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Sunrise, Inc.
Chapter 6
The Illuminati was a century-old organization that had once subtly controlled the mechanics of Earth politics, until the moon incident. Once the population had exploded into the planets they lost a great deal of influence, and had been trying for a long time to regain it. It had made them an ideal scapegoat as far as Delaware was concerned. There were only men in the organization, but they had a misogynist obsession with women, which made Julia the ideal candidate to infiltrate their base. Apparently they liked to kidnap women and hold them on the premises as trophies. Once on the premises, Julia would activate a quick-working poison that killed only men. She had to wonder if Vicious had manufactured the poison from his plants. After all, poisons were one of his expertises, and he did seem to consider the Narwhal his home.
They left the Narwhal in orbit past the moon and navigated the Barracuda through the occasional meteor spray. Julia still wouldn't let Spike pilot. They docked in California some miles away from the location of the Illuminati base, and Julia left Spike and Vicious behind. They would go their own way to wait by the base in case she needed them as back-up. They brought gas-masks with them and the alert communicators, one of which she wore on her hip bone.
She dressed as a visiting Martian, which wasn't hard since her own wardrobe had lately come from Mars. Then she rode her motorcycle to a high- class restaurant she knew Illuminati members frequented. She had dozens of their profiles in her head, which wasn't really necessary since most of them wore the 33-degree Masonic symbol on their jackets.
Entering the club, she saw why she would be a prime candidate for being kidnapped by the Illuminati. For some reason, whether it was the meteors or the Illuminati, there were very few women in the restaurant, and of those most were hardened and ugly from survival on Earth. She stood at the door for a moment, waiting for everyone's eyes to note her presence, while she scoped out the room. Rich, on Earth, wasn't really as flattering to the eye as it was elsewhere. Everyone was dressed in second-rate suits or dresses that they'd probably gotten off the blackmarket. It made the members of the Illuminati stand out. They were dressed in the finest Venetian designs, wore their hair Martian-style, and had the distinctive Masonic emblem on their lapels. Julia moved slowly through the room, chin high and her eyes meeting no one. She'd long learned how to dominate a room. She'd been taught by the best, Tussaud, one of the most notorious courtesans in the galaxy. The occupants parted from her. She drifted through a mixture of jealousy and desire, and stopped at the bar. There she ordered an old Earth wine, one that had been bottled before the Moon collapsed and whose year had just come. She knew there were people who came to Earth just to taste it. There were apparently only one hundred bottles of the stuff. Luckily, her supply from the Red Dragon syndicate covered it. The bartender procured the money before serving her the drink. As she put the glass to her lips she became aware of a presence beside her. From the Venetian cologne she guessed it was a member of the Illuminati.
"It isn't often you see someone order La Narcisse," the man beside her said. She turned to the man. He had ruby-colored eyes framed by hair the same color. If it was possible his hair captured the light at well as his eyes. He was unusually tall, well-built, and Julia guessed he must be the one the Illuminati always sent to procure a new trophy. She allowed an aloof smile to play her lips and sipped the wine, holding it in her mouth to savour it.
"Why else would anyone come to Earth?" she said. "It's too bad they refuse to export it."
"There are some who say," he said, leaning closer, "the experience is better when the surroundings are so poor."
Julia appraised the man as if she were looking at a jewel. She saw he enjoyed it, knowing in the end he would be chosen.
"Enjoy your wine," he told her. "I'll be waiting outside for you." He stood and walked back, confident enough not to spare a glance back at her. Julia sighed. Rich, confident men. Exactly the kind she despised. Hopefully this mission would be over soon. She took her time finishing the wine. It was the best she'd had, but then she was more of a vodka person. She left the bartender a tip and made her way outside, noting that the Illuminati members were watching her leave, and one of them started to speak into a communicator one she started to leave.
The winds were high outside and carried flecks of dirt that hit her skin. The ruby-haired man was leaning against a ruby-colored car. Julia tried not to roll her eyes.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
"How do you know I came for you? I might be on my way back to Mars," she couldn't resist pointing out. He didn't answer, only smiled. She brushed her hair past her bare shoulder and walked over to him. He was looking at the leg she exposed whenever she put her right foot forward. She stopped inches away from him, smirked, and said, "But of course you know I came for you." He tilted her chin up and stared at her for an unbearably long time before he kissed her, tongue sliding into her mouth like a snake. She cringed, hoping it would go no farther than that until they got to the base. He turned her around and leaned her against the car, pressing himself against her and groping her breast. She grunted and he took it for a moan, and brought the hand down to her bare leg, slipping it up and far to near the communicator. It was when he started tugging down her underwear that she gave up. "OK, that's it," she muttered, kneeing him in the groin and brandishing a gun. "In the car," she instructed him. "Hurry." She watched him as he stumbled to the driver's side, glaring at her. She let herself in on the passenger side, and cocked the gun at his temple. "The communicator on your shoulder. Take it off." He did so, refusing to look at her. "Go to the base. Now. I know exactly where it is so don't try anything funny. Call your friends and tell them to meet you there in half an hour."
He took another communicator, this one in the car, and spoke into it. "Yeah. I got her. Be there in half an hour. I'm gonna have fun with her first." Once he clicked off, she laughed out loud.
"Make sure to park outside of the line of sight. We'll wait for your friends to make it into the base before we go in."
True to his word, he didn't try any funny stuff and parked behind the base. Julia couldn't see any signs of Spike or Vicious, but then, they were good at covering signs of their presence. The man still wasn't looking at her, but he did seem somewhat confident for someone being controlled at gunpoint.
"What's your story?" he asked at one point. "What are you planning to do, take us out for the sake of womankind?" Julia didn't answer, wondering why he even bothered to ask. "Are you from the syndicate?" Again, she kept silent, but promised to herself if he spoke again she'd shoot him in the shoulder. Luckily, he didn't. A trail of cars pulled up to the base. Once she was sure the drivers had all made their way into the building, she gestured with her gun that they should leave.
He whistled and kept his hands in his pockets as he walked. Julia kicked him lightly. He took the hint and pulled his hands from his pockets, shrugging. They walked in the door. It was lucky she had the ruby-haired man in front of her, because the whole organization had their guns cocked and ready for her. Almost without thinking, she released the poison and braced the man in front of her, shooting at a couple men. One managed to shoot the gun out of her hand, and then she kept entirely behind her captive. After a minute, the shots stopped, but her captive hadn't become victim to the poison. He untangled himself from her and turned with a malicious grin. "I'm so glad you used poison," he said. Julia's mind was racing. She went for the gun on the floor, but the man kicked it away from her. He grabbed her by the front of her dress, tearing it a little, and shoved her against a cement pillar. She activated her alert communicator.
"What the-" He slapped her.
"That's for kneeing me in the groin," he said. His eyes traveled hungrily down her body. "Looks like I get to have fun with you after all. He took the strap of her dress and slowly began to slide it down her arm. "You see," he breathed, "Poison doesn't work on me." Then he clamped his lips on her neck, breaking the skin with his teeth. Her muscles froze in paralysis. He moved his head back up and looked into her shock-frozen eyes, staring past him to the door, where Vicious had appeared, with Spike behind him. They were both wearing gas masks. Oblivious, the ruby-haired man continued to slide the strap down her arm, exposing a breast. Vicious's face contorted behind the mask, and in one movement he leapt and drew a katana from his coat. He sliced across. The man's head disappeared into a ruby gurgle of blood. His body fell before her, and without its support, Julia's paralyzed body started to fall to the floor. Vicious caught her in his arms, realizing something had happened to her. He looked intently into her face.
"Julia," he said, his voice distorted by the mask. She couldn't answer. Tenderly, he slid her dress up to cover her.
She heard Spike behind him say, "Must be one of those mutations-the moon caused a lot of them."
Vicious stood with her frozen body cradled in his arms. "I think one of the antidotes to a juy leaf should revive her."
"Is she conscious?" Spike asked.
"I don't know what type of venom he used," Vicious replied.
"Let's get out of here," Spike said. "This place gives me the creeps."
"It's just a bomb shelter," Vicious said while following him to their motorcycles.
"Not the base," Spike said. "Earth."
The End
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Chapter 6
The Illuminati was a century-old organization that had once subtly controlled the mechanics of Earth politics, until the moon incident. Once the population had exploded into the planets they lost a great deal of influence, and had been trying for a long time to regain it. It had made them an ideal scapegoat as far as Delaware was concerned. There were only men in the organization, but they had a misogynist obsession with women, which made Julia the ideal candidate to infiltrate their base. Apparently they liked to kidnap women and hold them on the premises as trophies. Once on the premises, Julia would activate a quick-working poison that killed only men. She had to wonder if Vicious had manufactured the poison from his plants. After all, poisons were one of his expertises, and he did seem to consider the Narwhal his home.
They left the Narwhal in orbit past the moon and navigated the Barracuda through the occasional meteor spray. Julia still wouldn't let Spike pilot. They docked in California some miles away from the location of the Illuminati base, and Julia left Spike and Vicious behind. They would go their own way to wait by the base in case she needed them as back-up. They brought gas-masks with them and the alert communicators, one of which she wore on her hip bone.
She dressed as a visiting Martian, which wasn't hard since her own wardrobe had lately come from Mars. Then she rode her motorcycle to a high- class restaurant she knew Illuminati members frequented. She had dozens of their profiles in her head, which wasn't really necessary since most of them wore the 33-degree Masonic symbol on their jackets.
Entering the club, she saw why she would be a prime candidate for being kidnapped by the Illuminati. For some reason, whether it was the meteors or the Illuminati, there were very few women in the restaurant, and of those most were hardened and ugly from survival on Earth. She stood at the door for a moment, waiting for everyone's eyes to note her presence, while she scoped out the room. Rich, on Earth, wasn't really as flattering to the eye as it was elsewhere. Everyone was dressed in second-rate suits or dresses that they'd probably gotten off the blackmarket. It made the members of the Illuminati stand out. They were dressed in the finest Venetian designs, wore their hair Martian-style, and had the distinctive Masonic emblem on their lapels. Julia moved slowly through the room, chin high and her eyes meeting no one. She'd long learned how to dominate a room. She'd been taught by the best, Tussaud, one of the most notorious courtesans in the galaxy. The occupants parted from her. She drifted through a mixture of jealousy and desire, and stopped at the bar. There she ordered an old Earth wine, one that had been bottled before the Moon collapsed and whose year had just come. She knew there were people who came to Earth just to taste it. There were apparently only one hundred bottles of the stuff. Luckily, her supply from the Red Dragon syndicate covered it. The bartender procured the money before serving her the drink. As she put the glass to her lips she became aware of a presence beside her. From the Venetian cologne she guessed it was a member of the Illuminati.
"It isn't often you see someone order La Narcisse," the man beside her said. She turned to the man. He had ruby-colored eyes framed by hair the same color. If it was possible his hair captured the light at well as his eyes. He was unusually tall, well-built, and Julia guessed he must be the one the Illuminati always sent to procure a new trophy. She allowed an aloof smile to play her lips and sipped the wine, holding it in her mouth to savour it.
"Why else would anyone come to Earth?" she said. "It's too bad they refuse to export it."
"There are some who say," he said, leaning closer, "the experience is better when the surroundings are so poor."
Julia appraised the man as if she were looking at a jewel. She saw he enjoyed it, knowing in the end he would be chosen.
"Enjoy your wine," he told her. "I'll be waiting outside for you." He stood and walked back, confident enough not to spare a glance back at her. Julia sighed. Rich, confident men. Exactly the kind she despised. Hopefully this mission would be over soon. She took her time finishing the wine. It was the best she'd had, but then she was more of a vodka person. She left the bartender a tip and made her way outside, noting that the Illuminati members were watching her leave, and one of them started to speak into a communicator one she started to leave.
The winds were high outside and carried flecks of dirt that hit her skin. The ruby-haired man was leaning against a ruby-colored car. Julia tried not to roll her eyes.
"Shall we go?" he asked.
"How do you know I came for you? I might be on my way back to Mars," she couldn't resist pointing out. He didn't answer, only smiled. She brushed her hair past her bare shoulder and walked over to him. He was looking at the leg she exposed whenever she put her right foot forward. She stopped inches away from him, smirked, and said, "But of course you know I came for you." He tilted her chin up and stared at her for an unbearably long time before he kissed her, tongue sliding into her mouth like a snake. She cringed, hoping it would go no farther than that until they got to the base. He turned her around and leaned her against the car, pressing himself against her and groping her breast. She grunted and he took it for a moan, and brought the hand down to her bare leg, slipping it up and far to near the communicator. It was when he started tugging down her underwear that she gave up. "OK, that's it," she muttered, kneeing him in the groin and brandishing a gun. "In the car," she instructed him. "Hurry." She watched him as he stumbled to the driver's side, glaring at her. She let herself in on the passenger side, and cocked the gun at his temple. "The communicator on your shoulder. Take it off." He did so, refusing to look at her. "Go to the base. Now. I know exactly where it is so don't try anything funny. Call your friends and tell them to meet you there in half an hour."
He took another communicator, this one in the car, and spoke into it. "Yeah. I got her. Be there in half an hour. I'm gonna have fun with her first." Once he clicked off, she laughed out loud.
"Make sure to park outside of the line of sight. We'll wait for your friends to make it into the base before we go in."
True to his word, he didn't try any funny stuff and parked behind the base. Julia couldn't see any signs of Spike or Vicious, but then, they were good at covering signs of their presence. The man still wasn't looking at her, but he did seem somewhat confident for someone being controlled at gunpoint.
"What's your story?" he asked at one point. "What are you planning to do, take us out for the sake of womankind?" Julia didn't answer, wondering why he even bothered to ask. "Are you from the syndicate?" Again, she kept silent, but promised to herself if he spoke again she'd shoot him in the shoulder. Luckily, he didn't. A trail of cars pulled up to the base. Once she was sure the drivers had all made their way into the building, she gestured with her gun that they should leave.
He whistled and kept his hands in his pockets as he walked. Julia kicked him lightly. He took the hint and pulled his hands from his pockets, shrugging. They walked in the door. It was lucky she had the ruby-haired man in front of her, because the whole organization had their guns cocked and ready for her. Almost without thinking, she released the poison and braced the man in front of her, shooting at a couple men. One managed to shoot the gun out of her hand, and then she kept entirely behind her captive. After a minute, the shots stopped, but her captive hadn't become victim to the poison. He untangled himself from her and turned with a malicious grin. "I'm so glad you used poison," he said. Julia's mind was racing. She went for the gun on the floor, but the man kicked it away from her. He grabbed her by the front of her dress, tearing it a little, and shoved her against a cement pillar. She activated her alert communicator.
"What the-" He slapped her.
"That's for kneeing me in the groin," he said. His eyes traveled hungrily down her body. "Looks like I get to have fun with you after all. He took the strap of her dress and slowly began to slide it down her arm. "You see," he breathed, "Poison doesn't work on me." Then he clamped his lips on her neck, breaking the skin with his teeth. Her muscles froze in paralysis. He moved his head back up and looked into her shock-frozen eyes, staring past him to the door, where Vicious had appeared, with Spike behind him. They were both wearing gas masks. Oblivious, the ruby-haired man continued to slide the strap down her arm, exposing a breast. Vicious's face contorted behind the mask, and in one movement he leapt and drew a katana from his coat. He sliced across. The man's head disappeared into a ruby gurgle of blood. His body fell before her, and without its support, Julia's paralyzed body started to fall to the floor. Vicious caught her in his arms, realizing something had happened to her. He looked intently into her face.
"Julia," he said, his voice distorted by the mask. She couldn't answer. Tenderly, he slid her dress up to cover her.
She heard Spike behind him say, "Must be one of those mutations-the moon caused a lot of them."
Vicious stood with her frozen body cradled in his arms. "I think one of the antidotes to a juy leaf should revive her."
"Is she conscious?" Spike asked.
"I don't know what type of venom he used," Vicious replied.
"Let's get out of here," Spike said. "This place gives me the creeps."
"It's just a bomb shelter," Vicious said while following him to their motorcycles.
"Not the base," Spike said. "Earth."
The End
O.K. Just a note: More reviews means faster updates.