You made great cupcakes, Jolene, thought Bullseye. Clay, thanks for helping me find my apartment.
Bullseye put her weapon to the man’s head. The silenced gun fired, and Jolene would’ve gone on sleeping beside her dead husband if Bullseye hadn’t been sent to kill her as well. After Bullseye finished the job, she returned the gun to the back of her pants. Then she left the bedroom and closed the door.
She halted her exit as she heard a sound upstairs. Slipping into invisibility, she crept back up the hall and into the main entrance room.
“Mommy,” a little girl’s voice floated from upstairs.
Bullseye froze. She recognized the voice as that of Bella, the Penn’s daughter. Bella was supposed to be staying at a friend’s house tonight.
The little girl couldn’t see Bullseye because she was dematerialized, but the undetectable assassin still sensed that something wasn’t right. As the girl descended the stairs, Bullseye heard footsteps shuffling along the balcony. She shifted her invisible position enough to see a man in a Dominion stealth suit crouched at the head of the stairs. He was aiming a rifle at the little girl.
What is going on? she thought. The girl isn’t a target! Who… Well, everyone in the Dominion knows about my mission. This operative is probably trying to gain favor with Cruelthor by getting involved. But the mission isn’t supposed to include Bella!
Bullseye’s rage flared, and she materialized just as the little girl reached the bottom stair. Bella screamed when Bullseye flashed into existence before her, but Bullseye scooped her up and turned to run out the main entrance.
“Mommy!”
A shot rang out.
Bella cried out in pain and stiffened in Bullseye’s arms, and Bullseye herself winced as the girl’s blood soaked into her side. She quickly lowered the girl to the floor to see what she could do. Bella, now lying on the floor, clutched Bullseye’s arm and struggled to breathe. A fist-sized gouge deformed her side, and there was no way to stop the bleeding. The girl was dead before Bullseye could even comfort her.
Bullseye stood, clenched her fists, and watched as the operative lowered his rifle at the top of the stairs. He took off his facemask and stepped into a patch of moonlight. It was Ian, whom she’d once befriended in attempts to gain favor with the common Youths. He was no longer a teenager, of course, but she recognized her peer from their few encounters over the years. During her post-investigation training, Ian had even been assigned to spar against her. She now remembered that she’d almost killed him, and he was undoubtedly looking for a little payback.
Ian smirked. He set aside his rifle and started to descend the stairs toward her. “Well, well, well. Surprised to see me? I decided to pop in and have some glow myself. Why should you have all the…” He stopped on the stairs as he met her eyes. His smug grin fled.
“That was a very wrong decision, Ian.”
He froze. With a blink, he sprinted back up the stairs. He grabbed his rifle, ran along the balcony, and continued to run out of sight.
Without thinking, Bullseye went after him. She reached the balcony and heard the splintering of glass from a window. This finally clued in the cheap security system, and an alarm sounded. The exterior lights of the house started flashing. Bullseye ignored this and ran along the balcony to the broken window, not hesitating before jumping out.
The fall was only one story, and she landed with a grunt in a flowerbed. Ian had landed an arm’s length away, but he scrambled to pick himself off the ground. Bullseye tried to grab him, and Ian punched her in the face. She reeled from the blow and fell back to the dirt. Ian turned to escape.
“See ya around, cha!” He ran around the front corner of the penthouse and disappeared.
Sooner than you’d like, she thought.
With the alarm and flashing lights in the background, Bullseye got to her feet. A garden hoe lay in the grass near the flowerbed, and she grabbed it as a weapon. She twitched her face to remove the sting, then took off at a dead run after Ian.
House after house flew by as she forced herself to accelerate down the sidewalk. Because of light pillars that lined the residential streets, she could see Ian not far ahead. Bullseye found she was in better shape than her prey – she could tell he was tiring by the size of his slowing strides. Ian kept swerving from side to side of the sidewalk, and she was soon on his heels.
As soon as Ian turned to see her, Bullseye stopped. Ian cursed and continued to run, but she stood and watched him. She positioned the hoe in her grip, and she felt the burning sensation in her body as her mutate-genes kicked in her perfect aim. When Ian had taken eight strides, Bullseye whipped the hoe after him. It spun around precisely and slashed into his throat. Ian’s body fell forward with the force of his run, but that was the last movement he made.
A dog barked somewhere up the street. A bird fluttered in a bushy tree nearby. The alarms from the penthouse rang in the distance, but so far no one had emerged to investigate.
Quickly, she turned onto a different block. She walked alone down the dark street, and her fear grew as she realized what she’d done.
I slaughtered one of my own, she thought, but Ian had no right to kill Bella! Anyone who bothered to research my mission should’ve known Bella was inconsequential. This mission only calls for slaying the rebel augmenters, not their children! Ian must’ve known that. He only shot Bella because he thought it’d be fun.
Looking around at the wealthy homes, Bullseye recognized where she was and hurried up another street.
But what should I do now? she thought. The problem at hand is how to defend slaying Ian. Cruelthor won’t care that I did what I did because Ian took out an innocent. Maybe I can defend myself by explaining Ian’s actions threatened to expose me. That might work, seeing as he carelessly ran down the street with his rifle in full view. But, no, I slashed his throat in the open with equal carelessness. And I didn’t even give it a second thought.
Thunder rolled from the sea as Bullseye turned up another street.
The safest thing, she thought, is to report what happened. Getting to Cruelthor before any news reaches him is the best way to go. If he thinks I’m hiding anything…
With this in mind, Bullseye spotted a public terminal at the end of the street. Its display antenna was lit green, meaning it was available with no private terminals in the area tapped into its satellite feed. She hurried to it. This public terminal was like all others, standing one meter high like an old-fashioned drinking fountain. It was one solid block of metal except for the antenna that rose from the back. The top of the terminal had a cover with a palm scanner. If a person passed the scan, the cover would open to reveal a terminal screen and control keys. Bullseye had no ID tag for the palm scanner, so she pulled a loose kronar tube from her back pocket and slid it into the slot for payment. She’d done this many times, but now her hands shook. Finally, access granted, the cover of the terminal flipped open and the antenna blinked to red.
Sirens blared from a street behind her, and Bullseye tensed.
Drone soldiers are responding to the security system’s alarm, she thought. Patrol machines will detect Ian’s body. They’ll sweep the area…
She reached back to retrieve her handgun, and she knelt to throw the weapon in the nearest drain. Standing back before the terminal, she untied her ponytail and let her long, blond-dyed hair hang to shield her face.
Glad I wore citizen clothes, she thought. It’ll be much easier to feign innocence than if I’d worn a suit like Ian’s. Still, keep an eye out for trouble… I’m covered in Bella’s blood.
Bullseye typed in her code and the number of the terminal she needed to reach. Then she waited as the satellite took forever to connect. The screen filled the wait by displaying the latest newscasts. Her hands were still shaking, so she forced herself to take deep breaths. She knew Cruelthor hated the video feature, so at least she wouldn’t have to face him.
Finally, Cruelthor’s voice came through, asking what she wanted.
“I
an’s dead, sir,” she said.
A pause lingered before he replied. “How?”
She looked up as a patrol machine whizzed through the air, its lasers flashing as it scanned for ID tags. It passed right over her.
“I had to slay him. He interfered with my mission. Was-”
“But you eliminated the targets scheduled for tonight?”
“Yes.” She explained what had happened. “Was Ian authorized to be here? I thought I was the only operative assigned to Monaco. I’ve been in this city for a year, and I’ve never seen another operative. What was Ian doing here?”
“I sent Ian to watch you. He’s tracked you for some time, under my orders. I’ve had operatives following you since your investigation. I’m a tad disappointed you’ve only now noticed. Have you started doing these missions in your sleep? Are you losing your edge?”
No, she thought, but I’m getting edgier as the days go on and I don’t know what to do to make you keep me alive. I cleared that investigation, so why am I still under surveillance? Is Cruelthor still worried about that stupid prophecy? I’m not a traitor!
“I guess Ian’s interference caught me off-guard.” She looked over her shoulder, making sure the drones weren’t approaching. “Why am I under surveillance?”
“Relax. You used to be much more lighthearted, you know. Taking your job too seriously?”
He was toying with her, and her mouth went dry. “Sir, if you don’t trust me, why are you giving me this responsibility? I’ve been in Monaco for a year. Everything is going according to plan. I’m right where I need to be to identify these rebels. I know it’s pivotal that we take them out. If they operate on ordinary citizens, we’ll lose control of businesses-”
“I know your mission,” Cruelthor interrupted. “I know you’re deep within Free Labs. I’ve been keeping track of your progress.”
That’s good to hear, she thought. At least he thinks I’m still useful.
“Sir, the patrols will discover Ian’s body any minute. Will I be held responsible? Should I go with the drones for questioning? At the very least, that’d make it difficult to maintain my cover-”
“Don’t worry about Ian. There’ll be no investigation. You’ve been at this assignment too long to be pulled now. Your initial reports said getting into Free Labs was more complicated than expected, and we don’t want to go through it again by replacing you with another operative. Besides, you reported that the Monaco citizens are suspicious of outsiders. If you had trouble earning their trust, I can’t imagine that a careless oaf like Ian would fare any better. No, having you on the inside is the best way to finish these augmenters. Is your position still secure?”
“Yes, my cover’s safe. I’m posing as a low-level assistant in the medical sciences division, so I’m exposed to the scuttlebutt around the labs. If anyone distrusted me, they wouldn’t talk like they do in my presence. Whenever a citizen’s promoted over a Dominion executive anywhere in this town, I hear about the ones who’ve had augmentation done. The names of the augmenting surgeons always come out eventually. I’ve eliminated seven targets already, not counting tonight. I had to go to Yanka’s region last week to locate an augmenter, but it was handled.”
“Good.”
Still looking around for danger, Bullseye continued against her better judgment. “Sir, these augmenters know what they’re doing. From my position, I’ve been watching the citizens who’ve undergone the procedure. They’re smart. The Dominion executives are having a hard time keeping up, and the augmented citizens are vying for high positions within the company. Currently enough of our executives are on the board to keep Free Labs under control. But, if these augmented citizens take their jobs, the rebels will take control. They’d push forward with their cerebral augmentation and DRK research – they’re overly confident and would be openly defiant if lacking Dominion supervision. In that case, sir, you’d have to shut down the company. You might even have to publically execute a bunch of them to make a point. Either way, you’d lose an important financial asset.”
“A fair prediction. Any suggestions to avoid such catastrophe?”
“I’m already eliminating the surgeons, but we also need to take the augmented citizens out of the equation. Even if I shut down the augmenters today, there’d still be too many augmented citizens already in Free Labs. We have to eliminate the patients, not just the surgeons.”
“You said you knew the citizens who’ve undergone augmentation since you’ve been there, but do you know who had it done before you arrived? Can you get me a complete list?”
She swallowed. “Yes, I can do that. There will be dozens. It might take me-”
“Good. Take your time. When you’re done in Monaco, come back to the Capitol. You’ve earned a vacation. For now, get me that list of citizens so I can check for connections. Keep up the good work. Understood?”
Bullseye answered with an affirmative, ended the transmission, and closed the cover of the terminal. The display antenna blinked back to green. She exhaled and leaned against the terminal for a moment, reassuring herself that she was safe, for the time being. He still needed her.
But I just sentenced dozens more to death, she thought. I had to do it. It’s my job. If I didn’t point out the necessity of eliminating them, Cruelthor would’ve realized I left them out on purpose. If he suspects I’m going soft… But now I’ll have to murder dozens more. And I know these people so well.
Dematerializing, Bullseye walked the streets toward her apartment.
Cruelthor was right that a less-talented operative might struggle to infiltrate Monaco. Whereas most missions only took a few weeks in total, this one had taken weeks just to gain the trust of this close-knit community. Everybody knew everybody in Monaco, and they looked out for each other. This had made her job difficult because it meant they’d wanted to know everything about her. She’d managed to keep her story straight – she’d had plenty of practice over the years – and eventually the locals accepted her. Then and only then had she dared approach anyone about getting a job at Free Labs. And once she’d secured that position, things had become even trickier. For one thing, it required creativity to dispose of her targets. Too many car accidents, home invasions, or muggings-gone-wrong and the locals would suspected they were being targeted. That would cause a public fuss the Dominion wished to avoid. So far, the deaths and disappearances only looked like an unfortunate run of bad luck. But with dozens more…
I’ll have to do the rest in groups, she thought. Or maybe all at once in a boating accident if I can get them together… And then I can escape before the funerals. I don’t think I can handle any more funerals of people I’ve slain.
Thinking of these future targets, Bullseye scowled as she invisibly crossed a street.
She’d met Jett Chase that first day at the beach. The teams playing soccer had been unequally matched, and the women had suggested Bullseye – or Meegan Hunt to them – join Jett’s team. Bullseye, with her own motives for meeting the man, had gone along with this obvious attempt at matchmaking. Dr. Jett Chase was a virologist at Free Labs, and she’d heard beforehand that he was looking for an assistant. She’d ‘coincidentally’ applied for the job before their meeting, and by the end of the soccer game Dr. Chase seemed impressed with her. After weeks of planning, this final step had landed her a position at Free Labs. Working under Jett, she’d learned quickly that he’d had cerebral augmentation. Bullseye was aware, therefore, that she’d have to write his name on Cruelthor’s list. But Jett was also the person in Monaco she knew best, making this impending slay particularly complicated.
As Bullseye walked around a corner, she saw a group of drones enter a parking lot ahead. Four more squads were positioned along the street on either side. She’d never have enough strength to travel invisibly the entire way home, so she decided to double back on their trail and hide until the drones moved on. Cruelthor could get her out of any trouble, of course, but it wouldn’t do to be seen with the drones.
Besides, she thought, I’m covered in blood while a dead man lies fifty meters away. I need to get out of sight until they clear out.
Fortunately she knew the streets well enough to find her way to a less open city block. Still invisible, she hurried past another squad of drones and turned a corner. This new street was empty, and she jogged along the dark sidewalk running farther inland.
Rain began to fall. Too tired, she materialized on the sidewalk and tried to figure out where to go. A patrol vehicle’s lights swept across the buildings at the head of the street, and she stepped to hide in a doorway.
Through the increasing rain, Bullseye saw a familiar chapel ahead, and she hurried here. She paused at the door of the chapel, feeling certain that the angelic statue beside the entrance was judging her. As the sound of the patrol vehicle reached her ears, a wet breeze wafted in from the sea. This reminded her that her side and chest were soggy with blood. She felt completely unworthy to enter the chapel, but she had no choice and pushed the door open.
Once inside, Bullseye closed the door and shut out the rain. She paused a moment to listen for any sound of pursuit, but she heard nothing. Finally, she turned to scan the chapel’s interior.
It was a single, open room with empty pews. A cross hung on the far wall, and under the cross stood a small table covered in candles. The candlelight caused her to blink and adjust her eyes. The wavering light stretched over the rows of pews. It was warmer here than on the rainy streets outside.
I’m alone, she thought. I need to rest a second…
She stepped from the door and moved farther into the pleasant room.
“Can I help you?”
The hoarse voice frightened her more than it should have, and Bullseye yelped. She dropped to her knees behind the back pew and hid her bloodied side and chest. An elderly man walked from a side door at the front of the chapel.
He didn’t see the blood, she thought. The light was too dim. Calm down. Think.
Bullseye folded her hands on the pew and tried to look as if she’d come to pray. She could only hope the man wouldn’t ask her to move and therefore expose her blood-soaked shirt.
The Kota Page 17