Extrication Read online

  Inwardly, Two chuckled. Of course, it wouldn’t matter now. A virus would hardly have time to incubate before she had to die.

  When they entered Schultz’s office Two seated herself in the chair he indicated. A lavish breakfast was spread out on the table.

  “This will be the last meal you have on Earth.” Schultz lifted the crystal warming lid from one of the trays. “I had the cooks prepare something special for you.”

  Foods that were never offered to the trainees were laid out before her. Last meal before my execution... Fresh fruits and smoked ham, as well as real eggs, fried potatoes, and flaky croissants with real butter and jam. There was even a small pot of honey. She recognized all the food from pictures she’d seen. Two’s daily breakfast usually consisted of porridge that was like glue, a thin slice of toast, an apple or some other piece of fruit, and a glass of juice. The breakfast smelled delicious but was wasted on her. She was far from hungry. Her stomach was twisted in knots. She was toying with her eggs when Schmidt joined them.

  “I’ve taken Twelve to the bionics lab to get measured for the arm. Is Two ready?”

  Schultz nodded. “Yes. I think she’ll do the job well.”

  “I’m not so sure. We’ve trained the recruits to deal with just about anything and everything. But seduction?” Schmidt took a deep breath. “I know I agreed that Two was perfect for this mission, but I don’t think she has the feminine wiles to seduce the man.”

  Two set her fork on her plate and cocked her chin. “Doctor Schmidt, I read the data file you sent me, and am well aware of what I need to do to seduce the general. Please do not speak over my head as if I were invisible.” Two fought the urge to cover her mouth. Hell, did I really dare to say that? Probably because I don’t care anymore.

  Schmidt frowned. “You do realize you may have to allow the general to penetrate you.”

  She suppressed a shudder at the thought of that fat little man naked, and... penetrating her. “That will make it all the easier for me to finalize my mission. I fail to understand why Four needs to be involved. How can he help me in the seduction of that monster?”

  “The mission has to be realistic. Remember, he is traveling with the other two delegates, and it is he who will introduce you to the general.”

  “So, he arrives there with no woman, and suddenly I’m there? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “He will explain that you’re arriving on a later flight.” Schultz fidgeted impatiently. “Eat. You’ve had no breakfast, and you’ve hardly tasted the food in front of you.”

  “I’m not very hungry.” She nibbled on some fruit and drank the glass of milk.

  “I still think this whole plan is a fiasco in the making,” Schmidt grumbled.

  “We’ll see. Two is our best operative. She will do well. I really hate to let go of her. Yet we have to act now because the execution is planned for the morning after the celebration and the general’s crowning will happen right afterward. She must succeed, or we can kiss Earth goodbye.”

  Schmidt looked at his timepiece. “We need to go to the portal.”

  “I’m ready.” Two pushed herself from the table and stood, relieved to finish this fiasco of a meal. If it were up to the bastard doctors, it truly would be her last. No way in hell would she activate the microchip in her wrist after her mission was complete. Somehow, she would find a way to escape.

  “This way, my dear.” Schultz took her arm and led her through the office door, Schmidt taking the rear.

  They entered a deserted hallway marked in red stripes along the floor and the words, restricted access painted on the walls. The color reminded Two of blood. After several more moments, they turned down another corridor. At the end was a heavily guarded door. A yellow sign with a radiation symbol hung above it. The guards stepped aside when they approached.

  Schultz placed his eye very close to a small round glass eye-reader, then placed his thumb on a pad. “Doctor Schultz, you may enter,” a computerized voice said.

  Two followed him into a huge room. In its center stood an oval, gray metal contraption, at least ten feet tall. It almost looked like a giant picture frame. Electrical currents flashed over its surface.

  “Behold our portal,” Schultz stated proudly.

  Personnel sat behind glass partitions facing large computer screens. “Initiation in twelve minutes,” Schmidt informed them.

  Schultz took her arm, removed her robe, then pushed her forward toward the portal. “When you see the plasma field, you need to step into it immediately.”

  “When I arrive on the other side, isn’t anyone going to see the portal?”

  “No. The plasma field will disappear as soon as you step out of it. There is no doorway on Brevona to maintain the opening.”

  “So, I will be flying back in the spaceship with the other delegates?”

  She knew damn well she wouldn’t be, but she couldn’t help needling him. He didn’t answer her. Of course, she wouldn’t be flying back to Earth. She was destined to die on that planet. So was Four.

  “Not on that ship. The delegates will be told that Four is taking you back to your own planet. Enough questions.” He turned to the men sitting behind the floating computer screens. “Initiate.”

  “I’m a sharpshooter. It would be simpler to assassinate him from a distance.”

  “Two, I’ve never known you to talk so much. No. You would never get close enough to hit the mark. The plasma is initiating. You must enter the portal now.”

  “Goodbye,” she mumbled without looking at him.

  Her heart hammered against her ribs. Though she had learned to control anxiety, this was an unusual assignment. And to enter a plasma field was for her, untried. She wondered if anyone besides animals had traveled through it to test it. Surely, they must have?

  She stepped over the bottom of the portal into the colorful plasma. It felt as if a vacuum sucked her through a long tunnel. Dizziness overwhelmed her, and a slight breeze teased her face and ruffled her hair. Disoriented, she closed her eyes, and when her feet hit something solid, she opened them, then gazed at her surroundings.

  Chapter Three

  She landed on a black and white tiled floor. Behind her was a marble balustrade. Tall marble columns stood atop it. Delicate vines with small pink flowers wound around them. Soft music drifted from open balcony doors, and she could hear the murmur of voices. Urns of beautiful plants that looked like roses drew her attention. The flowers were fragrant, their perfume hanging heavy on the air.

  Gorgeous. Two had never seen the likes of such flowers except in pictures. Her world had been stark and clinical, a sharp contrast to the beauty before her. Intrigued, she reached out to touch one of the blossoms wondering if it felt as velvety as it looked.

  “Princess Chandra, I presume.”

  “Four?” His deep voice had startled her.

  She dropped her hand and looked up at the speaker. He was very tall. Much taller than she was, though she towered over many of the other trainees. He wore a white uniform with gold buttons, the World Leadership Organization’s insignia, WLO, engraved in their centers. A rope of golden braids draped around one shoulder, beneath an epaulet depicting the rank of general. Racks of colorful ribbons and medals covered a pocket on his chest.

  She trained her gaze on his face. Jet-black hair, combed neatly, curled just under his ears and touched his collar. Vivid blue eyes stared back at her in stark contrast to the deep tan of his skin. He had defined cheekbones and a strong jawline with the cutest dimple in his chin. Cute? The man was rugged and so handsome he took her breath away.

  “Let’s get this over with.”

  Though she thought she saw a glimmer of more than interest in his eyes as his gaze roamed her from head to toe, his tone was clipped.

  Two hesitated, her feet rooted to the ground. She had to tell him about the implants. She had no wish to die after the assignment was over.

  “Four... wait. Before we go inside
, there is something you must know before we complete this mission.” She touched the spot on her arm where the scientists had placed the small device. “I presume you have an implant in your wrist?”

  “Don’t call me Four. We can’t afford to have our cover blown. Yes, the microchip wipes my memory after completion of the mission. We all have one. I assume the women were given them as well, so why ask the question?” He raised his beautifully shaped eyebrows.

  “Yes. All the recruits eighteen and over have one.” He needed to know the truth... deserved to know it. Her heart pounded. Would he believe her? “It doesn’t erase our memory. The implant, when activated, sends a poison into our bloodstream that will kill us instantly.”

  He laughed harshly, though the color had drained from his face. “I seriously doubt that.” He reached for her hand. “Come. We have a mission to complete.”

  She stepped backward, pushing his hand away. “No! Not until you hear me out.”

  He dropped his arm, his gaze sweeping the balcony doors then turned back to her. Finally, he nodded. “Quickly. We don’t have much time before I’m missed.”

  Her body relaxed. Maybe she would be able to get through to him. “Have any of the young men that were sent out on assignments on Earth ever returned to the Institute?”

  “No. Once sent on a mission, when your task is completed, you begin a new life on the outside. They will contact us whenever they need us for a new assignment.”

  “Not so. We are neatly euthanized after completion of a mission.”

  He crossed his arms and gave her a pointed stare. “And you know this how?”

  She raised her chin and held his gaze. “I overheard a conversation between Schultz and Schmidt.”

  “I find it hard to believe. They would spend all that time and money training us, getting us ready, just for one mission?”

  “That’s why there are so many of us, and more trainees coming in all the time. We’re expendable. The missions they send us on are highly classified, undercover, covert.” She reached out, almost touching him, then dropped her hand. She knew the information was a lot to take in. The very idea that they had been lied to for years made her stomach turn.

  Why should Four believe her? They had only just met, and like the rest of the trainees, Schultz and Schmidt were the only parents they had ever known. “The way they operate, there can never be double agents, spies, like so often happened in the past within the secret intelligent services that have now been disbanded.”

  He brushed his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “No. If you did hear something, you probably misunderstood them.”

  She took a deep breath and sighed. Four could activate his implant but she sure as hell wouldn’t. Somehow, she was going to figure out how to escape, with or without his help. “After we’re done here, would you care to try it out? You’ll not live to tell me I was right.”

  He ushered her toward balcony doors. “We need to go in. I’ve already mingled and told them there was a delay with your ship. If we are gone much longer, they will come searching for us. First, I must introduce you to the target.”

  “Hush, keep your voice down. If anyone hears us...” she admonished.

  He chuckled. “I doubt they can understand English. Once we step through those doors, we speak only their language.”

  “There are guests from many alien planets. I suspect they’ll be wearing universal translators. We have to be very careful in what we say.” Two took his arm and let him lead her into a large ballroom filled with dignitaries from various planets. She’d seen images and holographs of many of the people, but there were also some that were of an unknown species to her. There were humanoids with blue skin and very coarse dark blue hair, some had green, lizard kind of skin, their eyes small and very yellow. Their hair, if one could call it that, consisted of black coiled ridges along their scalps, and then there were some with elongated heads, very pale skin, tiny mouths, flat noses, bald heads, and long skinny bodies.

  Pasting on a smile, she walked beside him, holding onto his arm tightly. He bent down and whispered close to her ear, “By the way, you’re very beautiful.”

  Heat flushed her skin, and those strange butterflies fluttered through her stomach, up to her throat, and back down again. What was this reaction? She’d never felt anything like it. When Schultz had said the same, it disgusted her but coming from her date, she felt flattered.

  He stopped suddenly. “Let me introduce you to the other delegates from Earth. General Fitzgerald, Sir Forsythe, Lady Forsythe, this is Princess Chandra.”

  Two shook their hands. General Fitzgerald took her hand last and bending, kissed her fingers.

  “Winfield, wherever did you meet such a beauty? A pleasure to meet you, Princess Chandra.”

  He still held her hand and suddenly squeezed it tightly. She looked up into keen blue eyes. A small frown and a slight shake of his head surprised her, then worried her. It was as if he was trying to warn her. She shrugged it off as an overactive imagination.

  She mumbled a thank you and focused on the ballroom, scanning the area for any sign of her target.

  “Please excuse us? I promised Nimera I would introduce the princess as soon as she arrived,” Four said and took her arm again.

  They approached a podium near the back of the room. She recognized Nimera immediately. He wore a khaki colored uniform decorated with gold tassels and colorful medals. On his feet were highly polished black leather boots. He lounged on a gold and red chaise. A half-naked woman proudly displaying four breasts sat on the floor beside him, and several naked women of various species stood behind the chaise. Guards stood on both sides of the podium, stiff, unmoving, their laser guns held up against their chests.

  “Did you notice anything strange about General Fitzgerald?” she asked as they walked toward the podium.

  “No. Why?”

  “I don’t know. He frowned at me and shook his head. I’m wondering if he knows about us.”

  “I’m sure WLO is aware of what’s going on. They ordered the hit on the general. But since it’s a covert operation, I doubt he was in on the details. You’re imagining things.”

  Two looked back at the Earth delegation. The three were in deep conversation, but General Fitzpatrick’s gaze was on her, and he still frowned. It wasn’t her imagination.

  Four led her up the three red-carpeted steps toward Nimera and bowed slightly. “General, I would like to introduce you to Princess Chandra from Afrania.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, General.” Two shuddered inwardly as the man’s gaze raked her from head to toe and back again. He got up from the chaise and stood before her. Taking her hand, he bowed, and she felt his fat moist lips touch her fingers.

  “Princess, the pleasure is all mine. You are by far the most ravishing woman here tonight,” he said, straightened, and looked into her eyes without letting go of her hand. “You and your general will sit beside me at the dinner table.”

  Two looked at the man’s fat lips. Drool dribbled down his chin. Bile rose to her throat. He was a short, fat little dictator with greasy black hair, small black pig eyes that devoured her, and rotting brown teeth... And she had to seduce that little lizard? Possibly kiss him?

  Oh my God. I don’t think I can do this. Why couldn’t they have just allowed me to assassinate him from a distance? Why this elaborate scheme?

  “That’s an honor, General,” Four said politely, interrupting her thoughts.

  The swine finally let go of her hand and had one of the guards bring a chair for Four, but he patted the chaise and looked at her. “Please, sit with me.”

  Taking her hand in both of his, he leaned toward her and inhaled deeply as if he were smelling a flower. “You are so beautiful. Surely you are a goddess?”

  Two smiled. “Goddess? Hardly.”

  “Your beauty is beyond bewitching. I am completely under your spell, lovely Chandra.”

  Exaggerating much?
“Eh... thank you...” I think. The man was sickening. His compliments coming from those fat lips and in his raspy voice hardly stroked her ego.

  “My dear, you have set my blood on fire like no one ever has. I have instantly fallen in love with you.”

  His breath reeked as he continued to talk close to her face causing her stomach to roil in disgust. He didn’t just look like a pig, he stank like one. She wondered if he ever bathed...

  “General, I am more than flattered, but you have only just met me.”

  “The gods have sent you to me. It is love at first sight. I desire you so much, I can hardly wait for dinner to be over.”

  The man kept babbling on about her beauty, that she’d bewitched him, that he desired her more than he’d ever desired any other woman. She let him prattle on and just smiled every now and then and attempted to act flirty. He grasped her hand and brought it to his drooly lips again, making her stomach churn.

  Seducing him is going to be easy. The very idea was revolting.

  “Robert, dear, would you fetch me something to drink?” she looked up at Four.

  Why not walk away from this? Four and I could escape. They’d never find us. No, I can’t have the pig execute a whole family, children, or risk this idiot waging war on Earth and begin an interplanetary war. So many lives would be lost. He has to die.

  And I’m the weapon.

  She fingered the metal band beneath her breasts that hid her only tool with which to kill him. To her horror, Nimera placed his arm around her and openly, for everyone to see, dipped his hand beneath the material that covered her breast. She ached to pull away, to slap him shitless, but restrained herself. His fat fingers fondled her nipple, then his hand cupped her full breast and squeezed hard. It hurt. She almost yelped, but it came out as a little squeal.