Melody Jones, Pt. 2: Betrayal
Prologue: Another Agency Screw-up
Council of Foreign Relations
Washington DC
"We're working on it now. You'll have your shipment by the end of the week."
"You have 3 days. If I don't have it by then, I'll leak it to the American press."
Phone cuts off.
"How unfortunate," said Senator Vince Hatton
"Stevens' men have the woman as we speak. As soon as we get the plasma..."
"What about Jones?" Mara Aramov mentions her name.
"There wasn't time," said Lyle Stevens. "The UN peacekeeping forces had already arrived."
"Another Agency screw-up. You have any idea how close your incompetence has come to kill us all?"
"I am not responsible for the actions of my predecessor. Markinson was not in control."
"Markinson was your man!"
"As Rhoemer was yours. And what about Gregorov? You were supposed to keep the Russians away from the PHARCOM warehouses in Kazakhstan."
"You're not gonna blame me for your incompetence? The SVR (External Intelligence Service) is not under my control any more than Rhoemer's terrorists were."
"Enough," said Vince. "We all have much at stake."
"Melody Jones was one of our high esteemed agents. She has the highest level of training and years of experience despite her young age and affiliation with the Homefront Warriors. It won't be easy."
"I see. Perhaps I'm not being clear. Success is everything, isn't that right, Mr. Cochran?"
"It will be impossible to get the plasma from the woman as long as Jones is alive."
"I think you overestimate Ms. Jones' abilities. You were given Mr. Phagan's job because you promised to have phase 2 of the virus ready in time."
"It's not my fault that Rhoemer lost the girl before we could extract..."
"Like Markinson and Rhoemer, you have failed."
"Alright, look. I'm sorry that things didn't go according to plan, but..."
Cochran never finished his sentence as Mara broke his neck.
"You see, Mr. Stevens. A simple demonstration," said Vince. "Mara has proven useful. Mr. Cochran has not. Jones will be taken care of. We will have the female's plasma soon."
"I have an army on the way to Colorado now, and my men are at the air base with Sheva Alomar."
"There will be no more delays."
McKenzie Air Force Base
A chopper arrived at the scene outside the base. Inside, two men and a woman in her white suit and black skirt approaches an airman.
"You can take a break, airman," said Dillon Morgan. "We'll be done in 10 minutes."
"I'll need to see some ID, sir."
"We're with FEMA. Do we need to refer to your commander?"
"No, sir."
"We'll check on Phagan. You see the other CBDC agent. Stevens wants us back in..."
"She's been unconscious for much longer than I would have expected," said Dr. Elsa Weissenger. "The virus should not have weakened her so much this early in its development cycle.
A male doctor sees Sheva on the bed, apparently out cold.
In the hallway...
"I'll head over to the hangar and see if the F-22s are back for refueling and ordinance."
"No. You get over to the main gate and make sure our package gets through unhindered," Morgan suggested. "I'll take care of the pilots personally."
Back in Sheva's room...
"Let's see, two bags of plasma should be enough. You won't feel a thing..."
Suddenly, Sheva wakes up and uppercuts the doctor away from her. She is wearing a green hospital gown.
"No! You're the one who won't feel a thing."
She got off the bed. After coughing for a few moments...
"Ok. Let's go find my gear."