His foot touched down on the lid of one of the barrels, and his momentum toppled it and the three right next to it. He fell in the middle of the clanging mess and for a second had no idea what happened. The guard came to his wits an instant quicker. He got to his knees and swung his machine pistol toward Cabrillo. Like a greenhorn, Juan had dropped his pistol when he landed, so he kicked out with one foot and pushed one of the barrels into the guard, fouling his aim. His three-round burst pinged off the I-beam rafters.

Cabrillo grabbed the empty barrel in a bear hug and threw himself at the guard. When they collided, the soldier went down, and Juan used his impetus to drive his full weight, plus the barrel, into the man’s chest. Ribs snapped like twigs. The man was down but not out. Juan frantically searched for his automatic, and was bending to retrieve it from between two more barrels when the wall behind him was stitched with a string of 9mm holes.

Espinoza recognized him immediately. His eyes went wide and then narrowed with satisfaction when he realized that the man who had caused him so much difficulty and shame was twenty feet from him and unarmed.

“I know you are alone,” he said. Sergeant Lugones appeared at his side. “Sergeant, if he moves a muscle, shoot him dead.”

Espinoza set his machine pistol onto an electrical-transformer housing and pulled his sidearm from its holster and placed it beside it. He came up to Juan with a smug look, the look of a bully who had cornered the weakest neighborhood kid. He didn’t stop even when a nautical horn sounded an alarm outside.

“I don’t know who you are or where you came from, but I assure you that your death is going to be especially enjoyable.”

Juan fired off a lightning right jab that caught Espinoza square in the nose and rocked him back a pace. “You talk too much.”

The Argentine charged in a blind range. Cabrillo let him come, and as they were about to collide chest to chest he turned to the side and shoved Espinoza in the back as he went past. He crashed into the wall hard enough to make the metal ring.

“And you fight like a girl,” Juan taunted.

“Lugones, shoot him in the foot.”

The Sergeant didn’t hesitate. The single shot was especially loud, and Juan went down hard, clutching at the ruined member and screaming in agony.

“Okay, now let’s see how you fight,” Espinoza sneered. “On your feet, or the next shot takes out a knee.”

Juan tried twice to stand on his own and both times he collapsed back onto the cement floor.

“Not so tough now, is he, Sergeant?”

“No, sir.”