It was freezing and it was hardly a surprise. It was winter in Nepal and at roughly fifteen thousand feet above sea level in the middle of the snow covered Himalayan valleys the temperature was way below freezing point.
It was a beautiful sight of massive, powder white mountains as far as the eye could see, untouched by civilization ever since the world had begun. The nearest town lay over fifty miles away and there wasn’t the slightest indication that any sentient being had ever even been close to this place.
And yet a dark green sub-atmospheric shuttle held position right in between the valley as if ready for something unseen to begin at any moment.
Inside Gavin shuddered. He wore a thick thermo-jacket especially designed to preserve body heat and it was still not enough. “We’ve been here for almost two hours,” he said, referring to a small computer padd he had brought. “What is he waiting for?”
“Who knows what goes through the old man’s head,” said Tank who kept flexing his massive right arm which looked exactly like the old one had.
“I don’t think I could get used to the idea of exchanging body parts like defective machinery.”
“You should consider going cybernetic,” said Tank and snatched the padd out of Gavin’s hand. Within moments he had crushed the sturdy little device into a useless ball of poly-metal. “And I have to give it to our new girl, she does know her stuff,” he added and placed the crushed padd back into Gavin’s hand.
“Thanks, I was using that.”
Tank smirked. “So, are you ready to get upgraded yet?”
Gavin studied what was formerly a data padd. “I think I’ll stick to my flesh and blood for now. I’m quite fond of it actually.”
The cybernetically enhanced operative grunted with annoyance. “You almost sound like those New Gaia nut jobs,” he said.
“Don’t compare me to those lunatics, they’re nothing but a bunch of criminals” the young agent said and stood. “And talking about criminals, we should be trying to track down Black and not go on expeditions halfway around the globe.” He crossed through the empty cabin of the craft which allowed enough space for a dozen men and poked his head into the cockpit.
Hailey ‘Hot Rod’ Rodgers sat in the pilot’s chair. The brown skinned Jamaican woman also wore a jacket and had covered her tight cornrows with a black wool hat. She was obviously suffering as well and kept rubbing her palms together in an attempt to stay warm.
Next to her sat Masamune, in a long elegant coat which didn’t appear to be the right fashion choice at all. His eyes were closed and his chin rested on his chest. He was sleeping, Gavin couldn’t believe it.
“Hey Hot Rod, how much longer can we hold this position?”
She glanced at her instruments. “Another two hours at least,” she replied with a sympathetic smile on her lips. “I’m afraid there is no aborting this due to low fuel.”
“Whatever this is,” Gavin replied and moved in closer to the pilot. “Is he sleeping?” he asked with a gentle nod towards Masamune.
Hot Rod simply shrugged.
“And I take it he didn’t tell you what we’re doing here either.”
She shook her head. “He just said to hold position right here and wait,” she glanced at her instruments again. “That was exactly ninety-two minutes ago. As to what we are waiting for. Your guess is as good as mine.”
The rookie agent looked at his boss' unmoving face. “Maybe he just needed to come here to think. But why the hell did he drag us along for this? Hey Hot Rod,” he said and shot her a conspiratorial glance. “I’m sure he wouldn’t notice if we changed course for someplace a bit warmer. What do you say we shoot over to Thailand? I hear they have great beaches?”
The pilot grinned. “I would but I didn’t bring my swimsuit.”
“Enough fooling around.”
Gavin whipped his head to the side. Masamune was not in fact sleeping at all.
“Contrary to popular belief we did not come here for no reason,” the older man said, keeping his eyes closed.
Gavin walked back into the main cabin. “Maybe you would like to share then, boss.”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
And then, just as if on cue, something landed on top of the shuttle with a loud bang. The vehicle rocked slightly but Hot Rod kept her stable easily enough.
Gavin reached instinctively for his Enforcer and eyed the ceiling of the craft suspiciously. Something was moving above their heads. Last time something like that had happened to him, it had turned out to be a very bad day indeed.
“What the hell is that?” Tank asked who had also been rattled by the sudden noise.
“I don’t know,” came Hot Rod’s voice from the cockpit. “But we just took on a lot more weight.”
“Keep her steady,” Masamune said, stood and walked into the back cabin. “Would you be so good as to open the door?” he asked Gavin.
The agent hesitated but then did what he was told. A large side panel slid open, blowing cold wind and snow into the cabin. Gavin pulled his coat tighter.
All three of them looked at the open door expectantly. Gavin and Tank had their weapons drawn and at the ready, Masamune showed no signs of trepidation whatsoever.
And then she appeared, landing on the deck of the SAFVe with all the grace and skill of a ballet dancer. And even though most of her body was covered by a heavy white polar jacket, it was obvious from her body shape and her slender legs that she was a well proportioned woman of average height. A hood covered most of her face but two bright green eyes carefully surveyed the three men in front of her from behind clear goggles.
Gavin slightly raised his gun.
“A bit jumpy, aren’t we?” she asked.
The voice sounded familiar to Tank. “Well we didn’t exactly expect anyone to come leaping into our shuttle from the middle of nowhere.”
The woman glanced at Masamune. “You didn’t tell your people to expect guests? How very typical of you.”
She zipped open the upper part of her jacket and then pulled down the hood to reveal her face and let her black hair fall free.
Gavin couldn’t help but gasp with surprise. She was a real looker. Perfectly smooth white skin, high cheekbones and full red lips she looked impossibly out of place and the last person to expect wandering alone in the Himalayas on a cold winter day. And he still couldn’t understand where she had come from; they were after all hovering hundreds of feet above solid ground.
“I’ll be damned,” Tank exclaimed and put away his Enforcer. “LT? Is that really you?”
“Tank, it’s been a while,” she said with a small smile, breaking those full lips.
“LT!” Tank couldn’t contain his excitement as he quickly approached her and took the slender woman in a bear hug, easily lifting her off the ground.
Gavin scratched his head. He had never seen his partner so cheerful before.
“It’s good to see you too,” she said. “But you mind putting me down now? You could crush somebody with those arms or yours.”
He laughed, it sounded like rumbling stones actually, and set her back down. “Like you couldn’t take it,” he said, placed her back down and looked her over. “How have you been? What have you been up to?”
Masamune took a step forward. “I’m sure you have a lot of question for her, Tank, but it will have to wait,” he said and looked at the woman. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
She looked at him and nodded. Then she put her hood back on. “Follow me,” she said just before she leaped out of the shuttle again.
“Hot Rod,” Masamune said.
“I’m on her,” the pilot replied and set the SAFVe in motion. “She’s got some moves.”
“Yeah,” Tank agreed as he watched her land on the nearby mountain range some three hundred meters away. She rolled in the snow and quickly got onto her feet again only to take off running up the slope. “That’s the LT for you,” he said and then looked angrily at Masamune. “Why didn’t you tell me we were going to meet her?”
But the old man didn’t reply. Instead he walked back into the cockpit to take his seat. “Make sure you don’t lose her,” he said to Hot Rod.
“Anybody wanna fill me in here?” Gavin asked.