by Bill Brewer
Tilting her gaze up, she set her elbow on the table and stroked her chin. “I suppose I’m the next highest ranking agent over here. I might have to assume an interim role until his replacement was dispatched.”
“How long would that take?’
“I don’t know, but it could be a while, especially since they have such a shortage of qualified people.”
With head in hand, Diegert tapped his finger on his chin. “And his name is Richard Ramsey?”
Diegert saw Carolyn’s eyes widen and her chin drop when he stated her boss’s name.
Looking at her for a moment, the intimacy they shared flashed through his mind, and he smiled at her. Carolyn composed herself and smiled back. He hoped she was recalling their time together in the shower as well.
“David,” she said, “I gotta go. I appreciate you sharing the information about your father. I’m not sure when we’ll be in touch again, but don’t let the money go to your head.”
She slid to the edge of the booth and gradually stood up. The slow movement caught Diegert’s eye, but he didn’t mention it. After she left, Diegert sat in the booth finishing his beer. He thought about the corrupting power of money and wealth. He didn’t have any experience with wealth. He’d learned to get along with little because that’s the way his life was. By the time he realized how poor his family was, he’d already formed a set of values that didn’t see the worth in all sorts of unnecessary possessions. He found enjoyment in nature and realized that happiness came from experiences in the natural world, not wanting things he couldn’t afford and really didn’t need. Could he keep this perspective when he was now living with the world’s richest man? He drained his beer and left the Red Rooster Inn as he searched the name Richard Ramsey on his phone.
CHAPTER 2
Fatima Hussain, whose strength, guile and cunning made her the best female operative Crepusculous ever had, sat on the floor of Javier Perez’s Sussex town house in London. Across from her sat her nine year old son Hamni, playing with Legos. Hamni’s autism made it difficult for him to communicate his thoughts, feelings and needs. He formerly resided in a special service group home, but after Diegert kidnapped him from the facility and delivered him to Fatima, he was now with his mom. The bond between mother and son ran especially deep. Whenever he was with her, his limitations seemed to disappear.
“What are you building?”
“An airplane.” Hamni held up his creation.
“Oh, okay. I can see it now. Does it fly in outer space?”
“It can fly around the moon and back.”
With a beaming smile Fatima lifted what she had made. “Mine is a house, where a family lives.”
“Are we going to live in that house?”
“I will build a house just like this one for you and me.”
“Really?”
“Well, we’ll see. I might have to build one a little bigger so we fit inside.”
Giggling she reached out and tweaked his shoulder.
“I don’t want to go back to that place I’ve been living. I want to stay with you.”
Fatima felt the weight of reality descending upon her. Scooching closer, she put her arm around him. “I know. I want that too.”
“Then let’s do it. I will stay with you.”
Hamni moved away and got busy clearing a spot on the floor.
“What are you doing?” asked Fatima.
“I’m going to make the big house you and I can live in.”
Fatima smiled at his industrious imagination. Watching him lay out the floor plan and arrange the blocks he would need, she contemplated their tenuous position. Javier Perez was Hamni’s father only because of a long ago one night stand of unprotected sex. He had not been aware of Hamni’s birth until Fatima, homeless and alone, forced him to acknowledge his paternity and use a tiny piece of his wealth to pay for Hamni’s residence in the special needs home. The deal was a tough bargain though, because in exchange she became an operative for Crepusculous. Her duties were directed and controlled by Aaron Blevinsky. She was moved to Romania, trained as an assassin and assigned to carry out lethal sanctions. Her determination and commitment made this stunningly attractive Pakistani Muslim woman an excellent killer of Crepusculous targets.
Now that David Diegert had “helped” free Hamni and deliver him to her, she was left with the responsibility of caring for him and figuring out how they would deal with their eventual discovery and the wrath of Blevinsky for her unexplained absence and the removal of Hamni from his residence. Fuck it, she thought, I am not going back, and I’m keeping my son with me.
“Hamni you keep working on the house, I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.”
The reply caught her off guard and her reaction to being called Mommy startled her. She was so surprised by the naturalness with which Hamni referred to her. She had missed that title for so long, she had to choke back a sob.
Down the massive staircase, she marched to find Javier stretched out on the couch watching televised futbol. She stood in front of the TV.
“Look, do you mind,” said Javier. “This is my team.”
“You soccer fans, you get so possessive.”
“Yeah, except this is my team. I own it, and I want to see my investment succeed. Now would you please move?”
Stepping to the side and sitting down next to him, Fatima waited until the halftime break. Grabbing the remote, she silenced the TV.
“Hamni and I need another place to live. He’s not going back to St. Andrews and I’m not going back to Blevinsky.”
Slowly and reluctantly turning his gaze upon her, Javier snorted as he said, “Well then what’s your plan?”
“Where else do you have a home?”
A bemused smile crept on to his lips. “You want to live in one of my other residences?”
Leaning in Fatima asked, “How many do you have?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“You mean besides having your son raised by his mother. We both know you’re no good at managing things. You may own the soccer team, but you don’t run the businesses well.” Pausing to let her assessment sink in, Fatima continued. “I can. I will be your behind the scenes brain. I will make you look smart and keep you from being manipulated into doing dumb things.”
“That’s your offer?”
Sliding closer to him, Fatima said in a seductive tone, “I will be the one person in this world with whom you can be honest.”
Javier’s look went from excited to resigned as her message sunk in.
She smiled. “Don’t look so sad. It’ll be fun and you won’t have to be a phony all the time. Hamni is a great kid. Your father will love his grandson. I won’t marry you and you can still screw around. What are the residence locations I have to choose from?”
Smirking Javier said, “Just like that, during the halftime of a futbol game, I’m to let you take over my life?”
“I’m not taking it over, but I am improving it. You will see that my skills and abilities go well beyond being an assassin. Of course, if you choose to be my enemy, I could kill you. It’s always an option.”
Fatima’s glare was lethal, before she let a pleasant smile return. “Look, I’m not going to interrupt your life of leisure, your gambling trips and your sexual escapades. In fact I’m the person who can guarantee that you can keep doing all those things.”
Javier’s questioning expression gave Fatima the opportunity for which she had hoped.
“You have no one who is invested in your continuing to be an overindulged playboy,” observed Fatima. “You need someone for whom your activities produce a mutual benefit. I can run the businesses while raising my son and keeping you enjoying the life to which you are accustomed.” She smiled at Javier and gently stroked his chin with the tip of her finger. “If I fail, I lose everything and I’m a homeless assassin with a son. But I will not fail and we will succeed by growing your father’s empire and remaining on top of the world.”
CHAPTER 3
Hearing his phone buzz, Diegert reached to his nightstand to pick it up. “Hello.”
“Good morning, David. This is Dr. Marie Zeidler.”
“Yes.”
“I’m calling you with news about your mother.”
“Yeah, is she okay?”
“Oh yes, she’s fine, but we’ve gotten some recent test results indicating that she has ovarian cancer.”
“What?”
“Ovarian cancer.”
“What does that mean?”
“Cancer of her ovaries.”
“I mean, what is going to happen to her? How bad is it? Is she going to be OK?”
“The diagnosis has been confirmed. There is no sign of metastasis. She is comfortable and free of pain. A treatment plan is being worked up at this time.”
“Holy shit! I can’t believe this.”
“I’m sorry this news is upsetting to you.”
“Yeah, I bet you are,” Diegert recalled how Dr. Zeidler was a no nonsense, by the book doctor whose cold hearted bedside manner left him feeling isolated and alone under her care in the medial unit when he was first brought to LPU. “When can I see her?”
“Visitation privileges are under the direction of Herr Panzer.”
“Of course they are. Listen, Doc, I want you to make sure she gets the best treatment possible. Everything this place has to fix cancer, I want used on her. Do not let her die from this.”
“The treatment plan will be configured when all diagnostic information is acquired. The plan will need to be authorized by Herr Panzer.”
Diegert sneered at the phone, realizing that once again Panzer had his mother’s life in his hands.
“All right, Dr. Zeidler, just make sure you live up to your oath, and make sure she gets better.”
“I will. Goodbye.”
Diegert listened to the call go dead. It was a literal rude awakening, to find out his mother had cancer. What a tough life she’d had. All the shit from Tom Diegert and the ostracism she suffered as a young parentless half-breed girl. Now this. Can’t this lady catch a break? It dawned on him though that if she were in Broward Minnesota, she might not be getting the kind of treatment she would get here. If you look, you can always find a silver lining.
His phone emitted the text chime.
David, my son, I’ve heard you are healing well. I would like to meet with you today. We have important business to discuss. Please reply indicating you will be at my office at 10:00 am. K. Panzer
Diegert thought it was weird how Panzer signed his texts, but he replied: OK.
Entering Panzer’s office, Diegert saw that Avery was already there. Taking a seat next to his mentor and across from his father’s position behind the desk, Diegert sensed he had been the topic of conversation. Panzer looked surprisingly well following his surgery. Diegert was of course familiar with Healix, and if all the other enhancements Panzer had mentioned on the flight to Lagos were combined with the rapid repair signals of the Creation Labs genetic modifier, it was no wonder that the gray-haired tyrant did not look like he had just returned from Africa with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
“David, Avery and I have been discussing our options for responding to what happened to us in Africa.”
“And you’ve come to some conclusions?”
“More or less, but I wanted to discuss them with you.” Panzer smiled at Diegert. “In the short term, Mr. Wei will continue to believe that his assassination succeeded. Before that ruse fails, I want to strike. I want to hit him before he realizes a threat exists.”
“Wait,” said Diegert, “won’t this rift destroy Crepusculous?”
“A valid concern, but remember what I told you, that keeping your enemies close gives you the opportunity to know them and control them. I’ve structured the business of Crepusculous to survive personnel interruptions. We will be okay.”
“The Chinese have already called in the U.S. debt. They’ve played that hand,” offered Avery.
“Mr. Wei tried to kill you and me, but he is himself a family man. He’s a devoted father especially to his two sons, Qiang and Shing. We are going to strike him where it’ll hurt the most.”
Panzer paused while he and Avery looked at Diegert.
“How?”
“You are going to kill his son Qiang.”
From son to assas-son, thought Diegert as the sting and the surge of being sent on a mission, tingled down his spine.
“How?” he asked again.
Panzer clicked a remote, filling the large screen TV with an image of a handsome young Asian man.
“This is Qiang. He and the family will be celebrating the Chinese New Year during the annual Spring Festival.”
The screen changed to show a picture of another good looking Asian guy.
“This is Qiang’s friend Jian. He’s scheduled to visit Qiang on the second day of the festival. You will become Jian.”
Again Panzer paused. He and Avery gazed at Diegert, whose furrowed forehead and lowered eyebrows formed a questioning look.
Avery broke the silence. “Do you remember when you and your father first met… in the medical facility?”
Diegert’s raised eyebrows were unaccompanied by a verbal reply.
Panzer interjected, “You remember how you killed me?”
Diegert nodded, recalling how Klaus had an actor undergo a nanocytic face alteration in order to portray him and assess David’s feelings toward his father.
“We will use the same technology on your face, giving you the appearance of Jian. He’ll take the blame for killing Qiang. When the mission is over, we’ll convert your face back again,” said Panzer matter of factly.
“Tell me again how the face change works?”
“There is a whole lot of complex protein structure physiology, but the real tech is the genetic manipulation of the cells by nanocytes being directed by an app.”
“And I would have to have these nanocytes put in me?”
Through a mischievous grin Panzer said, “They’re already there.”
Diegert’s furrowed brow deepened.
“We introduced them while you were in medical. Remember the nanocytes can do a lot. All your physiological processes can be monitored by the data they send to the medical computers. It’s standard procedure in LPU.”
With a slight snort, Diegert said, “No positive consent required.”
“We’re not bound by HIPPA laws.”
Diegert looked at the veins in his forearms. “You know I got a wake-up call from Dr. Zeidler this morning.”
“About your mother,” said Panzer.
“Yes.”
“A diagnosis of cancer raises a great deal of uncertainty.”
“It certainly does. What I want is a promise that you will make sure she gets the best treatment all your money, technology, and authority can provide. I want you to make sure she does not die.”
“You are an amazingly loyal son,” said Panzer. “A trait which I highly admire. You successfully complete this mission, and I will make you the promise for which you’ve asked.”
Filling the silence with determined thought, Diegert said, “I want the rest of the diagnostic tests scheduled, and I want to talk to her before I go.”
“It will be arranged,” came the German accented reply.
“When do I go?”
“Three days from now will be the second day of the Chinese New Year. Qiang will hold a celebration that night to greet his many friends. Avery will prep you with mission details. Your facial transformation will take place in medical.”
/> Eyes moved from face to face as the conversation paused.
“Son, what you will accomplish will not only avenge the attempts that were made on our lives, but your success will tip the balance of global power from Asia back to us. Your success insures ours. Being with you in Africa, I know I can count on you.”
Avery stood up. “Come on, David. We’ve got some things to go over.”
Crossing the room with Avery, Diegert stopped at the door, turned to Panzer and said, “When I get back, I get my face back?”
“When you get back, you can have any face you want.”
CHAPTER 4
Crepusculous operators in China were able to gather intel on the Wei family’s plans for celebrating the New Year with the Spring Festival. In China, the New Year is celebrated from the 15th to the 25th day of the month of February. Each day has specific traditions. On the third day, known as the Spring Festival, it’s traditional to receive friends who visit and celebrate. Crepusculous spies discovered that Jian would be visiting Qiang on the second day of the festival. The Wei family was planning a celebration to receive all the friends who would be calling on them. Diegert learned of this from Avery as he was briefed on the schematic of the Wei’s home where the party would take place and the critical steps necessary to pull off the extraction plan. Avery also said, “You will be meeting with Ms. Li Wu and Mr. Zhang Yong who will familiarize you with Chinese customs. You cannot learn all there is to know about China in the time we have, but you can at least learn not to make the most obvious mistakes.”
“Right. I don’t know a single word of Chinese.”
“Understood, and it is probably better that you not try to fake it. You will be meeting with Ms. Li and Mr. Zhang after your face change, but they will not know your appearance has been altered, so this will give you some practice portraying someone else.”
“Okay.”
“Why don’t you head over to medical?”
At the LPU Medical facility, Diegert was greeted by Hiram Bellsworth.
“Hello, Mr. Diegert. I don’t know if you remember me. I’m the PA who gave you some treatment at the Headquarters facility in Romania.”
