“Supply station storage unit,” Jude answered, pointing. Behind the long stretch of runways, there was a gigantic building. One the side where Jude was pointing, there was a large square storage unit that must have housed tons of repair supplies. The girls also noticed at least a dozen guards standing outside the large building in front of the unit.
“Ooh, fun. Anyone up for a challenge?” Mors questioned with a wicked smile.
“What kind of challenge?” Cyan asked excitedly.
“Who can kill the most guards?” Mors answered, raising an eyebrow at Galath.
“You’re on,” Cyan said, moving forwards.
“Wait,” Jude said, holding her back. “Where’s your weapons?”
“Oh right,” Cyan realized. She walked towards Ashlynn and pointed to the crossbow. “I figured you couldn’t use that much. Can I have it?” Ashlynn looked at her confusedly. “Oh, and this is for you,” Cyan added, taking off her belt. “Don’t worry, I sharpened them. Hope you can throw with your left hand.” Cyan handed Ashlynn the heavy belt and took the crossbow. On the belt there were two large assassin’s daggers, several smaller throwing knives, and a couple shanks.
“Don’t you need arrows?” Ashlynn asked, pulling the four she had grabbed just before they left from her inside jacket pocket.
“Nope,” Cyan answered, tapping her calf. It was then that Ashlynn noticed she had small quivers tied onto her pants that were filled with arrows. Cyan raised her eyebrows at Jude as she passed her, then continued in the direction of the supply station. “Hey guys, you coming?” she asked without turning around to see if anyone was following.
*******************
“Please?” Caitlin begged.
“No,” Jake answered forcefully. Why did sisters have to be so annoying?
“But I’ve always wanted to go to Miami!” Caitlin pouted.
“I have clearance to take whatever five agents I want on this mission, so it’s going to be an all-guys thing,” Jake answered.
Caitlin put her hands on her hips. “Oh really. You know five guys that would be willing to go with you?”
Jake opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and gave his sister an angry glance. “I know more people than you think,” he said, pushing past her and walking down the hall.
“Like who?” Caitlin questioned, following.
“Well, first of all there’s…” Jake started. He paused to think.
“Uh huh,” Caitlin said, knowingly. The triumphant tone in her voice made Jake’s eyebrows knit together in concentration.
“Tyler Ray…” Jake began.
“Is on a mission in Fiji,” Caitlin finished.
“Ric Freeman!” Jake exclaimed triumphantly.
“He’s on vacation with his family so he’s on leave of duty,” Caitlin replied matter-of-factly.
Jake raised an eyebrow at his sister. “How do you know that?” he asked.
Caitlin shrugged. “Words gets around. So anyway, who are you going to take?” she pressed.
Jake stared at her for a second, then sighed.
“Great! I’ll find four other agents!” Caitlin cried triumphantly, then ran off before Jake could say anything.
*******************
“Taxi!” Zamyr shouted, holding out his hand. The silver car pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped.
“Komme inn!” the taxi driver shouted through the open front window. Zamyr opened the back door to get in, but the driver said, “Nei, få i front!” Zamyr closed the back door and instead got into the passenger seat. As soon as he closed the door, the car started forward.
“Crowne Plaza Amsterdam,” Zamyr stated.
“I know,” the driver answered. Zamyr glanced over at the person behind the wheel and realized for the first time that the driver was a woman. Her light brown hair was in a pixie cut and she wore a black top and leather jacket. She didn’t seem to have any jewelry or make-up on, which was kind of refreshing to Zamyr because it had been a while since he had seen anyone so natural.
“Who are you?” Zamyr questioned.
“Nik,” she answered.
“Nik?” Zamyr asked, surprised.
“That’s my name. Don’t wear it out,” Nik said. “You’re Zamyr, the agent from the HIA?”
“How do you…” he started. Then realization hit him. “You know Alexander Green.”
“Lawler, actually. But yah, they’re pretty much the same.” She turned the wheel and took a left turn.
“Lawler? Who is he?”
Nik gave him a sideways glance. “How can you not know anything? Why are you even here?”
“He sent me here,” Zamyr answered slowly.
“Who?”
“The…agent in the Brotherhood,” Zamyr replied. He searched his mind in hopes of coming up with a name, but finally gave up, figuring the agent hadn’t given one. Honestly, he felt kind of stupid now that he realized he had been following a trail of bread crumbs blindly.
Nik sighed. “That’s Lawler. Anyway, we’re almost there. I’m going to drop you off at the plaza. Do you know Norwegian?”
“Only a little,” Zamyr admitted.
“That’s okay. Most everyone here speaks some English. You hide your Albanian accent pretty well,” Nik said, seeming random.
“Thanks?” Zamyr replied, not sure what to say to that.
The car pulled to a stop. “Here. Dette er din stopp.”
“Takk,” Zamyr answered, stepping out. He closed the door and looked around, unsure of where to go. He saw a sign that read “Club Lounge” and guessed that he should go there first. He took a deep breath, knowing he would have to brush up on his Norwegian, and it wouldn’t be easy.
*****************
Cyan was the first one to advance towards the guards. She silently loaded her crossbow, keeping the extra arrows in her mouth. She quietly rolled from bush to tree, back to bush until she had a target. Jude and Mors followed in hot pursuit, silent as ninjas. Galath kept her distance as an archer. Ashlynn was simply the backup. Cyan aimed, then fired the crossbow, hitting two guards in the chest. An arrow whizzed by Ashlynn's head, striking another in the heart. Ashlynn started to creep forward as Jude jumped from her hiding place and decapitated two guards at the same time. Mors came out and snapped another man's spine.
Rebecca was horrified that these women had mercilessly murdered six men in less than 30 seconds. Unfortunately, she had to be Ashlynn, one of these killers.
Ashlynn rushed up and threw one of her throwing knives, scraping another guards' side. He fell down in pain, pleading in his eyes as Jude decapitated him too. Meanwhile, Cyan had struck down three more guards as Galath stuck down the remaining two.
"You were very useful, Ashlynn." Galath sneered as she walked towards Cyan and Mors.
"Don't forget your place, Galath. Ashlynn is still new to this better world. I will remind you that she has not yet made her first kill."
Galath muttered curses under her breath as she reached Jude.
**********************
Xarissa couldn't believe that 5 weeks had already passed since the attack. It had been 3 weeks since the ASW had exploded. Laura and her trainee were still somewhere on the other side of the world. She never told anyone anything important about her past. Sarah, Katie, Tyler and Armaan were coming back from Fiji today.
Xarissa continued to pace in the landing runway underground. Even though 5 weeks had already passed, she and Caitlin were still mad that they weren't well enough to at least join Laura in her adventure. Why did she have to be so mysterious?
Suddenly, Xarissa paused in her thoughts. Where was Jace? She stopped pacing and sprinted to Caitlin, who was waiting in the control room that opened and closed the bay doors and was the main communication to the flying planes above.
"Jace!" Xarissa exclaimed.
Caitlin turned around with a confused expression. "No, I'm Caitlin. What did you eat for breakfast this morning?"
"No, I mean where is Jace? Where was he when the FNTTMS attacked us?"
Caitlin's mouth dropped as she realized she hadn’t seen him there, nor had she seen him since then.
"And where has he been for the past 5 weeks?" Xarissa continued.
Caitlin paused. "Should we ask the Adm. about this?"
"Well, let's see. Jace was a terrorist. He kidnapped you, Rebecca, and Laura. He almost blew up the White House. He almost killed Laura at least three times, according to what he told me last year. I think that letting a guy like that on the loose would probably end in chaos." Xarissa ended by cocking her hip to the right. "Yeah, I think that we should tell the Adm."
And with that, the two friends went to one of the most powerful leaders in the world.
**********************