by Gennita Low
Helen had too many questions to feel like being questioned herself. Everyone seconded her motion.
“Okay, can I ask who the operations chief is for this particular mission? In fact, no one has told me who’s in charge of the future operations,” Helen said.
“I’m operations chief for the test session.” It was Drew De Clerq. A quiet man, he was in charge of assigning new operatives to their different branches within COMCEN, and as such was one of the first people with whom Helen became acquainted when she first arrived.
“We’ll wait till after this operation to decide the future OC,” T. chipped in. “Right now, we don’t even know whether there is a future one.”
“Don’t you think I can do this?” Helen asked.
T. shook her head. “I know you can, but it’s up to those department heads to sign off on the project. The contract with GEM is very specific. Training through the various departments, followed by a test session.” She paused. “You have two choices. To be successful and make them think they can duplicate the whole process with someone they want. Or, to be impressively successful and make them want to continue to use you. As you can see, some of these men’s future jobs depend on you.”
Helen grinned at them. “Be nice to me and I’ll think about it.”
They laughed at her joke. Someone mentioned that with the thousands of dollars invested in her already, the chances of them not continuing if the test session proved successful was low. Besides, they still didn’t have their new VR machine.
“Don’t be too sure,” Armando said quietly. “They’re all watching your every move. They want to duplicate the process and be in charge of their own candidate. And why not? Every department had their own covert group, so why should they depend on one outside their domain, especially one as independent as Center? We’d gone through this with the V-Program.”
“So you think they’re working on a VR portal themselves?” De Clerq asked.
“You tell me. The other labs had tested the Solarbot program using similar simulation systems. Flyboy was the model for the Sim-Flight-Control Systems in Florida a while ago,” Armando pointed out. “We watched them. Don’t you think they’re watching us?”
“Then what’s the point of using COMCEN? Especially if every agency isn’t cooperating fully,” Helen asked. The man might act eccentric but his mind was sharp as a tack. She still wasn’t sure what the whole story behind him was, but she intended to find out. Another thing on her list, she thought wryly.
Armando scratched his stubble lightly as he regarded her with those intense dark eyes. “The possibilities are endless. Why don’t you remote view and find out yourself?”
The mockery was intentional. He seemed bent on trying to set her off. Helen refused to take the bait.
“That kind of remote viewing has a price,” she said. “It’ll take more than one remote viewer to go through so many departments, anyway.”
She didn’t add that officially, she hadn’t gone past Phase Two of the CIA program. There were things that she still hadn’t learned.
“Imagine that. A coven of remote viewers,” Armando said in that low voice, “sitting around creating reality. No wonder these departments might want you to fail.”
“They already have them in the CIA,” T. pointed out.
“Of course,” Armando acknowledged, lazily clasping his fingers on the table. “Underground programs such as mind control and psychic research are held in such high regard by the brass.”
“They had wanted their own V-commandos,” De Clerq said. “It makes sense that they would want their own V2 version.”
“COMCEN has never shared their secrets with them, and I wouldn’t use the V2 term to their faces, if I were you. Might make them even more anxious,” Armando said. He turned to Helen. “Magicians never share their trade secrets, you know.”
Helen shrugged. “They all have a little piece of me. I’m sure they aren’t sharing what they taught me with everyone either.” Her lips twisted. They were talking about her as if she was some machine that could be copied. “You think they would ever duplicate another me, if they fight over one candidate so much?”
“We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” De Clerq spoke up. “Right now, it’s you and Dr. Kirkland in the front line. I’ll coordinate the details. Our liaison will call Center as soon as they’ve set the coordinates and when the envelope is secured so no one can tamper with it. Then you and Dr. Kirkland will handle the remote viewing part of the operation.”
Helen nodded. Every contract agent understood how government departments never seemed to share relevant information, even when they were supposed to be working together. It had happened to GEM several times while they were on an operation—different government departments at odds with each other and putting lives at risks. COMCEN, with the help of an influential admiral, had set up a liaison system a few years ago to avoid any more blunders.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take me for the remote session. Sometimes it can go for hours.”
“The med team will wait,” Dr. Kirkland said.
“Good remote viewers are usually useless after their sessions,” Dr. Kasparov said. “Are you sure you can handle the serum so soon after your session?”
Helen shrugged. “That’s the test, isn’t it? They want to see how all this comes together in one mission.” She wasn’t totally sure what would happen herself. That feeling of weakness after a tough session was a problem but her many months of training was meant to overcome this exhaustion. “The drug is supposed to make me feel less tired, right? That’s part of it.”
“Yes, but certain CIA records revealed their tests had been a bust,” De Clerq said. “What happened to the test subjects, Dr. Kirkland?”
“The CIA have their own version of the serum. What interested me most was the difference in dosage and timing they use on the subjects. They still haven’t shown all their classified records to our side. It’s highly probable that the subjects have been released from the program, but we don’t really know.”
“I wonder whether they suffer from any ill effects,” Armando interrupted offhandedly. “They could have taken a Tiny Alice pill and might be walking around looking at a huge, frightening world.”
There was a pause as those in attendance shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Helen supposed everyone was probably wondering whether that was what was happening to Armando Chang. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it yet, but she had a feeling she would be learning a lot more about the unfathomable commando in the near future.
“We’re taking every precaution to make this as safe as possible,” Dr. Vaughn assured from the other side of the table. “Our V-program works. V2 will be just as successful.”
“V2. SYMBIOS 2. I’m beginning to get an inferiority complex,” Helen drawled. Her joke succeeded in distracting the group as they became more focused on each step of the mission.
By the end of the hour, everyone was satisfied they had all the details of the operation. Most of it would have to wait till after Helen’s session. That was Dr. Kirkland’s project, the integration of VR and remote viewing. The challenge was to race against time and skepticism. Helen appreciated that no one at the meeting had voiced any disbelief about remote viewing. She had faced some tough grilling at some of the other departments. But that was why GEM had approved its partnership with COS Command Center. Covert and subversive operations covered everything and anything.
There was a hint of anticipation in the air at the end of the meeting. That no one there knew the specified location, and that the success of the operation depended on someone they hadn’t worked with was a challenge. To follow her guesswork and believe her orders after that was an even bigger challenge because this would involve using operations high-tech transportation and manpower. The coordinates of the location had been sealed in an envelope, its location a secret until the end of the operation. Everything depended on the candidate. If Helen Roston failed, hundreds of thousands
of dollars would go down the drain.
Helen was well aware of this, yet felt strangely relaxed. As she shook hands with her operation coworkers, Armando Chang spoke softly in her ear.
“Great show. Wrong question, though, Helen.”
She turned, surprised. She hadn’t seen him making his way to her. These commandos could move fast. “What’s the wrong question?”
“It’s what the drugs do to you, not for you.” His dark eyes glittered secretively. “But the crown is now yours, and what treasure there is.”
“Illusion is part of a GEM operative’s skills.” She picked up his cloak and passed it to him. “You aren’t scaring me with that insane act, Chang.”
A corner of his lips lifted derisively. “Damn. Call me later and we can meet, and I can correct this problem. Fear is…oh, I forget. You won’t be feeling that.” He barked out a short laugh. “But you might still need me for other things. Remember—assimilation and synthesis. Only I’ll understand what you’ll be going through…if you’re really as good as they say, Hell.”
“Oh, I’m good. You should watch me disappear sometime,” she quipped.
Armando gave her an amused smile. “I’m not crazy, I’m just a little impaired,” he sang softly before turning away.
Helen stared at his departing back before glancing down at the tiny electronic communication card he had slipped into her hand. She pivoted and came up against T.
“We need to talk,” T. said.
“You don’t say,” Helen drawled. A thought had flashed in her mind when Armando sang that lyric. Might her monitor be one of these COS commandos?
Eight
He watched T. turning her favorite ring round and round as she sat there quietly watching the wound in his left arm being stitched by a medic. Dry blood caked parts of his chest.
Another exceptionally dangerous woman. He smiled at her, tilting his head to one side enquiringly. Flirting with T. was hazardous, but he enjoyed it. Both as a man and as an opponent.
“She had questions about Armando’s act,” T. said, getting up.
“She thinks it’s an act, then?” He’d been watching the young man since he became the newest member of the commandos. An asset with baggage. But who wasn’t? “You brought him here, T.,” he added, reminding her with gentle mockery.
The medic cut the thread. T. pulled the wet towel from the medical tray, walked over and handed it to him. “Hell is a trained mind probe.”
He noticed that she’d ignored his dig about Armando. “Better than you?” he asked, ignoring the offered towel.
She accepted his silent challenge, her amber-gold eyes gleaming with humor. She came closer. Her strokes were slow and sure as she wiped off the dried blood. “She’s more intuitive than me,” she said, “and she follows her instincts very naturally when she starts a session. She gets the information she needs more quickly than most.”
“Do you think she will probe Armando for answers?” T. arched her eyebrows delicately. “Is your blood red?” She paused in the middle of wiping. “You have to stop it.”
He smiled again, amused. “How, with a spell? Perhaps Armando can take care of himself. Tess, things aren’t always what they seem, you know that.”
“Yes, but his act’s making some people nervous, darling. I find it amusing but the more extreme it becomes, the more likely it’ll put people in dangerous situations.”
She laid the soiled towel on the side of the tray and picked up a clean dry one, handing it to him. He took it this time, and waved away the offer of a Band-Aid from the medic. “We’ll have to be extra careful, then,” he said. He turned to the medic and added, “Thank you. I can take care of everything else.”
He knew T. was waiting for them to be alone. As usual, she took her time getting to her point, priming her target with suggestions. She didn’t need to do that with him but she did, anyway, and they both enjoyed the exercise. It was a game, one that most people wouldn’t take up. One slip, and the loser gave away a lot of secrets. And when it came to T. and him, the stakes in secrets were high. But their enjoyment was private and mutual. And a secret between them.
“Armando isn’t really needed in the operations.”
“All the commandos are needed sooner or later, T.”
“Hell’s getting mixed messages about the serum. It might not be good for the situation.”
“I’m satisfied with the situation.” T. walked over to a dresser, opened a drawer and pulled out a folded shirt. She flapped it open, then put it against her body. “You just like to play with everyone’s mind, that’s your problem.”
Here it comes. “And you don’t?” His lips curled up in mockery.
T. laughed. “Darling, we’re two of a kind but I sometimes wonder whether that’s good for the operations.”
He strode toward her. “You fit in here, Tess.” He ran a finger lightly on the shirt hanging loosely against her. “You know I wanted you…for this experiment.”
“Don’t flirt, darling…you’re afraid of Hell,” T. said, realization dawning in her voice. “What did you two do during the VR session, hmmm? Besides learning how to communicate?”
“Just like when you’re in the CAVE with me,” he replied smoothly. So this was what T. was after. Hell was keeping things close to her chest. “Learning to communicate.”
T. laughed again. “I cannot see what an imaginary figure programmed to look like a blond Greek god with a rather large protrusion could be communicating about with one of my best operatives.” She dropped the shirt. He caught it. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she added, “I know you. You can’t resist a complex woman with secrets. That’s always been your weakness. You’ve always flirted with me, and you’re totally without rules in the CAVE, even with me, but the challenge here’s different, isn’t it? Hell’s giving you a run for your money, isn’t she?”
He, too, could evade when he chose. “You don’t have to look so smug about it, Tess. No one can give me a runaround like you do with all your different personas, you know that. You’ve practiced all of them on me, so I know how potent you are in real life.”
He slipped on the shirt, buttoning it with one hand. T. took a step closer. He didn’t mind her testing him so deliberately. After all, he’d done the same when he’d first met her. Looking for that kink in a dangerous woman was his thing. And he now knew what T.’s was. He’d never use it against her. Unless necessary.
Of course she was aware of having been exposed. And like a woman, she was determined to find his Achilles’ heel. The tension between them brought into sharp focus how much he wanted Helen. With T., it was just a matter of male fun and female ego; with Helen, the temptation to go deeper was a constant ache. And this was just in virtual reality. In the flesh…he had an idea he would give in to temptation very quickly.
“A mysterious and elusive man, uncatchable like a shadow,” T. said, the tone of her voice soft and sexy, the one she probably used when she was going in for the kill. “Only a shadow tends to lurk close by. You play with the light and dark until one’s never sure whether you’re really truly here.”
He chose to attack first. He lifted a lock of her hair and twined it around his finger. He tugged at it. “Tess, Tasha, Talia…who can compete with you?”
“You can’t distract me, my evasion expert. I know exactly what you’re doing, countering my probing. Tell me what you’re doing with Helen, darling.” She arched a teasing eyebrow. “And don’t try to make me jealous. That thing she had enlarged on your anatomy was impressive-looking.”
He tugged harder at the tendril around his finger, bringing her face closer. “What is it you want to know?”
“Her performance.”
“She hasn’t done anything yet.”
“Is she adapting well?”
“She knows her mind better than you.”
“Can she handle the serum?”
“We’ll know very soon, won’t we?”
“Does she get along with you enough to trust you?”
/>
“That remains to be seen.” T. affected a frown. “Hmm. It sounds like you two are getting along famously.”
“How so?”
She ran a light fingernail down the row of buttons on his shirt. “She doesn’t like to talk about herself. Likewise with you. So, with the unexpected twist that your brain wave happens to be compatible with hers…I can imagine the big surprise you two are going to get soon.”
Her answer raised his interest a notch. “And what’s that?” he asked, eyeing her slender fingers teasing his shirtfront.
She smiled. “Darling, you’ll know very soon, won’t you?” She stepped back, her small teeth biting her lower lip.
He released her hair. As usual, it was fun while it lasted. “Don’t probe my mind and I won’t probe yours.” He smiled back at her. They’d both gotten a bit of information about their object of interest. He’d have to read up on the brain wave synchronicity.
“Darling, sometimes you’re much too tempting.”
Helen thought about the Portal as she bobbed lazily in the pool. This was it. Time for action. She had worked her butt off all these months for this moment. This would be the first time to share her experience with someone…if it worked. She frowned. She didn’t even know the man who was her monitor, and already he was sitting heavily in her mind.
What would he think of her if he “saw” the things she did? And what exactly was he there for besides to act as an anchor? There had to be more but Helen couldn’t come up with an answer yet. There hadn’t been enough time to probe his mind. She sensed another agenda, and yeah, it tasted of danger.
He had tested her and freely admitted that there was more to the contract. And what did he mean when he said he needed the trigger code in case things went wrong? How could he interfere with a remote viewer when he wasn’t one?
So many questions, and all about one man, some of which had nothing to do with this contract. They had more to do with her feminine curiosity. He had spiked her interest, this voice in her mind.