Project: Super Soldier - Part 6

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Project: Super Soldier

Written by Nuuan

71 year old John Dodge, retired military, now sits in a nursing home, his body riddled with cancer, waiting on the grim reaper to come for him when he is given another option.

Copyright © 2016 by Nuuan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the Author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

I want to apologize for how long it has taken me to post up this part of the story. I read many of the serialized stories here also and know how frustrating it is to begin reading one from an author and suddenly the author stop posting any updates. Just so that everyone knows, my day job, which gives me the money so that I can afford a few of luxuries I have grown accustomed to (eating, living indoors & an internet connection) got very busy and many times I now end up sitting down in front of the computer at home to write and find myself falling asleep at the keyboard. While I can see the light at the end of this tunnel, that light is still a ways off. Although it will not stop me from continuing to write and post this story, it will only slow down my progress 

Chapter 41

Kat grimaced when she saw the football team out on side field practicing as they pulled into the school’s parking lot. While she knew that not all those boys were jerks, Kat knew it only took only one or two rotten apples to ruin the whole group and their team captain, Doug Semfer, in Kat’s mind was that rotten apple. Kat had not been going to the school long enough to know that many people yet, everyone she knew had warned her of how he acted. He had not tried anything with Kat or Becky since he had grabbed Becky in the mall but the little snipes and comments he made toward them in passing left no question that he felt that Kat taking him down in the mall was merely luck.

Spotting Becky’s car, “I can get a ride home with Becky if you just want to drop me off.”

“What, and miss my daughter’s costume fitting?” Deb smiled over at Kat while pulling the car into a parking space.

“I just thought you may have more important things to do.”

“Honey nothing is more important to a mother than her own children.”

“Um, remember Karen,” Kat grinned.

“That’s different honey, you were not her mother.” Turning her head to look Kat in the eyes, “One day you may get to experience just how different it is for a woman.”

Kat felt her stomach tighten as she realized that her mother was suggesting that Kat could now get pregnant and have her children. “If you’re thinking about grandchildren, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“No,” Deb countered, “I would never try to talk you into something you did not want. I’m just saying that it’s possible that one day it’s something you may start thinking about on your own. Maternal instincts can be pretty strong for some women.”

Kat couldn’t help but think about what had been said as she led her mother through the school to the room the sewing club used. Could I even have kids after they played around with my genes so much? If I could would they even be human? Kat shivered at the thought of what she would have to do to even have a chance of becoming pregnant. No way in hell am I ever doing that with a guy!

Walking into the room Kat’s thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Burkowitz, “You were supposed to be here a half hour ago!”

“I had a doctor’s appointment.”

Kat’s doctor decided to run some tests today that we didn’t know about so it took longer than expected,” Deb explained.

“Here,” May came up handing Kat a bundle of black fabric before pointing to a door on the far side of the room, “go change into this top so we can see if it needs any adjustments.”

Opening the door Kat found it to be a small room about six feet by ten feet lined with shelves containing what looked like supplies for the classroom and close to a dozen large plastic tubs. Finding the light switch, Kat flipped it on before closing the door behind her.

After a handful of minutes had passed everyone moved closer to the door when they heard Kat say something but could not make out what she said. Deb raised her voice to make sure she could be heard through the door, “What was that honey, no one could hear you.”

“I said I can’t wear this!”

“Is it too small?” Mrs. Burkowitz asked.

“It’s see through.”

“That’s just the under layer Kat,” Heather, the taller blond learned close to the door, “It keeps the outer material from irritating your skin.”

The door creaked open just enough for Kat to stick her head out, “it’s still see though.”

“We see more in the locker room,” another of the girls pointed out.

After glancing around to make sure they were the only ones in the room Kat opened the door and stepped out. Deb could immediately see Kat’s concerns over the material, the translucent black material doing very little to hide the beige sports bra Kat had worn that day, knowing it would be needed for this fitting.

It seemed like an eternity as the girls pawed over her, pinning and marking the top while calling out measurements and other things one of the girls jotted down in a notebook she held. Although in reality it took only around fifteen minutes before Kat was able to slip back into the storeroom and put her tee shirt back on.

Reemerging from changing the girls gathered Kat and her mother around one of the tables where they had laid out several drawings and sketches of the final designs of the outfit they were making. Looking over the sketches Kat suddenly realized the one who she knew would have drawn them was not present. “Where’s May?” Kat looked around to the crowd of girls.

“She went to the bathroom,” Jenny nodded toward the door that led out into the hallway before going back to the sketches laid out on the table.

Several minutes later, “She has been gone a long time,” Kat’s mother stated while looking down at her wrist watch.

“I’ll go check on her,” Hanna spoke.

“No, I’ll do it,” Kat started toward the door.

The bathrooms were only a short way down the hall, the last rooms on each side of the hall before one of the side exits of the school. The bathrooms in their school had no door to enter, being built instead with two offset openings that forced you to zigzag past another wall that blocked anyone from seeing into the bathroom. Walking into the bathroom, Kat found it to be deserted, no sign of May had even been there. Back out in the hall Kat looked both directions for any sign before walking over to the two sets of glass double doors that led outside. Kat could see the team was still holding practice, and while there were several girls there even at this distance Kat could tell none resembled the short oriental girl she was looking for.

Turning to go back to the classroom Kat heard a noise from the bathroom across the hall. Sticking her head around the first corner of the boy’s bathroom, “May are you in here?”

“HELP ME!” Kat heard May scream from inside.

Rushing into the bathroom Kat found May pinned against the cabinet that held a row of sinks by a boy wearing a football uniform. “Let her go!” Kat demanded as she ran up grabbing the boy by the jersey and jerking him away from the girl he had pinned. “YOU!” Kat screamed when she saw the boy’s face, “You god damned son of a bitch, I told you what I would do if you fucked with any more of my friends!”

“You want a piece of me little girl?” Doug screamed back.

“I don’t want a piece, I want the whole thing you bastard!” Kat screamed before lowering her voice, “May get out.”

“Come on Kat,” May reached a shaking hand toward Kat’s arm.

“No, I need to have a little discussion with this jackass about the way he treats women.” Kat smiled, “Tell my mom to call the paramedics, Doug is going to need their services.”

“You think because you got lucky in the mall that you can take me bitch?” Doug laughed, “I’m going to enjoy teaching you a woman’s place by tapping that fine ass you got.”

“Kat please…” May begged.

“Get out May, I don’t want you getting hurt.” Reaching over and pushing May toward the door.

At the same moment Doug reached toward Kat. Grabbing his outstretched arm by the wrist, Kat ducked under his arm while twisting it. As his back became exposed to Kat, she let go of his arm while delivering a side kick just below his ribs. Doug landed sideways into one of the privacy partitions. The partition bent inward against the force of impact as it tore away from the wall.

As the boy staggered back to his feet, Kat turned toward May, “RUN! NOW!” May heeded Kat’s order and ran out of the bathroom.

“You’re all alone now little girl,” Doug steadied himself into a boxing stance with both fists up.

“Exactly,” Kat giggled as she walked slowly toward him, snapping her open hand up shoving his left fist into his face, causing the boy to hit himself in the eye, “no witnesses.”

~o~O~o~

May threw the door open to the classroom, “Kat, Doug, he’s, he’s gonna, he tried to…”

Deb quickly grabbed the girl into a hug, “Slow down honey, what happened?”

“Doug, he… he was going to rape me,” May choked out. “Kat stopped him.”

Helping May over to a chair, Deb sat her down, “Where are they?”

“He pulled me into the boy’s bathroom.”

“You stay right here honey,” Deb let go as she stood, “Mrs. Burkowitz would you call the police.” Mrs. Burkowitz quickly stepped over to the phone hanging on the wall.

“She, Kat said to call an ambulance,” May sobbed.

“We have to help her!” Becky shouted as she ran for the door.

“We have to stop her!” Deb shouted as she ran out the door behind the girl.

Becky’s eyes went wide when she saw the disaster inside the bathroom. Several of the partitions between the stalls lay mangled across the floor, one toilet was broken, spraying water across the floor, the mirror behind the sinks was cracked in several places and one of the hand dryers was hanging by the electrical cords that powered it. Kat held the boy up against the wall between two of the urinals holding him off the ground by his jersey, her right hand in a fist preparing to swing. “KAT!”

Kat let go and took several steps back. Doug fell to the floor immediately scurrying towards the doorway on his hands and knees several feet before rising up to his feet. Pushing past Becky he ran from the bathroom knocking Deb against the wall as she tried to enter.

Running over Becky wrapped Kat in a hug, “Thank god you’re okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Kat grinned, “We just had a little chat about how girls like to be treated.”

“A little chat?” Deb looked around at the damage done to the room, “It looks like a tornado came through here.”

Chapter 42

An officer Came into the classroom while the two officers in plain clothes were taking everyone’s statements, standing by the door until the female officer finished taking Kat and her mother’s statements. Kat couldn’t hear what the three were saying after the female officer went over to them, but could easily tell it was about her the way they kept looking over at her.

The lady officer walked back over to Kat and her mother shaking her head, “The boy is claiming that you attacked him and filing assault and battery charges against you.”

“Am I under arrest?”

“It stinks I know,” The officer looked apologetically toward Kat, “but I need you to go with this officer.”

“You can’t be serious!” Deb questioned, “My daughter stopped a rape, and you should be pinning a medal on her, not arresting her!”

“Doctor Marlete if it was up to me I would. Even as ridiculous as the charges may seem, we still have to follow procedures.”

Deb scrutinized the male officer standing by the door, “What is your department’s policy regarding the escort of underage females?” Knowing that the police department would have a similar policy to that of doctors of always having a female nurse present during an exam, “not that my daughter would ever accuse anyone of something they had not done of course.”

Looking over at the male officer the lady officer realized her mistake. Turning toward the other officer in plain clothes, “Tom, I’m going to take Miss Marlete back to the station with me.”

“It’s under your jurisdiction Linda, I only came by to help.” The man smiled thinly.

“WHAT!” Becky realizing they were arresting Kat, “You can’t arrest her!” All the girls jumped up and all began complaining including May who was still very shaken from what had happened.

“I’m calling Tollman and your sister, then I’ll follow you down Honey,” Deb shouted over the noise as the other detective was failing miserably in calming the girls down.

Kat wanted so badly to tell her mother, not to call Karen or at least not to tell Karen about what the boy had tried with May, but she knew Deb would want to know why and that was something Kat would not shout out in front of everyone. Seeing the handcuffs in the detective’s hand, Kat sighed while turning around with her hands behind her back for the detective.

The uniformed officer looked at the female officer as she led Kat toward the door, “Chief what do you want me to do?”

Looking over her shoulder at the poor man that was surrounded by teen girls all talking at once, “See if you can help the sheriff, I think they have him cornered.”

~o~O~o~

A man in police uniform looked up as Kat was led into the small police station, “Who’s this Chief?”

“Kat, this is officer Jacobs,” She stopped in front of the desk he sat behind, “Tim this is Kathleen Marlete. I was informed there is a warrant for her arrest?”

The officer’s eyes got big looking at Kat, “You put the Semfer kid in the hospital?

“Surprised?” The chief looked across the desk.

“Uh yea, I kind of imagined anyone that could take that boy would look a lot bigger.”

“There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent,” Kat said in phony oriental accent.

“And you’ve read Sun Tzu?” Officer Jacobs stared up from his desk.

“You can discuss the Sun Tzu with Kathleen while you process her Tim.”

“Sure chief,” The officer stood.

Kat twisted so she could see the woman, “Um, actually that wasn’t Sun Tzu, it was a Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu that said that.”

“Okay miss philosopher,” The woman chuckled as she gently began turning Kat around so she could remove the handcuffs, “let’s get those handcuffs off you so Officer Jacobs can get you fingerprinted.”

Kat turned in the direction she was being directed only to continue turning until she was facing the female chief of police. In her hand she held the Chief’s handcuffs out toward her. Sheepishly grinning, “They were biting into my wrists so I took them off in the car.”

“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” taking the handcuffs from Kat’s outstretched hand.

“That was a neat trick with the handcuffs,” Officer Jacobs quietly said as he led Kat over to one side of the room where a fingerprint scanner sat on a table. “You’re not going to give us any trouble are you?”

“No sir, Officer Jacobs.”

“Just call me Tim,” Officer Jacobs began scanning her fingerprints into the machine. “I’m sure that as soon as old man Semfer gets one look at you he’ll drop the charges. He may do a lot for that boy of his, but if word got out that he went after a pretty girl for beating the crap out of his kid he would lose customers and this town is too small for his dealership to survive that.”

“Dealership? You mean Semfer Ford?” Kat’s eyes went wide, “I bought an old super coup from there.”

Tim suddenly became very still, “I can’t believe he sold you that piece of junk!”

“Piece of junk?” Kat’s body stiffened, crossing her arms under her breasts while shaking her head, “It’s a classic! Ford only made them for a few years.”

“Yea I get that, but that one was run hard and put up wet way too many times. It’s got a cracked head, water getting into the oil and at least one burnt valve.”

Kat’s eyes grew wide, “You seem to know an awful lot about my car?”

“I should, I used to own it.” Tim chuckled, “My dad bought it new, he gave it to my older brother when he got his license and then to me.”

“I’m restoring it.” Kat said proudly.

“It needs a lot of work, who are you going to have do it for you?”

“You think because I’m a girl I need someone else to do the work for me?”

“No, no,” Tim held his hand up in front, “I didn’t mean it that way, it’s just most girls could care less about that kind of stuff.”

“Tim I think we’ve already determined that Kathleen is not like most girls.” The Chief chuckled as she looked up from the small stack of papers in her hand.

Once Tim had finished with Kat he started to lead her back to one of the two holding cells they had in their small office. “I don’t think that will be necessary Tim,” The chief spoke, “I think we can trust her not to try and run away. Can’t we Kat?”

“Yes ma’am,” Kat nodded.

“So now that all your friends can’t hear what you say, do you want to tell me what really happened?” The Chief cocked her head.

“I told you, he was trying to rape May!”

“I am talking about the part where you said he, “The chief cleared her throat, “tripped and fell. The damage I saw in the boy’s bathroom appeared have come from more than someone simply tripping and falling.”

“He may have fell more than once,” Kat’s voice barely above a whisper avoiding eye contact with the woman.

“How many times did he trip and fall exactly?”

“Um, he was pretty clumsy,” Kat looked up at the Police Chief with a cheesy grin.

Before she could ask the girl any more questions the door opened and Kat’s mother entered the small police station. Seeing Kat standing there Deb got her daughter’s attention, “Kat! Do not answer any questions until Karen gets here with her lawyers!”

Kat’s shoulders hunched forward as she looked over at the Chief with pleading eyes, “You think I could get you to lock me in that cell before my sister gets here.”

“Sister?” The chief looked at Kat then to her mother, “I thought you said your daughter was an only child?”

“Kat is my only child, Karen is her half-sister.” Deb turned toward the Police Chief, “Chief Millman, What do we need to do so that I can take my daughter home?”

“Since Kathleen is a minor, that process is fairly simple.” The chief explained while walking over to a desk where she logged into the computer that sat on it, “She must have a legal guardian present, which of course you and you need to sign her bond.” A few moments later the printer sitting on the desk came to life and slowly fed out a sheet of paper that Chief Millman handed to Deb.

Deb took several minutes to read the paper before handing it back to Chief Millman, “There is a little problem. That would sign over our home if Kat did not show up in court.”

“Why is that a problem Mrs. Marlete?”

“It’s Miss, I was never married,” Deb corrected, “The problem is the house is not in my name. It’s in Kat’s name and held in trust by Dodge Industries until Kat turns eighteen.”

“Why would a big name security company like that manage a trust fund for your daughter?”

“Because the man who started the company, John Dodge, is Kat’s father.” Deb explained, “I’d be happy to put cash up so she can come home, I just can’t sign a promissory note against something I do not own.”

“A cash bond has to be set by the judge which would mean Kat would have to stay here until Monday morning for the judge to set one.” The chief cringed at the thought of having to keep the girl until then as it meant as the only woman on the force, she would have to stay also.

“We’ll have to wait for Karen,” Kat sat down heavily onto a bench that sat against one wall putting her elbows on her knees, her head resting on her open palms as her long blond tresses spilled down piling in the floor at her feet, “She’s the executor of the trust, she can sign it.”

Chief Millman sighed with relief before looking over at Kat, “Well at least I know why you were able to get out of my handcuffs so easily. Being a Dodge you’ve probably been picking locks since before you could walk.”

Deb gave Kat a stern look, “You picked the locks on the handcuffs you had on?” Kat nodded, failing to look up to meet her mother’s gaze. “Why on earth would you do something like that?”

“I got bored,” Kat mumbled. It was partially the truth, she was bored sitting in the back of the police Chief’s car, although she was curious as to whether her genetically changed body had the agility to do it.

Everyone sat around mostly silent after that until slightly over ten minutes later Karen came in through the door followed by Matt and their two girls Susan and Emily. “Can Kat go or do we need to wait for the sharks to arrive?” Karen looked straight at Deb as she spoke.

Chief Millman stood up from the desk she was sitting behind, walking forward toward the group that arrived, “You must be Kathleen’s sister? I’m Linda Millman, the police chief of this great metropolis. Only thing stopping Kat from leaving is a signature.”

“I couldn’t sign as it needed the homeowner or in our case the executor of Kat’s trust,” Deb stated.

“What do I need to sign?” Karen stepped forward.

Chief Millman led Karen back to her desk where she handed Karen the paper.

“Hey Chief, hold up on that release,” Tim spoke up from his desk, where he had returned during the wait. “There is a hold order on her now. The chief walked over to look over his shoulder at his monitor. A window was open that covered the center of the file he had open. It read “REMIT to FEDERAL AUTHORITY. U.S. MARSHAL SERVICE DISPATCHED FOR TRANSPORT.”

Chief Millman dropped her chin into her chest in defeat, “Sorry but it looks like we have to hold Kathleen until the U.S. Marshall arrives.”

Chapter 43

It was another ten or fifteen minutes of bickering back and forth, which could have been much longer if not for Kat and Matt, both well aware that the Chief had her own hands now tied, helping to calm a very irate Karen and her youngest daughter Emily. While Karen was still quite angry, she was sitting with her oldest daughter Susan when two men and a woman entered the small police office. The first through the door, his gray tinged short black hair proved him to be the oldest of the three, Held the door as the woman came in, followed by a younger blond man. All three had a chain lanyard that held an ID low on their chest. Each of the three also had a pistol on their side and a small badge that consisted of a five pointed star contained within a circle on their belt.

“We’re looking for Chief Millman,” The older man spoke, “I am Deputy US Marshall Bergman, these are my associates, Deputy US Marshall Brown and Deputy US Marshall McKinney.”

“I’m Linda Millman, Police Chief for Bowling Green.”

“Pleasure to meet you Chief Millman,” He held out his hand. Chief Millman shook his hand while taking a good look at the ID card hanging from his neck. “We are here to pick up a Miss Kathleen Marlete that you have in custody?”

“We were about to release her to her mother when your hold order came through Marshall. Would you care to tell us why the feds are interested in a teen girl with no prior record?”

“I’m sorry ma’am, I am not at liberty to discuss that.” Turning his head toward Deb, Karen and Matt, “Are you the child’s parents?”

Deb stood up, “I’m her mother,” Waving her hand toward Matt and Karen, “This is Kat’s sister and her husband.”

The Marshall nodded at Matt and Karen, “Ma’am, Sir.”

Slowly reaching for his wallet, Matt decided to try and play his trump card, “Marshall, I am Major Sawdey with the department of defense.” Opening his wallet to show the Marshall his ID. “Is it possible for the DOD to take Kat off your hands?”

“I’m sorry Major,” Shaking his head, “our orders specifically state that we are to transport and deliver one Kathleen Elizabeth Marlete to the District Marshall in Alexandria.”

“I know there’s a Marshal's office in Richmond,” Karen asked, “Why aren’t you taking my sister there?”

“As I stated our orders are to take her to the district Marshall, who is in Alexandria, not Richmond. You are welcome to follow us, although please do so at a safe distance and obey the posted speed limit. There is no need for you to rush in right behind us as it will probably take at least a half hour to process Kathleen once we arrive.” The Marshall smiled before turning toward the female Marshall, “Marshall Brown would you please escort Miss Marlete to our vehicle?”

Deputy Marshall Brown stepped toward Kat while producing a pair of bright neon pink handcuffs that were obviously different than police normally carried since they lacks the small chain that held them together, instead being made together with the ends of each being locked together with a hinge.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Kat sighed.

“Procedure dear, you have to wear them,” The female Marshall apologized.

“I figured handcuffs, but pink ones?”

After helping Kat into the passenger side rear of the large black SUV, Marshall Brown went around and climbed into the other side in the back seat with Kat. A few minutes later the other two marshals joined them, the older one climbing behind the wheel while the blond man got in the front passenger seat.

As they left the parking lot the younger one twisted around to look at Kat, “Not a big fan of pink I take it?”

Kat shook her head, “It’s not in my top ten of favorite colors.” Turning her head toward the female Marshall sitting beside her, “Why pink anyway?”

“They are kind of expensive to replace and I have had some lost in the shuffle. Haven’t had a single dispute about who’s they are since I went started painting them this color.” Marshall Brown smiled over at Kat.

“A lot of us have color code our cuffs now, makes it much easier to make sure you get them back.” The blond added, “I’m CR by the way.”

“Can you guys tell me what the US Marshal Service wants with me?”

Not taking his eyes off his driving, “You’re a high profile target kid.”

“What!” Kat gasped.

“Sorry dear,” patting Kat on the leg, Marshall Brown explained, “It’s possible that someone could use you to influence members of your family.”

“You mean try to kidnap me?” Kat giggled as she thought of the can of whoop-ass she would open up on anyone that tried that.

“It’s no laughing matter, people can be much more subtle when attempting to manipulate others.” Marshall Brown continued, “For example a legal charge that they agree to drop if the person is willing to influence a vote to go a certain way or hand over confidential information.”

“Yea so you can figure on seeing us anytime again anytime you’re involved in anything,” CR grinned back at Kat.

“Just great,” Kat groaned.

Chapter 44

As the Large SUV drew nearer to Fredericksburg Kat saw CR play with the dials on one of the two radios that were mounted under the Vehicle’s dash. The chatter on the radio increased immediately after turning it into the frequency used by Fredericksburg police. Breaking the silence as the Marshall took the exit off US 17 onto the Blue and Gray parkway, Kat asked, “We’re taking 95?”

Turning around once again CR answered, “It’s the best way up to Alexandria.”

Before anything else could be said the radio came to life again, this time with a more serious call, ~Two eleven in progress… corner of Plank and Task Force.~ gaining the attention of everyone in the SUV, including Kat.

“That’s just the other side of the Mall!” Kat sounded surprised.

CR chuckled, “Leave it to a girl to give directions based off where it is in relation to the Mall.” Marshall Brown leaned forward smacking the younger man in the back of the head. “Ouch! What was that for?” He turned so he could see the older woman.

“Because she has on handcuffs and couldn’t do it!” Marshall Brown smirked, “And by the way there are two females present in this vehicle.”

~All cars in the vicinity of Plank and Taskforce, Two eleven in progress, shots fired, officer down, needs assistance.~

Before the message had finished repeating a second time, the Marshall driving had turned on their lights and siren and floored the accelerator. “Get me a map now!” he ordered at the younger Marshall who was already digging through the glove compartment for one.

Leaning forward against the heavy acceleration, Kat raised her voice to make sure she would not be misunderstood, “Stay straight on this road, the Mall is just past the interstate on the left, Taskforce is the 2nd left after the Mall. The road we are on turns into Plank.

“Let them know we are assisting,” the driver ordered.

Reaching down CR pulled the microphone out of the cradle and keyed the side button, “This is US Marshall Tango Sierra seven four two, west on Plank moving to assist.”

~Roger Marshall Tango Sierra seven four two. Be advised multiple armed suspects.~

Nearing the scene CR pointed out a man run across the street carrying what looked like a military M4 ahead of them, “We got a runner!” Marshall Bergman slowed just enough to take the right turn to follow the runner who they saw duck into an alley. Marshall Bergman floored the accelerator pedal on the big SUV to quickly close the distance to the alley, then slammed on the brakes. The runner was near a quarter of the way through the alley when he turned with the rifle.

“EVERYBODY DOWN!” Marshall Bergman yelled.

Marshall Brown turned toward Kat, grabbing her and forcing her down covering Kat with her own body. The side window shattered, covering both Marshall Brown and Kat in a spray of tiny pieces of glass as Kat heard the crack of the rifle being fired which was followed by two muffled ‘thunk’ sounds as more rounds from the rifle impacted the bullet resistant material added to the interior of the SUV’s doors, as the rifle roared twice more. CR rolled out of the SUV, immediately Opening Kat’s door, unbuckling her from the seat belt and pulled her out by the arm. Bergman exited out the same side as CR pulled Kat out of the SUV and sat her down with her back against the rear tire “STAY!” CR shouted.

“I’m hit,” Brown said as she rolled out across the seat exiting through the open door CR had pulled Kat from.

“How bad?” Marshall Bergman, now standing with his pistol laid across the hood of the SUV pointing toward the now deserted alley.

“I’ll live,” Marshall Brown winced as she sat down beside Kat, “Got me in the shoulder. Go get that bastard!”

“Got to take care of you first,” CR knelt down to inspect her wound.

“Give me your first aid kit,” Kat looked up at the two Marshals near her, “I can take care of her.” CR looked over at Marshall Bergman.

“You know first aid kid?” Marshall Bergman glanced over to see Kat nodding, “Do it!”

CR trotted over opening the back of the SUV, returning with a large tackle box and two tactical vests. Tossing one of the tactical vests to the other Marshall, he knelt down placing the tackle box down by Kat and Marshall Brown, “Give me your hands.” He told Kat as he laid the other tactical vest down while digging his keys out of his pocket to unlock the handcuffs. Looking Kat in the eyes as he removed the handcuffs, “Don’t make me regret this.”

“You won’t, I’ll be right here when you get back.” Kat did not look up as she opened the large tackle box and began digging through the medical supplies it contained, “Go get that son of a bitch.”

Donning his own tactical vest, CR stood up then retrieved two AR-15s from the rear of the SUV before closing it up handing one off to the senior Marshall the two slowly made their way around the front of the SUV, their eyes searching the alley for any sign of movement or danger coming from the alley. Kat located a pair of the safety scissors with the blunted lower jaw that nurses and paramedics used to cut away clothing and used those to cut the Marshals sleeve back to expose the entry wound the bullet made.

Kat stood up, looking through the SUV’s rear window toward the alley after she completed bandaging Marshall Brown's gunshot wound, “They should have been back by now.”

“What?” Marshall Brown looked up from where she was sitting on the ground.

“They should have been back by now,” Kat repeated. “That guy didn’t have time to run all the way to the other end of that alley.”

“If he would have still been in the alley Jim and CR would have found him.”

Kat knew the guy was still in the alley, which meant he had to have some kind of training military or otherwise. To be good enough at concealment that two experienced US Marshals walked past him made Kat believe he may possess other skills that could also be outside of the training and experience of the US Marshals. Kat knew that sitting back and letting the police and Marshals handle this would result in more people shot, the guy getting away or both. Kat felt she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if she allowed that to happen. “I’ll be right back,” Kat began to walk around the Marshall.

“Hold on,” Marshall Brown reached out to grab Kat by her leg as she passed but missed.

Wincing as she got up, the Marshall followed Kat, catching up to her at the mouth of the alleyway. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“He’s still here, I know it,” Kat whispered.

“All the more reason for you not to go into the alley.”

“Okay then who?”

Marshall Brown sighed as she stepped into the alley, “Stay behind me and out of sight.” She hadn’t taken more than three steps when she heard a noise to her right, jerking her head toward the noise her eyes grew wide at the sight of Kat pulling herself over the top of the fifteen foot wall of the building on the right side of the alley. Before she could say a word, Kay looked down from the building’s flat roof putting her finger to her lips, motioning for the Marshall to keep quiet.

Marshall Brown could not believe what she was seeing as she looked up at the girl standing atop the roof of the one story building. With no windows, ledges or hand holds of any sort how did that girl scale the brick wall and so quickly. If not for the fact that Kat was standing on the roof, she would have said such a feat was impossible. Any further thoughts on how the girl did manage to get on the roof were cut short as she saw Kat point to her own chest, then down the alley then with two fingers at her own eyes. Realizing Kat was using hand signals to tell her she was going to have a look down the alley the Marshall shook her head trying to stop her.

Kat turned, crouched down and soundlessly crept along the edge of the roof line, her eyes focused on the alley looking for anything out of place. Years of military training, Kat knew that people tended never to look up unless something caught their attention such as a shadow or noise. The sun was at an angle where she did not have to fear that it would cast her shadow into the alley, all she needed to do was make sure she made no noise in the pea sized gravel that covered the flat roof. This would have been no problem if she had the time to move slower, but she could see the Marshall was also coming down the alley, Kat had to stay ahead of the Marshall and find the man’s hiding spot before he had the chance to ambush the Marshall. The man had already proven he had no problems shooting at someone wearing a badge, Kat did not want to give him a chance to do it again.

Making it to the spot on the roof just above a dumpster that sat against the wall of the building she was on, gave Kat the vantage point she was looking for, a place where she could see everything in the alley below without having to move. Kat thought that if she were in the man’s shoes, she would have the hiding hole somewhere behind the dumpster, that way when everyone ducked as he fired he could use the dumpster for cover as he climbed into a hiding spot. Whatever hole he had ran into was good enough to fool the two trained Marshals so it would not have been a last minute spot he had located, no he had set up this spot a day or more in advance. Everything about the situation screamed sniper to Kat.

Knowing what she was looking for Kat realized there was no way she would see the sniper under his camouflage at least not until after he was able to fire off his first shot, but there was one thing she could look for. A sniper would make certain to have a clear field of fire to his target. Kat figured that the Marshall would probably enter his field of fire as she passed the dumpster.

Along the wall below her there was dozens of wooden slatted crates all measuring around two feet by three feet and about a foot deep. None large enough that even Kat could hide inside but if he had came out earlier and re-stacked them to create a space inside the crates, there would be plenty of room to hide and wait. Kat was ready to jump down and tear into the stacks of crates when she noticed one crate that appeared to have fallen off the stack and lay almost perfectly like it was aimed at the corner of the dumpster. Moving so she was directly above the lone crate Kat saw the Marshall had walked into what Kat now considered the kill zone of this guy.

Something about that lone crate bothered Kat, focusing on it she saw what had to be movement inside the crate between the gaps in the wooden slats. Without hesitating Kat leapt from the roof landing beside the lone crate and kicked the end closest to the Marshall with everything she had. The thin wooden slats splintered from the blow and Kat’s foot found something much more substantial within as her foot caught the foregrip and barrel of the M4 rifle knocking the aim off as it fired a shot into the opposite wall of the alley above and ahead of the Marshall, who immediately raised the sidearm she held as she looked for a clean shot.

With the crate gone Kat could see the man had positioned the crate to cover a storm drain that its metal grates was bent allowing the man to slip between the metal bars so that only his arms and head were above. Kat grabbed the rifle with her left hand on its fore grip tearing it out of the man’s grasp. With her right hand she grabbed a handful of his hair and began dragging him out of the drainage grate. Soon as the man had his knees under him he wrapped his arms around Kat’s waist and tackled her to the ground. Bringing her knees up as she fell the man landed on Kat’s knees which she immediately kicked up and out as he landed sending him sailing over her.

As the man got to his feet the Marshall aimed her sidearm at him yelling, “Freeze US Marshall!” Just as Kat got to her feet stepping into her line of fire. Seeing that the Marshall could not fire without hitting the girl, the man pulled a K-Bar knife from his belt slashing at Kat. Kat side stepped past the knife while grabbing his wrist that held the knife. Cow kicking the man in the side of his knee a sickening ‘pop’ could be heard as his knee gave out. Kat continued her spin so that she now held his outstretched arm over her own shoulder as he began to fall. Pulling down on his wrist as he fell another ‘pop’ came from his arm as it was forced to bend the wrong direction. Kat let go of his wrist as the knife fell out of his hand.

“God dammit you broke my arm!” The man swore from the ground.

“That’s what you get for shooting my fairy god Marshall and making us late for the ball.” Kat grinned.

The man’s eyes got wide, “What the fuck? Who are you?”

“Well Duh,” Kat put both hands on her hips giggling, “Only princesses have fairy god Marshals!”

Kat turned to see that Marshall Brown shaking her head, trying her best not to laugh as she pulled her cell phone out of the belt holder it was in.

Marshall Brown took Kat by the hand and led her away from the injured man, “Fairy god Marshall?”

Kat shrugged her shoulders, “It sound a lot better than the raised by badgers story someone else started about me.”

“Do I dare ask how that story got started?”

Kat took a deep breath then sighed, “I kind of spar with the special forces guys on base. One of them kind compared fighting me to fighting a badger and the nickname kind of stuck.”

The Marshall looked over at the man lying on the ground then back to Kat, “I can see how you got that nickname, badgers can be vicious little things.”

“Well he did have a knife,” Kat deadpanned.

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Comments

What happened to part 6?

Chapters 39 and 40 seem to be missing. I assume they are in part 6.

Jorey
.

And 38?

And 38?

Missing?

The "missing" Chapters are in Part 5.

Jeri Elaine

Homonyms, synonyms, heterographs, contractions, slang, colloquialisms, clichés, spoonerisms, and plain old misspellings are the bane of writers, but the art and magic of the story is in the telling not in the spelling.

typo

That was a typo that my eyes were neglecting to see until I posted it. Fixed now

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Go MIss Badger!

An amusing read, thank you.

very very good

very very good

very very good

very very good

very very good

very very good

Well that perp made the No1

Sammi's picture

mistake...

" Never take a rifle to a 'Kat' fight "

Hmmm, there seems to be something going on in the background here, those martials and their warrant seem to me to be too auspicious.


"REMEMBER, No matter where you go, There you are."

Sammi xxx

You have to wonder

if it was some sort of test.

Good story

I was hoping to see the fight with the football team, but it was good to see Kat get more allies.

Jeri Elaine

Homonyms, synonyms, heterographs, contractions, slang, colloquialisms, clichés, spoonerisms, and plain old misspellings are the bane of writers, but the art and magic of the story is in the telling not in the spelling.

True but...

Sammi's picture

When she had trouble before, with security and police at the mall, the troops from the base and Project: SS turned up with Federal IDs that as the cliché goes would be ' ABOVE THE PAYGRADE ' of the US Martials.
What happened to them, and earlier Kat would have questioned the validity of the martials, as her brother/son-in-law is high up in the command staff of Project: SS, so the story the martials used says that they are either dupes or are in on disposal one way or another.

Wouldn't she be safer hidden on the base, in the Project: SS facility?

Remember that she is technicaly, worth millions as she is technology and a weapons system.

I too am looking forward to the 'Showdown at the Grid Iron' but is does seem that she may not get there!


"REMEMBER, No matter where you go, There you are."

Sammi xxx

Safer on the Project: SS base?

Sure she would be, although Matt pulling rank on a local cop and volunteering to take over is much easier than telling a Federal Marshall that they do not have jurisdiction without causing a much bigger problem. Impressing school boys with stories of Badgers and Ninja's is one thing but the Marshal's would need much more than that to release her against their orders. And then any explanations Mat gave, he would have had to given to 3 Marshals.

Better to follow them to their district HQ and give whatever cover story he has to their supervisor, who would then be able to control all the Marshals under his or her command.

As for being a 'weapons system'? Yes that is the main goal the project has, but have they succeeded? What is the scope of the project? What measures are they using to determine success or failure? Is Kat considered a success under those measures?

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Wonderfull

jennifer breanna's picture

Thanks for making the time to produce this chapter for us. Here's hoping things go back to normal for you at work. Great work.

Great!!!

Christina H's picture

Thanks for posting part 6 I have had withdrawal symptoms but real life has to come first as you say it takes care of those irritating things like eating and other stuff.

Great chapter but I'm still waiting for the football team fight but after the teams captain fell a few times the others may have second thoughts - though I hope not.

Hope your life gets back to normal soon thanks for taking the time to fuel my addiction.

Christina

“Fairy god Marshall?”

Kat has been compared to one of the Disney princesses so many times when other's first meet her that I couldn't stop myself from adding that in.

Shadowsblades, Branek and I quite often get on Skype and bounce ideas off each other, brainstorm, etc. (many times while consuming adult beverages at the same time). I came up with that one night while joking around and just had to put it in :)

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

nice and tight story

BarbieLee's picture

The dialog and descriptive part of the story was well connected. I haven't read any of the earlier chapters, only this one. If the rest of it is like this part then an exceptional story in the making. The pace of the story moved rapidly along and was very well scripted. By the time I reached the end of the chapter I felt like I had been in a marathon. Well done.
always,
Barb

Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl

How could

anyone not like this story!?
Great chapter!

Vivien

oh the pain the pain them

oh the pain the pain them boys are going to sound like dr zacharie smith from lost in space when the girlly terminator finished playing with them. bonuce bong biff bash if she was in mega city one she make a hell of a street judge.let loss the badger of war.

So, the "Feds" ...

Were actually there to rescue her?
Fun.

Gwen

Were actually there to rescue her?

I can say without giving away anything in the plot, Yes the 3 Marshals believe that is what they are doing :)

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

know you got to work bills to

know you got to work bills to pay as do we all but pretty please lots more please

Protection detail?

Very entertaining story, only quibble I have is a team of Marshals with a prisoner in protective custody would never split up to intervene in a crime, Thier mission was to bring Kat to Alexandria safely, and with 3 officers dispatched someone thinks its neccesary. Ordinary prisoner transports are done with a single Officer. I understand about poetic license, but it's been bugging me, sorry!

(I worked in corrections a bit, it's sort of like taking a veteran to a war movie)

not a problem Fletch

Not a problem, we can call it poetic license in this case if it make you feel better. But there is a good reason for all three in this instance.

Marshall Bergman is the senior Marshall of their field office. His orders were that he personally would escort Kat to the district Marshals office, therefore he was ordered to go. Kat being an underage female would require a female escort, and the last guy is a rookie, fairly new to their field office that they brought along.

As for diverting to assist the police, It's my understanding that an officer down call brings anyone and everyone that can help. With this being 3 marshals transporting what they have been told is a simple protect and deliver they could stop to assist, or at least I was informed they could do this. (For the Project: SS universe we'll say that it is)

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Backup

You are right, an "officer down" call brings every LEO to the area. You do not mess with a comrade in blue. Just last night I was monitoring the local police channel when an officer stopped a perp matching the appearance of scumbag (that's a technical term) in a domestic that had just happend He put his girlfreind/wife in the hospital. The dispatch automatically assigned another officer as backup but he was a couple of minutes away.

Suddenly the officer came on his radio and said get 'somebody down here' and you could hear sounds of a fight in the background. To sum it all up there were 5 pd officers, 3 campus police officers, 3 sheriff's deputies, and an agent from the state bureau of investigation.


I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.

My Comment Is Simple

Where are the other marshalls? You know the ones that went down the alley first?


I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.

Where were the other Marshals?

It wasn't a dead end alley, they went down it and out the other end searching for the gunman. Logically since they could not see the gunman when they came up after ducking, he had to have turned left or right at the end of the alley since they could not see him.

If you think about the time it would have taken even an expert medic to triage and bandage the gunshot the other Marshall took in the shoulder, they could have easily been several blocks away (depending on how fast they were in pursuit when Kat found the gunman.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Ok-a-a-ay

Given that the sniper had the technical advantage I would have thought he would take them out then wait for what else happened. After all he had a nice hide-hole to use as an escape.

BTW: that's a hell of a jump between 5 and 6.


I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.

Great preset up hide-hole

Yes he had a great preset rabbit hole with great camouflage but due to the slatted crates limited field of fire. Taking the two Marshals out would have required him to expose his position for his 2nd shot or fire blindly through the thin wood of the crate and hope to hit his target.

Another thing to remember is that one single rifle shot especially echoing off walls is impossible to tell which direction it came from at a distance. Two or more, the human ear can begin determining the direction it came from.

Now was he only covering the third Marshall just in case she spotted him or was he planning on shooting her? Impossible to say as the story never really tells us what the sniper was thinking before Kat attacked. The facts we do have is that there was at least one police officer shot and this man did fire off several rounds at the Marshal's SUV.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

The different agencies (6), I

The different agencies (6), I worked for over my 42 years, all had the same policy regarding transport of any prisoner. You DID NOT respond to calls if you had a subject in your vehicle. The rational was the subject (prisoner) was an unarmed, restrained (by handcuffs) civilian, and YOU, the officer AND the Department was responsible for his/her personal safety while in your custody. Never would we purposely place a subject into harms way, which was done by the Marshals having Kate with them and then intervening in the "Officer Down" call. The very most they could have done is establish perimeter security in hopes of forcing the perp (technical term) to not get away.
There were a couple of times when I did have a subject in my vehicle and I had to continue to the destination I was traveling to when a very serious call came over the "net".
One even dealt with a good friend of mine who was shot trying to stop some bank robbers. He died at the scene.
Once I had delivered my subject, I was then free to go and assist which I did.
I really like this story and I do realize that author "liberties some times take place"; just pointing out it can't in real life, as real lives do have a habit of coming into play.
I might add, in 42+ years of LEO service, I drew my firearm SIX times, NEVER fired it except on the range, (would have if it had been necessary, bu the perp/s gave up); and I am NOT an exception to this fact.
98% of officers (NATIONWIDE) fall in this same category during their own working careers; so we are not as "gun crazed" as TV and movies try to portray police as being;
Maybe the Marshals need to have Kate meet up with Lyssa, they would make a pretty good training team.

While I've known many LEOs

I never was one, and went off information I was told could happen and in a fictional world might happen. (At least my story isn't as bad as TV and movies portrayal of cops) I would like to say thank you for those years of service as a LEO, you guys are under paid and even more under appreciated.

I did come very close to joining the state police of one of the states I grew up in after I left the military but was talked out of it by several of my friends who were members of the local police force. I am glad they did talk me out of it after seeing what you guys have to put up with, I couldn't do it, even now 30 years later and so much calmer than I was back then, I could never take the abuse LEO's take from people when they are on the job.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

it was really bad here for a while, ....

Dawnfyre's picture

back in the 1980's in Canada, a badge was a big target for the criminal element.

There were a lot of officer down scenes. :(

One Vancouver Harbor Board Patrol Narcotics officer had 1500 pounds of wooden pallets dropped on him. He was seriously injured and wound up medically pensioned off, but he did survive and regain mobility. He hit the weights a lot, 6'2" and pressed 350 pounds doing 10 reps each set. That strength is what saved his spinal column.
( I babysat his kids regularly before his injury. )


Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.

I'm really looking forward to the ...

Jezzi Stewart's picture

... football team fight. After describing Kat taking down the school bad boy without breaking a sweat and then doing the same to what appears to be a pro asassin. I want to see how you make the FT fight anything more than anticlimatic.
Hugs, Jezzi

BE a lady!

The football team fight

Yes we do have to wonder what I have planned there so that it doesn't become boring. (insert evil laugh here) It is growing apparent that Kat should be able to easily take down the boys, she has never shown any doubts to that fact. I would think the biggest worry is that she does not lose her temper during the exhibition fight and seriously harm one of the boys.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

We did not use to get the

We did not use to get the officers shooting like the US but with islamic nutters the old bill have a bulls eyes on there backs long with troops like Lee Rigby in London.Nowsaday coppers pile in cause Issil barmpot going to go 9.11 on them. Dangerous times girls dangerous times indeed.

Spider-hole

Kitsune98's picture

Snipers are one of the most scary-a** things that I can think about when it comes to military assets. Those soldiers have both my fear and respect for all that they can accomplish. Snipers are like killing machines and can if trained well enough one can cause massive amounts of grief for the enemy. So for Kat to know about that and is able to pinpoint a sniper's Spider-hole as expertly as she did gives her "father" great credit towards his own abilities.

Great story so far, but I hope that jack-wagon captain of the team is available by the time for the team's showdown with Honey-Badger on the Gridiron.

Hmm

just what will happen at school now and what a idiot, I wonder if a certain Vice muppet had a chat with doug?
perhaps he going to use it as an excuse to get Kat expelled before She show up the football team,
And why wasn't Doug also arrested for attempted rape?
And that sniper was well prepared for the Leo's
at least he got his ass handed to him aswell got to wonder what he going to say he was beatn by a 5ft lil girl?
Matt

Not your average girl

Kat may appear like your average teen girl, possibly even a bit short for her age but as the sniper found out she is anything but average. Only the scientist that created the formula used on her know exactly what was in the DNA cocktail, but it is becoming apparent it was highly modified, probably not even human DNA. Then to add in her past expeirences....

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Well

Tas's picture

Well, I wasn't expecting this when I started this chapter, but hey, if you're going to be seeing some Marshals a lot, there's no better way to garner goodwill than to help bandage one up and then save another's life.

As always, looking forward to the next part!

-Tas

Seat belts required!

Yes the story does have a few sharp turns and twists. Who knows what will happen as we learn more about what really happened to Kat and what she can do now. Luckily the story is not as twisted as the mind that created it...LOL

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Ah, such great fun to read. I

Ah, such great fun to read. I like. Well, thanks for writing this, and bye for now.

I do hope...

Patrick Malloy's picture

That you plan on adding to this in the very near future. It's such a fun story that I'd hate to see it become an orphan.

Patrick Malloy

No chance of it becoming an orphan story

Not only will the story not be abandoned, I have two sequels in the process of being planed out.

I have quite a bit of the next part already done. My problem is time... No sooner than I had completed a huge project that revamped the way we could do a big portion of our work, they rearranged our schedule which means that I have been trying to get used to getting up in what I consider the middle of the night so that I can arrive at work on time.

After a week of this new schedule I am starting to get used to it and even got in some writing this last weekend although much of the weekend was spend inspecting and making needed repairs to an older car that I bought really cheap (15 years old)

I can't make any promises on when the next part of Kat's story will be posted because I know that as soon as I say I will have it ready on a certain date, someone will throw a monkey wrench in my plans, but I do hope to have it out by the coming weekend.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Great chapter!

Missed your 3 most recent chapters..yea!!! Something to read

alissa