《Penance's Pursuit》


 Prologue

    A monk, in a flowing brown hooded robe, sprinted along the crowded street and lunged for an opening around a corner of a building. As he turned, his foot hit a pile of rotting rags and lost all traction. His foot kicked out in the opposite direction of the turn and he stumbled to all fours. Gaining his balance again, the monk jerked his head over his shoulder as he scrambled around the corner. The crowds moved like a river unaffected by a tumbling pebble. The monk, catching his breath, slowed to a brisk walk but continued to periodically peer over his shoulder as he made his way toward the docks. As his gaze was fixed on the street behind him, he ran chest first into a wall of a man. Startled, the monk stumbled back, but the large man lunged forward and seized the monk in an iron grip.


    The man wrestled the monk under control and growled, "I don¡¯t know what is more absurd, the fact that you thought you could hide from us or that you thought you could run." His face grinned and he gave a menacing howl that left anyone hearing it thinking of anything but amusement.


    The crowd continued its relentless and ambivalent press onward around the two men. The monk''s face was set in granite as he met the man''s eyes. "Did Nefrum send you to get me?"


    "Are you surprised he did? It''s nothing personal, but you could be a problem and we don¡¯t want that."


    "I just wanted to be left alone, Zerick. That¡¯s all! Alone!" The monk spat out.


    The man slowly walked the monk away from the street towards a warehouse. As they got closer, a police officer walked along the street toward them. The monk shouted, "Officer!" The officer stopped, looked over at them, and gave a slight grin. "Caught another one, Zerick?"


    "You know how it is. They think they can get away¡­ it never works out." Zerick turned to shake the officers hand when the monk slammed his knee into the side of Zerick''s thigh. The larger man cried out in surprise and pain as he jolted away from the strike. Surprisingly he still had a grip on the monk despite the painful attack. The monk seamlessly hammer-fisted Zerick''s forearm right at the point below the elbow. Zerick''s fingers gasped open as his eyes winced in pain. The monk spun away from the grasping officer and slipped into the crowd.


    Zerick massaged his forearm by clenching and unclenching his hand. He spun to the officer and placed an arm around his shoulder. "There is a beer in it for you if you help me get this little shit."


    "Deal." The officer responded while drawing his sidearm.


    Both men dove into the crowd and began their pursuit.


    ¡­


    The monk had made it a few blocks closer to the docks when he decided to duck into an alleyway. He slowed his pace and began looking at each sign above every door. The monk''s gaze stopped on one sign about half way down the alley. It read, "Dockmaster''s Office." The monk marched straight up to the door and promptly knelt before the security terminal. He reached into the front of his robe and withdrew an electromagnetic disruptor. Placing it on the panel, he activated the device with a tap on his wrist watch. The security panel fizzled and then went dark. The monk retrieved his device and then shouldered the door open. The office sported no decorations or clutter, and only had a single holo frame with family pictures shuffling through their preset rotation. The slight luminescence of the holo frame''s photos revealed a computer station neatly tucked into the corner.


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    The monk approached the computer terminal and activated it. As the display shuttered into existence a password prompt jumped to life before the monk. The monk took a heartbeat to observe the password protected display before raising his watch to eye level. He typed a few commands onto the face of his watch then looked up at the display. Nothing had happened. Unperturbed, he typed a few more commands into the watch. This time, the display began to melt like wax over a flame to reveal a digital desktop cluttered with various files and applications. The monk reached out with his hand and selected the file marked, "Ships for departure".


    ¡­


    Zerick and the officer turned a corner and looked down the street. The officer had his hand to his earlobe and was nodding to an unheard voice. "You are sure he turned down that alley?... Okay, thank you for the help."


    Zerick glanced toward the officer. "Well did your boys at the station get anything on the security cameras?"


    "Yeah, they say the street cam caught him heading down this alley. It is a dead end alley so he will have to come back this way."


    Zerick nodded thoughtfully. "We can position ourselves on either side of the alley and wait for him to come out."


    The officer shook his head in agreement and both men moved to the alleyway. Just as they took their first steps, the monk sprinted from the alley. His brown hooded figure slipping between people like wind through leaves. Surprised, the two men paused for only a second before racing after him.


    Though the monk was fast and had surprised the two men, he was no match for their speed once they committed to the chase. Within two blocks they had closed the distance with the monk to an arm''s length. Zerick lunged forward and tackled the monk to the ground. While laying on him, Zerick proceeded to punch the monk with his meaty fists until he stopped struggling. Wheezing with effort, the officer stumbled up to Zerick. "We got him."


    The sight on the street was bizarre with two men laying on the ground and one of them being in a monks robes nonetheless. The picture was punctuated by the police officer gasping for breath with his hands on his knees. In the background a rusty grey ship was launching into space from the docking platform. The buildings surrounding the three men rattled as the ship inched up into the air.


    Zeirck looked up at the officer and grinned. "At least he made it fun for us. I hate when it''s too easy." Zerick looked over to the unconscious figure and pulled the monks hood from his head. "Shit!" Zerick exclaimed. "It''s not him¡­ damn it¡­ he must have switched with someone."


    The officer slapped his hand against his thigh. "Where could he be then? Were we observing the wrong guy go into the alley on security cameras or did he make the switch after he went into the alley?"


    "It doesn¡¯t matter now." Zerick growled. "He could be anywhere by now. Let''s go look over the security video and see if we can find a clue to where he may have gone."


    ¡­


    A medium sized grey ship lazily made its way out of orbit. To the untrained eye it looked as if it wasn¡¯t moving even though the engines were obviously engaged. It looked as if Earth''s pull would be too much for the modest ship to break its grasp. The only evidence of its movement was its slowly diminishing size. After a number of seconds, the subtle etchings of rust on its hull were indistinguishable as it continued its headway into space. There was not a sound as the ship''s engines glowed bright blue and released a gigantic burst of propulsion. It was clear of Earth.


    The monk, now in simple street clothes, sat before a blue digital display and typed with his fingers on a keyboard made of light. His name was Preston Coretel. He stopped for a second to stroke his beard and twirl his fingers through his wavy brown hair. He stood and took two paces to the metal wall of the compartment and then turned around and took four paces to the other wall. He repeated this over and over until he finally came to a stop at the farthest wall from his work station. Bending slightly at the waist he peered through the window in the airlock. The stars swirled outside as the ship cut through the expanse of space. Earth was just a speck.


    The screen he had abandoned showed a number of lines of text that read,


    "I have swept away your wrongdoing, aswind sweepsa cloud from the sky:


    I have cleared you ofyour sins, asthe sun clearsthe morning mist.


    I have rescued you; come back to Me." -Isaiah 44:22 (Old Testament passage from the Bible and a foundational text to the Christian faith)."


    Beneath the text and his note was a bolded question.


    "Is there actually redemption, even for the worst of us?"


    Preston stood up straight and continued to pace.

 Defenseless

    Snow quietly fell in the night.  The silence it created was deep and all consuming. The giant flakes floated down on fickle air currents and created strange shadows from the light of the moon.  The silence was suddenly broken by a series of staccato whooshes.  The change from the previous silence to the new alien sound was almost deafening by contrast, but in reality was no louder than a hard wind rushing through the trees.  As the sound grew, the outlines of three shapes appeared in the sky out of the darkness.


    At the exact moment the three figures reached twenty feet from the ground their aerial insertion exo-suits generated short bursts of powerful thrust to slow their plummeting descent into a manageable landing speed.  In seconds all three were on the ground and disengaging from their landing gear.


    The first motioned to the others to conceal the exo-suits and then join him along the tree line. The two moved as one and began covering everything over with pine branches and snow.  The crunch of their boots on the snow was almost indistinguishable in the deafening emptiness of the snowfall.  The leader had moved to a tree and crouched next to it with weapon raised to his shoulder.  His head scanned back and forth into the dark forest.


    The other two, completed their task and rejoined their leader.  They crouched behind trees five meters to his left and right.  With a slight flick of his hand the team glided forward and dissolved into the forest.


    ¡­


    Two men walked along the edge of the tree line nearest to the compound''s main gate.  One stopped and patted the other on the back as he looked out toward the light coming from the compound. There was an open expanse of ground fifty meters wide that led up to the compound.  A paved road was twenty five meters to his right and led to the front gate.  The entire facility was surrounded by a glowing silver fence and a fifty meter standoff field around the fence''s perimeter. The compound itself consisted of four buildings.  One was the motor pool and maintenance bay.  There were multiple armored trucks with mounts for crew served weapons parked neatly in a line.  The second building was the administrative building.  It''s slate gray look made it almost vanish into the falling snow.  The third was the barracks with a command center attached.  The building that always drew everyone''s eyes though was the last one, the mansion.  The mansion was to the southwest of the compound and looked out over a cliff onto a beautiful mountainous valley. The way the snow caressed the elegant architecture of the mansion made it look as if the snow was dancing on the idyllic building.


    "What are you thinking about, Decker?" Valiton inquired.


    Decker shook his head. "Nothing. Just spacing out looking at the snow fall I guess."


    "It is beautiful¡­ and dizzying." Valiton conceded.  He reached up and adjusted his hat to cover his ears that had been peeking out from the bottom.  Decker nodded and closed his mouth looking about as snowflakes landed on his sleeves.  Both men fell into silence as they turned and continued their patrol along the tree line.


    Decker stepped past a large tree with windblown snow covering one side.  He strode past some wispy underbrush when he ground his boots to a halt.  The snow on the ground to his left had been disturbed.  There were some leaves that had been sprinkled on top of the snow.  Decker motioned to Valiton.  "Hey look at this."


    Valiton jogged over to where Decker was standing and leaned in.  There were leaves spread about the snow and fanned out from one central point.  A boot print.


    Both men launched their weapons up to their shoulders.  Standing back to back they scanned their heads back and forth.  All was quiet. Decker took a few tentative steps forward toward the large tree.  He whipped his weapon around the tree and aimed at the space right behind.  Nothing.  Valiton coughed in the background.


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    "No one here! Looks like someone was hiding here at one point though." Decker turned around.


    He was alone.


    "Valiton?"


    Decker took a few steps back toward the tree.  His eyes flitting back and forth his breath coming in tremulous gasps.


    From right over his shoulder he heard. "No one was there, because I''m here."


    ¡­


    Wess stood looking out upon the dark landscape that constantly moved and flowed like a swirling white river through the air.  The compound was to his back and when he looked down he could see his well-defined shadow stretching before him.  He glanced back to check on the other man with him on duty.


    "Huh¡­ asleep as always." he muttered under his breath.  Wess took a few steps forward and out from under the protection of the overhang.  He clutched the strap of his rifle as it swung with each stride.  His boots made a muted crunch on the snow.  Wess let out a short contented sigh as he looked up into the sky and let snowflakes fall on his face.  He then turned to his right and began walking back to his chair in the gatehouse.  Just before he sat down he stopped.  His knee half bent and his hand still resting on the seat.  He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head slightly.


    "Hey did you see something!?" Wess motioned back to his fellow gate guard. The man did not respond other than to open is mouth and let out a soft snort of a snore.  "Freddie! Wake up! I thought I saw something move on the edge of the forest."


    The other man yawned and stretched, bringing his arms up above his head. "What are you complaining about now?"


    "Get the thermal binoculars."


    "But__"


    "I want to check on something! Get the binos." Wess shook his hand backward while still peering into the dark.


    "Fine¡­ fine.  But, honestly Wess, you worry__" His sentence interrupted by another yawn. "__too much." He finished.  "Nothing is out there."  Freddie plopped the binoculars into Wess''s upturned hand and stumbled back to his guard chair.


    Wess placed the binoculars to his face and peered out.  He scanned back and forth, then jerked to a stop.


    "See I told you__"


    "Stop talking! I''m trying to see if there is anything out there and you are distracting me." Wess barked.  Wess''s face not once moving from the binoculars.


    "Well?! Wess! What are you seeing?!"


    "It looked like something was moving toward us¡­" He brought the binoculars half way up to his face, stared out into the swirling whiteness, then brought his hand down.   "It must have just been the storm."


    As Wess turned around and deposited the binoculars on the table in the guard shack he pulled his jacket tight around himself and shivered.  "It is so mother loving cold."  He brought his hands up to his mouth and blew a few deep breaths into them.


    Snow coalesced around a black clad figure as he materialized out of the darkness right behind Wess.


    ¡­


    Connors, the desk sergeant, sat at his desk in the barracks looking over personnel reports.  He stared at the blue projection in front of him and pointed his finger to the top right corner.  The file on the screen shrunk and collapsed to a tab at the bottom of the screen.  The sergeant scratched his head and let out a long ragged sigh, looked straight up at the ceiling then back at the screen.  After a few minutes staring at the screen he leaned back and touched a spot just behind the lobe of his left ear. "Wess! Freddie!  You guys still awake?  Staring at these files is putting me into a coma I can tell you that much.  I have to imagine gate duty is at least a little more exciting."


    He removed his finger from behind his ear and leaned back in his chair.  The sergeant picked at a spot on his uniform and glanced back at the screen.  He reached back behind his ear again. "Hey guys are you really sleeping?¡­  Come on guys, you know the rule.  One of you has to be awake."


    Connors reached his hand up and pointed to an icon on the screen.  It enlarged to reveal multiple live camera feeds.  He swept his hand along and rotated through the multiple angles and shots around the compound.  He finally landed on one titled Front Gate.  "Let''s see what these jokers are up to now."


    He leaned back in his chair and began to stroke his chin.  His lips began to draw very tightly into a thin line and his eyebrows began to scrunch together.  "What in the sleeze is going on"  The screen showed nobody in the gatehouse.


    Connors pointed his finger again at another icon on the screen and a large map overlay exploded into view.  The gatehouse showed two silver dots present in the gatehouse.  When he looked toward the live video feed there was no one there.  He glanced at the feed of the motor pool and saw two men walking on a patrol.  From there he compared it to the map overlay and sure enough there were two silver dots moving along the motor pool.


    There were two silver dots along the tree line nearest to the gatehouse with the names Decker and Valiton hovering over them.  "Hey Decker and Valiton!  Can you go check on the gate house?  I think Wess and Freddie may have left their post, but I am getting mixed readings from the map overlay force tracker."


    Connors wiped his forehead with the back of his palm and clicked his fingernails against the desk in front of him.  "Valiton and Decker, respond!" He shouted.  Silence fell upon the room as the echoing shout dissipated.  Connors flicked his hand back to the screen to reveal the motor pool live feed.  The two men that had been walking along the front were no longer on the screen.  The only thing visible was a black silhouette dissolving into the shadows near the armored trucks.  Connors stood, knocking over his chair, and launched his gaze to the map overlay.  There were two silver dots on the map in the motor pool.  He raked his hands through his hair and looked from side to side.  Connors looked to the holstered handgun on his hip and moved to the door.  He placed one hand on the door as he drew his sidearm.  In one smooth motion he pulled open the door and rushed out into the night.


    ¡­

 Chaos and Fear

    Titus Emmanuel sat crouched behind an armored truck parked next to the entrance to one of the buildings in the compound. His seamless black armor casted no reflections and covered his entire body giving a wraith-like appearance. He looked over the two guards he had just dispatched and made sure they were out of view of any of the cameras scanning the area. As he checked the sight lines he paused. There was a sound coming from the entrance to the motor pool. Titus spun around and soundlessly slid under the armored truck to his right.


    Connors walked into the motor pool with his handgun and pointed it at all the corners. The light attached to his weapon revealed only crates and spare parts. He maneuvered around the side of the armored truck. "Come out with your hands up whoever you are!"


    Titus burst from behind the man. He grabbed the man''s handgun and jerked it out of his hand just as he slammed his knife into his chest. Connors dropped to the ground, his eyes bulging and his mouth open in a soundless scream. Titus quickly reached for his comms. "I just finished off the last of the external security. Their desk sergeant is no longer monitoring the security system. Venna stay in your overwatch position. Readjust as needed. Benjamin you are clear to infiltrate. Notify once in position. I will drive the target to you."


    Benjamin and Venna both replied with an affirmative. Titus moved from the entrance of the motor pool out into the swirling snow. He looked out across the compound so see the mansion. The target lived in the mansion and everything they had discovered about the man spoke to the his obsession with opulence and cruelty. Titus sprinted across the parade grounds and smoothly came to a crouching rest along the wall next to the door to the soldier barracks. Titus leaned forward while reaching into a pouch strapped to his back. Pulling out an explosive charge, he placed it just in front of the doorway to the barracks and carefully rigged a trip cord to the door. Titus then launched to his feet and ran toward the mansion. As he neared the opulent structure he came upon a chest high stone wall surrounding the building. He slowed and came to a stop behind the diminutive wall and rested his weapon along the top.


    Titus remained crouched and motionless while waiting for word from Benjamin. The minutes elapsed and soon five minutes became thirty without any communication.


    "Titus" Benjamin broke the silence. "I am in position. Spring the trap."


    Titus vaulted over the wall and calmly walked up to the front entrance of the mansion. He raised his weapon and pulled the secondary trigger on his assault rifle. There was a sharp staccato slap and then a deafening explosion as the grenade launched into the front door and dismantled it in spectacular fashion. With flames licking at his armor Titus marched into the mansion.


    ¡­


    With one shoe on and his shirt partially untucked, an overweight, and stubbly faced man stumbled around the corner. Breathless, he looked to the four soldiers running down the hall and shouted, "He is coming! He is coming!"


    One of the soldiers questioned, "Sir! Who is coming? We heard gun fire and explosions."


    "How the hell should I know! He just cut down my entire security detail. Get out of my way and go stop him."


    Just then a tremor shook the building and a loud explosion sounded from across the compound.


    At this the soldiers gripped their weapons. "Yes Mr. Salverton!" All the soldiers looked back and forth at each other and began moving back down the hall.


    "Do not let anything or anyone through." The rotund man shouted breathlessly. He then turned and waddled through the door to his office and locked it. The bolt made a metallic click as it secured the door.


    Just as the four men reached the turn in the hallway a black armored figure turned the corner right into them.


    ¡­


    Andre Salverton collapsed against the locked door breathing in raspy breaths. His hand was still resting on the security panel on the door above his bowed head. The fat of his underarm wobbled with every breath. His eyes drooped closed with exhaustion then suddenly flashed open as a voice spoke from inside the room.


    "Did you think you could escape us? There was no where you could hide in this entire solar system where we would not find you" Benjamin''s voice rang out in the safe room.


    Salverton frantically slapped his hand onto the security panel and reached for the door handle. There was a soft click of the locks disengaging. Benjamin sprung forward and grabbed Andre by the wrists and spun him around on his heels. Andre''s eyes bulged in their sockets and he stuttered unintelligible words.


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    In one smooth motion Benjamin drew his weapon and leveling it at the center of Andre''s head. "Just need to confirm you are who you are before I ruin any chance of a facial recognition. " Benjamin''s other hand slid out of a pouch with a small rectangular device. With his thumb he quickly typed a button and the gadget made a quiet chirp. "Scan checks out. You are Andre Salverton. Say goodbye." As Benjamin''s finger tightened on the trigger Titus walked through the unlocked office door.


    "No, Benjamin, wait. I have dealt with everyone out here I want to take him alive¡­ we will see what he has to say."


    "Thank you thank you thank you," groveled Salverton now sprawled on the floor on his knees. "I am more useful to you alive than dead. I have information! I''m willing to turn on my employer. You don¡¯t have to kill me."


    Tapping his fingers on his thigh, Benjamin remarked, "he would say anything to save his skin. I don¡¯t believe him."


    Titus ignored the comment and asked. "Salverton who was your employer."


    "Well I don¡¯t know exactly¡­ but I can tell you in detail all of the things they wanted me to do. Just please protect me from them. In fact, I thought that you were them coming for me. They are powerful and will get me." He confessed.


    There was a spark of annoyance in Titus'' eyes. He stood there pondering the options. "He goes with us!" ordered Titus. Titus snatched the back of Andre''s collar and hoisted him into a standing position. "You had better prove useful or you will wish I had let Benjamin put a bullet in your forehead."


    Benjamin nodded and immediately began securing Salverton. They filed out of the room and past four bodies of the guards toward the stairwell leading upstairs to the blown out door. As they reached the gaping entryway Benjamin nodded to the decimated barracks that was still smoking and strewn with bodies of guards and soldiers. "Nice work! Told you the trip mine had the power to get the job done."


    "Titus, there is a quick reaction force driving down the access road!" Venna broke in over the comms.


    "Intel said nothing about a QRF." Benjamin ranted.


    "How many?" Questioned Titus.


    "About 40, but my guess is that this is just everyone they could scrape together before they get more and fly them in."


    "Well I guess we had better make this fast." Stated Titus. "Venna call in our extraction and let them know that we will have the package and that the extraction will be hot."


    Venna responded, "Roger".


    ¡­


    Venna knew that the extraction would not make it to them before the QRF breached the compound. She also knew that forty men were too many for Titus and Benjamin to handle. After she called in extraction she calmly settled into her firing position. There were only a few things that she felt truly relaxed and comfortable doing, and one of these things was engaging a target and squeezing the trigger. As the three large vehicles pounded up the road, Venna''s breathing became more relaxed and more regulated. In-nnnnn, out-ttttttt, in-nnnnnn, out-ttttt. There was an almost imperceptible WHAP sound as the weapon discharged. The effect of the shot though was anything but imperceptible. The lead vehicle''s driver whipped diagonally in his seat as if possessed by some unseen force. The obvious clue to his condition was a red mist in the cab and a hole in his chest the size of an orange. As his lifeless body reeled at the wheel, the truck began to veer towards the cliff to its right. The vehicle mounted the short curb and blasted through the guard railing on its haphazard trip to its doom. The soldiers in the back, perceiving the danger they were in, attempted to extricate themselves from the vehicle, but were too late and followed the truck over the cliff.


    "One down, two to go," breathed Venna.


    Immediately one of the trucks stopped and the men quickly exited the vehicle. They quickly found whatever cover they could and began randomly firing in the direction they thought the shot had come from. Nice, now the boys will only have to deal with one truck full of soldiers as I slowly take out the rest. Venna smirked to herself.


    ¡­


    Titus and Benjamin burst out of the compound with the sniveling Salverton in tow. Benjamin hung back behind cover as Titus sprinted ahead to deal with the approaching truck. The truck quickly stopped and all of the soldiers dismounted and began firing a hail of bullets. Titus dove forward behind cover, his armor deflecting some of the bullets. Taking two stun grenades in either hand he primed them and tossed them on either side of his cover. A blinding light was quickly followed by a piercing blast. Titus rose from his cover, his assault rifle jammed into his shoulder. Each time he pulled the trigger and his assault rifle coughed out a round, one of the disoriented soldiers dropped never to rise again. The entire time he fired he moved forward slowly. His feet and legs gliding over the pavement: his upper body completely still. By the time he reached the last of the soldiers they were beginning to gain their senses back and realized that their foe was right in front of them. In a flurry of practiced motion Titus slung his weapon drew his knife and quickly, but efficiently, dispatched the remaining soldiers. Checking to make sure he had eliminated the threat he motioned for Benjamin to move to his position.


    As Benjamin trotted through the gate to the compound he spotted the third truck and all its soldiers laying lifeless on the ground.


    Benjamin whistled and chuckling he commented, "I''d hate to be on Venna''s bad side."


    "Yes you would," quipped Venna.


    Titus just raised his eyebrows and turned to observe the wreckage of the compound and saw Salverton lying dead on the path to the gate. Titus cocked his head and gestured with his hand for Benjamin to explain.


    Benjamin coughed then looked back. "Idiot tried to make a break for it when the QRF guys showed up. Fool got hit by his own guys while they were shooting at you."


    Titus retracted his helmet and visor. His hard eyes glanced beyond Benjamin and zeroed in on the portly figure of Slaverton sprawled out on the ground. Titus walked past Benjamin toward the body. The gravel crunched as Titus crouched over the lifeless form. Titus'' cold voice broke over the crisp air. "Benjamin move to Venna''s position and prepare for extraction."


    "Boss, I''m sorry. I didn¡¯t anticipate Salverton having the spine to run out in fire to try to escape."


    Titus'' hand shot up while he still knelt over the body silencing Benjamin. "Return to Venna''s position and prepare for extraction." Titus'' words seemed to chill the already frigid air. Within minutes Titus joined Benjamin and Venna in a clearing on the rise just beyond the perimeter of the compound. He tossed a small bloody object toward Venna. She reached out and snagged it from the air. Both Benjamin and Venna looked up at Titus with furrowed brows. "Salverton had a data drive imbedded in his upper back. I assume it contains all the information he could gather on his employer." Titus finished his explanation and flicked a clump of snow off of his weapon.


    ¡°Do either of you recognize the symbol etched on the outside of that data stick?" Titus asked.  Benjamin and Venna gave each other sidelong glances and then peered down at the data stick.  Both shook their heads and looked back up at Titus.


    Titus looked off into the swirling vortex of snow and muttered quietly. ¡°No¡­ It can¡¯t be them. No.¡± Benjamin¡¯s eyes bored into the back of Titus head as he muttered. Venna cleaned off the drive and stuffed it into a pouch.  Soon the air was filled with a deep hum as their dropship rocketed towards them.  It leveled off and began the landing procedures.

 The Station

    Titus snapped awake and dove out of his cot on the dropship.  Breathing heavily, he stood rigid with his hands clenched.  Sweat dripped off of his nose onto the floor of the dropship.  Each drip made a slight plink against the austere metal floor of the sleeping quarters.


    "Titus, you good in there man?" Benjamin shouted from the cockpit just outside the sleeping quarters.


    Titus wiped sweat from his forehead and shook out his clenched hands. "Yeah I''m fine." Titus responded.


    "I just thought I heard you yell__"


    "I said I am fine." Titus'' words were clipped.


    "Well wither way, its good you are awake.  We are pulling into the station.  Venna is doing a diagnostic on the airlock system before dock."


    The small Cyclone-class tactical dropship flashed through the entrance to the Juno Space Station and latched onto an airlock mount.  The small tactical transport hanger bay was open to the vacuum of space and had close to two dozen craft locked into place and connected to individual airlocks for quick entry and exit.  The station had various hangers that housed everything from single manned fighters to Zumwalt-class Destroyers.


    Titus Emmanuel stepped out from the tactical dropship into the artificial gravity of the space station.  With his armor retracted he still had a towering presence.  His muscular six foot frame squeezed through the hatch. His long oval face with a chiseled jaw and sharp nose peered down the corridor.  His pale complexion almost shimmered in the bright hanger lights.  As soon as he had cleared the hatch, a shorter stockier Benjamin Cross pushed his way out into the walkway.  He stood upright running his hands through his bristly blond hair finally resting on his dirty blond goatee.


    "Ah good to be back." Sighed Benjamin.  "Hey Venna can you grab my assault pack? I left it next to my bunk."


    There was a sound of boots tamping on a metal deck as Venna Solis'' slender and fit frame emerged from the ship.  "I already grabbed it." She stated while holding out the bag for Benjamin.  Her long straight black hair threatened to hide her striking almond shaped green eyes and tan complexion.


    Just as all three of the team had extricated themselves from the ship, a security escort arrived at their docking station. The security sergeant stepped forward.  "Achilles Team, we are here to take Andre to his secure holding cell."


    Titus nodded and gestured to the open hatch.  "He''s dead.  Things didn¡¯t go according to plan__"


    The man before Titus crossed his arms and a grimace appeared on his face.  "The mission parameters stated that you must take him alive.  The council will not be happy that you failed.  They will expect a full update as to why you came back empty hand___"


    "I wasn¡¯t finished." Titus growled.  "Salverton was caught in some crossfire, but we were able to obtain a secret data drive from his corpse that will prove useful once we break through the encryption."  Titus began walking down the hall brushing past the sergeant.  Without stopping or turning, Titus flicked a had back towards the sergeant. "Venna give the sergeant the drive so that they can secure it properly. Thank you."


    The team continued through the main entryway to the station, each carrying a duffel and assault pack.  Titus looked to each member of the team.  It had been a difficult mission and fairly disappointing.  Benjamin couldn¡¯t be held accountable for Salverton''s stupidity Titus thought.  Both Venna and Benjamin had performed exceptionally. Titus felt fortunate to have them on his team.  Venna was the newest member of the team and had only joined them in the rehearsal stage for this most recent operation.  She had learned quickly.  She operated primarily in a support role and was an expert in long-range weaponry that included the sniper rifle, portable mortar, and rocket launcher.  She was also an exemplary pilot of the small rapid attack and general exfiltration vehicle (RAGE).  She always used a very light armor with advanced camouflage capabilities that could adapt to any environment.  Benjamin on the other hand had been with Titus almost since the beginning.  Benjamin functioned as a splinter cell, undercover operative, and saboteur for the team.  His expertise was in close range weapons.  Apart from the slip up with Salverton Titus liked the team''s capabilities and felt that they would excel at future missions.  There was usually an adjustment period with a new team composition, but he knew that both Benjamin and Venna were professionals and could function through any adjustment period.


    All three of them reached a split in the corridor.  Titus raised a hand and waved them on.  "You both head to your quarters and get washed up.  I will go debrief the council. "


    "Give me your bag, I''ll drop it off on your bunk."  Benjamin offered.


    "Thanks." Titus responded as he handed the bag over.


    "But don¡¯t assume this makes me your pack mule." Benjamin quipped. "Once you are out of sight I am just going to make Venna carry it."


    Titus gave a perfunctory smirk, shook his head,  and silently continued down the opposite passage alone.


    Venna looked down the hall toward where Titus had left.  "Benjamin, I have been trying to figure him out ever since we conducted rehearsals for this last mission.  It''s like he never has an off switch and when you think you are starting to get to know him, he puts up walls.  Any thoughts?... Benjamin?"  Venna turned around to find Benjamin sauntering down the opposite hall.  Venna let out a quick sigh.


    Within minutes Titus was at the doorway to the command deck and briefing room.  As he approached the airlock doors they parted to reveal the observation platform for the command deck.  The walls had digital displays that projected images of what was outside the station.  As he moved into the room he noticed that the station was in its closest position to the S-type minor planet Juno, that it orbited in the main asteroid belt.


    Many on the command deck looked up at Titus as he marched through the door, but they quickly resumed focus on their tasks after giving brief nods of acknowledgment.  Titus moved through the open circular room, maneuvering past work stations and terminals.  He continued in this manner to the far end of the room where there was a small office.  Titus slowed upon the threshold of the entryway and absentmindedly adjusted his uniform.  As he stepped into the small room, there was a short burst of blue light and the otherwise blank and empty room began to materialize a large conference room with seven individuals sitting around a huge wooden table.


    The council leader looked up from her data display and fixed Titus with a calculating look.  She was in her mid-forties and had an athletic appearance with a strong tenacious look in her eye.  "Welcome Titus."


    "Madam Council." Titus bowed slightly as he addressed her.


    The Madam Council returned his bow with a slight nod.  "What is your report for Operation Chaos?"


    Titus waited a beat and then began. "Unfortunately Andre Salverton was killed during exfiltration due to friendly fire. We were able to secure an encrypted data drive from him that may prove useful.  He did not give any information on his employer prior to his death, but seemed willing to as long as we assured him of protection."


    The Madam Council''s brow furrowed. "Did it appear that he was looking to bargain for a better situation and use his knowledge as leverage?"


    "I don¡¯t think so¡­ I think he was genuinely afraid of whomever he reported to.  He emphatically commented that they would find him."


    She stared at Titus for a second before turning to the other council members and conferring with them quietly.  They all nodded in agreement with what she was telling them.  She looked back to Titus. "I think we should take his fear seriously.  The Juno Station is too accessible and open to attack for us to decrypt the data drive there.  Bring it to headquarters on Lunar Base.  Once it is secure we will get the information he placed on it.  Leave the station as soon as you can.  Send us a burst once you leave."


    "Roger ma''am.  We will refuel, refit, and be ready to make a micro-space jump by tomorrow."  At this, the entire council stood and faced toward Titus.  Their images slightly wavering with the suddenness of their movement.  Titus clenched his fist, extended his first two fingers, and tapped them on the center of his chest in salute.  "We seek justice" Titus initiated the maxim.


    As one the council responded, "May the guilty fear your retribution".


    ¡­


    Venna tossed Titus'' bag on his bed and quickly exited his quarters.  She opened the hatch to the room adjacent to his and stepped in. She placed her bag on the floor of the living compartment and smoothed out the sheets on her bunk.  Taking a few steps, she walked around her quarters, let out a long sign, and sat down.  She closed her eyes, leaned her back against the metal bulkhead, and let the coolness of its touch soak into her body.  Her breathing slowed and became deeper when suddenly her integrated communications device chirped in her ear.  Her eyes lazily slid open. She reached up and slightly pinched the base of her earlobe.  "Send it."


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    "Venna this is Titus.  We are going to have a quick turnaround.  The council wants us back at headquarters to deliver the drive as soon as possible.  The plan is to leave tomorrow at 1000 hours Earth Time (ET).  Try to get something to eat and then rest for a few hours."


    "Sounds good.  I''ll make my way to the chow hall now."


    Venna rocked onto her feet and launched herself off of her bed.  She stumbled a few steps, finally gaining her balance.  The difference between Earth gravity, the Lunar gravity, and now this station''s artificial gravity could really play with a person''s balance.  Venna looked at her shower room and then back at the door to the hallway.  She took a small step toward the shower, but hesitated for a split second before resolutely turning toward the main door to her quarters.  Under her breath Venna mumbled, "Food first."


    Venna made her way to the mess hall and grabbed a packaged dinner.  As she sat down and ripped open the plastic seal on her food she looked up and noticed a group of ten individuals come in lead by a training instructor.  He walked into the mess hall and commanded those following him to file through the chow line, fill the back table, and eat quickly and quietly.  "You have fifteen minutes to eat from the time you sit down."  Venna chuckled to herself as she remembered going through this phase of training.  She remembered never finishing a single meal during that portion of training.  The ironic thing though was the fact that she could now finish almost any meal in under fifteen minutes and had to actively stop herself from shoveling in her food.  She looked down and realized that her dinner was in fact almost gone and she didn¡¯t remember really eating it all.  Venna looked down, chuckled, and shook her head.


    Finished with her meal, Venna stood, deposited the trash in the receptacle, and moved toward the new recruits and their trainer.  As she approached, the trainer shouted to the trainees, "Hey! Look up from your food.  This is Venna Solis.  Member of Achilles Team, led by Titus Emmanuel.  If only a fraction of you turn into the cold blooded hunter that she is I will ask for a promotion."  He stepped to the side as Venna approached.  "Ma''am, is there anything you would like to say to these fresh recruits?"


    Venna slightly nodded. "Thank you Trainer Giguere." Venna looked to the trainees.  "I was in your shoes at one point.  When I joined Ab Aeterno I was motivated by the fact that this organization was going to do whatever it took to bring justice and judgment to those the governments can''t or won''t punish.  When I got here, I found out there was a special group within Ab Aeterno called the Demon Stalkers.  This group represents the very best fighters and operators.  They get to take on the most dangerous and impactful missions.  From that point on, my only goal was to become a Demon Stalker.  Every lesson and challenge presented to you in training has purpose and will help to keep you alive on mission.  For a special few of you, this training may just be the starting point on your path to join me in the ranks of the Demon Stalkers.  Do you all want to hear my key advice for success in this phase of your training?"


    All of the trainees shifted forward in their seats and nodded at Venna.


    "Your trainer only told you all to look up from your food.  He didn¡¯t tell you all to stop eating.  Your time is still ticking.  Food always takes a high priority.  Fuel your body and keep your weapons functional at all costs. That is the key to success."


    At this, all the trainees frantically started scooping food into their mouths.  Trainer Giguere smirked and looked over at Venna. "You certainly remember all the tricks."


    Venna smiled and nodded as she excused herself and began walking toward the mess hall exit.  She took a few steps toward the door when there was a slight shudder in the station.  The trainees all looked up with worry on their faces.  "Nothing to worry about." The trainer announced.


    Venna spun around. "No! We have trouble.  Trainer Giguere, get your recruits together and follow me."


    Her last word was punctuated by another shudder and an alarm sounding throughout the station.


    Venna touched her ear lobe.  "Titus and Benjamin, I''m with a group of rookies and their trainer in the mess hall.  Headed to the armory to load up.  Will use them to help clear levels in case of boarders.  What is your status.


    Titus was the first to respond.  "Affirmative.  Good plan.  I''ll work my way through the station and meet up with you.  Benjamin is with me right now.  He is going to move through the station and work solo.


    Venna sprinted down the corridor from the mess hall with the trainer and recruits on her heals.  She glanced to her side and noticed out one of the windows that the station''s defensive fleet had been deployed and the automated defense system was launching a continuous spray of 120mm depleted uranium encased rounds into the blackness of space.  Venna continued down the corridor at an increased speed and reached a ladder junction that led to the lower decks.  "We will head down two decks and get armor and weapons from the armory. " Venna shouted over her shoulder.


    Just then, a voice came over the station. "Boarding craft confirmed to have penetrated the station.  All personnel not assigned to space defense are now tasked with repelling boarders."  The voice was oddly calm, as if this was just another day floating in space through the asteroid field.


    Finally in the armory, Venna grabbed a short barreled bullpup submachinegun, a slender armor vest, and a bandoleer of ammunition magazines.  One rookie reached for a sniper rifle.  "No Venna shouted at him.  Close range weapons only. Shotguns and submachineguns."  Venna looked over to Trainer Giguere.  "We are essentially on the center level of the station. You take five and start clearing all of the levels above us.  I''ll take the other five and clear this level on down."  Giguere nodded as he strapped on his vest.


    "All right, you five with me." Giguere shouted.  The six of them sprinted off and began climbing the ladder to the upper decks.


    Venna took stock of her five fresh recruits.  Many of them were still struggling to correctly strap themselves into their body armor.  One was still trying to feed a magazine into the weapon backwards.  His shaky hands were making him miss the weapon''s mag well multiple times.  Venna walked through the room helping each rookie.  Venna looked at the names sewn onto the shoulders of each of their jumpsuits.  "You three, Corbin, Michelle, and Tobin, will be with me in the front.  I''ll take lead.  Do not shoot me in the back.  You two, Henrick and Jericka, your sole job is to watch our backs.  We will handle everything up front so do not pay attention to what is happening there.  Just focus behind us."  More shudders rocked the station.


    Venna reached up and tapped her ear lobe.  "Titus, the trainer and I split the rookies into two groups of five.  He took his group to clear the top levels.  My team will be clearing the bottom levels."


    There was a slight pause.  Then the sound of gunfire came through the link.  "Rodger understood.  Already working toward your position." Titus responded breathlessly.


    The ragtag team moved through the first floor without any incident.  Venna used the relative peace to rehearse with the rookies how to react to contact from different directions. And walked through how to clear rooms. They soon reached a ladder juncture.  Venna had the first two rookies head down first and secure the base of the next level and soon followed them down.  The rest followed after her.  Just as the last rookie Henrick reached the base of the ladder, a shot rang out from down the hall.  He shuddered, grasped the ladder, and slumped lifelessly to the floor.  "CONTACT REAR! CONTACT REAR! Move to cover." Venna shouted.


    Corbin took two steps and reached a bulkhead.  Tobin had intended to head to the same bulkhead and froze in place in the middle of the corridor when that cover was no longer available. Venna reached out to pull him into cover just as a red mist exploded out of the back of his neck.  He dropped so quickly it looked as if the artificial gravity of the station had accidently been placed at 200%.  Michelle and Jericka huddled behind a large container in the hallway.  "Return fire!" Venna''s voice boomed through the corridor.  The remaining rookies opened fire.  Venna withdrew from her position and backed down the hallway until she came upon an intersection.  She turned and slid down the passage, her weapon raised to her cheek as she glided.  She turned one more corner and placed her back against the wall.  Deafening weapon''s fire drowned out Venna''s beating heart.  Venna chanced a glance around the corner.  There were three enemy boarders exchanging fire down the hallway with her rookies.  Venna lined up her first shot and advanced down the hall toward them.  When she reached ten feet from them, she opened fire.  The first two dropped before they even knew she was there.  The third jerked his head in her direction, sensing his dire situation.  His eyes bulged and he tried to whip his weapon around, when his chest exploded as multiple rounds tore through him.  Venna shouted down the hall. "All clear!  Friendly coming out."  She stepped into the opening of the hallway and looked to see her three remaining rookies.  Jericka and Corbin stood on either side of Michelle supporting her.  Her face was pale and there was blood dripping down her leg.


    "Set her down over here." Venna gestured.  Once Michelle was on the ground, Venna swooped in and assessed the wound on her leg.  The bullet had gone clean through and had not hit an artery.  Venna quickly pulled a large syringe from her side pouch and stuck it into the wound.  Michelle grimaced and grunted in pain.  "This will clot your blood in the wound and seal it up to prevent infection." Soon an off-white goo began filling the wound.  Michelle passed out from the pain.  "Corbin pull her into that storage compartment.  We have to leave her here.  Once the station is secure we will come back for her."


    As Corbin moved Michelle into the room, Venna looked at Jericka.  "We have to keep moving. Don''t worry about your friend. Think of the mission and only the mission.  The only way you can control what happens to her is by focusing on accomplishing the mission."  Jericka nodded as she locked a new mag into her weapon.


    Venna opened her comms,  "Titus, I have sustained three casualties.  We are at the ladder junction on the fourth level. Your assistance would be welcome."


    "Roger.  Almost to your position.  I''m just two floors down.  Fighting my way up to you.  Move to the ladder junction that connects level four to level three.  How copy?"


    "Rodger, good copy." Venna finished.


    Corbin rejoined them and they began moving through the hallways and corridors again.  Venna suddenly stopped.  "Do you feel that?  There is a slight depressurization.  I can feel the air flowing down that hallway."  The team cautiously moved down the hall and turned the corner.  Jutting out of the wall was a boarding pod.  The edges of the pod had not created a perfect seal on the station and air was leaking out along the jagged edges.  Venna paused to inspect the pod.  "The decals on this pod look to belong to a space gang that conducts piracy in this area.  But, the technology of this pod is far better than they usually operate with.  If they have been able to upgrade their gear to this level this could be a huge problem for this entire section of the solar system."  Venna looked back to her rookies.  "Either way, we need them off of this station.  Let''s move."


    Venna and the team continued to move through the level without engaging any boarders.  "We are close to the ladder junction to level three.  We will hold this position until my team leader links up with us."  Both rookies nodded and continued to follow Venna down the hall.  As the team approached the corner Venna spotted a weapon barrel just slightly poking out from around the corner.  "Take cover." She whispered.  The team quietly moved behind bulkheads in the hallway and trained their weapons toward the corner of the hall.  Almost immediately, the enemy sprung out from the corner and began firing a hail of bullets.  The team remained behind cover as the enemy team advanced unopposed down the hall.  The volume of fire was so loud and intense that none of the team could react or return fire.  The claustrophobia inducing weapon''s fire immobilized the entire team.  Venna knew that if she didn¡¯t do something they would soon die standing there.  Just as she decided to act, the volume of fire faltered and then shifted away from them and then fell completely silent.  Some smoke wafted past Venna''s position.  She raised her weapon and slowly advanced from her cover.  The entire hallway was bathed in thick grey smoke.  A silhouette moved through the smoke and as the figure moved into the open, the matte black of Titus'' armor resolved; a swirling wraith escaping the unearthly mist.  He advanced with his assault rifle raised and he glided forward checking down the hall until he spotted Venna.  Upon seeing her he lowered his weapon and steadily walked toward her.  As the smoke began to dissipate, the hallway revealed bodies littering the floor.


    "Security has cleared the lowest levels and the top levels.  We think this was the last group of boarders." Titus reported.


    "How about the space battle?" Venna inquired as she checked over her weapon.


    "Surprise was what allowed their boarding pods through.  Once we mobilized our destroyers, the enemy fought until they started losing multiple ships. They quickly abandoned the fight."


    Venna nodded in understanding and glanced toward her two remaining rookies.  "I would like to move up a few levels and drop these two off with the rest of their team."


    Titus looked over at Corbin and Jericka leaning against the wall.  "Tough day to be a rookie." Titus stated.


    Venna shook her head and guided a stray strand of hair behind her ear.  "I wish I could have kept more alive.  They just don''t have the skills or knowledge."  Venna paused in contemplation. "Oh, can you pass on a message to control about a wounded rookie in the fourth level storage compartment."


    Titus wiped some blood off of Venna''s shoulder. "Yeah I''ll take care of it."


    Venna guided Corbin and Jericka back to the armory and had them deposit their gear.  Just as she turned to take them to find the rest of the rookies, Trainer Giguere walked through the armory doors.  He looked worn and was covered in blood.  One rookie filed in behind him.  He glanced up at Venna.  "How many of yours survived?"


    "Two dead and one wounded."  Venna answered in a clipped tone.  Her mouth pinched at the corners.


    Giguere slowly nodded. "You did better than me. I lost all but one. Shlack!"


    The surviving rookies had all gathered and were recounting the details of the fight.  Venna looked over at them, bowed her head, and whispered under her breath. "War is death."

 Silent Menace

    The Lunar surface, wreathed in the pitch black of night, held an unknown menace.  An unmarked dropship emerged from the clouds and began its final descent to a deserted area of the terraformed lunar surface.  A large compound with multiple buildings off in the distance lit the nearby sky, obscuring the brilliant stars.  The angular features of the ship''s hull stood in stark contrast to its spherical cockpit.  It only measured twelve feet long and seven feet wide.   Its hull was layered with a matte black coating and produced very little noise.  It veered to the left as it encountered an air pocket and then corrected back to its original course.


    Six men stood in the dropship drenched in darkness.  They each grasped onto the mesh netting overhead.  They jostled against each other and their slung weapons waved and clattered harmlessly with the movement of the ship.  None of the men reacted to the turbulence except to adjust their grip on the net. There was a deep droning coming from the engines that drowned out all other sound.  The men remained silent, their fast beating hearts unable to be heard.  The ready light on the wall turned red and bathed all the men in a bloody hue.  Their tactical helmets with face visors reflected the scarlet light and hid the faces underneath.


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    As the men felt the ship begin to slow down and prepare for its landing they all quickly looked over each other''s equipment and then patted each other on the helmet when they were ready.  The ship shuddered as it finally touched down on the ground.  As soon as it came to rest the red light went out plunging the inside into darkness.  Immediately the gate dropped and the six men sprinted out into the night like phantoms intent on the haunt.

 Under Attack

    Juno station had survived the attack from the pirates.  The designations on the drop pods confirmed them as being a local marauder alliance in that area of space.  The reason for their attack and the state-of-the-art technology that they had used were still a mystery.  Aside from where the drop pods had crashed through the hull of the station, there was very little damage.  The work crews had begun clearing debris and patching the ship sized holes within an hour of the battle. From beginning to end, the battle had only lasted twenty five minutes.


    Achilles Team had all survived the battle, though Benjamin had not escaped unscathed.  He had been hit in the head and knocked unconscious by parts of the hull of the station as the last boarding pod crashed.  He was pissed when he woke up and found that the battle was finished.  He had been heading down to secure the Salverton''s data drive.  Fortunately, the secure vault had not been breached.  Venna made sure to mention Benjamin "fainting" as often as possible on their flight to the Lunar Base.  His responses usually involved some rude gestures and a few choice words.  This seemed to just encourage the patronizing behavior coming from Venna.  Titus even asked him multiple times if he needed to lie down as a preemptive measure.  These jibes were so uncharacteristic of Titus that each was met with an awkward silence that Titus seemed not to notice.


    Once at Ab Aeterno''s Lunar compound, the team went to the main headquarters at the center of the base. The base only took up about one of the 14.6 million square miles on the surface of the Moon.  The base was a needle in a giant haystack.  Titus led the way through a number of different control rooms toward the main council chamber.  The team paused on the threshold.  Titus reached for the door''s security panel and placed his hand flat against the screen.  A disembodied voice announced "Welcome Commander Titus of Achilles Team. You and those you represent may now enter the Council Chamber at this time."


    The three stepped into the well-lit room.  The mahogany floor reflected the light from the recessed fixtures and created a slight glare as the team slowly moved into the chamber.  The Madam Council sat at the head of the table surrounded by the half dozen other council members.  "We have called this council meeting to hear your team''s report on the Juno Station incident in person." The Madam Council''s voice was firm and authoritative layered with a hint of compassion and intrigue.


    Titus straightened with his hands at ease behind his back.  He proceeded to address the council and express the events of the station attack.  Benjamin and Venna chimed in when necessary.  Venna mentioned the new recruits and recommended that they continue their training with special attention to the possibility of turning them into Demon Stalkers down the line.  There were a few moments where other council members would ask specific questions related to their area of responsibility.  One councilman had direct responsibility for the physical security of all Ab Aeterno facilities.  He had the most questions.  He spoke with a calm level voice and meticulously sifted through every detail that was presented.  After the entire report of the events was finally complete, all eyes turned to the Madam Council.


    "So what do you think this unprovoked attack was all about?" The Madam Council inquired.


    Titus knew this question would be raised.  He had asked himself this many times in the hours it took to travel from Juno Station to Lunar Base.  "It is impossible to say Ma''am.  The attack was swift and they somehow knew how and where to hit us to cause initial confusion, but there was no obvious objective to their attack other than to sew chaos. It also was not supported well enough for it to be an attack to take the station.  My best guess is that it was a test of our defenses or a raid to disable or take something from the station."  Titus left out that he believed that they may have been after the data drive.  At this point it was just pure conjecture without any evidence.


    "Let us hope it was just a misguided attack, but I have a feeling that there is more to this than is obvious from the surface."


    "I agree completely Madam Council." Confirmed Titus.  "Their true objective may reveal itself in time."


    The council nodded.  One council member stroked his beard and slowly pulled on a few hairs on the very edge of his chin.  He glanced up from his nod.  "As to the other matter regarding Mr. Salverton¡­ It is unfortunate that you were unable to secure him alive.  We caught a break with the data drive.  We now have it secured here at headquarters and will begin decryption as soon as possible.  Your team should be commended for making the best of a bad situation.  We shall see what intelligence holds.  Because of your connection to this situation and the possible intel it may provide, we are placing your team on standby here at the Lunar compound.  You will be used to take action on the information we uncover.  Are there any questions?"


    "Not at this time sir." Titus'' voice echoed around the room.


    The Madam Council set her eyes upon every council member.  Each slightly dipped their heads as her stare grazed them.   Finally the Madam Council''s eyes locked onto Titus.  "Achilles team, you are dismissed."


    The team clenched their fists, extended their first two fingers, and tapped them on the center of their chests in salute.  "We seek justice" Achilles team said in unison.


    As one the council responded, "May the guilty fear your retribution".


    The team exited the chamber and made their way out of the headquarters.  Benjamin slapped Titus on the back.  "I could totally lead this team better than you, but I am very fine with you leading and having to deal with the council more.  I mean who really wants that headache."


    Venna''s head shifted toward where Benjamin and Titus were walking.  Her eyes shifting between the two men. Titus'' face maintained an unfazed deadpan while Benjamin maintained a mischievous grin.  Venna looked back in the direction she was walking, a smile now touching the corners of her mouth.


    Titus slapped Benjamin''s back; producing a painful thump.  "You know Benjamin¡­ As the leader¡­ I can always appoint someone from the team to represent me to the council¡­ A lackey of sorts¡­"


    Benjamin leaned in conspiratorially and spoke in a regular voice. "You know I couldn¡¯t agree with you more. I have been thinking that the work load has been too much for you recently.  You just aren''t able to handle it all.  Venna would make a perfect lackey."


    Venna spun around and threw her duffle at Benjamin; a grin plastered to her face.  Titus coughed as he tried to quell an uncharacteristic laugh as Benjamin caught the bag and in an extreme delay, preceded to collapse to the ground, taking as much time to loudly crumble to the pavement.  Titus walked up and grasped the duffle and launched it into Venna''s waiting arms.  The two continued to walk down the road as Benjamin lay sprawled out on the ground; his eyes half open and his tongue lolling out of his open mouth.


    Titus leaned over to Venna.  "With any luck he will actually die."


    "Hey I heard that!" Benjamin proclaimed to the sky from his supine position.  Benjamin rocked to his feet and jogged to catch up to the two.  "You know in another life I would have made a great actor."  Titus and Venna shared a look that demonstrated their mutual thoughts on his proclamation.  As the three reached an intersection they each split off and headed to their separate living quarters.


    As the evening died and sunlight began to caress the bumpy horizon and usher in the morning, Titus stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself in a towel.  He walked to his dresser, selected a plain black t-shirt, and donned it over his nearly shaved head.  Just like every morning he walked over to the sink without a mirror and began brushing his teeth.  There was always so much to think about in the morning.  His mind could never find a calm center as the duties and responsibilities of the day washed over him.  This tension was not good for him.  As a matter of fact, his dentist had told him to take it easy in the morning because he was starting to make groves in his teeth due to the force he was using with his tooth brush.


    Titus thought about the previous mission.  It had gone so well up to the point where Salverton had gotten himself killed.  Hopefully there would be something useful on the data drive.  Venna had proven herself a valuable member of the team.  She brought a different energy.  Titus wondered how she would fit in with the ever petulant Benjamin.  Heck, he wondered how she would fit in with his own often somber attitude.  She seemed eager to please and fit in, but Titus wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to get close.  Benjamin had gotten close, but that was what happened when you worked with a guy for years.  Titus liked to compare him to a fungus.  If a tree stays in one place long enough the fungus will eventually grow on it.  Titus bent over the sink, continuing to brush with vigor.  He couldn¡¯t help feeling apprehension about the data drive.  If Salverton was so afraid of his employer that he embedded a data drive under his skin, there had to be something terrible going on.  Titus wracked his brain to come up with possible options of who had employed Salverton.  Only one organization really made sense.  It would be bad news if it was them.


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    "Aaah I''m doing it again. I can''t solve all the problems of the world or even my own in the morning while brushing my teeth.  Just focus on cleaning your teeth properly." Titus muttered to himself.


    As he worked his way back to his bicuspids his mind slipped back into thinking about the new energy Venna brought to the team.  She had even gotten him to produce a slight laugh when she threw her bag at Benjamin.  Smiling and laughing were so rare.  Those things shouldn¡¯t be considered a perishable skill, but Titus had practically lost the ability.  With that thought, Titus spat out the cleaning gel, rinsed his brush, and stared into the bathroom mirror.


    Why had the council put him in charge of a team?  Didn¡¯t they understand where he had come from and what he had done?   Before his train of thought took him further, there was a muted but powerful boom that shook his apartment.  That had to be an explosion.


    Beep! Booooeep! Beep! Booooeep!  Yep he had guessed right.  The alarms continued their blaring assault as Titus tossed the brush in the sink and sprinted toward his weapon''s room.  Fortunately he carried his armor with him at all times.  Small round discs surgically attached at various points on his body opened and his armor quickly began expanding across his body like black lava gliding across the surface of the earth.  Once it had encased all of Titus, except his face, it became rigid and began interlocking.  It produced soft hisses and pops as it began to connect and lock together.  Once complete, a visor clamped into place.  He quickly strapped on ammunition, grabbed his weapons, and charged down the hall.


    ¡­


    Venna was quietly reading one of her favorite author''s books.   She flipped through the pages, the rough texture of the page making a shallow rasp across her finger.  The story was just starting to get good and Venna was completely engrossed.  The main character had just discovered a devastating betrayal.  How would he deal with the new revelation?  Venna thought about what she would do if she had been unjustly locked away in prison for years thinking it had just been a mistake, but in reality it had been a combination of betrayals and conspiracies.  Escape and revenge were the first thoughts to cross her mind.  As she returned to the pages of the story, she discovered that the main character was of the same opinion as her.  He swore vengeance and retribution even as his friend and mentor advised him to leave such things to God.  Venna scoffed at the mentor''s stance.  Vengeance must be taken, not surrendered to some imaginary being.  She hoped the main character would not follow the advice, but instead escape and exact revenge on the deserving. But how would he escape?


    The book continued to suck her in, making the world around dissolve.   She was so engrossed that she almost missed the rumble that shook her building.  She definitely didn¡¯t miss the alarm that began sounding.


    Venna hopped off the sofa and quickly ran to her arms room in her apartment.  Who knew what was happening or what the threat was, but it always paid to be prepared.  She quickly threw on her light adaptive armor and ammo pouches.  Snatching her long rifle she sprinted down the hallway; her door still swinging from her rapid flight from the building.


    She knew she needed to get to headquarters and figure out where all the action was taking place.  After about two minutes of running she had a pretty good idea.  Smoke was rising from the direction of headquarters and gunfire and explosions could be heard coming at the end of the block.  She clicked the comms switch. "Anyone know what is goin on?"


    "Headquarters has been hit.  Looks like a small strike force.  I''m headed there to¡­." Titus'' voice crackled out of existence.


    Venna tried to raise him multiple times without success.  The force attacking headquarters must have disable the primary comms hub.  Venna quickly altered course and sprinted up the steps of a utility building that was right across from headquarters in the company''s compound.  Stealthily she slinked up to a window to observe the chaos below.  Seeing that there was severe damage to the entry of the HQ she decided to set up her sniper perch to cover the entrance for when the enemy conducted their exfiltration from the objective.  Sure enough, four soldiers in covert tactical gear began moving from the entrance.  Venna opened fire and took down the first two in the time it took to blink.  Before she could fire another shot though, rounds began to ricochet extremely close to her.  Too close.  How had the remaining two soldiers reacted that quickly and precisely? She wondered.  Venna slowly raised her head to take another peak at the two soldiers.  They had made it almost out of her range.  That was impossible.  For them to have stopped and fired on her would have taken a little bit of time, but it looked as if they had not stopped running. Then she saw it.  A slight shimmer coming from a rise just past HQ.  It was a sniper using technology similar to hers that allowed the person to become almost invisible.  "Well the other two may be out of range but the sniper is mine" Venna thought to herself.  Just as she started to settle into a position where she could easily target the sniper, bullets ricocheted just inches from her head.  "There is no way that sniper fired" Venna hissed.  Just then out of the corner of her eye she saw another sniper stand up from cover and begin moving.  There were two snipers and they were well positioned to keep her from being very effective.  She knew that if she tried to fire on the one currently moving out of range the other would fire on her.  She had to let them escape and it infuriated her.


    As she watched them disappear she caught sight of another figure coming out of the HQ.  She instantly recognized him as her new commander, Titus.  He tactically maneuvered out onto the street to engage possible hostiles but soon discovered that there were none and began moving back to the demolished entrance.  Just then, there was a loud whoosh and Venna saw a trail of smoke leaving a building on the other side of the square headed straight for Titus.  Venna tried to radio him of the imminent danger but the comms remained inoperable.  She then jumped up and began waving her arms and yelling for him to take cover, but she could not be heard from so far away.


    It all happened as if time stood still.  The rocket seemed to slow down just as it hit Titus square in the back.  And then time seemed to try extra hard to catch back up as if embarrassed for prolonging this deadly moment.  The explosion rocked the entryway and Titus disappeared in a plume of fire and smoke.  Venna had seen where the shot had come from and swore to herself there would be a reckoning on whoever had fired that shot.  She strode out of the building and raced to where the assailant had fired the shot.  By the time she arrived, there was no one there and no evidence beside a scorch mark further back in the room where the rocket launcher had seared the rear wall with its back blast.


    Seeing there was nothing to be done she raced down to the entryway of headquarters to see if there was anything left of Titus.  As she sprinted up to Titus she brushed past Benjamin who had been jogging towards Titus.  No doubt saddened to see his commander and friend blow apart.  Benjamin''s face showed surprise as Venna ran past.  As Venna approached the spot, she was surprised to see that Titus was whole. His lifeless body was still smoking but he was in one piece.  She couldn¡¯t tell if it looked charred or if that was just the usual color of his armor.  All of a sudden his armored hand twitched.


    "He''s still alive! He''s still alive," Venna shouted!

 The Analyst

    It was Monday.  The beginning of the work week had begun.  Randal Page stepped out of his tiny apartment and onto the busy streets of New Americas City on Mars.  Wearing his usual black jacket white dress shirt and black tie, he blended into the mass of people much like one zebra amongst the rest of the herd.  The crowd filled the sidewalk to capacity but managed to flow with a chaotic order often seen in a raging stream.


    He quickly made his way through the crowd, attempting to slip ahead at every chance he got.  Being short of stature and thin as a nanochip offered him the ability to slip through the mass of people with relative ease and speed.  As he moved through the crowd he accidentally bumped into a larger man with a serious scowl on his face.  Randal quickly apologized and almost tripped over backward to get away from the man who began moving toward him.


    "I am most sorry sir.  Entirely my fault¡­ Yes entirely." Squeaked Randal.


    The man eyed Randal like one would look over a perfectly done steak.  "What you gonna do to make it better?"


    "Well I thought¡­ I mean¡­ I apologized¡­" Stammered Randal.


    The man staring him down looked to his friends standing around him and let out a booming laugh.  "I thought¡­ I mean¡­ I apologized¡­" mocked the man, his voice dripping with a patronizing tone.  "You could have ruined my expensive suit!  I want something from you other than a pitiful apology."


    The crowd, wanting nothing to do with this confrontation, seemed to split around them like a stream around a boulder.  No one wanted to get involved in this.


    "Well, I''m sure¡­ um¡­ that we can come to some sort of¡­ um¡­ agreement¡­" quibbled Randal.


    A vicious grin spread across the other man''s face.  A predator closing in on the kill.


    A voice broke in. "What appears to be the problem here?"


    A mars colony police officer had just stepped up.  His hand rested on his holster and a quick look could easily reveal he wouldn¡¯t put up with much.  His attention was focused on the bigger man.


    The larger man paled and quickly put both hands up in front and stepped back.  "No problem officer Hendrix¡­ just pulling a practical joke on a friend." A nervous laugh escaped his mouth that sounded almost like a yelp.


    Randal saw his chance, and while the officer and the large man were exchanging words, he slipped back into the rushing crowd.  After two blocks of looking over his shoulder Randal sighed a huge breath of relief and pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the perspiration off of his forehead.


    Arriving at his office, Randal sat down at his desk hoping that the morning''s incident would not be a recurring theme of the day.  He worked in the Personnel Requisition department, specifically in the Potential for Acquisition sub group.  His entire focus was to investigate and evaluate potential candidates to be recruited by the company he worked for.  Often twenty or more names would come across his desk and he would spend most of the day looking into their public records; looking to see if they had any issues with the law, if they had any family, or their most recent home of record and work.  The best source of information to determine if a person was a good candidate was social media.  People revealed so much about their lives on the social media site called LiveStream.  This was the most recent form of social media where people could actually stream their life through their optical inserts so that anyone could see their life.  What many didn¡¯t know was that the optical inserts could be hacked.  Randal seldom had to hack inserts though because most people tended to reveal more of their life than even he needed to know.


    Randal sat at his desk toying with a 21st century antique he had found in a market on mars.  As he sat there mindlessly shifting the colored tiles into the correct sequence, his eyes glazed over and shifted out of focus as he gazed across the room.  His imagination began to bubble, manifesting a beautiful woman before him.


    "Do you want to hear about what I do here?" He confidently uttered to the woman.


    She nodded her head enthusiastically and touched both of her hands to her heart.  She preceded to amble up to him and place a hand on his shoulder.


    He looked up at her from his seat. "My job is basic enough that it requires very little simplification to describe.   And my company is also very proprietary and secretive about the job and process, so I can''t tell you too much.  It does make it nice though to be able to give short simple answers to people who ask."


    She gave him a grin to continue.


    "That said, the most accurate description of my job would be that I am a third party talent scout that focuses on low impact acquisitions.  I provide a detailed report on a specific person.  This report also includes my  recommendation on whether they should be approached for recruitment.  I finally hand everything over to the recruitment case officers and then move onto the next potential candidate on my list.  It probably sounds pretty dull, but I am good at it¡­" Randal confidently boomed with a smooth bass voice.


    "Ooohhh no! It sounds so fascinating. You must be so smart and dedicated to be able to do what you do." She said with breathy excitement.


    "I mean I am pretty smart."


    "And handsome. Don¡¯t forget handsome." She fervently added.


    "You know I have an apartment near here if you would like me to show you some of what I do.  I''m not technically supposed you show you, but for you I am willing to bend the rules."  Randal''s silky voice sounded.


    "Hey clueless! What are you staring at?" She said in a deep bass voice.


    "Huh?!" Randal stammered.


    Randal was shocked back to reality when the Rubik''s cube was slapped out of his slack hand. He gave off a slender high-pitched yelp of surprise.


    "I asked what are you staring at?" Avery repeated. His flat face scrunched into a mischievous grin.


    Randal''s mouth opened and closed; a fish breathing out of water.


    "You have to see this Randal." Continued Avery unfazed.


    "What is it this time Avery?" Randal finally getting back come composure after having his fantasy so unceremoniously shattered.


    "Come over to my desk and see for yourself!" Barked Avery.


    Randal stood up from his desk and slowly and shuffled over to Avery''s workstation.  The sound of his shoe made a shush sound as it scraped against the office carpet.


    Avery had beaten Randal to the desk and was pulling something up on his computer.  "Take a look Randal. It doesn¡¯t get much better than this!"


    Randal looked up at the screen to see a video feed from the eyes of a naked woman looking at herself in the mirror.  Immediately Randal averted his eyes.  "I..I¡­.. I don''t think you should be hacking into that person Avery." Randal stammered.  Every few seconds his eyes would flit up to the screen and then just as quickly flit back down.  A hint of rose appeared on his cheeks.


    "Come on! This is awesome!"


    Randal abruptly made his way back to his desk. His shoes made a quick squeak sound with his increased pace.


    "Ha! Maybe you''re not interested in women.  I could pull up a feed with a guy if that floats your boat. Haha!"


    Randal sat at his desk and began working at his computer.


    "For the record I didn¡¯t hack into her feed¡­ She is actually broadcasting this on her LiveStream.  I''m no creep" Avery shouted.  He then preceded to look back at the screen with a ravenous look in his eyes.


    Randal glared at his screen and did not respond.  Sometimes he hated this job.  The reality was that in order to determine if a person was a good candidate for recruitment they all had to invade people''s privacy¡­ Randal squirmed just thinking about it.  Unfortunately Avery was right, most of the time optical lenses didn¡¯t need to be hacked.  Invasion of privacy was almost a thing of the past.  Randal scratched the base of his neck and looked back at Avery.  Avery''s eyes were glued to the screen and his mouth hung open.  Randal knew why Avery liked this job and shuddered just thinking about it.


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    Randal turned to the frame mounted on his wall and lightly dusted it off with a brush of his hand.  The frame held his picture with the title "Employee of the Year."  Feeling overwhelmed, Randal flipped open his previous case files on his screen. He pulled up the first one he had ever done. Mary Osterly was his first case.  He took a soothing breath and opened the file.  She had been homeless due to domestic abuse situations. Randal had tracked her down for a company looking for models.  Nexus picked her up and coordinated her getting a job and a future.   Randal grinned and smoothed down his black tie.  He closed down the files and cast his determined gaze toward the workflow inbox on his screen.  "Alright, who is the next Mary today." He whispered.


    Randal worked through the day only stopping to go to the restroom or eat his packed lunch.  As he chipped away at the files piling up in his workflow inbox he heard someone breathing over his shoulder.


    "Avery, I have a lot of work to do.  Are¡­ are you going to try to show me more¡­ you know¡­ things.. on LiveStream?... Avery?"  Confused, Randal spun around in his chair to see that it wasn¡¯t Avery.  "Oh! Mr. Spencer!  I am sorry.  I mistook you for Avery.  What can I do for you?"


    Mr. Spencer was a late middle aged man with a polished bald head and a perpetual grimace.  He looked down at Randal.  "Johnson from work group Bravo is no longer with us.  His open files and backlog will be given to you."


    "Wh.. What?"


    "Randal you are our best analyst.  I know that even if you have to stay late you are the best guy to get the job done." Mr. Spencer casually inspected his nail as he talked.


    "Th.. Thank you Mr. Spencer.  But what happened to Johnson?"


    "He turned traitor.  Can you believe it?  He went to work for our competition Arrow Industries."


    "Arrow!? They are sub par.  Why would he leave Nexus?  We are the premier requisition agency in the United Planets Federation."  Randal scoffed.


    Mr. Spencer looked at his watch and then back at Randal.  "I don¡¯t understand it either, but sometimes people are unpredictable.  Anyway, his work is now yours.  Get it done."


    Randal zipped back around to his desk and selected the workflow inbox and downloaded the new influx of files.  One file he opened was labeled high priority.  The request inside was extremely detailed. It was asking for a woman with D size breasts, pink nipples, natural black hair, and no scars.  Randal looked at the list of specifics that seemed endless.  He continuously waved his hand upward to scroll through the rest of the list.  At that moment, Avery ambled by.  "Oh you got a high priority! Ha, had one of those myself yesterday.  They are a pain in the butt.  Some stupid art photography studio that believes in physical film and no aftereffects keeps sending us these ridiculous lists of requirements."


    "Since you¡­ well¡­ you are familiar with this client, do you want to take this one?"


    "Ha, you will have to do better than that for me to take that one off of your hands."


    "Is there one that you have been having issues with that I could take a look at and help you out? I''ll stay late and finish it up for you and log it as your requisition recommendation." Randal offered.


    "Actually now that you mention it, my last three cases for the day have been giving me some trouble.  They are keeping me from going home." Avery eyed Randal with a mock generous smirk.


    "Well¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ I don¡¯t think this high priority one is equivalent to your three cases¡­"


    Avery backed away.  "You try to help a guy and he throws it back in your face.   Looking a gift horse in the mouth¡­"


    Randal opened his mouth to say that it hadn''t seemed like Avery''s deal would have been helpful at all but instead watched as Avery turned and walked back to his desk.


    Randal looked over the file again.  This one would be a ton of work.  There were so many specifics.  Randal never understood why small details like that were so important to people, but he reckoned that if someone was doing an art photo shoot they would have specific needs especially as nude or seminude art was now back in vogue.  He knew he was doing good for both those who were recruited and also the industries that needed those specific people.  He was also proud that his company put great value on recruiting people in poverty or dire life circumstances and to bring them out of those situations.  These realities made the arduous process of finding the right person worth it in the end.


    Hours later, Avery walked by Randal''s desk, the shift almost over.  "See you later Randal.  Don''t stay too late and keep the strippers waiting!" Avery teased.


    "Um¡­ I don''t.. I mean.. I am not going to go to the strip club.  I don¡¯t think I could ever¡­"


    Avery walked out of the office without so much as a backward glance. "Ha I know."


    Randal was almost finished with a task for a modeling agency that was looking for women who were exactly five foot four inches tall, had blond hair, pale skin, and medium chests.  These modeling agencies were always so specific.  Randal had been looking into a woman named Sandy.  She seemed to match the description but he could not confirm her height.  She was in a tough situation.  She had just lost her job and was behind on rent.  She had no one to rely on.  She was truly alone and without options.  Randal desperately wanted to confirm her height so that he could recommend her for recruitment and give her a shot at improving her situation.


    Finally he stumbled upon her medical record from an accident she had been in that documented her height.  "YES! " Randal shouted.  "She is five foot four inches!" He yelled to no one in the empty office.  Both of his fists were in the air.  Randal quickly organized her file on his computer and clicked the submit  button recommending her for recruitment.  "Now it is up to her" Randal whispered, a smile still on his face.


    ¡­


    Sandy sat in her tiny one room apartment that would soon be taken away from her.  She sat against the wall sobbing.  How had her life gotten to this point.  Losing her job, getting behind on rent, and having no plans for the future.  She stood up and began packing what meager belongings and cloths she had, when she heard a voice.


    "Hey honey.  You won''t be needing any of that where you are going."


    Sandy, startled, looked up to see a man with a shaved head, a black t-shirt, black cargo pants, and work boots standing in her doorway.  He had a menacing presence.


    Sandy backed away. "What are you doing and who are you?! Did the landlord send you!? Tell him I am leaving.  I understand what an eviction is."


    "Oh the landlord didn¡¯t send me Sandy.  Sexy Sandy¡­"  The lust was clear in his voice.


    Sandy immediately bolted to her bedroom toward her back window only to stop dead when another bulky man stepped into her path.  Leering he said "Where are you off too  in such a hurry?" He mockingly looked back at the bedroom. "Oh so eager to get to the bedroom!  Don¡¯t worry sweetheart, you will have plenty of opportunity to be eager in the bedroom after today.  You are lucky we are not allowed to use the merchandise during the recruitment process or you would be able to show me just how eager you can be." He smiled a wicked grin.


    Dread filled Sandy almost making her black out.  Just when she thought she might faint she felt rough hands grab her and a black bag thrust over her head.

 Hospital

    Venna rushed after the medical team as they rolled Titus down the hall of the trauma center.  She just kept asking, "Whats going on doc? Talk to me. How is he doing?"  She never got an answer aside from the apprehensive glances from the medical staff.


    As Titus rolled down the hall, questions and comments flew back and forth.  "What is this armor? How do we get it off? How was he hit? Where was he hit? Is Dr. Bender going to meet us in surgery? I''ll also need a current medical record sent to my data pad.  "How do we get this damn armor off?"


    "I can help with the armor," interrupted Benjamin.  He stepped forward and quickly keyed the failsafe into Titus'' armor and it immediately began to retract back into the holding discs, surgically attached to his body.


    Venna let out a gasp as she saw a grisly scar across Titus'' chest that read "THIS IS YOUR PENNANCE".  Speechless, she stood in place as Benjamin and the doctors continued to wheel him down the hall toward the operating room. Her lithe frame froze in place as if a statue and then slightly sagged against the wall.


    Later as Venna sat in the waiting room quietly contemplating what she had seen, she noticed Benjamin come in looking for her.  She stood up and motioned him over.  He was extremely pale and as he approached his heavy breathing could be heard from across the waiting room.  Benjamin sat down and immediately updated her about Titus'' condition.  Benjamin elaborated that aside from them taking him into surgery about thirty minutes before, nothing had happened of any significance.  It truly was going to be a waiting game.  As silence began to absorb the room, Venna abruptly turned to Benjamin.  Her face lit with morbid curiosity and concern.  "Have you seen Titus'' chest?" she asked excitedly.


    "Yeah it''s pretty hot," Benjamin quipped.  "I''d definitely give him a 9.5 or a 10 out of 10." Benjamin added a wink for effect.


    Venna didn¡¯t smile.  "No I''m not talking about looks.  I''m talking about the scar on his chest!" demanded Venna. "You know the one that says THIS IS YOUR PENANCE."


    Getting a little more serious, Benjamin lowered his head and gave a slight nod. "Yeah I have seen it."


    "And?"


    "And what?"


    "And¡­. And, what do you know about it?" Venna probed.


    "Honestly not much," admitted Benjamin.  "He never told me and I never asked.  All I do know is that it comes from his past.  The kind of past you want to forget, but can''t.  I''m pretty sure the story attached to the scar was the reason for him becoming a Demon Stalker."


    "So you know the story?"


    "Weren''t you listening?  I said he has never told me anything.  And honestly I don¡¯t really want to know.  I''d be surprised if he really wanted to dredge up bad memories and tell us his life story.  I just assume anything like that would cause a man to need a change in his life and maybe a bit of killing."


    Chided, Venna sat quietly.  Benjamin looked over at her and placed one hand gently on her shoulder.  "Look you could ask him.  I never felt the need to, but you could.  The worst that could happen is he gets a little mad and doesn¡¯t answer your question."


    Venna seemed to consider his advice, weighing the choices in her head.  Before she seemed to come to a conclusion, a doctor marched in and maneuvered his way to Benjamin and Venna.  He wiped the sweat off his brow and looked down at his data pad.  "Well, he is out of the woods.  We were able to stabilize him and stop the internal bleeding.  Half of his ribs were broken; all on one side. No doubt that was where the brunt of the blast hit him.  Fortunately for him none of the broken ribs punctured his lungs, but one of them did collapse.  He has lacerations, his entire body is one big bruise, and he has a vertebrae out of place.  Again, he is stable so we can begin to fix these problems without any difficulty."


    Slightly relieved, but still with a worried tone¡­ "When will we be able to see him?" Venna inquired.


    "Once he is able to stay conscious," replied the doctor.


    After a few hours Venna and Benjamin were ushered into Titus'' room.  He was drowsily looking at them as they walked in.


    "Thesh dregs thay haf me on are sommphing."  Titus garbled out as Benjamin and Venna stood at the foot of his bed.  Titus looked up at Benjamin.  "I''m sposed toooo be theee one who luks shnaken up. Afenr all I did git blowed up." Titus sluringly admonished Benjamin.


    Benjamin did have a look that mingled pale, nervous, and disconcerted into a generally unsettled demeanor.


    "Well his commander and did almost bite the dust," Venna stated.


    "Haha or maybe I''m a little sad because my evil plan to do you in and take your place failed," taunted Benjamin.  "But seriously boss, you know I wouldn¡¯t need a rocket to take you out."


    Titus roared a laugh which caused Benjamin to laugh at Titus'' drugged up antics.  Benjamin laughed even harder as Titus continued to wince in pain with every chuckle.


    Venna''s mouth curved into a smile that never met her eyes. "What I can''t figure is how you survived." Venna shook her head and looked over at Titus.  His head was resting on his pillow and he had slipped back into a peaceful unconsciousness.  A smile still played on his face.  Venna realized that this was the first time she had seen him fully smile.   In the short time she had worked with him, he had shown a focused determination and professionalism that bordered on obsessive.  He had only shown a few cracks in that persona when Venna had caught him crack a smile or cover a laugh with a cough.  She pondered whether his tough exterior had something to do with the message carved onto his chest.


    Venna walked up to the head of the bed, reached out, took hold of the sheet, and pulled it up to cover Titus'' sleeping form.  "We should probably let him sleep."


    Benjamin nodded his agreement.  "We can come back when he is less drugged up and more lucid."


    ¡­


    Titus sat up in his bed eating some food.  It had been a few days since Venna and Benjamin had visited. He honestly couldn¡¯t remember much about their interaction.  The past few days had been a blur and this was the first day that he felt on the mend and aware of his surroundings.  As he took his last bite of food, Venna and Benjamin knocked on his door.


    "Come on in." Titus waved to them.


    Both walked in and eyed Titus.  "How you doing boss?"  Benjamin questioned.


    "I feel like I got shot with a rocket."


    Venna and Benjamin chuckled.


    "Heard you both visited.  Sorry I wasn¡¯t awake to see you."


    "Oh¡­ you were awake all right." Benjamin announced. "Though you weren''t in your right mind."


    "Oh no what did I say?"  Titus covered his eyes with a hand.


    "Something about your mother needing to change your dirty diaper¡­" Benjamin reported with a shocked expression plastered to his face.


    There was a short burst of laughter that was quickly silenced as Venna slammed her hand in front of her mouth.  The tears streaming down her face gave away the losing battle she was having with the hilarity of the situation.  She slowly got herself under control just as Benjamin started back in.


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    "And the unprofessional things you were saying to one of the very attractive nurses¡­"


    Venna quickly edged Benjamin out of the way before he could finish. "Titus, do not listen to a single thing he says."  A smile still tugging at the corners of her mouth even as she gave Benjamin a reproving glance.  "In reality, you were barely understandable with the amount of drugs in your system and before you could say more than a few sentences you passed out."


    "Oh that¡¯s good." Titus breathed out.


    "Before you passed out I was just commenting on how I cannot figure out how you survived." Venna shook her head and looked over at Titus.


    "Well I actually have you to thank for that Venna," remarked Titus.  "I saw you jumping and pointing and saw at the last minute, in my peripheral, the rocket hurtling towards me.  If I had not been warned, I would not have been able to react in the only way that ended up saving my life."


    "How''s that"


    "You see, my armor has a sophisticated neural network that links with my brain and nervous system.  It reacts to the world around me at a very fast pace and protects me from most dangers.  But even an explosion is too much for the armor to handle on its own.  So when I saw the imminent danger, I sent a command to the suit to reinforce the section that was going to get hit and to deflect the rocket as much as possible.  I knew there was a slight chance I might survive if I did what I did and here I am. "


    "Very impressive,"  Benjamin said with an air of deference.


    The three of them moved onto other topics but soon found themselves back at the events of the attack.


    "So, what''s the final report on this incursion?  Do we know what they were after?  Do we know who it was?" Quizzed Titus.


    Venna''s eyes locked with Titus''.  "It was not necessarily who they were after but what.  They took Salverton¡¯s data drive.  We found the technicians massacred.  Apparently they were interrogated and tortured before having their throats sliced.  The data drive was taken and no information on it was left behind.  It''s a good bet that whoever Salverton''s employer was, found out about the data and they took it before we could get anything."


    Titus'' eyes flashed with furry as Venna recounted the events.  As stoic and neutral as he tried to remain, he could not totally hide his inner grimace.


    "We don¡¯t know for sure it was them.  We shouldn¡¯t jump to conclusions," reproved Benjamin.


    "Come on, face it Benjamin.  It is not a huge leap to make that assumption.  For all we know his house was bugged and they heard his capture and confession to turn on them.  Though if it was them, I''m not sure I really want to find out who them really is.  They would have to be a very powerful and connected organization to pull off an incursion into our installation and sustain minimal losses."


    Titus nodded his agreement with Venna. "She has a point, several actually."


    "It does fit, and it could have been them, whoever them is.  I just think we should be methodical about this and follow where the facts take us." Benjamin responded.


    "You''re right¡­ You''re right¡­ We can''t get ahead of ourselves.  We do need more proof before we can really pursue this." Conceded Titus.  "Once I''m fully functioning again, I will examine all the evidence and look for anything we missed.  Hopefully I will be able to find something to link a group to this attack.


    They all nodded in agreement.  There was a moment where Benjamin and Venna stood in silence with their arms crossed.


    So enough about the attack," interjected Titus. "What have you both been up to during my time in the hospital? Training, digging through intel, rehearsals for the next op?"


    "Mostly celebrating my freedom from your tyrannical leadership."


    "Seriously Benjamin, he almost died," barked Venna.


    "I know!  And this is how I deal with tragedy¡­ through levity," retorted Benjamin. "You can''t begrudge a guy his coping mechanism."


    Titus sat up wincing as he repositioned himself on the bed. "I am glad to see you haven''t lost your sense of humor in all of this Benjamin. And Venna, you will soon learn as a part of this team that Benjamin brings the jokes, and my very important role is to pretend they are funny.  He is a little self-conscious whether people think he is funny.  I find it best to give his self-esteem a boost when I can," Titus calmly explained.


    Venna stood looking at Titus and Benjamin with a puzzled look in her eye.


    "Yeah, Yeah," Benjamin coughed.  "Don¡¯t make me wish that rocket had done a better job.  Right Venna?"


    Venna had remained silent during this time.  The green flecks in her almond shaped eyes appeared to shimmer and her back quickly stiffened.


    "You good Venna?" Benjamin called over to her.


    With a tear still swimming in her eye Venna responded. "Yeah¡­ Yeah¡­ everything''s good.  Just a weird allergy thing."  Venna swiped her hand under her nose.  She cleared her throat.  "Well guys gotta run.  Glad you are looking to be on the mend Titus."  With those words she quickly swooped up her bag on the floor and purposefully strode from the room with her silky black hair flowing behind her.


    "Huh, that was awkward." chortled Benjamin.  "I wonder if it is that time of the month for her."


    "Seriously!? You have to know when not to cross the line!" barked Titus. "Isn''t it obvious what she is going through?"


    Benjamin scrunched his eyebrows together showing his obliviousness.


    "You have the emotional capacity of a dead moose", grunted Titus.


    "Seriously¡­ in the entire galaxy of creatures and offensive comparisons¡­ a moose¡­ really?"


    "I''m still on pain meds, okay?  And a dead moose is a perfectly legitimate insult."


    "Whatever.  I still don¡¯t understand why you''re are so upset?... Your time of the month?"


    At this, Titus'' cup of water sailed through the air and crashed into Benjamin''s chest.  "Be serious for once", Titus winced.


    "Okay¡­ okay.  Fine what''s the big deal with Venna?"


    Exasperated, Titus explained.    "She is probably dealing with the memory of losing her entire team a few months back.  Remember, that is why she was reassigned to us.  I can imagine it is difficult for her to almost lose another member of a team, but even more importantly she is probably having difficulty adjusting to our team and growing new friendships that she may end up losing again."


    "Okay, Mr. Psycho Analysis," Benjamin mocked.  "I still think my theory has some merit."  With that, Benjamin stalked from the room.


    Titus sat looking at the empty door frame and sighed.  Venna wasn¡¯t the only one struggling with developing close relationships in fear of just losing them.  On the other hand, nothing seemed to phase Benjamin.  Titus sometimes thought that was why he got along with Benjamin.  Benjamin was a constant reminder to not let things phase you and to move on with life.  If only Titus could.  This attack had shaken them all to the core and Titus felt a gnawing sense of trepidation at the potential ramifications of an organization being able to do what it had done. Who could do something like this? Titus tried to destroy the anxiety he felt over what he knew the answer had to be¡­

 Dead Investigation

    Titus stood at the position of attention.  His face was blotchy with yellowish green bruises and his eyes twinged with pain as he remained perfectly still.  He stood in the entryway and stared forward taking in the spacious council chamber with its shadowy recesses and dimly lit perimeter.  The room had a high ceiling that belied the room¡¯s secondary function of being a bunker.  The room also housed a grand wooden table around which all the members of the council sat before him.  Titus took stock of the general mood in the room.  Many on the council were grim and serious.  ¡°Commander, Titus reporting as ordered.¡±


    The madam council nodded toward Titus and gestured for him to step forward into the room.  ¡°Report on your status.¡±


    ¡°Maam, I am recovered and ready for active duty.¡±


    One council member shuffled some papers before looking up at Titus. ¡°Our report here from the medical center says that two weeks is the shortest estimate for your recovery time.  Why do you feel that you have healed enough to be activated in this short of a time?¡±


    Titus¡¯ back stiffened and he turned his gaze to the individual council member.  ¡°I am healed enough because I need to be out of the hospital and investigating what happened two weeks ago.  The investigation into the attack is beginning to feel like one massive dead end.  All the reports I am getting from the various teams show no leads.  The only thing that they have confirmed is that whoever attacked us was extremely professional and did not leave a trace of who they were. I need to stop reading reports of what others are discovering¡­ or in most cases, not discovering¡­ and get out there to investigate myself.¡±  Titus noticed the councilman¡¯s jaw clench with the mention of the teams not discovering any helpful information.  ¡°I want to leave the hospital because I can do more good out in the field and hopefully find something no one else could find.¡±


    The madam council sat up as she addressed Titus. ¡°You are clearly still in discomfort from your injuries, but you are right to assume that we need to get to the bottom of this attack.  You are one of our best operatives and leaders.     If you feel that you can resume your duties in your present condition, then my recommendation to the rest of the council is to agree with you and approve of your reinstatement to active duty.  Are there any objections to this course of action?¡±  All of the council member looked up and shook their heads.


    Titus breathed a sigh of relief as he observed the council¡¯s response.  He knew that the best chance of discovering the truth lay in him working with is team to unravel what had happened.  The facts of the attack began to play in his mind as he thought though where he would begin the investigation.  His thoughts were interrupted by the madam council.


    ¡°Titus, you are hereby placed on active duty.  You and your team are tasked by this council to take over the full investigation in this attack and to bring the full force of our strength down upon the individuals or organization that are responsible.  We cannot let an incursion of this magnitude go unpunished.  We must send a message.  This mission is of the highest priority and being such, the council will maintain close overwatch.  We expect results.  Unless you have any questions, you are dismissed.¡±  Her tone had a solemn finality that contrasted with the slight echo of her voice in the chamber.


    Titus saluted. "We seek justice."


    As one, the council responded. "May the guilty fear your retribution."


    With their response, Titus did an about face and strode out of the council chamber.  Upon navigating out of the council complex and onto the surface of the installation, Titus touched his left earlobe. ¡°Venna¡­ Benjamin¡­ meet me at the headquarter¡¯s entryway in one hour.¡±


    ¡­


    Titus stood before the destroyed entryway of the headquarters.  He turned back and looked at the damage.  The main gates had been reinforced to withstand most attacks.  The well placed shaped charges had carved the door open and taken out most of the entryway inside.  Already crews were working to make repairs.  Titus pivoted away from the work being done and looked down the road toward the barracks complex.  From his position, he could see Venna and Benjamin each leaving their respective barracks and walking  together past the utility building on the corner across from him.


    Benjamin yelled something across the road as they approached Titus.  Titus put his hands up and shrugged.  Benjamin yelled again, ¡°They let you back on active duty?¡±


    By this point Venna and Benjamin had crossed the road and Titus walked up to them.  ¡°Yeah, they fortunately ignored the doctors orders and placed me in charge of the investigation of the attack.¡±


    ¡°They must really need this solved to activate you. You look like a stiff breeze could knock you over.¡± Benjamin chuckled.


    Titus eyed Benjamin.  ¡°As a matter of fact, they were very specific that this investigation is high priority and they want to see results.  So as my team, I really need you both doing your best work.¡±


    Benjamin scoffed. ¡°I always do my best work. Not sure if my work is the best, but who knows.¡±


    Venna nodded to Titus. She hadn¡¯t said anything as she stood there.  There was still a dark look in her eyes and she wouldn''t look at the entryway of the headquarters.  Titus noted these details and figured he would need to talk to her at some point.  If there was a problem it was always better to deal with it when in a garrison environment instead of in theater on mission.


    Titus filled the team in on his meeting with the council. Benjamin and Venna seemed to understand the severity of their task.  Benjamin didn''t even make any quips while Titus talked.  The investigation was already at a standstill and their team needed to breathe new life into it and come up with some fresh leads.


    Once Titus finished, Venna finally spoke.  ¡°I will go back over the previous investigation team¡¯s notes on the physical evidence gathered from the headquarters and the two enemy sniper positions.  Maybe they overlooked a detail.¡±


    ¡°Good idea.  Benjamin, I want you to review all of the other case files to see if there was something they missed.¡±


    ¡°Okay boss. But I don¡¯t think that will be all that useful.¡±  Benjamin stood scratching his scalp through his bristly hair.


    Titus knew what Benjamin meant.  The team handling the investigation had been very thorough.  Titus had already read through their reports and had not seen anything missing.  ¡°Go through it again anyway just to be sure. Plus it will help me to be able to ask you about details instead of having to sift through their reports.¡±


    Benjamin nodded his understanding.  ¡°What¡¯ll   you do boss?¡±


    Titus looked to his team.  ¡°I am curious about the bodies of the soldiers Venna killed.  The report mentioned that they had not made it to the morgue to check out the autopsies.  That was the only open loop in their investigation.  This may be our best bet to figure out who was responsible.  I¡¯m going to head to the morgue and look into that lead.¡±


    With that, the three of them went their separate ways.  Titus walked toward the morgue and pondered their options.  He recognized that their last hope to discover any clue may be at the morgue.  He just hoped that the two dead enemy soldiers that Venna had taken out would offer something useful.  As Titus continued walking, he pulled up a projected data screen from his digital note pad.  There had to be something he had missed, or a clue he had not thought of.  All of the obvious things had been checked.  Even the obscure details that Titus had asked the other team to check into had revealed nothing. On his first week in the hospital he received a report about boot prints found at the site of the attack.  He had hoped that this finding would be a breakthrough, but the prints were standard tread¡­ useless.  The camera surveillance had been rendered inoperable due to the blast.  Even the results of the explosive''s residue on the doors was inconclusive.  Titus slammed the projection closed.  It was so frustrating.  He felt that he just needed to catch one break.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Titus  arrived to the morgue, marched up the steps, and let himself through the door.  He approached the front desk and explained his desire to investigate the bodies that had been delivered two weeks ago.  The secretary looked at her data pad and typed a few numbers in.  She quickly retyped her search and looked up with a slight smile of apology for the delay.  She finally looked up at Titus and shook her head.  "I''m sorry sir, but there is no record of any bodies still in storage that were delivered in that time.  Maybe you were referring to the week before that. We still have three bodies that were delivered near the end of that week."  She said this with another smile.


    "What!?  No I definitely meant the ones delivered two weeks ago.  There was an autopsy being conducted.¡±


    The receptionist¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Hmm according to the record it looks as if they were scheduled for cremation and disposal instead of autopsy.¡± Her voice had a clipped tone.  ¡°This mistake shouldn¡¯t have happened.¡±


    ¡°Can I speak to the medical examiner?  This is urgent!" Titus hissed.  He knew he shouldn¡¯t take out his frustration on the receptionist, but the investigation continued to fall apart at every turn.


    "Of course sir. I will go get him."


    Titus paced in the lobby thinking through every possibility.  There was no way that the bodies being cremated could possibly be a coincidence. ¡°Hopefully it was just an error in the system.¡± Titus told himself.  If not though,  someone had orchestrated the error in the system and ensured that the bodies were destroyed before anyone could gain information from them.


    "Hello my name is Dr. Graham, you asked to see me? You said it was urgent?"  The medical examiner approached with a concerned look on his face.


    "Yes! You receive two bodies two weeks ago. They were enemy combatants from the attack. Your files say that you cremated them instead of conducting an autopsy.  Is that accurate?"


    "Well that can''t be right.  Someone must have logged the data wrong.  I was here when they arrived on that  Tuesday and marked them down to be identified and a full autopsy done.  I decided to wait on the autopsy until the lead investigator¡­ you I presume¡­ met with me to discuss what information he was looking for.   I can take you to them right now if you like?"


    Titus let out a sigh.  The tension slipped from his tense shoulders.  This could finally be the break in his investigation.  "I would love to see them."


    "Great! Follow me.  Yeah it must have been a data entry issue."  The M.E. reassured Titus.


    They walked through a set of double doors and then turned down a wide hallway.  As they approached the door, the Doctor was required to type in a code to gain access to this secure section of the morgue.  "We have to keep this area secure because we don¡¯t want the residents escaping."  At this, the doctor gave a quick chuckle at his humor.  Upon seeing Titus'' serious expression, he added, "You know cause they are all dead¡­ and couldn¡¯t leave anyway."


    There was a long pause in the conversation as they walked through the door and down the corridor.  After a few turns they reached the storage section of the morgue.  Dr. Graham tapped a button on the wall and a holographic display popped up in front of him.  He began navigating through the system by sliding his hand along pushing files past.  He speed through the first section of files but then abruptly stopped and smiled.  "There they are."


    He perused the file.  His smile began to wane and then completely disappeared. "Hmmm¡­ now that is weird?"


    "What!? Are they missing?" Frustration and anger creeping into Titus'' voice.


    The doctor waved his hand dismissively. "They are in here somewhere.  I know because I put them in the system myself¡­.  Now this is peculiar."


    "What? Did you find them?"


    "Not exactly, but yes.  You see, I have a system for the storage of bodies at my morgue.  I go in a particular order and I never deviate.  Storage for autopsy are these numbers.¡± He pointed out the highlighted section.  ¡°Storage for cremation are these numbers.  Looking at this right now though, there are two empty slots where, according to my system, there should be two bodies ready for autopsy."  Dr. Graham looked agitated and perturbed.


    "Those must be them then!"


    "We shall see." he announced as he strode across the room.  The doctor typed in the code numbers related to the specific pods that the two men were supposed to be in.  There was a slight sound of mechanical whirs and clicks and then the two pods extended about two thirds out of the wall.  "Here they are.  Let''s see what''s inside."


    He bent down and pulled the latches on both of the pods.  With a hiss, both opened.  There was nothing in them.  They were completely empty.


    "Now this can''t be!" cried the doctor.  "I know I put them in the system.  I know the date.  According to how I do things, these pods should have bodies in them!"


    "Can you think of any other possible explanation for this?  How could they accidentally be disposed of?"


    "Impossible. As a precaution, I am the only one with clearance to authorize disposal of a body.  I did not dispose of them.  They were here.  They should have been in these two pods."


    Titus couldn¡¯t believe it.  His last hope for evidence was gone.  There had to be a way to salvage this investigation.  Titus stood, slowly running his fingers through his hair with the other hand on his hip; his fierce gaze taking in every detail of the morgue and the empty pods.  The place was imaculate.  The sterile environment also gave off a subtle odor of cleaning solution.  "Doctor, is there any way to determine if they were ever in these pods to begin with?"


    "Well I could swab the pods for microscopic data.  We always thoroughly clean every pod after its use.  If these were truly empty, then they should have almost no microscopic data on them. "


    Titus pondered that possibility for a second.  There could be a chance that the body snatchers had not thought of that possibility.  Maybe they had overlooked this aspect.  "Let''s see what we get Doc."


    Dr. Graham quickly got some supplies and quietly began his work.  He seemed just as eager to get to the bottom of the mystery as Titus.


    During this time, Titus began quickly reviewing all the information he knew.  The attack had been well coordinated, without warning, and was very effective.  The men had been extremely proficient at infiltrating, achieving their objective, and then disappearing like ghosts with minimal casualties.  They had left no trace of who they were and seemed ahead at every turn.  Now bodies were missing.  Something else that felt weird to Titus was that the company he currently worked for, Ab Aterno, was not a group to be taken off guard.  They had a seemingly endless resources, power, and influence. No matter how you looked at it, there was no easy answer.  Titus knew what all of these factors could point to.  Firstly, there was someone at Ab Aeterno who had betrayed them.  Secondly¡­ Titus paused in thought.  ¡°Do I really want to dredge up the past¡­ my past?¡± He though to himself. He realized that he didn¡¯t want to recognize the second conclusion.  He didn¡¯t want to admit it was a possibility.  Behind the dread though, he felt almost an eager apprehension to realize the truth and go on the hunt.  Titus cleared his mind and faced the reality of the situation. The only way the attack could have happened was if an organization with more power, influence, and resources than Ab Aterno had coordinated this attack.  There was only one organization that he knew of that had that kind of reach.  Titus couldn''t bring himself to think of their name.  His hand balled up into a fist.  He wondered if he should come forward with his theory to the council.  Without legitimate leads, they would rightly call it just conjecture, and not actionable.  He needed proof. He knew that it was time to dive back into his investigation into the organization known as¡­


    "Ahem" the doctor cleared his throat. Titus¡¯ startled but quickly locked eyes with the doctor.


    "I have some possible answers."


    Titus eagerly rushed to the lab table Dr. Graham was working at.  "Please tell me you found something!"


    "I did indeed.  There is finally proof that neither of us is going crazy.  On both gurneys, I found trace amounts of DNA."


    "Great! Who''s are they?" Titus could barely hide his enthusiasm.


    "I don¡¯t have that information yet" replied the doctor.  "It will take a week at the earliest to run the DNA through the system to get a match.  Once I have the information I will contact you so that you can come by and pick it up yourself.  I would hate for this information to go missing just like the bodies.


    ¡­

 Not Without A Trace

    Benjamin lounged in the HQ feeling a restless boredom.  So far, in the two weeks that Titus had been in the hospital, nothing of any significance had been discovered.  Now that Titus had taken charge of the investigation Benjamin knew that there would be a new serge of energy and focus.  Titus was a person of singular focus and determination.  Benjamin knew that it would be impossible to convince Titus that the investigation was pointless even though he knew that there was really nothing to find.  Benjamin just hoped that Titus would eventually accept defeat, admit to the council that there was nothing to find, and then they would assign the team a new mission. For the time being though, Benjamin knew he had to play along and try to investigate.  As Benjamin considered the events that had transpired, he felt a certain admiration for the people who had accomplished this attack.  They had executed a perfect attack which incorporated surprise, violence of action,  and taking the initiative.  They had achieved their objective and, apart from the extraordinary actions of Venna, would have exfiltrated with no losses.  The thing he admired most was that they had not left a trace.  They had also had a certain ruthless quality about them that he could respect from a professional standpoint.


    As Benjamin sat in the mostly rebuilt headquarters, Venna walked in.  She walked towards a computer console and began typing.  As Venna stood there leaning over the console, Benjamin got a chance to actually observe her for the first time since she had joined the team.  Not that he hadn''t seen her before, but this was the first time he had seen her in civilian clothes.  She was wearing a neon green sport tank top with black formfitting running leggings.  She was extremely fit and stood with one foot forward toward the console.  She had long straight shiny black hair pulled back into a loose ponytail that, while on mission, was usually in a tidy tight bun.  Her almond shaped green eyes seemed to complement her high sharp cheek bones and olive complexion.  By any standard, she was a beautiful woman.  As she stood looking at the screen, her face took on a look of intense concentration.  She was so intent on what she was doing that she didn¡¯t notice Benjamin sitting a few feet away.  Benjamin wondered how someone like her had become involved in Ab Aeterno.  It was usually a landing spot for people who wanted to escape their demons by hunting demons.  There were some who were more idealistic and wanted to protect justice or some nonsense, but those were few and far between.  Titus seemed to be a mix of the two.  He seemed to be running from his own demons by pursuing justice.  Benjamin thought about what category he would put himself into.  As he pondered, Venna finally looked up and noticed Benjamin looking over at her.  She quickly exited out of the computer console and strode over to where Benjamin was sitting.


    "Got nothing better to do than lounge around all day?" Venna teased. Her voice had a good humored tone and there was a slight mischievous glint in her eye.


    "Well to be honest¡­ in a way¡­ Yes." Benjamin stumbled.  "Now that the investigation has hit a brick wall, I have got nothing to do."


    Venna just nodded as he talked.  "Yeah I get that.  I was running my five mile circuit on the base  in order to blow off some steam and frustration."


    "True dedication to mission readiness even when blowing off steam." Benjamin gave a mock salute.  "What brings you in to headquarters though?"


    "Well, about two miles into the run, I had an idea about something we didn¡¯t think to check on."  Venna''s voice had begun to grow in volume. "So I came in here to use the computer system to check on my theory!"  The words of her last sentence sped out of her mouth as if they were haphazardly racing each other to a constantly moving finish line.


    "Okay, what is this theory?" Benjamin was unfazed by her enthusiasm.  He felt that she was prone to emotional reactions.  He liked to be more pragmatic or sarcastic, but never excited.


    "I got to thinking about why we didn¡¯t get prior warning about a ship approaching to deliver the attackers."


    "Yeah, we investigated that and realized that they found a way to target our sensors and create a temporary blind spot.  Another dead end." Benjamin interrupted.


    "Not quite." Retorted Venna.  "We were prevented from seeing anything coming right when they made their approach, but were we also prevented from seeing something leave?"


    Benjamin''s mouth hung open as he took in the implications of her statement.  His eyes moved around mentally visualizing the new insight as if it was before him on a screen.  Maybe I should be interested in her enthusiasm, he thought to himself.  "So what were you checking on the screen?"


    "I was checking to see if the computer had any readings.  It appears that without a specific point of origin for the ship from the planet''s surface it will be impossible to calibrate the sensor to look for where the ship went and predict likely vectors or trajectories.


    "Sounds like another dead end.¡±  Benjamin sat back and relaxed his posture.  He knew this would go nowhere.


    "Except you forget the fact that I saw where the men who escaped ran off to.  We can go out and track down where they went.  I can imagine that if we head in their general direction we should come across something that points to a ship or transport of some sort that picked them up."


    Benjamin jumped to his feet and slapped his hands together.  He hated himself for not thinking about this possiblity.  It had the potential to be a significant clue and a potentially fatal flaw in the strike team¡¯s plan.  So much for admiring their attack, Benjamin thought. "That is actually really smart. I hate to admit it, but you may be onto something." Benjamin begrudgingly admitted.


    "Don¡¯t sound so surprised or disappointed." Venna laughed.


    Brooding, Benjamin looked down at Venna. "When do you want to leave?"


    "What are you doing right now¡­" Venna smiled.


    ¡­


    Venna and Benjamin walked toward the wood line that was about a kilometer away from the headquarters.  The area around the headquarters was intentionally devoid of any foliage and was relatively flat.  This, in theory, would provide a standoff distance where anyone approaching the facility would have a significant amount of open ground to cover on their approach to the headquarters.  As Benjamin looked at the various repairs going on, he chuckled to himself that the standoff distance had been less than effective. Shaking his head with a morbid smile on his face, Benjamin continued onward.


    The two walked through a field with long thigh high grass waving in the slight breeze.  Venna looked over at Benjamin, her flowing hair dancing in the breeze.  ¡°Benjamin, tell me about yourself.  I feel like since I joined the team, I have not had a chance to get to know you or Titus very well, outside of your mission capabilities.  I mean, I can tell that Titus is a good leader, but he isn''t overly friendly.  He is like a wall.  And you are just a smart ass.  Who is the real Benjamin.¡±


    Benjamin was silent.  He knew that at some point he would have to open up a little bit to Venna.  She was nothing like Titus.  She would keep prying and he figured that she wouldn¡¯t stop until he presented some anecdote to help her connect.  "You know, this area reminds me of home." Benjamin started.  "I grew up in a rural town just outside of the ruins of Detroit.  There were fields everywhere with grass just like this.  My friends and I would get one of the farmers to use their huge tractor to mow a section of the grass in an unused field and we would play football for hours.  My buddy Tom really loved the Los Angeles Lions and would get some guys together to pretend to be their 2220 championship team.  I was always a big fan of the Rockets Mars expansion team before they eventually died out in 2232."


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "That sounds like a great time."  Venna smiled at Benjamin.  She seemed to be soaking in his story with rapt attention.


    Benjamin paused for a moment and stepped around a stump that protruded from the ground like a stalagmite.  After navigating around the obstacle, he made sure to effectuate a vulnerable tone of voice as he resumed weaving his narrative.  "I hate those memories.  But in a way I guess I embrace them as well.  You see, as a child I loved to play with my friends.  I had such idealized and naive views about life though.  One time a pass went long and went tumbling into the tall grass.  Tom quickly sprinted in to retrieve it.  We heard a scream and a growl come from where he had disappeared.  We all ran in to see what had happened only to come upon two feral dogs tearing at Tom.  They had ambushed him when he went to pick up the ball and as a small ten year old, he never stood a chance.  We all grabbed rocks and drove away the dogs, but it was too late for Tom.  He died gasping for air as his throat filled with blood."


    "That is awful!" Venna gasped.


    "It taught me a great lesson though that I still hold onto to this day.  Death is always just around the corner and only the weak get taken before their proper time.  Tom had been weak and he died for it.  I vowed never to be weak."  Benjamin commented, his voice appropriately sad.


    Venna placed a hand on his shoulder. "I understand how you could come to that conclusion, and I don¡¯t blame you for it.  That had to be devastating."


    "Maybe that''s why I joined Ab Aeterno.  I guess there is a part of me that wants to look out for those who are weak.  And on my part, I feel that there is no room for my own weaknesses." Benjamin shrugged. He looked out of the corner of his eye at Venna. She was quietly looking away and dabbing the corner of her eye with her palm.  Well it looks like that was enough to gain a little rapport, Benjamin thought.


    He continued on walking as Venna stopped and looked at the grass to digest what he had said.  Venna pivoted on her heals and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear.  "Thank you for telling me all that.  To be honest, I feel that this is the most serious conversation we have had.  It means a lot to me that you would trust me with that story."


    Benjamin grinned to himself. He hadn¡¯t thought that she would make it that easy on him.  He had figured she would want to dig deeper.  With this anecdote he figured he had bought himself a decent amount of freedom from her pestering questions.


    Benjamin chuckled. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t often like to think about my past nor do I like to share it.  Consider this your once in lifetime ticket to getting to know me better."


    Venna smiled at him. "I like getting to know you and Titus.  You both are my new team and I feel that I can operate better by knowing you both better.  So thank you for opening up."


    ¡­


    They both arrived at the edge of the tree line nearest to headquarters.


    "This is the area where I lost them as they ran into the woods.  I''m willing to bet that there is a small clearing just past here where their drop ship landed." Venna  pointed out.


    Sure enough, as the two of them moved through the trees they came upon a one hundred meter clearing.  The grass was tall enough that it waved in the slight breeze.  Crickets could be heard chirping as they bounced through the flowing grass.


    "Look for anything that will show that a ship was here.  Maybe we can find where the ship landed and we will see where the landing gear imprinted on the soft ground." Venna advised.


    The two of them spread out and began walking through the thigh high grass. They completed thirty to fifty circular search loops from one central point.  Just as they were about to complete their search pattern without any success, Benjamin abruptly stopped and bent down to examine the ground.  "Well something definitely landed here.  There are some groves here in the mud that look pretty deep that would match the landing gear from a small troop carrier.  They didn¡¯t bring their main ship down.  Probably would have been too loud or too big for this area."


    Venna bounded over to Benjamin and knelt next to him to examine the tracks.  "I''ll mark this location so that we can review sensor data of anything leaving this exact spot and then track it to its final destination in orbit."


    "That is good and all, but how will knowing their orbital position help us to find them.  There is no way they are still here after their raid.  They probably made a jump after they met up with their main ship."


    "That is true, but something we have in our favor is the fact that our sensors are extremely precise.  Even a ship making a jump shows it trajectory for a split second as it transitions from normal space to micro-space.  Our sensors should be good enough to determine the direction they were going.  The only issue is that once they entered micro-space we have no idea how fast or far they went.  Speed entering micro has no actual impact on speed or distance while in micro.  On that point, we may have to guess where they were going based solely on their direction."


    "That makes sense." Benjamin conceded. "I guess this is the best we could hope for.  Hopefully this will give us something to act on."


    Back at headquarters Benjamin and Venna began to input the coordinates into the sensor computer.  As the system processed the information Titus walked in.


    "I heard you both were here.  Any updates on the investigation?"


    "We might actually have something." Venna chimed up. "How about you?"


    "I may have a lead but it is too early to tell.  So, tell me about this new possible lead."


    Venna looked from the console up to Titus.  She quickly filled him in on the morning¡¯s events.  "Basically, if this computer can use the shuttle''s starting location before exfil, we will be able to figure out the most likely location of the shuttle.  We just need the sensor to extrapolate the vector of the ship just as it was entering micro."


    "All that nerd talk basically meant, let''s look at the screen and see if the computer tells us where to go."  Benjamin chuckled.


    Venna''s eyes rocked back in their sockets as Benjamin looked toward her, a smirk plastered to his face.  "The program should be close to giving us a destination." Venna continued.  The computer clicked and an image of the solar system jumped onto the projection.  The perspective jolted to a position just out of the moon''s orbit.  At that moment, the computer manifested lines representing multiple trajectories based on the ship''s vector.  A voice from the computer AI chirped in.  "Each line represents a possible trajectory." Seeming to read all of their minds, the AI continued. "The reason for multiple lines, is the nature of space travel being three dimensional and constantly moving; both from the start point and the destination.  These lines also factor possible stopping points along this one corridor as well as adjustments for error.  Each of these lines has known stop points marked out, but the ship could have stopped at any unknown point along these paths." The disembodied voice dissolved into silence.


    Benjamin rocked to his feet and quickly manipulated the three dimensional projection to show some of the most prominent points of interest.  "Looks like they were headed near mars, and possibly out to the asteroid belt.  There are a few space stations along this route.  That is probably our best bet."


    "I agree." Titus nodded. "Let''s inform the council and then head to Juno Station.  We can start investigating the few stations in the asteroid belt and then slowly move toward Mars.  If we can find the ship, hopefully we can get some more actionable intel."

 Cup of Tea

    Titus'' eyes snapped open as he lunged from his bed into a ready stance in the middle of his floor.  His muscles tense and breathing heavily, Titus quickly took stock of where he was.  His room.  Just his room.  His room and his bed were supposed to be a safe and secure place.  But the bed that so quickly soothed him to sleep could quickly become a reality of horror and sleeplessness.  His dreams always got worse when he was stressed.


    Titus stepped into the bathroom and quickly wetted a washcloth with cool water.  Placing it on his forehead he strolled into the living room and sat on the couch.  Glancing at the clock he recognized the time was 0600 and he didn¡¯t need to be at the launch bay to head to Juno Station until 1000.  The Council had been happy with their discovery and had approved a mission to track down the ship.


    "Well if I can''t sleep, I guess I''ll read a book," Titus announced to himself.  That seemed all he could do anymore to distract himself, get lost in a story and escape his own stark reality.


    Titus sat for a time, engrossed in a large volume, when there came a knock on his door.  Sighing, Titus strode to the door and opened it.  "Venna!? What brings you here?"


    "A couple of things. First, I wanted to tell you that I am happy that you recovered so well.  I didn¡¯t get a chance to mention it yesterday when we saw you."


    "Thanks. Yeah I noticed you were a bit distracted yesterday and then in the afternoon we all got caught up in the discovery you and Benjamin made.  It is good though to be out and back on my own two feet."


    She smiled slightly.  "The other thing I wanted to talk to you about¡­ well¡­ Benjamin and I were talking about the investigation and we think that the chances of us finding something we can use are slim at this point unless we bring in more teams.  I¡¯m worried that without any idea exactly where they went or who they were, it will be difficult to track them any further in a reasonable amount of time."


    "I totally agree.  I requested more teams to assist us from the council.  They agreed to give us anything we needed to help solve this case.  They recognize that whoever hit us was extremely good and needs to be stopped before this happens again."


    "Well that¡¯s good.¡± Venna looked a little surprised at the information. ¡°I hope more teams will help us nail these bastards.  We really need to find who was responsible. Plus I think having backup is important.  I was a little nervous on the last mission to extract Salverton that we didn''t have any backup."


    Titus nodded at her statement. "Hopefully this pans out, but if not, there is something else I found at the morgue.  It is a last straw, but I think it could pay off.  I can''t say much now, but just know that by the time we get back from Juno Station I will possibly have confirmation of new evidence."


    "That is great news.  Let me know if you need any help once there is more certainty about this lead."


    Titus gave a slight smile and a bow of his head. Titus looked at Venna and considered his observation of her from the previous day.  Her distracted and sullen look was mostly gone with the hope of the new leads, but Titus could still see a remnant in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m actually glad you stopped by.  I feel like I have not had a chance to welcome you onto the team yet.  We had to hit the ground running. Do you have a minute to come in?¡±


    ¡°Sure boss.¡± Venna¡¯s eyes slipped to the floor as she took a tentative step into the apartment.


    Titus recognized her apprehension and hesitation.  ¡°There is nothing to be worried about.  Basically this just an informal initial counseling.¡±


    Venna nodded and moved toward the living room.  She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and clasped her hands together in front of her.


    ¡°I can make us some coffee or tea." Titus offered, in an effort to set a more casual and relaxed tone.


    "Sure, I''d love a cup of tea," Venna responded.


    After ushering Venna to a seat, Titus came out of the kitchen with two mugs of steaming tea.  "I hope you don¡¯t mind black tea.  I prefer my tea black so I don¡¯t have any cream or sugar."


    "That''s fine.  I actually prefer black tea as well."


    Titus pondered where to start with Venna.  She had only been with the team for a short time and still didn¡¯t feel like he knew how to approach her.


    As both of them sat quietly sipping their tea Venna looked up opened her mouth for a second then quickly looked down.


    "You seem like you want to ask me something but you are unsure of how to ask it, or if you should," Titus observed.


    Venna glanced up with the cup of tea resting before her lip.  Her eyes searched Titus'' face. Then she let out a soft chuckle. "No. It''s nothing.  Just glad to see you fully functional."


    Titus gave a silent grin and subtly bowed his head.  There was a slight pause as Titus gathered his thoughts. With a shallow breath, he started. ¡°Being new to the team, I just want to touch base with you.  The council requires all team leaders to conduct an initial counseling on new team members and an annual assessment.¡±  He waited a breath to gauge her reaction.  ¡°My goal in this initial counseling is to get to know you better and for you to understand my expectations.¡±


    Venna nodded her understanding and took a sip of tea.


    ¡°I have read your file and know some of your operational history with your previous team.¡± There was a slight pause before Titus began again. ¡°I assume that the reason for your reassignment to my team won¡¯t be an issue for you?¡±


    There was a moment of hesitation before Venna shook her head. ¡°There is no problem. The past is behind me. I have moved on. It will not impact my abilities.¡±


    It sounded to Titus that she was talking more to herself than to him.  He felt that there was something there.  For a split second he considered digging a little, but suddenly considered how he would feel if the situation were reversed. He shuddered thinking about someone even asking him about his past.  The memories were at the armored walls of his mind, clamoring to gain access.  Before they battered down his defenses and flooded back in, Titus squelched the voice in his head telling him to ask her more and instead continued on. ¡°Well, you know how I like to operate my team. Last mission is a good representation of how I like to run operations.  My leadership philosophy boils down to a few things. I expect each person to leverage their skills toward the mission objectives.  I am always open to suggestions, opinions, and advice, but don¡¯t undermine or disregard the decisions I make or the orders I give.  Finally, don¡¯t let personal issues interfere with the mission.¡± Titus gave another slight pause.  ¡°Any questions?¡±


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    Venna shook her head no. ¡°Those sound like perfectly reasonable expectations to me.¡±


    ¡°Good. So with that out of the way, I would like to understand you as a person a little better.  I am always curious to ask about what is not in people¡¯s files.  For instance, if you could be anywhere in the solar system doing anything, where would it be and what would you be doing?


    Venna smirked up at Titus. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting such a casual lighthearted question from you.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Titus asked.


    ¡°You just come across so¡­ so¡­ Well I just wasn¡¯t expecting it is all.¡±


    At those words it was Titus¡¯ chance to smirk.


    ¡°But anyway, to answer your question, I would have to say On Earth at my grandparents house playing chess with my grandfather.¡±


    Titus¡¯ eyebrows raised as he looker up at her.  ¡°That sounds absolutely peaceful. I take it you are close to your grandfather?¡±


    ¡°It was peaceful. My fondest memories. I was very close to him. Unfortunately, he passed a few years ago.¡± With those last few words Venna¡¯s voice dissolved like the last vestiges of snow on a warm spring day.


    Titus recognized the evident sadness in her tone and decided to change the subject. ¡°So why did you sign up to be a part of Ab Aeterno?"


    A light flickered in Venna''s eyes as they snapped back into focus.  She had obviously given this a lot of though and was energized to get a chance to explain herself.  "For starters, I hate bullies.  People who know what they are doing and that it is wrong, but do it anyway because they know they will easily get away with it.  So often they get away with it.¡±  Venna¡¯s grip tightened on her mug.  ¡°Their smugness is what really gets me.  That look they give to the authorities that says, ''Yeah I did that and there is nothing you can do about it''.  I saw that look all the time during my stint in law enforcement on Earth."


    "I was Mars law enforcement." Titus interjected.


    "I didn¡¯t know."


    "Being Earth law enforcement had to make it a little easier.  At least you weren''t on a colony or Mars."


    "In a sense I agree with you, but ultimately Earth is worse in a different way.  Earth is like a rotting log in the woods.  As you are hiking and step on the seemingly stable log, it crumbles beneath your feet and you are thrown off balance.  The government has long ceased to really care about its people and progressively has begun to view them as no more than a convenient work force to develop better technologies than other competing planets.  It''s all so corrupt.   It has become so prevalent that truth is essentially a mirage.  Only the upper echelon of society experience any amount of power, but in the same sense they are the most ignorant or apathetic to the corruption."


    "Wow I didn¡¯t realize that you were this passionate about the political and social climate of Earth." Titus chuckled.


    "I''ll spare you the in depth analysis of the failings of this current government." Venna laughed. "Essentially, political corruption makes a law enforcement officer''s job extremely hard.  We got a lot of those smug faces I was telling you about because their corrupt political patron was no doubt going to get them off the hook.  So to finally answer your question,  I joined Ab Aeterno because I was sick of feeling powerless and I wanted to make an actual difference."


    "That is admirable.  It is good that you are a part of this company.  You are just the type we need."


    "Oh? And what is that type?"


    "People who like to get justice for those who can''t get it for themselves. You are not just someone who likes to get paid to kill and blow things up.  You seem like a person who genuinely seeks justice.  And I know for that fact alone, you fit in here."


    "Well thank you. I feel I can say the same about you.  You seem the kind of guy that looks to do right.  Maybe you should get a pat on the back yourself." Venna smiled a warm closed mouth grin.


    Titus''s face grew dark. "No. I deserve no pat on the back.  I am no one to be honored.¡± Storm clouds coalesced behind his eyes.  ¡°I deserve far worse than I have received.  Far worse." Titus looked down with his hands constricting around his tea cup.


    They both sat in silence as they sipped on their tea.  Titus studied his bookshelf and Venna stared into the depths of her tea.  Both so lost in thought that they were unaware of the awkwardness of their silence.


    Venna sat in silence for a few seconds longer then raised her head.  "You know¡­ I don''t believe you.  Nope, I don¡¯t. I may not know your past, but as I have gotten to know you a little over these last few weeks I don¡¯t see a man who deserves that kind of self assessment."  With that, Venna stood and walked to the door. "I do see that you care about justice and I am happy to be on your team. I agree with you that I fit in well, and a lot of that has to do with how you and Benjamin have accepted me to the team."


    "You have definitely proven your worth already.  There is no doubt about that. We are glad to have you.¡± Titus smiled and suddenly realized that he did not feel like he was faking or putting on a face. With that thought, the smile faltered for a second and then faded to a pleasant neutral set. Titus glanced back at Venna wondering if she had seen his smile falter then addressed her.  ¡°Unless you have any questions of me, that is all I needed to talk to you about."


    Setting the tea cup on the table near the entryway she turned.  "Sir, it was a pleasure talking to you.  Thank you for your hospitality."  She turned and left the apartment, quietly closing the door behind her.


    Titus remained sitting there.  His eyes locked on the door.  The past was always approaching him from different directions.  He knew he should have asked her more about how she was handling her past experiences during this transition to Achilles team.  Titus knew that his guardedness about his past had contributed to not asking her.  He hadn''t expected Venna to be the one to bring up those memories.  Usually the status quo between Benjamin and himself was to let the past be. Venna seemed different though.  Titus was not sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.  Reflecting on the conversation, he wondered what Venna had wanted to ask him. The way she had looked at him with the tip of a question on her tongue seemed almost like pity.  And then there was the way she had described him as a good person. Hopefully as she transitioned onto their team she would not continue to think so highly of him or even worse pity him. That could be dangerous.

 Cloak and Daggers

    The two men stood facing each other: close enough that their shoulders were almost touching.  The room was dark so only their silhouettes were discernible and a very deep sense of foreboding resided within the room.


    The first man had a stocky strong build with a raptor gaze.  He authoritatively slid his hand up toward the other man''s neck and left his open palm resting on the other man''s collar.  His other hand was nonchalantly buried in his pant pocket.  He leaned in to the other man''s ear and quietly whispered, "What in the hell are you doing?  Can you accomplish any task that I ask of you?"


    "Well sir, there were unforeseen complications."


    "COMPLICATIONS!"  At this, his open palm seized the other man''s neck on the left side just under the jaw.  His other hand flew out of the pocket and clamped around the right side.  Hissing like a viper, "You had one job to do during that entire raid.  CAPTURE Titus Emmanuel!  HMMM¡­ INSTEAD YOU TRIED TO BLOW Him to hell."  His voice getting softer and more forceful with each word.  "And if that was not enough, You claim to have lost control of the sensor grid before the shuttle exfiltrated.  It will not be hard for them to track the ship and find it.  WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ROUTINE, YOU TURNED INTO A GOD DAMN CATASTROPHY THAT WE NOW HAVE TO CLEAN UP OR RISK ALL OUR PLANS AND MANUVERING TO FAIL!"  He quickly released the other man.  Still seething he paced in front of the subordinate.


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    "At least I disposed of the bodies.¡± Quaked the subordinate.  His thinner frame seeming to tremble with anxiety.


    ¡°One success on a mountain of failure will not fix our predicament.¡±


    Breathing heavily, the thinner man offered, "Sir, maybe we can turn this to our advantage.  When they make the connection and find the ship we will be able to use it to lure Titus out and then capture him.  We can use the same crew from the raid.  He will come to them and it will be on our terms."


    The stocky man pondered the idea then briskly commanded, "Make the arrangements with them.  I want results."  Seeming pacified, he turned to leave.  On his way out the door, he stopped and turned. "Oh, and give word, I would like to keep the woman alive.  She could provide a delicious distraction and a decent profit."


    "Director, Venna Solis will be yours."

 Stardust

    FaRarra Njokko woke up, pulled the sheets up over her bare chest, and looked around.  He was gone¡­ They almost always left¡­  She preferred it that way though.  She continued to look around observing her scant articles of clothing scattered across the polished wood floorboards.  As she rolled out of her four poster stained mahogany bed, she grabbed a silk robe to cover up her nakedness.  As she stood and began to walk, she clutched at her thigh and winced.  "I haven''t been this sore in a while.  I hope he does not come back any time soon." FeRarra continued her laborious pace across the room lending support to herself with the wall.


    She traced her finger along the wall catching it on various framed portraits of stunningly beautiful nude female models.  Her machinations resulted in the frames tilting precariously off balance.  She continued to stride along the wall toward the window.  She stopped, parted the silky lace curtains, and looked at the surrounding city.  The city of Spes Resurgemus buzzed with life.  Ships continually broke orbit and entered atmosphere delivering goods and products to the city.  The sunrise broke over the horizon and bathed the cityscape in a orange and red hue.  The monolithic structures of the cityscape both reflected the stunning light of the sun and devoured its light on their far sides.  Mars had truly become a place of beauty and advancement in the years since the completion of terraforming.  The open sky called to FaRarra and the rapidly diminishing stars spoke promises of their return and the hope of new worlds.  She then reached up and turned off the digital display, revealing a lifeless blue wall to match the rest of the room.


    FaRarra then walked the remaining three paces to the entrance of the bathroom.  Stepping off of the smooth wood floor onto the heated ceramic glass floor of the bathroom forced a satisfied moan to escape her throat.   She walked up to the sink and the mirror and begrudgingly acknowledged the makeup smeared face that gazed back.  This was the same face that had looked back at her almost every morning for the past four years.  She reached for the makeup remover and quickly ran the wand over her face.  The smeared makeup dissolved  as the glowing wand passed over.  What stared back at her now was a woman with high cheek bones, tan complexion, button nose, a thin jaw, short eye lashes, and a slight hollow weary darkness below her eyes.


    FaRarra stepped into the shower and selected the waterless feature on the touchscreen.  She loved to bask in the warmth of a hot water shower, but it was more thorough and hygienic to use the waterless shower.  After the last day and night''s activities she wanted to be as hygienic as possible.  She also knew that she would get into trouble if they found out she had wasted water on herself.


    Once done with her shower, she stepped up to the wall across from her bed and fingered the hidden switch.  The wall parted in the center and opened to reveal a walk-in-closet.  She went first to a chest of drawers that opened upon her approach and displayed an innumerable variety of undergarments that ranged from sheer and lacy to just a string of pearls with a lace waist band.  Once she had selected and donned her choice, she then looked to the various outfits hanging in the remainder of the closet.  Most were elaborate dresses, and many would not leave much to the imagination.  Some had plunging necklines that went past the belly button, while others had a hemline that just barely made it past the wearer''s bottom.  FaRarra selected an emerald green one with both a plunging neckline and a short hem.  The sides of her ample chest and a generous glimpse of her curvaceous bottom could be seen peaking out of the dress.  Her last stop was the rack that held all of her high heal shoes.  She selected an appropriate pair, slid them on, and let them auto adjust and lock onto her feet.  FaRarra stepped over to her vanity and sat before the view screen.  Lifting her hand, she cycled through the various makeup style options before settling on one that would accentuate her eyes and would coordinate with the emerald green of her dress.  Upon hitting the selector, the vanity burst into action with various mechanical arms whirring into service; applying lipstick, eye liner, and various other cosmetics.  After just a few seconds of work, the vanity fell silent and still with the various mechanical arms retreating into hidden recesses.


    Now fully dressed and made up, FaRarra Njokko walked back into her beautiful bedroom.  As she gazed around, she knew the truth.  The beauty around her was all a fa?ade.  Of course, the expensive lace curtains only covered a viewscreen.  The perfectly arranged rugs and paintings were not her choice of decoration, but a very meticulous and strategic style planned to elicit a certain appetite and desire.  The love making that happened in the voluptuous bed was a rotting carcass of what love actually looked like.  Even her walk-in-closet was fake in the sense that all of the cloths in it were not hers.  They actually were worse than just not being hers.  They represented the reality that she was a slave and had to wear them.  She hated them.


    "Stardust!" Came a voice over the intercom in her room.  FaRarra flinched back and then directed her attention to a camera on the celling in the corner of her room.  "Why are you just standing and looking around?  Get out of your room and get to the lobby.  There are some guests arriving in a few minutes and we don¡¯t want them to be disappointed that their favorite little toy is not there." Sneered the voice.


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    "Yes sir. I''m heading up right now." FaRarra slightly curtsied toward the camera in her room.


    "Wrong camera stupid girl!  Do you even care how impolite that looks when you don¡¯t even address the correct camera?  What if there had been a customer on the other end instead of me?"  FaRarra shuddered as the voice berated her. "Look at the camera   With   THE   GREEN   LIGHT   ON!" The voice emphasized.  Laughing could be heard in the background.  FaRarra adjusted her attention to a camera on the nightstand.  "Good¡­ Now show how grateful you are for me helping you to be better."


    FaRarra made it halfway through a curtsy before being interrupted.


    "What lingerie are you wearing? You know how people like the pearl string.  Show me!" The harsh voice ordered.


    FeRarra waited a second, her finger picking at the hem of her dress.  With her head bowed down and her chin touching the top of her chest, she obeyed and lifted up her dress to reveal the pearl and lace panties.


    "Good¡­ Good¡­ I have to say Stardust those look great on you." The disembodied voice was dripping with lust. "Now stop wasting time and get downstairs."


    ¡­.


    A group of men and women approached a beautiful stately building.  The sun had just reached it and was making its metal alloy shimmer.  A man at the front of the group looked back at everyone with a big grin.  "I go here all the time.  The best part is that you pay at the door and then you get twenty four hours to do whatever you want.  They also have the best merchandise on Mars.  It is also designed to have the appearance of a respectable hotel with a grand entryway and bar, but the real fun begins once you head down a floor through the official entrance."


    The group all began excitedly chattering and sharing what they planned to do with their twenty four hours.  They all passed through the main doors, headed straight for an elevator, and rode it down one floor.  When they exited, they were greeted by a dark lobby lit by dim calm lights.  Security stopped them in the foyer just beyond the elevator.  "Before entering or exiting we must do a security check and identity verification."  A giant bearded man rumbled.  His demeanor revealed no complacency often found in those conducting routine tasks.  His eyes were sharp as he took in the entire group.  Each of the party were physically searched by another security member and then their palms were scanned to verify identity.  The leader of their small group continued to reassure everyone that all of this hassle was well worth it.  Once the entire group had been processed they were ushered to a set of thick opaque glass sliding doors.  The guard pressed a combination on the wall and the doors slid open.  The massive bearded security officer looked at the group and waved his arm forward to them.  "Enter the chamber.  The doors will lock behind you.  Wait half a minute and the doors in front of you will open. Enjoy." He articulated.


    The group stepped forward and the doors clapped shut behind them.  "This had better be worth it man." Whined one man.  Suddenly the gray opaque doors before them shifted color and text began to crawl across its surface.  "Welcome to the lap of luxury.  There is no greater sin than another so you might as well try them all.  Feel no need other than for more."  The text faded out and the doors crisply slid open to reveal a luxurious entrance hall.


    There was activity all throughout the hall and into the lounge.  Women in revealing clothing were sitting with people at the bar or walking around talking to other guests.  There were even some shirtless men lounging on sofas toward the back of the room.  A man in a comfortable lounge jacket approached the group and welcomed them.


    "Hello! I am Jean Baptiste and I am the manager who will be seeing to your every need and fantasy.  You have but to ask me and I will try my very best to make your desire reality.  As you can see the merchandise is out on the lobby floor interacting with other guests.  Feel free to get comfortable here in the lobby, or if you see what you like and would desire private accommodations, we can make that happen. If you like men, women, boys, girls, all of the above, many at once, or one at a time, it makes no difference.  Just go and have fun.  The next twenty four hours are all about you."


    The man in front looked back at everyone and raised his eyebrows as if to say, "I told you this was going to be great".  He then turned around and walked toward a woman who was luxuriously strolling through the lobby. She had a deep emerald dress with a plunging neckline that revealed much of her bosom.  "Hello beautiful¡­ what''s your name?"


    "Oh handsome¡­ my name is Stardust, but with a face and body like yours you can call me ''your very own'' for as long as you want me."


    The man leered, grabbed her breast, and massaged it in his hand.  Stardust wrapped her arm around the man''s shoulder and seductively whispered into his ear.  As she moved away from her whisper she bit on the lobe of his ear and gave a small moan.  "Naughty, naughty girl." The man chuckled. He then reached behind and grasped her bottom and gave a sharp squeeze which elicited a luscious smile of pleasure from her.  Stardust''s wide smile of pleasure never made it to FeRarra Njokko''s eyes.

 Needle in a Haystack

    Titus looked at the display of the asteroid belt and marked another station designator red. He leaned over the control station and massaged his temples and then looked back up at the screen.  "What about sector four of the belt?  There are at least two stations in that area.  We could send Gamma team and Beta team to investigate each one."


    "Sir, this was the least likely trajectory their ship would have taken according to the calculations.  Also, I regret to inform you that all extra teams allotted for this search have been placed back on regular duties by the council.  The ones that have finished searching their designated stations are being told to report directly back to Lunar Base." The disembodied voice of the station''s computer responded.


    Titus scratched the back of his neck and lightly slapped the console in front of him.  The display dimmed and then disappeared as Titus turned around and leaned back, his arms folded across his chest.


    "We have been at this for almost four weeks.  Not a single station has any evidence of the ship that attacked us." Benjamin sighed. He tapped his fingers against the railing of the walkway in Juno station''s control room.  He strode over to the window display and threw out his hands.  "I mean, there is a lot of space out there.  Did we really have a chance of finding this ship?"


    Venna sat quietly on the upper walkway with a book open in her hands and her legs dangling off the side.  She partially closed the book leaving her thumb in the seam.  "There was always a chance.  I''m sure that the team that hit us was not expecting to be tracked, even this far, after exfiltrating from our base.¡°


    "Sounds like a fools hope." Inserted Benjamin.


    Ignoring his comment, Venna looked down from her perch. "Do we have any other options?  Any contacts that we could reach out to and find stations that are unlisted?"


    Titus spun around to face Benjamin. "Benjamin, you had a contact that smuggled throughout the belt didn¡¯t you?" Titus'' voice was crisp and energized.  The former lethargy evaporating with each word.


    Benjamin scratched his chin, looked up at Venna, and then settled on Titus.  His eyes squinted as the overhead lights reflected in them.  "It''s a long shot, but you are right.  I may know someone who might be able to help.  As you said, he is a belt runner.  Best I ever caught."


    "How did he get away?" Inquired Venna.


    "Ha! He didn¡¯t get away.  I let him go.  He was the one who always got me contraband when I needed it.  He smuggles stolen leisure products to the documented and undocumented stations between the belt and Mars.  I knew him a long time ago when I first started with Ab Aeterno.  He may not even agree to help, but it could be worth a try."


    "I wish I had thought of this before.  Venna great job mentioning unlisted stations.  That may be the spark we needed." Titus praised.


    Benjamin chimed in. "Honestly, I didn¡¯t even think of using resources outside of Ab Aeterno."


    Both Titus and Venna nodded their understanding.  Titus looked up at Venna.  "Well if this works out, great job thinking outside of the box Venna."


    She grinned down at them and shrugged. "Every once in a while a blind squirrel finds a nut."  Titus looked at Benjamin with one eyebrow raised.  Benjamin just shrugged.


    "So true Venna." Benjamin called up to her.


    After a moment Titus diverted his gaze to Benjamin with a laser focus.  "Contact your guy discreetly.  Let me know what you find out."


    Benjamin gave a lazy salute and immediately walked off the bridge of the station.  "You got it boss.  I will get you the info we need."  He paused partially through the doorway and looked back.  "How much am I authorized to pay to loosen my contact''s lips as well as keep them closed to others?"


    Titus waved a dismissive hand. "You have full discretion of that.  Whatever you think will get the job done is authorized."


    Benjamin spun back around and strode the rest of the way out of the room.  Venna  took her finger out of the spine of the book and set the book to her side.  She stood and walked to the ladder and climbed down.  "Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?"


    "No go ahead."


    "If Benjamin''s contact does turn up something, how are we going to approach the mission?  We no longer have the other teams as support.  Will just three of us be enough to get the job done?"


    "It will honestly depend on the intel that we get.  We should have enough time though to recall some of the other teams before they head back to the Lunar Base.  If we can just get two teams they will be able to provide an inner and outer cordon that will free us to conduct the raid."


    Venna chewed the bottom corner of her lip as she listened.  "Good.  It''s just that I have been in situations that it was just my team and not a lot of quality intel going into a mission.  The result is the reason I am now on your team."


    Titus walked closer to Venna.  "I know your concerns. And trust me, this will not be the same situation.  Also do not underestimate yourself and the rest of the team for that matter.  Your first mission with us proved how much of an asset you are to the team.  Benjamin may not voice it, but he was impressed by how well you handled yourself."


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    Venna''s cheeks flushed slightly.  She walked up to the window view screen and peered out into space.  She tucked a loose hair behind her ear.  "Thank you for your kind words.  I will not let you down.  I promise you that."


    "Good." Titus replied.  "I never had any doubt on that. Now go get some rest.  I''m sure it will take a few hours for Benjamin to get anything for us."


    Venna nodded, rolled to her feet, and strode away along the grating of the upper walkway. Her finger remained in the seam of her book as she disappeared around the corner.


    Titus¡¯s hands clenched open and closed on the railing as he considered the possibilities of finding the team that had attacked them.  It seemed that all he had done for the past three weeks was think.  He slammed a fist on the railing in frustration.  He wanted to act. Being cooped up and unable to take action was a smothering feeling.  He hated when he had time to dwell and think on¡­ well¡­ on too many things.


    Titus spun in place.  ¡°I¡¯m doing it again.  Thinking too much.  Living in my head too much.¡± Titus reprimanded himself.  He took a deep breath and announced to the empty room. ¡°Time to be productive and get some training in.¡±


    Titus marched down the hallway and turned through the doorway to the weapons range.  He loved the solitude of the range and was startled to see Venna walking to the firing line with her sniper rifle.  About to turn around, he stopped when she spotted him.


    Venna¡¯s face was a mix of surprise and uncertainty as she saw Titus.  Venna stammered. ¡°Oh, hey boss. Did you want to use the range?


    ¡°Oh no. I just needed to clear my head so I figured I would shoot a bit.¡±


    Venna nodded in agreement, ¡°Yeah I guess I¡¯m here for the same reason. I just couldn¡¯t focus on my book anymore¡­ for some reason¡­¡± Venna sighed then looked back up at Titus. ¡°We can clear our minds together. Want to share the range boss?¡±


    Titus threw a guarded smile up with his hands. ¡°No, no, no¡­ I wouldn¡¯t want to intrude.¡± He turned to leave when Venna halted him with her words.


    ¡°What if I challenged you to a shoot-off?¡±


    Titus peered back at her seeing the challenge in her eyes and the smirk on her mouth. Titus breathed out a sigh of resignation.  ¡°You sure you want to go through the pain of losing?¡±


    ¡°Oh you¡¯re going to talk a big game.¡± Venna retorted.  ¡°You think that you can snipe better than me?¡±


    ¡°Guaranteed.¡± Titus ribbed. ¡°Hand me a rifle. What are the rules going to be?¡±


    ¡­


    Hours later, Titus walked to the communications center and found Benjamin standing up from a console.  Benjamin looked up and gave Titus a weird look. ¡°What¡¯s with the face?¡±


    ¡°What face?¡±


    ¡°Well its not a smile exactly. Hmm¡­ I can¡¯t quite place it.¡±  Benjamin squinted like he was trying to examine something microscopic and then shot his eyes wide open. ¡°Ah! That¡¯s what it is!¡±


    After that exclamation there was a pause. ¡°Benjamin¡­ what is with my face?¡± Titus mechanically filled the empty space.


    ¡°It¡¯s remarkable¡­ there is no scowl¡­ Oh, there it is!¡± Benjamin guffawed.  Before Titus could say a word Benjamin shot forward a question. ¡°What has put you in such a glorious mood?¡±  With his question finished Benjamin placed his elbows on the table before him and rested his head in a picturesque pose atop his clasped hands.  He made sure to bat his eyes forcefully.


    ¡°The lack of a so called scowl is the face of victory.  Venna challenged me to a shoot-off and you are looking at the victor.¡±


    ¡°Oh is that right?¡± Benjamin eyed Titus from under his eyebrows.


    "Let¡¯s move on to the reason I stopped by. Any luck reaching your contact?" Titus asked, changing the subject.  Even as the words were out of his mouth, he internally smiled at the realization that the contest against Venna had so thoroughly distracted him from his thoughts that even Benjamin had noticed.


    "Believe it or not, Yes!" Benjamin grinned.  "Not only was he able to give us the station where the ship is, but he also gave us its dock number."


    "Perfect!" Titus exclaimed.  "Anything else?"


    "There was some bad news.  He said that when he talked to the dock manager of the station the man told him that the ship has sat there over a week without any activity.  Also the dock permit is going to expire in the next¡­"  Benjamin looked over to the console''s clock.  "¡­ eight hours. This means that either the men will come back to pay for more dock time, retrieve the ship, or they abandoned it and it will be towed and scrapped by the dock master. In any of these cases¡­"


    "We have almost no time to act." Titus finished.


    Benjamin nodded his assent.


    Titus immediately reached up to his ear and tapped his lobe.  "Venna, rapid redeploy.  We have less than eight hours.  Prep a stealth ship with the standard heavy combat loadout.  Benjamin and I will join you in five mikes after we have briefed the counsel."


    "Roger sir.  Any support from other teams?"


    "Negative.  All are too far away. I will brief the plan on the ship."


    There was a slight pause.  "Roger sir."

 The Shipyard

    Four hours later, Venna sat before the ship''s monitor observing Benjamin and Titus floating through space; each in their own Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU).  The thrusters on their EMUs pulsed, bringing each of them into view of the space station.  "Looks like there are about two dozen small ships docked to the station.  The merc ship is definitely still there.  No discernable heat signatures consistent with body heat are coming from within or around the ship."  Venna''s voice broke over the squad comms.  "I''ll bring the ship into better position to observe the dock."


    "Roger.  Be aware of our vectors as you reposition.  As we continue to get closer I don''t want us to limit your ability to provide fire support by entering your field of fire.  The dock walkway is designated target reference point one.  The side entry hatch to the merc ship is TRP two.  If we take fire I want those target reference points obliterated." Titus listed off.


    "Roger.  In position." Venna breathed.


    "Engaging EMU max thrust now." Benjamin barked.


    Titus and Benjamin soundlessly zipped through the blackness.  The only clue to their speed was the size of the station growing in comparison to the two men as they neared it.  In a matter of seconds, the monitor before Venna showed the two men reach the metal support structure underneath the docks.  Benjamin flowed through the beams and made his way directly toward the merc ship.  Titus maneuvered at a forty five degree angle off of Benjamin''s trajectory, his weapon up in his shoulder.  Venna adjusted a few settings in the ship and activated the thermal sensor to notify her of any changes.  Venna leaned closer to the monitor to scrutinize the dock surrounding their objective.  Something seemed off.  But no matter how much she looked she could not find anything.


    "All clear from here still." Venna reported.


    "Good. I''m headed in.  I''ll get what information I can from the ship.  Titus you watch my back now."  Benjamin''s voice had its usual casual flippant tone mixed with a tension that belied the reality of the mission.


    Venna knew that missions could be tough under normal conditions, but space added another dimension that often proved to be unpredictable and fatal.  She continued to scan the docks for any clue of danger.  Something still tugged at the back of her mind.  What was wrong?  There was absolutely nothing happening on the docks.  No movement apart from Benjamin and Titus.  No heat signatures apart from them.  Then it hit her.  Every other section of dock on the entire station was filled with movement.  Dock droids were flitting back and forth all throughout the station.  There were also a small number of heat signatures in most other sections of the station and docks.  The section with Benjamin, Titus, and the merc ship though, was still and dark.  Just as these details finally percolated through Venna''s mind, Benjamin entered the ship and was lost from view.  Even his heat signature was completely hidden from scanners.  Alarm raced through Venna as she realized that anyone could be shielded and hiding from her thermal scanner.  Venna launched her hand to the ships communications panel and began to broadcast a warning to Titus and Benjamin when the ship abruptly shuddered.


    "Taking fire from my rear flank.  Scanners show nothing, but weapons energy signature suggests a ship fired on me." Venna shouted over the comms before she was forced to burn her starboard engines, launching her ship to one side.  Once moving, she hit the reverse thrusters and immediately flipped one hundred and eighty degrees with her cockpit facing the oncoming fire.  Venna pulled the trigger on her stick and released a salvo of 40mm rounds.  The hull vibrated with each burst.  "I see you now." Mumbled Venna to herself.


    At that moment, the enemy ship flipped 180 degrees and began a fast burn to disengage from Venna.  Venna paused,  looked to her scanner, and realized that all comms and readings were being blocked.  She punched it, giving the engine a full burn to catch up to the fleeing ship.  The best way for her to support Benjamin and Titus was to hunt down the ship and end its interference.


    Venna maneuvered right behind the fleeing enemy ship.  It maintained a perfectly straight trajectory which struck Venna as odd.  A fleeing ship would be using secondary and tertiary engines to subtly adjust its trajectory in order to make it a difficult target.  As it was, Venna could line up an easy kill.  "This rookie pilot has no clue does he." Thought Venna.  Venna closed her hand around the stick and flipped the switch to arm the missiles.  She leaned closer to the view screen in concentration as her finger slipped over the trigger.


    Just as she pulled the trigger a loud crackling pulse ripped through the ship shorting out every system with loud pops and cracks.  Even her ear com shocked with  the pulse.  The ship sunk into total darkness and continued to drift lifeless on its previous heading.  In the blackness, all Venna could see was the enemy ship in front of her already flipped back around heading toward her.


    Venna floated in the lifeless ship toward the rear compartment.  She grabbed a hair tie off her wrist to secure her hair that was continually obstructing her field of view.  She approached the power control system and opened the panel.  There was no power in the ship due to the EMP pulse she had been hit with.  There was a power reset control on the panel, but the system would take at least five minutes to reboot.  Just as she flipped the reset switch, a bright light shone through the cockpit window.  The enemy ship had already closed the distance and was preparing to dock.  Venna looked at the power system reboot.  It was not going to make enough progress to make the ship functional again prior to the enemy forcing their way into her ship.  Venna looked at the screen and saw what systems were now receiving power.  The EMU docking station was back up and the remaining suit was functional.  Venna took one last look at the screen, typed in a code, ripped out the navigational drive, then turned and launched herself across the rear compartment towards the EMU.  The airlock door made a shrill grating sound as the enemy ship latched itself onto the hull and positioned itself over the entry hatch.  Venna smoothly slid into the suit and began its power up procedures.  Sounds began to emanate from the airlock.  There was a loud wrenching and the airlock door moved a fraction of an inch.  Venna just needed to buy time for the ship to power back up.  She took one last look at the slowly moving door and then sealed her helmet.  She moved to the secondary emergency hatch and began to rotate its locking mechanism.  With a final spin, the hatch came loose and she slid the inner hatch open.  Venna floated down through the hatch into the small airlock and began opening the final hatch. As the final hatch lock disengaged, the door swung open into space with a hiss and the pressure of the ship began to steadily evacuate through the opening. Venna allowed the stream of air to gently carry her through the door.  Once clear of the ship, she closed the hatch back up.


    The void surrounded her as she clung to the outer hull of her lifeless ship.  There had always been something suffocating and claustrophobic about space to her.  For all its vastness, death lurked just outside.  She turned to see if she could catch a glimpse of the shipyard but she was too far away to even make out its dark form.  ¡°Good luck boys. I hope my warning got through.¡±


    With a sigh and a grunt she twisted herself around and beheld her attacker.  The enemy attack craft attached to her ship like a leach was sleek and new.  It was tech she had never seen before and larger than she would have guessed from her scans.  Clearly it utilized technology to minimize its signature. Venna gently pushed off and glided through the space between her ship¡¯s hatch and the underside of the attack craft.  She had a slight moment of panic when she realized her push was going to send her just out of reach of the hull of the other ship and into the black abyss.  But then she calmed herself and used the EMU to course correct.  Back on the correct trajectory, Venna reached with her hand and grasped the underside of the attack craft¡¯s hull.   Looking up, she contemplated the docking tether that her attackers had used to breach her airlock and enter into her ship.   If she could find a way to cause a manual malfunction that would detach the seal, they would have to come out and fix the issue before leaving. That would be her way onto their functioning ship.


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    ¡­


    "Good. I''m headed in.  I''ll get what information I can from the ship.  Titus you watch my back now."  Benjamin''s voice had its usual casual flippant tone mixed with a tension that belied the reality of the mission.


    Titus floated forward with his weapon ready as Benjamin moved into the docked ship.  Suddenly there was static and crackling on the comms and a few garbled words came through.  It sounded like they had come from Venna.  Something was wrong.  Titus tried to contact Benjamin or Venna but there was only silence.  Suddenly he noticed dots appearing on the metal docking arms around him. They were appearing around him in a pattern and magnetizing to the metal surface.  They were making a circular pattern to surround him.  The final one landed in place and then each of the small metal disks began to shimmer as if emitting a pulse.  Titus''s EMU went dark.  He clicked the thrust, but nothing happened.  The disks were no longer shimmering and they were also no longer attached to the metal docking arm.  Titus reasoned that the pulse they had emitted had also effected them.  His previous momentum carried him around to see four individuals in their own suits floating toward him.  Unlike Titus, these individuals had power.  Titus raised his weapon and pulled the trigger.  Nothing happened.  The special systems that had been designed to facilitate the firing of his weapon as well as its cooling had been incapacitated as well.  The figures continued to get closer.  There was no way to gauge their distance in the blackness of space.  Titus could only hear his breathing.  Soon the visor began to fog.  The suit had been completely shut down.  Even the air filtration and life support had failed.


    Titus closed his eyes and focused.  He knew that there would be just enough air in his suit to keep him alive, but he didn¡¯t know if there was enough to keep him conscious before the men arrived.  Titus came to the conclusion that the figures approaching him wanted him alive.  He thought through his options and began to slow his heart rate and his breathing.  "In. Out. In. Out." Titus methodically chanted to himself. The only disturbance to his breathing was a bright light that brought his eyes open. His position had rotated away from the approaching figures and out toward open space.  It occurred to him that something, probably a ship, had exploded. He hoped that Venna was alright.  He knew now that it had been a mistake to come without reinforcements.  He swore to himself.  He had not learned and this mistake was going to cost him and his team their lives.  Titus stopped himself realizing that he was no longer slowing his breathing.  ¡°In. Out. In. Out.¡± He resumed his chant.


    After an unknown amount of time he felt hands grasp onto his suit from the sides.  Titus reasoned that two of the four were on either side of him holding onto the EMU frame and using their jets to navigate him back to where they wanted him.  Titus took one last breath then shouted "Now".


    He used his left arm to knock one individual away and latch onto the other.  With his right hand he grabbed his holmium laser knife and plunged it into the fuel cell of the remaining person''s jet pack.  His grip tightened on the individual as the cell burst and they accelerated dramatically in an unknown direction.  Titus then used the knife to dispatch the flailing individual by simply slicing through the suit and exposing the person to space.  The Fuel cell continued to drain at an explosive pace.  Titus rocketed away from the other three figures.  All three were recovering from the shock of the attack and the blast from the power cell.  One quickly reached over to another and placed an adhesive strip over a tear in the suit caused by the explosive back blast of the power cell bursting.  Titus had rocketed away so quickly that he was quickly becoming indiscernible from the blackness of space.  The three individuals stayed in position and began pointing in the direction Titus had launched.  Soon, a ship appeared from the direction of the station and approached the three individuals.


    Titus was still blind to the outside world because of the fog on his visor.  He released the limp figure he had been holding onto, as the power cell was no longer providing any thrust.  The air in the suit was becoming stagnant and thick.  Titus began to process the series of events when his head began pounding.  He tried blinking the pain away but it wouldn¡¯t subside.  A nail was being driven between his eyes and out the back of this skull near his spine.  A sudden feeling of dizziness engulfed him and smothered the headache.  Titus'' mind shocked alert with a moment of clarity.  He was dying by carbon dioxide poisoning.  Every one of his breaths was slowly killing him.  His heartbeat pounded in his chest trying desperately to escape his body.  As he began slipping into darkness he felt two sets of arms grab him.


    ¡­


    "Good. I''m headed in.  I''ll get what information I can from the ship.  Titus you watch my back now."  Benjamin''s voice had its usual casual flippant tone mixed with a tension that belied the reality of the mission.


    Benjamin moved into the entryway of the ship.  So far everything was going according to plan.  He reasoned that Venna was still in her planned position providing overwatch and Titus was close by protecting his six.  As he rounded the corner of the ship¡¯s main corridor, he entered the bridge.  Benjamin took in the command console and reached out to the communications display.


    ¡°All units, initiate Operation Enrapture.¡±  Benjamin pondered to himself if naming the operation Enrapture was too dramatic or over the top.  He shrugged to himself.  He had to enjoy some creative moments now and again, an indulgence if you will.  His ruminations were interrupted by static breaking the silence around him.


    A voice came from the comm station. ¡°Sir, this is Raptor 1. We have disabled the ship and are making our approach.  We will breach her airlock in five mikes.¡±


    Benjamin licked his lips and grinned.  ¡°Roger Raptor 1. Let me know when Venna is in your custody.¡±


    Another voice broke in. ¡°Sir, this is Raptor 2,  The target¡¯s suit is disabled and we are approaching now.  It appears his weapon is offline and we will have him in ten mikes."


    ¡°Not so capable now are we Titus.¡± Benjamin chuckled to himself.  Looking up he keyed the comms and replied, ¡°Roger Raptor 2. Let me know when he is secured and aboard the ship.¡±


    With that final dispatch, Benjamin could feel his tension ebb.  He thought about all the planning and maneuvering it had taken to get Titus alone in a compromising situation without any trace to himself. Laughing to himself he pondered what he would have to say to the council.  Maybe he would talk about the tragedy of being the sole survivor of such a vicious attack.  Or focus on the angst he felt for not tempering Titus¡¯ zeal and talking him out of his decision to pursue these mercenaries with so little intel.  The council would eat that stuff up and he would look like the tragic lone survivor of a team whose leader had led them into destruction.


    Finally, with Titus in their hands they could see how much he knew. Titus had recognized the symbol embedded on the data stick from Salverton.  Had he come into possession of other data sticks? Benjamin rubbed his hands together relishing the opportunity he would get to force answers out of Titus.


    A frantic voice from the comms station jerked Benjamin from his reverie.  ¡°Sir, we breached the ship but she wasn¡¯t on board. Now¡­¡± The words became static for a second before continuing. ¡°I don¡¯t know how she.¡± More static interrupted. ¡°NO! NO! We can¡¯t get out! Hel__¡± Static burst from the speaker and then went silent.  Just at that moment, Benjamin saw a brief spherical burst of light from outside the bridge¡¯s viewing screen. After the light winked out, the hull of the ship he was in rattled with shrapnel.


    Benjamin swore to himself and keyed the comms.  ¡°Raptor 2, be advised, I believe that Raptor 1 has been taken out.  Unsure if the target survived.  Continue with the capture of your target.¡± Benjamin snatched a piece of metal debris floating through the bridge and hurled it against a wall.  Seething, he reasoned with himself that Venna was just a secondary target anyway.  The real prize was Titus.  Benjamin continued telling himself that for a few minutes until his breathing settled.


    ¡°Raptor 2, what is your status?¡± Benjamin snapped.  ¡°Respond immediately!¡±


    The silence was their only reply.  Benjamin¡¯s head snapped to the viewing screen as another pop of light ignited the darkness  and the familiar sound of debris pelted the hull around him.  He knew then that none of the plan had worked.  He calmed himself put on the face of Benjamin and began his movement from the ship.

 Deep Regret

    Preston Coretel bounced his hand on his knee and looked around the small windowless compartment he had called home for the past week.  Since escaping Earth, he had surreptitiously changed ships at the first space station to throw off anyone who was potentially following him.  He was now on a slightly larger freighter that took on passengers who were willing to trade comfort for lower cost.  Preston was accustomed to austere environments, and so the past week had not been overly difficult for him.  He seldom left his quarters, instead preferring to study and meditate in peace.


    He had hoped that somehow space would allow him to more easily cast aside his regret and shame.  That somehow the void that threatened his spirit would rise out of him and get lost in the depths of the emptiness surrounding the freighter.  The opposite seemed to be the case.  He remembered looking out a view port as the ship left dock and navigated to the proper entry-point.  Once in position, the edges of the ship shimmered as the EmDrive engaged and they entered a micro-space corridor.  Preston had hoped that as they blinked out of physical existence, his past would stay behind.  As he had feared, no physics defying travel through space would be able to assuage the sorrow he felt over his past: a past that continued to feel indelible.


    A knock on his door broke him from his reverie.  Preston stood, wondering if it was already meal time.  For the past few days a nice young woman had been knocking on his door to let him know that the mess hall was serving food.  Normally that was announced over the intercom in each room, but Preston had discovered early on that his intercom was less than functional.  The woman was one door down and had discovered that he was not getting the messages, so she had decided to help him out.  Usually Preston declined going to get food, preferring his solitude and the rations he had packed himself.


    When he opened the door he discovered that his assumption had been accurate.  It was his neighbor letting him know about meal time.  She stood smiling as he creaked the rusty door open.


    ¡°Its meal time. Interested in going today?¡±


    Preston looked back over his shoulder at his bunk that he had been sitting on.  It seemed that only dark paths were to be found if he remained in solitude tonight, so he looked back to the smiling hopeful face before him and slightly bowed his head in affirmation that he would indeed be interested in getting food.


    They navigated their way through the maze of corridors and bulkheads to the galley and the chow hall.  Smells wafted out from the galley.  Preston wrinkled his nose and briefly pondered reconsidering his choice to eat the provided food based on the pungent odor assaulting his nostrils.  He looked over at his neighbor as she pranced through the chow hall bulkhead and decided that regardless of the quality of the food, he could use some time not in solitude.  Her general exuberance was borderline offensive to him in his current state.  That fact alone confirmed, in his mind, that he needed to spend time out of solitude.  He had learned that depression was a downward spiral that often became self perpetuating.  He knew that in order to break out of his downward spiral he needed to do the complete opposite of what he wanted to do.  At that exact moment, his meal companion flashed him a smile and handed him a tray.  In his contemplations, he had not even realized they had made their way over to the food line.


    After handing him the tray, the woman broke the silence.  ¡°I¡¯m Nasha by the way.¡± She paused as if to add something but then seemed to think better of it and instead looked up at Preston expectantly.


    The silence between them became obvious when her slight smile twisted into a quizzical eyebrow raise.  Preston started when he realized that she had been expecting his name in return.  Preston reprimanded himself for not being in the moment.  He vowed to himself that he would stay in the present for the rest of the meal.  Having established that goal for himself, he broke the pregnant silence.  ¡°It is great to officially know your name Nasha.  I¡¯m Preston.¡±


    With his response, her smile returned larger than ever and the awkwardness that had descended over their exchange evaporated as quickly as it had appeared.  They made their way to a small table and sat down.  Preston picked up his spoon and watched the slop dribble off the end back into his bowl. When he peered up at Nasha, she was digging into her meal as if it was one of the best meals she had had in some time.  Preston chuckled to himself at how pitiful he was acting.  He was accustomed to austerity, but his bad mood had made him so much more sensitive and self absorbed.  Suppressing his self-indulgent self-pity, he began eating, though not with the same gusto Nasha exhibited.


    Half of her food already gone, Nasha paused and eyed Preston. ¡°What¡¯s your story Preston?¡±  She punctuated her question with another mouthful of the gruel.  When Preston was not immediately forthcoming, she gulped down her mouthful, ¡°I mean, you don¡¯t have to tell me if you don¡¯t want to.  I just love hearing people¡¯s stories and I figured a monk on a deep space voyage would have a real whopper.¡± She elucidated.


    Preston watched her eyes as she immediately went back to eating and saw no ulterior motive in those young innocent pools.  It seemed that she was incorrigibly good natured.  He cracked a slim smile and realized that he quite enjoyed her exuberant naivety.   After a slight moment to think what he was willing to reveal, he began. ¡°Well Nasha, I am not able to tell you everything, but I can tell you about why I am on this ship.¡±


    She pouted her bottom lip in mock protest of his reticence, but quickly smiled at him to continue.


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    Just as he opened his mouth, Nasha chirped in. ¡°What kind of monk are you? I have never met a monk and I have really only heard of them in old stories.¡±


    Preston nodded politely at her interruption and began to answer her when she cut in again. ¡°I mean, religion died out ages ago so you must be some sort of new thing?¡±


    Preston let out a barking laugh.  ¡°Nasha. If you want answers, you have to allow me the chance to answer your questions.¡±  He recognized her rudeness as the well-meaning inquisitive exuberance it actually was.  With his admonition, she smirked and drew her pinched fingers across her lips.


    Finally able to speak, Preston looked her in the eyes. ¡°I am definitely not something new.  You are partially correct in thinking that religion died out.  There was a serious effort to eradicate all of the faith systems.  The effort was only partially successful.  I belong to a faith some know as Christianity.  We call ourselves followers of The Way.


    Nasha nodded along and took a swig of water.


    ¡°You could say that I am on a bit of a pilgrimage that could have incredible implications for The Way.¡±


    ¡°Wow so are you like the head monk or something?¡± Nasha gazed expectantly.


    Preston let out another hearty bark of a laugh.  ¡°Definitely not.  If anything I rank lowest.  I was not always a monk.  My past is filled with¡­ well, not the most pleasant things.¡± With that, a pause hung over the conversation. ¡°No. I am probably the least worthy of all.¡± He finished.


    Nasha reached out to Preston and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.  ¡°Seems to me that despite having not the best past, you have goodness in you.¡±


    Preston placed his hand over hers on his shoulder and sent her a grim smile.  ¡°If only you knew, you wouldn''t be saying that.  But thank you anyway.¡±  With that, they each moved their hands and sat in a contemplative silence. Preston continued stir the gruel in circular motions with his spoon.


    After a minute, Nasha nodded toward Preston. ¡°I won¡¯t push you tonight, but I would love to hear more about your faith in The Way.  If it helps to take your mind off of sad things, I can tell you about why I am here.  It is pretty exciting.  It involves me getting recruited by a premier talent agency called Nexus to do modeling and acting for some big name companies.¡±


    Preston was still processing his dark thoughts about his past when his hair rose on his neck and his fingers involuntarily shuddered.  ¡°What name did you say?!¡±  The words came out as a shout.


    Nasha jolted in surprise.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry.  I didn''t mean to say something to offend you.¡±


    ¡°No. No. WHAT WAS THE NAME YOU JUST USED?¡± Preston¡¯s voice was now so quiet and forced that it somehow felt louder than his initial shout.  Preston looked at her with an intensity uncommon on his visage.  He prayed that he had heard incorrectly.  He hoped against all hope that she had misspoke.


    Looking disconcerted for the first time since Preston had met her, Nasha stumbled a response. ¡°Do you mea.. mean¡­ Ne¡­ Nexus?  The name Nexus?¡±  At this point her lip was trembling.


    Preston¡¯s wild eyes looked around the chow hall.  ¡°Listen to me Nasha.  Listen¡­ to¡­ me. You are in grave trouble.¡±


    Nasha¡¯s eyes still held concern but her mouth shifted to a shallow smirk.  ¡°Preston are you trying to toy with me?  What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Preston wrung his hands.  He couldn''t believe that this was happening.  Here in the middle of nowhere.  He had to think of a way to convince her of the trouble.  He knew he had to and that there was only one way.   ¡°Nasha.  I wish I was toying with you.  The danger you face is very real and worse than you could even imagine.¡±


    Her smirk vanished.  The concern in her eyes was now rimmed in pools of growing moisture.  ¡°Preston you are starting to scare me.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry but you should be scared.  You remember my not so pleasant past?¡±


    Seeming to have no ability to speak anymore, Nasha nodded.


    He continued. ¡°The reality is, it was a dark and evil past. I had a job called procurement.  I would be given information about a person the company wanted to procure.  Usually the info was a meeting place, audition, or residence.  I would plan out an operation to procure the person using that information.  My team and I would snatch the individual and deliver them to a holding and transfer facility.  They would be held there until transferred to a training facility.  Often as a reward for successful missions, we would be given first dibs on the the people we had procured¡­ the new ¡®merchandise¡¯. They became chattel for the oldest business know to man and often it was me and my men teaching them that horrific reality.¡±


    Preston paused to let his words sink in.  He knew he had to say the last part.  ¡°Nasha, I worked for Nexus.¡± He hated himself for all that he had done and somehow naming Nexus cemented his involvement in the horrors he had perpetrated in their name.


    The numb silence that permeated the space between Nasha and Preston shattered as she launched herself out of her chair, running her fingers through her hair.  ¡°But I have been recruited.  I have a really nice job and a really nice life waiting for me.¡±


    ¡°Nasha, don¡¯t you see?  It is all a lie to get you into position to be procured.  You are not being recruited or selected for something prestigious.  You are being set up to be in a vulnerable position so a team like mine can grab you.¡±


    Anger washed over Nasha¡¯s face as Preston¡¯s words ricocheted through her mind.  ¡°Get away!¡± She yelled at him.  ¡°You are sick! Coming up with something so perverted and trying to prey on me.  I will not miss my chance and I won¡¯t let you take advantage of me.¡±  After a slight pause to catch her breath she resumed her diatribe. ¡°I take back what I said.  There is no goodness in you.  You can skrotting go implode in vacuum for all I care.¡±  The entire chow hall fell silent as she backed away from the table where Preston sat.  His hands cupping his face as he shook his head.


    ¡°Nasha, look__¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you skrotting say my name.  Stay away from me.¡± With that last outburst, Nasha careened though the bulkhead and out of the chow hall.  The rest of the people in the room went back to eating their food as if nothing strange had happened in the slightest.


    Preston focused his eyes on the bulkhead where Nasha had disappeared. He knew she would hate him for what he said.  He hadn¡¯t counted on her not believing him.  Instead of hating him for the actions of his past she now hated him for what she perceived to be manipulative lies meant to deprive her of her big chance.


    Considering the unfortunate reaction Nasha had, he  knew this would make protecting her from her horrifying fate that much harder.  Sighing, Preston stood from his seat and trudged over to the exit.  He needed to process how to prevent another horror from happening even if Nasha didn¡¯t believe him.  Though this would just be a drop in the bucket, maybe he could find a sliver of atonement.

 No Harm Done?

    Venna leaned over the limp Titus as he laid on the ship''s cargo hatch floor.  Benjamin was throwing his EMU suit off with reckless abandon.  Venna, her suit still on, grasped at the clasps on Titus'' helmet.  There was a slight hiss as the seal broke and life giving air began to flow.  Venna stuck her fingers under Titus'' chin to feel his pulse and looked up at Benjamin. She dreaded the thought that she had been too late and he was dead. This couldn¡¯t happen to her again. Not again.


    Her finger finally reached the bare skin of Titus¡¯ neck. "I feel a pulse!"


    ¡°That¡¯s fortunate. Especially because the paperwork for all of this would have probably fallen to me. Now he can do it.¡± Benjamin scoffed.


    Venna¡¯s eyes spasmed toward Benjamin as he chuckled and fiddled with a strap on his under-suit. Her eyes quickly refocused on Titus and locked in on the rise and fall of his chest as he laid supine on the floor. His breathing was now coming in a steady rhythm.  Her gaze seemed to be studying Titus¡¯ every movement when Benjamin broke into her captivation with a question.


    ¡°What the schlack happened? I went into the ship and then lost all communication. Next thing I know, there were flashes outside and you pick me up in a different ship.¡±


    In a crouching position, Venna bounced on the balls of her feet with her hands before her mouth as if in supplication. Her eyes darted back up to Benjamin and her mouth opened to answer. ¡°They had tech I have never seen and used it for a perfect ambush.¡± Her hand jerked up to wipe away a bead of sweat that had been encroaching on her left eyelid. ¡°The synchronization of their attack was perfect. My only option once I was dead in the water was to abandon ship and find a new ride.¡± With this last statement, a rye smile touched the corners of Venna¡¯s lips and her hand gestured around as if displaying a grand prize to its recipient. ¡°After that, it was a simple matter of taking out the remaining ship.¡±


    Benjamin nodded along with her explanation and his face took on a serious look. As she finished, he steepled his fingers together and looked down upon Titus¡¯ slowly reviving body on the deck of the ship¡¯s side hatchway. ¡°Seems that we were lucky to have you watching over us. This really could have gotten out of hand quickly if you hadn''t kept your cool.¡± Benjamin looked around the interior of the ship and let out a low whistle. ¡°This definitely is advanced tech. Look how the thruster power system is routed through the hull past what I have to assume are some sort of cooling mechanisms.¡± As he said this, he scratched the side of his chin and rested his other hand on his hip.


    ¡°What happened to you once we lost comms?¡± Venna placed a hand on Titus¡¯ knee as her question wafted up to Benjamin.


    Benjamin refocused on Venna and threw up his hands. ¡°Well you know, I figured I would search the ship for their mini bar and maybe kick off my boots and relax.¡± A sardonic smile appeared on his face and then shifted back to neutral as Venna rolled her eyes. Holding out placating hands, Benjamin inserted, ¡°I just floated into the ship and began looking around when I noticed the comms go dead. I tried to look out some of the viewing ports on the ship but I really couldn''t see anything. I realized something was off and figured the best option was to search the ship for their comms system and try to commandeer that.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Venna looked at Benjamin with newfound respect. He often came off as someone who never took anything serious, but when in a fight, she realized he could be counted on to keep his head and make good tactical decisions. ¡°Did you find anything useful?¡± She queried.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Benjamin pulled at a strap dangling from the ceiling. ¡°It looks as if they had purged all records and gutted all of the hardware from the ship prior to abandoning it.¡±


    As Benjamin finished the last consonant, Titus groaned. ¡°Ouch-¡°


    ¡°Titus!¡± Venna shouted.


    He eased up one elbow after another to rest on the floor. Breathing heavily, he torqued to the side and vaulted up into a standing position that swayed even after his momentum stopped. Looking up at Venna and Benjamin, ¡°All alive I see. Everyone well?¡± This last question came out in a breathless whisper.


    Benjamin strolled toward the unsteady Titus. ¡°Now that you mention it, I think I tweaked my back dragging your useless self into the ship.¡±


    Venna smacked Benjamin¡¯s chest with the back of her hand as she walked past him. ¡°Don¡¯t even try that. You weren¡¯t even on the ship when-¡° and she really emphasized this next word ¡°-I pulled Titus into the ship I captured.¡±


    Venna tried to find the humor in the situation. She knew that Benjamin often used humor to deflect difficult or uncomfortable things, but still, the reality that they had gone into this mission without backup despite her protestations began to simmer in the back of her mind.


    As he struggled to gain a strong upright posture, Titus looked first at Venna and then rested his gaze on Benjamin. ¡°Seems like you are not well.¡± Leaving a slight pause, Titus gathered his breath. ¡°Your humor has gotten worse somehow.¡±


    Ruckus laughter burst out of Benjamin as he shot forward and gave Titus a slap on the back. Titus listed forward from the force of the slap and braced himself on the bulkhead in front of him. A faint smile hinted at the corners of his mouth.


    Venna¡¯s exasperation continued to grow. Had they no idea how close they had all come to death? They clearly didn''t grasp the level of frustration that was welling up in her over the entire mission living up to her worst fears. Venna felt the emotion of the entire ordeal finally begin to wash over her. She looked away from Titus and Benjamin and toward the cockpit of the ship.


    ¡°Venna, you all right?¡±


    Her head snapped back towards Titus. ¡°Yes sir. No issues for me.¡±


    Titus¡¯ gaze lingered on her for a second before looking around the ship.


    Venna and Benjamin soon caught Titus up on what had transpired for each of them once comms had gone silent.  Venna felt a wave of pride when Titus balked at her description of commandeering the attacking ship. Once they had each finished their updates, Titus began to explain what had happened to him. Venna¡¯s pride in her own actions soon melted into shock at what Titus had accomplished. His ability to turn an impossible situation into a victory was more than what she would have been able to do.


    At the conclusion of everyone¡¯s stories a silence descended over ship. Then suddenly Titus let out a short growl. ¡°So we frabbin go nothing!¡±


    His outburst startled Venna. How dare he lose his cool when she was the one who had every right to be angry. ¡°I guess you should have listened to my concerns.¡± The terse rebuke escaped her lips before she could reign it in.


    The heat shrouding Titus¡¯ countenance dissipated like the water being poured onto a fire. Deep sadness flickered across his face as he took in her words. ¡°Venna-¡°


    ¡°We should chart a course back to Juno.¡± Venna shouldered her way towards the cockpit and began to strap herself in.

 The Girl

    Randal Page walked the regular route back from the office to his small apartment. The crowded sidewalk seemed to flow past him instead of carrying him along. Randal¡¯s thoughts rotated through his mind in an ordered sequence. That is what he loved so much about his life. It reflected his mind; ordered, structured, and simple.


    Just as that last thought percolated through his mind, he collided into something. A flurry of motion erupted as Randal and another figure collapsed to the walkway. The crowd swelling around the two figures gave as much care as a river flowing around a boulder.


    Randal laid on his back watching the underside of chins coming in and out of view. He thought that it was peculiar how many different facial hair styles could exist and what each style said about each person. His ruminations were interrupted with the sound of a slight grunt and then a face peering down upon him. It was a woman. She had a slight look of concern on her face that melded into a broad smile.


    ¡°Hello down there! I believe we had a collision.¡± Her smile never faltered as Randal continued to lie on the ground. Suddenly she shot her legs out and laid down with her shoulder touching his. She let out a slight giggle as she repositioned herself next to him.


    Randal couldn¡¯t compute what was happening. Who was this woman and had she said that they had collided? The thought that she might try to hurt him crossed Randal¡¯s mind. His eye finally flicked away from the chins still flowing by and locked in on the woman now laying next to him.


    ¡°I know I just got off of the ground, but I really hadn''t taken the time to actually appreciate the view the first time. I can see why you like it. Some people have really funny looking chins.¡± She struggled to get out this last sentence as another petite giggle escaped between the words.


    The dispassionate river continued to flow around the rocks even as the woman¡¯s voice swirled around them. Randal finally turned his head to look the woman straight on. He first noticed how striking she was. She had pale skin with a touch of freckles on her nose. Her eyes shown bright green and her hair flowed in golden waves toward the ground. A brilliant and perfect smile stilled graced her face. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    With this last observation, her head swiveled to look Randal in the eyes.  ¡°Should we get up and decrease the probability of being stepped on?¡± She queried at Randal. ¡°We would also be in a better position to introduce ourselves to one another¡±.


    They both began to peel themselves off the ground and dust off their clothes. Randal¡¯s normal tidy appearance had now taken on a disheveled chaotic look. Randal decided that the woman who was now standing before him could fall into a trash compacter and still look stunning. He felt a slight twinge of anxiety begin to grow into a tempest as the woman finished dusting off her pant leg and look back up at him.


    She reached her hand out and announced, ¡°I¡¯m Sarah Leslie.¡±


    Randal tried to move his hand up to meet hers. He became distinctly aware of how difficult it could be to moves ones appendages with precision sometimes.  Finally their hands connected and he robotically shook her hand. ¡°Pleasure to meet you Sarah.¡± The words stuttered out of his mouth. ¡°My name is Randal Page.¡± He concluded his last name too soon so it came out more like ¡°pang¡±.


    Sarah cocked her head to the side with one eyebrow raised. ¡°Pang? Like pangs of guilt over running into me? Or pangs of love now that you have experienced my magnetic personality?¡± She let loose another tiny guffaw as her eyes sparkled mischievously.


    Randal shuffled his feet against the smooth pavement. Bowing slightly he stammered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I ran into you. I was lost in thought. And my last name is Page.¡±


    With the radiant smile still streaming across her face, Sarah inclined her head. ¡°Randal, I accept your apology. It is so nice to make your acquaintance.¡±


    Randal continued to stand there somewhat dumbfounded. What was she doing still standing here talking to him. He knew his own strengths well and he also knew that interacting with members of the opposite sex was not one of those strengths.


    She soon walked up to his slack jawed form and placed an arm around him. She slowy ushered him off to the side of the walkway and into the entry way of a cafi shop. ¡°Hmm it seems I broke him.¡± Her warm smile never waned as she gently patted his back.


    Randal finally seemed to get a hold of his faculties. ¡°Well¡­ Goodbye.¡± He turned back in the direction he had been previously going and started to take a step.


    ¡°Not so fast.¡± Sarah moved slightly to obstruct his path. ¡°I require all people who knock me over to-¡° she quickly looked up at the cafi shop sign glowing over their heads ¡°-take me out for cafi.¡±

 Survivors Guilt

    Venna left her apartment and walked to the training area. It was a few blocks down from the housing and apartments and it felt good to stretch her legs after the long trip from the shipyard to Juno station and then to the Lunar base. The ambush at the shipyard was still fresh on her mind. In the moment, she had done what she needed to do to stay alive and keep her team alive. Now that they were back at lunar base to be debriefed, she had too much time on her hands to think. Venna¡¯s mind began to spiral with thought of all the ways things had gone wrong and how things could have gone even worse. Shaking her head in an effort to shunt the thoughts from her mind, Venna decided to distract herself with different more mundane memories. No matter how hard she tried, her mind continued to replay the attack, floating through space outside her dead ship, pulling Titus¡¯s limp body into the airlock, and the apprehension of hoping he would be alive.


    Lost in thought, Venna missed the sound of footsteps tapping as four figures ran up behind her. As a hand grasped her shoulder, Venna shot out her leg and swept the figure to the ground. She crouched over the man with her knife inches from his terrified face. Realizing the man pinned to the ground was a trainee, Venna flicked her knife into the air caught the blade tip and gently slapped his smooth shaved cheek with the hilt. Thrusting out a hand, she helped him to his feet. Venna felt that she should probably apologize for the take-down, not to mention the knife, but she flicked the thought away and instead asked, ¡°What do you want trainees?¡± All four stood at the position of attention, apprehension evident on their faces. With slightly less force, Venna repeated, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am we are sorry to surprise you, we thought you heard us approaching.¡± The youngest looking man uttered as his comrade who had been taken down stared past Venna as though she were transparent. ¡°We are late to our training and tried to take a shortcut but got turned around and were hoping you could direct us.¡± He gulped with the last few words.


    Not in the mood to deal with people, but also not in the mood to take things out on trainees, Venna suppressed a growl. She thought back to her first experience on Lunar base as a trainee. It had taken her a few weeks to truly be familiarized with the layout. The place was an intricate and confusing web of roads and checkpoints with various nondescript buildings behind invisible laser grid fences. ¡°You¡¯re going to the training center?¡± All four studiously nodded. With a sigh of resignation and a slight smile Venna motioned with a finger for them to follow. ¡°Come with me. I¡¯m headed there myself.¡±


    Tentative smiles touched the corners of the four men¡¯s mouths. With continued hesitation, they bunched up behind Venna in a chaotic single file line, each jostling to be last. When Venna looked over her shoulder at the ridiculous antics of these four men trying to follow her, but none wanting to be directly behind her, she finally broke down laughing. The four men stared on in confusion as Venna doubled over laughing with tears streaming down her face. On the verge of the situation becoming truly awkward, Venna finally got control of herself. ¡°Whew! You guys don¡¯t even know how badly I needed that laugh!¡±


    As they continued to stare flatly at her, Venna corrected. ¡°Maybe you did. But the image of all of you struggling to keep up and yet stay farthest away from me was too much.¡± The mere mention of their antics looked to threaten a resurgence of her laughter and she smacked her fist into her leg to control herself. Looking at their continued confusion Venna cleared the air. ¡°Sorry about the take-down and being short with you all. Just have a bunch on my mind. I remember being a trainee and it can all feel overwhelming. The last thing you need is some crazy lady freaking you all out.¡± As they all began to visibly relax, Venna waved them over to walk next to her as they continued toward the training center.


    One of the men who had not spoken yet kicked a stone down the walkway. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I recognize your shoulder patch. You are a Demon Stalker.¡± After a slight silent pause he continued. ¡°Have you been to Juno Station? What¡¯s it like? How is it different from here?¡± His rapid fire questions flowed around a gently smirking Venna like water in a stream.


    Amused, Venna pondered his questions. The forward operating base, Juno Station, was the launching point for most of their operations. It was a much faster paced environment compared to Lunar base. Being a massive space station in the asteroid belt, Juno Station could hold ten teams and their support crews at one time and had a fleet of ships that ranged from simple fighters to tactical interstellar drop ships. Juno was where all the work took place. If a person was stationed there it meant that they had a mission coming up and they were going to see some action. Lunar base on the other hand, served the purpose of training, housing, and resting non-activated teams. All the intel was compiled here and any high value targets that were taken alive were incarcerated and interrogation here. Luna base¡¯s goal was to remain unnoticed by the rest of the galaxy. The thing that really helped this place to become invisible to the rest of the galaxy was that it resided on a continent on the Lunar surface that was owned by a private party and set aside for conservation. That meant that it was outside of the control of any government. The other thing that helped to keep this place a secret was that it seldom had ships coming or going.


    Finishing her thought¡¯s, Venna filled the long silent void with her answer. ¡°Yes I have been to Juno Station.¡± The three men seemed to lean in with every word she spoke. ¡°And we have arrived at the training center. You had better head in and reconnect with your training unit before you get into more trouble than you already will be.¡± All three men startled at seeing the entrance to the training center before them and with slight nods of respect in her direction, they all sprinted off into the building.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Standing and staring at the entrance to the training center, Venna¡¯s mind lingered on the entire interaction. She smirked at the eagerness of the trainees and was grateful of the diversion they had given her. Thinking about the diversion brought her mind back to the reason she had needed a diversion. With grim determination Venna made her way into the building and toward the virtual simulation chamber. With a practiced hand, she slipped into the Virtual Reality bodysuit, making minor adjustments to ensure the suit had her preferred fit.


    A year or so before, she had first trained in the simulator in order become a Demon Stalker. Her first reaction to the suit had been that it felt a little immodest and left very little to the imagination. Her fears had been unfounded though because the suit was intended to be worn under regular gear and clothing in the simulator. It wasn¡¯t until the simulator began, that the true purpose of the suit became very obvious. The suit reacted to stimuli from the virtual simulation. When you were shot or hit, the suit would deliver a corresponding and equivalent shock of pain. The suit would also prevent the use of limbs if they had been damaged. It could not kill a person, but Venna had learned very quickly the full range of the suit''s abilities.


    Now a veteran of the VR simulator, Venna stepped into the chamber. Everything was dark and only her silhouette was visible. Suddenly a tiny blue light began to expand and grow emanating from the far wall. In a matter of seconds a translucent blue figure stood in the center of the room.


    "Venna Solis. What simulation can I run for you today? Maybe something different for once?" The AI inquired.


    "No, I would like to run the same simulation."


    "You have run this simulation 220 times in a row. As a computer, that is an insignificantly small number of simulations. But, to my understanding, the human psyche is not equipped to handle or even process all that information or repetition. Perhaps another simulation."


    Looking straight at the blue figure in the center of the room, Venna''s eyes took on a sharp focus. "No. You will run mission 2242-A."


    "Very well. I swear, I will never truly understand humans." The AI''s image began to dissipate and was quickly replaced with an immersive terrain and location simulation.


    All of a sudden two other figures materialized beside Venna. Both had gear on and were armed with small machine guns.


    Venna stared at both men seeming to take in every detail. Almost as if looking for a flaw in the simulated images. Both men looked exactly as she had remembered them though. Tom was lean and muscular with a scruff of facial hair starting to appear from the many days in the field. Fred, standing next to him, was built like a bulldog. Stocky and ferocious. His face sported the same messy scruff from being in the field.


    "Venna, focus in." Tom, the taller of the two men barked.


    Venna had been so focused on the two men she hadn''t realized Tom, the team leader, had been talking.


    Tom continued, "Fred and I will move through that ravine to the objective. Venna you will be on overwatch on that ridge over there. Once we have reached the objective adjust your position to cover our exfiltration. Remember this is a quick and silent operation. They should not know we are coming and hopefully they won''t realize we were there until we are long gone."


    Venna and Fred nodded. Venna stood there gripping her rifle with such force her knuckles were white.


    Tom looked at the both of them, "Any final questions or comments?"


    "I won''t let you guys down this time¡­ I promise¡­" whispered Venna.


    "When have you ever let us down?"


    "Yeah!" concurred Fred.


    "Enough of this kind of talk. We have a mission to accomplish." With this Tom and Fred rushed into the entrance of the ravine.


    Venna looked up the hill to the ridge where she was to set up her perch. She located the spot on the ridge and began sprinting up the hill. Once in position she aimed at the area just in front of Tom and Fred. Almost immediately the head of an enemy soldier came into focus as he approached the edge of the ravine. Venna immediately pulled the trigger. He was the easy one. The rest were so much harder. All this ran through her head as the lifeless body plunged into the ravine just in front of Tom and Fred.


    Immediately Tom and Fred went on the defensive. "Venna can you see any more soldiers?"


    "No, but I know there are more. You should definitely get out of the ravine though. You are sitting ducks."


    Tom replied, "I don¡¯t think we should. We may still have the element of surprise if that was just a lone scout. If we come out of the ravine we run the risk of being spotted and ruining the mission."


    Every time¡­ They always chose to stay in the ravine. No matter what she said. Venna snapped out of thought and quickly aimed down her sights. Tom and Fred took a few steps forward when the ravine erupted into action. Men who had been hiding along the top of the ravine jumped up and began firing down. Venna began expertly executing every single enemy soldier systematically. Many dropped to the ground before they had even fired a shot. Tom and Fred began retreating as Venna covered them. Venna continued firing at a rapid pace. Every squeeze of the trigger ended a life. Still it was not enough. The numbers were too great¡­ they were always too great. Soon enough she was out of ammo in her sniper rifle. She tossed her weapon and snatched up her light machine gun and sprinted down the hill to where she had last seen Tom and Fred in the ravine. They will be alive¡­ they will be alive¡­ she rehearsed in her head. Venna rounded a tree to come face to face with an enemy soldier. Tom and Fred were lying lifeless before her in the ravine. And then, PAIN¡­ SHOOTING PAIN¡­

 Phantoms

    He tossed and turned as the nightmare engulfed him. His lips parted infrequently to mumble, "What have I done? What have I done?  Too much¡­ not enough¡­  Her screams. Oh her screams."


    The alarm sounded and his eyes snapped open. His breath came out in ragged gasps. The world swirled around him as consciousness brought him from ensnaring nightmares into the purgatory of crushing reality.  Nothing had changed.  It was always the same feeling.  Every morning. Most people said that it would pass, but the guilt was still there; choking out fond memories and even sadness.  Nothing had changed¡­ Nothing. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.