1 + 2

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  "Why did you throw the grenade so close to us?" Bentley looked to the other S.C.Ms. "You should have waited till we were clear; you've killed them."

  She lightly smacked him on the cheek twice. "I didn't want to waste the explosive only on the Un-Men. You know the saying, why drop one egg when you can drop two?"

  "I don't understand," he said.

  "Maybe you'll understand this..." Stephanie removed the cigar from her mouth and placed the Cuban in Bentley's. "One for the road." She stood and shot him in the heart then made her way to the remaining men.

  "Oh my Zeus! Stephanie, what have you done?" Robert questioned.

  "What I was told." She grinned, aimed for Dr. Seeker, then changed aim and shot Charles between the eyes, and the assistant slumped to the floor then blood pooled around his face.

  "Hades! She's here to destroy the station," John said, backing up against a wall. "I take it you work for the Council?"

  "She's here to kill us?" Robert blurted and shook his head. "No, my work."

  "Yes, I work for the Council," Stephanie answered. "And I'm here to secure Vulcan Station, but I'm not here to kill you two."

  "You aren't going to kill us?" Robert sounded relieved.

  "No." She motioned with her weapon for them to go into a small lab, and Stephanie closed and locked the door once they entered and then turned to them. "The Council said to leave you two alive, that your work could be valuable to them." She leaned the assault rifle against a wall and walked over to a table, and there she found a laser cutter that was used to slice the ice cores into pieces. She tested it on the table, and the laser burned small holes into the top. "But they said nothing about torture." Stephanie made her way to them.

  "Be reasonable," John said. "If you hurt us, why would we work for the Council?"

  "Fear," she answered.

  "Fear?" Robert questioned.

  "Yes, fear. Fear I'll do it again if you do not do as the Council wishes." She turned the laser on them and seconds later, the men screamed as she began her fun.

  * * *

  Somewhere in Noir...

  The Chamber...

  "Cerberus has completed its mission," Ms. Nona reported. "With one test, Cerberus has surpassed Pandora."

  "Yes, the new experiment did not hesitate to kill the S.C.Ms. or Charles Smith." Pleased, Mr. Decuma smiled. "Cerberus did not disobey orders."

  "Yes, a fitting first trial," Ms. Nona added.

  "Pandora never disobeyed," Mr. Morta retorted. "We never gave it any orders but one. Stay alive, and that it did."

  Mr. Decuma smacked his hand on the table. "You must admit it! Pandora is a failure!" He calmed himself. "It is time for its termination."

  "Yes," Ms. Nona agreed. "And what better way than to have Cerberus kill Pandora. The test will prove the superiority of the new project."

  Mr. Morta said, "I believe it is premature to eliminate Pandora. We can still learn..."

  Mr. Decuma interrupted, "This time you have been out voted."

  "The first time this Council has not been of one mind," Ms. Nona said. "And hopefully the last."

  "Pandora's fate is out of my hands." Mr. Morta nodded to an analyst. "Give Cerberus its orders. The new experiment is to find Pandora and report in."

  The male analyst nodded and relayed the order.

  Mr. Morta realized Pandora's era was coming to an end, and he hoped what little time she had had been put to good use.

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Prelude to:

  Book Two

  From Moscow, With Love

  9:45 P.M...

  Hellenistic Sector, Old Business Vicinage...

  Nikolai and Natasha walked into Jack's Hard Luck Pawn; it was one of many dealers on Wayfaring Lane. They removed their Winnow Masks. The colossal man with a buzz cut wore a black trench coat, and he stood by the front door as his sister proceeded to the owner. Natasha waited till the only other customer left the shop.

  With her heavy Russian accent, she started, "I heard you're the man to see." Natasha raked her hand through her long black hair.

  "What are you looking for?" Jack lit a NicPhake cigarette and took a long drag as he looked her up and down. "Jewelry? Watches?"

  "We're bird hunting," she replied.

  "Bird hunting, you say?" Jack raised a gray eyebrow.

  "Yes, a very rare bird."

  "Rare? What are..."

  Nikolai moved forward and interrupted the owner, "We arrived from Moscow, and Voice said you could help us."

  "Puck... Why didn't you say so to begin with?" Jack waved for the two of them to join him behind the counter. "Come with me. I've got some stuff in the back that should be to your liking." He rang a buzzer at a door and waved at the security camera. "You guys look professional. You here to hit anyone I know?"

  Natasha and her brother moved behind the counter and stood behind Jack.

  She answered, "All you need to know is that a mistake was made."

  Nikolai added, "And we are here to rectify it."

  The door unlocked, and Jack proceeded in as they followed. Five rough looking men stood in the next room. Two hung out talking, while the other three cleaned guns. The room fell silent as all five men watched the two outsiders enter.

  Impressed by their arsenal, Nikolai stroked his black goatee as he looked around. "You have enough weapons in here to supply a small army."

  "Yeah." Jack puffed on the cigarette. "I inherited the place from my cousin, Wayne. He was well connected, but couldn't keep his mouth shut. Pucking looser... His loose lips got him killed." He took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked white-pink ash in a Styrofoam cup of old coffee. "What do you need?"

  Nikolai answered, "The guns are on this list."

  "And throwing knives," Natasha interrupted her brother.

  Jack took the list, looking it over. "This I can do." He pointed to two of his guys. "Get what they need." Jack handed the men the list, turned to a computer, and typed out an invoice.

  The two men left and returned a few minutes later, and one of the men walked up to Natasha.

  "Which one of these bad boys is for you, babe?" The man patted the guns. "By the way, the name's Ron."

  "None of those." She studied the man that was about six inches taller than herself. "The knives are mine; they are my Sweets."

  "Sweets, huh..." Ron handed them to her. "A fine babe like yerself likes to play with sharp things. You like to play with dangerous things. How about we step out for a little while? I'll show you something dangerous, and maybe something a little sweet."

  Nikolai moved toward the man, and Nikolai stated, "She is not interested."

  Natasha said nothing, knowing what was coming. She removed her white fur-lined black coat, revealing tight fitting red leather pants, vest, and boots. Natasha placed the coat on the back of a chair and inserted a set of throwing knives in a sheathe around each wrist.

  "You her boyfriend?" he asked the Closer.

  "No," Nikolai replied. "I am her brother."

  "Stay out of this then," Ron said. "It's none of your business."

  Natasha almost felt sorry for the man. If Ron had dropped it, her brother might have only punched him in the mouth.

  Nikolai controlled his anger. "She is not interested in the likes of you."

  Ron jabbed his finger in the colossal man's chest. "You're her brother, not her mother. Let the babe decide."

  Jack hit the print button on the computer for the invoice. "Don't do anything stupid, Ron."

  "I know what I'm doing." Ron caressed her butt. "What do you say, babe?"

  The veins in Nikolai's neck bulged with fury, and his eyes went wild like a mad grizzly bear, and with one massive hand, the Russian reached out, grabbed the man by the throat, and choked him. The other men in the room drew their weapons and aimed at the siblings. Ron pulled a Glock 19, and Nikolai grabbed his wrist and squeezed it till Ron released th
e gun, and it hit the floor.

  "Wait!" Jack cried out to his men and motioned with his hands. "Put your guns down." Sweat beaded his face, fearing the situation would get out of hand. "You don't know who these two are. If Voice sent them... Well... They'll kill you." He swallowed hard. "Puck! They'll kill all of us."

  His men reluctantly complied as Nikolai continued to choke Ron. Natasha put her coat back on.

  "You do not touch my sister in an impertinent way. No one treats my sister that way."

  The man clawed Nikolai's arm, unable to breathe, and his eyes bugged out.

  "Please, be reasonable," Jack pleaded. "Puck, let him go, and he can apologize."

  "No." Nikolai squeezed harder, and the veins in his hand bulged. "I warned him, so I offer no mercy."

  Natasha walked over to her brother and rubbed her hand up and down his back. She moved to Ron, leaned to him, and whispered in his ear, "From Moscow, with love." Natasha nodded to her brother, and Nikolai forcibly turned the man's head toward her. She French kissed Ron as he clawed at her brother's arm. She finished, stepped back, and said, "We will have to write up extra paperwork on your death, but I am pleased, and that will make it worth it."

  Ron's eyes rolled back, Nikolai released his corpse, then reached down, and picked up the Glock 19. "His weapon is now mine." He tucked the gun in the back waistband of his pants.

  Natasha looked down at the dead man and smiled. "You had asked me a question. You wanted to know what I say. I say you should have listened to my brother." She turned to Jack. "How much do we owe you for the weapons?"

  Unable to say anything as he stared at the dead man, Jack handed her the invoice with a shaky hand.

  She stated, "Voice will have the funds in your account by tonight."

  Still shocked, Jack nodded.

  Natasha and her brother headed out with the guns in two large duffle bags and once they were outside, they put their Winnow Masks on and checked the streets for police. They placed the duffle bags in the trunk of their black Cadillac. He unzipped one, removed a case, and opened the container.

  "Finally, I have Tommy." Nikolai smooth his hand across a machine gun. "And I can be the Hood I dreamed of being."

  She rolled her eyes. "Whatever makes you happy. Now come and let us be on our way."

  He put the machine gun back and within a few minutes, they got into the car and took off their masks. Nikolai removed the trophy he took off of Ron and placed the Glock 19 in the glove box.

  "Let us hurry with our assignment." Natasha glanced out the passenger side window at the darkness surrounding the city. "I grow to hate this place."

  Her brother pulled the car out into traffic. "Our final task is four days away and once we have killed the Phoenix, we can leave Noir."

  "Voice is as forgiving as you, my brother. Voice must never be crossed."

  "Yes," her brother agreed. "We must always complete our assignments with no hesitation and with no remorse. Our hearts must not rule our minds or our actions. In our line of business, it can only bring death."

  The End

  Shades of Gray #2

  From Moscow, With Love

  Kristie Lynn Higgins

  SHADES OF GRAY: From Moscow, With Love

  Text Copyright © 2007, 2016 by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  Cover Art Copyright © 2014

  Beta Phase Ebook Edition

  2014 Cover Edition

  www.KristieLynnHiggins.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  Rise above the expectations of others.

  Soar on wings of dragons.

  AabiLynn's Dragon Rite #0

  Click below to Try It Out

  www.kristielynnhiggins.com/DR0.html

  Marked since birth

  Shy must find her way in a

  world of dragons and sorcery.

  Shunned: Dragon's Cord #1

  Click here to TRY It Out

  www.kristielynnhiggins.com/Shunned1.html

  Beauty and the Beast with a delightful twist.

  What if the woman was the one turned?

  Beauty of the Beast #1

  Click below to Try It Out

  www.kristielynnhiggins.com/BOTB1PartA.html

  The Fairy Tales You Know With A Wicked Twist.

  The Beast in Beauty and the Beast

  was never cursed in this way.

  Click below to Try It Out

  www.kristielynnhiggins.com/AaBack1.html

  What would you sacrifice to save your friends?

  Can loyalty and love defeat darkness?

  Ayann- A Fantasy Action Adventure

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  www.kristielynnhiggins.com/Ayann-1-PartA.html

  Introductions

  This series uses a mixture of omniscient past tense and first person present tense to tell the story of Shades of Gray. I have used bold to separate the first person from the omniscient. Enjoy the series.

  I have glimpsed into the future and seen a world of darkness and sorrow. It was a place where the clouds hid the sun and human machines walked and terrorized the land, but there was nothing darker or more horrifying than the hearts of those who lived there.

  Will no one save them?

  Translated from the Assembled Works

  Ginn L. Irynkissgthie

  525 B.D.C.

  Chapter One

  The Raven And the Wolf

  The year 32 A.D.C...

  October 22...

  Friday...

  6:23 A.M...

  Hellenistic Sector, Residential Vicinage...

  The blackness of night hung over the early morning as mile-thick Dry Clouds shrouded Noir's sky, and they hung over the city like a sleeping dragon. They were a sleeping dragon that the Earth feared one day would wake and devour them, and so far, no magic of science could stop the beast. Purple lightning lit up the heavens, but the density of the barriercumulus muffled the thunder as a Common Raven flew below the clouds, dove into a park, and landed on a branch of a Transgenic Maple. Scattered lamps lit up the dark empty paths surrounding the tree as a cold wind rustled the blades of the spongy Transgenic Grass that surrounded the truck's base and the hybrid maple's leaves. The breeze then died. The large bird heard a twig snap and tilted its head, staring at a bush as a pale-white Tundra Wolf emerged and looked up with its golden-yellow eyes at the raven. Their gazes locked.

  Across the street from the park...

  A black Cadillac stopped at a curb, and Nikolai got out of the driver's side; he was dressed in a white pin striped gray business suit and wore a WM-A. He placed a gray Fedora hat on his head, smoothed its rim, straightened a white tie, and shut the door.

  Natasha exited the passenger's side, and she also wore a filter mask. Natasha, a Life Closer like her twin brother, inhaled through the triangular filter over her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She looked to the old apartments in front of them then to the park across the street, and then Natasha removed her white fur-lined, long, black coat, revealing a tight fitting red leather outfit. It consisted of pants, a vest, and high heel knee boots. She threw the coat in the back seat, grabbed a black leather satchel from the front floor, and closed the door. She checked on her throwing knives' sheaths that were velcroed to each wrist.

  "My Sweets..." Natasha spoke as she caressed the blades on her left wrist with her index finger. "Ready for some action?"

  Natasha made her way to the back, joining her brother as Nikolai popped the trunk with a remote, lifted a case, and set it on the sidewalk.

  He removed his mask and asked, "How does it look?"

  His sister glanced up and down the deserted street and then answered, "It is clear."

  Natasha replaced the WM-A to her face. He set his mask in the trunk, holstered
a Glock 25, grabbed the mask, closed the trunk, and picked up the case.

  She motioned to the case and spoke, "I cannot believe you are going to use that thing." Her Russian accent clung to every word as she added, "It is ancient."

  Nikolai patted the case as he said, "Tasha, I like it for this kind of job."

  "You mean the kind of job where it does not matter how messy it gets. Remember my brother, this is still a Life Closing, so please be professional."

  "I always am."

  Nikolai winked at her and started up a gravel path, crunching over rocks with his black cap toe shoes. He made his way to the apartment's entrance and entered the glass front door and once inside, they both removed their WM-A, he handed his to his sister, and Natasha placed both of them in her satchel. He waited by the door as she continued in, and he watched over her as she neared the security desk.

  A security guard in his early thirties looked up from the desk and stood, seeing the tall woman, and his gaze slowly ran up her tall leggy figure before he asked, "Can I help you?"

  He adjusted his pants and his belt and holster, made his way to the front of the desk, and approached her. Natasha leaned to him and whispered something Nikolai couldn't hear, the guard grinned as he spoke back to her in muffled words Nikolai couldn't understand, and then he saw his sister giggle. The guard leaned on the desk and continued to talk as Natasha glanced back and saw that her brother was watching them intently and then she placed her hand on the guard's arm. Nikolai noticed the lustful eye the guard gave his sister and scowled as his body ignited with rage. He put the case down, marched forward, pulled his Glock as jealousy spurred his hand, and he fired once, hitting the man in the knee and with gleeful pleasure, he watched the guard fall and grab his leg, squirming in pain like the worm he was.

  "Brother! What are you doing?" Natasha asked as she folded her arms, knowing that once his temper erupted there was no stopping him. She would have to talk him down before they could proceed, and so was her duty as his sister and partner. "We were not ordered to kill security."

  "Did you see how he looked at you?" Nikolai questioned her as he marched to the man like a crazed bear. "I will gouge out his eyes and rip off his bollocks!"

  She ran her fingers through her long hair, continuing to talk him down, but not before she teased him into a frenzy; it was already too late for the guard, so she might as well enjoy his death.