A New Destiny

Chapter One - OSI Director's Office-11am

"Steve! You made record time getting here, Pal. Thank you." Oscar turned from the window to greet him, puffing heavily on a cigar. Steve saw at least three more stubs in the ashtray on Oscar's desk. Definitely not a good sign.

"When you had a team trek all the way out to my fishing cabin to call me back from the vacation you forced me to take, I figured I'd better haul it here fast," Steve said wryly. "So what's going on?"

"Let's wait for the other member of your team -"

"You're hedging, Oscar." Steve helped himself to one of Oscar's cigars, figuring he'd probably need it. "What don't you wanna tell me?"

"Steve, this one's not going to be easy, especially for you."

"You're not making me break in another rookie, are you?"

"Not exactly," Oscar answered, looking at his watch.

"Then what, exactly, are you so worried about telling me?"

"Steve, this is a big one, and extremely urgent. I'll give you the specifics as soon as she gets here, and -"

"She," Steve interrupted. "Well, there's one clue."

"You were each selected for your unique...abilities, and you'll need to combine those abilities to complete this one successfully." Steve raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing. Oscar continued, very hesitantly. "You'll be teaming up with Jaime."

Steve's heart leapt and then sank. "When did she get out of the hospital?"

"This morning."

"Oscar, the last time she saw me, she had headaches so painful they literally blinded her!"

"Rudy determined that to be a physical problem - it wasn't you, after all. She's had surgery to correct it, and he says it shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"Well, that's real reassuring."

"She's been through all our training programs - with flying colors, by the way - and even went on several shorter assignments for me, going back to the hospital when they were over. Physically, she's 100 percent, and she definitely knows the ropes."

"Physically, I'm not worried about. Is she emotionally ready for a big mission - with me? She doesn't even know yet that we were engaged..."

"I can't make you any guarantees, Pal. But Rudy tells me she's ready, and she's been chomping at the bit for weeks now to get back to real life, and real work, so -"

They were interrupted by the intercom. "Jaime's here, Sir. She's on her way up."

"Alright," Oscar answered. "Thank you. You can send her right in." He turned to Steve. "Are you ready, Pal?" Steve shrugged. "I wouldn't do this to you if it wasn't absolutely -"

"Urgent, I know. I'm not mad, Oscar, just worried."

"They sat in silence for a few moments and then, with 2 quick raps on the door, Jaime literally bounced into the room.

"Morning, Oscar!" she chirped happily. "Oh - hi, Steve," she said with a neutral but very pleasant smile.

"Hi, Jaime." Steve tried to look her over without being obvious. She was definitely full of energy, good color, seemed healthy again. And - Steve thought to himself - 100 percent gorgeous. "How are you?" he asked her. "Oscar says you just got out of the hospital."

"It's great to be a free woman again," she said, sitting in the chair next to Steve's. "Being a patient was getting really old! Hey, are we working together?"

"Yes, you are," Oscar told her. He got right down to business. "You'll be infiltrating a group that calls themselves 'New Destiny'. How you do that will be up to the two of you after you assess the situation. This group has managed to obtain six of our most hazardous missile detonation modules."

"Nuclear?" Jaime asked. Steve glanced at her, impressed.

"Yes. Nuclear." Oscar confirmed. "And I highly doubt they're planning to destroy these modules for the sake of world peace."

"And we're going to get them back?" Steve asked.

Oscar nodded. "Hopefully, yes. Their complex has been designed to look like some sort of medical facilty, and the modulators are in six safes in various parts of the complex. The safes are protected by invisible lasers powerful enough to cut you in half."

"Ok," Steve said. "So I find the lasers, de-activate them or guide Jaime through them -"

"And I crack the safes," Jaime finished for him.

"Right," Oscar told him. "A chopper will pick you up from the roof in 15 minutes to take you to a private plane. Should be about a six-hour flight. You'll be staying in one of our safe houses near the facility tonight, and you'll begin in the morning. I want both of you to be aware that New Destiny is extremely well-armed and they will not be giving up these modules voluntarily. Good luck."