Intelligent Design: Revelations to Apocalypse (10 page)

“Your growth here and experience will serve both of you well, Milites Vespere and Lux. I will miss you. I feel much better leaving you both here to continue the work and the replacements’ training. Still, I long to see my family, to start teaching and continue my own journey. My departure will mean your promotion to Immunes.”

“Thank you kindly for your patience and time, Centurion,” Vespere said and bowed her head.

“You will be remembered along with my kin. Your words have been my life,” Lux said.

Okay… this is crazy! Venus … Earth? Centurion and leaving… Quoting Milton and Conrad … all right, everyone, it’s been nice getting to know you all. Time to go!

Riesman pulled her napkin from her lap, plopped it on the table, and stood ready to leave, but Perez’s even tone and matter of fact words caught her attention.

“All right, ladies, it looks like the authorities will be here in thirty seconds. Five agents and an unarmed man in the back, also an armed helicopter coming in from the east about one klick out. I’m guessing it’s for suppressing fire if necessary. Local law enforcement has already set up a perimeter in the front and back, leaving exits gamma and omega open. Entry will be the front door. They’ll probably use flash-bangs.”

Riesman’s heart jumped several beats, and sweat burst through nearly every pore of her body.

How did he know they are coming? And why are they coming? Falsh-bangs?
She’d thought this was only reconnaissance.

“Did the Keeper deactivate Riesman’s devices?” Dee Dee asked. The three women stood in unison, pushed their chairs in, and stood behind them while Perez did the same thing.

“What? How do you know about that?”

“All but a tracking device located… really, Bobbie Jo? They made you put one there?” Perez said, pointing below her waist. Riesman’s mind went blank and heat flushed her face and neck.

“Well, now, that is inappropriate,” Lux said with disgust on her face.

“So much for dignity,” Vespere added.

“Stop it! How … how could you know that?” She suddenly wanted to cover her front as if she were naked.

Perez made a hand signal and the women lay on the floor, closed their eyes and covered their heads while he continued. “All right, ladies, it’s going to happen soon. I hope you got a plan for that rotor, Dea Data?”

“Yes, though timing and placement will be critical.”

The mention of flash-bangs was enough to convince Riesman to imitate everyone else. She lay on the floor, facing away from the door with her head covered and her eyes squeezed shut.

“Good … I’m guessing flash-bang in five, four, three, two, one …”

Riesman covered her ears and waited. She was about to look up when the front door crashed open, lights flashed, something popped loudly, and heavy feet ran towards them, shaking the floor. The events would’ve completely disoriented and immobilized her had she not been prepared. All she could think about amidst the noise, yells to remain still and something pressing on her body was how Perez saw this happening and with such detail.

What, or who, is the Keeper?

“Get up!” a man yelled.

The smoke and smell of discharged electricity made breathing difficult and her movement slow, but two strong hands pulled her off the ground and stood her on her feet. Riesman blinked, but it didn’t clear her disorientation or stop her eyes stinging. A man bound her hands roughly in front of her. The room spun around her, making her unsure of her footing. The other women were crying.

“It’s nice to see you’re in one piece,” Administrator Damon said, his calm demeanor at odds with the previous chaos. At least the blast hadn’t compromised her hearing. The smoke cleared enough to reveal Damon standing in the middle of the mess surrounded by Agent Harper and men in expensive-looking suits, body armor and assault weapons.

“You could have knocked, Administrator. I’m sure Mr. Perez would have let you in.”

Because somehow he’d known they were coming.

“Perhaps …” Administrator Damon said.

“Agent Harper, please release the director and the women. I think we have the prize. Not the big one but…

“Absolutely.”

A loud pop pierced the air and blood splattered across Riesman’s face and dress. Stunned, she stared at the mess with wide eyes. One of the women screamed, and she looked up in time to see Damon fall to the ground. Shock rooted her to the spot, but the other women’s cries pushed her to speak.

“What’s wrong with you, Harper? You just killed my boss!” she blurted out. She glanced back and forth between the dead body, Agent Harper and Perez, and after a few moments realized she’d stopped breathing.

“Merck! Daniels! Shut those ugly pigs up,” Harper said.

Ignoring her, he stepped over Damon’s body, his smoking semi- automatic handgun still in hand, and stood in front of Perez. Fired by adrenalin, lack of air and shock, Riesman stepped towards him, but someone yanked her back into place. Another man struck Dee Dee from behind, sending her face first to the floor. Everything moved so fast and changed so suddenly that it was impossible to take it all in. Riesman decided to focus on one thing at a time. She watched Harper, who continued to stare at Perez.

“Nice job, Jones. Teach Merck and Daniels not to hit like girls later, please.”

Perez, bound like her and with a cut above his eye, remained silent and returned Harper’s gaze without flinching. Riesman tried to figure out what to do next to stay alive—a difficult task with her dead boss and Dee Dee’s still body just feet away.

“Captain Anthony Martinez Perez, after years of soul searching, research and interrogations, I think
you
are either the mysterious Christine Reich, or you know exactly who she is and where I can find her.”

A menacing smile grew on Harper’s face until a floodlight from a helicopter streamed through the panoramic window. Its beams gave an eerie look to the shattered apartment, and the rotors shook the plate glass.

“Harper? It’s Lee. Get the package to the chamber. The locals are getting curious. No need for the others,” a disembodied voice said from a small transceiver on Harper’s tactical vest. Without taking his eyes off Perez, he gave the helicopter the thumbs-up.

No need for the others …
Riesman thought, realizing that she had just attended her last supper.
They’re going to kill us.

The helicopter moved off, and Perez said something to Harper that took her off guard.

“Just like you killed Dr. Nakamura, Agent Harper? It wasn’t an accident.”

Riesman’s heart jumped. Her eyes locked on Harper. Her breathing slowed. Her head spun and her knees weakened. She felt as if she were going to throw up.

Memories of laughing with Hiaki over breakfast in bed no more than two weeks before he died flooded her inner eye until she forced them down. Her boss’s dead body confirmed that Harper could do it, but he gave no indication that Perez’s accusation was correct.

“You killed Hiaki?” Her voice lacked strength, but her bound hands balled into fists. Harper faced her, paused for a moment, then stepped towards her as if he were going to say something, but instead, he turned suddenly on Perez and struck him with his handgun. Blood gushed from a large gash above his injured eye, and he crumpled to the ground.

Riesman gasped. “Anthony!”

The sound of Vespere and Lux’s crying heightened.

Perez blinked several times. “Yeah, you’re a real scumbag.” he said defiantly.

Harper extended both hands as if he had won a prize fight.

“See, everyone. I told you this old guy would be strong, unlike that pathetic piece of shit, Nakamura. Man, the crying, weeping and begging that weak old man did was an embarrassment.”

Riesman’s shock turned to rage. Determined to kill Harper, she struggled against her bonds and tried to strike him when he drew near, but her guard restrained her.

“Yeah, this old guy won’t have a heart attack like Mr. Hiaki Nakamura.” Harper, his tone mocking, exaggerated each syllable of her dead lover’s name.

“I’ll kill you.”

“Maybe, someday, but not today. Merck, let Daniels watch those crying bitches, and get the drugs and guns. Time to make this look like a party gone bad.” Harper walked to Perez. “And get the tracker out of Riesman. We don’t need her anymore, either,” he said casually, as if he were ordering takeout, then he pulled Perez off the floor with the assistance of the guard who stood above him. Someone yanked her from behind, and strong hands gripped the back of her neck and arm.

“Don’t worry, Director, I’ll be quick.”

She pulled away and spun to face him, preparing for a fight, but the guard no longer stood on the floor. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. One of the knives she’d admired earlier protruded through his body armor and lifted him off his feet. Riesman backed away from the fearsome weapon. A blur raced across the room and smashed into Merck's back. His thighbones crashed into the dining room set. Riesman flinched from his high-pitched screams.

“Christ! What?”

Thrown from behind, the man with the knife in his chest crashed into another guard. Dee Dee cut Merck’s screams short by cracking his exposed head open on a dinner bowl. Perez wrestled over a gun with his guard, and Riesman stepped forward to help him, but Harper blocked her way. She jerked her bound hands upwards and struck his gun hand. The weapon discharged. She grabbed his gun with both hands, expecting a struggle, but his arm lost strength, and he fell on top of her.

“Get off me, you bastard!” She shrugged him off, ready to strike again, then gasped at the sight of the two swords that cut deep into his torso, eviscerating him. Horrified by the gore, she turned in time to see Lux flick her wrist at the man struggling with Perez. A large knife magically appeared in the man’s chest. His death throes tightened his finger on his weapon’s trigger and set off a volley of bullets.

“Shit! Full auto!” she yelled, rolling out of the stream of bullets. But his line of fire followed her. She smacked into a pillar, thinking that she’d lost any chance of escaping death, but the man’s gun arm suddenly separated from his body. Behind him, Vespere dropped a machete and helped Perez up. Behind Vespere, another man rose off his feet, swung upside down, and crashed to the floor.

Adrenalin flooded her body, and Riesman’s mind spun. How had three tiny women killed five highly trained assassins in under a minute?

Beams of light flooded the plate glass windows, and they exploded with a burst of gunfire from the helicopter. Riesman hugged the floor behind her pillar as bullets flew everywhere. She caught sight of Dee Dee flashing rapid hand signals. Riesman followed her gaze. On the other side of the room, Vespere and Lux held their former attackers’ assault weapons and opened fire. The helicopter backed up but continued to shoot. Luckily, the apartment’s columns were more than decorative, but the hail of bullets still ate into them, trying to get at Vespere and Lux.

Riesman raced to Perez, her eyes widening when she saw Dee Dee run full speed at the helicopter, poised to hurl the spear she’d admired earlier. The helicopter moved closer, blasting the column Vespere and Lux used as cover. Dee Dee slid to a stop and hurled the javelin. The missile sailed through the apartment’s broken glass and smacked into the helicopter’s cockpit, shattering the protective canopy. Riesman figured it hit either the pilot or co-pilot/gunner, because the helicopter stopped shooting and veered downward. A moment later, it crashed into the ground a few floors below and exploded, sending up an impressive plume of flames and smoke.

Bodies littered the silent and shattered apartment. Had she not fought in skirmishes in Iran and had Naval and FEMA disaster training, she would probably have retched. Riesman counted the bodies and stopped at Harper. Even amid the horror, she still hated him.

“I guess it was your time to die, you asshole.” A firm hand on her shoulder pulled her back to reality.

“We must go,” Dee Dee said. Vespere helped Perez to his feet, and Lux headed towards the bedroom area. Dee Dee cut Riesman’s binds.

“Are you Epsilon Force? The all-female Delta Force I said was bullshit?” Riesman felt strange, analytical and removed from the surreal scene of death and destruction.

“Yes, but not here. Time to leave.”

Hands free and recovering faster than she expected, she followed Vespere and Perez to a bedroom on the other side of the apartment. All three women had removed their outer garments and now wore form-fitting black attire with various leather straps and belts in key areas that exposed their svelte but muscular forms. Dee Dee walked before her and Lux came back to cover the rear.

“You changed,” Riesman said.

“You noticed. Time for you to lose those shoes. I have no idea how you women wear them.” Lux grabbed Riesman’s feet and, having no energy to fight for her one hundred and eighty-two dollar high heels, she let the woman rip them off. What would the next steps be? she wondered.
Go to the police? The FBI? Who?

“A spear was your weapon of choice?” Perez said weakly to Dee Dee.

“A highly crafted, augmented javelin with reinforced shaft and copper tip, yes, the spear was my first and best option. I regret I will never get it back and that the Earthers will not appreciate its craftsmanship.” Dee Dee opened up a large trapdoor that led to the floor below.

Now that’s really weird … just like everything else.

Dee Dee helped Perez down first, then Vespere spun her around and, using a large knife in one sweeping blow, cut a high slit in her beautiful dress.

“Hey! You could have killed me,” Riesman said, looking at the height of the slit. As expected, it allowed her to move freely, but Riesman discovered that wasn’t the primary reason for the ruined dress.

“Are you going to make me take that tracking device out of you, or are you going to do it?”

“Oh.” Riesman squatted down and searched for the end of the device but felt very awkward and exposed. After turning slightly for more privacy, she produced the little transceiver/transponder and held it in her hand for Vespere to see.

“I don’t want it for a keepsake, Riesman. Throw the thing over there.”