Kess rolled over in bed and peered sleepily at the clock. 7:42! Shit! I must have forgot to set my alarm! She jumped out of bed and scrambled to find her workout clothes. Shitshitshit. No time for a shower. It won't look good to be late on only my third day here. By some miracle she found the grey t-shirt and shorts she was looking for, stuffed in a drawer with some other clothes. She tossed them on, grabbed her comb from the top of her dresser, raked it through her hair, and dropped it on the bed. No time for coffee either. Looks like I'll have to settle for a bar. She ran to the kitchen and grabbed a Powerbar and a bottle of water, then stuffed a towel in her gym bag, grabbed it, and left.
She walked quickly down the corridor, glancing at a wall clock above one door. 7:55. I might just make it. She tore the bar wrapper open with her teeth and munched while hurrying along.
As she neared the hall that led to Lambert's office, who should she see but Sam heading down the hall towards her. Fucking fantastic.
As he neared her, he opened his mouth to say something.
"No," Kess snapped, brushing past him.
"No?" Sam asked bewilderedly.
"Just no," Kess affirmed sharply, and hurried on.
Sam stared after her for a moment, then scratched his head and shrugged. "Women," he muttered to himself, and continued on his way.
Finally Kess reached Lambert's office. The door was open, and he was sitting at his desk. He looked up as she approached. "Good morning! Right on time, I see."
Kess wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but just smiled at him.
Lambert stood up. "Here's the itinerary for the day. We'll be heading over to the gym – there's an obstacle and training course set up there that we'll run you through. As with your previous jobs, Sam will be observing your performance as well today. But to make things a little more challenging, he'll be participating in the second phase of your training."
Kess barely held back a groan. Oh, great. "How is he going to be participating?" Kess asked with a mix of curiosity and dread.
"The first phase is physical agility and strength. The second phase is hand-to-hand combat, particularly stealth attacks. There's three human targets I've assigned to be your guinea pigs. Sam volunteered to be one of them. I thought it would be a good idea. Sam's our best – if you can sneak up on him, you've got it made."
"I just have to sneak up on them?" Kess asked.
"And knock them out. They don't know when, or where, you're going to approach. Sam included. They're moving about freely in the Phase 2 test area right now, except Sam. He's gone to meet us at Phase 1, so he can observe your work there before moving to Phase 2."
"Wait. Sorry. Knock them out? I can deal with the first two of them – but not Sam. He'll never forgive me. He'll probably slit my throat in my sleep."
Lambert chuckled. "Kess, I know he can be abrasive, but he won't hold it against you. He volunteered, and he knows that a bop to the head is on the menu. Besides, it might even humble him a bit."
Kess thought about it. "Alright then. I'm ready."
"Great. Let's go." Lambert said.
As they headed for the gym, Kess was deep in thought. I know why the bastard volunteered. He wants to catch me, to prove I'm not good enough. I'd rather be at the dentist getting teeth filled than doing this.
They came upon a set of double doors. Lambert pushed through them and they entered into a wide, cool gymnasium. There was an elaborate obstacle course set up. Sam was standing at the starting point of the course, hands on his hips, dressed casually in olive jeans and a tan t-shirt. He nodded at Lambert, and smiled teasingly at Kess. She smirked back, and hung her bag from one of the hooks on the wall.
"Ok," Lambert said. "The course is very straightforward. I won't need to explain anything for you. There are directional arrows on the floor guiding you to the starting points of each obstacle. You will be timed – there's no real limit, but this course generally shouldn't take beyond 5 minutes. Any longer is a concern since time is of the essence in the field. If you end up taking longer, you'll just have to repeat the course until you fall within acceptable parameters."
"Understood," Kess said, and stepped up to the starting point.
"Hey," Sam said. Kess reluctantly looked up at him. He suddenly bent down and kissed her quickly on the lips.
Kess stared at him open-mouthed in shock. "What was that for?"
"Luck," he said, giving her a wink.
Waitaminute now, Kess's brain butted in. Luck, my ass. He did that to distract me – to try to take my focus off the course. That crafty son of a bitch. "Thanks," she said flatly, then turned her head towards Lambert. "I'm ready."
Lambert was already holding his stopwatch. He pressed a button on it. "Alright…Go," he prompted.
Kess ran to the first obstacle, a rope dangling from the ceiling. There was a bright orange piece of cloth tied to the top. Gotta retrieve that, obviously, she observed. She grasped the rope, hoisting her body up, then wrapping her legs tight around it and shimmied up, hand over hand.
When she was about halfway up, she heard Sam yell, "Does climbing that rope make you feel good between your legs? I know it does that for me."
Shut up, Sam, Kess thought. She didn't reply and kept going until the cloth was in her reach. She yanked it off, then shimmied back down as fast as she could, taking care not to slide and get rope burns. She jumped off when she was a few feet from the bottom, then ran to the next obstacle, a brick wall with a netting thrown over it. She hooked her fingers in the netting and dug the toes of her shoes into the wall and spider-crawled over the top, jumping and landing softly on the other side. The next was a pole suspended between two posts. Kess jumped up and caught it, and monkey-swung over to the other end. Then it was onto a couple brick walls that were spaced very closely together, with an arrow painted on each of them that was pointing up. This one's harder. Kess readied herself, then jumped up and stuck her legs out, bracing each of them against the walls. She then vaulted up from that stance and caught the edge of the wall. As she did, her left shoulder turned awkwardly and she felt a jolt of pain shoot across it. Fuck! She hoisted herself up and over the wall and then dropped down. Just one more… She approached a thin beam suspended between two poles, like the other bar, but this one had a platform. She pulled herself up onto the platform and tightrope-walked deftly across with barely a wobble, surprising herself. At the end she hopped down.
"Time," Lambert announced, and stopped the watch. He approached her, looking at the watch display. "Four minutes, seven seconds. Good job."
Kess smiled with relief, only to have her parade rained on by Sam. "A bit slow. You could have been faster," he remarked as he walked up to them.
Lambert gave a dubious look to Sam. "Fisher, may I remind you that your time was 4:12."
"Mmm," Sam muttered defeatedly. "Anyway, I'll be in Phase 2." He wandered away.
When he was out of sight, Lambert gave Kess a wink. She grinned at him. Lambert reset the watch, then stuffed it in his pocket. "Alright then, onto Phase 2. You won't be timed for this one. I can't follow you through this one, obviously, as I'd alert the targets to your presence. But I will be watching through one-way glass in the next room, and you'll receive communications through your OPSAT. Oh – you do have the cochlear implant, right? The CIA said you did."
"Yep," Kess affirmed, tapping the side of her head.
"Good. It should already be set to our frequency. If there's any problems with it, give me a time-out sign and we'll regroup. Otherwise, all should be good to go."
"Sounds fine to me," Kess said.
"Ok. Through this door is your starting point." He motioned to a door in the wall just to the right of them. "It's a safe zone. You'll find an optical cable, goggles and lockpick on the table in there. Equip them and be prepared to use them when you go through the next door, which enters into the test area. I'll be over here – " He motioned to a door next to the one she was going to go though. "And watching. Don't be too rough with the boys, but don't go easy on them, either. Same goes for Sam. Even though he's got a thick skull, I don't want you to klonk him too firmly."
Kess grinned. "Not a problem."
"Off you go then," Lambert said, and exited through his door. Kess went through hers, and to the right of the door was a little table with the equipment Lambert had mentioned. She was in a small corridor with another door at the end. Kess slipped on the goggles, adjusting them till they were comfortable, and slipped the lockpick and cable into her pocket. She then quietly approached the door, which was hidden in shadows. She pulled the cable out of her pocket and slowly slipped it under the door, then kneeled down and peered through the end of it. Nothing but blackness. She examined the outside of it and located a small button labeled "Night". She pushed it, then looked back through the cable and was glad to see the features of a room lit up in a pale green glow. She angled the cable carefully back and forth. The room looked to be empty.
She retracted it and put it back in her pocket, then reached up and carefully tried the doorknob. Locked. She fished in her pocket again for the pick, found it, and gently inserted it into the keyhole, closing her eyes and concentrating on the feel of it as she manipulated it. Bingo, she thought as she heard the click of the first pin release. She carefully popped three more pins and then the tension gave, and the pick turned easily in the lock. She pulled it out and slowly opened the now-unlocked door, slipping into the corridor.
It was nearly pitch black, save for a faint bit of light at the end. Kess lowered the goggles over her eyes and fumbled with the switch for a moment, finally finding the night vision. She turned it on and the area lit up. She began to creep slowly down the hall, rolling her steps from the heel of her foot to the ball, trying to be as silent as possible. As she got closer to the light, the goggles began to blind her, so she turned them off. She saw that the light was coming from around a corner. She put her back to the wall and slid along it to the end, then very carefully peeked around the corner.
There was a man seated in a small room there, his back to her, reading a magazine. There was a naked lightbulb suspended from the ceiling. Kess could tell from his blonde hair that it wasn't Sam, and she was a little relieved by this.
Kess was about to begin to approach him, but froze when she realized that because of the where the light was hanging, it would cast a shadow along the floor and alert him. I'll have to ambush him. She readied herself.
As he turned a page, Kess decided to make her move. She dashed up behind him. Before the man could fully turn his head around, Kess folded her hands together, then raised her arms and swiftly brought her fists down on the top of his head. He crumpled in the chair, and the magazine tumbled to the floor.
"Nice takedown," Lambert's voice said suddenly in her ear, startling her a little. "Sometimes ambush is the only option, but you have to be quick – which you were. Can you hear me all right?"
"Affirmative," Kess whispered.
"Excellent. Carry on."
Kess moved back to the shadows along the wall and padded softly forward. There was another hallway just ahead. As Kess neared it, another man suddenly strolled out. She froze, catching her breath. He continued to walk on oblivious, his back to her. Slowly Kess stepped out and crept after him. He moseyed on for a few moments, then stopped and yawned, stretching his arms out. Kess sprung up, slamming her elbow into the back of his neck. He toppled over like a bowling pin and lay still.
"Good, good," Lambert's voice said again. "One more man to go."
"I know," Kess whispered. Sam. Her shoulder was throbbing with pain now. I need to get this over with and take care of my shoulder later.
She returned to the shadows and crept down the hall that the man had emerged from. There was another door at the end. She got down and slid the cable under the door, clicking on the night vision, and looking through it. In the scope's eye she could see a large room with a partition in the middle. One side was lit up, blinding her view, the other was dark. There was nothing in the dark corner. She flipped off the night vision, and with the loss of the blinding glow, she could see Sam seated in the corner, playing an electronic game. He seemed to be distracted, but Kess knew better. Some part of him was always on alert.
Kess retracted the cable. How am I going to get in there? If I open the door, he'll see it or hear it. The light falls right onto it. She frowned, then looked around. She examined the ceiling. Damn, it's solid. If it were tiled, I could get up there. Her eyes followed along the wall, and then she saw a large ventilation grate. I think I could fit through that!…Providing I can get the cover off – silently. She examined it; there were no screws. It seemed to just pull right out of the wall. She gently pried her fingers around the sides, then eased it out little by little, making barely a scraping sound. Once it was out, she gently set the cover down against the wall. She then hopped up, grabbing the free edge, and pulled herself into the narrow, dusty space, wriggling inside. She barely had elbow room, but inched along bit by bit on her belly. Finally she saw a square patch of light coming up, and she approached it silently, flipped off her goggles and peered down.
Through the open space she saw the top of Sam's head, and the game he was absorbed in. Sudoku?
"Shit, this one's tough," She heard Sam mutter to himself as he paused.
I think he actually has got most of his attention on the game. I bet he's expecting me to make a lot of noise. Well, I'll show him I'm not as clumsy as he's thinking I'll be.
As slowly as possible, Kess curled herself around the opening, then carefully stuck her legs down.
Sam lifted his stylus again and touched a quadrant of the screen. "There we go, just 2 more numbers," he mumbled.
Kess slowly brought one leg back. She made a quick wish for luck, and then swung it forward and to the side sharply, kicking Sam square in the temple. With an outraged "Aaaaagh!" he fell to the floor, trying to stand back up once before slumping back down.
"Excellent work, Kestrel," Lambert's voice announced. "You've passed the course."
"Yessss!" Kess hissed to herself. She dropped down from the ceiling. Despite how Sam had acted towards her, her feeling of elation was quickly replaced by concern for him. He was lying facedown on the floor. She knelt over him and reached out, gently touching his cheek. "Sam?"
No response.
Panic began to rise in her. "Sam? Come on." She patted his cheek lightly.
"Uggggggggh," Groaned Sam, turning his head to the side. Kess closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
Sam blinked in confusion, then slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing the side of his head.
Kess took his arm, looking at him with worry. "Sorry," She said softly.
"Don't be…ugh….you did what you were supposed to do." Sam growled. He gently prodded his temple with his fingertips for a moment, wincing at the pain, then looked up at Kess. "You got me a good one, little girl. You're tougher than I thought you were."
Kess wasn't one to gloat, but she couldn't hold back. "I told you so," she stated, then stood up, offering her hand to him for help.
"I'm fine," Sam groused, slowly pulling himself up to a standing position and brushing himself off.
The door to the room opened and Lambert entered. "You need to see the nurse, Fisher?"
Sam scowled at Lambert. "I'm alright. I'll just have a bruise and a headache. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to my place to take an aspirin and lie down."
"Fine with me," Lambert agreed. Still scowling, Sam moped past him and out of the room. When he was gone, Lambert grinned and shook his head. "His pride's a little hurt from being taken down by a woman half his size, but he'll get over it. You've had a long day, Kess, and I'm certain you're ready to go out in the field. You and Sam have tomorrow to prepare your loadouts and to review the maps of Viomax that Grim's managed to pull up, and then the next day we'll insert you, bright and early."
"I'll make sure I'm prepared," Kess assured him.
"Good stuff. Now, go get some rest!" Lambert exclaimed, patting her on the back.
