The scenarios changed with Archangel on our team. We would rush forward, with him covering us from a ways back. Then he'd run to catch up. Sometimes we had to wait for him, like if we were turning a corner, but in general, his accuracy was uncanny. His bullets often hit right before I squeezed off a round.
One day we were having breakfast, and Archangel whispered, "The sniper always dies first."
RedCat laughed.
I shook my head.
Zen reached over and squeezed Archangel's hand.
"I'm ready to die," he said.
"You can't be serious," I said. "There are no more odds that you'll die than any of us will die."
"Allah awaits me."
Until that time, I never knew Archangel was religious. Still, he was a good shot. He could follow the spaghetti monster god in the sky for all I cared. They tried to get me to fall for Catholicism when I was a kid, and I generally figured out on my own that these holy books were written by men. Did I believe in an afterlife? Did I believe in a great judgment? I knew I'd never know the answer until I died. His words got me thinking though. Was I ready to die? To this day, I felt like I lived a full life. I experienced life in all its glory. If I died tomorrow, I could say I lived well.
"We have a year and a half of school left. You can't die just yet," I said. "Plus, hopefully you're not a virgin like RedCat. I wouldn't want to die a virgin."
"Dick," RedCat said with a vicious hiss.
"He's not a virgin," Zen said.
I looked from him to her. He let out a little chuckle and grabbed for her hand. She pulled away and then slapped him.
Nancy got up from where she was quietly eating and approached our table. She smiled at us. "You have just over one year of school left."
The four of us nodded like a group of yes-men.
"We're a little short staffed right now, due to budget cuts," she said.
We looked at each other.
The look on her face was odd, like she was trying to control her glee. "I have your mission parameters back in my office. Let's go take a look."
The four of us stood up, took our trays to the receptacles, and followed her out of the cafeteria. We entered her office, and there were no chairs. We stood in a row, at attention.
Nancy punched a few buttons on her computer. "We're now recording. This briefing and every briefing you'll ever have will be recorded. The cameras in the corners of the room are running too. Do you understand?"
We said, "Yes, ma'am."
"Now, we know your training isn't complete, but among the recruits, your scores are highest, and your instructors think you're ready. Professor Mathew will join your troop, and act as leader."
I resisted the urge to groan.
Nancy continued, "The MindBender drug that cost so many of our agents' lives is still a great enigma to us. We need to learn how to fabricate it, and that means we need either a recipe, or we need a large enough stockpile of the drug to synthesize it. We have a double agent inside Centurian's organization who believes the chemical is being manufactured at a small facility in a farming community in Alabama. We want you to investigate this manufacturing facility, and secure either the recipe or a large enough quantity for us to replicate it. Do you have any questions?"
Archangel spoke first, "Are we required to take prisoners?"
"This is a scorch and burn. Kill them all."
Archangel whistled.
Nancy said, "Questions?"
I said, "When do we start?"
"Professor Mathew is already in the truck. Garage A. He's waiting for you."
The four of us nodded.
"You're accepting this mission?" Nancy asked. "With the clear knowledge you may die?"
Each of us said, "I accept."
"The clock is ticking."
We ran. Because that's what we do when the clock is ticking.
Chapter Nine
Nancy shouted after us, "Garage A!"
I stopped and changed direction. My first thought had been to go to the armory. Instead, I pushed a button for an elevator. Archangel shouted, "Stairs!"
RedCat raced for the stairs, too. Zen stopped next to me and punched the elevator button over and over. It was six flights up to Garage A, and I'm pretty sure the elevator was quicker. Zen and I made it to a running van, and I shouted, "Shotgun!"
"Bitch," she said.
I hopped in the front seat, and she climbed in the back. RedCat and Archangel joined us, and Mathew punched the gas down hard. The tires chirped, and we were off.
"Your gear is already on board," Mathew said as he took a curve so sharp the van threatened to tilt over. He was driving fast, zipping past other cars like they were stopped. "We have to get to the plane."
"How long is the flight?" I asked.
"A couple of hours. Use the gas pedal!" He shouted at some driver in the fast lane, then he ditched around that car utilizing the emergency lane. We had open freeway, and he pushed the gas down and kept it down. The speedometer only went to 140, and it was buried. The van was solid on the road though, like it could happily go faster. The engine wasn't even loud. I didn't think we were in our last gear yet. Signs for the airport dotted the highway, and Mathew had no choice but to slow down.
He turned the vehicle down a service roadway and punched the gas again. We pulled right up into the bowels of a plane. "Get out. Secure the truck."
I hooked a chain under the bottom of the van, and the plane jerked into motion. The five of us sat on benches. The craft took to the heavens.
"We know very little," Mathew said.
All our eyes were on him.
"There might be ten men. There might be a hundred," Mathew said the words quiet, like he was worried somebody might overhear. "The buildings are old, with glass windows. Archangel will be stationed outside, alone."
Archangel nodded and smiled like a squirrel carrying three acorns.
"You're trained to use breather masks with helmets, and while it's a very hot day, you'll be wearing the apparatus." Mathew closed his eyes and leaned back. "Get some rest."
"Rest?" RedCat asked.
"That's an order, and you're under my command."
"He says rest, we rest," Zen said.
My mind raced. I found a nice spot on a comfortable bench to lay down and let my mind wander. No warning. No graduation ceremony. First mission. I sat up and opened my eyes. Archangel, RedCat, and Zen were all sitting upright, staring straight forward.
Mathew groaned. "Fine." He pulled an old, worn deck of cards out of his pocket and tossed it onto the floor of the cargo plane.
Zen grabbed it up. "Euchre is first. Boys versus girls."
"Hey!" RedCat said.
"I meant me and RedCat against you two."
We played cards for a while. The plane started to descend, and I nudged Mathew awake. He let out a low little growl like an angry ferret. "Strap in," he said.
We found our seat belts and buckled up. The plane touched down. "Into the van," Mathew said.
I used to think of Mathew as a nice, patient fellow. I never imagined he'd be barking orders like a hardened veteran. I followed his orders for sure, but I never saw that in him before that day. He drove the van out of the plane like a man running from a huge fire. We zipped down freeway and then country roads. More than once, he passed across a double yellow line. He pulled off onto a dirt road and stopped.
"Armaments," he said.
Leather jackets were waiting for us. Archangel had his sniper rifle with two extra twenty round magazines. I put on my holster and fed four extra magazines into the slots on the belt. It was easily eighty degrees, but we zipped up our jackets. The helmets with air supply backpacks went on last. The breathing apparatus was Chor'Tan technology. It relied on solid air that it would melt and vaporize as we breathed. I asked Nancy if I could have one to take apart, and she let me see the designs instead. The others were already walking away. I raced to catch up.
Mathew set a mean pace for us through trees. The glin
t of the sun off windshields danced between the foliage. There was a parking lot with cars, and an old wooden structure. Well, three structures, but one was clearly a house or office building, and while there were windows, there were also curtains. The other two structures had windows lining their walls. Big windows, most of which slanted open.
"Choose your spot," Mathew said.
Archangel pointed. "That truck. I'll stand in the bed and fire over the roof."
"Good. Don't shoot anything until we do."
I didn't like this. We were sitting ducks, and we were just going to walk up to the front door. No guards? Nobody watching the front?
"Let's run," I said.
Mathew took off like a cannon right at the front door. The rest of us, minus Archangel, followed. Mathew jerked open the front door, and I plugged a man who looked up from a terminal of some kind. I was first through the door, and there were three more men drawing guns. They looked like they hadn't showered or shaved for days, like combs were not in their equipment packs. I got the center one, while RedCat shot the left one, and Zen took out the right. Blood splattered everywhere, but those men didn't last long. Archangel's boom stick echoed through the building. It wasn't a lab at all, but a series of computer terminals. We ran through to the door at the end of the room.
Mathew kicked this door open and started squeezing off rounds. All four of us did. Machine gun fire raked across Mathew's chest, and he went down. I didn't have time to check on him. This next room was definitely a lab. They had numerous boiling pots on tables. Jars full of both clear liquid and murky liquid. Canisters of white and blue powder. There was another door at the end of the building. Zen was checking on Mathew. Eight bodies dotted the room. Eight pools of blood. Mathew let out a snarl and pushed himself off the ground. He wasn't even bleeding.
Chapter Ten
I was paying more attention to the doorway at the end of the hall. RedCat watched the other direction. An arm dodged into my view and threw a grenade right at my head. It was an old USA WWII style pineapple frag grenade. It may as well have been stopped. My heart thumped like never before. I raised my gun and shot that grenade. It exploded in a great ball of white fire and black smoke. Two men stepped into the doorway, wearing dirty one-piece jumpsuits made of some brown fabric, and I cut them down.
RedCat was shooting rounds behind us. Archangel's gun was firing with perfectly uniform pauses between each shot, like he was more machine than man. I didn't want to stay in this room. We were surrounded by chemicals and toxins. A fire burned in some old hay on the floor, ignited by the grenade. I shouted, "Move!" And ran towards the open door. I didn't look back to see if the others followed me. I poked my head through that door, and a bullet hit me right on the helmet. Jumping down low, I started spending rounds in that direction. Three men. I got two. Zen got the last.
Archangel's gun went silent. I shouted his name. "I got no targets, boss," he said.
I almost laughed at being called boss. Mathew looked dazed. Blood dribbled from under his helmet. "One building left," I said and pointed.
I took the lead towards it. This was the building with curtains over each window. RedCat covered our rear, and Zen helped Mathew. I guess I was on point. Didn't mind. Being in the front was good. I kicked the door as hard as I could trying to crash it in. It didn't cave. Zen said, "Pussy."
"You do it," I said.
"Try the knob."
The knob turned. I pulled the door open. The hinges didn't even squeak. The building was empty, except for one thing. Stairs leading down into the dirt floor. Lights lined the tunnel. There were rafters across the ceiling of the hole, but it was dirt, and it could cave at any time.
"Too risky," Mathew said.
"I say we go down," RedCat said.
Zen let out a little hiss. "Mathew needs a medic. Let's sweep the rest of the buildings, call in the cavalry. Think this through."
I grabbed my white phosphorous grenade and pushed the button on it. I threw it into that hole as hard as I could. A chain of explosions echoed. The ground collapsed downward, in a line leading away from the structure. "Follow the cave-in," I said.
Mathew laughed. Archangel joined us. I took the point. Zen let Mathew lean on her, but he seemed to want to know what was at the end of the tunnel. We followed it for about fifty meters into woods. Then a square section of ground was caving in, with a depressed line going off in the other direction. "We'll get bulldozers in here and dig this section up," Mathew said.
We followed the cave in until it stopped. Then we went down a hill and found a two meter wide concrete pipe stretching out of the hill onto a stream. We went back to the complex of buildings. Mathew left us to our sweeps. All that was left there was bodies. Four undamaged computers and the chemistry lab. The fire in the lab already burned itself out. Mathew called for police and ambulances. We went back to the van. Mathew threw the keys at me. "Drive."
I drove. Not fast like Mathew had, but fast enough to know we had an injured man. His bleeding had stopped, but we needed our medics to look at him. Better to not explain to the locals exactly what we were doing there. We'd very quietly grab the data off the hard drives from their computer systems. Part of me thought we should work more closely with the local authorities, but they'd show up with cameras and recorders, and we'd all lose the secrecy of our faces.
Archangel sat next to me in the van. Zen and RedCat were in the row behind me. Mathew was way in the back, but he was sitting up, with his helmet and jacket off. He had a bandage pressed against his skull, but there was no blood. Zen leaned over and kissed RedCat on the cheek. "You did good," she whispered.
"They should have called me Bad Cat instead of RedCat."
I laughed loud and bright. All four of us were bad. We just took on over five to one odds and walked away with a scratch. I pulled into the local Agency structure, and a pair of medics met our truck in the parking lot. They brought a wheelchair for Mathew, and he growled. "I can walk."
The rest of us didn't know what to do. I walked up to a terminal and paged Nancy.
She said, "Report."
"Mission accomplished," I said. "Professor Mathew was injured."
"You found a lab? The police report said they found four computers."
"We kicked their asses," RedCat said.
"Good," Nancy said. "Stay there until Mathew can travel, then return to base."
We spent the night in rooms similar to our dorm rooms back at headquarters. I didn't sleep. Blood splatters and dead bodies plagued me. I shot a grenade out of the air? How did I do that? Was that not crazy? I shot them in the grasp of enemy targets in simulations, so I guess shooting one that was coming right at me wasn't a big deal.
The next day Mathew met us for breakfast. "Let's go home."
I slept on the plane ride home. All four of us did. Mathew played solitaire.
Chapter Eleven
I stepped into my room back home. Email from Nancy was waiting, plus five voice mails from Ussilla. The email from Nancy said simply, debriefing at 3pm. I called Ussilla.
"You didn't call! You didn't email!" She said with a quivering voice.
"It's not allowed," I said.
"You could have called or emailed after the mission was complete."
I hadn't thought of that.
"You could have sent a short, 'On a mission, wish me luck, love you!' message, too," she said.
Could I have done that? I guess that would have been within regulation. Wait? Since when did I tell Ussilla I loved her? Our relationship was almost entirely physical. We had sex. We had dinners together, but with my training and classes schedules, we hardly ever spent time together. I realized I had paused for a really long time, too long. "I do love you, babe, but this was my first mission. You've got to forgive me. I was just too excited and scared to send any messages."
And I had forgotten the rules about sending messages while on a mission.
The bitch laughed loud and bright. "I was messing with you, anyhow, Bear. You're an a
gent first, and my fuck-toy, second."
This was the first time she summed up our relationship so callously. An earthling would never say such a thing. Oh, who was I kidding, I bet human females had boy toys, too. I wanted to be in love, but was it something I'd be chasing forever? Again, awkward silence. "I'll see you tonight," Ussilla said. "Congrats on your first mission."
Mathew, Archangel, RedCat, Zen, and myself went through the debriefing. The helmets we wore that day had cameras in them, so the debriefing was pointless. Nancy asked questions. We answered them.
She asked us how we slept after the battle. The lot of us got real quiet.
Mathew said, "Like a baby."
"Likewise," Zen said.
"Yeah," RedCat and Archangel said in unison.
I did my best nod and smile routine. My sleep was plagued by images of blood and bodies that first night. Nancy ended the debriefing, and we were leaving. I said, "Mathew?"
He stopped walking in the hallway and turned to face me. He had stitches over one eye but was otherwise surefooted.
"How do you become a teacher?" I asked.
Mathew reached out, touched my arm, and squeezed. "For me, I finished my ten missions, and I said no to retiring. They agreed and kept me on."
"Are there other ways?"
"Some teachers the Agency uses went to school for a long time, but most are agents."
"Ussilla?" I asked.
Mathew winked at me. "Ask her your damn self. You see her often enough."
I hadn't realized we were that obvious. It's not like we hid. Mathew turned and left.
RedCat had stopped walking when I stopped Mathew. "According to the report you shot a grenade out of the air," RedCat said.
"Gut reaction," I said.
"Likely saved all our lives."
I shrugged.
RedCat punched me on the arm. "Next time, shoot it while it's still in their hand."
"I'll keep that in mind."
I made love slow and patient with Ussilla that night. We lay next to each other afterwards. "Were you an agent?" I asked.
Codename: Bear: Secret Agent (Codename Universe Book 1) Page 4
