MGS1英文官方小说

Kissdreams

路过检查楼主进度+帮顶。

fengmosn

恩
昨天晊七玩MGS2耽误了一晊
今天晊七继续更新

brightxy

您的耽误几周也没事，不然我就窘了:-)
您那效率…太高了

fengmosn

厄
每个人的时间不同吧
偶在想着快点惃这玩意儿完成...
偶现在下班后的千宅男生活每天都要被这玩意儿占去两个小时...
有时候看个电影啥的都觉得时间不太够...
恩 算算再过一个的月差不的就该完成了
PS＊为啥偶的首贴更新和帖子列表里的帖子标题不同步了...[s:22]

fengmosn

　　“Why are we here?” he asked Master Miller.

　　But his trainer was no longer by his side. In fact, Snake was entirely alone in the park. The crowds had vanished suddenly. The lights were extinguished, and everything went dark. The music and happy shouts and screams continued to fill the air, but no one was around. It was as if he were standing in a ghost park. The rides and arcades were long closed down, but the spirits of ancient guests still played there under sky that was a blanket of deep, dark dread.
Snake closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. It was one of Psycho Mantis’s tricks. It had to be. But try as he might, Snake couldn’t shake the powerful illusion. The one thing he could do was walk through the midway and look at this relic from his past.
Near the end of the main drag was the Fun House. He had always loved the Fun House. It wasn’t particularly scary, but it contained all the usual trappings: curved mirrors, slides, jack-in-the-box clowns that popped up when you least expected them, rocking floors, and a mirror maze.

　　A woman was standing at the entrance. She had red hair and a nice…

　　Meryl!

　　She waved and beckoned him to come inside the Fun House. He wanted to shout and warn her to go in. it had to be a trap. Besides, the park was closed; there was no one running the rides or taking tickets. But Snake couldn’t get the words out of his mouth. It was similar to what happened in dreams in which your legs were too heavy to run or your voice came out in a whisper.

　　Meryl disappeared into the building, leaving Snake with no choice but to follow her. He bounded up the steps, went through the turnstile, and entered the dark, foreboding attraction. With the lights off, the place was much more sinister than first “obstacle,” a floor that rocked back and forth. The trick was to maintain your balance as you walked to the other side. Many kid would fall and slide on the tilting floor-often on purpose-laughing like crazy. Snake had always played by the rules and really tried to get across without falling. He’d never failed.

　　This time, however, as soon as he stepped on the platform, it tilted so high that he couldn’t help but fall and slide to the edge. He managed to brake and stop his body from plummeting oof the platform-

　　But there used to be a wall there to stop kids from falling off…!
-which emptied into a vast crevice of nothingness. In fact, it was a sky full of stars! It was as if Snake were holding on to the edge of the known universe, and if he let go, he would be lost in the infinite chasm of outer space.

　　Don’t look!

　　He forced himself to focus on the arch at the other side of the tilting platform, the one that led out of the room. Meryl was standing there waiting for him. She was pointing and laughing at him.

　　“Look at the legendary Solid Snake!” she cackled. “He can’t even stand on his own two feet!”

　　There were grooves in the tilted wooden floor that were deep enough for Snake to grip with fingertips. Using all the strength he could muster and ignoring the pain in his fingers, he slowly inched up the platform. It seemed to take forever, but after a few minutes he had done it. He rolled off the tilted floor onto the metal mesh walkway by the arch. Meryl I was no longer there. Snake stood, went through the arch, and found himself in the room lined with curved mirrors.

　　He remembered laughing at his body’s funny shapes when he stood in front of the mirrors. One mirror made him short and fat, another tall and skinny with a big head, and one gave him a very wide torso but with tiny legs and feet. This time, however, when Snake stepped up to the first mirror, he saw Meryl. She seemed to be trapped inside. There was an expression of terror on her face as she banged on her side of the mirror.

　　“Help me, Snake! Get me out!”

　　Snake examined the sides of the mirror, but it was fastened firmly to the wall. There was nothing be could do. He moved along to the next mirror and saw Otacon in the same predicament. The young man was trembling with fear.

　　“Snake! Can you get me out here?” Otacon shouted. “They’re going to kill me! Help me!”

　　Feeling increasingly helpless, Snake moved on to the third mirror. Inside of it was a uniformed man he hadn’t seen in many, many years. Unlike the other two prisoners, he stood silently, resigned to being trapped and knowing there was nothing that could be done about it.

　　“Big Boss?” Snake whispered. “Is that you?”

　　The soldier smiled at him. “Yes, my son. Have you missed me?”
Snake banged on the glass mirror, but it proved to be too strong to break. “Why are you here? What’s going on?”

　　“Son, they’re going to kill me unless you tell me the deactivation codes.”

　　“But…you’re already dead!” in fact, Snake had killed the man with his own hands. His own father. Big Boss. Yet here he was, alive and breathing.

　　“Please, Son,” he pleaded. “Give me the codes. If you don’t, I will die a horrible death.”

　　No. this isn’t real. This IS NOT HAPPENING!

　　Then blood began to pour from Big Boss’s nose and mouth.

　　“Yes, it is painful, Snake!” He clenched his eyes shut.

　　“Big Boss!” Snake shouted. “I don’t know the codes! They already have them! Baker and Anderson talked! They already have the damned codes!”

　　The man behind the mirror screamed bloody murder as his head began to split apart! Brains and goo dribbled out of the cracks in one of the most grotesque displays of horror Snake had ever seen.
The operative fell to his knees and shouted. “No! THIS…IS…NOT…REAL!”

　　-and found himself on the carpeted floor of the Commander’s Room once again. Meryl was still lying beside him. And Psycho Mantis floated in the air a few feet away, laughing.

　　It was a hallucination! And I broke it!

　　“You are a strong warrior, Solid Snake,” Mantis said. “You have a healthy mind and a tough heart. You resisted my little mind games. Very admirable! But you are still no match foe my powers!”
Before Snake had a chance to recover from the “trip” he had just experienced, the three antique chairs in the room floated into the air, and then were hurled at him with ferocity. Snake flattened himself to the floor to avoid being struck by them.

　　“Psychokinesis!” the villain gloated. “The weapon of the gods!”

　　The chairs were followed by the two metal urns. They levitated and then soared at Snake as if they had been projected from cannons. He managed to dodge one, but the second one grazed his left shoulder bounced off. The pain was intense but not nearly as bad as it would have been if it had struck full-on.

　　An antlered deer-head trophy attached to the wall split away from its plaque and zoomed toward Snake. The sharp antler points certainly would do far more damage than the chairs or urns. Without thinking, Snake’s hand went to the SOCOM in its holster, and he drew it. He let off three rapid-succession shots and blew the deer head to bits, knocking it out of the air.

　　I have my gun in hand! It is no longer stuck!

　　Psycho mantis wasn’t laughing anymore,. Instead, the villain concentrated on creating the illusion that the gun’s grip was hot again. This time, though, Snake was able to hold on to it.

　　“It won’t work this time, Mantis,” Snake said through gritted teeth. He forced himself to clutch the SOCOM no matter what his pain receptors were telling his brain. He lifted the handgun and pointed it at Psycho Mantis, but it suddenly became extremely heavy. Snake held it with two hands, but it was as if it had gained five hundred pounds in weight. He had no choice but to drop it.
As Mantis laughed uncontrollably once more, books flew off he shelves at Snake. They bombarded him like stones, forcing him back against the desk. He held his arms over his face to protect himself and then rolled his body into a ball on the floor.

　　Why had he been able to draw the SOCOM before? The answer had to be that Psycho Mantis could do only so many telekinetic tasks at a time. If Snake could keep his adversary busy throwing objects, perhaps he could pick up the gun and get off a shot.
With that in mind, Snake abruptly and boldly stood and ran for the door. One of the leather-mask-clad busts careened off its pedestal and soared at Snake to block his path. The operative ducked and immediately turned back toward the desk. The other bust lifted off and joined its counterpart to become guided missiles, following Snake around the room. No matter where he went, the marble busts tailed him as Psycho Mantis waited for the perfect opportunity to smash one over Snake’s head. The result surely would be death.

fengmosn

　　“Do your worst, you circus freak!” Snake shouted as he zigzagged through the room. “Did they leave your cage in the sideshow unlocked, Mantis? Don’t you miss living with the geeks?”

　　Obviously, Psycho Mantis did not care for taunting. The villain summoned all his potency to unleash every object in the book, even the heavy mahogany desk and comfy sofa- they all lifted into the air, ready to tumble down on Snake. But at the crucial moment when everything was above the ground, Snake performed a forward roll on the floor, picked up the SOCOM in one hand, spun out to a crouching position, and fired two rounds at Psycho Mantis.
The man screamed and dropped to the floor, along with all the objects. Snake was bombarded by dozens of books but was spared from being hit by the heavy stuff. Both bullets had punctured Mantis’s chest. Blood poured from the wounds as the man feebly attempted to crawl to safety.

　　Snake stood with the SOCOM leveled at Mantis’s head and said, “Game over, freak.”

　　The man wheezed as he breathed, apparently struggling to take in oxygen. “You are…powerful…indeed…but I know…your weak point!”

　　“Shut up and say your prayers.”

　　“Meryl,” Mantis commanded, “stand right where he can…see you…and blow your brains out!”

　　On cue, Meryl shook herself awake, got up from the floor, picked up her Desert Eagle, and held it to her temple. Snake could see that she was struggling with the psychic command, for she attempted to pull away her gun hand with her left.

　　The Desert Eagle fired!

　　But Meryl had managed to move her head in time. A trickle of blood dribbled down her forehead; the bullet must have scraped her scalp.

　　“Shoot…yourself!” Mantis demanded.

　　“Stop! Meryl!”

　　Snake fired a round into Psycho Mantis’s kneecap. The villain screamed in agony; at the same time Meryl was able to pull the gun away from her face. Snake then dropped the SOCOM, stepped in, grabbed Meryl by the gun arm, and threw her over his shoulder. She dropped the handgun and crashed into the mahogany desk, unconscious once more.

　　Snake picked up his weapon and walked over to where Psycho Mantis lay. The man’s breathing was now very shallow and forced.

　　“I …wasn’t able…to read your… future, ” Mantis gasped.

　　“A strong man doesn’t need to read the future. He makes his own.”

　　Mantis coughed. “Perhaps…but let me try… Please…removed my mask.”

　　Snake didn’t think it could hurt. He knelt by the dying man and removed the gas mask. Underneath was a hideously scarred creature with a face that Darth Vader of Frankenstein’s monster wouldn’t have wanted to possess.

　　“To get to the Metal Gear’s…underground maintenance base…you must go through…the hidden door. Behind the bookcase.”

　　“Go on.”

　　“Travel past…the communication towers. Use the tower’s walkway.”

　　“Why are you telling me this?”

　　“I can read people’s minds. In my lifetime… I have read the pasts…presents…and futures of thousands of men and women…”
Meryl began to stir. Snake glanced over at her to make sure she was all right. After a moment, she stood, shook her head, and slowly walked over to them. When she saw Mantis’s face, she said, “Eww, gross…”

　　Mantis strained to continue. “Each mind that I peered into…was stuffed with the same…single object of obsession. That selfish…and atavistic…desire…to pass on one’s seed. It was enough…to make me sick. Every living thing…on this planet…exists to mindlessly pass on…their DNA. We’re designed that way. And that’s why…there is war. But you…are different. You’re the same…as us. We have no past. No future. We live…in the moment. That’s our only purpose. Humans weren’t designed…to bring each other…happiness. From the moment we’re thrown into this world…we’re fated to bring each other  nothing…but pain and misery.”

　　Snake and Meryl gave each other a look. The man was as mad as all the inhabitants of an asylum combined.

　　“The first person whose mind…I ready…was my father. I saw nothing but…disgust and hatred for me…in his heart. My mother died…in childbirth, and he despised me…for it. I thought my father was going to…kill me. That’s when my future… disappeared. I lost my past as well. When I came to, the village…was engulfed in flames.”

　　“Are you saying that you burned your village down to bury your past?” Snake asked.

　　“I see you have suffered the same… trauma.” Mantis laughed as best as he could, but it was a dark, evil laugh. “We are truly the same…you and I … The world  is a more interesting place…with people like you in it… ”

　　“He’s insane,” Meryl whispered, staring the obvious.

　　“I never agreed…with the Boss’s revolution… His dreams of world conquest…do not interest me. I just wanted an excuse…to kill as many people as I could.”

　　“You monster!” she shouted.

　　“Let him talk,” Snake snapped. “He doesn’t have much time left.”

　　“I’ve see…true evil. You, Snake. You’re just like… the Boss. No, you’re worse. Compared to you, I’m not so bad. Wait…I see you…Must be decades from now… You are old…with a gun in your mouth…” Mantis glanced at Meryl. “I read…her future, too. You occupy a large place… in her heart.”

　　Meryl emitted a small gasp.

　　“But I don’t…know…if your futures…lie together. I have a request.”

　　“What?”

　　“Please…put my mask back on.”

　　Snake obliged. The man’s breathing was barely audible.

　　“Before I die…” Mantis coughed, “I want to be myself. I want to be left alone… in my own world. I will…open the door for you.”
There was a click in the back of one of the bookshelves behind the fallen desk. The entire bookcase slid to the side, revealing a dark passage.

　　Now very weak, Mantis said, “This is the first time… I’ve ever used my power… to help someone. It’s strange… It feels kind of …nice.”

　　The exhalation of breath was final and absolute. Snake and Meryl stood there for a moment, trying to comprehend what they had just witnessed. After a moment, she turned to Snake and said, “ I’m so sorry.”

　　“What for?”

　　“How could I let him control my mind like that?”

　　“If you’re going to doubt yourself, I’ll leave you here,” Snake answered.

　　She nodded and took a deep breath. “You’re right.”

　　“Never doubt yourself. Just let it make you stronger. Learn something from it.”

　　“You’re right. I won’t let it happen again.”

　　Snake moved toward the open bookcase. “Is this the way out? Like he said? Was this what you were going to show me in this place?”

　　“Snake…I didn’t know anything about this room. Something was telling me to lead you here. It was him. I’m sorry, Snake? Can I ask you something?”

　　“What?”

　　“About what he said…about us.”

　　“What is it now? what’s the problem?” he sounded annoyed.
“Oh, nothing. Never mind. Hey, what’s your real name?”
He sighed. “A name means nothing on the battlefield. The only thing that matters is surviving.”

　　“How old are you?”

　　“Old enough to know what death looks like.”

　　“Any family?”

　　“No, but I was raised by many people.”

　　Then, she asked softly, almost inaudibly, “Is there anyone you like?”

　　“I’ve never been interested in anyone else’s life.”

　　“So you’re all alone? Just like Mantis said?”

　　He stood in the open doorway, his back to her. “Other people just complicate my life. I don’t like to get involved.”

　　“You’re…you’re a sad, lonely man.”

　　He was not about to disagree. “Come on, let’s go.”


BACK AT THE CONTROL ROOM in the Discovery submarine, Dr. Hunter turned to Campbell and said, “It looks like your niece is going to be okay.”

　　“The brainwashing will wear off, right?” the colonel asked her.

　　“Yes. But why did Snake go so far out of his way to save her? For your sake? Or dose he like her?”

　　Campbell felt sobered by everything that had just transpired.
“Naomi, it’s true that Snake has killed a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a heart.”

fengmosn

15

A STONE STAIRCASE led from the open bookcase into a dark, damp passageway. It reminded Snake of the dungeons in the medieval Scottish castles he had toured many years earlier. Meryl rubbed her arms and shivered.

　　“It’s cold down here.”

　　“Yeah. You should have worn a sweater.”

　　“Sorry, Dad. I left it at home.”

　　They followed the passage for several feet until the stonework ended. From that point forward, the walls, ground, and ceiling became a tunnel of natural rock.

　　“It’s an underground cavern,” Meryl observed.

　　The light was minimal. Snake flicked on the penlight on the shoulder of his suit, and it provided adequate illumination foe them to see where they were going. The passageway twisted and turned and at on point branched in two directions. The left tunnel was decidedly smaller.

　　“Which way do we go?” she asked.

　　As if in answer, several filtered through the tunnels.

　　“Wolves?”

　　Snake listened and answered, “No, Wolf-dogs. Half wolf, half husky.”

　　“How do you know so much?”

　　“I ride dogsleds. I’m a musher.”

　　“Are wolf-dogs dangerous?”

　　“They can be. They’re not tame, if that’s what you mean.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay. Why don’t take the right fork? You take the left. If it turns out of these is a dead end, we’ll contact each other by Codec and meet back here. How’s that?”

　　“Sounds like a plan.”

　　Snake wasn’t comfortable letting her go alone, but she had handled herself fairly well so far. He couldn’t worry about her. He had a job to do, and no matter how much he was beginning to like the girl, he wasn’t about to let her interfere with the mission.
He ducked his head and moved into the tunnel with the lowest ceiling. It was a pain having to bend at the waist and walk at the same time, but he could take it. The tunnel continued in a maze of twisty passages, all alike, and for a moment Snake feared he might get lost or stuck. To add to his anxiety, after a hundred feet or so, the passageway grew narrower and the ceiling dropped. He would have to crawl.

　　The built-in knee pads in his suit were helpful. He moved along the cold wet rock for nearly ten minutes until finally the tunnel began to expand. A few more feet and he could stand once again. Eventually, the passageway opened into a large cave with a very high ceiling. Stalactites dripped cold water, and there were puddles all over the cavern floor. In some portions, the ice on the walls had melted and there was soft mud mixed with rock on the ground. He’d have to watch his step.

　　Another wolf howl was much closer than before. Snake figured the animal was probably somewhere in the cave.

　　He punched Meryl’s frequency on the Codec. “Meryl?”

　　“Yeah?”

　　“How are you doing?”

　　“I’m in a large cavern.”

　　“Me, too. It’s probably the same one. Let’s see if we can meet up at the north end. Careful. There may be wolf-dogs in here.”

　　“Okay.”

　　He signed off and continued moving forward. At one point he came to large boulder that at one time had been a part of the ceiling. He skirted it and came upon not one wolf-dog but a pack of four.

　　Jesus!

　　The animals growled, and their eyes glowed red in the dark cave. The two in front bared their fangs. One barked.

　　“Easy, doggies.”

　　He held out his hands, palms up, the way one was supposed to do. Of course, that usually worked only when dogs were somewhat domesticated. These animals were wild and huge, weighing 120 pounds or more each. They could tear the flesh off a man in
seconds.

　　The two in front crept forward, their growls intensifying.

　　Snake didn’t want to kill then but would if he had to. But there was another alternative. He slowly opened the pouch and removed a flash-bang grenade, which was another name for a stun grenade. Moving with the speed of a snail and keeping his legs perfectly still, he brought the grenade to his mouth, pulled the pin with his teeth, and counted to four. He then tossed the explosive at the pack and immediately crouched and covered his head.

　　The grenade’s highly charged magnesium exploded, causing a flash that would knock out most animals and humans. Snake waited a few seconds and then looked to see what damage he had caused.

　　All four wolf-dogs were lying on the ground. He approached them cautiously, put a hand on the leader’s pelt, and felt him breathing. They were all still alive. Satisfied, Snake moved on.
“Hey!” it was Meryl up ahead. “What happened?” she was holding something in her arms.

　　“Had to put some wolf-dogs to beddie-bye.” Snake noted that she was carrying a live wolf-dog puppy.

　　“Are you hurt?” Meryl asked.

　　“No. Where did you find that?”

　　“He was wandering around over there, looking for his mommy. Isn’t he cute?”

　　“I think I just put his mommy to sleep. Put him over there with the rest of them. We don’t have time to rescue animals.”

　　“I thought you liked dogs.”

　　“I do. When I’m at home and not in the middle of a mission!”
“Okay, okay.” She ran over to the sleeping pack of animals and let the puppy loose. He quickly ran to one of the wolf-dogs, sat down beside her, and began to lick his mom’s pelt.

　　“He’ll be fine. Come on. Look, I see a way out of here, I think.” Snake pointed to a large opening in the cave’s northern wall.

　　“Sounds good to me.”

　　When they emerged from the cavern, the pair found themselves in a man-made underground passage with a high ceiling and a floor made of steel. There were shallow alcoves in the walls every ten feet. Snake figured the tunnel was about fifty yards long. At the end was the base of the first communication tower. They could see the lower two stories of what appeared to be a slender but massive structure that protruded up through the ceiling and extended above the surface. It was made of steel latticework with crisscross patterns. Snake had studied a little architecture in his lifetime- it was an essential subject for anyone who wanted to be adept at infiltrating buildings-and the design of the tower reminded him of the work of the Chinese architect I. M. Pei.

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　　“How tall are the lowers?” Snake asked.

　　“I’m not sure. Twenty, thirty stories?”

　　“I hope their elevators work.”

　　She started to move forward, but he grabbed her arm. “Wait! Let me check something.” He pulled out the mine detector and switched it on.

　　Three Claymores lay under the steel directly in front of them.
“I think I just saved your life again,” he said.

　　Meryl’s eyes widened. “thanks. Is that all there is? Just three?”

　　“Looks that way.”

　　She studied the layout on the detector’s monitor. “Okay, I’ll lead.” With the delicate poise that only a female could possess, Meryl lightly moved between the mines locations and stood on the other side. “What are you waiting for?”

　　He’d been enjoying watching her form but simply grinned in response.

　　She made a face and put her hands on her hips, but Snake knew she didn’t mind the attention. He quickly followed in her footsteps and sidestepped the danger.

　　They continued walking forward through the tunnel. The silence was eerie, but they instinctually stopped talking because the echo effect was strong within the passage. Even their footsteps, as lightly as they attempted to step, tended to reverberate. When they made it to the halfway mark, Snake thought he saw the flash of a red light. He blinked and looked at Meryl. Sure enough, there was a red on her chest between her breasts.

　　It was a laser sight.

　　“Meryl!”

　　“What is it?”

　　“Get down!”

　　He pushed her out of the way, but it was too late. The shot resounded throughout the passage, and a red flower of blood spurted on her left shoulder. She screamed in pain but didn’t realize she’d been shot. Snake started to tackle her, but the sniper fired another round, hitting her in the side just above the waist. This time she went down for the count. Another bullet hit the metal floor between Snake and his fallen companion, forcing him to retreat and take cover in one of the alcoves on the side.

　　“Meryl!” His companion lay behind him about twenty feet away-in plain view of the sniper. She had dropped her Desert Eagle a few feet from her, and the PSG-1 sniper rifle also lay at her side. Meryl attempted to pick up the rifle but couldn’t manage it.
　　
　　Instead, she reached for the handgun with her good arm, but it was about a foot to far away. She gritted her teeth and stretched for the piece, but another shot form the sniper dented the metal floor inches from her fingers.

　　“Snake! Leave me and run!”

　　“Meryl!”

　　Snake heard more disappointment than pain in her voice. “I guess…I’m a rookie after all…!”

　　“Don’t worry, Meryl, It’s me they want!”

　　“I know… It’s the oldest trick in the book… The sniper’s using me for bait to lure you out.”

　　Snake cursed to himself. He’d been afraid this would happen.
“Shoot me, Snake!” she cried.

　　“No!”

　　“I promised…I wouldn’t slow you down!”

　　“Don’t move!”

　　“I can still help… I want to help you…”

　　“Quiet down! Save your strength!”

　　She was crying now. “I was a fool! I wanted to be a soldier…
Snake, please! Save yourself! Go on living…and don’t give up on people!”

　　He knew she was right. There was nothing he could do for her. If he even attempted to drag her to cover, the sniper would pick him off.

　　“Get out of here!” she screamed. “Just…don’t forget me…”
Snake eyed the sniper rifle at Meryl’s side. If he could get hold of it, he might have a fighting chance.

　　“Snake?” it was Campbell on the Codec.

　　“Yeah?”

　　“it’s a trap! A sniper’s trick to lure you out. If you go help Meryl, you’ll be picked off. Don’t do it!”

　　Snake could hear the pain in the colonel’s voice. This was his niece he was talking about.

　　“I know that, Colonel. But I can’t just leave her three.” So much for not worrying about her and not letting her interfere with the mission.

　　Dr. Hunter spoke up. “It must be Sniper Wolf, FOXHOUND’s best shooter.”

　　“Don’t snipers usually work in pairs?”

　　“Yes, but not her. I know her. She can wait for hours, days, or weeks. It doesn’t matter to her. She’s just watching and waiting for you to expose yourself.”

　　“Maybe so, bur Meryl can’t hold out that long.”

　　“Snake, can you see Wolf from where you are?” Naomi asked.
“I think she’s on the second floor of the tower. Between here and there, there’s no place to hide.”

　　Campbell’s voice shook. “If Wolf’s in the communication tower, then se can see you perfectly! It’s the classic sniper’s position. At this distance you won’t be able to hit her with a standard weapon!”

　　“Colonel, take it easy,” Snake said. “Meryl’s got a sniper rifle. I’m going to save her, no matter what it takes.”

　　The former FOXHOUND leader was breathing hard, but Snake’s words seemed to calm him down a little. “Okay. Thanks.”

　　Snake heard Naomi Hunter make a noise. “Naomi? Did you say something?”

　　“Nothing,” the doctor replied. “I’m just surprised you’re willing to sacrifice yourself. You’ve got the genes of a soldier, not a savior.”

　　“You trying to say I’m only interested in saving my own skin?”

　　“I wouldn’t go that far, but…”

　　“I don’t know what the hell my genes look like, and I don’t care. I operate on instinct. I’ll save Meryl. I don’t need an excuse. And I’m not doing it for someone else, either. I’ll save Meryl for myself. Colonel, don’t worry!”

　　“Snake, I didn’t mean… I’m sorry,” Dr. Hunter said. “I understand.”

　　He signed of and studied the distance between himself and the rifle. The old cliché “so near yet so far” certainly applied. Snake thought about what he had in his inventory that could help.
The flash-bang! He had one left in his pouch. The blast it created just might be enough to mask what he was doing temporarily. The sniper wouldn’t be able to target him through a brief, bright blaze. It was his only hope.

　　He retrieved the grenade and calculated where the best place would be to throw it. As long as it covered the area in front of Meryl, he should be okay. Without wasting another second, he pulled the pin, tossed it twenty feet into the passageway, and prepared to make his move. He anticipated the explosion and emerged from behind his cover. He hoped Sniper Wolf would attempt to shoot him but then be blinded by the flash.

fengmosn

　　A minute later, he was ready.

　　Come on, bitch. Show me where you are!

　　Sniper Wolf’s laser sight pinpointed his forehead. Snake saw the tiny red dot originating on the tower’s second floor, just as he had suspected. Before the woman had a chance to fire, he squeezed the PSG-1’s trigger. The empty casing ejected hard and high, landing nearly ten feet from him. This was considered an advantage because it lessened the enemy’s ability to locate the shooter’s position.

　　Through the telescopic sight, which was accurate up to six hundred meters, Snake spotted a figure moving from one metal support to another. He caught her in the crosshairs and fired again. The woman jerked, but he wasn’t sure if he had hit her. Nevertheless, this gave him time to jump up and run closer.
Snake darted into the passageway and ran in an erratic pattern. The sniper fired twice, hitting the floor at his feet. He took refuge in another alcove, but now he was at least twenty yards closer to the tower. Although it made him an easier target for Sniper Wolf, it also made her a less difficult shot for him.

　　Three rounds battered the wall at the edge of the alcove, reminding him that he couldn’t be careless when peering out to shoot. He needed another diversion, so he pulled out a chaff grenade. It wouldn’t do much except perhaps make her blink a couple of times, but that might be enough for him to get in a shot or two. Snake pulled the pin and tossed it into the air in the middle of the passageway.

　　It went off in its singular way without creating much of a blast; however, Snake simultaneously leaned out of the alcove, picked up the figure in the crosshairs, and squeezed the trigger.

　　He could have sworn the woman shout in pain!

　　Snake returned to the alcove and waited a few seconds before attempting to take a look. He scanned the visible floors on the tower with the rifle’s telescopic sight and didn’t see a soul. It would be best to make sure by securing the area at the base of the tower and then deal with getting Meryl some medical attention. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and ran to the structure. With the SOCOM in hand, he checked the perimeter of the base and the metal stairs that led to the second-floor balcony.

　　There were a few drops of fresh blood on the steps. Snake looked up an saw that there was a direct line from the balcony rail to where he was standing. Obviously, he hadn’t killed Sniper Wolf, but he’d certainly winged her.

　　Snake turned around with the intention of running back to Meryl. But his path was blocked by the sudden appearance of a dozen troopers fast-roping down lines from the second floor, ninja style! Each man had a DAMAS assault rifle pointed at him.

　　“Don’t move!” one of the men shouted.

　　Snake could see that these guys were the elite. The Space Seals. The cream of the crop of genome soldiers. And they had him surrounded.

　　“Drop your weapon! Now!”

　　He had no choice. Snake tossed the SOCOM to the ground.

　　“Kick it over here!”

　　He did so.

　　A steel door slid open at the base, and a tall woman with an extraordinary body emerged. Her uniform fit tightly and was open at the neck to reveal magnificent cleavage. She had short blond hair and green eyes. It was too bad she was one of the enemy-the woman was definitely a babe.

　　The only good thing about the situation was that Sniper Wolf’s left arm was in a makeshift sling and the fabric around her shoulder was soaked in blood.

　　“You were a fool to come here, stupid man.” She said with an accent. Snake placed it as Middle Eastern and then remembered Campbell’s briefing: The woman was a Kurd from Iraq.

　　“A lady sniper,” Snake said. “Who woulda thought?”

　　“Didn’t you know that two-thirds of the world’s greatest assassins are women?”

　　“What happened to your shoulder? Hunt yourself?”

　　“It’s just a scratch.” She licked her lips. “Do you want to die now? or after your female friend? Which will it be?”

　　“I’ll die after I kill you.”

　　She laughed, mocking him. “Is that right? Well, at least you’ve got spirit. I am Sniper Wolf, and I always kill what I aim at. You’re my special prey.” She stepped closer to him. Snake was aware of her strong scent-certainly feminine but decidedly the stuff of animalistic menace.

　　Sniper Wolf swiftly reached out and scratched Snake’s left cheek with her long, sharp nails. Blood trickled out of the wounds, but Snake didn’t flinch.

　　“I’ve left my mark on you,” she said. “I won’t forget it. Until I kill you, you’re all I’ll think about.” She licked her lips again, and Snake felt her hot breath on his neck. She held the gaze between them for a moment longer and then abruptly broke away.
“Take him away!” she commanded the troopers.
Before Snake could protest, something hard and heavy struch him on the back of the head- and everything went black.

fengmosn

16

VOICES FILTERED IN through the haze. He wasn’t sure who they were at first, but he thought they were familiar.

　　A female asked, “Do you need his DNA, too?”

　　“Yes,” a man with a familiar, polished voice replied. “I want a sample while he’s still alive. We need it to correct the genome soldiers’ mutations.”

　　“Then we’ll be able to cure them?”

　　“No. we still have to get our hands on Big Boss’s DNA.”

　　The woman seemed perturbed. “Have they given in to our demands yet?”

　　“Not yet.”

　　“They won’t give in. they’re all hypocrites, every one of them.”

　　“Is that your opinion? As a Kurd?”

　　“They always put politics first.”

　　“That’s right,” the man said. “That’s why they want to avoid any leak about their precious new nuclear weapon.”

　　“Hey, Boss,” a new voice remarked. “it looks like our friend is awake.”

　　“Can you hear me, Solid Snake?” the voice had a British accent.

　　When Snake opened his eyes, he saw three blurry figures standing in front of him. One was definitely a woman; he could tell that much. The others? One seemed recognizable, but everything was so cloudy. His head hurt. And when he tried to move-

　　“It’s no use, Snake,” the third man said. “Your body is strapped down tight.”

　　It was true. Snake’s arms and legs were spread apart and tightly bound onto a flat surface, but he was in a semistanding position. All his gear was gone, but he was still wearing his suit and, oddly, his bandana.

　　“Can you hear me, Snake?”

　　“He’s tougher than I thought,” the woman said.

　　“Do you know who I am? I always knew that one day I would meet you.”

　　Snake attempted to focus on the man with long golden-white hair. Slowly the cobwebs melted away and the world became clearer. He was in a room much like the outer cell area where he initially had found DARPA chief Anderson and Meryl, but it was full of what appeared to be medical equipment, machinery, and laboratory paraphernalia. The room might have been a hospital operating theater if it had not been for the slightly sinister characteristics of the apparatus.

　　That’s because it’s a torture chamber…

　　Not only were his arms and legs securely fastened, there was a strange belt around his chest with wires leading out of it and ominous nozzles attached to the sides of his chair/table, pointed directly at him.

　　“There definitely is a resemblance. Don’t you think, little brother?”

　　Finally, Snake’s vision was clear. The man known as Liquid Snake stood in front of him. When Snake first had glimpsed him upon his arrival at Shadow Moses Island, he had known that Liquid looked like him. But now, seeing the man face-to-face, it was as if he were staring into a mirror. The only difference was the hair color and length and a darker complexion.

　　“Or should I say big brother? I’m not sure. Anyway, it doesn’t matter.”

　　What was the guy talking about? Little brother? Big brother?

　　“Are you figuring it out, Solid? Is it clear to you now?”
Snake groaned.

　　Liquid chuckled. “That’s right. You and I are the last surviving
sons of Big Boss.”

　　A device on Liquid’s belt chirped. He took it off, punched a button, and put it to his ear. “It’s me.” He listened to the caller and then reacted strongly. It wasn’t good news. “What? Really? Then what? Those idiots! All right, Raven. I’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and replaced it on his belt. He then addressed the other two, whom Snake recognized as Revolver Ocelot and Sniper Wolf. Ocelot’s right hand had been replaced by some kind of mechanical prosthetic. Wolf’s sling was gone, and she had changed out of her bloody tunic-Snake figured he hadn’t wounded her as badly as he’d thought-but she was still dressed provocatively. “They’re not responding to our demands. We’ll launch the first one in ten hours as planned.”

　　“Damned Americans!” Wolf spat.

　　“Looks like you read them wrong,” Ocelot added.

　　Liquid shook his head. “Something’s not right. Normally the Americans are the first ones to the negotiating table. They must think they’ve got something up their sleeves.”

　　“So it’s come down to it?” Ocelot asked. “We’re gonna launch that nuke and ride it all the way into history?”

　　The call Liquid had received from Raven had disturbed him. “I’ve got to go take care of some launch preparations. You’re in charge, Ocelot.”

　　“What about you? Wanna stay for the show?” Ocelot asked Wolf.

　　“I’m not interested.” She started to leave the room but stopped to take a couple of pills from a plastic case in her pocket. She popped them into her mouth and swallowed. “It’s time to feed the family.”

　　“So you prefer your wolves to my show, huh?”

　　“Ocelot,” Liquid said, “Don’t screw up like you did with the chief.”

　　“I know. That was an accident. I didn’t think a pencil pusher like him would be so tough.”

　　“Well, his mental defenses were reinforced by hypnotherapy.”

　　“Boss, what about that ninja?”

　　Liquid made a face that indicated it was one more problem he had to deal with. “He’s killed twelve men. Whoever he is, he’s some kind of lunatic.”

　　“Bastard took my hand. How could he have gotten in here?”

　　“Perhaps,” Liquid said, glancing back at Snake, “there’s a spy among us.” He addressed Ocelot and wolf. “Mantis is dead. We’ve also got to find out what killed Baker and Octopus. We’re shorthanded, so make this little torture show of yours as short as possible.”

　　“Torture?” Ocelot protested. “This is an interrogation!”

　　“Whatever.” Liquid turned back to Snake. “See you later, brother.” With that, he left the room in a hurry.

　　Sniper Wolf also reversed direction and came back to the torture table. She leaned in close to Snake and whispered in his ear, “Your woman is still in this world.”

　　A hoarse, scratchy voice emerged from Snake’s dry throat.
“Meryl…”

　　“Catch you later…handsome.”

　　The woman licked Snake’s ear, smiled, and then walked out of the room.

　　Ocelot laughed. “Once she picks a target, she doesn’t think about anything else. Sometimes she even falls in love with them before she kills them.” He moved closer to Snake. “So. Finally, just the two of us. How are you felling?”