Codename: Bear: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 1)

by Geoffrey C Porter

  "When will Enigma and Archangel join us?" I asked.

  "I was in their medical records this morning, both were just winged. A week."

  "I'll race you back to the house--"

  He took off before I could finish the sentence. I ran after and passed that old fucker, too. I beat him back to the house by four or five strides. He laughed a bright young laugh that I would expect from a small child.

  RedCat and Zen were flipping through the channels on the TV on our return. I plopped down in a big recliner and wondered about another shower. RedCat turned the TV off. Days passed with us eating and sleeping before Archangel and Enigma joined us. We ran out of food and went as a group to a local grocery store. There were a few restaurants in town, and we went to those a couple of times, but Thomas didn't want people to remember us, especially since we were all dressed exactly the same.

  We ran as a group each morning. Archangel was clearly the fastest, and Thomas encouraged us to race. Zen always lagged back, pacing herself, and running after we stopped for the day. Enigma could sprint faster than any of us, but she couldn't maintain at that pace for very long. Yes, we were bored. I learned pretty quickly that if I wanted my food prepared properly, I'd either cook it myself, or Thomas could cook it. The others were useless, either burning everything or undercooking it. I swear, Zen couldn't be counted on to heat up a can of soup.

  We were having roast beef sandwiches one day, and the secure comm link starting shrieking. Thomas answered it. He nodded over and over. "They have our diplomat in the back of a tattoo parlor in the local mall. No helmets. Pistols in our shoulders. Jackets unzipped."

  Archangel said, "Bah!"

  "Bear is going to retrieve our man. Zen and RedCat will watch the outside of the shop. Archangel and Enigma will be stationed at the two closest mall exits. I'll be in the van watching the parking lot."

  We geared up and drove fast. Zen, RedCat, and I walked into the mall together. Archangel and Enigma took up their positions. We didn't even have comm gear. The tattoo parlor was lit up with neon lights. A woman was drawing on a man's chest. I gave them my best, I'm-not-to-be-fucked-with, stare, and said, "Leave, now."

  They left. I drew my pistol and looked in the back of the store behind a curtain. There was a figure tied to a chair in the center of the room with something on his lap. A hat covered the face. I lifted the brim up, and a skeleton greeted me. I looked at the package on the lap. A timer read 0:15 and counted down to 14. My mind howled.

  I turned and ran. I shouted to Zen and RedCat, "Run!" I moved like the wind. They took off, too. I was halfway to the exit when a giant boom sounded behind me. A wall of fire hit me, burning me on the neck. Metal shrapnel hit me next, and I went down. My back and the back of my head was on fire, but my legs were nothing. I couldn't feel my legs at all, and I couldn't get up. Pain beyond all belief assaulted my senses. A prick nicked me on the neck, and Enigma whispered in my ear, "Night, night."

  Blackness swallowed me.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Shifting, folding darkness. Open your eyes. Blur. Floating, twisting. A sound. My breathing, but like through a respirator. Focus. Wetness. Eyes open.

  "He's awake," somebody said.

  "Bear, listen…" This was Enigma. "You're in a regeneration chamber. You need to relax--"

  A click sounded, and the darkness came back. Drifting, sliding. A crazy dream of killing Professor Henry, but I emptied an entire magazine into his chest, and he spurted out blood but did not die. Running alongside Thomas, over pine needles, stepping over the cones, dodging around trees. I was running with wolves, a whole pack of them. We took down a deer, and I feasted with the others. Then the wolves became corpses of men I executed. Rotting flesh surrounded me. I had to wake up. Struggling, push up, out of the water.

  Enigma's voice. "Relax, Bear. I can tell from the readouts you've been dreaming. Your body is fighting the sedation. Just stay calm."

  Click. Oblivion. But it didn't stay oblivion for long. Soon I was swimming laps in the training camp. It seemed so real. In fact, it was real. I was whole again, training. Then I was in one of Ussilla's classes, and she was lecturing us on Chor'Tan love making techniques. She told me to present my research on the subject to the class. I stepped forward. She moved in behind me and started to rub me hard. I rolled with it too. Knew again that I was dreaming, but I'd much rather dream of Ussilla than anything else.

  Hearing myself breathing again, I knew I was awake. But there were no voices. I tried to remain calm. I felt around with my hands. I was in some kind of gel. There were walls.

  "He's moving again."

  "Dear God, Bear, what the fuck are you made of?" This was Enigma again. Cute, little Enigma. "This is the last time I'm dosing you."

  Click. Plunge into blackness. Stimulus. Heart racing. Bright light. Water draining. Gravity for a first in a lifetime. I was on the floor. Suffocating.

  "He's not breathing. He's not coming out of it!"

  "Defib, now!" Enigma shouted.

  No! Cold metal plates on my chest, tried to struggle.

  BAM! More shock than I ever felt. I spasmed.

  "Do it again!" Enigma said.

  BAM! I jumped. Oxygen visited my brain. My heart pumped. I pushed them away and scurried into a corner of the room. My eyes opened. Five men in labcoats and Enigma surrounded me. The men in lab coats stared with wide eyes, leaning in closer.

  Enigma turned away for a moment. The men in lab coats got closer. My hands clenched into fists.

  Enigma whistled high and loud. "Back off! He's mine. I've got something for you, Bear."

  I let out a low grunt. She had a goddamn sandwich, and it looked like ham & Swiss on rye. My insides were beyond empty. She moved forward with it. I ate it quick like. Like I hadn't eaten in a week.

  "Can you stand?" Enigma asked with a friendly smile.

  I tried. I fell. The men in lab coats nodded and made faces.

  I growled deep in my throat and shouted, "Clear the room!"

  The men in lab coats looked at each other. "You heard him," Enigma said.

  The weird thing is it wasn't my voice that shouted, but a deep guttural voice that I only knew from nightmares.

  They left me alone. The little red lights on the cameras in the room shut off. Enigma's voice carried, "You have privacy. Now walk."

  I shook my head. I was covered in this slimy, greasy stuff. My hands pushed my chest up. Sitting up with my legs crossed, I waited for them to slowly go numb. Then I stretched them out and jiggled them. Pushing myself up one leg at a time, I stood up. Vertigo hit me, and I wanted to fall. I breathed for a long time. Took a step, then another. I reached the door and pushed it open.

  Enigma was grinning so wide it showed off her perfect dimples.

  My voice was scratchy, but I had to know. "What of RedCat and Zen?"

  "They're fine. Hurt, but fine. You need a shower."

  Damn straight I needed a shower. Enigma said, "I can get a wheelchair. There are no showers on this level."

  "I'd rather walk," I said.

  "Good."

  We walked together to the shower. I went in, and Enigma followed me. I said, "What the fuck? A man can't shower in peace?"

  "You may need my help. I'm not even interested in men, Bear. I only like women."

  "Yes, well, I feel like I should shower alone."

  "I'll summon a male doctor."

  I shrugged. "You're already here. It's fine."

  I stripped off my gel soaked boxers and stood under the hot water forever.

  Enigma said, "Use soap. Get all the gel off."

  "I was pacing myself."

  "Right."

  I used the soap. My penis betrayed me. Like I really needed an erection right now? My insides were still empty as hell.

  Enigma clapped her hands together. "Yay!"

  "What?" I asked.

  "You're erect. There was a possibly that wasn't going to happen for you again."

  Yay! Maybe I shouldn't complain ab
out things until I understand them. I figured, after more food, I would seek out Ussilla and make sure everything was fully operational.

  Enigma handed me a towel. "You need food."

  Hell, yes. I put on clothes and made my way to the eatery. Thomas approached and held out his hand to shake. I grasped it in mine. Archangel saw and ran up to me. He grabbed me in a big bear hug and lifted me off the ground. I thought about smacking him upside the head a few times, but he set me down.

  "RedCat and Zen are going to be ok," Thomas said. "Our next mission… We're bringing in our informant."

  "Won't he die without MindBender?" I asked.

  "That's correct, but we need to question his ass a little more thoroughly."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I sat down and started eating. Ussilla strolled through the food line, saw me, and started strutting my way, swinging her hips back and forth with each step just like a perfect female. She sat down and kissed me right on the lips. Didn't love me, right. "You're now part Chor'Tan." She said it with a huge grin. I tilted my head to the side.

  "The process you went through involved injecting Chor'Tan male growth hormones," Enigma said. "It's experimental."

  I took a few more bites of food. My stomach started feeling better. "I want to see RedCat and Zen."

  Thomas pointed to the food lines. "Here they come."

  I looked. They were wearing hospital gowns, and I'd guess bandages underneath, but they weren't moving slow. I stood up to hug them. RedCat raised one finger and shook it at me. "No hugs!"

  "Our backs still hurt," Zen said.

  I started thinking. Why were they still hurt, while I was healed? "You didn't go through the regeneration?"

  RedCat sat down and ate a sausage link. "Our injuries weren't severe enough to risk it."

  "It doesn't always work," Enigma said.

  "Chor'Tan males can regenerate a lost hand or foot, even their penis," Ussilla said.

  I ate more and more food. "Enigma, can I have sex?"

  Ussilla pointed at my chest. "The answer better be yes."

  Enigma said, "Yes, if you feel up to it."

  I grabbed Ussilla's hand. "Let's go."

  Ussilla pulled her hand away. "I'm meeting a student in ten minutes."

  Curses.

  Nancy came through the food line and approached our table. She sat down, but she didn't touch her food. "Bear, I need to talk to you."

  "Ok," I said.

  "In my office, after breakfast." She pointed at Enigma. "And you, you need rest. I'm ordering you to bed."

  "I'm not tired," Enigma said.

  "You've been running on stimulants and no rest for seven days. Sleep."

  Enigma stood up and left.

  Nancy stabbed a huge pile of eggs and forked them into her mouth. "She has been at your side nonstop for a long time," she said while looking at me.

  I didn't expect that kind of compassion from Enigma. She was good in the danger room. I wouldn't expect such a cold killer to care so much about other people.

  Ussilla finished her raw flesh and kissed me again, then wandered off. Thomas said, "I have a class to teach. RedCat, Zen, rest. You need it." He left.

  RedCat whispered, "I need more painkillers."

  Zen said, "Pussy."

  "You're taking just as many painkillers as I'm taking."

  "Yeah, but I don't beg for them."

  RedCat opened his eyes wide. "I'm prepared to beg for sex, too."

  "We've tried that three times, did it work? No. Too much pain."

  "We just need to switch around who's on bottom more often. It's our backs that are hurt."

  "Do it standing up," Nancy said, "or doggy style."

  Zen looked at the old woman again.

  "Damn," RedCat said.

  Zen grabbed his hand.

  They hobbled off. Nancy looked pretty close to finished with her food. Archangel had disappeared by then, too, and I didn't notice him leave. Fucker was so damn quiet.

  Nancy stood up, and I followed her. We were in her office soon enough. She pushed a button, and a holographic display appeared of a human skeleton. It was rotating in air like it was standing on a moving pedestal. Nancy pushed a button, and the animation changed. Metal appeared surrounding the bone on the fingers, then through the hands, up the arms, into the shoulders, and then covered every piece of bone. It reset to bone again, and then the metal grew to cover the skeleton again. This repeated a few times while I stared in awe.

  "It's a technique adopted from Chor'Tan technology," Nancy said. "Binding of metal to flesh, well bone. Some people just have their hands or feet done, which we recommend, but some have their whole bodies done, with some small side effects."

  I watched the animation again and again. "Why me? Why now? Side effects?"

  "You're going to be spending the next few weeks relearning how to walk, how to kick, run. You might as well be relearning with your hands too. You need weeks of rehab."

  "Do not."

  "Your spine was severed, Bear. You need time to recover, even with the regeneration."

  I reached out and touched the animation. It flickered but didn't die. "What sort of side effects?"

  "Getting the hands done can lead to problems handling a gun or even masturbating. Getting the feet done has less problems, but it's less effective too. Doing the whole body can lead to a host of problems."

  "I don't masturbate."

  Nancy raised one eyebrow. "Good, then that won't be a problem. You'll have to relearn the guns though, and go back to square one with the martial arts."

  I looked at her. She seemed like such a harmless old woman. Bifocal glasses. A neat paisley red and blue tie. White shirt and tan slacks like everybody wore. Harmless.

  She continued. "It means you'll never be disarmed. You'll be able to kill with your bare hands in a fist fight. The process is, however, permanent."

  "Is it painful? The process?" I had enough pain lately. Enough pain to last a long time.

  "No pain. A little tingling sensation. Now would be the best time to do the procedure, so you can start rehab with everything."

  I looked at my hands. A permanent addition. "How much weight will it add to my hands?"

  "About a half kilo to each."

  Steel encased bones in my hands? Why was I even thinking about this? The answer was yes. "Let's do it. Let's do it now."

  She stood up. "Follow me."

  I stood out of my chair, and my legs gave out under me. I fell. Nancy reached down to help me. I twisted out of her reach. "No!"

  "I just wanted to help you."

  "I can do it myself."

  I pushed myself off the floor and regained my balance. Nancy led the way to the elevators then to the basement levels. Along the way, she radioed for a technician to meet us.

  The technician asked, "The whole body?"

  "Just the hands," Nancy said.

  "Wrists too? How much of the forearms?"

  Nancy looked at me. Like I had even a single clue. I shrugged.

  "Do the wrists, plus one inch of forearms," Nancy said. "That's best."

  "Yes," escaped my lips.

  A vat of something lifted its way up from the center of the room. The technician said, "Take off your shirt. Stick your arms into the gel, as deep as you can."

  I took off my shirt and stuck my arms in the goop. This goop was gritty, and a lot different from the stuff I was swimming in before. It was light green in color. Then all of a sudden a greyish silvery cloud of something started dancing in the gel. My hands tickled just a bit. The cloud started flowing into my hands, then another cloud and another. I asked, "How long does this take?"

  "We've done three," the technician said. "We need to do ten in total."

  I watched the dance of the clouds for a while... The technician said, "We're done. There's a sink on the wall behind you, wash your arms."

  I washed. My hands seemed heavy. Strong. I flexed my fingers and curled them into fists. I was happy.

&nbs
p; Nancy clapped her hands together a few times. "Splendid."

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I went through the chow lines, and Ussilla was already eating. I sat down with her. Archangel and Thomas joined us. Ussilla gave me a slow wink, and I knew it was time to go. Thomas said, "Tomorrow, danger room."

  "Aye," I replied.

  Ussilla and I went at it. Afterwards we watched some old western from the archives that Ussilla picked out. She whispered in my ear, "You ever going to fertilize my eggs?"

  "I've been trying!"

  "You need to do better. More citrus fruit in your diet or something."

  I didn't see how that would help. We did it twice a day some days. I was doing everything I could.

  "Supplements," she said.

  What on Earth? I pushed her away. She grabbed me and pulled me in close. "You don't even love me," I said.

  "Chor'Tan only know love for their hatchling sisters. You know this."

  I went to sleep cuddled in her arms.

  I was having breakfast with the guys when Thomas approached. "Feeling ok?" He asked.

  "I feel good," I replied.

  "It's time to work!"

  I wasn't even finished with breakfast. "Let me get the fuel in me."

  Thomas rubbed his chin. "Oh, right."

  I swear he smelled of smoke. Oh well. I finished my food. RedCat said, "Good luck!"

  "Yes, luck," Zen said.

  Archangel flicked a piece of scrambled egg onto RedCat's shirt. "He doesn't need luck!"

  RedCat brushed the egg off and glared.

  I stood up, and Thomas and I headed for the danger room. About halfway there, Thomas stopped. "On second thought, let's go to the range."

  We stopped at the armory and picked up two sidearms with shoulder holsters. I always preferred a hip holster, and I think Thomas knew that. Nobody else was lined up at the range. Thomas set up a silhouette for each of us. He drew with a lightning quickness and shot a round into the center of his target. "Now you," he said.

  I lined up the target with my eyes, snatched up my pistol, and literally threw it across the room.

  "Nice," Thomas the ugly bastard said.

  I fetched my pistol. "Let me do it slow like."