"Maybe there's more to it," she said.
"I don't know, nobody told us about any people he had killed, or if he even was planning to. They just stamped 'Secret' on it and sent us out. Makes you wonder."
"About what?"
"Just who's running the show."
"Oh, you're just being paranoid again!" She grinned and scratched between my ears.
I closed my eyes and rumbled contentedly. Life's little pleasures were priceless in my book.
Azelett stayed till morning, and I escorted her out. Visitors, the few that came, were allowed to stay as long as they wanted and got the royal treatment from everyone. The rules applied to the inmates only.
I was in a very good mood for the next few days, and spent the time working my way through my correspondence. Even though I didn't get out much, except for work, I did write a lot of E-mail on the company and public nets. The hackers were all curious, as the better ones quickly found I didn't exist! And because getting bogus accounts was next to impossible on Corporate systems, they all figured I was either really good, or important. So we traded secrets and lies and had a good old time. I learned quite a lot about computers this way, and in exchange taught them a lot about security systems.
Thanks to their teaching I had also managed to circumvent the log on my account, so I had unmonitored access to places I shouldn't have. It was in one of these that I found the order for my last job. I noted the authorization code for future reference, something I had rarely done before. Then I looked at my past jobs to see if any had the same authorization code. None did. That made me feel a little strange, I hadn't heard about any new guys in the organization. But then nobody was required to tell me whenever there was a change in staff. Probably nothing to get nervous about.
But when I went to bed later on, I still couldn't stop turning it over in my mind.
Early the next morning the phone beeped and I answered it.
"Jotun, this is Rieselle. We've got a job, report in one hour." She said without preamble.
"Okay," I replied and hung up.
I showered, groomed, put on my uniform (for a change), and got breakfast. Forty minutes after the call I strode out to the exit and was once more allowed to pass into the outside world. I was escorted by two Tiger marines to the conference room. They were both seasoned veterans and we knew each other from years of contact. Before the lockdown had gone into effect we had even gone drinking and partying a few times together. My antics had gotten considerably worse since those days of course, and they both probably thought I was more than a little crazy now.
I know all three of us wondered what would happen if I decided to split and run for it.
The conference room was full, which surprised me. These things usually started on time, never early, and it was still five to. I looked around the room, my team was there and seated of course, so was Holt. But the rest of the people were new. They were all Human, two males and one female. The older looking male was fair with blonde hair and what used to be called the 'All American' look by Football commentators; he was tall and very strongly built, like an athlete.
The other two were sitting where my other two Handlers usually sat. The woman was dark and striking, for a Human, athletically built and obviously, (to my trained eye at least, judging Human age, build, and condition were important in this line of work), not much older than me. I could also tell she was wearing a cross draw pistol under her jacket. I stopped and gave her a long appraising look, running my eyes down, then up, her body until I made eye contact. I locked gazes with her, and she then actually tried to stare me down, until she finally blinked.
Not a good sign.
I turned and looked at the remaining male. He looked young, but again my eye and experience told me he was older. He obviously had taken age treatments. He wasn't armed and smiled congenially when I looked his way. HE totally avoided eye contact.
An even worse sign in a Handler.
I turned to Holt. "Where are Don and Edward?" I asked ignoring the others for the moment.
"They've been re-assigned," he said looking up. "These are their replacements."
"Why wasn't I informed?" I asked quietly.
"I am sorry Mr. Jotun," said the fair haired one sitting at the head of the table. "That was my fault. We just had a staffing change here and unfortunately a few things got overlooked."
"And you are Sir?" I asked politely, turning.
"Bill Siedman, the new section head." I noticed the female got a little edgy when I did this and cleared her hand for a possible draw.
"This is Harold Westly," he continued.
So I smiled reached across the table to shake the hand of the older male.
"And this is Jaime Pike."
I smiled and turned to shake her hand as well, then tightening my grip quickly snaked my left hand in and pulled out her pistol. I had it field stripped and laying on the table before she made it to her feet.
"I'm sorry that I didn't get the chance to say goodbye to them," I said walking over to my seat at the other end of the table and sitting down.
Jaime glowered at me and reassembled her gun. Harold looked shocked at her, then at me. I guess he didn't know she had it, or what he had gotten himself into. Mr. Siedman looked amused, which was intriguing in itself. He should have been upset with her, and me too probably. Holt looked worried, then relieved, like something bad had just been avoided. Or like he had just had a serious point proven. My team just looked curious, I know Shotoon and Rieselle had spotted the gun, Azelett probably had too.
I took this in quickly and puzzled it over.
"Quite a demonstration Mr. Jotun," said Mr. Siedman.
"Please, just Jotun sir," I answered smoothly
"Could I have my clip back Jotun?" Jaime demanded a little testily.
"No. Guns aren't allowed in this area." I looked at Siedman, "Unless you've changed the rules sir."
"Sure why not," he smiled at me, "I think my predecessor was overly cautious and it's time for some changes. After all, if we can't trust you here, how can we trust you in the field?"
"Thank you for your confidence Sir." I said tossing the clip to Jaime, who caught it neatly. I'd have to watch her. "I've been hoping to hear somebody say that for years!"
I decided I might like this guy after all.
"Now as to the mission," he began. "Your target is on
New Hope
, where he lives in a very secure mansion. This is a tough one, which is why we assigned you."
"Human?" Shotoon asked.
"Yes."
We all looked at each other, my team and I that is.
"Problem?" Asked Jaime with a slight edge to her voice.
"No, of course not," said Rieselle. "Vital statistics?"
The displays in the table came to life then, showing different views of the target, along with a list of identifying marks, height, weight, etc. He was five foot nine, one hundred and eighty pounds, seventy years old, and had taken extensive age treatments. He only looked to be about thirty five.
"Any pictures without a full suit? Naked, topless, whatever?"
"Why?" Asked Harold surprised.
"Identification," I muttered running the display through all the pictures they had, "Odds are he won't be wearing a suit when I find him. Any clothes or personal articles?"
"No," said Holt.
"Whaddya want
that
for?" Asked Jaime, "You gonna track him by smell?"
"Maybe," I mumbled studying the data. "Holt you must be slipping, didn't you fill these two in? And where are the envelopes?"
"Here." He tossed mine across the table, I opened it with a sharp claw and spilled out the contents. Rieselle, Shotoon, and Azelett were doing the same. "They're new, don't be rude."
"Well, do we have any of those?" Shotoon asked again for us. "The clothes or pictures that is."
"I think we can get the pictures, that's all," Said Mr. Siedman.
"Can you tell us why or what he did?" Azelett spoke for the first time.
"That's classified," Harold spoke up quickly looking at Mr. Siedman.
I looked up from the reconnaissance photos of the house I was studying, I always insisted on hard copies of everything. I looked Mr. Siedman in the eye, "That so?"
"Afraid it is. Any problems?"
"Nope," I went back to my photos and local maps.
"What's our budget?" Asked Rieselle.
"Five million," said Holt.
"And our level of authority?"
"Theta, is that okay?"
"I'll need a Delta if we're going to extract on time," Azelett spoke up again.
I looked at Rieselle and she looked back. A Delta was way more than we probably needed, what was Azelett up to?
"You sure?" Asked Holt suspiciously.
"Yeah, a Delta is pretty high for you folks," said Jaime.
I was beginning to think that her sneer was a permanent part of her personality.
"Our last job was a Beta," I said quietly going back to my display and info sheets. "If Azelett says we need a Delta for the extraction," and I looked back up and spoke slowly, "Then the show doesn't go till we get one."
"No problem," said Mr. Siedman surprising me again. "Anything else?"
"I don't think so," I looked at the rest of my people. They shook their heads. "Guess not."
"Fine then, I guess I'll be going."
He got up and we all stood politely until he left.
I looked at Holt and my other two Handlers, their job was to be on call and provide me with things I couldn't get myself, now that I was working. They had other duties as well, such as discipline and such, but mostly they just interfaced with management to keep that extra layer of deniability there.
"I want a secure work room with a twenty four hour guard. Coffee, food and all the usual garbage."
"I already set it up," replied Holt. "You've got this one as long as you need it."
"Thanks, let me know what the schedule is for you three, and where I can reach you, Jaime, and Harold."
The rest of us set to planning, figuring, and eventually practicing our covers. It took two weeks, during which I slept very little and worked very hard. I spent quite a few nights sacked out on the table. This was normal for me, I was fanatical about preparation and detail. After all, it was my butt going in there.
I routed my requests mostly through Holt. Harold was next to useless, his mind always elsewhere. I think he was here solely to watch us and report directly to Siedman.
Jaime was just as obviously Siedman's bodyguard/muscle. That she was, was a joke in my opinion. I suspect that her good looks and bedroom performance had more to do with her longevity than her ability. She might look tough to the average person, but she wasn't star material.
Needless to say, we didn't get along and I always called her very early in the mornings with some request or another. I could often hear another in her room over the phone, I just wasn't ever able to figure out who. They kept very quite when she was talking to me.
Holt was both afraid of, and in awe of, Mr. Siedman. But he didn't care one bit for the other two, especially Jaime. So he was enjoying my subtle harassment of her. But for the most part I was too busy to give her a hard time. For all that this should have been a simple job; there was very little information available on the target. Initial reports seemed to also indicate that he was extremely well defended.
Then again, if it was easy, they wouldn’t have assigned it to me. The lack of information made it clear he was someone important and calling for more intelligence data may tip him off if he wasn’t already. People who kept this much information off the net usually found out very quickly if someone was getting too curious about them. No, I’m sure it wasn’t going to be easy at all.
4
Eight weeks later we were all on
New Hope
watching our quarry. The estate was well fortified, as our information had shown, and my target was elusive as well. We were posing as maintenance workers, that being an easy way to hide out in the open. Azelett had left yesterday to set up her part of the operation, she had given us a list of pullout dates and several pickup points. We'd notify her on which one we wanted, but none of us knew her plans. This way we couldn't talk.
I missed her a little, she had been keeping me company at night for the whole trip out. I was quite happy that she had decided to travel with us on the outward leg of this mission.
"Well no matter how you look at it, getting inside that house in the time we have available isn't going to happen." said Shotoon.
"I agree with him Jotun," added Rieselle." It's going to have to be out in public."
"I guess," I sighed. "The question then is where and when."
"Well we leave in eighteen days according to Azelett and if we miss that flight we won't get another for a month."
"That should be enough," I hoped. Sitting around on forged papers for an Animan was a dangerous occupation. In theory we were able to buy our freedom, but on this planet it was still only theory. Nobody had actually done it here yet.
"Well enjoy it while you can folks!" Laughed Shotoon, "Think of it as a vacation Jotun, seventeen days in the sun!"
I grumped at that.
New Hope
was an interesting place as planets go, I'd seen quite a lot, but few as dismal as this. First of all it rained everyday. Not like in a rain forest or some other tropical clime. This was a dreary dismal kind of a drizzle. It was cold here too.
At least the days were long, we were in the summer season now. I'd sure hate to be here in the winter! According to the fact sheets the snow was ten feet deep.
That would have made this a real challenge. So we set up shop in a small building down the road from the Estate. Shotoon had gotten the local intell people to help arrange that. And then we watched.
The first three days we were there he didn't leave the grounds once. That really had us worried. On the fourth day he left quite early in the morning and we followed him into town. He went to some kind of church, taking only three bodyguards with him. One, the driver, stayed with the car for the hour he was there. Next he went shopping and then had lunch. Afterwards he went home.
That was all for the next six days.
"Damn, doesn't this guy go anywhere?" Grumped Rieselle echoing my sentiments exactly. Shotoon was in town somewhere helping to keep suspicions averted. After all, we couldn't be seen staying home all day. It made things complicated, but we had to make it look like the apartment was empty most of the time. As we were on the top floor of a rather seedy building, it was nearly impossible. At least our neighbors worked all day too.
Our cover was that we were owned by one of the smaller and poorer local companies, so most people weren't surprised that we were being quartered in such lousy lodgings. After all, they were in the same boat.
On the seventh day he went out again, to church.
"Does this mean he's some kind of holy roller?" Chuckled Shotoon, who was with me today while I followed my target around.
"Either that or he feels he has a lot to repent for." I smiled and looked at the church. "Well I guess this is the place."
"I dunno," he said hesitantly. "In a church? Don't you think the company types might find it a little distasteful?"
I turned and looked at him. "What's it matter where it happens? I bet Siedman wouldn't care if I did it in his own mother's house!"
"Yeah," He said thinking about it a moment, "I'll agree with you on that. And those two he assigned us! They're even worse than Holt."
"You got that right," I said heading back towards the apartment. "I wonder why they really got rid of Don and Edward. I think Jaime and Harold were last minute replacements."
"Makes Rieselle worry," He admitted. "She's mentioned it several times to me already."
"What about Azelett?" I asked curiously.
"She keeps her mouth shut, I suspect cause she's still the new one here. But I think she's curious too."
"I got that impression myself," I admitted.
When we got back I started accessing the local City Hall's computer files for information on the church. Shotoon got some of his gear and went out to case the neighborhood around it.
By the time Rieselle got back six hours later I had my part all planned. The hard part was getting in, Animen didn't worship any gods for the most part. I guess when you're around your Makers all the time you quickly realize just how divine Humans aren't.
Also a lot of Churches just wouldn't let us in. I think they felt guilty about creating us. Those that didn't hate or fear us outright that is.
"What's up?" she asked looking at the printouts all over the table.
"He goes to church every Thursday." I looked up at her, "You don't have a problem with that do you?"
"I don't pull the trigger Jotun. You know that." She looked away.
"Yeah, and I do." I sighed and got up walking over to her. "Listen Rieselle," I said putting my arms around her. "You know I'm sick of this more than anybody."
"But nobody gave you a choice," she sighed. "Another year and Shotoon and I get rotated out. But not you."
"No, never me. Has it been four years already?"
"You're the first one we ever worked with who lived this long." She said quietly putting her head against my shoulder, "We'll both miss you."
"Yeah, me too. But it'll be awhile yet and the work never ends."
"That it doesn't, does it?"
"Have you two decided where you're going next?"
"Ship's security." She answered without hesitating. "I've had enough of this business."
"You and me both!" I laughed. "So sit down and let me show you what I have so far. When Shotoon gets back we can all plan our escape."
We spent the next six days setting things up. The hardest part was the day we would have to spend afterwards, waiting for our extraction. Both Rieselle and Shotoon wouldn't be able to leave early, as I would need their help.
Next came the Dye. As everybody in that church would see me, and possibly photograph me, some kind of disguise would be needed. Simply dying my fur black was the easiest. Even if they figured it out there were so many spotting patterns on Leopards they'd never ID me. We also made a few other minor cosmetic changes too, again just in case.
We broke into the church the night before and I found a spot to hide. Shotoon wired up a few remote control smoke bombs as well as some pepper gas. The smoke would create confusion, the pepper gas would send them running. I had a remote trigger for each.
My hiding place was in one of the air intakes for the heating system. We fixed it so it could open quietly. As it led out into the back of the church, most people's eyes should be facing away from me. I watched as Shotoon and Rieselle left. Then I laid down and waited.
I awoke suddenly, I knew where I was and what I was doing. I opened my eyes then peeked out through the grill into the church. The lights came on and I blinked. As I watched a priest came in followed by what I guess where acolytes. They moved to the altar, then spent a while setting things up.
After a little while people started to file in, I checked my watch and saw I had two hours yet before my target was expected to show. So I sat back and watched curiously. After all, I had never seen what happened in a church before, this being my first time in one.
It quickly became apparent that they were performing a ceremony of some sort. It was interesting, but I knew nothing about religion, so I was somewhat confused. After fifty minutes the crowd left, and a new priest came in. Then it started all over again. I noticed that at one point during the ceremony everybody stood and their attention was focused forward as they listened to the priest. Even he was facing forward, rather than back at the crowd. It looked perfect to me.
Twenty minutes after that, everybody left and a new group came in. This time I saw my target enter, bodyguards in tow. Both followed him down the aisle and one sat on either side of him. They did not seem as taken by the ceremony either, I noticed as it started. Fortunately I was blocked by the crowd every time they stood.
Eventually my time came, I slipped out of the vent and slowly walked down the aisle. I had my gun in my right hand, which was relaxed by my side. In my left hand I held the trigger for the bombs. Nobody noticed me at first, and the crowd was still blocking my view of the bodyguards and vice versa.
I was halfway there when a man came along side of me.
"Excuse me," he said in a hushed voice, "But we don't allow your kind in here."
I guess he hadn't noticed the gun yet. But then he was on my left.
"Why not?" I whispered back and kept moving.
"Because you are not divine creations of the Lord!" He whispered back upset.
I was three quarters of the way there.
"What makes you so sure that you are?" I quietly growled.
"Because the bible says .... HEY!" He yelped as I grabbed him and shoved him in front of me.
"Shhh!" I whispered holding my gun up in front of my face. "Quiet! You're in a church you know!" And I smiled wickedly showing lots of teeth.
He inhaled, so I triggered the smoke bombs. I came even with the first guard just as the guy in the aisle with me screamed and the smoke bombs went off. I shot the first guard as he tried to shoot me. The second guard was still turning as I shot him and all his shots went wide. My target just closed his eyes and crossed himself as I had seen so many others do here today. Out of respect I waited till he was done before I shot him too.
It was pretty noisy by now, a lot of the people were screaming. I think the second bodyguard had shot a few bystanders when he went down. The guy I had been holding was limp as well. He had stopped the bullets from the first guard and didn't look well at all. I let him fall to the ground as I sprinted to the rear exit. A couple of shots into the air cleared the crowd away, and I triggered the two pepper gas bombs, which were both in the back of the church by my exit.
I dashed through it a second later and dove into the back window of the waiting car. It took off down the street and around the corner. As I hid under a blanket they slowed and drove slowly for another minute, then pulled into a garage.
"Okay Jotun," Rieselle said. I got out and Shotoon had a full tub in a corner.
"Keep your eyes closed tight, this stuff burns," he warned.
I stripped quickly and climbed in dunking myself. My eyes did fine but my nose and genitals burned, and a few other spots as well.
"Damn!" I growled loudly as I surfaced and got out. "What is that stuff?"
"Solvent. Keep your eyes closed and hold still."
He hosed me down with water next, then the two of them started in with towels. When they were finished they threw the towels in the tub and handed me fresh coveralls. I looked myself over quickly and was pleased to see all the dye was gone. Then I dressed and we went out a rear exit, Rieselle locking the door behind us.
"Bombs set?" I asked.
"Yes, both of them," She replied.
"And I double checked," He added.
"Okay, let's go!"
The bombs were firebombs, set to destroy any and all the evidence left behind. They'd go off in half an hour, unless somebody tried to force their way in. Then they'd go off instantly. We walked down an alley and crossed a street. Shotoon split off to get the van we had stashed.
You could hear the police sirens as they converged on the church. People were all starting to look out of their windows and businesses. Rieselle and I emerged from the alley carrying toolboxes as Shotoon showed up in a utility van. We got in and he drove off heading for the country.
"That was too damn easy!" I growled.
"So? I'd think you would be happy about it!" Rieselle said looking at me concerned.