Lilith Cohen Retribution

by William Manning

  Damn, now I feel like an asshole.

  “Okay, fine I get it. You've been through the shit like me. Look, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful I just need to rest.”

  She picks up her cane and slips her glove back on. “Agent Cohen, I am here to help you in your war against Black Reign. I am not here to strangle you with red tape. I know your husband betrayed you and that alone is pretty screwed up.”

  I turn my head to the side to avoid eye contact in case the waterworks kick in. “I’m sorry. I’ve been through hell, and the betrayal of my husband has kept me on edge. Making it hard to trust people even my own damn comrades.”

  She waves dismissively. “Firstly, Agent Cohen. You have every right to be paranoid. The man who you loved and trusted with all your heart betrayed you and tried to sell you off as a guinea pig to our enemies. Secondly, your hatred of politicians is not unfounded giving your history with them in the IDF, and how they're treating people who are not rich.” She turns to Marisol and gives the hand signal to EVAC. “Well, we best be going. Dominic and Clare will meet us at the HQ in Colorado.”

  “Wait you know Dominic?”

  “Of course. I know all of the first Hunter agents. Especially Dominic. He and I have been friends for a long time.”

  “He never told me about you.”

  “He couldn’t tell you due to my high profile career.” “About that, how can you be The President and The Director of the Hunters?”

  “Dominic has been filling in for me. As of right now, he is acting director until my term is up.”

  “So that’s why he defied The Council without hesitation.”

  She smiles. “That and The Council was not a fan of Lavana.”

  This wasn’t the first time Dominic has kept stuff from me, but it’s still annoying as all hell.

  “Everyone mount up! An A10 is in bound with a Bunker Buster.”

  Bunkers Busters? I guess she is using her resources as president to aid the agency with Black Reign.

  I board the Mercury Jet, and Connie comes in behind me. Marisol climbs aboard another jet with her soldiers. I strap myself in and lay my head back up against the chair. The Mercuries lift off and head to Colorado. The sound of an A10 Warthog zips over us. The jet drops its payload on the base, and it disappears into a cloud of dust. “Mrs. Kimura, did Josef and Nina make it out?”

  “Yes. He and Nina are returning to Manhattan.” “Shit.” I groan when it hits me the bastards took a

  sample of my blood.

  “What’s a matter?”

  I lean forward, rubbing my forehead in frustration.

  “The scientists took my goddamn blood.”

  “Yes, Josef told me. However, they will only have

  one shot to make it universal. I highly doubt they will be able

  to do it with one blood sample.”

  “So tell me about the American Sector.”

  She smiles. “You will just have to wait till we get

  there.”

  “I guess Dominic forgot to mention I hate having

  information withheld from me.”

  She laughs. “He did, but you’ll just have to grin and

  bear this one.”

  Gazing at the horizon, I start to think about the time Karl, and I camped in the desert. It was a bright full moon just like this, giving the Badlands a bluish hue. We laid next to each other, and gazed at the stars and talked about various topics until we fell asleep. I turn away from the horizon when the grief creeps back to the surface. The last thing I want to deal with is concerned eyes gawking at me.

  I wonder if any of these grunts have a smoke. “Hey, any of you guys got a smoke?” They all shake their heads no.

  Dam n it. This rescue would’ve been a top-notch if they’d came bearing a pack of filterless cigarettes. There is no sense in asking Connie. She has health nut stamped on her forehead.

  I still feel like a bitch for misjudging her like that, but we all misread people at times. In my case, horribly.

  Chapter 3

  We land at an enormous concrete compound with towering steel walls. Gatling gun turrets on the ramparts and surface-to-air missile platforms positioned throughout the courtyard under steel doors that open when a threat is detected. It can identify threats up to 10 miles. The base is nestled deep in the valley of the Rocky Mountains.

  “There it is, Lilith, The American HQ. It was built back in 2009. It has twelve floors plus an underground bunker which houses a training facility and living quarters for recruits and Nano Labs. R&D labs are further down and of course R&R facilities on Sublevel 5.”

  “Sounds just like the one in Tel Aviv, almost. How many sublevels?” “Twelve.”

  Interesting set up. Twelve up and twelve down.

  “So it’s slightly bigger than the old place, nice.” “Yes, and we have a benefit the one in Tel Aviv does not. We are not set up in the middle of a heavily populated city.”

  “And this place is secure from Black Reign?” I ask, with skepticism in my voice. “If they were to attack this place, it would be suicide. Those guns you see are 50 caliber Gatling guns chambered with armor piercing rounds and the missile launchers are surface-to-air Trident missiles that have a range of 10 miles. We have a full staff of an elite security force guarding the compound and patrols on the parameter. Some of them are here with us right now. They’re all highly trained every one of them has a Special Forces background.”

  I already knew that about our security forces. I just kept my mouth shut and let her gloat.

  “I’m glad to see you put all this work into making this place secure, but remember there is always a weak spot.” “This is sadly true, but the key is to make that weak spot so hard to find it appears impenetrable.”

  I shrug. “Whatever works, Kimura.”

  Disembarking from the jet, we board a jeep that was sent to take us to the compound. The vehicle speeds down a long dirt road toward the floodlit steel gates with snipers on the battlements. The snipers at the HQs were always armed with thermal and night vision rifle scopes. “So Where is Dominic?” I ask.

  “He and Clare will be along shortly.”

  “After I rest, I’m heading to Manhattan, and I’m going to kill Colvin and bury him in the rubble of his ivory tower.”

  “No. We need to take out Doctor Conrad first. Without him, Colvin’s plans to replicate Athena will be severely hindered.”

  My eyes narrow. “Look, Ms. Kimura. I don’t care what he’s working on I am going to make him stop breathing after learning of the shit he’s done.”

  She juts her chin forward. “Agent Cohen, he is the last scientist Colvin has who could successfully replicate Athena. With him alive, you and every other agent are at risk and not to mention the civilians he tries to give it to. If he mass produces it in the pharmaceutical markets; it will make the world unable to reproduce. The end result would be a slow decline of civilization as we know it.”

  There is nothing civil about the world we live in.

  “Can’t they just exclude that part when they make it universal?”

  “No, we deliberately made Athena that way to prevent Hunter Agents from having children or leverages as I call them. Imagine if you’re a mother and you and your child gets kidnapped and your captors say tell us everything about the Hunters, or we will kill your child. Now you are loyal to the agency, but you are more loyal to your child, so naturally, you will sell us out to preserve the life of your kid. It’s not betrayal its normal human behavior.”

  “I was told that was just a flaw.”

  “A flaw by design.”

  I want to tell her to go fuck herself and go straight for Colvin. That being said, I can’t let my selfish desire for revenge blind me with a red mist. Because like every other Hunter, I took an oath to defend humanity from all threats even if it means the threat is me.

  The jeep passes through the massive steel gate; there are male and female recruits in the field doing some early morning hand to hand training w
earing grey jogging suits and battered faces. Watching the recruits spar, it’s like looking back in time. They’re still using Krav Maga as the hand to hand system along with Hapkido and Kapap. Not much has changed since I was an initiate. The recruits still don’t wear protective gear.

  Black eyes, bloodied noses and bruised jaws… fun times.

  The jeep stops at the front entrance of the compound. The vehicle drives off after we disembark. Connie slides the card down the panel and enters a passcode, and the heavy steel doors let out a loud metallic grind as they glide open. There are white tile floors with the emblem of a lone black wolf standing in a foggy moor painted on the marble tile in the foyer. This has been our symbol since the Hunters were formed. The Hunters chose this symbol because wolves are skilled hunters. The wolf also signifies unity to us. Lone wolves we may be, but when we are together, we’re a pack.

  Our walls resemble a Roman temple with its white marble. Heavily armed guards in black tactical uniforms are posted all around the lobby, and at the front desk. Kimura and I stroll over to the elevators. Everything else is more of a postmodern style when we leave the foyer. The one in Israel still has the old décor of an office building.

  “This place is rather nice, Connie,” I say, boarding the car.

  “Why thank you. Please push the button for floor ten,” she says while texting on her phone. I push the button for the tenth floor.

  I follow her down a long wide hallway laden with blue carpet and a long window overlooking the courtyard where I saw the recruits training.

  I don’t like the idea of this place having so many windows.

  “Don’t you worry about these windows?” She scoffs. “Short of a tank shell, nothing is getting through that glass.” She stops by the door. “After you.” I stroll into a spacious conference room with a long red oak table with high back maroon leather chairs. An oversized flatscreen TV frames the wall, alongside another long window. I sit down at the corner of the table, and Connie sits at the head of the table. “Okay, Agent Cohen. As you know, anytime a member of the Hunters is captured, its standard protocol they undergo a Psych Eval and questioning. We will start with the questioning first, and then I will have a Psychologist come in and talk to you.” Damn,

  I forgot about this bullshit.

  I let out a long, sigh. “I guess we’ve got to put The Council’s mind at ease.” She places a handheld touchscreen on the desk and pushes the record button. “Let’s start with how you were captured.”

  “I went to visit my husband’s gravesite to pay my respects. I guess in some way; I still love the backstabber.” I place my palm over my eyes and shake my head. “For fuck sakes, you probably think I’m pathetic.”

  She shakes her head. “Not at all. I think i t makes you a human being. Whether his love for you was real or not, you loved him. It’s why it still hurts he was taken from you.”

  Tears form in the corners of my eyes as I look away from her. “Next question, Director.”

  She flashes a closed lip smile.“Sure thing. After paying your respects what happen next?”

  “I was on my way back to my bike to catch up with Assistant Director Adler and Agent Dahan when I was hit with a tranquilizer dart after that everything went black and I woke up in a lab surrounded by scientists. At that point, it was pretty obvious who took me.”

  “Tell me what happened in the lab.”

  “Colvin gave me two options be a patient, and you will be treated like a queen, put up in a five-star hotel and afforded a shit ton of luxuries. The other option was to be a guinea pig where I would be poked and prodded and not get any perks.”

  “Based on how we found you, I assume you chose the Guinea pig route. Okay, now the next inquiry is critical refusal to answer can spark an investigation of your loyalty. Did you give Colvin or anybody in Black Reign Intel that could sabotage us in any way?”

  “No.”

  She juts her chin forward. “I believe you.” She turns off the recorder. “Now the next part is short but often the most awkward.” A female in a business skirt enters the room and sits down opposite side of the table with a handheld recorder. “Agent Cohen this is Doctor Maria Ruiz. She will be handling your Psych Eval while I wait out in the hall. She glances at both of us as she stands. “So, I will let you ladies get to it.”

  After Connie shuts the door, the doctor turns on her recording device and smiles. “How are you this morning, Agent Cohen?” She crosses her legs.

  I fold my arms and yawn. “I’m tired, need a hot shower and a stiff drink and smoke.” She chuckles. “Don’t worry this won’t take long. These series of questions will be specifically focused on the events you endured during your captivity and how your mind is handling the events you experienced. You ready?”

  “Ask away.”

  “Okay during the time of your capture where you verbally assaulted?”

  “That’s putting it mildly, but yes.”

  “Were you tortured in any way and if so, how?” “They cut me open with a scalpel and impaled me with s sword, broke my goddamn legs to see how long it would take for me to heal.”

  She nods. “Agent Cohen, this next question is the most awkward for field agents, but unfortunately we have to ask it.”

  “Let’s move this along.”

  She takes a deep breath, bracing herself. “At any time during your captivity did you undergo any form of sexual assault?” She bites her lip aimlessly staring around the room.

  I shake my head. “No, I was strictly a lab experiment.”

  “The last question is a two-parter. Do you feel you sustained any permanent emotional or psychological damage?”

  “No.”

  “Do you feel mentally stable enough to continue your duties as a field agent?”

  I nod. “Yes.”

  She stands and smiles, extending her hand. “Great. I will file this on record, and you have a great morning.”

  I firmly grip her hand. “You do the same.”

  She leaves the room, and a few minutes later Connie returns. “Your agent status has been reactivated. You now have all the security clearance and privileges you previously had.”

  “Don’t I have to be cleared by the shrink?” “The doc said you’re a bit cagey borderline Psychopath, or Sociopath whatever the Psychobabble is these days.” She balls up the print out of my Psych report and tosses it in the trash can. “Basically, you’re a normal healthy assassin. Now, let’s get you to your quarters.” She hands me a carton of Camel cigarettes. “Frankly, I think smoking is a disgusting habit, but who am I to judge. There is one last thing you must do before I put you back in the field. I need you to go to NanoDoc to sync and receive the upgrades for Athena.”

  “Upgrades?”

  She smiles. “Tell me, how long did it take you to fully heal from that gunshot wound you received in Key West?”

  “Three days.”

  “This new upgrade will cut down the time it takes to heal bullet wounds down to fifteen minutes. Broken bones heal in two hours instead of twentyfour.”

  “Well, time go give Doc Shaw another peep show, I guess.”

  She grins. “No time like the present.”

  The lab has black industrial slick proof floors and sickly pale walls. Other doctors are giving other Agents scans and upgrades as well. A middle-aged doctor is sitting at a glass desk typing on a laptop. He looks up and smiles. “Ah, hello, Agent Cohen. Did you finally come for your sync and upgrades?”

  I always loved to hear Shaw’s accent it reminds me of a Shakespeare play.

  “Yep. Director Kimura’s orders, Doc.”

  He picks up a handheld touchscreen. “Just like last time, remove every article of clothes including your undergarments and step in the machine and spread your arms out like wings.”

  I strip down to my bare ass, and step on to the platform with automated scanners hanging above me.

  If they’re going to ask agents to strip naked in here, the least they could do is tone down the air con
ditioner a bit.

  He strolls over to the control panel and punches a few buttons, and the arms drift over the contours of my body. “Couldn’t wait to get me naked again huh, Doc?” His upper lip curves. “Agent Cohen, while I won’t deny you have an alluring figure, I am married. Plus Director Kimura would both figuratively and literally have my head if I were to engage in sexual congress with my patients.”

  My mouth shifts to a lopsided grin. “Yep that’s the breaks.”

  He glances down at the computer. “So far we are at 80% in the scan, and everything appears to be performing as it should.”

  “Good, I’m eager to get back into the field.”

  I’m anxious to get my clothes back on. Goose bumps are forming over my legs and arms.

  “Yes, I imagine you want some payback for what Colvin did to Karl, and the Invasive experiments his scientists performed on you.”

  “Yeah, that’s about the size of it.”

  He frowns. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” The laser switches off, and the arms return to their original position. “Okay, now that your nanites are synched, let’s begin your upgrade.” He picks up his handheld touchscreen and pings a signal to the nanites. “Congrats. Athena Mark One is now Mark two SRST.”

  My brow furrows. “SRST?”

  “Self-Replicating, Self-Terminating. You see unlike the Mark Ones; your nanites won’t die all at once if you miss the sixmonth mark. It’s a continuous wave of death and propagation. So no more lab visits every six months. You will also experience boosted regeneration. Unfortunately, gunshot wounds and broken bones will still hurt like hell, and you can still die if you take a bullet to your brain or heart. Oh, one more thing you can no longer be poisoned or sedated. The nanites will attack and kill any toxin or agent entering your body. That being said, the only poison the nanites will ignore is ethanol. Can’t rob agents of their ability to blow off steam.”

  Doctor Shaw just got major cool points in my book. He is a man who understands a girl’s need to unwind. “Protecting a person’s right to party, I respect that.”

  “Director Kimura felt it was a bit too controlling so thank her for the tweaks. Not me.”