Rough Draft – Scene from Chapter 3
They were headed to the Barracks when Bob took over the van’s radio “Major?”
She pitched her voice to be heard by the car microphone “Go ahead, Technician”
“Be advised that the Book Room have requested redeployment to legal offices 54 Eastbourne Street, It’s a support role with House 9 already assigned. There’s at least one hostile elemental on site.”
Emily sighed, she had been looking forward a quiet morning of sending obnoxious emails to LogComm for overdue supplies, possibly with a bacon and egg roll, but both her lieutenants were sitting straighter, eyes alert. “Thanks, confirm we are on our way for assist, ETA?” She cocked an eyebrow at Jones who was behind the wheel, “12 minutes Major”
“You get that Bob?”
The response was crisp “Confirmed Major, the Captain from House 9 has confirmed they’ll meet you across from the building”
She didn’t know House 9, it was a new team after something nasty had followed the old crew home one night and the pre-cogs hadn’t gotten a warning to them in time. Everyone had upgraded their security since that incident. She had a moment of silence for old colleagues before turning to her team. “Gentlemen, when we arrive on site please remember that 9 are taking the lead, so we’ll play nice with others and the Captain has the lead”
Jones pulled in behind the other outfit van and they piled out to join the huddle of Outfit offices looking speculatively at the offices across the street.
Two women and three men looked up as they joined the huddle, a stocky middle aged woman caught sight of Emily and her rank patch, her nostrils flared. Here we go then, Emily thought to herself, “As you were, Captain” She said with a nod “it’s your scene; we’re merely here for support” the captain gave her a less than respectful nod in return and started breaking down the information that the Book Room had supplied. “Should be a fairly straight forward job, stop the burglary and cuff the criminals” the Head of House 9 gave her a dismissive look, “I think we can do without Our Lady of Mayhem at this point.” The Major smiled sweetly even if her eyes said she wanted to slap the look off the Captain’s face. Instead she pleasantly said “Maybe you can take my Lieutenants for a run around, wear them out for me a little? I’ll hold the fort here until you need me.”
Emily Wilson leaned up against the back of her team’s van in as untidy a manner as she could manage and nibbled on an egg salad sandwich, looking for all the world like a techie on a break. She’s kept loose tabs on the building but she got no sense from it. She felt a flicker of irritation, the job should have taken about 30 minutes, she finished her sandwich and dusted the crumbs off her overalls and gave the building a look, and she’d eaten slowly so she was expecting at least a comm check by now.
“Fuck this for a game of soldiers” she muttered to herself as she pulled off her fake glasses and walked into the building.
She found the first member of House 9 with an icicle, dead centre of his chest. She didn’t check for a pulse. She touched her ear bud and Bob answered “Technician Taylor, ghost in, record and relay to Barracks Operations” there was a moment of silence before he replied, “Online and relay in progress. Medical have been dispatched and Clean Up are arriving on site now Major.”
The next body was a man face down and she said a silent prayer to all the gods and none that it wasn’t one of her newbies. She turned him over and saw his face half shifted to an animal form; the icicle was this time sticking out of what would have been a human eye.
She was pissed now, and sent tendrils of her magic curling through the building until she found what she was looking for, what remained of the Outfit team, including her own lieutenants were trapped in a block of solid ice. To say that she was disappointed in them might have been an understatement. She put her own shield around her dimwits to deal with later and went looking for other dimwits they had been sent here to stop. She walked past the ice block to find a makeshift barricade of office furniture and equipment ahead; she could sense four people and some kind of magical object on the other side. Given the two dead agents she was willing to talk but she didn’t see the need to be nice about. She gestured down the hall and sent two waves of force rumbling their way, knock, knock.
“We’re got fire and ice, and your people boxed in. If you want them back then piss off”
“I’ve seen your ice, and I’m not impressed. Where is your fire?”
Two lines of fire blazed either side of her.
Right, she thought to herself. That’s enough of that. She gave the miscreants on the other side of the office furniture a lopsided smile and made a tearing motion with her hands, the barricade vaporised. She stretched out her hands and purple flame shot out of her palms, “Come on then if you think you’re hard enough”
4 men arrayed themselves defensively around a lockbox. Her attention was first drawn to the man with black hair and a sharp suit, her eyes narrowed, there was power there. Razor sharp icicles shot in her direction from a blonde haired man in jeans, she laughed as they turned to steam more than six feet from where she was standing. She turned her hands palms down and the purple fire ran towards them like someone had doused the floor in petrol.
The dapper dark haired man cocked his head, bright blue eyes flaring red as he looked at her with magic sight. One look at her and he extinguished his fireballs, knelt and quietly laughed to himself “Give it up boys, the Outfit are here.”
“A wise man, one who may even make it to tomorrow. The rest of you kneel with your hands empty and out in front.”
The blonde in jeans sneered “Outfit were already here, I’ve got them boxed in. We can take her”
With a thought she shattered the ice around her dimwits and they fell in behind her. The Head of House 9 surged forward “you’re all dead!” Major Emily Wilson didn’t even look as she threw up her arm and the Captain bounced hard off an invisible barrier, landing on her arse.
Sapphire eyes met her own baby blues “Our Lady of Mayhem, watch over us”
Jeans and icicles made a choking noise “Fuck off it is! This bitch isn’t that scary, I’ve got her.” He held up a hand and razor sharp shards of ice appeared
She had heard that nickname far too much lately; she was already pissed off enough without getting called ‘Bitch’ too. She pulled spell components from a thigh pocket and whispered an incantation, snapping her fingers, the two henchmen in the back and they dropped to the floor.
She narrowed her eyes at Icicles “I can be scary” the purple fire turned black, and he shrieked as it surged up his legs.
“Cuff ‘em and let’s get Clean Up in here.”
Emily watched as the bad guys were loaded into a transport, and then turned back to the gaggle of Outfit personnel clustered around the medical unit, two body bags were already laid carefully next to the unit ready for loading. Her own people were looked at alongside the remaining members of House 9. She checked the chameleon shield was still in place before she launched herself at their Head of House. The Major knocked the Captain’s startled defence aside and grabbed the woman by the throat, lifting her off her feet and slamming her against the wall. In a pleasant tone she said “I know this hurts, it was meant to.” The woman struggled and tried to speak, “Consider this a teachable moment. You need to understand that was sloppy. We are combat units, if you fuck up people die, you killed two of your own, and I trusted you with my people.” She shook the woman, “My people! You are relieved of your House and will be sent for remediation, do you read me Captain?” She dropped the now whimpering woman and turned to the last two members of House 9 “You may die for the Outfit one day but don’t die for stupid – you had comms and I was right here. Don’t make this mistake twice” she turned to her own team “and as for you two” she snatched the comms device from Jones’s ear “Know how to use one of these Lieutenant? What the ever-loving fuck did you think you were playing at?”
“We were ordered to remain radio silent by the captain, ma’am”
She breathed deeply before she looked up that impassive face and said “Do you now, upon reflection Lieutenant, think that this was a wise order to follow?”
“No, Major”
“Lieutenant Smith, you can talk to me with your gods-damned brain, do you think radio silence was wise?”
“No, Major”
All traces of the easy going housemate had vanished and the royally pissed Head of their House was clearly ready to tear strips off her subordinates. They braced for a further lashing when Colonel Miller arrived on site. She gave them both a filthy look before heading for her commander. Miller held up a hand before she could speak “Two dead and one stripped of command. Technician Taylor filled me in on route. Did your people pass medical?”
She was glad that Bob had been listening in and passed the report through, she would have used far too many expletives that this point. She gave Miller a curt nod.
“Dismissed, Major” She cocked an eyebrow at Miller “General Collins may be in touch to discuss your teachable moment techniques” he waved her away.
No one said a word on the drive back to the house
No one said a word as they walked into the kitchen and she started to make tea and then slammed mugs down in front of them, sloshing half the hot tea onto the table. She slammed the freezer door as she retrieved an ice pack and launched it at Will; he barely caught it in front of his face before pressing it to his bruised knuckles.
“So you have a nickname?” James unwisely piped up to break the silence. Will gave James a withering look
“If I hear any member of this fucking House use that name, I will have you transferred to the Svalbard Seed Vault so fast you’ll get fucking whiplash. I will deal with you both in the morning.”
Kitty Powers 