Belinea

by Andrew Mack

  Felicia was not happy to see him. She looked at Sterling and interrupted with, “Why is he here?”

  Sterling said, “There is no time to answer that Felicia. He will be gone soon.”

  Felicia, looking at Octavious, said, “Do you know what they have done? What he has done?”

  Sterling nodded his head. “Felicia, everyone knows about the attack on the Processing Center. They are trying to escape.”

  Felicia grabbed her tablet and said, “Have you seen this?”

  Sterling grabbed the tablet and began looking at it. It was the press release of the attack on the Processing Center. Octavious looked over Sterling’s shoulder. The doctored video showed Octavious attacking a white medical transport as the narrator continued.

  “The unsolicited terrorist attack has killed over a hundred, including thirty-seven people on this clearly identified medical transport. Of the thirty-seven people on board, ten were injured children trying to escape the attack. The Majavkee Lords are working closely with the AuFa to bring the Valmay Opposition Group and their leader, Octavious Killian, to justice.”

  Octavious looked at Sterling first, before looking back at Felicia. Felicia asked, “How could you kill children?”

  Octavious replied. “That’s not what happened. The transport was not identified that way. The footage is doctored. We attacked a ship we believe had all the Majavkee Lords onboard.”

  Felicia just looked at him and said, “Do you think that makes your mistake, justifiable?”

  Octavious bowed his head and paused before speaking. “I guess it does not.”

  Felicia said, “All I know is those children are dead. Who killed them is irrelevant. We do not care about your rebellion. We only care about the collateral damage it causes. A man of faith would understand.”

  Felecia walked out of the room, still holding the newborn, who was now crying. Sterling just looked at Octavious and said, “She does not mean that.”

  Octavious wiped his hands on his face and responded, “Yes, she does. I am going to leave.”

  Sterling said, “Not now. You need safe passage out of here. We have contacted someone. They are coming, be patient.”

  Belinea 6.18

  Molar

  Populis Pointe

  The rain began to fall harder. The back bay door to the T-141 was open, with small running lights accenting the ramp. Alexis was at the top of the ramp with a pistol in her hand. She looked down the ramp outside, raindrops splattering everywhere. Alexis re-positioned her earpiece and softly said, “Any movement?”

  The voice on her earpiece was Trujillo, who said, “Negative.”

  Alexis readjusted the light armor she had put on. She replied, “They are late, which means they are likely canvassing the area.”

  Trujillo answered, “I am looking everywhere, I don’t see shit. Wait…., Yep, I got them. Looks like eight, maybe nine guys. Ambassador is in the middle, and he is handcuffed. Walking your way, thirty meters from the ship.”

  Alexis said, “They didn’t teach you counting at the Academy? Is it eight or nine?”

  Trujillo replied in an agitated tone, “Eight, plus the Ambassador.”

  Alexis said, “Copy, that.”

  Each of the eight men guarding Ambassador Bird had a helmet, a rifle, and wore black trench coats. Three of them wore a night-vision visor while the others suffered through the rain. The Ambassador continued to walk in the middle while the guards kept looking everywhere for movement. Trujillo talked into Alexis’ earpiece again and said, “Fifteen meters.”

  Alexis only said, “Trujillo, don’t miss.”

  Trujillo replied, “Don’t worry, it’s not counting.”

  Alexis began walking down the ramp and got to the bottom. The group was ten meters from the ship when Alexis yelled out, “That is close enough.”

  The group stopped. The man in front took off his helmet and said, “Who are you?”

  Alexis answered, “The negotiator. Who are you?”

  The man in front just laughed. He continued, “My name is Hendrix. I am the law on this island.”

  Alexis yelled, “Boss, you alright?”

  Ambassador Bird yelled, “Alexis, what are you doing?”

  Hendrix looked back at Ambassador Bird while he talked, only to turn his head around towards Alexis. He continued, “Alexis, such a pretty name. Where are your friends Alexis?”

  Alexis yelled back, “Just me, Hendrix.”

  Hendrix smiled again and said, “Come on now, Alexis, the Dock Master said you went into the city with two male friends. He never lies, at least not to me.”

  Alexis answered, “Maybe you should rethink that relationship. Are you just going to talk, or are we here to barter? You have something of mine. I am willing to pay.”

  Hendrix laughed again. “Feisty little bitch, I like that. I already told you what I needed. Five times more than what you had in that bag I stole. I see that and your two friends, you get your boss back.”

  Alexis answered, “I have an equal amount in Belinean credit. It is waiting in the office of your Dock Master via e-currency.”

  Hendrix said, “That will not work, cupcake. Credit is not popular around here, it leaves a trail. I want the coins. No coins, no return of the Boss man.”

  Alexis replied, “Well, I guess we got a problem then, don’t we?”

  Hendrix smiled again and continued, “I am sure a girl of your beauty can negotiate something else. Take this transport ship you have. I might be willing to trade that for the boss man.”

  Trujillo said into the earpiece. “I got two more guys coming up behind the ship. They are directly behind you, twenty meters. Shift your stance if you copy.”

  Alexis was standing, with all her weight on her right leg. She shifted all the weight to her left leg to copy Trujillo. The two men strolled slowly with rifles out. They had gotten to fifteen meters now. Alexis said, “I need the ship to get out of here, so that won’t work either.”

  Trujillo was elevated deep in the rocks, twenty meters high, and some thirty meters away with the rifle. He spoke again through his piece. “Tunsall, it’s time.”

  Tunsall spoke into his piece and said, “Copy that.”

  Hendrix was no longer amused. He simply asked, “What is to stop me from taking the ship from you?”

  Alexis just smiled and said, “You think you can?”

  As the two guys had crept up to ten meters behind her, Trujillo set his mark and shot. The first shot hit the soldier square in the neck, practically decapitating him on the spot. The other soldier behind Alexis was temporarily stunned. He stopped moving and turned to see where the shot had come from. Looking at the area Trujillo had shot from, Trujillo shot two more rounds directly into the second soldier’s faceguard, killing him instantly.

  All seven other guys guarding Bird now held their rifles up, not knowing where the shots were coming from. Hendrix grabbed his pistol, and with his other hand, grabbed Bird by the shoulder. He pointed the pistol right at Bird’s head and said, “Not cool bitch. Quit shooting or your boss’ brains are going to be all over this landing pad.”

  Alexis walked the ten meters up to Hendrix with her pistol out. She got right up to him, pistol now six inches from him, and said, “Or we can try Option number two, which is you say hello to my friend with the rifle…”

  Hendrix was pissed. He pointed his pistol right at Alexis’ head and said, “One rifle will not stop me from opening your head up bitch.”

  Alexis stood still and simply said, “....no, but my other friend might.”

  Tunsall had come flying in with the F-81 Sirator, engines blazing. He managed to dust up five meters above the ground, and was now hovering directly behind the eight guys. Every single one of them turned when they heard the engines, including Hendrix. In that brief second, Alexis, with her pistol hand, smacked Hendrix�
�s pistol out that he had pointed at her. Trujillo immediately said, “Duck.”

  Hendrix turned back around after Alexis punched his pistol away. In one swoop, Alexis kicked out the leg of Ambassador Bird, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Hendrix looked at Bird and Alexis, now face down. It was the last thing he saw, as Trujillo put a bullet right in his face. After he saw Bird and Alexis go down, Tunsall started firing away. He killed four instantly, as the other three escaped out the sides. He turned the F-81 a bit to reposition as Trujillo said into his piece, “Alexis go!”

  Alexis yelled into Bird’s ear and said, “Get up, we gotta run.”

  Alexis and Bird got up and ran back to the ship and up the ramp. A couple of shots were fired at them, but they missed. Alexis hit the lock on the ramp, and it slowly began to retract. Bird yelled, “What the hell is going on?!”

  Alexis climbed into the pilot’s cockpit. She tried to remember the procedure, and after hitting a couple of buttons, the engines to the T-141 roared to life. Outside, Trujillo was following one of the guards with his scope. He took a couple of shots, but missed. Tunsall took off high and returned back down, trying to narrow in on a guard running away. Alexis hit a few more buttons, and she pulled back on the stick. Slowly, the T-141 began to take off. One wing was dragging on the ground. Suddenly a man off the landing pad emerged with a handheld rocket launcher. He aimed it at the T-141, which was slowly flying away. The missile fired, and it directly hit the engine below the small wing, exploding it on impact. Alexis lost all control of the T-141, as the body, from five meters high, crashed right back down to the surface. Trujillo yelled, “Alexis!”

  Tunsall flew around and now saw where the rocket launcher had come from. He fired his guns on the target, and eventually, after thirty rounds, eliminated the guard. Trujillo saw the other guard running down the pad, and clipped him with a couple of rounds in the leg. Tunsall talked on the radio. “Trujillo, I got one guard running away down the side of the hill, copy visual.”

  Trujillo was now navigating the rocks back down. He said, “No copy on visual. As long as he keeps running, let him go. I need your backup here.”

  Tunsall replied, “Copy that.”

  Trujillo kept climbing down the rocks until, eventually, he got down to the landing surface. He then sprinted over to the crashed T-141. He said into his earpiece, “Alexis, you alright, copy please?”

  Nothing. Trujillo kept sprinting, all the way across the landing pad, almost one hundred meters to where the T-141 crashed. The side of the T-141, near the wing, was in flames. The main hull was not. An emergency door had been opened. As Trujillo came running up, Alexis was helping the Ambassador walk out. He had injured his ankle from the crash. Trujillo ran up to them and offered assistance. Both of them were now assisting the Ambassador walk away. Bird kept repeating, “I am fine.”

  As they got about fifteen meters from the ship, they found a small waiting area off to the side, where they sat the Ambassador down in a chair. Tunsall had landed the F-81 Sirator near them and was already climbing out. Trujillo asked Alexis, “You alright?”

  She nodded and replied, “You?”

  He nodded. Trujillo then looked at the Ambassador and said, “Are you alright?”

  The Ambassador looked at him and nodded. Trujillo followed with, “Good, never leave the fucking ship without us again.”

  The Ambassador replied, “How do you know I left the ship?”

  Trujillo turned away without answering. Tunsall by now had jogged up to them and immediately asked, “Everybody good?”

  Alexis answered, “I think the Ambassador sprained his ankle on the crash. Otherwise, we are alright.”

  The three of them just looked at each other for a few seconds before Alexis said aloud, “Shit, did that just happen? Flawless execution, gentlemen.”

  Trujillo answered, “Except for your flying…”

  Alexis replied, “Really? That guy had one of those rocket things….”

  Tunsall reluctantly answered, “A handheld surface to air missile?”

  Alexis answered, “Yes, one of those things. And, I managed to fly the T-141 away, so he did not get a clean shot.”

  Trujillo responded, “You actually call that flying?”

  Alexis answered, “What would you call it?”

  Trujillo answered, “If I dropped a brick from a building, I guess it’s technically flying.”

  Alexis quickly came back, “Never a lesson in my life, at least I got it off the ground. And what about my move on the Hendrix asshole? Knocked his pistol out, got the Ambassador to the ground? Nothing on that, huh?”

  Trujillo answered, “Who dropped that guy like a sack of potatoes? Oh wait, you couldn’t see because you were lying on the ground.”

  Alexis replied, “You told me to hit the floor! And, are you sure it wasn’t Tunsall that got him because he practically laid out the whole bunch in one swoop.”

  Trujillo was almost pissed. He instantly replied, “I had a rifle, he is in a Sirator fighter, how did any of them even escape?”

  Now Tunsall interjected. “Really? I flew in at twenty percent fighter speed, reversed full throttle, and did a three-sixty degree spin five meters off the ground. After stabilizing, I knocked out half of their crew without a single shot hitting the Ambassador or Alexis. You really think you could have done better?”

  Trujillo answered instantly, “Absolutely.”

  Tunsall replied, “Are you insane?”

  Trujillo said, “I knocked out three with a rifle. If I had the Sirator, we’d be halfway to Belinea by now.”

  Ambassador Bird finally had enough. He yelled, “Will all of you shut the hell up! How are we going to get to Belinea, not that the transport crashed?”

  Tunsall, Trujillo, and Alexis looked at each other for a few seconds. None of them had anything to say. Trujillo just muttered to himself, “Shit…”

  Alexis then pointed to the sky and said, “Look….”

  A light was growing bigger. It was clear after a few seconds that it was a ship coming into land. It was coming right where they were, and as it slowed down, gave the impression it was going to land right next to them, which it did. Trujillo and Tunsall tried to identify the markings, which they realized were AuFa. Trujillo drew his rifle, and Alexis drew her pistol as the frigate landed. Once the engines shut down, the front door of the landing ramp lowered. A few seconds went by, and a man emerged walking down the ramp onto the surface. The ship was twenty meters away, but the man approached quickly, at a brisk walking pace. Trujillo still had his rifle pointed, when Tunsall grabbed the front of it and gently pushed it down. Trujillo said, “Is that…?”

  Tunsall softly said, “Alexis, drop your weapon.”

  Reluctantly she did. As the man got closer, he began to slow down his walking pace. He looked at all three of them, specifically at Tunsall, and said loudly, “Sal… ”

  Captian Kimmel began walking closer now until he was five meters from Alexis, Trujillo, and Tunsall. Tunsall looked right at him and said, “Hello, Dad…”

  Belinea - Episode 7

  The Mole

  Belinea 7.1

  Scotland (Two months prior...)

  Annella Devanoe was looking at her daughter. Alexis had grabbed her last bag and was about to walk out the door. Annella said, “Are you sure you have everything?”

  Alexis turned around and said, “Yes.”

  Director Kimakawa walked up behind Annella and stood next to her. Alexis looked at him and said, “Any decision?”

  Annella asked, “Decision on what?”

  Kimakawa looked at Alexis with a scowl and said, “No. I will be talking with them shortly. I placed initial information and schedule execution in the dossier file BirdFlight on your tablet. There is one more thing.”

  Alexis straightened up and answered, “Yes, Director?”

  Kim
akawa continued. “I cannot explain everything. But many factors drove my decision to choose you for this assignment, the biggest one being trust. I need to know that you will not reveal yourself to anyone. Trust no one. You must not give any indication that you are anything more than a bright, helpful assistant. Understand?”

  Alexis nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”

  Annella took a few steps forward and hugged her daughter. She said, “Safe travels.”

  Alexis returned the hug and whispered, “Bye.”

  Alexis walked out of the room and outside to a personal TC, which promptly brisked her away. Annella and Kimakawa walked down the path towards her porch area. Annella’s dog walked beside her. Annella said, “I presume you are going to tell me about this assignment? I don’t like you putting her in a situation where she cannot protect herself.”

  Kimakawa responded, “I am telling you now, with Yi. Annella, Alexis, is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She knows the risks.”

  As they entered the covered patio, Ambassador Yi was already seated, enjoying a hot tea. He stood up as Kimakawa and Annella walked into the room. Yi said, “Alexis get off, alright?”

  Annella nodded and poured herself some tea. “Taichi, is now going to explain why he has summoned us.”

  Yi and Kimakawa looked at each other. Everyone was sitting now, as Kimakawa began. “We have a potential problem. The Belineans have been made aware of our DAG team looking for a Vait supplier.”

  Yi interrupted, “How?”

  Kimakawa answered, “That is what we do not know.”

  Yi continued, “I can tell you our Council security group has heard nothing. Nether Tempest nor the Chairman have inquired.”

  Kimakawa answered, “It could be they believe you do not know, and the DAG is doing this alone. It could be they are trying to discover how much you do know. Perhaps find out how much they should trust you, or use as leverage later.”

  Yi thought for a second before he said, “Possible. The other Ambassadors and I have heard rumblings that the Majavkee on Avola have problems with the Vait flow and production. The local rebels, the Valmay Group, have been wreaking havoc. The belief is they are selling Vait on the Black Market, refusing to sell any of it to the Council or Belineans.”