by Alex Siegel
The clerk took the card. "The total will be twelve hundred dollars a night, not including taxes."
Hanley made a small choking noise.
Marina waved her hand dismissively. "Ring it up."
A few minutes later, they received their room keys.
As they were walking towards the elevator, he murmured, "It was never really explained to me. Where does the money come from?"
"The cell in Manhattan has special bankers who manage the finances of the North American division," she said. "The money usually comes from them."
"And where do they get it?"
"I'm not exactly sure. The twins told me that money is an illusion, and we shouldn't take it too seriously. I've seen them make it appear and disappear."
"The twins?" Hanley raised his eyebrows.
"Bethany and Leanna," Marina said. "Our computer hackers in Chicago."
"Oh, right. I met them last night at the party. I heard they're really smart."
"You have no idea."
They took an elevator to an upper floor and found their separate rooms. Marina walked into hers.
Everything in the suite was brown, yellow, tan, or white. The main room had a glass dining table big enough for six. Paisley couches and chairs created a formal sitting area suitable for meetings. She poked her head into a kitchen which was larger than the kitchens in some apartments she had lived in. The floor was made of real wood.
She wandered into the bedroom. A king-size bed had a golden cloth canopy supported by four bed posts. There was enough space left over for another chair and a desk in the corner.
This seems appropriate for the commander of San Francisco, she thought.
Marina went back into the hallway, walked down to Hanley's door, and knocked. He opened it after a moment, and she went inside the suite. The layout was the same as hers, but the furniture had blue upholstery instead of tan.
"Do you think you'll be comfortable here?" she said.
"I don't know, ma'am." He looked around. "This is tough duty, but I've survived worse. What's next?"
"We go shopping. Think about what you might need for undercover assignments, and buy it."
"Got it."
* * *
Marina yawned. It had been a very long but very productive day, and she was ready for bed. Xavier's death had been the high point, of course, but she had accomplished much even without that achievement.
She was sitting on the brown and tan paisley couch in her suite. She was wearing a white, plush bathrobe, and her skin was still damp from a long, hot shower. A mountain of shopping bags was heaped against the wall. She had spent a ridiculous amount of money on clothes, jewelry, toiletries, and other essentials during a whirlwind shopping spree in downtown San Francisco.
Her gray phone was resting in her hand. She had expected Ethel to call during the day, but it hadn't happened. Ethel was the legatus legionis of North America, and the commanders of twenty-two cells reported to her. She was probably the most powerful person on the continent. She could go anywhere she wanted and kill anybody who stood in her way. Nobody was beyond her reach. Her job was to fix problems that were bigger than what an individual cell could handle, and she also kept the commanders in line.
Marina decided to take the initiative and make the call instead. She dialed a familiar number.
"Yes?" Ethel said in an old, tired voice.
"Hello, ma'am," Marina said. "I need to know what's happening with the rest of my team. When will they be released from prison?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I should've called earlier, but I've been extremely busy. They were released this afternoon."
"Where are they now?"
"The Salt Lake City team picked them up," Ethel said. "Your people will spend the night in Colorado Springs and fly to San Francisco in the morning."
"They need new phones and new identities."
"Yes. It's all being taken care of. I'll send you the flight information in the morning."
"Thank you, ma'am," Marina said. "I can hardly wait to meet them. How are things in Houston?"
"Very tense. Everybody is terrified I might kill them."
"With good reason."
"I'm afraid that's true," Ethel said. "Xavier's lingering influence must be rooted out, no matter the price."
Marina was very glad she wasn't in Houston. Xavier had been the commander there, and the surviving team members now had to prove they weren't part of the conspiracy.
"Is that all?" Ethel said.
Marina yawned. "Yes, ma'am. We're settling into San Francisco. I already love the city. We'll start looking for a new headquarters tomorrow."
"Good night."
Marina closed her phone and wandered off to bed.
* * *
Marina watched the steady stream of travelers as they exited past airport security. She was back in the San Francisco Airport again, and the place already felt familiar. She was waiting for her team to arrive.
She was trying hard to appear composed and confident, but inside, she was as jittery as a high school girl waiting for her prom date. She desperately wanted their approval. Ethel and Aaron had commanded their teams with unquestioned authority. It was Marina's turn now, and she was terrified of failure. Would her people follow her? Would they trust her? Would she make good decisions? These questions were rattling around inside her skull.
She felt a prick on her right palm. She looked down and realized she had stabbed herself with her fingernails. The tiny wounds were bleeding a little. I need to calm down, she thought.
"That's them," Hanley pointed and waved.
Marina looked at the group of two men and three women. The multicultural character of her team struck her immediately. Only one person was white, and even she had Italian features.
Her new team came over. Marina led them to a quiet corner by the window where they could talk in relative privacy.
"Hi," she said with a smile. "I'm Marina, your new commander. Let's go around the circle and introduce ourselves. Keep it short. This isn't the best place to have a meeting."
The biggest man in the group spoke first. "I'm Ipo, legionnaire with four years of experience."
Ipo towered over everybody else like a giant. His arms and chest were enormous. Marina guessed he weighed three hundred pounds, and little of it was fat. His black hair was tied back in a short, manly ponytail. His features and dark coloration suggested Polynesian heritage.
The white woman spoke next. "I'm Katie, legionnaire. I was in the Society for just three weeks before we were captured."
Marina could tell that Katie hadn't progressed far in her training. She was still soft around the middle, and her hips were too curvy. Her dark brown hair went past her shoulders, and it had light brown highlights. Cheerful, blue eyes didn't match her light-olive skin. She was a couple of inches shorter than Marina and physically unimpressive for a legionnaire.
"I'm Min Ho," a Korean man said. "Computer hacker."
Min Ho was short and thin. His soft facial features made him seem babyish, but Marina guessed he was actually around thirty years-old. His thick, black hair was teased out to form a wild hair-do. He had a gold earring in his right ear. Stylish, she thought.
A Chinese woman bowed deeply. "I'm Jia," she said in a soft voice. "Computer hacker. Very honored to meet you, ma'am."
Jia was definitively petite. Long, black hair framed an adorable face. She had a pretty smile and perfect, little teeth. She was wearing an orange jacket over a spotted yellow dress. High heels gave her a few extra inches of much needed height. She probably weighed a hundred pounds if that much.
Marina nodded. "Two hackers. Good. Those are critical skills for a team these days."
The last member of the team was a Mexican woman in her forties. Her long, black hair was pulled back and tightly braided. She had a tall, thin body and skinny hips. A cheerful smile adorned her bony face.
"I'm Imelda," she said. "Mechanic, plumber, and electrician."
Marina shook Imelda'
s hand. "Glad to meet you. All of you. I think everybody met Hanley when he visited the prison."
Hanley nodded. "That's right. Until yesterday, I was chief of the FBI Special Missions Unit. Now I'm one of you."
Ipo gave him a hard stare. Everybody else refused to look Hanley in the eyes. He blushed and turned away.
"Now I'll tell you a little more about me," Marina said. "I've been a legionnaire for eleven years. I was trained by the current legate. I spent most of my life in Chicago and know very little about this part of the world. My fingernails are razor sharp and venomous."
She held up her index finger. Her fingernails were jet black and pointed at the ends. She forced a drop of clear venom to emerge from the needle-sharp tip. The team appeared impressed.
"I have a gift," Ipo said. "I can change my mass."
She furrowed her brow. "You can get bigger or smaller?"
"No. I look exactly the same, but my weight changes. I can go from a hundred pounds to five hundred."
"Interesting. You'll have to demonstrate later. Does anybody else have a gift?"
The rest shook their heads.
"It sounds like we need to recruit three more people to have a full team," Marina said. "We're short one legionnaire, a scientist, and a security chief. Keep your eyes open for talent. The Lord will provide, but we have to pay attention. Let's go. Our first stop will be your old headquarters. I want to see if anything valuable can be salvaged. You'll have to give me directions. I don't know where it is."
"Oakland, ma'am," Ipo said.
"You drive."
Chapter Two
Marina sat in the back of the van as it rolled smoothly down Interstate 880. It was a brand new van purchased that morning, and it smelled new. The blue cloth seats were pristine. The dashboard was full of the latest gadgets including a built-in navigation system. She would make good use of that feature. There was just enough seating for the entire team.
They were passing through Oakland on the east side of the Bay. The rough, urban area reminded her of Chicago in some ways, but the vegetation was very different. Dry grass and low, tough bushes were the most common sight. The scattered trees were short and scrawny. Apparently, rainfall was in short supply around here.
The green hills of Oakland rose up further to the east. Houses and other buildings dotted the face of the hills. She wondered what it was like to live on a hill.
Ipo was driving. He turned off the highway and went left. After passing several commercial buildings, he parked in front of one with a sign that read "Safe and Sound Storage Solutions." Marina guessed it had been a self-storage facility.
It wasn't one anymore. A raging fire had blackened the concrete walls, and some sections had crumbled entirely. Every window was shattered. She saw bullet holes everywhere, and explosions had blasted the interior. The twisted wreckage of automatic gun turrets stuck out here and there.
Yellow police tape wrapped the entire building. There was also a red sticker on the front with the word, "CONDEMNED."
Hanley sighed. "A lot of good men died that night."
"Yeah," Ipo replied in an angry tone, "because you ordered them to do something incredibly stupid."
"That's enough," Marina barked.
He drove around to an empty parking lot in back. She could see where the garage entrance to the old headquarters had once been concealed as part of a wall. A huge demolition charge had blasted open the armor-plated door. Vehicles hidden inside were just burned wrecks now.
Ipo parked. The mood was very somber as everybody climbed out. The team stared at the remains of their old home.
Ipo abruptly walked over and slugged Hanley in the jaw. Hanley went down hard. He remained on the pavement, shaking his head and obviously stunned.
"Stop!" Marina yelled. "I'll let that one go, but it will be the last. Hanley thought you were dangerous criminals and terrorists. He was performing his sworn duty as a federal agent. He did the right thing as far as he knew. Xavier played him for a fool just like everybody else." She looked at the members of her new team. "I'm ordering you to forgive Hanley. No grudges will be held while I'm in command."
They appeared reluctant.
She walked over to Ipo and stared directly up into his big, round face. "Did you hear me, mister?" she growled. "I will not have my legionnaires fighting like drunkards in a bar. The next time it happens, you'll fight me next. You do not want that. Got it?"
He was still angry, and his massive arms could've crushed her, but she showed no hint of fear. Her team was watching. She couldn't allow any doubt about who was in charge.
"Yes, ma'am," he muttered.
Marina glared at everybody else. "Well?"
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.
"Let's go inside."
She had thought ahead and had purchased flashlights. She retrieved them from the back of the van and handed them out. Everybody went through the gaping hole in the wall to the interior.
Even though a month had passed, Marina could still smell the smoke residue. The interior was completely blackened.
"We burned everything on the way out," Ipo said. "We tried to destroy as much evidence as we could."
Hanley nodded. "You did a good job. The FBI didn't recover much."
The group walked through a doorway into what remained of the entry chamber. A huge sheet of thick, bulletproof glass was shattered. The security booth on the other side was full of wrecked and burnt equipment. Marina could tell from the damage to the walls that a pitched battle had been fought here.
"What happened to the bodies of our people," Ipo said somberly.
"They were cremated," Hanley said. "I don't know what happened to the ashes."
"At least they died with honor."
"Yes, absolutely. I've never fought a tougher adversary."
They proceeded deeper into the headquarters. Marina shined her light through open doorways. She found the conference room, but the furniture had been reduced to pieces of charred wood.
"We'll need a new set of tabella," she said.
"What?" Hanley said.
"The official history of the Society. There are three hundred volumes covering every major event going all the way back to the fall of the Roman Empire. I'm a commander now, so I'm supposed to read them." She grimaced.
"Is that a problem?"
"Every word is in Latin."
The group found the kitchen, the machine shop, and the computer room. The heat of the fire had melted some computers, welding them to the concrete floor. Min Ho and Jia both looked like they might cry.
The commander's office was in the back corner. Marina walked in and looked around. The scorched remnants of some oil paintings still hung on the walls, and she saw tantalizing hints of her predecessors in gray robes. The shattered parts of a glass desk were scattered on the floor.
"The FBI recovered a few artifacts from here," Hanley said. "Antique swords and guns. There was an iron mask with sharp hooks and spikes pointed inwards. It looked like a medieval torture device."
"Those artifacts belong to us," Marina said. "I want them back."
"I can't call the FBI, ma'am. They think I'm dead."
"We'll have to work out a solution. That's Society property."
Ipo went over to the far wall and ran his fingers across the blackened surface.
"What are you looking for?" Marina said.
"The boss had a secret compartment," Ipo said.
Hanley shook his head. "Forensics teams went over every inch of this place. It's hard to believe they missed anything."
"They missed this. The tricky part is opening it. It's tough to get the beat right."
Ipo tapped his foot and whispered to himself. He seemed to be singing a song. He knocked on the wall in rhythm with the music. His eyes were squeezed shut as he focused intently on the task.
Suddenly, a panel in the wall popped open.
"What song was that?" Marina said.
"'Lights,' by Journey." Ipo opened the panel all
the way. "The boss loved classic rock."
A conventional safe was hidden behind the panel. He spun the dial back and forth.
"I didn't know you knew the combination," Min Ho said.
Ipo smiled a little. "Being very observant is the mark of a good legionnaire." He pulled open the door of the safe.
Marina hurried forward to look inside and was disappointed to find the safe held only a few items. Her gaze settled on a photograph of a woman with black hair. Marina took out the picture and studied it. The pretty woman was standing on a rock on a beach, and she was wearing a yellow dress.
"Who is this?" Marina said.
"The boss's wife," Ipo said. "She died violently right before he joined the Society."
He took a wooden box out of the safe and gave it to her. She opened the lid and found a mummified human hand.
"Gruesome," she said.
"That's the hand of the man who killed her. It's a memento of the boss's first mission in the Society."
"I see. You can keep it." Marina gave the items back to Ipo.
There was another framed photograph in the safe, but this one was badly faded. It showed two identical boys in little league baseball uniforms.
She took the photograph. "Who is this?"
"The boss when he was a child and his twin brother." Ipo paused. "The brother is dead."
"Oh." Marina frowned. "Is there a story behind the tragedy?"
"Well, it's not really any of your business, ma'am."
"Everything is my business. Tell me."
"The boss confessed the truth to me in confidence," he said. "I'm the only person he ever told."
She stared at him. He wouldn't meet her gaze.
"I understand you're having difficulty with this change in management," she said. "It must be very upsetting to answer to a woman you hardly know while standing in the office of your beloved, dead boss. Deal with it. The legate appointed me because I more than earned this job. You have to obey all my orders, and I ordered you to tell me the story."
He lowered his eyes. "Yes, ma'am. The boys were fishing on a lake. My old boss pushed his brother off the boat. He was just messing around, but the prank turned deadly when the brother got tangled up and drowned. Everybody else thought he fell off the boat on his own."