12

If my reactions and shooting are good enough, I can shoot before he fires.

Your hands move swift as a flash. Despite the thick swathing of your gloves, you have no problem freeing your revolver from its holster, raising it, and pulling the trigger. The officer's eyes—the only part of him you can see beneath his expedition clothes—widen. Then he clutches his chest and collapses backward.

The rest of the fight is a blur. Zhu's pistol is out, and he fires two shots in rapid succession, taking out two more of the soldiers. Stevo is on the last one, a powerful lunge bringing the Nazi down to the ground. Stevo batters him in the face three times, hard. Then the soldier lies motionless, blood pooling around his skull. That's the last of them.

Stevo gets to his feet, grinning widely. "Fantastic!" he says with true enthusiasm. "Just like Friday night in the pub back in Gooloogong! Now let's get a butchers at that inscription thingy they were all so excited about."