Marisa 14: Palermo Round Up

by Prof. Voodoo

A group of fratelli set up temporary headquarters in Palermo, Sicily to assist Public Safety with a massive round-up of Mafia & Padania targets.

1. Chapter 1

"This," muttered Allison, "is the living, breathing definition of suck. If you looked up the word suck in the dictionary there would be a picture of us 3 standing here."

"Aw come on," teased Petrushka, "you said you wanted a driving job."

Allison rolled her eyes and replied "This is not a driving job...this is a parking job..." causing her room-mate and Kara to laugh "...and did I mention it sucks?" The 3 cyborgs were dressed in identical outfits; black slacks, tuxedo shirts and red vests, each of them sporting a black bow-tie to complete their disguse as parking attendents outside the Osteria Dei Vespri restaurant. It was mid autumn, and while it was still somewhat warm this far south, there had been a constant drizzle of rain all night long, contributing to their discontent. None of the girls were especially thrilled to have been assigned this detail; Allison lamented getting behind the wheel of so many exotic automobiles but only being able to drive them as far as the parking lot, Kara objected bitterely to being seen in public wearing polyester slacks & Petra complained about the lack of tips.

_Opening Move_

"Heads up," Kara whispered, "here comes Michele." A dark red Lamborghini Gallardo rolled up to the curb in front of Osteria Dei Vespri, and the girls hurried to open the doors. From the drivers side stepped Pagani, looking magnificent in what was for him a rather average suit. He came around to take the hand of his accompaniment for the evening before tossing the keys to Kara.

Claes swept past, arm in arm with Kara's fratello, dressed in a long, flowing evening gown, and wearing a smug, self-satisfied smile. She made eye contact with her fellow cyborgs, but did not acknowledge them in any other way...until she reached out and slipped a piece of paper into Kara's hand.

"What is it?" whispered Allison, urgently.

"Did she slip you a note?" Petra conjectured. Checking to her left and right, Kara backed into the shadows where she could not be seen and unfolded the paper. Almost instantly the serious look on her face turned to one of red faced anger. "What is it?" asked Petrushka.

"She tipped me..." growled Kara, holding up a €5 note, "...that bitch!"

"Well if you don't want it..." Allison teased, making a grab for the bill which Kara only managed to dodge by centimeters. From the opposite side Petra made her own playful lunge, and the 3 girls engaged in a bit of giggling horseplay, Kara playing keep-away from the other two cyborgs as they attempted to snatch the €5 bill from her.

"Ladies..." growled a displeased voice over their hidden ear-piece radios, "...I'd like to see a little less grab-ass and a little more professionalism." It was Allison's handler, Brian, watching from an apartment across the street.

"Whoa...all-stop on that! Continue just like you were" Alessandro Rissi corrected. He un-keyed the microphone and explained to his fellow handler, "They're supposed to be posing as teenaged parking attendants. What they're doing is exactly how 3 minimum-wage kids their age would behave. Relax...they're doing fine."

McDonnell grudgingly accepted his logic, and re-opened the mic; "Okay girls...you heard Alessandro, carry on as you were, but keep your guard up. Public Safety is reporting that Teoni has left his villa and should be at our location any minute now."

Back down in front of the restaurant the cyborgs relaxed a bit, but their behavior was a bit more subdued after being reminded that they were still under the watchful eyes of their handlers. "Seems like a whole lot of manpower to pick up one bloke" muttered Brian. "3 fratelli outside the door, 2 more inside the restaurant, and Alboreto in the alley out back. Pity they make that old guy wait with the trash out back...does he really need the money that badly?"

"Doubt it, I hear he gets paid more than Jean" replied Rissi, looking down the street with binoculars.

"Shite..." Brian muttered, "more than the Field Commander, why?"

Alessandro turned to face him and said casually, "Well it's only fair...he has been doing this sort of work since Jean was in diapers. Besides, Jean wouldn't care even if he did know...he's got a big inheritance. If we keep at this as long as Mr. A & the Chief we'll both get there."

"You sound like a career spy" laughed the Ulsterman.

Rissi gave a shrug of his shoulders and admitted, "Yeah, I'll admit, I wouldn't mind having one of the top jobs in the company someday. This work is really all I know. Even if I never make it to the top in SISDE it would be nice to get one of those high-paying private security positions. What about you? This gig at the SWA isn't going to last forever...got any plans?"

"To be honest, no." replied McDonnell. It embarrassed him a bit. Sandro Rissi was considerably younger than he, and yet seemed to have his future planned out better. Brian reflected with honesty that the last few months of his life had been entirely focused on Allison, not leaving much time to consider what he would do once she was gone. Take on another cyborg? Stay in the spy game? Go back to the private sector? It was all too far off, and Brian didn't want to think about it, so he steered the convesation back to their fellow agent. Alessandro always seemed in the mood for gossip. "So Alboreto makes good money, eh?"

"That's what I hear from the ladies in payroll" chuckled Rissi, "but still not as good as the offers he turned down from the private sector. I have a feeling he came on board only after a lot of cajoling by his old mate Lorenzo. Besides, guys like that, guys who've been at this their whole lives don't know how to get out of the game. They talk all about how they want to quit, and go raise tomatos in their garden, but after a few weeks they're right back, looking for their next big thrill."

Brian regarded his partner with a sly grin and warned "Mind you don't get like that, Mr. Career spy." There was one last bit of gossip he wanted to cover; "Do you think that rumor about Alboreto and the President of Angola is true?"

"The job offer?" Rissi replied, "I don't know...it's a pretty wild story, and not something that could realisticly happen...but it's a rumor that just won't die."

By now the rain was coming down a little heavier, and the two handlers watched their cyborgs (plus Kara) take cover under the awning of the restaurant. "Here he comes!" exclaimed McDonnell, spotting a dark blue Mercedes rolling down the street toward them. He keyed his microphone and announced "All positions, Teoni is on our street & approaching the restaurant."

"Copy that" Jean replied, "door team, on your toes. As soon as he's inside change clothes and follow him as planned."

Petrushka answered him quickly, "Door team copies, sir."

---

In the alley behind Dei Vespri, Marisa entertained herself by kicking a rusty can and thinking of new ways to complain about the less than glamorous role in the operation she & Elio were playing. Her handler wasn't taking the bait. "Man, this blows" she whined, "Claes and Rico are inside a fancy restaurant...dry...even Kara, Allison & Petra get to be out front, not surrounded by garbage."

"I though you'd be happy about this job" chuckled the old spy, "out of all the fratelli we're the ones favored to capture the mark tonight."

"I'm gonna pound this jerk good for making us wait out here in the rain, with wet garbage" she muttered.

Alboreto gave a low growl of disapproval and reminded her "Alive Mari...we're to capture this mafiosi alive. Why do you think there's 6 cyborgs being used to bring one man in? He's important...if we lose this fellow the whole operation is scuttled."

Before she could respond there was a knock at the back-door. It seemed odd for someone inside to be knocking for permission to come outside, but the knock was code. Once Marisa had dashed over and banged out the counter-code the door opened, revealing a nervous waiter carrying a tray.

"Sir...and Miss...compliments of the staff." He handed over a covered silver tray, and a pot of hot coffee. While Mari eagerly took it off his hands with a grateful smile & nod, Elio stood up from his lawn chair to offer a few folded bills as a tip. "Oh, no sir...that's not necessary" the waited told him, holding his palm up in courteous refusal, "We're all just thrilled to help out on a national security operation. It's the most exciting thing that's happened here in ages." As he departed, Alboreto shook his head in frustration. Most exciting thing in ages, he thought, great, the last thing we need is a lot of waiters and cooks blabbing about this at the very beginning of secret operation. Bribes and threats may be neccessary, best to leave that sticky business to Ferro.

Marisa was not concerned about the waiter at all, not when there was dinner in front of her. The famished cyborg cleaned off an old vegetable crate to serve as their table, and set the tray on it before dragging her own folding chair next to her handler's. "See;" he teased, hiding his concerns, "you thought I was being silly for insisting we bring folding chairs instead of machine guns. Which is more useful right now? Fancy sitting on wet pavement to eat?"

"Yeah, yeah..." the girl groaned, uncovering their tray "...you think of everything, nobody is as brilliant as you...I've heard it all before."

---

Rubino Teoni was a heavy, nervous man, who hurried inside (without tipping, as Petra pointed out) as soon as Allison had taken his keys. She did not park his car, because in seconds Brian & Sandro dashed across the street to take charge of it. The three girls ran around the corner to a van where Olga & a trio of confused college girls waited. The cyborgs returned their red vests to these girls...the real valet parking attendants...and thanked them for their cooperation in this important national security operation.

"But all we did was wait in a van and watch movies..." muttered one of the valets.

"Yes" replied Olga, handing them each €100, "now go back to work and never mention this to anyone, capito?"

Petra pretended to be insulted; "Hey, we didn't get 300 euros and we did all the work!"

"You get a new vest" Olga retorted, tossing each of them a black vest, "you are waitresses now, maybe the tips will be better!"

Inside, Rico spotted Teoni first. "That's him, isn't it Jean?"

"Yes Rico" he replied, neglecting to thank her, or praise her attentiveness. The Field Commander keyed his mic and whispered "Michele, do you see him?"

Pagani did not see the mark at first, but Claes pointed him out. "Affirmative; Claes & I are ready to move in."

"Stand by...wait for your cyborg and the others" ordered Croce. In a few moments Kara, Allison and Petra walked in, their hair still damp from being outside in the rain, but otherwise looking just like waitresses. They fanned out to cover any escape route. "Alright, they're in position...move in, don't spook him."

Michele & Claes each got up from their table and began to approach Rubino Teoni. From the opposite side, Jean and Rico moved in, slowly, trying to avoid being noticed. It didn't work...the portly mafiosi realized he was being stalked, and got up from his table. "The mark has spotted us...move in...fast but quiet, don't make a scene" Jean ordered.

The 3 girls guarding the exit points gave each-other a nod, and joined the hunt. Suddenly, a distraction; as Allison passed a patron caught her arm. "Waitress, could you please bring us another fork? My husband has dropped his."

"Eh, sure..." the startled cyborg replied. She snatched an unused fork from another (occupied) table and handed it to the husband. "Buon appitito, signor" she said to the shocked diners.

Teoni looked around, but recognized that he was being stalked from all sides. A red-haired girl in a waitress uniform blocked the bathrooms...an oriental looking girl stood in the way of the patio door, and a brunette blocked the main exit. All of them were getting closer, as were two grim looking men who were each flanked by a younger ragazza. Rubino had heard the rumors about young girls being trained as government assassins. At the time he had laughed, but now it was obvious...those rumors were true and he was their next target.

Only the kitchen remained as a possible escape route. Teoni went for it, just as the agents had planned. Once he had passed though the kitchen doors the mobster was stopped by a dishwasher who pointed out that this area was for dipendenti solo. Rubino shoved the man out of his way and made a dash for the back door. As they had been instructed the kitchen staff did not interfere.

Panting heavily, Rubino Teoni stumbled into the alley and searched for an escape route. There were no safe-houses available to him...he was considered a traitor & the Cosa Nostra was just as likely to kill him as the government. If he could get to his car he could leave Palermo and be on the mainland by morning. Maybe his Padania contacts in the north could help him, get him out of the country.

To his surprise a man waited for him in the alley...a man as old as he was, with a grey beard and a long trench-coat. Rubino did not know if this bastardo was with the mafia or the government, and he wasn't waiting to find out. He drew a .44 caliber revolver from his jacket, and brought it to bear on the seemingly unconcerned grey-beard, but before he could aim another set of hands grabbed his arm and twisted it painfully, making it easy to peel away his pistol. These were tiny hands...those of a young child, but before Teoni even got a glimpse of her Marisa kicked him in the knee and forced him to the wet ground. "I'm not allowed to kill you," she growled, "but if you try to move I'll pistol-whip you with your own gun."

"Good work" Elio praised her, "keep your guard up."

The back door opened a second time, with Jean and Michele coming through. Alboreto drew his Beretta, but lowered it when he saw that it was just his fellow team members. With a quick look around Croce immediately accessed the situation, and gave an approving nod to Alboreto before speaking into his radio; "Olga, the mark is secure, bring the van for team extraction." She did not keep him waiting; in under a minute the Russian had backed her white Ford Transit down the dark alley and Teoni was roughly tossed inside, Marisa keeping his arm twisted behind him and one knee in his back the whole time. The rest of the team jumped inside (Michele gallantly carried Claes to avoid dragging the hem of her evening gown through the garbage-strewn alley), leaving only Allison & Kara behind to drive Michele's Gallardo back to field headquarters. Seeing her partner's face flush pink with jealousy, Allison graciously conceded the driver's seat to Kara, which ameliorated her feelings at seeing her handler carry Claes into the van, if just a little bit.

_Field Headquarters_

It was somewhat odd that the first big operation for the SWA following the break-down of peace negotiations with the Five Republics Faction did not directly involve the Padania. A large force of 7 fratelli, 4 support staff and 2 doctors had deployed to Palermo, Sicily to assist Public Safety during a big mafia round-up. Since it was known that the Cosa Nostra was helping the Padania smuggle weapons into the country through the southern island, the plan met with full support from Chief Lorenzo, who provided all the help Public Safety Director Reschiglian asked for.

"I hope they don't mind that we took the long way home" muttered Kara, as she pulled the Gallardo into the indoor parking garage under the Public Safety building that was their temporary home.

"Michele?" Allison scoffed, "Be serious...he won't mind a bit. Brian either. We're not even that late really...barely an hour and a half."

The dark haired girl raised an eyebrow at her sister and replied "Actually it was Jean I was worried about."

"Oh yeah," laughed Allison, "I forgot about him. Yep, he's gonna yell at us for sure. Probably Ferro too." She didn't seem too concerned by that.

Public Safety owned a 6 story apartment building in central downtown Palermo, which was utilized for the most part as extra office space. One floor had been half preserved in its residential state to provide a residence for visiting Europol agents & other VIP's. A spacious 2 bedroom apartment took up most of the space, plus a few storage rooms. It was this floor that Section Two now occupied.

The building had a freight elevator, but in the interest of expedience the girls took the stairs. Each had their reasons; Allison was concerned with finding something to eat (only the Elio & Marisa had been lucky enough to grab a bite at the restaurant, even if it had been in the alley out back), but Kara insisted on checking in first. Upon their arrival on the 4th floor the two found a very sleepy looking Rico sitting alone in the hallway. "Welcome back!" the younger girl greeted them, in a tired voice.

"Hiya Rico," Kara replied, "where are all the grown-ups?"

She bobbed her blonde head toward the office door to her back. "They're questioning the prisoner, but they're not ready for me yet" Rico yawned, "I hope it's soon, I'm tired."

"Aww, I'm sure it won't be too much longer" said Kara sympathetically.

Noticing a dirty plate and empty glass holding onto a thin residue of milk on the floor under Rico's chair Allison asked "Eh, Rico, is there anything left to eat?"

"I don't know...Mr. Pagani cooked, so it was pretty popular" she replied. Allison grumbled something under her breath, Kara did her best to ignore her.

Leaving Rico in the hallway the two older girls ventured inside to check in. Almost all of the adults were there...Jean & Giuseppe Croce, Alessandro, Ferro, Priscilla, Mr. Alboreto and both Allison & Kara's handlers. Rubino Teoni was there too, handcuffed and tied to a chair in one corner of the room, being questioned by Giuse & Priscilla. The mafiosi did not have a mark on him...yet, which told the two late arrivals that he was still in the soft sell portion of his interrogation. Jean gave a glance at his watch and muttered, "Nice of you to check in, I hope it wasn't too inconvenient."

"Sorry Mr. Croce, to avoid drawing attention we decided to take a different route home than the van, but we got lost" ventured Allison, with a hopeful grin. Kara rolled her eyes at the obvious fabrication.

Jean was equally unconvinced, but with the interrogation taking precedence he did not have time to fly into a tirade. "Well now you have a good reason not to deviate from orders. You two just pulled the early morning mission tomorrow."

"What time sir?" Kara asked, trying to mitigate the Field Commander's displeasure by showing eagerness.

He shrugged his shoulders dismissively and replied "We don't know yet...but whenever it is, you two and McDonnell are on it."

Kara cast a questioning glance in Michele's direction. "I'll be busy tomorrow morning. We're using Bright Star as a field hospital, so I need to be aboard to help with set-up. Brian will be in charge...don't give him any trouble, capito?" Michele's warning was genuine; alone Kara was one of the most dependable, mature cyborgs in the agency, but when paired up with her friends bad habits sometimes surfaced.

"Yes sir" was the best answer she could have given at the moment.

By this time Jean's attention had turned to the prisoner. Priscilla & his brother had been trying to sweet talk the man for over an hour now, promising protective custody, dropped charges, even immunity & a new identity in exchange for names and locations relevant to the operation...but thus far their efforts had been fruitless. Omerta reigned supreme in Teoni's order of priorities, even though he was already considered a turn-coat and a marked man by the Cosa Nostra he was trying to protect. "Enough" the elder Croce growled, "if he isn't going to listen to reason we'll make him hurt."

Mr. Alboreto turned to the two wide eyed cyborgs in the room and said "It's time for you to leave."

"We could help..." suggested Allison, morbid curiosity making her forget about her empty stomach for the time being. The gray bearded man would not consider it; he said nothing but pointed toward the door to indicate that the matter was not open for negotiation.

"You should let Rico go to bed too" he suggested to Jean, "there's nothing here we can't handle ourselves."

Jean disagreed; "Rico can hit twice as hard as any of us...with fists that are half our size. She is extremely effective at this type of work."

"And she's been awake for 22 hours," Elio pointed out, "this could take until morning. Let the kid get some sleep or your tool will be worthless tomorrow." He chose his words specifically to appeal to Jean. "I'll get this pezzo di merda talking...and show you some tricks while I'm at it."

"Fine" muttered Croce, too tired to argue.

Michele saw Kara & Allison to the door. "I made a lamb & bean cassoulet, and saved you both a plate. They're in the oven."

"Thanks Michele"

"Yes, thank you Mr. Pagani"

The handler tried to look as stern as possible and grumbled "It wasn't easy...the vultures were circling. Next time you two waltz in nearly two hours late it's cold bologna sandwiches for the both of you." As he opened the door Michele addressed the younger girl still waiting in the hall. "You can go get some rest Rico, we won't need you tonight."

"Thank you Jean" she muttered sleepily, never looking up to notice it was not Jean who had given the order. Rico gathered up the dirty dishes from under her chair and shuffled across the hall to the apartment, followed closely by her older sisters.

Rubino Teoni felt that by not succumbing to Giuse & Priscilla's offers he had won the first round. His perceived victory gave him the nerve to laugh as Elio approached carrying a small gym bag. "Fucker," he growled, "you better have some chap stick in that bag because you're gonna need it when you're done sucking my dick!"

"Funny you should put it that way," replied Alboreto, "gather around people...the first step you need to learn is how to siphon petrol out of your car without getting a mouthful." He pulled a vodka bottle from his bag, half filled with the amber liquid. "I can't tell you how many times I've sucked in a mouthful because I wasn't paying attention, or trying to do it in the dark. Trick is to draw the petrol out slowly, and then quickly get the end of the hose lower than your gas tank." Nobody spoke a word, and even Jean looked at the bottle Elio held with a degree of horror. Is he bluffing?

Teoni was still playing it tough. "You're full of shit. You wouldn't do this inside a building!"

"He has a point..." whispered Alessandro, "...Public Safety is not going to be happy if we burn their building down."

"Relax," said Alboreto, "We have plenty of fire extinguishers, and we're only going to put a little petrol on him at a time and do a series of short burns with a break in between so he can think about the next one. The objective is to get him to talk...not cook. Now who has some duct tape? Ah, Brian...good...tape his mouth really well. What we're doing here is not to prevent him from screaming, but to protect his lips. He's going to need those when he finally does decide to sing." The old man's demeanor was chillingly casual as he went about the process as if it were as routine as paperwork.

McDonnell looked around at his fellow Section 2 members, but their expressions were just as blank as his. Still unsure if Alboreto was bluffing he went ahead and taped over the defiant Teoni's mouth. "You may be wondering how he's going to give us any answers while his mouth is taped up, but I'm not worried about that. We're going to do at least 3 burns before we even care what he has to say." Elio unscrewed the cap of his vodka bottle and splashed a few ounces on Rubino's shirt. "The upper chest and neck is a good place to start. Save his dick for when he's about to snap...for most men that's the last straw...an Italian man will sell out their own grandmother to save that!"

The overpowering scent of gasoline filled the room, and filled all of Elio's colleagues with alarm. Oh God, he's not bluffing. They had all heard rumors about his vicious past in MI-6...The Godfather who had been famous for beating men to death with a hammer...but none of them believed the gossip until this moment. "Sandro, you're pretty tall, can you pop the battery out of that fire detector? And Jean...have you got your cigarette lighter handy?" The Field Commander was no stranger to roughing up a suspect and more, but to burn a man alive was beyond anything he'd ever done. The older man's aloof demeanor rattled him even more. Hesitantly, Croce reached into his pocket and pulled out his brass Zippo, fighting to keep his hand from trembling.

That was all it took for Teoni. He began thrashing in his chair, and blowing against the tape so hard that his face turned purple. As Alboreto struck the flint and approached with the flame the frantic mafiosi tipped over his chair with a crash, and tried to wriggle away in panic. "They do this a lot before the first round" Elio explained, "nothing to worry about...by the second and third burns he won't have the strength left."

Rubino finally blew the duct tape off his moth and began screaming out names. "Alfredo de Rossini! Ugo Fascelli! Mario Bovino! I know where they are...I know where they're vulnerable! I'll tell you everything!"

Alboreto paused, hovering the lighter over the frenzied prisoner with the same casual expression he had worn from the very beginning. "Oh...alright. Giuse, Priscilla, it looks like your soft-sell convinced him after all. We won't need to do this."

All the other Section 2 members breathed a private sigh of relief. Each one was well acquainted with violence, and even brutal interrogation tactics, but burning a man alive, slowly, was beyond what they had expected. None was quite sure what to do next. Alessandro & Giuseppe stepped forward to pick Teoni's chair up, but Elio growled, "Leave him...he can talk just fine from the floor." The gray haired man placed the gasoline bottle on the floor right where Rubino could see it and added "So start talking."

---

Unaware of the drama across the hall most of the cyborgs were just going to bed in the apartment, watched over by Olga & Avise Mancini. When Kara & Allison arrived they were met by good-natured ribbing from their sister cyborgs. "So, did Jean chew you out for being so late?" chuckled Petra.

"Not really" answered Kara, as Allison went directly for the kitchen, "he was too occupied with the prisoner to say anything but 'you two have the early mission tomorrow.' Then Mr. Alboreto kicked us out."

"I'm glad" groaned Rico, depositing her dirty plate and glass in the dishwasher machine, "I didn't want to be up all night beating the stuffing out of a fat man. They always take longer to pound than the skinny ones." The blonde haired girl had meant that with complete sincerity, but it still drew a laugh from her more-awake sisters. "I'm going to bed." Olga intercepted Rico on the way to the common bedroom and steered her toward the bathroom. "Brush your teeth and wash up first, myshi."

By the time Kara sat down at the kitchen table Allison had already finished her own plate of Michele's cassoulet as well as banana & 2 Pop-Tarts. Satisfied at last she announced "Okay, Rico had the right idea...I think I'm ready for sleep too. Who knows how early Jean will have rolling out of bed tomorrow morning."

Imitating Olga's Russian accented voice Kara teased "Remember to brush your teeth and wash up first, myshi."

"You don't even know what that means!" laughed Allison, giving Kara a playful bop in the head as she took her plate to the dishwasher.

As there were only 2 bedrooms available the members of Section 2 were divided by gender. This arrangement caused some grumbling amongst the ladies, as there were 11 of them versus only 7 men, but there was little that could be done other than providing the larger bedroom to the female contingent. When Allison arrived she found Rico & Henrietta occupying one of the 2 king-sized beds, Marisa sprawled out on the sofa & Agapita on one of the many cots. She changed into her oversized t-shirt (picturing World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb & his Citroen) and crawled into one of the cots. Kara, Petra & Claes followed just a few minutes later, each grabbing their own cot, respectfully leaving the second bed available for Olga, Priscilla or Ferro.

_Day One_

Morning came all too early. At 0500 Jean roused all the cyborgs, not just Kara & Allison. Yawning & rubbing their eyes they rolled out of bed and began to get dressed, but Croce just ordered "Don't waste time with that, just get out to the living room so we can brief you." That created an awkward situation for the girls who chose to sleep in only their underwear, but the Field Commander did not seem to care. As they filed out Claes nodded at the bed that had been left open for the 3 adult women. It was undisturbed...none of them had gotten any sleep last night.

Once all were assembled the cyborgs saw the sunken eyes and unshaven faces of the men & quickly understood that none of their handlers had gotten to bed either. Jean gave a nod to Ferro, who rubbed her eyes & began the briefing without formality: "As you already know, last night we apprehended the former Cosa Nostra suspect Rubino Teoni. Just as we had hoped, he was convinced to provide information of the organization which had turned him out. What we did not expect was the volume of information he gave up. Mr. Teoni provided the names & likely locations of no less than 48 wanted mafia members." That news drew gasps and excitement from the cyborgs, but their adult counterparts seemed less enthusiastic. Ferro continued; "We estimate that we have only 4 days before word spreads through the underworld that we are operating in the city. After that our suspects will certainly go into hiding, and the opportunity will be lost. That means a lot of work...for all of us. We can not expect predictable schedules or very much rest over these next 4 days. Public Safety will provide support of course, mostly in the form of cleaner crews, but we are spearheading this round up. Some of our targets are to be captured, but most are marked for elimination."

"Do we have mission sheets yet?" asked Allison, hoping that a show of enthusiasm could wipe the memory of she & Kara's unauthorized late arrival from the minds of the adults.

Ferro waved her hand in tired frustration and replied "I haven't got time to type all that up...get your notebooks out if you want to write down specifics. McDonnell, as we discussed, you'll be taking Allison & Kara on the first mission...a live capture of a caporegime. He breakfasts at his social club in an hour, you can grab him there. No need to take any bodyguards, you can kill them. Girls; Kara & Allison have first dibs on the bathroom, nobody get in their way."

"Alright, you heard the lady," said Brian, "you have 10 minutes to get washed up and dressed."

"10 minutes?" exclaimed Kara in dismay, who could barely pick out a suitable outfit in that time, much less brush her teeth and do her hair. Allison did not look pleased either.

Brian smiled, but gave no quarter, "10 minutes...the clock is ticking."

---

"I don't know why you're working yourself into a sweat about this. That rat-bastard Teoni skipped town already" muttered Hector Demagni, dipping his brioche into a cup of granita.

"Bullshit" growled Grassa Sallusito, "they say they seen him at Dei Vespri just last night. Ordered and then took off like a scared rabbit just after his soup showed up."

The capo gave a snorting laugh and sipped his cappuccino. "Fat bastard didn't need to eat anything else anyway. Trust me, he's long gone...probably went down south and got a boat out to Istanbul or something. Good fucking riddance."

"Look, I'm as happy to see him gone as you are," whispered Sallusito, looking around the patio to see if anyone was listening "but it's exactly those friends in Turkey that I'm concerned about. Teoni knows all about the gun-running through the Bosporus, and he knows all about how we're tied up with those Republican wackos up north. What if he didn't skip town? What if he got picked up by the government?"

"This is Palermo, Grassa, we own the goddamn polizia in this town. If they had him we'd know it by now."

"I ain't talking about the cops," growled Sallusito "I'm talking about the government."

This time Demagni laughed out loud; "You read too many spy novels! What do you think, we got some secret government agency watching us with spy cameras & shit right now?" He leaned back in his seat and grabbed his crotch. "Hey, federali look what I got for you, stronzi!"

"I'd rather have some of that coffee" muttered Allison, watching Demagni & Sallusito from the driver's seat of an inconspicuous looking Fiat Stilo. They were less than 12 meters from where the two mafiosi sat alone with no bodyguards, but the overpowering noise of the street made electronic listening equipment necessary, even with their cyborg ears.

"How's it going, Brian?" asked Kara. He was in the back seat with a lap-top computer and his cell phone, trying to get information on the target's unexpected breakfast partner.

He shook his head. "Still no reply from Ferro" he sighed, "I e-mailed her the photo you took 10 minutes ago."

"It wasn't a very good picture" sighed the dark haired girl, "I had to shoot through a hedge. Too bad we don't have 'Etta with us; she'd just walk up, smile, and take his picture...and she'd get away with it."

"She does have a magic touch with that sort of cutesy stuff" chuckled McDonnell, "I'm beginning to believe Guiseppe's warnings about how sneaky she can be!"

"Awww, man...they're almost finished!" Allison complained, "Brian, this second guy is obviously involved in a Padania-Mafia link, can't we just pick him up and sort out the details later?"

"I'm inclined to agree with you" he replied, checking for a reply from Ferro one last time. "Alright, Kara, you're with me...Allie, stay in the car, engine running."

Brian & Kara slipped out of the hatchback and moved into position. Borrowing a trick from the previous night Kara stole a waitresses blouse from a coat-hook near the employee's bathroom. Cringing at the ugly turquoise color she slipped it on over her clothes. A few sizes too big, but it will have to do. At the same time Brian positioned himself near the back door of the inside dining room, and waited.

"Anything else I can get for you, signori?" asked the cyborg, approaching the patio table where the two mafiosi were finishing their repast.

"What happened to Apollonia?" asked Sallusito, obviously the more suspicious of the pair.

Kara smiled and replied "Oh she's on her break, I can take care of anything you'd like."

Hector Demagni whacked the seat of Kara's denim skirt with his hand and laughed "Oh I already see what I'd like."

She bit back her anger and laughed along with him. "Good thing my boyfriend can't see us right now." The capo grinned and flashed two folded €10 notes before slipping them into her back pocket. "Your boyfriend don't need to know a thing." His measly offer offended Kara even more that the smack on the ass, so she decided now was the time to act. The cyborg shot a glance to Brian, who nodded in approval, and Kara slowly pulled the P2000 from its hiding place tucked into the back of her skirt, flirting with Demagni to keep him distracted.

Unfortunately, Grassa Sallusito was sharper and more cautious than his companion. The instant Kara's right hand disappeared behind her back he leapt to his feet and tossed the table over, splashing hot coffee into Kara's face. "Shit!" snapped the cyborg, instinctively protectingvulnerable eyes, and got a hard kick in the stomach while distracted. Brian rushed forward, but the two mafiosi were already running. Sallusito had already jumped over a short stone wall and into the parking lot...Demagni ran in the opposite direction.

"Are you okay?" Brian demanded, helping Kara off the ground.

"Of course I am!" she snapped, furious at herself for underestimating the secondary target, and causing a public scene. "I'm getting Demagni...you guys catch Sallusito!" With that she raced off in pursuit of the man who had dared put his hand on her butt.

Allison had watched the scene unfold, and whipped the Fiat out into the street, narrowly missing a bus. She rounded the corner with a hand-brake turn and reached the parking lot just in time to see her target blast out driving an old Mercedes 190E, knocking down a bicyclist on the way out. The cyborg was ready to purse, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Brian rush out with his Kimber already drawn.

"Thanks for stopping" he joked, hopping into the passenger seat.

"I couldn't leave my big bro alone in public with his weapon out in plain view" Allison replied, dropping the clutch and squealing the narrow tires violently, "You'd get locked up for sure, and you know what they do to hot guys like you in prison."

Brian pointed his pistol ahead and replied "Just chase down our friend, wise-ass...he's getting away!"

"From me?" Allison scoffed, pulling out into oncoming traffic to pass 5 cars. "Not likely!"

Hector Demagni was a fit man, but Kara had no trouble running him down on foot. The capo saw her following, easily spotted in the turquoise waitress blouse, and tried to duck into an alley. For the powerfully built mafiosi it felt odd to be running from a teenaged girl, but after getting up from that kick Grassa gave her he knew Kara was no ordinary teen. Hector was under no delusion that he could give this girl the slip, but maybe she was dumb enough to fall into a trap.

Frustrated by her screw up just seconds ago, Kara was in full attack mode, concentrating hard on avoiding another mistake. She saw Demagni duck down the alley, and knew he'd be waiting around the corner with a gun. While he probably did not have the armor piercing rounds that could genuinely endanger her life, Kara did not relish the idea of explaining to Michele & Jean how she got herself shot on the first day of a big mission.

There was a hanging sign just above the last storefront, so Kara decided to use it. She jumped, and caught the metal frame. Using her own momentum the cyborg swung her legs around the corner and saw the target 2 meters below her, aiming his pistol straight ahead. From there it was an easy matter to drop down on top of him. Demagni did not see her until it was too late, and found out quickly that his tormentor was not only tough and fast, but heavy. In an instant she had kicked his Beretta away and pinned both arms behind his back. Lacking any handcuffs (she'd left them in the car) Kara whipped off the turquoise blouse and wrapped it around her hands.

"Control base, this is Kara...I have my primary target" she reported into her radio, as Hector Demagni cursed & struggled.

"Copy, fixing your position, stand by" replied the Public Safety support team, "okay, we have you. A pick up van is on the way."

Kara knelt down on her captive's back and took a few deep breaths. Then she remembered the insulting proposition he'd made a few minutes earlier. The girl took his two bills from her back pocket and tossed them on the ground in front of his face. "€20? Get real, jackass. I've got tubes of lipstick that cost more than that."

Blocks away, Allison had gotten the loaner Fiat close enough for Brian to take a shot at Sallusito's Benz. In an effort to escape to familiar territory the mobster had driven toward the waterfront and the docks, which suited Brian & Allison just fine...there were less innocent bystanders to get in the way. Still, it was important to end the chase as quickly as possible. The mafiosi had already had plenty of time to call for help, so the fratello expected to run into an ambush any second now.

"Hold it as steady as you can!" ordered McDonnell. His cyborg took the best compromise between hitting potholes and swerving violently to avoid them; it was good enough for the Ulsterman to get off 3 shots. "Awww, you've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, as all his bullets hit but did little more than chip the paint, "Bulletproof!"

"That explains why he's driving such an old Benz" muttered Allison, "time to do it my way! Got your seat-belt on Brian?"

McDonnell was already wearing it (he never once forgot to buckle up since being teamed with Allison) but he gave the belt a check when he realized what his charge intended to do. Disregarding the potholes she accelerated as fast as the Fiat could move, and rammed directly into the back of the heavier Mercedes.

It did the trick. Sallusito lost control and sideswiped a warehouse wall. Her radiator already blown, Allison used the last of her Fiat's fading power to deal him one last hit. The 190E spun this time, and Sallusito jumped out. Instead of fleeing on foot, the mafiosi attacked, drawing a big revolver and blasting the Fiat. Lacking the armor of the Benz Allison & Brian were vulnerable. The cyborg steered to present her side of the car to the gunfire, instinctively shielding her handler. Sallusito charged them, and shoved his pistol in the driver's side window, straight at Brian. This was an act Allison could not tolerate...she grabbed his arm and pushed it forward to keep her handler out of the line of fire. The overheating Fiat was about to sputter its last few breaths, but by some unexplainable trust between two machines it delivered to Allison one last thrust of acceleration. She never let go of Grassa Sallusito's arm, and dragged him along to sideswipe his own battered Mercedes, tearing that arm off and crushing the screaming mobster between the two vehicles.

Both handler & cyborg were silent for a few moments, and the Fiat finally belched a last cloud of steam and died. "Bloody hell..." muttered McDonnell, "...well done!" but his cyborg did not accept his praise for herself.

"I know" sighed Allison sadly, rubbing the steering wheel "she gave her life for us. Thank you, girl." The cyborg climbed out of her window, carefully avoiding dragging her jeans through Sallusito's blood, and hopped down off the roof to run her hands across the hood of the fallen Benz and offer a few worlds of comfort (it hadn't been his fault, she surmised). Brian rolled his eyes but knew better than to openly mock her habit of talking to machines. After all, those machines had saved his life this day.

Brian's cell phone finally rang. "McDonnell here."

"Brian, it's Ferro; that 2nd suspect...Grassa Sallusito...he's on the list too, but he's low priority. Orders are to terminate him."

"Oh..." muttered McDonnell, looking over at Sallusito's guts smeared between wrecked automobiles "...that's good to know."

_Bank Job_

Across town Petrushka, Agapita, Avise & Alessandro were taking time out for breakfast themselves. "So this is the famous...McDonald's." commented Avise, ingesting a tentative bite of his ham & egg sandwich.

"Mr. Mancini, are you implying you've never been to a McDonald's?" replied Petra.

"There are no burger restaurants in Nasiriyah" he declared with a dramatic flourish that his colleagues has become accustomed to, but then he reconsidered and added "at least none with breakfast service."

"So this is what Scottish food is like" mused his cyborg.

Alessandro & Petra both looked at her queerly. "Scottish?" the young spy asked.

"Well the place is called Mac Donald's...isn't it?" Agapita replied, "I just assumed..." The other all had a brief laugh at her expense, so with a snort of indignation she went back to munching on her own sandwich. "Well, Scottish or not, it isn't bad...although I'd have preferred pizza."

"Seriously? For breakfast?" Petrushka asked.

With a look of complete earnestness Agapita answered "Petra my dear sister, there is absolutely no time of day when it is inappropriate to eat pizza."

They were an odd quartet, the ex-military man who sat straight upright in his seat, and spoke in grandiose tones, using his hands as much as his voice to make his points. Avise was used to being a center of attention, and he enjoyed the role. Contrasted against Mancini was Rissi, the sharp eyed spy who laid back lazily in his chair and enjoyed his chameleon ability to blend in with any environment. Accompanying them, the prim & somewhat breezy Agapita, whose feminine poise gave counterpoint to the martial splendor of her handler, and Petrushka, possessed a of wide eyed casual cheer that belied the attentiveness she had learned from her master. What was perhaps most odd was that this cluster of contradictions got along so well, each finding amusement in the exotic charms of the others company.

Agapita sighted the target first. "Heads up!" she whispered, stuffing the last bit of her sandwich into her mouth "The mark just pulled up in front of the bank." It was already 10:30am, and the streets were crowded.

"Fortunate," replied Sandro, "it's best that we do the grab before the lunch hour when that bank really fills up with customers."

Avise shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe we're actually doing this."

"Does it offend your sense of law & order?" joked Rissi.

"On the contrary," laughed Mancini, "it's kind of been a daydream fantasy of mine since boyhood. Let's get to work."

The 4 exited the fast food restaurant together, crossing the street at an angle that best avoided bank security camera's. Alessandro split off and got into the car...another nondescript loaner from the Public Safety motor pool. Without a word Avise & the girls climbed the steps to the Palermo Banca Nazionale, and just as they reached the door yanked black balaclava's over their heads.

"Alright, get the hell down all of you, this is a robbery!" shouted Mancini, brandishing a massive Israeli Desert Eagle pistol (borrowed from Olga). He fired 3 shots straight into the air for effect, the un-silenced pistol's cannon-like boom nearly drown out by the screams of terrified patrons. Without being told the cashiers began to stack bundles of euro's on their counters. "Take a hostage!" he ordered. Agapita went straight for the target, a Cosa Nostra embezzler named Fredo Matani, approaching him from behind & and jamming her Tanfoglio automatic under his jaw.

"Oh, holy shit bastardo, you have no idea who you're fucking with!" growled Matani, wholly expecting his mafia connections to protect him from such inconvenient nonsense.

"Actually, we know exactly who you are" whispered Agapita, "and even though you're worth more to us alive, bringing you in dead is also an option so just behave yourself; capito?"

The embezzler turned a shocked gaze on her. "Bring me in? Are you cops?" It was then that he noticed that the masked person taking him was neither a cop or a rival gangster but a teenaged girl...wearing a sun dress no less.

Avise & Petrushka were already backing toward the door. "Let's get moving!" shouted the handler, and his cyborg obeyed.

"Come on, you heard the boss" she told Matini, dragging to his feet. The uncooperative mafiosi tried to drag his feet, but was amazed at the power with which this thin girl pulled him along with. Mancini exited first, followed by Agapita & her captive...Petrushka fired a few rounds into the bank for good measure before she too made good her escape.

As the 3, dragging along their mark stepped outside the bank Alessandro drove up, coming to a fast but controlled halt right in front of the main steps. At that same moment Avise & the girls yanked off their balaclavas and hid the weapons, working hard to cause the least conspicuous public scene possible. Mancini did not make an attempt to help muscle Fredo down the steps and into the car, he knew that was a task the cyborgs could handle better themselves. He dashed ahead and opened the door, sliding in and across to the opposite seat. Matani was unceremoniously tossed in next, with Agapita following him and slamming the door behind herself.

Once Petra took the front passenger seat her handler swung the Lancia out into traffic for their getaway. Red faced with rage, Fredo Matani cursed at them viciously; "I don't know who you fuckers are, but once the bosses hear about this I'm gonna laugh at you shitheads while they feed you to the goddamn pigs!"

Petrushka carefully handed 'Pita a wet rag, which she accepted with care. "You shouldn't blaspheme...you're going to need all the help you can get soon" advised the girl, pressing the ether to his face. In seconds Matani was out cold, and the Section 2 quartet laughed out loud at their adventure.

"Unbelievable..." exclaimed Mancini, releasing his excitement with a heavy sigh of relief, "...if you'd ever told me I'd bust into a bank waving a gun and shouting about a robbery I'd have called you mad!"

"With blanks no less!" Petra added, "We managed to fake a bank robbery, grab our mark, and get out with fake bullets!" It was true...the only weapon loaded with actual rounds had been Avise's old Webley, tucked into the a hidden holster under his arm.

Police arrived at the bank within minutes, just as all of the staff were coming to the confusing conclusion that no money had been taken. Just as the reports were being filed, a smartly dressed woman with short dark hair came in, flashed the correct credentials, and commandeered all of the security camera recordings & witness reports for an "on-going government investigation." She was gone as soon as she had them, loaded into two heavy boxes, which a very young blonde girl with an odd haircut helped her carry out the door.

_Trip to the Beach_

With their car destroyed, and Public Safety not very happy about it, Kara, Brian & Allison decided to take the bus back to field headquarters rather than ask for a replacement auto. This was a novel experience for Kara, who had never ridden a public bus, but for Allison is was frustrating not being behind the wheel. She hovered near the front, staring over the increasingly irritated driver's shoulder, asking questions until be finally lost his temper and ordered her "Behind the yellow line!"

Upon arrival at their 4th floor headquarters they found only Michele, Jean & Claes, all working on the next round of targets. "My brother is on a stake-out with Henrietta," explained the Field Commander, "Avise & Alessandro are picking up an embezzler & money launderer, I sent Rico to help Ferro with the cover-up. Olga & Priscilla are getting some rest, they've been up just as long as any of us."

"How about Alboreto & Marisa?" inquired McDonnell.

Jean handed Brian a sheet with some directions and replied "I need you to go back them up."

Brian gave a tired sigh...he'd been up all night with the rest of them and was really hoping for some rest. Jean did not pick up on his fatigue, but Michele caught on. "Let me take this, Jean, I had a nap on the boat while the docs set things up. Brian, you ought to get some rack time. Kara, you're up to another job, right?"

"Right-O, guv." she answered, borrowing a phrase she'd leaned from Monty.

"I'm ready to go again as well," added Allison, hopefully "we cyborgs all got a full sleep last night."

"Fine," muttered Jean, who was showing the strain of nearly a 2 days awake himself, "Brian, you go catch a couple hours of rack-time...Michele, take Kara & Allison

down to the beach to help out Elio."

"I'll need a car," pointed out Pagani, "my Lamborghini only seats 2."

"Just take that Public Safety loaner McDonnell brought back" Croce told him.

Brian, Kara & Allison all cringed...apparently word had not yet reached the Field Commander that the Fiat had sacrificed itself nobly for the the republic. "Eh, about that car...I've got to brief Pagani before he leaves...Allison; you explain what happened to Mr. Croce."

The brunette cyborg's jaw dropped in horror as her own handler hung her out to dry, leaving her to face the full brunt of an already tired & irritable Jean Croce. "W-whaaa?...but...but!" she stammered, but Brian had already retreated to the safety of the men's bedroom.

"How was Kara?" asked Michele, grabbing his beach sandals out of his travel bag.

McDonnell nodded approvingly, "She did great, caught the primary target all by herself while Allie & I were off destroying that Fiat."

"Huh?" Michele replied, who had been planning on using that Fiat.

"Long story, we kinda...crushed...a secondary target with it" Brian assured him, "but your Kara was not involved."

"Glad to hear it" muttered Pagani. About then they both heard Jean yelling from the living room, and Allison's voice raise as well in a frantic attempt to explain. "You go ahead and get some rest, Brian, I'll go smooth things over with Jean."

---

Michele did have to take the Gallardo, with Kara sitting in the slightly taller Allison's lap. They easily found the van in the parking lot, and located Elio seated at a cabana bar, watching the sea. He was a little surprised to see such a large contingent come to assist him. "Oh, hi Michele...ladies, Jean didn't tell me he was sending a fratello and a half. There really isn't much to do."

"What can we help you with Mr. A?" asked Allison, earning her a nervous glance of disapproval from Kara. Among the cyborgs, only Allison dared call Alboreto Mr. A like some of the the adult staff members did. He did not seem to notice her informality.

"Well," muttered Elio, "Sit down, order a drink or something, this is pretty much Marisa's game. We're all just here to provide back-up if any of the marks get away."

Nobody needed to tell Allison twice. She immediately got the bartender's attention and called for 4 hot coffee's. "How about the rest of you?" she asked, "Want any?"

Alboreto laughed, glad his own cyborg was not a acolyte of the coffee religion. She was hard enough to keep in check as it was. "See that schooner out there? The white hulled one about 150 meters out."

Kara gave a glance out across the water and asked "Venus Palermo?"

The two men, not possessing the advantage of cyborg vision, traded binoculars back and forth, Elio confirming "Yes...and it's just Venus. Palermo is the home port. Anyway, there are 6 targets on board, all marked for termination. Marisa should be under that boat by now."

Allison practically spit out the contents of her first coffee. "She's gonna take on 6 of them?"

Mari's handler shrugged and replied "If it was on dry land I'd agree with you, and wouldn't allow her to do it, but out on the water she's damned efficient."

Pagani peered through the binoculars again, "I thought you said there were 6."

"There were" Kara said, "I saw them just a few seconds ago." She strained to see the missing man, but could not find him either, "Did I count wrong?" she wondered out loud.

"Not at all" chuckled Alboreto, taking a sip of his coffee "looks like Mari has gone to work already."

2 minutes passed, with all 4 of the shore party watching the deck intently. The other 5 mafiosi were lounging about, drinking wine and holding fishing poles without any real expectation of catching anything. "Oh! Oh! I saw it that time!" Allison exclaimed, "Up near the front of the boat!"

"What! I missed it again?" complained Kara. There was no doubt; there were only 4 men on board this time, and the water's surface was rippling near the bow. 2 minutes later Kara finally got to see it. There was a splash, and Marisa jumped out of the water just high enough to snag one of her targets with a length of piano wire. He fell to the deck, clawing at the wire in a desperate fight for his life, but the red-haired cyborg dragged him under with a minimum of difficulty. "She's cutting them up down there, isn't she?" asked Kara.

Elio nodded. "Working this fast...one every 2 minutes, she isn't just letting them drown. It's about 17 meters deep out there, so she's probably pinning them up against the hull of the schooner and finishing them with her knife." Everyone watching felt a chill run down their spine.

By this time the 3 remaining men knew something was amiss. One went into the cabin below to look for their missing friends, while the other two looked overboard to see if they'd fallen in. That made Marisa's job even easier. Hanging overboard the mafiosi made easy targets, and a 4th was dragged under to his death. This time his partner saw the splash, and ran over, too late. From their vantage point on the beach Michele, Kara, Allison & Elio could see him yelling for his cohort down below. Marisa did not wait two minutes like before, she exploded upward out of the water and slashed the 5th man with her knife. With a scream, he fell in, and was dragged under by the miniature assassin.

One mafiosi remained, and hearing the scream he rushed on deck with a gun. Swinging the pistol all around with panicked abruptness, he searched for the unseen killer. The last man never saw Mari climb up on the fan-tail and rush him from behind. Tourists on the beach, enjoying the last few days of autumn sun, noticed the splash but thought nothing of it. The Section Two members watching from the cabana knew different...6 men had just been assassinated in plain view of a public beach and no one had even noticed. "That was scary!" laughed Kara.

"Remind me never to sneak up on her in the bath-tub" added Allison.

Minutes later, Mari swam up to the beach, shaking herself off and knocking water out of her ears, looking every bit like any ordinary kid coming in from a swim. She scampered out of the shallows & up the beach, shivering as she met Elio and the others. Her handler wrapped a sun-warmed towel around her shoulders and asked "How did it go?"

"Mission successful" she reported, "all 6 of them dead, and I checked over the boat for unexpected targets after taking care of the bodies."

"What did you do with the bodies?" Alboreto asked. The questions were rhetorical making up what amounted to a final checklist for the job.

Mari pointed out to the bay and answered, "I tied them up under that channel buoy, so we can go collect them after nightfall."

"Did you have any problems?" asked Michele.

"That 4th one almost blew it for me, so I tied #3 to the prop shaft with my piano wire and let him drown on his own. That left me with only the knife to finish the others off."

"And where did you leave the knife?" Elio inquired. It was the first question that he genuinely did not know the answer to.

The red-haired girl issued a wicked smile and replied "I left it between the ribs of the last one...I didn't want to walk up on the beach carrying a big dive knife."

Her handler gave an approving smile, and a congratulatory tussle of her wet hair. "Good job...unless 'Etta goes on another high-score killing rampage on her stakeout I think you top the leader-board so far. Go ahead and rinse the salt off over at that public shower and we'll all go grab a bite before checking in with Jean. You can change into some dry clothes in the van. Anyone have an suggestion for lunch?"

"Something hot!" Marisa replied quickly, her teeth still chattering.

_Ferro & Rico_

Ferro & Rico did not talk much as she drove back to field headquarters. Despite having worked on the cyborg project since its inception she had never actually made small talk with one of the girls, and she did not know where to start. Even when she had escorted Rico & Henrietta down to Taormina for a holiday with their fratelli she had not engaged either of them in social conversation.

For her part Rico kept silent as well. Like most of the girls she found Ms. Ferro a little bit intimidating...the strict martin-ette of the agency whose White Glove of Detention (seen only on room inspection days) was feared more than any Padania terrorist. The blonde girl quietly amused herself by staring out the window and trying to imagine what people did for a living based on their clothing alone.

"So, Rico..." Ferro finally ventured, finding the silence between them uncomfortable, "...how are you doing? Are you enjoying this mission?"

"I haven't really done anything but help carry boxes yet ma'am" she replied. "Jean is very busy, so I haven't been out to work with him yet."

Ferro nodded and said "You're right, he is very busy. Maybe after he gets some rest he'll be ready to go chase some bad guys with you."

"I hope so" chirped Rico, "I like feeling useful. Anyway, it's fun sleeping in a big room with all the other girls. I get lonely sleeping alone when Henrietta is gone."

The woman looked down at Rico and thought for a minute. "Rico, it's getting past noon, do you feel like stopping for some lunch? We could bring some back to Jean and the others too."

Surprised by Ms. Ferro's unexpected friendliness & informality it took the cyborg a few seconds to reply "Ummm...sure." She pointed out the window and added "Maybe we should take care of him first."

"Who?" asked Ferro, not really paying that much attention.

Rico pointed out a blonde haired man who did not look Sicilian sitting at an outdoor cafe. "That man...he's one of our targets."

Ferro slammed on the Ford Mondeo's brakes and swerved to the side of the road, receiving an angry yell from a woman on a Piaggio scooter whom she had nearly cut off. "How do you know, Rico?"

"I looked at your list of targets while you & Jean were working" answered the girl, cringing a little, "I was kinda bored...I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't apologize, that was very good. Do you remember his name?"

"Umm...no...it was a funny name though" Rico answered, placing her fingertip to her chin, as if in deep thought "like something from another country or language. But I'm sure I've seen his face."

The woman paused to think for a second. "Alright..." she began, "...Rico, I need you to get his picture for me." She handed the cyborg her camera phone and instructed, "Don't let him see you doing it. You have your pistol, right?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Okay, don't engage him unless he attacks you. If he does spot you, run." ordered Ferro. "I'll go one block ahead and wait for you there. Here's a euro; if we get separated you find a pay telephone & call Jean at Field Headquarters. You know the number, right?"

"Yes ma'am...I'll do my best."

As Rico hopped out of the automobile Ferro felt a flush of excitement. She was utilizing a cyborg on a mission. As she pulled the Ford back into traffic and parked a block away Ferro wondered what it would feel like to have a cyborg of her own. The famously stoic ex-policewoman allowed herself to daydream for a moment and was startled when Rico rapped her knuckles on the passenger window. Ferro rolled it down so she could hand the telephone back. "I got 3 photo's ma'am, if they're not good enough I could go back and try again."

"These are excellent, Rico" Ferro praised, unlocking the door to allow her in. She quickly dialed the Field HQ.

"Buon pomeriggio, Tourism Promotions Office, Palermo Branch" replied a girl's voice on the other end of the line.

"Claes, that's Tourism Promotions Agency, Palermo Office" corrected Ferro, "These codes mean something after all."

"Sorry Ms. Ferro, I'll write that down" apologized Claes. "What can I help you with?"

"Is Jean there?" she asked.

Claes seemed to pause for a moment, awkwardly unsure what to say. She lowered her voice to a whisper and replied "He's busy yelling at Allison right now...something about a car we borrowed from Public Safety. Oh, good...Mr. Pagani is coming out to help her."

"I don't have time to wait for Jean...I'm sending you 3 photos of a man Rico believes is one of out targets" explained the agent, "I need you to look through our list and identify him. Rico says he might have a foreign sounding name."

"Yes ma'am...stand by please." Less than a minute passed, and Claes was back on the line. "Rico is right. These photos match an assassin named Helmut Beicher, a German. He's a mid-priority target marked for termination."

"Good work Claes, now call Public Safety and get a cleaner crew to our neighborhood. I'm e-mailing you our location." Ferro turned to Rico and gave her a rare smile. "You were right...ready for a mission?"

"Of course Ms. Ferro!" chirped the smiling cyborg.

Ferro walked down the street toward her target. It would be difficult to kill a target in broad daylight on a city street, so her plan was to flush Beicher out and hope he ran to an area he considered isolated & safe. It was dangerous, Beicher was a trained assassin and Ferro did not have Rico by her side as a safety net. She gave her H&K pistol a final check...round chambered, safety off...and with a deep breath approached her target.

"Helmut Beicher..." she said, in her usual authoritative voice. The German did not look up from his newspaper. "Herr Beicher I am with the Rome Police department."

"Are you talking to me?" he asked in an annoyed tone, "My name is Adolph Kierkirch, and I have never been to Rome."

"Herr Beicher, you are wanted for questioning, I'm sure you do not wish to cause an embarrassing public scene so if you would come with me."

"I have told you I am not this Beicher you speak of!" snapped the man, "Now kindly leave me alone."

Ferro turned her head and spoke into her cell phone, cupping it in her hand so he could not see that it wasn't a radio. "Sniper teams one & two, wait for my order." The assassin's eyes perked to attention, betraying his true identity. Any normal citizen would have panicked upon learning 2 snipers were focused on his person, but Beicher played it cool. Ferro turned back to him and calmly said "Sir, I give you one final chance to come along peacefully." She then took a massive risk, and shifted her eyes off the mark to look toward the roof behind him, giving a nod to imaginary snipers that waited there for her order.

Beicher fell for the bluff. He threw his table over and sprinted right into the cafe. "Damn!" growled Ferro. It had all gone to plan until that moment. She'd hoped he would run down the street, and into an alley where Rico could run the assassin down and eliminate him. "Rico! Go!"

She had been hiding behind the car, but at Ferro's command the cyborg burst from her hiding place like a quarter-horse out of the gates. "I'll get him!" she promised, passing the grown woman & customers so fast they felt lucky not to be sucked into her vacuum. While the German forced his way to the back exit, knocking down staff & patrons of the cafe, Rico dodged and changed direction with unbelievable speed, and it was impossible for Ferro to keep up.

Outside the back door was a trash-filled courtyard with only one access point for the garbage truck. Instead of taking the obvious escape route, Helmut Beicher leapt up and caught the fire escape, climbing up the side of the 5 story building. Again he was no match for the speed of Rico, who got above than the assassin on her first jump and scrambled even higher to get into a good firing position. Beicher was no easy target though...he whipped out a Glock and opened fire on his tormenter, causing the young cyborg to instinctively cover her vulnerable eyes with her left forearm. She caught one bullet in that forearm; nothing the doctors aboard Bright Star couldn't fix in minutes, but it did cause her to lose grip and fall off the fire escape she clung to.

Ferro arrived just in time to see Rico get hit, and fall from the 4th floor. She gasped and immediately regretted going ahead without calling for back-up. How am I gonna explain to Jean that I went out to pick up some evidence and ended up getting his cyborg killed? Rico surprised her though, by catching the second floor fire escape where Beicher stood. Tossing her CZ away (Ferro ran up and managed to catch it) the girl grabbed her target by the jacket and flipped over backwards, tossing him over herself as they tumbled to the pavement below. The pair hit with a heavy thud, the grown man on bottom stunned and in paralyzing pain from the 1 story fall. His hesitation was all Rico needed; she yanked up her trouser leg & produced a folding pocket knife out of her boot. With a brutal shove she punched it into the assassin's skull and Helmut Beicher lay dead.

"Rico that was excellent work!" congratulated an exultant Ferro.

"You really think so?" she asked. Jean usually found some flaw in her work, no matter how hard she tried, and so she was caught off guard by praise from the usually rigid & strict Ferro. What is it I'm supposed to say? "Umm...thank you ma'am." Just then, triggered by a rumble of her stomach the cyborg remembered a more important question. "Are we still going to stop for lunch?"

"Of course Rico," replied Ferro, stifling a laugh at how casual she was even with a dead assassin at her feet, "in fact, I think you should get to chose the restaurant."

Rico leaned back and brought a finger to her chin...her usual "thinking pose." Grown-ups always make things difficult.

---

Allison was slightly miffed at losing her seat in the Gallardo for the ride to the lunch spot, but at least she got to drive the van. Her eagerness to impress Mr. Alboreto, whom she considered one of the "car guys" of the agency (he had after all run countless laps at the fearsome Nurburgring racetrack in Germany) unfortunately turned to disappointment when he fell asleep in the passenger seat almost immediately.

"Elio was up all night with the rest of the grown-ups" whispered Mari.

Allison nodded, and replied "Best to let him get some rest I suppose." The two cyborgs conversed quietly for the rest of the ride...Marisa eager to hear the story of Allison's morning destruction of two automobiles.

A few minutes later the Gallardo & the van pulled into a pizzeria parking lot right next to a silver Lancia Lybra. "Good," observed Michele with a satisfied smile, "Mancini & his bunch are already here...hopefully they got a table already." He & Kara climbed out of the low slung car, and the 5 of them walked to the front door, a yawning Elio taking up the rear. Just as Pagani had hoped, Avise, Alessandro, Agapita & Petra had already staked out a good spot neat the window. With a wave Rissi summoned the new arrivals to the table. As they took their seats Elio & Michele regarded the Avise/Sandro fratelli alliance with raised eyebrows. "That's as unlikely a union as I could have imagined" whispered Pagani, "but they seem to be getting along great" to which Alboreto nodded his assent.

"Did you order yet?" asked Kara.

Petrushka laughed a little, so Sandro answered for her; "Yes we ordered...we left it to the buongustai della pizza of the group and she took care of it all." He motioned toward Agapita, who sat calmly sipping a soft drink, seeing nothing but honor in the appellation. "You all just have to order your drinks."

"Want to keep it simple and just get a few pitchers of cola?" suggested Avise, "Our waitress appears to be a proper dingbat so it might be advisable to limit the amount she can get wrong."

"And one hot tea!" Marisa added with an upraised finger, still shivering.

---

Jean had dozed off on the couch, and Olga did not wake him. She & Claes worked as quietly as they could, all 4 telephones on the table set to vibrate when a call came in. It was the first sleep anyone had seen the Field Commander get in over two days. Still sitting upright, but with his head leaned back and mouth agape Croce was barely recognizable as the hard-driving taskmaster he was while awake.

Tip-toeing close to him in slippers, Priscilla leaned over to loosen Jean's neck-tie, and unfasten the top button of his shirt. "Careful" warned Olga, "you wake him up now you might never get him back to sleep." All 3 women laughed quietly. None of them had ever cared for a baby, but imagining the vicious Jean Croce as one presented an amusing picture.

The Commander's respite was short lived. The front door was flung open, admitting Rico & Ferro, both them laden down with boxes. "We brought food!" the young cyborg trumpeted before Claes & Olga could shush her. Jean was stirred into foggy consciousness, just in time to catch Priscilla fumbling with his shirt button. An awkward moment passed as the two just stared at each other.

"Ummm...I was just...you were sleeping...and I..." the mortified intel analyst tried to explain, but Jean just sat up, rubbed his face and pretended as if nothing had ever happened.

Seeing that the table was full Ferro deposited boxes of confiscated evidence from Mancini & Rissi's "bank job" on the floor. The residential apartment Public Safety had provided was proving to be a poor office space. "I'll need all this sorted, copied, annotated, and then incinerated" she told the others. Priscilla & Claes groaned in unison. It all seemed ridiculous & pointless, but they were both familiar enough with how the government, and by extension Ferro, worked not to gripe about it.

Oblivious to the stacks of paperwork Rico laid out boxes of take out food on the kitchen counter. She motioned for Claes, Olga & Priscilla to come dig in themselves, but dashed over to deliver lunch to Jean herself. "Here..." she offered him an aluminum take-out container with a broad smile, "...this is really good, but if you don't like it we got other stuff!"

"Good timing" muttered Croce, shaking off his sleepiness. As he'd learned in the Carabinieri when you can't get sleep, food is the next best thing to keep you going for a few more hours. While it had not exactly been praise or a compliment, Rico was exultant over her handler's approval. Jean pulled off the lid, and his eyes perked up with surprise. "Ferro...excellent choice...thank you" he called out, but she quickly corrected him.

"It wasn't my choice...Rico picked the restaurant."

Croce looked upon his smiling cyborg with bewilderment. "You chose Thai food?" he asked. He'd always assumed it would be far too spicy for her.

"Yep!" she beamed, "I had it with Mr. Theuma & Dona once when you loaned me to him for that sniper mission in Torino. I really liked it, but the dining hall never makes anything like it." Her handler just sat there, staring at her with a faraway look in his eyes, and it began to make Rico worry. "Do you not like Thailand food, Sir?"

"No...I do like it...I like it very much," he muttered, "I just didn't know you enjoyed it." Croce was caught off guard by this eerie coincidence for which there was no explanation. He had never given much consideration to what his cyborg liked and didn't like...she always seemed to eat whatever was put in front of her. An occasional stop at his favorite Thai restaurant was one of Jean's few indulgences back in Rome, but he had never taken Rico along. For a cyborg to have independently developed the same culinary tastes as her handler...there was no explanation Croce could come up with. It made him think though, deeply.

For her part Rico was free of such deep thoughts, she was just happy to have successfully picked out something her handler liked. This was turning out to be a very good day. "They had chop-sticks at the restaurant, but when I tried them I just made a mess," explained the cyborg, "so I brought plastic forks along too."

_Cleaning Up_

As soon as night fell and the beaches emptied of their sun worshipers Marisa & Elio returned to the water to complete their grizzly task. A Public Safety launch, with two crewmen, ferried the fratello out to the buoy where Mari had stored her victims. It was now time to clean up, to recover 6 bodies waiting below in the dark waters.

For this part of the operation Elio & Marisa used regular open circuit SCUBA gear...they were not going deep, and concealing their bubbles was not an issue here. "Ready?" asked the handler.

"Ready" confirmed his charge, she took a step and splashed in feet first.

As they swam up to the buoy Elio scanned up and down the mooring line with a wrist mounted light. Although the old spy was ready for what he knew was down there, the sight of a corpse underwater had always been a bit unnerving to him. Perhaps it was how the harsh white dive lights seemed to exaggerate the pallor of death, or that every body, no matter how fresh, always seemed to be picked at by marine life before he got to it. He knew these were irrational hang-ups, but for whatever reason Elio Alboreto preferred to pass the body recovery jobs to others when he could.

Marisa had no such compunctions about the task at hand. She located the bodies, hanging like a stringer of fish, right where she'd left them, and proudly posed with them, as if she expected her handler to take a photograph. Elio rolled his eyes and gave her a let's get on with it signal. Just as he had expected, the bodies where white as marble, and a crab was busy feasting in one empty eye socket.

A half hour later the approach of underwater lights signaled the Public Safety boat crew that their Section 2 partners had completed the task. The gray bearded man and the freckled cyborg girl surfaced, towing behind them 6 loaded body-bags...orange mesh nylon to let the water drain out. Getting a grip on the first one they grunted and strained to drag it on deck, until with a groan of annoyance the cyborg girl said "Oh, just let me do it!" With a helping hand from one of the PS men she climbed up onto the boat and one by one tossed each body-bag on deck, never even taking her harness & tank off. She then reached down and pulled her supervisor out...a grown man who looked 3 times her size. They looked at each-other in astonishment, unsure if it was appropriate to comment on the mechanical girl's amazing powers.

"I think we're done here" announced Alboreto, as soon as he had pulled his regulator from his mouth.

"Yes Sir" replied the taller of the two men, as his partner fired up the twin engines, "by the way...your phone was ringing while you were below."

With a nod Elio picked it up, and quickly re-dialed the Field HQ. Mancini answered. "Alboreto, how did the body search go?"

"Not much of a search" he admitted, "they were right where Mari left them. How are things going over there?"

"Jean has finally gone to bed so things are calming down some." explained Avise, "Listen, are you and your girl up for another take-down tonight?"

Every muscle in Alboreto's body protested. Aside from the few minutes of rest he'd gotten while Allison drove the van to lunch he had not slept in 2 days. Marisa sat shivering on the bench, showing palpable signs of fatigue herself. It was getting late, and cold dives sapped the energy from her small body quickly. Whatever Avise needed, Elio would do alone. "I'm ready...but my cyborg needs rest."

"Okay," Mancini replied, "I just need someone to go help out Giuseppe...he's been stuck on that stakeout all day. Maybe the two of you can work out some schedule and both get some mattress time. Do you want us to wake up Olga to come pick up Marisa?"

"No, we're out on the water already," said Elio, "I'm just going to have these Public Safety guys drop me at the dock and then take Mari out to Bright Star. I'm sure Pagani has room for her."

"Copy that" Mancini acknowledged, "give us a call if anything changes...somebody here will be up all night to take your call...hopefully not me. Good luck and God preserve you."

"Right back at you there, Monsignor" answered Alboreto, trying not to sound too sarcastic about something his colleague held important. Chilling water, no sleep, and the promise of another long night had made the old spy irritable, so he had to be extra careful not to offend.

"What's going on?" Marisa piped up.

As he dialed Michele's number Elio answered, "I'm going to see how Giuseppe Croce & 'Etta are doing on the stakeout."

Mari curled into a tighter ball and groaned "Awww man."

"You don't have to go" he assured his tired trainee, "I'm calling Mr. Pagani right now...I'm sure he has an open cabin for you aboard his boat, how does that sound?"

With a yawn, Marisa strengthened her resolve. "I'm your partner...your cyborg, I should go with you."

"It's just going to be a long, boring stakeout," Alboreto tried to talk her out of it, "in all likelihood nothing is going to happen. Would you rather have that...sharing a bunk with Henrietta...or a night aboard Mr. Pagani's yacht?"

The red-headed cyborg's human psyche played a tug-of-war for few moments, but in the end she admitted that fatigue had her beaten. "You won't think I'm a wimp if I chose the yacht...will you?" she sighed.

"I only wish I could chose it" the handler assured her.

---

Refreshed by his afternoon nap, Brian was the more alert on in his car. He and Allison were re-united, and for once the handler was at the wheel. They were driving the silver 2006 Lancia Lybra which the Mancini & Rissi fratelli had used earlier in the day. The cyborg sat in the passenger seat with a city street map resting in her lap, catching a few precious moments of sleep whenever the mark that they were tailing stopped to go inside a building. She was tasked with marking every address he stopped at on her map, and tracing out the exact route they took. Allison had complained; stating that this was work for the brain-dead not a multi-million euro cyborg and her highly trained handler, and that this guy was not even on the list of targets (an add-on from Public Safety), but Ferro quickly pointed out that after crashing one of Public Safety's loaner cars already it might be a good idea to do them a few extra favors.

"Allie...wake up kiddo," said McDonnell, shaking his partner, as he started the 1.8 liter engine, "he's on the move again."

"*yawn* 'kay," she muttered, stretching out and pulling the cap off a black marker with her teeth. Brian kept a safe distance, tailing the target as Allison marked his route. "What is this guy up to anyway?"

"Ferro says he's a heroin courier" explained the man, "he's making drops...we're to tail him to his supplier, and report. Hopefully we can take the whole place down."

Allison yawned. "Hopefully it won't take all night."

_No Coffee_

Alboreto arrived at the stakeout apartment via taxi. There had been plenty of police cars available from which he could have commandeered a ride, but he decided against that. Showing up at a stakeout location in a police car was a stupidity beyond anything that could be blamed on fatigue. He climbed the 3 flights of stairs, checked the door number and knocked out the pre-arranged code, one loud knock, 2 soft. "I'm looking for Tazio" he called out.

"Signor Nuvolari is not here right now" came the counter-code. In a few moments Giuseppe Croce opened the door. Putting a finger to his lips he entreated his older colleague to a degree of silence, pointing out Henrietta sleeping on the room's one metal spring bed, still dressed in her rumpled clothes. Alboreto nodded his accent, and the two men went to the window where they could speak. "She was up helping me all day, but when night fell she just had to get some rest" Giuse explained. "Where is your Marisa?"

"Same issue," Elio replied, "she'd been up all day, plus two cold dives. I sent her to Pagani's yacht to sleep. These girls can do spectacular things, but when they're too tired to concentrate the performance falls right off the chart and they can become a liability. When that happens I prefer to work alone."

Giuseppe shrugged his shoulders and added "I just didn't have the heart to force Henrietta to stay awake any longer. She really tried hard, but she was nodding off on watch."

"Speaking of which, why don't you go catch a few winks?" suggested Alboreto, "You've been staring at that apartment all day."

"I do not deny that my heart has greatly desired to ask what you offer..." joked Croce, quoting a book he knew Marisa was reading, "...but what about you? You've been up easily as long as I have."

"You take an hour or two then relieve me" instructed Elio, tipping the other man's chair to usher him out of it. It did not matter that Giuse was, in terms of seniority, the #3 handler at the agency, and Alboreto was a relative newcomer...it was clear that the older man was giving the orders, and Croce was in no mood to object.

Once his fellow handler had settled in beside his sleeping cyborg Elio settled in to the chair beside the window. A brief search of the room yielded no coffee (he resolved to send Henrietta out to buy a cheap electric pot if this stakeout continued on into tomorrow) so the old spy opened the window a bit and made do with a cigar he'd been saving for a quiet moment, and aside from the soft whistle of 'Etta's breathing all was quiet.

---

"Alright, he's gone inside again, try to get a couple minutes of rest" instructed Brian, who got no argument from his yawning cyborg.

Allison capped her marker and pulled the recline lever on her seat, but popped up in a flash, wide-eyed and alert. "Brian! There's a infrared beam lighting us up!"

"Where?" Not thinking for a second McDonnell looked for it, feeling a bit foolish when he remembered that infrared light was invisible to his non-cyborg eyes. The Ulsterman fired up the Lancia and threw it in reverse, sure that they had been spotted. "Damn it, we were careful as hell, how did they make us? Get down...it could be a targeting beam for a night-vision scope!"

"No!" replied Allison, reaching over and throwing the car out of gear, "I mean...it is a targeting beam...but...it's flashing us, like someone is trying to get our attention."

Brian stared up at the building. "Who?" His mind raced with possibilities. Was this heroin ring somehow aware that cyborgs had their scent? Was it a trap to get one to reveal herself? Are we going to get out of this alive?

The girl turned his head and pointed. "It's not coming from the building our mark entered...it's coming from across the street!"

"What the hell is going on?" McDonnell growled, drawing out his Kimber and chambering a round. Just then his mobile phone rang, causing both he & Allison to jump out of their skins. He let it ring a few times, considering all the angles.

Allison waved her hands in frustration. "Brian! Answer it!" Taking a deep breath, her handler hit the green button to accept the call, and placed the phone to his ear.

"This is McDonnell."

"Thought so" replied a rumbling voice that spoke English, "Alboreto here...I know your cyborg can see me signaling you."

"Jesus bloody Christ Elio, you scared the shite out of us!" laughed Brian, "What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"This is Giuse Croce's stakeout location, I'm just filling in so he can get some sleep...what are you doing here?"

"Tailing a heroin courier," replied McDonnell, "favor for the PS lads."

"Listen...leave Allison to watch the door and come on up here." Elio told him, "There's a good chance we're both after the same flat. We're in 4-D...be quiet, Croce and his girl are both asleep."

Brian terminated the call and turned to his partner, who had heard every word with her cyborg ears. "Get your Tavor ready and wait here. There's a good chance we're going to make the attack right now, with support from Elio & Giuse's fratelli."

"Good," yawned Allison, "I don't wanna be up all night."

---

"Looking for Tazio" whispered Brian.

Elio tossed open the door before he'd even spoken the counter-code. "Yeah, yeah...Mister Nuvolari isn't here. Come take a look through the scope and see if this is your guy."

McDonnell tip-toed over to the familiar Zeiss scope (Special Operations had dozens of the things), careful not to wake the sleeping Croce fratello. There were 5 men in the room, all drinking wine and laughing. "Yair...one is my target. The younger guy with the black hair."

"They all look young to me" grumbled Alboreto. "The guy with the shaved head is our primary target...a Padania informant. He's been taking photos of the Messina Bridge construction every week and sending them to Milan. Bastard specializes in taking high-resolution zoom photos of the security forces, so the PRF can identify them and threaten their families."

"Terminate?" asked Brian.

Elio nodded. "Oh yeah. No question."

The red-haired man gave a chuckle and muttered "You ought to let Marisa finish that wanker off with a claw hammer or something. Where is she anyway?"

"Aboard Pagani's yacht. She was beat...I had to give her some rest." Alboreto explained, "Actually, if that place is full of heroin I'm glad she's not here."

"Why's that?" inquired McDonnell.

"You've been to Dublin, right?"

"Of course," the Irishman replied "I've partied all over that town."

His English counterpart continued; "How about the Sheriffer neighborhood?"

Brian wrinkled his nose. "Hell no...nothing but whores and junkies down there."

"Well Mari's mum was both" explained Alboreto. "We got her from Dublin, she lived her first 9 years in a filthy heroin den. You can see why I'm not anxious to throw her into a situation like that."

"Understood" muttered Brian, nodding his head, "that sort of thing could trigger a bad memory response like Allison and her lorries. Well, we've got enough even without her. My lass is ready to go down there...plus we have Henrietta and us 3 gents. Legend has it you made quite a name for yourself busting drug dens back when you were still with the Ministry."

"Eh...yeah...I did a few" Elio replied sheepishly. That hadn't been the finest period in his life but it was not an appropriate the time to admit to his colleague that he'd only been doing the raids so he could steal narcotics for his own use. "Let's get Giuseppe & Henrietta ready."

Croce was surprised to be roused from his sleep by Brian McDonnell, but he rolled out of bed with a minimum of trauma. 3 hours of rest had done him a world of good. Giuse shook his cyborg, who awoke with a start. "Henrietta...Mr. Alboreto, Mr. McDonnell and Allison are all here. We're going to make an assault, get ready."

In a flash the girl prepared for battle in her own unique way. She straightened her bangs, smoothed the wrinkles from her clothes, and pulled up her sagging socks before yanking the violin case from under the bed and extracting her P90. After a quick check of the weapon she reported "I'm ready Giuse!"

"Whoa..." Giuseppe coughed, waving his hand in front of his face, "...dragon breath! Go brush your teeth first...we don't want to be accused of using a toxic chemical weapon." Pink faced with embarrassment, the young cyborg dashed off to remedy the situation.

_Collateral Damage_

As the 2 girls and 3 men crept up to the door they were relieved to hear the sounds of drinking & merriment continue from within the apartment. The targets had no idea they were being hunted, and that would make things easier.

"We'll do this just like we've always done it," whispered Giuseppe softly, "are you ready Henrietta?"

"Yes Sir." The diminutive cyborg gave her P90 one last check and chambered a round, sliding the bolt slowly to make the minimum noise possible. Alboreto, McDonnell & Allison all stayed in the shadows with weapons ready, but they deferred the job on getting the door open to the experts. Croce knocked. When no response came he knocked again, louder this time. 'Etta stood to his right, listening intently. "One set of footsteps...I don't hear a gun cocking" she whispered, moving her finger to the trigger of her machine gun.

"Steady Henrietta..." warned her handler in a calming voice. She always got skittish when he put himself in the potential line of fire, and when she was like that mistakes happened.

The door opened, but was still chained from the inside. "What the hell do you want?" demanded the dark haired man whom Allison & Brian had been tailing all night. Giuse could smell his breath all the way into the hallway, it was much worse that his cyborg's has been.

"I'm sorry my battery has gone dead and your window was the only one with a light still on," Croce explained with an embarrassed laugh, "do you mind giving me a jump start, or at least let me call a tow-truck?"

"This is none of my business; get the hell out of here" the man snapped, and attempted to slam the door, but Giuseppe had already positioned his toe to block it. "You bastardo grassetto, do you think I'm fucking around?" He threw the safety chain off and advanced into the hallway, brandishing a Glock pistol. That was all the motivation Henrietta needed...as soon as her target was in the hallway she fired one round, which exploded through the man's temple and out the opposite side of his skull. At that same instant, Brian & Allison stormed the room, followed closely by Alboreto.

Taken by surprise the remaining 4 men scrambled for their weapons, but a short warning burst from Allison's CTAR-21 assault rifle froze them in their tracks. "Good choice" McDonnell told them, motioning for them to slowly move away from the table where they sat. Giuseppe and Henrietta entered next, the diminutive cyborg dragging her latest victim by his heels.

"Nicely done" complimented Croce.

Brian shrugged her shoulders and muttered "Well, except for the fact that the one we killed was on our capture list, and these 4 we captured are on the kill list."

"Would you like me to kill them Giuse?" asked Henrietta, in a chillingly innocent voice.

"No" chuckled her handler, "we'll turn them over to..."

At that instant a bedroom door to their left burst open, and a wild-eyed woman in a torn dress rushed out screaming & cursing. The men began to yell at her, and there was a baby screaming in the room she had come from. "All of you get down on the ground!" yelled Croce, but the woman continued to scream at them in Albanian. The 4 men did not obey his command either, yelling randomly at the woman and their attackers. The carefully controlled scene was unraveling fast, and both tired cyborgs began to look increasingly panicked at all the chaotic distractions. A cacophony of infantile screaming, the woman cursing, and 7 grown men yelling over the din reached its critical point when the woman pulled a kitchen knife from her filthy dress and took a swing at Brian. Allison reacted automatically, and landed a single round between her eyes, spraying the door-frame behind with bits of skull & brains.

Seeing a distraction all 4 of the target men grabbed their pistols off the table and the room descended into chaos with everyone, Agency & enemy, cyborg & human firing wildly. In seconds it was over, noise & chaos replaced by utter silence. Through the superior skill of the SWA side all 4 targets lay dead. Allison had been hit in the right thigh, but it had done nothing more than strip a little skin off and ruin a pair of blue jeans. Elio had suffered a close call...a single ricochet caught him in the eyebrow, but its velocity had been low, and it barely drew blood.

"Everyone check yourselves!" ordered Croce, giving Henrietta a quick look-over and finding no injuries. "Damn it we shouldn't have wasted time before sweeping the whole apartment."

Allison poked her finger through the bullet-hole in her thigh and lamented "Damn it I only packed 2 pairs of jeans!" Both girls seemed relaxed and casual given the circumstances; it was all in a day's work for the cyborgs.

"How about you Alboreto?" asked Brian, looking at the contusion on his older colleague's head, "That hit didn't scramble you brain did it?"

Elio's mind was on other things though. "Henrietta, Allison, go wait in the hallway" he ordered, "Allison, call Public Safety for the cleaner team...you know the procedure."

"Can't we do that just as easily from here?" asked the older cyborg, pulling out her mobile phone with a puzzled look on her face.

"Now!" barked Alboreto.

Henrietta gave a questioning look to Giuseppe, who nodded his head even though he did not understand what was going on either, "Do as Mr. Elio says." Allison was a bit disappointed when her own handler backed up Alboreto & ordered the same. Once both cyborgs had been exiled to the hallway Giuseppe questioned "What was that all about?"

Elio wore a grim look on his face as he replied "Listen."

"I don't hear a thing" muttered a puzzled Croce, McDonnell nodding in accord.

Alboreto answered "That baby isn't squalling anymore."

"Oh...no" groaned Brian, and all 3 men hurried into the bedroom. They froze upon seeing a dirty, worn out bassinet...pierced by a single bullet hole. Elio gently pushed past the other men to check on the infant. He put his hand down into the crib and with a shake of his head confirmed everyone's fears.

"Damn it!" cursed McDonnell, kicking a chair out of his way. Giuseppe silently slumped against the wall. "What was the bullet trajectory?" demanded Brian, "Can you determine the caliber? Was it one of ours or one of theirs?"

"Just don't ask" Elio voice rumbled, "What's done is done, don't go seeking answers that don't mean a thing anymore." He took a deep breath and suggested "Why don't you blokes take the Lancia & bring the girls home. I'll stick around and make the report to Public Safety. They can give me a lift when we're done."

Croce agreed; "That's a good idea if you don't mind staying. You were correct to send the girls out, thank you."

"For better or worse I've been through this before" admitted the older man, "it's not something those two needed hanging over their heads."

"I don't think we should tell them about this" muttered Brian, who had calmed down a bit.

Elio nodded. "Agreed" he said, "you fellows better get going."

The cleaner team showed up 7 minutes after the Croce & McDonnell fratelli cleared out, and they didn't ask many questions. Lacking a child-sized body bag they put the dead infant in with the woman that was assumed to be her mother.

Once they were done a PS photographer asked "You need a ride back to your Field Headquarters?"

Alboreto was tired down to his bones, but he needed some time to think. "Thank you, but I think I could use a walk."

"Alright," agreed the man, pointing North-West "it's only 16 blocks in that direction, give us a ring if you change your mind, okay?" He leaned in and patted Elio on the back. "Don't take it hard old guy. This is not the first time some kid has gotten caught in a cross-fire, it won't be the last. Grizzly business we're in."

Alboreto stepped out into the cold night air, slowly filling his lungs and appreciating that it did not smell of blood, gunpowder, musty decay and emptied bowels. As Elio pulled his jacket tighter and began his solitary walk the old spy tried to recall the first time he'd taken the life of a child as collateral damage. He could not remember.

END OF PART 1