Hunting Nora Stone

by Colin Weldon

  “Got it, but the data is still in the scanner,” He said.

  “I’ll get it. You two get to the car,” Eddie replied.

  Hiran nodded.

  “You need back up,” Abigail said, looking worried.

  “Don’t worry about me, you two just go, that’s an order,” Eddie said,. “Now!”

  The pair scrambled to their feet and made for the exit, keeping their heads down. There was no sign of anyone attempting to breach. Eddie waited until the shack was clear before getting to his feet. He planted himself against the rear wall and began creeping towards the main living area. He peered carefully around its corner. It was clear of bullet holes. It looked like the bedroom was the only place targeted by the assailants. He stared out of the broken window into blackness. Taking a chance, he flashed his torch directly outside. All he could see was some trees in the distance. He needed to move fast. He got back on his belly and began crawling towards the scanning device. He reached up and unhooked it from the tripod and brought it down to eye level. He opened the memory port slot and pulled out the card. As he did so, he felt something hot at the back of his neck and the unmistakable click of a trigger. He froze. Sloppy Eddie, he thought to himself. Fucking sloppy. Several seconds passed. He waited for death.

  “Who are you?” said a whispering female voice.

  He didn’t answer. He felt the barrel of the weapon press harder into his head.

  “Who are you?” the female voice said again.

  “My name is Eddie Conrad,” he replied, “take it easy.”

  “Place your face on the ground and put your hands behind your head,” the female voice said.

  Eddie dropped the memory card under his cheek as he complied. He placed the scanner next to his head and placed his hands in the air. His torchlight was on the ground next to him, pointing away from his face towards the wall. He moved his gaze to try and catch a glance of the person’s face. His captor knelt forward and placed a hand on the scanner. Eddie looked at it as it passed in front of the flashlight. The hand was transparent. Inside its interior were thousands of fibrous wires and metallic joints and tendons.

  “Nora?” he whispered.

  The female didn’t answer.

  “Whatever is going on, we can talk about it. I didn’t come here to kill you,” Eddie said.

  The robotic hand picked up the scanner and flung it against the far wall. It smashed into pieces. He felt her kneel against his back and then felt her mouth next to his ear.

  “You forgot to clear your perimeter, Eddie Conrad,” she said. “That’ll get you killed you know. What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to bring you in,” Eddie replied realising the ridiculous nature of the comment as he said it.

  “I see,” Nora responded. “Well, I think we both know that isn’t going to happen today, so my advice would be to take your little team back to Wise and tell him he won’t have to send anyone else. I’ll be finding him really soon. I’ll be coming for them all. I am coming for her.”

  Eddie flicked his eyes quickly to his right and saw that Nora was on one knee. Her other knee placed neatly in the square of his back between his shoulder blades. Her bodyweight primarily focused on keeping his firmly on the ground. There were three possibilities. She would shoot him, she would knock him out and run or… he could fight. He took a short breath. Focusing on his shoulders and back. Two of those options were unacceptable. His mind went back, back to the camp on that hot summer day when he had managed to break free.

  He had torn the rusty shackles from the wall of the cell. Old stone and the overpowering hate and will for revenge. He had taken out the first guard by playing dead. A broken neck later, he had managed to procure a weapon. Every bullet had found a target. A visceral fury had overtaken him. He had moved quickly. Methodically, running on adrenaline and the blood of his fallen squad.

  Eddie felt Nora Stone’s weight on his body, looked to her ankles then up to her face. He pulled his arms back and planted his elbows on the ground pushing up hard, screaming. The force the movement sent Nora tumbling to her right, Eddie then flipped his body at speed to his left and rolled onto his knees. He sprang towards her as she raised her gun and fired twice, both bullets narrowly missing Eddie’s right ear. She was off balance, but only for a moment. He connected with her chest and flung their two bodies into the blood stained wall behind them. He pulled back his body and planted a well-placed blow to her lower rib cage with his left elbow before pulling back and landing one to the right side of her face. It was like hitting a brick wall. Eddie heard something crack in his hand and suddenly realised that he had made the wrong choice. There was a moment between the two. Nora turned her face back to Eddie and smiled. Those eyes. They were the same from the photo. He knew fury when he saw it. Determination. Calculated rage.

  She dropped the gun and raised both her arms in the air. She brought them down on his shoulders. It might have well been two iron bars. Eddie crumpled to his knees as Nora shot her right leg out and landed a forward kick to his chest sending him flying backwards onto the ground. The world began to spin. The air in his lungs was gone. He began to cough, his diaphragm screamed as he tried to inhale.

  “You got spirit, I’ll give you that,” said Nora as Eddie watched her feet approach.

  He was no match for her physically. He knew that. He needed a weapon. Fast.

  “You’re right Eddie, you’re no assassin. Quick on your feet sure but Wise surely didn’t send you to kill me? Did he?” Nora said.

  Eddie needed to buy time.

  “Actually, he did,” he said finally feeling some semblance of oxygen enter his brain. He pushed up off the floor and got to his knees.

  “Ok then, let’s see what you got?” Nora said stopping in the middle of the room and folding her arms. Eddie sighed, looked briefly at the gun on the ground and then back up at Nora.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t shoot you, Eddie, it’s not very sportsmanlike. I’m guessing this won’t take long anyway,” she said.

  Eddie took a breath and got to his feet. He took a step towards her.

  “Come on then, I don’t have all day,” Nora said stepping towards Eddie while bringing back her right arm swinging a punch that was so fast Eddie had no time to do anything about it. It connected on the side of Eddie’s cheek like a freight train. He stumbled sideways towards the entrance to the room. The world blacked out momentarily. The force of the technology attached to her body was astonishing. He knew she could have killed him. Right there and then. She was holding back, making a point, playing with him. He grabbed the doorframe to try and steady his legs. Looking back at her, she smiled again. He was fucked.

  “Eddie!” came Hiran’s voice from behind him.

  He looked up to see him at the main entrance and a gun in mid-air, heading in his direction. In a split second, he had his arm up and hand out. He caught the weapon perfectly by its grip and spun. A weapon fired. Not his. A searing pain tore into his left bicep. He fired twice before ducking behind the wall. Several more shots sent splinters of wood past Eddie’s face. He heard the smashing of glass, then silence. He looked into the room to find it empty. He felt the warm spilling of blood run down his arm as he ran towards the broken window. He planted his shoulder against the frame and peered out, pointing his gun into the darkness. The light from the room cast a soft glow on the rushing water beneath him. His head felt light. The effects of the blow beginning to take hold. He was in no position to jump in after her.

  “Shit,” he said through gritted teeth.

  He turned back to Hiran and looked at him. He was seeing double. Hiran places his hand on his shoulder.

  “We gotta get you outta here Eddie, you’re hurt,” Hiran said.

  Eddie’s head began to pound as he dropped to his knees; blood was now free flowing down his arm. Hiran bent down and placed his arm under his body. Eddie looked up to se
e Abigail coming towards them. She joined Hiran and placed an arm around Eddie, both lifting him off the ground towards the exit to the waiting car. The world around Eddie began to spin and fade in and out of darkness.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  A bright light pierced into Eddie’s eyes as he awoke. He knew this place. His arms were shackled at the wrist. His back planted against a wooden post in the desert.

  “Eddie,” came his friend’s voice from up ahead.

  He looked up to see his friend, Lieutenant Commander Dylan Holt, in a cage suspended above a swimming pool filled with wet cement. He had seen this before of course. He knew the dream well at this stage. It wouldn’t leave him. The baking hot sun was slowly cooking his battered and broken body. He looked across at the three stooges. That was what he had called them. Moe, Larry and Curly. His captors. In the dream, their faces were covered with black scarves. Small slits revealed evil, cold eyes. Moe was the biggest of the three and was currently holding onto the rope that was attached to a rudimentary pulley system.

  “Let him go, I’ll tell you what you want to know,” Eddie shouted at Moe.

  In his dream, the three stooges never spoke. It was the only thing that was different from the actual experience. They had screamed at him, but in his dream they just stared.

  “Don’t tell those fuckers anything Eddie, you listen to me, you don’t tell those fuckers anything,” said Dylan, his voice hoarse and cracking.

  His friend was gaunt and suffering from malnutrition. He had been the strongest. Eddie was close to breaking point. Probably more than close. His lips were so dry that he couldn’t feel them on his face. Moe began lowering his friend into the pool of wet cement. Dylan’s feet sank beneath the thick grey mixture.

  “Stop!” Eddie shouted at the three stooges, “I’ll talk.”

  “Listen to me Eddie, don’t look. Close your fucking eyes. Don’t give them the satisfaction. That’s an order, Lieutenant,” said Dylan.

  Eddie mustered up as much strength as he could and began yanking furiously at the iron chains. They were too heavy of course. There was no escaping them. He stared at his friend. Completely helpless.. Eddie screamed at the three stooges as Dylan’s feet disappeared.

  “I’ll kill you! You hear me, you fucking cowards. I’ll tear you apart. Let me out of these chains and let’s settle this like real men,” Eddie shouted.

  The three stooges looked calmly on as Moe lowered his friend deeper into the cement.

  “Eddie, if you get out of this, tell my kids about their daddy,” Dylan said through clenched teeth.

  Eddie mustered up all his strength and began pulling hard against his restraints. He could feel the skin on his wrists chafing and tearing.

  “I’m sorry Dylan,” Eddie said, tears streaming down his face.

  Dylan let go of the bars on the cage and pushed himself away. He smiled at Eddie before turning to Moe. He raised his right hand and extended his middle finger.

  “See you on the other side, losers.”.

  He was now submerged up to his neck.

  “I’ll tell them Dylan,” Eddie shouted.

  “It’s been an honour,” said Dylan as the cement rose above his mouth.

  Eddie saw one final look of defiance in his eyes as small bubbles rose to the surface. Dylan closed his eyes as his face slowly disappeared under the wet cement.

  “No!” Eddie screamed before collapsing from exhaustion.

  CIA

  Jaguar - Office of Director Wise

  “Jaguar Blue reporting contact with Nora Stone,” said Abigail Carroll’s voice down the phone.

  Director Wise looked around his empty office and made sure there was nobody outside the door.

  “Have you got her contained?” Wise said.

  “Negative, she got the drop on us shot Conrad. We’ve taken him to the hotel,” Abigail said, “It’s a flesh wound only.”

  “She what?” Wise replied.

  “She had us marked, opened fire, damn near took the whole shack apart,” said Abigail.

  Wise stood up from his desk.

  “Are you telling me none of you got a shot off?” Wise said.

  There was a pause.

  “Eddie did, but he had taken a hit before he was able to respond effectively. I think you should reconsider your asset assignment, Director, I told you he wasn’t ready,” said Abigail.

  “Listen to me, you fucking damn well better get his head in the game; she blows the lid off The Academy and you and I will find ourselves in a far worse situation than a prison cell. You get me? No more fuck ups. Find her. Relay her location and we’ll do the rest. Now get the fuck back to work,” Wise said slamming down the phone.

  “Shit!” he said.

  Eddie opened his eyes and saw Abigail standing over him. He was alive. The overhead light was blinding as he raised his hand to block the intensity of the glare. It felt like someone had hammered a nail into his skull. He turned his head and saw Hiran hovering over a laptop computer at a small desk. He was in a bed. It looked like a hotel room. He tried sitting up. His face was covered in sweat. He tried to contain the tears welling up from his recurring nightmare. His hands were shaking. He gritted his teeth and tried to force the image of his friend’s execution from the forefront of his mind. He looked to his arm and saw a field dressing wrapped around it.

  “Easy,” Abigail said, “you took quite a blow. It was a clean through and through. I’ve patched it up but you lost some blood.”

  Eddie winced. He sat up and rubbed his jaw. He looked over at Hiran.

  “Thanks kid,” he said.

  “Anytime,” Hiran replied looking back at the screen.

  Abigail looked at Hiran.

  “We pulled you out and came straight here, there was no sign of her,” she said.

  “Son of a bitch,” Eddie said sitting upright and moving his shoulder. It hurt. “Hiran, I want satellite imagery from the that location from sixty minutes up until our arrival.”

  “On it,” Hiran replied tuning to his laptop.

  He looked at Abigail.

  “She was waiting for us,” Eddie said, “I led us into a fucking crossfire.”

  “Eddie, there was no way to sweep the entire area without drone support,” Hiran said.

  “Yeah, no shit Hiran,” Eddie said swinging his legs over the side of the bed and moving over towards him.

  Hiran bit his lip. Eddie turned to Abigail.

  “Who was she talking about? She said she was coming for ‘Her’. Who is ‘Her’? What the fuck is going on Abigail?” Eddie said.

  Abigail shook her head and looked away.

  “It makes no sense for her to stay in that area, it would have been a hot zone, she would have known that. Why didn’t she kill you?” she said.

  “I was kinda hoping that you could fill in that particular blank; it’s the goddam reason you are here, is it not?” Eddie said giving her a sharp look. He turned to Hiran

  “Get me a link up to Nellis Air Force.”

  Hiran began typing and handed Eddie an earpiece.

  “This is Jaguar Blue requesting seventy-two hour recon over grid alpha three seven two,” he said into the mic.

  “Eagle acknowledges, Jaguar blue repositioning the assets,” came the stern male voice on the other end.

  “Jaguar Blue, over and out,” Eddie said throwing the earpiece on the table and turned back at Abigail.

  “How long was I out?” he asked her.

  “Two hours,” she replied.

  “Have you reported in to Wise?” Eddie said.

  “No, I wanted to wait for your orders,” Abigail said.

  Eddie looked curiously at her.

  “Right,” Eddie said.

  There was a tense moment as Eddie tried to gather himself. He was angry that Nora Stone had gotten the drop on them. Even a
ngrier that he had not heard her approach. He had been out of the field for too long. His reflexes were dulled. She could have killed him. She SHOULD have killed him. He frowned at Abigail.

  “I want to talk to you in private,” he said making his way to a side room.

  Abigail followed. He led her inside and closed the door.

  “Right, talk,” Eddie said leaning on a table with a small TV perched on it.

  Abigail stood with her arms folded, looking at him.

  “What exactly am I dealing with here? We’re not equipped. We’re fucking bait Doctor, I want to know who this girl is, where she came from and how the fuck I am supposed to take her out,” Eddie said rubbing his wounded arm.

  “Eddie, you know what classified is, I can’t just..”

  “Bullshit, she should have killed me, could have. I need a fucking tac team, not a psychiatrist on this. You have no use to me unless you tell me what I need to know,” Eddie said trying to restrain the anger in his voice.

  Abigail sighed and looked at the slowly rotating ceiling fan.

  “All right, Nora Stone was brought in for black ops missions,” She said.

  “No shit,” Eddie replied.

  “Are you going to let me talk or not,” Abigail said.

  Eddie motioned her to continue.

  “Nora stone isn’t her real name, obviously. She was a drifter. She came to us after a car accident left her nearly dead. Her left arm was already gone from the accident. She had no home, no family. She was young, in good health and we gave her a choice. The agency watches hospitals for cases like this Eddie. The augment program was set up and as you can imagine not many soldiers want to sign up. If I asked you to sacrifice some of your limbs for a test program would you?”

  “No,” Eddie responded.

  “Well, some would and she did. We offered her a new life. Enough money that she would never be poor again. We offered her support,” Abigail said.

  “You call this support?” Eddie said.

  “Eddie, she volunteered for this. She’s highly intelligent. She had an abusive family that nearly killed her, sent her onto the streets when she was only thirteen. She’s a survivor. Ruthless. Angry. She wanted payback for the life she was dealt and took to the program like a duck to water,” she said.