We
Three
Chapter One:
She glanced at the chair for
what seemed forever her feet unable move as if rooted the floor. The
chair was only a few steps away, it wasn’t the distance it was the meaning and
the memory, the shattering of it all that those few steps would complete.
She looked at the others before tentatively reaching out and grabbing the edge
of the desk as if letting go would tumble her into a deep cavern. She
inched along the side and them finally the end until she was directly behind
the seat. The others watched as she slowly lowered herself down and with
her hands still holding on to the edge, fingers white with tension.
“Looks like a perfect fit to
me,” Charlotte said with a reassuring smile.
“I couldn’t agree more!”
Sahara answered.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence
you two it means a great deal to me,” Sharon answered.
“Not just us, all the women
agents!” Sahara Inkano emphatically stated
.
.
Her meaning was not lost on
Sharon Sharpe the new Director of C.O.I.L., Women’s Section. She was well
aware of the split that had erupted between Claire and Catherine and the
dividing of the agents along with it! Sahara’s voice as C.O.I.L.’s most
experienced and one of its most respected agents carried a great deal of wait,
Sharon knew they were united again, not as strong as before, at least not as
things stood at present.
Sharon fumbled for a few
seconds with several files on her desk to stall for time. It was all so
new to her, the administration part. When she was an agent it was simple,
you operated with what you were given for intelligence, divined the rest
through whatever means and completed the assignment. It was always just
you against the other side, all the decisions you made affected just you
alone! Sharon had always liked it that way, her alone against the others,
that way she wasn’t responsible for other people’s lives only her own!
Yet here she was again, only
this time instead of one young woman to look after she now had ten and was
about to add to that number! She didn’t want the job, didn’t ask for it
after Catherine’s death, but she knew she was needed and that once in the game
you never truly escaped it until you were dead! She fumbled some more
until Charlotte, forward as ever, did her the favour of saying it for her.
“You want my trainee and
assume Sahara’s to ‘go active’ don’t you Sharon?”
“My trainee as well and yes
I do, we need them!” Sharon answered.
“They were promised by Catherine full training no corner cutting,” Sahara said in her calm smooth voice.
“They were promised by Catherine full training no corner cutting,” Sahara said in her calm smooth voice.
“Times and circumstances
have changed, for the worse I’m afraid. I don’t like it anymore than you
two do, but the reality is we need them!” Sharon emphasised before
continuing. “Besides, I’ve read the reports you’ve sent about them and they’re
glowing as is mine about Paige.”
“Under our collective
supervision and with limited missions and responsibilities I agree,” Charlotte
interjected.
“I’d like to see a little
more of Whitney in action as I’m sure Charlotte would of Alex or you of Paige,
Sharon. Perhaps another six months is all that’s needed?” Sahara added.
“I second that!” Charlotte stated
flatly.
“Maybe, maybe not.
Look a little deeper. Sharnell trained me; she’s still alive. Gina
trained Charlotte, she’s still alive and Angela trained Sahara, also still
alive. Charlotte you helped train Linka, she’s active, Sahara helped
train Rachel, she still alive. If you check the lineage, so to speak, we
are the only three that can make that claim. I could give you the odds
against this, but I think you see my point!
“I notice you didn’t include
Claire?” Charlotte added softly.
“That’s not fair and really
cruel Charlotte! You know how I feel about Claire!” Sharon’s voice
slammed into her.
“Yes, the same way I feel
about Alex! Not quite the mother daughter relationship you and Claire
have, but I still love her and the last thing I want to see is her end up dead
because she lacked the requisite training or worse end up like Claire!”
Charlotte hammered back.
“Don’t you think I know that
and don’t think it doesn’t bother me. But if we continue on the way we
are I’ll be morning the loss of mostly likely one or both of you. You
both can’t continue to carry the assignment load you’ve been, sooner rather
than later it will catch up to you as it did Claire!” Sharon said adding a
false cough to the end of her sentence hoping it would cover her quavering
voice. “The hard fact is that we’re all expendable as individuals, but
the organisation is not! It must and will go on, that’s my objective and
that’s why I was chosen for this position!”
Sharon saw she’d made her
point and the softened expressions on both Sahara’s and Charlotte’s face told
them all was accepted and they were ready to move on. She pushed a button
on her desk and a few seconds later the door to her outer office opened as
Alexandra Chase, Paige Worthington and Whitney Thomas entered. Each was
so distinctive from the other, but they all shared brains, beauty and a fatal
beauty!
The three each grabbed a
chair and sat down their expressions somewhere between worried and
excited. Worried as to why their trainers were in a meeting which
presumed was about them and excited about it at the same time. Alex and
Whitney surveyed Sharon with a look of fascination at finally being able to
meet the ‘Great Woman’ they’d heard so much about from their trainers, neither
was disappointed by what they saw.
“I have an offer for each of
you. I’m not a woman for mincing words so I’ll come straight to the
point. “After consultation with your trainers I want to make you all
active agents,” Sharon said to shocked and then deliriously happy faces.
“Please understand if you want to stay and complete your training I’ll support
you and nothing more will be said. But, you need to know, C.O.I.L. is in
a very weak position and as new agents with less training and experiences than
we’d like you to have your chances of success are slim!”
Whitney, Paige and Alex
flashed glances at each other and then to their respective trainers. Each
woman knew the situation, the odds and what they were stepping into but they
also knew that they’d been well prepared by an experienced agent, compressed
timeframe or not.
“When do we get our first
mission!” the three said at once.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Charlotte and Sahara had
excused themselves from the briefing session both reasoning that the three were
now equals and thus deserved to be treated as such, no more handholding.
Paige glanced at Alex who in turn made eye contact with Whitney who returned
the look to Paige.
“If it wasn’t this it would be something else, besides I think I can speak for the three of us,” Alex said.
“We like a challenge!” The other two
nodded with a smile across their faces.
Sharon smiled, that was the
answer she wanted and knew she would hear from these young women.
“Well I’m glad I was able to
oblige you then! All right lets start with Jakarta and your part of the
mission Alex. A Miss Rana Ali, an expatriate Indian owns Kum Silk
Industries. The plant processes raw silk into women’s fashions, Sari’s,
Kimono’s, shirts, etc, it also however appears to be putting its chemical
knowledge to other uses. We suspect it is the developmental stage of a
new silk-based explosive. Miss Ali has very extensive ties to certain
shadowy elements. Alex we’ve developed a cover for you as a fashion buyer
from America. You’re job from there is to get inside Kum Silk Industries,
find the work being done and obtain a copy for C.O.I.L.! Failing that destroy
the information and all knowledge of it!” Sharon stated making sure Alex
understood the first choice was the one more desirable to C.O.I.L. “Keep in
mind we believe Rana is very well connected with D.O.O.M. and certain other
organisations! As you can see from the picture in the file and the
information we have on her she is a formidable woman in her own right!
Alex studied the photo of
Rana. She was 29, attractive, a few inches taller and elegantly
styled. The dossier only made suggestions that she may know some martial
arts and a few more exotic arts, that was all, anything else she’d have to
divine on her own. She nodded and smiled to Sharon.
“Su Chi Rattan Company makes
furniture for the North American Market. It is part of a much larger
conglomerate run by Colonel Su Chi a retired Army officer who made his money in
the opium market early in his career. Instead of wiping out the Cartel,
as he was assigned to do by his superiors, he cut a deal with the leaders of
the opium trade and wiped out his bosses leaving him in charge! He took his
money, passed the operation to a hand picker successor and proceeded to build
an empire of seemingly legitimate companies. However, old habits and
friends appear to still be in play. The company and we suspect several
others have links to D.O.O.M. The Rattan operation in particular we
suspect of smuggling out the silk explosive compound that are wrapped in the
finished furniture and used in conjunction with Alex’s assignment! Your cover
involves using your extensive computer knowledge. It seems the Colonel is
looking to upgrade his facilities and modernising his production line.
You’ll b posing as a computer/production/operations guru. We’ve already
planted all the information in the necessary places with the right people so
gaining the access to the plant will be easy. From there it’s up to you to gain
access to the Colonel! Find out all you can and then terminate the
operation and all involved!” Sharon said.
Paige glanced at the Colonel’s
picture; he was in his middle thirties, single, fit and handsome. He
spoke excellent English having attended university in England; there was
nothing else to go on. She closed the dossier and nodded wordlessly.
“Zai Shetty is Sri Lanka’s and for
that matter the entire Indian Sub-Continent’s foremost expert on exotic
plants. She owns and runs not only a nursery but also a sting of highly
successful and very upscale flower shops though out Sri Lanka and India.
We suspect that she has developed a plant or several plants that when processed
provide some of the raw materials for part of the silk and from there the
explosives. It is therefore vital that this operation above all the
others be stopped! That’ s why, no slight intended, to either you Alex or
you Paige, that I gave this to Whitney! She has past military and covert
ops experience and one skill neither of you can fake a degree in Electrical
Engineering. Zai’s operation consumes vast amounts of electricity and at
the present time and she desperately needs the skills of a woman with your
talents Whitney to overhaul her operation. That will come in handy along
with her experience with Claire,” Sharon said as Paige and Alex nodded in
agreement not taking any offence.
“Who is this woman with Zai?”
Whitney asked pointing to the picture she was holding up.
“Unfortunately we can’t identify
her other than what she appears to be and that’s Zai’s personal
assistant. We do know she’s been with Miss Shetty for the past 3 months
since arriving from India,” Sharon added.
“Perhaps a bodyguard?” Whitney
pondered.
“Perhaps, but I think you’ll find
from your dossier that Zai is not without her own skills,” Sharon warned.
Whitney had noticed Zai’s rather
formidable talents already but took a second glance. Skilled in stick
fighting, Ceylonese Yoga and Sri Lankian Female Martial Arts she was indeed a
dangerous woman.
“But so am I!” Whitney thought.
“You’ll find all your travel
documents and papers within those dossiers as well. I think that’s all?
Do any of you have any questions?” Sharon asked in a motherly way.
The three were silent as they
looked from each other back to Sharon who upon observing them uncrossed her
legs, stood up and gestured towards her office door as the three women fell in
tow several feet behind them. Placing
her hand on the handle of one of the large double oak doors she suddenly turned
around to face them bringing them all up short.
“I was nervous and unsure on my
first assignment and I said nothing as well when asked because I didn’t want my
superiors to feel they’d made a mistake in trusting me. I want you to
know that I have every confidence in you, but that’s not what really matters!
You need to have every confidence in you! Use all the skills you’ve been
taught and if they fail divine ones. Remember, never give up or in and
always, always make your opponent beat you!” Sharon said passing on the credo
she’d been taught and had served her so well all her years as an agent.
She kissed each on the cheek as
they left knowing she may never see one or any of them again, but it had to be
done.
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