Rival of Atlantis

XVII

April 17, 2018

3:57PM

Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines

THE COOL NIGHT AIR GREETED Summer as she stepped outside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at the Philippines' capital region. She stopped at the road shoulder and took a gulp of the night air that seems to caress her soul. The traces of scents in the afternoon air reminded her that she is really back at home. It is not the air with traces of Japanese floral scent or Canadian garden fresh yet it is the odor of home and it a more welcomed smell.

Since being employed under the SAR wing, she seldom goes home. Her condominium unit located at Makati City is commonly vacant all year round. And when she does come home, she only stays a day or two in the unit and later will be an adventure of a travel to their ancestral house at the province of Quirino.

After their feat against the assailants, which were now identified as former US special forces soldiers, they stayed in San Jose, Costa Rica and got marveled in the genius mind of John as he launched his pet project that he called SAM at their field office in the said country. Their research for the golden toad was really called off and the temporary scientists under their team were assigned to new tasks around the globe while they are put on a temporary idle. Gillian who is healing her bullet wound injury at the calf was held in the office for a while, not assigned too soon to the task that should take her to various points of the globe. Gillian's new assignment is a travel together with a host company, which is funding the symposium on tour, and other international outfits that is aiming to promote green earth. Summer was not given a new assignment and the Special Research Team was temporarily disbanded as Gillian finally joined the world tour a week ago. Summer took advantage out of it and left San Jose to go home in the Philippines and perhaps take a break from the scientific world. She did it without filing a leave or phone call to tell anyone of her destination.

Summer's flight plane touched down the runway an hour ago and after going through the regular process, she was finally out with nothing but a backpack containing only few things a woman needs. Unlike every other woman in the world, she and Gillian do not take a whole wardrobe and about a third of the house when they travel. She always prefers to travel light wherever she goes. And after all, her condominium unit has everything she needs from processed and instant foods to clothing.

After hailing a cab, she rode in and was taken to the Proscenium Residence located at Makati City. She took a quick shower and wore black sports shorts and shirt then opted to work out in the residence gym. It has been two months since she last hit the gym but she ground like the professional workout junkie that she is. Her workout program was an intense one that attacks her core and it included lifting various weigh plates in a series of sets. This program makes her maintain her physique and strength that she needs for the martial arts discipline that she pursued some time during her undergraduate studies.

After the workout, she proceeded to the amenity deck to take a relaxing walk to where the three pools are located which was surrounded by a garden that was artistically landscaped. There is a jogging path at the said area and she decided to run to further heat up the after-burn effects of the two hours spent in the gym.

When 9PM came, she was already sipping through a straw from a tall glass of pineapple juice under one of the gazebos of the amenity deck when she noticed something. There are three people from the gym which happened to be on the amenity deck too. The coincidence may be common but a tinge in her soul told her otherwise. She drank the pineapple juice and decided to spend some time in a local bar somewhere.

After changing to jeans, black shirt, leather jacket and high black boots, she walked down the parking lot where her car and motorbike were parked beside each other. She opted for the motorbike, a blue Kawasaki ABS Ninja. Wearing the black helmet, she rode and started the bike and was speeding out in the highways in no time. Never minding if the roads, which most are made from asphalt, are wet, she almost pushed the motorcycle to its limits, stopping only here and there when she was caught in heavy traffic. She parked in front of a known bar in Quezon City and was walking in no time. She was well aware of the stares and turning heads as she proceeded to the bar counter where she ordered a locally brewed light beer. She was on her third bottle when she noticed the same three men around a poorly lit table at a corner.

Her job does not endanger her of being followed around by people but she suspected that their firefight against the assailants at Costa Rica and these three people are connected. She weighed her chances as she planned on testing her suspicion. She drove away from the condominium building without so much of a thing but her wallet and a cellular phone and none can be used to fight for her life but her pair of legs and hands. She also guessed that if these men are following her, that means they might be armed with a pistol or something easy to be concealed. Her mind also came across solving how they followed her at the bar. She had been riding the bike like there are thousands of banshees on her wake. She guessed that the men followed her by riding on at least a couple of bikes too and trailed her along the way. But then the better part of her brain was sent to work.

She reached for her cellular phone made by a known Japanese electronics company. She uses a different mobile phone in the Philippines which kept her local number active. She looked for her contacts list and called a few of the stored digits. In a matter of half an hour, when she was on her fifth light beer, three males and five ladies are already surrounding her. She has just called few friends that still go to bar-hopping.

They went to a nearby table and took time to share stories and laughed at them. Amid all the fun, her eyes are wary of the three people who are observing from the dark. She stood and acted drunk after about an hour.

"I will just get something from the bike," she said in a local dialect. Her voice was intentionally raised so it can be heard above the soft playing music by the three men who silently followed all her moves by their eyes. "You will love this."

She went out to the parking lot and came in a couple of minutes later. "I forgot it at my unit. I thought I had it in the tool box." She explained in between laughs.

Before midnight, the party was concluded and they went on separate ways. Summer acted like driving coolly as she observed that a black sports car was tailing her on every turn. She drove straight to her unit and came back to the bike later. In the middle of the night, she went out again, the black car always acting like a shadow on her track. This time, they are not taking caution; but they might still think that Summer is unwary of their devious plan.

They followed Summer as she drove around. They were surprised when Summer took them out of the capital city through a provincial highway and was later traversing on the national road that goes to the provinces up north of the country. This time, Summer brought up the power of the 300cc engine under the tank and sped all the way passed the first province. The sports car tailed her with only a hundred meters of distance. It seems that the people inside already knew that Summer had exposed their cover.

The chase went through a province after another with occasional points that a passenger is aiming a pistol on her through a window but was unable to find a shot as she shook them with the bike. The chase went on until they came on a winding road which locally known as Dalton Pass. Fast and the Furious characters are yet to discover this dangerous winding track that often takes hundreds of lives annually. At this part, the bike has the upper hand as Summer rode it in the deadly curves in a near-death speed. When Summer saw that the upper bodies of the passengers are hanging out of the windows and are aiming handguns at her, she twisted the throttle further and the bike lurched forward ever faster. Within seconds, she was lost in the view of the windscreen of the sports car.

With all the intentions of coping up, the driver of the car pushed the vehicle to its limits. This time, his two companions, one in the passenger seat and the other at the back, loaded up their weapons. If they are carrying and aiming hand-carry pistols earlier, the tactical assault rifles they brought with them are going to be used against her this time.

"The GPS," the driver and who seemed to be the leader said.

The man seated at the back brought out a device from his pocket and looked at the readings.

"That's crazy," the man with the GPS said in a Philippine common tongue.

"What is crazy?" The driver asked with impatience.

"The readings on the GPS dot on her bike says it is parked at Taguig."

Taguig City is already over a couple of hundred of kilometers away at the capital region. In an instant, the driver knew that Summer has been playing with them all along. The bar-hopping is a test if she is being followed. The friends she called are not as what was planned. When she said she going to get something, that may mean she is going to locate the GPS dot and placed it in any vehicle of her choice, possibly one of her friends'. The drive to the province is another tactic too. Summer is taking them on the grounds where she has the upper hand.

Without so much of a choice, the driver drove the vehicle, the gas pedal almost floored when they are have already passed the winding road and are now taking a flat road with occasional rise and fall. He have studied Summer's profile and he knows where she going. She is going home now for real and they must kill her before she reaches her destination.

The driver and his companions were too much taken in chasing the target that they failed to see a couple of LED light bars on the mirror. The lights are chasing the chasers. These lights were installed on Summer's bike.

The Dalton Pass might be a winding road but a street crosses it here and there that are used to access places deeper in the mountainous part of the country. Summer is familiar on the terrain and had taken a quick turn on a graveled road that leads down the mountain. There she killed the engine and waited for the car to pass. After the car had passed, she toggled modified switches on and off. The main headlight was turned off an in turn the LED light bars were switched on which are located at the modified crash bars. It will give an effect like a four-wheeled vehicle is on the tail of the sports car when the driver gets wiser in looking on the mirrors.

The driver finally saw the bright white lights reflecting on the mirror. The lights are too bright and he cannot see the vehicle bearing it. He discarded the lights as belonging to a four-wheeled vehicle. He went on in chasing the target not knowing they are the ones being tailed now.

"First sign of the bike," the driver barked. "Shoot it. At least stop her run then we kill her later after she crashed."

"Will do," the voice of the passenger at his side.

Unknowingly, they are the ones with bull's eye target painted on their back. Summer has just picked the g*n on her waist with a left hand. She aimed it on a tire of her choice and popped three bullets on it. Two bullets went on the rim but a single round caught the rubber and the tire instantly burst in a loud popping sound as the trapped air escaped its confines.

The car went skidding within seconds on a straight road. It bumped on a tree and blew its engine. The driver was instantly killed as his mangled body was caught between the engine that was forcibly sent backwards and the seat. His face was smashed on the dashboard too and a flying shrapnel caught his neck. The passenger at his side was also fated to die but in an agonizing slowness. The broken propeller popped from the floor and impaled him at the abdomen. He was coughing blood as the crimson fluid found new courses to get out his abdomen. The passenger at the back took the least damage. He was only sent forward but his crash was cushioned by the back of the driver's seat.

He popped the nearest door open and was crawling out in disorientation and desperation, the rifle still cradled in his arms. He was dizzy from the impact of his head against the seat that he did not notice Summer has just stopped the bike beside him. He also did not realize that the muzzle of a .50 Desert Eagle was aimed at his forehead.

Summer took her time. He watched in fascination as the man tried to regain his senses. Her eyes briefly scanned the wreck of the sports car. For the first time, she noticed that it was a Toyota 86 GT sports car. She pitied the uneventful fate of the car and the mechanical engineer in her wished there is a way to fix it. But she is not here to hope and wish for the car. The car had been a vessel for people that meant her harm.

She kicked the side stand and jumped down the crawling man. While placing a boot on his back, she leaned down and pressed the barrel of the g*n on the stranger’s neck. "Why are you following me?"

Her words brought horror to the face of the man as he looked up. The illuminating LED bars from her motorcycle, which is set to neutral and idle, made his look more horrific. Still cradling the g*n, he still cannot comprehend that the hunters are now the hunted. The grave fate of his companions did not come to his knowledge either. Only the muzzle of g*n shining in the dark from the white lights from the motorcycle brought him back to his right mind.

Summer keeps a collection of guns in her condominium unit. All the guns came with their different stories and are duly registered with permit to carry outside the residence. Her short ride back to Proscenium Residence is only to retrieve one of the firearms. Not knowing who is trailing her wake, she opted for the .50 Desert Eagle. The g*n only carries 7 rounds but is sure deadly that a hit at non-fatal parts will subdue anyone.

"Who sent you?"

The man was about to speak when a black van stopped at Summer's back. By instinct, she spun around just to find herself facing the sliding door open and five barrels of assault rifles were trained on her. It is too dark in the interior of the room to recognize faces.

A split of a second is all she got to study the situation she is into and she either have to make a defensive or evasive action. They are on the flat straight road heading to the town of Bambang in the province of Nueva Vizcaya. The terrains at either side of the road consist of farmlands with occasional trees here and there. She has nowhere to run. A sprint on the open highways and the van will close on her in an instant, yet a run to the fields and she is an open target. She cannot put up a fight either. Her dominant hand holding the g*n was dropped on her sides just near a thigh. It is only a miracle that can save her now.

There are people that will submit themselves to the inevitable. Gillian and Summer were not among them. These maidens were molded on same pot as Hercules, Odysseus, Lancelot, and Kings David and Arthur. They will look at any demon that will materialize and spit on its red hot eyes then later uproot one of its teeth and use it to kill the enemy.

Summer still has stunts left under her sleeve, but a little wrong move and the raging bullets will own her. It is also a race of movements. She knows there is no other choice but kill or be killed.