The Covert Academy Read Online Free PDF Page B

soldier, getting inside the effective area of the Stunner. If the soldier fired now, they’d both go down. Joshua continued his momentum, bringing his elbow up under the soldier’s chin. The young man’s he ad snapped back with a crunch, and he involuntarily squeezed the trigger on the Stunner. Joshua dived low and hard onto the concrete past the soldier, narrowly avoiding the million volts discharged into the air. The soldier was not so lucky. He collapsed in a twitching heap.
     
    Bruised and bleeding, Joshua rolled underneath an elevated air vent. His thin bony arms were screaming in agony.
    The two remaining soldiers caught up to their comrade.
    ‘Whoa did you see that? Where’d he go?’ one of them said, coming to a stop where the downed soldier lay.
    Joshua tried to catch his breath as quietly as possible under the vent. He could reach out and touch the soldier’s feet. He shivered.
    ‘Jim, Jim! Are you okay? Come on man, wake up!’ The other soldier crouched down with his back to Joshua and checked on the incapacitated man. If he turned around...
    ‘Check the thermals ,’ the standing soldier said.
    ‘Nah system’s down, must be too cold up here. Jeez man, the little bugger took ou t Jim with his own damn Stunner! Give me a hand with him already, we’ve got to get him back to the Colonnade.’
    ‘Hey, you feel that?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Wait for it.’
    There was a pause. Joshua was sure they’d hear his racing heartbeat.
    ‘...Oh right! Ha ha, we’ll find him now no problem.’
    Joshua heard it before he realised what it was. Splat, splat, splat. It was raining. His eyes bulged. Huge raindrops were pelting down thick and fast in a torrent now, it wouldn’t be long before Joshua’s hiding spot was flooded. He inched backwards on his stomach, water already gurgling around his mouth. They’d see him as soon as he got out of there, no matter what he did. It was that or stay under the vent and drown on gutter water. He backed out of the end of his cover, returning into the pale light of the drone, completely exposed.
    The two guards turned and looked him in the eye. They smiled victoriously and raised their Stunners.
    A slim shadow danced across the rooftop. There was a flash of shining metal, and the drone above crashed to the roof with an almighty blast, sending a wave of heat and debris over the men.
    The entire area suddenly went dark.
     
     

Chapter 6
     
    The short sword sliced neatly through the dense inner workings of the drone. There were no explosives in this particular model, just computer components and the huge number of compact rounds of ammunition in various modifications. All this clattered to the roof as the drone fell apart, the volatile incendiary ammo setting off a thousand tiny explosions at once.
    Sarah finished her six-metre jump and landed softly and silently with the help of the half-weightlessness created by her suit. She deftly moved to intercept the last two goons that had the boy cornered by the air vent.
    By swiping her fingers across the palm of her hand , she switched her jumpsuit’s power from anti-gravity to strength. Instantly the material hardened and stimulated her muscles. With the power coursing through her arms and legs, she felt as though she were a 180kg gorilla.
    She crunched into both soldiers with arms outstretched in a clothes-hanger style. They toppled head over heels and landed on their backs on the hard concrete, winding them selves. Sarah jumped down with her elbows outstretched to finish them off. She caught one over the forehead, a jarring blow, but Sarah’s suit reduced the pain to a dull tingle. It would probably bruise anyway. The soldier didn’t fare nearly so well. He wouldn’t be getting up for days, if at all.
    But the other had rolled away and got to his feet. Sarah switched back to anti-gravity and jumped to her feet in a flash of motion. She glanced over at the boy just a few metres away. He stared back mouth agape.
    ‘Watch it!’ he