"I know that Doc means a lot to you, Dyanne." Vic has some tone of compassion in his voice. "But, you are one of the reasons why he is still out there. Alive."
"Vaaku Sinclaire! You may have all the resources within reach but I tell you this," Dyanne is becoming more furious. She knows the man is playing with her emotions. "your agency does not know everything! Doc is dead."
3 HOURS EARLIER
It's a lazy Saturday night. Everything appears settled from a busy week. Streets start to clear after the rush hour. Dyanne and Ibs just returned to the flat from dinner. Ibs heads back to the basement while Dyanne proceeds to her room.
She popped a can of beer and opens her laptop to check for any upcoming projects from Hayoo Industries. HQ went silent after Dyanne was tasked to take down Dr. Kreziavik. Though the cool down period is normal for Hayoo Industries field agents every after critical mission, this one feels strange.
"Ibs, want some beer down there?" Dyanne called through the flat's intercom system. "Delivery is free."
"Thanks lady but I'm good. These stuff I'm working down here needs my full attention." Ibs replied.
Nothing. No upcoming jobs. Not even from foreign contacts Dyanne have connection with. She walks toward the window pane of her flat and stared blankly to the darkness outside. A tone notification from her laptop sounded indicating a new email has just arrived. She just glance back and stares back outside.
She is having a recollection of the days when she is still deployed as close in security for the doctor.
"Don't burden yourself in wondering why there are persons out there who finds pleasure in inflicting pain and killing others." Doc uttered with frustration. "A human brain is capable of nurturing an overwhelming love. Or extreme crave for violence."
"You are talking about the General again. Let it go Doc. You have done what you needed to do." Dyanne replied giving some reassurance to the old doctor.
"You Dyanne, is capable of both." Doc lectured her. "When the time comes, be ready to choose the side which you think would be better for you."
"Hello! Anybody home?" Ibs is already in the room. His voice brought her back to her senses. "You are standing there stiff for hours already. What's bothering you?"
"Nothing." Dyanne denied.
"Nothing?" Ibs argued as he pops another can of beer. "This is my second can and you are still there in the same location with the same position as I've seen you when I grabbed my first can."
Dyanne just shrugged and heads back to her laptop.
"I'm going back to the basement." Ibs raises his hand and heads towards the door. "Hopefully I won’t see you again in there. You're giving me creeps."
Dyanne checks her inbox. One new email. No sender information. No subject. It catches her attention. She opens it.
"Ibs, wait."
"Ah...now you are ready for the confession." Ibs smiles. As he turns towards Dyanne, he makes a sign of the cross. "En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo. Amén..."
"Ibs, this is serious. Open your laptop."
The email said that Doc's name was intercepted in one of the chatters somewhere at the Asia Pacific region. The source came from an encrypted channel and only part of the discussion was captured. An audio clip came with the email. Dyanne plays the clip.
Channel noise. Some garbled conversation.
'Doctor...' Its a man's voice. Hollow and cold.
'Good...see you again...' A second voice from another man. 'where...find him?'
Garbled conversation again.
'Get rid of...' Its the second voice again.
'No...please...have inform...' A third voice. Still a man. He sounds scared and pleading.
2 gunshots were heard from the audio. Then followed by another one.
'I need his body for..." Again the second voice. "bring...the lab..."
End of the recording. Ibs and Dyanne looked at each other speechless. Dyanne phone rings. No caller ID.
"Ibs, run that audio and strip every information we can get out from it." Dyanne grabs the phone and takes the call. They both remained silent waiting for the other end of the line to talk.
"Dee, I know you are there." It's Stone. "Don't worry, this line is secure."
"Tell me what you got, Stone." Dyanne replied.
"I am holding in my hand a notepad with a phone number of a sexy chic I met last night." Stone jokes.
Dyanne didn't react.
"I know you are not interested with that. About that thing you asked me to check." Stone explained. "I started to check around if they happen to come across your friend. A photo of him came in handy for the job."
"Wait. Wait. Wait." Dyanne interrupted. "What do you mean a photo?"
"He was all over the news, Dee." Stone replied. "The man was found dead, remember? In his own suite at MJ Towers."
"Sources told me that they had a sighting of your friend at the Hongkong International Airport departure area two weeks ago." stone continued.
"Where was he heading to?"
"Don't be too excited. No one knows where. But sources said that they saw your friend lining up in one of the check-in counters. They did not provide the airline name but was able to describe it."
"Tell me."
"Sorry madame but your current balance is not enough to continue this call." Stone laughs out loud. "Please reload your account to continue enjoying our services."
"Damn it, Stone!"
"I'm just kidding, lady." Stone continued. "Sources said the airline color is yellow and logo is like an eagle's head. That's the best that they can give."
"How sure are they that the subject was him?"
"Come on lady. Are you trying to insult me here?" Stone sounds mad. "My sources are not newbies and they were in this trade for decades."
"Thanks Stone." Dyanne appologized. "I mean, sorry for that. By the way, thanks for the email."
"Email? From me?" Stone sounds surprised.
"You mean..." Dyanne is even more surprised."..nevermind. Thanks anyway."
"You're welcome. I'll keep in touch when something new comes out. Have a great night, Dee. Bye."
If Stone didn't send that audio clip, then who? She stared back to Ibs who is still busy working on his laptop.
"Timestamp tells me that the audio was made a week ago. This is still fresh,Dee." Ibs uttered as he continues to strip the rest of the audio file. "And I hear some background conversation. Not english or chinese."
"Run those in our voice recognition system. Asia Pacific has a rich collection of languages. Maybe its Thai. Indonesian. Japanese." Dyanne suggested. "I'll see what we can get out from our Hongkong friends."
Dyanne accessed Hayoo Industries internal network. Though she is no longer active in the Client Protection Group, she still retains access to the company's surveilance and intelligence system. The system is capable of tapping to any civilian and government camera and security networks around the globe. She needs that footage at the airport where doc was spotted by Stone's men.
"This can't be." Dyanne murmured as she watches the footage of the airport security cameras.
"The footage places our subject at the airport at around 6 in the evening." Ibs joined her. "Checks in at...wait a minute! Stone said the airline color is yellow right?"
"He checked in at Cathay Pacific counter." Dyanne exclaimed. "Stone's info is wrong."
"He passed through immigration, heads towards pre-departure. Pause there. That's the gate number." Ibs pointed out. "We can trace his flight from that gate number!"
Ibs returns to his laptop and checks the airport records. "Bingo! It's Cathay Pacific and that flight is bound for Taipei."
"Ibs, wait. At 7:15PM, he went inside a comfort room. Then he came out 5 minutes later totally a different man. He changed clothes."
"Are you sure this man is a doctor?" Ibs asked. "Now look, he changed location. That is no longer the gate for his flight."
The subject in the footage, sat on one of the benches and placed his suitcase on the floor beside him. At 7:45PM, a man in a business suit sat on the bench behind the subject and swapped the suitcase. Both of them left their benches minutes later.
"Hijo de cabron! He has a partner and they are switching identities!" Ibs cursed. "Our subject now probably carries a different passport and a different boarding pass."
"So where are you both going..." Dyanne whispered as she plays the footage. "The partner is the one who boarded for Taipei!"
"Our subject had been roaming around the airport for hours moving from one gate to another. Then at 12:07AM, he went to a Starbucks kiosk and bought what appears to be a bottle of fruit juice." Ibs narrated.
"Here we go. From the kiosk, he made several phone calls and headed to another gate where he slept on the bench." Ibs paused. "At 6:00AM airline crew starts to arrive and look, they are wearing yellow and brown uniform."
Ibs checked the airport records again to retrieve the flight information. Their subject stayed at the airport for the whole night and waited until the next morning and board a flight to Manila.
"What the hell is he doing in the Philippines?" Dyanne asked.
Dyanne and Ibs looked at each other trying to find answers to the ever growing questions. They both went back to their laptops and continued working. Dyanne phone rings again. This time, its from a different caller.
"Ibs, run a trace on this." Dyanne instructed.
Ibs scrambled for the tracer. "Ready..."
Dyanne receives the call.
"Don't bother tracing this call, Ms. Faithful." Its a flat male voice. "You cant. Listen. At the perch in one hour. No clowns. No surprises. Come alone."
"This is not pizza delivery, mister." Dyanne replied. "I don't know who you are so if you are some pervert who want to mess around, get lost!"
"Nasty!" Ibs whispered.
"You dont know me but I know you and your boy. The doctor is out. Clinic is closed." The man from the other end replied with an even colder voice. "30 seconds left. At the perch. One hour. Alone."
The call ended before Ibs can make a complete trace. The caller knows what he is doing.
"I got a partial trace though." Ibs broke the moment of silence.
"And?" Dyanne curiously stared back.
"Mierda! Its a CIA call signature."
"This is not right. Whatever is happening, it's happening fast and bad." Dyanne closes her laptop and heads towards the cage. "Activate my locator. I'm going for a walk. These guys won't be calling if its not critical."
"Hija, you trust that man?" Ibs objected. "What if this is a trap? I'll go with you."
"You stay here Ibs. Run the recon for me. Launch the drone and survey the perch for any crawlers." Dyanne refused. "We know that place better than anybody else. Besides, I have a locator. I'll call you in when I need support. Right now we need answers."
"At least bring the bike with you." Ibs appealed.
"I'd better be on foot. The perch is just 3 clicks away. I can take a cab." Dyanne assured him.
The perch is where she executed the mission to take down the doctor. Its the rooftop of a building just right across the MJ Towers. Nobody knows she was there that day.
Dyanne run through her inventory, grab her toys and tools and left. From outside the lobby of her flat, she called a cab. Before she arrives at the perch, she called Ibs again.
"Any clowns around, Ibs?"
"Nothing. The drone's thermal imaging system only detected one body signature at the perch." Ibs replied. "I'm running facial recognition right now."
"How about the chatter?"
"Negative. Except for a secured call minutes ago coming from the perch. Same signature with the call you received."
Dyanne cautiously approach the door towards the rooftop. Its partially opened. From her spot, she can see a man sitting on the bench outside.
"Come out and join me Dyanne." Its Vic. His voice is totally different from that of the caller but the authoritative tone sounds similar. "I know you are there."
Dyanne complied and stepped out of the dark staircase towards the lighted bench. The hood of her black sweatshirt and her ball cap conceals her face.
"I really appreciate you coming over in such a very short notice." The man is in his early 50's but his built tells otherwise. "Drone, huh! Nice toy you got there. We also have that back home."
"Cut the crap, Vic." Dyanne interrupted. "What brought you here in this very unholy hour?"
"We have evidences which tell us that there is more than just psychiatry for Dr. Yurejim Kreziavik." Vic explained.
"You lost me."
"We understand that your 'ex' company, Hayoo Industries provided security to the doctor as part of client protection service business." Vic continued. "But the threat to the doctor's life by a genaral named Vladimir was just a cover up of an even dirtier operation. Something that I am not sure you are aware of."
"I'm listening." Dyanne dropped the hood leaving her cap on.
"After the doctor was murdered at his suite right there." Vic pointed towards the MJ towers. "The world mourned. How can a kind-hearted doctor be killed like that. Everyone thought the doctor's story ended there. But then, one of our field office came out with an alarming report."
"You already captured the killer." Dyanne pretended she knows nothing.
"No, Dyanne. The doctor is still alive." Vic blurted out.
"He is dead Vic!" Dyanne insisted.
"According to who?" Vic's voice sounds confrontational. "That mangled body found in the suite was a double. DNA proved that."
"And what exactly are you planning to do?" Dyanne is getting impatient. She puts on the hood of her sweatshirt back. She wants to hide from all these information she is getting. "Hunt for a man who is already dead?"
"I know that Doc means a lot to you, Dyanne." Vic has some tone of compassion in his voice."But, you are one of the reasons why he is still out there. Alive."
"Vaaku Sinclaire! You may have all the resources within your reach but I tell you this," Dee is becoming more furious. She knows the man is playing with her emotions. "your agency does not know everything! Doc is dead."
Vic paused in silence. She can no longer control her temper. At the back of her mind, she is confused with all the information she is getting from different sources. To make things worse, CIA is now involved. She has her own dirty secret about the death of the doctor and now, the agency is telling her all these. She plans to leave.
"Dr. Yurejim Kreziavik is the brain behind the Human Reclamation Program. Conditioning soldiers, excons and criminals to become ruthless killing machines." Vic narrated. "Hayoo Industries funds the program, stage the doctor's death to allow him to work full time and guess who they hired to do the job? You! One of their own! You just let loose a monster who..."
"ENOUGH!" Dyanne anger breaks loose, turns around as her left hand reaches for a pistol from her waist.
"Say another word and your name will be in the front page of every newspaper in the city tomorrow morning." Vic is now looking down the barrel of a gun. Dyanne's grip is firm and steady. Safety is off but her finger is still right outside the trigger.
Vic quietly raises his hands and shrugged.
"Take it easy, Dee." A very familiar voice of a man spoke from behind her. Like clockwork, her right hand reached for another pistol from her waist and pointed it to where the voice came from. Her eyes still locked at Vic.
"What are you doing here, Arch?"
"I am here for the same reason as yours. Vic also asked me to come and I heard everything." The man replied. "I'm unarmed. Now, lower those guns so we can talk."
Dyanne switches the safety on and tuck her pistols back to her waist. Vic lowers his hands in relief as Dyanne turns around towards Arch.
Gabriel "Arch" Bluland. He and Dyanne were members of mountaineering society back in their school years. The man taught her basic survival skills, tracking and hunting. The man loves the outdoors. After graduation, she heard that Arch enlisted to the Navy and later heard that he made it to NSWC Development Group. The group who is also known as Navy Seal's Team Six.
"Oh, I love this job!" Vic exclaimed as he watches Dyanne confronts the newcomer.
Dyanne jab a fist into Arch abdomen. Arch coughed and staggered a few steps backward.
"That's for not telling me where you went after school!" Dyanne looked serious.
"I'm sorry." Arch replied with a smile. "I thought you knew."
"Enough of the pleasantries boys and girls! I want you to consider the option of working together in this mission." Vic Instructed. "You will hear from me again in the next 24 hours."
"Roger that." Arch whispered.
"What mission?" Dyanne's temper has now subsided a bit.
Vic didn't respond, walked passed Dyanne and heads towards the door. He is leaving.
"Hey Vic, was it you who send that email?" Dyanne asked.
"What email?" Vic paused just right outside the door gave a faint nod and disappeared into the dark staircase.
"So, when did you arrive here?" Dyanne started the conversation.
"Last week." Arch answered. "You miss me, don't you?"
"You've been here since last week and yet you didn't give me a call?" She sounds disappointed.
"I no longer have your number." Arch reasoned out with a smile.
"You owe me a drink." Dyanne grabbed his arm and they both head towards the door.
"I know a place nearby." He wraps his arm around her waist and they both left. "You know lady, you carry too much toys."
The persons, events and places depicted in this story are purely fictitious. Any similarity to any person living or dead and events that happened in the past are merely coincidental.
Mark of Qayin
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