1 + 2

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  Stephanie's view...

  I notice the look Pandora gives me and pause in my tracks. Does she know? Does Pandora know who I am?

  Katharine's view...

  What should I do about Stephanie? Can I let her actions go unanswered? Should I do nothing? Can I...

  I look to my gun. No, I have to act; it will be unforgivable to let it go. I have to...

  I lay the weapon on a step, take a few steps forward, and throw my arms around Stephanie.

  "Thank you." I embrace her with gratitude. "Thank you. You saved Chad; you saved him when I couldn't. He would be dead without you."

  Stephanie's view...

  Her grateful action baffles me, and I'm taken aback and almost recoil, not knowing how to react.

  Saved? I realize I saved someone and halfheartedly hug Pandora in return. I did; the Bringer of Death saved someone.

  End Stephanie's view...

  Kat stepped back and wiped her runny nose. "I owe you, so if there's anything I can ever do for you just name it. I owe you at least that."

  Stephanie uttered, "You owe me?" A smiled slithered across her face. Kat owed her, and Stephanie said, "I will." Kat didn't have to worry about a thing. Stephanie would make sure she would pay her back. She might even be able to use this in the coming battle.

  Johnson walked to them. "I can't believe what I witnessed. Did you create all this metal carnage?" He surveyed the damaged Un-Men with his flashlight. "You have some explaining to do."

  "I'm sorry, but I can't," Kat answered. "The less you know the better off you'll be." She reached down, grabbed the gun she had set down, and handed it to him. "It's better if I leave."

  Johnson took the gun and eyed her for a second. "Maybe it would be best." He walked to each of the Un-Men, checked them, and then tapped the button on his earpiece. "Daniels, all clear. Bring the family in. The area's secure."

  Daniels followed the family in. Melissa held Bonnie, and the child still cried.

  Chad ran, wrapping his arms around Kat. "I was so scared," he admitted.

  Katharine's view...

  It hurts to know I caused him pain; hasn't he been through enough?

  I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have come. None of this would have happened if I'd stayed away. I should have stayed away like Kimberly told me.

  I put my turbulent emotions in check and start, "Chad..." I stroke his head. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

  Chad's view...

  I lift my head, looking into her face. No, she can't; Kat can't leave me again.

  End Chad's view...

  "Now what are we going to do?" Daniels asked Johnson. "The Un-Men were the extra security we requested. The Isis Corporation received reports that a Closer has been sent..."

  "Daniels!" Johnson snapped and motioned with his head. "The children."

  Daniels looked to Chad and Bonnie, realizing he shouldn't have spoken in front of them. "Right."

  Melissa consoled her daughter as she glared at the bodyguard. "Chad, come with me while I put Bonnie to bed."

  "Andrews." Johnson shined the flashlight on the family as they made their way up the stairs. "Go along."

  Andrews followed behind them.

  Daniels waited till Melissa and the children were in Bonnie's room. "What about our backup? Closers are one thing, but what if Valhalla sends in bio-mechas? The three of us are no match."

  "If it's bio-mechas you're worried about, I can do it," Kat said, hoping to redeem herself. "I can stick around till backup comes. This is my fault, I should never have come, but I can make amends if Melissa will have me. I'm actually very handy when it comes to bio-mechas."

  "There's no way we can," Daniels answered. "You've gone through none of the screening and if I was Ms. Odin, I'd want you gone!"

  "No... You're right. I wish I could stay. I feel so bad that all this happened because..." Kat stopped herself and looked to Johnson, hoping he would weigh in on the conversation, but he said nothing. "No. You're right," she continued. "I understand. If you'll return my gun, I'll be on my way."

  Daniels removed the key from his pocket as he walked to the entry table. He set it back on its legs, unlocked the drawer, opened it, and handed Kat her gun. Daniels retrieved her backpack, and Kat opened the door.

  "I'll be on my way also," Stephanie said.

  Daniels handed her her bag.

  Kat paused outside, glanced at the Team Leader, and walked down the steps to the street. Stephanie followed.

  "You shouldn't beat yourself up," Stephanie said. "How could you know Un-Men would show up?" She slung her backpack over both shoulders. "You know they could have malfunctioned even if you weren't here."

  "This is best," Kat mostly said to herself. "Kimberly was right, I shouldn't have come." She paused, turning to Stephanie. "You never got your chance to talk with Melissa."

  Stephanie waved her hand. "It can wait till another day. Ms. Odin's probably too shook up to talk anyway."

  Kat frowned, knowing she was the reason as Stephanie hailed a cab. A taxi pulled over and stopped.

  Stephanie turned to her. "You want a ride somewhere?" She put on an act. "After the recent events, I don't think I want to be alone right now."

  Kat thought about it and nodded, not wanting to be alone herself, and they got into the taxi.

  "Where to?" the driver asked.

  Stephanie urged Kat, "Go ahead."

  "Closest hover train station please."

  The driver nodded and pulled into traffic.

  "Back to the Hellenistic Sector?" Stephanie questioned.

  "Yes."

  "I'm heading there myself." Stephanie's stomach rumbled. "I guess I'm hungry."

  "Maybe once we get there we can stop somewhere and get a bite to eat. My treat. A small extra thank you for saving Chad."

  "Sure. Why not," Stephanie replied.

  "Okay. I'm not that hungry, but I would like some soup." She needed something to warm her wretched soul.

  Sometime later...

  Hellenistic Sector...

  They emerged from a coffee shop and entered another cab as Kat smiled. She had enjoyed Stephanie's company; it had taken her mind off of the incident at Chad's house.

  "That was very good. What was the name of the dish I had?" Stephanie questioned.

  "A cheeseburger." Kat carried two ToGo Chai teas. One for herself and one for Kim.

  "It was very good, and those french fries... They were to die for." Stephanie noticed the time on the radio in the taxi. "Tell the driver your address so we can get going. I should be heading back."

  Kat leaned forward. "Please take me to Nexus Apartments. It's at the corner of West 1000 Avenue and Knot Street."

  "Yes, ma'am." The driver started out.

  Stephanie's view...

  "Yes, that was very good," I state then I sit back.

  I thought it would be more difficult to discover where Pandora lived. Maybe this friend thing has its uses.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  The Pink Bunny Rabbit

  Nineteen days ago...

  Russia...

  October 3...

  Wednesday...

  8:34 P.M...

  A red balloon popped, a woman screamed, and people ran for cover. The Mark's bodyguards ushered her and her child into a limo, and the vehicle peeled down the road. In shock, Kim looked up from the scope, and for the first time in her career, she had let her emotions interfere, and she had missed.

  Kimberly's view...

  Hades! I can't believe it! I hide my face in my hand. What was I thinking? Idiot!

  I stand and back away from the ledge. I'll have to move fast; the second attempt will be harder and up close. Hades! I hate face to face Closings.

  End Kimberly's view...

  She quickly broke down the M24, put the parts in its container, and placed the case back in hiding. A Guild Prep/Cleanup Crew would be by later and remove
the sniper rifle. Kim grabbed her knapsack, hurried down the stairs till she reached a level with an elevator, and entered it. She searched the cab for a security camera, and there was no camera like the Closing File stated, so she pulled off her knit mask, wiped sweat from her face with a cloth from her knapsack, and put both items back into the bag. On the way down, she removed the H.H.C. and read over the Closing File Contingency Plan. She never opened the backup before; she was always so careful, but she was sloppy tonight. Kim let her emotions get in the way because there was a little girl.

  The Contingency Plan instructed her to go to the hotel's parking garage on level four and there a motorcycle would be waiting for her. Kim exited the elevator, found the black Kawasaki ZX R20, opened the seat, and removed the keys from the compartment. She put the helmet on, started up the motorcycle, and sped to the secondary kill spot. Kim would take out the Mark before the woman entered her hotel. Kim arrived and waited in an alley down from the entrance to the lobby. Two limos were parked at the curb in front of the entrance as a third limo pulled up. She left her helmet on. Kim looked down at her PPK; she didn't need a silencer. The hit would be up close and dirty. It was the price Kim had to pay for missing the initial shot.

  Five women out on the town left a club and started to walk past the hotel, and they laughed as they strolled down the sidewalk. The four bodyguards piled out of the third limo. Kim recognized them as the ones guarding the Mark, so she started toward them. One of the bodyguards spotted her and raised his gun when he saw she was armed, and Kim prepared to shoot him, but before he or she reacted, someone else fired from behind him. The bodyguard ducked and turned as Kim moved to the side of the building, searching for cover. The five women screamed and in the confusion of bodies franticly rushing about the sidewalk, Kim barely saw the Mark collapse. Kim scanned the area, but couldn't tell where the shot originated, so she ran back to the alley and went to the motorcycle. She got on it, but she couldn't leave yet; she had to make sure the Mark was dead. Kim drove the motorcycle down a block and parked. She removed her helmet and long gray coat and undid her hair from the ponytail. Kim ran her hands through her blonde strands to straighten them as she made her way to the hotel and by then, a few people had gathered into a small crowd. Kim heard a woman crying.

  She couldn't see past the people, so she walked up to a man she heard speaking in English and asked him, "What happened?"

  He glanced at her and rose on his toes, trying to see over the crowd. "I heard she's dead. I heard a Closer took her down, but they aren't sure."

  After a few minutes...

  A car approached in the distance with flashing blue lights, and the vehicle parked at the curb, and two men exited the car. One of the men spoke to the crowd in Russian.

  After he was done, the second spoke in English with a Russian accent, "Everyone back up. I'm Detective Boris, and I'm with Russia Civil Police Force. I will have to ask you to move back."

  The crowd did as ordered.

  A boy ran up to the detective and handed him a business card, and Boris looked to the card with the picture of a composer's baton. "Maestro, so this is a Closing." He turned to his partner. "Victor, retrieve the Guild's Scanner, so I may run this barcode."

  His partner nodded, went to the vehicle, and returned with a H.H.C. linked to the Assassins Guild. The Guild's Emblem, a black dagger piercing a white mask, marked the top of the device. Boris took the Scanner, swiped the business card's barcode over the H.H.C.'s reader, and waited till a file pulled up. "Maestro confirmed, it is a Closing." He read on. "This is not good."

  Earlier, Kim had moved from her spot to get a better view, so she made her way to the street, started around the three limos, hurried around the last vehicle, and to the sidewalk. Only a few people gathered on that side, and a glint of metal caught her eye, but Kim didn't look down.

  The detective walked to a woman, sitting on the sidewalk and said to her, "Excuse me... Are you Mrs. Serqet?"

  The woman looked up, and her eyes were red from crying. "Yes," she sobbed.

  Kimberly's view...

  I realize this woman is the Mark, and that Maestro must have also missed or merely wounded her. I'll have to attempt a third time. Hades! Will this nightmare ever end?

  The Mark wails as she sits on the sidewalk, and her cries sent shivers up my spine. Something's wrong. I missed something. The Mark isn't crying in pain, no, her wails are full of heartache.

  The police car's lights reflect off the metal object on the sidewalk again, and I bend and pick up the item; it's a key chain of a pink bunny rabbit. The child! Where's the child?

  I quickly move forward, pass a few people, and stop about six feet from the Mark, and I see her cradling a small limp body.

  "No..." I gasp. "No..."

  End Kimberly's view...

  The detective put a hand to Mrs. Serqet's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your loss." Boris looked to the dead little girl in her arms. "And I know this is of little consequence, but by the Assassins Guild Code 257-Section 9, I declare the Closing placed on you null and void." He typed in the declaration on the H.H.C. "There will be no more attempts on your life."

  Kimberly's view...

  The Detective's correct; if in the course of a Closing the Mark's child is killed, the Closing's considered complete. My eyes water as I lose the impartiality my training placed in my heart. I don't understand how this happened. I stare at the dead child. It shouldn't have happened. I put a shaky hand to my mouth as I try to hold back my tears. What am I saying? I know what happened; I messed up the Closing. Hades! I messed up the Closing and look what happened! A tear streaks down my cheek. It wouldn't have happened if I had taken the shot, so the child's blood is on my hands.

  I continue to watch Mrs. Serqet cradle the child in her arms as crimson saturates the little girl's blouse. Feeling sick, I divert my eyes to the key chain in my hand as I leave the scene and make my way back to the motorcycle. I can never hesitate again; I have to be more professional. I squeeze the rabbit, cutting my palm on the metal. The key chain will be a reminder to me of what happens with hesitation, and I promise myself that I'll never again falter on a Closing.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Child Of Mine

  The present...

  October 24...

  Sunday...

  10:27 A.M...

  Hellenistic Sector, Business Vicinage...

  Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office...

  "Have you found any records pertaining to a project my wife may have been involved with about thirty years ago?" Mr. Griffin questioned as he sat in his office. He didn't dare divulge to his Head of Security that he was looking for information on his youngest child; a child he was led to believe died at birth.

  "No, no project that long ago," Orthos replied as he sat in a chair in front of the Chairman. "At least, none I have found on the main frame. There may have been something in the old files from when you were head of security for this branch office, but since you ordered me three days ago to expunge all the files with your alias Janus, the computer records are gone."

  Mr. Griffin questioned, "What about the Archive? The documents I'm looking for are far enough back they would have kept a hard copy. Did you destroy those?"

  "No, I had not thought to do so." Orthos removed his H.H.C. "Do you want those destroyed as well?"

  Mr. Griffin's view...

  Is Orthos getting sloppy or does he have a hidden agenda? He's very ambitious. He could be eyeing my seat in the corporation.

  "Not at this time," I answer him. "What of the other files the Vice President said he would send over?"

  End Mr. Griffin's view...

  "I have them right here." Orthos laid the pile of folders on the desk.

  "Very good. That's all for right now. If there's anything further, I'll tell you at our Security Overview meeting later this evening."

  "Yes, Chairman." Orthos stood, left, walked
down the hall to the elevator, took the cab up, exited, and made his way to his office and once inside, Orthos locked the door, moved to a ground safe, unlocked it, and removed a white crystal. He examined the two inch obelisk. He learned that it was called a Data Crystal and that Theresa Griffin had created many of them and stored top secret information on them. He held it up to the light. Right now, it was no good to him, not until he found the devise that could retrieve the information from it, so for now... Orthos placed it back in the safe; he would keep the Data Crystal locked up. The Chairman didn't need to know he took the crystal from the Pandora Project.

  Sometime later...

  Mr. Griffin flipped through the new files, but saw nothing about his child and decided he would visit the Archive. He left his office and stopped at the secretary's desk. "I'll be out for a while. Reschedule my appointments for the next four hours."

  "Yes, Mr. Griffin." Cathy started on the calls.

  He walked to the elevator and took it down to one of the basement floors. He stepped out to a hallway on Sub-level 6, and a security guard looked up from a desk at him.

  "Good afternoon, Chairman," the security guard said as he logged in his arrival time.

  "Good afternoon." Mr. Griffin proceeded past the man and walked down the long white hall to another desk.

  An older gentleman who was in his mid-seventies and wore bifocals glanced up and behind him there was about five hundred rows of shelves filling a large open room. The older man said, "Janus, it has been a long time since I've seen you. Good to see you."

  "Yes, Claviger it has been a long time; it has been so long that I'm no longer known as Janus. I'm the Chairman now."

  "Ohh... Moving up in the world. Good for you. What can I help you with Jan... I mean, Chairman?"

  "I'm looking for information on a project my wife was working on about thirty years ago."

  "Ah, yes. Theresa Griffin, she was a lovely woman." Claviger slowly stood, favoring his right side. He grabbed a walker and started toward the back. "Follow me, and we'll see if we can find the files." His walker stomped across the floor. "Did I tell you it was good to see you again?"