BEGINNING OF STORY

PREVIOUS (PART 26)

* * * *

I left quite early for the meeting with Morrigan. I found the tallest building near the meeting point, and quietly made my way to the top. Then I sat in the shadows, put on some gloves (yeah, why worry about fingerprints when you're dropping DNA everywhere; I guess I'm just old-fashioned), and waited.

Right now, I was following instincts - conclusions I couldn't quite logically spell out but I was pretty sure of. I guess that had to be a bit like religious faith, but I'm never too surprised when my instincts are wrong.

They weren't this time.

A very ordinary young woman appeared on the rooftop - her ordinariness clashing with the fact that she was on a rooftop. She sat down, took some odd items out of her purse, and assembled a sniper rifle. Then she aimed it down at the crowd below and looked through the scope. Finally, she took out a radio and said, "Hyena, this is Robin. I'm in position."

Stealth isn't my specialty, but I was easily able to sneak right up behind "Robin" as she scanned the crowd below.

I set my briefcase down beside her. "Nice view."

She shrieked a little as she spun around. I then smacked her right in the face - hard enough to stun her but not knock her out. I then pulled out a gun and placed it against her head. "Do you know who I am?"

She was like a scared little rabbit - probably pretty new to this whole hired killer thing. "Ri... Rico?"

"Correct. And how dangerous am I?"

"Uh... very?"

"Smart girl." I put away my gun and then put a knee down on her head as I picked up the rifle. "I'm sure you have a gun and a knife on you - if you don't, you're an idiot - but I don't feel like wasting time trying to pat you down and find them. Just know that if you had a gun pointed right at my back, I could still draw, turn around, and kill you before you could pull the trigger. Do we have an understanding?"

"We're on the same side, you know," she gasped desperately.

"Then I guess you won't mind me borrowing your rifle." I scanned the other rooftops and higher windows of the surrounding buildings. What I found was interesting, but the numbers were the concern right now. "How many other snipers are there? Keep in mind that I've already spotted some and that lying is a sin... and I'm very vengeful against sinners."

"Five," came a voice from under my knee. I only saw four. So, I scanned some more and eventually found the last sniper. I could see well enough through the scope to tell the five other were three humans and two aliens... all female.

"I knew Morrigan wasn't the type of person to work alone, but what's up with you all being women? Are the criminal syndicates now doing affirmative action?"

"I'm part of the Lilith Organization."

"Which is?"

"They exclusively train women for different tasks for the Corloni syndicate... I mean things like assassination and spying."

I opened my briefcase while keeping Robin pinned down. "Didn’t know Corloni was that innovative. So, I guess they’re helping wayward women do something useful. If I had to choose between sniper and prostitute, I'd do the same as you. They pay well?"

"Yes. "

"So, how many kills you got?"

"Three," she said in a strained voice as she tried to turn her head against my knee.

I put together a new stand for the sniper rifle and placed it on it. "Confirmed?"

She was silent.

She was about as green as you get (and, unfortunately for her, would not eventually be getting the gold watch). "So you fired in the direction of three people along with others, and those people ended up dead, I gather. I couldn't stand that, personally. I need to know I killed someone. Anyway, I'm guessing you're too new to this to know about the Welsern incident?"

"I don't know about that one other than that you were there."

I made sure the stand held the rifle firmly. "I guess I'll have to ask 'Hyena' about that in a few minutes."

"There's no reason for this," she pleaded, "We're on the same side."

"I know; you keep saying that. And, since we're all friends, I think it's time for a little joke on Morrigan." I turned on my communicator. "Dip, can you help me kill some people."

Robin whimpered more at the word "kill." This was going to be like offing a puppy.

I hate puppies.

"I'm afraid I'm not allowed to do that, Rico."

I hate Asimov. "Fine, I'll do things myself. I have a simpler task for you." I switched the communicator so Dip could hear what I heard. "Robin, say something."

"What?"

"Say, 'A big, mean man has a knee on my head,' and say it calmly or I'll stab you."

"A big, mean man has a knee on my head."

"Hear that, Dip?" I put a new transmitter into the interface on Robin's radio. "I need you to imitate that voice."

"Role-playing, Rico?"

"Right. You're a sniper who answers to 'Robin' and is supposed to be keeping an eye out for me. If you're called for, answer best you can and in that voice."

"Will do, Rico," said Dip in Robin's voice.

"What are you doing?" the actual Robin asked.

I started finding the other snipers again, aligning the crosshairs on them, and programming the rifle base as I did it. "Quiet for a sec; I need to concentrate." After another minute, I was done. I then looked to Robin (well, my knee). "Like I said, I'm playing a joke on Morrigan. It's gonna be hilarious."

"Robin, you have the best view," said Morrigan over the radio, "Do you see the target, yet?"

"Negative," Dip answered in Robin's voice.

"So what are you going to do to me?" asked Robin in her own voice but shakier.

I chuckled. "You had to ask that."

She started to sob uncontrollably. It was almost convincing.

"You don't know much about me do you? All crying does is further annoy me."

She stopped the sobbing. "Come on, Rico, you have a woman at your mercy and..."

I checked my watch. It looked like I was going to be fashionably late as it was. "I really don't have time to watch while you go through the entire 'Wily Female Tricks' handbook, so let's end this here."

"We're both Corloni!" she screamed, "You have nothing to gain from killing me!"

I pulled out a knife. "We'll have to agree to disagree on that one."

NEXT

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