The Midnight Watch: A Sigma Force Short Story Read Online Free Page A

museum.
    “Kowalski!” Jason hollered.
    But he had already spotted the threat. Two more motorcycles converged on their position, coming from opposite directions down Madison: one traveling with traffic, weaving swiftly through the scatter of cars at this hour; the other coming the wrong way down the one-way street.
    Gunfire erupted behind them as the first bike took erratic potshots at them.
    Rounds pinged off his bumper and back panel.
    Jason returned fire just as wildly.
    As the Jeep reached the end of the lot, Kowalski thought quickly. He hated to carry this battle to the streets, where innocent bystanders might be caught in the firefight. Plus even if he attempted to take Madison, he would be pinned down on all sides.
    That left only one choice.
    “Duck low and hold tight!” he ordered his passengers.
    He gunned the engine, shifting rapidly up through the three gears, and shot out across Madison. He passed across the path of a late-night bus and between the two converging motorcycles. He hit the far curb, bounced the Jeep high, and crashed through the temporary fencing that surrounded the section of the National Mall that was under construction. He landed hard on all four tires and kept going without slowing.
    Ahead, the landscape was a roiled mix of rock piles, towering dunes of soil, and treacherous pits. This phase of the construction project ran the half-mile stretch from 7th Street almost to the foot of the Washington Monument.
    “What’re you doing?” Jason called out.
    “What the hell does it look like?”
    “Looks like you don’t know what you’re doing!”
    “Exactly! It’s called improvising!”
    As Jason let out a loud groan, Kowalski headed deeper into the tortured terrain at breakneck speed. In the rearview mirror, he saw the three motorcycles close in behind him. The enemy was not giving up that easily.
    Kowalski remembered earlier how he had wanted to test this Jeep off road.
    Looks like I’m about to get my chance .
    J ASON HUGGED ONE arm around the roll bar as the Jeep sped deeper into the excavation site. Ahead, the brightly lit spire of the Washington Monument rose into the night sky.
    As the Jeep rattled over the uneven ground, he did his best to keep his balance on the rear bench seat, assisted by the fact that one boot had ripped through the worn fabric and sunk into the springs.
    A rifle blasted behind him, the round pinging off the back hatch of the vehicle. Still keeping one arm hooked to the bar, he raised his SIG Sauer and fired wildly at the closest motorcycle. It had a good thirty-yard lead on the other two and looked ready to close the distance by itself.
    More rifle flashes burst from the cycle. Again all the rounds struck low: into the dirt or ricocheting off the bumper.
    Must be trying to take out the back tires. . .
    If so, it suggested they were trying to keep Sara alive.
    But why?
    “Hang on!” Kowalski called out.
    What do you think I’m doing back here?
    As the lead bike gunned toward them, Kowalski carved a sharp turn around a tall berm of loose dirt. The vehicle tilted precariously. Kowalski expertly downshifted, then punched the accelerator again.
    The thick-treaded tires dug into the mound of soil and cast a roostertail behind the Jeep. The cascading wave of dirt and gravel struck the trailing motorcycle, swamping it and knocking it to the ground.
    Kowalski cleared the berm and set off again.
    Jason regained his legs, searching behind them.
    One down. . .
    The two other bikes hit the berm, flew high, landed expertly on their back wheels—and sped after them.
    A new barrage of gunfire chased them, coming from both motorcycles.
    Jason felt a round whistle past his ear. Two others pelted the top edge of the windshield. Kowalski pushed Sara lower, almost cramming her into the foot well. Jason followed his example and dropped flat to the bench seat.
    The sudden change in tactics by the enemy suggested that circumstances had changed, that new orders had been radioed