ripped his throat out.

Our activities attracted more incoming fire. I felt a few more shots into my flank as I ran towards the survivors of the burning helicopter. Thank God I wasn’t alone. Between the fire from the house and the sniper fire, the survivors got taken out before I got there.

I kept running around the outside security wall, hoping to circle the house and get the other half of the attackers from the backside. Thankfully, the defenders in the dacha figured out we were friendlies and weren’t shooting at us. The amount of gunfire had gone down considerably by the time I cleared the corner.

Two men were running my way, and I took down the first with brutal efficiency. The second tried to get away, but I swiped a paw at the back of his leg. He screamed in pain, dropping his rifle as my claws sliced through his uniform, skin, and hamstring. “LEAVE HIM ALIVE,” Zach said as he rounded the corner. The man didn’t take his eyes off me as Zach kicked his rifle away and zip-tied his hands behind his back. “ALL CLEAR,” he yelled.

I shifted back to my human form, not caring the mercenary saw it. There was no way he was living, so it didn’t matter. I tore off his pant leg and used it to staunch the blood. “Casualties?”

“Your man took a rifle round to the face. He’s KIA,” Zach said. “Where is Art?”

“He was right behind me,” I said. Zach looked concerned, then took off running behind the house. Others arrived, with Edward behind them. “You all right?”

“We’re fine, and Alexandra is still locked down,” Edward replied. “Shit, you need to let my doctor look at you? How many times were you shot?”

“I have no idea,” I said. One of the guards helped me sit down on the grass, and I noticed the holes in my body. The sight of my blood did something in my mind to unlock the pain receptors that adrenalin had shut down. “Owww,” I moaned as the blackness took me.

I woke up in a bedroom, lying on top of a bed with an IV bag in my hand. I looked around the room; it hurt to move, but I could see bandages on my shoulders and chest, plus each of my legs. A woman in a nurses’ uniform saw me wake and moved to calm me. “You’re all right, John. The Doctor removed the bullets, and you should make a full recovery.”

“How long have I been out?”

“About four hours,” she said. “I’ll let the Mistress know you are awake.” She left the room and closed the door behind her.

It was only a few minutes before a screen on the wall lit up, with Edward’s face on it. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sore,” I replied.

“Doc pulled five bullets out of you, plus two through-and-throughs in your cat form. It’s a good thing you are so damn big in your cat form.”

I just nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been shot before. I should be fine in a few hours, thanks to switcher healing rates. What is going on now?”

“We couldn’t keep the Russian Federal Police out of this with the gunfire and the helicopters, but the bridge being out slowed the response. You’re in the safe room for the duration; it’s well hidden, and the medical staff will stay until the police leave. I’ve sent word to Tasmania that you were hurt but will make a full recovery, and they should stay hidden until you return.”

I could imagine what the girls would do if they saw the news and didn’t see me. “Thank you. What about the others?”

“Your bodyguard is dead; his employers have been notified and will take care of his family with the insurance he carried. Our story for you is that you weren’t here when the attack occurred, and your other bodyguard took you to an undisclosed location for your safety. Your driver is in hiding now, waiting to pick you up.”

It sucked, but it was the life for men like these. He never had a chance. “I saw Zach, but what about Art? Is he in another room?”

His face fell, and he took a breath. “Art didn’t make it, John. He took a shot to the back of the head that he couldn’t survive.”

“Damn.” His death changed everything. “Who got the Cave Bear?”

“Zach. He took off after switching; we’ve got people out looking but haven’t found him yet.”

Zach was a good man, but the loss of Art was monumental. “How are his people handling it?”

“They are in damage control. There’s not a body left behind, as Art’s human side was on the other side when he died. No one knew what Art looked like, and his passport and background were of a junior deck worker on the Elements. We removed his belongings from your car before the Federal Police arrived.”

“And the guy I captured?”

“He didn’t survive his wounds. Before he passed, he made a video statement implicating Vadim Pushkov in the attack. Alexandra was the target, not Edward, and not us. It was all about money and power; Alexandra had it, and Vadim wanted it.”

It didn’t make sense. “How did Vadim expect to get her stock after she died?”

“Mikhail’s will had a secret provision in it that if there were no surviving heirs at the time of Board elections, then Vadim would receive it. Mikhail told his friend about it, but the lawyer didn’t read it to Alexandra because it didn’t apply. Vadim didn’t even know about Switchers.” Edward looked offscreen. “The Federal Police is following up on the information right now, and Vadim is certain to face murder charges. You just heal up, John. You guys showing up when you did and taking out the helicopters made all the difference.”

“Thanks, Edward. Good luck.” He cut the feed, and I closed my eyes and rested. I needed to heal up and get back to my girls.