The Judas Stones - Chapter 20

Thanks to Py for a suggestion for a peril that appears in this story.

            Alex half listened to the guide spew forth his memorized speech as she and the rest of the tour, mostly all American service personnel and their families listened half heartedly to it while the other half felt their collective hearts fluttered in awe at the mosaic’s that covered every inch of the Mosque from the darkness most remote corner of the floor to the highest hidden angle of the roof.  The spy closed her eyes and imagined the mosaics in her mind, unencumbered they danced and moved as they came to life and played across the blackness.  Gone was the noise of the lecturer, the shuffle of feet, the noise of a crowd, Alex was alone with her visions and the glorious thunderous silence that accompanied it.  She opened her arms, raised them above her head and began to turn round slowly, a smile growing more pronounced with each revolution.

            The single image of a mosaic in her head was joined by another; she spun a little faster and watched the two move about her mind.  They were soon joined by a third as she moved a little faster, still faster a fourth joined the group, she smiled wider and spun faster until merely a blur as her mind filled even more with the imagines that defied description except that they were beautiful and calming and exciting all at the same time.  As she spun even faster Alex became even less aware of herself and more aware of herself as a part of something larger, she laughed in joy then watched as the mosaics came together merging into one entity she could neither discern nor completely discard as something she didn’t know and then it was gone breaking apart into a billion-billion individual tiles that floated above her head as she reached for them, her body no longer constrained by earthy considerations floating up amongst them.

            A close of a hand or a swipe at a passing tile did not contain them; they seemingly passed right through her hand or dissolved through her fingers and floated away.  She was frustrated by this at first, her mind given over to anger at her own ineptitude at being unable to gather even a single one in, it was only when she forced her mind and body to relax, to not concentrate on the task she wanted so badly to perform that she felt it.  Tiles floated and rushed through the ghost of her body, she neither felt them enter or leave, but she felt their knowledge imparted to her.  Tiny bits of disconnected data, truths, sum knowledge, eternal things, hidden facts, it all downloaded into her mind.

            “I know this and this, but not this or this,” she elated as mosaics sailed in and out of her ethereal body. 

            The longer it went on the more she gained, Alex knew she was approaching something, something bigger than anything she could ever have imagined, great and wonderful beyond all she could comprehend and the tiles were imparting it all to her.  Her mind swirled to control and assemble the information into something she could understand, but with each piece her mental picture grew hazier, like a puzzle that kept adding unseen tiles, she struggled to make sense of it, reassemble and integrate the data so it worked for her again.  She managed it, just barely, drew closer to the end and saw it floating right in front of her, a final mosaic tile, all the colours of the universe displayed on it in glorious rapture all she had to do was just hold out her hand. 

            “No.” she said softly.  “That is for another day.”

            “It has been a very long time since I have seen a Whirling Dervish.  How close did you come?” a female voice said.

            Alex blinked her eyes and gave her head a small shake.  She was vaguely aware of a hand on her shoulder and a voice that had said something but she was unsure of what.  She turned toward the voice and fought to focus her mind, fumbling with her headscarf to buy some time.

            “I’m sorry,” Alex answered as her hands trembled and her legs felt like giving out on her.

            The woman took her hands in hers and slowly walked Alex over to a step and sat her down.

            “It is sometimes very hard to come back to this plane of existence after an experience such as yours, take your time, although I sense you have experience in these matters,” the woman smiled.

            All that she had experienced slowly drained away from her conscious, but some stayed, things that mattered, things that didn’t change.  As her mind cleared she became aware of the woman holding her hand and sitting close by her, much too close for a spies liking, she inched away rather abruptly. 

            “You have no worry from me child, in truth just the opposite, I am here to help you although you really have no need of my help as you know the answer already,” she said gently letting go of Alex’s hand.

            “I have to go,” Alex said in a rushed voice as she unsteadily got to her feet and staggered off in a drunken walk.

            “And leave without the stone?” the voice came back to her in an echo from the room.

            Alex Chase stopped and turned around and looked at the woman still sitting on the step, she didn’t look like a spy, being older she could have been a Silkworm, but she didn’t have the alluring look of one.  Alex tensed a little and remained frozen in place ready to pounce if necessary all the while maintaining a calm outward demeanour.

            “You are a very good actress, I suppose that comes in handy in your line of work and you are also very intelligent, please use that aspect of yourself to see that I am no threat.  If need be think about what you felt, experienced if you prefer the word, when we were holding hands a minute ago,” the woman said with a comforting smile.

            “Your name is Sameera, a widow for many years and a keeper of a secret,” Alex answered as she came back to the woman.

            “Yes and you’re Alex Chase, a spy and a keeper of something as well, something you just found out, something so special it had to be forced upon you until you had no choice but to recognise and willingly accept.  What a special child you are, I am truly blessed to be the one to meet you,” she said warmly.

            Alex sat down at her side and slipped her hand back into Sameera’s hand.

           

            “I am only able to do this with one other person,” Alex dreamily said.

             “Where is the stone so that we may both fulfill our destinies,” Alex asked after several pleasurably minutes of sharing herself with Sameera.

            “I cannot tell you, but in truth it has already been revealed to you during your dance.  You must be able to piece it all together to claim the stone and save your friend,” she said.

            Alex unhitched her hand and got to her feet, closed her eyes and  began spinning round slowly before stopping short and walking over to a pillar, trailing her hand down the wonderful blue tiles then digging in her nails and pulling the tile away revealing the stone.  It sat loose in a small recess, she plucked it out replaced the tile like it had never been removed and hid it away safely in her clothes as she walked back to her companion, Alex kissed her on the cheek and smiled as she prepared to leave.

            “Never will God suffer the reward to be lost, of those who do right Alex,” she said into her ear and kissed the spy back.

            Alex gave her a final long hug and then left, her body spinning around several times as she went. 

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            “So how am I supposed to get to Dubai  to make my flight back home if you’re not offering a flight out of here for the next week and why is that in the first place?” Alex asked.

            “We only book the flights on a daily basis during The Hajj Miss Chase for the rest of the year the flights are once a week and unfortunately you just missed yours by a day,” he answered with a smile that Alex was sure wasn’t entirely meant as sympathy. 

            “I can’t wait around a week, any suggestions?” the spy asked, her best acting tone meant to elicit a good response.

            “It is only 962 miles across the desert, you could rent a vehicle and driver or if you have the cash buy a vehicle and a driver for as you know women are not allowed to drive in our country,” he smiled back again in a self satisfied way.

            “Any places you would recommend I look,” she asked sheepishly.

            That did the trick, he wrote down a list of places she could try.  Once safely hidden away underneath her clothes and away from him and slightly audible ‘fuck you’ was heard.

            She ignored the first three places on the list knowing that they’d be relatives or close friends from which he could have profited in some small way from a sale and instead proceeded to the fourth name on the list.  The cab pulled up in a cloud of dust and she exited into what she could sort of describe as a series of random vehicles scattered about a dust blown lot, most of which looked like they had seen better days.  The office, a drab cinder block structure sandwiched between a corrugated metal fence that ran either side of it and Alex hopefully thought housed more promising choices was the only structure around within eyesight.

            “Seems to be a universal truth that car dealers must be located on the outskirts of town,” she thought as she walked toward the door which suddenly flew open and a man appeared his arms wide apart a smile on his face.

            “How can I help the western lady today,” he said the smile never dissipating. 

            “How did you know I was from the west,” Alex asked with a smile from under her veil. 

            “You get to be able to read people in this business, but in the spirit of honesty I will tell you.  One, you walk more upright and determined that women from this part of the world and two, the giveaway, as you would say, you came alone, that never happens.  So what can I offer you today, we have a fine selection to chose from as you can see,” he enthused his hand sweeping about the dust filled air.

            “I need to rent a vehicle to get me to Dubai City,” she said removing her veil to gauge his reaction to such a bold move, it produced nothing; he was a true used car salesman.

            “You mean a driver and a car and sorry we do not do rentals only sales,” he said.

            “Alright a sale only then, as for the driver, well you can rent me that on paper and add it to the closing cost, I can drive myself.”

            He pondered that for just a second before giving into the found extra money for doing nothing, always a deal closer with any salesman no matter where on the planet.

           

            “We understand each other, now onto the vehicles,” she smiled and started to walk towards one.

            “I’d be lucky if any of those made it off the lot before breaking down.  Let’s see what’s inside here,” Alex stated motioning with her arm at the metal wall.

            “Nothing behind there you would be interested in Miss, only junk parts no working motors back there, now over here this is an excellent…”

            “You know it’s hot as a bitch inside this covering, I’m losing weight almost as fast as I’m losing patience.  I don’t want to look at any of these P.O.S. cars.  I’m not from the U.S. military so I don’t care that you may have questionably acquired rides behind here and if I was do you think I’d come alone if at all.  We’d just fly over in a Blackhawk take an infrared picture of whatever you’ve hidden under tarps or inside tin shacks then come and smash down your gate with a Bradley.  So if you waste your time out here in the sun, that’s your game to play, but I’m hot, dirty and already in a pissed off mood from earlier today, so it’s your call, but I will tell you my next calls to Riyadh,” Alex said referring to the U.S. air base, as she produced her cell phone.

            “Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, no need for any of that,” he said with a smile as he walked back toward the office with Alex in tow.

            The duo passed out of the sun and into the shade of the office for only the briefest of moments and then out a very heavy steel door which required an effort on the man’s part to push open and into row of neatly ordered Quonset huts on either side stretching back six on each side.

            “The showroom for preferred customers,” he motioned and led the way to the first door which he unlocked and rolled the door upward.

            Alex released the catches on the hood, thru it up, jumped up on the tire and dove into the engine emerging several minutes later her hands greasy.  She walked round to the back and disappeared underneath before popping up and tossing her black coverings away.  He fainted abhorrence but failed to divert his eyes as he noticed her body and the gun, a Glock 30 she had tucked into her pants.

            “Those were getting in the way and this one has a leak in the differential, lets move on,” she said.

            He hurried out of the hut Alex right behind him a newfound respect for her in his mind.  She was sexy and dangerous and a foreigner, something all men found irresistible. 

            They looked at three more, Alex finding faults with all of them.

            “Look perhaps we can both save time by you just showing me the best you have,” she said flatly.

            After the door rolled open Alex Chase, COIL agent knew this was the one, an inspection proved it.

            “Must have rolled of the Globemaster, onto the tarmac, then out the gate to a paint shop and then in here.  Very nice, I’ll take it, but I want a few optional extras,” she added.

            “This one is very expensive and it is already fully loaded as you can see Miss,” he said.

            “Cash transferred into an account of your choice inside of thirty minutes,” she responded.

            “What options?” was all he said.

            “One Ak-47 and 5 extra clips, all the spare tanks fill with fuel except these three on the back, those filled with water, purified water, a full medical kit, U.S. Army issue and pants and shirt to fit me, I’m sure you have a clothing store attached to your establishment,” she answered smartly.

            “Eighty five thousand,” he said knowing it was way over the top.

            “Got your bank account number handy,” she said walking out the door and toward the office, he catching up and passing her.

            “Please use my phone and here is the account number I wish the money placed into,” he smiled lifting a blotter on his desk and pulling a piece of well worn paper.

            “Done this before have you and I’ll use my cell phone outside and alone, you can monitor the transaction on your computer,” she said pulling back on her covering as she walked out the door a safe distance from the office and ears.

            He divided his time between glances through the bars on the window at Alex and at his account on the screen a constant click of the refresh button becoming all the more frequent as time passed on until Alex came back into the cinder block enclave.

            “What is this I thought we had a deal?” he demanded.

            “We do, but if you think for a minute I’m going to trust you any farther than I can throw you Fazil, you’re mistaken,” Alex said in a serious tone.

            “What does this mean on the screen, ‘hold until final sequence confirmed’ and how do you know my name?” he asked in that order showing exactly where is priorities were placed.

            “You names on the screen, top left corner,” Alex repeated in a voice that stated the obvious.  “And that means when I get back with my stuff and the vehicle is ready with what I requested then I will call back and give the final sequence of numbers and you’ll have your money.  Good my cab is here, you have about one hour till I return I suggest you get moving,” Alex stated flatly.

            “How do I know you will return?” he demanded his voice raging a little.

            “You don’t, but are you going to piss eighty-five thousand away on the chance I am or are you going to do an hours work just in case I’m not.,” the spy said as she left and got into the cab.

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            Alex gave the rifle, the ammo, the medical kit and the tanks filled with water and fuel the once over before she gave the Hummer the same and was satisfied. Alex changed her clothes in the office while he waited outside and ran back inside to his computer as she flipped open her phone and dialled.  Fazil emerged a minute later with the keys.  She pulled out leaving a dust cloud in her wake and onto the brand new black top than ran almost straight and true from Medina to Dubai City accelerating the Hummer to get a feel for it and for the thrill of the V-12 roar .

            “Thank you Lady Hamilton for the use of one of your bank accounts,” Alex said as she sped along the now open road free of the final outskirts of the city.

            It was in fact Lady Hamilton and Mrs. Hawthorne who from their own private funds where supporting this entire enterprise.  Alex assumed Mrs. Hawthorne and Lady Hamilton had come from money given how they carried themselves and had just increased it over time in Mrs. Hawthorne’s case and her Ladyship’s had come from past advantages of title.  Whatever the case Alex was thankful they had it because there was no way COIL was going to fund anything regarding this mission and she had little herself as a new agent.   

            She drove for a several hours as the sun crept up in the sky and she finally came to a curve in the road, one that led down into a deep valley that ran off into the distance.  She slowed and guided the sure footed beast around a series of switchbacks coming close to the edge before tossing something from her hand and then pulling the Hummer into a covering spot just before a sharp corner, switched of the engine, grabbed her AK-47 exited the Hummer and took her position against the front hood, crouching to stay out of site until the last minute. 

            Alex counted off the time interval in her head until she heard the noise of an approaching engine, she peer cautiously around the front tire then stepped out, levelled the weapon to her eye and let loose.  The distinctive metal hammering of the weapon filled her ears as the muzzle flashed and spit its leaden projectiles as she held the hammer in.  Sharp sunlight bright sparks erupted about the grill and bumper of the oncoming car, bullets ripped into the hood, then the tires and the headlights as the COIL agent rotated the muzzle about spraying destruction everywhere.  The panicked driver hit the brakes, with the tires already blown apart the vehicle had no purchase on the road, rubber chucks of shredding tire peeled off and the grinding of hubs against the pavement filled the air drowning out the staccato beat of the machine gun which in turn gave way to a bending and twisting of metal against rock as the bullet riddled 4x4 crashed into a side cut of rock on the switchback, bounced off it slightly then wedged into a crevice from which it couldn’t escape, its wheels still turning and grinding on the roadway as Alex replaced her clip and rushed to open the passenger door pulling the dazed but otherwise uninjured driver from the wreck and over to her Hummer.

            “If you’re looking for your GPS tracker I think it’s about two switchbacks down the side of this hill.  Next time you plant something like that try not to make it so easy to find,” Alex said as she placed the drivers arm around their back and pushed upward while her other hand put their face an inch away from the hood of her Hummer.

            “I’m surprised, I had you pegged for the dumb blonde, it must just be bleached,” came the answer.

            “You have a lot of mouth on you for someone whose face is an inch away from being fried sunny side up on the hood of a Hummer.  Now one time only, who are you?” Alex said as she pulled out her Glock 30 and placed the muzzle against the temple of the woman pulling back the hammer to emphasise her point.

            “My back pocket,” came the response in a strained voice as Alex upped the tension of the arm.

            “Great that’s all I need, amateur hour!” Alex said releasing her grip with a shove and lowering her gun, before tossing back the CIA ID card.

            “Hardly that,” the woman said.

            “Exactly that, take a look at what you were driving and how easily those holes could have been all through you.  Look I don’t want to spend time arguing with the loser of the encounter, grab what stuff of yours isn’t wrecked toss it in and lets get going, you can explain on the way Yasmin Bennett,” Alex ordered.

            They got to the valley floor in dead silence before Yasmin broke the very chilly silence.

            “Before I explain may I know your name?” she asked.

            “Alex Chase, now what the fuck were you doing bugging my Hummer and following me,” she snapped and gave the woman a look that cooled the cab even more.

            “I’m working on finding out where all the military vehicles being stolen are going to, what organization is behind it and what if any future purpose are they being put too.  And for the record I didn’t place the GPS tracker, Fazil did, he works for us,” she answered.

            “He needs remedial help or you need to raise your hiring standards or both,” Alex said.

            “And what about the hiring standards where you work Alex Chase?” Yasmin inquired.

            “I work for an organisation you have never heard of,” Alex answered as she glanced over.

            “It’s a long way to Dubai City, do you want me to annoy you with constant guessing games,” she smiled back.

            “It’s called COIL,”

            “I’ve heard of it and I also know it’s an urban legend in the business,” Yasmin shot back.

            “You go with that then.  Look when I get to Dubai City you can have the Hummer and we’ll part company,” Alex answered.

            “We will want you to answer a few more questions before that,” Yasmin stated flatly.

           

            “Whose we, you know it’s a long walk,” Alex said as she slowed the Hummer.

            “Point taken,” Yasmin said and then fell silent after that.

            The two drove along in silence for a long time after that, Alex concentrating on the road while Yasmin concentrated on anything else that involved not looking at Alex and that mostly involved sand and she did that for a long time.  Alex glanced over from time to time forming a picture of the woman.  She was a few inches taller with dark shoulder length hair that had a nice natural curl to it.  It was hard to tell from the baggy army pants and shirt but she could surmise enough to tell Yasmin had a good figure when she needed to show it as well as a pretty face and probably a wonderful smile when she needed it, which was not at this moment. 

            “So how long have you been with The Company or is that a matter of national security,” Alex said with her mouth half full of a fruit bar and her hand extended with another for Yasmin.

            Yasmin startled for an instant at the break in dead air then gathered herself up and turned toward Alex then had to perform another double take as she saw the food being offered, which she gratefully took.

            “Three years and is everything that comes out of that mouth joined to a smart assed remark of some kind,” Yasmin fired back and watched a wide smile grow on Alex’s face.

            “To quote an earlier part of the day, point taken,” Alex said as way of an apology which was accepted.

            “I’ve been with COIL just under a year.  You must be very good to have a field command and assignment so soon,” Alex complimented a gesture that broke the ice totally between the two.

            “Look who’s talking less than year and your out on your own for whatever part of the government you really work for,” Yasmin chided and Alex knew not to take the wrong way.

            “All not to plan, I was forced out, against my mentors wishes, but we had and still have a shortage of female agents, something to do with a very high mortality rate, but I always try and forget that part.  Basically I’ve been lucky so far and learning as I go,” Alex answered offering another bar.

            The two went back and forth in conversation, telling each other things they probably shouldn’t have been divulging, but neither seemed to care, who was going to tell on them and they certainly weren’t going to tell on each other.  The miles ticked by as did the day until Alex stopped the Hummer near dusk.

            “Time to fill the tanks while there’s still daylight,” the COIL said.

            The two exited the Hummer and pulled the gas cans from the compartments in the back and began the procedure, each taking a turn with a can as there were eight twenty gallon cans.

            “Tilt it up more to get all of in,” Yasmin said after Alex’s second can.

            “No really,” Alex shot back in an exaggerated voice.

            “No, I’m serious, I’ve been counting and it takes me thirty seconds to empty a can and you only twenty five,” Yasmin said.

            Alex jiggled the can, it was empty as she thought, she picked up one of Yasmin’s empty cans in one hand and hers in the other then passed them to her colleague who balanced them as Alex had done then set them down in the dimming light.  The COIL agent retreated to the Hummer for a second and returned with a flashlight focused on the can and handed her knife to Yasmin. 

            The CIA Agent cut along to top portion of the can in a straight and careful line, the tip of the blade barely inserted as she drew it along until the cut was wide enough to wedge the blade in sideways and force the lip open enough for a look in.  Alex drew the light and her head closer as they both probed into the void. 

            “Your man Fazil has to be in on this,” Alex said flatly.

            “Agreed, we’ll take care of him when the time comes, the two questions that come to mind right now are.  What are they for and who are they for?” Yasmin replied.

            “I have no idea on what but I can think of many things and none of them involve anything harmless.  As for who, I don’t think that will be too much of issue once we get to Dubai City, they’ll find us!” Alex answered a little warning in her voice. 

            “Should make for an exciting time if you’re up for it,” Yasmin smiled her challenge.

            “I’m up for anything,” she smiled back picking up one of the remaining full cans and resumed fuelling. 

            “Make them come to us you think,” Yasmin asked.

            “Definitely!” they both answered at the same time.

            Yasmin retrieved her small clothing duffle bag from the vehicle while Alex emptied the last can and then the two went to work cutting them open, these ones they did along the bottom to make them less noticeable to an observer.  The two cut open all the cans just to make sure they didn’t miss anything, then placed the contents in between clothes to protect them, the whole operation talking less than ten minutes. 

            “Ever stay at the Burj Al Arab Hotel?” Alex asked after a few minutes as they drove along.

            “Closest I ever got was the lobby and even at that point I felt poorer,” Yasmin answered.

            “Well then it's time to change that, my treat or should I say COIL’s treat.  If we’re going to be the bait for whatever those are for I want to spend it in luxury, pass me the satellite phone will you,” Alex said.

            “I take it you have a plan formed,” Yasmin answered as she handed over the phone.

            “No not really I just like luxury and it's no fun alone that is if you’re up for the challenge,” she smiled and they both shared a laugh as the night deepened.

            They both new the plan was to draw the people seeking what they had to them.  They both had no doubt that from the minute they crossed the border, they’d be watched and perhaps followed, but both as they discussed it thought it much more likely that once they left the vehicle unattended it would be vandalized or more likely stolen.  Why kill the owner of the vehicle and draw unnecessary attention and police when a simple theft of a desirable truck would be treated as a low priority.  However once it was discovered that the precious contents they desired were missing, then the chase would be on to find them. 

            “All set including our expedited passage at the border,” Alex said as she handed back the phone to Yasmin.  “We’re about six hours from the crossing.”

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            Just as Alex said they crossed without so much as a walk about the Hummer and within an hour entered Dubai City the early morning dark illuminated by giant construction cranes and the lights that shone from them as they worked round the clock to build this city up from the desert.  They navigated around half finished roads and shells of concrete edifices that would soon be the world’s largest shopping mall, skating rink complex, conference and exhibition centre. 

            “Monument to a dictator and from what I hear a not so benevolent one at that,” Alex offered above the roar of constant building noises.

            “Looks like steel and concrete schizophrenia,” Yasmin yelled back.

             They drove past all that and closer to the water where the construction had already been completed and everything looked fresh and new with nothing out of place. 

            Disassemble my gun and yours and store them in our bags,” Alex said as she scanned about to ensure they were alone before making a series of turns and double backs and then slipping quickly up an alley.  They were out and into the early light in a flash becoming a shadow as they moved in the dark until thirty minutes later they were at the hotel and checked in very discreetly away from the front desk and in their room.

            “Perhaps I should apply to COIL, they seem to have a much bigger budget, I could definitely get used to this,” Yasmin said in a relaxed voice as she reclined in her bath and lifted her champagne glass in salute.

            Alex reclining in her own bath across the room raised her glass in reply. 

            “We need to make ourselves a little visible tonight, I think the Hummer has been found by now and we are currently the object of a search, mostly likely the airport or port so we need to show whoever that we are still around,” Alex stated.

            “What did you have in mind?” Yasmin asked.

            “I was thinking of a little gambling and dinner all dressed in style of course, something attention getting,” Alex mused.

            Both woman picked stunning outfits from the vast stores in the shopping concourse attached to the hotel.  Alex had her initial analysis confirmed about Yasmin; she had a wonderful body and legs that reached up forever!  To compliment that she choose a very short clingy dress that hugged tight at the hips very high up and a pair a classic back pumps that gave her sophisticated yet dangerous look.  Alex chose a lime green long gown of pure silk with a plunging line both front and back and slit that ran all the way up the front.  Single they were dynamite, together they were explosive and when they walked into the casino they set about lighting the fuse. 

            They chose Blackjack, the thousand dollar and up table and seated themselves at ether end, giving the patrons a good and very comely look at the merchandise on display.  Both women were exceedingly good players and soon where well ahead each to the tune of thirty thousand and what crowd they didn’t initially draw with their beauty they now drew with there winning ways. 

            “Pay me,” Yasmin said flipping over her cards.

            “Me as well,” Alex chimed.  “This is certainly turning into an excellent night, yet another payday,” she added in a little more than normal toned voice.

            “With that big commission on the sale we’re closing later this week, well it kind of makes this look like small by comparison,” Yasmin voiced back just as loud.

            “Small things are indeed adding up to large rewards on this trip,” Alex smiled back as she placed a very large bet.

            Both women scanned the room for the obvious people lurking and listening but also for the ones you would never suspect, but they would.  They continued to talk and win, dropping just enough vague clues while appearing to be naïve and silly enough that they would be considered disarming and easily dealt with.  They won more money over the next several hours, they watched people come and go, some left, perhaps out of jealousy, others to pursue activities elsewhere, some wandered away and came back and others stayed all the time.  It was going on to 2am when they stopped, cashed in their winnings and head out.

            “I think we spread the word around very well, perhaps not it the ears we want directly, but I think we can count on it making its way to those that we do want,’ Yasmin smiled as the duo relaxed in their suite.

            “I agree,” Alex added.  “How about a game of tennis tomorrow?” she added with a smile.

            “Ok, I was hoping for the beach, but sure,” Yasmin said.

            “Trust me this won’t be just any tennis game, at 273 metres above the water,” Alex enthused.

            “What are you going on about,” Yasmin laughed.

            “The heliport attached to the hotel can also be used as a tennis court, I admit a novelty, but we can’t pass it up, the beach another time,” Alex said.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            “All I can say is it’s a good thing we have lots of balls,” Alex said as she watched another tennis ball drop of the edge. 

            The circular structure had a metal ring that ran around the circumference about three feet out from the edge of the structure itself attached to metal poles every two feet that anchored it to the main structure a flimsy netting covered the space in between.  A metal set of stairs was the only access point to the pad from the elevators.  Yasmin and Alex had been playing for about half and hour and both had to admit it was better than the beach.  The commanding view of the city and the blueness of the water were enough for the senses.  The two were heavily involved in a rally when four new players appeared at the top of the stairs and moved to the sideline to unpack their equipment. 

            We’ll be done in a few minutes Alex yelled out then returned a shot with a backhand right to Yasmin who grabbed the ball with her hand and raced up court, vaulted the net and was beside Alex in a second.  The four men turned and smiled as they pulled scimitars from where their tennis rackets should have been and walked toward the two.

            “What are you better at hand to hand or weapons?” Alex asked quickly.

            “Weapons,” was the immediate answer and Alex handed over her tennis racket as Yasmin reached into her pocket for another ball and waited for them to get closer then unleashed two screaming line drives that hit home, one in the face of one the other in the sack of another, she raced forward into the fray. 

            Two of the attackers veered off to avoid her swinging rackets that the spy now wielded like a detached set of nunchuks, and raced at Alex, blades raised above the heads in a two handed grip.  Alex backed up to the rim of the heliport as they advanced and then just at the last possible second she crouched and tumbled in a somersault forward between them as the silver blades sliced downward on either side of her, the white hot heat of the steel heating her skin as she past through them unscathed hitting the netting on the edge and slicing open a large gash.  She sprang to her feet jump and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick that connected to the chins of her assailants. 

            Yasmin swung the rackets with fury and style, blocking each hit the two tried and as sparks ignited from the joining of the scimitars and the aluminium of the rackets.  The spy danced about, always a moving target as she tried to get them to form a line, one in front of other, which, with inexperienced multiple fighters always happens.  They refused to cooperate so she took the initiative, crossing the rackets she blocked a down stroke, wrenched her arms over hard to one side using the leverage of the motion to force the sword down to the ground and open up her opponent. 

            “HAA!” Yasmin yelled as she delivered a swinging upward kick that connected flush with his face.  She released her tension on the sword and volleyed up and down his body with the edge of the paddles, before dodging just clear of a swing of the blade from his partner.  She rolled under it and came up swinging, a double shot backhand to the back of his knees cut him down to size.  She came up behind him, gave a quick glance to his partner to ensure he was no threat and then powered her weapons toward his neck, the flat of the edges cracking into each side of his neck.  She held them in place as he made slow gurgling sounds and splash of blood gushed from his mouth, she pulled them away, he fell forward face first into the artificial turf. She turned her attention to her remaining foe when something out of the corner of her eye caused and immediate change of plans. 

            Alex danced about, avoiding blows and looking for an opening, her athletic grace and quickness keeping her free of their intended malice.  A missed blow afforded her an opportunity, as she sidestepped the whizzing metal, spun backward launched herself in the air came around with a spinning jump kick that landed with full fury to his jaw.  She landed cart wheeled to her left, then spun low extending one of her legs and sweeping the other off his feet, he landed with a thud hard on his back knocking with wind out of him.  The COIL spy executed a back walkover, secured her ankles about his neck and twisted.  She released tumbled forward in a hand spring and climbed high in the air leg outstretched as she flew at the remaining one her foot connecting with his chest and driving him backward to near the rim of the platform.  She landed beside his unsteady form, seized his arms and the hilt of the swung it behind his back and thrust it forward and through the blade emerging out the middle of his chest he wobbled for a few seconds, it was at this point that Yasmin caught sight and rushed to her.

            Alex’s foe had just enough strength and perhaps vengeance left in him to catch her off guard and thrust backward into her before he fell sideways dead.  The collision commenced her forward off balance and through the hole cut in the netting.  Alex watched in wide eyed terror as she passed through the void in the net, and into the open sky. 

            Yasmin flung her body in the air, splayed her legs so they could catch on either side of the support bars and dove through the netting her hands catching Alex by the ankles, just. 

            “Arms to my waist,” Yasmin said as Alex tucked her body and pulled up securing her arms around Yasmin’s middle.

            “Company at six o’clock,” Alex said as she spied the lone member of the quartet left moving toward them having recovered from the beating Yasmin had given him. 

            Yasmin pulled back on her legs with all her power and flung Alex and her up through the hole and Alex into the air where she twisted and righted her body in flight and came down on the surprised man knocking the sword from his hand while her thighs secured his head between them. 

            “The hard edge of a blade replaced by the smooth steel of my partners thighs,” Yasmin said in Arabic as she leaned over him.

            “We need information so I would suggest you talk or my partner will make things even more confining than they already are,” she added with a nod to Alex to deliver just a taste.

            “Bet that hurt, it will hurt a lot more if you don’t talk.  Now who are you working for, where are they located and what were we smuggling,” she asked.

            Alex rotated her thighs about and tightened to loosen his tongue, it took a few minutes and a few more convincing squeezes from Alex before began to comply. 

            “They are guidance circuit boards for ground launch pick up truck size nuclear missiles.  I was to deliver them to one of the private islands, I don’t know the name,” he gasped.

            “So tell me how to get there and maybe my friend will relax her pressure a little,”

            “Off shore, the one with only the large house and warehouse building on it, all I know,” he moaned.

            “Who are you working for, I need names,” Yasmin demanded.

            “They will kill me if I tell you,”

            “And my partner will kill you if you don’t,” Yasmin said and motioned to Alex who delivered inward pressure.

            “Vanessa Hawkes,” he coughed.

            “That’s who, I asked what organisation,” Yasmin snapped back.

            “She only said it once I could be wrong, but I think she said something like SNARE,” he answered and then went limp as Alex turned her hips and snapped his neck.

            “We need to move fast,” was all the COIL agent said as she walked over to their bags and pulled out her phone.

            “Hello,” Chase 5467 Red Delta, I need a pick up and clean up for four, triangulate on my position.  Yes you need to clear and confirm with the locales will that be a problem, good. You have the fix, excellent, I also need the following equipment and intelligence delivered to me,” Alex said as she walked away from Yasmin and spoke.

            “What is going on and what is SNARE?” she asked as they walked.

            “You are about to enter my world Yasmin Bennett,” Alex smiled and took her hand as they walked off the court.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            “The proper procedure is to call in all agents and the military if that what’s required,” Yasmin said for the sixth time.

            “You say that several more times you just may start to believe it,” Alex shot back as she opened the case and looked at the items she’d requested.

            “I’m serious,” the CIA agent said.

            “And so am I Yasmin Bennett, you saw us up their today, a fluid team, this is your big chance.  Look the circuit boards are all safely hidden and booby trapped if the box is opened wrong, but we’re after more than that, the intell is the real prize and I can tell you from what I know about SNARE, they love to keep records of who owes what and where things are or can be found,” Alex answered.

            “And just what do you know about this SNARE?” Yasmin asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

            “It was started by a defector from COIL, Lady Tara Ashton-White, a brilliant agent.  It’s a very small operation, we do not know the precise size but all I can say is the agents she does have are all of her calibre and they all share her immoral compass,” Alex answered.

            “And of course they’re all beautiful and deadly right?” Yasmin mocked.

            “Yes, just like you and me,” Alex answered back flatly.  “Look, you want to do it your way, fine, I have a place to be in a few days and a life depends on me being their, but I know what these people are capable of.  Pick up truck launched missiles into the Gulf, what kind of damage do you think that would cause worldwide from sinking tankers and a blocked access route or maybe they want to use they to start another war.  I had you pegged as a risk taker and a doer from the moment we met, cold shoulder and all from me, you kept coming,” Alex challenged.

            “There’s risk and then theirs stupid,” Yasmin answered.

            “If that was the case you never would have tried to save me this afternoon,” Alex said to dead silence.  “Look set up an email with all we know and set it to go out at a fixed time.  In that case if we fail, others can finish it up, but if we succeed you get to have the adventure of a lifetime and look great for the bosses, what could be better than that?” Alex cheered.

            “Being alive,” Yasmin retorted.

            “If you thought like that you never would have allowed yourself to be recruited, you’re an adrenaline junkie like me and besides if you come along you get to play with some really cool gadgets,” Alex said and then smiled as Yasmin gave in to the temptation of working with this woman.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            I can’t believe all this came here so quickly,” Yasmin said as they drove along the beach road out of town.  “I thought you said you were a bit of a rogue agent at this moment.”

            “I am, but I have two helpers in my corner.  One is my mentor, she knows how to procure things without alerting higher ups, the knowledge gained from years of service, favours built up and of course her reputation.  The other is my kid sister, a new agent rushed through the system like me to agent status, but she seems to be able to find the cracks and holes in the network and get things to me,” Alex said as she drove along glancing sideways every so often.

            “Turn here,” Yasmin said as she glanced at the screen of the handheld GPS.

            Alex wheeled the jeep off the road and onto the sand then in front of a small dune.  The two got out and began silently to unpack the gear stowed in the back, each knowing exactly what they had to do as the light faded with the end of day.  Once completed Yasmin opened her laptop and brought up her prewritten email with exactly what needed to be done should their mission fail or they not return.  She plugged in the charger adaptor to keep it running and set the time for the message to be sent. 

            Alex had already stripped off her shorts and tee and was beginning to pull on her wetsuit over her bikini, Yasmin started to do the same.  They each zipped up, the smooth second skin closing around them and silhouetting their curves against the last of the light and making them look even more seductive and dangerous if that was possible.  They slipped devices and gear into place on the slots provided by the suits, grabbed the remaining equipment and headed for the water. 

            Alex and Yasmin inserted the send/receivers into their ears and pulled on there hoods, splashed a little water inside their full face masks from the lapping surf and donned them, strapped on their air tanks and connected the intake into the special mask and pushed a button on the side activating the GSM radio.  The duo picked up their respective DPD’s (Diver Propulsion Device) and waded into the water up to their chests.

            “Switch on DPD and power up GPS system,” Alex said through the GSM radio.

            “Powered up, co-ordinates locked into system,” Yasmin answered back, as she connected a six foot line to each of their DPD’s and strapped in her hands to the controls.

            “Power up and lets go,” Alex answered.

            “With you all the way,” came the reply as the two disappeared below the surface of the inky black water.

            The two glide along in silence, the DPD”s pulling them along at a constant 3 knots toward the island, the screen on the DPD displaying a virtual map of their progress and when they got closer to the island they could switch to a three dimensional map of the island itself and all the features of the water that surrounded it.  The two had already decided to use the channel for the boat slip as the warehouse was located there and it would most likely only be guarded by one or two people at most because of the impractically of coming in undetected and as far as the spies knew nobody was expecting them.  They turned silently in the water, the onboard sonar and GPS system adjusting the course as they skimmed along ten feet under the surface. 

            “About another 10 minutes,” Alex said into the mike.

            “Copy, how are you doing,” Yasmin answered back.

            “Fine, good to hear a voice in this void though,” Alex replied and that ended their conversation.

            The silently entered the slip, the DPD’s powering down until they shut off automatically and the duo used their flippers to propel them to the middle of the slip and the metal stairs railing that led down to the water from the jetty. They tied off the propulsion devices a step below the water line, detached their masks and air tanks and secured them as well and lastly slipped out of their fins, doffed their neoprene head coverings and ascended the ladder, Alex leading the way. 

            A quick look just over the top to see if the way was clear and then a nimble dash up the remaining rungs and across an open piece of pavement plastered their bodies up against the wall of the large storage building.  Yasmin made a motion with her arm to indicate the direction to the door, Alex moved away in the opposite to meet up with her on the other side.   The CIA agent crept along in the shadow of the building until she peered around a corner and saw the guard by the door.  The spy reached into her hair and pulled out her weapon, a bobby pin poison dart.  She stepped around the corner planted her feet firmly and released it with fluid force, the guard turned to see her and just in time to feel the prick in his neck and fall to the ground glassy eyed as she advanced and took his weapon, a small calibre hand gun.

            “Alex I have the entrance secured,” she said into the ear set mic.

            “Affirmative, I’m inside, I’ve eliminated the guard on this side, moving toward the office section which is at my end of the building,” Alex answered in her ear.

           

            “Roger I have the warehouse, meet you at the office, out,” Yasmin said and reached for the knife strapped to her leg.

            The black clad beauty twisted the handle and turned the knife over depositing a pin in her hand which she inserted into the keyhole until it disappear and then seconds later so did the lock as the dissolving pin released its metal acid wash and ate away the mechanism.  Yasmin pushed open the door, pulled the guard inside and closed the door.  She wasted no time moving about the rows of neatly stacked crates and boxes.

            “Very considerate of them to group full component groups together for me, makes it so much easier for me to tag them,” Yasmin said as she moved about pulling paper thin micro tracking devices from her wetsuit and sticking them to innocuous parts of each crate and box. 

            “Alex was right, really cool gadgets and to think the power in these little suckers can last for weeks and they can be tracked by satellite.”

            She finished the last when the door she’d come through swung open and all hell broke loose.  Yasmin dove sideways, her body side somersaulting gracefully as a sheet of automatic fire sprayed around her.  She popped up behind a crate and squeezed off a round nailing one of her opponents in the chest.  She dared forward in the blackness and then sprang into the isle rolled and fired hitting another, then the lights came on and more guards flooded in from that door and through a door Alex as racing through at the other end. 

            Alex suddenly stopped and back flipped until she was in the middle of the pack of seven of them and proceeded to unleash her martial arts skills.  Kicks and punches that disable three of them instantly while the others fell back and regrouped against her each stinging from a blow. 

            Yasmin took the clue, mix in with them and they couldn’t risk firing without hitting each other.  She worked her way quickly up the isle, alternatively firing and running for cover until she ran a full tilt, jumped and spring boarded off a crate into the centre of them, her extended leg crushing the jaw of one and pinning another against the wall as she landed, a quick thrust of her hips forward smashed his larynx and him.  She spun around, leg still in the air and crashed her foot into the face of another, before whirling her arms to one side generating the momentum for her lower body as she rotated around and snapped her other leg into the air connecting with another. 

            Alex used their backing off to deliver the last of her cache of poison pins from her hair.  She threw two that imbedded in the necks of her targets and while the others watched in horror at their comrades she placed the remaining two, one in each hand and blew them away with a mock kiss at the end. They stung into the cheek of one and the forehead of another instantly delivering death.  Her one remaining obstacle leapt forward and delivered a body smashing punch to her stomach then recoiled holding his hand.

            “Sorry baby, but the body armour in my wetsuit is hard to penetrate,” she smiled before executing a front handstand and securing her thighs around his neck for a just a second before her hips supplied a twist that cracked his neck, she released and came to her feet moving toward Yasmin who was busy introducing her adversaries to her duo purpose wetsuit. 

            She taken care of all but two of the men, but in the process of doing so one had grabbed her from behind and controlled her while the other was about to lay a beating with his kicks into her stomach.  After three shots she smiled and jumped up swung her legs up over his head and closed them around his.  A wrench of her torso turned the trio over and down to the floor where she rolled free of the hold from behind, released her legs and snapped a short kick from a kneeling position against his head driving it down and into the concrete where it stayed.  She wheeled around and spun like a break dancing just in time to launch a kick into the groin of her final victim.  As he fell forward she braced her foot in his chest and flipped him over her following the motion so that she came to her feet standing over him where a sharp flat hand to his head smashed the back of his head into a pool of blood on the floor. 

            “Well that was fun, how’d you do…shit!!’  Yasmin said as bullets ripped all about them sending shards of splintered wood into the air and strays careening of the floor in a shower of sparks. 

            The two ran for cover firing back as the warehouse filled up with more guards and single lone women who raised her hand and the firing stopped.

            “Please do come out or my men will be forced to spread you all over this floor,” she said.

            “We’ve got a better chance if we come out,” Alex said.

            “Did you hit your head when I wasn’t looking, they’ll shoot us right off,” Yasmin said.

            “Trust me on this, like I said, this is my world and I’ll get us out of here,” Alex said as she tossed her gun into the open and stepped out leaving Yasmin with little choice but to follow. 

            The guards lowered their guns and the woman stepped forward.

            “I can smell a COIL agent from a mile away, but who are you?” Vanessa said looking at Yasmin.

            “More to the point, who are you?” Alex asked.

            Vanessa Hawkes, SNARE and now.”

            “Alex Chase and Yasmin Bennett, she’s my trainee,” Alex said immediately raising a protective arm up in front of Yasmin.

            “I knew COIL was hurting, but this, toddlers training babies,” the SNARE agent said derisively in reference to the youth of the two women.  “Oh well, two small fish is I suppose better than no fish.  In case your trainer,” Vanessa said contemptuously.  “Hasn’t told you or has not been told herself, seven of every ten agents are killed within their first year of active duty, you two are merely fulfilling that statistic, bring them along,” Vanessa commanded.

            Yasmin made a move to resist, but Alex put a hand on her.

            “Best to listen to her girl, I detest guns, their so blunt and suddenly final lacking in imagination,” Vanessa explained with a note of menace in her voice.  “So please don’t force me to use them, your suits may protect you but at this range and with this many guns a head shot is inevitable.  Bring them along, off their feet though, you two must need a rest after all that activity.”

            The guards gleefully obeyed picking up the women over their head and carrying them outside as they formed a circle about eight feet around Vanessa, a stunning blonde women dressed in black leggings and dark purple half top that showed of her firm abs and slim waist.

            “Bring them here,” she said as she nodded to guard and he moved off toward the house

            The guards brought them in and lowered them in front of Vanessa and moved off.

            “Strip off those wetsuits girls and be quick about it,” she ordered.

            Yasmin looked at Alex and she just nodded as the duo skinned themselves creating a murmur and gazes from the men.

            “Impressive although your choice in a bikini leaves a great deal to be desired, your trainee makes up for it though,” Vanessa mocked.

            Alex had chosen an old school bikini with metal ring connections at the hips and breasts to hold it together, a definitive seventies style.  Yasmin a much more modern chocolate coloured micro that displayed her wonderful form perfectly as the stares from the guards confirmed. 

            “A bikini is a woman’s weapon of choice, ask any of these men if they disagree with my selection,” Alex retorted.

            Vanessa ignored the remark and chose to move the conversation along rather than banter with a smart mouthed girl as she thought Alex was.

            “As you can imagine this little operation of mine requires a certain amount of secrecy the result of which is that my guards don’t get off the island, keeping them happy and amused is important if somewhat tiresome, fortunately you two will provide a unique diversion for them,” Vanessa nearly purred as she accepted a cloth sack from one of her men. 

            “You both look fit enough, but being so young and inexperienced I wonder just how well the two of you have been trained in more esoteric activities,” she mused as the SNARE agent opened the sack and dumped it out.

            Alex steadied Yasmin as two Cobra’s hissed and rose up barely five feet form where they stood.  Vanessa motioned the circle back a few feet then turned back to the spies.  

            “If you step outside the original line my men will shoot you if you stay within the circle the Cobra’s will bite you, that is unless of course either one or both of you is fluent in the Cobra Dance and even then that is merely an emulation of the snake itself and not a means to hypnotise one as most people think.  I’d love to stay and watch but I have details to attend to regarding my missile sale and to replace the guidance systems you to intercepted,” Vanessa smirked and watched their reaction.

            “News travels fast in this part of the world, your silly little mission had no chance of succeeding, but it was fun to play along for a while.  Now I’ll leave you two I have tracking devices to remove from my merchandise.  Please give my men a good show,” she cooed and walked out of the circle.

            “Ok I’m really out of my depth here Alex, what are we going to do?” Yasmin said panic in her voice.

            “Several things, first, don’t panic, calm down and keep your distance from your Cobra to just a little more than the height it is raised up to, it can only lunge forward as far as it is up off the ground.  Second, she’s wrong about the Cobra Dance, it doesn’t hypnotise the snake, it lulls the reptile into the familiar allowing you to work closer and closer to it without the fear of being bit,” Alex said as the two remained still.

            “How,”

            “Snakes operate on movement, suddenly movement, if you present slow rhythmatically pleasing motions it will not find that enough to strike, in short we’re going to slow them down, dull their reflexes and then catch them,” she added.

            “Grab them!” Yasmin exclaimed in a weak voice.

            “Take a quick look around the circle, all these guys, right now their dicks are as hard as concrete, their thinking with them and only them.  When we start dancing they will be totally focused on us and our body motions, while you dance pick out one of them that you feel is the weakest, he’ll be the one who lets his rifle hang in one hand and at that very loosely.  Most likely he’ll be right next to the one I pick as men seem to congregate in like groups, those two are our targets,” Alex whispered.

            “And the plan?” Yasmin whispered back

            “Grab the snakes throw them towards them, their instinctive reaction will be to raise both hands a defence, we grab their guns and lay waste to everyone we can then break for the water and equipment, get back and call in your help. 

            “Sounds great except I have no idea how to dance,” Yasmin answered.

            “Yes you do, you’re a woman with a body made to distract and tempt.  I’ll start and you just mirror my movements, once you have the basics add things, but always be fluid and slow, feed off these goons and their collective fever for our bodies,” Alex offered as she turned her back to the snakes and her face to Yasmin.

            The COIL agent slowly raised one arm up the side of her body in a slow slithering motion until it trailed off her cheek and rose into the air. Yasmin tentatively reflected the action then followed suit with her other arm only this time she twined the raised arm, much like a snake would wrap around a tree branch as it climbed, finishing with her outstretched hands pressed palm to palm.  Alex slowly swirled her hips then rocked then back and forth on her pelvis before bringing her whole body into the motion with dips and bends and faints of her ass, hips and torso.  Yasmin’s fluency was almost a match and she grew in confidence, heeding Alex’s works she looked about at the lustful faces starring at them, she could almost feel their bulges getting bigger with each sway. 

            Alex languidly lowered her body to a squatting position in front of Yasmin, her ass rolling up and down as she dropped her head down to her partner’s ankles and lapped her tongue about each one before begin the torpid climb up one of her legs, her head and body twisting and turning like a snake as her tongue ascended.

            Yasmin closed her eyes and let her instinctive feminine wiles take over, her body a Siren of temptation for the men watching as her curves seemed to merge into one another and rollercoaster their eyes on a ride of delight.  Her arms untwined and lowered to shoulder length as they spread out like wings then folded in and up at the elbows before beginning a gentle sway like little flowers in a summer’s breeze.  She brought them in close to her and then away, always with a different motion, sometimes sweeping down and around, but never touching Alex as she steadily rose moving her upper body in a watery opposite direction the her partners head. 

            Alex came up Yasmin’s long thigh, skimmed over her bikini bottom and closed around her belly button for a soft slow kiss.  Alex could feel men losing control about her and eyes begin to glass over while the snakes merely watched, alert but not aggressive.  She finished her withdrawal and coiled her tongue off to one side of Yasmin’s smooth taut stomach just as Yasmin slide her tongue along the tip of Alex’s ear and then down the side of her neck.  The COIL spy tacked upward and through the valley of her partners breasts as Yasmin slide her wet tongue down a shoulder blade and then over and down between Alex’s tits as the two passed each other, their respective bikini clad bodies swaying in opposite direction as the duo tantalised the males with their seductiveness.  Yasmin returned the touch longingly kissing Alex’s belly button as the spies asses tangoed in and out and around in slow swirls in response to the touches.  Alex took over Yasmin’s swaying arms as the CIA Agent crept downward and finished then rose slowly and synced her motion up to that of her partner until the two were one a perfect mirror image, Alex turned around and moved to the side as the turned their attention to the fascinated Cobra’s.

            No more talk was needed between the two, they moved as one, slow forward arm extensions to within inches of the mouths of the serpents getting them to rise up higher then daringly slinking into and arching back bending in their forms and filling the space the snakes had created as the stood to attention then casually pulling out and straightening up all the while in constant motion and moving closer to the edge of the circle the snakes slithering along with them, they had two guards picked out, both resting their rifles between their legs and mindlessly running two fingers up and down the barrels. 

            Yasmin and Alex treated them to a close up of their tanned and by now slick bodies, it only added to the tease and disarming trap as they could tell.  They danced away and around turning the snakes toward them and their faces to their two intended victims.  Alex slipped behind Yasmin and swayed opposite to her motion before sinking down and working her head through Yasmin’s legs at her knees.  The comely spy lowered her arms and drew Alex through, her arms running about in soft waving flutters as Alex was pulled upward Yasmin’s arms running about as they swayed and stepped closer.  They had the men, now the Cobra’s only needed a final few minutes of them and Yasmin delivered the finishing touches.

            A leg swung round Alex and in between hers resting behind an ankle while Yasmin’s arms closed around her waist and ran up Alex’s body sweeping and pulling her arms above her head where Yasmin twisted about them melding their fingers into each others.  Alex slipped her other ankle behind Yasmin’s other foot and began writhing slowly, her body churning side to side and up and down, her hips swirling and pulsing in and out as she mimed being held in the grip of another snake.  The play continued for several minutes, Alex’s sexy gyrations matched by her equally sexy partner’s seductive motions. 

            Yasmin moved forward a little as they swayed until Alex was released, they flashed out a hand each and captured the Cobra’s about their necks and flung them at the two men who reacted just as Alex had said.  The two dashed forward seized the discarded guns and began spraying automatic weapons fire about in a vast swathing circle.  The chaos the Cobra’s had created was more than they could have hoped for, the two male targets of their surprise were dead from bites and the snakes had raced off into the pack of men beside them disbanding any order and giving the spies the full field of fire as men ran about crashing into each to avoid the snakes at first and then piled into each other as their bodies became riddled with bullets and fell in clumps onto each other, only a few managed to run away as Alex and Yasmin emptied the magazines, then bolted for the water.

            They plunged into the water, hoisted on their air tanks, masks, grabbed their DPD’s and were under the water and gone within a minute manoeuvring to avoid small arms fire into the water that was more random chance than location. 

           

            “I think we made it,” Alex said relieved.

            “I don’t know I thought I heard something and saw a large light before we submerged,” Yasmin warned.

            It didn’t take long for her to be proven right, a helicopter swept out over the water and dropped a sonar buoy and then another and then another, the agents were soon triangulated and the hunt brought to bear.  A searchlight was place on the water as the bird slowly moved above adjusting to the co-ordinates from the buoys.  Bullets splashed into the water and near them, they shifted course but were soon back in the gun sights as a small calibre Gatling Gun peppered the sea with lead, the near misses whizzing by with a sound like bee’s trapped inside a glass. They made course corrections again and again only to be zeroed in on every time and each time a little closer than the last

            “There going to get us sooner or later,” Yasmin said her voice clam but resigned.

            “Then we’ll have to get them,” Alex answered.  “Unhook and hand me your DPD.”

            Yasmin did as she was told the sound of bullets spraying the water coming closer, the whoosh of the impact playing on her mind as Alex placed the two devices back to back and wound the six foot nylon line around and around the units until they were taut together, she clipped the coupler in the ring on the unit and secured them together. 

            “Yasmin could see nothing in the blackness and her impatience and curiosity finally got the better of her. 

            “What are you doing?” she asked her voice nervous.

            “Creating an uplifting experience for our friends above.  These DPD”s operate on a mixed fuel system like a torpedo and like a torpedo they have a regulator to give them a constant fuel burn at a constant speed, remove it and it becomes a missile,” Alex said as she took off the covering panel of both units and placed her hands of the regulators.    

            “Their coming closer,” Yasmin said.

            “Good, now swim away from me and get to shore, you have to make it, I’ll draw them in, go,” Alex yelled.

            “I’m not going without you, we been too far along together to separate now, its suicide, you’ll be killed,” Yasmin yelled back.

            “I’m already dead, but not this day,” Alex said softly and it was something in the resigned voice that caused Yasmin to move off away from the sound of the approaching rotors and the thud of the bullets. 

            Alex surfaced holding the DPD’s just below the water and waiting for the search light to find as it scanned the water around her. 

            “Come on you fuckers, the waters cold and I’ve had enough of this,” she yelled as the light traced onto her. 

            She waited until the light bored in on her before she roughly aimed and ripped the regulators off the DPD’s.  The units and her exploded out of the water and up into the air streaking towards the helicopter in a perfect flight trajectory.

            Yasmin had surfaced to watch, the copter was maybe 50 feet off the water, that was all she saw until a sudden stutter of the machine wobbled the search light and then a giant fireball filled the night sky for a mere instant, the flash illuminating a falling object before the metal hulk crashed into the sea, the still revolving blades of the monster skimming the surface as they hit then breaking apart as the water stopped them cold and the shards skipped  along the surface before sinking, like the rest of the burned out machine below the waves.  The CIA operative treaded water as she starred transfixed on what she had just seen, her mind looping the tape back and forth as the imagines flashed across her eyes.

            “Didn’t I tell you to swim to shore?”

            “Alex!” Yasmin exclaimed.

            “You sound surprised,” she said impishly.  “Come on, I’m cold and we still have work to do.”

            “How do we know which way in this blackness,” Yasmin asked.

            Alex held up her arm, attached to her wrist was a miniature GPS locator.

            “Always have a backup!” the COIL agent laughed and the two keeping close swam off.

            They dragged themselves out of the water and up to the jeep.  Yasmin flipped open the laptop as Alex thru a towel around her then herself, then reached out and hit the delete button on the email just as Yasmin was about to send it.

            “What are you doing I need call in help to destroy that building and its contents before they move it,” she barked in a very annoyed voice and began typing furiously.

            Alex reached under her towel and slid down and off her bikini bottoms and brought them up to her face.

            “Remember when I said a bikini is a woman’s weapon of choice, well,” she smiled then proceeded to undo the metal rings that held the two pieces of cloth together as she looked at Yasmin.

            Yasmin watched in fascination as Alex twisted the ring about on some internal invisible hinge until each semicircle was a mirror opposite of the other.  She gave a slight pull to one them and a UBS connection emerge from one end.  She inserted it into the laptop and let the files upload while she manipulated the other and repeated the process handing it to Yasmin to upload when the other was complete as she went to change.

            “Like I said, really cool gadgets,” Alex smiled.

            “This is fantastic, all the contacts, names, dates, location, bank accounts, amount transaction even telephone numbers,” Yasmin said as she sorted the data for transmission as they drove back to the hotel.

            “Get it sorted, get it sent and let the other end co-ordinate the round up soon to be senior field agent Yasmin Bennett,” Alex said as she flashed a smile.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *         

            “Well?” Alex asked.

            “Everybody and everything except Vanessa,” Yasmin answered as she closed the phone.

            “Not surprising, but she’ll turn up again, what about….” Alex let the question hang.

            “Apparently COIL does exist, your code word shut everyone’s mouth, never even came up when it should have.  My director also agreed to hold on to my report for several weeks as per your request.  He’s also flying in to meet with me personally on as he said an exceptionally well done mission,” Yasmin said with a huge smile.

            “My flight is being called,” Alex said with a sigh as the two exchanged a long hug.

             The future looks bright for you,” Alex said as they parted.

            “What about you,” Yasmin asked.

            “You already know mine,” Alex said as she walked toward her flight.