Chapter 1 - Part 2

Chapter 1

"Tie her up," Anthony barked angrily.

"I thought..." started Cody before catching Anthony's glare and restraining himself. "Uh, the chair?" he said instead. Anthony nodded impatiently, turning back to the image of the moon. Stepping forward for a closer view he could see clippings cut from magazines and papers pinned to the wall. 'Moon landing a fraud', read one, 'Telemetry tape travesty!' announced another, 'Rock samples proved to be fake', 'Lunar lunacy', and many more, all articles or letters by or about conspiracy theorists disputing the moon landing ever happened.

Since when does Her Majesty give a damn about crazies who think the yanks faked the moon landing? Anthony asked himself as he perused the high resolution photo of the moon, the key landing sites pinned and identified; Capernicus, Mare Nubium, Mare Tranqillitatis, Oceanus Procellarum, Mare Fecundatatis.

"Mare fecundatatis," Anthony unconsciously said out loud as he read it, as if trying the word out to see how it rolled off the tongue.

"Sea of fertility," a woman's voice interrupted his train of thought and he turned to see his target, the V6, sitting upright on an expensive looking wooden chair, her arms tied behind her back, her feet tied separately to their respective chair legs. Anthony thought she ought to look frail, petite as she was, but somehow her sharp, fine bone structure, pale, serious face and stiff composure made her appear more defiant, like a wild cat caught in a trap, biding it's time, knowing full well it will either die, or escape and live and resigned to either fate.

Anthony was disconcerted by this. Normally people act the way you expect and that makes things a lot easier to deal with. If you burst into the home of even the most hardened criminal, shoot them and tie them to a chair, you'd expect some level of fear to be evident. In fact the more guilty a person, the more they have to lose, the more fear they often display. At least that gives you something to work with, a bargaining chip. But this chick was cool as a cucumber and as a V6 the brass had confirmed she was nothing more than a ordinary citizen who had done, or seen, something they shouldn't have. So why is she so damn calm? She doesn't even seem angry or surprised.

"I'm surprised it took them so long," she said, almost in answer to his thoughts. Her voice was unnervingly calm with a hint of an accent, not Swedish as her name suggested either, something she had tried long and hard to cover up. "Is this not against protocol?" She asked, gesturing to the rope around her ankles.

Anthony frowned. What did she know of protocol? What an odd thing to say. It would be perfectly normal under many operational circumstances to tie up the person you have been charged with neutralising. But not with a V6, that was strictly a terminate upon identification order. But a V6 was also a theoretical situation, or at least until today. Anthony's mind was working overtime, pulling memory files from the archives, grasping at names, faces and events that had led to he and his team standing in front of this peculiar woman. Nothing added up and he was concerned. In turn he knew his actions, out of character as they were, would also be unnerving his team, who were all waiting silently for his next order. The woman, Ebbe, was right, the next order, the overdue order, was a kill shot, three bullets to the brain, one to the heart, no margin for error.

"When did you work for the agency?" he asked instead, making a small hand gesture to his team requesting they lower their weapons.

"The agency?" Ebbe replied with apparently authentic ignorance. 

"Don't bullshit me lady. You know something," Anthony spat back, feeling a little impatience with this whole farcical operation spill out with his words.

"I'll ask you to mind your language sir," Ebbe replied calmly.

Anthony recoiled, unable to restrain his surprise at her concern for his use of words.

"And if you are not planning to kill me at present I would much prefer you retied my legs together rather than apart." Ebbe continued, taking advantage of the continuing silence.

Anthony glanced down at her jeans clad legs and without realising found himself nodding in agreement. A deft flick of his wrist advised Art that he wished him to do as the lady wished. From the corner of his eye he could see Cody sigh with disappointment that Anthony had not trusted him to do it. Tough shit kid, if this is some kind of trick, which I actually doubt, I don't want her breaking your damn neck and stealing your gun.

In less than a minute Art had untied her legs and retied them so her knees were clamped together and her feet were turned to one side neatly. Ebbe did not flinch or say a word and Art duly returned back to the doorway after a brief glance to Anthony to confirm he had checked that she was unarmed. 

"Better?" Anthony asked, allowing a hint of sarcasm to purposely seep out.

Ebbe gave a small nod.

"Perhaps now you are comfortable," Anthony began, "you would be so kind as to explain why the fu," Anthony caught himself about to swear and much to his and the team's surprise managed to swallow it back before it arrived, "why the government want you, your family and anyone who has associated with you in the last 3 months wiped from the face of the Earth?" 

Ebbe smiled, her thin lips curling slightly, her eyes sparkling with bright intelligence.

"Interesting choice of words, er..." Ebbe paused, presumably hoping to elicit a name by way of response. When none was forthcoming she continued regardless. "It is a truth, or more accurately a mystery about the Earth that has led you to me."

Anthony rolled his eyes impatiently. 

"Jesus lady, what the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Anthony replied angrily, finding her calm nature more and more unnerving, as if he were being tested by her.

"I won't talk to someone who is unable to converse politely," Ebbe replied stubbornly, her voice remaining steady and unaffected. "I feel it is probably for the best if you simply follow your orders."

This woman is certifiable Anthony thought to himself. Here I am offering her a chance to explain what this shit storm is all about but instead she would rather die because I said fuck. He turned back to the walls, not wanting to look at her for a second. As well as the moon there were numerous star charts, more news clippings about satellites that had been launched, probes sent into space and that satellite that had fallen to Earth not so long ago. He stared at it all for a good five minutes, trying to make sense of the scenario. He turned back to Ebbe, none the wiser. 

"You understand that by undertaking my orders, you, your family and friends will all die?" He asked, wanting her to be absolutely clear on the seriousness of the situation.

"I do," she replied. He studied her face and there appeared to be no emotional undercurrent, not even a hint of carefully repressed feelings such as those apparent in well trained field agents. "It isn't that I don't care sir," she started, again showing her spooky ability to apparently read his thoughts, "it is only that I have long been resigned to the fact that neither I, nor they shall likely live much longer."

Anthony sensed that those words had not only sent a shudder through his spine, but those of his team as well, all of whom seemed to shift uncomfortably. They were too well trained for this to have been spotted by a layman, but to Anthony it was clear that he was losing control of this situation. It was obvious to him that the brass had wanted a swift resolution for this very reason. Everything, absolutely everything, was wrong about this operation, from start to finish. 

"Aww shit," Anthony cursed under his breath. "Cody untie Miss Nystrom."

Cody paused, uncertain if he had heard right.

"Cody, dammit.You gone deaf son? Untie her!" Anthony hissed.

"Sir?" Cody was still unconvinced. Anthony expected this and it was why he had asked Cody, the others were too seasoned, too deep into the system to break. Cody was a sap and could be broken with a little pressure.

"Goddamn," Anthony bellowed, lifting his gun and pointing it at Cody, "release this woman immediately. We've made a mistake, this is not the person we were meant to eliminate."

"Sir?" Jake's voice boomed out. Here we go, Anthony told himself, swinging his gun in Jake's direction. Let's see how Art copes with this now.

"Kid, do what I said," Anthony urged, his sights now fixed upon Jake. Jake in turn had raised his semi and he was trained upon his boss.

"Sir, you are disobeying a direct order. I cannot allow this to happen," Jake barked.

From the corner of his eye Anthony tried to see what Art was going to do. He had known both men for over twenty years and although the job doesn't allow for friendship, he always felt Art and he had a similar thought process. Jake on the other hand was strictly an orders man. He did what he did for the money and the consequences never seemed to occur to him. Cody also seemed to be looking to Art for verification. The balance of power now lay not with Anthony but with what choice Art would make.

Anthony could see Cody's hands shaking. Ebbe, however, still seemed unnaturally calm amidst the intruders pointing guns at each other in her house.

"Cody, I am ordering you to release the lady as your superior officer," Anthony pressed again before turning his attention back to Jake. "Jake, you know the rules. In the field, under radio silence, the final decision rests with the mission leader and I have concluded that a mistake has been made."

"Sir, the woman has been identified as the target, sir. The only mistake sir, has been yours. A V6 is terminate with extreme prejudice sir." Jake barked back like he was still training with the drill Sergeant.

He really isn't human, Anthony concluded, wondering briefly whether to risk a wound or go for a kill. The second option was the sensible one because Jake was a tough son of a bitch and could cause a lot of trouble with even a major wound. But Anthony had no intention of dispatching a team member, he had actually hoped they would all be on board, but hadn't wanted to give them time to think about the possible consequences of breaking a V6.

"Jake, lower your weapon. Your mission leader has made his decision and you are not authorised to challenge it," came the gruff voice of Art, finally choosing his side. "Cody, do as he says, release the woman immediately."

Cody nervously nodded, giving a sideways glance to Jake, who didn't yet flinch, his gun still trained steadily on Anthony. The knots pulled apart easily, something all agents were taught early on, tie strong knots that cannot be wriggled out from, but that can be undone in seconds, with the right method, when needed.

Ebbe immediately stood, blocking the path of fire between Jake and Anthony. She gave a large stretch and then turned to Cody.

"Ah, that's much better. Thank you young man," she said, thrusting out her slender hand, grasping his and shaking it with surprising vigour. "Now, Mr Team leader," she began returning her attention to a bemused Anthony, "are you all going to shoot each other, or help me save the world?"