DJ's Mission (15 page)

Stephanie grinned at that memory. It was a good
memory. Everything had gone according to plan and even those few that didn’t,
fell into the positive category. After serving with the CIA for the past seven
years, she realized that mostly positive missions were the exception and not
the rule. Which lead her thoughts back to her current mission; she had been in
nearly every room of the Thomas mansion but still hadn’t been able to locate
her primary objective, the retired Admiral’s private safe. The odds were that
it was in his office, the one room she hadn’t been able to access. However, she
had accomplished her secondary mission which was to plant micro proton bombs
through the mansion. No single bomb was super deadly with only a blast radius
of about fifteen meters but if all twelve bombs went off at one time....the
whole mansion, and anyone inside, would be dust.

This brought her back to the problem of Kaitlyn.

If her handler ordered the detonation of the bombs
before she figured a way out for the young girl, Stephanie didn’t know what she
would do. She had grown extremely fond of the young girl but orders were
orders. And she wouldn’t live long in her line of work if she disobeyed or
second guessed her orders.

Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps,
Stephanie moved closer to the wall and knelt down in the shadows. Was it
perfect concealment? No, but then she was one story up on a fire escape and out
of direct line of sight. Traditionally speaking, most people look and/or scan
in the same line of sight that they are currently standing on. Hiding above or
below the traditional line of sight had been used by spies since the Dark Ages.

However, she didn’t expect to see the red armored
bounty hunter enter the alleyway. Was this a trap? Was he truly hunting El Gato
or was the job offer legit?

The hunter moved to the center of the alleyway and
placed the object she had directed him to bring to identify him as her contact.
Still unsure if he was hunting her, she activated the first of her holograms
and began the meeting.

Chapter 12

DJ paused at center of the alleyway and looked
around as his combat senses slipped into overdrive. Maybe it was the high walls
of the nearby buildings that brought back long dormant memories of the war. He
had learned the hard way that the numerous fire escapes and ladders which
ranged all along the walls were ideal locations for a sniper. The shadows and
height would cover them very effectively.  Maybe it was the tightness of the
alley, although it would both hinder and aid him if it came down to hand to
hand combat. It might limit his mobility but it also meant that he couldn’t
easily be surrounded. That is, if it came down to a fight. Hopefully, this
would be an amicable meeting for both parties involved.

He actually felt rather foolish walking through
the streets of Titan City with a teddy bear in his arms. But then, his
instructions had been explicit. If his only chance to rescue his daughter meant
carrying a stuffed animal, then that’s what he would do…without hesitation.

The sensors in his CSA armor continually scanned
in all directions, above and below his normal line of sight and gave him the
all clear sign. According to his armor, he was completely alone. But his combat
senses, honed to perfection during years of service, screamed at him that he
wasn’t alone. That someone nearby was watching him. Taking one last look
around, DJ moved to the exact spot according to the advanced GPS technology of
his armor, set the teddy bear down and stepped back.

Now came the waiting. Two minutes passed. Five
minutes. At the ten minute mark he spied movement at the far end of the
alleyway. It was a raven haired beauty in a form fitting black leather
bodysuit. She moved with such feline grace that he knew this was the infamous
El Gato. However, the sensors in his CSA armor told him that the alley was
empty. Since he could see her, he figured it had to be one of three options: A)
his armor’s sensors were wrong, B) his eyes were wrong or, C) somehow El Gato
had some way of fooling the technology of his armor. He decided to go with
option C.

Keeping his hands in plain view DJ said, “I guess
you are the freelance thief I’m scheduled to meet.”

“That would be me.”

Her voice was soft, clear and showed no sign of
stress. DJ figured that she was one cool cat, no pun intended but he inwardly
smiled at his own cleverness. When she didn’t say anything else, he continued.
“It seems that I’m in the market for someone with your unique skills.”

“Why should I trust you? You could be working for
Kassinger.”

“Bite your tongue young lady. I know his history.
He should’ve been court marshaled and run up the nearest yardarm while he was
still in the Fleet.”

Stephanie smiled slightly at his rant. “Rumor has
it that you’re after the bounty for El Gato. Are you saying that’s not true?”

“It was just my cover story to get past customs
and the sheriffs.”

“I’m not sure if I believe you.”

DJ nodded. He understood her position and
suspected that, in fact, she was El Gato but he realized that he didn’t have
much of a chance at getting inside the Thomas compound without someone with her
skills, so he decided to lay all his cards on the table and go from there.

“I’ve been hired to rescue Kaitlyn Thomas.
Technically since there isn’t an active warrant on her, it will be considered a
kidnapping. If this was Earth, I would just explain it to the authorities and
show them proof but since this is Titan and the Saturn Sheriffs are in the
pockets of Titan Avionics, I can’t do this openly or I’ll be arrested.”

Stephanie felt her heart skip a beat at his words
but tried her best to remain calm. “Who would hire you to kidnap Kaitlyn?”

“Rescue, not kidnap…but if you must know, it was
her biological father. Evidently she recently received a beating at the hands
of Roger Thomas. From the bruises I’ve seen, this would be covered by the child
abuse laws of the Coalition. But she couldn’t report it locally, so she sent
her babysitting ‘bot to find her father. When it finally found him on Haven, he
contacted me. He knew that he would be arrested on arrival in the Saturn system
and I, well let’s just say I owe him a favor.”

His story rang true and several pieces fell into
place but Stephanie still wasn’t completely convinced.  “Why do you need me?”

“I have detailed plans of the mansion from
Kaitlyn’s ‘bot but there is no way I can get inside without raising the alarm.
I would like to sneak in, grab her and go. No mess, no fuss. But that won’t be
possible without your help.”

Stephanie’s hologram shifted stances and folded
her arms across her body. “You realize that you’re taking a big risk telling me
this?”

When DJ nodded his Red Falcon armored helmet
reflected the weak light of the alleyway. “Yes. But I’m stepping into
unfamiliar territory with this grab and would prefer to avoid involvement of
the local LEOs.”

“You also realize that this will be in effect a
kidnapping, which by definition is a criminal act, which means that if you do
this without the Cartel’s permission you will be cannon fodder?”

Again DJ nodded. “I’m working on getting Absolem’s
permission as we speak and have a meeting with the crime lord later this night.
However, I need you to understand this…with or without his permission and with
or without your help; I will rescue Kaitlyn within the next twenty-four hours
or die in the attempt. You can bank on that.”

Stephanie almost jumped for joy at his words but
forced herself to remain calm and play the part of the mercenary thief. “If I
assist you in this endeavor, what’s in it for me?”

DJ grinned inside his helmet even though she
couldn’t see it. “Kaitlyn’s father isn’t by any means a rich man but he has
given me a small expenditure. As I see it, your responsibilities would be
limited to getting me, and one other companion, inside the mansion complex. You
will not be required to enter. How about twenty thousand if the alarm isn’t
raised and we get in and out smoothly? Ten K if the alarm goes off.”

Stephanie shook her head. “Thirty and fifteen, the
fifteen paid up front.”

DJ did a quick tally in his head. The thirty
thousand would leave him less than ten-thousand in his stash. Not that it
mattered, Kaitlyn was worth it. “Done. When and where?”

“You said you wanted it done soon, I would suggest
tomorrow night. Meet me at midnight at the old Cathedral. There is only one in
Titan City, I’m sure you can find it.” As Stephanie was about to turn away, she
paused. “By the way, you are responsible for transportation inside the city.”

DJ nodded. “Roger that.”

With a brief smile and a wink, Stephanie ended her
hologram. DJ just shook his head and left the empty alley. Having El Gato on
his side was a checkmark to the positive side. Now if only gaining the spice
from the drug dealer and his meeting with Absolem would go as smoothly, it
would be a good night.

*   *   *   *   *

Jagger Jax spent his hour away from the Red Falcon
shopping. He hadn’t had an abundance of credits in years. Not since he was the
King of Pirates. But then, those were ill gotten gains and he was a wanted man,
always looking over his shoulder for a lawman or some young pirate wanting to
knock him off his throne. Which is kind of what had happened but he’d actually
become a pawn in some grand scheme to kill the Coalition President. A
doppelganger had taken over his life and he was sent to a mining colony on
Mercury. The imposter had committed numerous hideous crimes, including rape and
murder, under the guise of his name. However the assassination attempt failed
and the truth had come out. Which lead to his pardon and his new appreciation
for the value of hard work. Now he was free to walk into any store and legally
buy whatever he had the funds to do so. It was a good feeling.

Granted the storekeeper had recognized him and, as
they say, been sweating bullets the whole time. But Jax tried to not let that
bother him. He had bought some traditional body armor, black BDUs, boots and a
holster for his captured Graver Mk3. Not to mention, extra ammo packs and a
hunting knife. When it was all said and done, he’d spent more than half of his
advance from the Falcon but he felt good, better in fact than he had in many
years.

Checking the time on his newly purchased
chronometer, Jax headed to the meeting place even though he was early. To his
surprise, he found the Red Falcon waiting for him.

“Wow, get a load of you? Looking good, Jax.”

The ex-pirate grinned. “Thanks. It was a new
experience shopping but thoroughly enjoyable.”

“Thinking about taking up the trade?”

Jax shrugged. “Why not? I can’t get honest work
without it being simple manual labor, not that there is anything wrong with
that.”

“Bounty hunting isn’t all glamour. There are a lot
of boring details and rules you have to follow to get your credits but it does
allow you to travel.”

“That might be a good thing. Maybe I will find
somewhere where no one knows my name. I doubt it, but there could be a place.”

DJ nodded. “That is always a possibility.”

The two hunters fell silent as they closed in on
the location of the drug deal. If Mocha’s directions and information were
correct, then they had less than an hour before the deal would happen. They
hunkered down behind some garbage cans and silently waited.

When a wiry kid with super pale skin, bad acne and
greasy brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail entered the
intersection, they knew the casino owner hadn’t been lying to them.

Needles paced back and forth as they watched.
Occasionally, he bent over and picked up a handful of pebbles and tossed them
at some unseen target. Needles was the consummate picture of a man killing
time. However, he stood tall and smoothed down his hair the moment a black
stretched skimmer with dark tinted windows pulled into the intersection and
stopped.

Neither DJ nor Jax had actually discussed their
plans but since they were after the shipment of Moonbeam and not the supplier,
the logical thing was to let the deal go down and hijack Needles afterwards for
the rare spice.

Unfortunately, Mr. Murphy had different plans for them.

*   *   *   *   *

Murphy’s Law states whatever can go wrong…will go
wrong.

The perceived perversity of the
universe has long been a subject of comment and frustration. Precursors to the
modern version of Murphy's Law are not hard to find; in a 1877 report of an
engineering society, ‘
It is found that anything that can go wrong at sea
generally does go wrong sooner or later.’

According to the book
A History
of Murphy's Law
by author Nick T. Spark, differing recollections years
later by various participants make it impossible to pinpoint who first coined
the saying
Murphy's Law
. The Law's name supposedly stems from an attempt
to use new measurement devices developed by the US Air Force in 1949. Captain
Edward Murphy, a development engineer from Wright Field Aircraft Lab,
frustrated with a strap transducer which was malfunctioning due to an error in
wiring caused him to remark – "If there is any way to do it wrong, he
will" – referring to the technician who had done the wiring. The phrase
was coined in adverse reaction to this and was eventually cast into its present
form prior to a press conference some months later.

Not that it mattered about the history
of Murphy’s Law; it was the bane of soldiers everywhere. For Murphy had the
uncommon knack for rearing his ugly head at the most inconvenient times…such as
now.

*   *   *   *   *

Shortly after Jennifer and Ryan had returned to
their hotel room in Titan City, she had received a mysterious message. Even
with Ryan’s extraordinary computer skills, he wasn’t able to back trace the
message.