Visisonor's blog

Chapter 1

There was a commotion on the outskirts of the city. A young woman in black uniform and a trooper beside her seemed to be in an argument with a sharply dressed man.

— We were severely outgunned, we had to fall back, — argued the woman. — And then John was hit.
— Aye, boss, we had to carry him away, — added the trooper. — If we stayed any longer…
— Nobody is asking you, — the one called boss cast a side glance at the trooper, then turned to look at the woman. — So the objective has not been accomplished.
— Sir, with all due respect…
— You are not showing the due respect, — he shouted, interrupting her.
Suddenly he waved his arm, aiming to hit her face with a backhand slap.

She leaned back instinctively, her hands clenching into fists as the slap missed her nose by an inch.

Neither of them noticed another character who emerged from the loading bay a few moments earlier and jumped off the platform just now.

— Whoa, what’s going on? — asked this newly arrived man, positioning himself between the arguers.
— What are you doing here? — the one in a suit gaped in surprise.
— Same old story. Looking for a partner. I trust this lady here does not have a teammate yet?

— A trainee who failed her first assignment, — sneered the boss. — Are you that desperate?
— Err, — the trainee seemed to be at a loss for words.
— Oh, I’m sure she is quite up to the task, — the newcomer pressed on.
— Well, if you insist… But that makes us even, okay?
— Okay.

The man who was looking for a teammate turned to the woman in black.
— If you don’t mind stepping aside with me for a moment, — he said to her, simultaneously trying to convey a sense of urgency with the mimics of his face.
Then he took her arm and led her away, leaving the trooper and the boss staring after them.

— You know he’d court-martial you if you as much as tried to hit him, do you?
They were walking down an empty street now, far out of sight of the other two.

— He tried to hit me, — the raven-haired woman shook her head. — What was I supposed to do?
— You didn’t let him. That was good enough.
— But sheathe, obedient, thy revenging steel.
— Sounds about right.
She stopped abruptly and waited for him to stop and look at her.

— So you’ve saved me. Why?
— I know Ian for a long time, and anything to deprive him of a reason to gloat is a plus in my book.
— Even if it means wasting a favor you could ask of him?
— Good eye. Yes, worth it.
— Well, thanks.
— Don’t mention it. And besides, — he grinned, — I really do need a teammate. Would you consider working with me?
— You mean I have a choice?
— Of course you have a choice, — he said with a sigh. — I won’t force it upon you, and you can always change your mind later.
— I don’t even know you, — she mused hesitantly.
— Agent Constantin. You can call me Costa.
— Um. I’m Linda.
— So what say you, Linda? — asked Constantin again, stretching out a hand.

She gave it some more thought. Could he be trusted? There was no way to tell right now, she didn’t know him. But she could be assigned to another agent whom she didn’t know either, if she passed the test, that is. And this one at least helped her out of a serious trouble. It seemed quite fair to give it a try. And so she made up her mind.

— All right, — nodded Linda, shaking Constantin’s hand.

They resumed their walk. It wasn’t long before he broke the silence again:

— What happened on that mission, if you don’t mind me asking?
— Perhaps you should have asked before offering to work with me, — mused Linda sadly.

Then she retold the events that led up to an argument with Ian.

The location I was sent to secure was strategically important for an upcoming advance. It was empty, according to intelligence. I had two troopers with me. When we arrived, we’ve noticed a streak of light seeping through the gate, and the whole place seemed so rundown that we suspected some vagabonds made it their home.

But it was not vagabonds who settled inside. The gate cracked open when we approached, and a Trashcan burst out of there. I think I’ve seen two other syncons too but I can’t tell for sure.

I just knew we couldn’t take down a Trashcan with assault rifles and SMGs. One of my troopers was hit.

We’ve barely pulled him out back to the stairs. Yeah, objective not accomplished…

She trailed off at that, visibly upset.

— Look, you did everything right, — said Constantin encouragingly. — Your intel was not up to date, preserving your unit was the best you could do.
— I wonder why that Thrashcan didn’t follow us, — Linda’s mind was still replaying the events she’s just recounted. — It could have easily finished us off.
— Perhaps syncons thought you had backup waiting for you. But you’ve blown their cover, I bet they’ve left immediately.

They went on, heading back to living quarters and discussing other details of that mission and subsequent events, not aware that this group of syncons was indeed withdrawing, proving agent Constantin’s assumption correct. And one of them — with distinctively feminine features — sent an encrypted message back to base. It wasn’t actually expressed in words, but its meaning could be interpreted as “Made contact. She seems to be the right type for us”.