|
The One That Got Away
Commissar Ivan Ionu looked intently into the swirling blizzard and smelled blood. His quarry was finally within reach. So many times this man had slipped through his fingers but soon he would answer for his crimes.
Somewhere in the snow storm Colonel Abramov led the small party of Dragonovs and Spetsnatz. They were heading towards an important rendezvous. A shuttle was waiting for them which would carry them to an orbiting ship. They would then be taken to a neutral planet where they would finally be safe. Abramov’s dream of peace in known space had crumbled. His attempts to sabotage Red Blok plans on Elysee and bring the warring parties together had failed and now he was fleeing for his life.
A shot rang out, one of his companions fell. The Dragonovs headed in the direction the shot came from. They engaged a unit of Krasnye and delayed them long enough for the Colonel to escape. First they opened fire and then attacked with their combat knives. None survived but they had done their job.
Abramov and the Spetsnatz pushed on. They heard the thump of a grenade launcher and then felt the blast. Three fell to the ground, the Colonel among them. Then assault rifles opened fire and they all died to a man. The commissar surveyed the bodies with grim satisfaction. At last the capitalist sympathiser had been brought to book. Such was the fate of all counter revolutionaries. As he turned each body over he became more and more agitated. Three, four bodies and still no sign of Abramov. Then he saw a trail of blood spots going into the storm and heard the sound of a shuttle lifting off. He let out a loud cry of anger and frustration as he realised his quarry had finally escaped.
"So comrades come rally,
And the last fight let us face.
The Intersiderial unites the Human Race."
| 
