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    Decision
    Decision
    Decision
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Decision

    By Y.H. Lim

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Danger and corruption infect the world like a parasite gnawing at its insides, something Dr. Tian Ming, a world-renowned researcher, is all too familiar with. Tian knows the man standing before him wielding a gun is dangerous—yet his curiosity and desire are piqued. Learning that the man is an ex-yakuza with more at stake than money or power, Tian agrees to follow him on his extreme mission.

    Time is short for former yakuza Ikeda Ryusuke, and he needs answers. The enemy infected his sworn brother with a life-threatening, genetically-modified parasite, forcing Ikeda to desert his clan. His search for a cure leads him to Tian. But the enemy is closing in, and they’re running out of time.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamspinner Press
    Release dateJun 18, 2014
    ISBN9781627987325
    Decision

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      Book preview

      Decision - Y.H. Lim

      Decision

      THEY WERE like two men dancing on the edge of a knife. Pain and danger kept them on their toes—just like now.

      Two gunshots fired next to Tian’s ear, the noise so loud it seemed to rattle his teeth and skull.

      Cleanly hit, the drones burst into a minibonfire and crashed into the sidewall of the narrow alleyway, breaking up into pieces like a fractured plate.

      C’mon, get up! the sharpshooter yelled into his other ear, pushing his clumsy form upward. He’d fallen atop Ikeda when the drone’s bullet caught his right calf, causing him to trip, more from shock than pain.

      Though his heart still hammered from the close shave, Ikeda gave him no respite, dragging him down the narrow alleyway with the Auto-Pod following at their heels.

      Tian was careful not to trip again. Poor late-afternoon lighting was afforded through the filters of the large pipes and bridges that crisscrossed like a canopy of cobwebs between the buildings. Luckily, the headlights of the AP gave better vision of the ground that snaked with thin pipes and insulated rubber wiring.

      The distinct whirr sound of the drones caught up to them again, but Ikeda shot them right as they appeared around the bend.

      Tian ducked behind the armored AP as more drones came around the other side.

      They’re everywhere! Tian couldn’t help but cry out dismally. He hadn’t signed up for this kind of shit, being chased for his life.

      Then make yourself useful! Ikeda threw him a gun as he fired back at the drones while dodging their rain of bullets at top speed.

      Hands shaking, Tian warily eyed the small hovering saucers that flitted up and down. He knew he’d get punctured with holes before he could put a shot into them. Besides, the wave of drones seemed to never end. For every one that Ikeda shot down, another would appear around the bend. Instead, Tian darted his gaze to the lower-hanging pipes above and the snaking rubber coils at his feet.

      In a flash, he wrapped the rubber coil twice around the sleek, slim body of the AP before dashing toward Ikeda’s broad back with the insulated cable still in tow, shooting the sprinklers as he did so.

      Ikeda whipped his head back and shared a brief look with Tian before he caught Tian’s meaning. He closed the remaining two steps between them, encasing Tian in his arms just before shooting one of the drones.

      As it burst into flames, bluish streaks fired out and struck the surrounding drones like a leaping pyrotechnic show, except this one was fatal.

      Because they were insulated and well grounded, the water fell harmlessly over the two of them and the AP while the drones collapsed onto the ground, fried to a crisp.

      While Tian doubled over in huge pants, catching his breath, Ikeda went to check out the burden inside the AP. He clicked a control on the side panel, which caused the reinforced windshield cover to de-cloud. Tian watched him give a huge sigh of relief, as if seeing the safety of the youth blissfully sleeping inside was all that mattered.

      Tian found himself surprised yet again; he didn’t think Ikeda was capable of caring for others. What’s more, the unconscious youth named Aki wasn’t even his blood relation. He knew this because Ikeda respectfully called him Nii-sama, which meant older brother, even though the youth was obviously so much younger.

      Surely Ikeda was a loyal bodyguard or underling, plus a damn sharpshooter at that. Even so, Tian still couldn’t decide if it was luck or misfortune that he’d wound up getting stuck with him. The glaring eyes of a dragon on Ikeda’s nape peeked out from the neckline of his tee, in warning of his yakuza status. It didn’t matter that his missing left little finger suggested a defector—once a mafia, always a mafia—one can never truly escape from their faction.

      All the signs look stable, Tian assured Ikeda after joining him and quickly looking over the statistics.

      Ikeda nodded, then took a step back and bent slightly to check out Tian’s leg.

      How’s your— Ikeda stopped short upon seeing that though the bullet had embedded into Tian’s flesh, there was no blood. —leg?

      Marred, but harmless, painless—all the benefits of prosthetics, Tian informed him quite cheerfully, then turned the conversation onto Ikeda. Can’t say the same for your arm though….

      He took Ikeda’s left limb, gaze barely skimming over the artificial part of his forearm, where three bullets sat embedded, and inspected the gunshot wound on his upper arm.

      Completely disgusting…. His lips pulled down with distaste.

      Ikeda eyed him incredulously. Really? Thought you said you saw worse things.

      Not the gore, but the arrowhead bullet, Tian complained. I have to cut the fin or it will rip out more of your flesh.

      Ikeda merely grunted, and as Tian looked away for a moment to reach for the metal cutter in his bag pack, he held the bullet by his hand. But Tian’s hand, lightning fast, was on his before he could rip it out.

      Is that how you came by those horrible gaping holes on your back? Tian stared at him, horrified.

      What’d you expect? Not like I have eyes in the back of my head.

      "Okay… fine… that’s true. But I’m here now. So why’d you wanna make your wound worse?"

      Ikeda shrugged. Either way, doesn’t make much difference to me.

      Tian shook his head, mystified by the thoughtless bravado and inner workings of Ikeda’s brain. Regardless, he did as he’d said he would, removing the bullet cleanly with his forceps. He then bandaged the wound with a presoaked, antiseptic dressing, inwardly patting Ikeda on his back for not even flinching at the biting burn. When done, he moved on to change the dressing on Ikeda’s back.

      He felt chills going down his spine again at the image of the ferocious dragon that sprawled around licking flames and other symbols on Ikeda’s back. He was sure Ikeda was still quite young, looking probably no more than twenty-six. Yet when facing danger he moved like a seasoned, battle-hardened soldier and seemed to see his own pain as no less than a test of his resolve and strength.

      The map of scars that cut across his dragon’s scales was proof of this—probably won through his many clashes and dangerous tasks in the yakuza. Yet Tian could see no such aggression in his weary but no less cautious eyes. In fact, the young man somehow carried himself in a more refined manner than any of the mafia running around Kowloon, which was one of the largest urban states in Hong Kong, with the highest criminal activity. In any case, he was immensely relieved when Ikeda put his tee back on, hiding the dragon from view.

      After Tian removed the last of the bullets from Ikeda’s prosthetic part and from his own prosthetic leg, he turned his attention to the fallen machines. He prodded their broken parts, inspecting for pieces that he could salvage. Then he ripped out the red-tinted, half-round, reinforced lenses covering the drones’ tracking sensors.

      What are you doing?

      Getting what we might need, Tian said simply, inspecting the lenses, which were not even scratched from the aftermath.

      I think we should move quickly… we’ve dallied here long enough.

      Then help me, Tian snapped, irritated. In the first place, the people being chased were the ex-yakuza and his big baby in the AP. Tian was embroiled in this only because he’d been threatened at gunpoint.

      Ikeda sighed in

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