Chapter One: Old Memories

"At oh seven hundred hours, I have made contact with East Africa Branch operative Kin Jin-ho," speaking into her earpiece, Operative Sheva Alomar expected no answer, but still felt disappointed that she was alone. Kin Jin-ho had been brisk, shaking her hand and giving his name before turning from the helicopter that had just dropped Sheva off in the middle of the plains. Long grass, uncut but by weather and the mouths of animals, swept at her feet.

It might rain, the clouds blooming in the sky said. When, however, she couldn't say.

"Agent Alomar," Jin-ho turned back to her, "we need to get going. This will be worse for both of us if the weather declines." He did not sound African, did not look it. His English was good, but laced with a Korean accent, and Sheva wondered how he had made it to be stationed in East Africa. He turned back away from the helicopter as it lifted, tossing the grass around it in a fury of wind and disappeared beyond the sprigs of trees.

Jin-ho's transportation was a jeep, similar to those used by park rangers to check on lions and traverse wildlife preserves. From the air rifle in the back seat, Sheva suspected it might be just that. When she reached it, Jin-ho was already seated, starting up the motor and giving little pause as Sheva slipped in beside him. He had a pair of dark glasses hanging from his vest, a black tactical vest used in military operations, but with heavy modifications making it sleek without compromising the dozen pockets surrounding it. Under, he wore a tee shirt, tight to his body and showing his panther-like build. Compared to Sheva's tank top and khaki's tucked into a pair of combat boots, this man was uptight. Too much military breeding into him, she assumed.

"So what are we dealing with?" Sheva asked, leaning towards him and raising her voice over the engine. "I was told to come out for the operation, but nothing else. The BSAA really needs to give more info." When Jin-ho spoke, she had to strain to hear.

"Residents of a local town just a couple miles south of Masaka report monster sightings in the night. These reports have increased in the past week. Nothing new, with how superstitions rise in the poorer regions, but yesterday morning, a woman and child were discovered torn to pieces, like an animal had gotten at them. Nothing of that caliber resides in these areas. Or anywhere, as far as I know. Both were mutilated and chewed on, but no evidence exists on a lion or other big cat. In fact, the claw marks don't match anything seen running rampant in an urban zone in Africa, period. "

"Does the BSAA think it could be a B.O.W. doing this?" Sheva asked, touching the pistol at her hip.

"It seems that way," Jin-ho nodded. "It's why I convinced my captain to ask for you to be transferred here for the mission. You have experience with this sort of thing, from what I hear. Nobody else in the East Africa branch has dealt with a B.O.W. besides myself. None who lived, anyway." Sheva nodded, thinking. "The possibility of a B.O.W. is far too high for comfort. There was an old Umbrella factory here before it burned down in the 80's. There may be a link, but as far as the local authorities are concerned, it was just a water purifying plant."

They drove in silence for a minute. "Here," Jin-ho opened the Jeep console to pull out a folder. "What's your opinion on this?" Sheva took the folder and opened it. It contained multiple papers, covered in both printed text and bad handwriting, as well as glossy polaroid photographs sorted together by a fat paperclip. She checked the pictures first, sorting them out. They were gruesome, some slightly blurred by the shaky hand of an unnerved photographer. Amidst a blur of carnage was a figure, another figure, sorted in different angles in each photo. The woman was hard to look at. Huge bite marks marred her body, rends in her flesh and clothes exposed grit, muscle, bone, organ. The little girl was even worse. Whatever had done this may not have been more violent towards her, but her small frame was even less equipped to handle the monsters mouth and claws than her mother. The surroundings were dirty, a pathetic hut that reminded Sheva too much of her own childhood. These were poor people, probably on the outskirts of town.

Dropping everything back into the folder, she let it fall to her feet, knocking against her shoes and not quite spilling into the jeep's floor. "Not human," she determined instantly, "and I've never seen an animal tear somebody up that badly. If it is a B.O.W. we're dealing with here, we need to find out where it came from."

"True," Jin-ho said, "and several people in the East Africa branch are already looking into it, but this is Africa, and not many people are too trusting of the BSAA in these parts. Or any outside sources for that matter. We'll be in the town in just a couple of minutes."

Wait, pull over!" Sheva's voice came out loud and hurried, less in control than she had intended, when she saw something in the grass. Movement, and not quite proper for the plains of Uganda. "What is that?" Jin-ho stopped suddenly, and Sheva slammed her hand on the dashboard to keep her head from striking it.

"Let's find out, shall we?" The Korean was quick to jump out of the jeep, hand falling to his holster. Circling the jeep, his eyes followed the spot that Sheva had noticed. There was nothing moving now, nothing but a breeze in the air, picking up the scent that they both knew too well. It was metallic, strong. Under that, the more obvious odor of…

"A body," Sheva whispered and drew her handgun as she leapt out of the jeep, jogging with gun prepared but not raised. Jin-ho was right behind her, matching her pace for pace. Splashes of red stood against the grass, specks here and there becoming more apparent the closer they came to the spot. The smell was fresh, the intestinal scent in the air, but not decomposed.

It was bad. Whatever had done this was gone now, and quickly. The body wasn't human, and Sheva thanked the heavens for that, but the gazelle's neck was snapped, turned in more than 200 degrees, and the throat slit. The body was butchered, claw marks resembling the pictures.

"It was here, just now," Jin-ho remarked. He slid his handgun from its holster and backed away. "We should get going. Report to the authorities."

"But.." Sheva inhaled from her mouth. "It was just here, like you said. It can't be far, no matter how fast it moves. We should…"

"Report to the authorities, Alomar. I told you, the locals aren't fond of outsiders. We have to show them our bellies once in a while, let them think they're in control. Sheva relented, and felt the whole while that the jeep was being followed. She studied the back seat, constantly looking back to the road, and noticed the green case of shells beside the air rifle. She opened the lid, touched at the feathery tops of what appeared to be tranquilizer darts, and Jin-ho closed the lid quickly, almost catching her fingers, and latched it shut.

Nothing appeared on the dirty road behind them.