{{ Were you expecting EVERY mission to be a gunfight? }} the leader of Hybrid Security thought. {{ Ask Dennis and Allyson or Wyrm. Sitting around is most of what we do. In our business, ‘interesting’ tends to be synonymous with ‘messy.’ }}
Terillia sighed. She glanced around, spotting the three members of the Triad inconspicuously guarding the back entrance. The three of them had been more than willing to hook up with as profitable a group as Hybrid Security. Bear was their spokesman. Terillia wasn’t sure if that was his real name or not, but it certainly fit. He was six feet, six inches tall and as broad across the chest as the animal whose name he bore. Then there was Boomer, an explosives expert. He and Wyrm got along famously, which made everyone nervous. Finally there was Snake, a small arms and martial arts guru. He was slender but muscular, with long blonde hair that almost gave him an effeminate look. If he hadn’t been male, Terillia probably would have found him attractive. Eliza hadn’t been able to find a lycanthrope that suited her purposes, but they were still pretty well set for this mission. Thug and Tiny were inside somewhere, while Allyson and Dennis were undercover somewhere. Eliza and Veronica were being very high profile in the lobby. But Terillia remained convinced that things were going to get really hairy at any moment.
——- ———————-
Two days later . . .
——- ———————-
“I can’t believe it,” Terillia said, still stunned. “Nothing happened!”
“Is she still stuck on that?” Dennis asked, his hat pulled down over his eyes.
“Honey, a day where we get paid rather than shot it is a GOOD day!” said Allyson. “Last time things got exciting, we got stuck in a year-long war.”
“I would not have killed us to have at least one fight,” Terillia muttered, mostly to herself.
“You almost had a fight,” Eliza chortled. “When you ambushed that delivery guy.”
Terillia buried her head in her hands. That had been a horribly embarrassing incident. She had seen a man approaching a group of delegates who were standing out front, and he had some form of rod in his hand. He was also carrying a mysterious package. Terillia, announcing her findings to the group AS she flew into action, soon discovered that the “rod” was just a ballpoint pen and the package had been official documents for the convention.
“It looked like a wand,” Terillia grumbled.
Dennis chuckled. “Calm down,” he told the young woman. “We all make mistakes, and at least you had the good sense not to use lethal force or anything. Just remember, we have procedures for a reason. Any one of us is an imperfect machine, and that’s why we always wait for confirmation unless the threat is imminent and/or obvious. You’ll get the hang of it. You’re smart enough to ask questions, so keep doing that.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Eliza said, “on my first job with this crew, I shot an elevator.” Eliza waited for the laughter to subside. “I’m serious, the damn thing made a ‘ding’ noise right behind me, and I was already on edge.”
Dennis smiled. He remembered that mission. “Hell, my wife almost got banned from Germany for life after some ‘inopportune’ comments about our employer and his family. His family happened to hold several offices in the government.”
“Hey,” Allyson replied, “let’s not forget you and your little ‘drag-queen’ episode in Barcelona!”
Terillia began to feel better as all the members of the team started sharing their “worst case scenario” stories. By the time they were approaching the compound, she felt more like a member of the team than ever. She had her own story to tell when the next members joined.
“We’re here!” came a deep voice from the front. Bear, amongst his other talents, apparently could drive just about any land-based military vehicle that had ever been built, including the military transports Eliza had bought. He and Snake were crashing with the Murgos for the time being while Boomer was sleeping on Wyrm’s couch. Vicky had taken to crashing in the small spare room of Eliza and Veronica’s house, and wherever Vicky went those days, Terillia went too. The two had been steadfast and energetic lovers for a month, and the one positive thing about having an uneventful mission was getting home and getting back to her sexual education. But Terillia was soon to discover that “excitement” didn’t have a set tee-time.
As soon as the crew piled out of the vehicles into the compound, Terillia saw Vicky standing on the front porch, looking very nervous.
“Eliza,” she said as soon as the white-haired Hybrid came into view, “you better come inside. A news story just broke from Terra. The Swords of Cleansing just made an attempt on your father’s life.”
Eliza felt . . . empty . . . for a moment. It was a cold kind of hollowness that was apparent even to those around you. Faster than most of the crew could even watch, she sprinted inside with Veronica hot on her heels. The holo-projector was up and running, with Wyrm ensuring the most reliable data-stream feed.
The anchor was discussing the aftermath of what was apparently a Phoenix Trap, which was a clever kind of trap where one spell dispelled any protective magic in the area, including the wards surrounding a hidden fireball spell also laid by the attackers. Getting rid of such traps was difficult since most counter-trap spells instantly set them off. Somehow, an insurgent sorcerer or sorceress got into the Prime Minister’s Palace while Evlidone Msabdteelfinclor was there, and the trap had definitely been laid for him. He was in charge of security for the entire continent, including Terminal Point, and he was an outspoken proponent of inter-world trade and relations. No word was given as to his condition.
Eliza hurried into the bedroom and grabbed her communication orb from the closet. The orb had been dormant since the dimensional portal had been sealed over a year earlier. She hadn’t bothered to reactivate it, since there wasn’t anyone on the other side that she really wanted to talk to . . . or who might want to talk to her. She concentrated on it, following the magical thread through a web-like network back into the Terran dimension and straight to her parent’s house.
{{ ANYONE! }} she screamed mentally. Right behind her, Veronica actually felt pain from telepathic shout. {{ MOM?!? DAD?!? Someone fucking answer me! }} There was no response. Then she felt her communication being drawn in another direction. Finally, she felt a familiar mind.
{{ Eliza? }}
{{ Mom? Where . . . }}
{{ I’m almost at the Palace Medical Center. I knew you would try and communicate, so I had your transmission forwarded to the coach. Don’t worry, your father is okay, }} she added, heading off Eliza’s next thought. {{ He wasn’t caught in the blast. His bodyguards weren’t so lucky. }}
{{ Mom . . . Mom I’m sorry, }} Eliza started, tears in her eyes. {{ I should’ve been there . . . }}
{{ Please, don’t start that now, }} her mother said. {{ If you had been here, I would be worried about two people I love instead of one. But saying that . . . I know he’d never ask, so I will. Your father needs you, Eliza. Please come. }}
{{ I will, }} Eliza said, clenching her fists. Then her mother’s coach entered the palace grounds and the communication was cut off. Eliza turned and found that Veronica had already started packing two suitcases.
“Before you even say anything, yes I AM going with you,” Veronica told her lover. “So don’t even try and talk me . . .”
Veronica found herself silenced by a kiss from Eliza. “I’ll never leave you behind,” she whispered. “I just didn’t want . . . I didn’t want it to be like this.”
“‘Like this’? Love, this is the way our lives work these days. Now lets go. Your father needs you.”
The two of them grabbed their bags and headed out to the transport. They didn’t see any of the team out in the main room, so Eliza figured she would just call them from the road. When they got out to the transport, they were in for another surprise. The entire team was packed up, personnel and gear divided amongst two transports, with Bear driving one and Dennis driving the other.
“What the hell . . .” Eliza started.
Allyson was the first to speak. “Boss, I know this is personal business. But what’s personal to you is personal to the team, even the new guys,” she said, looking behind her at their most recent acquisitions. “If there’s going to be a fight, we’re going to be there with you. You can let us go with you or you can deal with us following you.”
Eliza hugged her dear friend. “Saddle up boys,” she said, tossing her bags into the back of a transport. “We’re going to pick a fight!”
———– ——————
Several days later . . .
———– ——————
A series of coaches pulled up to the Msabdteelfinclor palatial estate. Veronica’s mouth was hanging open. If they had come under different circumstances, she’d probably be gushing all over the place. Eliza’s parents lived in a castle in every sense of the word, and it was bigger than a couple of towns Veronica and Vicky had lived in as kids. And it was gorgeous. Even Vicky and Terillia were impressed, and they had spent a lot more time on Terra than most. Tiny and Thug just grunted, then started grabbing bags.
“Thug, you remember where the guest rooms are? And you have that list of passwords for the security spells?”
|| YES AND GOT ‘EM, || Thug said, hauling their equipment up to the front door.
“Mom ordered the servants to give us free access,” Eliza said to Veronica as everyone else headed inside, with the exception of Vicky and Terillia. “She ‘ordered’ them. Crap, even the people who fertilize the gardens look down on me,” she said.
“I’m sure that’s not what your mom meant,” Veronica returned, rubbing her head. That annoying buzzing “sound” she had felt when she crossed over the last time had returned with a vengeance. She was beginning to wonder if dimension hopping had side effects.
“She’s going to be staying with my father at the Palace. They’re both under high security until the person who cast that trap spell is caught. Shit, I came all this way and I don’t even know what to do next,” Eliza said, sitting on the low concrete wall surrounding the parking area. “It’s not like I’m going to be able to work incognito around here. Everyone knows me and not many of them are exactly willing to help a ‘half-breed lesbian’ anyway.”