I held my right hand with the golden claws up. “I am the weapon.”
Marcello was still busy dropping his clothes. If he had been unhappy about this idea, the short shoot-out had stressed the urgency.
“Now we should get away. But we need spare clothes.”
“We’ll find some,” Davide agreed, took a tablecloth and handed it to the minister. “For the moment, this has to do. Come, we can now leave together.”
Chapter Twenty
“So we’d let the cars pass because we thought they were searching in general. Then they both turned off to the Ristorante, and after that two other cars arrived and drove to the back. It was clear that this was no accident, but we had chosen a position for surveillance and not for fire support against such a surprising and determined attack,” Vincenzo reported. The somewhat stocky guy looked worried to me. Like all present members of Davide’s team, he gave me curious glances now and then—so far the team only knew that I had accompanied the minister and joined battle at their side.
The debriefing took place outside, on a farm track away from the main roads. Davide deemed it urgently necessary to first make a quick situation analysis, before he could take the minister and me to one of their hideouts. Marcello, still wrapped in his tablecloth, sat in my car.
Davide nodded. “That matched the mission profile. Go on.”
“Alessia and I tried to get into shooting position. The criminals opened fire, and then an unknown person came dashing out of the house and took the attackers out—I’ve never seen anyone moving so fast.”
The dark-haired, tall Alessia picked up the cue. “From my position, it looked as if she’d run right into an MP salvo. But it must have missed her—in any case, she ran across the house next. Thereafter, nothing stirred at the front anymore.”
Now it was Paolo’s turn. His fiery red hair was cut to short stubbles, and he seemed to deem himself quite sexy in his black tank top. “They wanted to get inside at any cost. Five of them stormed in together, two were securing outside. Riccardo and I could take care of them. Then this black figure came around the corner and inside—too fast for us to do anything.”
“Viola and Marcus didn’t have a chance to join the action,” Andrea, Davide’s second, continued the report. He was the man who had held radio contact with the team from the kitchen door. “They’d been hit first.”
“Not quite,” I had to object, and thus earned a few raised eyebrows. “Of the five who went in, they had already taken out two before I arrived at the back. I had to jump across them before I could take out the one with the plasma rifle and the two others.”
“We will mourn for our two men later,” Davide declared. “At least the Mafia has paid a dear price. They’ve lost seventeen men and provided us with three plasma rifles. Of these seventeen, thirteen are on this young woman’s account”—He pointed at me, and I didn’t object against the young woman, after all I’d kept myself in shape—“whom I’d like to introduce to you now. She’s called Johanna Meier, was born in Germany, but lately she’s been in America, where she’s known and feared under the name Velvet.”
“Velvet?” several of his men called out almost synchronously. So they had heard of me, too? That was good, as they’d need a lot of motivation for the upcoming fight against the Hydra of organized crime.
“That’s how I’ve called myself,” I confirmed. “I’m a thief. I come and go unnoticed, when and where I like. Velvety soft, so to say. I steal the Cartel’s plans, equipment, and sometimes even their prisoners.” I nodded toward the minister. “I’m here to steal the Italian government from the Mafia. I’ve started with the minister. Once he formally asks America for assistance, America will send you a platoon of Marines in Frostdragon armor suits. They will aid you against the Mafia armor suits and their plasma rifles.”
“And what’s your job?” Davide asked.
“My job is to give you some startup support.”
“And thereafter?”
“I’ll go on my own way.”
“I don’t understand. Won’t your employer have other missions for you?”
“I’m my own employer. What I’m doing, I’m doing voluntarily, on my own account and my own risk. Privately.”
“You’re doing this as a hobby?”
“You could call it so, yes.”
Several of his men appeared nervous. I could see that they had quite different burning issues on their minds. Encouragingly, I nodded at Andrea.
“Mrs. Meier—Velvet—hum,” he began.
“Jo suffices.”
“Jo. Why did you do that? That was madness, to just jump into the hail of bullets. And why weren’t you hurt?”
“The second question first, Andrea. Alessia was right, I ran right into the MP salvo. That tickled some, but not more. I’m wearing an armor suit. What you see, the black suit, is only a programmed coloring. So it was no madness. It would have been madness not to help you against the plasma rifles, so I did it.”
This confession could only trigger further questions. I was willing to answer them. I didn’t want to play hide-and-seek, not with these people.
“I procured this suit myself—to be more precise, stolen from Frostdragon. A juvenile folly, so to say. It was just a special challenge.”
“I thought that would only work with a fusion reactor?” Alessia asked.
“No, that energy is primarily needed for the jump amplifiers and the linear cannon, and I have neither,” I explained to her, not entirely correctly. The camouflage consumed energy, too, which I had to provide myself. Only the armor came more or less for free.
Alessia was nevertheless happy with the answer. Instead, Andrea had another question. “Is the name Johanna Meier common in Germany?”
“I don’t know. But that’s not what you want to know, right?”
“There’s once been a Johanna Meier in sports.”
“Who still holds the Ironman world record, although the advance against the males continues to shrink.”
“She died briefly after the record.”
“At least the Cartel should believe that.”
“Then—”
“Then I’m the one. Exactly. And thus I’m also the Johanna Meier who invented the Meier effect.”
“That’s something about nuclear fusion, right?” Andrea admitted his lack of knowledge. “Damn.”
“What does that mean?” Davide asked. “What does it mean for us?”
Chapter Twenty-one
“How do we go on?” Davide asked and focused on the minister. The latter meanwhile wore decent clothes again, although no business suit, and enjoyed an espresso.
The place where the Carabinieri had brought us was plain but cozy and located a few hours north of our original meeting point at the coast near San Vincenzo.
“I’ll accept the American government’s offer for support,” Marcello declared. “What do I have to do, Johanna?”
“The quickest way would be if you sent a fax containing just that—you accept the American government’s offer for support.” I told him a fax number. “The support can arrive within hours, before dawn.”
“Only if we’re transmitting the meeting point, and I’d prefer not to do that so openly,” Davide argued.
“We won’t transmit anything openly. The reinforcements will come to me,” I objected. “A special Dragon technology trick.” Which wasn’t entirely true, but came close enough to truth.
“Then we’ll do it now,” the minister decided. “Give me a sheet of paper. Do you have a fax here?”
“We’ll use a nearby device, not here in the house. It’s healthier right now to be a bit too cautious. Who knows how far the Mafia has briefed their people.” Davide gave Alessia a quick glance. “Will you please bring it over right away?”
After, he focused on me. “How long exactly? Can you guess that?”
I listened for Achrotzyber’s signature. Where he was, the submarine with our armor sui
t Marines was, too. They were waiting for their marching order about one-hundred-and-fifty kilometers south of us, and Nicholas had promised me that a fax to the special number wouldn’t take more than five minutes to reach them. From him, I also knew that the Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class attack submarine, specially designed for this kind of mission, could go about thirty knots submerged. At this speed, it would cover the distance in three hours. To come ashore, I had to grant the Marines another thirty minutes. “About three-and-a-half hours after sending the fax, they’ll come ashore.”
“So fast?”
“If nothing gets into their way. They aren’t far away.”
“Good. If that’s the case, we should consider our next steps.”
“I’d rather consult my colleagues first,” Marcello declared and gave his fax to Alessia. The young woman immediately left.
Davide briefly looked down, but swallowed a direct comment.
I had no such inhibitions. “Minister Montalcino, you’re completely right if you want to talk to your colleagues before an all-encompassing reconstitution of order in Italy. At the moment, however, it’s more about establishing a stable bridgehead with the aid of this small, but trustable ROS team, with your American allies, and not least with my aid, thus sending a sign to the loyal forces in your country that it’s time to show resistance and first of all disturb the Mafia before they’ve got the chance to organize themselves. All intelligence I’ve torn out of the Cartel’s hands won’t be worth a penny two or three days from now. But we’ll need at least that much time before the conference you desire can take place. If we don’t act with determination now, the liberation of Italy will be a very lengthy and bloody task.”
If we acted quickly, it would only be bloody—in this regard I wouldn’t fool myself. Nor could I lie to myself regarding my probable share of the bloodshed.
“What do you propose then?” he asked.
“I know the position of the most important Mafia armory here near Rome. There are two more in northern Italy and near Palermo, both too far away for a quick move—unless we can activate another ROS unit each. That would cost the Mafia a large part of their resources at one go. Second, we must deprive them of their armor suits. According to my knowledge, there are only two in Italy overall, and they’re both deployed in Rome.”
“We shall take on armor suits? Is that a smart move?”
“Mr. Minister, in a few hours, you’ll have an entire platoon of Marines in armor suits at your command yourself. Before the Mafia pulls their own suits back for guerilla tactics, and we must look for them all over Italy, we had better act quickly.”
“I understand the logic. Anything else?”
“I know the Rome Mafia leaders who were in contact with the Cartel and their usual location. If we can get them before they can go into hiding, then that would make the enemy’s coordination attempts significantly harder.”
“That would be the armories, the two suits, the leaders. In this order?”
“More or less simultaneously. The suits should be near the Capos anyway. But that’s not my decision.” I glanced at Davide. “Ask your own counterterrorism expert.”
The Colonnello smirked. “I’m no expert in battling armor suits. Velvet is. Just tell me your ideas. How would you do it?”
“I’d leave the armory to the ROS and half of the Marines, and send the rest of the Marines to the government building and to the presidential residence to install the regular government there as soon as possible. I’d take care of the two suits and the Capos myself.” I shrugged. “Well—only I have no right to attack anyone in Italy, actually.”
“Put differently, freeing me was illegal,” the minister added. “And your support at the Ristorante, too, if you didn’t regard it as self-defense. Colonnello, we must solve this problem first.”
“How?”
“Colonnello, would you agree that momentarily I’m the only representative of the Italian government who’s able to act?”
“Yes, sure.”
“Good. At the same time, you’re the highest ranking Italian forces officer available to me at the moment. If I’d create an appointment as Commissaria Speciale for this young woman with special authority for fighting organized crime, would you countersign it?”
Chapter Twenty-two
“I’ve never dreamt being a police commissioner, even if only temporarily,” I admitted.
Davide stared at the open sea as if he could therewith call the Marines in faster. But according to Achrotzyber’s signature, their submarine had only just arrived near the coast.
“Do you feel uncomfortable?”
“Very. No, not for that. The situation’s only unfamiliar and somewhat—odd. After all, the largest part of my life I’ve been on the other side of law.”
“As a thief.”
“Exactly.”
“What did you steal? Except for Dragon technology, that is.”
“Mostly money. I’ve deprived rich people of some cash, and Cartel members of some more. I’ve stolen information from the Cartel.”
“No, I mean, except for the stuff you’ve taken from criminals.”
“Only money. Or occasionally an apple straight from the tree.”
“Jewelry? Electronics?”
“No. Nothing I’d have needed a fence for. Most of all, I didn’t want to steal memories.”
“Very noble for a thief. And if you were spotted?”
“I ran away. No, I’ve never really been spotted stealing. Once by a dog I could escape from.” And once, in Denver, two cops who couldn’t prove anything and beat me up and raped me anyway. Well, then.
“You’ve never taken anything by force?”
“Only from the Cartel.”
“Why did you steal at all?”
“Because I could. And because I thought I’d need a second source of income.”
“In addition to your studies?”
“In addition to my job as a whore.”
“Oh.” He didn’t turn to me. “You were—no, you are well equipped for that job.”
“Thank you. I don’t practice anymore.”
“Oh, good—I think that might be inappropriate for a Commissaria. Although it’s a real loss for the male world.”
“Thanks again.”
“What is it then that makes you so uncomfortable?”
“I’ve killed thirteen men today. No, wait. You don’t need to tell me that they’ve deserved it and we’ve fought for our own lives. These people don’t mean anything to me. Nevertheless, I was the one who’s brought several other people from life to death.”
“And bloody fast.”
“Yes. I’m good at killing. It’s fast, and it’s easy. Too easy—that’s what frightens me.”
“What exactly are you frightened of?”
“I fear to lose my judgment. I fear choosing the supposedly easy and fast way too often only because I can.”
“Perhaps I understand, perhaps I don’t. Jo, we’re soldiers. We’re trained to kill once that becomes necessary. We’re doing that to protect civilians. We’re also told it may be necessary to shoot first. We’re told it may be necessary to kill an enemy so that he won’t be able to shoot our backs. It’s even worse with terrorists. Give them just one moment too much, and they’ll trigger a bomb that will kill lots of innocents. Give them an opportunity for a second attempt, and they’ll cover themselves better. Nevertheless, we’re expected to act by the law. That’s not always easy.” He turned to me and placed one hand on my shoulder. “Jo, I don’t know whether it helps you. But I think, as long as you worry, you’re okay. You don’t appear like a manic killer to me.”
“Thanks. No, I think I’m not manic. Not anymore.”
He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment it. “Jo. With what we’re facing, you might have to kill again.”
“I know, Davide. I won’t hesitate at the wrong moment, don’t worry. I will take more lives.” For example, those
of the two armor suit wearers, if necessary, and without warning.
“Jo.”
“Yes, Davide?”
“It’s good that you’re with us. The task ahead of us—that’s a notch too big for us all. We weren’t trained for that. No, don’t say anything. It’s not about you doing our job. It’s about the way you’re tackling this mission, as if there was no doubt we can make it. You’re radiating so much confidence. That’s what we need more than your actual performance.”
“Thanks, Davide. For you knowing me only for a few hours, you’re accepting me with astonishingly little reservations.”
“Oh, with your actions at the Ristorante you’ve more than earned an advance of my trust. The way you’ve acted, I know I can entrust you with my people and my life. I’ve learned how a cooperative team should work by Dragon principles—and in you I see these principles applied in perfection.”
“Oops.”
“You have a very winning character, Jo.”
“Oh, that’s for sure.”
“I’m not referring to your stealing talents. Somehow, you manage to make people feel well in your presence, like being with a very good friend.”
“That must be due to my old profession, too. But thanks anyway. I liked you from the start, too.”
“Yees—it’s hard for me to retain my professional attitude.”
“How do you mean that? What’s got celibacy to do with professionalism?”
“Messing with the leader creates tensions in the team that I can’t tolerate currently.”
“And the leader’s celibacy creates tensions that your trousers can’t tolerate currently.”
“Oh, damn. Don’t make it so hard for me.”
“We’re alone and don’t have anything important to do. I’m not made for celibacy, Davide.”
“Damn, Jo.”
“Davide—I already said, I was a whore. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s switching off the personal level after sex. Trust me.”
“I’m already doing that.”
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