Chapter 2: Threat Assessment

Melody smiled down at her next victim. She had caught the tall, skinny socialist female completely off guard. Everything was going according to plan.

"Heh heh…okay, you got me, Daria. Very funny. You can let me up now, all right?" Jane forced a laugh, but it turned into a gasp as Melody's knees dug into her sides.

"Call me 'Daria' one more time and you'll never get up again." Damn HQ for giving her that name. Then again, it was just the sort of bleeding-heart new age moniker that would fly with these people.

"Look, um, Melody…I know this may be hard to believe, but you're not real. You're—eep!" Jane protested as Melody dragged her by her feet toward a swivel chair, thrust her in and tied her hands behind it with an ugly green jacket from the floor. It took only ten seconds; not bad, but not her best.

"I'm glad you're so willing to talk. Maybe now you'll tell me what I need to know."

Jane gulped. How could a girl who sat through gym class be so strong? "You've seen my grades, right? Knowing stuff isn't my specialty."

"Is that right?" the operative put a mocking finger to her chin. "So your Bolshevik superiors told you nothing of the insurgency they have planned in this city? How very curious."

"Lawndale doesn't really have things like that. Unless you count the time a soft drink company invaded the school."

"That was the market at work, Lane. Don't fight it," Melody said drily. She grabbed the arms of Jane's chair, slammed it into the wall and leaned forward until she was close enough to bite. "No more stalling. Tell me about the plot now and I may dispose of you painlessly."

Jane was being interrogated about national security by a barefoot girl in a nightshirt. She almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, but wisely contained herself. She would have to play along with her best friend's hidden side, and find out just how elaborate her fantasies were. "And how will headquarters feel about you offing your only double agent?"

Melody scowled. For the first time she looked uncertain. "What are you talking about?"

"Wake up, honey. I'm on your side," Jane snapped. "I went to your bosses a long time ago. My instructions are to…to prepare you for your mission!"

Damn, she thought. She should have just said the mission was off. But maybe Melody wouldn't have believed that anyway. She looked pretty suspicious already. "HQ never said anything about you being a double agent."

"I know. They said they didn't want you getting sloppy."

The spy stared daggers at her. "I don't get sloppy."

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Jane pointed to the open closet door. A large mirror was fastened to the inside.

Melody's hand twitched with the desire to slap the smirk off this girl's face. But, confident that she couldn't get away, she spared a glance at the mirror and was confronted with a bitter truth. A disheveled, poorly dressed waif with undone hair stared back at her in shock. She looked like some sort of awkward, out-of-shape…high-school girl!

I played my part too well, she thought to herself.

But the operation was tonight. Ready or not, playtime was over.

"See what I mean?" the annoying beatnik taunted. "Why, Antonio would hardly recognize you."

Melody's blood boiled as she whirled around. "Who told you about him?!"

"I told you, Powers, I'm in the know. You enjoyed killing him way too much, by the way."

Melody scoffed. That's what Antonio was there for, like so many other red beaus in dark suits—to be used, devoured and quickly disposed of. There was always the notion that they would be fun to keep around as sexual slaves, but she didn't cry over spilled milk. Or spilled blood, for that matter.

"So here's the deal: I'll give you your final briefing on this mission if you'll just untie me," Jane continued. "Or do you get off on this kind of thing?"

That was unwise. Melody growled as she grabbed the chair and turned it over. Jane crashed to the floor so hard her ears rang from the jolt.

"I don't touch women, Lane. Except to hurt them, and that's all most of them deserve," Jane managed only a groan in reply. "Now tell me what you know, and then I'll untie you. Question one: where's the action?"

Groggy and frightened, Jane could only think of one answer. "The…the dance. Homecoming. Ow."

Ω

Principal Angela Li stood near the entrance to the school gym. The room vibrated with MTV's hottest pop music as flashing lights played over a throng of clumsily cavorting teenagers.

"Ah, what a thrill to see these glowing young students and future donors enjoying themselves so!" Li announced. Her face hardened in a momentary frown as she pulled a walkie-talkie from the pocket of her dark slacks. "Security camera two, scan the floor for possible inappropriate touching in sector four."

"Don't you worry about that, little lady," said a brusque voice behind her.

General Buck Conroy stepped out of the shadows by the bleachers. He was a tall, dark-haired, heavily muscled man in military fatigues, flagged by two smaller but similarly dressed assistants. He had large staring eyes that never seemed to blink and a constant toothy smile on his square face. "If there's any trouble here tonight, we'll take care of business."

Li laughed nervously and forced herself to smile back. "Oh ho! Oh, don't be silly. I'm sure we won't have any problems that some intensive surveillance can't fix."

Hiring personnel from Brutal Mercenary Magazine to chaperone at the dance had seemed like a fine idea on paper—which, of course, was all that mattered. They agreed to the deal and paid a hefty fee in exchange for some low-key recruitment opportunities. Certainly they had given the school some hairy P.R. in their previous appearance, but as long as it was all kept quiet, this extremely creepy and morally outrageous deal would go off just fine.

"Just the same, ma'am…" the frozen smile widened. The muscles twitched. "The general's at your service."

Li's cheeks turned slightly pink, and she quickly excused herself to get some punch. She could feel his eyes still watching her as she left. Yes, indeed…this could work out very well for both sides.