"Nope, No Spies Here":
Jun. 8th, 2022 05:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermes"Nope, No Spies Here"
6/21-6/22/2008
I.
For some reason, Unicorn had leaned up against Megan on the couch and fallen utterly asleep. Looking down at Ashley's shining silver-white hair pressed against her shoulder and hearing the peaceful nearly inaudible breathing of her friend, Megan Salenger was at a loss how to react. This puzzlement happened often to her with the Unicorn. Having been raised by the unemotional Trom, Megan was a certified genius in a dozen highly demanding technical fields but there were still gaps in her understanding of Human courtesy. They had both been getting by on inadequate sleep for the past week and she understood why Unicorn was tired.
The Trom Girl sat motionless and allowed herself a wry expression that no one saw. Only a little older than Ashley, Megan was a few inches taller and a little more solidly built than the waiflike Unicorn. Short unruly black hair and large dark eyes in an oval face added to the contrast between them. They were even dressed in opposite colors as usual, Megan in her black field suit with its waist-length jacket and Unicorn in all white.. tight jeans, a long-sleeved crewneck jersey and a lightweight white windbreaker with blue trim. More than once, someone had teased them for looking like a living Yin-Yin symbol.
After a few minutes dragged by, Megan got restless. She was duty motivated and disliked wasting time when there was so much work to be done. They were sitting on the long leather couch in Sable's office, where they had been told to wait for details on a new mission. The Trom Girl glanced over at the fish tank sitting on top of the waist-high bookcase opposite them. Those bizarre creatures from Ulgor, the luminous squid, the large sea horse with fangs, even that ominous starfish with its single red eye in its hub, all were moving about normally. But Megan had a strong urge to check on them, to measure the water quality and perhaps install a microphone to record and analyze any sounds those creatures made.
Megan braced herself and began to slowly rise so she could disentangle herself, but Unicorn mumbled in her sleep and threw one arm across Megan's lap. The faint sigh of contentment from the little blonde broke Megan's resolve. A few more minutes couldn't hurt. Humans did require sleep for both physical and psychological reasons. As she relaxed and leaned her head back, the Trom Girl was not aware of slipping off into slumber herself.
Ten minutes later, a tall gaunt man stuck his head silently through the doorway. For once, those infamous grey eyes softened. The thin-lipped mouth curled into an actual smile. It was rare to see Jeremy Bane openly amused but he was now. For a long moment, he watched the two sleeping young women holding each other. A faint poignant twinge stung in his chest, a bittersweet feeling he wasn't familiar with. The Dire Wolf stepped back out into the hallway and moved toward the front door.
He had parked his Mustang in the tiny underground garage and come up through the passage which exited in the rear of the walk-in closet. Now, he opened the massive mahogany door which opened to the foyer and beyond that to East 38th Street. Bane thumbed the button that sounded the overhead chimes and stepped back into the hall, closing the door more loudly than was really necessary. Stomping his feet as he strode the open office door would have been a bit too obvious, he thought.
When he entered the office, he found both Unicorn and Trom Girl sitting upright on the couch and sliding a bit away from each other. Ashley was tugging down her windbreaker where it had ridden up and Megan was visibly blushing as she rose to greet him. "Hello, captain."
"Hi, you two," he replied. Bane had felt no temptation to tease them by shouting suddenly to have awakened them. He had almost no sense of humor beyond an occasional use of irony, it wasn't part of his make-up. "Sable said the rest of the team is in Belgium chasing Avathor but that you guys were available."
Ashley Whitaker clapped her hands together. "Great! Super! All we do is study and train and then study more and train more. Whatcha got for us?"
"It may not be all that exciting," Bane said. "I spotted Eric Spiegel in town."
"Oh my God, no! It can't be," sassed Unicorn and then added, "Who's he?"
Megan broke in, "He is a prominent enforcement agent for the Mandate. Eric Chester Spiegel, born September 2 1977 in Endicott, Massachusetts, is credited with eleven confirmed kills of enemy agents from STIGMA, the White Web and one MI 6 rogue. Our files have him working out of Houston, Texas."
With a sniff, Unicorn asked, "How much does he weigh? What's his favorite color?"
"He weighed one hundred and eighty-one pounds and stood six feet one inch tall at his last physical. His favorite color is not listed."
"I wasn't being SERIOUS, science nerd."
Bane unclipped his Link from his belt, a flat electronic device no thicker than three playing cards on top of each other. "Here. I'm sending you each the last photo available of Spiegel and of Dandelion."
"Dandelion? Now HER I know about!" Unicorn chirped as she watched the screen on her own Link. "You've fought her a bunch of times, captain, is she really the best shootist ever?"
"Best I've ever seen in person, anyway." Bane let the natural gravitas return to his voice. "Take her seriously. Dandelion had some Tel Shai training before she was rejected by the Order. Her draw and her accuracy are way beyond what Human relexes can explain. She's supernatural in a real sense."
"But you're faster than her, right? I mean, come on, you're the freaking Dire Wolf!" Ashley went on.
"I have to be realistic about this," Bane said. "We're so closely matched that I don't think there's any way to measure the difference. In any given showdown, either Dandelion or I could draw and shoot first but the odds are very good that both of us would take a bullet or two in the process."
"Interesting," Megan added quietly. "One scholar of the Midnight War theorized that this woman has an unconscious telekinetic ability capable of accelerating bullets in flight and guiding their trajectory. I would like to test this."
"Watch out. She knows about the Trom armor we wear under our clothes," said the Dire Wolf. "Your head and neck are more than enough. Anyway, Dandelion was mentioned in a transmission I overheard Spiegel send. We don't know for a fact she's in the city. I would rather have you snoop around Spiegel and see what he's up to, it'd be better if you don't meet Dandelion at all."
"We're on the job, Jeremy," Ashley said, clipping her Link to her belt under the windbreaker. "You working with us on this?"
"I wish, but no. I've got a client at my agency and today I hope to find out what happened to his kids. It's very personal. But I did attach a Trom transmitter inside the wheel well of his car. Signal 177. You'll have no trouble finding him."
"And the two of us look so different we can switch off while trailing him to avoid being spotted," Unicorn smirked. "Okay, science nerd, you ready?"
"Yes." Megan Salenger seemed distracted. "To be honest, I am curious about determining how this Dandelion can perform her sharpshooting feats. It would be a useful ability to replicate."
In the doorway, Bane said, "I have to go now. Listen, I don't usually caution you two. You're both experienced Tel Shai knights and to be honest, you're as good as any other KDF members before you. But I strongly recommend staying away from Unicorn if you see her. Text me according to your own judgement, I should be down by the Battery."
The sound of the door closing out in the front hall was the prompt for Ashley and Megan to exchange amused smiles. "Well," laughed the little blonde, "Now I'm determined to chase down this Dandelion lassie no matter what!"
II.
Out on the sidewalk in front of the KDF building, Ashley took her friend by the shoulders and turned her around. "Let's see how you look in daylight. Mmm. Just a little mascara and a hint of blush does work wonders, kid. I wish you would let your hair grow a few inches, I see possibilities. Anyway. You have your flying rig on under this jacket?"
"Yes. My gravity shield disc is strapped to my back."
"And is your zap gun set to make bad guys fall down?"
With the slightest hint of asperity, Megan said, "The beam projector is set for neural stun at a higher degree of intensity than normal. I assume you have one of the anesthetic darts ready?"
"You bet your butt, holstered across the small of my back where this windbreaker hides it. Hang on one second." Unicorn had been dangling a white leather cylinder three feet long by its strap. Now she fastened it across her back so the flat end was up by her right shoulder, its clasp easily unsnapped. "I might not need the Horn, though. Maybe this Dandelion doesn't really have any gralic ability. For all we know, guys exaggerate her shooting skills because, let's face it, she's kinda hot."
The Trom Girl started walking toward the corner of Lexington Avenue, fighting an urge to wipe away even the minimal amount of make-up that Ashley had insisted on applying. She too out her Link and replaced it after a quick glance. "Spiegel's car is parked on West 93rd Street, one block from Central Park. It has not moved in the past two hours."
"Whew, slightly ritzy neighborhood on the Upper West Side. Being a counterspy must either pay decent bucks or have some perks like an assigned parking spot. I guess we're taking your Jeep, huh?"
"I did not think to ask you, Ashley. My manners are still not polished. Maybe they never will be. Do you agree we should use my vehicle on this case?"
"Sure, why not? My new Nissan GT-R is out at my mom's house. Listen, do you think Jeremy has a thing for Dandelion?"
As they turned left and headed uptown, Megan seemed uncertain at the question. "I should be asking you, Ashley. You know more about Human relationships than I do."
"True, true. I dunno. As God is my witness, I figger our captain likes her in his usual distant platonic way. I don't think they ever dated, I doubt if they ever even kissed. She's just one of the Midnight War lunatics he deals with and the way she looks doesn't even matter to him."
The Trom Girl considered this. "I see nothing to contradict that. The fact that she is an assassin who has murdered innocent people purely for money must be held against her in his eyes."
"Wow, I love your understatement. Okay, here's 40th Street and there's IMPERIAL GARAGE."
They went down the wide concrete ramp from street level and stopped at the glass enclosed booth where Ashley gifted the attendant with a dazing smile and continued down to where Megan's Jeep was sitting. "Jimmy's in love with me," Ashley went on in her blithe way. "Who can blame him? I could probably wrangle a free spot out of him with my charm."
Not trusted herself to respond, Megan checked the blinking blue and green security lights she had installed on the driver's visor, walked around the Jeep Cherokee as if suspecting to find four flat tires or a pool of oil, and was eventually satisfied. She chirped open the door and vaulted up behind the wheel. Placing the Unicorn horn on the rear seat, Ashley hopped in the passenger side and buckled herself in.
"Take us out of orbit, Mr Salenger," she said.
"Your pop culture references escape me," Megan replied as she pulled out of the spot and rolled up toward the street.
III.
"The Brackett Condo only finished renovation three years ago," Unicorn informed Megan as they looked for a parking spot. "Twenty-nine stories, three hundred and forty units. Place is ridiculous if you ask me. Cheapest apartment starts at $675,000 a month and it goes up from there. I don't mind being comfortable, maybe I'm even a little spoiled but come on." She put her Link away.
"New York City seems to go to extremes," the Trom Girl replied absently as she pulled into a spot two blocks away. "I believe this is the best we will find this time of day."
"Hoofing's okay with me." They got out and strolled unhurriedly over to where the building stood behind an immaculately tended park area with gazebos and a wading pool. Several signs warned of dire consequences but the two KDF members ignored those. After what they had survived in the Midnight War for the past eight years, legalities hardly registered with them. The immense lobby was all black marble and chrome, cool and dry, with a service counter behind which an elderly man in a red blazer glanced up as they entered. Ashley and Megan walked by with the complete self-assurance that was better than any passport. The fact that they were very attractive young women, well groomed and wearing decent clothing, helped as well.
At a bank of three elevators near the rear of the lobby, Ashley suddenly gripped her teammates ar mand held her back. She didn't speak but merely froze into position. Following her line of sight, Megan saw Dandelion for the first time.
Waiting for the elevator cage to arrive, the most dangerous assassin of her era did not look sinister at all. She was a small slim woman exactly the same size as Unicorn, not a fraction over five feet tall and weighing exactly one hundred pounds. Dandelion wore a pearl grey pantsuit with moderate heels, a white blouse with a single gold strand necklace and she carried two folded newspapers in one hand. Her shoulder-length hair was the same pure platinum white as Ashley's as well.
Whispering, Megan said, "The resemblance is remarkable..."
"Shhh, we might get a break here." Unicorn was watching the row of lights over the elevator blink up to twenty-three and then start to descend again. "Great. Great. That's a big help. Come on." She tugged her partner by the arm and nearly dove into the elevator when it opened again.
Inside a cage more elegantly upholstered than many New York apartments, Unicorn exhaled. "It's a good thing this elevator came right back down again. Now we only have one floor to search. I don't know what my plan B woulda been otherwise."
"Ashley, I am not intimidated by this Dandelion person. You've seen me fight Skinwalkers, Trolls and Kulan. But why are we pursuing her? She is not our assignment."
"Fair enough, science nerd. I vote we tackle her because she is a professional killer. She has shot to death little children, old men and young couples because someone handed her money. I think the world would be a cleaner place without her in it. Also, Eric Spiegel was worried about her being in the area, so she might have something to do with him."
"I see." The door dinged open and they stepped out into a wide hallway with enormous windows letting in natural light. "From the layout of this building, I estimate eleven apartment units will be on this floor. Now we must determine which one has Dandelion in it."
"Ha HAH, that's where our Trom super-genius goes to work. Take your Link, buddy, we'll going to go to the end of the hall and stare out at the tops of trees across the street."
"I see," Megan repeated, with time with noticeable unhappiness. She began scanning, first for heat signatures and then adding carbon dioxide concentration and finally focusing on Human voices appropriate for women of petite size. She waved her Link back and forth as they passed doors. "Nothing likely."
"We'll try again. Let's walk slowly, we got time."
Finally, Megan paused in front of a polished door with silver numbers 23-09 on its plate and an electronic keycard lock. "I believe this is our most likely candidate. One active life form within the normal limits for a person of Dandelion's age and size. There's some footsteps, I'm analyzing them. Yes. I think she is in here."
Ashley was almost hopping up and down with glee. "I knew it. Oh, I'm so smart, well you are, too. Can your neural shock go through the door?"
"No. I do not think it would be prudent to break open the lock."
"Not if we don't want a dozen bullets heading our way. Lemme think. There are some tricks to getting some one to come out, but I think it's time to be direct." She simply pressed the round white buzzer, waited a few seconds and tried again. They heard a deadbolt being drawn, a lock buzzing and then the door opened only a crack.
"Come on in slowly and close the door behind you," came a woman's voice.
Ashley and Megan entered a gorgeous apartment with rust-colored carpeting, modernistic furniture and its own balcony. Stepped backwards while facing them, from twenty feet away Dandelion had both hands raised and was aiming a pair of small Walther P22s right at their faces.
IV.
In the warm afternoon light through the windows, Dandelion was revealed to be beautiful as everyone said. She had a squarish face with a wide jawline, delicate nose and fine lips. Dark blue eyes glared out at the two intruders with a cold gleam that detracted from her appeal. "Oh, come on. I recognize you two. You're KDF members. The one who was raised by the Trom and Mary Cassidy's daughter, the new Unicorn."
"Hi," Ashley replied as casually as if not at gunpoint. She hefted the Unicorn horn in front of her. "Nice to be popular, anyway we have a business proposition to offer..."
"Do you now? I doubt it. That damned Dire Wolf knows perfectly well I have a post office box in Manhattan. He knows that's how I want to be contacted. No, you girls are up to some clumsy trick." Dandelion's hands never wavered a fraction of an inch. Each of the guns had one of her handcrafted silencers screwed onto the barrel. They were smaller than a beer bottle each, and were so effective that she could have sold the secret of the construction for enough to live on.
"No, no, seriously. We're short handed as usual and we're tackling a new organization that might be a bit above our punching level. Maybe you might want to hire on?"
"I'm listening. What's the name of this supposed new organization?"
"We think it's called 'Supervisor,' Dandelion made up on the spot. "That way, the crooks can say they need to call the Supervisor or that the Supervisor told them no about something and anyone listening won't be suspicious..."
"For crying at loud, stop right there. Now I get it. You've been approached by the Mandate, right? They smell something fishy about their Spiegel. Damn it. Listen, the last thing I need is Jeremy Bane of all people enraged and coming after me because I put holes through your foreheads. Slowly get face down and then put your hands up behind your heads. First, toss that stupid looking thing you're holding, whatever it is."
"Oh, this?" Ashley raised the Unicorn horn to chest level and called out clearly, "With this horn I remove thy power!"
In one tenth of a second, two .22 caliber slugs snapped across the apartment and thumped into the wall more than a foot from Ashley's head. The special silencers reduced the noise to a deep cough. As soon as she had fired, Dandelion's expression became comical in its surprise. Instead of immediately taking aim the regular way, she lowered the Walthers for a split-second because she had literally never missed before and that was her undoing.
Still holding the horn in one hand, Unicorn hurtled across the apartment, pivoted on her left heel and drove her right foot deep into Dandelion's stomach, forcing the air from her lungs with a gush. Lunging closer, Ashley smacked a backhand to the chin with a whiplash sound and Dandelion reeled back senseless to the plush rug. Even unconscious, her grip on her guns didn't loosen.
"Hah! Now that's what I call Kumundu! I should use it more often," Ashley gloated.
Megan promptly confiscated the Walthers and jammed them into her belt at either side. Kneeling over the motionless assassin, she announced, "This woman is not fully unconscious. I do not expect the concussion to produce any significant harmful effects."
"I could have clocked her much harder. Maybe I should have."
"She has a third sidearm on her, as well. Here, Ashley, would you take this one? I am uaing the neural shock beam. We can relax, she will not wake up for at least an hour."
"I guess no one's reporting the fireworks," Unicorn said. "They didn't sound like gunshots anyway. You better check her phone, Megs, you're better at techno stuff."
"I wish you would not call me 'Megs.' Let's see. Obvious password. Facial recognition required but I will hold the camera to her face. It seems she erases all her messages but of course the information is still stored in the phone if you know where to access it."
'
"I only feel stupid when I'm with you," Unicorn grumbled.
Apparently not hearing that, Megan took out her Link with her free hand. "Now uploading all data from this phone to our own systems. Once Sable looks through it, I expect she will find the FBI and Department of Justice interested in learning about many unsolved murders. The last message is our immediate concern."
"AND? Are you trying to be suspenseful or what?"
"It simply say 'Usual club, 6:15. Palfrey.' She did not respond."
"Palfrey must be Spiegel's code name, then."
"That seems likely. There is only forty-five minutes until the expected meeting. Ashley, I will scan through the phone for clues about this club, you should search Dandelion herself."
"You bet. I'm nosy by nature anyway." Kneeling off the unconscious woman, Unicorn started with the obvious pockets. "Keys. Wallet, looks like a few cards, drivers license, some singles, no scraps of paper. Short handled hair brush. Gum. Chapstick. For such a dreaded killer, she's boring. Uh-oh. Here in a boot is a single shot Derringer. Woman was ready for World War III. And this is interesting, some kind of metal token. It reads 'Wildwood' on one side and the other side says '1 User Only.'"
Leaning over, Megan took hold of the token. "This is a sort of key, Ashley. I think he completes a circuit that probably unlocks a door. I'm looking up 'Wildwood' in the Metropolitan area. Yes. A private men's club on Tenth Avenue and 112 Street."
Ashley Whitaker unslung the sheath in which she carried her unicorn horn and unzipped her windbreaker. "One of my amazing brainstorms has struck," she announced. "I hate to admit it, but there is a certain resemblance between me and Miss Slaughter here. She's not as cute as I am of course, but I think for across a room, some one might mistake us."
"You intend to switch clothes with her?"
"Worth a try. Maybe this grey outfit was expected, it might help me get in. Strip her down, would you? Time's running out."
In only a few minutes, Unicorn was straightening out the grey pantsuit outfit on herself, finding it fit very well. Dandelion was slumbering in an nearly transparent pair of bra and panties. Without explanation, Megan picked up the woman and arranged her on the double bed.
"I wouldn't care too much about making her comfortable," Ashley snorted. "She sent two bullets at my face a few minutes ago." Picking up her own clothing, she began transferring the tiny gadgets and weapons from its concealed pockets into the borrowed clothing she was wearing. "This is nice material, I have to say. Not velour. I wonder what it is."
The Trom Girl was standing with folded arms, gazing down at Dandelion. "This woman will revive from the neural shock in less than forty-five minutes. Since the Mandate is aware of her presence in the United States, I think it likely they already know where she is staying . If they have not tried to arrest her, probably it is because they are building a case."
"Wait, what? We're not going to turn her in? Megs, you just read info about all the people she's killed."
"After the Department of Justice anonymously receives that information, I think they will proceed to prosecute her. That's my conjecture based on the situation as I see it."
Even in the pantsuit, Ashley did not resemble Dandelion enough to fool anyone who knew them even casually. Their features were simply too different. But someone who only had a description or had glanced at a photo might be tricked. "If you say so, I'll go along with it. Sheesh! I wish now I had slugged her a few more times when I had the chance."
V.
With only a few minutes to go, Megan parked her Jeep in the lot behind a drug store that seemed to be closed early. "There's the address across street," she said. "No visible signs but the man sitting by that unmarked door is clearly a guard. Let's go."
"No, I want you to wait here. This token says Admit One. I'm taking a chance already they know Dandelion by sight. Please, Megan, stay ready to come running to the rescue."
The Trom Girl's eyes were always thoughtful but now they rested on her friend with obvious deliberation going on behind them. "It's the logical procedure but somehow I'm resisting it, Ashley."
"Aw, you've got more Human emotions than most people who were raised by Humans. Look. I'm setting my Link to transmit sound. Listen to what I'm saying. If I speak your name, that's the flare gun signal. Come running to kick the door down and save me." She reached up to the driver's visor and appropriated Megan's pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses to hopefully make her disguise a little effective.
"Agreed," the Trom Girl said with immense reluctance in the single word. She leaned back behind the wheel and watched as the little blonde hopped out and sauntered around the potholes closely spaced on Tenth Avenue. The dingy five story building, its red bricks once whitewashed but now only speckled, awaited her. A cast iron railing circled the pit where five cement steps led down to an unmarked door. Sitting on a three-stool was an enormous black man in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. He rose to make his three hundred pound hulk tower over her as she trotted down the steps.
When the door guard held out his meaty paw, Ashley blithely twirled the token so it dropped into his palm. He slid it down in the slit of an electronic lock and opened the door at the buzzer. "Miss Dandelion," he rumbled.
Imitating voices was one skill that the Unicorn had never mastered, so she did not risk a reply but simply touched one finger to her eyebrow in an ironic salute and went inside. The interior was so much nicer than she had expected. The wooden floor had been mopped recently, the air was free of cigarette smoke or spilled beer and jazz piano tinkled softly overhead. Behind the bar, a dignified older woman in a black dress with a white lace collar was wiping the counter and she tilted her head respectfully.
There were six people sitting at the round tables. In the rear were two men in suits and ties, bent over stacks of loose papers. One had the strap mark of a shoulder holster showing clearly. At the next table over, a beefy man with a buzz cut and a bristling mustache was nursing what was left of a pint bottle of Stolichaya. And there were two moderately attractive Japanese women against the blacked-out window, huddled together to study the screen of a cell phone. The silence was heavy as a blanket.
"Nope, no spies here," Ashley muttered to herself. "All we're missing if a guy with a round bomb with a lit fuse..."
As soon as she entered, five patrons quietly rose and left immediately without even a pretense of havin a reason other than seeing the small blonde woman in grey coming into the club. Even the bartender silently slipped away through an exit door to her left. The only person left there stood up and raised a hand to welcome her. Unicorn had to admit that Eric Spiegel was good-looking. He was tall, fit and well dressed in a herringbone dark grey suit with the shirt collar unbuttoned and the narrow black tie loosened. In a darkly tanned face, the blue eyes stood out vividly. A thin white scar down the right side of his forehead added a faint piratical touch.
"I'm sorry about this..." he began but broke off to say, "You're not Dandelion!"
"Seeing you, handsome, I kinda wish I was," Unicorn laughed. But she was also cut off as six men in dark red garments rushed out through a door into the nearly empty bar. Most held vicious wavy-bladed daggers but he held modern Glock 19 pistols. All had shaven heads and enigmatic features neither distinctly European nor Asian but seeming a type all their own with narrow oblique eyes and hawklike beaked noses.
In a slightly shaken voice, Ashley said, "I wish my friend MEGAN WAS HERE!" just at the strange men moved quickly toward her. But even as Unicorn said the last word, the street door behind her crashed open.
VI.
Crashing loudly as a single peal of thunder, six gunshots detonated in that enclosed room and six men staggered back or fell onto their faces. Not a single bullet was off by an inch even when targeted against moving bodies. Despite all her training and experience, Ashley was stupefied. She blinked a full second longer than she should have before turning toward the newcomer.
It was Dandelion, wearing the white jeans and windbreaker that had been left behind in her apartment. She reloaded the Walther P22 in a single click and gave the dead or dying men a single appraising glare. "Gelengim! Looks like Temur Kasten's boys, Spiegel."
"The only ones left in the real world," the Mandate agent replied, tightening his tie and pulling on his suit jacket. "They were determined to ambush you, Dandelion, one or two at a time. Getting them together like this, with me shooting at them from the side, was your best chance."
Dandelion raised one sardonic eyebrow. "So you say. Like I can trust you. For all I know, you were already paid to lure me here."
"We live in the Kingdom of the Lost."
"I know, I know. The Pathless Land. You might as well go, Spiegel. You've been useful before, no point in colding you now." She gestured with her gun toward the door behind her.
As he passed Unicorn, he gave her a questioning smile. She responded by smiling dazedly and saying, "You can reach me at KDF headquarters. Ask for Ashley."
When Spiegel reached the door, he had to pass by Megan Salenger, who was standing there tensely with her beam projector in one hand. The Trom Girl was not as smitten by Eric Spiegel as Unicorn obviously was, but simply moved aside to let the agent go by.
Before she could speak, she was interrupted by Dandelion. "You two again! But blondie here doesn't have that Horn of hers and my gift has obviously returned. Whether or not it makes the Dire Wolf mad at me, I really should put some tunnels in your skulls right now.
Ashley said, "You look great in my clothes. You should wear white with Navy blue trim."
Dandelion made a scoffing noise that turned into a chuckle and then an outright laugh. She lowered her Walther and grinned openly. "Can you believe the nerve of this kid? Oh my God, you're something. You know what's in your favor? I was helpless. You two didn't snuff me or torture me for information. You left me my wallet and my luggage. All you took was that outfit and the guns I had on me. That's understandable."
"You can have your guns back," Ashley offered immediately. "But I think we should keep the clothes we swapped. What's this blouse made of anyway?"
"That's fine Egyptian linen I selected in person." Dandelion finally tucked her pistol into her waistband and glanced back at where Megan was listening in complete confusion.
"Let's get out of here. I'll take my modified Walthers and skip this town. There's business for me in Calgary anyway. But I really think you two should try to avoid crossing me in the future. I may not be in such a forgiving mood next time."
After Dandelion went past her, Megan stared at all the fresh corpses on the floor and turned to Ashley. "I will be honest. This is not among any of the scenarios I was expecting."
Sporting an unbearably smug smirk, Unicorn punched her best friend on the bicep. "You should let me pick our cases from now on!"
6/8/2022
f
6/21-6/22/2008
I.
For some reason, Unicorn had leaned up against Megan on the couch and fallen utterly asleep. Looking down at Ashley's shining silver-white hair pressed against her shoulder and hearing the peaceful nearly inaudible breathing of her friend, Megan Salenger was at a loss how to react. This puzzlement happened often to her with the Unicorn. Having been raised by the unemotional Trom, Megan was a certified genius in a dozen highly demanding technical fields but there were still gaps in her understanding of Human courtesy. They had both been getting by on inadequate sleep for the past week and she understood why Unicorn was tired.
The Trom Girl sat motionless and allowed herself a wry expression that no one saw. Only a little older than Ashley, Megan was a few inches taller and a little more solidly built than the waiflike Unicorn. Short unruly black hair and large dark eyes in an oval face added to the contrast between them. They were even dressed in opposite colors as usual, Megan in her black field suit with its waist-length jacket and Unicorn in all white.. tight jeans, a long-sleeved crewneck jersey and a lightweight white windbreaker with blue trim. More than once, someone had teased them for looking like a living Yin-Yin symbol.
After a few minutes dragged by, Megan got restless. She was duty motivated and disliked wasting time when there was so much work to be done. They were sitting on the long leather couch in Sable's office, where they had been told to wait for details on a new mission. The Trom Girl glanced over at the fish tank sitting on top of the waist-high bookcase opposite them. Those bizarre creatures from Ulgor, the luminous squid, the large sea horse with fangs, even that ominous starfish with its single red eye in its hub, all were moving about normally. But Megan had a strong urge to check on them, to measure the water quality and perhaps install a microphone to record and analyze any sounds those creatures made.
Megan braced herself and began to slowly rise so she could disentangle herself, but Unicorn mumbled in her sleep and threw one arm across Megan's lap. The faint sigh of contentment from the little blonde broke Megan's resolve. A few more minutes couldn't hurt. Humans did require sleep for both physical and psychological reasons. As she relaxed and leaned her head back, the Trom Girl was not aware of slipping off into slumber herself.
Ten minutes later, a tall gaunt man stuck his head silently through the doorway. For once, those infamous grey eyes softened. The thin-lipped mouth curled into an actual smile. It was rare to see Jeremy Bane openly amused but he was now. For a long moment, he watched the two sleeping young women holding each other. A faint poignant twinge stung in his chest, a bittersweet feeling he wasn't familiar with. The Dire Wolf stepped back out into the hallway and moved toward the front door.
He had parked his Mustang in the tiny underground garage and come up through the passage which exited in the rear of the walk-in closet. Now, he opened the massive mahogany door which opened to the foyer and beyond that to East 38th Street. Bane thumbed the button that sounded the overhead chimes and stepped back into the hall, closing the door more loudly than was really necessary. Stomping his feet as he strode the open office door would have been a bit too obvious, he thought.
When he entered the office, he found both Unicorn and Trom Girl sitting upright on the couch and sliding a bit away from each other. Ashley was tugging down her windbreaker where it had ridden up and Megan was visibly blushing as she rose to greet him. "Hello, captain."
"Hi, you two," he replied. Bane had felt no temptation to tease them by shouting suddenly to have awakened them. He had almost no sense of humor beyond an occasional use of irony, it wasn't part of his make-up. "Sable said the rest of the team is in Belgium chasing Avathor but that you guys were available."
Ashley Whitaker clapped her hands together. "Great! Super! All we do is study and train and then study more and train more. Whatcha got for us?"
"It may not be all that exciting," Bane said. "I spotted Eric Spiegel in town."
"Oh my God, no! It can't be," sassed Unicorn and then added, "Who's he?"
Megan broke in, "He is a prominent enforcement agent for the Mandate. Eric Chester Spiegel, born September 2 1977 in Endicott, Massachusetts, is credited with eleven confirmed kills of enemy agents from STIGMA, the White Web and one MI 6 rogue. Our files have him working out of Houston, Texas."
With a sniff, Unicorn asked, "How much does he weigh? What's his favorite color?"
"He weighed one hundred and eighty-one pounds and stood six feet one inch tall at his last physical. His favorite color is not listed."
"I wasn't being SERIOUS, science nerd."
Bane unclipped his Link from his belt, a flat electronic device no thicker than three playing cards on top of each other. "Here. I'm sending you each the last photo available of Spiegel and of Dandelion."
"Dandelion? Now HER I know about!" Unicorn chirped as she watched the screen on her own Link. "You've fought her a bunch of times, captain, is she really the best shootist ever?"
"Best I've ever seen in person, anyway." Bane let the natural gravitas return to his voice. "Take her seriously. Dandelion had some Tel Shai training before she was rejected by the Order. Her draw and her accuracy are way beyond what Human relexes can explain. She's supernatural in a real sense."
"But you're faster than her, right? I mean, come on, you're the freaking Dire Wolf!" Ashley went on.
"I have to be realistic about this," Bane said. "We're so closely matched that I don't think there's any way to measure the difference. In any given showdown, either Dandelion or I could draw and shoot first but the odds are very good that both of us would take a bullet or two in the process."
"Interesting," Megan added quietly. "One scholar of the Midnight War theorized that this woman has an unconscious telekinetic ability capable of accelerating bullets in flight and guiding their trajectory. I would like to test this."
"Watch out. She knows about the Trom armor we wear under our clothes," said the Dire Wolf. "Your head and neck are more than enough. Anyway, Dandelion was mentioned in a transmission I overheard Spiegel send. We don't know for a fact she's in the city. I would rather have you snoop around Spiegel and see what he's up to, it'd be better if you don't meet Dandelion at all."
"We're on the job, Jeremy," Ashley said, clipping her Link to her belt under the windbreaker. "You working with us on this?"
"I wish, but no. I've got a client at my agency and today I hope to find out what happened to his kids. It's very personal. But I did attach a Trom transmitter inside the wheel well of his car. Signal 177. You'll have no trouble finding him."
"And the two of us look so different we can switch off while trailing him to avoid being spotted," Unicorn smirked. "Okay, science nerd, you ready?"
"Yes." Megan Salenger seemed distracted. "To be honest, I am curious about determining how this Dandelion can perform her sharpshooting feats. It would be a useful ability to replicate."
In the doorway, Bane said, "I have to go now. Listen, I don't usually caution you two. You're both experienced Tel Shai knights and to be honest, you're as good as any other KDF members before you. But I strongly recommend staying away from Unicorn if you see her. Text me according to your own judgement, I should be down by the Battery."
The sound of the door closing out in the front hall was the prompt for Ashley and Megan to exchange amused smiles. "Well," laughed the little blonde, "Now I'm determined to chase down this Dandelion lassie no matter what!"
II.
Out on the sidewalk in front of the KDF building, Ashley took her friend by the shoulders and turned her around. "Let's see how you look in daylight. Mmm. Just a little mascara and a hint of blush does work wonders, kid. I wish you would let your hair grow a few inches, I see possibilities. Anyway. You have your flying rig on under this jacket?"
"Yes. My gravity shield disc is strapped to my back."
"And is your zap gun set to make bad guys fall down?"
With the slightest hint of asperity, Megan said, "The beam projector is set for neural stun at a higher degree of intensity than normal. I assume you have one of the anesthetic darts ready?"
"You bet your butt, holstered across the small of my back where this windbreaker hides it. Hang on one second." Unicorn had been dangling a white leather cylinder three feet long by its strap. Now she fastened it across her back so the flat end was up by her right shoulder, its clasp easily unsnapped. "I might not need the Horn, though. Maybe this Dandelion doesn't really have any gralic ability. For all we know, guys exaggerate her shooting skills because, let's face it, she's kinda hot."
The Trom Girl started walking toward the corner of Lexington Avenue, fighting an urge to wipe away even the minimal amount of make-up that Ashley had insisted on applying. She too out her Link and replaced it after a quick glance. "Spiegel's car is parked on West 93rd Street, one block from Central Park. It has not moved in the past two hours."
"Whew, slightly ritzy neighborhood on the Upper West Side. Being a counterspy must either pay decent bucks or have some perks like an assigned parking spot. I guess we're taking your Jeep, huh?"
"I did not think to ask you, Ashley. My manners are still not polished. Maybe they never will be. Do you agree we should use my vehicle on this case?"
"Sure, why not? My new Nissan GT-R is out at my mom's house. Listen, do you think Jeremy has a thing for Dandelion?"
As they turned left and headed uptown, Megan seemed uncertain at the question. "I should be asking you, Ashley. You know more about Human relationships than I do."
"True, true. I dunno. As God is my witness, I figger our captain likes her in his usual distant platonic way. I don't think they ever dated, I doubt if they ever even kissed. She's just one of the Midnight War lunatics he deals with and the way she looks doesn't even matter to him."
The Trom Girl considered this. "I see nothing to contradict that. The fact that she is an assassin who has murdered innocent people purely for money must be held against her in his eyes."
"Wow, I love your understatement. Okay, here's 40th Street and there's IMPERIAL GARAGE."
They went down the wide concrete ramp from street level and stopped at the glass enclosed booth where Ashley gifted the attendant with a dazing smile and continued down to where Megan's Jeep was sitting. "Jimmy's in love with me," Ashley went on in her blithe way. "Who can blame him? I could probably wrangle a free spot out of him with my charm."
Not trusted herself to respond, Megan checked the blinking blue and green security lights she had installed on the driver's visor, walked around the Jeep Cherokee as if suspecting to find four flat tires or a pool of oil, and was eventually satisfied. She chirped open the door and vaulted up behind the wheel. Placing the Unicorn horn on the rear seat, Ashley hopped in the passenger side and buckled herself in.
"Take us out of orbit, Mr Salenger," she said.
"Your pop culture references escape me," Megan replied as she pulled out of the spot and rolled up toward the street.
III.
"The Brackett Condo only finished renovation three years ago," Unicorn informed Megan as they looked for a parking spot. "Twenty-nine stories, three hundred and forty units. Place is ridiculous if you ask me. Cheapest apartment starts at $675,000 a month and it goes up from there. I don't mind being comfortable, maybe I'm even a little spoiled but come on." She put her Link away.
"New York City seems to go to extremes," the Trom Girl replied absently as she pulled into a spot two blocks away. "I believe this is the best we will find this time of day."
"Hoofing's okay with me." They got out and strolled unhurriedly over to where the building stood behind an immaculately tended park area with gazebos and a wading pool. Several signs warned of dire consequences but the two KDF members ignored those. After what they had survived in the Midnight War for the past eight years, legalities hardly registered with them. The immense lobby was all black marble and chrome, cool and dry, with a service counter behind which an elderly man in a red blazer glanced up as they entered. Ashley and Megan walked by with the complete self-assurance that was better than any passport. The fact that they were very attractive young women, well groomed and wearing decent clothing, helped as well.
At a bank of three elevators near the rear of the lobby, Ashley suddenly gripped her teammates ar mand held her back. She didn't speak but merely froze into position. Following her line of sight, Megan saw Dandelion for the first time.
Waiting for the elevator cage to arrive, the most dangerous assassin of her era did not look sinister at all. She was a small slim woman exactly the same size as Unicorn, not a fraction over five feet tall and weighing exactly one hundred pounds. Dandelion wore a pearl grey pantsuit with moderate heels, a white blouse with a single gold strand necklace and she carried two folded newspapers in one hand. Her shoulder-length hair was the same pure platinum white as Ashley's as well.
Whispering, Megan said, "The resemblance is remarkable..."
"Shhh, we might get a break here." Unicorn was watching the row of lights over the elevator blink up to twenty-three and then start to descend again. "Great. Great. That's a big help. Come on." She tugged her partner by the arm and nearly dove into the elevator when it opened again.
Inside a cage more elegantly upholstered than many New York apartments, Unicorn exhaled. "It's a good thing this elevator came right back down again. Now we only have one floor to search. I don't know what my plan B woulda been otherwise."
"Ashley, I am not intimidated by this Dandelion person. You've seen me fight Skinwalkers, Trolls and Kulan. But why are we pursuing her? She is not our assignment."
"Fair enough, science nerd. I vote we tackle her because she is a professional killer. She has shot to death little children, old men and young couples because someone handed her money. I think the world would be a cleaner place without her in it. Also, Eric Spiegel was worried about her being in the area, so she might have something to do with him."
"I see." The door dinged open and they stepped out into a wide hallway with enormous windows letting in natural light. "From the layout of this building, I estimate eleven apartment units will be on this floor. Now we must determine which one has Dandelion in it."
"Ha HAH, that's where our Trom super-genius goes to work. Take your Link, buddy, we'll going to go to the end of the hall and stare out at the tops of trees across the street."
"I see," Megan repeated, with time with noticeable unhappiness. She began scanning, first for heat signatures and then adding carbon dioxide concentration and finally focusing on Human voices appropriate for women of petite size. She waved her Link back and forth as they passed doors. "Nothing likely."
"We'll try again. Let's walk slowly, we got time."
Finally, Megan paused in front of a polished door with silver numbers 23-09 on its plate and an electronic keycard lock. "I believe this is our most likely candidate. One active life form within the normal limits for a person of Dandelion's age and size. There's some footsteps, I'm analyzing them. Yes. I think she is in here."
Ashley was almost hopping up and down with glee. "I knew it. Oh, I'm so smart, well you are, too. Can your neural shock go through the door?"
"No. I do not think it would be prudent to break open the lock."
"Not if we don't want a dozen bullets heading our way. Lemme think. There are some tricks to getting some one to come out, but I think it's time to be direct." She simply pressed the round white buzzer, waited a few seconds and tried again. They heard a deadbolt being drawn, a lock buzzing and then the door opened only a crack.
"Come on in slowly and close the door behind you," came a woman's voice.
Ashley and Megan entered a gorgeous apartment with rust-colored carpeting, modernistic furniture and its own balcony. Stepped backwards while facing them, from twenty feet away Dandelion had both hands raised and was aiming a pair of small Walther P22s right at their faces.
IV.
In the warm afternoon light through the windows, Dandelion was revealed to be beautiful as everyone said. She had a squarish face with a wide jawline, delicate nose and fine lips. Dark blue eyes glared out at the two intruders with a cold gleam that detracted from her appeal. "Oh, come on. I recognize you two. You're KDF members. The one who was raised by the Trom and Mary Cassidy's daughter, the new Unicorn."
"Hi," Ashley replied as casually as if not at gunpoint. She hefted the Unicorn horn in front of her. "Nice to be popular, anyway we have a business proposition to offer..."
"Do you now? I doubt it. That damned Dire Wolf knows perfectly well I have a post office box in Manhattan. He knows that's how I want to be contacted. No, you girls are up to some clumsy trick." Dandelion's hands never wavered a fraction of an inch. Each of the guns had one of her handcrafted silencers screwed onto the barrel. They were smaller than a beer bottle each, and were so effective that she could have sold the secret of the construction for enough to live on.
"No, no, seriously. We're short handed as usual and we're tackling a new organization that might be a bit above our punching level. Maybe you might want to hire on?"
"I'm listening. What's the name of this supposed new organization?"
"We think it's called 'Supervisor,' Dandelion made up on the spot. "That way, the crooks can say they need to call the Supervisor or that the Supervisor told them no about something and anyone listening won't be suspicious..."
"For crying at loud, stop right there. Now I get it. You've been approached by the Mandate, right? They smell something fishy about their Spiegel. Damn it. Listen, the last thing I need is Jeremy Bane of all people enraged and coming after me because I put holes through your foreheads. Slowly get face down and then put your hands up behind your heads. First, toss that stupid looking thing you're holding, whatever it is."
"Oh, this?" Ashley raised the Unicorn horn to chest level and called out clearly, "With this horn I remove thy power!"
In one tenth of a second, two .22 caliber slugs snapped across the apartment and thumped into the wall more than a foot from Ashley's head. The special silencers reduced the noise to a deep cough. As soon as she had fired, Dandelion's expression became comical in its surprise. Instead of immediately taking aim the regular way, she lowered the Walthers for a split-second because she had literally never missed before and that was her undoing.
Still holding the horn in one hand, Unicorn hurtled across the apartment, pivoted on her left heel and drove her right foot deep into Dandelion's stomach, forcing the air from her lungs with a gush. Lunging closer, Ashley smacked a backhand to the chin with a whiplash sound and Dandelion reeled back senseless to the plush rug. Even unconscious, her grip on her guns didn't loosen.
"Hah! Now that's what I call Kumundu! I should use it more often," Ashley gloated.
Megan promptly confiscated the Walthers and jammed them into her belt at either side. Kneeling over the motionless assassin, she announced, "This woman is not fully unconscious. I do not expect the concussion to produce any significant harmful effects."
"I could have clocked her much harder. Maybe I should have."
"She has a third sidearm on her, as well. Here, Ashley, would you take this one? I am uaing the neural shock beam. We can relax, she will not wake up for at least an hour."
"I guess no one's reporting the fireworks," Unicorn said. "They didn't sound like gunshots anyway. You better check her phone, Megs, you're better at techno stuff."
"I wish you would not call me 'Megs.' Let's see. Obvious password. Facial recognition required but I will hold the camera to her face. It seems she erases all her messages but of course the information is still stored in the phone if you know where to access it."
'
"I only feel stupid when I'm with you," Unicorn grumbled.
Apparently not hearing that, Megan took out her Link with her free hand. "Now uploading all data from this phone to our own systems. Once Sable looks through it, I expect she will find the FBI and Department of Justice interested in learning about many unsolved murders. The last message is our immediate concern."
"AND? Are you trying to be suspenseful or what?"
"It simply say 'Usual club, 6:15. Palfrey.' She did not respond."
"Palfrey must be Spiegel's code name, then."
"That seems likely. There is only forty-five minutes until the expected meeting. Ashley, I will scan through the phone for clues about this club, you should search Dandelion herself."
"You bet. I'm nosy by nature anyway." Kneeling off the unconscious woman, Unicorn started with the obvious pockets. "Keys. Wallet, looks like a few cards, drivers license, some singles, no scraps of paper. Short handled hair brush. Gum. Chapstick. For such a dreaded killer, she's boring. Uh-oh. Here in a boot is a single shot Derringer. Woman was ready for World War III. And this is interesting, some kind of metal token. It reads 'Wildwood' on one side and the other side says '1 User Only.'"
Leaning over, Megan took hold of the token. "This is a sort of key, Ashley. I think he completes a circuit that probably unlocks a door. I'm looking up 'Wildwood' in the Metropolitan area. Yes. A private men's club on Tenth Avenue and 112 Street."
Ashley Whitaker unslung the sheath in which she carried her unicorn horn and unzipped her windbreaker. "One of my amazing brainstorms has struck," she announced. "I hate to admit it, but there is a certain resemblance between me and Miss Slaughter here. She's not as cute as I am of course, but I think for across a room, some one might mistake us."
"You intend to switch clothes with her?"
"Worth a try. Maybe this grey outfit was expected, it might help me get in. Strip her down, would you? Time's running out."
In only a few minutes, Unicorn was straightening out the grey pantsuit outfit on herself, finding it fit very well. Dandelion was slumbering in an nearly transparent pair of bra and panties. Without explanation, Megan picked up the woman and arranged her on the double bed.
"I wouldn't care too much about making her comfortable," Ashley snorted. "She sent two bullets at my face a few minutes ago." Picking up her own clothing, she began transferring the tiny gadgets and weapons from its concealed pockets into the borrowed clothing she was wearing. "This is nice material, I have to say. Not velour. I wonder what it is."
The Trom Girl was standing with folded arms, gazing down at Dandelion. "This woman will revive from the neural shock in less than forty-five minutes. Since the Mandate is aware of her presence in the United States, I think it likely they already know where she is staying . If they have not tried to arrest her, probably it is because they are building a case."
"Wait, what? We're not going to turn her in? Megs, you just read info about all the people she's killed."
"After the Department of Justice anonymously receives that information, I think they will proceed to prosecute her. That's my conjecture based on the situation as I see it."
Even in the pantsuit, Ashley did not resemble Dandelion enough to fool anyone who knew them even casually. Their features were simply too different. But someone who only had a description or had glanced at a photo might be tricked. "If you say so, I'll go along with it. Sheesh! I wish now I had slugged her a few more times when I had the chance."
V.
With only a few minutes to go, Megan parked her Jeep in the lot behind a drug store that seemed to be closed early. "There's the address across street," she said. "No visible signs but the man sitting by that unmarked door is clearly a guard. Let's go."
"No, I want you to wait here. This token says Admit One. I'm taking a chance already they know Dandelion by sight. Please, Megan, stay ready to come running to the rescue."
The Trom Girl's eyes were always thoughtful but now they rested on her friend with obvious deliberation going on behind them. "It's the logical procedure but somehow I'm resisting it, Ashley."
"Aw, you've got more Human emotions than most people who were raised by Humans. Look. I'm setting my Link to transmit sound. Listen to what I'm saying. If I speak your name, that's the flare gun signal. Come running to kick the door down and save me." She reached up to the driver's visor and appropriated Megan's pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses to hopefully make her disguise a little effective.
"Agreed," the Trom Girl said with immense reluctance in the single word. She leaned back behind the wheel and watched as the little blonde hopped out and sauntered around the potholes closely spaced on Tenth Avenue. The dingy five story building, its red bricks once whitewashed but now only speckled, awaited her. A cast iron railing circled the pit where five cement steps led down to an unmarked door. Sitting on a three-stool was an enormous black man in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. He rose to make his three hundred pound hulk tower over her as she trotted down the steps.
When the door guard held out his meaty paw, Ashley blithely twirled the token so it dropped into his palm. He slid it down in the slit of an electronic lock and opened the door at the buzzer. "Miss Dandelion," he rumbled.
Imitating voices was one skill that the Unicorn had never mastered, so she did not risk a reply but simply touched one finger to her eyebrow in an ironic salute and went inside. The interior was so much nicer than she had expected. The wooden floor had been mopped recently, the air was free of cigarette smoke or spilled beer and jazz piano tinkled softly overhead. Behind the bar, a dignified older woman in a black dress with a white lace collar was wiping the counter and she tilted her head respectfully.
There were six people sitting at the round tables. In the rear were two men in suits and ties, bent over stacks of loose papers. One had the strap mark of a shoulder holster showing clearly. At the next table over, a beefy man with a buzz cut and a bristling mustache was nursing what was left of a pint bottle of Stolichaya. And there were two moderately attractive Japanese women against the blacked-out window, huddled together to study the screen of a cell phone. The silence was heavy as a blanket.
"Nope, no spies here," Ashley muttered to herself. "All we're missing if a guy with a round bomb with a lit fuse..."
As soon as she entered, five patrons quietly rose and left immediately without even a pretense of havin a reason other than seeing the small blonde woman in grey coming into the club. Even the bartender silently slipped away through an exit door to her left. The only person left there stood up and raised a hand to welcome her. Unicorn had to admit that Eric Spiegel was good-looking. He was tall, fit and well dressed in a herringbone dark grey suit with the shirt collar unbuttoned and the narrow black tie loosened. In a darkly tanned face, the blue eyes stood out vividly. A thin white scar down the right side of his forehead added a faint piratical touch.
"I'm sorry about this..." he began but broke off to say, "You're not Dandelion!"
"Seeing you, handsome, I kinda wish I was," Unicorn laughed. But she was also cut off as six men in dark red garments rushed out through a door into the nearly empty bar. Most held vicious wavy-bladed daggers but he held modern Glock 19 pistols. All had shaven heads and enigmatic features neither distinctly European nor Asian but seeming a type all their own with narrow oblique eyes and hawklike beaked noses.
In a slightly shaken voice, Ashley said, "I wish my friend MEGAN WAS HERE!" just at the strange men moved quickly toward her. But even as Unicorn said the last word, the street door behind her crashed open.
VI.
Crashing loudly as a single peal of thunder, six gunshots detonated in that enclosed room and six men staggered back or fell onto their faces. Not a single bullet was off by an inch even when targeted against moving bodies. Despite all her training and experience, Ashley was stupefied. She blinked a full second longer than she should have before turning toward the newcomer.
It was Dandelion, wearing the white jeans and windbreaker that had been left behind in her apartment. She reloaded the Walther P22 in a single click and gave the dead or dying men a single appraising glare. "Gelengim! Looks like Temur Kasten's boys, Spiegel."
"The only ones left in the real world," the Mandate agent replied, tightening his tie and pulling on his suit jacket. "They were determined to ambush you, Dandelion, one or two at a time. Getting them together like this, with me shooting at them from the side, was your best chance."
Dandelion raised one sardonic eyebrow. "So you say. Like I can trust you. For all I know, you were already paid to lure me here."
"We live in the Kingdom of the Lost."
"I know, I know. The Pathless Land. You might as well go, Spiegel. You've been useful before, no point in colding you now." She gestured with her gun toward the door behind her.
As he passed Unicorn, he gave her a questioning smile. She responded by smiling dazedly and saying, "You can reach me at KDF headquarters. Ask for Ashley."
When Spiegel reached the door, he had to pass by Megan Salenger, who was standing there tensely with her beam projector in one hand. The Trom Girl was not as smitten by Eric Spiegel as Unicorn obviously was, but simply moved aside to let the agent go by.
Before she could speak, she was interrupted by Dandelion. "You two again! But blondie here doesn't have that Horn of hers and my gift has obviously returned. Whether or not it makes the Dire Wolf mad at me, I really should put some tunnels in your skulls right now.
Ashley said, "You look great in my clothes. You should wear white with Navy blue trim."
Dandelion made a scoffing noise that turned into a chuckle and then an outright laugh. She lowered her Walther and grinned openly. "Can you believe the nerve of this kid? Oh my God, you're something. You know what's in your favor? I was helpless. You two didn't snuff me or torture me for information. You left me my wallet and my luggage. All you took was that outfit and the guns I had on me. That's understandable."
"You can have your guns back," Ashley offered immediately. "But I think we should keep the clothes we swapped. What's this blouse made of anyway?"
"That's fine Egyptian linen I selected in person." Dandelion finally tucked her pistol into her waistband and glanced back at where Megan was listening in complete confusion.
"Let's get out of here. I'll take my modified Walthers and skip this town. There's business for me in Calgary anyway. But I really think you two should try to avoid crossing me in the future. I may not be in such a forgiving mood next time."
After Dandelion went past her, Megan stared at all the fresh corpses on the floor and turned to Ashley. "I will be honest. This is not among any of the scenarios I was expecting."
Sporting an unbearably smug smirk, Unicorn punched her best friend on the bicep. "You should let me pick our cases from now on!"
6/8/2022
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