Kingsman: Statesman Meets Challenger

Chapter 9

"Can you get the Statesman jet again?" Merlin asked, smiling in fond reminiscence. "Quite liked that one."

"Sure," Ginger said, turning back to her monitor. "How fast can you be ready, Roxy?"

"Twenty minutes," Roxy said absently, scanning the stream of information that was coming across Statesman's secured uplink through -surprise, surprise- a covert Challenger relay satellite in geostationary orbit above their main research base smack in the middle of the Amazon jungle. She spared a second to wonder what the hell else that satellite could do before scanning the data, looking for anything that correlated with the little they already knew.

"A moment," Merlin said, several disparate pieces of information suddenly coalescing in his mind into a diamond-hard certainty. "Rafael, he designed the Alpha Gel for Statesman," he stared directly at Ginger. "Didn't he?"

Ginger nodded. "Yes. It was an unexpected secondary development from his research on tissue reconstruction using nanite technology. He's still refining the technique."

"Tell me something, Ginger," Roxy said thoughtfully, clicking rapidly through screens of shipping manifests looking for anomalies. "Why didn't Challenger ever offer the Alpha Gel to Kingsman?"

"Probably because it was still highly experimental," Ginger replied, "although I can't say for sure. It's an extreme measure, aside from Harry and Whiskey, we've only used it three other times because the recovery process is so random and complicated- and it only works on head shots. But you can just ask Rafe when we get to Bern." She laughed suddenly. "If you want to catch him off guard, thank him for saving your life."

Both Roxy and Merlin's heads snapped around. "How's that?" they chorused together.

Ginger grinned at Roxy. "The panic capsule you dived into when the missile hit- that saved you when Kingsman's mansion blew? That's Rafael's work."

Roxy sat back in her chair, her mind alive with speculation. The six days she spent in semi-hibernation until the capsule was retrieved -dug out of the eighty feet of blackened rubble and dirt that was all that was left of Kingsman HQ- were still mostly a blank, but she could remember a soothing voice telling her over and over again she was not alone, that help was on the way, everything would be all right, she only had to be patient and wait until the rescue crews reached her.

The same voice, Roxy realized with a start, that she heard just a moment ago. The warm, comforting voice she clung to during that strange disconnected time was Rafael's, and even for a tough-as-nails Kingsman agent Roxy's heart melted a little remembering how kind and affectionate he was, how much he supported her and talked her through during those terrifying six days. The same warmly affectionate tone, it further dawned on Roxy, that he used with Ginger when they talked.

Roxy laughed suddenly. "What would he do if I walked up to him and kissed him senseless?"

Ginger snickered- there was no other word for the sound she made. "Kiss you back into your knees buckled," she quipped. "Rafe's a really good kisser."

Both Roxy and Merlin looked at her, their faces alive with speculation- in Merlin's case, tinged with apprehension.

"What?" Ginger said, returning their stares with blasé unconcern. "Under the mistletoe at Challenger's Christmas party two years ago. Rissa and Jean-Pierre did too. Tequila and Champ, even." She favored them with an amused smile. "Challenger celebrations tend to be very hug-and-kissy with frequent rounds of skinny-dipping and occasional naked Twister, so if that's not your thing, I'd turn down any impromptu invitations." She laughed. "Poor Whiskey got stuck with an assignment in Somalia that Christmas just so Champ could be sure he didn't show up at the party and meet Rissa- or any of the Challengers."