Secrets

by
Delicious
Vodka
DeBlair
To be the perfect spy, you must first know what to look
for.
and
In a game of shadows, its best if one never lets their
activities be seen in the light of day.

Episode 1:
If You Could, Would You?

At the age of 14, Suzanna Hallavi was a most unusual

child.

Spending most of her time exploring the tunnels of

Moscow, breaking into places, either alone or with her cousin
Nadia, she would get as close to any source of secrets as she
dared without being caught.

Also at school she was always studying into unsolved

mysteries from the mysterious disappearances of political
figures to the unsolved Tunguska explosion of 1812.

1
 No mystery was outside of her scope and she lived to
explore and resolve mysteries.

She had pen pals on forums all over the world and
although she spoke little English or any other language, she
communicated avidly by means of a translator device she
herself built while in electronics classes at the Department Long
Range Communications at the University of Moscow, where she
was an advanced student of exceptional brilliance.

Still, despite her avid problem solving abilities and

immense intellect in the fields of science, she was basically a
loner and not very adept socially, and wasn't much on social
interactions on a personal basis, and thus had never even
expressed interest in social interactions.

She was moderately tall, about 5' 7, and full figured, yet
not severely so.

She colored her normally dark straight hair blond, and

she permed it into long curling locks which accentuated her
almond shaped face which was half Asian and half Caucasian.

Many boys had expressed interest in her as she was very

pretty and hailed from a moderately wealthy military family of
some social standing, but she had never so much as replied to
a one of them other than to apologetically refuse.

She would say that her life was devoted to a higher

calling and that would be the end of it, usually the boys would
see her as a mystic or delusional and would decide it would be
better to avoid her.

One day, just after summer break began, however, a new

name popped up on one of her favorite mystery forums from

2
somebody calling themselves S.A.D. who popped up a
question concerning certain potential movements in the Middle
East which Suzanna had made comments on.

They asked her how she knew what she knew and where
she got her information from.

She went into how she analyzed information from her

sources and read up on the social trends of the people of the
region based on her limited experiences with people of similar
cultural development in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, leading her
to estimate the probable outcome which later in fact had come
to pass.

The mysterious S.A.D. was highly impressed with this

response and the next day showed up again on the forum and
proceeded to ask her if she was employed in the analytical
fields or if she had previous military or political intelligence
training.

To this she simply replied that she was an avid seeker of

mysteries and secrets.

This S.A.D. was rather amazed at this and in the

following week after this, began asking questions about her
daily life and interests outside of this hobby, to which she replied
she had essentially none, and outside of her advanced college
classes, she was thoroughly consumed with the art of
sleuthing.

One day, S.A.D directly asked if she had any plans to

go into such a field, to which she replied, Its not likely, because
in Russia the FSB required persons of certain political
allegiances which I do not and will never espouse, as well as it
required a lot of boring and tedious schooling, most of which I
already knew without said schooling and the rest was merely

3
political indoctrination into said political affiliations I refuse to
espouse...

This time, the further intrigued S.A.D. didn't wait until

the next day to ask, But if you could be a secret clandestine
spy without political affiliations, working totally outside any laws
of any nations, would you do it?

Suzanna was slightly surprised to get a reply right away,

as seldom did people ask more than one question per day in
this group ever before.

She replied, If I could join such a group, it would be a

dream come true, but then she commented to her reply, But
those types of groups only exist in fictional spy thrillers.

To this S.A.D. immediately replied, Yes, you're

probably correct.

She could think of nothing else to reply to this, so she

assumed the conversation was a dead ended thread at this
point.

The following evening, however, as she came back from

snooping in a recently discovered and quite well hidden section
of old subway tunnels, there was a mysterious message:
Where water has long dripped unheard, where nary a spoken
word, whence comest shadows long cold and deep, therein a
rendezvous do keep.

S.A.D. had sent this openly but it was clear they meant
that they wanted to meet 'somebody' in a dark underground
tunnel where water dripped, far from the sounds of the public.

Knowing how to read and write secret messages,

Suzanna replied to this new thread: Where turns a corner five,

4
yet choices remain alive, where water stands knee deep, and
generators sleep, therein the rendezvous may begin.

Only one who knew the tunnels of old Moscow extremely

well would know where the old star point intersection was and
that directly below it was an even deeper labyrinth where the
water was about knee deep all the time and several old
emergency generators had gone to rust, never to be used
again.

The Moscow tunnels were quite daunting. It would

require a lot for a person to find this location without either an
intimate knowledge of the tunnel system or an amazingly
powerful and well researched database.

Many of these systems had been walled off and were

only accessible by means of their own sewer systems which
had either been overlooked, or in her own case, dug out with
persistent determination and no little amount of risk to her life.

Since the drains and holes were some times plugged

with loose rubble and hastily applied cement, thinking it was
more than adequate to deter people in her line of work, she
had simply hand fashioned explosives to blast them out.

Ep 1, Chapter 2

Totally unsure if this was a prank, a possible mistake or a

very dangerous person, she decisively planned ahead.

She packed a very bright light, a gun she sneaked away

from her father's safe [which she broke the code on many years
before], some flares she had stolen from an underground road
maintenance vehicle over time [minding to never steal more
than one at a time], iodine tablets for drinking water, a portable
filter, dried food, a first aid kit and seven old Soviet hand

5
grenades she also lifted from the gun safe.

Experience taught her long ago to always bring a warm

coat when going into cold damp tunnels. This also allowed her a
spare pillow if needed and extra pockets to carry items in.

The backpack was heavy, but she was unusually strong

for a girl and was more than just a little capable of handling this
type of load on a regular basis.

Making it to this point meant she would be wet if she

wore long pants, so she had taken a pair of short pants to avoid
the water until she reached her destination.

In the past she had taken a folding aluminum chair, a

sleeping bag wrapped in five layers of trash bags [intentionally
co-wrapped with real garbage so as to dissuade prying eyes]
and a hanging lamp down here because she determined it was
a good place to hide out if anything bad were to ever happen,
such as nuclear war.

Even though she never figured out what to do about

radiation washing down in the rainwater, she simply hoped that
she could perhaps find a way out before it got to that point.

Thankfully thus far, it had not become an issue.

After setting up an interim camp on the folding chair that

would be high enough up from the water she could sleep on it if
she needed to, she simply slipped a pair of jeans out and pulled
them on over the short pants. It was a tighter fit, but it was not
uncomfortable, as she had lost a lot of weight just since summer
vacation had let go two weeks ago from all the tunnel hiking.

Sitting cross legged on the lawn chair in the dark, letting

her shoes drip dry, she waited patiently with the 9mm Makarov

6
pistol in her lap, listening for the inevitable sound of anybody
approaching.

After several hours, however, she became sleepy and lay

down the length of the lawn chair to nap, placing the pistol in her
coat pocket. She dozed off to sleep with her hand resting on the
pistol, but without her finger on the trigger, knowing that to do so
could have deadly consequences.

Ep 1, Chapter 3

Faint splashing sounds, more like gurgling sounds came

to Suzanna's ears in the darkness, and while knowing she could
see nothing in the darkness, she rolled on her side to make
using the pistol from a laying down position easier.

With her left hand, she quietly readied the high powered
flashlight, and felt to be sure the hand grenades were close by
was well.

As the slow gurgling of the water came within ten meters,

she switched on the bright light in the general direction of the
sound.

A sudden splash erupted from the water as a huge figure

leapt out of the water in clasping its hands over its face, which
alarmed Suzanna so that she fired rapid three shots over the
person's head, causing them to just as suddenly dive back into
the water, hands over the back of their head.

This left her ears ringing, yet to her it was so hilarious

she burst forth laughing and almost knocked the grenades off
the lawn chair.

As she laughed, the figure began to cautiously lift their

head out of the water, lifting a pair of night vision goggles off

7
their head, squinting into the light aimed at them.

Their rubber frog man suit was more than common

preparation and added to their comical appearance.

Finally it became apparent that a rather feminine blue

eyed face became obvious as Suzanna's eyes adjusted to the
bright light and her laughter subsided sufficiently to focus on it.

You are sad? She asked in Russian.

I am. the female voice replied, shaken but trying to

regain her professional composure, You always carry a gun?
she countered.

Only if meeting stranger in dark tunnel... taking a more

serious tone, wearing United States Navy Frog Man suit.

Oh... her dripping face developed an ashamed look,

and she blushed, Of course.

Ep 1, Chapter 4

The mysterious S.A.D. was very tall, thickly muscled,

naturally blond and buxom, quite unlike what one would have
assumed for a person of mystery.

The frogman suit aside, she wore a futuristic looking skin

tight metallic jumpsuit clearly of military design, which had
several pockets and pouches on it.

You look mysterious, Suzanna commented, in English,

not moving from her higher position on the concrete walking
ledge above the stranger, You look the fashion model from
science fictional magazine.

8
 'Science fiction!? she began with a hurt tone, then she
realized that with her hulking size, it was clearly understandable,
but still she cleared her throat in a somewhat dignified manner
and said with a slight 'know-it-all' tone, Looking mysterious is
not my job, she replied, Solving mysteries is.

Understood. the young Russian acknowledged,

although she did not truly understand yet, So too, you explorer
and chase mysteries, yes? she queried of the older woman in
her early thirties.

You.....could say that... the older woman answered in an

almost evasive sounding tone.

Why so much you want meet here in dark bunker? the

younger asked, still cautious.

I wanted to test you. she said, pulling out a small device

the size of two human fingers, which lit up with a very small
screen and some LEDs which apparently indicated some
significant information, To see if you were legit.

Legit? she puzzled at the partial word.

Legitimate. For real. Who you said you were. the older
woman clarified, then deactivating the small device pocketed it,
And you are indeed legitimate.

And that you see I am this 'legitimate'...? the

highschooler circled the topic carefully.

Then I wish to offer you a unique opportunity. the older

woman continued quite nonchalantly.

What...'opportunity'...?she continued in suspicion.

9
 I belong to a clandestine independently operating
international intelligence firm. the older woman responded
calmly, We travel about the world working outside the law
obtaining information for our clients at any cost and by any
means. looking around the old tunnel then back, What they do
with that intelligence is their business.

So interesting. the girl pondered the answer, So this

you does dressed on this cloths?

Well no, she softly regarded the girl with an acute air
obviosity, I usually wear everyday clothing. This was a high risk
situation where I had no idea what I might be facing, and clearly
you have shown my caution to be inadequate for the event!
indicating the gun still being pointed at her and the seven hand
grenades lying before the reclining girl.

Too, I come prepare. she replied in English, in her thick

Russian accent, Not want dead by pervert in tunnel.

Well that certainly makes sense, she acknowledged

amicably, but as you see, I did not come to kill you... ending in
a leading tone hinting that she only had positive intent and good
will.

So, the younger asked, Now what?

So... the European looking woman asked with a clearly

inviting expression on her face, I'll ask you again: 'Would you
join a secret clandestine spy organization without political
affiliations, working totally outside any laws of any nations' ?

Episode 2
Spy Initiation

What this you wants me doing? Suzanna asked from

10
the smart phone as she walked down the sidewalk toward her
designated target.

I just need you to drop by this small shoppe and sit in

table beside the ornate lamp with the angel on it. the woman's
voice came back to her.

And while I am there? the teenager asked.

We'll talk and you have a meal. the woman explained

simply, That's it.

This is powerful of suspicions. Suzanna said.

Not unless you act nervous and begin looking around at

the crowd or somehow act as if you are a spy. the handler
countered, Just go in, order the meal I described and eat it
slowly. We will talk while you eat.

Okay, the young university student accepted, but this is

very unusual means to spying.

Oh no its not, the senior spy chuckled, we've been

doing this since long before cell phones were invented!

Ep 2, Chapter 2

Suzanna sat at the reserved seat as instructed and

graciously accepted the menu from the waitress who seemed to
have an almost knowing look about her.

There is a special on borscht today, the woman

declared solicitously in Russian, may I interest you in this as
well as the roasted beef?

Strangely, this was precisely what she had been ordered

11
to have.

Yes, thank you. Suzanna replied in Russian.

The waitress took up the menu and set down a glass of

kvass and a bowl of freshly baked bread.

There was butter already on the table.

As she began to tear open a piece of bread to butter it,

however, the smart phone rang.

Hello? she began in Russian.

Did you place your order? the woman asked in fluent

Russian.

Yes, I did. the girl replied, somewhat surprised at the

woman's ease and control of her native language, but then she
remembered that it was common for spies to know many
languages fluently.

Good. the voice over the phone said, Now I want you
to tell me a little something about your self.

Ep 2, Chapter 3

Feeling very uncomfortable with this question, Suzanna

soon forgot that she was here to spy on somebody, even though
she had been told repeatedly how terribly important this mission
was.

I'm not sure I understand the question. she replied

hesitantly, I thought you already knew.

I know a few things on paper, the woman purred, but

12
what is paper anyway?

But you knows everything I said to you before, about

school and my pa and ma, she protested, else what there is?

What is your favorite color? the woman asked.

It is blue. the school girl replied, Why wants you know

such things?

A man in a table across the way suddenly, ever so slightly

glanced her way at this point.

What is your favorite flower? the woman asked.

This the lily. Suzanna replied, This is for you important

knowing of me?

A woman at a nearby table began to hesitate what she

was saying and had to start over, ever so slightly showing some
distraction and perhaps some agitation at the peculiar words the
youthful teen was saying in public in a somewhat hushed and
conspiratorial tone.

Do you like to exercise, lifting weights or running? the

woman asked.

This I not think so, Suzanna said thoughtfully, but in an

obviously hushed tone hoping to not draw any more lookers,
you know I not that type person.

The first man began to show signs of thinly veiled

curiosity as he struggled to not glance at the beautiful young
woman who was being asked something over the phone.

Her responses were so intriguing, he really wanted to

13
know what was being asked.

He imagined a man, very much his own age, perhaps

that she had met on the train, or perhaps in the market who had
pressured her for her phone number and was now possibly
asking her perverted questions.

When did you first enter college? the handler asked.

When I was only eleven, Suzanna asked, but I am

special one to start early.

A woman perhaps in her early twenties, seated across

from a young man of about the same age heard this and without
control, her eyes briefly flashed shock at this, perhaps because
she herself had began messing around with older men when
she was rather young.

As she blushed the man seated in front of her saw her

nervously glance at this oddly behaving young girl in the corner
and he could not help himself but to look back and see the
vibrant young beauty who was replying yet without blushing,
and yet still she was trying to speak in hushed tones, which,
although she did not know it, made her tone sound out more
smoothly at a frequency which carried quite well in the
acoustically prime location next to the quaint stained glass lamp
with angels and curious trappings of Catholicism on it.

As the conversation between the initiate spy and the

handler carried on, the overall sound level of the restaurant
reduced markedly.

At precisely 3:00pm, Moscow time, a particular

gentleman entered the restaurant and was directed to a seat
exactly opposite of her in the dining room where there was
another lamp, one which was equally as odd as the one nearby

14
the young initiate, only it was designed with images of Pan, an
ancient goat-like creature of myth which was known to be a
trickster and one who would seduce and lead people into all
kinds of mischief.

As the man sat there waiting for his meal, another man
came in and sat one table away from his and began to look over
the menu.

As the first man fidgeted, he began rumpling a piece of

paper in his hand.

The man in the other table began to seemingly tap his

fingers on the table top absent mindedly.

All this time, Suzanna was trying to hold this rather

hushed up conversation while acutely aware that almost every
eye in the restaurant was upon her.

After the man who was seated first got his meal, he laid
the crumpled paper on the table and began eating.

At this point, the other man signaled the waitress and

placed his order.

Suzanna was never once aware of these two men, and

never even saw them leave as she was being asked a host of
seemingly useless questions while she ate.

As the second man to enter got up and left, the handler

said, We have accomplished our mission for today, to which
Suzanna gasped in shock of realization that she had completely
forgotten why she was even in the restaurant in the first place,
enjoy your meal and I will contact you when we have the next
mission for you.

15
 Wait! Suzanna gasped, then she realized that she was
about to say something terribly foolish about this secret mission
in front of who knew how many people intently listening in on
her and stopped.

Yes? the handler asked solicitously over the phone.

Oh its okay, she realized, never mind.

Good good. the woman said cheerfully in English,

enjoy your meal! and ended the call.

Suzanna sat there finishing her meal feeling totally

foolish for not even seeing anything or hearing anything while
she was busy being asked all of these strange childhood
questions.

When she was finished, she went to the desk to pay but
the lady informed her that it was 'a gift from an admirer' which
also drew curious stares from the nearby patrons.

She was very uncomfortable but did not wish to show it

as she stepped out of the scrutiny of the diner and out onto the
anonymity of the busy streets of Moscow.

Ep 2, Chapter 4

Suzanna lay awake that night trying to dismantle the

mysterious events of the day.

Nothing really made any sense to her.

She was there eating a free meal while answering foolish

questions, as everybody began to stare at her and listen to her
intently.

16
 This made no sense to her at first.

She went over and over everything said and everything

she was aware of happening.

Slowly she began to put every single frame of her

consciousness into a single microsecond snapshot of time.

Then, frame by frame, she analyzed everything.

She saw every single step of every single movement she

could detect.

She mentally magnified every single face.

She audibly amplified every single conversation.

She carefully analyzed every single meal.

And finally.

YES!

There it was!

Under the opposite lamp was a man who sat there

systematically crumpling paper.

And right next to him was a man systematically

drumming and tapping his fingers.

CODE!

There was a CODE!

She leapt up out of the bed, picked up her smart phone

17
and dialed the strange woman's number.

Yes? came a drowsy voice.

CODE! she cried out excitedly.

Huh? the voice asked slowly.

It was a CODE! she insistently blurted out, the men in

the corner were using a specialized code to communicate and
you used the acoustics of the room and the two lamps shades
to amplify it to pick it up and you dulled down the people to
make it more quiet without making it obvious!

You're better than we estimated you to be! the voice

came alive with amazement.

You tones my voice out, she continued in her

excitement, and you tones down the peoples to a hush, and
this with, you can easily listen these men's sounds on the
resonation of the glass chambers of lamps!

Wow you are GOOD! the woman replied, I see we

have not been using you to your fullest capacities!

I am very smart girl Ms. Sad Lady! Suzanna declared

proudly.

I see you are indeed! the woman said, And please

don't call me 'Ms. Sad Lady'?

Well what I should address you to then? Suzanna

asked.

I'll think of something, the woman replied in a semi

hesitant, yet somewhat off handed manner and tone, give me a

18
few days to think something up.

Why not just your name? Suzanna asked.

Because in this business, the woman replied, nobody

uses their real name.

While Suzanna was pondering this and what to say next,

the woman said, Good night my little Siberian Tigress. and
closed the connection.

Siberian Tigress. Suzanna rolled this around in her

mind.

She really liked the sound of this name!

Still, she did not sleep a wink just thinking about

everything and the sheer brilliance of it all.

Episode 3
From Novice to Apprentice

Suzanna had gotten a cryptic message right on the

forum.

The richest sands have stuck together but the money is

in the rocks that have split apart. posted as an anonymous
guest.

Suzanna called the mysterious woman from S.A.D., and

asked her if she was responsible for it.

You're very astute Tigress. the woman purred, I did

indeed post that.

19
 Was about Canadian tar sand and oil shale fracturing in
United States? the young sleuth asked.

Its often referred to as 'fracking', the woman replied

casually but in a rather droll manner of somebody who was
annoyed that one was not 'up on' the latest terminology, but
yes.

You want I should go investigate? she asked excitedly

and hopeful.

At age fourteen? the woman blew a dismissive note,

Hardly.

You think I am child. Suzanna failed to hide the anger in

her voice, or the disappointment, I am most able.

Your parents will let you just hop an international flight

without asking you what you are doing? the woman asked in a
decidedly scoffing tone.

My pa, he well knows spy work. Suzanna insisted, He

knows not asking too much questions.

That's all well and good for him, the woman blithely
remarked, but as his child, she took on a skeptical tone, I'm
not so sure he would be so hip to the game.

Last year I go on trip Saudi Arabia from university and he

not nothing complains. she insisted.

Well that's interesting. the woman's tone suddenly

changed, How come its not in your records?

I made false passport and assumed name to go. the girl

insisted, This all I self does minus any people's help.

20
 And the people at the university were fine with this? she
asked.

They all times knows I this does. she insisted, This part
the educational classes.

What exactly was it you do there at the university? the

woman asked, It was rather vague on the dossier.

We makes radios. the girl replied.

JUST radios? the woman pried.

Just radios. the girl repeated solidly.

That's a strange business to be in where you go to

foreign countries with faked passports!

We strange university. Suzanna replied.

Well whatever, the woman replied, seemingly tiring of

the fruitless exchange, I can't be responsible for your welfare
as a minor traveling to a foreign country, under any name.

You before say you was 'outside law' but now you act
like school grounds monitor. Suzanna denounced the woman in
a disparaging tone.

Wow that stung. the woman paused, You don't miss a

thing, do you?

I spy. the young girl replied, Is my job.

Ep 3, Chapter 2

21
 Suzanna carefully synthesized a passport over the next
two days.

From there she took it to a mainframe computer system

on the university campus and uploaded scans of it to the core of
the system.

With this, she carefully hacked into all of the municipal

records bureaus around the continent and inserted the data into
existing files and then replaced the previously known time
stamps on each file to cover her tracks.

She then backed out while erasing the log files from the
local servers, nodes and transfer stations all the way back to the
university its self.

She carefully synthesized artificial fingerprints by using

electronics etching chemicals and overlayment materials after
thoroughly searching the known databases for potential
matches to avoid.

Using some movie makeup, she carefully sculpted some

minor prosthetic pieces for her face, and got some colored
contact lenses.

She put her hair up and put on a wig, then she applied a
type of makeup which would help to fool the cameras because it
would apply biased light in just the right places to create false
contours to her face.

Once she had the infrastructure in place, she went to a

local police station with her synthetic fingerprints and made a
statement about a known criminal which allowed her to be
fingerprinted in conjunction with her passport to tie them
together with a photograph of herself in her new persona.

22
 This was all taken to the bank and with it, she secured a
personal loan for eighteen thousand rubles, just enough for a
good round trip fare to Canada.

She booked the flight for the nearest time slot which was
the following weekend when her father would be out of town on
business and her grandparents would be at a two day cultural
event in Ulrisk.

Seeing as nobody would be around to miss her before

Monday, she would have forty eight hours to be assumed to be
at home without anybody raising any questions.

She packed her clothing carefully, choosing only western

styles, and using only European labeled personal hygiene
effects.

She went to a consignment store and bought a well

weathered travel case which was also European made and
already had many stickers from many ports of call posted on it.

Even though she had to pay much more for it than she
would a new one made locally, it would help her disguise much
better.

She brushed up on her French and Latin, seeing as she

could use these well enough to get many places without
knowing perfect English.

When Friday evening rolled around, her father was off to

the airport and she waited until his taxi left before donning her
disguise, calling for a taxi of her own, collecting up her travel
case, and heading for the airport.

Ep 3, Chapter 3

23
 Touching down in Montreal, Suzanna, now going by the
name 'Malika Bayramova' went about securing a taxi to a
relatively upscale hotel in the downtown district where she
stepped out, paid the driver in US dollars and proceeded to the
lobby where, once inside, she placed her phone call from a local
pay phone.

This is... the handler began in a rather calm,

professional tone only to hear Suzanna speaking over her
causing her to taper off.

Hello Ms. Sad Lady? she began in her weak English, I

here now. What do next?

Oh...hello Tigress, the voice went from purely business

to solicitous in a matter of seconds, the local region is
Canada...one second...Montreal is it?

Yes, so. the girl replied, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Is somebody following you? she asked.

No. the girls breath seemed rushed, Pay phone.

Costing dearly.

Ohhhhh I see... the woman said, well in that case, she

paused speaking but a keyboard could be heard clicking in the
background, Go to fifteen twenty seven ninth avenue. she
paused and clicked some more keys, That is the Hotel
Raddison, a reservation will be in your name.

No good Sad Lady. she stated between thick heavy

breaths.

Why not? the handler asked.

24
 Not name. she replied, Needs 'Malika Bayramova'.
she instructed.

Malika Bayramova, ey? the woman repeated, Nice

touch. there were more keys clicking, and under her breath she
murmured, ...and cancel that...and open a new... more
clicking, And how do you spell that last name hon? still typing.

Buk , s kratkj, as, ir, as, mslet, on, ved,

ar. the Russian girl replied.

I see you have not learned to spell in English yet. as

she fiddled more with the keys, Id numbers? she asked.

These she also recited in Cyrillic.

Good thing I paid attention in that class! the handler

remarked, And finally, she said, Age and date of birth.

January twenty five, nineteen eighty seven. she replied,

Twenty eight.

And you are going to pass for a twenty eight year old
woman? the handler asked dubiously.

Come see. was her only reply.

I'll make a point of that. the woman chuckled, Right

after I book my own flight to meet with you there.

Okay you has? the girl asked.

A flight? the woman asked incredulously.

No. Hotel room. the girl corrected.

25
 Oh...yeah...sorry about that. the woman once again
chuckled, Sorry, I'm all done now.

Room? the girl asked.

Room 4014, the handler replied, they will be expecting

you by your passport since I have no photograph of you, so be
sure everything is all matching.

All well. the girl assured, I go now. and without waiting

for another word from her handler she hung up the phone.

Leaning back against the wall, she sighed a heavy sigh

as she pulled the debit card from the phone, wondering how
much money that had consumed from her very limited reserves.

Ep 3, Chapter 4

As promised, a room was reserved under the name

Malika Bayramova and it was a shockingly posh penthouse!

There was a menu on the long glass coffee table beside

the ivory colored over stuffed couches, and on a silver tray sat a
coffee/tea service.

She returned to the check in desk quite flustered and

beside herself with disbelief.

Sir, she began in French, I believe there is a confusion

in the rooms. trying to look cool and mature.

We're terribly sorry for that Madame Bayramova, the

man apologized profusely, but due to another party securing
the room just moments before your secretary called, this was
the only room we had even close to your requirements.

26
 I see. the girl did not quite exactly see, but she felt that
since they were apologizing and to make it worse, what he said
next confused her even more.

As a gesture of our sincere remorse in this matter, he

handed her another pair of keys, we included free car rental for
the length of your stay, he then handed her a card which had
the name of an oil company on it and a major credit backing
company logo in the corner, fuel included, he also handed her
a digital pass for the city's parking complexes, should she need
their use, for the extent of your stay.

She was truly flabbergasted, but not knowing what else

to say, and afraid he would give her something else, she blurted
out in French, Thank you for trying your best then! and forced
her most gracious smile, I think that will be plenty under the
situation.

Before the man could add anything else to this already

confusing situation, she took the items she had been handed,
turned with a swirl and strode briskly toward the elevators.

Two men in crisp black suits and dark sunglasses

nodded greeting to her as she boarded the elevator.

She stopped, nodded only a little nervously while

glancing right and left at them, then boarded the designated
penthouse-only elevator and pressed the button.

Ep 3, Chapter 5

Pulling out her smart phone as it began ringing, she

wondered how she was suddenly getting regular service here in
Canada.

Yes? she asked in French.

27
 I see you have settled in nicely. the handler's voice
came over purring smoothly.

There must be some mistake - ! she tried to squeeze in.

Malika darling, the handler smoothly took over, do you

realize what kind of BUSINESS we're in here? she paused a
moment and when there was no immediate reply she added,
Hmm?

Spying? the girl asked.

And how do spies live? the handler asked.

I not know! she replied, I not has imagination on this

idea!

Well then, the handler purred, let this be your

initiation... she let a long moment of silence linger before
adding, and apprenticeship.

Before the girl could even respond to this, there was a

soft click behind her and as she jumped up and spun around,
Makarov in hand, having cleverly sold it to a local Canadian
gun broker by listing it online under her father's name then
purchasing it here under her assumed name using a special
pass code which allowed her to buy it at a 'deep discount',
therefore paying only the brokerage fees and air freight from
Moscow.

Oh my! the handler gasped in real surprise at the girl's

clever resourcefulness, I see you are more than normally
capable!

Suzanna looked closely and this time, the woman was

28
not in a comical frog suit, nor was she in a metallic body suit.

She was in a shimmering silver, deep-veed, backless

evening gown, her long rich, wavy dirty blond hair exposed and
up in a high tower bun behind her, revealing her neck and
splendid diamond earrings.

In her left hand was a matching diamond encrusted silver

handbag and in her right a cell phone.

I-I... the young radio telemetry student gasped,

blushing, lowering the pistol, I'm sorry.

For what, darling? the woman never once seemed in

the slightest frightened, but she exuded an aura more like
excitement, I LOVE how you make careful preparations the
way you do!

I did not expect you here. she glumly confessed.

I have the spare key little lady, the woman chuckled

melodically, after all, she winked, I AM your 'secretary' on this
mission.

Ep 3, Chapter 6

Let us sit... the woman gestured the two plush couches

facing one another, Please. adding just a hint of insistence.

Suzanna slowly and uneasily sat back down while the

older woman glode across the floor as if floating and settled
down onto the couch facing her as if little more than a cloud.

Crossing her long legs, it became evident upon a more

relaxed observation that this woman was rather muscular and
had a fairly thick physique.

29
 As she lay her handbag on the coffee table, she made a
point of pulling out a small Bellstar .25 silenced shock pistol.

This little weapon was unlike any weapon Suzanna had

ever seen before.

It was mainly like a normal pistol, only it clearly had no

magazine, nor had it a hammer or external slide.

Want to see it? the woman eagerly smiled, Its really a

marvel of combat engineering.

I can touch? Suzanna asked, not thinking of what else

that could mean.

Perhaps after we get to know each other a little better

darling. the woman wrinkled her nose playfully with a
mischievously sideways grin, But you CAN inspect the weapon
if you like.

Suzanna stopped and replayed the words and then

gasped and blushed, No-no I- she put her hands to her mouth,
eyes wide.

The woman threw back her head and broke out into
musical laughter as she took deep delight in the obvious
embarrassment of the young spy in training.

I'm sorry. Suzanna sulked, I not mean say such.

'Tis perfectly fine, darling. the woman smiled and

purred, I just don't care to complicate my job at this point in
time, she leaned forward so that the deep vee of her gown
hung low, exposing most of her ample breasts, otherwise I
would GLADLY take you up on that little 'slip of the tongue'.

30
 This is how how spies operate? Suzanna asked fearful
that she had gotten into something much more complex than a
spy mission.

Not usually darling, the woman replied dismissively as

she rose back up and leaned against the back of the couch, I
just find you rather interesting is all. then she motioned with
one index finger toward the small weapon, You going to inspect
it?

Oh. Suzanna blinked, suddenly grateful to get back to

the original topic, Yes, please!

Ep 3, Chapter 7

After Suzanna marveled at the small, powerful, compact

hand gun, her handler became much more serious and
withdrew a remote control from the top of the silver platter
beside the coffee/tea service, and with a press of a button,
caused a large screen to roll down from the ceiling, while the
windows of the room tinted and the lights dimmed.

And now, the woman said, down to business.

Images progressed onto the large projection screen,

mostly men, some company logos, some were images of
refineries, oil sands, drilling rigs and the likes.

What you will be doing, the handler said, Miss

Bayramova, she changed the image to an international energy
summit announcement posted with the address of this very
building, is attending this meeting here, there were shots of an
empty conference room, save for a man in a hotel uniform
vacuuming the floors around the tables, and representing a
fictional speculator of oil, she clicked to an image of a building

31
with a logo on it meant to represent the fictional company,
offering to buy up all of the low bids to keep the prices high.

I here raise oil prices? she asked, How this spying?

This man here, she scrolled back to a certain Chinese

man, in his fifties, smartly dressed and smiling eagerly, is
buying up low quality oil all over the world, she indicated, and
stockpiling it for some reason we have yet to discover.

Your mission is to get into a bidding war with him over

every 'junk crude' lot put forth on the table, regardless of how
much it is.

How I know bid? the school girl asked, I not this before
does.

You will be asked to bid in U.S. Dollar increments, the

handler instructed, and you need merely out bid his every bid
by one dollar each time, seeing as this is the minimum allowable
monetary unit used in this auction.

Simply bid more the dollar each time? she asked.

Yes, the woman confirmed, but do so slowly so it looks

as if you have to hold onto your money.

Should I let him win? she asked.

By no means! the woman shook her head firmly, You

are to out bid him, no matter how high he goes.

But I am pretender. Suzanna protested, There is

possible he discovered!

Don't worry about that part. the woman instructed

32
calmly, placing her amazingly muscular arms up and lacing her
fingers behind her neck as she smiled coyly, That is part of the
game we are playing.

Ep 3, Chapter 8

A perfectly tailored suit was delivered in the morning.

The handler signed for it and as Suzanna pretended to

be sleeping, she had been monitoring everything with a tiny
sound amplifying device she had cleverly secreted into the
working mechanism of the gun so that it would be here when
she arrived and like the gun not have to pass through customs.

Thank you for your assistance Bear darling. the handler

purred.

Always my pleasure Panther. a man's voice responded

with a respectfully suppressed but evident enthusiasm.

She lay there waiting for the alarm clock to go off keeping
in mind that this system would not tone down the much louder
sound of the alarm and so when it was time for it to ring she
momentarily deactivated the listening device, then, after shutting
it off, pretended to just then wake up.

When she got in the kitchen, a man in a white outfit was

busily cooking breakfast, and her handler, now known as
'Panther' was sitting in a silk night robe sipping tea.

You ready to do this? the woman asked looking up at

the rather alert Russian girl.

I ready. she replied with trepidation.

If you want to back out you can. the woman offered,

33
this is a knowingly dangerous mission.

I manage. the girl replied firmly, Simply not feel right to

lie.

Dear, the woman chuckled and shook her head while

trying to clarify a time honored fact, lying is what we DO in this
business!

With a deep sigh as she stirred sugar and cream into her
tea, she merely replied in a glum tone, Understood.

Ep 3, Chapter 9

She had to focus and always remain confident as she sat

in the meeting hall of the energy summit auction session.

After listening to hours of boring and mostly falsified hype

about the energy futures and a lot of hoopla about global
warming radicals threatening the industry, she was at least
bored, if not relaxed.

This feeling of boredom probably showed and helped her

to look like a confident veteran despite her virginity in this or any
other subject that might have been brought up recently.

Her 'secretary' had been sure to rifle through all of her

papers to be sure absolutely everything was in place.

Before her was a stack of dossiers she was supposed to

look through before bidding on each lot, to be sure she did not
look like she was merely bidding to bid up the prices.

She was allowed to bid in seven clean oil lots but always
go out within three bids, but never to use exactly the same
pattern in doing so.

34
 She was allowed to open the bid on as many of the
highlighted lots as she wanted to, but never more than twenty
US dollars per barrel.

As the bidding began, a high purity light sweet crude

came on the market which they felt confident was outside of the
competition's scope, but to her surprise, she saw his number
come up and with it, thirty eight dollars per barrel.

She had not been instructed on this particular conflict,

being both a clean lot and the competition, but she had the
minor advantage of having her listening device in and she was
able to hear people mutter things under their breath, even if it
was often in languages she did not know.

She waited until some other bidders came on at prices

clearing fifty dollars per barrel to see where it would lead, and in
the background, she heard one nervous voice murmur, This
guy did something we didn't expect her to and we did not prime
her for it.

A much fainter voice, somewhat electronically altered as

if coming over a phone speaker said, We'll just have to see
what she's made of then.

If we bid on clean oil from high standing companies this

will ruin the plan though. she whispered in a hushed tone.

Its too late now, the digital voice replied, we just have
to see what becomes of it.

As the pointer ran up to her to see if she would panic bid,

she almost reflexively popped up her number but suddenly she
dropped it and feigned a little sneeze to justify her hand coming
up even slightly.

35
 She heard a soft voice sigh in relief from the distance,
There's my girl.

Ep 3, Chapter 10

Doing just as she had been instructed from this point

forward, she carefully and meticulously bid each lot up outside
the desired scope of the Chinese buyer.

As the bidding wore on, the man began to focus on her,

first in confusion, then in wonderment, then in anger.

After a while he was shooting dirty looks her direction,

but she glanced around in a bored manner as if she were
indeed a Russian princess dealing with some terribly droll affair
of the Tsarist state while wishing all the world to be some other
place.

Inside, however, her heart was pumping with the thrill of

the game.

She had developed this sense of the tension and it was

giving her a thrill like nothing she had ever experienced before.

By the end of the bidding at 6:08 pm she was exuberant

and trying not to beam with pride as the Chinese man leaned
his forehead into his one hand.

The stack of papers before him were completely un-

stamped as they were collected from him.

Her stack, on the other hand, had every targeted lot

stamped and in a separate pile.

When the one attendant came by, he collected the pile of

36
un-stamped documents while a more official person came
through and picked up the stamped ones, putting them into a
metal brief case.

With that, the auctioneer and a few others came over to

shake her hand as well as the other winning bidders on various
other lots that were won.

She rose, smiling graciously and shaking their hands

trying not to blush.

After they went away, however, the chinaman came up to

her, pulling up on his suit trousers as if preparing to go a round
of fisticuffs and said, You think you know what you are getting
into. in French, with a stiff, unsmiling face, doing his best to
restrain his deep set frown.

Who are you and what ever are you talking about? the
handler came up from behind, then said, Great job Ms.
Bayramova, you certainly cleaned house this year!

Huang Xiang will not be trifled with...'Ms. Bayramova,

he said as his head trembled side to side in minute tremors, I
represent very powerful people.

As do the Bayramovas, Mr. Xiang sir, the handler stared

at him intently, you had best not be thinking of 'trifling' as you
put it, with the Petrov Conglomerate or the Bayramova family if
you do not want something other than oil to be spilled.

Oh Sharon dear, Suzanna tried to think on her feet and

smooth the topic over, let us not get overly upset over this poor
man here, giving a loss-for-words type expression with a smile,
can't you see he is in poverty and we have humbled him in his
pride? turning to look as if asking for mercy on the enraged
man, clearly we did defeat him badly enough here in the open

37
markets, what else do you think to do to him as he lays badly
hurting so?

Ironically, her words did exactly what Suzanna's handler

intended of them, despite her intentions of smoothing things
over.

Every single word she spoke was like a lash of a whip

covered in burning petroleum.

His face grew so red she gasped, Are you alright Mr.
Xiang? putting her fingers to her mouth, Should we call you an
ambulance?

His eyes wrinkled with restrained fury as his lips tried to

curl into a snarl all on their own while he pressed them tightly
together and spun on his heel to place his back to them.

I do think he was offended by my concern Sharon! she

once again gave a soft gasp.

We will see... the man bit off his words through

clenched teeth, JUST who needs an ambulance Ms.
Bayramova. and he stalked off stiff armed and legged to
suddenly jerk up his attache case, ripping off its handle and
strewing papers everywhere.

The one known as 'Panther' had to turn suddenly and

clamp her hands over her mouth as her eyes expressed
extreme mirth, lest she burst forth in hilarious laughter.

Episode 4
The Trap Has Been Set

They returned to the hotel penthouse and 'Panther' threw

herself back on the couch in riotous laughter.

38
 What funny 'Panther'? the girl asked.

Hearing her code name, the handler whooped deeply,

choking a few gasps of air in and out before squawking in
surprise, Why did you just call me that?!

Your code name, no? the girl asked simply.

The handler known as 'Panther' struggled to draw in a

deep breath, and then let it out blowing her bangs upward with it
before answering, Yes. with a flat, rather dejected expression.

Why sad? the girl asked, I 'Tigress', she smiled, and

you 'Pantera'!

I... the woman shook her head as if trying to get it all

clear in her own mind, its-its alright... she looked down toward
a distant corner of the room, I suppose.

I guessed always use code names. Suzanna offered,

But you not happy I know. she had a look of slight sadness
and concern on her young face.

Its not professional to even let out one's code names to

new members. she insisted, They're supposed to only find out
once they have been officially inducted into the society.

So then I am to be kicked? the girl asked.

Oh no! the woman replied, In fact, she lit up, Its

official...you are granted membership!

So then it okay I know your code name! Suzanna

countered!

39
 Well... the woman blushed, while smiling softly, looking
thoughtful, I suppose it is, huh.

Ep 4, Chapter 2

The handler was monitoring various charts and graphs

being skimmed off the oil futures market as the prices around
the world responded to yesterday's bidding.

Interestingly enough, not one bit of the oil they won at the
auction had the slightest effect on the oil prices.

That's odd. the woman known as 'Panther' murmured.

What odd? Suzanna asked.

Nothing we did affected the oil prices one bit. the big
woman mused.

Perhaps he not sells. the student offered.

That's crazy. the older woman insisted, Nobody just

stockpiles oil for nothing.

Russian military stockpiles oil all time. Suzanna offered.

But that would mean that he is working for a shadow

organization who is secretly funneling oil into stockpiles some
place where it never gets seen again...except in case of a war.
she began typing some codes and soon global maps came up,
where could you be hiding your oil Mr. Xiang? she said to
nobody in particular.

If we could taint the oils we has, Suzanna offered, we

can later finds.

40
 The handler's eyes lit up, That's BRILLIANT!

She made some calls and in a few minutes, agents were

going to the seller's shipyards to take care of the new plan.

Now, the big woman smiled, we simply wait for the next
step in the plan.

Ep 4, Chapter 3

Sure enough, right on time, Mr Xiang found out that the

shell company was indeed a completely nonexistent sham.

He had been outbid by somebody who most likely did not

even exist.

He sent his own agents out to search every possible

illegitimate offshore company who might be able to pull off this
kind of operation.

His men met with no results, although some met with

untimely endings, the rest had achieved their goal of getting to
the bottoms of the potential organizations' operations and
learning that, for whatever else they had been doing,
speculating in the oil market was not among them.

This group, for all practical purposes, did not exist.

There was only those two women.

He tried getting records from the hotel, but they had

somehow been mysteriously erased already.

It was as if they were a bubble filled with soap which

appeared solid until it had lived out its purpose and then simply
burst, leaving nothing solid.

41
 He was determined to stay in Canada while he
investigated this because he wanted to be able to acquire his oil
one way or another.

He had already sent a petition to the auctioneer service

to hold the purchases as suspicious but they said their buyer
had already made good and paid for the oil, every last barrel of
it.

This was insane.

He knew he could not ask for the paperwork because the

law prohibited it and accepting a bribe from him would have
proven to be their ultimate downfall, so he knew that would be a
no-go as well.

He set forth to have some highly skilled hackers and

burglars look into the case.

These corporate spies would infiltrate the auctioneer

service and lift every bit of information on the buyers before the
money had time to transfer Monday morning from their bank,
wherever it was, to the accounts of the small nationalities and
sheikdoms who held the oil in escrow until the money actually
reached their accounts.

One way or another, he was going to find out who they

were and put an end to this game right away!

Ep 4, Chapter 4

The various Swiss banks where they had drawn their

resources from was being channeled through several patsy
shell corporations so that it was a shell game at best to find out
where the money was really being held.

42
 The inquiries into the shell companies, however, proved
fruitful in one way.

It proved fruitful to the S.A.D., who had put them in place

to begin with.

The hackers who entered into the shell company servers

dug through tiers of heavily encrypted security levels, going fifty,
sixty, seventy, eventually one hundred layers deep.

In the end, what they found there was that each shell
company held its wealth in the liquifiable bonds of other
companies.

This meant that each company they dug into only led to
another such company.

They were still no closer to knowing who had won the oil
bids than they were the day Mr. Xiang stared Suzanna in the
eye.

What had happened, however, was that each file was a

'stripe' of a program which would serve eventually as a beacon
program as it was designed to be triggered by a compiler
program, which, inevitably, all such espionage companies relied
on to do their dirty work.

Long before they gave up chasing proxy companies, they

had multiple copies of the program in their systems, all eagerly
self replicating and being compiled.

They would eventually break out of their servers as data

identifier packets.

Once this happened, S.A.D, would see their beacons

43
spring forth on the internet and simply gather them.

Since the data was being fed raw to the host analyzer,
due to confidentiality practices of the corporate spies, they had
no way of even checking it for infectious programs, because to
do so would require they involve themselves in the affairs of
their clients, and by way of this, implicate themselves as co-
conspirators in any international criminal charges related to it.

This was, of course, an accepted hazard of the client, but

then, they usually applied the best known scanning software to
detect and weed out trojans, worms and viruses.

Still, striped programs were simply too incomplete to be

scanned out.

They were sliced JUST so. They would never become

whole or active until the compiler logarithms were applied to
them.

This was the ingenious idea of one of the founders of the

organization who realized that one of the weaknesses of a
logarithm program was to attempt every possible result and
variation possible within a set of data.

Once they connected it the right way, the result was

inevitable.

So, at 17:00 hours Panama City time, a beacon went out

onto the net.

All the beacon contained was 2 lines of code: This is

server number ABSJDFQKC-N277901 at location
http://20.207.93.401 and Please repeat this message at the
next nearest node.

44
 A small alarm chirped on 'Pantera's' laptop late Sunday
night.

Ep 4, Chapter 5

Suzanna was driving around town to see the sights

Monday morning when she noticed a car was following her.

She called her handler and the moment the call was
accepted she said, There car follows.

She was nervous.

This was the first time she had ever been in a car other
than her father's staff car taking military driving lessons, and
sure enough, somebody seemed out to put her driving skills to
the test.

Don't get upset dear, the handler replied, just go to the

address on your car's GPS and slowly drive to the rooftop. I'll be
there waiting.

Suddenly the little GPS screen lit up all on its own and
there was a star on a map, and a line from what was meant to
be the front of her car to that location.

As she followed the line, she did her best to ignore the
car following her, seeing as she was clearly meant to allow them
to follow her to her destination.

Ep 4, Chapter 6

While this was going on, agents who had already taken
possession of the tankers along with hired crews had boarded
and 'inspected' the vessels to be sure they were seaworthy and
that they indeed did hold the promised volumes of oil.

45
 While the 'liquid assets' had not been officially liquidated,
the sellers were not allowing the ships to unmoor, but they had
allowed the buyer's agents to board in readiness.

A master fuel shutoff control was placed on the engines

of the vessels to keep them from leaving once at the helm,
which meant that they would have to sit there until they were
given permission to leave.

The crews sat there patiently on each ship all around the
world at various ports waiting to take the vessels as soon as the
word was given.

They were prepared, however, to wait as long as it would

possibly take.

Their only job now, was to hold the vessels, not to

actually sail them any place at all.

Ep 4, Chapter 7

When Suzanna reached the top of the twenty story

parking garage she had eight cars following her.

But when she got there too, several limousines and two
armored police type vehicles waited and moved in behind them
from the tall concrete safety rail which kept cars from falling over
the edge into the ramp from the wrong direction.

As the ninth car in the line passed by the entry way, one
armored vehicle rolled across from each side to block both the
entry and the exit.

As these cars tried to continue to follow Suzanna to the

end of the roof, the limousines would simply try to move about,

46
inevitably cutting them off one at a time until they were all
separated by long ungainly vehicles which made it impossible
for them to get past.

The last car in line was allowed to make it to the end

where Panther and several other agents stood like a welcoming
committee, only with high tech combat rifles cradled in their
arms.

Welcome representative Xiang. the faux secretary

purred, Enjoying Canada's scenery I see? as the man rose out
of his car from the back seat, looking quite at a loss when he
realized that this had been a trap set up well in advance just for
this type of situation.

Suzanna was told by an agent to leave the hotel's car

and was ushered into the limousine which was armored.

I was wanting to see the skyline. the man said with a

fake smile, trying to mask his alarm at this sudden change of
events, I see you had the same idea.

Oh, the Panther said with a wistful look while gazing out
and about at the sky, before turning back to look him squarely in
the eye, something like that.

Ep 4, Chapter 8

Won't you come join me, Mr. Xiang? Suzanna asked in

French from the car, after being quickly prompted on what to
say and where to lead the conversation by agent 'Bear' from
earlier.

Why, he smiled even more brightly, hoping they would

not kill him right then and there, seeing as they were obviously
not only armed but wearing combat body armor beneath their

47
suits, don't suppose you have any pinyin in there, would you?

The Bayramovas are noted for their hospitality, Mr.

Xiang. Suzanna continued the ruse, Of course we have it.
We've been anticipating the chance to entertain you now for
some time.

Well if you insist, he smiled at all the men and the

handler before ducking down into the car, don't mind if I do
then!

We have a problem, Mr. Xiang, Suzanna said softly as

the car doors were closed as if this was a private conversation
between the two of them as she poured the pinyin into two
Chinese style ceramic saucer like drinking bowls, and I would
like to resolve it with the least amount of spillage possible.

Graciously accepting the dish, his hands were trembling

ever so slightly and he hoped the drink was not laced with some
kind of poison, because he really needed a drink right this
moment to calm his nerves!

Suzanna also drank from her dish, not in the least bit
deterred at the age of fourteen by consuming alcohol because
although she was such a young person, she had been well
raised on vodka by her Russian father.

As the Chinese oil speculator saw her drinking as well,

he took heart that perhaps it was not poisoned after all.

She offered him a refill which he graciously accepted.

She poured herself a second helping as well.

Compared to what she had in her youth, this was a rather

soft drink.

48
 So, Mr. Xiang, Suzanna said smoothly, I hear that our
purchase of the oil you sought put you in a rather inconvenient
position.

You hear far too many rumors! he chuckled trying to

wave off the impression that he was in any kind of bind because
of his shortcomings at the summit.

Perhaps, the young spy said as if accepting the

possibility, but if it would be of any help to you, she smiled
warmly, her deep brown eyes seeming suddenly almost dewy
and as her blond locks curled around her open topped blouse, I
believe there is a way we could make this work out in your
favor.

Even though the older man did not realize it, the wine
had indeed been drugged, because in the seventy seconds
since his first drink, he seemed to be falling head over heels,
irresistibly in love with this charming blond maiden.

What, he rather boldly reached for her free hand, and

drew it to his lips, as if suddenly oblivious to the men outside
with assault weapons, might you have had in mind?

Ep 4, Chapter 9

When Mr Xiang awoke in his apartment, there were

articles of women's clothing on the floor beside his bed and he
lay there naked.

First he bolted upright, eyes wide, then he heard the

sound of the shower and the sound of a lovely voice humming
as it echoed off the ceramic tiles in the shower.

What have I done!? he suddenly whispered in Chinese

49
as he frisked himself as if looking for some lost item, finally
clasping both hands against his face.

He immediately looked around for his clothing, which, for

some reason, seemed not to be in this room whatsoever.

As he looked at the slightly ajar bathroom door, however,

there he saw the leg of his trousers.

His clothing must, for whatever reason, all be in the

bathroom where a woman was presently showering.

HER clothes were out HERE and HIS clothes were in

THERE and the bed was a complete mess!

He could not be sure what had been going on, but one
thing was certain, he was in BIG trouble!

Did you say something darling? a soft voice asked from

the bathroom in French.

The terrified Chinese oil man trembled in horror,

This...can NOT be happening!

Ep 4, Chapter 10

Mr. Xiang agreed to buy every last drop of the oil at

double what it had sold for at the auction.

The sailing crews were notified by the original sellers that

their cargo had been sold to a third party and that their services
would no longer be needed.

They were met on the way out of the ports by crews of

Chinese and Latino sailors and carefully snapped as many
candid photos of these crews as possible, as well as their

50
uniforms, ranks and name tags.

Suzanna was congratulated on her stellar performance

as the mysterious oil baroness Malika Bayramova.

When she got home, she found her credit account for her
faux name had a positive balance in it.

Her father yelled at her for staying away from home, just
long enough for her to pull a bundle out of her purse and place
ten thousand American dollars in his hand.

He was too stunned to even ask what had happened.

I have part time job now. she said, Now I help pay
expenses papa. and she kissed the baffled general on his
cheek before going up to her bedroom to get some sleep before
tomorrow's university exam.

Episode 5
Summer Vacation Means SPYING!

Pa, Suzanna asked her father in Russian.

Yes? he replied as he sat back reading a newspaper.

Want take trip USA summer. she said, expecting to get

a resounding 'no'.

Why want? he asked without looking from his paper.

Travel, she said casually, possible work.

Work in USA? he lowered his paper with his eyes

raised, You saw some job offers?

51
 Same job. she replied.

This job with men? he asked.

Woman. she replied.

Lesbi? he asked.

Not know. she replied.

Not know? he regarded her with some surprise, You

went, yes?

Work not sexual. Suzanna replied.

Drugs? he asked.

No. she replied.

What this job so much money you must not to me

speak!? he became agitated.

I not think best you should know pa, she offered

apologetically, the money well and I all safe. This not suffice?

Not want trouble on this house. the pa stated flatly.

No trouble pa. she smiled, All well. You see.

One trouble and you... he shook a finger at her with a

warning frown.

Thanks pa! she beamed joyfully and began to turn and

head for her room.

Suzanna. he called almost like a subdued bark.

52
 She stopped and without turning asked Yes?

Return my gun. he said in a rather flat tone.

Softly in a subdued tone she replied as she began to

slowly resume her path to her room, Yes pa.

Ep 5, Chapter 2

Suzanna got busy right away forging all the necessary

papers to fulfill the requirements to get a single person tourist
visa to the USA.

She took a flight to New York where she was met at the
JFK airport at 8:01 am where she was met by 'Panther' who
took her in a limousine to a posh hotel for breakfast, again,
prepared by a chef, in the penthouse.

Her handler allowed her a half hour nap and then took
her shopping at the downtown shopping district.

As they went along, a shiny brass cart was provided for

them to pile the over priced latest fashions on as they went from
shoppe to shoppe.

There were furs, evening gowns, jewelry, shoes,

handbags, hats, even sunglasses.

There were more names than Suzanna could have

hoped to remember.

Why so much? Suzanna asked, more awestricken than

unappreciative.

You have to look the part darling. Panther replied.

53
 Oh. she accepted this.

By the end of the day they had two carts and packed the
limousine trunk and the fore compartment until there was
scarcely enough room for the two of them to sit.

That should do you for the moment. the handler said.

So many moments! Suzanna replied with a distinctly

perturbed expression as she slowly squeezed into the car, Not
room for US!

Oh now, darling, the handler purred as she slid in like a

snake and squeezed up tight against the younger passenger,
and draped her muscular arm around her spy-in-training's
shoulders, there's just the right amount of room!

Ep 5, Chapter 3

Suzanna was grateful that the trip back to the hotel was
not very long because the thickly muscled woman had a very
hot body temperature and she felt like she was being scalded
where they woman made contact with her side and shoulder.

When they went up the elevator, several hotel staff came

along pushing carts with their loot.

When the door opened, Suzanna made a point of

immediately declaring, Need shower now, all day on plane and
now sweat. then she hurried off to the bathroom, not waiting for
a response from her handler.

I guess I got her a little too worked up back there.

Panther surmised to her self with a look of concern, then she
smiled a sly smile and declared, Hmmf!

54
 Ep 5, Chapter 4

Suzanna awoke to the sound of a new reporter in another

room, dryly reciting something which was only getting to her in
bits and pieces.

Without a perfect command of the English language,

most of what was being said was incomprehensible and the rest
was too boring to pay attention to.

As she shuffled into the kitchen in house slippers and

house robe provided by the hotel, once again, breakfast was
being prepared by some man in a white chef's outfit.

As she sat down to foods she didn't recognize, her

handler turned off the television and sauntered into the kitchen
to join her.

Sleep well? the woman asked.

Yes. the young lady responded.

Today we begin working on a new case. the handler

declared, pushing a dossier from the far side of the table which
she had been holding in her right hand as she had been
watching the news earlier.

What this? Suzanna looked over at her.

Salvatore Esminaldo, the woman began, murderer,

thief, swindler, forger, and general all around no good scum,
turned politician. she reached across the table and flipped the
cover open for Suzanna.

Recently took over the nation of Guatemala, she said,

55
and now wants to make waves playing in the big league.

What we does? the student asked looking at the mean

eyed, hard faced man in the black and white photograph.

We... the woman flipped over another page, are

interested in THIS. and she pointed at a document.

There was a proposed legislation, which, the head spy

explained, if passed by the United Nations, would give this man
unprecedented access to highly contested fish spawning
waters, which would allow him to do something, and that
'something' is not fishing, which, in and of its self would be
considered illegal, but that aside, our client wants to know just
exactly what this man wants that is laying out there in this
water.

Why not simply go see? Suzanna asked.

The UN has enforced the protection of this area off the

coast of Guatemala for a little over a decade now, the handler
explained, and they have not only their own vessels but they
also have the help of the U.S. Coast Guard.

To complicate matters even more, she pointed out on

the map, this little area here conjoins with the nation of Belize,
and there is reason to believe that they too know what is down
there and are also after the same thing.

Interesting. she said, Who our client is this time?

Suzanna decided to ask.

Would it matter? the woman code named 'Panther'

asked.

Perhaps. the college student replied, Best to know the

56
client to know its needs. she explained, Cats never go to
scuba shops.

Interesting witticism you have there. the older woman

pondered, Why would the client even care what is happening a
world away in the middle of central America? Hmmm.

If they has control something nearby, Suzanna

speculated, perhaps they missing something valuable and not
wants others find.

So the Chin client is hiding something and wants it to

remain hidden there perhaps. the handler found herself slipping
up and trying to cover it and remain cool about it.

This very possible. Suzanna said, acting as if she had

not heard the slip.

Ep 5, Chapter 5

The still not yet infamous 'Malika Bayramova' was

scheduled to dine at a very posh, top end sushi bar at the
water's edge which did not open up before noon.

Unlike many of the former crowded shops in the area,

this one had gained special permits to build out over the water
and terraced its building so that one had multiple venues in one
dining establishment.

There was a family restaurant type setting where people

would often come with reservations for weddings, anniversaries
and other important social milestones, then there was the
waterfront dining experience, which, during the warmer months,
included outside balcony dining overlooking the waterfront, and
finally, there was a hidden away, elevated area which was less
well lit, being lit in a smooth, amber colored lighting, where only

57
the super wealthy and influential were prone to be seated and
one had to have some pull to even get a reservation in this area
of the building.

There they were most certain to run across either their

target or their client on any given day, some times at the same
time.

Since she was known by neither, the handler felt it was

safe to have her appear at least at first without any concern as
to who saw her.

Clearly, 'Panther' had a LOT of pull to even be here.

Today, young lady, Panther said, waving her fingers at

Suzanna's wrist without actually making contact, you are going
to eat like royalty. as the waitress came up wearing a kimono
with what appeared to be a pillow tied to her back.

They were led into the back of the already exclusive

dining establishment to a reserved VIP section where they were
shown to a small low table with pillows for them to kneel on as
well as a recessed area below the table for those who either
could not, or would not kneel to eat.

Still being young and limber, Suzanna was able to kneel,

but she knew it would put her legs to sleep, plus it was
uncomfortable eating seated in this manner, so she gracefully
sat in the more western manner of sitting.

The waitress made no comments and simply asked if

they would like tea or sake.

Both please. the handler smiled as she knelt and

remained poised fluently handling the situation.

58
 Soon a large tray of meats, rice, vegetables and
garnishes arrived at the table all laid out so that one could easily
reach everything without having to bend forward.

Do enjoy your meal. the server said as she stepped

away backward bowing.

Domo. the handler replied with a smile and a slight nod.

As the server moved off to tend to other issues, the

young girl began to reach out and scoop up various items onto
her small plate with a spoon when she was stopped by the
words, We must eat very slowly darling, as the chopsticks in
her hand ever so gently tapped the back of the younger's hand,
we are refined ladies.

Sorry. Suzanna withdrew and focused on eating slowly

with much care and deliberation until it looked as if she were not
enjoying her food at all.

Please don't make it look like a torture session love, the

handler said, try to look like you are enjoying it, she smiled
softly, more like savoring it. then she glanced around and back
to lock eyes with the novice spy, We may be here quite some
time.

Suzanna finally got the message.

She was to take her time eating so that they could

prolong their time in the establishment, to increase their
chances of seeing somebody, or perhaps, be seen by
somebody, however, she was not exactly sure on this matter
yet.

Ep 5, Chapter 6

59
 The waitress came back several times to bring more tea
and more sake.

Panther seemed to be having a jolly time, chattering

about Scotland, Denmark, the Netherlands, Britain, South
Africa, and other places she acted as if she were a tourist at.

The funny part of it was, that she never seemed once to

talk about the countryside, just the restaurants, the hotels, the
traffic and the government.

It was as if every bit of her experience had centered

around cities, especially around the expensive parts of cities, or
at least one would certainly get that impression from the
conversation, or should one say, monologue.

For the most part, Suzanna would merely nod and smile.

Some times she would say, Oh. or Interesting. but she

was not a very animated conversationalist.

As the afternoon wore on into the evening, finally there

was some action.

The man she had seen in the photograph was coming

into the building, along with an escort of men who were
obviously body guards.

As they came up to the VIP area, they were seated three

tables away, and he was seated facing with his back to them.

It seemed, at first, that he had not even noticed them as

he came up the steps, which, by the way of this room's layout,
put Suzanna and her handler front dead center of the steps as
one came up into this reserved area, where one would either go
right as far as six tables or go left as far as two tables, leaving

60
this area to hold a total of only nine tables, and those all set up
specifically for larger groups to the left and smaller groups to the
right.

Salvatore had taken a small table, despite six burly

bodyguards who all stood around in heavy armor looking
suspicious and paranoid, and for the time being, it seemed as if
he were aiming to dine alone.

After forty five minutes, however, even as other wealthy

people came up, including what seemed to be a sheikh, a
politician and perhaps a famous musician, nobody else came up
to dine with the man.

Suddenly, the man raised a finger, and one of the nearest

bodyguards to him leaned sideways toward him and after a
moment nodded.

As the two women continued their slow, deliberate dining,

the big man came over and in his broken English said, Excuse
please, ladies, with his best warm smile, showing several gold
teeth and a scar across his lower lip, clearly an experienced
fighter, be he any good or not, Mr. Esminaldo wishes to know if
you might be interested in joining with him this evening?

Before Suzanna had a chance to react, her handler

replied, Why we would indeed be delighted!

Suzanna took this as her cue to smile sweetly.

They were about to get VERY close to their target.

Ep 5, Chapter 7

After they were introduced to their unwitting target by the

bodyguard, they introduced themselves by their fictitious names

61
and as if by magic, the waitress seemed to materialize and ask,
Mr. Esminaldo, shall this all be on one ticket?

He smiled, amazingly, while putting forth his upturned

hand as a gesture of good will.

Oh, the handler coolly played it, I feel just guilty if I-

It is no problem. he cut her off in a hushed voice,

Really.

Well, she played her part of this traditional social banter,

if you insist.

I insist. he smiled like a tiger sizing up his catch, having

no clue that he was in fact the prey.

He first asked them who they were and where they were
from, to which the handler went over their recently formulated
line about Malika Bayramova being from a wealthy Russian
oligarchy and she was merely her secretary and interpreter.

Being new to power and not well researched, Salvatore

had no way of knowing how bogus their story was, seeing as he
had hardly a fifth grade education and got most of what he had
at the end of a gun.

He was not an ugly man, as far as appearances went,

less disgusting then most self important criminals in the world in
fact, but his face was hard and it was apparent that he had
grown up fighting from early childhood, between the slight bend
in his nose, the largeness of his jaw which had been broken
countless times, the multiple jewel encrusted teeth, many of
them complete implants, to the partial left ear, possibly lost in a
fight with somebody wielding a knife.

62
 He began to go into great length about his own meteoric
rise to power, leaving out all of the essentials, such as the
murder, torture and bribery it took to gain the position, instead,
summing it all up as, 'a lot of dedicated hard work and strong
effort'.

The girls listened, not out of interest, but out of hopes to

begin to gather intelligence on the reason he was here trying to
get into protected waters with heavy trawlers and other vessels
which seemed more like dredgers, drilling rigs and salvage
ships.

Whatever the man had planned, he was more than

adequately equipped for it.

He went on to go backward, telling the story about how

he came up from 'a very very poor family' and how he had to
'work very hard' to climb the social ladder.

He was hoping that they had no idea who he was

apparently because if there was anybody, anywhere, who had
any sense of the situation, it was known that he was only not a
wanted fugitive from the law because he had murdered enough
people to become too powerful for any of his victims to stand a
chance pressing charges against him.

This man was the lowest kind of slime, and yet here he
was trying to get global recognition as a diplomatic leader.

He talked about how he had begun to fix the educational

system in his country, and how he had begun to make the
government more efficient and streamlined, but what he left out
was how he had done it was by completely gutting the
educational system wholesale, leaving it nothing but a vacant
shell of its self, so that the only education anybody was getting
was if teachers chose to volunteer, in un-powered classrooms,

63
without running water, without air conditioning, without lighting,
and without a single new book since he took power, and how
local governments had been ousted and his own thugs put in
their place.

This man was rapidly raping the country and nose diving
it into the depths of poverty.

And with all of that money, he had simply strengthened

the army, again run by his own goons, and invested in a
suspicious fleet of ships from any place he could get them.

What they learned from this man this night, the only
valuable thing out of all of it, was where he was staying while he
was in town.

Luckily for them, while all of this was going on, his wife,
AND his mistress managed to finally show up, allowing the two
spies to gracefully excuse themselves without spending the
evening in his upper Manhattan penthouse suite.

As they left the restaurant, they took a taxi back to their

penthouse, but got out several times and hailed other taxis in
case he had decided to have them followed.

All told, they got one address, and a very costly meal for
free.

Not bad for a first night's scouting, actually. the Panther

purred as she went into the bathroom first, changing out of her
high fashion outfit into a regular house robe.

You think we has not problems with the women? she

asked.

Oh, no. the handler replied, we had those two delayed

64
at the airport since before he even got to the restaurant darling,
she smiled as she left the bathroom door open and the light on
for Suzanna, this was all planned well in advance.

Ep 5, Chapter 8

A team of specialists was inserted into the hotel staff

where their target was staying, and from there, they carefully
proceeded to bug the place everywhere there was only the
remotest chance of them being discovered.

As the equipment set to collecting anything that was said

or electronically communicated within that room, to the best of
their abilities, the information would likely take some time to
collect.

The team worked on shifts to keep their presence small

while keeping refreshed back-ups on hand should anything go
sour.

Luckily, the loyalties of the hotel staff on hand was not

that great that it could not readily be bribed into taking paid
vacations so that the crew could come in wearing digitally built
disguises any place where a team member was sufficiently
similar in overall appearance to one of the staff.

This allowed for a smoother operation as it eliminated the

need to sneak in and out of the building or to avoid cameras and
the likes.

When somebody got caught in a tricky conversation, they

merely need press a tiny button on their shirt and a distress
signal would go out to cause some kind of in-hotel emergency
which would demand everybody's attention and leave no room
for laggers to drag on conversations.

65
 They spent a week scouting the despot for weaknesses,
patterns and generally sift through all of this verbal, paper and
electronic communications.

They scoured the whole gamut of his activities.

Sadly, however, when all was said and done, it turned up

with nothing concrete.

This man was careful if nothing else!

Ep 5, Chapter 9

Well, the handler was clearly agitated as she brushed

her long wavy locks from before her left eye, our quarry is
clearly being elusive. looking up across the room as if
envisioning the hotel suite of the target, Hate this as much as I
do, she clasped her hands before her face almost as if praying
while covering up a sneeze, I'm going to have to send you into
harm's way.

What this? Suzanna asked casually, Carry gun.

You won't get into that room with a gun darling, Panther
shook her head astutely, those guys are pros.

No gun? the girl asked almost as if in disbelief.

Besides, the handler added, word is he sleeps in body

armor.

Sleeps? Suzanna's eyes grew wide.

Oh. the woman seemed suddenly mildly surprised and

embarrassed, Did I forget to mention that part of this job?

66
 Ep 5, Chapter 10

After being seen at the sushi bar again while traffic was
being held up, Salvatore convinced the beautiful, wealthy,
influential Malika Bayramova to attend with him to his penthouse
suite after he got word that his mistress would be severely
delayed.

Not being a man to miss an opportunity, even for an

afternoon quickie, he made haste to return to his penthouse with
the beautiful young maiden in his clutches.

As they entered the foyer, as expected, she was scanned

with metal detectors and although one man was denied
permission to frisk her, he said, I'll take care of that detail my
self. in Spanish.

Little did he know that she knew enough Latin to

understand in general what he meant.

Although she was playing it calm and cool, inside, her

stomach was a knot.

Doing precisely as she had been instructed, she let him

take her into the living room and offer her drinks, where he
turned on some 'mood music' which, due to her divergent tastes
only worked in her favor to totally turn her stomach, not that she
had any intentions of letting this sleaze lay a finger on her virgin
body.

She mostly smiled and nodded, and answered any

specifically important question from the memorized fictional life
of her character.

When asked if she was romantically involved, she

replied, Always suitors but never agreement.

67
 So you are unattached at this time? he pushed further.

No strings. she smiled.

So I am free, he scooted up closer to her, to do as I

please?

Taking her left index finger, Suzanna dipped it into the

straight vodka he had poured her and reached over with a sly
smile and traced around the man's deeply pore pitted face.

Responding as predicted, he lunged, taking the finger

into his mouth to the last knuckle and began licking and sucking
on it.

Ohh! she gasped in a girly note, eyes suddenly wide,

yet not pulling back.

He grinned around her finger as he began to rise up to

come up on top of her and push her down onto the couch.

As she followed him upward with her eyes, she carefully

placed the drink to her lips, putting it between herself and his
face.

As he came up higher, he let her finger out of his mouth

and began to raise a knee to cross over her body.

Suddenly, however, he slowed down and began to purr,

then he slowly sat back down next to her and began to giggle.

She giggled from behind the glass and eyed him

playfully.

While his guards were busy respectfully turning both a

68
blind eye and deaf ear to their goings on, however, she
managed to also spit a tiny, grain of rice sized object into the
glass while at the same time she drank the vodka, hoping it was
not drugged.

As she put the now empty, save for the grain of rice sized
listening device down on the couch right between them in the
shadows, she was mindful to keep a firm grip on the glass so
that it would not tip over and drop the tiny device into the
cushions where it would lose its sensitivity and be muffled.

Do you like diving, Mr. Salvatore? she asked coyly,

seemingly spreading her legs in an inviting move, despite her
long evening gown.

Yes, he giggled while eyeing the potential of performing

oral sex on the young lady, very much so. then he began to
slowly lean forward, his right hand reaching toward her soft
young thighs covered by nothing more than a thin layer of fine
sliver silk.

Take me. she suddenly said in a firm tone.

At first he was confused, Eh? looking up.

Take me to diving. she said somewhat more firmly.

Take YOU...? he got this eye cocked confused puppy

look, so totally uncharacteristic of himself, to do the diving?

Yes. she said more firmly while keeping a sense of

sensuality in her voice, mostly to keep the guards from
suspecting, Off Belize.

Yo... he raised up, trying to gather his now somewhat

fuzzy thoughts, you want...to...to go DIVING? he asked.

69
 Yes. she smiled while keeping the playful, spoiled-child-
like tone going, This weekend.

This weekend, he asked, as if parroting her, somewhat

trying to figure out if she were serious or not, you want for me
to take you to Belize and take you diving?

Yes so. she smiled, With boat.

But why you want to go diving in Belize? he asked.

To find sunken treasure. she said clearly.

There is no treasure there! he said softly in complete

confusion.

Conquistadors' treasure. she said firmly, Gold. she

raised her left finger to once again trace the stupefied man's
lips, which he followed as if his head was magnetically drawn to
her fingertip.

She finally let him suck on her finger once more, mostly
to be sure he had imbibed enough of the hallucinogenic
hypnotic cocktail which had been activated by the ethanol in the
vodka.

As he sat there sucking on her finger, he seemed to grow

more and more docile and more and more compliant.

We can explore for hidden treasures in the harbor. she

said softly so that if the guards were not listening carefully they
would not hear what she was saying.

Yes, he mumbled around her finger, hidden treasure in

the harbor.

70
 Suddenly, without seeming to change anything, she
mysteriously reconfigured her face as she leaned close and
whispered, Tell me about your treasure. she smiled, It will be
our secret. and she winked.

As she did this, she very carefully raised the curved

bottom shot glass up under his chin, close enough that it would
have a very high chance of picking up his now subdued voice.

Treasure. he breathed softly, eyes slowly glazing over,

his words becoming more slurred by the second,
Silllllwwwkkkwwwwwwuuurrrrmmmmmsssssssillllle.

Below the waters? she whispered, With the fishes?

she asked.

Sshhhhhhhwwwuuuubbbbbbbbbbbmmmmwwwwwwuuu
uuwweeeeeennnn. his eyes slowly rolled back into the back of
his head.

Knowing she had to act fast, she tapped the glass three
light taps and got the tiniest little green flash from it before she
then said, Well then, bottoms up! and tossed the glass back,
swallowing the little grain sized spy device before she jabbed a
special tablet into his mouth and said, Swallow or you will die.

The man did and in moments he was snoring softly.

She sat there patiently waiting for him to awaken, even

though the guards had begun to get worried and suspicious, she
waited until he was coming out of his haze and said, My look at
the time! and on cue, the hotel suddenly had a fire in progress
and alarms went off all over the building.

As he snapped to, not remembering anything, he heard

71
the alarms and she asked, We are going to burn to death?

The whole party made a hasty retreat from the penthouse

and nothing more was ever mentioned of the afternoon.

Episode 6
Congratulations Can Come Later

As the whole sunken Chinese nuclear submarine

accident ordeal made the light of day, it proved to be a hefty
payoff and a public humiliation for both Salvatore and the
Chinese government.

Well now that THAT is over and my precious Malika is

still a VIRGINAL beauty, she declared, 'tis time we move on to
the next mission.

We presently again move new location? Suzanna

asked.

We go where the action is darlin'. the handler replied as

she completed her report, tickets already waiting for us at the
airport.

What about my cloths? the girl asked.

Oh just leave those. the woman waved them off

causally, We'll get more when we get to the next destination.

But this I like! she protested, Want keep!

Well some day, the woman warned her, you are going
to run out of space for them. Trust me.

I not nothing care! she protested, This well cloths and

not need wasted!

72
 Oh they get donated to charity. the handler sighed, Its
not like they get thrown into the trash or anything.

Want keep! the girl insisted.

Panther sighed, Fine. she punched a few buttons on

her laptop, Bear dear...

Yes? came a bemused voice over the small speakers of

the laptop.

You heard her, the woman shook her head, have it all
shipped back to her place in Russia.

Yes dear. the big man chuckled deeply.

Children these days, she sighed and slumped in her

chair, running her fingers over her face and then through her
hair, I swear.

Ep 6, Chapter 2

Still wanting to keep her magnificent specimen out of the

direct limelight, the handler made a point of sidestepping a
potentially high paying but high profile job in Washington, D.C.,
favoring one in Cape Town, South Africa.

They spent three days in connections before landing at

the Cape Town international airport.

One in London, one in Belgium and one in Cairo before

the fourth and final leg of the trip.

Why so many connections? Suzanna asked.

73
 Business. her handler said.

Business at connections? the student asked.

Always business. the older woman replied, Delivering

information, picking up information, gathering information,
always something one can be doing in an airport.

Hmmm. she girl mused as she yawned.

All of this had been going on while she had scarcely

noticed anything but the amusing scenery around her.

In essence, despite being a great insertable operative on

the job, she was a poor spy overall, because she failed to pay
close attention to every minute activity around her.

Overall, however, one could not fault her, she had not
been trained to do this sort of work whatsoever, so for her to just
naturally key in on it would have been asking a lot, if not too
much, of any new recruit, especially one lacking said training.

By the time they landed, however, Suzanna was lagging

badly as she had never before been so long bouncing around
between time zones, and she was not getting any real sleep on
the planes either.

She was slumping over, holding herself up by the

luggage cart, which, at this moment was rather light, carrying at
most 2 changes of clothes apiece, some hygiene and a lot of
highly sophisticated spy gear her handler had to bribe people to
pass through customs.

As they got in the taxi, even before Panther could tell the
driver where to take the two of them, the blond haired beauty
was slumped over asleep.

74
 Awwe how darling is that. her handler remarked as they
pulled away from the curb and into traffic.

I'm sorry miss? the inky blacked skinned driver asked in

the local accent.

Never mind, the handler said, its already gone now.

not wanting to make a point of the child's beauty to anybody
who may not have already asked.

Ep 6, Chapter 3

As the taxi rolled along, the handler known only by her

code name 'Panther' gently handled the tips of Suzanna's blond
hair and gazed adoringly at the sleeping face and smiled softly.

As they pulled up to the hotel, she gently climbed over

the sleeping girl to the sidewalk side of the car as the driver
opened the door, out onto the sidewalk.

The driver was about to reach in to lift or wake the girl but
the handler said, I'll handle this, putting a thick wad of South
African bills in front of him.

Thank you ma'am! the man cried but she made a

shushing motion toward him before she carefully slid one hand
under the young girl's legs and one hand behind her back and
slowly lifted her, being careful not to hit her head on the roof and
turned toward the hotel entryway.

Please be a dear and bring our luggage, will you? she

called back to the driver.

She got plenty of stares as she strode smoothly into the

hotel lobby with the 5' 7 tall girl cradled in her powerful arms,

75
soundly sleeping.

I'll be there shortly. the hotel clerk looked up from

attending to another guest who was signing in.

The handler was not all for show it proved, for it took over
half an hour for the clerk to sign in the unlucky tourists who had
lost all of their money, identification and luggage when the
cruise ship they had been aboard was struck by a small fishing
trawler and sank in the harbor.

She was not even tired when the clerk came over
apologizing profusely.

Its fine dear, the woman replied casually, I could stand

like this for days. giving him a subtle wink.

Oh...yes yes madame, the tall, smoothly bald south

African man regarded the beautiful girl, I can imagine you could
indeed.

But for her sake, the handler interrupted his thoughts, I

think it best she be allowed to sleep in a normal bed, she
glanced toward the elevator door and the patiently waiting taxi
driver, if you would please?

Ep 6, Chapter 4

Suzanna had a powerful dream of being on a boat in the

ocean.

She was mostly just riding along, rocking with the waves,
nothing too particularly eventful, but her father sailed by in a
massive Russian destroyer and waved, saying, Bring back my
gun!

76
 There were sea gulls, just like she had remembered from
the Baltic Sea, and she could see them all hovering around the
boat looking for her to throw over some kind of scraps.

Suddenly, as happens in illogical dreams, her handler

rowed by in another boat while throwing miniature articles of
clothes out into the water as if they were scraps of bread.

The seagulls would swoop down and scoop up the fancy

gowns by world famous designers, and suddenly by magic, they
would be wearing them and fly off toward a distant party.

After a while, however, it seemed that the boat stopped

rocking and came ashore.

Now she was no longer in a boat but in the hot Afghan

desert.

She felt hot and dry and very thirsty now.

No sooner than she realized how thirsty she was, she

also realized she badly needed to pee.

Suddenly she awoke in the hotel bed, still dressed but for
her shoes, and laying under the covers.

As she awoke, she needed to use the bathroom and at

the same time, she was thirsty.

As she looked around with bleary eyes, she saw a white

porcelain pitcher beside a large porcelain basin, but there were
no cups or glasses, so, not presuming anything, she picked up
the pitcher and drank from its spout.

Just about that time, the cleaning maid was being let in
by the handler and they both, upon seeing each other froze in

77
place.

Finally, the handler burst forth in hilarious laughter and

the maid blushed and looked away shyly, covering her mouth.

Suzanna looked over and asked, What?

Ep 6, Chapter 5

What we doing this time? Suzanna asked as she sat

eating a lush dinner prepared by yet another chef.

We're here to figure out what this man is up to. as the

handler produced another black and white photograph of a
target.

This man is strong man, no? Suzanna asked.

We know he has ties to the underground gold market.

Panther replied, But little for sure is known about him exactly.

What the client wants knowing? the radar and long

range communications student asked.

Anything and everything. the handler replied.

Who is client? Suzanna asked.

That is always kept in strict confidentiality. the woman

replied, Part of our agreement is to not ask questions about the
client, unless another client is the one paying us to, and even
then we must keep the events separate, as it is a conflict of
interests.

I see, the girl replied, not pressing the issue, yet not
satisfied with the answer.

78
 Some questions are best never asked. the handler
added for emphasis.

Why all times not color photograph? Suzanna asked

changing the subject as she picked it up and regarded the
amazingly sharp detail, rendering a normal man's clean shaven
smooth face to such fine detail that it felt like she was observing
a face carved out of sandstone.

Black and white gives you a truer picture of the subject.

the woman replied, It demystifies, it clarifies, it brings all of the
most minute flaws into sharp, clear focus so that you
subconsciously see them and never miss a detail, whereas a
color photograph will leave you swooning over their
handsomeness or beauty, and leave you totally incapable of
seeing the true monster which lurks beneath.

She handed out another, this time the same man,

shaking hands with another man, somebody who had been
killed in a war on the northern cusp of the continent, and they
were both smiling, and yet they both had a look of steel
hardness in their eyes, It reduces a human from a person, a
soul or an individual...down to a target.

Ep 6, Chapter 6

As is bound to happen in any clandestine organization,

there comes a time when the subordinates begin to question
their superiors.

Something felt entirely wrong to Suzanna about this one

from the very first moment she set eyes on the target.

Sure, this man was hard as steel, cunning, and

calculated, but something else was there too.

79
 There was a sense of duty, charity and dignity, she could
somehow just FEEL it.

She was being sent to eavesdrop on the man at first,

simply showing up in the jewel market with a lot of money to
spend speculating on diamonds.

Other agents had already drifted through the collection

and had signaled specific high grade gems that she was to pay
specific attention to and bid on since it was a closed lipped
silent auction.

One of the key factors, however, which made this

particular auction unique, was that the buyers had to pay in gold
bullion

As she was vetted as the still little known Malika

Bayramova, she was new to this part of the world, and working
fast, had left little time for people to develop a rumor trail on her.

Therefore, the only word one could have gotten at this

point was if they trailed her back to her hotel and bribed, strong
armed or stole information about her.

To do this, clearly, she would have to be tailed, and

before this ever happened, she would have to first, be noticed.

Showing up in a white, backless gown with a floppy

brimmed white sun hat and white rimmed sunglasses and white
high heeled leather sandals, shimmering in a virtually chest
covering long strand diamond fringe necklace.

The article around her neck was indeed the real deal.

Worth over one hundred and twenty thousand Euros, the

80
gems, although small, were abundant, and set in pure rubidium
chains.

It was from a world famous designer and the only way

one could purchase one was if they had paid in gold bullion,
therefore, by and of its self, it spoke of the buyer's intents as
well as their capabilities.

Sure enough, one Johnathan Wellington III came slowly

drifting through the crowd, and as he saw the tall blond lady with
soft supple exposed skin dripping in gold purchased diamonds,
he was completely unable to stop looking.

She would occasionally pretend to pretend to not be

looking.

This was the easiest way one could have possibly spied
upon a soul if there ever were any!

She had to make believe she was unaware of him in

such a manner that made it more than dreadfully obvious that
she was observing him as intently as he was observing her!

She had to keep from giggling at the sheer absurdity of

the situation.

Several times he would suddenly try to make an advance

to slip up beside her and say something off the cuff and under
toned, but every time, some other person would slip in between
them saying something absurd in a loud voice and by the time
he got through not bumping into the person, she was already
further along the market.

He was getting quite flustered as it seemed that every

single time he got up the courage to make his move, somebody
would be there to block his path.

81
 As the market only allowed a person one time to pass
through and bid, he knew he had to make his move, or he would
quite possibly miss out on ever seeing this blond beauty ever
again, or perhaps, at least until next year's auction, were be
fortunate enough to even be alive when it came!

She, on the other hand, was being very careful not to get
too far ahead, and she was to place the precise bids on the
precise stones and move on the moment that somebody came
up to ask about the same stone, and never once look back.

It happened, however, that when she came to the very

last stone she was to bid on, a particularly large, clear, blue-
white 'ice' diamond, she was to wait just a little longer than usual
as if thinking about how much to bid.

As the man came up, seeing as there was only a select

few stones she had bid on, and out of that perhaps twenty, they
were all the finest ones by far, many of which, he himself bid
upon as well, he could see already that this was by all means,
the final stone she was going to even look at before leaving
back out into the anonymity of the open world outside of the
carefully guarded doors.

Just as he made his move, however, he made extra

certain to look around himself first and look to see if anybody
else was waiting to lunge in and get between himself and her.

Seeing what looked like the person who was about to do

this, he made a point of saying ,excuse me sir!

The person he thought was going to make the interfering

move looked up surprised and then he said, Oh, sorry, with a
feigned chuckle, you're not who I thought you were. all the
time, slowly passing by the man, keeping his face to him while

82
he slid on by to get the suspect behind himself.

As he spun to catch the young lady in the midst of

placing her bid, however, already determined to say what he
had in his mind, he failed to notice a somewhat 'minor' new
glitch in his plan.

That's an exquisite piece you have before you. he said

while looking down, trying to be coy.

You can see through my gown darling? came a

decidedly more mature voice than he had expected.

As he looked up, there was a much taller, muscular

woman there in place of the young nubile enchantress.

While no less beautiful, this woman was a completely

different affair!

She was over six feet and virtually rippling with

exquisitely toned muscle.

As he looked up shocked and embarrassed, he suddenly

heard the soft, sweet French words spoken by Malika as she
called out, Do hurry please Sharon, the young girl called out,
it is time for my pedicure. extending a white silk gloved hand in
a beckoning manner.

You'll have to excuse me sir, Panther said to the

dumbstricken man, the mistress is calling.

Ep 6, Chapter 7

I think he not bad man. Suzanna decided to put forth.

Good or bad are moral judgments darling, the handler

83
replied in her all knowing tone, we're not here to make
judgments.

I know, but still. she protested.

You like him? the woman chided playfully.

I not know him to like nor dislike! the girl protested.

Then how can you know if he is good or bad? the

woman challenged.

I see in eyes. the student insisted, Has well traits as

human.

Ahhh... the handler said, so he is an altruistic, save the

world kinda guy now is he?

Perhaps. Suzanna replied, But else all, not criminal.

You just focus on your job little girl, the handler replied
firmly, with not just a little bit of annoyance in her voice, and let
the grown ups deal with the moral ramifications of it all.

Yes, Panther. the girl replied sullenly, eyes downcast.

That is, the woman offered, unless you wish to retire

from spying and return to being a student or whatever you had
planned...for the rest of your life.

Oh no! Suzanna's eyes got wide with fear, rushing over

and grasping her handler's hands in a flash of youthful
desperation, I LOVE!

Ohhhhh... the woman cooed in her mind, I do like the

way you say that... and she bit her lip, but I better not try to

84
find out what you mean by that in some illegal manner!

To the girl she said, I'm not sure what you meant by that
darlin, but you best keep in mind that in this job, its all about
blindly following orders to a 'T' and never stepping out of line.

Suzanna slowly released the big woman's hands and

softly said, Yes Panther.

Ep 6, Chapter 8

Suzanna was scheduled to attend an exclusive gold

buyer's event which was also 'by invitation only.'

Many there knew one another from years of being in the

business, either as partners, rivals, or depending on the market
and the opportunity, some times both at differing times.

They say that 'politics makes strange bedfellows', but

money and precious metals is no different in this respect.

People came into the building acting quite suspicious,

defensive and aloof, which was usually how every event began,
and as such, Malika Bayramova was no exception.

Therefore, when the target showed up and immediately

began making eyes at her, she did what was expected of her
and she simply pretended to ignore him.

Before the event, he knew he couldn't complain, because

this was how everybody was.

After the event, when all of the haggling, bidding and

victories or losses were tallied up, people would often drop their
guards and go off together to some pub and drink and laugh
about it all.

85
 Although this was not necessarily the set fixed rule, it
was most common.

He worried that she may be amongst those who would

remain so even after the event, seeing as up to this point, she
was making no move to even pretend to be ignoring him like
she seemed to have been doing the first time he saw her.

She seemed entirely intent on the goal, which in this

case, was to purchase the most gold at the lowest price, while
everybody else was trying to obtain the same gold for the lowest
possible price as well.

She was going around the warehouse inspecting the

merchandise, which ranged from old coins, to jewelry to various
forms of bullion.

In every case, she seemed to have the perfect eye for

the choicest lots once again.

Either the young maiden was a natural born financial

wizard, or she had somebody advising her on what to buy and
what not to.

He was actually already pretty sure he knew who this

other person was, and, it turned out, it was the tall, muscular
woman who was presently standing right next to Malika, almost
as if she were a body guard.

Come to think of it, he thought to himself, she looks like

she could do really well as not merely a body guard, but as a
field agent! with that he decided he would approach them as
soon as the bidding was over.

Ep 6, Chapter 9

86
 Suzanna meticulously played her role and carefully bid to
the predetermined limits, and the only ones she lost out on were
to, of all people, Johnathan Wellington III.

When the auction was over, Malika and her bodyguard

shook the hands of some of the other buyers, but her total
disinterest was evident.

She had somewhat of a politely glazed expression as if

she did not even really see these people.

It was not disdain, however, but something else.

Something intangible.

She was looking without looking and seeing without

paying attention.

As he slipped up carefully in the crowd, however, she

seemed to suddenly draw a sharp focus on him.

The piercing look her deep brown eyes laid upon him
made him stumble and lose his footing.

As he lost his balance and briefly looked down to regain

his stance, that was all it took.

When he looked up, she had somehow mysteriously

slipped away into the crowd.

Strangely enough, the large amazon by her side

somehow had also made her departure as well.

Stymied by this, he came forward into the crowd,

searching diligently because surely they had no secret ninja

87
magic by which they could simply turn invisible.

Its as if they had on optical camouflage or something.

he pondered to himself.

Closing in on where they last stood, however, somehow it

became completely clear that it was merely a simple physical
motion which he was not observing when he was busy
stumbling over his own feet.

Excuse me darlin, the big woman said from immediately

behind him, but are you by any chance FOLLOWING my
mistress?

Ep 6, Chapter 10

He could not help but jump a little at the surprise of the

matter.

As he turned around, placing his hand against his heart,

he was momentarily wide eyed, but he broke into a wide,
relieved smile when he saw the woman, albeit it was somewhat
an act to disarm her mentally.

There behind him the amazon woman stood with a loose

hand full of papers while some gentlemen were apologizing
profusely whilst eagerly helping the young woman of mystery
pick up some other papers which had apparently been knocked
out of her hands.

They had merely crouched down to pick up those fallen

papers.

He was terribly embarrassed that he had totally missed

this and now he looked somewhat suspicious and had to figure
a way to back out of this situation gracefully.

88
 His mind raced while the woman stood over him, clearly
expecting an answer from him.

He was by no means a world class fighter, albeit he had

th
been a 4 degree black belt at Tai Chi in his younger years, but
this woman looked like she was a walking machine of
destruction. When she merely twitched her body jumped at her
command, making the smooth muscles along her arms and
chest momentarily leap out like wild animals straining against
powerful chains.

As he eyed her, his mouth seemed to get dry and he

rubbed his suddenly mysteriously sweaty palms together
nervously and asked, Have I ever seen you before?

I don't know darlin, she replied casually, depends on

where all in the world you might have traveled.

Well, he chuckled, trying to push down the short hairs

on the back of his neck which suddenly began to stick up with a
chill, I dunno, he said off handedly, regarding the bundle of
papers in her hand, trying to avoid staring at her face, muscles
or breasts, I DO tend to travel the world a bit. but he eventually
did glance up at her face furtively.

What a coincidence. the woman said to him, I do too

and I don't recall us crossing paths.

Well then please allow me to introduce my self! he

beamed warmly, extending his hand, Johnathan Wellington III,
founder of S.A.D. ('The Statistical Analytical Data Corporation')
and venture entrepreneur!

He was truly stymied when her hands dropped the

papers she had been holding and face went instantly into a

89
frozen expression of shock.

Ep 6, Chapter 11

As the three of them sat in the penthouse, Suzanna

marveled at this indeed wonderful man who had been secretly
their boss and they did not even know it.

She giggled with pride and self gratification while

'Panther' was rather mortified to find out she had been sent on a
mission to spy out her own boss, and in a group so utterly
secretive as it was, she had no idea what she was doing.

She apologized easily fifty times and, for all her former
bold bravado, now could not look the man in the eyes even
though he good naturedly took it all in stride.

Its the hazard of being a good spy! he beamed warmly,

there was none of the apparent hardness in his eyes that the
black and white photograph had seemed to bring out, When
one operates a truly perfect spy ring, this is a potential hazard of
the job.

I should have known. she murmured.

If you spent more time at headquarters, he chided her

with a playful, actually fatherly smile, you would have known!

Yes sir. she grumbled.

Hey don't feel too bad, he shrugged, I didn't know who

YOU were either! then broke out into soft laughter.

I told you he well man! Suzanna purred exuberantly and

with a bit too much youthful pride, You should listen me!

90
 Yeah...fine...alright... the amazon grumbled softly in
resignation, followed by a long, self disgusted sigh, her pride as
an agent clearly ground into the dust, but don't hold your breath
on that congratulations you are looking for.

Episode 7
Having Guests for Dinner!

DOCTOR Johnathan Wellington III, stayed over for three

days, in which time, he warmly explained everything.

He has paid for this entire venture from his work in the
precious metals and gemstone commodities and indeed did
work in the underground.

The banks, the IMF and several governments were

tracking him, trying to pin anything on him they possibly could.

Interestingly enough, it was his original estimations of the

values of diamonds which had been used in the market as he
had left them on his desk top computer and with a few calls he
got confirmation of this by way of the institution's operations
chief who had needed something in a hurry for a job and without
even following up on the job details had gotten the information
without knowing it was his own boss that the job concerned.

Goes to show, he smiled warmly, even my most trusted

friend, and the head of operations there did not know, he patted
the amazon warmly on the shoulder, having to reach slightly
upwards to do so, being only five feet five inches tall, so don't
feel bad that as a remotely operating independent field agent
that you missed this minor oversight.

Well what should we do about the contract then? the

handler asked her ultimate boss.

91
 We'll honor it, he beamed warmly, naturally!

Ep 7, Chapter 2

There was now a brand new strategy in place.

This was no longer about discovering who Dr. Johnathan

Wellington III was, but, in fact, rather quite the opposite.

Seeing as somebody had, in essence, set up a deep

inquisition into the whereabouts and activities of the founder of
this fine intelligence gathering organization, there were no
shortages of severely embarrassed and highly upset members
amongst the ranks.

That aside, he, being the (mostly) calm, cool, calculated

man he had come to be, set them all straight that this would be
a polite, civil, congenial operation, not one of revenge.

With all of the proper people in place, the courier was

right on time to drop off a data chip in the predetermined drop
off point.

As the courier left, cautious people were eventually seen

to gradually mingle amongst the casual passers by, but, to the
trained eye, they all stuck out like sore thumbs.

As it was, taking no chances, there on Green Market

Square, where people could easily get lost in the hustle and the
bustle, they set a quaint little family consisting of a man, a
woman and a young child.

The child was literally tied to a balloon by a string and

they all sat there eating lunch together.

The child sat placidly talking with the parents and they

92
were just having a jolly time eating at a local Turkish restaurant
which had a pretty good overall view of the market.

As the family ate and chatted, people came and went all
around them and the balloon slowly, lazily spun.

Finally, amongst all of the various suspicious looking

people, one of them appeared to cough and cover their mouth
with a long sleeve, which, in Cape Town was in its self fairly
suspicious, at this time of the year.

Moments later, another man left a small booth with trash

they were carrying to the dumpster.

Upon reaching the dumpster, however, they took just a

moment to look around while they were dumping the trash in the
can and at the last moment their right hand snaked out and
slipped into the handle on the underside and slipped out the
data chip.

Do you want some more chips darling? the man asked

his wife, as the balloon stopped rotating and began tracking the
man's movements past his original booth, down between them,
momentarily out of sight, and then out the far side, wearing a
different shirt and a booney hat.

The target is on the move. said a figure from a remote

location in a van with observation equipment.

The balloon suddenly broke free from its moorings and

began to drift with the wind.

But strangely, as it 'drifted', it tilted somewhat and lurched

and surged in the general direction of the man with the chip...

Ep 7, Chapter 3

93
 The man made his way to the Kapstad railway terminal
and headed to the loading platforms.

If this man got on the trains unaccompanied, the odds of

finding him again were astronomical.

The balloon had given way to small hovering drones, but

these were no match for even the speed of a slow moving train,
and their range was pathetic at best.

It was hard enough just trying to follow him now into the
buildings, where the drones would be useless, they had roofs
over each platform and one would have to look below the roofs
or see through them, to keep an eye on him, let alone see him
on the train its self beyond that.

On top of that, in a huge crowd, there was no chance of

keeping track of him anyhow as the heads all bobbed up and
down and mingled around, and he could easily have taken off
his hat and had another shirt on below the last one they had
seen.

They were forced to take a huge risk and have one or

more operatives actually follow the man on the train, and just
hope he did not discover that they were tailing him.

The man boarded one of the many trains headed east

bound, deeper inland from the western shore.

The rails fanned out with the city with its radial streets, so
the switching options were gratefully reduced the further out one
went, but at the same time, this meant the number of places to
get lost in between those points increased as well.

Once a target disembarked from the train in some low

94
population center, tailing him in person became much harder.

Since this plan was hastily conceived, much of the better

equipment was away on other jobs around the world and finding
or building suitable replacements on such short order were
simply beyond their abilities.

They had to rely on years of skillful spying, concealed

cameras, and the skillful hacking of their newest member.

I has idea. Suzanna proposed.

Yes darlin? the handler, now less perturbed and more

caught up in the chase asked.

I can access city cameras. she declared.

Oh you can? the doctor asked interested.

Simply so! she smiled, Permit please? she asked for

access to the handler's personal command base.

The founder smiled at the uncertain handler and softly

closed his eyes as to say 'yes' to this.

Without a moment's hesitation, the young radio

electronics technician accessed some anonymous location
some place else on the planet and swiftly downloaded a packet.

This packet unpacked its self rapidly and began spewing

out reams of numerical information before finally stopping at one
and causing it to flash in bold characters.

Okay now, she looked up over imaginary glasses, Mr.

Chip Man, she smiled softly, I intend to following you. with a
self pleased little smile.

95
 Moments later hundreds of little thumbnails popped up in
a grid on the screen and soon enough, one of them leapt out
from all of the others and there was their target.

The man was leaving the train at the Bellville station and
transferring to a side line, heading further out in a northeasterly
direction.

The target is on the green route now, heading

northeasterly. Panther called on her wireless link.

On it. a familiar voice replied.

Bear chases too? Suzanna asked.

We do whatever the job requires darlin. the woman

replied.

She knows code names already I see. the doctor

nodded, Good work accessing the cameras for us Tigress. he
addressed her by her code name this time.

Suzanna blushed at the honor of being named by her

code name by the founder and smiled, Thank you Dedushka.

The director looked quite surprised and asked, How did

you know my code name?

Your code name is 'Dedushka'? the handler asked

somewhat surprised at the idea of a Russian code name.

Its 'Grandpa', he replied, glowing as warmly as only a

true grandfather could, close enough.

Ep 7, Chapter 4

96
 When the courier finally made it to his destination, he
was still trying to be extra careful so he went around the back of
the building and tried to drop the chip off in a roof drain without
being noticed.

The man then proceeded to round the corner and, of all

things, hail a cab.

As he rode off from this area, however, Suzanna had a

sneaking feeling that all of this had been but a ploy to ditch his
pursuers.

You think smart, ey? Suzanna was all charge up now!

She got the plates and ran all of the data on the taxi and even
got its radio transponder ID so that they could track it via cell
phone towers and side band radio repeaters.

She followed the man, and as the drain proved to be

empty, Panther radioed out, Tigress secured the car's beacon,
and we now have it on city cameras as well as we are bringing a
weather satellite up online now, so you can all relax for just a
moment and secure transportation so you can catch up and run
parallel from this point forward.

Rodger that Panther. came more than one response.

Ep 7, Chapter 5

The cab finally unloaded the man far out of the Cape
Town metropolitan vicinity in a strangely named village named
Rabiesdale.

There he got out of the taxi on the street next to a white

cinder block building with red trim and a red painted cinder block
wall topped with rotunda wire and a closed chainlink fence.

97
 The place looked nasty by all accounts.

This was like a slum lord apartment complex but with

only four distinctly separate dwellings.

The gates were closed and locked but the moment he

pulled up a person raced out and he reached through the fence
and they made hand-to-hand contact.

At this resolution, it was impossible to see if the chip had

actually changed hands or not.

Either way, they had to now inspect this location while at

the same time, keep an eye on him as well.

Two cars cruised each street on both sides of the

complex, but knowing that they could neither merely park and
case the building, nor continue to merely pass by repeatedly,
they opted to park a little further down and use long range
binoculars.

The man himself simply began shuffling down the street

and for a moment, the one watch car driver had to duck down
and peer through a tiny periscope over the side of the door until
the man passed by him.

The man was now not acting nearly so cagey, but this
too, for all they knew, could be purely for show.

As the man walked almost totally out of sight down the

street, however, he suddenly turned and entered a building.

A quick zoom in on the building showed it to be a local

grocery store.

98
 With the man inside the grocery store, there was no way
they could send in somebody who looked anything like a
foreigner and have them watch, and on top of that, while inside
the store, he might have already unloaded the chip some place.

Not being sure what to do, a third and fourth car came up
to the store, and after circling around back, car number four
parked in the back where it sat idling.

The operative in car number three was already dressed

as one of the street vendors who had waited at the park in
advance, so, as long as he had not already been identified, he
would be able to move on into the building and see inside what
might be going on.

As he left his car, he made sure to put his radio on its

lowest possible volume in case a message came through while
he was anywhere near the target.

As it was, the man seemed to merely be shopping

around for groceries, casually pushing a cart before him while
randomly pulling items off the shelf and putting them into the
cart.

This would have seemed normal enough, save that as

the man slowly cruised the aisles, he kept occasionally putting
something back out of the cart, and often not where he got it
from.

Clearly, this man was loitering.

Ep 7, Chapter 6

As the man continued to loiter, a rather overweight white

man came out, wearing a business suit, and behind him came
two tall men, possibly from Zambia from the looks of them, and

99
he caught the man coming around one aisle and addressed him
not too rudely, but in a seemingly forceful manner.

Excuse me sir, he said as the two larger men

surrounded him, are you here to shop in this store? he asked
leaning closely toward the target, Or are you here to case the
joint to rob it?

The man looked alarmed and fearful as he said, No-no-

no sir! Please believe me! he seemed truly afraid as the one of
two men reached out and took hold of his arms, the other
quickly frisked him, I-I-I not- but then one of the men pulled a
small pistol from the man's pant leg, he wilted, clearly caught.

I believe you will have to come with us, sir. the man
said.

Damn. the agent softly mumbled under his breath, We

have a staged arrest and retrieval on our hands.

That's fine Wolverine, the faintest tone came back, we

just keep following them until we get to the end of this.

Understood. the agent replied.

As he went to purchase some off the wall local brand of

soft drink, he kept an eye on the men as they led the target
toward the back of the store.

Not only had they not used the hand cuffs on their belts,
the moment they reached the back office, the man released the
target's hands, and they continued out of sight as the door
closed.

And we have a sale. he suddenly declared to the clerk.

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 The young man, perhaps about seventeen years old
looked up at the tall, Jamaican man totally confused, but a
moment later he slumped to the floor as a tiny dart struck him in
the neck.

Okay people, Panther called, Lets close in.

Ep 7, Chapter 7

The man in the car, also known as 'Bear' remained in

place for the three minutes it took for cars one and two to arrive
and then he stepped swiftly from his car and with a Desert
Eagle .50 caliber with an extended magazine, he swiftly moved
up to the back door of the building and when he saw it was
unlocked, slipped inside with the muzzle up but ready to fire.

The man known as 'Snake,' a muscular black man with a

shaved head goatee and tattoo of a death adder wrapped
around his neck, its head over his large Adam's apple popped
out of a rather benign looking car as he stopped directly in front
of the door to the market, completely blocking it from opening,
then he simply lashed out with a booted heel and kicked the
tempered glass of one door, making it collapsed to the ground
with a soft tinkling sound. He slipped under the aluminum push
bar of the door bringing a P-90-A3 to bear.

The man known as 'Werewolf,' a huge burly German man

with a slightly rounded version of a flat top and a thick but close
trimmed beard, and a perpetual squint came up behind 'Bear'
with a Mossberg pump shotgun slung over his back and an
HK121 in his left hand, custom built for a left handed shooter.

The four men closed in on the room where the four other
men were and as they closed in as quietly as they could, there
was some laughter and some voices exchanging sentiments
about how foolish it was to mess with 'us', whomever 'us'

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constituted.

This was about as far as they got before the operative

Wolverine softly pushed the door open and leaned in on them
and said in his hearty Jamaican accent, Excuse me peoples,
but uhh... looking back toward the front of the store, me thinks
you clerk guy, he not looking too well.

Go look into that Palo. the white man said, pointing

toward the door.

One big man said, Yes boss. and dutifully rose up

toward the door.

Wolverine said in a soft, friendly tone, This way sir. as if

he were ushering a dignitary toward a waiting car.

As the man stepped out the door, however, there was a

quick set of soft thunking sounds.

Excuse me sirs, Wolverine stepped back in the doorway

just as they were looking up wondering what the sounds were,
me thinks your man here too not looking so well.

The other tall man reached for a pistol but before he

could get it drawn toward the operative, he dropped as the
nearly silent whisper of the dart dropped him as well. His gun
dropped from his hand before him with a loud clack.

The small man from the market had dropped to the floor,
rolled and was rising up from the ground with the same pistol he
had before, from the same location on his ankle.

Before he could get a clear fix, the tiny black tube from
Wolverine's arm pegged him as well and he dropped with a soft
thump to the ground as his pistol clattered on the tile floor.

102
 The big man began to rise and draw a sawed off shotgun
from below the desk but he got a dart for his efforts and fell back
against the wall before falling forward, striking his face hard on
his own desk.

Clear. the operative said in clean American English.

Ep 7, Chapter 8

Lets get them out of there and see what we find.

Panther said.

Understood. 'Bear' replied.

They searched all of the men and did not find the chip.

Somewhere along the route it must have been dropped

off.

The target is dry. 'Bear' radioed in.

'Snow Cat'...'Tangerine'... 'Panther called, Do you see

anything?

Opposition forces moving toward the point, over. came

a call back.

Okay people, Panther radioed, you heard it here first,

she said as if she were quoting a newspaper advertisement,
you have company coming.

'Tangerine? Suzanna asked with a slightly amused, but

confused expression.

We have a large organization. the doctor said, We ran

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out of easily identifiable animals before we ran out of
operatives.

Oh. she replied, But I am 'Tigress', no?

That was the name of another operative years ago.

'Panther' said, suddenly seeming to have a pained look in her
eyes.

As the men began sweeping the room they searched for

possible nooks to hide the chip in and while 'Snake' was
examining below the desk with a small light, he noticed that
there was a silent alarm.

This is not a shabby operation guys, he looked up, we

best find that before they do.

You think they don't have it already Panther? 'Bear'

asked their handler.

If they did, she replied, they would have cut their

losses and left those guys to rot. she said, or else they are
coming there to make sure they escape if fat boy is their local
boss.

Maybe they tie ends? Suzanna asked.

That is possible too, Panther acknowledged to the

college student, guys, she radioed back, make getting the fat
man out alive at all costs.

Understood. 'Bear' acknowledged.

Ep 7, Chapter 9

More than just a couple of pickups full of young men with

104
rags over their faces came toward the seemingly peaceful
grocery store.

Seven pickups filled with as many as eight men apiece

materialized from various nearby streets brandishing old surplus
Kalashnikovs.

These were not professional soldiers, or, at least they

were not intended to look like such.

They wore street clothes, often tank tops, baggy

nondescript pants and sneakers.

Still, they were organized well enough to come quickly

when called, and they brought enough fire power to mean
serious business.

The first line of business was to jump out of their trucks

and run up to the front and back of the building.

From there, they threw a grenade in the front door of the

store, blowing the very few windows it had out.

Then they proceeded to try to side shoot into the opening

to clear a pathway into the building to press the invasion.

The team was all in the back and the back door was now
locked.

The staff and customers inside the store were screaming

and running toward the back trying to stay out of harm's way.

The four men knew they could not merely lay down
suppressive fire, not only because they could hurt civilians but
because they would severely waste ammunition, which was
currently in limited supply.

105
 Is there another way out? 'Bear' asked over the radio.

Suzanna immediately pulled up cameras around the

store and noticed there was a loading dock in the back which at
the moment was stopped up by a truck making a delivery, and a
side door, which at the moment, apparently the defending home
team had not yet noticed.

There is an undefended door in the back of the

warehouse where they load trucks. 'Panther' called back.

Roger. 'Bear' acknowledged, Okay lets see if we can

get these targets to the exit.

With a great amount of effort, 'Snake' and 'Werewolf'

managed to lift the obese man who was bleeding from his nose
and lower lip up between them and wrangle him to the door.

Once there, they faced the issue of stray bullets whizzing

down the hallway from the front of the store.

The men outside were meticulously progressing one

single aisle at a time into the store and now there were easily
twenty of them in the front of the building.

They're thick as thieves out there. 'Werewolf spat in a

thick German accent.

We'll just have to thin them out then. 'Bear replied.

With that, he crawled on his belly below the legs of the fat
man and, peering out around the corner from floor level, saw a
few off balance attackers, clearly not operating by professional
methods.

106
 With three fast but thunderously loud shots, he took out
five men as the heavy ball ammunition went through the small
bodies of two the thin men and into their companions behind
them.

This raised a real ruckus, however, as multiple rifles

began chattering at once and soon the cinder block walls of the
hallway were being chewed to within inches of crumbling.

This can't go on for much longer. 'Bear' radioed, We're

pinned down in a narrow hallway with over twenty enemy troops
with AK's aimed at us and a big fat tub of lard we can't just throw
ahead of us.

We copy that, Bear. 'Panther' replied. Looking over at

the doctor, she asked, Dare we take this out onto the streets?

With a sigh, the man seemed to be aging rapidly, clearly

one who hated violence, but who would use it when forced to, It
looks like we have no choice.

Ep 7, Chapter 10

The operatives who had been surveying various locations

along the way were called in to back up and provide drawing fire
to keep the enemy on the defensive as well as putting them into
a two front battle where they were now the ones sandwiched in.

As their cars pulled up, 'Tangerine' opened fire with a

HK121, immediately clipping three young men from behind and
scattering several more.

'Anglerfish' didn't even stop but drove right up into a small

pickup with a large bread truck and smashed the truck while
pushing it sideways over on top of its former occupants.

107
 As the larger vehicle smeared the smaller truck out of its
way, the former occupants were also smeared all over the
pavement, leaving bloody swatches on the pavement.

As this was going on, men inside the store, totally devoid
of discipline, suddenly looked back behind them hearing the
heavy gunfire of 'Warthog's AVT-40 with custom magazine, the
screams of agony and the sound of crunching metal, glass and
human bone.

At this exact moment, 'Bear' leaned back out and popped

off three more precisely placed rounds, this time only taking out
four, but one of these fell in agony without releasing their rifle
and accidentally shot two of his nearby fellows in the face as he
expired from a fist sized hole in his chest.

This time, the local men were too busy looking for places
to hide to focus on returning fire.

As they fell back, this gave 'Bear' a few moments to

scramble to his knees and roll across the rubble covered floor to
the far wall where a vending machine offered cover.

As painful as it was to roll over all of the sharp pieces of

broken cinder blocks, however, he never winced or expressed
one shred of pain.

In this new position, he could see shadows based on

diffuse outside light which enabled him to shoot through the
items on the shelves and hit four more men with his next three
round burst.

The moment that the men realized they could be hit from
through the shelves, everything became total pandemonium.

One man rose up and began indiscriminately spraying

108
bullets while screaming, and then others followed suit, hoping to
charge the narrow hallway.

The two operatives in the narrow area of the door

unceremoniously dumped the fat man backwards and pulled up
their rifles.

As the younger, untrained or poorly trained mercenary

soldiers ran into the hallway, 'Werewolf' unleashed a stream of
7.62 x 51 mm rounds and 'Snake' unloaded the P-90-A3 into the
middle of the charging men.

They dropped like wiggling piles of jelly as the rounds

ripped through them, splattering their intestines all over the
walls, floors and products on the shelves behind them.

Outside the gunfire soon stopped, and moments later, it

began again inside the store, but closer to the entrance.

When this all died down, a burly slurred voice with a thick
Texan accent came from the front, You guys all good back
there?

Ep 7, Chapter 11

The fat man was Franz Buellweister.

He hailed from Munich, Germany, and despite being

fluent in seventeen languages, was far from either a good
handler, nor an accomplished field agent.

He was, in fact, a banker, through and through.

As he came to, his face throbbed.

He sat in a steel chair with coarse hemp ropes tying his

109
pudgy arms to the arms of the chair.

He was in some dank underground basement of some

unknown building, in who knew where.

Well hello Mr. Buellweister, a soft, almost grandfatherly

voice greeted him from some place outside the realm of the
blinding white light aimed at his face, it is indeed, truly a
pleasure...and an honor...to finally meet you.

Who are you? the man demanded weakly though his

face ached and he knew his position in all of this was far less
than optimal.

Why now Mr. Buellweister, the man's voice came across

with a profound sense of sadness, I...am TRULY hurt that you
don't recognize me.

H-how would I recognize you by just your voice?! the

man demanded, seeming more flustered and indignant than
anything.

Why... the voice continued, a gentle, open palm

extending forward, visible in the light, You sent my very own
crack team of intelligence operatives to go down to South Africa
just to find out for you, who I am, and what I am doing.

Y-y-you're Johnathan Wellington? the man asked

suddenly nervous.

The third to be exact. the grandfatherly voice replied,

I'm not sure why you were investigating me so desperately, the
founder of S.A.D said, so I thought I would take time out of my
busy schedule to have this opportunity to sit down with you and
discuss the matter in person.

110
 I-I-I h-h-have n-n-nothing to talk to you about. the man
suddenly became belligerently recalcitrant.

Oh, but I think you DO Mr. Buellweister. he softly

insisted, After all, he continued, its not like me to not complete
and deliver a client's request.

I-I-I d-d-d-didn't order this inquiry on you! the fat man

insisted.

Oh but you DID! the calm voice came back, And I am

here in person to deliver the report for you.

I-I-I SWEAR! the man almost cried, I'm just an

underling! A-a-a-stoodge! Ahhh-a-a-a patsy if you will!

Oh...I'd truly like to believe you Mr. Buellweister, the

founder said in a regretful tone, but our industrious staff has
been doing some research of its own here recently, the doctor
continued, and it seems that you have been a very very bad
boy Mr. Buellweister.

I-I-I c-c-can eh-eh-explain everything! the man began to

plead, I can give you names, dates, places.... he was clearly
desperate, I can even give you account numbers and
locations!

Oh, the doctor said in a placid, yet dismissive tone, that

won't be necessary, there was a slow, deep, deliberate breath,
you see, he continued, we know that you made up all of those
people, long long ago, the head of the intelligence unit
explained, and ever so carefully constructed them for the sole
purpose of keeping yourself out of the limelight while they were
all the real patsies in your deep nefarious schemes.

I-I-I don't know what you're talking about! the man was

111
wide eyed now, pink drool began coming from his mouth as the
injury to his lips began to reopen, Wh-wh-why are you even
doing this to me?

Because, Mr. Buellweister, the doctor came slowly into

the light, forming a silhouette as the bright light washed over
him from behind, we're BOTH in the business of trading
secrets.

Episode 8
What Would You Do if You Had Your Enemy in Your
Hand?

The founder of the organization had returned to one of

their secret hideaways up in the Swiss Alps.

There was snow on the ground as it was high enough up

that they were above the permanent snow line.

The villa was vast and costly, and there were giant silk
drapes, perhaps five hundred years old on the iron and bullet
resistant glass windows, but they were guilded with fine gold
leaf so they looked rather cheery when the sun hit them.

As it was night at the moment, however, all the light of

the moon only made the windows into dim pale blue squares,
giving them a somewhat haunting quality.

Well we know that Mr. Buellweister is part of a

conglomerate of bankers who have a world wide network of
enforcers for a one world monetary system, apparently even a
one world government. the doctor was reasoning as the two of
them sat at a massive, smoothly polished wooden table which
was of European design, We just need to know how to infiltrate
this group and tear it down.

112
 The center of the table held a glorious gold and crystal
candelabra with two hundred individual candles and stood easily
five feet tall.

Likely there was more than a hundred pounds of pure

hammered gold in this one piece alone. On top of that, the
pieces of carefully cut crystal were so positioned that they threw
sparks of light in every possible direction, filling the high vaulted
room with tens of thousands of tiny rainbows.

You know we can't destroy a bank, Panther resisted his

idea, lit by the old, yellow incandescent lights within ornately
painted oil lantern type chimneys if you tear one down, others
just swoop in and absorb it and you merely bring the enemy that
much closer to its ultimate goal.

No, the grandfatherly man admitted, you can never

'destroy' banks, he held up his left hand in a loosely clenched
fist and slowly shook it as if tying to beat out a tempo in the air
as he looked around at the floor of the old, dark wood paneled
room, not unless you can destroy them all at the same time.

That's impossible. the handler said softly as she sipped

from a tea cup made of fine china, decorated with pure gold leaf
and white lotus flowers, Even we completely lack the reach and
organization to pull that off.

As the doctor pulled a pipe from his coat pocket, a crystal

decanter of an aromatic mixture of wheat, molasses and spices
came from off of a nearby cabinet drawer which was made of
beveled, rose etched pieces of glass held together with carefully
laid lead, where he slowly pulled the top, leaned over it and
inhaled the fragrance, before reaching in and pulling out a fine
stemmed crystal scoop with just a small portion of the fragrant
mixture, which he very gingerly ladled into the wide brimmed old
pipe.

113
 As he put the decanter back on the shelf he said, Where
one can not stop a charging rhinoceros with a thousand clay
bricks, he pointed out, they can slow it down with the same
clay when it is squishy and soft.

So what you're suggesting, the amazon inquired,

instead of trying to destroy the banks, is to bog them down in
some kind of financial quagmire?

Closing the glass case door with a gentle click, then

tamping the mixture into the bowl of his pipe, he smiled and
said, Exactly my dear. then he took out a mahogany stemmed,
hammered gold oil wicked candle lighter and lit it on a candle,
which he drew to his pipe and began drawing the small yellow
flame into the pipe.

So we're not merely buying up gold, she said, we're

forcing it to remain in circulation.

Again you are correct. the doctor put the lighter into its
small receptacle built into the candelabra's base through tiny
spring loaded double doors just large enough for the golden end
to enter a small chamber behind them, and the little doors
swung shut around the stem, cutting off the air which the little
flame needed to live and in moments the tiny glowing line
around the doors it produced faded out, All we need to do, the
founder of the organization said, is keep the gold in circulation
and keep the buying frenzy alive...

And this will keep the consumer confidence in fiat money

low enough that they can never gain total control! the field
agent's eyes glowed with delight.

That is the ideal result, yes, the older man smiled

around his pipe as he puffed on it.

114
 As he walked around in no one place between the table
and the cabinet, he went for another crystal faced door, and this
time he pulled out an ornate decanter of brandy and followed
with two shot glasses.

So what do we do now? 'Panther' asked the doctor,

accepting an empty glass from his hand.

I have a plan. the founder replied, lifting the

unstoppered decanter and pouring the field agent a volume of
the alcoholic contents, then pouring one for himself, A plan
which will use one of our best, most talented new asset.

Ep 8, Chapter 2

Malika Bayramova was not quite yet a household name,

but her name was circulating among some various circles, so
that when she attended the rare and unique gems auction in
Stockholm, Sweden, a lot of people were whispering about her.

Some had tried desperately to gather intel on her and

came up empty handed, naturally suspecting that she was some
kind of fraud or sham, yet all this time, she had bought and even
sold diamonds, gold and reportedly junk oil and always at a high
profit.

It seemed that everywhere this young maiden went,

money always changed hands, and always in large quantities.

For being a sham, she was a powerfully wealthy, or

highly connected one!

As she came into the hall today in a striking black velvet

body tight gown with shocking rigid silver triangular collar fringes
which reached out past her shoulders and dove deep down her

115
chest in a three layer stack of what looked like arrows pointing
at her for all the world to see.

On top of this she had a wide flared black hat which

swept from left to right as if it got its styling cues from the
ancient fabled musketeers, only without the large feather quill.

Instead it had a black velvet rose whose pedals each

cradled a single two karat diamond.

She had bright silver satin gloves which went to her

elbows and were patterned with diamonds in a triangular
manner that matched the gown.

Her shoes were simply encrusted in diamonds.

She strode like a tigress and she gazed out at the world
with a cool, even, unreachable look.

This was one young maiden that nobody...simply

nobody...could ever touch.

Behind her, striding up like a female diesel locomotive in

a rather subdued nickel metal gray silk strapless gown, hair
rolling down her back and around her thickly muscled shoulders
and chest, striding in on solid borosilicate glass stilettos, her
handler, 'Panther' towered over her a full foot in height and
width.

Her tan muscular arms glistened with a satin sheen of

tight, healthy skin, as one who was indeed quite physically fit.
She too, wore elbow long gloves, albeit of the same nickel metal
tone of her gown.

As she glanced around the room, people looked away

reflexively as her look was not merely cool, but lifeless and cold.

116
She was, the esoterical Panther.

There were special chairs set up for them on the front

row of the auction room.

As the young baroness began to sit down, she extended

her left hand without even looking and the giantess caught it
gracefully with her own gloved hand, allowing the young lady to
lower like a Sakura petal upon a placid stream in the lowlands of
Japan.

As the two of them were seated, the announcement was

made that the auction was about to begin.

Ep 8, Chapter 3

The competitive tension in the room was intense.

There were nervous glances all over the room.

The whole room was filled with sharks, and yet right in
the front and center, as placid as a Koi sat the one everybody's
eyes were on...and the Orca which sat beside her of course.

The people bidding, mostly males in their upper half of

life, were seen as the wisest, sagest buyers in the world.

To be there at the front and center of this both an honor

and yet made her seem like she was a sacrificial offering.

The bidding was fierce.

The only person who did not seem to be all ruffled or

flustered during the bidding was the enigmatic Russian maiden.

She was so calm and cool, she scarcely blinked, but

117
maintained a calm, placid expression as she bid or refrained.

She won exactly the ones she was told to win and left the
others to other bidders.

They would virtually scream in ecstasy when they won,

and some would grumble when they lost, despite the
supposedly required decorum, and only because they were
competing against a woman child.

The Baroness merely raised her little number paddle or

not, and seemed not to really be focused on anything...not even
the lot she was bidding on.

She was so cool and collected that were it not for an

occasional calm glance at her secretary, or pointing to a sheet
of paper the giant woman held, she would have seemed to be
under a hypnotic spell at times.

The bidding went on all through the morning but was

called for a brief 30 minute lunch break.

She picked up eleven lots, totaling eleven billion Euros.

Even if she was thinking that this was a lot of money in

her mind, she made no expression which would have denoted it.

Still, the people who were bidding against her, even if

they may have won a single lot against her, had nowhere near
the tally to their records.

Only a few times in history had such a winning streak

come about.

As the mysterious baroness and her secretary rose and

strode out of the room, more eyes were on her than when she

118
came in.

Ep 8, Chapter 4

You like? Suzanna asked simply as they sat down to

eat a sumptuous Scandinavian meal.

You're perfect. Panther replied proudly.

Its fun. she said simply.

Good. the handler said, We have another one in a

week already.

So soon! the girl's face made a minor deviation from its

usual cool with something like a mildly surprised frown.

The more we do, and the faster we do them, the field

agent explained, the better off the organization will perform.

Funding? the girl asked as she bit into a large piece of

tender roasted beef.

Well that too. the handler replied before stuffing a fork

full of dark, leafy salad in her mouth.

Why joined? the young girl asked suddenly.

The handler stopped chewing, ever so briefly darted her

eyes to each side and pushed the unfinished mouthful to one
said and said in a hushed tone, Not here. Not now.

Sorry. the girl replied before she resumed eating.

When they finished their main course of hearty stew and

salad and white wine, they had a fine chocolate confectionery

119
and brandy for dessert.

Well then. the amazon almost whispered as and smiled

as she carefully dabbed the corners of her mouth, Shall we?

Ep 8, Chapter 5

While the two gracefully floated back into the tension

charged auction hall, the closed circuit television cameras
designed strictly for security purposes only were being tapped
and fed into a dark stone room deep in the catacombs of the
Swiss villa high in the alps.

As Franz Buellweister watched in horror, virtually writhing

in pain, a large projection screen revealed the scene as the
calm, cool, demure maiden handily scooped up the lion's share
of the lots on the auction.

The second half was filled with hair pulling, faces

contorted in extreme frustration, grown men with tears trickling
down their cheeks and in the middle of it all, this one enigmatic
blond seemed almost robotic in her methodical decimation of
the host of historical figures in the business.

These were men with banks in their own names!

These were men who, if need be, could buy small

nations!

How was it that this heretofore completely unknown

personage simply materializes out of thin air, and buys up
almost everything in sight?

By the closing bell of the first day, the blond bombshell

had racked up forty four point seven billion Euros in precious
commodities.

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 This, they knew, was definitely going to upset the balance
of power in the economic world if it continued.

By the end of the day, Franz was a quivering mass of

jelly, tears streaming down his face as he begged over and over
in Bavarian, Stop! Just please please stop!

Ep 8, Chapter 6

That night, various people kept calling on the phone in

their penthouse trying to ask for an audience with the young
baroness.

Finally Panther called the desk and paid to have the line
completely disconnected.

They tried bribing hotel staff to deliver messages, but

those got refused at the door.

They even tried pushing them under the door, so the

handler took a tool kit from her purse, a towel, and using the
telescoping screwdriver, jam packed the towel under the
doorway.

When dinner came, she called out, leave it. and waited
until the attendant left, using the hacked remote hallway camera
to be sure he was gone before pulling the door open, flipping all
paper items off on the floor, scooping through the salad and
soup for envelopes inside plastic bags and only then snatching
the cart inside and slamming the door shut and hastily stuffing
the towel back in place.

As they dined, however, suddenly a voice came from

inside one leg of the cart.

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 Ms. Bayramova? a man's voice called out.

Alright, the handler declared, THAT'S it! and she

yanked up the cart, ran out to the balcony, a voice nervously
calling out , H-hello? and threw the tray into the swimming pool
where it sank to the bottom with a stream of tiny bubbles, soup
and other soluble items dispersing into the water.

Not expected? Suzanna asked trying not to smile at the

annoyed amazon, looking rather cute in the process.

Its not that. the handler said, Its the gross lack of
security in this damned hotel is all!

I see. the girl replied continuing to eat unperturbed.

You sure are calm about all of this. the big woman
remarked as she sat down to eat what she had managed to
serve herself before abruptly and impulsively making the rest of
it unavailable.

Why to upset? the girl asked, shrugging unperturbed, I

spy now. Part the job.

Taking in a deep breath, holding it a second while looking

around, then looking down at her bowl of soup before letting it
back out, Yeah, raising her eyebrows in admission, you're
right.

About midnight, after Suzanna had gone to bed, there

was a scraping sound on the glass and soon there was a man in
a cat burglar suit in the suite.

As he peered around in the darkness, however, suddenly

he came face to face with a crouching Panther also in a black
suit who simply said, Hello... before punching his lights out.

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 Ep 8, Chapter 7

When the man came to, he was tied up in a painful truss,

naked, in the open of the patio in the cold night air, and very
close to the edge of the pool.

Well well well. the Panther said with just that vocal
inflection, looks like we caught a CROOK! as she squatted
over him in her black fatigues, combat boots, traction grip
gloved hands and beret and pulled his head back by his hair.

This was not some tough guy, but rather a soft skinned
cat burglar/diamond thief type.

Ow-owowoowowo! he yelped, blood clotted on his

nose, his whole face already beginning to bruise up.

So. she asked, Who sent you here and why?

I'm just a messenger! the man plead.

After all I went through to make it clear the Mistress

does NOT wish to be bothered? the woman scoffed, Give me
a fucking BREAK. as she reached into the big flank pocket of
her BDU trousers and dropped a vial of something and a small
hypodermic needle in front of his face where it made a tinkling
sound, then once again, a ceramic combat knife, then finally a
ceramic/plastic composite 4 barrel derringer style pistol.

Th-that-'s just...AAAAHHH!!! he cried as she pulled

back even harder, torquing the vertebrae in his neck back and to
one side so that his face was almost turned to hers, pulling the
muscles in his neck far beyond their comfort zones.

That's just WHAT? she growled in a very low note,

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COUGHT IT UP jerkoff!

Oh...oh...oh....okay! he gasped out in agony, she let his

head down a bit more so he could breathe well enough to
speak, I was sent here to persuade-GAAAAAAA!!!

PERSUADE you say? the amazon scoffed, How about

I use the very SAME 'persuasion' tactics on you right about
now? pulling up the little 4 barrel derringer and pushing it to his
forehead at a downward angle so if it discharged it would
bounce around on the skull pan and thoroughly pulverize the
maximum amount of cerebral tissue before stopping.

PLEEEEEEEEEZEEEEEE!!! the main wailed, tears

coming from his eyes finally, Ple-e-he-he-heeze! he began to
sob.

I COULD just push you over into this pool and let you
dine on my interrupted DINNER if you'd rather, turning his head
so that he could clearly see the pool, and how he was JUST at
the edge of it, and how the gleam of a polished metal cart
rippled up from the bottom with the distinct white and silver
serviceware all around it, some of which still had pieces of
something in or around them. A leaf of spinach floated slowly by
as he looked in horror at the potential of being thrown in to sink
to the bottom and die there in agony.

Nooohhohhhohhhh pleeeeeeeease! he wailed, I'll tell

you everything I knowwwohhhhohhooohhhh!!!

Who's to say I won't just kill you afterward? she

deliberately put herself in the position of the one being
questioned, being a highly trained spy, it was a patent question
always asked.

Pleeeesse miss, please please please please! he

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wailed and whimpered.

Panther? came from behind her, making her turn to see

the bed robed, house slippered girl standing there.

Oh, alright, the big woman relented, Lets go inside.

Just as the man was about to sigh in relief, she reached

over, grabbed him by a handle in the thin cords she had tied him
with and yanked him up brutally.

As his body was torsioned so far back his spinal cartilage

was pinched, he fainted from the sheer overwhelming pain.

Ep 8, Chapter 8

The man awoke in the dim dawn's light, still trussed, but
now on the carpeted floor of the walk in closet.

Feeling better now? the handler asked as she looked

down at him, apparently having been patiently sitting in a chair
along with the uninvited guest for the entire time he was
unconscious.

His body was sheer agony at the moment.

He lay there breathing heavily, trying desperately to find

some more comfortable position, not wanting to look at her.

Suddenly a lug soled boot shoved him in his head and

she barked, HEY! WAKE UP! I'M TALKING TO YOU!

M'm aysshake! M'm aysshake! he barely squeezed out,

eyes wild as his neck screamed with new agony from the
powerfully crushing force threatening to drive his skull down into
his rib cage.

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 You owe me an explanation now...BOWWWWYIIE! she
dragged the words out as she ground them out harshly.

Ahh...wsh...shnt...byyy...iggg...banker. he gasped as his

wind pipe seemed to be obstructed by the presence of his
mouth parts and seemed to be gurgling out the words more than
speaking them as his whole face was being pushed into his
chest.

I CAN'T HEAR YA BOY SPEAK UP! she growled.

He gasped desperately again for air then made the

whirring slurring reply, Eyyit... another gasp, Eyyit
Buuulweishher! he squeezed out.

She lifted her boot up and said, There. and smiled her
lovely smile, although he could not see her face at this angle,
See how easy that was?

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh he groaned.

So... she said, this Buellweister... she held it out there

a few moments, What's he to you in all this? she seemed to be
pausing for just a moment but before he could answer she said,
Friend of yours? she pushed his head from side to side with
her boot, Lover perhaps?

Noo...noo...noo! he groaned, I do contract work for

them!

As in blowjobs or some such? she asked, Because,

boy, she had a heavily restrained tone of mirth in her derision,
You REALLY SUCK at this.

Ep 8, Chapter 9

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 That morning, one would never guess that anything had
ever happened.

Staff was circumvented and the proper people inserted to

clean the pool, fix the glass door (using special glazing epoxy)
and transport the man back to the doctor for more thorough
interrogation.

As the two ladies made a dazzling entrance, Suzanna, in

character, wore a white spandex gown which clung to her hips
and breasts, covered in a long vertical oval sunburst of
diamonds centering on her navel, which, by way of a small oval
ring of pure rubidium, was visible along with about three square
inches of her lovely abdominal skin.

She wore white gloves with sunburst diamond patterns

as well.

Her hat today had thin fine rings of diamonds around the
cap of it in half inch intervals.

She had a diamond choker and matching bracelets, as

well as a long diamond fall necklace and matching ear bangles.

Today, just to make it clear that she knew what was up,
recognizing the moderately pudgy man from photographs as
well as seeing his brother in the dungeon, she made it a point to
briefly lock eyes with Elliot Buellweister and ever so finely smile
at him before turning quickly away as if it never happened,
resuming her seemingly hypnotized demeanor.

That day, she made a point of thoroughly trouncing every

lot the Buellweister sibling even looked at crosswise.

By the end of the day, her two day total was ninety one

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billion, five hundred and sixteen million Euros in precious
materials.

Elliot had lost out on some items he had been waiting for
as long as eleven years to come to auction.

This, she would not have even known, of course, had she
not gotten a lot of intel from the contractor, who had been spying
on his own boss in case he needed some kind of defensive
cover.

Today it had saved his life possibly, but it totally

destroyed the day for his boss.

Ep 8, Chapter 10

As the third and final day of bidding opened up, Elliot

Buellweister was nowhere to be found.

His hotel room was vacant and neat as a pin as if nobody

had ever been there.

This did not bother the organization as they had other

purposes in this whole affair.

With one of their family and one of their most trusted

contract employees in a dungeon, the doctor could proceed as
planned with relative safety.

When the two came back from the auction, they had a
world record two hundred and nine billion Euro stash put away.

The doctor had already made arrangements for their next

big haul, an antiquities auction in Venice, Italy reported to be
expecting world record amounts of ancient roman gold artifacts.

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 They were swarmed by reporters but they merely pushed
through them with those placid, unconcerned smiles.

It was as if anything that was not in her goals simply did

not exist and therefore did not warrant recognition as even
being a real thing.

Of course, if you were going down in the history books

with a haul like that, and with your number one adversary safely
locked away in your basement, you might look the same way!

Episode 9
Don't Look Now, But I Think Someone's Watching Us!

Spying on other spies is a regular affair.

So regular in fact, that organizations often spend more

time spying on one another than they do in 'high priority' targets.

The delusion goes that: 'If you can steal information from
your competition, why risk going after it your self?'

Its totally stupid of course, but that doesn't keep the

morons from trying!

The only good thing about S.A.D. in this regard was that
they were clandestine enough that nearly nobody knew of their
existence, their membership or their clients.

That said, nothing is ever set in stone, nothing is ever

foolproof, and 'for every rule there is an exception'.

As could be expected, Malika Bayramova's stellar and

meteoric rise in the precious commodities market was
impossible to miss, and destined to draw lookers and lurkers.

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 We followed. Suzanna whispered as they strode along
confidently inside the long hallway of the Museo Correr in
Venice, Italy.

I know darlin, the handler replied in a very soft low tone,

Don't look and don't whisper. It caries farther than a soft low
tone.

What do? the young girl tried sounding deep but did a
poor job of it and coming out considerably louder, as well as
sounding rather stilted.

Okay I changed my mind. the handler corrected, You

can resume whispering.

What we should do? Suzanna asked as they neared

their destination, the room where the auction was about to take
place.

Absolutely nothing darlin, she smiled as she greeted the

door keeper showing her ID badge, Thank you sir. she said to
the man, then, as they went a few steps past him, just focus on
doing your job and let me worry about the rest.

Ep 9, Chapter 2

Suzanna dutifully spent the day bidding and taking

everything she was told to take, and leaving everything she was
told to leave, and how much she was to bid up just to drop it at a
higher price.

Her first day results were mostly shock and amazement.

Most of the small, low profile, easily movable assets

came through first, so the lots were not so stellar as those which

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would follow in the second day.

Still, since she was already being followed, she was

already feeling edgy and it was showing.

During the evening meal she was chewing her food faster
and drinking more wine and glancing furtively out the windows
of the chalet.

Instead of being in a high rise penthouse, this time, they

were several miles outside of the city in a safehouse of the
organization.

You need to let me deal with this darlin, the amazon

insisted as they dined, you're going to wear yourself out and
look a wreck in the morning if you don't let this to me.

Sorry. she replied, feeling unable to let it go.

She had never been followed before, at least not like this,
nor in a situation like this, and she only recently was involved
with her first ever man hunt, so she felt that it was possible it
would end up just as badly if she did not take SOME kind of
action, although, admittedly, she had no idea what she COULD
do about it if it happened.

When she went to bed, she lay there staring out the
window expecting somebody to try to break in at any moment.

The fact it was basically a bomb proof window was not

helping her one bit.

As the hour neared midnight, Panther came into the room

in her nightgown and said, You are perfectly safe here darlin,
you really need to get some sleep now.

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 Sorry. was all she could reply.

Would you like a sleeping pill? the handler offered.

No pill. she replied very decisively.

I tell ya what little lady, the big woman slowly closed the
door behind her, I think I may have just the thing to calm your
nerves. and she closed in on the girl in the bed.

What? Suzanna asked without looking, her back to the

handler as she seemed riveted on the window.

She squealed in alarm and spun toward the movement

as the massive agent lifted the sheet and quickly slipped into
the king sized bed.

What you doing!? Suzanna cried out.

Relax darlin. the handler said, turning her back to the

teenager, I'm just making sure you know I'm not too far away if
anything does happen.

Ep 9, Chapter 3

When Suzanna awoke, she was alone in bed.

She remembered feeling slightly nervous when Panther

first climbed into the bed, but the woman sat up against the
headboard and went to talking about Texas and cattle ranching,
and then she went to talking about timber felling in Arkansas,
and about riding down the rivers in a canoe, and that was about
the time she drifted off to sleep.

She awoke feeling rather refreshed, but when she felt the
empty spot where the woman had been, it was as cold as if she

132
had not sat there a minute.

For some reason, she felt something like sadness at this,

although she was not sure why.

Still, since she had awoken feeling so well rested, she

proceeded to slip downstairs to the kitchen area for breakfast
where Panther was sitting sipping coffee looking over her
laptop.

There was a service with banana pecan waffles, a host of

syrups, jams, three kinds of butter, cream, sour cream, cream
cheese and besides this six types of sausages, scrambled eggs
and a polished stainless steel deep rimmed tray with raw steaks
of various cuts on ice.

Would you like any steak for breakfast darlin? the

woman asked without looking up.

Oh. the girl replied, sat down and then finally

responded, Sorry....yes please.

The handler got up after pressing a series of keys and

closing the lid on the computer.

She walked around by the girl and picked up a pair of

stainless steel tongs and asked, Which one?

Suzanna looked them over before picking the

porterhouse cut, This please.

Your mannerism is a little different this morning. the

amazon remarked as she carried the steak to the hot grille,
How do you like your steaks?

Excuse me? the girl asked.

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 Well done, medium or rare? the big woman asked as
she lay the steak on.

Medium please. she replied as she regarded the wide,

muscular back of the woman.

Spices? she asked holding out a tray with her left hand
covered in bottles.

Salt only please. the girl replied.

Salt only it is. the woman replied.

You not sleep with me all night? Suzanna asked.

The handler dropped the salt shaker which then

proceeded to bounce around before falling onto the floor and
breaking and scattering salt and broken glass around the
terrazzo floor then mumbled, Damn.

Ep 9, Chapter 4

As the enigmatic Malika Bayramova spent the second

day of this auction doing serious damage to the speculative
futures of some investors and smashing the dreams of others,
Panther was having a hard time concentrating.

She found herself repeatedly looking down at the

Russian girl, carelessly indulging her eyes in the curve of her
shoulders, the nearly imperceptible rising and lowering of her
chest, the soft, white skin of same said chest beneath the
constant glitter of the diamonds she wore in a starburst cluster
pendant, and often times having to be asked to see the next lot
she was to bid on.

134
 All the while, those simple words from this morning kept
recirculating through her mind just driving her nearly insane.

After a while, it dawned on her that surely this was just a

reaction to the mystery tail who was so devotedly following them
wherever they thought they could.

She texted 'Bear' to schedule them an afternoon reprieve

with a gondola and provide plenty of cover.

She felt guilty in a way, but she was not pure enough in
heart not to take advantage of the setting.

This was Venice, (one of) the fabled and famed 'City(ies)
of Love', and there was money here to be spent living the life of
a wealthy baroness, so she used it to her own ends today.

Ep 9, Chapter 5

The gondola met them right at the water's edge as close

to the museum as the canal permitted and they stepped right
onto it.

Why this? Suzanna asked as she sat snuggled up to

the large handler, mostly because the gondola was not really
made for people this large.

The operator had to step carefully to compensate for the

additional weight in fact, as the small craft listed somewhat
toward the heavier passenger.

We're in Venice. the handler attempted to play it cool,

You're rich and bored, you've never been to Venice before, I'm
in charge of your entertainment, what other reason do you
need?

135
 Oh. she replied, Sorry.

Why do you keep apologizing? she asked almost

perturbed, You're supposed to be expectant of things like this,
its my job after all.

I know. she replied, apparently trying to cover for not

acting in character.

Ms. Bayramova, the woman said, I know your parents

never really let you out of the mansion back at home much, she
did her best to rebuild the faltering persona, especially if there
were spies following them, but you are in public for the first time
as a young adult and you have free reign to act the part to any
extent you wish.

Suzanna looked up, which required tilting her head back,

partly because of the expensive wide brimmed hat and partly
because even seated the handler towered over the girl.

She seemed as if was searching for something special

there but all she got was a conspiratorial wink.

Yes my secretary, she finally replied, putting more cool

into her tone as she replied in French, I shall become a grown
woman now. and without actually thinking through everything
that she was being hinted at, she went right for the far end of
the spectrum and almost lunged as she reached up, more
pulling herself up than pulling her handler down, and forcing an
unannounced kiss on her, knocking both of their hats off in the
process.

They needn't backtrack far to retrieve the two floating

hats, however, because the sudden movement not only shifted
the center of mass of the vessel drastically, but on top of
Panther's initial ducking back before her surrender, the

136
additional shock of the event really threw their gondolier for a
literal loop.

Ep 9, Chapter 6

They had a really good laugh at the poor man's expense,

but they apologized and Panther pulled him from the water,
literally with one hand.

They proceeded down the canal and the man showed no

loss of dignity as he slowly dripped dry with the fading afternoon
sun, not even showing how cold he was despite the shivering
being felt through the hull.

The handler pointed out various sites and landmarks

along the route, finally coming to an end well after dark at a
famous Venetian restaurant.

The steps up from the water were well lit for safety.

They tipped the man handsomely and apologized once

again offering to pay for the cleaning or replacement of his
uniform but he humbly refused and insisted that it was his fault
for failing to perform his job like a master of the trade.

I think you did fine sir, even masterfully, Panther

responded in Italian, really.

The man scratched the back of his neck as he blushed,

If you say so madame...ummm.

Sokol. the handler replied, Sharon Sokol from Dallas,

Texas sir. she offered her large strong hand, Pleasure to meet
you.

Alberto Mussolini. the man replied, But no relation to

137
that other one I spit on his grave. and he spat on the ground in
gesture.

Good man sir, well met! she laughed heartily, Well met
indeed!

The man shyly smiled while bobbing his head from side
to side in a humble acknowledgment of his praise filled
customer, I thank you madame Sokol.

Well, the handler said, If you will excuse us, fine sir,
she raised a hand, we here are off to dine for the evening...
then she paused, Oh where's my manners! she seemed
genuinely embarrassed, Would you care to join us? Our treat!

Now the man was very uncomfortable and it showed as

he seemed to shrink down and declined, My most humble
apologies madame Sokol, Mistress Bayramova, he nodded
toward the seemingly hypnotized young lady, my wife and
children await my return for the night already.

Oh-oh-oh! the handler felt truly embarrassed, My

deepest apologies sir! and then she bowed deeply, Please do
forgive my thoughtlessness!

It is fine madame, he shook his hands in negation, I am

truly honored that you would invite me so, he was saying this
very sincerely, but I really must go now.

Well let us hold you up no longer sir, she smiled

benevolently, 'go with God' good man!

Thank you. You too. and he hurriedly turned and

returned to his gondola and was swiftly out of sight in the night.

They turned toward the restaurant and strode toward a

138
fine evening meal on the town.

Ep 9, Chapter 7

The low light might have seemed to have given their

shadow the advantage, but since they had been escorted all
day long, it only made his own position more vulnerable.

Not immediately wishing to capture him, but more

desirous to see what he led them to on his own, 'Bear' and the
team simply continued to stay back and watch him watch.

The team managed to weave a web of entrapment all

over the man, so intent was he on his quarry.

They pegged him earlier without effort when the gondola

accident failed to make him, and him only to laugh.

There was no question that this man was busy taking

photos of the pair and not of the general scenery.

Every move he made was as a studied stalker, but he

seemed to have lost the edge in this when something which
would [and should] have caused any normal tourist, or even a
journalist to have broken into laughter.

From that point forward, they knew just how to manage

each step of the path.

First they planted a tracker on his gondola without him

noticing it, then they 'accidentally' bumped into him, spilling a
special fluorescent dye on him and his photographic equipment,
and finally, he got into a scuffle with a man, and two 'polizia'
straightened it out, handcuffing the aggressor but in the process
planting a microscopic coating of a specialized mix of
radioisotopes which could be easily traced at great distances

139
and never be confused with background emissions.

The best part of this was that the mixture of materials

would rub off once it was on his hands and also onto his wallet,
allowing him to dispose of his fake identification and still not be
free of the tracer.

The pretend police officer made special care to hand it to

the man where the corner with the dot would be closest to him,
and as expected, he took the identification back with the perfect
grasp to get the mix on the side of his index finger, a place
which is seldom washed effectively.

Once it soaked into his skin in a few moments, because it

was mingled with a compound known as MSM, it would remain
with him for no less than a month.

Now, no matter where in the world he went, there would

be a radio emission coming from him which could be seen from
a satellite in space any time he was out in the open, and with a
specialized spectral analyzer through all normal wood, gypsum,
stucco and glass walls, and through some brick walls as well
within one hundred feet.

The only place they would have problems were with

heavy buildings, multi-story structures, shielded buildings and if
he went underground.

With this tracer in place, they backed away just far

enough to be prepared in case he intended to do something
truly rash like attack the ladies and watched.

Ep 9, Chapter 8

The man hurried to keep up with the women when they

left the restaurant, but when they hailed a taxi to the nearby

140
airport, he was strangely unable to find another cab around for
several minutes.

By this time, they had already gotten away from him,

despite his earlier attempt to plant a tracking device on them in
casual passing because once they reached the airport, they
boarded a shielded helicopter where they were scanned by
agents and the tracker was picked off.

The small device was then returned to the taxi they had
flagged and he was paid to drive all the way to the port city of
Pula with the tiny device and then take it in to a man named
Salyssio at a local love hotel.

By the time the man realized he had been dusted off by

the pair, multiple closed circuit cameras had him at the seedy
establishment in the arms of a pair of incredibly similar looking
agents, albeit this ruse was such that digital doctoring of some
of the images was required to produce the perfectly intended
results.

What he got for his troubles in the end was basically

photographic evidence that he had been attempting to solicit a
minor for sex.

Well boys, Panther said over the radio, looks like we

have enough here to blackmail him once we know his real
identity, as she sat in a plush leather chair in a study filled with
many old and valuable books at the chalet, now just track him
and see where all he ends up and with whom.

Roger that Panther. 'Bear' responded.

Well that ends the pursuit for the time being, Panther
said to the student who was browsing books from a shelf in the
study.

141
 I trust you can sleep easier tonight? the handler asked
the young lady recruit as she yawned and stretched her large
muscular arms.

No. Suzanna said almost like a harsh denouncement

while looking down at a book she was inspecting which she had
pulled from a shelf, then, without meaning to, she slowly looked
up with eyes like a pleading child hoping not to be in deep
trouble for doing something bad.

Ep 9, Chapter 9

This night, it was not only Suzanna who was nervous.

Try as she might, for some reason, Panther could not

seem to remain focused on her previously fluent, and seemingly
aimless ramblings.

Every few sentences she found herself stopping trying to

think of what she was going to say, and instead of gazing off into
the distance of her memories, it seemed the images which
came to mind were rather recent and immediate.

She would glance down at the college student now and

then as if trying to steal a glance, only to find the young lady
laying with her head resting on her left hand as she gazed up at
the handler intently.

It seemed not to matter what she said, or even if the girl

understood any of it, she was locked on the speaker as if she
were in college intently soaking up a lecture so she got a 100%
on the next exam.

This went on for three full hours before finally the handler
gave up saying, Its no use, and sighing, you're not going to

142
sleep, are you?

Some time. the girl replied without wavering in her

gaze.

I want to ask you. the senior agent braced herself

mentally.

Yes? the girl replied as if she were about to be asked a

question related to electronic theory.

Wh- she began but the steady unwavering stare

somehow just really made it hard to speak, Why did you... she
blushed, which, since she was oft to wear makeup as the act
required, was more pronounced after she had washed her face,
earlier... she was having a hard time asking this, ...kiss she
swallowed hard, ...me?

The girl scarcely blinked as she replied in almost childish

simplicity, You said act 'grown up'.

Ep 9, Chapter 10

This night, it was Panther who seemed to lack for sleep.

She lay there watching the young girl sleep peacefully in

the dim, valance filtered light of the outdoor gas lamps arrayed
around the chateau for ease of travel, safety, security and
decoration.

She tried laying on her side away from the girl but she felt
the girl's back areas move as she breathed and that was not
working, and she tried laying on her side toward the girl, but the
blond hair and slight fragrance was even more arousing.

She lay in her back but the bed was too firm to get

143
comfortable and she could not remain in this position long
either.

Moreover from this, all the contact and scent had gotten
her so aroused that when she lay on her back, a bump pushed
up from the blanket and this deeply embarrassed her until she
could not stand it and eventually had to use the restroom to
relieve the built up tension.

When she got back, the child was laying facing her
staring and said, I thought you had left again.

Episode 10
You Win Some, You Loose Some

The tracking process ended in a villa deep in the Swiss

Alps.

The team of agents sent to investigate, however, found

the man's body in an avalanche in ski gear.

They dug him out of the snow in the middle of the night to
avoid being seen while checking the local news and police
reports for any reports of accidents or missing persons just to be
sure it was not a legitimate accident.

They had been diligently tracking the man all the way to a
ski resort where he may or may not have met with his contact,
who then apparently drugged him, or had another agent drug
him with the infamous 'date rape drug' known by its abbreviated
initials GHB.

It shows here, Panther read the secret autopsy report,

sitting at the safe house villa, also in the alps but a hundred
miles to the west, elevated levels of gamma-Hydroxybutyric
acid were found in the victim's stomach, blood, liver and urine.

144
she read down a ways and continued, it says the victim also
had concentrations of tomato juice in the digestive tract,
possibly indicating the consumption of the traditional 'Bloody
Mary' mixed drink some time shortly before death.

Looks like they set him up to have an accident' the

doctor remarked as the smoke curled from his pipe, It would
seem they were watching the waters watching their watcher.

It would indeed seem that way. 'Bear' acknowledged as

he sat there sipping brandy, eyeing Suzanna who sat there
calmly without paying any attention to him, but rather astutely
listening to the lead agent and the founder.

Suggestion... Suzanna regarded the doctor.

Hmmm? he looked over in interest.

Bait them. she said.

I thought we were already doing that. 'Bear' more asked

than declared.

We've been following their trail, really. Wolverine's

demeanor in a finely tailored suit seemed matching to the
clothes he now wore.

I hadn't noticed. 'Bear' remarked candidly, rubbing his

chin.

I have to agree with the young lady. the doctor replied

thoughtfully.

We SHOULD bait this individual... he puffed on his pipe,

then pointing it at Wolverine, or group.

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 Using Ms Bayramova as bait? Wolverine asked.

Exactly. 'Panther' delcared authoritatively, a wicked grin

crossing her face.

Ep 10, Chapter 2

What is the one thing every criminal truly, deeply wants

the most, Panther posed the question, the following morning as
all of the agents sat around the big table, more than anything
else in the world... she looked around at the whole of the group,
including several people not before seen in this collection of
operatives, more than money, more than fame, more than illicit
items?

Well you just killed all of my guesses. 'Bear' threw up

his hands looking around in immediate defeat.

Power, naturally. 'Snake' replied.

Control. a yet nameless female operative said softly.

BINGO. 'Panther' pointed at her.

So they want control, 'Snake' said, is that not the same

thing?

Not exactly. 'Panther' replied, Power can be wielded

over large masses without real control, while people who have
no real power to move great masses can control their individual
lives and the lives immediately adjacent to themselves.

And some people can do both. the doctor concluded, I

think we're looking for just one of those rare special kinds of
people.

146
 They have power, 'Panther' went on to say, but with the
sudden appearance of Ms Bayramova, she pointed by tipping
her head to her right, they suddenly sense that they are losing
their control over something.

And what 'something' is that exactly? the yet nameless

Asian female agent with pronounced overly long bangs asked.

That, 'Panther' replied, is what we have to go about

discovering, laying out a map of the Swiss Alps, before we can
lay the perfect trap.

Ep 10, Chapter 3

All that day, every minute action of the auction was

scrutinized under a hundred microscopes from a thousand
angles, pushed through logarithms and squeezed for the tiniest
most seemingly insignificant details.

Chto look? Suzanna peered over 'Panther's shoulder as

she reviewed information being squeezed from the event by a
host of agents working from locations all over the world.

At this very moment, people who may or may not have

already been deeply scrutinized in the past, even at prior
auctions were being dredged up and more heavily reviewed and
the activities ledgers updated to more closely scrutinize where
they might possibly somehow link into this event.

To be the perfect spy, 'Panther' instructed Suzanna,

you must first know what to look for.

Understood. the student acknowledged, This here.

she pointed to a peculiar data point.

'Panther' pulled it up and it was an apparent rival to the

147
Buellweister brothers.

But there, in the shadows, the computer pulled up some

interesting historical records which actually linked the
Buellweister firm to several people who were at this last auction
who may have been acting either as proxies for, in partnership
with, or as overseers of the Buellweisters.

In a game of shadows, its best if one never lets their

activities be seen in the light of day.

These people, all of them had rather remarkably similar

histories, business models and tended to often bid on the same
merchandise at most auctions, and it seemed that if one
reviewed their win/loss ratios, it seemed that bizarrely, they were
all dead even.

Well, 'Panther' said, so much for the adage, 'you win

some and you lose some', she remarked, it looks as if they
were staging their entire gambit all around keeping it from
looking as if one single power conglomerate was actually
orchestrating any given team member, while ultimately, they
often traded with one another these very same auction pieces
so that they were evenly distributed amongst them.

They has gambit. Suzanna remarked, Buy low with

fear tactics the various items.

Looks like it. 'Panther' remarked as she reviewed the

way that the numbers behaved in any given auctioning records
they were tracked in.

So now we find next member on rotation. Suzanna

suggested.

That's exactly right. the handler acknowledged, And

148
that would be.... she sucked on her saliva briefly as she peered
through the data and found a cross over rotational pattern of
ones by fives, McLeenan Brothers, Ltd.

Ep 10, Chapter 4

These seven brothers held a firm which had basically no

real estate whatsoever.

They held an honorary residence in the smallest,

wealthiest nation on earth, but they themselves literally owned
not a square millimeter of earth between the seven of them.

Instead, they all lived on their own luxury yachts and

often sailed the world to do business, only porting wherever the
auction in question was nearest to, then returning to their rented
launches in Monaco.

They would be difficult to track down indeed.

That said, however, their mobile nature made them very

easy to lure out.

We have an auction on the tenth of next month.

'Panther' said, This one will be your last one for the summer,
she pointed out, so lets hope we make a score in this trap or it
will be nine more months before we can set another.

How justify absence? Suzanna asked, Why my

disappearance?

Good question. the handler replied, We'll have to make

something convincing up before then.

Ok. the young student accepted this for the time being.

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 Right now, however, the handler said, We have a
completely different mission we need to go on. and she
dropped out of her purse a picture of an Arabian sheikh
somewhere in some small village listed in the dossier as being
in the remote jungle fringes of the People's Republic of Congo.

Ep 10, Chapter 5

The team would be going in as relief aid workers with

UNESCO through means of bribery and inside connections and
once inside, every night they would dissolve into the jungle and
gather REAL intel on what was going on.

The role Suzanna played in all of this was essentially as

a student who sat back and watched.

She was there mostly to observe the situation and

basically pretend to be a relief worker.

When they landed, however, it was seen that these

people in the village were highly untrusting of the relief workers,
it was prudent for them to try to find some other way of fitting in.

Suzanna, interestingly enough, being both fluent in

French as well as knowing much about the workings of the
previous Marxist socialist methodologies which still lingered in
the fringe areas, was able to fluently converse with the women
of the village and soon this drew the interest of a few of the
men, and eventually the group was eased into their station by
Suzanna's soothing presence.

They found their way around carefully at first, and with a

little help of some of the locals, they found where there was a
group surveying the jungle for either oil or diamonds, whom the
locals said had no permits to be there, but had guns and were
too powerful to contend with.

150
 In exchange for help, the team promised they would rid
them of this problem in a few days, but first, they needed to
infiltrate the group and find out what they were actually doing
there.

For two days the team simply scouted and put up an

array of sensors to get a glimpse at the men and types of
equipment being used for this illicit prospecting of mineral
resources.

The team collected one thing they were indeed after by

the end of the third day.

The Sheik Rahib Adinnabim showed up at the site by way

of a helicopter and men there began showing him various charts
and graphs.

By zooming in on these charts with carefully aimed,

image correcting high resolution cameras, it was clear that
these men were sitting on the edge of a large reservoir of oil.

From what the images showed, however, the center, and

by far easiest place from which to tap this oil, was the lower
basin where the village resided.

Ep 10, Chapter 6

Okay, 'Bear' said, we have what the client asked for,

looking around at the team, do we just give them this info and
hope they don't merely take over from the current scoundrel and
proceed as per the original plan except 'under new
mismanagement'?

That wouldn't be good. 'Snake' remarked.

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 Oh no, 'Panther' replied, we're going to make this work
out in the favor of the people of the village.

You have a plan in mind? the newly added operative

'Mantis' asked, brushing the jet black hair from over her almond
eyes.

The head operative smirked and quipped Cutting your

bangs for starts. then as the group chuckled about it, she said,
No, I have a plan. she leaned her heavy muscular body
against a post which supported the hut they all shared, I have a
way of making sure that nobody takes advantage of these fine
people here. and she winked at Suzanna who smiled shyly
back.

Noticing this wink, the new agent 'Mantis' regarded them

both silently, figuring out things in her own mind, be they real or
assumed.

We're going to make the game work out where the oil
ends up in the hands of the people of the village, the head
operative declared, and make the people who drill it play second
fiddle to them.

You intellectual! Suzanna beamed with pride.

The leader of the team blushed and humbly replied,

Thank you darlin.

The new member of the team was quite certain at this

point that there was DEFINITELY something going on between
the lead operative and the new recruit.

Ep 10, Chapter 7

The following day, 'Panther' held a private meeting with

152
the chief of the village and explained her intentions to him, using
Suzanna as her interpreter.

He was all for the idea, however, he could not figure out
how they were going to pull it off since they had no weapons
with them.

Leave that to we experts sir. she replied confidently yet

politely by way of her student spy.

The chieftain said it was all the same to him since he was
powerless to do anything about them either way.

Just be sure not to trust a single soul with this news for
now. the handler directed, You might have spies in your village
who may be working for the Sheikh.

Do you think this is possible? he asked incredulously.

Sir, the operative said, why do you think we are even

here talking to you right now?

I honestly have no idea. the man admitted.

We were sent here ourselves AS spies, to discover what

the Sheikh is DOING here in the first place! she declared in a
harsh whisper, We are here to gather information and then
report back to the client on this at some time in the future. then
as the man's face grew alarmed, she continued, We have,
however, she pointed out, of our own free will, chosen to
inform you of everything because we know that this land if yours
and the oil beneath it is yours and that either party, the one who
hired us, or the one who is out there now, is going to totally
disregard your rights, and possibly kill everybody in this village,
if it benefits their goals.

153
 As he gasped in horrified dismay, she pressed on, We
intend to stop these vile men by means we have at our disposal,
making sure that your village, your family and your honor are all
protected.

How can you few people do this? he asked in disbelief.

We belong to a secret international organization which

serves to gather information and sell it but we do so with a
strong moral compass to serve the world and do good in the
process. she replied, We never knowingly allow innocent
people to come to harm either because of our actions, or
because of negligence or failures to act when we have the
opportunity.

You say some very amazing things. the man replied, his
gray hair moving on his scalp as he furrowed his brow, What do
you want out of this? he asked suspiciously.

The client already paid us. she replied, We have this,

plus, we can leverage more from them or we can do a host of
things without violating our agreement with them which will
make for us a handsome profit while helping you and your
village thrive in safety and peace.

What if we refuse? he asked.

You have that right, the operative replied, but if you

asked your people, I am certain they would all agree.

And what if they didn't? the chief insisted, both proud,

and suspicious.

Then we would have to turn it all over to your nation's

government, and they would take control of all of it. she replied.

154
 This made the chief immediately panic.

I think we would rather not do that! he raised his hands

in a warding manner, Please! he begged, Let me speak to my
elders about this!

I would, the chief of operations replied with sincere

regret, but I think that one of them is the spy.

Ep 10, Chapter 8

Can't we just figure out who the spy is? 'Mantis' asked.

We need too much information on them all. 'Panther

replied glumly, It makes more sense to just not trust any of
them than to hope you found every possible leak of intelligence
there might be.

What if we sent some kind of disinformation out and let it

get 'discovered' by the spy? 'Bear' suggested.

That would not necessarily identify the spy. 'Panther'

replied, We would have to put out specifically tailored stories for
each of the elders to hear, and then see which one made it back
to the enemy base.

This I can do. Suzanna smiled.

That is true! 'Wolverine's eyes lit up, She is friends with

EVERYBODY in the village and often talks with the various
women, including the wives of the various elders, and can drop
bits and pieces of information to each elder by way of their
wives!

This sounds like a good idea. the handler remarked, I'll

draw up some bits of useless or falsified information tonight and

155
you memorize it, and tomorrow go around to each person with
the piece of the puzzle made just for them and we'll see which
one reaches the enemy, or, if more than one makes it there.

The group conceded on this plan of action.

'Mantis', however, was somewhat distracted by the way

that the head of operations was letting the young Russian lass
lean up against her like some kind of infatuated groupie.

This looks highly unprofessional. she remarked to

herself, I wonder if they are doing anything they ought not to be
doing?

Ep 10, Chapter 9

The young Russian student went around the following

day on her usual social rounds while the team went about
preparing for the next phase of the plan, collecting various
chemicals and natural resources needed for the next step.

The young lady talked casually and avidly about all kinds
of things and as she went, she also would drop in these
strangely out of the blue remarks such as, I heard that the chief
has been talking to the minister of the interior and I learned
that this area is the home of an endangered species of frog and
that the Global Wildlife Refuge Foundation has sent emissaries
to come inspect the outlaying jungles this coming month.

All of these strangely peculiar comments were always

stated in simple, one line remarks as she finished hearing all of
their news and as she was wrapping up whatever news or
gossip she had to share.

This left these remarks as the last thing the women heard
and of course, they would not be easily forgotten if they were

156
items which would powerfully affect the political structure of the
village and its leadership.

This meant that if an elder had some strange, terrifying

new news which would likely adversely affect the village he was
a part of, he would likely either consider the welfare of the
village and approach the chief with it, or else, he would rush out
and tell the illegal surveyors in the jungle, and it would be
recorded by the hidden surveillance equipment.

It would be over with in less than twenty four hours.

Ep 10, Chapter 10

Sure enough, just like clock work, one of the elders

slipped away in the middle of the night and made their way off
into the jungle with some fictitious tale about marauders coming
from the north looking for blood diamonds.

The men in the village, even though they knew generally

that there was a contingent of men out in the jungle surveying,
had no earthly idea what they were searching for, so to tell them
that somebody was looking for anything could amount to the
same value in their ignorance.

As the elder hurried out to the men, he passed by various

sensors which recorded his going, as well as alarming the team
that they were now operating in active form.

The team slipped out in the darkness, fully prepared to

enact step 2 of the plan.

As they observed the man make his report, the head of

the survey team said to him in French, You stupid old fool there
is nothing like that around here! and they told him to go back
home and wait for further orders.

157
 This was all the more evidence they needed and with
this, they collected all of their equipment and in the morning,
they produced a continuous video compilation from all of the
cameras and audio recording devices from the village all the
way to the surveyor's camp and back to the village.

When the chief saw all of this, his eyes bugged and his
face grew livid with rage and a deep sense of betrayal.

Now--- 'Panther' raised her large hand, before you go

do something rash, she held her position, we need to decide
what to do for the village and do so before word gets to them
that they were duped by a team of special operatives sent to
spoil their plans and allow them time to do something truly
foolish like trying to overrun your village.

Holding a tribunal against the elder will most certainly tip

them off that you are aware of their true intentions and that you
have had help in finding them out. she continued, This will
likely lead to needless bloodshed.

What should I do then? he asked, feeling helpless.

You should decide if you want to protect your village's

interest in this oil or if you want to give it over to your
government. she set it out plainly before him, Either way, she
pointed out, I'm not going to leave it to this Sheikh or the client
because ether one will end in the needless deaths and
dispossession of the village by whichever party is in power over
this oil.

I suppose then, he said in resignation, it is my duty to

protect my people and accept your offer.

You are a good and wise chief. the handler smiled

158
warmly, pulling out some ready made forms she acquired while
they were out by secret couriers who made it through the Congo
by way of special stealth tuned, transparent winged ultralight
gliders You will not regret this decision.

Ep 10, Chapter 11

Back in Switzerland, the team was gratified to find that

the village was doing well and that the client, albeit quite
reluctantly, agreed to all of the terms which made them the
recipient of permission to drill for the oil, provided they met
certain minimum standards of maintaining the land, including
the 'single entry drilling platform' and the 'leave it the way you
found' it rule.

They were required to use horizontal access to the oil so

as to not upset the village, even if it cost more than their
anticipated budget, and they would absorb the losses in profits
and always ensure the minimum royalties to the village who
held ultimate mineral rights to the oil under their village, which
constituted more than eighty five percent of the entire oil field,
and by far the easiest to access oil and gas.

This meant that they would have no choices except, A,

pay the village their share or B, give up all rights to the oil and
surrender the contract back to the village without compensation
for their losses, allowing the village to hold 100% possession of
everything on the ground including drilling rigs, used and
unused materials and tooling, trucks, buildings and chemicals
used in the process of extracting the oil.

The organization did not make the client happy, but they
made them comply.

The doctor was one of the people who personally helped

draw up the deeds and ensured that the professional and ethical

159
treatment of the village was carried out and set a nonprofit
watchdog group in charge of overseeing the entire process from
that point forward, compensating them handsomely in private,
allowing them to operate more freely without their need to report
their own actions to any of their other constituents or supporters.

This left the group fully free of the situation and free to
resume their next action, which was to lay out their new, cleverly
designed trap for the next rotating mercantile businessmen to
this clandestine syndicate of international banking merchants
who had some mysterious, nefarious plans for collecting gold
from the world markets.

Well, 'Panther' said, I had a long and tiring day, she

yawned and stretched, how about you darlin? she asked the
young Russian girl.

Yes tired. she smiled softly, Let bed.

'Mantis' spent the night in the next room listening for all
she was worth with an amplified microphone for any signs of
what might be happening in the room where the two agents
were sharing one room.

Episode 11
Taking Unwise, Yet Necessary Chances

The auction was held in an ancient Swiss castle high up

on the mountainside and there were wealthy people here not
only to bid, but as spectators this year.

Word of the raging auction wars, and the scary rumors of

banking moguls going missing with the advent of the cool, calm,
mysterious Malika Bayramova seemed to bring out the thrill of a
mystery mixed with the thrill of a good financial battle.

160
 Women dressed in their finest, men dressed sharply but
with caution, as if dressing too fancifully might lead to their
being the next to vanish.

Malika strode down the center aisle as if she owned the

entire nation.

She wore a sheer, yet utterly dazzling slip of diamonds

held together with rubidium, the entire gown weighing
seventeen kilograms and worth over eleven million euros.

On her feet, 'The Twin Stars', once royal crown jewels,

were now the centerpieces of a custom set of shoes.

She was not merely wealthy, nor was she merely

powerful, she was brazen and she was VICTORIOUS.

She walked into the room with a hat made of a fine white
mink fur with a band of ten karat tear drop cut diamonds, twenty
four in all, estimated at two million euros each, making her hat
more than four times as valuable as her dress.

The room was surrounded by more armed guards than

any event before.

The upper balcony was lined with them shoulder to

shoulder.

The doorways were lined with them as if it were a legion

of knights regaling the host of barons and baronesses, dukes,
duchesses, princes and princesses.

There were actual Swiss tanks on hand, fifty of them, to

guard the event from attack, as well as ten Apache helicopters.

They were taking no undue chances with this event.

161
 Still, ironically, it seemed that Malika's show of wealth
was like a flaunting of her power in front of her enemies, as if
she were a female Josef Stalin parading SS-23s down
Moscow's Red Square for all the world to see.

She calmly glode to her spot, with the monstrous and

equally mysterious 'secretary' in tow, also wearing an elegant, if
much less extravagant gown with only ten million euros worth of
stones.

The jealous stares of the wealthiest of women from

around the world surely was mixed between the beauty, youth,
wealth, power, and stunning assistant all possessed by this
Russian newcomer.

It was only with extreme effort that they pried their eyes
from this cold, emotionless, almost robotic femme fatale of the
financial world.

She, on the other hand, was utterly unaware of their

existence.

Even at one point, a rather bold lady of about fifty, and

not of bad appearance, being of Swedish blood with naturally
blond hair and buxom composure came to greet the Siberian
Tigress, only to be stared through like empty air until the
terrifyingly powerful and yet seductive secretary stepped
forward and addressed her.

Please excuse my Mistress, she smiled at once

pleasantly and yet testily as she was not asking but softly
commanding.

The woman was both insulted, terrified and thrilled all at

once.

162
 As the woman backed up trying to keep her composure,
she was hard pressed to even make sense of her feelings as
the giantess's body rippled like a titan beneath the sheer silk
which did nothing to conceal thumb sized nipples on cantaloupe
sized breasts, riding upon pectoral muscles the size of the
flanks of a young Swiss bull.

She backed away keeping her best sense of dignity and

gracefulness as the pair proceeded on as if Malika had merely
paused to remember a fleetingly unimportant thought.

As the two proceeded to the two chairs reserved for

them, the team kept watch from open and hidden monitors all
around the vast royal hall.

There was no doubt going to be some reaction to today's

expected financial slaughter and they needed to be ready for
anything, and everything.

Ep 11, Chapter 2

The bidding opened with a large collection of gem

studded ancient royal jewels as the state its self was trying to
secretly settle out some of its debts.

The bidding was fairly bitter for some, but for the Siberian
Tigress, cold weather was not a problem and she remained
calm and collected to the very last bid of twelve billion, nine
hundred million Euros.

People could be heard exhaling as the gavel rapped,

some in excitement, some in despair, some in relief, a few in
gratitude.

The following lot was a subdivided portion of the gold

163
found in an ancient king's tomb, not only ancient, but exquisitely
crafted and certified pure.

The lot was two hundred and seven kilograms of three

thousand seven hundred year old Babylonian vessels and
goblets along with plates, a gold chain and a polished gold
mirror so clear it was as smooth as glass.

This lot, she trounced mercilessly for three times its

estimated value at one billion six hundred million Euros without
blinking.

The only time her eyes moved was when she looked at
the next lot up for bid or an occasional glance at her secretary's
eyes.

Several people, 'Mantis' being one of the most certain of

it, were sure that the look she gave was totally unrelated to the
bidding, but something personal between the two women.

As lots rolled on by, she completely declined to bid on a

host of seemingly priceless paintings, even those in gold
frames, she failed to recognize the existence of dining wear,
swords, armor, literature and musical instruments.

She yawned during the bidding of some of the world's

oldest known manuscripts out of sheer boredom.

She bid only on gold, platinum, rubidium, gems and an

occasional lot of good quality silver.

She was soaking up precious metals and rare gem

stones like they were merely water and she were a desert.

By the end of the day, she had amassed the newest

record of all, two hundred fifty three billion, eight hundred and

164
seventy one million Euros in metals and gems.

People's eyes were bugging out, either because they

were the recipients of the payments, or because they were the
ones who lost to her.

The only ones who seemed to keep their calm when it

was all said and done were the bankers who were handling the
transfer of the funds.

These people were flat faced as if they were doing

nothing more than typing up lines in a children's fairy tale.

Their transaction fees were heavy enough that they were

'generating' revenue of sorts out of the matter, even if it was
merely editorial amendments they could type in at the end of a
work of fiction.

As the auction closed, the baroness rose and returned to

the exit where a helicopter waited for her and her secretary.

In the process of climbing into the helicopter, however,

the rotor wash blew hard at her so that a business card slipped
from her diamond hand bag and flew out across the parking lot.

Before anybody could retrieve it and bring it back to her,

she and the massive assistant were already up and away.

Ep 11, Chapter 3

The card was to a posh concert hall where famous

composers and orchestras performed.

There was a date and seat addresses on it.

This card got passed around on its way to the top of the

165
security department before it was then passed around the
heads of security who were soon talking about how they wish
they could be the ones sitting beside the powerfully wealthy
young nubile baroness.

Their conversation got overheard by some of the

custodial staff, where it made it to the hall management, where
it made it to the promoters, and finally through them to the
bankers, the McLeenan Brothers, Ltd.

These men, being somewhat aware that something out of

the ordinary was going on behind the scenes, were pretty sure
that the baroness was somehow connected to the
disappearance of their secret allies the Buellweister brothers.

Since their affiliation was technically illegal according to

international anti-trust laws, they had to somehow 'accidentally'
arrive at this event, and do so covertly, not making it even
remotely linked to the auction, let alone the missing bankers.

Dressing in their finest finery, they all reserved seats at

the event, even going so far as to bribe the venue into canceling
other people's seats just so they could get in.

As the concert was playing, they would arrive in stages

and settle around the baroness and her assistant, along with
their own crones, so as to establish a secure parameter so that
they could track her to her place of lodging and deal with her at
their leisure.

What they failed to take into account was that the pair
had their own 'crones', their fellow operatives, not only in the
audience, but in the staff and even playing in the stringed
section of the orchestra.

'Mantis' more than eagerly volunteered to perform on a

166
viola, which she was a master of, while at the same time,
observing the behavior of the two agents 'off duty', which, in
reality, they weren't.

The seven brothers and twenty subordinates made their

way slowly into the vast concert hall and garnered aisle seats
where they would be most able to move when the time came.

The 'target', or more exactly, bait, wore the same dazzling

diamond slip she had worn during the auction, which could not
have been missed in a room with naught more than a lone
nightlight burning.

As the girl moved and made whispering comments to the

massive 'secretary' beside her, every flexation, twist, or even
twitch was a brilliant cascade of sparkling.

It was difficult for patrons to pay mind to the performance

on the stage for the constant shimmering and sparking the
sheer mass of diamonds gave off.

One would have assumed that the woman wanted people

to see her.

In fact, it was ironic that these men seemed so intent on

following her that they completely missed this maddeningly
obvious point.

Ep 11, Chapter 4

As the concert ended, the pair rose.

'Mantis' was not sure what she saw, if only because the
amount of shimmer was so great it confused the eyes, and she
had to pay close attention to the score, so she was at risk of
messing up and drawing attention to herself if she had focused

167
on them too much.

To her dismay, all she got was a show of light and nothing
more conclusive.

To the McLeenan brothers, however, it was like a bass

following a shiny lure.

As the pair moved up the central aisle, the youngest, and

presumably most handsome of the seven men made a bold
move and approached the baroness, boldly reaching out to take
her hand while bowing.

Before he could make contact with her diamond studded

knuckles, however, mysteriously, a much larger gloved hand
intervened, scooping the hands down and out of his reach
making him almost lose balance, looking up in wide eyed shock.

Do NOT touch the Mistress, 'SIR'. the giant operative

said in a soft, silky tone while smiling pleasantly.

My apologies, Ms... he began, hoping for some kind of

introduction.

Secretary. the large field agent replied, I'm just

'secretary'. she commanded softly, Nothing more. then as the
man stood there stunned by this rebuttal of his advances, while
hearing a tiny voice buzzing for him to back out immediately,
she continued, Excuse the Mistress. in her commanding
manner.

Yes, he bowed and stepped aside, trying to be graceful

but backing into another man, By all means. then he turned
and softly asked, Please excuse me sir.

As 'Bear' stood there glaring silently at the clumsy man,

168
the two women slipped on up the aisleway smoothly.

As he turned to look, the pair was already at the back

aisle of floor one and on their way out to the lobby.

Damn, they're already in the lobby, he murmured softly,

don't lose sight of -

He slumped into 'Bear's arms as a tiny pinprick from a

clustered diamond ring on 'Snake's hand grazed his neck.

That's dwarf number one, 'Bear' announced by ear

piece, Six to go.

Ep 11, Chapter 5

The brothers were so intent on pursuing the shimmering

woman that they entirely failed to notice the silence of their
youngest brother.

They and their men made haste to try and position

themselves in such a way that they could tail the women to
wherever they were going next.

They did not really have a concrete plan except to

surround the women and 'get the truth' from them somehow.

They had drugged dart guns, wrist ties and black bags to
put them in which they had folded neatly into their suit coats, but
as to where they would corner and capture such illustrious
women, that was totally up to fate.

Seemingly, as if by a stroke of fate or perhaps fortune,

the two women walked to a local park, where there was, at this
late hour virtually nobody around but bums and perhaps some
other potentially unsavory types.

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 This was, in their eyes, utterly and unbelievably perfect
for their goal.

Sadly for them, they should not have believed it.

Oh, its you. an Asian woman addressed the oldest

brother, still dressed in a black tuxedo.

Excuse me? he asked, totally confused meeting one of

the performers in the middle of a park only minutes after the
show, Who are you and what are you doing here?

She walked up to him in a seductive manner, hips

swaying, white gloved hands outstretched with splayed, slender
fingers, Why, she smiled, waiting for you.

Suddenly the world grew fuzzy, dark and numb as the

world began softly buzzing in his ears.

This did not last long.

Ep 11, Chapter 6

The seven brothers slowly awoke after the antidote was

sprayed into their eyes.

They were each in their own separate dark stone

chamber, some place in the villa.

They were there in the dark, alone, and naked except for
their boxers or briefs, or, in the case of the youngest, a thong.

They were strapped painfully in chairs using the same,

coarse rope which chafed the skin.

170
 Their bare feet were in damp slime and little 'things'
crawled around their feet.

This was more than a couple of them could deal with and
they cried out in disgust, begging to see whoever was in charge.

When any of them called out however, all they heard

were screams of pain, wails of despair and sobs of destitution.

When they tried calling out to these voices, they never

got any responses.

This went on for longer than any of them could keep track
of in the inky blackness of their cells.

Soon, they all, to a man, were also wailing in despair.

Little did they know that the other cries they heard
echoing down the hallways were all per-recorded and in some
cases, their own voices were played for their siblings to add
realism.

Michael? one man cried out, Is that your voice I hear?

Then another voice cried out.

Paul? he pleaded, Is that you I'm hearing?

The seven of them were indeed being taunted and toyed

with, left alone in the darkness, the power of their family ties
totally disintegrated in these lightness solitary confines.

To add misery upon misery, as time would have it,

eventually, they came to the point where they needed to void,
and where they sat and were tied, this was impossible without
soling themselves.

171
 They begged and pleaded for help and without any
response, they simply strove mightily to resist their body's need
to empty former meals as nature dictated.

Finally, when one man was about to lose all control, a

halogen light snapped on, making his eyes scream in
momentary agony as his voice cried out as well.

Welcome. the grandfatherly voice greeted in a gentle

tone, I bet you are in just a little bit of discomfort.

Wh-who are you? the man gasped in agony.

I'm just the voice of reason, the gentle old man's voice
said, whispering in the darkness.

What do you want? he begged, knowing he was in a

horrible situation as he strained to keep his bodily functions
inside.

I'm just the nameless, faceless, will of the people, the

voice replied dismissively, nothing more.

Please, he strained, if you must play games with me

and my brothers, he gasped as his body convulsed against his
will, treat us with enough dignity to use some kind of facilities!

The nameless, faceless masses don't get so much from

you sir. the voice said as if it were a mere kind reminder, not a
belligerent or fury backed retort.

What do you mean? he demanded now, I have done

nobody wrong!

You and your organization have set forth to completely

172
control the entire globe by means of financial domination sir.

I have no idea what you are talking about! he insisted,

Hnnngggg! he strained to keep his bowels under his
command, I am a mere investment broker! he insisted,
nothing more!

I beg to differ Mr. Marcus James McLeenan sir. the

voice became somewhat firmer.

Do you have any idea how we figured who you even

were? the voice became even more stern.

I can't imagine! he insisted between straining,

Seriously!

We tracked your business operations for the past thirty

five years you and your associates have been in business and
devoted a team of over a thousand analysts and a hundred
statistical mathematical experts to this task and we developed a
highly sophisticated yet infallibly repeating pattern which
indicated five distinct groups operating in a thoroughly
orchestrated manner to soak up the world's precious metals so
that they would be unable to be used as currency anywhere in
the world while your head, whom we have not yet identified has
been using proxies worldwide to outlaw the personal possession
of these materials.

Your group, sir, the voice seemed to open up with more

deeply embedded anger, has been systematically
impoverishing the entire world, forcing them to all become
beholden and indebted to your own selves.

To top it off, sir, the voice continued, you have been

doing it right out in the open, under the noses of the wealthiest
nations and families of the world, some of which you pretended

173
were your own allies, all the while selling them a bill of goods
where you had the ultimate final say on who owned or failed to
own what, where, when, and to whatever extent as it pleased
your organization.

I-I-I... the captive could not come back against this, but,
as a man striving to slay a dragon with but a blade of grass, in
his last act of defiance he staunchly declared, you can't prove
any of this.

Enjoy your stay, Mr. McLeenan, the man had a smile in

his tone in the shadows as the light winked out, you're so full of
shit its coming out your mouth.

In anguish the main wailed as the body won out over his
will in the darkness, filling his nostrils with a reek as bad as the
one his humiliation and defeat brought to his pride.

Ep 11, Chapter 7

Five days and seven nasty rashes later, each man

independently confessed to a host of illegal trade commissions
and various other crimes up to and including sexual harassment
of their female employees.

They were grilled and harassed by 'Wolverine' and

'Snake' wearing Israeli gas masks, while 'Bear' simply stood
there looking intimidating in his vintage black German SS
uniform, his clear cover, bubble faced modern gas mask allowed
him to glower at them despite his need for air filtration.

They were recorded on cameras reciting all of their

crimes while they sat there in the agony of the stench and the
stinging of their own excretions.

Their interrogation took several hours and they begged

174
and pleaded, whimpering all the way.

Every time they began to complain about how they were

being treated, they were forced to start over from the beginning.

It was soon clear to them that the only way out of this
hell, even if by death, was after a clean and uninterrupted
confession of their sins.

One man thought he would be clever and blink his eyes

and this only got him the longest recording time of all.

When the last man, William, finally gave up and recorded

it without playing any games, the team concluded the recording
session.

Once they were done confessing on video, they were

moved to a clean, well lit cell and given medical treatment as
well as clean gray one piece uniforms.

Where did those come from? 'Panther' asked the

doctor.

I asked the tailor to make them on the spur of the

moment. he shrugged.

She smirked, I suppose that explains why they are made

out of two thousand dollar per kilogram fourth combed
cashmere wool.

Ep 11, Chapter 8

With the confessions of the nine men in captivity, the

doctor was definitely on a roll now.

They had taken two of the five families out of action in as

175
many auctions.

Granted, it was more of a lucky break and three for two,

on the fact that first family was actually the results of two
capture operations, the first one more of sheer luck than of
devoted planning.

Had they not had Suzanna and her international

collection of junior hobbyist sleuths, they might not have had
that program or anything similar to it to hack the local city
camera systems in time to keep up with him and he might have
been lost to them, leaving them totally in the dark to this day.

Now, however, they were tapping into bank accounts all

over the globe, ferreting out microscopic bits and clues of who
the true master behind this massive world take over was.

They would undoubtedly have to take down the other

three families, not to capture the mastermind, but to put the
brakes on the main driving operations of this diabolical plan.

Even then, most likely, the boss of this all probably had
some diabolical failsafe plan set in motion to protect against his
plan being stopped, even if he himself was slain in the process.

We have to expect the unexpected, 'Panther' said, that

is for sure.

We have another auction coming up in the fall. the

doctor said, eyeing the young Russian girl, Can you get an
excused absence?

Not know. she replied with a shrug.

We'll see who we have to bribe or coerce. 'Panther'

winked.

176
 You look glum. 'Mantis' remarked to the normally alert,
easy going girl.

Soon go home. she replied simply.

Don't you miss your family? the Asian asked.

No. the student replied.

You'd rather spend your time with the illustrious

'Panther'. the field agent said coyly, I understand.

You do? 'Panther' pretended to be sincerely curious.

Why sure! the Asian shrugged, looking rather matter of

fact about it, I know I'D want to spend my nights in your bed...

Suddenly all eyes were on her, some of them quite wide.

What? 'Mantis' asked defensively.

I never knew! 'Bear' chuckled.

Nor did I. the head agent shook her head.

Rule 217, chapter 6, paragraph a: agents aren't allowed

to have relationships in this organization'. the doctor clarified
with a smooth, sly smile barely creasing his face.

Well what about-? she looked both confused and

caught.

You can review all of the security footage at your

leisure. the huge Texan replied.

177
 Girl. Wolverine slowly shook his head speaking with a
Jamaican accent, You SURE put your foot in it THIS time.

Ep 11, Chapter 9

Suzanna had to go home and begin her next semester of

college, mostly because of the need to keep her real occupation
secret.

This was going to complicate a lot of matters, however

because she really had little mind now for studying, and her
taste for the luxurious life had left her with difficulty handling a
life of relative poverty.

She knew she had to, so she buckled under and did so,
but this alone was not as much of a problem as the fact that she
had grown accustomed to sleeping beside the behemoth
handler and this was what made life difficult.

She found she could not sleep.

She messaged 'Panther' every day on the message

board, although the replies were sporadic due to her being out
on missions.

Miss you. Suzanna said, Not sleep.

The reply to this was, Try sleep medication.

Suzanna thought she was being snubbed for some

reason and felt like crying in anger at this response, but at this
moment, she did her best to take it as nothing more than a
friendly suggestion, but still, as she lay in bed that night, even
after she took the sleeping pills, she couldn't help but feel a
heaviness on her heart as she remembered back to everything
that had happened that short, whirlwind summer.

178
 As she lay there, the words of the Asian woman also
came to mind, despite the founder's words of warning.

I know I'D want to spend my nights in your bed... the

thirty something Asian woman had stated unashamedly.

I wonder. she said to herself softly as the medication

finally took effect.

She began to dream a dream about being in a room with

both women.

She was on one side of the room, and the one called
'Mantis' was on the other, and they were both begging for
permission to sleep beside the monstrous head agent who was
sitting there quietly reading information on her laptop while the
founder was quietly reciting Rule 217, chapter 6, paragraph a:
agents aren't allowed to have relationships in this organization
over and over, in an emotionless, public announcement type
manner, as if by doing so, he was offering a solemn prayer to
some unknown god, or else posting one of those repeating
messages one hears in an airport.

After a while, there was a blaring sound, which eventually

woke her up to the morning sunrise.

Don't sleep with her Panther. she found herself growling

as she crawled out of bed, as if she were only momentarily
stepping away from this dream, fully intent on returning to it the
coming evening.

Ep 11, Chapter 10

After an incredibly dull day of doing something she used

to love doing almost more than life its self, the young girl eagerly

179
arrived home to check her e-mail.

There was a reply but it was not what she expected.

Sleep medication work? came the query.

Yes work. Thanks you. came the response.

Shame. came back.

Why shame? Suzanna was confused.

Can't justify sleeping with you now, lol. the agent

answered.

This sent the girl's heart to pounding.

She did not know what to think at this moment.

The giantess seemed to be saying she wanted to sleep

with her, but it was put in a premise.

She knew the rules, so she could not demand the

handler clarify the question, and in fact, she was afraid that it
would be something dismissive if she got the answer.

She decided to say something bold, perhaps a bit too

rashly, Pretend sleeping you. and she made a text smile.

Me too. came the reply with what looked for all the
world to be a text rose.

Her hear raced.

Thanks you Panther. she put, but then she remembered

this was not allowed and quickly deleted the message. There

180
was a little grayed out notice: 'This message has been removed
by the user or deemed unfit for posting on this web site by the
administrator.'

She had seen this in the past from other people, but it
was the first time she had ever made it happen herself.

She was embarrassed, saying something then retracting

it.

She did not wait for a reply. She wrote, I go bed now.
and shut off the computer.

Just as it was a millisecond from closing the program

window, a heart shape appeared and some words that began
with I lo-. then the screen blanked out.

She wanted to stop the shut down so badly but it was

already done.

Urgently she rebooted her computer and after several

minutes when she was logged back in, all she found was, 'This
message has been removed by the user or deemed unfit for
posting on this web site by the administrator.'

She sat there feeling like something had crushed her

heart right out of her chest and left a huge hole instead.

She slowly rose, took the sleep meds, went in the kitchen
and poured a stiff shot of vodka and tossed it down then rinsed
the glass and put it in the drain rack.

When she returned to her bed, for the first time in her life
that she could remember, she sobbed painfully until the drugs
and alcohol put her to sleep.

181
 Episode 12
Forced To Choose

Suzanna, normally a straight 4.0 student found her

attention drifting further and further from her studies.

She was not turning in required reports and at one point

shocked herself because she was not paying attention and
brushed against a live wire.

The professor asked her if she was finding the course

difficult this semester, leaning against the front of his desk as
she sat in a chair.

Not difficult. she replied, but the far away look in her
eyes was telling.

You not focused. he declared.

Sorry. she sighed, Not.

Perhaps need counselor. he suggested, not wanting to

lose his best student ever.

Not counselor. she shook her head, Knows problem.

You tell? he asked, eyebrows raised to indicate he was

listening.

Knowing that Russia was highly homophobic, along with

the fact the woman was American AND an international spy,
there was nothing she was even able to tell ANYbody.

Just has. she replied noncommittally.

Need semester off? he asked.

182
 More deeply. she replied, looking up at him with a sad
expression.

Chto? he asked.

Need resign.

The professor's eyes grew wide in horror and disbelief,

NYET! he pleaded, You beds all university! he looked
around, clasping his hands pleadingly, Why now resignation?
You has best all before vacation!

In a complicated way. she sighed, unwittingly rubbing

her stomach.

Wait! he stared down at the teenager's abdomen, You

pregnant!?

OH NO! she gasped, shocked, Why ask such!?

You did rub... he pointed, ...you know!

Ohhh nooo! she broke into laughter, slipping up just a

bit, Not male!

As soon as she said it, her eyes got wide with alarm.

The professor's eyes narrowed then widened again, but

then he turned to a calm expression and finally said, I think you
right. as he paced around to sit behind his desk, pulling out
some papers, I think presently best time you resignation.

Thanks you. she acknowledged.

But when you finished with this woman, he finished

183
filling out the form, tearing it from a pad of such forms already
copied and issued by the university, Do return please.

As Suzanna took the form, she thought of all that she

could possibly say at this moment and all she could manage to
get out was, Spahseeboh. as she rose from the chair and
walked out of his office.

As he sat there at his desk looking behind her, he sighed

deeply before going about the task of writing up a fictitious
reason for his star pupil's sudden mysterious departure.

Ep 12, Chapter 2

The now ex student walked the halls to her locker and

pulled out various items she cherished and put them into a box
which she had on a flat dolly.

The box was then sealed shut with tape and she pushed
it toward the entry where she had a taxi waiting.

Look. one of the older students murmured in Russian,

nudging the one next to him as she passed the door of the
practicals lab which was open because being early fall the
rooms were quite stuffy on a relatively warm Moscow day.

I hear she got expelled. another older student

whispered back in Russian, even thought he had not heard
anything whatsoever.

Oh you heard no such think you liar! the first student

punched the second one in the arm, making the second student
laugh.

You two lovers should not disturb your class. Suzanna

said as she rolled on past.

184
 They both shouted Hey! and began to chase after her
as the rest of the class laughed but the assistant professor
called out, Get back to your working or I shall expel BOTH of
YOU! and they wilted in their paths with fearful expressions and
slunk back to their bench.

Please have a good vacation Suzanna. the assistant

called after her, also not knowing anything more than what the
professor had just told him over the class telephone.

Thank you, she smiled softly with a shy smile, I intend

to.

As she walked on past the laboratory and away from the

last vestiges of this school forever, she did not see fit to tell
anybody anything more than they already thought they knew.

She was not about to divulge any of her life's secrets!

Ep 12, Chapter 3

When she got home, her father was still at his office in
Moscow and had not been contacted by the university
concerning his daughter.

She did not hesitate to get online and message Panther

through the forum.

News... she posted.

It was an agonizing forty nine minutes while she waited

pensively, hands sweating, heart racing, mouth dry, before the
message popped up, What's new?

Quit university. she posted, both thrilled and terrified.

185
 What did you quit for? the message came back.

Want with you! she replied in her simplistic English.

You need to keep your education going! the reproving

response was.

I lesbi. she replied, Professor knows, did write.

What the hell!? came the alarmed response, Did you

TELL him something!?

Not tell. she denounced this idea, He guesswork.

Did you give names? she pressed.

No names, nothing. she insisted, Simply he

guesswork.

He guessed it was ME!? the handler drive the idea

home with urgency.

No! the girl posted, Not him you nothing knows! she
defended, Simply guess there is woman! and she put an
emoticon of a smirking, giggling face.

You allowed him to do all of this to you? she asked,

That is cruel and discriminatory of him! she posted, I'll set him
straight.

NO! DON'T! the girl replied, Want leave! she followed

in another post, and finally, My idea. My request the
resignation.

Why!? the woman could not understand, You are such

186
a brilliant young lady!

School boring. the girl persisted, Want be with you.

she continued, Want spy!

This is just too much! the woman responded, I don't

think I can handle this!

What handle? the girl asked.

This idea of you quitting school to run off and become a

spy at only fourteen! she replied.

This nothing important. the girl replied, I am woman

now.

You are not! the woman wrote the scathing words, You are
only a child!

I too am woman! the girl insisted, I has slept with other

woman and am now woman!

Ohhhhhhh geeeeeeeezzzzzzzz! the Panther posted,

Its not LIKE that!!!

Ep 12, Chapter 3

What should we do about this? the massive handler

asked, flustered.

I suppose it depends on her parents. the founder

replied, drawing the smoke from the sweetened spiced wheat
grass concoction in his pipe, Can't do anything without their
consent.

187
 But I thought we did all of what we did this summer
without their knowledge? the agent asked.

'Knowledge' and 'consent' are two very different issues

young lady. the man softly responded.

This is true, the amazon accepted, but how can we just

say, 'here, we want to take your child away from you forever and
we're not telling you why.' an expect them to say. 'Oh, okay'!

Ep 12, Chapter 4

Oh. the Russian general said over the phone in

Russian, nodding and doodling on the edge of his desktop
calendar a cartoon face of a high ranking Russian politician,
And you will take care of her and everything? he paused, Yes,
yes, understood...okay. he replied firmly but casually, She is
yours then.

You're not worried about what she will be doing? the

woman asked over the phone trying to be calm and yet totally
being blown away that he was as casual about the whole affair
as if they were talking about a pet cat.

I see she likes you very much Ms. Berkenshire. he

replied using her fictitious name, not even concerned if it was
her real name or not, She has come home well, happy and with
a lot of money she gave to me, so I am a very happy man Ms.
Berkenshire.

Will you be requiring more money from me for this? she

asked pensively.

If you wish, he said in a 'se-la-vie' tone, you most

CERTAINLY can, he answered, but my concern is my
daughter's happiness and success in life. he continued, She is

188
quite very taken about you. he continued, She resigned from
college to go and do this working with you and I think I know she
is a lot more than working for you, he chuckled slyly, but this is
not my business if she is well for you and happy you are
together.

I think you are reading more into this job than there is
Mr. Hallavi sir, she tried to curb his enthusiasm about his
perception of the two women's relationship status, we're not
'like that' -

Oh, he chuckled, you are so modest Ms. Berkenshire!

When I see my Suzanna's eyes and she speaks concerning
you! he chuckled more, There is nothing to be denying!

A subordinate came to the door and knocked and peered

in.

He waved the other lower officer away while pointing to

the phone then raised his finger as if to ask for one more
minute.

The other man respectfully nodded and backed out the

door, slowly drawing it shut to avoid making any loud sounds.

Mr. Hallavi SIR! she was getting quite uncomfortable at

this point, We HAVE not, and WILL not DO that in this line of
WORK, SIR!

The man sensed the severe emotional distress he felt

from the voice over the phone but he simply chuckled more and
said, Why you feel you have to hide it, and he shrugged,
although she could not see it, I don't know. he looked up at the
ceiling, But I will tell you this , Ms Berkenshire, and he almost
seemed to take on a threatening tone, if you are to make my
Suzanna sad... he breathed in slowly, we shall all regret

189
that...very...very...much.

Yes, Mr. Hallavi, she replied softly, realizing that all else
aside, he was a general in one of the largest, most powerful
armies on the planet, I promise I shall treat your daughter with
the utmost honor and respect, and I also promise to do my very
best to make her happy...for the rest of her life.

That is a good girl Ms Berkenshire! he said in a

strangely patronizing tone of praise, I am glad you get to see
my point and understand my concerns!

Yes sir. she replied softly, I think I have come to truly

understand your point of view on this matter to the very core of
my being.

A subordinate came to his door and knocked a second

time.

Then, the general concluded, if there is nothing else,

he said in a tone of conclusion, I have people waiting outside
my office door with pressing matters I must attend to.

No sir, General Hallavi sir, she concluded very formally,

that will be all.

Then I bid you good day now! he said, and lowered the
phone to its cradle before saying, Come in Lieutenant!

The giantess's face was still framed with shock as she

looked up at the doctor.

And what was his reply? the doctor asked as if he really

did not know.

Looking around the room in total disbelief, the agent said

190
softly, He said 'Okay'!

Ep 12, Chapter 5

The taxi was in the parking lot of their apartment and the
driver honked the horn loudly.

Suzanna was flustered with the business of choosing

what to leave and what to keep and she had barely gotten the
heavy old leather wrapped suitcases buckled, their long wide
straps being necessary to keep their contents from popping
them open.

Her father met her by entryway where the apartment door

and the sliding glass balcony door met the living room.

Be sure to write to me or visit me if you can my water

lily! the man leaned over and kissed his daughter's cheek, I
want to know you are happy and doing very well with your new
lady!

I...ummm....yes papa. she could not really think how to

respond.

By this time, there was no secret that she had resigned

from a promising career in aerospace and surveillance
electronics for a mysterious overseas job with a lot of travel, and
a LOT of money, and that it was all being orchestrated by this
mysterious woman on the other end of the phone who seemed
to be more of a motherly figure, and yet somehow had this girl
totally enrapt.

I shall be worried...a little. he pinched his fingers almost

shut as he grinned, the lines etching the corners of his eyes.

Yes papa. she smiled warmly.

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 Okay, he embraced her, you be sure and send me
photos if you can!

If I can papa. she promised.

Be good! he embraced her, suddenly his eyes stinging

with tears, Please make your starik happy before he dies!

Oh papa don't say that! she groaned, You are a long

time before you are like that! being afraid to even say the word
die when it came to her father.

Well just don't make me come to an early grave with the

news that something bad has come to you! he held her close, I
have many children, he said, but you know you are always my
best!

Yes papa. she replied.

The taxi driver honked the horn again, more impatiently.

Go now. he released her and backed away so she

could scoop up the handles of her luggage and leave out the
apartment door.

He pulled open the glass balcony door and leaned out

and cried, She is coming now! waving at the driver, I was
holding her!

The taxi driver leaned toward him and peered up under

his leather kangol and performed a knowing two finger salute.

Moments later she came hurrying out of the apartment

lobby with two large leather bound suit cases in tow huffing and
chugging along for all she was worth, her long curly blond hair

192
bouncing wildly with the effort and the mild autumn breeze.

The old man leaned over the railing, resting on his

elbows, tears glistening in the afternoon sunlight as his favorite
child prepared to vanish completely from his life, and he knew it,
as surely as he knew anything in the world.

The driver pulled a release which opened the trunk as he

rose from his seat to help her with her luggage and open the
back door for her.

She looked up and waved with a beaming smile, and the

general smiled for her and waved back in a slow, hesitant
manner, wondering if he had truly made the right decision.

She would surely never be back, he could just somehow

sense it.

As she slipped into the car and the driver gently pushed it
closed to be sure it was completely latched, she rolled down the
hand crank window and leaned out to continue to wave at her
father eight stories up.

The car started up and pulled out of the parking lot, and
she waved all the way around the corner, and the highly
decorated veteran soldier stood there draped over the rail, his
big combat calloused hand slowly drooping as if lifeless, as he
lowered his head slowly and wept.

Ep 12, Chapter 6

Suzanna rode to the airport where she waited for a

private jet.

'Panther' pranced out excitedly and met her in the

terminal where they immediately embraced firmly, Suzanna's

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face being buried in the big woman's chest as she had come
wearing five inch heels while Suzanna was wearing flats.

The handler did not realize what was going on until she
realized that the younger lady was inhaling deeply.

Oh I'm so sorry! the lead agent cried in apology, I

wasn't thinking! Are you alright?

Yes well! the younger lady beamed, blushing.

I almost suffocated you! she was embarrassed, I am so

terribly sorry!

Smell good! the ex student purred.

Oh... the handler finally realized what the younger lady

was saying and she blushed deep red.

Shall I get those for you? 'Bear' came sauntering up in a

casual pin striped suit smiling slyly but trying hard to keep his
grin to himself.

'Mantis' was wearing a pilot's uniform and did not wait for
permission but snatched the big bags up and spun toward the
jet murmuring, Rule 217, chapter 6, paragraph a: agents aren't
allowed to have relationships in this organization'. in a very
deep, almost growling tone.

Ep 12, Chapter 7

I thought I would have at least nine months without her

to interfere. 'Mantis' growled as they flew back to Switzerland.

Looks like she is part of the crew full time now. 'Bear'
shrugged from the co-pilo's seat, still wearing the pin striped

194
suit, By the way... he asked as he looked over the instruments,
You never REALLY had anything with the boss, did you?

Taking in a deep sigh, the Asian did not answer the

question but looked out the pilot's side window at the clouds as
they flew into the evening twilight chasing after the sun.

I'll take that as a- the big man began.

NO. she cut him off flatly, Okay? she growled,

Just...NO. she huffed.

Don't have to bite my head off over it lady, he recoiled

with a look of alarm, I was just curious.

Rule 217, chapter 6, paragraph a: agents aren't allowed

to have relationships in this organization'. was thrown back at
him, only in terse, bitten off words through gritted teeth.

Yeah, I've uh... he began, So that's GOOD, right? he

tried to sound cheerful as he plastered a most festive smile on
his face.

I've given twenty one long hard years of my LIFE to this

blasted organization. she spat, And not one single 'thank you'.
she swiped her ever annoying bangs aside, You'd THINK they
could at LEAST let me THIS much.

Well... the big German man suddenly got a look of

thoughtful doubt as he looked around as if for a really useful
answer, Does 'Panther' feel the same way..? he tapered off as
she turned and pierced his soul with blazing daggers from her
eyes.

Oh man... he breathed out, turning toward the

passenger side window, then he murmured to himself, Forget I

195
ever said anything...

Ep 12, Chapter 8

As the jet landed in Switzerland at a private air strip,

'Panther' roused the sleeping girl who was drooling on a pile of
napkins folded beneath her chin on top of the big woman's
bosom.

The girl awoke with a sudden sucking sound as she drew

in her own saliva, embarrassed that she had been drooling.

You can sleep about anywhere, can't you? the head of

the team declared rather than asked.

Any place with you. the girl groggily replied as she

looked around with bleary eyes and raised eyebrows, raising
her arms to stretch, Chto time?

Locally its seven pm. the handler said, We've been

flying for just under two hours.

Oh. the girl looked around and rubbed her eyes with her
left hand, Where we? peering out of the window at the air strip
still illuminated by the late afternoon sun, clearly indicating that
they had been traveling ahead of the earth's rotation by just
enough to have gained about an hour on the time they left
Moscow.

Two hours to Switzerland? the girl asked.

This jet goes mach 1.25 at normal cruise. the amazon

replied, Once we get up to altitude we can make pretty good
time compared to normal private jets.

That's 826 knots! the girl exclaimed, How so fast? as

196
the fuselage door was being unlocked by 'Bear'

We have special engines and the air frame is heavily

modified, the woman explained as they descended the steps
toward the tarmac, although they do not look like it, she
pointed at a fine seam which was barely visible where the wing
joined the fuselage, the wings sweep back in flight and the
engines pull in closer to the fuselage to reduce drag and
eliminate the mach wall effect on the plane in flight.

Wow. she breathed in wonderment, Amazing!

As they stepped onto the concrete, a hummer converted

into a limousine pulled up and 'Snake' stepped out to open the
back door for them.

Ladies. he smiled and with a sweeping bow gestured,

Your chariot has arrived.

Welcome back Tigress. a muffled yet warm voice came

from inside the car.

Thank you Doctor. the newest member of the team

smiled as she stepped up slightly and climbed inside.

From the window of the plane, the Asian pilot sneered

and snarled at the interloper.

Ep 12, Chapter 9

Sir... 'Mantis' vehemently complained in protest, There

is NO REASON for those two to sleep together in the same
bed!

I think there is. 'Panther' refuted her assertion,

Suzanna has trouble sleeping.

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 Then she can take sleeping pills like the REST of
humanity! the Asian planted two fists firmly on her hips and
cocked her head in angered defiance.

Not works. the newest spy stated flatly.

Then get BETTER ones! the plaintiff threw her hands up

in the air.

You're sure taking this mighty hard. 'Wolverine'

remarked.

Shut up and stay out of this! the black haired woman

glared at the Jamaican, jabbing a finely manicured but sharply
pointed finger at him.

His response was to throw up his hands defensively and

put on a face of wariness while he looked at the table, not
wanting to lock eyes with the furious one.

Why are YOU even involved with it? 'Snake', who was a
bit less afraid of 'Mantis' despite her violent reputation, Its not
like its hurting YOU any.

GAAAAAHHHHH! she screamed, teeth bared,

slamming her finely pointed nails, or rather claws, into the old
mahogany table, lifting out splinters of the ancient wood.

Now that is enough 'Mantis', the doctor finally spoke up,

You just damaged a very valuable table with your immature
outburst. pointing at the eight new scars in the otherwise
flawless wood which had survived without incident for six
hundred years until today, I'm going to have to do something
about that now.

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 You know what!? she screamed, leaning in at the
doctor, claws still embedded in the table, FINE!!! and she
ripped them out sideways, taking a lot more wood with her,
leaving eight long, splinter lined gouges in the once pristine
antique as she spun and stalked out of the room making roaring
sounds and raking her claws down the hallway ripping through
everything in her path.

Is she on the rag you think? 'Snake' asked as he

regarded the deep gashes in the wood.

Really...? 'Panther' replied, casually, it not defiantly

cocking one eyebrow as she pulled the young Russian up
against her side, which caused the worried look on the child's
face to melt into a beatific smile, Huh! she regarded Suzanna's
perfectly tranquil smile then rolled her eyes, pulling her lips part
way open so you could see both upper and lower teeth, You
think I care?

Ep 12, Chapter 10

'Mantis' was placed on administrative leave and

instructed to take counseling before she would be allowed back
into operations.

The table could not be truly repaired, but to the extent

possible, each and every single individual wood fiber she had
torn loose was surgically repositioned in its original location after
painstaking work was performed to actually return each minute
splinter of wood to its original form based on a microscopic
examination of the torn and crushed fibers.

The process cost over a hundred thousand euros and

took six weeks with a team of forty experts in antique
restoration.

199
 In the mean time, the new infamous Malika Bayramova
came back into the limelight after a brief hiatus with the
explanation that she had to deal with 'family problems' as she
was now beginning to sort out the inheritance from her late
grandfather who had just passed away at ninety seven years of
age back in Russia.

The story was watertight with photos of the entire family,

the villa, the funeral, the grave site, even the wake with the old
man in the casket.

Every single bit of it carefully orchestrated to be as

realistic and lifelike as possible.

Over six hundred officials had to be bribed and/or

blackmailed to make this work.

The new queen of world auctions was a truly free

woman, and as such, completely free to travel the world, bidding
on larger, more costly treasures and make the world of finances
quake in their collective boots.

The only ones who seemed not to care were the bankers.

In their minds, all that mattered was that the masses of

gold which might have been eventually re-sold years later when
their plans demanded it be isolation would be tied up some
place where it would not be available to the public.

What they did not know, however, was that this young
woman was working for the very man who was busy setting out
to keep gold from being taken off of the market.

These 'priceless' hordes of gold were about to be

reconfigured into a brand new type, modern minted cubic
coinage, and distributed all around the world...entirely...for free.

200
 Episode 13
Now You're Committed!

The organization officially made Suzanna a permanent

agent and as such, she was granted access to the weapons
lockers, was issued some fancy electronic hardware and given
an official handshake by the operations director.

Other than that, however, nothing really changed.

She still got money on the completion of work and carried

nothing that identified her as a member.

This was to be expected, of course, due to the agency

being clandestine.

The code name 'Siberian Tigress' was permitted, and as

such, everybody was from that point on to at least address her
as 'Tigress' when she was not being addressed as Malika
Bayramova.

Unlike most agents in the organization, however, she was

the only truly high profile operative, and as such, she would
likely be limited in her field work once this major effort was
completed, however long it took to complete it.

In other words, once the character she played was used

to its fullest extent, it would be simply deleted from the records
and she would be a simple agent like the rest, because it was
too likely she would be found out if she tried playing any other
role from this point on.

She was fine with this, as long as she was spying and
being with 'Panther' she didn't care what the job entailed.

201
 Since she was already highly advanced in her electronic
espionage and counter espionage education, most likely she
would proceed to be one of the latent 'gadgeteers' of the
company, spending much of her time either creating or
operating some form of high tech miniature device for an
operation.

This would not prevent her from going into the field,
however, it was more likely she would be part of the support
crew than one of the lead operatives.

Not only was the work too dangerous, if she were hurt
and it was discovered she was a child, it would send
shockwaves all around the world.

Child spies were strictly forbidden by any standards, and

to be caught using one was such a high state of criminal
activities that other organizations would hunt you down and do
their best to destroy you and they would have the backing of
many countries around the world, especially any you may have
pissed off in the past.

That said, Suzanna was not afraid and regularly

practiced her marksmanship with a host of weapons from
subcompact lady pistols and derringers all the way up to anti-
material rifles and shoulder fired rocket launchers and she
enjoyed this training quite thoroughly.

Ep 13, Chapter 2

With the fall auction season warming up, outside pursuits

would change because people would not be so easily concealed
in crowds.

With the cold weather, tracking people turned into car

chases a lot of the time.

202
 Trackers able to withstand freezing temperatures, salt,
snow and caked on ice were now going to be in use.

People would be wearing coats as well.

Cloak rooms were crucial bugging places against targets

and although some targets knew this, most either did not know,
did not suspect, or would sweep their garments for bugs upon
leaving the venues.

Bugs could be directly jabbed right through thick clothing

some times, but usually one had to either open a seam or else
hope for a small hole in the pockets or other seams to quickly
and easily drop a tracer in without taking enough time to raise
suspicion.

On occasion, one could apply a fine coating of adhesive

and get the bug caught in the fibers of a collar on a coat where it
would dangle underneath a fold in the collar just long enough to
do its job then fall off before it gets discovered.

It did not always work out this way, but usually they were
so small that nobody would notice them unless they were
searching or else cleaning the article of clothing and came
across it still stuck in place.

Averaging the size of a grain of rice, these little micro

beacons were designed to last only a couple of hours normally.

One could dope them with radioisotopes but this was a

hazard as well as it was in violation with some national and
international laws, which, where possible, they did their best to
avoid.

On top of that, radioisotopes made them stand out like

203
blazing lights in an x-ray device and set off metal detectors
which made them easily discovered at airports and government
office buildings.

The only place it was easy to use radioisotopes was on

non-human items such as automobiles which were far less likely
to be scanned with an x-ray device, but the problem there was
that instead of staying with the target, they remained with the
car and that was only limited in its ability to locate a target's final
destination.

This meant that one had to learn to insert a tracker

rapidly and then remain with it all the way to its destination.

Suzanna was working on improving the efficiency of their

current models while practicing the art of planting them on
targets in a host of settings from the pick-pocket [called the
'plant-pocket'] method, to the coatroom method to the forcible
entry method.

She was fairly good with the coatroom method because

she had time to think all by herself, but to walk up to a stranger
and drop something on them was a bit more of a challenge.

The forcible entry method was a thrill, but she tended to

giggle too much and this was severely hindering her progress.

Okay 'Bubbles', 'Mantis' quipped, again...from the top.

Bleahhh... Suzanna, now known as 'Tigress' replied,

And its 'Tigress'.

Keep giggling like that, the Asian growled, and it will be

unemployed!

Ep 13, Chapter 3

204
 Suzanna began studying languages in earnest at this
point.

She was expected to learn both American and British

English fluently, and have at least a working knowledge of
Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

She knew French and Hindi already, but these were low
usage languages.

She knew Latin in its basic form, but was not

conversational in it, nor in Italian or Spanish, so she needed
more practice in these.

'Ice Fox' was her instructor in the linguistics, a slender,

white haired Chinese born lady of about six feet three inches,
not given to wasteful use of speech and not often one to make
eye contact.

Her voice was thin yet not weak. It was more like a
smooth hiss of wind though bare tree branches, or perhaps a
small vent of compressed gas from a controlled port than a
human whisper.

This woman would come to class and often she would

remain looking at her books, the blackboard, or over one's head,
which was usually easy enough being taller than the average
operative, and when she felt like she needed to fix her eyes on
someone, it would often give them chills because she had
almost purely white eyes with only the faintest tinge of green to
them, like a super brilliant radium hue.

She would wear a wispy white gown like outfit with long
veil like strips of fabric which moved in the slightest air current
every day which made her seem more like a ghost, kami,

205
spectre or sidhe than a human.

Suzanna was unfazed by all of this however and would

not even show recognition when stared at.

She was shy, and yet she had no problem with 'Ice Fox',
likely because this agent was significantly different enough from
'normal' people that she felt should could relate.

Ep 13, Chapter 4

Although it was not expected that Malika Bayramova

would be around for much longer, it was important that Suzanna
learn cultural details such as recognition of fine arts, knowing
how to ballroom dance, as well as general parlour room
etiquette.

She learned all of the proper dining styles for eleven

major cultures, how to dance over a hundred local dance styles,
how to wave and when not to, and even how to stand in nations
where women were required to be in extreme states of
subjection to men.

She learned how to wear a burqa, a kimono, a sari and a

host of other local styles as the occasion might require.

Every meal was a dish from a different ethnicity.

She had to know what to top them with, how to address a

server in the local manner, how to sit, to be able to not make
faces at anything she found disgusting, and even how to
gracefully excuse one's self if the urge to vomit struck her.

She learned about classical art, traditional art, local

customs and eighty ways to weave a basket.

206
 She learned to paint, sculpt, dance ballet and fence.

She learned archery, swordsmanship with thirty four

distinct bladed weapons, how to use a bola, nunchaku,
boomerang and simple leather sling.

Wherever on the planet she was to be sent, she needed

to fit in as naturally as possible.

It was of the utmost importance that she, being a spy, not

seem out of place, but as much as possible, fit into the
background and belong there, even if all she was was a support
team member.

Ep 13, Chapter 5

This tiring. the young ex student complained at the end

of the day.

All in a day's work as a spy darlin. the handler replied

as she slipped into the bathroom with silk pajamas and closed
the door.

After she closed the door, Suzanna scooted up to a

sitting position, reached over to 'Panther's side of the bed for the
glowing blue LED illuminated remote to see what was on
television.

As she rolled along through sports, news, some kind of

dramas in various languages, some poorly acted spy movies,
she stumbled upon an adult programming channel just as two
women were in the act of kissing and caressing.

She involuntarily gasped and even though she reached

up to click the button, she seemed unable to because what she
saw was eliciting powerful reactions within her.

207
 As the bathroom door clicked open, however, she quickly
clicked the television off and slipped the remote into the drawer
on her side of the bed.

As the giantess glode out of the bathroom, hair wrapped

up in a towel, she looked toward the screen where she saw it
was dark.

Suzanna was on her side curled up facing the wall as if

asleep.

Tigress? the handler called out softly as she looked

around in the dim nightstand lamp's illumination for the remote,
not getting a response.

Hmmmm... she knelt down and looked under the bed

and behind the night stand, that's odd.

Suzanna's heart was hammering, she felt sweat bead up

on her forehead and other parts of her body were something
inside her seemed to have become unlocked, and she stared at
the wall eyes wide in nervous alarm.

Hey darlin, she reached over and touched the girl's

shoulder, eliciting a squeak of alarm, Sorry, hon, didn't mean to
startle you, she withdrew, but did you happen to see the
remote?

Huhuh! the girl shook her head vigorously nervous

denial.

Eyeing the girl's response suspiciously, she backed away

from the topic and said, Oh well, and she left the room.

As the girl lay there worried about what was going to

208
happen next, she quickly snaked her hand into the drawer,
pulled the remote out, clicked the screen on and began to scroll
the channel away from the adult content.

I see you found it. the handler announced as she

returned to the room with another remote in her hand.

Suzanna squeaked again as she looked to the door in

horror at being caught red handed.

Well, the amazon shrugged, guess I'll just put this one
back then. and she turned toward the door, stopping and
saying, good job finding it for me. Thank you. and she stepped
the rest of the way out.

As the young woman clicked off the screen and laid the
remote back on the night stand where it was at first, she
slumped back over to her wall facing fetal position.

As 'Panther' walked back to the vacant room she smiled

to herself mischievously, Silly girl.

Ep 13, Chapter 6

Suzanna woke up miserably tired and with an

uncomfortable wetness in her pajama bottoms, sensing that it
would be best to get up before 'Panther' and get a shower and
change into something clean before she was seen.

She slipped out of the bed as quietly as possible as she

listened intently to the heavy slow breathing of the giantess.

She carefully tread through the plush carpet to the

bathroom where she closed the door with unusual care.

As she peeled out of the pajamas, suddenly she

209
remembered that she had nor brought a change of clothing in
with her.

Feeling severely distraught, she painstakingly re-opened

the door and while peering out only to find herself looking out on
the dull gray silk of 'Panther's pajama top.

Gasping and pulling back, she yanked the bathroom door

shut.

Are you having some kind of problem darlin? came

through the door faintly, causing Suzanna to realize that even
the doors here were partially sound proofed.

No, she lied, I...you surprised me.

You've been acting strangely since last night little one.

the giantess called out, I'm thinking perhaps we should finally
get you your medical examination.

NOOO!!! the younger woman cried, NO

EXAMINATION!

You're acting mighty suspicious you know. the handler

called through the thick door.

My period! she blurted out suddenly.

Oh. the senior operative remarked, In that case, she

called back reassuringly, we're in the same boat!

The floor shifted with a soft creaking as the massive

agent walked away from the door.

The young Russian slid to the floor with a sigh of relief.

210
 Ep 13, Chapter 7

The doctor was seated placidly smoking his herbal

mixture while reading one of several world newspapers.

Servants were scurrying around with breakfast, taking

orders and delivering plates.

Suzanna was fully dressed and groomed, feeling

refreshed, but her face belied something else.

You look unusually 'FRESH' this morning. 'Mantis'

remarked with a critically suspicious eye.

Took shower! Suzanna replied simply.

And THEN some. the Asian snorted, I could use a little

'and then some' now and then.

I'm-AHHH! 'Wolverine' went from raising his hand to

covering his face as the martial artist assassin flicked a tiny
chicken bone right at his eye.

No. she replied deadpan, Don't offer again. she waved

a double edged knife his direction.

'Mantis' dear, the director tried to be polite while

exercising his authority, no weapons at the dinner
table...please!

This isn't a weapon. she jabbed a piece of chicken

breast with it and poked it in her mouth, speaking around the
morsel of meat, its an eating instrument.

She then pulled a massive firearm from below the table

and laid it on the recently repaired surface with a nerve

211
clattering clunk, THIS is a weapon. then she turned with a
suddenly solicitous look back at the startled recruit, So...
licking her lips, while interlacing her fingers, how bout it?

Ep 13, Chapter 8

Seems 'Mantis' has taken a fancy to you. 'Panther'

commented as they practiced ballet in a highly mirrored room to
Tchaikovsky's fifth sonata.

So? the girl asked defensively, I am not at fault. her

blond ringlets bounding with every pop up and down on her
toes, then flying outward with every sudden twirl.

I was just curious is all. the handler commented, Not

placing blame.

I see. the child replied as she leaned over and raked

her fingertips lightly along her outstretched left leg before
popping up and spinning again.

So what's your take on 'Mantis' anyway? the amazon

asked.

She not you. the girl replied casually as she pirouetted

in sync with the giantess.

The handler lost her balance and almost stumbled, eyes

wide, That was unexpected... trying to act casual.

The young girl spun in a manner not in the routine and

spun right up against the amazon while leaning past as if
suddenly looking behind her while grasping the powerful
shoulders and whipping her head up to stare directly into the
older woman's eyes, being caught reflexively by the handler as
she replied, Neither were you.

212
 Ep 13, Chapter 9

Again, strangely, this night, it was 'Panther' who could not

sleep, while 'Tigress' slept soundly.

How the hell does this happen anyway? the handler

asked herself as she regarded the sleeping child next to her in
black silk pajamas with a masterfully embroidered tiger in the
moonlight among bamboo stalks on the back of the top.

She looked around the room, felt uncomfortable, rose up

slowly to not disturb the sleeping girl, pulled out a crystal
decanter from a lavish glass cabinet in the room and poured
herself a tall serving of royal Scotch whiskey while reaching for
some sleeping pills.

She took three of these and washed them down with the
stiff drink.

She returned to the bed and sat for a long time just
watching Suzanna breathe.

Finally she picked up the retro '30's style phone and

called the kitchen for some waffles and syrup.

As she waited for these to arrive, she felt fidgety and

could not just simply sit there waiting until they arrived.

Beside the stylized phone sat the rather modern glowing

blue remote control and she picked it up, wondering how such a
brightly illuminated item could have been anywhere without
being seen, unless it had been hidden in a drawer.

She did not want to cause any trouble, so she shrugged it

off, it was here, no harm done.

213
 The operative turned on the wide screen television and
turned the sound down very low.

Clicking 'history' however, it showed all of the channels

recently viewed.

As the list appeared, all she could do is chuckle and

blush, reflexively rubbing her blushing face as she murmured
Awww shit... then sighing and shaking her head in
embarrassed amusement, Darlin! then, with a long stretching
of her face while gazing skyward, she concluded, So THAT'S
why you were acting so strangely! and she erased the history,
put a block on the channel and turned the television off, sitting in
the dim light pondering life.

Ep 13, Chapter 10

Suzanna awoke from a very intense dream shuddering

and grasping herself down below.

As she suddenly became aware of where she was, she

suddenly spun her head to look behind her.

The giantess was not there.

Feeling behind her with her right hand she found that the
bed was still slightly warm, but the handler had been gone for at
least ten minutes.

She raised her head to see if there was light from

beneath the bathroom door, but it was out.

She rose up a little higher in the dim dawn light and

peered around to see if the huge woman was anywhere in the
darkly paneled and furnished room.

214
 Finally satisfied that the room was empty, she pulled
some panties from the drawer and scurried into the bathroom.

Pulling her pajamas down, a distinctive bump was

sticking up from beneath her slimy wet panties.

Still nervous, she looked all around while peeling them

off.

She needed to urinate but when she tried to sit down it

wanted to shoot out at the door so she pressed it down.

It got all over her hand and her legs and felt miserable.

She felt terrible and the angst showed on her face.

Finally the erection went down and she was able to wipe
herself dry, but there was a rash forming, so she hurried up and
jumped into the shower.

While she was in the shower washing off, however, she

felt the pressure in the room change.

She froze in terror as she realized there was somebody

else in the room!

She heard what sounded like clothing being unbuttoned

and slipping to the floor.

She gripped the thick bullet proof shower door by the

handles and braced to keep them tightly closed.

Then there was a voice, muffled, on the other side of the

door.

215
 'Tigress?' a man's voice called out, We have an
emergency. there was a firm knock.

There was a sudden swift shuffling outside of the shower,

somebody was hastily struggling with something, probably their
clothing. There was a soft clattering as something small and
light fell from a low height.

At first she was too terrified to answer.

'Tigress?' the man's voice came again, Are you

okay? there was the sound of knocking and then the door latch
began to turn once again.

I hear! she cried out loudly, I well! Soon come!

Hurry dear! the man called, We have to move at once!

Yes! she called out, heart screaming, agonized in the

pain of the stress she was suddenly facing.

Moments later, the door once again unlatched softly and

opened causing a change in pressure before closing once
again.

Shutting off the water, the young recruit waited a few

more seconds before forcibly yanking the shower door open in
hopes of surprising anybody who might still be in the room.

There was nobody.

She looked around quickly and the room looked almost

exactly as she had left it before entering the shower, but as she
picked up her black silk pajamas, a black carbon fiber throwing
knife appeared below.

216
 She picked up the item in shock and as it came near her
face, for a while totally forgetting that there was an emergency
call put forth...she sniffed it and sure enough, it smelled like fried
chicken.

Episode 14
Something Strange is Going on Here!

Suzanna tucked the suspicious knife into a small trash

can liner she found in the bottom drawer of the sink vanity and
rolled it up tightly before lifting the porcelain toilet tank lid and
dropping it in for safe keeping.

The young spy hurried and got dressed in her day

clothes, a rather jovial Swiss farm girl's outfit which, especially
without the addition of makeup, managed to compliment her shy
youthful cuteness.

As she arrived at the meeting, which was being held at

the villa's grand ballroom, there was a big stir as people were
going to and fro, many she had seen as staff in the villa, others
were agents she had worked with on previous jobs, and some
were strangers to her.

There were easily a hundred people in the room.

Some were eating along two long rowed tables, others

were diligently typing away at keyboards, some were holding
firm, dark toned discussions, and three of them were meeting at
a table up on the dais of the stage where musicians or acting
troupes would normally perform.

The ballroom was brightly lit by large cascading crystal

chandeliers, the sun was not up over the alps from the east yet.

She moved toward the three in the front of the hall,

217
looking all around.

Ahhh yes. the doctor broke off what he was saying as

he glanced up and beamed lovingly at the vibrant young blond,
Tigress, he raised a hand, I believe you met the director
Rolph, the man with black hair and goatee nodded with a soft
understated smile, and this is 'Laguna'. he turned his hand
toward a medium height, moderately built woman with white hair
which seemed to be flying even as she stood still.

Pleasure to meet you. the youngest smiled perfunctorily.

Suddenly looking up, then standing, the doctor cleared

his throat.

Okay everybody, the founder called out as the room

quickly grew hushed, for those of you who do not know what
this is all about, he waited for everybody to sit, gesturing that
Suzanna sit in the empty seat next to him, we have two agents
who have suddenly gone missing, he paused as people
gasped, right here, gesturing across the room, out of the
villa, pausing for effect, under our noses.

Suzanna had been repressing the sense that something

was indeed very off, but now, she realized that indeed, two
faces were not within the scope of her view during this high
priority meeting.

Ep 14, Chapter 2

The people calmly streamed out of the room toward their

respective tasks.

Suzanna was left in a daze, completely at a loss as to

what to do or how.

218
 Thankfully, while she sat there, the doctor beckoned
softly, Come...follow me child.

Numbly, she rose and followed.

The director was waiting for them in the library and he

waited until they were right beside him before he pinched his left
cufflink.

The book shelf withdrew on hydraulic cylinders along

gleaming metal rails in the old stone floor and heavy red oak
timbers which supported the walk way above.

Inside was a classical hidden hallway, only it was not

damp and dank.

It was as cold as a refrigerator and the air smelled of frost

dried granite.

The cold helped snap the girl back to her senses.

She began to wonder, was it some place like this where

one would have spirited away a person without being seen.

The three of them walked down the hallway while the

book case slid back into its socket, completely closing them in.

She could feel the air pressure rise when the secret door
closed, indicating that the air between there and here did not
freely circulate.

But if this was a known place where people in the villa

went all the time, or at least semi-regularly, surely this would not
be where one would hide two high profile agents!

There must be more to this than just a tunnel!

219
 Based on where we last had their signals, the director
opened, these overhead ducts seem the most likely way
anybody could have come to or left the areas they were.

That doesn't explain why. the founder said.

It just might. the director replied, clearly its like a notice

to us that they can take our very best agents, right under our
noses, and not leave a trace.

Then who? the doctor asked, We have a host of

enemies to choose from.

Suzanna noticed that the air smelled somehow different

and began sniffing to be sure.

What is it little one? the doctor asked.

Not sure. she replied, This way.

Ep 14, Chapter 3

Leaving off the tracing of the duct-work for the time being,
the trio followed 'Tigress's nose toward the holding cells.

As they got closer, all of them began to experience the

first mild symptoms of VX.

Suddenly the two men cried in unison, HOLD YOUR

BREATH AND RUN BACK!

As they turned a corner back the way they had come

from, the director took a moment to pull on what looked like a
loose piece of string dangling from a nail in the ceiling and
immediately an alarm klaxon began blaring.

220
 The director pinched the cufflink on his right wrist this
time.

As they ran, Suzanna's head began to hurt and she

began to feel disoriented.

She began to waver right and left as she struggled in

panic mode to flee and the two men helped her by taking an
arm on each side.

The three of them ran back toward the exit and once
there they left the already open bookshelf and where people
were running into the room to see what the problem was, the
director cried out, Nerve gas!

Ep 14, Chapter 4

The call went out on the headsets and radios.

Everybody suited up immediately.

The medical team treated the three victims with the

antidote and placed them in an oxygen enhanced room after
testing the oxygen tanks to be sure they were not tampered
with.

As Suzanna, the doctor and the director lay in recovery,

hazmat teams went into the underground and investigated.

First they neutralized the gas and decontaminated the

entire basement of the villa.

Then they swept the area for evidence.

The first clue was that the bankers were all dead.

221
 They were clearly a target, but also clearly not the only
target.

The two agents were still missing.

Whomever had done this had made off with them or else
hid them some place where they were not going to be easily
found.

So they made a point of cutting their losses. the director

remarked.

They were a liability to the big plan, the doctor said, so

they were no longer needed.

But 'Mantis and 'Panther'...? Suzanna asked.

Defectors? Double agents? Victims of bad timing?

Targets? the director shrugged, Too soon to tell.

'Panther NOT defect or double! Suzanna declared while

crossing her arms.

A medical team reached in while saying, Now 'Tigress'

dear, trying to carefully guide the crossed arms back down,
you'll disconnect your IV if you are not careful, please do be
still?

Even if she's not a double or a defector, the doctor said,

she is not any place we can find her in the building.

So where did they exit this place from? the director

mused aloud, It would seem pretty much impossible to have
excavated a tunnel through solid stone without our seismic
sensors picking it up.

222
 If use ultrasonic. Suzanna said.

Both men's eyes grew wide.

The director called out on his radio, Have teams sweep

the walls and floors for thin spots and tunnels!

But sir! one man began to protest, The seismic system

shows nothing out of the ordinary!

Just do it! he called back.

Yes sir! the agent complied.

Ep 14, Chapter 5

The search team found the tunnel.

The rock had been cut so finely that it was as smooth as

glass.

This was clearly some kind of cutting tool designed for

stealth, not for speed.

Still yet, there was not a trace of evidence of this being a

long, slow process.

The tunnel had been made in a very short time and with
so much precision that it made one wonder how it was even
possible.

The tunnel was as straight as a laser beam for as far as a

spot beam could aim.

The light reflecting off the smooth walls was absorbed by

223
the moisture in the air.

The team picked a robotic rover to go into the tunnel and

it went as far as its batteries would allow and it shut down
without reaching the end.

The tunnel had to go for miles, possibly all the way

through the mountainside.

Well then, the director said, lets just start on that

premise then!

The other side of this mountain sir an agent asked.

Get a helicopter and an expedition team and scout for

the far side with ground penetrating radar. the director
instructed.

Yes sir! the agent scurried off to make it so.

You think they'll find it? the doctor asked 'Tigress'.

Only find 'Panther'. Suzanna sighed weakly. To her, that

was all that really mattered.

We will little one, the doctor smiled softly through the

vinyl of his own oxygen tent and into hers, if we have to blast
the mountainside away, we will.

Ep 14, Chapter 6

The expedition team found the end of the tunnel in the

snow, despite a rigged avalanche set in hopes of hiding it.

A large, twin rotor Chinook hovered overhead as a rope

lowered men to the ground from an internal hoist.

224
 Men worked the radars while other men held position
with automatic rifles.

The cascading pack of snow was just no match for the

ground penetrating radar.

They used thermite to melt the snow away to inspect the

opening directly.

At the end of the hole was a solid plug of some kind of

fast hardening foam.

They ripped this away slowly with ice axes.

Inside were two canisters which when combined had

released the foam, trapping themselves inside the formation.

The team did not, however, find anything else.

They scouted both up and down the mountainside from

this point and there was not a single trace.

Not a foot trail, not a ski trail, not even a snowmobile

track as one would have presumed for a rapid escape.

Team Eight Sir, the expedition force called in, the sound
of a twin rotor military transport copter in the background, there
is nothing here.

That is not good son. the director replied, they must

have had some form of escape planned well enough that they
could leave without a trace.

Balloon. Suzanna said.

225
 That's a good idea! the director softly exclaimed, Team
six, get aerial reconnaissance and radar history for this area for
the past week.

Team six, affirmative. came back.

Team eight, he changed back, come back to base and

fuel up, prep with maximum gear and take the expeditionary
forces and get ready to move on anything team six comes up
with.

Rodger that sir, the agent replied over the throbbing of

helicopter rotors, we're on our way back in now.

Ep 14, Chapter 7

Team six had a hard time finding the escapee but they
finally got an anomalous radar signal, too small to be an
airplane and too slow or steady to be a bird.

It was just barely big enough to be tracked and yet it was

in the air long enough to obviously not be a stray blip, a bird or
flock of birds, and on top of that, birds did not ever fly this high
at night.

The slow moving object simply had to be a small,

nonmetallic balloon.

They calculated its track and developed a logical

projection of where it might have been heading.

Sure enough, the blip was lost from the local radar
network crossing the hardest possible place to track it: over
Lake Bodensee, crossing into Germany.

At that point there would be a lot of hilly farm land and

226
some really dense forests within which to drop at night and
quickly dispose of a fully combustible balloon, should they wish
to trade out for more rapid transportation.

The team would have a problem simply flying into

German airspace, especially fully armed in an American made
military aircraft.

We're going to have to take another approach to this

everybody. the director grumbled as he got up after the medical
staff cleared him as safe from after effects of the gas.

How can we get into Germany to track missing agents in

a situation like this? 'Termite' asked, her coke bottle glasses
something she wore with pride despite having received
corrective surgery a decade ago.

We need to infiltrate using some means we know can

not fail to gain entry. the director pondered, The only problem
is, he crossed one arm over his rub cage, rested his other
elbow on it and tapped his chin as he pondered.

I never saw before! Suzanna marveled suddenly, to

herself as she softly gasped in amazed realization, Add the
mustache and is Lenin!

Yes? the director turned toward the girl in the oxygen

tent.

That's it! the doctor exclaimed, also still in an oxygen

tent, Send the infamous Malika Bayramova and they'll let
ANYTHING in the door!

You over estimate her credentials in Germany I fear,

Doctor. the director replied with a tone of sincere regret.

227
 Oh no! the doctor insisted, That's WHY they will let her
in!

Suddenly it occurred to the director as well. He snapped

his finger then pointed at the young spy and whispered, Yes!

Ep 14, Chapter 8

The plan was to set a trap.

Whomever had gone to such great lengths to capture two

of the agents of S.A.D. And kill the captives they held, must
surely want something more than revenge.

The fact that they had apparently tried to kill Suzanna in

the shower likely meant that in all reality, she was the true target
of their malicious intentions.

Why they had come with 'Mantis's knife would have to be

left up to speculation.

The goal now was to draw out the enemy and deal with
them however the need dictated.

The only thing about sending the young lady in this time
was, that she was without the massive agent who normally
protected her.

She would be going in this time with 'Ice Fox' as her

secretary.

The mysterious white haired woman might not have the

size of 'Panther' on her side, but her strange appearance
definitely did have its way of keeping people at a distance!

They went to an auction which would not have normally

228
been of enough note to have attended, just because it was well
within the heart of the enemy's territory.

This auction would be over in a day, so there would be no

need for overnight accommodations, which was somewhat of a
letdown, seeing as the chances of a confrontation were
increased with an overnight stay.

That said, the auction was a secret, invitation only

auction, being held within a special exhibition reminiscent of the
2001: "Magie, Mythos, Macht - Gold der Alten und Neuen Welt"

Ep 14, Chapter 9

It was not any coincidence that the official invitation had

been issued to the now infamous Malika Bayramova, despite
her official address and whereabouts being known.

Clearly, people had been tracking people.

Somehow, the manner in which the late McLeenan

brothers had been captured might have been not just a slight bit
underhandedly easy.

Their capture may not have been their ultimate plan, but
this does not mean it was not their former handler's ultimate
plan.

The entire grounds of the villa had been swept for stray
chemical signatures, and eventually the traces came back to the
corpses of the seven brothers, all of which had been planted
with a relatively non-toxic radioisotope which would allow them
to live a long time while slowly excreting this tracer into their
waste disposal system.

This radioisotope, which ultimately because of Swiss law

229
had to be handled in an environmentally safe manner, would by
default, placed it in a position where it was exposed and visible
from long range sensors.

Any way you looked at it, you either had to send all waste
to a state approved sewage recycling facility, or you had to
have a state approved system on your estate.

Since such devices would inevitably be placed some

distance from the villa because of their potentially offense of
residents and guests, they were often areas set off some
distance down the valley from the villa, and were usually not
closely monitored.

Although one could not readily enter such a facility, it

normally was not walled in or encased with thick concrete or
anything which would limit or reduce the emissions of radio
signatures streaming out at thousands of times higher than the
background.

Somebody, some place, had gone to a lot of effort, with a

lot of skill and patience, to plant these men where they would
eventually give away the position of their captors.

When they were done, they were of no use, so once the

deed had been completed, the orders were to simply neutralize
them.

In the end, their absences were missed by only a few

people, mostly those who had relied on them for a paycheck,
and most of those simply lived off the accounts which sustained
the yachts and would continue to do so until the finances dried
up.

Ep 14, Chapter 10

230
 It was cold and dark, and 'Panther's head throbbed.

The last thing she remembered was going to the

restroom and checking on a suspicious noise outside in the
hallway.

Just as she saw 'Mantis' slump to the floor while trying to

hurl her knife, suddenly her lights went out too.

Now, she was some place, and where that some place
was, she could not tell.

She was very very cold, and in the distance she heard
the sound of wind somewhere below or behind her, she was not
sure.

The one thing she was sure of was that the space she
was in was very tight.

She tried feeling around her, as her arms were out in

front of her and it seemed as if there was something around her
feet which had them tightly bound together.

Not knowing where she was, she had to assume she was
either stripped of her transponder, although she felt nothing to
indicate anybody had made any incisions in her skin, or else,
she was some place where its signal could not be detected from
wherever the surface was.

Apparently, 'Mantis' had seen the attacker before she

was darted, or else her constitution was high enough she had
still tried to defend herself before the drug took her down.

She could not reasonably assume she got where she

was of her own volition, so, using deductive reasoning, the best
possible way to get out of where she was now, was to crawl

231
froward.

She had hardly gone thirty meters when she bumped into
one of the foundation's small exploratory robots.

Clearly the robot had run out of power making the long
trek to wherever she was, and this, at least, let her know, she
was indeed a long crawl from the villa.

Well lookie there... she mused, turning it over in her

hands in the darkness, Just think runt, she chuckled, You just
damn near found me.

Episode 15
Dividing Our Forces

The infamous Malika Bayramova and her ice white haired

escort arrived dressed in matching wispy white gowns.

Both gowns were almost like drifting pieces of fog they

were so light and airy and when the two of them walked, they
twirled and trailed behind, and when they stopped, the tails were
blown by the finest air currents right on beyond them before
settling down some seconds later.

Their bodices, however, staying true to the theme, were

awash in gleaming diamonds, some of them actually obtained
from the most recent auction.

This was a super bold, super daring maneuver, showing

off recently garnered wealth so brazenly, it was like a challenge,
or perhaps a threat.

A very famous freelance international newspaper reporter

from Berlin remarked in her article on the young Russian
baroness that it was best likened to one marching around with

232
one's enemies' heads on pikes.

The paper at first did not wish to let this print because it
was so super provocative, but she let them see right behind her
the editor of a competing paper just dying to get his hands on
this one!

The mystery woman was walking around with two

fortunes: one on her person, and one on her temporary
secretary's.

The only difference was that her gown had a laughing

mask on it's abdomen, and the white haired 'Ice Fox' had a
mourning mask.

The two of them sat in the reserved seats at the front,

across from another rather cold looking, but much older woman.

Their eyes never actually met, and yet it was clear to

everybody in the building, it was like two apex predators sizing
each other up before a battle to the death.

Ep 15, Chapter 2

'Panther' made it to the exit of the tunnel pushing the little

robot along before her.

Climbing out of the hole in the floor which had to have the
plug violently kicked back out before it would dislodge because
it was so tightly fit in place, she rested for a while before
assessing the most immediate situation before her.

The staff who responded to her pounding on the book

shelf exit were quite surprised and hurried to contact the doctor,
both the founder of their organization, and the normal kind.

233
 Welcome back 'Panther', he declared joyfully embracing
the giantess, my deepest apologies for not getting to you
sooner.

Its fine John, she replied embracing him back, some

times these things happen. then she asked, Who is
accompanying 'Tigress' right now?

I had 'Ice Fox' step in for you for the moment. he

replied.

She's good, the field agent smiled, Glad you picked

her.

Are you ready to get back into the operation? the

founder asked.

Not only, she smiled, relishing an image in her mind's

eye, but I think I have a surprise for our target, now that I've
had a little time to think about this all.

Ep 15, Chapter 3

The older lady did not have the robotic, hypnotized look.

She had a cold, cunning, disdainful cast that made her

otherwise relatively pretty face for her age very unappealing.

She was the seasoned veteran in this arena, having slain

and laid low thousands of contenders in her fifty five years and
she had ruled as 'The Eisknigin of East Berlin', never once
losing to anybody who came to bid against her.

Some had even tried to hire her services, but she

beckoned to nobody, and bowed to no ruler.

234
 She was her own woman, through and through.

She had been born the daughter of an arch duke who

had taught her to search out the finest prizes and selectively
and doggedly take them down with the cunning and skill of the
legendary vielfra of the Swiss and German alps.

This reputation had never reached the ears of the

seemingly simple minded Malika 'Silent Angel' Bayramova.

She never flinched during the auction as bids were called

now leaping by a hundred million euro increments.

Everybody else had fallen away in the two billion to three

billion euro bracket, their hopes of attaining these legendary
jewels now forever lost as two financial giants prepared to battle
it out to the final blow.

They crossed three billion euros, three billion five

hundred million, four hundred million, and yet the child seemed
oblivious to cost, and it seemed it was just a patient game of
waiting when the pressure began to bear on the elder bidder in
this war.

Surely, she told herself in frustrated anger, already

putting out more than it had been assessed for, knowing that at
this point it would be taking a loss to keep bidding beyond the
four billion mark, this child's unheard of family can't POSSIBLY
hold enough wealth even now! Surely they will have reached
their limits!

Fnf Milliarden! the older woman suddenly barked in

aggravation as the younger competitor sat there almost as if lost
in a dream ignoring her furious glare..

The auctioneer then turned to the child expectantly, as

235
the mystical 'Ice Fox' leaned over and whispered the simple
command, to 'win this lot at any price'.

For the first time in her mysterious history as a bidder, the

'Silent Angel' cracked the faintest smile as a distinct gleam
came to her eye.

As the young Russian pulled a marker from her purse,

she wrote a number on the erasable ink board on her lap.

The eyes of the auctioneer bulged and he staggered

back from the auction podium white faced and fell into the chair
behind him in a daze.

As the blood drained from the older woman's face, falling

back in her chair in utter shock and disbelief, the young girl
finally turned and suddenly locked eyes with the older, and with
glittering eyes produced the softest most angelic smile.

Ep 15, Chapter 4

People fled the auction hall as if it were under armed

assault or a bomb had been revealed in its midst, only many of
them were wailing in despair.

The 'Silent Angel' had slain the grandest of the grand.

She had single handedly laid low the historically

unbeatable leviathan of wealth accumulation.

Without even paying it any mind, she had turned the

scales of the wold of finance completely over on the ground and
wealth was spilling out of markets all around the globe.

Prices were fluctuating wildly and the market was going

into a tail spin.

236
 Bidding at other auctions had either ceased, or gone into
frenzy mode, depending on what commodities were being bid
upon.

Each group was trying to obtain what it could while it

could and before the day was out, the prices of gold and silver
were a hundred times their opening prices and expected to
climb higher.

Diamonds were being recalled by the world's leading

diamond sellers in hopes of keeping something for themselves,
while at the same time, many currencies were folding like a pair
of twos in a game of Texas Hold-'em.

Precious metals were leaping all over the charts and

people were in the process of assessing closed mines,
speculating on tailing piles a century and a half old, investing in
oceanic exploration vessels, and in general looking for ways to
secure something before it was all scooped up and locked away
some place.

The panic had caused personal fortunes for some to rise

while others vanished.

All this time, the mysterious young woman simply

climbed into a limousine and prepared to return to her no longer
secret villa in Switzerland.

Ep 15, Chapter 5

The price of gold crossed forty four thousand Euros per

troy ounce.

The price of silver reached ten thousand, two hundred

and nine dollars per troy.

237
 Platinum reached fifty one thousand.

All this time, the single largest holder of gold in the world,
China, was trying to determine what to do next.

Should they sell, buy or stay put?

They spent the afternoon hours reorganizing their ledgers

to be sure they knew where every single dust mote of the yellow
metal was being held.

Many other nations were doing the same, all of them

investing in increased security, looking toward potentially hard,
or prosperous times ahead, knowing that like all bubbles, surely
this one would soon burst.

At the same time, however, a certain nameless, faceless

figure sat at a desk in a mansion in the hills north of the Black
Forest and propped their chin on their steepled index fingers.

His head was covered by a hood so that little more than

the tip of his supremely formed square chin was visible.

You think you have hurt me. a thick German accent said
with a controlled, measured pace as it pushed forth English
words to its hearer.

A black robed and hooded figure sat in a chair, tied to the

chair with black ropes and said nothing.

What? he smiled, No smart remarks?

Still not a word.

Your organization has played a really fine game you

238
know. the voice nodded with what seemed like a grave
admission of defeat, But now it is my turn to play my trump
card.

The figure, looking like little more than a black sack tied
to the chair held its peace despite whatever it was thinking.

What? he asked again, a playful smile widening upon

perfectly polished teeth and a five o'clock shadow dressing a
chiseled square chin, Still holding out on me?

Finally, there was a small chuckle from beneath the hood

in a distinctively feminine voice.

These walls are shielded with lead and we keep all of

our wastes deep underground in shielded tanks. he said with
calm, cool pride, there is no way they can track you from here.

There was no more response.

So you find out that your plans really have fallen

through. he smiled, I will have your precious 'Silent Angel'
soon, just as I have you and your bumbling enforcer.

As a soft whispering sound like the breeze blowing

through the thick evergreen needles of the black forest came to
the ears of the tied up figure, she said, in a rather smug Asian
accent, Your cronies lied to you.

As the man was about to ask what she meant, the large
bay window made of lead infused 'bulletproof glass' exploded
inward in a dull red flash, filling the room with a deafening
concussion, supersonic glass particles and hazy gray smoke.

Somehow, in the moments before this happened, the

agent known as 'Mantis' had kicked herself backward so that

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she was on her back, at the far wall of the room where she was
safe from the hypersonic fragments of failed transparent armor.

Ep 15, Chapter 6

The ballistic aramid fibers of the robe saved the man

from being fatally injured, but his bare hands were bleeding
profusely as they had not been shielded from the speeding
particles.

He fumbled with blood soaked, throbbing stumps of

shredded flesh to operate the escape mechanism, barely
making it before a team of agents, headed by the giantess
swept into the room from a helicopter via speed lines, suited
and armed.

Speeding to the fallen agent, the giantess immediately

slashed the ropes with her own carbon force blade and pulled
the Asian woman up into an embrace.

Thank GOD you're safe! she cried, to the surprise of the

team, including 'Mantis' herself.

That was unexpected, the smaller woman said, eyes

wide, what changed?

Nothing darlin, the amazon replied, I just hate it when

my people get taken away from me like that.

Suddenly the disappointment registered in the Asian's

face, I see.

Enough of this ladies! 'Bear called out, We're on the

clock.

Yeah you two can get a room later. 'Wolverine' added

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with a smirk.

I wish. 'Mantis half smirked, but with a glum expression.

Oh don't be so upset darlin! the lead agent complained

as she stood up and fired a grenade at the hidden door, only
blowing it part way loose, There's plenty of time for that when
we get you back to safety!

Yeah right. 'Mantis' scoffed as she accepted a rifle and

chest armor from 'Serpent' who came down the line while they
were talking.

Okay people, the head of the operation commanded,

firing another grenade at the armored door, distorting it enough
she could get her huge muscular armor sheathed hands behind
it to yank, we need to find this piece of shit and bring him in
alive.

Damn. 'Serpent' groaned, then with a shrug sighed, Its

always like this though, ain't it?

Always darlin, she smiled as she bent the steel plate

back with herculean strength, always.

Ep 15, Chapter 7

Suzanna's limousine was a specially made Humvee

prepared for just this event, and as the attackers came up on
the car, surrounding it with heavily armored SUVs at an
intersection where there simply was no escape, they set the
next phase of the plan into action.

The armed and armored assailants, looking for all the

world like a squad of soldiers prepared for chemical warfare or a
riot surrounded the car and one man came up with a hydraulic

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device known as 'the jaws of life' with which he began prying the
back door of the car open.

Another armored vehicle came up and stopped behind

the perimeter of the assailants and as the team went into the car
to extract the prize, a most bitter old woman stepped out,
passing between the cars set in place to hold the armored
limousine immobile while they took from it the desired prize, the
one who had so bitterly defeated her in a humiliatingly vulgar
display of wanton disregard for tradition.

The woman strode up in her finery just as she had been

dressed when she left the auction in defeat.

The desired prize, however, was not.

The man flew out of the car with a cry as a cleated

combat boot heel slammed into his gas mask covered face,
smashing its Plexiglas faceplate.

As the older woman flinched in shock, ten armor clad

people jumped out of the remaining three doors of the vehicle,
immediately blasting the assailants with heavy stun bullets
designed to knock even the largest armored soldiers to the
ground.

Even though they were using nonlethal tactics, the team

easily had the upper hand as another member popped up out a
concealed roof hatch of the top of the hummer and began
blasting them with a twenty millimeter automatic rifle loaded with
these heavy crowd suppression rounds.

The only person they did not fire upon was the older
woman.

Instead, while she was gazing on in shock, two more

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agents came up from behind her vehicle on motorcycles, one
fired a dart into her neck and the other pushed her falling body
into a side car before they sped off into the bustling traffic.

Okay, the operations director called out through his own

armored face mask, we have what we came for people,
heading toward the slightly bent door of the poshly decked
armored Humvee, lets get scarce.

The vehicle showed surprising power as it smashed its

way through one of the vehicles assumed to have been
preventing it from advancing.

As the men who had been with the now absent arch
duchess came racing forward trying to take some kind of
remedial action for their disastrously flawed planning, the 'target'
vehicle was already away and speeding off into the distance.

All they could do is slam their pistols into the sides of

adjacent vehicles in self loathing and shame and slump to the
ground in despair at the thought of facing their employer's aged
father the grand archduke who would be more than furious.

Ep 15, Chapter 8

The hooded cloaked figure boarded a small rail car made

of some kind of smooth sleek polymer and wrangled the lid shut
with his throbbing hands gasping in agony.

Within seconds, the small shuttle blasted off on a rocket

propelled trajectory away from the members of S.A.D.

As they came rushing up to where the trail of blood

ended, they were well able to deduct what had happened.

The target had momentarily escaped.

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 Figures. 'Panther' grumbled.

Can't prepare for every eventuality. 'Bear' shrugged.

But this one is a classic. the giantess grumbled as she

turned back the way they came.

Where you figure he's headed? 'Wolverine' ventured.

Lets see if we can find any clues to that question's

answer shall we? the top agent suggested.

They swept the mansion and recovered little of use, but

what they did recover they would have their team of number
crunchers pour over and sift through for clues.

As the team left the mansion, 'Mantis' took the liberty of

leaning up against the long desired giantess's chest.

'Panther' gently put an arm around the Asian and with a

gentle shake gave her another one sided hug, Glad you're back
in the fold darlin.

Me too. the smaller agent said without looking up from

the floor of the twin rotor helicopter, nor smiling, but feeling more
than just a little elated to be held even in this casual manner.

Ep 15, Chapter 9

Suzanna arrived at the villa where there were people

packing everything up into trucks.

We're leaving? she asked the doctor.

We've been made. the old man said slowly as he smiled

244
a sad smile, There's no point to being here any more.

Understood. she nodded.

Your stuff is being packed for you. another agent

addressed the young lady, you will be riding to another safe
house with your team once you meet up with them in Brussels.

Okay. she nodded, then she turned to the doctor who

was starting to head off toward some other business, Doctor?

Yes little one? he turned back with his sad smiling eyes,
pipe in hand.

Why there is knife 'Mantis' in bathroom? she asked.

Excuse me? his eyed grew suddenly hard, I'm not sure
I know what you are speaking of?

That morning. she pointed out, When they went

missing. she described, The knife 'Mantis' somebody dropped
in bathroom while showering me.

That's strange... he mused, very strange indeed.

Yes, so. she agreed solemnly.

Where is this knife now? he asked.

Inside toilet. she said, wrapped.

You put it there? he asked.

Yes, do. she nodded.

Show me will you? he asked.

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 Okay. she replied and she, the doctor and the nearby
agent all went to retrieve the knife which had been mysteriously
in the bathroom while somebody had been in there with her.

Ep 15, Chapter 10

Suzanna's eyes were wide with worry and confusion.

The knife she had carefully wrapped was no longer in the

toilet tank.

Somebody had found it and taken it away.

You are sure it was here. he said more than asked.

Yes. she confirmed.

Have everybody's property stripped open and scanned

for anything out of the normal. the doctor instructed the yet
unnamed agent.

They scurried off to handle this task.

We'll find out what is going on little one. he assured,

Whatever this is all about, he promised, we'll get to the bottom
of it all.

Episode 16
Meeting Up...With My Self

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