by Colin Weldon
“We’ve got to stop meeting like this Eddie; people will start to talk,” Nora said, gracefully taking a seat opposite him.
Eddie kept his hand on his cup. He thought about going for his gun. For some reason he hesitated.
He looked around the coffee shop at people just beginning their daily routines without the slightest idea of the danger they were in. He let his eyes flick back to Nora Stone and slowly put his cup back on the table.
“Don’t Eddie. By the time you’ve reached for it, I’ll have snapped your neck in two,” said Nora.
“Ok,” he said, keeping his voice as low as hers, conscious of the old man at the end of the counter.
Nora glared at Eddie. Her gaze was intense. Controlled. It was literally like facing down a jaguar in the wild, while the animal considered whether to make you its next lunch. Nora tapped her index finger on the table.
“Well now, I can’t say that I’ve ever had such an easy target in my life. It’s kind of embarrassing for you, isn’t it?” Nora said.
“Like I said, I wasn’t sent to kill you. I don’t do that kind of work any more,” Eddie said.
Nora leaned forward in her seat. She shook her head ever so slightly.
“Try the coffee. I make a mean espresso,” Nora replied.
Eddie looked at the small cup of coffee.
“It’s not poisoned, I promise,” Nora said smiling.
Eddie looked back at her.
“I can’t let you kill him,” he said to her.
“I already told you that I have no intention of killing anyone who doesn’t get in my way. It’s Tarsis you should be worried about,” Nora said, pausing, and obviously deciding not to continue her train of thought.
The tension between the two was palpable. Eddie was still floored at the ease with which he had been ambushed yet again.
“Ok cut the shit – what the hell is happening? You’ve made your point. If you wanted to kill me you could have done a million times by now. You want me alive for a reason, so what the fuck is it?” Eddie said getting angry.
Nora smiled.
“You have nice eyes,” she said.
Eddie looked at her, baffled.
“Ok?” he replied.
“Under different circumstances I would consider you quite an attractive man,” Nora said.
She tapped her inhuman fingers against the table then suddenly pulled back and reached for something inside a pocket in her trousers. Eddie whipped his arm back and rested his hand on his gun.
“Relax Eddie, I am not going to shoot you in a coffee shop,” she said.
Eddie felt an odd sense of familiarity with her and somehow knew that she meant what she said. Nora placed her hand in her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She placed it on the table and kept her hand on it.
Out of the corner of his eyes he watched the other customers and made a note of how close he was to the exit. Nora looked out of the window and took a slow breath.
“He’s going after the president,” she said turning back and locking eyes with him.
Eddie froze.
“What?” he tilted his head and frowned.
“Tarsis, he’s going to kill him, It’s the beginning of an invasion and their going to use people like me Eddie, like my little girl to launch it. They used me, used my body, my mind and now they want to do the same to her. I don’t know why but there’s something in your eyes Eddie, a pain that I recognise. Tarsis is just the beginning.
Eddie was stunned, his mouth had fallen open.
“Jesus.”
Nora raised an eyebrow.
“Jesus has nothing to do with it, I can assure you. These people are above all that nonsense. I’ve killed so many, so many faces and for what? This is not a war against enemy you can see or defeat. It’s a war for war’s sake. I was made to control the world. Tarsis was made for the same purpose but he won’t sit down and have a nice little chat like we can, Eddie. He is far less human than me,” she said, “and therefore far more powerful.”
Eddie looked down at the piece of paper on the desk and flicked his eyes back up to her.
“Come in with me,” Eddie said, “I can protect you.”
She looked at him and smiled. It seemed natural. She was actually quite beautiful.
“That’s cute, Eddie, but we both know that’s not true. I have to go now and do what I need to do,” she said sliding the piece of paper across to him.
He turned it over. It was a series of numbers. There must have been at least twenty. He looked back at Nora and shrugged, waiting for her to tell him what this was all about.
“That’s the deactivation sequence for the explosive I placed in the bathroom behind the service area,” she said.
Eddie clocked the brown door with the toilet sign above it. He looked back at Nora who was glancing at her watch.
“You have about four minutes before it goes off,” she said standing up.
Eddie’s mind raced through his options..
“Shit,” he said grabbing his gun and pointing at her head.
“Don’t fucking move!” he shouted.
The response from the customers was immediate. Eddie heard the crash of a coffee cup on the ground.
“Pistolet!” shouted the old man with the cap as bodies scrambled for the door.
Nora froze. Eddie cocked the trigger back and prepared to fire.
“You’re coming with me,” Eddie said to her.
Nora took a step towards him.
“Eddie, you’re running out of time. You’re not going to shoot me.. We are not that dissimilar, you and I. However, you have something that was taken from me. Honour. You are not a cold-blooded killer Eddie. I am.” she said turning her back and walked towards the door. She looked back at him.
“You really are quite handsome,” she said smiling.
The coffee shop was now empty and Eddie could hear shouting on the street.
“Don’t move, Nora,” Eddie shouted.
“You’re wasting time, Eddie, I’ll see you soon, no doubt,” Nora said.
Eddie’s hand shook as he fought his instinct to shoot. He simply could not pull the trigger.
“Fuck!” he shouted and ran towards the bathroom door.
It was a simple enough room with a single white toiled and small sink beside it. He got down on his knees and began looking around the cistern. He ran his fingers along the back of the main tank and felt it. He lowered himself onto his right shoulder and shuffled towards the back wall so that he could see it. His heart began to pound as he saw the little red blinking light attached the black box. There was a small digital readout counting down over a square keypad with numbers.
“Fuck,” he whispered to himself as he pulled out the piece of paper and looked at the keypad again.
The timer had one minute twelve seconds on it. Without hesitation he began entering in the sequence. There were sounds of little beeps from the keypad with each press. He worked steadily through the digits until there was a sudden double beep as he pressed a five. It sounded like an error. The timer read fifty two seconds.
“Fuck it,” he said looking back down at the numbers.
The number half way through the sequence had looked like a five. Eddie decided that it was in fact a six. He looked back at the timer. Twenty-three seconds. He began entering the numbers again from the beginning. His earpiece suddenly bleeped. He tapped his cellphone, hanging up on whoever it was.
Eddie felt a bead of sweat make its way down the side of his face. He felt his heart pound even faster and tried to stay focused. Eleven seconds. He took long controlled breaths as he reached the end of the sequence. Six seconds. He punched in the last number and looked at the timer. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two. It was not stopping. He let the breath out of his lungs for what he thought he was the last time. He
had failed. It had not worked. He felt a profound sadness consume his body and let it go as he closed his eyes and waited for it.
Nothing.
He opened his eyes and looked at the timer. Zero seconds. He exhaled, suddenly realising that he had stopped breathing. He frowned and kept his eyes on the timer. It still read zero seconds.
“What the…?” he whispered.
Eddie reached up to the small box, pulling it straight off the cistern. It was held in place by a small magnet. He turned it over and saw the back was open. He looked inside and saw a small piece of paper attached with a thin strip of tape.. No explosive, no wires. He took the paper and unfolded it. It was a note:
Dear Eddie, sorry about that but I needed a few minutes to get away. I’m sure you understand. I knew you wouldn’t pull the trigger. I’m sure you would have been well able to diffuse this “bomb” so don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t be a scapegoat. Make a difference. We’re just the distraction. Stop hunting me.
N
p.s. Sorry for what happened to your team in Syria.
Semper Fi.
Eddie couldn’t help but smile. He laid his head on the bathroom floor and placed the fake device on his chest.
“You bitch,” he said as he broke out into a laugh.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was Millar who had called during Nora’s distraction. Eddie was now standing outside the coffee shop and was in the middle of calling him back.
“Conrad?” Millar said
“Miller, we have a real problem here. I think Royo’s gonna be hit,” He said.
Eddie looked up and down the street. He moved quickly, breaking into a jog back to the ally where the car was.
“What’s your Intel?” Miller replied,
Eddie thought the reply was odd. He stopped for a moment and looked around. He reached the other side of the street, dodging a car that nearly clipped him in the process.
“You, Nora Stone and my team, along with anyone else over there who’s in on it,” Eddie replied.
“Have you made contact with her in Paris?” Miller said.
There was definitely something off in his tone. It gave Eddie a bad feeling.
“Yeah, you could say that, Miller., I don’t know who’s pulling the strings on this one, but I swear I’ll find out,” Eddie said suddenly realising that it sounded like a threat.
There was silence on the other side of the line.
“Hang on,” Millar said.
There was a long high-pitched tone on the other side of the line.
“Conrad, this line is now secure., I want to know everything you do right now,” Miller said.
Eddie rounded a corner and began running down a side street. He could see the car parked just at the end of it.
“I just told you,” Eddie said checking his surrounding.
“Conrad, the next time you take that shot,” said Miller.
Eddie slowed up and moved towards the car. He nodded at Hiran and Abigail and put his finger up to his lips. There were six small drones sitting on the curbside. Hiran looked at Eddie and gave him a thumbs up.
“Where’s Wise?” Eddie said catching his breath.
“He’s unavailable,” Miller said.
“Well find him,” Eddie said, “I need to speak to him asap.”
There was no answer.
“Miller?” Eddie said to the dead line, “fuck.”
He glanced at Abigail.
“Miller knows where we are?” Abigail asked.
Eddie took a high-powered rifle out of the satchel and placed it on the ground.
“Yep, would seem so, oh and I just had coffee with Nora Stone. She says hi, by the way,” he said turning his attention back to the trunk full of equipment and weaponry. Abigail and Hiran went silent. Eddie looked back at Hiran.
“Those birds ready?” he asked.
“Wait – what? You saw her? What happened Eddie?”
Eddie put his hand up. He raised a quering eyebrow at Hiran.
“Eh…yeah, they’re good to go,” Hiran said.
“Then get them up there for fuck’s sake,” Eddie said turning back to Abigail.
“She says there’s gonna be a hit on Royo. She then had me defuse a fake bomb in a toilet while she casually left, ye know. Just chit chat really,” Eddie said turning back to the satchel. “Where is this damn thing?” he whispered to himself.
The sounds of small propeller blades echoed against the brick walls as Hiran launched the small drones straight up into the air and sent them on their way.
“How much flying time we got?” Eddie said.
“About an hour,” Hiran said reaching into the trunk.
“If you will allow me,” he continued.
Hiran lifted the satchel of weapons out of the trunk and opened the floor compartment. Eddie looked down and saw the device he had been looking for. He smiled and nodded at Hiran.
“Good man, now get me a patch through to Todd Holt.” He turned to Abigail. “Help me put this on will you?”
Abigail took a breath and nodded.
The device that Gordon had provided, as a courtesy, was an impressive-looking piece of kit. It resembled a flak jacket but it was much thinner. It looked like it was made of translucent chain mail. There were two fingerless gloves attached to each end. Gordon had called it ‘Battle Armour’. Eddie removed his jacket and turned his back to Abigail as she tried to figure out which was the front and which the back. Eddie carefully slipped his arms through the sleeves and pulled the jacket over his shoulders. It was thin and light and Eddie noted that it felt like putting a thin cashmere cardigan. He slipped his hands into the gloves and connected the fastening buckles along its breast. This was no ordinary armour, or so Gordon had told them. At the click of a button the nano circuitry sent a pulse of charged particles through its composite structure, which was a mixture of carbon and another substance which, Gordon said, was “classified.” The charge reorganised the molecular structure of the material, making it virtually impenetrable and increasing its torque and user’s strength by a factor of six. After seeing what his own government was capable of, Eddie decided to believe Gordon without question.
He sealed up the front by way of several small interlocking clips and straightened his shoulders. He looked down at his gloved hands.
“Ok, let’s turn it on and let’s see what this baby can do,” said Hiran.
A raised circular section protruding out from Eddie’s right gloved hand. He pressed down lightly with his thumb and felt a rush of energy as it flowed in small regular motions around his upper torso. He raised his arm. It felt light. He rolled his shoulders around freely. There was a brick wall behind the car. He looked back at Hiran and placed one of his hands against its rough surface. He clenched his right hand into a fist and gently tapped one of the bricks. Or at least that what it had intended to do. The brick instantly broke. There was a thud followed by a crunching sound. Eddie frowned.
“What the…?” he whispered to himself.
Hiran looked impressed. Eddie, regarded the wall for a second or two then drew back his arm and hit it as hard as he could. There was a cracking sound as his fist impacted and disappeared through. He could feel the empty space behind it. He pulled back. There was a small cut on one of his fingers but that was it. Eddie smiled and looked back at Hiran.
“Ok, I want one of those,” Hiran said.
“Hiran, I need to speak to Todd Holt, doesn’t matter now if they find us or not, get me a line and patch me through,” Eddie said.
Hiran nodded as the trio opened the car doors and got in. Abigail sat in the front passenger seat with Hiran in the back. Eddie turned on the engine and began driving slowly down the alleyway.
“Eh, if I were you I would deactivate that body armour; you could pull the steering wheel off if you’re not car
eful,” said Abigail.
Eddie nodded.
“Good point,” he said tapping his thumb into the palm of his hand.
He felt a gentle release around his body and the world suddenly felt a little heavier.
“You got Holt yet?” Eddie said.
“Jeez, give me like more than fifteen seconds will you?” Hiran said.
Eddie restrained himself from snapping back.
“You got your earpiece in?” Hiran asked.
Eddie checked. It was there.
“Ok, I have isolated their frequency, but this may take a minute, I need to log in to the data base and find out the exact code for Holt’s earpiece, otherwise the whole world will be listening in,” Hiran said.
Eddie tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He looked out at morning traffic that was beginning to flow and then thought about what Nora Stone had said. Eddie wondered whether or not any of them would be alive by the end of the day.
Washington
Director Wise waited for the computer to make the connection with the base in Nevada. He sipped his coffee and tried to remember the last time he had slept. Miller had just informed him that both Nora Stone and Eddie Conrad were still alive. The air strike had failed. He took some solace in the fact that maybe she really had gone insane and wanted to kill the president herself. That would be handy. The computer bleeped and Shaw’s face filled the screen.
“Director,” he said.
“Report,” Wise said.
