<P><JC><B>-- --
<P>
<P>Not too far away, the two Hong Kong police officers reflected on the situation.
<P>
<P>"Who do you think is going to win?" the first asked plainly.
<P>
<P>"I don't know," the other said. "Think I can hit one from here?"
<P>
<P>He raised his pistol.
<P>
<P><B><JC>-- --
<P>
<P>Gordon smashed the newly approaching assaulter on the temple with a precise blow. He landed a kick to the Red Arrow follower's teeth, and then spun, and kicked him in the side. The man crumpled to the pavement.
<P>
<P>A bullet grazed past Gordon's shoulder. He hit the ground, and rolled, pivoting between the columns of the railing, and hung on the ledge for a split second before dropping into the ominously dark water that seemed to swallow all sensations.
<P>
<P>Bullets soundlessly pierced the surface above him. They trailed slowly around him, like metal raindrops, gleaming reflections of whatever light they caught. Gordon could see the twisting visage of the one firing the gun. It was the one that had been with the knife-thrower. The gun-wielder's red cloak was a distorting smear seen through the water's surface. He stood out against the black sky, leaning over the railing. Bright bubbles of fizzling light appeared in front of him, and with each such flash, a new bullet came.
<P>
<P>There was a pause. The gun-wielder stopped to reload. His head suddenly seemed to rupture, and he leaned forward, and toppled into the canal. Gordon watched the corpse explode through the soft shell of the water's surface, a bursting mist and excited crowd of bubbles momentarily swarming around the limp body like a crowd of locusts. Then all went still.
<P>
<P>The corpse stared at Gordon. It drifted motionlessly, an image frozen in time.