Chapter 26: Elite Execution

Months of monotonous planning had finally come down to this. Cairo had no business complaining since she and the four Hybrids involved in the operation had been in training at the Bitrall compound for just over three weeks while Dietra Bitrall, daughter of slain trader Teek Bitrall, had been waiting for this moment since the day of her father's death. In theory, the plan was executable, but it also had very few degrees of freedom and almost no room for error. Essentially everything had to fall in place. If one domino landed incorrectly, the mission would end, likely along with all of their lives as an added bonus. While Cairo was fully aware of the risks, at the moment she was mentally elsewhere. She was not looking forward to being boxed up...for hours...yet again. For the third time in less than a month, she found herself situated in a bio-screened container. She understood the necessity of her predicament given the circumstances, but her ability to rationalize the situation didn't make things any easier, especially given the fact that she had already discovered her mildly claustrophobic tendencies during her first exposure to a lack of exposure. Thankfully, her condition wasn't debilitating, but even so, the confined quarters certainly added to her overall stress level. And repetition wasn't making things easier. In fact, after her last boxed-in affair, her initial self-assessment of "mild" claustrophobia had now advanced into the realm of "moderate".

"This is not one of the checkpoints!" Tiru Flireen suddenly blurted out.

Cairo responded to him telepathically.

"What's going on?"

"Please remain quiet, it's part of the security detail. I need to pull over..."

Cairo was prepared for the enhanced level of scrutiny that they were likely to experience due to the Bi-Annual Global Review. No vehicles, other than State transports would be allowed inside a 6 kilometer radius of the Capitol Complex. In addition, many pre-set, vehicle security screenings were established outside the mandatory perimeter but apparently, this wasn't one of them. That made Tiru nervous, which in turn, made Cairo uneasy...

Tiru, who was Trace's second cousin, decided to speak before spoken to. As the security officer approached the vehicle he said:

"Greetings Officer, I hope I did not violate any transport-"

"Silence, Surface Dweller. State your business."

Their plan had a contingency for a situation such as this, but that did not make Tiru any more comfortable. He knew all too well that Zeta security forces could do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to people like him with little to no consequences.

Calm...Stay calm, he coached himself.

"Sure Officer, we are transporting needed supplies to our marketplace location on the east side of the city."

Tiru electronically pushed his citizen and business permit details to the security officer before they were requested. After studying the details on his tablet for a moment the officer added:

"Open the rear hatch."

Don't worry, we planned for this. However, what did worry Tiru, was if the biofilm would still work within heavily guarded portions of Capitol City.

Tiru got out of the vehicle and removed the security release that allowed access to the rear portion of the vehicle. As the official looked through and began scanning equipment and other items in the cargo area, Tiru made sure to block all outgoing mental transmissions. Thankfully, he "heard" nothing incoming from Cairo as well. She was securely situated in a "box" that was generically notated as "electronics and related hardware". Any x-ray scanning device used to see what was on the inside would "confirm" the contents as such. If by chance the official demanded an internal inspection, they had a protocol they would enact for that specific situation as well.

After minutes of fumbling through the purposefully disorganized and cluttered cargo bay, the officer finally made his way over to "Cairo's box". As expected, he attempted to use an x-ray scanning device to verify the contents. Unexpectedly, however, his device failed to operate.

No, Gods, please do not allow this, Tiru pleaded internally.

He dreaded what might come next. If the official insisted to open the box, he would have to comply. It would also mean that the official would have to be terminated...on the spot.

"Open the case," he demanded.

Tiru climbed into the cargo section of the vehicle, but instead of opening the box, he handed the official his (working) x-ray scanner. Not part of our protocol training but just maybe... For a moment, the security officer looked directly into Tiru's eyes but didn't say or telecommunicate anything. Instead, he glanced at his timepiece and then looked back at the box. He then proceeded to scan the case using Tiru's device. As he was finishing up, the official returned Tiru's scanner and handed him the documentation tablet. As Tiru attempted to take the tablet, the official's grip tightened.

"You said 'we'", he stated as a matter of fact.

"Sorry, I don't think-" replied a somewhat bewildered Tiru.

"You said weare transporting needed supplies...Who exactly are 'we'. I only see you. Is there something or someone you wish to share?"

The officer was actively probing Tiru's mind. Thankfully, extended universal thought repression was part of the repetitive training he had received and often complained about, until right now. Stay strong!

"Not particularly, officer," Tiru calmly replied. "Our trade encompasses many teams and family members. To promote unity we use 'we' when talking about our various business dealings and operations."

The officer gave him a skeptical look that Tiru returned with what he hoped was a genuine-looking smile. After an awkward silence of several seconds, the officer finally released his grip on the documentation tablet and immediately turned away and exited the vehicle without uttering another word or thought.

Once the officer had left the scene Tiru exhaled deeply.

Tiru exited the cargo hold and re-entered his vehicle. As he sat alone he let out an audible sigh of relief. He knew that Cairo had to feel the same.

She replied before he could "officially" ask her.

"Yes, I am very relieved", she communicated telepathically.

"I am also impressed that my repression techniques held up well for you. Nice job," she added.

"Well, I wouldn't pat me on the back too hard," responded Tiru. "Up until now I thought I was still repressing my thoughts!" he said with a smile.

Cairo laughed.

"Perhaps, but you did manage to hold it together just long enough!"

Tiru carefully resumed their trip across town, mindful to stay within Cairo's active telepathic range at all times. This was a bit of a challenge for him given the small 0.6 kilometer buffer he had to work with between the mandatory off-limits range ring associated with the Capital Complex and Cairo's slightly larger circle of influence.

"Tiru, can we safely park somewhere so that I can catch up with Dietra and the Hybrids," Cairo asked him. "We lost valuable time during that little escapade. Based on my best estimate from previous transmissions, they should be approaching the Capitol Complex water cutoff junction very soon. As such, they will need my eyes and ears. I am doing my best to match their locations with our physical location. Stopping, even for a few minutes would make that mental/physical overlay process much easier for me."

"I have no doubt that parking would help you, but no, we cannot safely park anywhere right now," Tiru curtly responded.

"I just attempted to do that, and within 60 seconds we were approached by Capital Security. I don't think the stop was random or by coincidence. We just got very lucky Cairo, and we cannot risk being boarded again."

She knew he was right. She would have to suck it up and just concentrate harder. She had no issue "hearing" the team since her listening range went to almost 15 kilometers. The problem was she could only actively communicate out so far, and Dietra could only "hear" Cairo's messages out so far. And unfortunately, both of those metrics were right on the edge of where they were at the moment. This is even more demanding than the Hybrid extraction mission, she thought to herself. It was one thing to estimate how far a mental target was, but quite another when you and the target were both in motion! She was painfully aware that under these conditions, her task would be exponentially more difficult, especially given the distance limitations they were up against and the level of precision that the mission required.

"Fine," she relented, "but can you at least do your best to get us into logjam traffic conditions?"

After a few seconds, they both laughed after recognizing how absurd her request sounded on the face of it.

"Well, that would be a first," Tiru responded. "But yes, I'll do my best to get us near stationary."

Cairo was genuinely worried, especially about the four hybrids on-site at the Capitol Complex. They had no experience of any kind for an operation like this. She had taken a lot of grief over the past two weeks of training from Sympathizers at the Bitrall compound for even considering the Hybrid novices for such critical on-site roles. The truth of the matter was that she had no choice but to include them in the operation. Back on Earth, she had made a deal with the Hybrids that they would be with her when it all came crashing down on the Zeta elites. And that time was now. Still, she did agree with the Sympathizers who insisted that all unnecessary risks needed to be eliminated whenever and wherever possible. To that end, they formulated a plan that would largely rely on the experience and savvy of Dietra Bitrall, and only use the Hybrids as a decoy on-site warning system.

After the delay associated with their mini-adventure, the team of five was now in place in the main building where the Bi-Annual Address would soon begin. Dietra, in her everyday life, was a mid-level administrative assistant for a high-ranking Zeta political official. As such, she already had full clearance within the Capitol Complex. She would easily pass any DNA security checks that the team might encounter. The Hybrids were another story entirely and would require a Plan B. Thankfully, the Sympathizers had reliable access to the advanced biofilm her team had successfully used previously. The complication, in this case, was not getting the biofilm, but instead making sure they had access to DNA from other workers who were already cleared within the Capital Complex. To meet this mission need, a few "unsuspecting" Capitol workers had to be "temporarily detained" so that we could acquire the necessary genetic samples required to grow the film. In the end, however, Cairo made sure that none of the 'donators' were harmed. Even after successfully securing the requisite materials for the operation, the mission was still fraught with risks. However, they were risks she knew they had to take. They'd have one shot to take out 744 "significant members" of the Zeta ruling Elite in one fell swoop. That enormous total included 642 Global Provincial Magistrates, 18 Regional Viceroys, 4 Global Chancellors, and, most importantly, one Supreme Leader. Their next opportunity to execute anything close to this scale would be exactly two years from now, which for their purposes would be two years too late.

"Tiru, you are tipping us in and out of range. Please do your best to keep us within my workable communication space," she informed him with a slight hint of irritation.

"Do you seriously think I am not doing everything I can to minimize our distance? If you haven't noticed, we are limited by real-world traffic patterns. There is only so much I can do, especially with the level of external scrutiny we are facing, literally at every turn."

Once again, Tiru was right and she knew it.

"I'm sorry. It's just frustrating since I can hear Dietra but I am not sure she can hear me. Also, due to our motion, my mental overlay with the 3D imagery isn't matching up the way I'd like it to. I can't protect them if I can't communicate with them or accurately project where they are relative to the bogeys around them."

"Bogeys?" asked Tiru.

"Yes, it's a very old Terran military term used by fighter pilots to describe enemy target aircraft," she replied. "In this case, I'm referring to Zeta personnel within the Capitol building that are in relatively close range to the on-site team. I don't want them blindsided by what they can't see."

Tiru decided to soften his stance a bit.

"I'll do my best to minimize our distance to the Capitol building. Just understand that it's not as easy as snapping my fingers."

To which of course Cairo immediately snapped her fingers.

Ah, silly child! They both laughed.

Unfortunately, the break in tension was short-lived.

"Wait...I'm getting something again from Dietra," she said abruptly.

The incoming telepathic message had an extremely narrow transmit path, which was good. It was meant only for Cairo and would be very difficult for anyone else to interpret.

"PHOENIX-1, we are at the primary water junction," Dietra communicated telepathically. "The team is in position. Security checkpoints are secure and we are ready to execute HYDRA. Do you read?"

~~~

Dietra waited for Cairo's reply but nothing immediately came back. Right now she estimated that her team was close to 6.1 kilometers inside the Capitol Complex security cutoff ring. She also knew Cairo's range for active mental comms was 6.6 and her own ability to resolve telepathic communiqués was 6.4 (on a good day), which meant they effectively had a cushion of no greater than 0.3 kilometers to play with if they were to get any pre-emptive warnings from Cairo during the operation. It was likely that this thin margin for error was in play during her last two attempts to externally communicate. Still, Dietra took some solace in knowing that her previous transmissions had to be heard given Cairo's passive (i.e. listening-only) range was an almost inconceivable 15 kilometers. Unless of course, something had gone terribly wrong...

~~~

On the other end of this string-and-tin-can game of mental telephone, Cairo, thanks to her incredible passive telepathic range, was able to decipher everything Dietra had tried to communicate previously. In fact, this was the 3rd time Cairo had "heard" Dietra's transmission. Unfortunately, and rather frustratingly, none of that mattered since it was painfully obvious that Dietra was out of range and unable to receive Cairo's first two replies. Cairo also knew that after three failed attempts, and despite her vigorous disapproval, the agreed-upon protocol was for the on-site team to proceed without her broad telepathic cover. Because this possibility was in play, Cairo, in similar narrow frequency broadcast fashion, quickly responded to Dietra a third time, praying that this attempt would be within Dietra's range.

"ATHENA-1, connection confirmed. I have your immediate surroundings secured," Cairo communicated. "I've identified four team members in place, with nominal mental activity noted on the same vertical plane, with a lateral distance of approximately 400 meters from H31 and increasing. Recommend cautiously proceeding with HYDRA. All team members maintain mental activity to ensure continuous remote access...over." Cairo prayed that this time...the third and final time, her message got through...

~~~

Dietra's eyes suddenly lit up. She knew that her team technically could have continued without Cairo's incredible mental capabilities but there was no question that they would be in far better shape if Cairo had their back. And now she did!

"PHOENIX-1, roger that!" Dietra exclaimed, not even trying to cover up her obvious relief.

Cairo was no different as she audibly clapped her hands in utter delight.

"What's going on back there?" asked a confused Tiru.

"Nothing, you just keep driving up there!" the teenager responded with glee.

"Silly girl..." Tiru mumbled to himself as he rolled his eyes and shook his head once again.

"I heard that...and let me guess, are we rolling our eyes again?" Cairo assessed accurately.

"Excuse me, are you talking to me?" asked Dietra, who was still very happy but beginning to get a bit confused with the side chatter.

"No, no, no, nothing I'm sorry, everything is fantastic!" replied Cairo, still overjoyed that she was finally able to make active contact with the team.

"Ok good," Dietra replied. "At this point, we are ready to proceed. And by proceed I mean purposely get sick to my stomach."

Cairo knew exactly what she meant and felt sorry for her since she knew Dietra was about to vomit. Twice....and on purpose.

To minimize their chances of detection, Dietra had to pre-ingest the bioweapon in order to make 100% certain that the toxin could get into the confines of the Capitol Building. The deadly slurry that was encapsulated within a very resilient casing designed by the same Rigel biochemists who constructed the Zeta-specific death cocktail was currently sloshing around within the confines of Dietra's upper stomach. Making matters worse Dietra was told, over and over, to make sure that she "gently" regurgitated the packages when the time came, and that being of Zeta-decent, having the casings prematurely puncture would not be supportive of "a positive outlook for her long-term well-being".

Knowing this, Cairo did her best to convince the Sympathizers that she, a Human, should lead the onsite effort. Given her Terran genetics, the bacteria in question would have absolutely zero physiological effect on her. Of course, that's where the logic of having Cairo lead the on-site effort ended since she also would have zero chance of gaining entry into the complex even with the most advanced biofilm at her disposal.

No, it was clear that Dietra had to be the mule and it was a role she willingly, albeit nervously, took on. Still, as she was about to find out, philosophically accepting a known risk and staring it directly in the face are two very different things. Fittingly, she would have to go through this nasty process twice since there were two distinct slurries in play. One was a waterborne sample and the second was a much more concentrated airborne version that was to be distributed through the Capitol Building's main ventilation system. Given this, Dietra would have to "gently" throw up twice. Each time having her heart in her mouth along with two of the deadliest cocktails ever concocted. Joy, she thought.

"Well, best to get this over with,'' she muttered to herself.

Since Dietra chose to keep her mind open, Cairo had heard everything but decided a reply wasn't warranted (or probably a good idea) at this point.

After "practicing" her upheaval technique a couple of times, Dietra finally did it for real. As promised by the good doctors of Rigel, the slimy mess came up smoothly and quickly.

That was a bit too easy...

She wasn't initially sure which "package" came up until a quick visual inspection of the hot mess in front of her depicted the telltale red sheathing associated with the airborne variant.

One more time...