I almost stayed in the shallow waters of the swamps forever. The truth is, I tried to. However, the contentment I had felt with living in ignorance no longer satisfied me once I discovered that the rest of the Quasing were out there. After two hundred years, I rejoined human society.
By now, the New World was on the verge of becoming its own country, but little else had changed. The Prophus and Genjix were still waging a shadow war, using humans as proxies. I rejoined the Prophus and once again attempted to make my own mark on history.
After her bitter and exhausting argument with Io, Ella decided the best way to avoid talking or hearing from her Quasing was to be unconscious. She hadn’t had a lot of rest the previous night anyway, having stayed up with Nabin until the end of his watch. She dragged her weary but now clean and refreshed body back to their room to try to get a few more hours of sleep.
Fortunately, Lam and Jax were up now, so it was a little less cramped. In fact, since Cameron was on the roof keeping watch, the cot was free. Ella made a beeline for it. Before she lay down, she remembered what that damn alien could do while she was passed out. She took out a rag and began to tie her left wrist to the rusty metal frame of the cot.
Is this really necessary?
“Damn right it is.”
After she was satisfied that the knot was good and tight, she settled down to sleep. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, lying with one arm hanging next to the headboard, but she didn’t have much choice. Ella shifted a few times until she found the least uncomfortable position and was soon fast asleep.
No sooner had she closed her eyes, she woke with a start and found herself sharing the bed with two others. Actually, it was more like Nabin had moved her against the wall so Nabin and Dana could sit on the cot. The rest of the team was sitting in a tight circle on the floor of the room, whispering fiercely amongst themselves.
Awake again?
Ella yanked her right arm and noticed that she was still tied to the bed frame.
Are you really going to tie yourself to something every time you sleep for the rest of your life?
“You don’t have permission to control me when I sleep anymore.”
She shifted and began to work on the tight knot. Nabin’s eyes flickered to her wrist and then he turned his attention back to the group. She liked that he didn’t pry.
The conversation the team was having was getting heated. Harsh words were being hissed and they were talking over each other so much she couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Most of the anger, however, seemed directed at Cameron.
Ella was about to speak when she decided to keep her mouth shut and figure out what was going on.
You know, I have been listening. You can just ask me. Just because we are on opposite sides does not mean we cannot be civil.
“I hope you die in a fire.”
If I get burned, so do you. You know that, right?
“Just go away.”
Well, I intend to be mature about things. If you must know, Cameron just ordered his team to continue onto their destination to Sydney, Australia, for their vacation.
“That sounds nice of him. What’s the problem?”
He is not planning on going with them.
“This is all off-book,” Cameron was saying. “And a personal matter.”
“Those were Genjix,” Nabin said. “That makes it Prophus business.”
“We have no support, no supplies, no backup.”
“That’s why this isn’t the time to go rogue, Cam,” said Lam. “As your auxiliary, I go where you go.”
“As Lam’s Pilates partner, I go where she goes,” added Dana.
“As Dana’s ex-boyfriend,” said Jax, “I go…”
“All right, all right.” Cameron threw his arms up. “I get the point. Wait, you guys dated?”
“For like eight months,” Nabin said. “How did you not know?”
“That’s not the… We’re getting off track. Damn it, guys, we have no mission here, and that’s that. I’m giving you a direct order.”
Jax scanned the faces of the rest of the team, leaned back against the wall, and gave Cameron the middle finger. “With all due respect. Sir.”
“Is this really how you want to spend your downtime?” Cameron asked. “Chasing my ghosts?”
“Oh, I’m still taking my downtime,” said Jax. “You’re just going to reschedule it for us after the Tanzania assignment. Besides, there’s the issue of payback for Dubs.”
There was a chorus of “yays” and “damn rights” from the team.
Cameron sighed. “You’re a bunch of magnificent loyal bastards. All right, fine, you insubordinates get to stay. Now to business. This asshole here is our main objective.” Cameron took out his phone and projected an image onto the wall. To her surprise, Ella recognized who it was. “This is Minister Surrett Kapoor, newly elected deputy minister of Gujurat, and a Genjix operative. He’s also an absolute piece of garbage and our target.”
The blood drained out of Ella’s face as Cameron laid out what they were trying to do. If she had thought she was already in way over her head before, she was definitely out of her depth now. These guys here were talking about assassinating not only a public official, but someone expected to be the future prime minister of India. Not only that, his mother had been one of Ella’s favorite actresses growing up.
Really?
“I used to try to do my hair like her, and now I’m working with people trying to kill her son.”
“Any questions?” Cameron said when he was done.
Ella raised her hand. “I don’t understand.”
Cameron looked in her direction. “Is that you, Ella, or Io?”
She nodded. “It’s me. Why is offing Surrett Kapoor the main objective? I thought you were focusing on this construction site.”
Cameron grimaced. “Like I said earlier, this is a personal thing. As for the Genjix site, that’s going to require a lot more manpower than us five. Command doesn’t know enough about it to make a move. The Genjix have been disrupting satellite surveillance, and we haven’t been able to get any intel from the ground because of our operatives getting killed as soon as they arrive. India is leaning Genjix, and any major operation could reignite the war, so we have to be damn sure we know what we’re doing before we act.”
“But I’ve been sending…” Ella stopped.
Be quiet.
“Io, what happened to all the scouting stuff I did? You kept it from them! You asshole! I worked really hard to take those pictures and videos.” Ella’s blood boiled.
Did you actually think I was going to send any useful data up to Command?
“I hate you.”
“First things first,” Cameron said. “We lost most of our stuff to the ambush. What’s our current situation?”
“Well,” Lam ticked off points on her fingers. “Like you said, limited weapons and ammo from what we carried on our persons, currencies only in Euros and US dollars, which probably means we’ll draw attention wherever we spend it, no live satellite up-link since we left all that crap in the trunk.”
“We do have a Penetra scanner,” Dana piped up.
“Hooray,” Cameron said, not sounding very enthusiastic.
Jax raised his hand. “I dropped my duffel during the fight. I have no spare clothes.”
“Me neither,” said Nabin.
“Anyone else?” asked Cameron.
Everyone raised their hands. The mood in the room grew somber.
“Resupplying is our first priority then,” said Cameron. He pointed at Jax. “You’re responsible for getting us fed. Lam, get us hooked up with Command again. Find a way to get a computer that is compatible with our crypto keys. Dana, you’re on contingency extraction. Find us a way out of here once all hell breaks loose.”
“What about me, sir?” Nabin asked.
Cameron grinned. “You have the most important job. You and Ella take care of supplies and clothing. Especially clothing. I want fresh underwear by tonight or someone’s getting guard duty every night until I do. Lam and I made a list.”
Nabin grinned. “I do have the best style.”
Dana bounced a piece of paper off his head.
He turned to Ella. “Guess you’re stuck with me.”
A little smile crept across Ella’s face.
“Sir,” Lam asked. “What about weapons and ammo? We’re pretty dry.”
“That’s my job,” Cameron replied. “We’re close to the old front line between Pakistan and India, and there are half a dozen abandoned military bases nearby. Someone has to be entrepreneurial enough to be selling them on the black market. I’ll try to tap into that.”
Ella raised her hand. “I know all the big Crate Town dealers. Also, Manish, my trainer, is a former operative. He has some old gear stashed away.”
Old is an understatement. Most of it is probably from the 1980s.
“Bullets are bullets, right? It’s not like they’re expired fruit.”
You have so much to learn.
“I guess I’m with you two for the day then.” Cameron stood up. “Report back here by 1800. Let’s get it done, people.”
In the next several hours, Ella became a damn rock star in Crate Town. Cameron and Nabin were two strangers in a foreign place with hardly anything more than the shirts on their backs. They needed a ton of supplies and had seemingly endless funds. Word spread across the markets that the Black Cat was buying, and all the merchants swarmed to her.
However, information was a commodity in the slums, and two military foreigners throwing money around definitely warranted interest. It wouldn’t take long for news about them to fall into the hands of the wrong people, so the two men used Ella as their intermediary for all the negotiations in order to keep their identities hidden.
Ella had Cameron and Nabin covered from head to toe in wraps and wearing sunglasses. She kept them hidden nearby as she walked the market and shops to carry out the transactions. She would take a list of the things they needed, find the right merchant and then return to confirm the price.
Not only was Ella able to help them obtain clean underwear, toothpaste, battery packs, vodka, and something called Rice Krispy treats, but Cameron was in too much of a hurry to haggle.
This setup offered her enormous bargaining power, and she was able to skim off the top from both sides. She charged five percent from Cameron for making the purchase, and three from the merchants as a kickback. By midafternoon, she had made enough not to have to work for the next year.
What did I tell you about embezzling from the Prophus?
“What do you care if I steal from them, you Genjix-loving alien? Besides, I consider this a transaction fee for my services.”
It is just really bad form. Besides, if you get caught, it will spell more trouble for me.
“So is setting your own people up to get murdered. We all have our vices.”
Merchants were offering Ella favors and bribes just so she would buy from them. Everyone who had ever offered her a piece of candy or bread when she was beggaring now appeared along Ella’s path in the market to remind her of their kindness. Everyone who had ever waved a stick at her when she was thieving was practically throwing treats and money her way.
“Ella, my dearest friend,” Ghanash cried out. “I have the freshest fruits picked from the trees just this morning.”
“Health to you, Ms Patel,” Yunni waved her over. “Spices, dried fish and DVD players. Pirated movies from the latest blockbusters, as well as exotics that will get you arrested.”
“Ooh.” Nabin took a few steps toward him. “It’s pretty long lonely days. I wonder–”
“Focus, A-D-D.” Cameron yanked him back by the collar. He turned to Ella. “You’re really popular.”
“Just a woman of the people.” She didn’t bother trying to hide her smugness.
Within a few hours, they had crossed off most of the items on their list. Right now, Ella was neck-deep in negotiations with all three of the Fabs on a supply of miscellaneous military gear, including night-vision goggles, body armor plates, bolt cutters, tourniquets and a host of other replacement items for those Cameron’s team had lost during their flight from the factory. To her surprise, one of the few things Cameron and Nabin insisted on was a supply of water bladders.
Readily available water is crucial for any operative.
“What’s the big deal? When I lived on the streets, I’d go for an entire day without a drop of water.”
You also are not a hundred-kilogram man lugging half his weight in armor in thirty-eight degrees.
The big negotiating stumbling block was a weird little box with a handle attached to it called a frequency visualizer. Ella didn’t know what it did, but both Nabin and Cameron seemed to value it. The Fabs had no idea what the thing was either, but they noticed Nabin and Cameron studying it and jacked up the price.
The two men, their bodies and faces still covered, were leaning on the wall at the back of the gallery while Ella and mainly Little Fab screamed at each other about the astronomical prices that they were demanding for this stupid piece of tech. Of course it would be the greedy Fabs that finally threw out a number that made Cameron balk.
“I could buy an entire cluster building to house this thing for the price you’re asking,” she yelled. “Or better yet, we can just run operations from a five-star hotel.”
“Go ahead and run it blind then,” Fab replied. “You’re not going to find anyone else in Crate Town with this baby.”
“You don’t even know what this baby is.”
“We don’t need to know what it does,” Little Fab replied. “All we need to know is your people want it. Look, this is the lowest we’ll go. Stop wasting our time. You want it or not?”
Nabin waved her over and whispered. “We want the frequency visualizer, but the price is too high. If they can’t be reasonable, we’re done here.”
“What do you expect me to do? I can’t make them lower their price.”
“I thought they were your friends.”
“The only friend the Fabs have is money.”
Cameron got up and left the gallery. He stopped just outside, looked back at the three Fabs, and spoke in surprisingly decent Hindi. “I don’t appreciate being ripped off. You can keep your other substandard crap as well.” He signaled to Nabin and Ella. “Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Ella said, but it was too late. She cursed under her breath at the prearranged three percent commission she was about to lose with the Fabs on this particularly large transaction.
Nabin followed Cameron out of the art gallery. Ella froze, unsure if she should leave or not. She wanted to chase after Cameron and tell him to at least get the smaller items. As much as she hated to admit it, only the Fabs had most of this sort of gear in one place. Sure, she could source from several of the other fences but it would be time consuming and a total pain in the ass.
Little Fab turned to her. “Ella, you know we’re the only shop in town with this stuff, and you know we’ll keep our mouths shut. Have your people see reason.”
“Who are you to talk?” she said. “You’re asking for the price of an entire cluster building for that stupid metal box. You’re all unreasonable jerks.”
“He’s not going to find another,” Little Fab warned.
“Because no one else around here needs it,” she snapped back. “Who are you going to sell this to? The street rat gangs? The Pakistani gangsters?” The two of them came face to face and scowled.
Cameron stuck his head inside the gallery. “Coming, Ella?”
She stuck a finger in his face. “I’ll remember this, Little Fab.”
“You’re been threatening me for years now,” he shrugged. “I doubt–”
Big Fab, to everyone’s surprise, held up his hand. He rarely spoke during negotiations, preferring to let his sons do the talking. For the first two years they did business, he had never uttered one word to Ella. She had just thought him a mute. Big Fab looked at the pile of gear they had negotiated earlier and then waved to Cameron to come back in.
Ella stepped in front of Big Fab’s line of sight and crossed her arms. “You speak to me only, Big Fab.”
Little Fab was about to say something when Big Fab waved him off. The senior of the Fabs stared Ella down. She had had dozens of these faceoffs over the years with him, and she had always been the first to crack. Not this time.
He finally spoke first. “You’re such a pain in the ass, Black Cat. Now, get out of the way.” He looked at Cameron and switched to English. “Come in, young man.”
That threw Ella off. “Does everyone speak everyone else’s language behind my back?”
Cameron took one step into the gallery, and crossed his arms. “I guess we didn’t need a translator after all.”
Big Fab laughed. “Is that what you think she was doing? Come, let us speak as businessmen. Please, I like to be face to face with the people I negotiate with.”
Cameron looked at Ella, who shrugged. He pulled his headscarf down to his neck. “All right, let’s make a deal.”
Big Fab gave him a small bow. “You need this gear and it’s taking up badly-needed space in my warehouse. Tell me, what are you going to do with it?”
Cameron crossed his arms. “That’s my business. None of yours.”
“It’s my business too, if you’re doing it in my backyard.” Big Fab looked at Ella. “The girl’s been spying on that construction site lately. Are you going to do something about that place?”
“How did you know?” Ella said.
Big Fab shook his head. “You’re not as sneaky as you think, Black Cat. Everyone knows.” Ella’s face turned red. Big Fab crossed his arms and stared Cameron down. “You tell me you’re going up against those assholes building the site and I’ll give you a fair price.”
“As long as my money is good, what do you care what I do with the gear?” said Cameron, guardedly.
Big Fab shrugged. “Usually I don’t, but that gods-forsaken site is eating up my Crate Town and no one can do anything to stop them. Besides, they roughed up my monk and have made life hard for everyone.”
Cameron hesitated, and then nodded. “I’m operating in that area, and what’s a fair price?”
The final price Big Fab offered was still outrageous, but it wasn’t outrageous enough that Cameron didn’t accept it. The two men finally shook.
“If you happen to come across that turd minister Kapoor and drown him in the ocean,” Big Fab said as they were leaving, “bring the gear back and I’ll give you a full refund. As a reward.”
“Refund as a reward? What an asshole,” Nabin muttered under his breath.
“That’s how we do business here,” Ella said. “Welcome to Crate Town.”
The three of them decided to call it a day and head back to Wiry Madras. They had obtained most of the supplies on the list, and Ella had sent word through to Manish about providing some guns and ammo. Her coach had sent Aarav to say he’d come by later tonight to work out the details. All in all, it had been a productive day.
As they were strolling back toward the bathhouse, a little boy who lived across the street from her cluster ran up to them. “Ella, Ella.”
She signaled for Cameron and Nabin to pause, and knelt in front of the seven year-old. “What is it, Abdul?”
“I’ve been looking all over for you. Appa sent me to find you. The man, the one who is in those big pictures, went to your place last night.”
She frowned. “Who?”
The boy pointed at one of the posters behind her.
“The deputy minister? At my place?”
He nodded vigorously, his eyes wide. “He came with Inspector Manu and a bunch of his police, and then they shot someone.”
Gunshots? In her home? Who could it be? Had Hamilton been there for some reason? She had disappeared on him for the past two days. Io had told her not to say anything. Maybe he was searching for her. Did he get caught by the Genjix? This was all her fault. Was his blood on her hands?
Ella, face pale, turned to Nabin. “I need to go home.” She took off running.
“Wait, Ella,” Nabin called out. A few seconds later, he caught up to her and spun her around.
“Let go of me,” she hissed.
“Someone could still be there.”
“He’s right,” Cameron said, catching up a moment later. “Once we know the coast is clear, we’ll go up, all right? For now, we take our time and don’t draw any attention.”
Ella nodded reluctantly. They joined the steady flow of traffic toward her cluster. The way back to her home looked just like it did every other day. Half-naked children played in the streets, old women cooked over fires, men smoked pipes and sorted through salvage. Several shot wary glances at the two strangers wrapped up like mummies and their gazes trailed after them.
Everything looked normal, but her gut was telling her something was off. It wasn’t until they reached the base of the cluster that she realized what was bothering her. Those folks, her neighbors, weren’t staring at Cameron and Nabin; they were staring at her.
Ella’s stomach twisted into knots. She stopped at the base of the stairs leading up to her container and drew the long knife from its sheath. Immediately, both men drew their pistols as well.
The walk up the four flights of stairs was excruciating as the three of them crawled up the steps one at a time. Each time they went up two steps, Cameron and Nabin maneuvered into position so they covered each other. It wasn’t until they neared the top stair that she realized that her fears weren’t unfounded. Right as they came around the last turn, she saw her door ajar.
“Oh no.”
Ella, no. Do not rush in.
Afraid to find Hamilton’s body inside, she crept forward. Nabin put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. “They may still be there. Let Cameron and me clear it first.”
“You’re right.” She gripped the long knife in her hand. “If they’re here, I’m going to gut them. Let’s go.”
“No. Stay here.”
“But–”
“Stay here.”
“If I’m missing anything, Io, I’m going to kill you.”
Your stash should be the least of your worries.
Reluctantly, Ella watched as Cameron and Nabin disappeared inside her home. She hoped she hadn’t left her clothes lying about. Or the trash. How embarrassing. Fortunately, whoever had busted into her place seemed to be long gone. A few seconds later, Nabin appeared and waved her in.
Ella dashed into her home and realized that all her fears about Nabin finding her underwear and dirty clothes and laundry were completely unfounded, because whoever had broken in had completely ransacked the place. Everything was destroyed. The inside of her home now resembled a landfill. What little furniture she had had was overturned, clothing was strewn all over the place, and what few electronics she owned were smashed. They had even slashed her little mattress to shreds.
She went into her bedroom and gasped. The hidden panel had been removed. She rushed over and pawed the darkness inside. There was nothing inside. Her cash, her music CDs, her few official documents, the picture of her mother. All gone.
Ella fell to her knees and stared into the darkness. Her entire life was in there; her past as well. She was now truly a nobody, a nothing. She might as well not exist anymore. What did Amma look like? The only picture Ella had of her now was in her head. She fought the tears welling in her eyes.
An image of the picture flashed into Ella’s head.
I remember, Ella. And because of that, you will never forget.
Cameron walked up behind her. “I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry I brought this down upon you. Did anyone else live here?”
“No,” she sniffed. “It was just me and… No, no.”
Ella got up and dashed out of her home. She ran around to the side of the container, and stared. A trail of blood smeared the ground leading to Burglar Alarm’s nest. She took two hesitant steps forward, and saw a patch of fur hidden in the far back corner. Ella went onto all fours and crawled inside. She found Burglar Alarm sprawled out, laying on her side. There was red everywhere. Dried blood streaked down the side of her head. In the center just above the eyes, was a single gunshot wound.
This time, Ella didn’t bother holding back her grief.