Secret personal files of the Arrow Squad

Eva Milhaud:

07.04.2053:

Eva Milhaud just went dark – no trace in the Net, possibly due to heavy shielding – last report falsified – operation Forgotten (FF-7346) officially failed

08.04.2053:

Suspicion of collaboration with one of the targets (Daniel Calve, Forgotten, male) – Black OP team assigned for retrieval/elimination

09.12.2053:

Black OP team unable to find any trace of Eva Milhaud or Daniel Calve – no further damage to Arrow Squad or Psy community anticipated – File closed until further notice.

Chapter 3

Alja discovered that the gym really had everything: There were exercise machines and training weights, which she had no intention of using, her favorite style of exercise based on working against her own bodyweight so she could practice it wherever she needed. But to her delight she saw a wide sparring zone that was laid with training mats and a set of punching bags in different styles and sizes at one wall. There were even some training blades and swords. Maybe she'd also find a sparring partner among her colleagues in the security division. But for today going through her individual routine would be just fine. First she went through a set of forms in her favorite Kung Fu style. The flowing but powerful movements centered her mind while occupying her body. After only a few minutes she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. She directed her next moves so she could sweep her gaze inconspicuously over the direction from where she had perceived it.

Great, I'm not going to have a moment of peace here, she thought, when she saw who had entered the gym. Kaleb Krychek himself was leaning in the door frame in a way that that spoke of blatant relaxation. The posture meant nothing. It was solely for show. She went on with her practice forcing her moves to even more perfection. It shouldn't have been a problem. She was used to close scrutiny by her supervisors in the Squad and yet she found his presence somehow unsettling. When it got hard on her concentration, she switched to one of the big punching bags. And for the next twenty minutes hammered her fists, feet and knees into it with hard hits, pushing herself to the limits. But god, the man seemed to have time to burn. He still stood there, his eyes trained solely on her.

Watching her Kaleb realized something he had missed before: She was not only good at psychic camouflage. Few soldiers of her training could hide their physical skills so well. In his office this afternoon she had acted stiff and contained; a display of the typical Psy. But on the mat she moved like the true predator she was. Her movements flowing and precise like a lethal dance. He couldn't appreciate the beauty of it, but he knew perfection when he saw it. That woman had been trained by the best.

And now she wore training pants and shirt that were practically painted on her body all the way down to her knees, only flaring out a little from her lower legs. He saw sleek, strong muscles flexing with every move. Her built was far more athletic, than he'd have guessed, when first seeing her. She had the body of a soldier. But still there were all the curves that made her unquestionably feminine. Considering her physical appearance again, he got a sense of something off at the very edge of his awareness, but just out of his reach for conscious thought. There was something about her, that caused it, but he had yet to find out what it was.

When she was dripping with sweat, her bare knuckles sore from hitting the punching bag, Alja closed her training with a short series of stretching movements.

When he still stayed in place after she finished, she gave Kaleb a questioning look.

"We should spar some time," he stated bluntly.

She smelled another test.

"Is there a reason you examine my combat skills so closely? I was told I wouldn't need them on the job." Shit. She had shown a fraction of surprise. Now she had to hope her reaction didn't make it too obvious that one reason she'd accepted the position was to get away from the killing.

"You probably won't. I prefer to do most of my wetwork by myself. And for the rest I already have appropriate personnel." Arrogant. Yet dangerous. "I just thought it would be interesting to know how I perform, when my Tk is completely blocked. I never had an opportunity to test that before."

She hadn't thought about it so far. It would in fact be interesting to know how good he could do against her. And he had already irritated her enough that the thought of being able to give him a good beating seemed appealing. Noticing the mental slip, she reigned in the aggressive impulse at once but agreed nonetheless. She'd not back down from a challenge, even if it came in disguise.

"I understand. You can put it on my schedule whenever you like."

That had been easier than he'd expected. Either she was very confident of herself or very afraid of questioning his orders. And it hadn't even been a direct order. Anyway it was clear she wanted to get away from him now.

"Is that all? You scheduled a meeting with your security chief Mr. Delenko for me in half an hour. So unless you want me to start my work here being late…"

"You can leave in a minute. There's just one more thing: I could not find your mind in the Net. It should not have been easy but possible once I've had direct contact." And he'd made sure he knew the mental signature of her mind before she left his office.

"As an Arrow I don't officially exist. My mind is permanently camouflaged. I can give you the current signature if you need the location."

She telepathed a mental image of the camouflage mind to him in an instant, showing trust and loyalty on her side to gain his. Or maybe she was just very sure of her abilities. They'd see about that. Kaleb wasn't done testing yet. He inclined his head in dismissal and she was gone.