“Don’t turn that airbrella off,” Talon warned as they walked up to the house.
She knew the impressive domicile had an advanced security system to match. Luckily, Kasilla was one of the few people who was granted access.
“You have to hold this,” Kasilla sneered. “It takes both hands.”
Talon complied, taking the base of the airbrella. The mistress slid her left hand into a slit in the security box. It was taking a biometric 3D scan and confirming a viable pulse. With her other she authenticated herself with a password and signature. Any slip up and her left hand would be captured, shackling her to the side of the house until security could be alerted. The door opened and Talon nudged her inside.
“Take me to his private office.”
Kasilla led Talon to the staircase and the two began their ascent. Every few steps the lanky woman would falter like a newborn giraffe. “I can’t see anything!” she griped.
“Just walk normally.” How many times had this woman gone up a flight of stairs?
Kasilla tripped again and fell to her hands. By the time Talon saw her tense up it was too late. Frank’s mistress used the power of her lengthy limbs to launch backwards as hard as she could, sending them both flying down the stairwell. Talon rolled ungracefully and hit the tile at the bottom with a hard thud. A pain in her leg made itself known. She winced through it as she stood and looked for the culprit of her injury. A flying object made contact with her temple, stunning her momentarily.
Kasilla had recovered from her tumble further up the staircase and, after removing her high heels, proceeded to chuck them down at her face. Talon had to give Kasilla some props for her chutzpa, but she still had use for the feisty girl. Talon stood and ran up the velvet finish two at a time, adrenaline helping to alleviate the discomfort in her leg. The security system would have picked up the unusual kinetics, lessening the amount of time Talon would have in his office.
By the time she reached the top of the stairwell and ran down the corridor to the left, she could see Kasilla placing her palm on the doctor’s office door reader. She was staring at Talon catching up to her like prey being closed in on by a lioness. She fumbled the key code and fought through her tremulousness for another attempt. She succeeded.
The high-pitched scream of the alarm sounded, which meant the security system would be automatically activating the back-up locks on all the doors and windows at any moment. Talon stuck her foot out to block the closing door at the last possible second. After she stepped inside the office, she fed a demagnetizer through the strip and then hurried to the window, opening it just as the security locks gave an intimidating series of clicks all around her. Anyone in the building would be stuck where they were. Too late, she smirked. She was in and had a way out.
As Kasilla cowered in the corner, Talon ran to the desk on the opposite side of the room and quickly picked the lock on the drawer that contained the doctor’s computer. After turning the device on, a username and password box shone back at her. The agency had sent the doctor a spear-phishing link that pointed to an automatically installing ghost program. All his key-strokes for the past month had been recorded.
She retrieved her own tablet from her pants pocket and pulled its edges at a diagonal to double the size of the screen, connected it to the laptop, and allowed the malware to automatically update its findings onto her device. While she waited, she addressed Kasilla, who looked like an abused giraffe in the corner.
“What was the code for the door?”
“876440.”
Bingo. It finished uploading. The program was written to record time between strokes. She searched for a hiatus of over eight hours. The next strokes were his username and password, which she quickly typed in. With the alarm sounded, she didn’t have time to upload the entire hard drive. Instead, she aimed to determine where his incriminating files were located. She used her key-stroke program to search for terrorist organizations that could lead her to where his files were hidden. Nothing.
A pounding sounded on the door. She could hear the police trying to swipe their override keys through the strip, only to find that she had destroyed the magnetic reader.
“We need a laser saw!” she heard a voice yell.
She had to hurry now. Talon refocused her attention on his laptop and typed in the names of known terrorist leaders, illegal operations, and criminal wormholes. Still nothing. Frustrated, she paused and thought. This was the laptop that was confiscated already. Why would she be able to find something a professional could not?
Her mission details disclosed that the files she needed would be found on his personal computer located in his office, but perhaps there were two computers? Her confidence was shriveling as she desperately looked around the room. There were an infinite number of potential hiding spots in here between the bookcases, wall pieces and file cabinets.
“Where is the computer I want,” she held her gun up to Kasilla.
“I…I…don’t know,” she stuttered. Talon could see the woman visibly shaking and couldn’t help but believe her. She had to discover the device on her own.
Talon heard a sharp buzzing sound coming from the hallway as security began shooting lasers into the door. She had four minutes maximum before guns were pointed at her head and she failed her mission.
It wasn’t unheard of for the Ohmani State Police to do routine yet unscheduled sweeps for unauthorized technologies by using sensitive magnet-sensing rods. This was of course illegal in a private home. She didn’t have a magnet detector…
Talon took the watch off her wrist and turned it over to reveal a company-issued compass. There was no magnetic field on Ohmani and so it had always seemed useless. However, certain materials had magnetic properties – especially those used in building electronics. She walked briskly around the room, looking closely at the tiny hand. As she passed the right side of the desk near the wall, she saw it – the slightest twitch. She walked closer and saw the anomaly again right in front of a painting of Ohmani State President, Crea Lindelhan. She lifted it off its supports and studied the space behind it. It was perfectly flat, and when Talon rapped her knuckles left to right with her ear pressed to the plaster, she could not hear any change in tone. Her heart sunk.
Just as she decided to forego that area and keep looking elsewhere, she noticed several scratches on the edges where the painting rested. They would only be there if Dr. Garvie removed the painting on a regular basis. Talon had a gut feeling she was in the right place, but what was she missing?
Talon traced a finger on the marks. If it wasn’t the wall that hid the laptop, perhaps it was the painting? She held it up, and studied the surface, tracing her finger over the material. It was a magnetic shielding film. She turned it over and took out a pocket knife, slitting the back canvas to retrieve the laptop surely hidden inside. After pulling back the paper, she was surprised to find that the inside of the painting was warm and blinked at her like a Christmas tree. The painting was the computer. She traced her fingers along the top of the frame until she felt a small smooth circle. When she pressed it, the picture of Crea Lindelhan disappeared and a bright blue screen now shown asking for authorization.
Talon had never seen a computer disguised as patriotic wall art before and felt unprepared for this new development under the time constraint. Perhaps sticking to her original stealth-approach would have given her more time. She sighed. No point in what-iffing now. In less than a minute they would have sliced a hole big enough to crawl through and, judging by the number of voices in the hallway, she could not fight her way out of this one. Although not ideal, she would have to escape with the painting in tow.
Just as she predicted, a laser shot clear through the door, its red heat searing a vase of flowers on the other side of the room. Kasilla yelped in surprise and ducked for cover. Talon hauled ass to the window. Police cars descended on the grounds. Of course being captured was out of the question. Talon was confident she could reach the designated end point without being see
n. A rope with a triangle claw would have done her well here.
Luckily, the doctor liked a more elegant and dated decorative style, which seemed a little out-of-place with the asteroidean location. The windows were framed with floor-length Victorian-style curtains that were characteristically crowned with an elegant valance and layered with thick mounds of fabric. Talon undid the tassel bundling the drapery and tied it onto the window’s locking mechanism. She would soon find out if it would hold her body weight.
Talon swung her legs over the sill, planted her feet along the sides of the mansion, and repelled quickly with the painting tucked securely under her arm. Half way down the rope splintered, sending her hurtling to the ground. The air was completely knocked out of her and she lay stunned for several moments. Kasilla. The woman’s head was poking out of the window now, and she had quite the smirk on her face.
“She’s right here!” the mistress yelled to someone behind her.
Talon took it as a warning to get the hell out of there. She stood and sprinted as fast as she could using the walls as cover. A shot ricocheted off the brick close to her head, sending clay and shale firing onto the sides of her face.
Talon could hear the police barking orders and radioing her whereabouts. That made them easy to evade. She used her environment to her advantage, dipping behind trees and scaling over walls until finally she seemed to lose her pursers.
Talon virtually skipped to the stake set in a wooden area beyond the mansion’s grounds. She was almost there. The taste of victory had her salivating. The end post stood like a beacon in the moonlight, it’s head glowing a soft red. She punched it hard. Success!
The picture she was holding shined bright blue in her eyes, causing a jerk reaction. She dropped it in the grass and stared at the words shining back at her. Words she wouldn’t have bet her life on seeing in that moment.
“Talon Terry, my beautiful eagle, will you marry me?” She stood stunned, motionless, and confused beyond measure.
“My eagle.” She heard a voice saying.
Talon turned her head and her jaw went slack with surprise. Her boyfriend, Levi Avondale, walked from behind a small tree in the thicket. His hair brushed past the nape of his neck in blonde curls any girl would kill for, and he was actually wearing formal attire. Talon didn’t know if it was because he was standing there, or if it was because he looked drop dead delicious, but her jaw dropped to the floor.
“Are you okay?” she found herself saying.
Levi laughed. “Do I look like I’m in danger?”
“Well…no,” she admitted. “I guess I’m just caught off guard. Is this really you?”
Levi chuckled. “Then I guess I did it right. Yes, this is really me, Tal. I had a little talk with your advisory committee. Thought I would ask the love of my life to marry me in style. You passed your final exam, and I have the honor of telling you first that you are officially top of your graduating class.” Levi picked up Talon’s right hand and slid a class ring onto her finger.
Talon looked down and studied the bulky metal. The center stone contained the image of the agency’s logo. It was as black as the void, sprinkled with white specs to represent stars. In the middle, was a vermilion-colored oblong rock meant to represent Ohmani itself. The shank of the ring was adorned with jewels – the agency’s colors, also red and black – along with her year of graduation and her name. Talon’s eyes welled up as she finally came to cognition.
“I like this hat.” Levi traced the golden-stitched eagle on the front of her beanie.
“Thank you,” she replied, pulling it off. She loosened her hair from its fastenings and it went flooding down her shoulders.
“You’re so beautiful.” Levi stepped forward and kissed her.
Talon melted into the moment. Just when she didn’t think it could get any better, fireflies began flashing all around them like they had in Fort Bragg many years ago. She hadn’t seen the magnificent insects since. It was magical and Talon found herself mesmerized by their dance. Levi took her left hand and bent a knee.
“Oh, Levi,” she placed her palm over her mouth to stop the unflattering snuffles.
“Talon Terry, there was never a time I didn’t love you. You are the strongest, most beautiful woman I know. I want to make you happy the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
“YES!” She jumped into his arms before he could finish rolling the ring on her finger. How could she have gotten so lucky to find such an incredible man? They kissed, savoring the love they shared and the idea that it would never end as long as their flesh was still of this universe.
“Are you ready to celebrate?” Levi spoke softly into her ear. “You have an engagement party to attend.”
She couldn’t see him, but felt the muscles in his face pull up in a smile against her own cheek.
“You really are the best, you know that?”
“You deserve only the best,” he avowed in a way that was so sincere it melted her heart.
“Mission complete. Agent 2744 to disconnect.”
2 THE MAD HATTER
As soon as the words were spoken, she began to feel the warmth and pressure of Levi’s embrace fade away and for a moment she was sad. The romantic thicket began vanishing into blackness and the all-too-familiar dizzy feeling of exiting simulations invaded her head. A shudder washed over her in rejection of the overly air-conditioned room her brain suddenly acknowledged. Talon slowly opened her eyes and blinked away the fogginess of the simulation that had been her reality for about an hour. This was the real world, and she could not imagine a better one. She was going to marry the love of her life! Talon tried to jump up from her supine position only to be reminded of her constraints.
“Whoa, whoa,” a male voice called from a short distance away, “you know the drill, Tal, give me a second. These things aren’t cheap.”
“Sorry, Juv.”
She leaned her head back against the warm leather of the chair that reminded her of one you would find in a medieval mental institution. She imagined such a chair would also be fashioned with straps that laced across its prisoner’s body and forehead. The imprisonment was a safety precaution, they said, in case of parasomnia during the simulation process. Her fingers began tapping impatiently by her side, and it was only then that she realized there were no rings on them anymore.
Juv Normandy became clear in her peripherals. He was a thin man in his late-thirties, but because of his baby face and head of unkempt orange hair, he looked no older than she. He had been her simulation handler all four years since she’d been accepted into the agency’s training program. Taking her final exam with him felt surreal.
“You, Talon, are a very clever girl,” he complimented as he removed the restrictive apparatus from her body. “You had me on the edge of my seat with that little stunt you pulled with the girl…and you found the second computer? When they told us about that in the development meeting I didn’t think anyone would find it! Our department is so lucky to be having you join the team.” Juv smiled as he removed the computer’s last corporal connection, which gave a protesting beep.
“I’m glad you were dangerously entertained behind the safety of your computer screen,” she quipped. She had always enjoyed the ongoing banter between the technical support and the field officers.
“At least I’ll be alive in five years to enjoy my mundane existence. No more simulations for you. Now if you actually get shot on a mission it will be real life. So be careful, okay?” His voice and his brows lowered like a concerned parent. “I saw that bullet almost go into your pretty little head.”
“Of course I will be careful, Juv. I promise,” she added reassuringly as she swung her legs over the gurney and retrieved her shoes.
“Good. You are now free to go, future Mrs. Avondale,” he winked.
“Thanks, Juv! I’m sure I will see you around, so, until next time.” Talon gave Juv a friendly pat on the shoulder and started to walk briskly toward the door before turning on the balls of her f
eet. “Hey, do you happen to know where he is?”
“Your fiancé’s being escorted out of the building. I can’t believe he was able to pull that off…a civilian in a government intelligence training simulation? Pretty amazing engagement idea. And the fireflies? Uh,” Juv threw a hand over his heart. “He’s a keeper!”
Talon laughed. “I know, he is pretty amazing. Thanks, Juv!” she waved as she threw open the door and ran down the hall.
As she turned her first corner she slammed into a body, sending whoever it was backwards a solid foot. “I’m so sorry,” Talon panted in a haste.
She looked up and found herself staring into the dark blue eyes of Brody Dutton. These eyes were not calming like an afternoon summer sky, but dark and stormy. White veins laced across his irises like flashes of heat lightening.
“Brody,” she greeted after retrieving her balance. Feeling a little uncomfortable with his stony silence she began to fill it with disingenuous pleasantries. “How are you?”
Brody simply stared at her unblinkingly. He was of Italian heritage with dark features. He had a strong chiseled jaw showcasing purposeful stubble that made him seem all the more brooding. Jet black locks were slicked back neatly on his scalp in a classic way gone slightly rock star. Though the other women in her cohort clucked over him like hens, she always thought his seriousness took away from his handsomeness.
“What’s wrong?” she finally asked.
“That stupid final. What a joke.”
“You didn’t pass?”
“No, no one has. It’s impossible,” he declared. “How did you do? Did you even get up to the office?”
“Yeeeah,” she answered reluctantly, “I did actually.”
He scoffed in disbelief. “Did you find this second computer they didn’t tell anyone about?”
“How do you know the program if no one has been successful? Don’t they tell us when everyone is finished?”
“I have my ways,” he bragged. “I didn’t cheat if that’s what you mean. I didn’t find out until after. So, did you find it?”
An Eagle's Revenge (Across the Infinite Void Book 2) Page 2