Chapter 13

Cheyenne Wyoming peeked at her brother through the scope of the sniper. It was another day of training for them, after they had arrived several days ago. She could plainly remember the smile on Casper's face when they were fully informed by their boss, Sandy Bancroft. One of them would make it into the council of six. She was sure it was her. She was much smarter than her dull-minded brother. But Casper believed he would be Vesper Six. That annoyed her. Even now as she was about to shoot him in the arena.

Cheyenne relished the thought of Casper being hit with the full force of the paintball. She watched him stumble around the arena, around and over walls of varying heights. Her finger put more pressure on the trigger as she aimed dead on...

Then Casper's Vesper phone rang. Cheyenne lowered her gun in annoyance as her brother answered it. She wasn't supposed to attack him when he was using his Vesper phone. But once he ended the call, she would strike.

A moment later, Casper hung up but began texting someone. Cheyenne grew irritated. What was he doing? Then her Vesper phone chimed. Casper had texted her. She pulled out her phone and gaped in shock as she stared at the message.

Training is over. V-1 wants me immediately. I'm V-6 now.

….

Luna Amato received the text message from Vesper One too. She was deeply studying the members of the Cahills in the safety in her office. She saw where Vesper One wanted her to be and raised her eyebrows. Immediately, she shut down her computer and marched out of her office. She had a plane to catch.

….

Sandy Bancroft didn't hear the chime of his Vesper phone immediately. He was deep in fervent study of the papers from Vesper One's desk. Before he had left to find and collect the Wyoming twins, he photocopied everything about the Doomsday Device, little to the knowledge of V-1 and V-5. He became absorbed with the information. Right now, he was intently looking at the small niche that fitted the Cahill ring. This small piece seemed so critically important. His phone chimed again and Sandy hurried to get it out, even as papers fell askew. Then he saw the message, gasped and rose from his chair.

He'd been called to a meeting with Vesper One. And he will see who his identity really is.

….

Sinead Starling tapped her shoe on the carpet as she sat in the doctor's room. This was yet another visit to her brother's specialist. After the clue hunt, the triplets had looked for doctors and specialists who could cure Ted's blindness and Ned's headache recurrences. She was growing impatient. Not one of them had been close to curing them! It made Sinead wonder if the serum was actually the answer, the serum she had handed over to Amy and Dan. She was beginning to crave for it. Yet, it was not out of reach. It was only days ago when one man walked into her life. He had called himself Riley McGrath. He had offered her a hope, one she couldn't turn down.

Once she had learned the truth about the Vespers, she had readily agreed to joining. What Riley had said to her made Sinead envy Amy and Dan. And as Vesper Three, she could do something about it. Sinead smiled to herself. Betraying the Cahills will be easy.

Ned and Ted came out of the doctor's office, followed by Dr Xian. Her brothers looked crestfallen, as if they had received bad news.

"Apologies for the inconvenience." Dr Xian said to Ned and Ted.

"Nothing that can be done?" Sinead asked.

The doctor turned to her. "No. There is not."

Sinead matched the look on her brother's faces. Yet again, no good news. It only strengthened her resolve to betray Amy and Dan.

She rose. "Alright, let's go. Thank you doctor."

Dr Xian bowed. "It is a pleasure."

The triplets walked out of the waiting room and down the corridor. That was when Sinead received Vesper One's text message.

She slipped out her phone and stared at the message on screen. Then she gasped and stopped abruptly.

"Look." She told her brothers. "I...I have to go. Alistair will meet you both downstairs."

"Why, where are you going?" Ned asked.

But Sinead had already run ahead, out if sight.

••••

Isabel Kabra have the audience a radiant smile as she concluded her speech.

"Thank you for all your support! AidsWorksWonders appreciates all your contributions! Remember: Together, we can save the earth!" She declared triumphantly from the stage.

The audience gave her an applause that they thought was well deserved. But Isabel knew better. She turned and walked off the stage, even as excited fans cheered after her.

Backstage, Isabel wandered among her crew, nodding and smiling to the members who in turn, congratulated her. She made it into her dressing room and sat on a plush sofa. Her Vesper phone chimed as soon as she allowed herself to relax. Isabel pulled out her phone and looked at the message.

Meeting with council ASAP. Report to Base in Argentina immediately.

Argentina.

Isabel tapped her finger against her leg. Vesper One expected her to be I'm Argentina as soon as she could. She hated the idea of having a leader barking orders at her. That was her job. She was Vesper Two, only one level down from her boss. With a quiet assassination, she could easily replace Damien Vesper. She smiled to herself as she thought of the possibility.

Isabel Kabra, leader of the Vespers. That sounded marvellous.

Before any of that though, she would have to get to Argentina. The officials would want to know why she was travelling abroad, she'd only been out of prison for a short time. But that could easily be covered by another AWW speech in Buenos Aires. Then she realized something. AidsWorksWonders would be her shield, to hide her Vesper activity. Isabel suspected that Vesper One would want more from her. She would be the shield to the Vespers. It all seemed so perfect.

Whatever Vesper One was planning wasn't important to her. AidsWorksWonders would turn Isabel into the leader of the world.