“I haven’t done it yet, I’ll do it right after this cup,” he saluted her with his cup of coffee and took a sip. He noticed her eyes furrow. “What is it?”
“I heard footsteps up there a few minutes back, I thought it was you. Is anyone still on three?”
Jürgen put his cup down, “No, they left for Victor’s birthday celebration at four-thirty to get a jump on the beer drinking.”
Kamilla reached over and pulled out her second drawer. Reaching in, she pulled out an S&W 60 LS Lady Smith. Jürgen nodded and pulled his own Beretta 92fs out, and the two of them left her office, Jürgen speaking into his headset microphone.
—
“Fuck me,” Tabitha said, “Wonder-twin super powers and all but what I need is a simple answer to a simple question. Who hired Bethany Anne’s killers from here?” She looked around the office. It had three desks, all facing a central round table with the middle desk in front of a large window. The room was about twenty-five feet square with lots of book shelves all filled with old books, some knick-knacks, and three-ring binders.
She walked around the room, looking on the table but everything there seemed to be focused on a project the group had going in Ethiopia.
—
“It’s been over five minutes, and we haven’t seen anything disastrous happen ... yet,” Ryu said as he and Hirotoshi watched the video feed. Presently, they had four tiny video drones flying around the building’s perimeter as their Pod stayed up in the clouds, out of site.
“Give her time, I’m sure we will see her calling card, soon,” Hirotoshi replied.
—-
“If I was a book of names, where would I be?” Tabitha asked herself, walking to the first desk. “Fuck if I know, I would stick the data in a folder inside my … Shit.” She put a hand on her head, “Where the hell do you think computer operating systems got the metaphors, Tabitha?” She looked around for a filing system, “Stop having a blond moment and start moving a little faster!”
—
Kamilla and Jürgen crept up to the third floor and opened the door, looking down the hallway which had several doors branching off of it.
It was empty.
“Each door in order?” Kamilla spoke softly to Jürgen, “Or go straight to the main office?”
“Let’s go for the office, that’s where most of the information is stored. If someone is up here and in another office, we might spook them, but they shouldn’t find anything,” he whispered back.
She nodded her head in agreement, and the two of them crept forward towards the second to the last door on the right.
—
“A… B …. C… Clients, got you, bitch!” Tabitha whispered when she heard a creak outside the door. She looked around and rolled her eyes.
She hadn’t been paying attention, now someone was outside the door. She grabbed the last two month’s folders and quickly rolled them, putting them inside her chest piece across her stomach. Pulling one of her Dukes specials, she flicked it to five.
“Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum!” she murmured into her mic, “Look out guys, here I come!”
—
Kamille held her pistol in her left hand as she slowly turned the knob on the door. She mouthed to Jürgen ‘three, two, one…’ and flung open the door, stepping back as glass started shattering inside the room.
Jürgen rushed into the office and aimed at a black figure who had a pistol out, shooting the glass. He fired two shots, but the figure just…disappeared.
Kamille was right behind him and aimed at nothing.
“What the hell?” She asked as both rushed towards the window.
—
The shattering glass happened at the same time Tabitha’s comment came over the comm links.
“Who is Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum?” Hirotoshi asked as the Pod came screaming down from the night sky.
“Probably our latest nicknames,” Ryu answered, “I see she has already started running towards the northwest. She is out of the fire zone already.” He looked on the map and tapped the glass, “Head here, it looks like a good pickup point for her.”
“Adjusted course,” he replied.
—
“How the hell did they get off the grounds so fast?” Kamilla asked, the lights blazing in the night.
“Why don’t you ask the more impressive question,” Jürgen admonished, pointing to the ground, “How did they land from three stories up, not kill themselves, and still run away?”
—
“FUCKITYFUCKFUCKDEEDEESCREWME!” Tabitha bitched to herself as she ran through the tree’s, “Dammit that shit hurt! When will I learn to stop jumping off three story buildings?”
A tree limb she hadn’t noticed popped her in the face, “Ugh!” She ducked the next one.
Stopping, she pulled out her tablet and checked her location, she had another couple of hundred yards to go to hit the small lake area. She could feel her body popping back into place and healing as she stood there. As tempting as it was to stay, she started jogging towards the lake, wondering what grief her two Tonto’s were going to give her.
Thirty seconds later, she came out of the brush and noticed the Pod to her left. Jogging over, she pulled open the door and slid in the back. Taking off her mask she pulled out the folders from inside her protective vest, “Home James.”
Hirotoshi raised an eyebrow to Ryu as the Pod lifted into the night.
“Kimosabe,” Hirotoshi voiced, turning in his chair, “Tweedledee and Tweedledum? I am no more the same as Ryu as you are the same as Gabrielle.”
“Of course not,” Tabitha agreed.
Hirotoshi waited for a second, nodded, then turned back around in his chair.
“Gabrielle just doesn’t have the same level spank banks as I do,” she finished.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Chapter 14
New York City - NY - USA
Zhou Song pursed his lips and nodded to the representative from his government. This information, this directive, was too delicate to be placed over wires where any of a number of governments, or companies, could potentially listen or read it.
So, Ambassador Zhou now had a meeting and a directive.
“We have proof,” Intelligence Agent Ho explained, “that TQB is not only using alien technology, but they are now in possession of aliens as well.”
“How is this possible?” Zhou asked.
“How do they have possession, or how do we know?”
“No, I do not want the details of how we are aware of this. I need to understand enough to make sure I can persuade others it is true. Or true enough for now. I’m curious how they accomplished it.”
Agent Ho shrugged, “What little I understand, there was some sort of exit they needed to fly through, and they tricked the aliens at the exit by using surprise and subterfuge. Either way, they now are in possession of the alien’s ship and technology plus whatever technology they had before. This cannot be allowed to continue, this keeping of information away from those of us here on Earth and not allowing us to communicate with representatives from alien governments.”
“So, at the moment it is their word against ours that they have these aliens and the alien technology?”
“At the moment,” Agent Ho admitted, “Yes, it is. However, start the process to inform many on the council and those supporting nations so that when the truth comes out, your additional suggestions have had time to become ideas they believe they came up with themselves.”
“I understand the council’s requirements and know which contacts I need to speak to, at least in the beginning.”
“Good,” Agent Ho looked down at his watch, “I have another forty-five minutes if you have any additional questions. Then, I must be back on the airplane as I go to Switzerland, next.”
“I am curious,” Ambassador Zhou asked, “what the council would answer if I should request a permanent ban on any business dealings with TQB? A ban if they do not immediately provide and turn over all technol
ogy and alien representatives?”
Boston, Ma - USA
“Rook to Queen’s four,” David called out and moved his piece. Standing up, he walked back over to the chair and picked up his laptop. “Your move, old man,” he grunted as he sat down and pulled open his communications program.
Fred snorted, “You’re older than me by eighteen months, geezer.” It had taken a few more seconds before he added, “I’m moving Bishop to …”
“Well, shit,” David exclaimed, interrupting him.
“What’s up?” Fred asked, looking up from the report labeled ‘Nano-Technology Shifts Due to Alien Technology’ and ‘TOP SECRET’ printed on the first page.
“We just got a note from the Germany Resources. They have had a break-in at their corporate headquarters in Bielefeld.”
“What happened?”
David’s eyes kept reading across his screen before answering, “Well, this isn’t good,” he muttered.
“What…Happened?” Fred asked, again.
David answered, slowly. “The thief took a couple of months’ worth of client information, shattered a third story window and jumped out and then ran off into the woods. The video is… well. Fuck!”
Fred set the paper down and stood up, walking behind David’s chair. David hit the replay button, and both men watched as the video showed a view from the tree line back towards the building. It showed darkness, then sudden light when a third story window was shattered and a figure all in black jumped. The figure landed and rolled, then got up and streaked across the field.
“Says here,” David added, “the open field is a hundred meters, and the video is in real time.”
“That’s not possible,” Fred added, then looked back at the document he had started reading, “Oh, dear.”
David looked up over his shoulder, “What oh dear are you thinking?”
Fred walked back to his chair and picked up the recently acquired research paper he was reading. “TQB could be looking for us,” he admitted.
“What are you basing this on?” David asked.
Fred picked up the report he had been reading, “The executive overview discusses what might happen to a human with the right modifications. Including healing, killing and,” he pointed to David’s laptop with the papers, “enhancements.”
David looked down at his laptop, “and the only group with abilities far outstripping anything we know about is TQB.”
“Yes,” Fred finished and sat down.
David scratched his nose, “Well, that would put a real downer in our efforts to stay off of their radar.”
“We still have our cut-out, we haven’t been stupid,” Fred sat back in the chair, taking a small sip from his whiskey. “It isn’t like they are going to be able to track us back through the shell corporation without getting inside of our external base computers and we don’t have those connected to the Internet.”
“True,” David sat back himself, “Plus, I’ll put in a call to Total Qubyte Biotech to up the budget and place a requirement to find and eliminate,” he pointed to the video, “whoever that is.”
Fred looked over his reading glasses, “What budget?”
David laughed, “I give them a budget to make sure they are on a leash and can’t spend just anything they damn well please.”
“David,” Fred admonished, “don’t be penny-wise and a pound foolish. If TQB finds out, we had anything to do with something they don’t like? It’s going to be our personal pounds of flesh they are going to want in retaliation.”
David pursed his lips and nodded, “Right, what budget?”
“Also,” Fred added as he opened the document back to where he had just stopped reading, “That German expedition made it out of port, they need a better reason to stop heading to Antarctica. Who do we know in Argentina?”
“One moment, let me finish this first message,” David said before switching applications and studied for five minutes while Fred read his report. “Ok, we have a two-cutout connection to the Red-Devils in one of the favelas. Since the police and army have been engaged in pacification efforts for the last couple of years, due to the Olympics, it’s been tough. They need some cash and something to get a little pride back. We could get them to harass the ship and anyone who is off the ship.”
“Do it,” Fred said and then pointed past him at the chess board, “I’ve moved, it’s your turn.”
David looked over at the board, “Oh, didn’t notice. I’ll get to it in a minute.”
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Terry stood at the bow of the ship, and watched as a group of the men and women left to go into the city. Some to acquire additional supplies, some to hit the last warm port before they hit Antarctica as the sun settled in the distance.
He heard the scuff of the shoe coming up behind him, “Staying on the ship?” Robert asked him.
Terry turned and nodded, “Yeah.”
Robert moved his shoulders, “I’ve still got that itch going, buddy,” he said as he stood next to him, looking over the sights, “Where’s Melissa?”
“A little sea-sick at the moment,” Robert replied.
“Oh, damn that sucks,” Robert admitted, “She didn’t take the medicine?”
“Yeah, she has now. However, it took her realizing she couldn’t eat the chocolate chip cookies the kitchens were making to finally capitulate and start taking it. She claims she hates taking any medicine if she doesn’t have to. I don’t take it, so she figured she didn’t need any either.”
“Still thinking an academic can do anything a soldier can?” Robert asked, grinning.
“Pretty much,” Terry admitted, “it pisses her off I have the memory I do, and can still operate out in the field. She is pretty competitive.”
“You picked a live one, that’s for sure,” Robert agreed. He noticed Terry’s eyes shift focus and stare as a large black Jeep turned into the lane coming down towards the boat. “You expecting someone?”
Terry nodded, “You still got that itch?” Robert grunted his affirmative, “Well, I made a call and here comes our ace-in-the-hole.”
Robert watched the Jeep for a moment and sighed, “We are well and truly fucked, aren’t we?”
Terry exhaled, “Yes, we are.”
—
“All I am saying,” Richard said as their driver pulled into the last street before seeing a large ship at the end, “is I hate the cold.”
“After the winters in Europe, you would think this would be but a spring day,” Samual quipped.
Richard turned to look at his friend, “Have you truly been alive too long?” He asked, in an old language, “We will be in Antarctica, not a bad winter in the Old Country.”
Samual shrugged, “The girls needed some time off and are resting out in the belt. Gabrielle never punished us for Mark’s death, maybe this is our penance?”
“No,” Richard sighed, “I spoke with Gabrielle. She knows we never quit working our job.”
“How is that?” Samual asked, and his eyes opened, “You allowed her access to your memories?”
Richard nodded, “Mark deserved it. So did Sia and Giannini when Gabrielle spoke to them after the funeral. They recovered the body and had the funeral back in Colorado. Mark’s family was shocked to learn he had been killed by a foreign government.”
“They told them?” Samual asked.
“No, I told them,” Richard admitted.
“You never shared that with me.”
“I’m still hurting, a little. Mark was a friend, and I was supposed to protect him. I failed.” Richard admitted.
“No, we all failed against a government hit man. We didn’t know we had been targeted at that level. I appreciated the fact you left enough to ID the guy.”
“No mercy doesn’t mean no body,” Richard admitted as their ride slowed to a stop in front of the ship.
Both vampires looked out the glass, “I see our new contact is up there,” Samual said.
“Yes, the other is the military c
ontact Robert,” said Richard.
“Too many people with names starting with the letter R around here,” Samual bitched as he opened the door.
—
Robert’s profession was bringing the pain using whatever options were available, and he was usually a very good judge of abilities.
The killing kind.
He and Terry had walked over to the gangway to welcome the two guys who had gotten out of the Jeep, each pulling a large bag with them ... bags that clinked and looked heavy. Very heavy based on how hard the straps were straining in the men’s grips. Neither one who seemed to be bothered by the weight at all.
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