Death is the only means of escape on a mission to hell...
Twelve knows only one life—the Institute. As part of an elite group of assassins, she is trained to kill and follow orders. Her lifelong dream is of freedom, and she would risk everything to make it come true.
When she is sent as a spy to a penal colony, aptly named New Alcatraz, her dreams of freedom take a nose-dive. She is now trapped in a nightmare as the only female staff member on a planet known for its harsh environment and a prison from which there is no escape.
Help comes from an unexpected source, but can Twelve and her cohort pull off the scheme when the odds of trying could mean certain death?
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Evanescent
Copyright © 2019 Taryn Jameson and Gabriella Bradley
ISBN: 978-1-4874-2208-0
Cover art by Martine Jardin
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Evanescent
Veiled Eliminators Book 4
By
Taryn Jameson and Gabriella Bradley
Dedication
To our readers...
Chapter One
Schmidt declined the whiskey Schultz offered. “It’s early morning for God’s sake. Now, what was so urgent that I had to drop everything and come right away?”
“Forty-three is dead. WLO contacted me about sending a replacement.” Schultz downed the contents of his glass and refilled it.
“What? Did he find out anything? Has he reported in at all?”
“The last time we communicated, he had no leads. He was due to report in again next week.”
“What happened? Do you know?”
“An accident in the kitchen. That’s all I was told.”
“An accident?” Schmidt poured himself a coffee and sat down. Forty-three had been one of their best male recruits. All that wasted training...”Never thought it was a good idea for him to pretend to be a chef. Perhaps he set fire to the place.”
“The warden asked for a chef. He wanted better food and someone who could train the inmates that work in the kitchen. WLO thought it a great plan. Forty-three memorized several cooking books written by the world’s greatest chefs.”
Schmidt pulled a face. “Just learning recipes doesn’t make you a great cook nor adept in a kitchen.”
“Guess not. But now we need to send someone else. WLO suggested we send one of our girls. The warden is apparently a womanizer. WLO feels a pretty woman might have a better chance at gleaning the information.”
“Got anyone in mind?” Schmidt took a sip of his coffee, then set the cup on the table. It was still quite hot.
“Yes. I think we should send Twelve. With her unique looks, she is bound to attract the warden’s attention.”
Twelve was exceptional and had paid a dear price for it. Schultz had insisted half of her body be tattooed with an intricate rose pattern and forced the poor girl to wear miniscule clothing. Schmidt had agreed only because it kept Schultz’ tendencies under control. “We’ll have to replace that arm first.”
Schultz nodded. “That isn’t a problem. I should have done it a long time ago. We developed the technique to make real looking bionic limbs when she was still quite young. I’ll have her come to my office this afternoon.”
“What about the terrorists? They’re still in control of the refueling station. Shouldn’t we be concentrating on getting the components for our serum?”
Schultz filled his glass again and stood. He began pacing back and forth behind his desk. “Yes, yes. One thing at a time. Let’s get Twelve to New Alcatraz first and keep WLO happy. They agreed to send us some more funding.”
Schmidt didn’t really give a shit about WLO’s missing gold when their own fortune was at stake. “What is a bit of funding going to matter? Without the serum, we’re screwed whichever way you look at it. You know that.”
“Damn. Go concentrate on the synthetic version of it and stop your fucking whining.” Schultz slammed his empty glass on the desk.
The imbecile. His drinking is getting worse by the day. “You know by now we can’t make a synthetic serum. Stop harping on it. We need those ingredients.”
“Leave me be now. I’ll see you in surgery tonight to replace Twelve’s arm,” Schultz growled.
Schmidt frowned. “You’d better be sober.”
* * * *
Twelve plopped down on the corner of the bed, drawing her legs up and hugging them, then rested her face on her knees. She’d just returned from Schultz’s office. The Institute planned on sending her to the planet New Alcatraz—aptly named after the infamous prison located off the coast of San Francisco, California, on Alcatraz Island. She’d read up on it right away. The original Alcatraz had once been touted as the most secure prison ever designed until an inmate had escaped. Now it was just a museum and though most tourism was a thing of the past, people that had the means to travel and were affluent enough still visited it.
Many years ago, Earth’s explorers had discovered a new planet and found it uninhabited by any living creatures. The climate was harsh, the air unbreathable, and there was little to no vegetation growing on the rocky planet surface. The explorers had almost abandoned it until they found a network of subterranean tunnels and mineshafts that had been deserted. The planet became home to one of Earth’s largest prisons and had been named New Alcatraz.
Deep underground, they had located structures carved into the rock that could possibly have been housing for the miners. There was also a subsurface station that held equipment and machinery to work the mines and another building with oxygen and water. There was no explanation for why the planet had been abandoned. The mines were rich with gold veins, which was a find of astronomical value. It didn’t make sense that the inhabitants would have left such a treasure behind. Twelve thought that maybe a catastrophe had struck and most of the inhabitants died, and whoever survived had left everything behind.
When the team of explorers returned to Earth and reported their findings, World Leadership Organization’s space exploration team had confiscated the planet, taking control of the mines and the gold contained within them. The conditions of the planet made it hard to entice people to join the mining operation, so WLO formulated the perfect plan.
The prisons on Earth were overcrowded, making it hard for the guards to keep the inmates under control. WLO decided to send the worst criminals—murderers, rapists, and terrorists—to New Alcatraz to work the mines. And like its namesake, no prisoner would be able to escape from it. They would die almost instantly on the planet’s surface. Its climate was beyond hot, the air unbreathable, and the blazing temperatures
during the day could turn anyone attempting an escape to ash.
Over two-thousand prisoners currently resided on New Alcatraz, along with a team of fifty well-armed guards, officers, a warden, and some office staff. The prisoners were a mix of males and females—the worst of Earth’s inmate population. The guards, officers, warden, and staff were all males.
WLO had recently discovered discrepancies in the accounting reports sent back to them. Not all the mined gold arrived on Earth at the designated destinations. A large amount had gone missing. That meant there were traitors and thieves among the prison’s staff members.
It was Twelve’s mission to root out the traitors and eliminate them. She would arrive on New Alcatraz undercover, taking over the position of mission and navigation coordinator. It would be her job to guide cargo ships into the docking bays, set departure times, and to coordinate the arrivals. The staff member manning the station and computer systems had been conveniently scheduled to return to Earth.
Her mission was not going to be a simple one. She had to mingle with the staff members, the warden, and his sergeants, and spy on them, then report her findings to Schultz. Easier said than done. She would be the only female staff member. Add the mechanical arm and tattoos covering one side of her face and body, and she’d stand out like a sore thumb.
Her thoughts drifted to her conversation with Schultz earlier that day.
“Doctor Schultz, I look so different, and I am a woman. Won’t that alert them?” she asked.
He gave her a sly smile and replied, “By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll look just fine. I have designed an arm for you to replace your present cybernetic limb, and your suit will cover you completely, hiding most of your tattoos except for the ones on your face.”
A tear slid down her cheek. All she wanted was to fade into nothingness, to disappear. To get out of this hellhole and live a normal life. The words Two had scribbled inside the palm of her real hand came to the forefront of her thoughts. Wrist implant poison. Death. Those words played through her mind daily. It was an escape of sorts but not the freedom she longed for.
A loud knock startled her, and Carol entered her room. “Doctor Schultz wants you to come to the lab right away.”
It was unusual. Trainees weren’t allowed to leave their rooms after lockdown. Curiosity got the better of her.
“For what?”
“Don’t waste time. The doctors are waiting.” Carol gave her an impatient stare and motioned for her to get off the bed.
Twelve reluctantly crawled off the bed and followed Carol out of her room, then to the medical wing.
Carol guided her to one of the dressing rooms. “Take your clothes off and change into a surgical gown.”
Clothes? Inwardly, Twelve snickered and stepped inside, shrugged off her scrap of clothing, then grabbed one of the folded disposable white gowns from the shelf and slipped it over her head. She almost burst out laughing. Even with her backside peeking through the slit in the back of the gown, it covered a lot more than the miniscule scrap of cloth she was required to parade around in on a daily basis. Why she could not wear training suits like the other girls, she had no clue.
Carol didn’t seem to notice her mirth when Twelve joined her in the hallway. The woman was all business, giving her a curt nod before leading her to the surgical wing.
They found Schultz and Schmidt in one of the operating theatres both dressed in full surgical gear, their masks hanging below their chin.
“There you are, Twelve. Get up on the gurney, please,” Schultz instructed her.
She hopped up on the gurney, shifting her feet to rest on the mattress and laid back. “What are you going to do?”
“Just some adjustments to your body. Relax.”
A sharp sting at her wrist drew her attention. Schmidt had inserted an intravenous catheter into her arm, then began attaching two bags of fluids and hung them from the hook at the head of the gurney.
Schultz patted her shoulder. “You won’t feel anything. You’ll sleep through the procedure.”
Questioning them was not an option. It would merely result in punishment. Twelve closed her eyes as the anesthetic began to take effect.
Chapter Two
The loud shrill of the breakfast bell pierced the fog in Twelve’s brain, waking her from her drug-induced sleep. She sat up, for a moment disoriented, nauseated, and waited for her vision to clear. The stark white walls of her room glared back at her. They must have brought her back to her room after whatever operation they’d done.
She shifted her feet to the floor and gripped the edge of the bed, then paused. Her prosthetic arm felt strange. Tingles raced from her shoulder to her fingertips, almost as if blood rushed through veins that had been denied circulation. She peered at the metal limb and gasped. It was gone! There was no metal, her arm looked real. An exact replica of her flesh and blood arm.
Raising her hand in front of her face, she closed her fingers into a tight fist, opened it, then wiggled her fingers. They moved just like her other hand. She gently brushed the skin of the arm and giggled. I can feel it. It feels just like my other arm. How bizarre.
A sharp knock at the door startled her from her thoughts. Carol burst into the room and gave her an impatient stare. “Good, you are awake.”
“Barely.” Twelve rubbed her face with her hands, not caring that she was completely naked or that Carol sounded irritated.
Carol marched up to Twelve, swiftly grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her to a standing position. “Get dressed and go to the mess hall quickly. When you are through with your breakfast, report to Doctor Schultz’s office. He is expecting you.”
Twelve shrugged off Carol’s hand. “My stomach is upset, and I need to use the bathroom.”
Carol stared at her a moment, then nodded curtly. “Don’t keep Doctor Schultz waiting.”
Twelve sighed in relief when the woman turned and left, then ran for the bathroom. Her stomach churned. No wonder. They had operated on her when she had a full stomach from dinner. Usually, they told the girls not to eat or drink anything before surgery. Her nausea subsided after she drank a full glass of water.
She hurriedly dressed, then made her way to the mess hall, her feet feeling like lead. This was the last time she’d be having breakfast there. Fuck! I’m not going to be able to escape this hellish life. Ever! Why send me to a penal colony? She sat at the table and toyed with her porridge. She couldn’t imagine the food being any different on New Alcatraz, after all, it was a stark and forbidding planet, they could hardly produce food there.
After barely eating her meal, she took her tray to the disposal, then made her way to Schultz’s office. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door. She knew she had taken her time, but the idea of being sent to that wasteland of a planet made her ill. The door opened right away.
“There you are. We have been waiting for you.” Schmidt stepped aside to allow her to enter. “Are you ready for your mission, Twelve?”
Schultz pushed his chair from the desk and stood. “No time to waste, we can talk on the way to the portal.”
“I suppose I’m ready, sir.” Twelve followed Schultz and Schmidt into the hallway.
“Just suppose?” Schultz peered down at her, his eyebrow raised.
“It won’t be an easy mission.” She let out a deep breath. “Spying on them to ferret out the traitors will take some time.”
“We are aware of that and don’t expect you to immediately discover who the culprits are.” Schultz closed and locked his office door. “Come now, the portal and your mission await.”
Schultz set such a brisk pace through the maze of hallways, Twelve barely noticed the red markings on the floor and signs on the walls signifying that they had entered a restricted area.
Schultz came to an abrupt halt in front of heavily guarded double doors, waved the guards aside, leaned down for a retinal scan and the doors swooped open.
She followed him inside an
d scanned the room. It looked to be a control room of some sort. Several people were stationed behind computers with floating monitors, and in the corner of the room, she saw what appeared to be a huge oval picture frame. Eerie lights flashed across the colorful surface within the center ring. She stood transfixed a moment, lost in the beauty of the swirling plasma and the winking starlight. So beautiful. She had never seen anything quite like it. It was almost magical if one believed in such fairytales.
“The portal is breathtaking isn’t it?” Schultz interrupted her thoughts. Twelve didn’t miss the proud, fanatical way he gazed at the contraption.
Schmidt cleared his throat. She had forgotten he had followed her and Schultz into the room. “Your equipment, as well as suitable attire and other necessities you will need for the duration of your stay has been packed. Among your supplies, you will find a one-way only communication bracelet to contact Doctor Schultz if you discover anything important. It is ornamental and looks like jewelry. Please use the com sparingly.” He gestured to a case that a young woman placed on the floor near the portal. “Once you arrive on the planet’s surface, change into one of the provided bodysuits I ordered for you.”
Twelve cringed. Damn, she hoped the clothing they had packed covered her body decently. “Why can’t I change now? Won’t I stand out this thing? Or worse, what if I am seen? I’d rather not be near naked in front of the whole prison.” She gestured to the skimpy outfit she was forced to wear.
“No one will see you. There is no personnel stationed at the coordinates of your arrival. They would die in a nanosecond.” Schultz pushed a set of oxygen plugs into her hand. “Put these on. After you set foot on New Alcatraz, be sure to breathe through your nose only. Do not open your mouth. Put them in your case after you enter the facility.”
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