The Bubblegum Crisis Center > Extras > Fan Fiction
Instrumantatum Vocalle 2040 - Training Day
"Three, two, one, and change!" Ahead a light turned from red to green.
"Ha HA!" Natasha exclaimed as she accelerated full throttle away from the cross walk. She scrunched down low on her bike to reduce drag and began her sequence. Like a video game demo for a motorcycle game her form and execution was flawless. She weaved in and out of traffic, blazing thru intersection after intersection, between cars and always with a green light. It had taken her weeks to plan this route, and twenty more like it. She found that during certain parts of the day the lights along a particular route would turn green in sequence. The trick was knowing which way to turn, and at what speed you had to go to hit every green light. With ten waypoints she found that she could also throw off even the most determined tail. However since the Genom goon squad seemed content with using a car she needn't use any more than four or five on any given day, although she would do the full ten, after all, one had to keep sharp.
She knew that they had other means to track her, cameras, and aerial surveillance just to name a few. The aerodynes and blimps she could avoid; it was the camera's she worried about and for that she needed Linna's help. She'd already gotten to know the others, Nene aside, a few weeks ago when she'd covered for Linna. She also knew that Wednesday was one of her training days, that and Monday and Friday. She'd made her even though they worked out together every Tuesday and Thursday. It was a good habit, she'd said, to be in. After hiding her bike a few blocks back in an alley she took the back way.
The back way consisted of walking twenty feet down the ally from where she stashed her ride to a grate. This she would open and close behind her. Turning on her flashlight she would walk exactly ¼ of a mile and hang a left. Then she would walk another hundred feet to an intersection. Passing through it she would take the second service tunnel to the left and follow that until it dead-ended at a door. Punching in a pre quake pass code, one that had taken her better than forty hours of work to find, she would open the door and climb up a ladder. After using a dentists mirror to make sure nobody was looking, she would swing the hatch open into the underground parking lot that connected to the Silky Doll building. After walking a good three hundred feet, directly underneath the bustling intersection above her she would take the stairs up to the loading area and press the call button on the service entrance next to the loading bay doors. As she did this she could imagine Henderson saying 'who the devil is that at this hour?'
A few seconds later the call box squawked to life.
"Yes, Who is it?"
"Special delivery." She replied, almost laughing aloud.
There was a pause and she could almost hear the voices of two Monty Frenchman saying, 'What does he want? I don't know? Get rid of him.'
"Who is it for?"
"An L. Yamazaki."
"I'm sorry, but we don't have anyone by that name employed here."
Okay she thought, I can break character now, these guys obviously hadn't thought to put a camera on the door and had no voice recognition software at all. Either that or he was playing the role of the ignorant receptionist to the hilt. Either way, the longer she stayed outside the better chance there was she'd be seen.
"Of course you do, brown hair, my height, makes you laugh. Kinda on the cute side."
"Ahem, I see."
After a few seconds the call box came back to life as the door slid open, two feet.
"Slide the package under the door."
'Oh hell no. They did not just say that' she thought as she took a few steps back and studied the opening. 'Well, they did say slide the package under the door, yeah, I think I can make it.' She walked over to the door and stood at attention from the waist down. Leaning down she put her hands thumbs out and took hold of the door. Tucking her head forward at the same time she stood up on her tiptoes she slid her feet forward and let her momentum and mass carry her underneath and up into a crouch in one fluid motion.
She committed the room to memory and found it empty, with two doors on either side. Aside from some boxes and a desk and filling cabinets the room was empty of furniture as well. Suddenly the lights went out. And she heard a door, wait, no, both doors opening and closing. She almost laughed. She hadn't expected this, to be hazed, and she figured it was Priss behind it all, and it didn't take a neurosurgeon to figure out that Sylia hadn't been the hardest one to convince either. So here she was with four to one odds without night vision. 'Oh and I'm sure they do, cheaters.' In the second it took the Knight Sabers to enter she had already sprung into action. Landing silently next to the box she waited and listened, than, her salvation, the footfalls, they fanned out and she could immediately pick out Linna and Nene. They were at either end of the room. Remembering that the defeat of enemy forces wasn't always the correct or even desirable solution she focused on the exit. Then she remembered whom she was up against and smiled.
Hopping up onto the box she was next to she pulled out her flashlight.
"Ah-ha; crouching Tasha, hidden Linna!" She said in a horrible Chinese accent.
She clicked on the light and flashed it to where she though Sylia or Priss was, she wasn't sure which one was on which side of the room. She got Sylia, who put her hands over her face, shielding her eyes. Nene was next to her and charged. Tasha swung the light into her face and she tripped. 'Jesus Christ! She needs more work than I thought.' Leaping forward she cleared the distance from the box to the desk, a good thing too, because no sooner had she jumped than Priss was grabbing the air where she'd been. Priss recovered quicker than she'd anticipated, 'must be all the testosterone' she joked. Rolling backwards off and then under the desk she narrowly avoided another grapple from Priss. Standing up she pushed the desk with her into Priss forcing her back. When Priss grabbed the desk, splintering the center, Tasha threw the flashlight at Linna who instinctively caught it as the precise lob bounced off her armour. Twisting around the desk in the opposite direction she saw that Priss had taken the bait and turned towards the light and movement. Reaching up she pressed the latch release for the power cell. She'd learned about that when she'd worn Linna's suit, this was part of the built in emergency system.
With a satisfying 'click' the latches sprung open and Priss went down on all fours.
Suddenly the lights came back on and she heard Nene trip again. Her eyes adjusted quickly enough and she surveyed the room. Nene was picking herself up off the floor, again; Sylia had her visor up rubbing her eyes. Priss was still on all fours, probably swearing like mad inside her suit and Linna had clicked off the flashlight and was opening the visor on her helmet, she hadn't moved once from her original spot. The look on her face was of total shock. Tasha gave her a look of disappointment and sighed shaking her head. Looking at Sylia and Nene she smiled wanly.
"You had the gain up to high, I blew your night-vision. Suck's huh?" Turning her gaze down at Priss she walked forward and knelt down next to her. She knocked on her helmet.
"Open up so I can see your eyes."
"Fuck you!" Came the muffled reply.
"No. Now open you visor or I'll do it for you." Her voice was laced in venom.
Priss turned her head and tried to lift her arm but could not.
"Here, let me help you, there you go." She said in a truly motherly fashion, which only served to infuriate Priss more.
Tasha hefted her up so she was kneeling and opened her visor, her arms hung by her sides, unable to move. Kneeling down in front of her Tasha glared at her as she crouched, bounced lazily on her haunches.
"You're the one aren't you?"
"The one what?" Priss bit back.
"The one that's going to get herself killed."
The room, if it wasn't silent enough went still. Priss narrowed her eyes and Tasha could see Nene take a step forward her hands pleading together with her eyes. A quick gaze halted her in her tracks, a similar one kept Sylia static.
"You're lucky it was just me Priscilla. If you'd tried this with any of my other officers you'd be dead by now. Which brings me to my point. If you ever endanger my life or the lives of my officers, in fact lets lump the whole population on Earth while we're at it, I will make you're life a living hell."
Priss would have swung at her if she could have, instead she snorted.
"Yeah right, threats from you, what are you going to do arrest me? Kill me?"
"Oh, you think I'm joking? You know what I am? Do you know my position? I am Director of Intelligence and commander of the only capable unit in the ADP. Don't think for a second that I won't bury myself up to my neck in your ass! You, your band, your trailer, everyone you know; it doesn't matter, you screw up just once and I will fucking destroy you!"
She walked around behind her after she'd let her statement sink in and surveyed the room. She really didn't care what the others thought but Linna, she had a terrified look on her face. 'Well', she thought 'now she knows I can be an evil bitch when push comes to shove.' It wasn't like she pretended to be otherwise.
"You know. Your reputation far exceeds your ability." She said as she popped Priss's power core back into place.
"You Bitch!" She hollered, rising to her feet and twisting around for an attack. Tasha sidestepped and withdrew her 'Gong'. When Priss recoiled to spring she looked up, and saw and felt the Gongs barrel against her helmet. It was aimed right between her eyes.
"Did you or DID YOU NOT; hear a word I said?" Tasha bellowed.
She swore and lowered her arms and stood.
"Did you really think I was kidding? Or did you underestimate me? AGAIN!"
Priss swallowed and stood, the whole time the barrel remained flush with her helmet.
"Do we understand one another?"
Priss glared at her and Tasha returned it. Finally Priss muttered something under her breath and turned her eyes and head away. That was the only 'yes' she was going to give so Tasha nodded and holstered her weapon. Tasha turned to Sylia.
"Nice welcome. I kinda get the feeling you don't want me around." The sarcasm practically oozed from her statement. She decided to keep playing the cast-iron-bitch this time.
"You." She pointed at Sylia and waggled her finger. She looked like she was about to say something and shook her head and blew out noisily in frustration.
"Look I don't know what you were trying to pull, so, I'm going to just assume that this is some round about way of asking me to assess your ability; otherwise, I'm going to be real FUCKING pissed off!"
Nene jumped at the loud part at the end and Linna behind her gasped. No one else said a word.
"Okay. Good. Gee, where do I begin?" Tasha pirouetted and took in the room. Nigel and Henderson had walked in and she waved hello.
"Glad you could join us, oh, and thanks for the side show."
"Now see here..." Sylia started when Tasha turned and took a step towards her.
"Thanks; for volunteering." She bit, cutting her off.
"You; you're over-confident, under-trained, and what's worse is that you won't admit it." "You..." She pointed to Nene.
"...You need to do your job better. Support never takes point. She should take point..." She turned around and pointed at Priss.
"...Except that you're predictable, inexperienced and up till this point, lucky as hell!"
"And that leaves you." She pointed to Linna.
"You; you. You really messed up."
"But, but. But I didn't attack." Linna protested.
"And why not?"
Every word was a step closer until she was eye to eye.
"Because..." Linna couldn't finish.
Tasha sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose.
"Because you knew me. Right?"
"Uh huh."
"When you're in a team, you back the team up, even if you don't know what's going on. You act first and figure it out later, because if you hesitate for real, people get dead. And if the operation doesn't sit well with you..." She turned to Sylia, who had by now taken her helmet off. "...You tell your team leader and sit it out, with no guilt and no shame." She turned around and looked at everyone.
"Or at least that's what I tell my people."
The room was silent and at this point motionless. Nothing stirred and the only sound was the low chatter from the A/C unit and her breathing. Linna took a step forward and held out her flashlight. Tasha snatched it and stuffed it into a pocket in one motion and half smiled to her.
"Thanks."
"I'm sorry." Linna whispered. "Even if they aren't."
Tasha nodded and gave her a warm smile. No one else saw, or would see. This was hers for Linna alone. Regaining her cross expression she walked over to the chair that had been next to the desk and picked it up. Flipping it around she plopped down on it backwards and put her arms over the back. Priss started to walk past her on her way out.
"Where do you think you're goin?"
Priss stopped and whirled around.
"Excuse me?" The hatred in her voice was evident.
"You're the team leader right?"
"Yeah, so."
"Then I'm sure you're aware that your team is lacking in the fundamentals."
"Fundamentals? What are you talking about?"
Tasha stood up and waved at Nene and Linna.
"Teamwork. You've got no teamwork."
"Oh please. Now I bet your gonna tell me how to do my job." Her voice was even and condescending. Behind her she saw Linna wince, apparently she'd come under this kind of fire as well.
"How old are you?" Tasha retorted putting her arms akimbo.
"What does that have to do with anything?" She replied smugly.
"Don't change the subject, answer the question."
"Okay, fine, nineteen."
"Nineteen." Tasha breathed out, amazed.
"And you?" She turned to Sylia.
"Twenty four."
"Nineteen and twenty four. Humph! Good year; bad stock."
Henderson, across the room stifled a laugh, and it seemed that even Nigel was amused as a lot of the apprehension in his demeanour melted away. Priss apparently didn't get the joke but Sylia did and she flushed red angrily. Priss knew what that meant, they'd been insulted, and they'd walked right into it.
"Do you even care about your team-mates?" Natasha turned towards Priss.
"Of course I do!" She snapped back.
"Yeah. I know." Tasha said, her voice suddenly very soft and matter-of-fact.
The change in tone stunned everyone. Shaking her head she turned towards Sylia and brushed the hair from her face. She took a step forward.
"Look. I don't want step on anyone's toes and the last thing I want to do is break this, all this, up. But I have to say that I see a lot of potential, but it's being wasted." She paused, formulating what to say next.
"I took out four people in the most advanced power suits I've ever seen. And with what? A flashlight. Come on, tell me you don't see something wrong with this picture?"
"You said you had a package for Linna?"
Tasha sighed and frowned, disappointed.
"Yeah, I do." She turned around and made her way to Linna.
"I have a favour I need to ask, I'll talk to you about it later."
"Oh. Okay."
She leaned in and pulled Linna down so her mouth was by her ear.
"Look, I don't want to make you choose between them and I. I know how much you love this, and them; I understand that. But, if you want some pointers, you know, beyond what I'm already showing you, just ask, kay?"
Linna nodded and straightened back up.
Natasha looked back around at the gathered group and felt very out of place, vindicated, correct, but still out of place. After giving Linna a few awkward pats on the shoulder she made her way towards the door.
Nene took a step forward and pulled her helmet off.
"Tasha?"
"Yeah, what is it Sergeant?" She replied, using her ADP rank.
Nene tried to answer but found it very difficult. On the one hand she didn't want her to go, and on the other, she had no say so whatsoever. Tasha understood and smiled.
"I don't command here."
Behind her Priss put her hands on her hips as if to say 'you're goddamn right you don't'.
Linna noticed this and scowled but said nothing. However when Sylia got a smirk on her face she nearly exploded.
"Tasha wait!"
She turned her head and saw Linna taking off her helmet. Her face was red with frustration and anger. She walked up to Priss and pointed to Natasha.
"Apologize! You too!" She turned to Sylia.
Priss balked and Sylia narrowed her eyes.
"No way." Priss replied, in her even condescending way, than turned and walked out.
Sylia crossed her hands in front of her chest and looked away, silent. Linna stood in the center of the room on the verge of crying. Tears were flowing freely and she was shaking she was so angry. Natasha walked back to her and was surprised to notice that Mr. Henderson and Nigel were still there. Curious she guessed.
"Hey. Don't cry." She said softly. "None of this is your fault. Besides, did you actually think they'd say sorry?"
Linna sniffled and hung her head in despair.
"Yes."
Sylia's eyes opened and she took in a quick breath.
Meanwhile Tasha smiled as supportively as she could.
"Thanks for trying. And hey, look at it like this. I'm not the easiest person to get rid of, ask Genom."
Linna laughed slightly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"There you go. Look, just hang in there and don't give up. I know you can do it."
Suddenly Linna stopped tearing and held her had high again, wearing a brave smile and flushing as red as Nene's suit. Nigel turned and walked out; things were getting to sappy for his tastes.
"Look, I'll talk to you later all right?"
"All right."
Tasha turned and walked past Sylia with out so much as a glance and out the door, closing it politely behind her. Nene walked over to Linna and they both walked out leaving Mr. Henderson and Sylia standing alone. Mackie walked in and threw a wave to the girls as they left the room and said hello to Mr. Henderson.
"Hello there master Mackie."
"I saw what happened. Do you think you did the right thing?" He asked Sylia.
"What? Do you mean apologizing?"
"No, I meant the ambush."
"You; wouldn't understand!" She huffed, and walked out the opposite door.
"I think she made a big mistake." Mackie said, to no one in particular.
"So do I master Mackie. And I think Mistress Sylia knows that too."
Natasha walked back to her bike the way she'd came and found it still there, untouched. She checked it again to be sure. On her way home she realized that her own people were the only hope for the city and the future. Unless the Knight Sabers got a reality check and fast they would end up causing more harm than good. She'd pull Linna and Nene out before that happened, forcibly if need be. She cursed under her breath, this was a complication she didn't need right now. So far she'd survived four assassination attempts, the High Caliber had been bombed, and now this. They didn't know how lucky they were. Her 'Gong' wasn't loaded with baton rounds this time; it was loaded with HVAP, or hyper velocity armour piercing ammunition. One shot at the range she was at would have penetrated almost any armour, and if the first shot didn't the next three would have, leaving her eight more to play with. In any event she was glad it hadn't come to that, even though Priss necessitated the drawing of the weapon to claim the required humility.
Later that night, when she got home she drew a bath, a first in a long while. While the water ran she collected up a glass of iced tea and a pastrami and Swiss on rye. On her way past the couch she picked up her Palm Pilot. Later, after she'd finished her dinner she opened the file on the survey results on her Palm. She'd sent out a survey a month or so back, basically she wanted to know how the other agencies with missions similar to the ADP rated not only themselves but also others. It had taken Elise a few days to compile the results and by the look on her face when she delivered the finished report the ADP probably ranked pretty low. She scrolled down and sunk her head under water in embarrassment. Out of thirty such agencies, they ranked 27th. This despite the fact that they had been the first such unit created. They only outranked the Congo, Vietnam, and Cuba, in that order. At the top of the list were the Swiss, Sweden, South Korea, the United Kingdom, mainly because of Scotland Yard, and France if only for Interpol. The United States was tenth, mainly because they had no federal agency solely dedicated to boomer crime, instead that task had been added to the already overburdened DEA and FBI ATF taskforces.
Re-surfacing up to the bridge of her nose she looked at her Palm again, just in case she'd misread; she hadn't. Pushing her self up so she was sitting she scrolled over to see exactly where they were lacking. She blew out noisily when she saw it was most everything. Only two fields stuck out; education, and morale. It seemed that the ADP possessed some bright individuals; the average staff and support officer had the equivalent of two years collage and or trade school. This was on top of the formidable training they received at the Police academy. The rest was from the die-hard veterans who shared their experience. In comparison to the other agencies they fared above average, only 6th place, if scored individually. Morale however was non-existent. It had ceased to be. However Det. 3's actions over the last two months had increased some of that. She decided to get a better idea of what was really going on so she made a note to have Nene add a 'Suggestion Box' to the e-mail network. Not only that but one on the official ADP website, that would give her insight as to how the populace felt. It could also be used for clandestine communication in code. She smiled; she liked it when she was clever. Inspiration and imagination came hard for her, so she awarded herself when she came up with truly witty ideas. She'd already taken steps to increase readiness and had already drafted the next update to the training guidelines. Things were going to get painful for the troops real soon.
Her next order of business was what lay in the future. She knew something was brewing. But what she had no clue. One thing she was certain of was that Genom was at the center of it all, and that meant that Tokyo became the next potential hot spot, or worse, war zone. Although she wasn't a planner, she decided to put together the best darn contingency plans she could come up with into writing. She outlined three drafts, one for inter city resources only, the police, fire, EMT, and the JSDF. The second was for American and UN forces in the area. The third combined the two into a JTF, or Joint Task Force. Since most JTFs were named she picked JTF East. Over the next few weeks she would conjure as many ideas as she could, draw up a target list, installations to protect and or seize, sometimes both. If things got bad, and hovered near the worst possible scenario, war zone; she also made a note to add evacuation and housing for refugee's.
She bowed her head, to think, refugees in one of the worlds most prosperous countries. She'd seen her share of refugee camps, once as a resident and many times over in operations worldwide as a transient. She knew that they would be scared, angry, frustrated, and utterly powerless to do anything about it, they were at the mercy of others and that would leave them dejected, feeling abandoned and betrayed. She worked on the preliminary drafts until ten, having since finished her bath. She was in the kitchen sitting at the counter, a stack of papers and books neatly stacked nearby. Her phones and pager were lined up within arms length and a plate of snacks and a beer were on a plate next to her laptop. She was happily typing away when her non-secure rang. Her eyes still on the screen she reached over and stuffed it between her cheek and shoulder, the phone warbled as the secure device activated and synched with a similar device that she'd installed in Linna's phone.
"Hi Linna." She answered; she loved caller ID.
"Hi Tasha."
"You okay?"
"Yeah, still a little disappointed though."
"Well, don't worry about it, they mean well, they just don't show it."
"Still. They shouldn't have done that. If it makes you feel any better Nene says she's real sorry."
"It does, and thanks."
"So, what're you doing?"
"Eh, nothing much, just putting some thoughts onto paper."
"What about?"
"You'd rather not know."
"That bad huh? Look, can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Eh heh, yeah, about that."
"Valerie?" Natasha replied without missing a beat.
"Yes."
"What do you want to know?" Tasha asked, still typing.
"Can you stop typing first?"
"Wha...? Oh, sure."
"I know you can talk and type at the same time, but, well, this is important." Linna explained.
"I guess that means I can't turn the TV on either."
"Tasha, please."
"Sorry, go ahead, I'm listening." She stood and walked to the couch and sat down.
"Thanks. I know it's none of my business, and I have a feeling I'd rather not find out, but, god this is hard.'
"Take your time." Tasha replied.
"Damn you're cold. You're going to make me ask aren't you?"
"You're goddamn right I am. If you want to know that bad than you have to ask, I'm sorry, but I'm not meeting you half way on this." Tasha's voice was even and without malice; mentoring. She could hear Linna sigh on the other end.
"I guess I understand."
"So, how'd it go after I left?" Tasha asked, changing the subject, if she was going to ask she would, if not, this at least gave her an out. She wasn't going to help her into trouble, but she had no problems helping her out if it.
"Not bad." Linna answered, taking the out. "No one really felt like training after that so me and Nene hung out and got a bite to eat. We thought about inviting you but figured it wouldn't have been the best idea. Especially after what happened."
"Good call." Tasha replied.
"Yeah, you seemed pretty steamed."
"Disappointed really. I just don't like the idea of someone like her in charge."
"Like her?"
"No command experience. It's people like her that get people like us killed. Think Vietnam."
"Ouch. Well what am I supposed to do? Frag her?"
"Nah, It'd take more than that to crack her ego."
Linna laughed.
"Well, I'll let you go, I just wanted to call and say sorry and thanks."
"In that case I forgive you and you're welcome."
"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Seeya then."
"Love ya!" Linna replied and hung up.
"I love you too." Tasha said and let her head flop back onto the couch.
A few days later, after work on Friday Linna stopped by the ADP building. She was granted access to the CIC and found Tasha absent. She looked around and saw Elise.
"Hi Elise."
"Oh hi Linna." Her tone was pleasant but she eyed her cautiously. Tony, her beau, held her in very low regard, not that she knew why, but he had to have his reasons.
"Say? Do you know where Natasha is?"
"Yup."
When Elise said nothing more Linna frowned. When Elise still refused to say anything and continued making notes on her clipboard Linna hung her head.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Elise retorted.
"Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you."
Elise lowered her clipboard and suddenly felt very bad.
"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It's just that, well, look; it's complicated. She's in the motor pool."
Linna smiled and nodded.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Elise replied, managing a halfway genuine smile. True she felt sorry for hurting her feelings but on the other hand it didn't hurt to play safe, and, as in her bosses case, sometimes it did.
True to her word Linna found Tasha in the motor pool. She was in her Army camouflage talking to a mechanic. As she walked over a few officers on break pointed and started to talk amongst themselves. Tasha noticed and tilted her neck to hear better than turned her head to see who the subject was. Seeing her she put two fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, getting the officers attention. She gave them a positively evil glare and made a quick cut-it-out motion by her neck. They quieted down and went back to work. As Linna made it the rest of the way she heard the tail end of the now continued conversation.
"...to put the ammo feed here. Off to the right."
"Rodger that, but about the cannon itself. If it's to far forward it'll put to much strain on the mid legs." The mechanic replied.
"Good point. Give me a few options and I'll look 'em over when I get back. Aside from that everything else looks good."
"Thank you ma'am." He saluted and left after she'd returned it.
Natasha turned and turned her around, back the way she came, walking next to her.
"Hey there, what's going on?" Tasha asked.
"Not much, you?"
"Just taking care of a few things before I head out."
Linna looked at her uniform and frowned. She knew that she had to go to Camp Zama but she didn't have to report until Saturday morning.
"But I thought you didn't have to be there until tomorrow."
"I'm getting a head start. There's some things I need to take care of and I'll need the extra time. I was going to take care of it last week but somebody I know got sick"
"Oh, yeah, right. By the way, thanks for all that." Linna smiled.
"Don't sweat it, I mean, what are friends for? Anyway, if I get finished early I'm sure Col. Davidson will let me go."
"Okay." She replied, her eyes full of hope.
"Um...I was going to leave in about twenty minutes, but, if you want we can have some dinner in the cafeteria."
"Great!" Linna replied happily.
Sitting together in the mess hall they were truly easy to spot; Tasha in her cammies and Linna in her Tiffany's dove egg blue office dress. Everyone else was in some form of police uniform. As they were about to start eating; a male officer that Linna had never met before sauntered up and pointed to Natasha's side arm.
"You know, it's against regulations to have a firearm in the mess hall."
"Yeah and there's no accessing chat rooms on duty either, but you don't see me bitching about it."
The male officer winked and smiled.
"Touché."
As he walked away a few officers nearby snickered.
"He doesn't do that does he?" Linna asked.
"Yeah, and he knows I can carry whatever I want wherever I want. It's just a little joke we have going."
"Oh, so, what are you going to be doing?"
"You know, stuff."
Linna snorted. She knew she couldn't talk about most of what she did.
"Duh. I meant other than that."
"Not much really. Probably have a few meetings, a briefing here and there. Although I think I'm going to ask if I can take a qualification course on the 'Forty-Two.'"
"Wazzat?"
"Army's new Battlemovers; got 'em back in '38."
"Sounds pretty fun."
"I sure hope so." She smiled.
Linna left a few minutes later, taking the bus to the Silky Doll building. Tasha had walked her out and had most likely left for Camp Zama shortly after.
Arriving at the Main Gate she had her identification checked by an alert MP and was waved in. Turning right onto 4th she made her way to the CP and parked her bike out front. Like a lot of military personnel in Japan she liked to use a motorcycle. It was easier to park and allowed you to bypass the majority of the traffic. That and it allowed her to lose unwanted followers. She doffed her beret as she walked inside and waved hello to the desk sergeant.
"Hey Mike, is the colonel in his office?"
"Just a second Ma'am."
He buzzed the office and got a reply a few seconds later. He told him that he had a visitor and was instructed to let her in. she opened the door to his office and was greeted halfway with a salute and a handshake.
"Good to see you Tasha. Although I wasn't expecting you until oh-seven hundred."
'I had something I wanted to do before then."
He motioned for her to have a seat and sat back behind his desk.
"Are you going to ask me for a favour again?"
She sat and smiled.
"I'd like to use the ASPS mainframe. I've some research I'd like to do."
"What on."
"I think something big is going to go down but I'm not sure what. I'm trying to put together a few plans just in case."
"Something big huh? Care to tell me or are you going to make me guess." He withdrew two shot glasses and a carafe of bourbon and poured. Tasha reached over and took the proffered drink and raised it in salute. He did the same and they both downed their shot.
"I'm not sure really. I'm low on specifics but it seems that when it happens a lot of other problems are going to look real small. The big thing is that I think that we're going to yanked out before we can drop."
"The ADP?"
"Yeah, Genom, either their CEO or some over anxious VP. They're likely to disband us. The problem is it'll happen when we're needed the most."
"Seems to be the case ninety-five percent of the time."
She nodded.
"So what do you hope to find?"
"Anything. Hopefully some clue as to what it is we can expect. We've got a lot of assets down south and throughout the middle-east, but no one's thought to look at home."
"You thinking terrorism?"
"I wish it was that small. But no." She paused and sighed. "I know this'll sound outlandish, but I think that Genom is getting too big. I have this awful suspicion that it's in the early stages of Balkanization."
Colonel Davidson's eyes widened in abject surprise, and he blew out noisily. Holy Shit!
"And you have proof of this?"
"Nothing concrete."
"What do you have?"
"A healthy dose of paranoia. That and the price on my head."
"Whoa, wait one minute. A price? Someone's put a hit out on you?"
"Not officially, but you've read my reports from the Pit. Add to that the crossing guard turned combat boomer and the sedan that tried to make road pizza out of me and it's clear that I've been marked for elimination. I'm not the only one; both Karl and Tony have had their fair share of tight spots too. And you already know about the High Caliber."
He grumbled and made a pyramid with his hands and closed his eyes in thought.
"I believe you. You're right, this goes beyond coincidence; and here I was hoping that the situation with Gen. MacGruder was some sort of age-old feud redeux."
"Very well put sir." Tasha offered with a smile. Davidson smiled back and poured another round.
"So, what do you have in mind?" He asked.
"So far I've come up with evacuation plans and pre-positioned cache sites. Again, all this is reactionary. I was hoping that I'd be able to dig up something that'd allow us to anticipate what's going to happen. And what I said about Genom Balkanizing, that's just the beginning."
"I was afraid of that."
"Believe me, I'll be the one most happy if it never happens. I just don't want to be unprepared, like we were back at the beginning of World War III. And IV."
He nodded his head.
"Okay, here's what I'll do. The time on the mainframe is yours. Come in whenever you like. Just keep me informed."
"I will sir." She pulled a disk from her breast pocket and handed it to him.
"This is what I have so far. I'm no planner but if you could get in touch with some the guys from the 9th I think that'd help out a lot."
He laughed and sat back putting his arms behind his head.
"You're serious aren't you?" She nodded. "Okay, how about this, I'll set up a meeting with you and one of their senior planners. It'll have to be the week after next though."
"Sir, that's more than I'd hoped for. Thank you."
"You're a good troop, you'll get your shot. Now then, it's my turn to frighten you." He sat forward, suddenly intense. Tasha's smile faded and she settled into her seat.
"The MPs turned away a few individuals from the gate a day ago. They didn't have valid ID and they were driving a black sedan. The MP on duty copied down the plates; now, I hope it's nothing but here." He handed piece of paper to her and she read it. "That's the scary part. They didn't get in and I pulled a few strings and had some more people put on the wire. Call it a readiness exercise. I just thought you should hear it from me. Now then, that joint Genom project you blew the whistle on came up relatively clean."
"Relatively?"
"Well, there were some discrepancies, but nothing that could have torpedoed the project. You know little stuff."
"Would I be able to get a copy of the findings?"
He reached into his desk and pulled out a brief and slid it across the desk.
"Thought you'd want a copy so I had them run off one more."
"Thanks."
"I just want you to know right now. This is big, the Army brass wants this really badly."
Tasha snorted.
"Yeah well did you tell them that the person where dealing with is more likely than not the person who'd been trying to put a bullet in my head?"
"No. And you know what they would have said if I had."
"Humph! I guess you can't be objective when you're being shot at huh?"
"Something along those lines."
"How're the kids?"
"Oh they're just fine, running the MPs ragged and getting into all sorts of mischief. They've taken to the Army Brat routine pretty well."
Tasha laughed and Col. Davidson stood.
"Well I'm sure you want to get to work so I'll let you go. Oh, one other thing; Merrill and I were wondering if you'd like to stop by for lunch tomorrow at the clubhouse. Bring the kids."
Tasha stood and nodded.
"I will. Um...I, well, you'll read it in the report but I wanted to ask you personally about one thing."
"Shoot."
"Kastner field."
"What about it?"
"I want to use it as an FSB for my airborne detachment."
"You mean you want that Russian hunk of junk traipsing in and out of here at odd hours of the day; for how long?"
"As long as it takes. Sir." The last part came out a sickeningly cute squeak.
"You don't ask for much do you?"
"Sorry sir; that's why I asked in person."
"Well I'll see what I can do, but I'm not promising anything."
"Thank you sir. Will twelve thirty be all right for tomorrow?"
"Twelve thirty will do just fine. Dismissed."
Tasha saluted and made her way to the Command Post. As she entered she could see the Lieutenant Colonel on the phone and he nodded when she walked in and waved her over. Hanging up he motioned to an empty terminal.
"Here you go Major. Just make sure you log out when you're done"
"Thank you sir, I will."
When she looked at her watch next it was four hours later and the room was empty and the lights off, all but the one by her station. She hadn't found a lot. But she'd found enough to give her a better picture as to how Genom really operated, and most importantly, where. She'd known Genom was large but she'd no idea how expansive they were. If Genom splintered, or worse yet collapsed the world may well be thrown into economic chaos. That was the worst-case scenario, and even a best-case scenario meant a lot of hard times for a lot of people, and hard time for others.
Right now as it stood Genom was stable, mainly because of the Chairman. He oversaw all large matters and brilliantly delegated the remaining tasks to his Executive Presidents and Vice Presidents. The problem was that his underlings were constantly bickering and vying for power. The only thing that kept them in line was the old man himself. His word was gospel and they feared him more than respected him. Should Quincy fall his next in line was none other than Brian Mason. Should that eel of a man become the CEO of Genom things would look bad indeed. However even if he, or anyone else tried to assume the helm the other Presidents and their ilk would immediately take sides, and if not they would split off on there own. Not all of them had the resources to remain self-sufficient. In fact if certain alliances weren't made early one, or maybe even by now most if not all separate divisions would crumble, especially the research and development offices. It would be like the fragmentation of the Soviet Union with the highly trained scientists selling their services for a pay check. Add to that all the high tech goodies that would be laying around being sold to the black market, or worse, to governments and organizations of questionable stature.
The only other way to stave off this catastrophic event would be if the Board of Directors were able to secure a successor that the others would accept or use enough of their influence to keep enough of the factions together long enough to recover. Both of those propositions looked bleak.
However, every cloud has a silver lining. While the absence of Quincy would cause chaos his continued existence maintained the calm. While he was in charge things would run more-or-less normal. Yet the different divisions would still be competing with each other and that could work to her benefit. Maybe, just maybe she could find a way to play one off the other, keeping them busy fighting each other while she could build her forces and infrastructure. And if the inevitable came maybe her efforts now might guide the split in the future. If Genom could use guile and disinformation so could she. The only problem was, was that they had decades of experience on her in that department.
It was a quarter past noon and the Japanese sun was out in all its glory. The cloudless day allowed some warmth despite the cold. Normally this area never saw snow but over the decades the weather had shifted and nowadays it wasn't uncommon for it to snow over the Tokyo area during the early winter months. Sitting at the reserved table she watched as a group of officers gathered to tee off.
"Hey Tasha?" Sonya spoke up. Sonya and Trish were sitting surprisingly well behaved next to her at the table.
"Yes sweetheart?"
"How's Tony?"
"Yeah, and Karl." That was Trish, the thirteen year old. Sonya was fifteen.
"They're okay, they miss you."
Trish poked at her glass and sunk her head into her arm.
"I wish he was here."
"I know; I'm sure he wishes he could too. But with all that going on he's been rather busy."
"Than why are you here?" Sonya asked, genuinely interested.
"Research, that and following orders. I can't do much on the outside if I'm locked away because I'm AWOL." Tasha explained.
"Yeah, I guess your right, still it sucks. I liked going to school in the city better."
"You know it's for your own safety."
"Yeah, but it still sucks."
Catching movement out of the corner of her eye she turned and saw the Colonel and Merrill, his wife, approach. She snapped to attention and saluted.
"Sir."
"Will you cut that out!" He joked as he returned her salute.
"Not until retirement sir." She shot back with a smile.
"Hello Natasha, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Merrill said as she walked up, her hand outstretched. Tasha took it and shook firmly but politely. She was heartened when Merrill's grip turned out to be fairly solid, not like some others.
"The pleasures all mine." She said with a smile.
"Hello girls." Merrill continued with a wave.
"Hello Mrs. Davidson." They chorused.
When Natasha looked from the girls back to Merrill with a confused look Col. Davidson explained.
"My wife is one of their teachers on post. Mathematics."
"Oh! They aren't giving you any trouble are they?"
"Oh no no no. This isn't a PTA meeting, they're angels, although Trish needs to apply herself more."
"Oh. She's just lazy." Tasha said turning toward her.
"Mom!" Trish whined.
"Oh my god! You called her mom." Sonya blurted, astonished.
Natasha sunk into her chair, staggered, literally knocked off her feet by Trish's statement.
All she could do was blink. She wasn't a mother, couldn't be a mother. It just wasn't possible. How did this happen she wondered? Mrs. Davidson's eyes lit up as she sat and patted Natasha on the back. Col. Davidson rose his glass of iced tea he'd ordered while they'd been talking in salute and took a drink.
"I don't know what to say." Tasha stammered in utter bewilderment.
Col. Davison lurched forward coughed and spat out the tea he had in his mouth, his eyes wide. As he turned his head he looked at Tasha with amused shock.
"Greg! What's the matter?" Merrill asked, worried.
He swore as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. When his hand came away he was smiling a smile that Natasha had never seen from him before.
"I thought I'd go to my grave and still never hear you say those words!" He laughed.
He turned to Trish and pointed.
"Little lady. You've just done what half the men and women in the business have tried to do to her for years."
"What do you mean? Call her mom?"
"No. No, you stumped her. No matter what crazy, convoluted or trick a question or situation, Natasha here has always been able to come back with something, anything, even if it was just an opinion or an example from the past. I - don't - know - what - to - say. Goddamn! I thought I'd never see the day! God I love this job!"
Merrill hushed her husband with a smile.
"Honey, stop swearing in front of the children, for god's sake there are women at the table."
He nodded and patted her on the shoulder.
"You're right. Kids?" He turned towards them. "Do as I say; not as I do." He concluded with a smile. He knew these kids were savvy, and would understand what he meant. Merrill and Tasha? Well, that was a given.
"Now then." Merrill interjected. "Although this has nothing to do with school, there is a slight problem that may, well, it might get bad. If what Greg tells me is true, that is."
Tasha's smile faded and she was instantly alert. She made a 'go on' motion with her neck and Merrill nodded.
"Genom's Compliance division or whatever they want to call themselves has given us a notice saying that the ADP is no longer going to serve as their guardian. And that they're going to be sent to a government run orphanage."
"Sub contracted out to Genom?" Tasha asked, her voice seething with rage.
"Most likely." Greg answered.
Tasha counted out to ten in Russian and took a deep breath. When she came back she was more in control, still angry, but it had been managed. Greg had seen this a few times before, usually when someone had insulted her, either by accident or on purpose. If only she could learn not to make any visible sign that she was doing it.
"What are our options?" She asked.
After lunch Tasha took the kids for a few holes of golf, Col. Davidson had made it an order when she'd tried to explain that she had a lot of important work to take care of. As Merrill had taken the girls to get their clubs Col Davidson had walked over to her and put a supportive hand on her shoulders. "As a mom. Your first duty must be to your children." When she said that she wasn't really their mother he nodded and patted her on the back. 'You are now. And you'll do it with a smile on your face.'
She'd never wanted to be a mother, never thought she could; until now. She figured it might be a good time to pick up a copy of Dr. Spock's. The round of golf was slow and to Natasha, chaotic. The kids were not that good and they were constantly chasing down errant balls, which would always be in the most inaccessible of places. Tasha on the other hand was able to nail the green on the first stroke almost every time. In between the holes the girls acted much like normal girls. However, whenever they misbehaved they would always listen to her when she corrected them.
"They have enormous respect for her don't they?" Merrill asked her husband.
He nodded and breathed out sadly.
"They have a lot in common."
Later that night Tasha lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She was still wearing her uniform, well, part of it; she'd discarded her blouse and boots. And was only wearing the BDU pants and an OD green t-shirt. The lights were low, the warm orange hue of a light barely on. She'd gone back to 'work' after the game and had gotten home late. She'd picked up food and had had dinner with the 'children'. After Trish's 'outburst' that afternoon dinner was a little awkward for her. Conversation was light and, thankfully, work related. Mainly they told her how their week had been and asked how things were at the station and at the club. They already understood the gravity of the situation but the last weeks events had made it that much more deadly. So, lying awake at night Tasha tried to make sense of the situation. True she liked the kids, but she wasn't ready to take care of them. Not yet. What would happen to them if she were killed? She knew she was a target; they did to. The door to her room opening brought her out of her meditation.
"Tasha?" It was Trish, the youngest.
"Yes sweetie?"
Trish smiled and blushed.
"To sappy?" Tasha asked.
"Nah. It's cool." She said with a soft laugh. "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure."
Trish padded over and sat at the foot of the bed in front of her.
"About those 'options' Mrs. Davidson told you about." She began. "Well, I, we, Sonya and I, we were..."
"Wondering which one I'm going to choose."
She nodded.
"Yeah."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I haven't been thinking about it. And to be honest it's a loaded question."
Trish sighed. That part was true enough.
"So." Tasha continued. "I guess if you look at it that way I've already made up my mind."
"Oh thank you!" Trish exclaimed and lunged to hug her.
Natasha hadn't anticipated that that would happen and almost lost her balance. She returned the hug.
"Sonya." She called out, over Trish's back. "I know you're there."
Sonya slunk around the corner and smiled sheepishly.
"That wasn't a very brave thing you did, making your sister ask that question alone."
Sonya frowned and scuffed her feet together.
"Sorry. It's just..."
"Don't try and explain. I already know. I just wanted to make sure you did."
Sonya smiled when she saw Tasha holding her arm out, inviting her into the group hug.
She rushed into the embrace and hugged awful tight.
"You're not going to leave us are you?" She asked, sounding very scared.
Tasha rubbed their back and smiled as best she could.
"A lot of people want me dead, Tony and Karl too. And, I don't want to make you a promise I can't keep, but what I can promise you is that I'll do my best to make it home every night. How's that?"
They understood, and nodded.
"Can we sleep here tonight?" Trish asked.
Tasha was hesitant, but she understood the need.
"Okay, but just this once, got it?"
They both nodded and hopped under the covers.
Back in Tokyo Linna was pulling her skin suit on. Next to her was a small satchel filled with what Tasha called 'capture filters'. Small electronic devises that when attached to a camera and remotely activated would display the last thing the camera saw just prior to being turned on. It would also do this randomly every now and then, more as a security feature than anything else; hopefully it would keep Genom guessing.
Nigel was in the launch bay when she padded in with her cargo. Knowing he was one of few words she nodded to him and suited up. Noticing this he stood from his work and looked at her.
"Hey Nigel, could you fire up the launch pad for me?" She asked and walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper.
"What's this?"
"Where I'd like to land, or at least some where near it."
He flipped that paper over and digested the coordinates.
"Downtown? Why?"
"Tasha asked me if I could do something for her while she was away. I said yes."
"Does Sylia know?"
Linna snorted and put her arms akimbo.
"No."
Nigel narrowed his eyes. She was getting rather feisty lately; he figured that Natasha was behind that.
"Look, I'll walk out the front door if I have to."
Nigel shrugged and walked towards the control booth.
"Why?" He asked as he started up the pads systems.
"Because she asked for help. Which is a lot more than some people around here do."
"I just asked why." He replied evenly. Linna blushed.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, but it's just that Priss and Sylia make me so angry sometimes. I mean, why do they have to be so arrogant?"
"You'd have to ask them." He retorted. The sound of the pad initialising filled the room.
"Okay, you're good to go."
"Thanks." She said as she stepped onto the launch platform.
"I've set the power down so you won't overshoot so be careful."
"I will."
The low rumbling of the launch caused Sylia's head to crane upward a few floors down in the computer room.
"What was that?"
"Sounds like a launch." Mackie answered. He was helping his 'sister' with some work while Nigel was putting some finishing touches on Nene's armour. Sylia stood, angry, there weren't supposed to be any launches tonight. Mackie followed her to the launch pad and found Nigel sitting cross-legged in front of Nene's armour. He was chomping on a cigarette fiddling with some tools. Sylia found his lack of concern disturbing, whoever had launched had to have gone past him first.
"Nigel? Who was that?"
"Linna." He answered without turning his head, continuing his work.
"Why? What for, I didn't schedule any patrols tonight."
"I know. She had some things to take care of."
"Natasha!" She spat, uttering the name as if it were a curse.
Nigel nodded.
"Call her back."
Nigel looked over at her and gauged her. She was quite angry but he also knew she had no reason to be, after all if she'd been polite and hadn't tried to haze Natasha to begin with Linna would have most likely asked for her permission herself. As it stood, her inability to accept that Tasha was only trying to help had caused Linna to go around her back.
Sylia was seething inside. She was the boss, not Tasha. These were her Knight Sabers, she'd created the group, and she'd built the suits. And now Linna was following her orders. She knew something was going on between them, but she didn't know what.
Nigel turned back to his work and started to replace a seal, ignoring Sylia's 'order'.
"Fine! I'll do it myself!" She bit.
"She doesn't trust you, you know."
Sylia stopped mid-stride and turned to Nigel; who's back was to her while still working on the armour.
"Who? Natasha?" She tossed back angrily.
"No. I was talking about Linna."
"Oh really? Does Nene feel the same way too?" She replied defensively.
Nigel ignored the question and pressed on.
"She's an athlete. She needs a coach, and, she's found one she trusts."
"Natasha?" She couldn't believe that.
"You saw what she did last weekend. That wasn't luck."
He stood and wiped his hands with a rag and walked towards the door.
Stopping before he exited he paused for effect.
"Have you looked at her records?"
"From the police? Yes."
"No, I meant her military records."
"She's an analyst for crying out loud!"
"And you just sell women's clothing?" He added and left.
"He's got a p..."
"Not NOW Mackie! Go to your room!" She interrupted cradling her elbows.
"Yes Sylia." Mackie sighed and walked out leaving Sylia alone in rage and doubt.
She was still standing there when Linna returned, half an hour later.
Linna noticed her the second she stepped off the recovery pad and froze.
"Have fun?" Sylia snarled.
Linna took off her helmet and stuffed the empty satchel into it and walked over to her.
"I'm sorry Sylia. I..."
"Took a HARDsuit without permission and, and went gallivanting around all over town!"
Linna sunk her head and sighed.
"Yeah. Kinda." She looked up timidly. "But I needed the practice."
"Did Tasha teach you how to lie as well as betray?"
Linna looked as if she'd been struck and stood back. With tears in her eyes she dropped her helmet and popped her suit. Stepping out she slapped Sylia across the face and fled from the room sobbing.
"Linna wait!"
Already at the door Linna slowed and stopped, her hand on the doorjamb. Sylia could hear her sniffling.
"I. I'm sorry." She managed, nursing her cheek.
Linna straightened up from her slump and fought back her tears. Slowly she turned her head and gave Sylia a questioning gaze. Was she serious?
"Really?" She asked, her voice still broken up.
"Yes." Sylia said as she walked towards her. "I shouldn't have said that, that was; I went to far. I'm sorry Linna." Sylia was surprised at how good that felt to actually apologize and mean it. She still felt bad but she didn't feel like she was on the defensive, like usual. She'd felt the same way when she'd relented and sent Tasha a copy of one of her father's papers after she'd yelled at her in front of Nene, back before she knew who they all were.
"I'm sorry too." Linna added, "You know, for the slap. And, not asking you first."
Sylia swallowed.
"Why, why didn't you ask?"
"Because you would have said no."
"You're right. I would have." Sylia admitted.
"I hear you got a raise at work." Congratulations."
"Yeah. Thank you. Nene tell you?"
"Yes. She said it was a contract with the ADP."
"Yeah, my first big sale." Linna smiled with pride.
"What was it for?" Sylia asked, politely.
"Eight Xerxes 17-C and four 20 Alpha motive systems."
"Double ball socket?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Sylia smiled, this Natasha woman was fearless. She decided to take a chance, not only at understanding her but to make amends with Linna as well.
"If she's using them in the way I think she is, she's either braver or more desperate then I thought."
"Desperate?"
"The only thing in the ADP inventory, past or present, that uses motives anything like those are Kumo's."
"Kumo? What's that?"
"An old model Battlemover, actually it was the first mecha used by the ADP. It's not very maneuverable, and has no offensive weaponry."
"Not hers." She quipped. "Oops!" She spat, swearing for good measure.
"Really?"
"Shit. You promise you'll keep it a secret?"
Sylia looked around the room and back at her.
"Yeah, right. Silly. I overheard Tasha and one of her mechanics talking about a cannon to be mounted on whatever it was our parts went to. The Kumo's."
"I see. She sure knows how to make due. Doesn't she?"
"It's not her fault. Genom's always cutting their funding; plus they've already tried to kill her twice, well, twice that I know about. They won't replace her K-suits or her men, and half her people are still on medical leave. She doesn't tell me much, but I know it's bad. Did you hear they bombed the High Caliber a few weeks back?"
Sylia nodded. For all of the security she'd installed in the Silky Doll building, she'd never thought of armoured glass. It was a good thing for her customers that Tasha had.
"I heard. No one was hurt?"
"A few cuts and bruises, mostly everyone was grateful."
Sylia nodded again.
"I see. If you don't mind me asking, but who do you trust?"
Linna thought about that. That was a loaded question if she'd ever seen one.
"How honest do you want me to be?" She replied, she'd let Sylia choose her path.
"After what I said earlier I'd expect you to be rather blunt."
"I see." She paused. "I trust her, I know she'll be there. I want to trust you, but sometimes it's hard, like last week. That really hurt my feelings. You should have told me."
Sylia hung her head.
"I understand. I won't hassle her anymore. I, however, cannot speak for Priss."
Linna smiled.
"Thanks. You won't be sorry."
"You're welcome; now go put your suit back on its hanger."
Linna smiled and padded off.