The Intelligence Director

Chapter Four

Agent Vas hadn’t left the Diotech compound in months. There was no reason to. Everything he needed was right here—his family, his job, an array of entertainment options for the employees on their days off. So when Director Raze directed the hovercopter they were riding in to exit the property, he blinked in surprise and stared out the window of the small vehicle as it banked to the left and cleared the perimeter wall.

He was cramped in there with Director Raze, three burly guards, and—surprisingly—Dr. Rio, with whom he’d never actually spent much time, or even seen around the compound. Dr. Rio was the other founder of Diotech. But normally it was Dr. Alixter who made visits to the ICC. Rio was known for keeping to himself and his research.

Vas wasn’t sure why Rio had been sent in place of Alixter, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the nature of the breach. And something to do with Lyzender Luman. That much he had ascertained from the limited brief he’d received as they made their way from the building to the awaiting copter.

“We will apprehend the two subjects using whatever means necessary,” Raze had ordered. “But the girl is the priority. You got that?”

Vas had got it. But he still couldn’t figure out who this mysterious girl was. Another compound brat like Luman? Somehow he doubted that. Dr. Rio didn’t leave his research for just anybody.

And never had any of Luman’s previous pranks sounded off a C9 alert.

No, this was something else entirely.

 Raze interrupted Vas’s thoughts. “That must be them.” He pointed out the window at a small van that was speeding down the darkened two-lane highway.  

“How the hell did they get into a delivery van?” Rio spoke for the first time since the hovercopter ascended into the sky. “Someone had better get to the bottom of this mess.”

“Don’t worry,” Raze assured him in that annoying syrupy voice that he reserved for the higher-ups. “We’ll figure it out. For now, let’s just get her back.”

“She’s not to be harmed,” Rio warned.

“She’s not to be harmed,” Raze repeated.

Vas turned around and studied the three large muscular men whom Raze had brought with them. Death machines, Vas secretly called them. They were the operatives recruited only for their strength. Only for their fighting capacity. Only for their abilities to follow orders.

Vas found himself wondering how Raze planned to keep his promise not to harm the girl when these three were involved in the operation. They certainly didn’t look like the kind of agents you brought along if you wanted to resolve things peacefully.

“Vas,” Raze ordered, “patch us into the van’s auto-conductor system and override any previous directives. Bring them to a halt. But I want to be on the ground before they realize what’s happening. We can’t have them running. We’ll never catch her on foot.”

Vas wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he held his tongue. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. His opportunity for advancement.

Keep your head down. Don’t ask questions. Just do as you’re told.

The hovercopter kept pace with the van, descending slowly as Vas sent the override command. It was a vehicle that made frequent deliveries to the compound, which made it easier to access its systems. Raze required all delivery vehicles coming in and out of the compound to have a mandatory override functionality installed, as a cautionary measure. Vas had always thought it was an excessive condition.

He didn’t think that any longer.

“Prepare yourselves,” Raze said.

The override took hold. Vas entered the command to bring the vehicle to a halt. The van slowed to a stop just as the copter lowered gracefully to the ground.

“Now!” Raze yelled, and they all leapt from the copter, running full-force toward the van. Raze took the lead, staying in front of the group. This was his operation. Although it wasn’t officially part of the brief, it was understood that he was to be the hero today.

Rio stayed a safe distance behind all of them.

“Door,” Raze whispered as they approached the stalled vehicle. Vas initiated the command.

The door unsealed and slid open. Raze stood before the opening, his head rotating slightly as his eyes swept the interior.

“Well, well,” he said, his voice playful but still packed with venom. “Going for a little joy ride, are we?”

Then suddenly a body was upon him. Like an animal being let loose from its cage. Raze fell back onto the road with a grunt. The shadowy figure threw messy, unformed punches at his face, which Raze expertly dodged.

“RUN!” the attacker shouted. And it was then that Vas recognized his voice.

Lyzender Luman.

But who was he commanding to run?

The answer came a moment later when something emerged from the truck. It burst forth like a bolt of lightning. It certainly looked human, but it moved too fast. Faster than any human Vas had seen before.

From the blur of brown hair that whipped behind its head, he presumed it was a girl. Most likely the “she” everyone kept referring to.  

He didn’t have time to process. The girl zoomed past him before he could even blink.   

He heard the muted plinking sound of a long-range mutation laser somewhere behind him and spun around. The girl had been hit. She froze mid-stride; her body wavered and started to melt. She staggered backward, then collapsed.

The only thing Vas could think to do was put his arms out.

And she fell right into them.

He glanced down at what he had caught and felt like someone had stolen the breath right out of his lungs. For a moment, he almost wondered if she was an angel. There was nothing else in the world he could imagine that possessed such beauty.

Her face was exquisite. Her skin the color of smooth honey. Her maple hair felt like silk draped across my arms.

“No!” he heard a voice call. It was Lyzender. He had jumped up from atop Raze and was running straight toward Vas.

Vas felt a sudden, uncontrollable urge to protect the girl. He scooped her up into his arms and began running back to the hovercopter. He passed the three other agents who formed a wall between him and Lyzender. He heard the teen boy barrel into them. It sounded like a body colliding with raw stone.

“Get back here, you punk!” Raze’s voice cut through the dark night. Vas could hear the director struggling to his feet. “I swear I will end you. I will take every precious memory from your brain, every useful function. I will leave you nothing more than a glitching vegetable.”

“Director Raze!” That was Rio. He sounded sterner than Vas had ever heard.

Vas stopped and ventured a glance behind him, his eyes widening in shock when he witnessed the doctor physically restraining Raze. “Stand down, right now. That’s an order. I will handle the boy.”

“Wipe him,” Raze yelled. “Wipe his puny, spastic brain!”

“I said stand down, Director,” Rio roared. “Transport the girl back to the lab. I will take care of Lyzender.”

Raze breathed deeply. It seemed to calm him. “Protocol?” he asked, his jaw rigid.  

“Full restoration,” Rio replied. “I don’t want her to remember any of this.”

“No!” Lyzender screamed again, once more trying to push past the death machines. “Don’t you touch her!”

This catapulted Vas back into action. He continued to run toward the hovercopter, the girl’s body still in his arms. He lowered her onto the seat. Her head lolled and her eyelashes fluttered. The effects of the laser were starting to wear off.

She blinked and Vas saw her eyes for the first time.

They were the most breathtaking, iridescent shade of purple. 

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This story continues in Chapter Five