by Agster, Joe
“So what’s your plan to find his room? Go door to door and knock,” Fisher sarcastically asks.
“You are humorous, but no. He’s on a last night party spree, apparently before he goes into hiding in a bunker. He’s got several women up in his room right now, prostitutes I believe. He has bodyguards throughout the hotel and they have been given explicit instructions to not let anyone up either, except girls going to his room.” Friend explains as he turns his head toward Cassie as he gives her a glance.
Cassie perks up with an alarmed expression. “Wait, so you expect me to dress up like a hooker and go in there?”
Friend continues to glance at her as her piercing eyes are laser focused back on him, stirring a feeling of discomfort. It was her idea after all. Fisher also joins in, giving her a look of sexual admiration combined with a resolute expression. Girl, take one for the team. After the initial shock, she secretly takes an iota of pleasure in the idea. For a brief moment, her naughty mind surfaces, reminding her of a fantasy she’s once had about pretending to be a call girl, mostly to manipulate the desires of unsuspecting men. But her logical mind takes over as she stresses to herself it’s all about the mission.
“Cassie, your objective is to get into the room. Once you’re in, Fisher and I will follow you in moments later. Trust me,” he tells her, trying to appease her mind.
Friend brings Cassie back to her apartment so she can change her clothes. She puts on a black sparkling short dress, short enough that her thighs are exposed and slits on each side to show her upper legs. The large opening in front reveals much of her breast cleavage, perhaps a little too much for Friend. She completes the ensemble with black high heels and a silver necklace with onyx pendant. Her tattoo is darker than usual, almost a crimson reddish-black. He gives her an admiring smile, almost at the absurdity of the revealing wardrobe, before they return to the mansion.
After testosterone fueled stares by the males at her sexy dress, Friend explains what she needs to do. “When you reach the front desk, all you need to say is that you are here to ‘see the man upstairs.’ Tell them you are with Claudia. They will then escort you to the elevator and give you access to his floor. I’ve already been in the elevators so we’ll teleport inside. From there, we’ll watch you gain access to the room. Then we’ll come in and rescue you and capture Li.”
After Friend dresses up for his part, they teleport to the grounds outside Hotel Mei. The hotel is luxurious and exquisite. The lobby is incredibly large, with chocolate and white marble flooring. The center of the lobby features various displays of ancient Chinese artifacts, surrounded by find leather chairs. Along the sides feature fine dining restaurants, a wine tasting room, and a cigar shop. It’s clearly a hotel designed for the rich and powerful.
Friend and Fisher enter first, stationing themselves in the lounge area near the elevators. A minute or so later, Cassie walks in with a seductive walk, checking her appearance in her personal mirror and puckering her lips, all in an act of salaciousness. By her demeanor, Friend surmises she is enjoying herself now, despite her protest from earlier. From his vantage point he can clearly see her being persuasive. After a check with the bodyguards, she is escorted toward the elevator. She proceeds forward, prancing in a confident manner.
They get up and follow slowly behind. Fisher smirks at her act, while Friend longs for Cassie to return to normal. As the elevator door opens, she gets on alone. As the elevator is being guarded, they quickly find a spot out of view and teleport inside to meet her.
“Wow Cassie, you were convincing,” Friend expresses.
“Girl, you got it going on,” Fisher adds, reiterating his preference for this dolled up version of Cassie.
“Okay guys settle down. I’m taking these clothes off as soon as we’re done. Don’t even ask me where I got this stupid dress.” She scolds them, but she quietly loves the attention.
The elevator stops at the thirty ninth floor, at the very top. The door opens to a small corridor, decorated with red and gold Chinese artwork and sculptures.
They stay behind as Cassie continues on, turning to her left to enter the main hallway. After a moment Friend cautiously peeks behind the corner to see her continue to strut, approaching a large double door at the end of the hallway. The door is guarded by two triad guards, similar to the ones downstairs. She approaches the guards, putting on a lustful display as she plays with her hair, yapping with them until they let her in.
“Let’s go,” Friend tells Fisher as he turns the corner and walks methodically toward the door.
The guards assume an authoritative posture as soon as they see the two men approaching. Both are large and intimidating, with long beards, tattoos on their hands and neck. The one on the right appears to have a particularly long history of using violence. There is no doubt these are dangerous men, but Friend needs no effort in finding esteem in himself or his power. As they get within a meter of the guards, Friend stops as he smiles, assuming his own reassured stature.
“Sir, stop right there. No visitors allowed,” the henchman on the left states with authority.
“My girlfriend is in there, the one with the black dress,” Friend replies.
Both henchman laugh, pitying the man standing before them, but quickly irritating of him as well. Just as the goon on the right pulls out a gun with an extended barrel, Friend slows time and grabs it away, turning it back on them after returning to real time. The left-side henchman has a terrified look, dumbfounded at what just happened.
Friend smiles and replies, “Look, I’m a very jealous person, now open the door please.”
Fisher sticks out his hand toward the left goon and grabs his surrendered gun, as the other henchman opens the door. Friend hands Fisher the gun he just confiscated and enters the penthouse suite to a large entry room, with several chairs and a couch situated in a circle. Immediately Friend can hear laughing and giggling from the girls through the wall on the right. Cassie must have made her way in there already because she is nowhere to be found.
Just then two more goons emerge who were apparently guarding the door to the bedroom. As they see Friend they immediately move in to attack. The first goon attempts a punch but Friend uses the man’s own momentum to flip him to the ground. Just as the second man pulls out a gun, Friend emits a quick burst of energy to disorient him, then teleport jumps toward him, the force knocking him unconscious.
Assuming more goons will come soon, Friend charges toward the bedroom door and thrusts it open. He finds the older Chinese man in his bed, tall with graying peppered hair and pasty white skin. He is surrounded by three barely dressed women, but apparently no sighting of Cassie. Then he looks to his right and sees her near the corner, in some sort of striptease pose. He looks with a peculiar interest at her, baffled at her intent.
Li takes advantage of Friend’s momentary distraction to pull out a gun and point it directly at Cassie.
“One move and she’s dead,” the elder Li barks.
Friend attempts to appease the man, stressing for calm as he raises his hands. He hates seeing her in danger.
“Are you Xiong Li?” Friend asks, hoping to establish his identity.
“That’s right. What business is it of yours?” he retorts.
Friend seeks to remove his one perceived advantage. He slows time down to a crawl to grab his gun. But just before he can reach it, Li fires the gun in natural reflex. Friend watches the bullet emerge from the chamber just as he grabs it, redirecting the bullet just enough to miss Cassie. He returns to his position in real time.
“We don’t have time for this. Put some clothes on, let’s go,” Friend orders, pointing his gun at him. Li nudges the girls to get up. He walks toward the dresser and proceeds to put his dark brown dress pants and a white undershirt. Friend calls out to Fisher to come into the room. As Friend points the gun at him, he urges him to come toward him. As they all converge on Friend, they teleport away.
They arrive in Fisher’s condo, a perfect place to interro
gate the older man who doesn’t seem to put up much of a fight. He is greeted by the bright blue sky through the large window pane, a total opposite of where he was just moments ago in the darkness of night.
“Where am I?” Li asks.
“You’re in Las Vegas now, far from Hong Kong,” Friend replies.
“What are you, some kind of magician? Where am I really?” he angrily wonders.
Friend approaches near him, his voice projecting in a sympathetic tone, hoping to reach him with reason. “I need to know why you are intentionally crashing the Icedragon asteroid into Earth. What is the purpose?”
“What are you talking about?” Li responds, trying to deflect the questioning.
The peaceful approach is not working, so he tries a wholly new different tactic.
“How about you don’t tell us anything. And we’ll just leave you here. No big deal. This window provides the perfect view of the asteroid, the center of impact being a few blocks over there.” Friend explains, pointing through the window at a distance.
“And you’ll never make it to your bunker either,” Fisher chimes in.
Then Cassie’s turn, “All those years of planning down the drain. What a pity.”
The man holds himself in high esteem. He is a military commander in a nation with over a billion people. He will not allow himself to be bullied by what he considers as commoner punks. He’s a hardened man, one who’s seen battle, who commands others. As an investor he’s controlled billions of dollars of wealth. Most of all, he is very well connected in the Chinese government.
“You three think I can’t have you killed, even in your own country,” Li responds defiantly toward the taunting.
“Think Mr. Xiong Li. I just transported you thousands of kilometers through space in a fraction of a second. If you want I can just drop you off at the North Pole,” Friend responds.
Li remains silent. Fisher then becomes increasingly hasty, wanting some sort of resolution. He already feels uneasy having this man of such a high ranking position in his condo. After a moment he pulls out a gun, cocking and pointing it to his head.
“We don’t need him. Let’s just end this now,” Fisher remarks, imposing his own intimidating tone of voice.
“Okay okay! Yes, Icedragon was purposefully diverted toward our planet. That’s all I know,” Li relents.
“But why? Don’t you realize you are killing most of your country’s own billion and a half citizens?” Fisher asks.
Friend finds the conversation turning in a sour direction. It is abundantly clear this man is not the mastermind Friend thought he was. Despite his esteemed position, his glaring weakness for women and his quickness to divulge details gives every indication he is just a pawn, a patsy. Nonetheless, he has little doubt that he is somehow connected to the mastermind, probably someone even higher in the Chinese government.
“Who’s in charge then?” Friend questions.
“I can take you to him,” Li responds.
“Tell us who and where he is,” Friend demands.
“Return me to my room and allow me to change my clothes first.”
Friend huddles with Fisher, speaking in a low, whispering tone. Fisher recommends doing what he asks. He just wants to change his clothes. If he tries anything funny then Friend can just bring him back here, or worse, a remote location to mentally torment him further until he reveals the identity of the mastermind.
After the brief deliberation they teleport back to the bedroom of the suite. The room is now eerily quiet, devoid of any life other than them. It appears the girls have all left. As Friend exits the room and into the living square, he sees no signs of any triads. Cassie also exits the room, looking around in the bathrooms and kitchen area, but it is as if everyone has vanished. The three stand near the main double door, waiting for Li to be done changing his clothes.
Within seconds, ten or so professionally dressed Chinese agents bust down the door and enter the room, guns drawn and commanding the three to get down. By the looks of them they are not triads, but professionals working for the Chinese government.
Friend is suddenly overwhelmed, but begins to fight them. He engages the closest two by slowing time and using a combination of punches, but one of agents grabs Friend in a chokehold. He kicks his way free only to be struck in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground and unconscious.
Time Unknown
Xiong Li’s Suite
As Friend comes to, he discovers a set of awkward looking restraints they have attached to his hands, disabling his arm and hand movements. It’s clearly bulkier and more high tech than the simple metallic ones they put on Fisher and Cassie, with computerized lighting suggesting it’s controlled through some type of device. He could probably free himself from it, but until he can get to Cassie and Fisher he feels he must oblige.
Foenix comes into view, laughing with that evil snicker and flaunting a nefarious smile. “Well well, I figured you’d be back. Oh, by the way those restraints will explode if you try to remove them.”
For a moment that suits Friend just fine. He can remove them, blow up the whole room, and just start over in the desert. But just then another man enters the room, a tall, light skinned man with silver hair. He appears a bit older than Li, and his finely tailored white suit suggests he is probably rich, and as esteemed as a world leader. As he methodically walks toward the center of the room, everyone stays silent. Li also emerges from the bedroom fully dressed, ready to greet the man.
The man turns to Foenix, “So Foenix, your double emerges, just as you predicted.” The mysterious man declares in a strong yet slow torturous tone, before turning toward Friend.
“You must be the venerable Friend. Foenix here was just explaining how excited he was that you would be showing up.”
Friend stands in awe of the man. He exudes a very strong presence, an overpowering aura that only a leader of leaders would possess. Friend and everyone else feels it throughout the room. Every agent and goon, including Li, act obedient and in line, not daring to cross him in any way. They assume a respectable pose, clearly in awe of his stature. There is no doubt in Friend’s mind—this man is the mastermind.
Friend now realizes what a fool he’s been. Foenix has somehow already gotten to him, linked with him, a clear deep relationship being established between the two. Perhaps their level of linking is as deep as he and Cassie. They worked in perfect unison to set a trap that he walked right into.
“And let’s see who you brought to the party,” the mastermind continues, walking directly toward Cassie.
“Cassandra Whittle, Caltech engineering dropout turned bartender and party girl.” He cracks a smile of superiority as he identifies her, unflinching in his exact knowledge of her personal identity.
“Alphonso Fisher, covert CIA operative,” he states in a deadpan manner as he gazes toward Fisher.
This is getting worse, if Foenix knows who Cassie is, this can unravel everything. All that Friend has worked toward seems to have been flushed down the drain.
“You see Friend, no matter what you do, no matter what you plan, no matter what you fathom, you cannot stop the asteroid,” he states, looking right in his eyes. “It’s impossible. What do you intend to do with a measly six days? Even the Global Space Council cannot divert it. The asteroid defense system is merely great theater, intended to appease an ignorant public.”
The mysterious man looks around the room, emitting a sinister smile. The tension from the eerie silence continues to mount as everyone waits for the mastermind’s next action. Looking at his face, Friend would love to fight his way out, but there is no point. He has no choice but to submit. He must find out what this mastermind is up to, even if it risks him being killed out of existence by Foenix.
“Kill the girl!” the mastermind coldly commands.
Just then, the lead agent takes out his pistol with the silencing apparatus attached, and fires several bullets at Cassie, killing her instantly. Friend watches in horror as her body
lay on the ground bleeding in several spots, twitching once or twice more, before becoming lifeless. He is so paralyzed with sudden and intense fear that he cannot even open his mouth to scream. That fear turns to rage.
“Kill me next!” Friend demands, agonizing over what he just saw, desperate to start over. He uses all his strength, even his super strength, to attempt to rip the restrains from his hands. But it’s no use.
“It’s not that simple. You see, we can get to her. You think you can loop through time over and over, well so can Foenix here. And we’ll just locate and kill your beloved Cassandra each time.”
Friend immediately calms himself at this sudden revelation. Tranquility of mind, think your way out, such are his thoughts. This threat is something he never considered. If he knows all about her, then they absolutely know where to find her. He would have to fight them over and over.
As he tries to regain some composure, Friend asks, “What do you want?”
Foenix interjects, “You know what we want. Your end is drawing near.”
Friend thinks about Mason for a moment. What if he can go into exile for a while? Perhaps hide for a hundred or so iterations then come back. Attack them when they least expect it. He may be at a disadvantage, but he’s not out just yet.
Foenix then continues, smiling in glee at the thought of his words as he points toward the mastermind. “If you don’t admit defeat, I can influence his timeline, his past. Perhaps have poor Cassie killed when she’s a little girl. Then you’d have to find a new girlfriend.”
Friend is mortified at the thought. Foenix knows about influencing time backwards, just as Friend intended to do it on this mastermind. He is officially backed into a corner, with no possible escape. He has to submit to Foenix’s demands. All those warnings Mason gave him he just ignored, specifically about linking and its dangers with the double. It’s all coming full circle, slapping him in the face.