The Chrysalis Project Book 4: Iron Dolphin

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The Chrysalis Project Book 4: Iron Dolphin
  Not all the problems in Florida were
  resolved. CyberForce was targeted
  not only by terrorists
 

WARNING: The Chrysalis Project may be hyper-violent for some readers!

 

 


 

Chrysalis Project: Iron Dolphin

 
 
 
Chapter 1
Dannigan wanted to groan. It appeared he needed to update his bar list and remove this one. He had to admit though, it had been a year since he visited this one. Over a third of the female patrons held a Cosmopolitan and he'd heard of ten different variations of Martinis so far. His problem was that the bartender took three tries to make a Rusty Nail. She still got it wrong. To him the only redeeming factor was the textbook. When she exchanged her tips she was slipping the larger bills into a copy of Modern Criminal Psychology. He hoped she was a better profiler than bartender.

"How's the service here," A voice asked.

Dannigan hid the smirk and looked at the speaker, "jury's out. Then again, this isn't Cartagena."

"Spain was great that time of year. I heard El Toro D'oro burned down. Some new place was built there. Teeny-boppers or some such," the man informed him.

Dannigan shrugged, "Isn't that crowd right up your alley these days Admiral?"

The Admiral signaled the bartender, "young lady would it be possible to get just a simple crown and seven?"

She nodded with a smile and brought the drink over and picked up the offered bill. He waved off the change.

The Admiral sipped his drink and sighed, "God gimme the old days back. Send in a platoon of SEALs or Recons to pilfer and plunder whatever the Hell is so important and blow up the rest. It's almost to the point we have to run incursion ops for three days so some embassy CIA dickhead can go for a morning jog."

Dannigan chuckled, "What's the matter Bryan, you mean YOU don't like being in charge of the military equivalent of Bill Gates' romper room in Tampa, filled with a bunch early to mid twenties bespectacled lads that obsess over cartoon girls with giant tits in school girl outfits? You have to get with the times down there."

"Save me from the future; its weirder than I ever thought it would be," Bryan groaned then finished the last of the drink.

Dannigan chuckled then noticed Bryan's expression change looking in the mirror behind the bar.

Bryan used his left hand to signal her again but started tapping the fingers of his right hand on the bar. Dannigan followed the tapping. It was Morse code.

"Hey beautiful. Could you swing a refill? Oh and give this guy here one too. He looks pitiful. Like his dog just shot his best friend," Bryan nodded to Dannigan.

The tapping spelled out: Need help bad. Don't know who to trust. CyberForce compromised.

"He was a good friend. I knew that dog was no good. He kept forgetting to flush after reading the paper," Dannigan said.

Dannigan tapped back: Who is tailing you?

"I bet a nice young thing like her would ease some grief," Bryan commented.

He tapped again: No clue and not important now. I made contact with you, ball in your court.

Dannigan shook his head, "I'd have to be a D.A. or better for a chance. Thanks for the drink."

The bartender came back and set down the two drinks.

Bryan laid two twenties on the bar and downed his drink, "Keep the change honey. Good luck with that dog of yours. I'd turn it loose if it were mine."

"Not bad advice. Might do that," Dannigan nodded, "thanks for the drink."

He watched in the mirror as Bryan left. Two men left thirty seconds later but nodded to another pair. He sat and finished the drink slowly.

"Would like that freshened up," the bartender asked.

Dannigan tossed a five on the bar, "no thanks. I've got to go deal with a couple of strays I wound up with."

The girl gave him a suspicious look, "people shouldn't discard their pets. If you don't want them you should take them to the shelter so they can be adopted."

Dannigan stood up, "my thoughts exactly. People should be more responsible with their pets. Good luck with the FBI exam Trudy. And never take work home with you."

Dannigan walked casually down the street. He checked reflections in the occasional window to ensure the two men were following him. He made a left and stepped up to two foot patrol officers.

"Excuse me. Which way to the Jefferson Memorial," Dannigan asked.

The cops nodded in a bored manner, "two blocks up take a left and you'll see it on the right."

"Ah. Thanks. I'm terrible at this. I thought I had gotten turned bass-ackwards again," Dannigan said and walked off happily.

Several minutes later he encounter the same two cops in the same spot again.

Dannigan shook his head, "I did it again."

The cop sighed, "two blocks up, take a LEFT and you'll SEE it on the right Sir."

Dannigan nodded, "thanks again. Sorry for the trouble."

One of the cops noticed two men that looked familiar. A few minutes later Dannigan ran into them again.

"OH NO. You said two blocks right and I'll see it on the left didn't you," Dannigan asked.

"No Mister I didn't. Have you been drinking? I thought smelled alcohol earlier," The first cop stated.

Dannigan shook his head, "I'm ok really. I just got turned around. All I have to do is get to the Jefferson memorial and then I can see the hotel."

"Two blocks up. Turn left and you'll see it on the right. Mister if I see you again I'll have to take you in for public intoxication," the first cop warned him.

Dannigan shook his head, "oh I wouldn't want that. I'll try to get it right this time Officer."

They watched Dannigan leave again. This time they both took notice of the two men following him and stopped them.

"I guess you're lost too. Figure you follow him because he's makin' good time," The second officer challenged.

One of the men glared, "step aside."

Both officers immediately gripped their sidearms and flipped the thumb guard over.

"Better show us some ID. SLOW," the first officer ordered.

"He turned the corner," the second guy said to the first.

The second man reached into the pocket of his windbreaker and flashed an a case, "D.O.D. now MOVE."

The first cop shook his head, "posse comitatus asshole. I was an MP. You're going downtown and the jerks with the higher pay-grades can sort this out."

The second officer called in a patrol car. He also mentioned over the radio that they were detaining to members of D.O.D. for following a civilian and neither were Army C.I.D. or N.C.I.S. Two hours later the two men walked out of a precinct, angry. They were angry for the cops for detaining them, angry with themselves for being stopped in the first place and even more so for not getting a picture of the man they were following to begin with.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Once Dannigan had went around the corner he ducked down an alley and ran. One block away he came out and went left until he saw a cab and flagged it down. A quick ride to the Georgetown mall and he went inside. After four department stores he went out through one and caught the bus. He got off close to a station and took a subway. He changed trains twice more and picked up a stash car then drove to the office.

Krystel answered the conference window, "burning the late oil Major?"

"You could say that Evanson. Where's Kimberly," Dannigan asked.

Krystel gave him a blank look, "she and LoneStar went home already. They're parents now, remember?"

Dannigan could be seen to lean back in his chair, "Actually that slipped my mind for the moment. How's that going?"

Krystel shrugged, "three people in one house and two of them keep waking everybody else up with screams during the night. Other than the insomnia its going fine. Mindy's started her schooling. She's a smart kid. The other two are kind of giving her 'girl lessons'. She's not thrilled with those but she's trying. She wandered into the studio and saw how vicious Lyssa is with Tiffany and that may have put her off ballet. She also stumbled onto a hand-to-hand eval. Lyssa against Tiffany AND Shawna."

"How bad did she work them over," Dannigan asked.

"I envy them. They only get evaluated when they come in. I get one every week and have my butt handed to me. Mindy saw. We think she might be a little afraid of Lyssa now," Krystel admitted.

Dannigan nodded, "not surprising about those results. Lyssa did invent the fighting style you're all trained in. Of the fourteen people that were originally taught it; only eight are still able to use it. The three of you brings that back up to eleven."

"Eleven? Only eleven people in the world know the fighting style? Wait. You said fourteen people were taught originally. Plus us. Why only those eight can still use it," Krystel asked.

"The rest are dead Evanson. KIA on Lyssa's final mission as a DemonWraith," Dannigan said flatly, "four in captivity with her and two more during the second retrieval a week later."

"OH SHIT," Krystel exclaimed.

Dannigan nodded, "yeah that's a topic better off not being brought up with her. She'll hit you for real. I remember the last time I did. I'd rather be shot."

Krystel shook her head, "I don't know fuck-all!"

"Uh-huh. Well back to current matters. Get with Kimberly in the morning and work up a packet. You're going to Tampa. There's a problem at CyberForce and you're deploying. Shawna is being tasked too but that's a smoke screen for you going in. She'll be on site for an hour or two to distract any watchers," Dannigan stated.

Krystel nodded as she wrote it down, "yes Sir. Anything else?"

Dannigan nodded, "yeah. I don't want you billeted in with other technicians. Find some kind of safe house away from all that."

"Rodrick said he has a friend in Tampa. Maybe he can help," Krystel proposed.

"Get on it Evanson. You've got two days to prep and deploy on day three," Dannigan said then closed the conference.

 

~o~O~o~

 

It was day two. The group had gathered in the war room. Kimberly ran the briefing. Shawna was attending via conference window as was Dannigan. All the major points had been outlined.

"So my role is strictly to go in and meet the C.O. Colonel Groves," Shawna verified.

Kimberly nodded, "correct. Use the new Senate defense credentials. Oh by the way. Lose the Caldwell NSA credentials. Those are too hot. You'll have new ones issued in two weeks under a different name."

"Brice," Shawna asked.

Kimberly shook her head, "FBI. They raised a big stink and the NSA filed that with a complaint filed by the C.I.A. and now that identity is compromised."

Everyone chuckled at that.

"Krystel is going in as Karen Ellington of the D.I.A. on loan to D.O.D. but her paperwork will only say D.O.D. Somebody serious will find that she's really D.I.A.," Kimberly said.

"I'll be listed as an Ice Queen for D.O.D. If they manage to get through that they'll see that I'm really a Sorceress for D.I.A.," Krystel explained.

Everyone was up on their terminology. Ice Kings and Queens were defensive specialists. They built data fortresses and defended them. Sorcerers and Sorceress was an offensive specialist. They penetrated systems. They didn't just sneak in and steal, they battered the system down and ravaged it completely before killing it all together. Krystel's real classification was Deity, meaning she could do both at the same time. Alone. She was the type that would lose themselves into cyberspace. Not for hours, but days. If not watched carefully her kind would actually work themselves to death from dehydration and malnutrition. The burn-out rate was high; seven out of ten would work themselves to death or insanity.

Actually Deity was her previous classification, when she was in the Navy. Now there was no classification for her. No other technicians could do what she was now capable of. If necessary she could physically penetrate a site and access a system. Others would have to wait for a team to go in and establish a link for the specialist to work through. This was in the event of Stand-Alone systems. Krystel's counter-insurgency, counter-terror training now gave her the skills to go there herself. In fact, she may very well be the only of her kind. That prospect had not been lost on any of them.

Rodrick spoke up, "Krystel will be staying with somebody I know. He's an old hand from the teams. He was on Team Two back in Nam. He spent time as a Black Hat when the training went to Coronado. He retired from Team Four in the late nineties to Tampa. He was my Sea-Daddy back in the day. I trust him. It goes way back."

"Name," Dannigan asked.

"Malone. Sylvester Malone. Known in the Teams as Bugsy. Retired Master Chief. Started out in UDT. When I got tapped to go after Kagan he advised me to pass. Let them send somebody else. When I woke up in the hospital he was there. I said I was resigning and he said I was being generous. He would've shot the one who came up with the idea of sending me," Rodrick said.

"Reading his file now. Yeah. I'm ok with him. He still has the standard SEAL clearance. Ok people. Do what you do best," Dannigan said then closed out.

Shawna nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow Krystel. I already arranged a car for you. Pick it up in the lot of the private terminal. The keys are in the ladies room taped under the vanity, far side."

"Thanks Shawna. We're out," Kimberly said then closed the conference.

Everyone broke for final prep.

 



 

Chapter 2

Mindy sat on the edge of the bed. She had rushed over as soon as breakfast was done. Of all her aunts Krystel was her favorite. She sat watching her finish packing the travel case. Skirts, blouses, heels, boots, swimsuit, lingerie, spare purse, cosmetics, some jewelry and a laptop on top. Underneath the false bottom were the custom form-fitted black battlesuit, weapons' rig and weapons. Krystel would carry two ten millimeter Glocks, a nine millimeter five shot micro-pistol, and Fairbarne-Applegate knife. Mindy didn't know about all that.

"You're leaving Aunt Kryssie," Mindy asked.

Krystel nodded as she finished adjusting the contents of the case, "yeah sweetie. Sometimes I have to go other places for work."

"You mean bad people are doing things with computers and you have to go find 'em and stop 'em," Mindy surmised.

Krystel slid her main Laptop into a travel case, "that's right."

The ten year old frowned, "secret stuff. Everybody does secret stuff. Except me. I am secret stuff."

"Hey. None of that talk," Krystel chided her then did one last check.

Mindy followed her out of the trailer and carried the laptop case. Krystel pulled her travel case and had her purse on her shoulder. They went to the tarmac in front of the main hangar. The Learjet was being prepped.

Krystel looked at her as they drew near, "oh. And no sneaking off to PrincessLand without your Mom watching until I get back."

"Yes Aunt Kryssie," Mindy sighed.

As a training tool Krystel had introduced her to the online simulator game for pre-teens. At first Mindy wasn't interested but it soon appealed to her. She now had friends from all over the world her age. The conversations with them were helping to build a more appropriate vocabulary and dialogue structure. Slowly but surely she was learning how to talk just like the girls her own age. The problem was the same problem that plagued any virtual world inhabited by children; predators. Twice people had tried to hack Mindy's location. Krystel of course detected the attempts and back-hacked the would-be penetrators. Local police were alerted to their presence and activities. She then proceeded to 'lock' their systems. Not even resetting or unplugging would help. The screen would come up and display all illegal content.

"Hey now. You aren't trying to stowaway are you pipsqueak," Rodrick asked walking out of the hangar.

Mindy shook her head, "no Uncle Rodrick. Uncle Carl promised to show how to snorkel today, but that's later."

Rodrick nodded, "sounds cool. You got a while before classes start. You can play Hide and Go Seek with Warlock."

"No way. Warlock always wins," Mindy said then handed over the laptop case.

"Well its one of his favorite games," Rodrick chuckled.

He bent down and hugged her then went up the plane's stairs. Krystel handed up her case then gave Mindy a hug.

"You be good. I shouldn't be long. Get going now," Krystel said and patted her on the butt to send her back from the plane.

Mindy knew the rules; stay back from the planes, no playing on the runway or in the ocean without an adult watching and no going south of the runway. It didn't take her long to know the reason behind that one, that's where they shot guns. Mindy tried playing fetch with Warlock. It didn't take her long to figure out he'd never bring anything back he was told to find. He would just sit there and yip to tell you he found it. When he found her, he barked. Mindy ran inside and climbed the stairs to the tower. LoneStar was up there.

"Hi Daddy," Mindy said.

LoneStar looked down and guided her to sit on the stool. Mindy climbed up and sat watching. LoneStar had a cable connected to his helmet. She had learned already that it was to the built-in communications. His helmet cable was compatible with any aircraft comms. He plugged in to the tower so he didn't have to take his helmet off to talk over a mic. He could also be heard over the speakers inside the control room.

"Tower to Ramrod. Clear to taxi," LoneStar said.

A few minutes later he called back, "in position Tower."

LoneStar checked the displays, "Clear for takeoff. Vector on heading two-eight-five at Angels two-four."

"Copy two-eight-five, angels two-four," Rodrick replied.

Mindy watched as the plane rolled forward then lifted off and headed north.

"Daddy. Why are we here," Mindy asked.

LoneStar unplugged from the comm system and leaned against the counter, "well do you mean figuratively or literally?"

"Literally," Mindy answered.

LoneStar crossed his arms, "Rodrick owns the island. He bought it to run his charter service because he was pretending to be shady. Its a good place for us all to hide while we train and run operations."

"Or just plain hide. Like me," Mindy said.

"And me. Its not so easy for me to be around in the states without drawing attention," LoneStar said, "Maria and the girls too. For them its kind of like witness protection but with strings attached."

"Strings," Mindy asked.

LoneStar shook his head, "not my business so I don't know. And before you even ask, yes I'm fine with that. I'm used to working on 'need-to-know' basis. We all are."

Mindy sighed, "secret stuff. Everybody but me, 'cause I am secret stuff."

"You get used to it," LoneStar patted her back, "or more like, you get used to it being around, in your case. Its like cold and flu season. People around you have to deal with it but you don't get it."

Mindy frowned.

He picked her up and started walking down the stairs, "let's put it in perspective. You've watched tv. There are real shows about spies and armies and all that right?"

"Uh-huh," Mindy answered.

"You knew about that but you never saw it. Now you really know about it but you still don't get to watch," LoneStar explained.

"Ok. Makes sense. So its there, but we don't talk about it. Unless we're part of what's going on," Mindy asked.

He nodded, "yep. Its called compartmentalizing. Like the lunch trays at school. Things don't mix unless they're supposed to."

They stopped at the classroom trailer and he opened the door and set her inside. Kristine and Kasey greeted them. Their day officially started then.

 

~o~O~o~

 

"I'll admit Miss Daniels. Its very odd for somebody on the sub-committee to come down here," the Air Force Colonel remarked.

Shawna nodded, "how's that old song go? These times, they are a changin'. Cyber attacks are increasing and we are hearing about it more often now. That makes a lot of people worry. As well they SHOULD worry. I'd like to say this isn't about politics, but I'd be lying. Voters do want to know that we are strong. The less they hear, the less they worry."

Groves nodded, "no news is good news. I get it, trust me."

"CyberOperations isn't like other fields. Sometimes the best doesn't come from structure or convention. Thinking outside the box tends to reign supreme," Shawna commented.

"Oh I FULLY understand that. I've been in command here for two years and still being called 'the Colonel Dude'," Groves shook his head.

Shawna shrugged, "the main consensus is that technicians aren't enough. What's needed are the cyber equivalent of Firebase commanders. Small working groups, that not only have technicians, but also have a leader with the working skill sets. I understand you proposed something similar last year."

A young woman in a Marine uniform knocked then opened the door, "Colonel. You wanted to be notified."

Shawna checked her watch, "oh. I seemed to have gone over the time I had asked for. My apologies Colonel."

"Not at all Miss Daniels. Its actually been a pleasure meeting with you. You're one of a handful that have come here on fact-finding and understood the facts," Colonel Groves stood up and offered a handshake.

He wasn't surprised when she did so in the Euro-style, a quick once up-down. The Senate investigator had been surprising in every other way. She had come in carrying only a portfolio with over forty very pointed questions. The kind asked by someone intending a complete upgrade of the system. After the first two questions he understood 'pat answers' would do no good. Technical would suffice but she was interested in actual working information. The kind that you get from the Arena.

The Arena was the room where the technicians ran operations of defense and sometimes offense. Two hundred terminals with only thirty that were user dedicated. Almost three-quarters were manned during the day while all of them were manned during the night.

The Colonel walked with her to the door, "I hope I've been a help. Have a safe trip back to D.C."

Shawna nodded with a smile as he held the door, "Thank you very much. I hope you have quiet day."

A woman in a cream color skirt and white blouse stood waiting. He noticed the departing woman nodded to his desk sergeant then the civilian woman, who nodded back.

"Come right in please," the Colonel invited.

"Thank you," Krystel said and went inside.

She handed him a set of papers, "Karen Ellington. I was sent by D.O.D. to run a systems check."

He read them over. The authorization was very high. It was the same as his own when he was posted. he exact purpose was vague though, which could mean a myriad of things. More than likely his clearance wasn't as high as hers and things were being compartmentalized.

"Well you'll find some ways to thicken the ICE. Just let us know how best to help you," Groves said.

Krystel was surprised. He wasn't being defensive. Most that were in commands such as this, they immediately assumed they were being blamed for something. Apparently he'd been around long enough to understand evolution. It happened and so should their own to maintain status.

Krystel had to comment, "that's a good stance to have Colonel."

"Miss Ellington I'm not a technician. I know enough about computers around here to look stupid. I've seen others come in and try to BS their way around and got laughed out of the building with a simple prank. My experience here tells me to pretty much get out of your way and get you whatever you say you need. Within reason," Groves stated.

"Oh don't worry. I won't harass you're command with outlandish requests," Krystel laughed.

Groves chuckled, "you have no idea how relieved that makes me. I'll have someone show you to a dedicated terminal."

Krystel stood up, "thank you."

"I'm not so proud to fool myself into not accepting any help that comes our way. We need it and I know," Groves admitted.

"Aye aye Sir," Krystel said and saluted with her left hand, the back of her fingers flat to her forehead.

She had also pronounced 'Sir' as 'S-AHh'.

Groves groaned, "please Miss Ellington. Let's not see THAT again. I'm Air Force and that was a naval affirmative to a british superior using a backwards british salute. I think you just set a record; for insulting two branches of the U.S. service and the British too at the same time."

Krystel giggled, "oops! How about I just go do my thing."

The Colonel had started to show her out, "I think that would be best, yes."

Krystel walked out and took note of the sailor standing there, "Here for me?"

He nodded, "yes Ma'am."

"Single-up and all ahead standard Sailor," Krystel ordered.

"AYE MA'AM," He called out and turned on his heel to stride forward.

Groves shook his head. He'd got played. Her faux-pas had been intentional as humor. She'd played the blonde air-head for four seconds and he'd bought it. Just another reminder that nobody should be taken at face value. Intelligence shouldn't be assumed, it would be proven.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Krystel followed the young sailor to the elevator and went down three floors and got out. He led her into a very large room.

"Welcome to the Arena Ma'am. Right this way," He announced.

Krystel glanced around as he guided her through. There were cubicles everywhere and in the center of the room there seemed to be an abbreviated briefing going on with a working group of eight, looking at four screens scrolling code. High on the wall were six large plasma screens. the middle left screen scrolling green code, the others blank. The cubicles mostly reflected the personalities occupying them. Usually decorated for civilian techs while the ones manned by military personnel were adorned in a subdued, professional manner. They stopped in front of one along the wall at the end of a row. It held seven screens.

"Here you are Ma'am. This one is for your use and set up as you specified," the sailor stated.

Krystel looked it over and nodded, "well done Sailor. Carry on."

"Aye Ma'am," He said then left.

Krystel set her purse on the shelf under the desk then opened her laptop case. She took out her MP3 player, Headset and cables. In seconds she was jacked in and used her pass-codes to gain access. Krystel selected a track mix on the player and hit play. Unnoticed by her, she selected the mix titled 'Dive 14' and not 'Dive 1'. Both started the same so her mistake continued. All seven screens lit up and began displaying codes. Soon she focused and the rest of the world fell away.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Matt had went to the bathroom and came back. He noticed the terminal at the end was now occupied. Everyone in that area had seen the crew come in and set it up. They were all curious. Almost all the terminals had two screens, some had three but only a select few had four and those were usually operated at night. The interesting part wasn't that the operator was a woman; it was that the woman seemed attractive in the conventional sense. He decided to check her out later and went back to his terminal. Four hours later he shut down for the day and picked up his things. A glance down the row confirmed she was still there, but now had an audience. Three techs stood back watching. He joined them and had his jaw hit the floor. All seven screens were displaying different codes and shifting from one to the others. The part that had them all fascinated was the speed at which the codes were scrolling.

"Damn dude. Hot chick is blasting across the ICE," one of the guys muttered.

The others nodded and murmured their agreement. Matt wasn't sure it was in appreciation of her skills or looks. From what he could see, both were noteworthy.

"Might as well go home. I doubt she's doing anything else anytime soon," A female tech said and wandered off.

The others agreed and began making their own way out. Matt did too. He met up with Sergeant Florentine in the elevator.

"Hi Leslie," Matt greeted the female Marine.

she nodded back, "Hi Matt. Quiet day."

Matt nodded back, "just the way we like it. Hey Leslie. I hate to bring this up. I heard back from one of my previous applications. Its out on the west coast. They're reconsidering me. If they hire me would the Colonel have a conniption if I don't give a full two weeks?"

Leslie sighed, "he won't be thrilled. Damn private sector."

Matt chuckled, "Its not just about the money Les. The benefits package are top shelf. Plus perks."

"USC Coeds should not be called 'perks' Matt," Leslie replied slightly agitated.

Matt leaned closer, "car and a condo. THOSE are perks Leslie, ladies are ladies."

The Marine shook her head, "nice catch Matt. How you tell him will make the difference."

"It shouldn't be that big of a deal. I saw a new face today. Looked serious," Matt remarked.

Leslie shook her head again, "the D.O.D. woman? Just here to evaluate. I doubt she'd even accept a drink invitation."

"Considering everybody thinks she's going to be at it for hours. That's a given," Matt remarked.

"Hours? She just got here this afternoon," Leslie said.

Matt nodded, "yeah. The way she's moving across the ICE; her eval will be done by morning. coming?"

The elevator had stopped at the ground floor and opened. The sergeant shook her head as he got out.

"I forgot something," Leslie said and pushed to go back up.

Matt looked at her puzzled as the doors closed. He shrugged and left.

 

~o~O~o~

 

"Colonel. I think we may have a problem," Leslie said barging into his office.

Colonel Groves, "what?"

Leslie used a remote and called up a video feed from the Arena and zoomed to Krystel, "one of the techs made a comment. The D.O.D. woman may be diving."

Groves was out of his chair and strode over to the monitor, "oh shit! How far has she gone?"

Leslie shrugged, "we have to assume she's been from the start."

"FUCK! Why wasn't that in her paperwork," He swore then went over to his phone and buzzed an extension.

The call was answered and he spoke fast, "Commander Melton. Terminal one-seven. Yes, its in service. Put a minder on the operator. I think she's a diver. No, don't interrupt her. Just keep watch. If she shows any stress notify me immediately. Right, take the standard precautions."

Leslie asked after he disconnected, "should I stay?"

The Colonel shook his head, "no Sergeant. The Commander is now aware and he'll look out for her. Damn it. She said nothing."

Leslie shrugged, "maybe she uses timers and set it herself?"

"It should have been in her paperwork. Damn higher-ups. Go ahead and head out Sergeant. We're back in hand now," Groves stated.

The Marine nodded and left with a salute. Grove went back over to the monitor and watched.

"How deep are you going to go and for how long," Groves asked to nobody.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Krystel popped. A cramp hit her. She blinked her eyes to refocus and suddenly felt the very strong urge to pee. She pulled the earbuds out and slowly stood up and turned around. The same sailor that had showed her to the terminal stood there waiting.

"Ma'am," he said.

Krystel nodded, "as you were. Where's the ladies' room Sailor?"

He turned around and pointed, "over there Ma'am. That small hallway and on the right. First door."

Krystel secured the terminal and did her best to retain her calm demeanor but walked quickly. She sat down inside just in time. She estimated three more seconds and her worry would be over in a negative way. A glance at her watch said it was only four in the afternoon. Only it was the next day. Krystel wanted to groan. She had selected the wrong playlist and ended up diving instead of skimming. She finished her business, washed her hands and walked out. There was a snack area right across so she pulled money from her purse and bought a bottle of water and drank it. It was empty in a few seconds.

"Damn. I never thought drinking water could look so hot. I'll never look at a bottle the same," a male voice said.

Krystel turned around and saw the speaker. A civilian. six foot two-ish, about a hundred and eighty to two hundred, medium length light brown hair, brown eyes and wrong. Something was wrong. He wasn't right.

"That so," Krystel asked and looked back at the machine.

The man nodded, "Hells yeah."

"Miss Ellington," another voice called out.

Krystel looked over, "that would be me."

He nodded, "yes ma'am. I was notified you had surfaced. Its after sixteen hundred."

Krystel finally decided and purchased a diet soda, "thank you."

"Thursday," the Commander added.

Krystel cracked the cap and deliberately sipped seductively in profile to the other man then smirked, "only thursday Commander?"

She turned away from the other man and winked at the officer as she walked by, heading back to the terminal.

Matt had watched her walk away and wanted to drool, "damn Commander Melton. Where'd they find HER?"

"On the job Collins," the Commander replied then walked away.

Matt nodded, "right. We're on the job."

He bought a soda and went back to his own terminal. A quick glance and he saw her making notes on a pad. An hour later she secured everything and made her way out. Matt was amazed. One moment she was putting things away, the next she was gone and he looked around to see her in the elevator as the doors were closing. When he walked out she was completely gone.

 



 

Chapter 3

Krystel drove the silver Toyota Celica casually out the main gate and down the avenue. Several blocks away she pulled in at a convenience store and went inside to come back out with a bottle of water. Back inside the car she used the scanner to check for transmitters. There weren't any. She drove around aimlessly for twenty minutes and saw no one following her so she turned north and drove until she arrived at an old marina. Krystel parked in a space and walked down the dock until she found a boat named Furious Freddy.

"Ahoy Furious Freddy," Krystel called out.

A minute later an older man in faced jeans and no shirt stood in the door, "Kid said you was coming. He said yesterday. You that bad about directions?"

"I was working. Job comes first," Krystel replied.

He waved her forward and went back in. He returned a minute later to see her still standing in the same spot.

"Waitin' on somethin' girl," He growled.

"Just for permission to come aboard Master Chief," Krystel stated.

"Granted," he said then watched as she timed the motion of the water as it lifted the boat upward against the dock and stepped onto the boat nimbly.

The old man commented, "ain't you clever. Inside."

Krystel followed him in to a counter.

"Park it lil' girl," He said and offered a beer.

Krystel shook her head, "no thanks Master Chief. That coffee smells good though."

He poured her a cup and passed it over, "so what do I call you?"

"Krystel, Master Chief," she replied.

"Krystel what," he asked.

Krystel smiled, "just Krystel Master Chief."

"Kid said you was alright. Go ahead and call me Bugsy. Chow's in thirty minutes, I got you a rack below. First on the left is you and there's a Head right across. You need somethin' special," Bugsy asked.

Krystel shook her head, "not at the moment. I'll go grab my gear and be right back."

Bugsy nodded. When she returned he shook his head.

"Don't see how you get around in them silly shoes," Bugsy commented nodding at her feet.

Krystel laughed, "lots of practice. Uniform is a uniform."

"Fair point," Bugsy said and started cooking.

"Need help," Krystel asked.

"Got it," Bugsy said.

Krystel set up her main laptop. The one from her suitcase and powered up.

"I ain't got internet," Bugsy said noticing.

Krystel nodded, "I'll be using a secure satellite anyway."

He turned around and watched as she took a box the size of a cigar box. Krystel plugged it into an outlet then plugged a cable from it into her laptop. Two minutes later she began typing. She finished just as he called out the food was ready.

"Soon as you're done hit the rack," Bugsy growled.

"I look tired," Krystel asked.

Bugsy nodded, "somebody trained you real good but I can tell. Kid says you got the goods. On the job and stick out til done."

Krystel nodded, "that's right."

"Well I don't buy into all that Mission complete, Mission accomplished horse shit. The Mission is done or the mission is fucked. Guess which one is acceptable," Bugsy asked intently.

Krystel held his glare, "fucked is never acceptable."

"I been around a lot longer'n you and the Kid. I seen everybody do everything right, entire missions go to fuckin' Hell by the numbers and the cockbites in the rear still call 'em a success. I don't buy that shit. Don't you ever do it either. You stay on mission until it ain't there no more. GET ME," Bugsy said angrily.

"AYE Master Chief," Krystel answered.

Bugsy nodded, "Hoo-fuckin'-yah. Hit the rack."

Krystel nodded and went to her cabin.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Krystel awoke at five on the second beep of the clock's alarm. She changed into the sport bikini, pulled on socks and tied her running shoes. On her way out she grabbed the small waterproof pack and slug it onto her back. Five minutes later she was running down the road. She returned an hour and forty minutes later, climbing onto the dock from the water. After stretching then rinsing off with a hose she stepped onto the boat. Bugsy met her with a cup of coffee.

"How far," He asked.

"Six out. I think five back," Krystel answered.

"That five back was against the current. Your time is plenty good," Bugsy remarked then asked, "why only that far?"

Krystel laughed, "can't spend all morning on PT."

She went below and got ready for the day then left. Bugsy shook his head. Operations had changed a lot since his days.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Matt had run to the vending machines area for a cup of coffee and a soda. Outside drink containers weren't allowed. Travel mugs were available to buy but had to remain on site. He'd immediately bought one on the first day. He had just re-entered the Arena when he saw her. The D.O.D. woman. And she looked NICE! He wasn't the only one to notice and think so either. Several heads had turned at her arrival. So far all anyone knew about her was that her last name was Ellington and she was from D.O.D. One thing for sure, all the males agreed that she wasn't just a tech. Her appearance and the fact that she made a dive on the first day put that rumor to bed fast. She looked like an office type, moved like a model and worked like a mainframe operator.

Matt saluted her with his cup, "morning."

Krystel smiled, "good morning."

A second after she passed it hit him. Very faint. He almost missed it. An almost flowery scent. Like something you'd smell walking into a garden just as the sun went down. Jasmine? Ginger? What was it?

"Pssst! Wake up dude," a voice hissed to him.

Matt looked over, "huh?"

The young tech shook his head, "dude. Ya been really cool so far like, but don't let the Commander catch ya scopin'. And DEFINITELY don't let th' Colonel see ya do it. Ya wanna go lala-land, g'head. Bad they catch ya. Jus' sayin'."

Matt nodded, "yeah. Sorry about that Nick. She's just so different from all of us, know?"

The seventeen year old nodded, "get it dude, get it. Way diff. D.O.D. Ice Queen. Talkin' serious bank."

"She's an Ice Queen? Where'd you hear that," Matt asked in a low voice.

Nick nodded in the direction of the room's center, "Commander. Talkin' th' Colonel. They put a keeper on 'er."

"Whoa. Serious," Matt asked.

The teen glanced around subtly and nodded, "she dove for like maybe sixteen hours. Commander got real nervous and Colonel was pissed 'cause nobody said nothin'. No warnin' or anythin'. People dive deeper than a few hours are supposed to have warnin' an stuff. She didn't an' the Colonel was pissed. Somethin' happens an' its his fault. That's not how things work and people knew but still didn't say nothin'. Weird. She's like nice an' stuff. Wouldn't know she's like that."

Matt looked confused, "what do you mean?"

Nick nodded to her, "like; she's pretty an all that, but not stuck up. She operates but not all 'I'm the shit an' you ain't'. She dives but she's here. She said hi to me. Weird dude. Dunno can hang with that."

Matt watched the kid wander back to his terminal. He felt a bit sorry for him. The kid had graduated from college at fourteen and went to work for CyberForce right out of the gate. A genius brain in a child's mind. Some things weren't fair. The kid was brilliant and strong Cyber-specialist without argument. Matt doubted he would ever actually meet a decent girl that would like him just for him. He'd heard that on more than one occasion a minder would be put on someone like him and that would evolve into a relationship. Intentionally evolve that is. To somebody else that might sound crass, but the suicide rate among those types was high enough to shut those arguments up. He glanced over to her again and could see why the kid thought she was strange. Already an aide took station by her terminal. An Airman this time. Apparently they weren't taking anymore chances with her and she would have Minders when she was working.

Matt sat down at his terminal and slipped on the headset. Everyone wore them when working. Usually the person would hear whatever music they brought along until something happened. A major incursion would interrupt everything so they could go into instant war-footing. A small boom mic would become voice activated so counter-attacks could be coordinated.

That's what happened five hours later.

"ALERT! HOSTILE ACTION DETECTED! MULTI-PRONGED ATTACK!"

The Commander's voice then came out, "Go to war people!"

"Remain calm. Counter-action now underway," a female voice answered.

Everyone looked up as the big main screen split in two. Half red code and half green. The red code then split off to the other screens to the left and divided multiple times each.

"SINGLE ASPECT DEFENSE."

"WHAT THE HELL," the Commander demanded then froze.

Everyone was now watching the green code. It split off more times and just continued to separate. The green code had matched the speed of the red and even began to accelerate.

The female voice announced, "Bedrock enabled."

Matt's eyes widened. 'Bedrock' was the condensing of the ICE, making it more dense to slow down the penetration.

"Launching Javelin," the woman said.

Matt placed the voice now. It was her! Quickly he spun around and looked. She appeared calm as she worked. No frantic typing or any or that.

"Black Hole forming. Deploying Cluster," Krystel narrated.

Several voices remarked in surprise. They all knew 'Black Holes' were used to simply absorb counter-attacks. 'Cluster' essentially was a self-replicating virus. Big self-replicating viral attack. They'd never seen this happen though. She'd put the cluster out front and it was replicating itself and launching more attacks into the black hole.

"Boomerang," Krystel announced.

Now they saw and understood. The black hole was taking all the cluster attacks and allowing the boomerang attack to go around and attack the black hole from its source code. In moments the black hole collapsed from the double attack and the cluster continued on through.

Krystel voice announced, "incursion verified. Source origin: India. Launching Damocles."

People were now standing up from their terminals and looking around to see who was doing it. Most were moving now to watch the monitors. Even the Commander was doing that. The red code had slowed down a lot. Now it was barely moving. The green code was scrolling so fast no one could easily read it. Suddenly the red code started disappearing one by one.

"I have the array," Krystel announced.

Several of the younger people chorused, "WHOA!"

Krystel continued, "Initializing Vortex."

"DAMN," Nick said in a long breath.

They all knew Vortex was more powerful version of Black Hole. Only it didn't absorb attacks. It absorbed everything. Only one string of red code remained and it was frozen in place while the green code was a blur now.

"SuperNova," Krystel announced.

Nick had walked over to Matt, "Dude. Its ALL over. They're toast!"

The red suddenly went blank. Matt blinked and looked at Nick.

The teen shook his head, "they're so done. Somebody really lied."

Matt asked, "lied?"

Nick nodded to her, "her. She ain't no Ice Queen."

Before Nick could move the Commander went running by, "SHE DID WHAT?"

Everyone was now watching as he all but skidded to a stop in front of her terminal and tapped her shoulder.

Krystel slipped the headset back, "yes Commander?"

"Just for a little clarity. What EXACTLY did you do to that Array," He asked carefully.

"Its been downloaded to Artemis. Have a nice day Commander," Krystel said and turned back around and resumed work.

Nick groaned, "Oh fuck!"

Matt whispered, "what did she do, really?"

Nick whispered back, "she completely downloaded the whole array and sent it to the D.I.A.'s Super-Array: Artemis. She pretty much killed that whole array in India. By doing that she made it fry completely out. They'll have to rebuild it from the ground up AND create new software. she just set them back like three years, minimum. Ain't no Ice Queen. Dude, she's a fuckin' Sorceress! Best I ever heard of! Ok. I'm scared of her now."

Matt watched the kid go back to his terminal and go back to work. Matt followed him.

"What do mean Nick," Matt asked.

Nick looked at him nervously and whispered, "dude look down there at her. Anybody else around here on day would be jumpin' 'round and partyin'. Not her. It was nothin' to her. She just jacked and killed a country all by herself and it was nothin'. I met a Sorcerer. It woulda took three to do what she just did. ALONE. Fuckin' scary. Like Final Five scary. Sorry dude, your girlfriend was a cylon the whole time. Like that!"

"Whoa Nick. Chill, ok? She's not going to kill us or anything. Ok so she's the best we've ever seen or heard of. She's working with us here. Not against us. Its all good. So she's more than advertised. I don't blame her for it. People that good are always in demand. And not just by the good guys. If the bad guys find out she'd never see sunlight again. Right? Look at her as inspiration. Hard work'll get you up to that too," Matt said and patted his back.

"Problem here," the Commander asked.

Matt leaned closer and whispered, "I think a bit of an inadequacy issue may be developing."

Commander Melton nodded, "Mister Morris don't let that affect your performance. You have talent and skill. You are gaining experience. You'll always encounter those with more or less of that than yourself. Focus on yourself and your ability to work within a group. You've done that well so far. One day you may be able to surpass that. Until then put forth all of your best efforts. Hard work does reap rewards. The show is over, let's get back to work gentlemen."

Matt nodded and patted Nick on the back, "what he said. Right?"

Nick nodded, "yeah."

Matt went back to his terminal and thought to himself, 'maybe she's the answer to my problem? Maybe she could help?'

 

~o~O~o~

 

Krystel dove back into the ICE.

"This is who I am. This is what I do," Krystel whispered to herself.

She could have done without the distraction but she couldn't do what she was there to do with that happening. So far she couldn't see anything wrong in the system.

'See the jungle, not the trees. That's how you'll find its weakness and strength.'

Lyssa's words had filled her head. She was looking at things wrong. She needed to look at the bigger picture. Krystel began typing and the aspect changed.

"See the construct; not the code," she said and turned the music back on.

Soon it was as if she was looking at walls created. Slowly she began exploring. How thick and how dense they were. Then began inspecting the openings in those walls. How things came in, how they went out and where. Finally she went in. Like swimming out of a cove and into the ocean. Data surged and ebbed like tides. Krystel began inserting partial lines of code. After two hours she noticed something. Someone had done something similar. If the data was downloaded to an unauthorized source the partial codes would reassemble there and send out a message, locating that source. Partial code always caught her attention. It was like having a chipped nail. ANNOYING. Especially for her. People that type a lot tend to pay attention to their hands since they're necessary. And for Krystel nothing was more aggravating than to have broken or chipped nail. Partial code had the same effect.

Krystel finished adding the code fragments, like dropping buoys. They would ride the data. She watched as data began to pool in certain areas then drop out. A check revealed those areas belong to various entities. Except one. One she couldn't tell who controlled it. The data pooling there didn't seem to be specific, just whatever wound up there. Something else stood out too. Whoever was dropping tracking code like she was, they were specific. Only information relevant to coordinated activities with Australia was being tracked. Access by the Navy was being ignored. That struck her as odd. Only the Navy should really be concerned about coordinating with Australian forces on a regular basis.

Suddenly the music stopped and Krystel snapped back to reality. She blinked her eyes and focused. It was five o' clock. She looked over her shoulder and saw the Airman paying attention to her.

"I'm here Airman. Let the Commander know I'm shutting down for the day," Krystel instructed him.

He nodded and stood up, "yes Ma'am."

Krystel made some notes in her book then locked it in the desk. She put away her things and began to leave. She walked down the stairs instead of the elevator. It worked out the stiffness of her legs. She walked out to her car and slid into the seat. Seat belt buckled and sunglasses were on before she pulled out into traffic. Within five minutes she realizd she had picked up a tail. Shawna had left her a note in the car when she picked up to tell her it was modified. Krystel was about to find out for certain.

She turned onto a wide avenue then pulled onto a two lane one-way street. Krystel dropped a gear and accelerated. The import car leapt forward and she upshifted a second after it whined. Her move had caught the tail car unaware and they foolishly floored it to keep up. Krystel smiled and coasted toward the next intersection then down-shifted and turned slightly, throwing the Celica into a slide. She drifted the turn and around another in the opposite direction. Up two blocks then another right. The light ahead was green and she hit the nitrous button. Like a rocket she raced through the intersection past the one-way street and turned at the next going right again. Backtracking two blocks, turned left and went out several blocks then turned left this time and slowed down. She saw a house with higher grass than the others around it and stopped then backed into the drive to park under the carport.

Krystel checked her pistol and sat waiting. Twenty minutes went by and she started the car back up and slowly rolled out. She drove carefully and backtracked several times to ensure she was not being followed again then went to the marina. She parked and began to look over the car.

"Somebody bump you at a light or somethin," Bugsy asked.

Krystel shook her head crouching down to look underneath, "somebody tried to tail me."

Bugsy lost all humor, "tried?"

Krystel nodded and then went to look under the hood, "they're wandering around trying to figure out where I went and how I did it so fast. No trackers."

Bugsy sat down the cooler he was carrying and went over. He too went over the car.

"What the story on this car. Some these parts look brand new," Bugsy asked.

Krystel closed the hood, "its set up for drifting. In a city its less about about top end and more about agility. If we were west of the Mississippi then I'd go for pure speed. Here in a tight city like this I need to be able to manuever. That's where drifting comes in. Its more stable to slide than turn. I slide the back end around then power forward and I can turn better and recover speed faster than slowing down for a turn. That's drifting. Its great for tight streets. Nitrous works for opening up more distance. If I had more room and longer stretches of road I'd need a a V-8 and a supercharger. These streets are shorter and tighter so I less room to run."

Bugsy nodded, "ok. I get that. Like the old Cobra. All stick and pedal drivin'."

"Pretty much, only its not circumstance. Its intentional," Krystel said.

Bugsy picked up the cooler and the way to the boat. The cooler turned out to be full of shrimp. After dinner Krystel used her laptop to connect to the Super-Array back on the island and used it to sneak back into CyberForce's Athena. She had authorized codes to infiltrate all U.S. Super-Arrays so it wasn't a problem. It was just a lot less problems to go on-site than to work off site. She was just watching so it wasn't a big problem. She checked the area from earlier and it was empty. Krystel backed out of Athena. then pulled up the conference window. She was surprised to get Kimberly.

"Hey Krystel. What's up," Kimberly asked.

"I need a drop," Krystel answered.

Kimberly nodded, "which one."

Krystel stated, "assault pack. No. Send me a Penetration pack."

Kimberly nodded, "you'll have it tomorrow. Sometime tomorrow. Anything else?"

"Check out Matt Collins at CyberForce. I don't think he's a problem. but something's not right about him," Krystel said.

"Matt Collins. I'll run him through everything. Is that it," Kimberly asked.

Krystel nodded, "for now. Somebody tried to tail me. They were driving a black Hyundai Genesis. I couldn't get a plate but it definitely looked brand new."

Kimberly made note of that too, "ok. G'night."

"Night," Krystel replied and shut down.

 



 

Chapter 4

Bugsy held out the cup of coffee as she walked in toweling off from her PT.

"Thank you," Krystel said and drank it in three long pulls.

She then refilled it and mixed to her liking then went below. Forty minutes later Bugsy walked past. the door was slightly ajar and he caught a glimpse. Krystel was in turquoise lace bra and panties and slipping on a shiny turquoise blouse. he shook his head and continued to his cabin and pulled on socks and work boots.

Krystel finished buttoning the blouse then strapped the Fairbarne-Applegate knife to the back of her right thigh with a fake garter. She stepped into a black flare skirt and zipped it after smoothing her blouse into it. Her battlesuit, boots, socks and weapons' rig went into a small duffle along with her main laptop. She slid one of the pistols into the holster at the small of her back then picked up the jacket that matched the skirt, duffle and went back up to the main room.

Bugsy saw the black patent heels and shook his head, "operations changed a lot since my day. Still don't see the worth of all this computer stuff."

Krystel set her things down and filled a travel cup, "back in the day. You would listen in on the enemy radio chatter and just to give them problems, blow their comms, right?"

Bugsy sipped from his own cup, "yeah. So?"

Krystel added sugar to her coffee, "what if you could not only listen to their chatter, but change what was being said? Or reach out and change what they know? The enemies use satellites to see long distances. Make them think there's more of something than there really is. Instead of a cruiser off their coast, they think there's a carrier battlegroup. Or make them think there's nothing there and really there's a carrier battlegroup?"

"Misinformation. Battlefield deception," Bugsy stated.

Krystel shrugged, "that's an aspect of it. We can not just make them blind, deaf and dumb. We can make them cocky and stupid then dead. What works for can also work against. A double-edge sword. It cuts both ways.They try to do it to us, we try to do it to them. Quick, smart, strong and gutsy makes a difference. Sometimes ALL the difference."

"So what's this ICE you talked about," Bugsy asked.

Krystel glanced at the clock then sipped from her cup, "we have information. We protect that information with walls of code. That's the ICE. To get through that ICE you can brute force break in. Like blowing a hole in the wall. Or you can drill through a small hole to take little bits and pieces. Or you can embed yourself. Like water moving through sand.The more sections of code you have, the thicker the ICE. The more layers of code on top of each other, the more dense the ICE."

"Like the polar ice pack," Bugsy surmised.

Krystel slipped on the jacket, "right. I'm expecting a drop. You can still get on base right?"

Bugsy nodded, "no problem."

"Good. Here's the spare key to the car. I just need you to put my drop in the back of the car. Would you," Krystel asked.

"That pistol ain't enough if you run into some shit. I can get a few things for you. No explosives but I can get you an assault rifle. A long range rifle I can get too," Bugsy said.

Krystel shook her head, "everything I'll need will be in the drop."

"oh," Bugsy said, "yeah I'll get it to you. They know me at the gate so it won't be a problem."

She picked up the duffle, her black purse and laptop case, "thanks."

 

~o~O~o~

 

Matt shook his head as he sat in the car as he listened on the phone.

"You heard right; Karen Ellington? D.O.D. or D.I.A. right," the caller asked.

Matt confirmed, "yeah."

"Doesn't exist mate," the caller said, "not according to our records and they're current."

Matt asked, "did you check as a civilian contractor. Maybe she's C.I.A. Maybe D.A.R.P.A."

"You're not listenin' Mate. There is no Karen Ellington. Alive anyways. I got one here that died fifteen years years ago at age seventy-two. Not gettin' into that god-awful zombie craze are ya," the caller asked.

"Not unless they're making zombies in their mid-to-late twenties, cover-model gorgeous, drives like a career criminal street-racer and counter-hack like a complete army of black-hats. Got anybody like that in the files," Matt asked.

The caller laughed, "NO, but I'm developing a hard-on mate! Zombie or not, is she single? Put a tracker on her car and see where she leads."

"Oh you're loads o' help. Bye," Matt said and disconnected.

Just then he saw her pull in and get out.

"What the hell is she doin'," Matt wonder aloud then shook his head.

She walked around the car and tapped each tire with her foot. Nick was right. She is a bit strange. Cover-model was true though. Again she looked like she was straight out of a magazine. Were the bottoms of her shoes pink? Why? he remembered from a conversation with his sister some time back that the high heels with red bottoms were really expensive and women wanted them like crazy. What about pink bottomed high heels? Where they more important, and why did it suddenly matter to him? He'd never paid attention to that before.

Matt dug into his console and pulled out two trackers and plastic cable-ties. He got out as she started walking toward the building and casually strolled over. After a quick glance around he dropped down and tied one tracker to the frame and the other above the muffler. He then made his way inside at a jog. She had finished checking in at the desk and was walking away. He showed his card then singed in as well. When he turned to go, she was gone. He hurried to the elevator and rode up with two other techs. In the Arena he looked and saw her sitting at her terminal.

"Fuck what'd she do, teleport," he asked himself in a whisper as he went to his own terminal for his cup and went for coffee.

 

~o~O~o~

 

"AHOY! Looking for the skipper of this tub," Rodrick called out.

Bugsy stood in the doorway, "yeah?"

Rodrick nodded, "yeah. Can't miss him. Some scraggly, waterlogged, wrinkled up, squint-eyed, saggy-balled, hobble-legged old fuckin' geezer."

"And just where did a wet-behind-the-balls, knock-kneed, cross-eyed, goofy lookin', zit-poppin', peach-fuzzed, pencil-dicked, shit-fer-brains occifer get that kind of vocabulary," Bugsy asked.

"I had a degenerate for a teacher," Rodrick laughed then stepped aboard.

Bugsy shook his head, "didn't teach any manners. The fuck said you could come aboard?"

Rodrick held up a twelve-pack of beer, "I'm gonna bribe the skipper."

Bugsy nodded his head to follow him, "get in here."

Rodrick followed him inside.

Bugsy hooked a thumb to a stool at the counter, "park it. Uppity shit."

Rodrick passed a beer over and sat down opening one for himself.

"Thought you was on rug-rat detail," Bugsy asked.

Rodrick nodded, "I was. Wifey finished up early so I came up with a care package for Krystel. How are things here?"

Bugsy shook his head, "damn married asshole. How do you think? My boat's starting to smell girly and I understand a little about this computer warfare rat-shit."

Rodrick laughed, "getting lonely now?"

"There's a girl down at the bar for when I get lonely. You drinking another of my bribe," Bugsy asked.

Rodrick shook his head, "nah. I gotta fly. I just stopped off making a hop to drop off her stuff."

Bugsy nodded, "let's get to it."

 

~o~O~o~

 

Krystel's phone buzzed. She check it and saw the notice that codes had reassembled. An unauthorized system. Krystel shut down the terminal and grabbed her things. She told Commander Melton she had a meeting and left. Down at the car she laughed. A note was folded over the bottom of the steering wheel.

Care package in the back. took a quick look-see and found a tracker.
Bugsy

"Thank YOU Master Chief," Krystel smiled.

She picked up the tracker and looked at it then started the car and drove out. Outside the gate she tossed it out the window. She drove a mile away and pulled into a parking lot and powered up her main laptop. After connecting to a satellite she decoded the message. She then traced it back and found the location. It looked like an old house in the woods close to a marsh. She drove to within a mile of the target location and parked behind a cluster of short palms. Krystel changed into her battle-suit and boots then shrugged into the weapons' rig. From the suitcase that had been dropped off she assembled the CAR-15. Extra magazines went into pouches along with pre-made precision charges and handful of det-cord with a remote detonator. Four frag grenades, a smoke, a flash-bang and an incendiary rounded out the munitions.

Krystel applied her facial paint is black, and two shades of green then started making her way to the target. It took an hour to get close enough. She'd checked all the way for anti-intrusion. A quarter of a mile out she started to see them along the road even though she was five meters off of it and moved another ten meters out to parallel it. She stopped a hundred meters from the house and began to look it over with a rifle scope.

Two men stood on the front porch with assault rifles. A third could be seen at the back of house that occasionally wander to each corner to look around but he wasn't really expecting to see anyone. He seemed to be doing so more out of obligation than anything else. They all wore khaki cargo pants and cotton t-shirts and had a pistol holstered at their hip in addition to the civilian model AR-15's they carried. Krystel moved closer around the end of the tree-line. A shed at the back had a generator that was running and several fuel cans were arranged next to the shed. She found an angle and looked through a window using the scope. The front door wasn't a viable entrance. The outside was a wood veneer over what looked like a metal door that had been made. It was barred with two metal slats. Yeah that was no way in. She had to assume the back door was the same. She now had a choice; try a window or make her own door. With doors that strong there was a high chance the windows would be rigged with some kind of anti-intrusion since there were no bars.

Krystel backtracked down the road almost an eighth of a mile and managed to climb out a utility pole. There was only one wire and it looked like either telephone or cable, not electrical. She squeezed one of the charges around it and climbed back down. Back at the house she made her way in closer on the backside and waited. When the look-out went to the corner she moved in. When he turned back around she greeted him with a powerful upward thrust of the Fairbarne-Applegate. It went straight between his ribs into the heart and she drove him to the ground clamping a hand over his mouth.

He went down in such surprise there was no struggle. She held position for a few moments but saw his eyes starting to glaze over and recovered. She then went over to the generator and affixed a charge at the carburetor then went to the house's wall. Carefully Krystel stuck det-cord to the wall in two loops with some tape. She set the remote to detonate all three charges, the line, generator and wall. To distract the occupants she took a frag grenade, pulled the pin and threw it over the roof toward the front of the house. She counted after throwing and at three she hit the remote. Four explosions went off almost simultaneously.

Krystel bolted in through the large hole in the wall and checked the hall. She could hear men shouting in a dialect of Arabic she wasn't familiar with. She could only understand one out of four words. A man was looking out a window by the back door and two were crouched by the front windows. Krystel ripped off a burst to the backdoor man then charge the front room firing tight bursts. One tried to fire back but missed as she tucked in tight to the wall and changed hands to fire around the corner left-handed. He came from the old-school style. 'Use every bullet until the mag runs dry and hope you got 'em'. When the bolt locked open Krystel angled around and stitched him, center mass. As he dropped she changed magazines stalked around the corner. There was bagging at the door and a man screaming. Krystel continued around the room until someone fired froma side room. Their shot went wide and she dove to the other side. Quickly she aimed out the window and ripped into the man outside the door. The other lay face down on the porch in a slick of blood from what she could see.

A movement from the corner of the hall caught her attention and she swung the carbine around. Immediately Matt raised his hands. A burst of auto-fire focused both their attention back to the other room. Apparently there was more than one in there. Matt held his pistol in a no-fire position and shook his head. Krystel changed magazines again then glanced to the far room in disgust. She shifted the rifle to her left hand and reached for another frag with her right. Matt's eyes widened and edged back from the corner and crouched low. Krystel pulled the pin, flipped the spoon off as she counted and pitched it.

The grenade went off with a puff of smoke and loud bang. Krystel moved closer and fired into the room. It took a moment but another burst of auto-fire answered her. Glass then shattered from inside.

"Shit," Krystel swore and leaned the rifle around and fired into the room again.

Three single shots answered then a burst then nothing. Krystel spun in low ready to fire and no one was there. Outside she saw two men running to the woods, one carrying a rifle and the other a bag and a pistol.

"FUCK," Krystel exclaimed then rounded on Matt, "I should cut you in fucking half!"

"DON'T FUCKIN' SHOOT! I'M A.S.I.S.! Australian Intelligence! On the same bloody side," He yelled fast.

"You've seen me. And more importantly you fucked up MY op stupid," Krystel growled.

Matt shook his head, "nobody's here, nothin' was seen, and none of this happened! All I know is you're some bloody office sheila. Rotten typist and always headed for the dunnie!"

"Move your ass for now. If they get away I'm shooting your ass off sheer principle," Krystel waved him with the rifle then pulled the incendiary.

She hopped out the hole in the wall, pulled the pin and tossed it back inside. A quick magazine change and she started tracking the two escapees at a run.

 

~o~O~o~

 

'WHO THE FUCK IS SHE,' Matt thought.

He had hurried down when he noticed she was gone and tried the trackers. One was moving and the other was stationary outside the main gate. He followed the moving one and prayed it was her. He'd found her car and found her footprints and followed. He'd been startled when the explosions went off and ws just in time to see her bolt inside. He followed the sound of auto-fire until he saw the barrel of carbine swing his way. Now he was chasing somebody through the woods for god knows what reason.

"Hey. As a matter of tradecraft. If I help you run these blokes down, will you hear me out. I wanted to ask for your help," Matt huffed behind her.

"Was that you in the black hyundai," Krystel asked running fast parallel to a trail.

Matt was amazed at her speed, "yeah. I didn't want anybody to think I was trying to make a pass on the job. You yanks are funny like that so I tried to follow you so I could talk private."

"oh we're gonna talk alright. About the very deep shit you're in. Right now I want those guys more so move it," Krystel said and sped up.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Nubobo stopped and looked back in anger, "hurry up! They are surely behind us!"

His companion carrying a laptop case and pistol was gasping for breath, "who are they?"

" American Intelligence or military. What does it matter? They found us and now we must escape Jafaa," Nubobo said.

Jafaa stumbled to a stop, " How? They will keep chasing us."

Nubobo looked around and saw dried leaves and straw. It gave him an idea. They had see many fires on the news broadcasts. Many services would tie up things to fight one. He gathered a hand full and handed it to Jafaa then gathered more and lit them both with a cigarette lighter.

Nubobo pointed, " quickly! Draw a line of fire. It will stop them!"

The fire caught at the dry brush and began to march away from them. With a couple of minutes it was roaring.

" Come. Now we can escape," Nubobo said.

Only he knew about the boat hidden at an old dock at the edge of the marsh. It was a mile away but the Americans would be facing a wall of fire and have to stop. By the time helicopters were called in they would be gone. So many people would be busy fighting the fire, they would be far gone by the time it was in hand or out. It would be easy to go down the coast and then to Cuba. From there they could fly back to Sudan or anywhere else and sell the secrets they had stolen. It had taken a year for Jafaa to worm his way through the defensive systems. It was worth the wait. They had some data that would sell for at least a million U.S. Dollars to the Arab nations and that was only some of what they stolen.

" Hurry! Its not very far now," Nubobo said, "run you over-educated fool."

 

~o~O~o~

 

Krystel ran hard and fast. The two men had to at least have over three to five hundred meters head-start. Why had they went toward the marsh though. Matt was huffing and puffing behind her, making her angrier. If he hadn't shown up she'd have already bagged those two. Now she was having to chase them down. Suddenly an acrid smell drifted toward her. She pulled up behind a tree.

"Thank god. I haven't run like this in a time. Are we close," Matt asked breathing hard.

Krystel glared at him, "shut up! Something's wrong."

They heard a crackling in the distance.

"Is that them running through the bush," Matt whispered.

Krystel looked intently then shook her head, "no. Shit! Smoke. Those fucks started a wildfire!"

Matt looked up, "they didn't!"

Krystel had unzipped the high collar of her battlesuit and was tucking her hair down the back then zipped it back up.

"The bastards did it to stop us. It won't work. Turn back or stay with me. If you come with me then you stay ON my six. Don't deviate. If you fall behind I won't come back. If you go down you'll burn to death. Choose," Krystel said intently.

Matt nodded, "with you."

Krystel turned and bolted. Within seconds the flames were visible and she slowed down. He could hear her repeating something like a mantra to herself.

"See the fire not the flames. The fire; not the flames," Krystel repeated and saw a gap open before her and she charged through.

"YOU'RE FUCKING CRAZY," Matt shouted following behind her in direct path.

He ran directly behind her as she bounded and leapt. Almost as if by magic holes in the fire opened for her to go through. She jumped over a log and dove under a leaning palmetto in flames. He followed throwing all caution to the winds. A moment later he understood how she was doing it. By running in front she was feeling the actual air currents and tell which way the flames would move. Unless he stayed practically in her boot prints he could catch fire himself. That was the spur he needed to close in on her. Two minutes later they both burst out of the flames and continued after their quarry. A minute later they both saw the two men running along the bank of a waterway. Krystel angled to race ahead and Matt followed. A large clump of Pampas grass concealed their approach and that was when they saw what the men were heading for. a boat tied up to a rundown dock next to a collapsed shack.

Matt watched as she didn't break stride and aimed and triggered off a long burst. The front man fell. Krystel the slid to a stop swinging the rifle back to the trailing man who had froze. She sent another burst and he dropped. Krystel started jogging toward the front man. He had struggled to his feet and limped back to the other and yanked the laptop case from him. The second man was reaching out for help but was abandoned. Matt sighted down his slide and the man's hand went down. Krystel triggered off another burst as the lead man reached the dock and he went down again. He began to try to crawl.

He looked up when a pair tall black boots stepped into view ahead of him.

He smiled and asked in a heavy accent, "C.I.A.?"

Krystel drew the pistol from low on her right thigh and thumbed the hammer back.

"See the world and the evil in it," She pulled the trigger twice sending the rounds into his head.

Matt's eyes were like dinner plates as she turned to face him, "I see the world; less evil in it."

"I get that," Matt said quickly, "I hope you never see any again."

Krystel picked up the case, "talk fast. I'm still pissed these two had to be fucking chased!"

Matt explained on the way back. By the time the arrived at the cars she understood.

"I'll solve your little problem. Only because it came off our end. That doesn't excuse you," Krystel said angrily.

Her phone rang and she answered it. It was Kimberly calling to tell her she'd found out who Matt was. He had told the truth about being Australian Intelligence. Kimberly advised her NOT to shoot him but definitely send him home with a message from Dannigan.

She set up the laptop then her own. In a few minutes she broke through the encryption and found what she wanted. They had stolen Australian coordination files and sold them to a buyer in Malaysia. The information on the buyer was still on the laptop. She wrote it down and held it out.

"Catch a plane," Krystel said, "you got twenty-four hours."

"I'll be on a flight," Matt said and left.

 

~o~O~o~

 

Matt strode through the Tampa airport the next afternoon. The Colonel was pissed but bought his story of the offer from a company on the west coast. He only bought it because he called and verified. The company was a front so they were quick to confirm. He'd travel to LAX under the Matt Collins identity and meet a hand-off for his real passport and tickets to Sydney under his own name. He stopped to look up at the flight listings. His would start boarding any minute. That's when he caught the scent. Her scent. he turned around.

"Making sure I'm gone by sundown Sheriff," Matt asked in his real accent.

Krystel asked, "Will I have to; Agent Matthew Eric Connelly?"

Matt chuckled, "why'm I not surprised you know who I am?"

"Because you shouldn't," Krystel replied blandly.

"Thanks for solvin' our problem," Matt said.

Krystel looked at him intently, "this is a one time thing. Next time ask for help politely. Otherwise someone may take things personally."

"So what do I call you," Matt asked, "certainly not Karen."

An announcement came over the address system.

Krystel nodded to the gate, "that would be you Matthew. Enjoy your flight."

Matt looked over to the line of people forming, "Oh I have a minute two. Perhaps a goodbye."

He was about to say 'kiss' and had turned back to see he was now alone. She was nowhere in sight. He laughed and shook his head turning to the gate and took his place in line. Twenty minutes later the plane took off. As soon as he got home and settled his report he'd hit his favorite steak house. The idea of hitting a club only lasted for a minute. A casual hook up lost appeal. As he drifted off to sleep he smiled, dreaming of a beautiful and deadly blonde enigma. The scent of her perfume would stay in his mind forever.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Krystel cameos in LKM-42

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Comments

awesome story

Dawnfyre's picture

I think Krystel has a conquest that will come back to bite her in time.


Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.

ain't anything better than a new episode

Yes I know ain't is not to be used, but this episode really hit the spot. Computer warfare, some real action and a little romance, couldn't get any better. Thanks for your excellent writing skills and stories. Now for the next episode.
Hugs
Francesca

- Formerly Turnabout Girl

BEAUTIFUL

wolfjess7's picture

AS always a great story Snowfall. I really like to see someone actulely showing the world of Cyber warfare.

May the peace and happiness of the Goddess keep and protect you
as always your humble outlaw
Jessie Wolf

very nice!

GypsyWoman's picture

Well written as always. Well done. Keep them coming.

Kat H

LoneStar the dad is something

LoneStar the dad is something I am very happy to see, she is softening his tough exterior just a little. I hope Lyssa realizes that she frightens Mindy so whatever fears can be put to rest.

Infiltration and overt/covert movements are one thing but Krystel's job is second to none in toughness, it seemed boring but what she can truly do is simply amazing. I guess we have to take a look at her role in a whole new light-

I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime

Wow

Loved the story. Maybe Matthew will meet Krystel again. Cyber warfare makes great reading.

Thanks Snowfall (PS: Some of the acronyms confuse me. I'm just a poor Aussie)

Joanna

Yeah Matt is in love.

He will be having love fever for a very long time. I just wonder what is he going to do about it. lol

Mindy and Lonestar really seem to be helping each other. Love their farther-daughter moment.
Thanks for the story.

Hmmm, wonder if Matt will

Hmmm, wonder if Matt will reconnect with Krystel again, and will that lead to the two of them opening a branch in Australia for Dannigan's little crew?

F..KING ACE. I loved your

F..KING ACE. I loved your stories keep going they are great have thought of being the TG Tom Clancy. Love your stories

Hack away

Jamie Lee's picture

Another great chapter, about another member of the team.

Matt doesn't know it, but he should be glad Lyssa wasn't doing this mission. He might have gone home a lot worse for ware.

Krystal really hummed on that computer. Best defense against her abilities is not to be hooked to the Web.

Mindy is one smart cookie. She knows things are going on and wise enough not to ask certain questions. And playing with Warlock, something good for him as well.

It will be hard waiting on another chapter.

Others have feelings too.

Iron Whale?

I do believe whales can dive far deeper. :)

Stupid still stupid

Jamie Lee's picture

Those bad guys always think they've pulled a fast one until a 9mm proves differently.

Mindy seems to be doing well, if feeling a little left out. And after watching both the hand to hand reeval and how brutal ballet can be, she may be choosing another line of work. Maybe grease monkey?

Mat almost had a new orifice involuntarily installed coming in on Karen. She was so right about the asking for help part, figuring out a safe place to place a new orifice can be tricky.

Others have feelings too.

Great adventure

As others have said, Mindy still feels like the proverbial square peg in a round hole. Lyssa's ballet lessons are brutal as they're aimed at an adult with the aim of intensive training to professional standard as soon as possible. If she put on classes for the youngsters, she'd almost certainly adapt the training and differentiate for differing abilities and learning rates.

It was interesting to see Krystel at work, even though you fell victim to Hollywood Computing stereotypes with colour coded scrolling code and lots of furious typing.

However, she's still to learn about checking for trackers - Rod identified one, which she removed, but neither thought of checking for additional trackers.

Back in the day when Catholics were persecuted in the UK, several Catholic-owned properties had multiple priest holes built - including some double layered holes - the first was designed to be relatively quick for inspectors to find, whereby the intention was they wouldn't see any priests hiding there and go away, without thoroughly searching the hole and discovering a concealed entrance to a hole beyond, which is where the priest would actually be hiding. Similarly with the trackers - if you place multiple, you hope that if one is discovered, the target will remove it then not think of searching for others.


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

I'm surprised

WillowD's picture

I'm surprised that I haven't already left a comment under this story. I've probably re-read it 5 or 6 times by this point.

Great story

So Mindy was Robbie Brice? Kool!