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"Nope, No Spies Here":
Jun. 8th, 2022 05:25 pm"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!"
( the rest of the story )
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!"
( the rest of the story )
