Monday. 10:50 Armstrong Building, Lecture Hall 2

The second class of the day was a history class about historical naval victories. Some were way back when ships sailed the seas, but most were in the void. Kristin didn’t seem overly interested in the class. It felt a bit too much like a propaganda class instead of a useful one. John knew the details inside and out. He was even less interested and even more bored than Kristin.

Their classmates looked equally unimpressed and restless with the class. Their lecturer, a very old captain that was well past his prime, was droning on from the lectern. This only added to the misery most in the class felt.

“As you can see here, the Valiant and her battlegroup took the fight against the Mercantilist forces here and here. Executing a pincer attack flawlessly,” the captain paused and pointed at the screen with a laser dot, “as you can see these attack wings dove hard and fast between the lines effectively preventing the enemy from reinforcing and helping one another.”

The lecture continued on for five more painful minutes an electronic ding could be heard by all in the classroom. Instant relief could be heard and felt by all the cadets.

“Oh, heavens me, it looks like that’s it today. Please read up the rest of chapters three and four.”

“Good lord, we have three more months of this nonsense,” John said quietly.

“Shoot me now,” Kristin said shaking her head.

They were far from the only cadets fed up with the class. There was an eagerness to leave the room not found in their other classes. Somehow, someway, they would all have to find a way to deal with the class.

11:30 Gerald Ford Station – Kansas Space Elevator

The man and woman waited impatiently in the customs line. This station was renowned for its long wait times and horrific customer service. Both of them truly wondered how the station existed, but then they both willingly came there. They both looked frustrated and annoyed.

“At this rate, we’ll be lucky to be in Annapolis by the end of the day,” the man said.

“Agreed, though it appears that rushing things won’t matter a bit. We won’t be able to get to work until Friday. Our packages delivery just got delayed again,” the woman said showing her tablet to him.

“This has been one mess after another.”

“We were given the green light to cancel if the situation becomes untenable and head home. The contract doesn’t need to get fulfilled.”

“No, we will go through with it. We were paid to do this job. A couple more days isn’t that big of a deal.”

The line moved forward a bit. The couple ended their conversation and waited in silence and general annoyance like everyone else around them. They waited patiently and kicked forward their bags as the people at the front of the line were cleared through customs.

Through some merciful act, not one but two more customs employees went on duty that moment. Hope that the line would speed up existed. A security officer walked up to them.

“Ok folks, sorry for the wait but we’ve got a couple more workers coming online. We’re going to start the new queue here. Every other person file in the new lines.”

The couple looked at one another and a feeling of happiness could be seen on each other. They both picked up their bags and hurriedly walked to the waiting customs agents. As the man got up to the agent he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his passport.

“I’ll take that, thank you,” the customs agent said with nary a hint of emotion, “Purpose of your visit to Earth?”

The man responded instantly, “Closing a retail business deal. Or at least we’re hoping to close the deal. We were supposed to be negotiating in person already though.”

The customs agent wore a disinterested and bored look on his face, “Length of stay.”

“At least a week but not more than three weeks.”

“Right, that means you’ll get by with temporary visitors pass,” the agent continued to type into his terminal, “Do you have any off-world fruits or vegetables to declare?”

“No sir.”

“Ok, place your bags on the conveyer and we’ll scan them.”

The customs agent lazily pointed at the scanning area to their side. Both the man and woman got through the customs questions roughly at the same time and placed their bags where they were requested to.

After the bags went through the scanner their agents waived them by. Another security officer opened the bags and did a cursory exam of them. They did find some chewing gum in the woman’s bag and a slightly oversized bar of deodorant that was confiscated. After that, they were cleared to enter the commercial area of the station. They walked down a long corridor.

“Security is a fucking joke. They confiscated my fucking deodorant,” the man said shaking his head.

“Had our main goods been with us we wouldn’t be chatting right now. Annoying as it may be to have lost the gum and deodorant.”

“I’m going over to that corner store. Why don’t you find where the elevator is?”

The couple parted ways. The man went to the store to find the items to buy. When he did so he joined the queue to pay. The women in front of him were talking.

“Did you hear about the elevator?” the Karen-looking woman said.

“No, what happened now?” the other, older woman responded.

“It broke down again. Thank god I wasn’t rotating out today otherwise I would’ve been pissed.”

“We really need to apply for a transfer to Armstrong or elsewhere.”

The man groaned in his mind. They didn’t need these last-second curveballs. Their target wasn’t going to be easy. He began remembering his past run-ins with John. Were it not for a cosmic-level piece of luck, he wouldn’t even be alive today.

Eventually, it came his time to pay for his goods. He walked out of the store to find his partner on her tablet. She was having a very animated conversation. As he got behind her, he tapped her on her shoulder.

“Aly, calm down, you are making a scene.”

“Vic, Jesus, you scared me,” Alyssa said after composing herself, “The fucking elevator is broken down. We’re delayed at least a day.”

“Yeah, heard that already in the store. We can either find alternative travel arrangements or we wait. Rushing anything isn’t going to help us one bit.”

Alyssa held up the tablet to Victor’s face, “Earliest flight is forty-four hours from now.”

“Well, that’s that then. Let’s get a room and a bite to eat. May as well relax a bit.”

“I’ll agree to some food, but you aren’t sleeping in my bed,” Alyssa said, “We aren’t that close.”

Victor shrugged; the attempted try to bed his partner was worth it. He had partnered with Alyssa on several jobs in the past, but she had never dabbled business with pleasure. She usually came off as far more professional than Victor, though when it came to public transportation, she quickly lost her cool.

Despite Victor’s hopes, which were destined for failure this evening, the pair retreated to a hotel. They both needed to clean up, have a hot meal, and plan for their mission. They would also need to relax and get some good rest. They both had to be on their best, for anything less than that would spell their doom.

5 Days Later, Friday. 18:00 Vic’s Speakeasy

Alice and John were out on a rare date night. Vic’s served authentic Italian cuisine. Everything was hand-made by the chefs. The seating area was covered with hilariously old, and somewhat tacky-looking, flair from the 1930s.

John took a large sip of wine, he didn’t catch the producer, but it was shiraz from Australia, “Was it just me or did that week take for bloody ever to finish?”

“Right? Classes just dragged on and on. I finally got information on my doctoral studies.”

John leaned into the table, “Oooh, Dr. Lief sounds so fascinating.”

“Ugh. I can just hear what my brothers will say when I become a doctor.”

John smirked, “I can imagine. They may outrank you but you can hold the whole, ‘I’m a doctor,’ bit to shut them up.”

Alice shook her head, “You know damn well nothing shuts Marky up.”

“That is true,” John said as he spread some garlic butter on the bread.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” Alice asked.

“It’s an early football game which starts at 10:00. Probably head to the stadium after chow. Hadn’t heard what anyone else wanted to do though.”

“I know Kristin and Andern have wanted to go out to dinner sometime. Maybe we do that tomorrow?” Alice said before taking another drink of wine.

“That works for me,” John smiled, “Not like I’m going to complain about going out to eat. May as well experience that when we can.”

Their server came out and topped off their wine and also let them know that their food would be out momentarily. Alice’s dish came out first, Ribolitta with a side of Cipollata con Pancetta. John looked at the soup and side dish both looked delectable. His meal was brought out by another server, Chicken Cacciatora.

The couple dug into their meal. They continued to chat about this and that. The topics didn’t matter much to either one. They were content enjoying the rare moment that it was just the two of them. Had they met in a standard university, enjoying such private time would be a regular occurrence?

The evening was going great until someone sat down at their table. John noticed them first but ignored them and continued eating. Alice almost bit through her spoon when their visitor sat down.

“How’s the super couple doing? Holy hell, man, you looked pissed,” Jess Markos, Naval Intelligence Field Agent, said to the pair.

“For the record, I’m not pissed but I’d be lying to you if I said you were a welcome sight,” John said as he shoveled a forkful of salad into his mouth.

“Why the hell are you here?” Alice hissed out the question directly.

“A two-person hit squad is targeting the two of you. They managed to get through Earth customs earlier this week. We only found out about that this morning,” Jess said with a stern look on her face, “We are here to take you into protected custody.”

John didn’t miss a beat, “Vic and Aly, right?”

Jess gave a confused looked at him, “I’m not sure why I even bother asking how you this already, but how did you know that?”

“I’m the bloody source. Mercantilist spook contacted me. I forwarded it on,” John then took the last bite of meat on the chicken thigh.

Alice sighed then spoke, “Where are they now?”

“In the city as of two hours ago. Unfortunately, we don’t know their exact location.”

“We presume they have the drop on us,” John said calmly before pulling out a data slate, “Have these items transferred to our safe house post-haste.”

Jess took the data slate and skimmed it. She looked back at John who simply responded by pointing at it. There was no point in arguing or debating. John’s stubbornness was legendary amongst the agents, but he was only wrong in his asking of resources three times. Given that track record, it was hard to argue. Plus, his demand was only to have his prototype power armor, the new battle rifle and twin submachine gun, and a couple of pistols and rifles that were suppressed for non-armor use.

She scanned the information and made a quick call, “Yeah, he’s being himself. No, he’s not budging.”

“What’d you ask for?” Alice asked.

John finished his glass of wine, “My armor, appropriate weapons for it, and some sidearms. Combat suit for you and appropriate weapons.”

“Ok, we have a fifteen-minute ride to the house. Your gear will be there in twenty,” Jess said.

“Well, my dear you should finish your meal. We’re not leaving until the gear and we arrive at the same time. And since y’all fucked our plans up Jess why don’t you take care of our meal?” John said with a smirk.

Jess sighed and complied. She got up and went over to the waitress. Alice shook her head and finished up her meal quickly. When Jess came back, she pointed at the kitchen. John picked up the loaf of bread and followed her.

“Lead the way,” John said taking a bit from the loaf.

18:50 Safe House, South Side of Annapolis

John was wearing his void sheath and sitting at a table. In one hand were the battle rifle’s magazine and the other a handful of rounds that were being put into it. He had filled four magazines, fifty rounds in each so far. Two more of the standard kind of magazines were left to go. A pair of twin drum magazines also sat on the table; those could accommodate two hundred rounds.

While the thought of having two hundred rounds in his rifle was a good one, loading them was less so. The feed lips were a bit too sharp for comfort and as a result, they were known to cause the user to bleed. He always forgot to grab a speed loader to hasten this job.

John didn’t pay any attention to the numerous field agents and guards in the building. Nor was he eavesdropping or trying to hear what Alice and Jess were talking about. That they were speaking to one another was interesting, but that had John a bit on edge. Alice was wearing a combat suit and didn’t need her throwing down with Jess.

“That one is always focused on the mission,” Jess said leaning back in her chair.

“Not always, though when someone is actively trying to kill him, he gets that way,” Alice responded with a painful smile before taking a sip of coffee.

“I can practically taste his murderous intent.”

Alice grinned but was slightly taken aback, “Did he get like that a lot when he was an agent?”

“Oh girl, all the damned time,” Jess giggled, “Bad guy so much as looked at him the wrong way and he just went straight for the throat. By the way, I appreciate you not trying to rip my throat out.”

“Don’t mistake my civility for acceptance,” Alice glared at Jess, “We aren’t friends. How long are we going to be here?”

Jess shrugged, “Dunno until they find the assassins probably.”

John looked over at them as he set the first drum magazine on the table, “They're coming tonight. We won’t have to wait long.”

Everyone in the room looked over at John with concerned looks. The other agents quickly looked back at the scans and refocused their efforts. Alice took a sip of coffee and was about to speak. Jess fired off her response more quickly.

“How are you so sure?”

John didn’t look up as he continued to load the other drum magazine, “It’s what I’d do. You brought us to the wrong safehouse. Vic was a marine sniper before he washed out of the marines. Damn good one too. There are no less than six buildings around us that can get eyes on us.”

“What about the other one?” Alice inquired.

The metal on metal clicking continued as John loaded the magazine, “She’d rather get up close and personal. My hunch is that Vic will open fire first which will give Aly a shot to shank me,” John looked up for a change, “Or anyone else that gets in her way. People are going to die tonight, that much I’m certain.”

“That doesn’t explain the how though,” Jess said with an irritated tone.

“Vic is a hothead. When he gets impatient, he forces things. If your report is accurate both of them have been delayed for four days from starting. Nothing short of an act of God is going to dissuade him from the attack,” John looked up at Alice and then answered the question she was formulating, “Dr. Norman sponsored the contract and as such he likely has far more information on me and Naval Intelligence’s holdings that we are aware of. The question is why did he sponsor a hit squad on me now.”

“You don’t think…” Alice lost her train of thought.

“Exactly.”

Jess looked confused and interrupted, “Exactly what?”

The room seemed to be more lively and far busier than it was just moments before. The stress levels ramped up too. One of the agents deployed an extra set of kinetic barriers near the wall. Scans of the outside buildings ramped up. Including some that wouldn’t hold up in a court of law. Another agent asked Jess to run a couple of external scans, to which she begrudgingly complied.

“Alice put the armor plates and power pack on now. Keep your helmet nearby,” John said as he set the drum magazine on the table.

He got up to walk to a terminal and began cycling through the different surveillance cameras they had set up. Alice walked over to the storage closet and got her combat suit fully equipped. She had a rifle magnetized to her back and a pistol on her hip. She walked up to John and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“How’s this going down? And what can I do to help?”

“Helmet on immediately when things go down. Then make sure to stay away from windows and exterior walls. Keep your head on a swivel and shoot anything that looks like a bad guy,” John leaned in and whispered, “I’ve got a bad feeling about tonight when she showed up. Can’t shake it off.”

Alice caressed John’s cheek, “I’ll be ready.”

John walked over to the reliquary holding his armor and turned it on. He still wasn’t sure how the amplifier was going to work or behave but a live-fire test was as good as any. Getting into the armor after the shit hit the fan wasn’t likely so now was the operative time.

After the device connected the last armor plate it handed John his helmet. He walked back over to the terminal and began looking at the scans once more. Then one of the agents took a call.

“Confirmed sighting of one of the assassins a minute ago three blocks away. Lost track of her though. Recommend relocating the friendlies,” the agent said.

John walked over to the agent on the call, “Do you have enough spare agents to make it look like we relocated?”

The agent pulled up some information on a data slate and showed it to John, “Yeah, but I don’t like the idea of pulling that many agents away from here.”

“And we don’t have eyes on the hostiles, which reduces the effectiveness of that strategy,” Jess said from across the room.

“Can we spare three vehicles?” Alice asked.

“Send ‘em out and see if they bite?” John asked.

Alice smiled and she nodded. The other agents didn’t show off any sign of disagreement with the plan. The agent on the call relayed the request down to the garage. They then picked the first three cars to be the decoys.

The cars were controlled remotely and would go into autonomous mode shortly after they got on the road. Their destination was the car storage lot at the academy. They tore out of the underground parking garage and merged onto the street like bats out of hell.

John walked over to the kitchen then leaned down and placed his hand on the ground. The other hand put and locked his helmet on. Its eye lenses flashed green. He switched to the suit’s sensor suite in the HUD, and it looked like a massive person was walking down the hallway slowly.

He quickly switched the camera feed to the hallway, “SHIT, they…”

A large explosion annihilated the door and stunned or outright killed the occupants near the inner wall. John, unfortunately, due to his proximity to the blast, was sent flying through an internal wall and landed in the apartment’s spare bathroom. A figure wearing a highly customized and feminine appearing power armor darted inside. They raised an oversized pistol and fired at her. Alice’s eyes bulged in their socket as blood covered her face, her helmet lay on the floor at her side.