The Judas Stones - Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

         “That took longer than I expected!” he snapped.

         “I’m sorry sir but the data was somewhat jumbled and out of order, it took a while to collect and collate the data into something that was useful,” his assistant answered handing him the disk.

         He analyzed the data for sometime, flipping back and forth between screens and several programs her had open before a long perplexed frown settled on his face.

         “So these six fools are going to try doing the impossible!  Quite frankly I’m surprised Mrs. Hawthorne would have anything to do with this, she’s usually such a loner, but nobodies fool, until now I see.  I recognize the Kunoichi, a minor annoyance, but who are the others, all C.O.I.L. agents I assume?” he asked starring at the screen.

         The blonde and the redhead are new C.O.I.L. agents, the redhead is Paige Worthington, I confirmed that with Mai Tai, but I’m sorry we have no data on the blonde as of yet, but I’m still working on that for you,” he said nervously.

         “See that you do and the other two, who are they?”

         “Data is hard to come by on the shorter blonde woman, I think it may have been corrupted in the transmission and is well, lost, along with our agent,” he said hoping his lie about the data would by him more time to find out who this elusive woman was.

         “I see,” he answered looking up from the screen and studying his assistant carefully.  “Perhaps you’ll be able to incorrupt the data over the next few days and this young woman, is she also a new recruit or is her data damaged as well!” he asked his voice twisting on the words.

         “I ran her picture through our files and came up empty, then a remembered reading a report from one of our satellite associations that we sometimes do business with.  I plugged into their data base a found her,” he said proudly.

         “You’re only at 50% efficiency with her name and info, that’s hardly a mark to take pride in!” his boss said sticking a pin into his ego.

         “Her names Aki Eto and until several weeks ago she was an active member of The Poison Geisha Clan, that is until she was reported killed in a car crash,” he quickly stated feeling the heat rise in his face from the stinging rebuke of before.

         “It would appear she has cheated death, for the present at least.  Alert Uoko regarding this development, I’m sure she’ll be more than a little interested in correcting this mistake before it gets too far out of hand.  How did you manage to obtain such through information given the death of our operative so early in the mission?” he asked still absorbed thought.

         “Since they would be leaving at some point on their mission I merely took the precaution of having a fixed amount of our very low level functionaries on hand at the airport.  Thanks to their efforts we now have an initial itinerary of each woman’s mission and they are blissfully unaware of it,” he said his voice flat and emotionless this time.

         “Well done,” was all he got in return and its tome matched his but he took it with pride as a compliment anyway.

         “I also prepared this list of agents that are available.  I even took the liberty of matching their specific skills against that of the others known skills to better ensure success for D.O.O.M.,” he pushed hoping to build on his previous triumph.

         “Yes these should do nicely, but also contract outside help.  We need to cover before, during and after the mission, if they get that far, in this case!” he emphasized.

         “Why are we committing so many resources to his case if the chances of success are almost zero?”  he questioned.

         “Do you have any idea how valuable The Judas Stones are?  No I think you don’t given the stupidity of that question!  Just so I don’t have to endure another round of it I’ll illuminate you!  They have the power to heal instantly any wound, to cleanse any poison from the body.  They are even rumoured to have the ability to raise people from the dead!  Imagine what would happen if C.O.I.L. got their hands on them, they would become invincible.  They want the stones to heal the conspicuously silent and absent Miss Baxter and that along with the other I just mentioned is something D.O.O.M. cannot allow to happen!”

         “If there that powerful why hasn’t D.O.O.M. obtained them then?” the assistant asked deciding he’d already disgraced himself beyond the point of return.

         “We have tried in the past and failed every time so it was decided a more prudent form of action was to simply make sure no one else did succeed!  People are in place to halt any attempts, but given the circumstances and what appears to be the calibre of talent involved in this attempt I don’t want to leave any margin for error!” he answered severely rebuking him.

         There is one other matter sir, it regards her,” he said ignoring the beating he’d just taken.

         He took the report and snapped it open, his eyes flashing across the paper, narrowing as they did in cold fury. 

         “This is proving to be quite an afternoon.  So she has the thirteenth stone, well if legend is correct that will slowly draw her to the others and I don’t think C.O.I.L. will be in to receptive a mood after what she did to them!  Perhaps they can do our dirty work for us and we’ll kindly pick up the remains.”

         “I would like to point out sir that she has proved to be a rather resourceful in eluding us so far?” his assistant questioned.

         “We’ve cut off all her sources to financing and intelligence all she has left is her dwindling cash reserves and they to will soon be exhausted and then where will she be?” he responded.

         “Even more dangerous than she already is and if I may say, desperate!”

         He flashed his assistant a look, not of anger, but of surprise, before returning to the report absentmindedly thumbing its pages.

         “If we know her current whereabouts arrange another attempt, but not one of our agents, use outside labour,” he admonished before handing the report back.

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

         The prow of the boat pushed aside the still waters in a sluggish manner that totally befit the speed it was traveling at.  Lady Alice Hamilton stood near the bow peering to the hazy morning sunlight for the site of land and her destination, the town of Santa Maria on the northern tip of Lake Bangwedu. 

         “The old fort should be visible any time soon Ma’am,” the first mate said.

         Alice smiled and nodded silently to him with a quick turn of her head before she turned back the horizon and he started talking again.

         “Government’s big idea to turn that old pile of stones into a luxury hotel for westerners to come and spent money at, problem is, their putting more money into fixing it up than you people are spending at it!” he said with a laugh as the outline of the old British fort, a leftover from colonial rule came into view. 

         His dissertation was about to continue when the captain barked out orders and he scrambled off much to Alice’s relief.  She and four other people disembarked minutes later onto a rickety dock along with a jumble of supplies.  Here and there hotel attendants greeted the guests and did there best to collect the suitcases and guide them up the winding stone path toward the main gate of the old fort admonishing they to say on the path.  Alice could see clearly why, on either side of the secure stone walkway the ground was a sea of mud and shallow dug holes and sloshed with liquid earth.   They passed underneath the raised iron gates suspended above the archway and into the quadrangle of the stone monument proper, even with the confines of the fort; the mud was ever present, before entering into the hotel at the far end of the common space through a large arched opening.  There the hotel manager greeted them warmly as Alice eyed her fellow travelers, all women, suspiciously.  Two Indian women, both in their fifties, slim and sexy and each wearing a stunning two piece sari, one of green crepe and the other a red silk creation.  Their black hair piled high and pinned perfectly in place set off their ageless faces as did their sparing make up and use of exotic jewellery, some shaped liked insects, others as reptiles. 

         The next was a handsome young man from Morocco, dressed to perfection in a crisp new suit of white linen and very pleasing to her eye to behold.  The fourth was a young Nubian woman from Ghana dressed in a tight fitting gold body cloth with matching head wrap.  She was thin, tall and gracefully flowing as she moved.

         “Rather like a reed in the wind,” Alice thought.

         The manger and staff processed their guests and apologized profusely about the appearance of the hotel, explaining that it was ongoing construction of a new water system, but not to worry the old system worked fine.   In an efficient manner Alice was soon checked in and being escorted up the stairs to her room.  She was more than convinced all four sets of eyes were fixed upon her as she went.  Since Aki’s warning about their assignment being compromised she’d been careful, as always, to give as little away about herself as possible.  Her colleagues may know something of her skills, Mrs. Hawthorne more so than the rest, but they didn’t know all and she aimed to keep it that way, especially to her new admirers.  Toward that end she’d deliberately worn loose fitting, even frumpy clothing to conceal her body from scrutiny and prying eyes, that is until it would be too late for them to use that knowledge against her! 

         She tipped the porter and closed the door before turning to survey her less than four star accommodations, but certainly better then she had expected.  A bed covered in the requisite mosquito netting occupied the far wall to her right and to her left was the small bathroom, complete with sink, shower and toilet.  Immediately before her was her lounge area consisting of a coffee table/bar, love seat and chair all from the early 90’s in style and looking like they’d seen much better days.  The floor left a little to be desired as well, the tiles were cracked and heaved in places creating an uneven surface that management had tried to disguise with various throw rugs, and failed!  Directly beyond that two large glass doors opened onto the pool, bar and general gathering area all of which looked surprising modern, inviting and well cared for.  Alice swung open the doors and stepped out into the blue sky and its beating sun quickly catching out of the corner of her eyes, to one side the two Indian women and opposite, the woman from Cameroon, both parties quickly disappearing back into their respective rooms.  She smiled to herself and went back inside to unpack.

         “This is going to get very interesting, very soon!” she mused.  “I can feel the heat building already!”

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

         Mrs. Hawthorne removed her stylish headscarf, five hours of open dusty roads had not spared her hair totally from the ravages of the open road, but the covering had helped.  She passed under the welcoming and cooling arches of palm trees that lined the entrance walk to the hotel.  The sound of cool babbling water echoed around her, a constant reminder of why Gat existed, from fountains and ornately constructed fountains and pools.  An oasis town along and old caravan trade route Gat had transformed itself into a modern exclusive vacation area for only the most wealthy and discriminating travelers.  It attracted foreign currency, especially much needed U.S. dollars by offering all the luxuries and amenities that people demanded, including, but limited too, a casino, many bars and nightclubs and other more personal services that guest wished to remain discreet about. 

         “Sylvia Hawthorne,” she said to the smartly dressed front desk clerk as she removed her gloves. 

         “Yes, Mrs. Hawthorne, welcome to Gat we hope you enjoy your stay,” he smiled and turned the register on its swivel for her to sign.

         A quick wave of his hand as she was soon being whisked off to her room, one of the best suites in the resort in yet another means of transport, a modified golf cart.  Her room was everything she expected of a first class establishment.  The floors were a brilliant display of red and earth coloured tiles interspersed with tiled mosaics containing every hue and colour imaginable.  The stuccoed walls painted sunset orange and yellows and furniture intricately carved hardwoods all in the Arabian style and covered in soft welcoming fabrics.  She enjoyed a private walkout patio for her own enjoyment that also connected to the pool and more public offerings if she chose, but right now all she wanted was a shower to scrape away the layers of accumulated sand from her travels.

         “But first a fruit,” she though walking towards the large bowl of complimentary fruit upon the bar.

         Her eye focused on the appealing pomegranate right on top, a personal favourite, she nearly seized it when just as suddenly she reversed herself and flipped over the entire bowl sending the contents skittering over the bar and onto the floor save one member who she definitely was not edible, a Trap Door Spider, highly poisonous!  Sylvia quickly withdrew one of her hairpins and impaled her unwelcome guest to the bar top!

         “On second thought, I think I’ll wait,” she said watching her vanquished opponent twist helplessly about.

          

         She emerged from her shower towelling her hair dry before sweeping it up and encasing it under the soft cloth that she twisted about her head.  She preferred to let the remainder of her naked body dry naturally, the globules of water clinging to her as she unpacked it clothes, before dislodging to the pull of gravity and cascading down in eddies of dissipating moisture. 

         Her toned and chiselled yet still ultra feminine body moved gracefully about, her trip to India, while almost her death, had given in added weapons to her already formidable arsenal, but it had given her something else, an even sexier physique than before!  She lost a dress size, increased her flexibility, accentuated her curves and tightened her entire form, her legs seemed to flow upward forever now and her breasts had become firmer and fuller while her ass had hardened into a smaller more eye catching form, a form she’s enhanced with a new motion!  She knew all this would come in handy as she picked up the final item in her suitcase, a bikini.

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

For an Englishwoman Paige Worthington was an anomaly, she liked, even thrived in hot humid weather, so Panama City with its plus 90 degree, sticky heat, did not affect her in the least.  That said however she was glad to be finally alone in her rented cottage so she could free herself from her clothes.  Her gorgeous young hard body spilled free of there restraints and breathed the air as the spy donned a loose fit caftan and got down to work. 

         The spy opened her laptop, plugged in her GPS locator to the USB port and called up the map of Panama City, punched in the co-ordinates and waited for the communication from the satellite to the locator to the computer to complete.  Within a minute she had the exact location of her prize and with a few more enhancements a three dimensional map of its location. 

         “This seemed much easier when Alice explained it to me!” Paige said wearingly.

         She accessed the official site, checked the times and picked her spot which had to be night.  She wouldn’t need long, maybe 20 minutes to complete the operation from start to finish, she soon settled on the time, just after 1 AM the next day.

         “That gives me more than enough leeway to see the site in person, a map is fine, but I’d rather see the real thing up close an personal and to do that I’m going to need to acquire a few things!” she said.

         The young spy unpacked her clothes, changed into a pair a light cotton pants, tennis shoes and a white cotton tee, before donning a baseball cap.  She picked up her shoulder strap purse, placed the specialty items she needed inside, swung it over her shoulder and departed her cottage.

         “Hey you there, hold up a minute!” Paige said in perfect Spanish reaching into her purse, as the object of her call stopped.

         “Can I see you ID please?” she asked politely yet with a firm all business tone.

“What for! Who are you?” a small man said as her instinctively grabbed his ID card than dangled from a string around his neck.

“Esther Gonzales, Port Security.  Nothing to worry about just a random check of your cards validation, merely routine,” Paige said again in perfect Spanish.

The man looked at her carefully not entirely sure if he trusted the looked of her and Paige could sense it.

“English mother and Spanish father,” she said with a smile.  “However something got mixed up along the way, I have the sensitive skin of an Englishwoman but the love for the sun of a Spaniard.  Should have been the other way around or something like that!” she laughed and he followed suit as she held out her hand and he passed her his card.

The C.O.I.L. agent inserted the card into one end of her Palm Pilot, pushed several buttons on the keypad and the card disappeared for a second then reappeared with confirmed flashing across the screen of her device.  She pulled the card free and handed it back to him.

“Everything’s fine, sorry to have bothered you, but you know how security is these days,” she smiled and started to walk away.

“Yes I do!” he said.  “Now can I see your ID just so I can be sure?” he asked.

Paige turned around smiled and walked back to him.

“Of course!” she said pulling out her card that looked just like his a handing it to him. 

“I’m glad to see you take an interest in the entire operation and not just your job,” she added.

He smiled at the compliment and at her and handed the card back.  She gave a slight smile in return, the kind that indicated nothing more was going to happen, so he turned and left.  Paige patted the pseudo Palm Pilot and admired the card.  In seconds it had decipher and copied all the data from his card onto hers and created her a duplicate card complete with her picture.  She now had the access she needed! 

“An excellent opening gambit Miss Worthington, but you still have a long way to go my little pawn before you can become a queen and the next move is mine!” a voice said from behind a pair of binoculars a way off.   

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

         “Here let me help you with that,” a soft sultry voice said.

         “Thanks, I’m kind of new to all this and putting this thing on is like hand to hand combat for me.”

         “An interesting choice of words,” she answered hooking the final clasp in place with a smile and a lick of her lips before moving on.

         Alexandra ‘Alex’ Chase watched the woman glide away from her with motioned grace, her eyes following the outline of her body and the costume that barely covered it.  She shook herself away from the ethereal form and back to reality as the pearls sewn onto her costume bobbled in reaction.

         “If that’s what you can call it.  I thought places and palaces like this were only in bad Hollywood movies and old 1930’s serials!  However, when you were a member of the royal household, no matter how tenuous the connection, fantasy and reality blurred in a seemingly endless pit of money.  But here I am inside the palace of Sheik Fazil Ali and a member of his harem no less!” she inwardly mused.

         Joining had been easy, her assets had spoken for her during the interview, blonde, suntanned sexy body and effervescent personality she was easily accepted into his confidence.  What she hadn’t counted on were the other twenty women also under his house any one or more of which was most assuredly a D.O.O.M. operative or freelancer looking to stop her!  So far they’d tried nothing mainly because she’d given them no reason to suspect her and she hopefully aimed to keep it that way.  She knew the stones location, but getting to it was another matter altogether!  It was in a room off limits to all except Sheik Fazil and a few of his trusted servants, one of which just happen to be the woman who had just helped her, Salome Alam. 

         “All I need is 30 seconds to a minute inside that room and then I’ll be gone, but I need the key from one of them, but which one to try?” Alex thought as she adjusted her costume and hooked her veil in place.

         “Perhaps the Sheik will find my dancing today worthy of a private command performance later,” she smiled to herself as she moved into the main room and the music started.

         Alex cupped her hands together over her head and slowly to the beat of the music began undulating her hips in a protracted small circle of rhythm.  Her hard tanned thighs emerging from the slit within her gauzy harem pants as the wave strands of pearls about her exposed stomach danced with her!  The small piece of wrap around cloth covering her breasts strained to hold them back as each movement threatened to topple them over the edge and prove to her audience that she only had it there for modesties sake and not for support!  The spy reversed her motion several times, each change capturing and holding the Sheiks and his guest’s eyes!  She raced forward to them, her quick light silent steps measured to the beat of the music perfectly and began her dance again, this time just inches from their faces as she moved amongst the assembled panel her hips dazzling them with spellbinding sways.

         The spy sunk her body lower, shifted her hands behind her back and pushed forward perking her already stunningly firm breasts even further and jiggling them at exceedingly close eye level while she smiled through her veil at them one at time.  Alex swept her body away in a widening circle and back until she was several feet away from them.  She sped up the tempo of her dance matching the driving increasing pulsating beat of the music until she was a dervish of activity and almost a blur to the eye!  Suddenly her gyrating body flipped backward, her legs flew apart and she landed in a split leg position, barely out of breath, but with fire and passion in her eyes as the music ended.

         A small hand motion and Salome was beside the Sheik, they exchanged a few words and she returned to her position motioning for the next dancer to begin.  Alex retreated to the edge of the floor yielding it graciously to another, but not the Sheik, she could tell he was hers, at least for tonight!

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

         Aki fumbled a little with her compact before she got it open, but she managed, then calmed herself and used it to scan her surroundings will applying her lipstick.  The skills were coming slowly, but they were becoming more nature, thanks to Alex’s encouragement and training during their time together.  Her Poison Geisha training had not included the modern womanly spy arts such as seduction, allurement and deception among others, but again Alex had helped with all that. 

         While she applied her frosty pink coating she mapped the area in her mind as the mirror covered the room in a circle until it stopped on the resting place of the stone.  She closed the compact and lipstick replacing them in her hand purse and walked around the garden looking at the statues, always keeping on eye on her intended target. 

         “Much too crowded to make attempt now!” she thought.  “Come at night and better dressed for occasion.”

         While Aki admired the statues and sculptures in the Ting Wai Park near the centre of Taipei others were admiring her!  Her yellow dress hugged the contours of her scrumptious form to perfection, clinging to her thin narrow hips before diving in at the waist and up and tight against her small sphere-shaped breasts then splitting into two bands that looped around her neck exposing her delicate white shoulders and bare arms to her many watchers.  She moved slightly pushing her small round ass against the material and drawing lookers away, for just the briefest of moments from her long willowy legs that seemed to rise up forever from inside her white heels! 

         Every turn of her thin ankles was watched keenly, each flex of her calf muscles or touch of her hand to her hair drove more of the will and control from her male fans.  She turned around the square a few more times before departing and slipping into a cab, her legs pulling inside slowly to give a final tease.   Alex had always told her she was a knockout in a skirt and she was finally starting to believe in her own power to charm.   She took the cab ride in silence then darted from the car to inside the hotel lobby and into the elevator.

         “Yes she here.”

         “Was at park all morning planning operation”

         “She not get chance to put plan in action.”

         “We put plan in action first!”

         “Why wait, we finish it today!”

         “Okay, agreed we wait and see, and then we kill her!”

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

         “C.O.I.L. attracts the strangest loyalty from people who would be better off minding the own business!  Most of them have no idea what their getting themselves into and once they do it’s too late and they end up dead!  Such will be the case with this young woman I’m afraid!  What did you say was her name again?”

         “Kiko Matsumora and don’t underestimate her, she’s a trained Kunoichi!” he said back through the phone before adding.  “However, I know her skills and resourcefulness will be no match for you Azeema!”

         “A skilful recovery, however, I accept the compliment nonetheless,” Azeema purred.

         “I see from the report you sent me that she and Miss Baxter are quite close.  This certainly helps to bring things full circle for me.  Having been betrayed by my supposed loyal employee, Paige Worthington, who I see somehow managed to become a C.O.I.L. agent, they must be desperate to have taken he on!”

         A none to subtle throat clearing erupted through the speaker phone followed this time by a true admonishing.

         “Miss Worthington was a caterpillar, so to speak when she was with you, yet you failed to see the butterfly waiting to be born.  You not only let Miss Baxter slip through your fingers, but also perhaps of even greater value, you failed to recognise the unborn beauty in her that somehow Miss Baxter saw and now C.O.I.L. benefits from!  However, with this opportunity you have a chance to redeem yourself in a small way and exact revenge on Miss Baxter from afar by taking care of one of her friends!”

         Azeema took the tongue lashing and the unsaid threat of once again failing in stride, she was angered and a little frightened but she would never let that be seen, especially by him!

         “I have everything in hand.  I’m flying to Istanbul right after this conversation to personally supervise matters, but to speed things along I have arranged a welcoming reception for Miss Matsumora, should she decide to make a play for the stone right away, one I think she will find quite sultry in nature.  Failing that I have other contingencies planned and after that, well I can only hope, she and I will have to get to know each other, closely and intimately!” Azeema venomously said.

         Her long toned legs drew even longer looks as she walked across the lobby of the hotel.  The statuesque Japanese beauty sucked all the life in the room to her as she moved!  Her long black hair loose and silky dangled and bounced with each step while her petite round breasts did the opposite and clung firmly in place!  She approached the desk and smiled weakening the knees of the man who greeted her and racing his heart into the red zone!

         “Welcome to Istanbul Miss Matsumora,” he stammered at first but managed to recover just barely keeping his face from flushing like a nervous adolescent. 

         “On behalf of the hotel if there is anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable please tell us and it will be our pleasure to see that it happens.  Let me reinforce that with a complimentary pass to the world famous Byzantium Baths, an exclusive spa for discriminating women, both here in Istanbul and from around the world!”

        

         Kiko smiled and took the card before being escorted to the elevator and up to her room, but not before assuring him she would avail herself of the hotels generosity. 

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

         “I have just received word from Istanbul, the game’s about to begin and end all in the same day for Miss Matsumora!” Azeema said into the phone.