Unfortunately Lady Jaye had no opportunity over the next three days to get word out to Duke. Her new duties as strategy advisor kept her on her toes, as she had to remember the details of each of the made up personalities she'd given the various Joe commanders. It was a challenge, but a welcome change from dealing with the physical side of training. It was fun in a way, too—inventing strange motives for each of her COs was vastly more entertaining than watching the Cobra troops try to compete at hand-to-hand combat.
When she wasn't involved in briefings, her knowledge of the Joe team was being picked apart by the technicians responsible for keeping the Cobra information network up to date. In between those duties, she was now responsible for a new batch of recruits who had just arrived on the base. They were hopelessly clueless, but as neither Bludd nor Zartan wanted to deal with them, the responsibility was given to her. She mostly ignored them, only making sure that they wouldn't accidentally kill themselves at the weapons range before leaving them on their own to attend yet another meeting.
One of the senior officers leaned forward in his chair. "You were saying that Duke doesn't care about the particulars of the team members' specialties?"
She brought her mind back to the present. "That's right. He's likely to have our underwater demolitions expert go along on desert reconnaissance, or one of the tank crew pilot a Skystriker." Although this was occasionally true, Duke knew exactly what each team member was capable of. It was one of the things that made him a fantastic leader. He knew when to push one of the Joes into an area in which he or she might excel, and many of them had gone through training in subjects that were nowhere near their specialties, always with positive results.
One of the other men present stage-whispered to a neighbor, "Sounds a lot like the Commander. That wumpus had me in charge of a Fang squadron one battle, and I'd never even flown in one before. Not even as a passenger." The two men chuckled, and Bludd did nothing to correct them on their disrespectful behavior.
The meeting finally ended, and she trudged back to her room. The entire situation was so depressing she felt like doing nothing but going to sleep early, putting off the following day as long as possible. She had to meet with the techs again, though—she couldn't continue to be obstinate about giving them information if she wanted any in return. Not that she had gotten any. She felt like she was hitting her head against a brick wall.
It didn't become an issue that night, though. Cobra had yet another attack planned; apparently whatever information they had gotten from their contact was good enough to get them moving again. She merely observed as they went through the files, reading about yet another research facility located in a remote corner of the United States.
Apparently the men were working in shifts that night, for as soon as she thought that they were done for the evening, another group filed in. She swore softly. She wouldn't have an opportunity to use the computers any time soon.
There must be some way… she thought. She glanced up at the monitors showing the security camera activity, and an idea slowly began to form.
She gave her good-nights and left, walking toward her quarters but ducking down a side hall when she was sure no one else was near. Zartan's office was separate from the others as it was attached to his lab. She had yet to get into that room, but while the security on the lab's door was significant, that on the office next door was not. She also knew from her hours in the computer room that there were no cameras in the private offices of Bludd or Zartan.
The area appeared to be deserted. Zartan usually finished early, she knew, having seen the lights on in his quarters when she passed by in the evenings.
It wasn't much work to pick the lock on the door and get in. She made sure the door was closed again and left the lights off. It took a few moments to get into his computer system, but she made few guesses at his password, and upon entering "everglades" was into the system. Not very imaginative, she thought.
She divided her attention between scanning the contents of various files and listening for any sound beyond the door. If she was found out now, the game was over for sure.
Zartan had the expected common files on his computer: troop deployment, active member locations, and possible target coordinates. There wasn't much there that her own team's intelligence operatives didn't already know, but she filed away some of the new information for later reference.
There was a shortcut to a program on the desktop that she didn't recognize. She opened it, and sat staring for a moment, confused. The screen was covered in a spiral of colors, looking like one of the Chaos Mathematics posters popular in dorm rooms. She clicked on a section of the picture, and the screen changed to a series of chemical diagrams and numbers. Something from a long-ago biology class stirred in the back of her mind. It looked familiar, but she couldn't place the sequence of diagrams.
Lady Jaye didn't want to spend too much time in Zartan's office, so she closed down the program and checked to see that the computer was disconnected from the network. Bludd had told her that their private computers were completely isolated, but it would be a stupid mistake to believe everything the man said.
The short message to Duke took only a few moments, and she shut the computer down. She listened at the door; all was silent. She made it back to her room without being seen and dressed for bed, picturing the data she'd seen over again so that she would remember it all in more detail later.
The strange diagrams kept flashing before her closed eyes. Why had she thought about biology? What could the data mean in reference to living systems? She began to drift off, remembering the hours she had spent in molecular biology, ecology, and genetics classes during college. Living systems… she mused. It looked a little like the population dynamics between predators and prey, but Cobra would hardly study that. She wracked her brain, trying to think. She sat up and let out a sharp breath as it came to her. It wasn't populations of animals the diagrams represented, but something smaller. Viruses.
It made sense that Zartan was working with the sample he had stolen over a month ago from a military lab, but so much time had passed that Duke and Hawk had assumed that Cobra's research had been fruitless. Apparently not. If Zartan had managed to stabilize the sample, he could easily have a new weapon on hand. She remembered what the head scientist at the lab had told Duke. That the sample was an experimental strain similar to smallpox but without that virus' ability to move from person to person by itself. It had to be injected to be effective. They had been developing strains like that one to prepare for the possibility that a terrorist group might get a hold of the real smallpox virus and unleash it on the population at large. Because there were very limited samples of smallpox left in the world, the scientists had developed a non-communicable replica for use in their experiments.
Lady Jaye's stomach fluttered as she realized why Cobra had needed the code to the infirmary. Would the traitor only infect Duke with the virus, or the whole team? Surely it would be impossible to contaminate the entire supply of vaccinations the Joes received every few months, which was the only way she could think of to administer an injection of the virus. Surely the false codes would ensure that the traitor was caught before he could do any damage. But despite repeating the reassurances to herself over and over again, Lady Jaye found it impossible to sleep.
The arrival of the Dreadnoks the next day did nothing to improve her mood. She ran into Ripper and Torch in the cafeteria, and they nearly jumped out of their skins when they recognized her. Fortunately Zartan and Buzzer arrived before the two men could decide what to do about the apparent Joe in the base. They were incredulous at her presence, asking Zartan over and over again if he was sure it was okay that she was there. He rolled his eyes but told them that Major Bludd was in charge of her, and that so far she seemed to be genuine. Lady Jaye noticed the look he gave her, though. He didn't trust her, not by a long shot.
The day got worse and worse. The Crimson Twins showed up after lunch, sitting in on her daily strategy sessions with the Cobra officers. They made no comments about her information. She supposed that as they were more involved in the financial side of Cobra, they probably knew less than the others about the members of the Joe team. As much as the day's arrivals made her head ache, she knew she couldn't have pulled off the mission if Destro or the Baroness were present. She applauded her luck and hoped that it would hold out.
Unfortunately, she was invited to dinner by Tomax and Xamot. She had no excuse to decline except that she had no clothing other than the Cobra uniform she had been given. They were prepared for that, though. Xamot smiled and handed over a pile of newly-purchased clothing. She sighed and left to change in her room.
They had bought her black slacks and a simple but silky blue shirt. Putting on the clothes was an unnerving experience. She didn't know if it disturbed her more that they had included underwear or that they had gotten the bra size right. Gross, she thought. There goes my appetite.
The three of them went to a small but elegant restaurant in the nearby town. The twins were well-known patrons, apparently. She supposed they must spend enough time at the Vegas Extensive Enterprises office to come here fairly often. They were seated at a nice table close to the fireplace and away from the other guests.
Tomax studied the wine menu. "Would you care for a glass, or are you strictly a whisky drinker?" he asked her.
She frowned at him, but answered, "Wine will do. Whisky is only for when I'm pissed off."
Lady Jaye did her best to give short answers to their questions, and they backed off from asking her about her life as a Joe when it became obvious she wasn't interested in the subject. Instead they spoke of her time at the Cobra base. They were amused at her description of the fight with Zartan, and gave her a few pointers about his fighting style that would give her an advantage the next time.
She knew there was a reason they had brought her out tonight, but the twins didn't seem to be in a hurry to broach the subject. They were into the second bottle of wine—she'd wisely limited her own intake—and had ordered dessert when they finally got around to giving her their proposition.
"This last week has been a test of sorts, as I'm sure you've been aware," Tomax started.
"Your performance has been splendid, and we think that it's time for you to move to a more permanent position in the Cobra hierarchy," Xamot finished.
She raised her eyebrows in question.
"We have larger bases elsewhere, and, of course, Cobra Island itself," Tomax continued. "Your intelligence would be put to better use at one of those places."
"What do you think?" Xamot asked her. "It would give you a chance to work more… intimately with the more important members of Cobra." Lady Jaye got the feeling they were implying themselves. That thought went beyond disturbing.
"Look, I said at the start that I would only stick around long enough to see Duke taken out of the picture. As much as that desire burns, I still consider Cobra to be the wrong side," she replied. "And quite frankly, I don't buy into your propaganda. I've been helping out the last week in the hopes of seeing some of the Joes taken down a notch, but that doesn't mean I want Cobra Commander as some sort of world dictator. That would be worse than the arrogant SOBs who are in charge right now."
"You seem to overestimate the amount of negative change Cobra would bring to the world," Xamot said. "While we are not the most staunch supporters of the Commander's paradigm, the man does have a valid and workable plan in mind."
Tomax continued, "The only ones who would suffer would be the power-hungry men who hold the financial strings wrapped around every person in the world. You can't tell me that the United States has been overly kind and beneficent to the poor masses in underdeveloped countries."
"Free market is a joke," Xamot added. "Europe and the US control the world, allowing the elite to use up all of the resources while the rest of the world is just a dumping ground for their waste and a source of raw materials and labor for the luxuries they love."
She shook her head. "I might have bought that line at sixteen," she said, "But Cobra simply wants to shift the money and power to themselves. I've seen what Cobra is willing to do to the 'poor masses' to attain their end. If anything, the elite would simply become an even smaller and greedier group. Cobra Commander doesn't strike me as the altruistic type."
The twins looked at each other and shrugged. "It was worth a shot," they said in unison.
"So you thought that taking me out of the base away from the common soldiers to wine and dine me at an expensive restaurant would somehow imply that if Cobra took over the world we'd live in a happy utopia where everyone was equal?" she quipped.
They laughed at that. "Well, we admit that the Commander's overall plan may not quite involve the redistribution of wealth, but it sounds good in the pamphlets," Tomax said.
"So perhaps we're working the wrong angle?" Xamot asked. "How about the thought that if you help Cobra to win, you will be one of the elite who will decide how the world is run? Does that interest you?"
She finished the wine in her glass before answering. "Quite frankly, no. If I wanted to be influential I would have gone into politics."
"What, as a senator's wife?" Tomax snorted.
Lady Jaye bristled. "Don't even start on that tactic. Cobra's principles as far as women are concerned make the Middle East look like Denmark. I wouldn't be surprised if the Commander has a captive breeding program in mind as part of his 'overall plan.' God knows the man hates women."
Tomax shrugged. "He had a bad experience."
"So he decided to take over the world? Are you serious? This all started over a woman?" She fought back a laugh. It wasn't really funny. It made her wonder what Flint was doing right now, and that thought sobered her completely.
"He doesn't talk about it much," Xamot told her.
They rose to leave, and Xamot came up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He leaned forward and murmured, "I'm sure we could at least provide you with accommodations that are more…pleasant…than those at the base."
Lady Jaye tried not to shudder. "Sorry, that tactic won't work either—equality for the masses, remember?" she told him, ignoring the implied suggestion. Thinking about THAT was worse than any pair she or Cover Girl had come up with while playing Death Is Not an Option. Worse, she suspected that it wouldn't exactly be a choice between the two of them… Stop thinking about it, she told herself. Think happy thoughts instead… Dinner churned uncomfortably in her stomach.
She stepped forward out of his reach. "I have to be at a meeting in seven hours," she told them. "I'm sure Major Bludd would disapprove if I'm not back on base soon."
She swore she heard Xamot sigh quietly, but they drove her back with no further protest. Lady Jaye climbed into bed in her quarters wondering if the come-on was just another recruitment tactic, or something more. She dismissed it from her mind and tried to think of a way to contact Duke again. For the third night in a row, sleep eluded her.