Mind the J's and W's - Part 7

“Enter your account number,” and Ward spun the machine toward him.  That was the signal.  Three men jumped out of booths that surrounded the eating area.  One went straight for the case and the other two went toward the bodyguards.  Ward jumped up and went down and over the table being careful not to block Jan’s sights.  His mission in all of this was to take Usman in.  What he knew would be useful and whether or not he wanted to tell them Ward would get it out of him. 

All was going as planned, that should have been the first warning as Streak stood up and move quickly toward Errol.  Ward had taken down Usman, and the two bodyguards had been disabled.  He wasn’t quite sure if they were alive or dead and he really didn’t care.  He was to take out Errol and he went for him like a lion.  Pistol whipping him across the forehead he watched as he fell to the ground holding his head.  He wasn’t down for the count though.  With his freehand he reached for his sidearm, but not before Streak could drop his knee onto that arm accompanied by the sound of breaking bone.

“I want it all,” was all he said in Russian to him.  It was Errol’s smile, blood covering his face and making him look all the more evil as the white teeth broke through the crimson red that unnerved him then.  He turned to see it then, another man, one he hadn’t known about; a suicide bomber and he knew he was out of time, they all were.

Jan had opened her thoughts and mind to the entire situation playing out before her eyes.  It was the only way to be prepared and it was then she felt it in amongst all the fear and panic that had started as soon as they had started to take the people down.  The noise was drifting up to the top of the building and mothers were hurrying their children away, but not fast enough.  She got the feeling of total emptiness and devastation.  Ward must have gotten it at the same time and faster he could communicate it to his group faster than words could be spoken he communicated it to Jan. 

Streak wanted to yell, to scream to clear the area before the man would kill them all.  A thousand things went through his mind all at once as if his brain was moving at light speed and his body at a sloth’s pace.  The uranium was safely out of there and that was the only good thought.  Collateral damage on this one was going to suck, but the bright side of it, if there was one, was that he wouldn’t live long enough catch the flack for it.  He wasn’t going down without a fight.  It seemed to take hours for his hand to pull the gun up just a fraction of an inch as he flipped it around in his palm.  The blood on the butt of the gun left it slippery and he felt more than he saw it slide from his grasp.  Then just as suddenly the bomber was down and Ward was on top of him.  Half of his head was missing and Ward had somehow prevented him from pushing the detonator.  There was a price.  He watched as Usman got up and started to run into the crowd.  He then heard the second shot as he watched Usman go down holding his hip.  That’s when it hit him that the sniper, or snipers, had fired.

Jan had punched out the two shots quickly and was now certain her vantage point had been discovered.  She could do no more to help them down there, a point that Ward had stressed inside her head.  He was wanting, no needing, her to get out of there and for once she agreed.  She had used gloves so that she wouldn’t have to wipe the rifle if she had to leave it, and it was obvious she was going to have to leave it.  It wouldn’t make much difference if they tested her clothes for traces of powder, but with any luck it wouldn’t come to that.  Running to the other side of the roof she hid herself behind the loud, archaic cooling units.  She just hoped that Rob was on his way.

The door to the roof banged open, but she could barely hear it over the units.  There were six men fanning out over the roof looking for the gunman.  They immediately went toward the gun that she had left lay on the roof.  They were quick, and they were efficient.  She could tell that from their minds.  The one in command told the others to fan out and search for the shooter.  Jan couldn’t help but think Rob could show up just about anytime.  She pushed out Ward’s worried thoughts as he had too many problems to deal with himself, and she let him know that.  Then she felt Rob’s mind close by.  Even though they couldn’t communicate with each other, he knew she would be looking for his thoughts.

On my way partner, and she smiled.  She started to rub her eyes and luckily she didn’t have to pretend to cry, as she was soaked clear through her burka.

“Out of my way,” the man at the top of the stairs was yelling at one of the officers.  His dialect was perfectly accented, “I know she’s up here hiding.”

“Sir, we are investigating a shooting,” the officer was blunt, “you have to leave.”

“Not until I find my cheating wife,” he pushed past the man, “She deserves the beating she is going to get and she can’t keep hiding from me.”

“Sir,” and before they could stop him again he went right for the cooling units.

“There you are you slut,” and he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out from under the units, “This time I promise to beat you within an inch of your life.”

“Sir we will have to question her before you leave.  Some one was shot in the market and we need to know if she has anything to do with it or saw anything,” just what they needed; a progressive Afghan man.

“Good luck,” Rob spat out, “She is deaf and dumb and is only good for one thing.”  It took her only seconds to convince the men that she couldn’t hear say anything as they tried to speak, and yell, at her.  She just shook her head in fear and keened when they pulled back the face cover of the burka.  After all, women in this country weren’t supposed to be educated and those who had a handicap were definitely not worth much of anything to their families except for what they could sell them for.  Rob pulled her off the roof and pushed her down the stairs roughly so as not to draw any suspicion.  Once down, they quickly made their way out of the area and headed for the major city of Kabul.

“We’re clear,” he said into his lip mike as he drove away.  This mission was done, all except for the clean up and debriefing.  Moving the lip mike off to the side he spoke again, “Nice shooting, sorry I wasn’t there sooner.  I needed to make our friend a bit more comfortable.”

It was hours later and dark before they had all been debriefed and were off to their rooms for some much needed rest.  Streak was safely back in place at Usman’s compound, they had received a coded transmission.  The uranium was now being safely transported back to the states, and Usman, Errol, and the one bodyguard that had survived were all in custody.  Ward had traveled back with them and he had been gleaning information that was now part of the files that he had already typed and turned in. 

“It’s midnight, go get some rest,” Rob looked at Jan as she reached for another cold cola.

“In a bit,” she smiled and went back to typing her report.

“You’re not meeting with him,” he sounded more like her father and less like her partner.

“You’re probably right,” she didn’t look at him.

“Jan,” his voice chastised her.  She just looked at her work.

“Okay,” she replied.

“Damn,” and he pushed up from his chair.  Starting to leave the make-shift offices they had been given on the base he stopped, “He’s going to hurt you.  He’s got to live by the same rules and worse yet he believes in them.  You’re already too connected.  Don’t get yourself hurt,” he hadn’t even turned to talk with her.  He couldn’t bear to look at her and think that she might actually want a forever with someone.  They had all agreed to the rules; they all knew the score on this one.  She could go have fun, but don’t connect.  Problem was, there was a connection.  The PED had discovered their mutual attraction, researched it, and then decided to have their handlers nix it.  He’d tried but not very hard.  What he didn’t know was if Ward felt the same way about Jan.  He should report it, what she was about to do, that was his job, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.  His head dropped a little as well as his shoulders.

         “I’ll be careful,” she said it so quietly he almost didn’t hear her.

Espionage and Eggs - Part 6

He leaned against the outside of the building, under the eves to stay out of the rain.  It was the only door out of the makeshift barracks that they had used to clean up in after the training operation.  The session had finished about thirty minutes ago and it was now about five in the morning.  He was tired.  By all rights he should have crawled into the dorm and gone straight to sleep.  Instead he was standing outside waiting to drive back into town, hopefully with company.  Ward had showered and changed in record time.  He had left the locker room and had been standing in the rain for fifteen minutes waiting for her.  Even if the dorm rooms were just fine for him, he had already checked and knew she had arranged to go back into town.  He hoped he would find a better spot to sleep today.

Glancing at his watch he saw that it was still an hour before sunrise.  They were ten miles out of town and deep in the woods.  He watched the drops of water drip from the edges of the roof, and wondered just how much longer he would have to wait for her to come out.  His skin began to tingle, the hair rising on his arms.  For some odd reason, he couldn’t read her mind, but he knew she was near.  Ward could sense her breathing and her heartbeat, just not her thoughts.  It was an odd, yet compelling feeling, and in some ways far more personal.  He turned just in time to see her walk out of the door and out from under the cover of the roof into the rain.  She turned to smile at him, and stopped.  Her hair was still wet from the shower, and she had brushed it back off her face into a ponytail.  Her face was free of make-up.  Even without the conventional trappings she looked wonderful.

“That’s how I did it,” and he immediately knew what she was talking about.  She had listened in on their conversation in the locker room without them knowing it.  It wasn’t fair but he should have expected it, she was that good.  How much she had seen he began to wonder about, but not for too long.  Ward had intrigued her as much as she intrigued him.  She had felt that invisible pull the first time she had seen him.  When the training mission had been assigned she had also done her work and known he had had a hand in setting it up and including her.  From that moment on the game had begun.

“Interesting,” may have only been one word but it covered the array of feelings and thoughts he was having.  He hadn’t moved from the side of the building.  Jan took a step closer, intentionally increasing the heat between them.  “Be interested in discussing it some more over breakfast?”  Ward didn’t move, just smiled.  Yes she was his match in more ways than one.

“What do you have in mind?” Jan stood in the rain and Ward watched the rain dribble down the side of her face, all the while she ignored it.  Ward was having a harder time ignoring it.  He wanted to reach out and wipe it off of her cheek.  She must have known because all she did was smile again as she looked him in the eye waiting for an answer.

“In about a half an hour a great little place in town will open up.  It will serve just about anything you have in mind.  We can catch the sunrise as we go in,” Ward couldn’t read anything in her mind.  For that matter he wasn’t allowing her to read anything from his mind either.  At least he thought he wasn't.  The word play was getting to him though, and for some odd reason she seemed to be enjoying the banter just as much as he was.

“How’s the coffee?”  Jan ran her hand through her hair, pushing the pieces that were beginning to wash back into her face behind her ears.

“Better than most, worse than others,” Ward stood up and took the keys from his pocket.  He wanted to pull her under the eves and out of the rain.  Somehow she seemed to thrive standing in it, and she looked at home in it as well.

“Then shall we go before the rest of the genetic freaks get out here and they have to come along,” she smiled and started to walk to the small parking area.  With that one sentence she allowed him in on a secret as to whom she had been reading in the locker room. "By the way. . ." was all he got out before she continued talking.

"If you get lucky I just may let you pay the bill," she had driven one of the department’s cars and assumed Ward had done the same.  To her surprise they climbed into a small nondescript, but adequate four-door sedan.  Most likely a department car, but of a different class altogether.  As they drove off Bobby walked out of the small building that housed the locker rooms.  Neither one of them saw him.  He took a few minutes to watch Ward drive away with his prize, and a curious feeling he couldn’t quite identify went through him.

They hadn’t said a word since they had left the training area.  Jan sat at the table across from Ward waiting on her order.  It was a waiting game now to see who was going to talk first, and she didn’t have time for it.

“So, were you wondering just how good my hands were as well?” and she smiled.  It was a flash of something that crossed his face and the sudden stillness of a hunter that had been discovered that let her know that his thoughts had not been about her training.  They had been purely about other things. 

"The water pipes make great speakers," she continued.  Slowly it dawned on him and he laughed. 

“I should have known,” he picked up his coffee.  "I'll keep that in mind for the next time though."   

“I take it that this was the first time you included a girl in your little group,” it wasn't a question.  Picking up her cup she took a small sip of the hot liquid as she looked at him over the rim.

“Not so,” and he smiled back mischievously.  He waited while she put her cup back down and then continued, “My first handler was a woman and she trained with us a few times out here.  Obviously she didn't want to let that little secret slip.”  It had been a long time since he had been able to talk about Melissa without being overwhelmed with sadness.  They had never been anything more than friends, best friends.  She had always been there for him.  More to the point they had always been on the same track when they were working together.  He hadn’t had that for a while.  His new handler, Gregg, had been a waste of time and as soon as Ward could he had requested someone new.  Not something that was normally done, but Ward had proven himself enough of an asset that they had done it.  Normally once assigned a handler there had to be something of a catastrophe for a change to occur.  Even though he knew it would happen sometime, Ward wasn't going to wait for that to happen.

Novel Ideas Part 9

Coming close to the end of this short story. What do you think should happen next?

Days later the number of people left in the program had dwindled.  Ward’s roommate was still in the program, but things were getting harder. They were demanding more from each person. Ward and Bobby drug themselves into the room long after the sun had gone down. Whatever they had been having them do must have been working. Both Bobby and Ward stopped short and turned to for the person that was sitting in the dark in their room.

“Jack?” Ward spoke as Bobby walked over and turned on the light. Jack and worked with them a number of times. He was already a trained agent and had been invaluable with the basics. Over a short period of time he had become a trusted associate and a good friend. Ward could feel that something wasn’t right and it wasn’t just the look on his face or the droop of his shoulders. It also didn’t go unnoticed that Bobby turned and flopped down on his bunk in exhaustion. Jack glanced over at Bobby and then back at Ward.

“Can we,” and he nodded toward the door. Ward was exhausted himself but something was troubling Jack and he couldn’t get it out of his mind. If he was right in how he was reading his mind, a skill that was still so new to him he didn’t want to trust it completely yet, it had something to do with Jack’s progress in this training, and Bobby.

“Yeah, I could use some air myself,” and he turned, summoning up energy he didn’t have, and walked out the door.

Novel Ideas - Part 3

Sorry this has taken so long.  I have been busy doing 2 or 3 different jobs for the past couple of weeks.  I hope it has been worth the wait!

  Two weeks later Ward was pretty sure that all the promises his handler had made were possible.  His tent-mate and now his friend, Bobby, had been as driven as he was and they had taken their training into their own hands even during the their few precious hours of recoup time daily.  It wasn’t above-board but they had gotten good at reading each other’s emotions and predicting each other’s movements.  It was, if one would excuse the pun, mind blowing, what they had achieved.  If all this could be accomplished in two weeks then it was hard to imagine what the full two months would bring.  Ward had noticed though that not all the candidates were having the same success.  Most seemed to be progressing as expected, but there were a couple that he knew had been put on a watch list.  This new week was going to bring new challenges.  Not only were they honing their empathic reading skills they had been trained in, not something that would be hard for Ward as he hadn’t waited to do that, they were focusing on mediation techniques to rest and rebuild the mind.  

Ward woke at dawn already sweating as the heat had reached an uncomfortable temperature.  Throwing his pillow at Bobby he yelled for him to get up as Ward moved for the door and flung the flaps open.  There out on the edge of the camp sat one of the men he had rode in with, Jack.  They had spoken a few times and he was one of the men on the watch list.  He had his back to the camp and their seemed to be a small stream of smoke drifting off above him.  As smoking and drinking were taboo this made Ward even more curious.  As he walked toward him he tried to get a read on his feelings.  If they were going to train you to do this they had to expect you would use the skills.  Jack seemed at peace, calm in a way that Ward had never felt.  Ward was about to doubt his read when Jack spoke.

“Come and sit and join me, it will help you get through today.”  The idea that the people here knew you were there before they could see you was becoming more normal for Ward, so he sat.  He saw that the smoke emanated from a small fire pit Jack had made on the ground.  “Old prayer ritual to my ancestors, tribal beliefs that my mother taught me.  I keep this one up mostly because it focuses me on what is important.”  When Ward didn’t say anything he continued.

Next to Nothing

Okay... I've been really bad at this.  What with everything going on, change of job, kids moving and a little vacationing on top of that I just really haven't gotten back to this.  Not to say I haven't thought about this blog.  Late at night I sometimes write a fab blog post in my head as I drift off to sleep only to forget the entire thing by morning.  Now, I can't be the only one who does this? I have to admit to telling myself stories at the end of the day to go to sleep.  Maybe this is a habit started long ago when my mother used to tell me stories, or cemented when I used to read stories to my two sons.  However it happened, it happened.  Some of my best story ideas been in the times between sleep and wake.  The hard part if to remember it when you wake.

All I Need To Know Is In A Book

The most important things in life are found in books.  

Take a few moments to find them for yourself.

What Makes a Writer

The picture says it all don't you thiink!!  Well no, maybe I just need one more.....