Your Enemy is Now My Enemy, Part 1

The Barefoot Assassins uncover a plot to eliminate a presidential candidate

By Mongoose 750 (mongoose750@yahoo.com)

On the upstairs floor of an office building in Boca do Acre in Brazil, an executive, dressed in a traditional three-piece black business suit, straightened his jacket, making sure everything was in place before he attended the important conference meeting downstairs.

He never made it.

A knife hand blow struck his throat with lethal force, crushing it. As he fell to the floor, gasping for air, his eyes saw his executioner.

"Sorry old boy, but I couldn't have you telling everyone that I crashed the party."

The voice belonged to a woman with long blond hair, clad in a snug long-sleeve red leotard and matching red tights. She stretched out her 5'8" frame as she dispassionately watched the man wheeze for his last gasp for air. After he died, she quickly and quietly dashed downstairs.

"Jenkins isn't here yet? He's normally on time. Well someone catch him up on what he missed, we need to get started," Brian Parr said, the CEO of the small financial company, which in reality was a front for a deep cover DOOM operation.

The conference room held a large oval conference table, where Parr, a 5'10" middle-aged gentlemen with salt and pepper hair, stood behind a podium at one end. Scattered around the table near the other end were a small number of men and women, chief executives, also DOOM operatives, dressed in traditional black or blue pinstripe suit outfits. They posed as United States businessmen who just started to branch out their operation overseas.

They sat there silently, nodding their heads while Parr lectured and berated them. He was a man who believed in leadership by intimidation. His mission meetings were generally hour-long yelling sessions, with a plan of action placed somewhere in the middle. To anyone not familiar with Parr's methods, which included almost everybody except for his flunkies, they could be rather insulting, particularly to the two women who sat at the table who were dressed differently from everybody else.

The older of the two was dressed in standard garb from Vietnam, the country of her origin. She wore a dark emerald gown with slits on both sides, and a matching hat. Hin Trang was a Silkworm, a group of mature women assassins for hire, and she wondered why she was hired for this assignment. Her employers usually treated her with respect, and that was the one thing she had not received since she arrived here in Brazil. Even her enemies gave her better recognition. The lady assassin was forty-five years old, 5'6", and like her fellow assassins-in-arms, her body was very taut and fit. Normally for those who hired her, she would dress the part at meetings like this, but then again, those clients were worthy or respect, and worth the trouble. He should be pleased she did not show up in casual clothes.

The woman who sat beside her was Winter Sung, a twenty-five year old member of the Poison Geishas, a female assassin society based in Japan. She stood the same height as Hin, and though she was also in good shape, her body had a more delicate frame than her Silkworm counterpart. That made her no less deadly, however. As for her dress, she wore a traditional white kimono like her guild's namesake, not casual, but not fancy, either.

Like the Silkworms, Poison Geishas also approach their business dealings expecting honor and respect from their respective employees. To them, that was as valuable if not more so than their fee. Both organizations saw assassination as an art, a fine skill that took a great deal of time to train their body, soul, and mind for.

Since the time they were hired by Parr, and started working together, the two assassins developed a familial relationship. Winter saw Hin as a second mom, while Winter reminded Hin of the grown daughter she had with her late husband. Being in the same field also led the two to trade tips on their art to each other the same way other women would swap recipes. Being almost half Hin's age (Silkworms only train women over 35, usually 40), Winter came to value Hin's experience. Also, since they both had a mutual employer that treated them like dirt, they had a mutual enemy. Winter, unlike her namesake, held a hotter temper, and had to be calmed down in private by Hin, although she was reaching the end of her rope as well.

"Now for this meeting, we will speak in English. Did you understand, Winter? We speak in English," Parr said, empathizing the last four words slowly and loudly, like he was speaking to a deaf tourist.

"Of course I understand you; I was taught English at Oxford," Winter said with a neutral tone that hid the anger that welled inside. As a recent addition to their training, Poison Geishas were now sent to schools in Japan and abroad to learn various subjects besides the art of killing. Though Japanese students were taught English as a second language since elementary school, Winter went to Oxford to learn to speak it more clearly. Besides her native tongue and English, Winter could also speak Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese fluently. Hin had also been teaching her Vietnamese as well.

"Good," Parr continued as he pointed to a couple of faces on the screen. "These are key figures in the Brazilian government. This one to the right is running for president. Our job is to go to this political party celebration that they're having in this state park, or whatever it is, and take him out. Now let me tell you, security will be airtight. You two may have to dispatch a few people without using any poison. Are you two capable of fighting hand-to-hand?"

Winter started to open her mouth, but Hin stopped her. "We are perfectly capable of eliminating our foes in unarmed combat," she said.

Now it was Hin's turn to start simmering. The one thing one should not do with any professional assassin, Silkworms, Poison Geishas, or otherwise, is to openly question their abilities in public to their face, especially after they are hired. Professionals were professionals because of their success. Those who did not do too well were either incarcerated or dead, it was that simple.

Perhaps you'd like me to perform a demonstration, Hin thought to herself. She knew she could jump on the table, run to Parr and deliver a fatal blow, then be back in her seat just in time to watch him die before his agents could even think about drawing their sidearm. If she wanted, she could take a few of them out too on the way back to her chair. How dare he question my skills like that?

Parr droned on and on, yelling at his men, questioning their skills, and threatening how doomed they would be if they failed. Finally, he produced the straw that broke the camel's back when he suggested to Winter that she could dance in front of the crowd and mesmerize them with her moves.

"Men love to see that Japanese belly dancing stuff," he said.

"I have had enough!" Winter said, standing to her feet. "I did not come here to be insulted. I'm going for a walk."

She turned and left the room, the sound of her wooden sandals echoed through the hall.

"Winter? Winter? No one leaves in the middle of a meeting! Winter!" Parr bellowed.

But the only sound that could be heard was the sound of Winter's sandals as they clacked against the floor. Hin didn't attempt to go after her and calm her down; Parr went a little too far this time.

"Brown, Huddleston, go out and get her, and bring her back here."

As the man and woman rushed out the door to fetch Winter, Parr grumbled to himself about how undependable the Japanese were, and he should send her back.

The idea of leaving sounded good to Hin too, but she kept telling herself all she had to do was finish what she was hired on for, and leave, never seeing him again. It didn't matter how much she was paid, it wasn't worth this turmoil.

Parr continued with his plan to the three remaining operatives, two male agents and the Silkworm. Suddenly, the intercom interrupted him. He jabbed the button.

"Yeah!"

"Mr. Parr, two of the security cameras upstairs are off line. It looks like someone unplugged them," the guard from security said.

"All right. Tony, Shields, go find out what the problem is upstairs. Trang, you go with them," he barked.

Hin remained in her seat.

"Mr. Parr, I am a Silkworm, not your pet dog that you can order to play fetch with," she said.

"As long as I'm paying you my money, you're anything I want you to be. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to ' uck!"

Two arms clad in red seized Parr's head from behind. The left arm jerked up his chin while the right hand delivered a blow with the knuckle of the thumb to the lower part of the throat, crushing it and causing him to drown in his own blood. The hands released him, causing him to drop to the floor.

Seeing the whole spectacle unfold in front of her, Hin was surprised and impressed by the speed and precision of the sanction. Normally she would feel duty bound to defend or avenge her employer at times like this, but there were two issues with that. One, the assassination of her employer happened too fast for even her to do anything, and two; the more pressing question was ' why?

As the soon ' to ' be ' deceased Parr fell gagging to the floor, Hin saw the author of his coming demise. The woman was boldly clad in red, yet she wasn't detected, Hin observed. Very good. The woman in red saw Hin, then smiled.

"Hello, are you a Silkworm?" She asked.

There was no need to be secretive at this point. "Yes I am," Hin said.

"Then I have a business offer for you. I'm Julie, and I'm a Barefoot Assassin." She prodded Parr's body with her stocking foot. "Oh excuse me, was he your employer?"

Hin regarded her former employer with the same sympathy and compassion one gave a cockroach after they accidentally stepped on it.

"Yes, he was. So what is your business offer?" She asked.

"For you to teach us in the tricks of the trade," Julie answered.

"It looks like you've learned a lot already," Hin said, looking at Parr's body. "What more would you want from me?"

"The finer points of camouflage." Julie noticed Hin observing her outfit. "I know, it's red and it stands out, but it's one of my favorite outfits. Anyway, you would teach a few classes, have a nice living facility on campus, and receive a load of benefits in our employee package."

"Sounds interesting. You are aware that there's some DOOM agents looking for you."

"A man and woman? I took care of them. You think about this offer, I'm going to take care of the other two."

Julie glided out the door, leaving Hin to ponder the opportunity she's been given. A regular job sounded good, and her new employer couldn't be any worse than her old one. The only concern she had at the moment was Winter. She could take care of herself, and she couldn't be found if she didn't want to be found. Well she had Hin's cell phone number if she needed to contact her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a male body fell into the room. He got to his feet, favoring his gun hand, which seemed to be broken. Julie walked back through the doorway with a tight headlock around the other agent. She repositioned the headlock into a neck breaking hold. She dropped the body just in time to deliver a left kick to the knee joint of the first man. The newly broken joint caused the man to fall to the floor as he howled in pain. Julie shut him up with a blow to the neck.

"Did you take care of all four of them?" Hin asked.

"Let's see; three men, one woman in business suits, not counting the security guy as my next target? Yeah," Julie said.

So, Winter really did go for a walk. "I am very interested in your offer, but I would like to discuss it further with your boss," Hin said.

"Great!"

"By the way, you did an excellent job breaking in here and taking out your chief target. However, the way you handled these last two men was very sloppy. They were not that good to begin with, so it should not have taken very long. Plus, there are other parts of the human body to strike for a fatal blow besides the neck. I suppose I'll be teaching this to you in my next class."

"I look forward to it. By the way, has your old boss paid you yet?"

"Not yet, I mean no, why?"

"I found his safe upstairs. I also found some interesting details regarding your employment here," Julie said as they left the room and took the stairs. "Oh, you can take your shoes off now."

"Pardon?"

"Where are you from originally, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Vietnam."

"People over there walk barefoot all the time, don't they?"

"Well yes they do."

"Then go ahead and make yourself at home. You'll be doing a lot of that where we'll be going."

Hin shrugged, then stepped out of her sandals. Dumb things hurt her feet anyway. This offer was sounding more interesting by the minute.

Back at Brazilians for an Independent Brazil (BIB) headquarters, Hin stated her terms to the woman in charge who went by the name of Bliss. Bliss was six feet with long blond hair, and was wearing a white oxford button down dress shirt, and navy blue uniform pants. The pants legs were cut Capri style, showing off her muscular legs and bare feet.

"I will accept your offer, but only on the condition that I'm not attacking my fellow Silkworms," Hin said.

"Your fellow Silkworms are not the enemy," Bliss said, "it's those other agencies who won't leave us alone, like DOOM. However, if news of what your old boss planned to do ever reaches your headquarters, DOOM may not be on the Silkworm's top list of future employers."

Before they left, Julie showed Hin a part in the written form of Parr's plans from headquarters where any freelance operatives were to be neutralized after the mission was over. This angered Hin greatly to the point where she would have killed Parr if Julie hadn't done it already.

"I should have known from the way he treated me that something was up," Hin growled.

Bliss explained the reason for the Barefoot Assassin's existence, which was eliminating any foreign agents who ignored the orders to leave the country a few years ago.

Meanwhile on the outside of the complex, a guard casually glanced at her video monitors. As she yawned, she satisfied, or rather consoled herself with the thought that guard duty was the way it should be ' boring. Since the facility was supposed to be top secret, no one but the agencies' employees, staff, and chiefs of other intelligence organizations in Brazil should know where it was. The only exciting thing that happened was when she was asked to leave her post to lure four DOOM agents into the structure. The plan worked out well; two were killed inside the facility, one escaped to be later sanctioned at his apartment, and the lone survivor was currently being trained as a Barefoot Assassin. So in a sense, four came in, none came out. After that, things went back to normal. Oh well, after her shift was over, her and Claude, her boyfriend, plan to check out this new steakhouse in town and '

"Excuse me?"

The guard almost jumped out of her seat when she saw the mysterious visitor dressed in a white kimono. She was staring directly at the monitors.

"May I help you?" The guard said, trying to regain her composure.

"Yes, a friend of mine had arrived here not too long ago, and I wanted to see how she was," Winter said.

"Yes, uh, just a minute." The guard pushed an intercom button.

Bliss was finishing on the organization's current history when the intercom on her desk buzzed.

"Yes Brooke?" Bliss said.

"Bliss, there's a visitor here who is, ah, asking to see you," Brooke said.

"I'm having a meeting with someone else right now; they'll have to come back later. Who is it?"

"I don't know, it's a woman in a white kimono."

Bliss froze for a second. "A white kimono?" she repeated.

"Yes ma'am."

Julie, who stood in the room with the other two women, was equally stunned if not more so. Hin on the other hand, was ecstatic.

"Ah Winter, she found me!" Hin said.

"Winter?" Bliss asked.

"Yes, she's a Poison Geisha who was hired on by our former boss for the same mission."

"What was the mission?" Bliss asked, who haven't had the opportunity to check the files taken from the office building.

"Oh we were supposed to take out some politician; to tell you the truth, I only half listened to him. He ranted for a long time before he got to the point."

"I checked all over that place, and I never saw anyone else besides Hin and the DOOM agents," Julie said in shock, and trying to plead her case to her boss.

"When Winter doesn't want to be found, she can't be found," Hin said.

"Well this should be interesting," Bliss said. "Escort her in, please."

"Yes Bliss," Brooke said, and shut off the intercom.

"Bliss, I checked all over the place, and I didn't see-" Julie started.

Bliss placed a hand on her shoulder. "Julie, we're dealing with two organizations that have been in existence longer than most countries. No need to beat yourself up."

"I thought she did a fine job," Hin said.

Julie started to feel a little better from Hin's compliment. "Aren't Silkworms and Poison Geishas like, rival organizations?" she said.

"Oh not at all! We see the Geishas as our "daughter' organization if you will. We have had a honored non-conflicting clause among us, not that we need one; we're generally employed by clients with differing tastes. We've had some crossovers too. Some Silkworms would become Geishas, some Geishas would become Silkworms when they become older, and some would be both."

"Wow."

"That's quite a bit of information you've told us," Bliss said.

Hin smirked and shrugged. "Well you ladies are in the same field of work we are; it won't hurt to give you a little bit of knowledge."

Back at the front of the complex, Brooke awaited the escort for her Geisha guest as she sent her through the standard visitor procedure.

"I'll need you to place all firearms and weapons here in this container before I let you in the facility," she said.

Winter nodded, and pulled out her two long wooden hairpins, placing them in the container. Though they were wooden, they appeared to be thicker and heavier than a normal hairpin of this type. Brooke looked at them, and then looked at her with a look that said "is that all?"

"You must take special care with these," Winter said. "They can be most lethal to those who handle them wrongly."

Brooke gingerly took the container, quickly remembering who she was dealing with. After she put it away, she gave Winter a pat down to check for any possible weapon that may have been missed. After she finished, Winter's escort showed up. The escort was a 5'4" woman with her blond hair put in a long ponytail, and a figure that let the world know that she worked out regularly. She wore a sleeveless short black dress, and black fishnet socks, no shoes. The last part struck Winter rather curious, since she had not seen anyone besides her wear any at this place.

"Winter, I'm Jana, and if you'll come with me, I'll bring you to your friend," Jana said.

Winter bowed in thanks, then briefly looked around. She slipped off her wooden sandals, leaving her feet in white tabi socks, socks that have a split between the big toe, and the other toes.

The walk down the hall drew the attention of many agents who were there. Two agents in particular were Ming Shi, a 5'10" woman with short black hair, a powerful build, and a ranking among the assassins as second with the highest kill counts in the organization. This was mainly because of her tendency to enter a DOOM stronghold and sanction the target and everyone else associated. This earned her the nickname of "Neutron Bomb," killing everyone, but leaving the building standing. The other woman was a 5'6" black woman with a short haircut close to the scalp and a slimmer, tautly muscled build who goes by the name of Catalina. The two had just returned from a mission, and were going over a few details in their report when they saw Winter pass by.

"So that's a Poison Geisha," Ming Shi said. "You hear so much about them, but you never see them. After a while, you start to wonder if they exist."

"I believe one of our agents was thinking the same thing until she literally ran into one during a mission," Catalina said.

"How did she elude her anyway?"

"She said it was a lucky punch. As soon as the Geisha went down, she sanctioned her target and fled out of there. It took her two months before she stopped flinching every time she saw a kimono."

Ming Shi laughed. "Our boss knows how to recruit. First she brings a trio of top notch martial artists to teach us, then she captures a Silkworm and hires her, now a Poison Geisha. Our soccer team could use her skills."

A passing agent dropped by. "Were you here twenty minutes ago? They brought in another Silkworm, on her own free will," she said.

"Another one? I'm going to be the first in line to sign up for classes."

"Me too. With all this "education' we're receiving, the bad guys don't stand a chance," Catalina said.

All three agents gave each other a high ' five.

When Winter arrived in Bliss' office, her and Hin shared a brief embrace.

"Are you well?" Winter asked.

"Yes, I am fine," Hin replied.

"When I saw you being escorted to a car, I grew concerned, until I realized it was of your own free will. Still, I followed you to make sure you were all right."

"Followed? How did-" Julie started, but Bliss waved her hand to silence her. Winter turned to Julie.

"By killing our employer, you have done us both a great service," Winter said. "If it wasn't you, mine would have been the hand that slayed him, regardless of our assignment."

"Winter!" Hin said.

"I would've stilled his foul tongue, Hin. I decided to "take a walk' so I could discuss our "resignation' to him in private. He was the third DOOM employer in a row who disrespected me."

"Wouldn't escaping be a problem with all those DOOM agents around?" Bliss asked.

Winter waved her hand. "Those agents were less than nothing. If they were capable, he wouldn't have hired us." She gestured at Julie. "She can tell you they weren't much to deal with."

Julie shrugged. "She's right, they were pretty easy."

"Would you let him keep his head?" Hin asked.

"I'm not sure, maybe I would have cut his tongue out before I brought his life to an end," Winter said.

"So it was you!" Bliss said.

"Pardon?"

"We heard this story from a captured DOOM employee about a cruel boss who badmouthed everyone, including the Poison Geisha he hired. After completing the job, the Geisha resigned her job, and resigned the boss's head from his shoulders."

"That is true," Winter said. "Who told you this, a DOOM agent?"

"No, it was an accountant. Apparently, when he saw his boss, he was afraid you'd be gunning for him next, so he fled. It just so happened that he ran to us. I was starting to think he made the whole thing up."

"I wouldn't have done that to him. I have great respect for accountants."

"Winter has little patience for those who hire us and treat us with no respect," Hin said.

"I see. So Winter, is it true you stuffed an apple into the man's mouth and then placed his head on a platter like you would a pig?" Bliss asked.

"Yes," Winter answered.

"Wow," Julie said.

"Hin, if I may ask," Winter said, "Why are you here?"

"They just offered me a new job," Hin said, "to teach the women here the finer arts of our profession."

"And we give the same offer to you," Bliss said. "We would love to learn some valuable lessons from the Poison Geishas as well. We will give you the same privileges we gave to Hin, and considering how eager my ladies would be to learn, we'll give you what your last three employers did not give you ' respect."

Winter thought about it for a moment, then said, "I'll take it."

"Excellent! I believe this is a decision that you can be happy with, and we're happy that the both of you will share a lot with us," Bliss said as she shook the hands of both women; well she was in the middle of shaking Winter's hand when she stopped herself and bowed instead, then pushed the intercom button. "Jana, I'll need you to come back and show our new employees around, and the customary paperwork."

After Jana appeared and escorted the two assassins out of the office, Julie turned to Bliss.

"I noticed you didn't give Winter all the details of who we are and everything," she said.

"I was going to, but if those two are that close, Hin will tell her everything. She won't have a problem," Bliss replied.

"I'm going to take Winter's class first."

"Why is that?"

"So I can find out how she hid from me."

Later that evening, Bliss was finishing some last minute paperwork in her office when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," she said.

The door opened, and a petite, 5'3" woman with creamy brown skin and long light brown hair came in. looking at her long time executive secretary, Bliss thought to herself that one of her projects should be putting this woman in a gym.

Bliss, can I have a word with you?" Her secretary asked.

"Why sure, Angelique. What's on your mind?"

"Well I know you recently hired a Silkworm to teach our women their secrets of camouflage. And now, you just hired another Silkworm, and a Poison Geisha, of all things."

"Yes I did. I want to make sure our ladies are more than just equipped; I want them to be the best out in the field. But I see you're troubled."

"Both clans are normally hired by DOOM," Angelique said.

"Not exclusively, they are mercenaries, but yes, DOOM uses them on particular occasions."

"But DOOM, those are the "bad guys!'" Angelique complained. "Shouldn't we be taking some cues from the "good guys,' like COIL?"

Bliss leaned back in her chair. "First, Angelique, you'll need to tell me who the "good guys' and "bad guys' are, because I can't tell the difference anymore."

"I don't understand."

"I believe I can answer all your questions with two words ' Rio Branco."

Angelique's face went pale.

"I-I'm aware of the big disaster that happened there a few years ago, but what does that have to do with DOOM and COIL?"

"Everything. Sit down, and I'll give you the unedited version."

Angelique took a chair and sat in front of Bliss' desk.

"Now as you know, the little war between COIL and DOOM has been going on for a long time. No one is sure how it started; some rumors say that it started because there were two agents who worked for the same agency that had a major disagreement on how to handle world affairs. Again, nobody's sure, and if anybody knows, they're not telling."

"You mean this whole deal is just one big feud?

"Who knows? Wars have been started for lesser reasons. Anyway, their little war had started to extend over a sizable part of the civilized world. For all extents and purposes, they even run some countries either operating through politicians or with the agents themselves attaining power through running through a political office. Now what I've just told you, you already had an idea, but it's unknown to the general public."

"So in some countries, the ruling president might be a COIL or DOOM agent?" Angelique said.

"That's correct, we're just now discovering the full scope of that possibility in our country," Bliss replied. "The thing is you may be able to discover that fact from their agenda, which could be pro-COIL or pro-DOOM, or something else entirely. Understand?"

"As clear as mud."

"Precisely. Many years ago, representatives for both agencies entered our country to gain the appeal and the favor of our government. It was quiet at first, with our governors and senators being wined and dined by agents from both groups, with little conflict, if any. We later figured that any fighting on their part took place in secret, so covert that we didn't know about it. However, gaining political appeal either wasn't enough for them or it wasn't working, so they started sending their own agents as politicians into our government."

"How did they do that?"

"Unknown to us, they already had a few cells placed here and there across the country. It was no problem to recruit some of our folks, train them, then arrange to put them in an influential office."

"My gosh!"

"Eventually, it got so bad, you couldn't tell who was who, even if you knew what was going on. I'm amazed they were able to keep track. Anyway, you can imagine the constant political conflicts that resulted from all that. Things got even crazier when the undercover politicians started calling each other out. Some COIL politician would start accusing another politician of being part of a "sinister secret covert agency," or belonging to DOOM. Virtual political witch-hunts started breaking out in the Senate. It made for exciting daytime drama, but nothing good for Brazil. It all came to a head one day at Rio Branco."

"But they said what happened at Rio Branco was the result of a terrorist bombing," Angelique said.

"That's what we fed the media to keep them quiet and to keep Brazilians from finding spies in their closets. If people found out what really happened, this country would be in great turmoil. All the more reason why you need to keep what I say to you next within the confines of this facility," Bliss said.

"Yes ma'am. Who else knows this besides yourself?"

"A few others in the intelligence community, the president and a few political leaders, and a handful of Barefoot Assassins who bother to read about our history. We had a brilliant scientist by the name of Benjamin Camm. In fact his whole family consisting of his wife, Jill, his daughter, Patricia, and his son, Curt, were all scientists.

"In downtown Rio Branco, they had a warehouse building converted into a huge laboratory for their work. On this particular day, Ben and Patricia were taking their turns working on a very crucial discovery."

"What was that?"

"The cure for AIDS."

Angelique's eyes opened wide, along with her mouth.

"A cure for AIDS?" She said in a hushed tone.

"Yes. Since we have quite a few cases of the disease in our country, we had no qualms about helping them fund their research."

"Oh my, a cure. So what happened?"

"It was a Friday, and Benjamin decided to let the staff leave early that day, leaving him and Patricia to finish up. I think the family was going to have a private celebration that day over what they discovered. They were about to close up when a group of DOOM's henchmen appeared holding them at gunpoint."

"Oh no."

"DOOM wanted to get the cure for two primary reasons. Any country who wanted the cure (and what civilized country wouldn't?) would pay top dollar for it. The second reason was if you knew how to defeat the virus, you probably would be able to enhance it as well."

"That's horrible, even for DOOM."

"It's not over yet. A minute later, a group of COIL's men shown up, armed, and prepared to take the cure. Their reason? I believe it was to "keep it safe,' and to make sure it didn't fall into the "wrong hands.'"

"What did that mean?"

"Angelique, what do you think it means?"

Angelique thought for a moment, then the sad truth shown on her face.

"They wanted to keep it for themselves as much as DOOM did," she said.

"You see it's hard to call sides as far as who's clean when both sides have their hands dirty," Bliss said.

"So who got the cure?"

"No one."

"No one?"

"Let me give you the scenario here. You have this huge laboratory, filled with all sorts of chemicals, some rather volatile, and you have a total of eight to ten men armed with loaded weapons, and tempers hotter than bullets."

"Bullets? Oh no!"

"That's right; words were exchanged between the two agencies, and some fool fired his gun first, then some fool fired back, and before you know it, bullets flew everywhere.

"The explosion took out the whole city block. Some said you could've heard the sound of the explosion on the other end of the country. You have already heard about the property damage and the numbers of fatalities and wounded."

"How were you able to find out all this?" Angelique asked.

"The Camm family was security conscious, almost to a manic level, especially concerning this discovery. In the laboratory, he had cameras on an independent circuit from the standard security cameras in the building. These security cameras recorded everything that happened in the lab, and the information was sent to two items of storage. These were "black boxes,' similar to what they use on airlines, except they were equipped to record video as well as audio. They were nearly indestructible. The first one was placed in the lab, while the second one was located at the Camm's house. Other than the Camm's, we were the only ones who had the key to the box in the lab, which shown us the whole scene up to the explosion."

"What did the surviving members of the family do?"

Bliss sighed. "They grabbed their black box and fled, probably out of the country."

"They couldn't go under government protection?"

"The family was already under protection of the Brazilian government. Benjamin and Patricia were blown to bits under our watch. Somewhere there was a leak, an informant to both agencies who told them about the professor's discovery. This happens, and suddenly, we couldn't be trusted. If I was them, I'd leave too."

"Has anyone heard from them?"

"Every now and then, we would receive an unsigned letter telling us the cure will be created as soon as they find a home. Some of us think they're in Peru or Chile, some think they might have gone to the United States. I personally doubt that because COIL and DOOM have a stronger foothold there, especially now."

"Part of me is almost ashamed for asking this, but since the tape recorded everything, couldn't our scientists duplicate what they did?" Angelique asked.

"No need to be ashamed, Angelique; besides, someone suggested that very idea," Bliss said. "On paper, it sounds brilliant. The reality is what the scientists did was a step-by-step process. The tape we have only gives us the result of that process. The earlier tapes were taken and placed in the laboratory vault."

"Let me guess, which was destroyed in the explosion."

"That's right."

"How do we know the cure would've worked anyway?"

"They had two test subjects, a man and a woman, who both had full-blown AIDS. It's immaterial at this point how they contacted the disease, the important thing was after they tried the professor's cure, they were virtually healed."

"What happened to them, did they get killed in the explosion too?"

"No, they lived with the Camm family. They fled with the surviving family members. As further testimony that they recovered, they probably helped clean out the house before we could get there to check on them. The place was as clean as a bone."

The BIB secretary slowly shook her head. "We actually had the cure to one of the most devastating diseases known to man, and we lost it because of two agencies' greed and stupidity. It's just horrible."

"After this, the president had enough. In an emergency cabinet meeting, he gave the order that everyone belonging to either COIL or DOOM will be given exactly forty-eight hours to leave the country. Any remaining agents still here after that will either be imprisoned or dealt with. To my knowledge, COIL readily complied and withdrew everybody. However, DOOM was a little more stubborn with obeying the order; some agents even gave us threats."

"And sometime after that, we were formed, correct?"

"That's correct. Many wanted what was done in Rio Branco to be considered an act of war. Sadly, that couldn't be done because that honor goes to countries with visible armies. In this case, we were fighting shadows, or maybe a form of cancer would be more accurate. We're one of a few agencies used to "cut it out.' We just happen to be the most successful at it. That may be because we only specialize in their removal. I don't care about their plans with the rest of the world, I just want them out of Brazil. If that means employing the use of some of the world's finest assassins to train my ladies to better eliminate them, then so be it."

"My gosh, Bliss, I didn't realize how messed up things were before. I've been told COIL was the good guys and DOOM was the bad ones, but I never understood why we threw them both out," Angelique said.

"Maybe that's the case elsewhere, but here, they're both the "bad guys.' Well, now you know," Bliss replied.

"I'll let you get back to what you were doing," the secretary said as she got up, and turned to go.

"One more thing," Bliss said. "I want you to show up at the gym an hour before you start work, beginning tomorrow. I'll have one of our trainers waiting for you."

"Why?"

"Everyone on this facility lifts weights, even the cooks and the custodians pump iron. Everyone, except for you. What kind of example would I promote if I let one of my secretaries go without a workout? Jana does it. After we put some muscle on you, we'll see about getting you started in a marital art."

"But, but," Angelique protested.

"That's an order."

"Yes ma'am," Angelique said as she shuffled out the door.

The next day, life went on as usual at BIB headquarters. With the exception of those who were currently on other missions or relaxing from just being on one, everyone else was either in the gym or in class. Bliss, an ardent believer of the old adage that moving hinges never rusts, had her Barefoot Assassins always working out and attending classes of some sort. Because of the nature of their methods, she maintained that her assassins should always be kept sharp like a razor. This approach helped keep the ladies well rounded as well. Bliss had said she'd heard too many stories of agents being defeated by "something new," when in actuality, the "new" thing wasn't that new at all. If the agent kept current, the disaster probably would not have happened. Even though with a few exceptions a Barefoot Assassins' weapons generally extend as far as their bare hands and feet, they still needed to be informed about new weaponry and gadgets the enemy may use, and even learn a few new tricks to their martial arts arsenal.

In a break between classes, one of the new instructors leaned against the wall beside the door of her classroom. She was dressed in a form-fitting tank top royal blue silk unitard. As she placed her bare right sole against the wall, she displayed herself in a way that would best display the well-conditioned muscles of her dark-skinned form. Her reclining against the wall was not by accident. A few seconds later, some of the few males who worked at the facility in the accounting and technical departments made a routine march up the hallway delivering their "data" to its much-needed destination.

Diya, a forty-seven year-old 5'7" woman from India, knew very well the reason the men made their daily walk ' to peek at her. It was rather flattering; out of all the younger women on campus, these men ventured up the hallway every day to observe some mature Indian beauty. She also knew full well that there wasn't any important destination the men were headed. Still, there was nothing wrong with a little fun, so she acted like she was pulling a piece of lint off her outfit while making sure she obliged her audience.

Diya had the honor of being the first Silkworm to teach at the facility, though the way she obtained the position was a little unusual. Previously, she was a bodyguard for a deep cover DOOM operative who was a high-ranking politician who wasn't as kind and generous as people thought she was ' and the graveyard in her garden proved it. Bliss sent a type of Barefoot Assassin called a "Barefoot Sniper," and sanctioned the operative, and after a hard-fought battle and a bit of trickery, defeated Diya as well. She was taken back to headquarters to receive an unusual offer, teach classes or be imprisoned. Not actually being too found of her last assignment anyway, Diya easily accepted the teaching assignment. Since then, her class on camouflage and her particular fighting art had been one of the more popular ones on campus, and as she viewed the rear view of one of the male employees, it certainly had its benefits.

As she turned her head the other way, she saw another figure approach her, a Vietnamese woman wearing a silk green gown and yellow shorts.

"Ah, you must be Hin!" Diya said, flashing a bright white smile. "I've been wanting to officially welcome you and Winter to this humble abode, but the students here have kept me busy."

After they embraced, Hin said, "It is a pleasure to meet you. From what I've heard, weren't you being a bodyguard for some politician?"

"Yes I was. She was Nancy Sousa, a very high-ranking politician for her party."

"How did she know about us?"

"Well you see, she was also a very deep cover DOOM operative. So deep, most of her own agents didn't know about her."

"So how did you end up here?"

"Bliss somehow found out about her, and sent an assassin to terminate her, which she done in an excellent manner. The secondary plan was to capture me, which she did in a closely fought battle. Bliss suspected that with all the failed attempts on Nancy's life, yet with no visible bodyguard, she must be guarded by a Silkworm."

"Why did she have you captured? Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Hin asked.

"I thought that too, until Bliss offered me a choice, teach classes or sit in prison. Obviously I chose to teach," Diya said with a grin.

"Interesting. So how was it guarding an important public figure and undercover spy?"

"Not interesting at all. Nancy was an evil woman. What people didn't know was she had murdered more than her fair share of people. COIL agents, political rivals, sometimes innocent bystanders when she got bored. I've seen her murder her own DOOM agents on a whim. I sometimes watched my back to make sure I wasn't next. Fortunately, she liked me, which was sometimes frightening. In any case, I'm glad to be out of that contract. So how did you get here?"

"Same as you, without the threat. I found out later that the man who hired us had plans on permanently terminating our employment after the assignment was over."

"You and the geisha both?" Diya asked.

"Yes," Hin said.

"The guilds and clans will not be happy to hear that. Do they already know?"

"Not yet, we're still trying to determine if that was one specific order or a general one. If it was specific, it wouldn't have been a problem because Winter was going to kill him that day before Julie took care of it already. That gal has such a temper."

"How is Winter liking it here?"

"Fine, except I think she would rather be out in the field."

"These assassins operate a little different than her geisha clan. Grace and subtlety are not their strong points here," Diya said.

"Yes, they're much more practical and immediate. I like that."

"Me too. Oh, here they come!"

"Who?"

"You'll see. Hey, stand against the wall and lift up your gown for a moment; I want to see what type of shorts you're wearing."

Like clockwork, six men, three of each from the accounting and technical departments walked the other way down the hall. They each carried important looking papers in their arms, and carried a serious look on their face like they had someplace important to go. Or rather, they pretended to. Being trained to be familiar with her surroundings, Diya knew fully well that the only room of importance those men had to go in that direction was the cafeteria; and it wasn't near their lunchtime. As they came nearer, the men started giving their supposedly subtle glances at Diya that the Silkworm wasn't supposed to notice. However, a new player was added to the mix.

As Hin rose up a corner of her gown to show Diya her shorts, the gesture also revealed her muscular and attractive thighs and calves. Because of this unexpected action, three of the men stared two seconds too long, and collided with a few students and staff, including a female coworker from accounting. The collision sent papers flying all over the hall, and sparked an argument with the coworker, who demanded to know why they were taking blank paper to the cafeteria. Hin dropped her gown, and turned to Diya with a grin.

"You little flirt! So that's why you wanted me to "stand against the wall.' You ought to be ashamed!" She said.

"Maybe, but I'm not," Diya replied, smiling, and purposefully ignoring the men picking up their papers, apologizing to the students, and telling the coworker to mind her own business. "Is it a reason to feel ashamed that there are still men out there who appreciate mature beauty?"

Hin was silent for a moment, and then said, "I believe I have some leotards and other workout outfits I haven't worn in a while. Perhaps it's time to take them out and wear them, at least to get the wrinkles out. And you're right about standing out in the hall in-between classes. The rooms can get rather warm."

"The best time to "cool off' is during the afternoon, close to lunchtime."

"I see. That young man with the glasses was rather fetching, wasn't he?"

"Oh yes, and he seemed to take some interest in your legs."

Hin smiled slightly. "I think I need to wear some smaller tops with my shorts," she said, looking at her gown.

"I agree, have some fun," Diya replied as she saw a new figure approaching. "Ah, Hin, here's someone I'd like you to meet."

"One of your students?"

"No, my captor. When she becomes of age, I'll try to get her recruited as one of us. Leina!"

A woman with a 5'7" slender build stopped her walking and faced the two Silkworms. She had long wavy brown hair and olive skin. She was the one who had previously neutralized the deep cover agent and managed to defeat and capture Diya.

"Hello," Leina said tentatively.

"This is Hin, a fellow Silkworm from Vietnam. Hin, this is Leina, the woman who defeated me," Diya said.

"Diya was telling me who good you are," Hin said.

"Good? You almost killed me!" Leina said.

Diya laughed. "Don't sell yourself short. You won, that's the point, and I'm here, so it worked out well for everyone."

"Uh, good."

"Maybe one day Bliss will send us on a mission together, that would be good."

"You'd do that? Team up with me?"

"Why yes! Your skills are already very good, and very lethal. It would actually be an honor to team up with you."

"Well thank you. I have to go now. Pleasure meeting you, Hin, bye-bye." Leina then took off down the hall.

"A woman of few words," Hin said, watching Leina leave.

"In the field, she's a tigress, but in public, she's timid as a mouse," Diya said. "It's hard getting a conversation out of her."

"I need to return to my class now," Hin said. "I will be back at this time tomorrow to stand against the wall with you. Be well."

"You too."

As Hin walked down the hall back to her own classroom, a student poked her head out of Diya's classroom and said, "Teacher, if you're through having your "fun,' we'd like to start class now."

"Having fun? I was just getting a breath of fresh air, that was all," Diya said, feigning innocence, not convincing the student, who just shook her head as the went into the room.

The following Monday night, Bliss was in her office going through some papers when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said.

To her surprise, it was Winter who came in. Bliss found it interesting how well the Poison Geisha adapted to life here at BIB headquarters. She wore a white short sleeve blouse, blue jeans that were cut above the ankles, an ankle bracelet, and no shoes. She had her hair down instead of wearing the customary topknot hairstyle of her group. She briefly bowed to Bliss, who motioned for her to have a seat.

"Is everything all right, Winter?" Bliss asked.

"Yes Bliss, everything is fine," Winter replied.

"Then what can I help you with?"

Winter looked Bliss straight in the eye, and told her, "Bliss, I would like to be a Barefoot Assassin."

Bliss put down her papers and looked at Winter. "I must say I'm flattered, and surprised. The ladies are saying good things about your classes, and it looks like you've found a few friends here. Why do you want to be a Barefoot Assassin?"

"As much as I like teaching others the skills of the Geisha, I feel my abilities would be better served out in the field."

"Winter, I do not doubt your abilities at all. In fact, Julie is still trying to find out how you hid from her."

Winter gave a slight grin. "I told her the path to finding out will make her a better assassin." She said.

Bliss chuckled at that.

"My question for you is do you know what our mission objective is?" She asked.

"Your mission objective is to make Brazil a land that's free from influences of covert agencies like COIL, DOOM, and others. To this end, your agency was formed to eliminate intruders who disregard this warning your government issued several years ago."

"Wow, you sum it up better than I do. With all due respect, you weren't born in Brazil, and until recently, you just started living here. Why would you have such an interest in what we do, other than money or the thrill of the hunt?"

Winter was not deterred by Bliss' question. "There are two reasons. First, I've read about what happened at Rio Brancho." Winter saw Bliss' surprised look and continued. "The public archives in your library are rather extensive. It is disgraceful for a Poison Geisha to be ignorant of her environment."

"Very good."

"I read the "edited' version, but from what I heard, I was able to, "put two and two together. It was a very terrible thing. My guild may be mercenary assassins, but we are not without compassion," Winter said with another slight smile.

"I see," Bliss said.

"Secondly, you may have in essence, saved our lives. We have worked with DOOM many times in the past, and what Julie uncovered was of great discomfort to Hin and myself, the Poison Geishas, and Silkworms. For this, we are all in your debt. We have notified both our mistresses of your deed."

"Thank you."

"On a personal note, your clan has given me something that none of my previous employers gave me ' respect. In many ways, that is a bigger reward than money."

"How would your clan take this? I mean making the switch from Poison Geisha to Barefoot Assassin?" Bliss asked.

"Oh, I'll always be a Poison Geisha," Winter said. "My clan would not mind; you are paying me after all."

"Okay, you've convinced me; you can begin training for a Barefoot Assassin. Obviously, combat skills will not be necessary, but I will expect you to start weight training classes. You may be in excellent shape for a Poison Geisha, but I would like my assassins to have a little more bulk on them. Our work with weights is rather extensive and required. You'll discover muscles you didn't know you had. And unlike your clan, we don't go in gracefully; we sometimes have to run across fields, scale walls, or climb trees to get to our target. For this, lessons in agility are necessary. Still interested?"

"When do I begin?"

"Tomorrow morning. I would still like you to teach classes until we find another geisha to do it."

"I may be able to help you with that," Winter said.

"That would be great. Winter, welcome to the team," Bliss said, extending her hand.

Winter was expecting to bow instead of shaking her hand, so she did both.

"Thank you very much, Bliss-san. I will be here in the morning," she said, and left.

As Winter left, Catalina came in, both stopping long enough in the doorway for a nod of greeting before going on their separate ways.

"Is everything all right with Winter?" Catalina asked as she sat down.

"Oh, just fine. It looks like we're going to have a Poison Barefoot Geisha Assassin working for us," Bliss said.

"That is great! She'll make a good one."

"That is good, because for what's coming up, we'll need all the available women we can get."

"What's up?"

"I think we finally figured out what politician DOOM wanted to assassinate."

"Had Hin and Winter been able to tell you anything?"

"Not really, but that's to be expected," Bliss said. "They're assassins, not spies. They are given a primary job or target, and of course, the less they know about the other details, the better off they are. No complications that way. The two know they were going to be used in the assassination of somebody who's in or running for office, but that is all they know."

"If the two guilds find out about those plans DOOM had for their ladies, that might change," Catalina said.

"If they find out, we won't need to worry about DOOM for a while, if ever. If the remaining Geisha and Silkworms are even half as good as the three we have here, the organization could be decimated if not wiped out in a few days."

Catalina gave her a quizzical look. "That's giving them an awful lot of power, isn't it?" She said.

"Think about it; DOOM has hired Poison Geisha and Silkworms for years. The two guilds probably have at least a vague working knowledge of how the levels of power and chain of command work there. Combine that with the ability to melt into shadows, and to kill a human being in less time than it takes to finish my sentence, and you have trouble. And I'm just talking about unarmed combat; add a few of their favorite poisons and weapons to the mix, and see what happens."

"That reminds me, Bliss; do you think either group may have a word with you about having one of their own in our employ as teachers?"

Bliss thought for a minute. "It's a possibility, but offhand, I think they'll be flattered. Still, it may be possible I may be contacted," she said.

"Frankly, I don't think a war between DOOM and the two guilds would be a bad thing."

"It would solve most of our problems, wouldn't it? Right now, we need to figure out how to keep Caesar Martin alive."

"One of the leading presidential candidates? How did you find out?"

"The time frame that DOOM cell had for their assignment before Julie infiltrated it coincided with a rally that Martin was holding. Since we wiped that group out, we probably delayed their plans for a while until they regrouped. Now Martin is going to have another rally three weeks from now in almost the same area and the same day as the Unity Festival."

"A block party makes for a perfect time to assassinate somebody."

"And they had all their bases covered. They would have a sniper set up, but chances are Martin's security detail would be on the lookout for that possibility. So a Silkworm and a Poison Geisha was hired to get close to the target, and make the hit."

"And then kill the two assassins after their task is completed," Catalina said, finishing Bliss' thought. "That sniper's rifle was probably meant for them. It would be efficient, but it totally violates any code of honor with the employed assassins."

"They could've melted into the crowd, and been out of the country before anyone realized what happened. DOOM has gotten stupid and sloppy."

Bliss turned in her chair, and opened a file on her computer. She clicked "print" on the menu, and a rough graphic picture of the area where the political rally and festival would be held. She then placed it on the desk where Catalina could see it.

"Here's the spot for the rally and festival," Bliss said, pointing. "And here's a few speculative areas where a hit would be possible."

"You might as well say they could strike from anywhere," Catalina replied, shaking her head.

Bliss sighed. "I know. Usually with something like this, the good news is all the rest of the intelligence agencies know about it; which leads to the bad news."

"Which is?"

"All the rest of the intelligence agencies know about it."

"You don't trust them?" Catalina asked.

"For the most part, yes, I do. But over the years, DOOM and COIL penetrated us deeply, Catalina. We've done a good job of cleaning house, but I think we still have some dust left. We don't' have the problem of rivaling agencies like they do up in the states, but one low level double agent could spoil things for everybody. Why do you think I have our headquarters way out here?" Bliss said.

"I wondered about that; not that I don't like the scenery. I thought it was to keep the male agents from fooling with us. So I gather you haven't told them."

"Not yet, but if I don't come up with some type of a battle strategy, I'll have to. I want to take care of this quietly for now. The only plan I have is to employ all my women to canvass the area; maybe even pull a few from their current assignments."

Catalina shook her head again. "But if we don't know what to look for-"

Bliss sighed again. "Exactly," she said.

Normally when a Barefoot Assassin or Assassins complete their sanction of the designated target in a special location, like a headquarters or strategic area, the cleaners are to come in and gut the location of any and all information, clues, and the standard removal of bodies. This time, instead of performing their usual procedure, Bliss told the cleaners to just download all the information from their computers, and leave the place untouched (except for the bodies, which were removed and buried in a burial site behind BIB headquarters). She did not leave the building unwatched, however.

Amira, one of the newer Barefoot Assassins, was a 5'6" woman of an athletic build, and dark hair streaked with blond highlights pulled up in a bun. She had dusky skin, a reflection of her Middle-Eastern heritage. Her assignment was quite simple; to go to the library, the local caf#, or walk down the street, just as long as it was in the vicinity of the office building. If she saw anything unusual, like people going into the vacant building, do not engage, just observe, and relay the results as soon as possible.

On this day, several weeks after Julie's attack on the facility, Amira was dressed casually, wearing a bikini top covered by a black fishnet cover-up, and frayed jeans. Beside the customary bare feet, she carried over her shoulder what looked like a cross between a black purse and a large, one-strap backpack. She had just enjoyed a nice breakfast at the caf#, and was just taking her late morning stroll down the block, across the street from the now abandoned office building.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something unusual. Not looking over her shoulder or breaking stride, she flipped open her compact. The mirror's reflection confirmed her suspicions; a group of people dressed in black and blue business suits gathered by the front door and tentatively went in the building. Amira walked a few steps further, then crossed the street, and walked toward the office building before disappearing in an alley. During her time spent in surveillance of the building, she developed a complete geography of the immediate area, especially the nearby buildings.

Amira' favorite hobby was rock climbing, or as she called it, barefoot rock climbing. The contact with the rocks helped to toughen her already calloused soles while the act of climbing itself helped strengthen the muscles already developed by the BIB's intense weight training program. She looked at the buildings with a rock climber's mentality ' if it's tall, then it must be climbed, if anything for the reason that it exists. She pulled out a bag of chalk that she put on her hands and feet. Looking this way and that, she grabbed a handhold, and started climbing.

The way the sun shone at that time in the morning, it casts a shadow on the building Amira was climbing. She finally found a window ledge on the fifth floor that would make a suitable perch. This gave her an opportunity to try a new invention she created. It was a contraption that consisted of a belt that fit around her waist, with two cables on both sides. The end of the cable had pitons that would grip on to virtually anything from wood to solid steel. She had tested her gadget several times at home on anything climbable, but this was her first dry run. After testing the pitons several times, she made her way up the building. Once she reached her destination, she relaxed and sat on the window ledge.

Amira was also secure in the fact that the ledge she sat on was a window that was never opened. That was a good thing, for it would be a big surprise for someone to open the shades and see a woman sitting on their ledge, which wouldn't do wonders for Amira, even though she was secured.

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a digital camera, and a high power lens. While she put them together, she kept an eye on the windows facing her. To her delight, one of the shades to the bigger windows was opened. It looked like the whole crew was on that floor. Quickly, she pulled out a mini directional microphone, a stand, and a mini recorder. Placing on some headphones, she got ready to watch the show, pleased that the equipment she had to lug around finally came to be of some use.

" . . .need to let some light in here, it's dreary in here," a woman's voice said.

"Where did everybody go? They were just here three or four weeks ago," another woman said.

In an Amazon graveyard, Amira thought as she shot pictures.

"Since we couldn't contact any of the people here, we'll need to assume the worst; that somehow COIL got wind of their plans, and sanctioned or imprisoned everyone here," one man said.

Those two are so caught up in their little war, they can't see anybody else. How good for us, Amira thought, shooting away. After a few minutes of speculation on the fates of the previous tenants, they got to the nitty-gritty.

"How is our backup plan going?" A second man said.

"Our sharpshooter should be flying in tomorrow," the first woman replied. "One of the Geisha we already have in our employ should be here the same day," the first woman answered.

"I checked everything and swept for bugs," a third man said, entering the room. "Nothing was taken; even the money is still here."

Minus the fee for the Silkworm and Poison Geisha they hired, thought Amira. She looked at the shadows; they were shifting. Soon she would be bathed in sunlight, and vulnerable. She'll need to get down soon.

"So we pick up where they left off, and the plans are the same as before?" A third woman asked.

"To the letter," the first woman said. "We don't have time to hire another Silkworm, but the Geisha should be up for the task."

"Then we "dispose' of the evidence, chopsticks and all," the second man quipped.

Amira saw the shadows shift some more, time to go. She dismantled the recording devices and the camera, shoved them in her bag, unfastened herself, and made the long trip down. Carefully, she walked to her jeep, making sure not to ignore anything that may resemble a tail, started the jeep, and sped off toward headquarters. She made a secure call to headquarters on her cell phone, notifying them that she had some priority-one information that could not wait.

Later that afternoon in Bliss' office, the director had just finished playing the recording Amira delivered to her for a second time; this time, in front of a small audience. Along with Bliss, Catalina, Ming-Shi, Kim Lin-Soo, a 5'4" woman of Japanese descent, one of BIB's more "precise" assassins, Leina, both Silkworms, and Winter. After Bliss turned off the recording, it was Winter who spoke first.

"They hired us only to turn around and slaughter us like pigs? When I get through with them, the Amazon River will run red with their blood," the Poison Geisha/new Barefoot Assassin said.

"Crudely put, but I must agree," Hin said. "When you are involved in a contract, a certain degree of trust is necessary, as well as respect."

"My former employer was many things, but even she would never do that," Diya said.

"Well now you know what we have to deal with, and not so much time to do it with," Bliss said as she looked again at the maps of the target area that she enlarged for her fellow assassins to see. "Diya, Hin, Winter, I played this as a courtesy so you know who we're dealing with."

"I will contact my guild immediately to tell them of these snake's duplicity, then I will plan my revenge," Winter said.

"As will I," Hin said.

Diya paused, looking at Bliss, and said, "I will help you foil this political assassination on one condition."

"What would that be?" Bliss asked.

"That you team me up with her," she said, pointing at Leina.

"Me?" Leina said, alarmed.

"Yes, we'll make excellent partners. Bliss, you could send us into the crowd to sniff out DOOM agents."

Bliss thought for a moment, then said, "Of course, but what good would going through the crowd do?"

"From my time of being in their employ, I found that DOOM believes in overkill," Diya said. "They will use more personnel than what is really necessary to complete a mission."

"I see. Good idea, but how will you be able to neutralize them in a crowd?"

"Leave that to us."

Ming Shi raised her hand. "Excuse me, boss, I don't claim to know a whole lot about political assassinations, but wouldn't a single shot from a high powered rifle take care of it? Why would you need to hire Poison Geishas and Silkworms to do the task of one bullet?" She asked.

"Scapegoat," Winter said through her teeth.

"But that wouldn't make any sense. We don't use guns," Hin said.

"We know that, but the police don't," Bliss replied. "Only us and others in the spy game know roughly how your two guilds operate."

"But you need fingerprints," Hin protested. "There's no reason I would touch a gun."

"Wait, Hin, remember when Parr was showing us his new sniper rifle?" Winter asked. "He practically begged us to hold it. We finally did it so he would shut up."

"And all the while he was setting us up! The real sniper would probably be wearing gloves. If he wasn't already dead, I would kill him myself."

"You'll have to take that up with Julie," Bliss said. "Meanwhile, we need to figure out a way to neutralize the assassin and the other henchmen without getting our principal killed or causing a near riot."

"I know we talked about this before, but along with Martin's bodyguards, you sure you don't want the added security from any of the other agencies?" Catalina asked.

"No problem asking, Catalina, but I'm sure," Bliss replied. "I still believe some people in our other agencies aren't who they say they are. I don't have any proof, just a feeling in my gut. The only person who knows outside of this room is my husband, and he knows about my hunches by now," Bliss replied.

"Ah, a man who really listens to his wife, a true treasure indeed," Diya said. Bliss and Hin turned to her and grinned while the rest looked at her strangely. "What? It took me years to train Abdul properly, and by the time I had him broken in, he had to go get himself killed. All that work, what a waste."

The soft laughter helped to relieve the tension. Finally, Kim spoke up for the first time.

"I have an idea," she said. "Ming, Catalina, Winter, and myself can go to this second location and take out the backup sniper, then make our way to this building to take care of the actual sniper and any agents there. Diya and Leina will already be in the midst of the crowd, but I would surround the area with several of our women, surrounding the perimeter so at least no one suspicious can get out. If we take out their major means of attack, the DOOM operatives will get uncomfortable and make themselves obvious. And I'm sure you've done so already, but keep a few ladies at the office building where they started this plan to do cleanup."

"Good plan, Kim," Bliss said. "The only problem is it's going to exhaust our supply of Barefoot Assassins, but it must be done. I don't think I need to tell you that this mission is a scorched earth, full sanction. Anyone, sparing a few exceptions who even appears threatening I want put down.'

"But what about the Poison Geisha?" Ming Shi asked.

"Leave that to me," Winter said.

"I want to go with Kim's team," Hin said. "Taking down a few DOOM agents sounds like it would make great sport."

"In two hours, I will gather up everyone except our teachers and our most raw recruits. We still have a few days before the rally takes place. That will give us a chance to perfect our plans, and train long and hard for this rally. If I wanted anything from this mission, it would be that the snipers are taken down, but if we sanction everyone, or even manage to capture a few, it will put a big crimp in DOOM's plans. That's all everybody, you're dismissed," Bliss said.

On the day of the rally and block party, conditions around BIB were intense, to say the least. Those participating in the plan were trained, drilled, and pushed to their limits until they could perform some of the exercises in their sleep. The veterans composed themselves in the usual manner for the mission, while the more inexperienced or "green" of the assassins waited in anticipation of executing their first mission and possibly their first kill.

But not all of them were intense. At a particular caf#, not far from the building where it all began, Amira was enjoying a late breakfast. On this day, she was wearing a brown mesh US football jersey and jeans, with a brown leather ankle bracelet adorning her left ankle. She enjoyed another bite of her omelet when Julie appeared, dressed in purple leggings, a blue jean jacket, a black T-shirt, and barefoot sandals.

"Hello Julie, may I recommend the cheese croissants? They're absolutely delicious," Amira said.

"Don't mind if I do," Julie said, taking a seat at the table and motioning for a server.

After Julie made her order, Amira asked her, "So how are things back at headquarters?"

"Busy and a little crazy. Bliss had everybody except the teachers, staff, and the real green people prepared for today. Lucky for you, your assignment has you here where it's more peaceful."

"It's nice, but aside from climbing that building, it hasn't been the most exciting assignment. My days have been composed of going to the caf#, going to the library, going shopping, and going down the block. Almost all the merchants know me by name."

The server returned with Julie's breakfast. The two were silent until she left, then Julie began.

"I bring a message from Bliss. I bring it personally, because the next few hours may keep her rather occupied. First, she gives you her deepest thanks for uncovering this latest DOOM plot. If it wasn't for you, the country would've suffered greatly," she said.

"All in a day's work," Amira replied, giving a mock salute.

"Secondly, she has sent me to assist you in uh, cleaning the premises."

"Cleaning the premises?"

"Yes, as in cleaning the building of rodents, and other vermin."

"Why, I would be happy to help out with some "pest control.' When do we go?"

"As soon as we get the signal."

Amira raised her glass of water. "A toast to our fellow ladies-in-arms; may they be as successful in catching their foe as we are in taking out the trash."

They clinked glasses.

With each group of assassins given their separate assignments, they got into their unmarked vehicles and left for the city of Boca do Acre. A few had left earlier than the others to search for any potential targets who may be attempting to mingle with the security detail or checking out any potential weaknesses that could be exploited for an assassination.

A large crowd had already begun to gather to find a good spot to see the presidential candidate and/or to be near the food. The merchants had also appeared to set up their stands to sell their wares, particularly those who were selling T-shirts, buttons, etc. with the message, "Vote for Caesar!" written on it.

Walking around the number of parked cars were Leina and Diya. Diya wore an emerald green sari, the garb of her native land of India, except for one modification. Instead of the outfit ending in a dress at the bottom, they were a type of harem pants, with elastic cuffs. The whole outfit was lightweight silk, durable, yet a breathable material so its wearer can be cool. When Leina asked why she wore the two to three scarves that came with it, the Silkworm said they make good weapons. It only took Leina a split second to know what she meant. Leina, a little puzzled on what to wear herself finally decided on donning a white tube dress and white hose, no shoes, while Diya went barefoot.

Both were trained in the art of camouflage, but Leina felt a little out of her element. This custom of "hiding in plain sight" was somewhat uncomfortable. While the bulk of Bliss' forces were trained to be the more standard Barefoot Assassins, Leina was trained to be a "Barefoot Sniper," similar to the method a praying mantis uses to capture its prey; lie in wait, then strike. In fact, she took the title "Red Mantis" in honor of that method. The conception of the idea was originally to combat Silkworms if they got in the way of their target. Because of Leina's success with sanctioning her target, a very deep cover DOOM agent in the sanctity of her own home (her garden, no less!), and defeating Diya in combat, Bliss continued the training of more Barefoot Snipers. But at this point, with no place to hide, and no idea on who to look for, she wandered aimlessly following the Silkworm, who seemed to have a purpose in her steps.

As she watched the Silkworm look this way and that, examining some areas and even some cars, Leina's curiosity couldn't take it anymore.

"Diya, why did you pick me, and what good can we do out here?" She asked.

"Leina, Leina, Leina, do you remember what I told you before we intimately attacked?" Diya asked.

"Uh, that I would make an excellent Silkworm?"

"Yes, splendid! With a little more tutorage, you could become one of Bliss' best if not the best assassin."

"What?"

"You may not have the raw strength of Ming Shi or Nataylia, or the acrobatic skills of Catalina, but you have the ability to become invisible, and the power of patience. That can be more powerful in of itself," Diya explained. "I talked with the teacher who taught you, and she agreed."

"Uh, thank you."

"Your boss has an excellent ability to place everyone where they're good at, and she did well making you a sniper. God knows it's not undercover work, your conversational skills are atrocious."

"Hey!" Leina protested.

"What was the other thing I said that day, something to do with COIL agents?" Diya asked, ignoring Leina's protests.

"That I wasn't COIL, and you could sense one a mile away?"

"Very good! You remember well, another good trait."

"What does that have to do with this? We're looking for DOOM agents, not COIL."

"Let me tell you a little secret. Ideology aside, both groups are only different sides of the same coin, a mirror image of each other. In short, they both act the same. If they didn't say who they were, even I couldn't tell them apart. They act alike, talk alike, and even almost fight alike, an advantage in your favor."

Leina looked at Diya. "You sound like a school teacher."

"I used to be a school teacher." Regarding Leina's stunned expression, she said, "What, you thought I was raised from birth to be an assassin? No, I had another life before this one. That "raised from birth' myth is about as bad a rumor as us being bisexual."

"You're not?"

"I was married to my husband very happily for twenty-two years before he was killed. I had never nor do I desire to "switch hitters' as they call it in the US. There is a segment of Silkworms who do specialize in the deadly erotic arts of our trade, but they are in the minority. Oddly enough, those seem to be the ones who have the most encounters with COIL agents; and from what I gathered, many of their women are bisexual. How our one fragment established that reputation for the rest of us is beyond me."

"So how did you go from schoolteacher to assassin? That is-" Leina began, but Diya cut her off.

"Maybe someday I'll tell you when the pain has gone away, and it may never leave," Diya said.

"Oh."

Diya pointed her finger at a man and woman about one hundred meters from them.

"See those two? The man in the white polo shirt and the woman in the business suit with black high heels?" She said.

"DOOM agents?" Leina asked.

"Yes. Now watch their actions and mannerisms closely, for that will give you what you need to know in identifying DOOM and COIL agents."

"So now what, do we take them out now?"

"No, we follow. We can't neutralize them now without drawing attention and possibly getting arrested. They will eventually lead us to the other agents, then we'll strike."

"What if they spot us?"

"Soon this park will be filled with people. It'll be hard enough for us to keep track of them, so they will have no idea that we're around. We'll keep in radio contact with each other, and everyone else. Remember, we're to neutralize the lesser DOOM agents; the first team will neutralize the sniper."

"Okay," Leina said, a little doubtfully.

Diya placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know it's not what you're used to, but even the mantis has to go to where its prey is."

That remark about the mantis seemed to suddenly spark a fire in Leina. With a sudden confidence that came from nowhere, she said, "All right, I'll take the man while you take the woman. It'll be better if we split up so we won't be too obvious. By the time the rally is over, all the DOOM agents here will either be captured or dead."

With that, she went into the crowd, already managing to blend in.

It's like night and day, Diya thought to herself. In normal life, the woman is almost afraid of her own shadow. But place her in combat, and she'll take on the devil himself. It's uncanny.

The woman agent made a move in the opposite direction, and Diya followed, blending in the crowd herself.

While the bulk of the operation took place at the park, the first team had a different direction. According to their plans, they were to approach the park via the nearby woods, and to intercept the two possible locations for the sniper.

The first team was composed of Ming Shi, Catalina, Kim, Hin, and Winter. Both Catalina and Ming Shi wore their standard black unitards with short sleeves and the legs cut at mid-calf. Kim wore her customary navy blue tank top leotard. Hin had chose an dark emerald green silk outfit that resembled the outfit of a kung fu practitioner with a mandarin-type tunic and matching pants, while Winter wore a leopard print tank top leotard. While the others were in their standard game faces of seriousness, Winter sneaked through the foliage and the back yard of the target building with a spring in her step. Not only was she excited by this field mission, she also was excited about the changes on her body as well. While the training of the Poison Geisha have given her a fit body, the training of the Barefoot Assassin had added increased muscle mass. She looked forward to using this newly acquired power.

The target building, supposedly an office building that was closed for the event, was the focal point for the sniper or snipers to carry out their plans of assassination. A skeleton crew would stay behind to keep watch over the crowd from a distance while a larger crew monitored things from within the crowd. Bliss and the others agreed if the building could be secured, and the agents neutralized, not only would it put a big crimp in DOOM's plans, and take out the sniper, it would force them to attempt a plan B, where her assassins and the local authorities would take of them.

As they stealthily approached the building, they saw a large tree. Catalina thought she saw something strange about it, so she pulled out her binoculars and looked. Her suspicions were justified when she saw a man in camouflage wear with a sniper's rifle in his arms. He wore a radio headset, apparently so he could hear instructions on when to shoot.

"I thought they would be inside the building to make their shot," Ming Shi said after Catalina gave them the news.

"They still might; this could be a backup in case the first one missed. Diya did say they use a lot of overkill," Catalina said. "In any case, we can't go forward until we take care of him. Any ideas?"

"I'll get him, be right back," Winter said before anyone could suggest any ideas.

The Poison Geisha/Barefoot Assassin climbed up the tree and landed on the branches with a gracefulness the native primates would envy. Soon she landed on the branch where the sniper was located. The sniper turned his head and saw Winter, but by then, it was too late. To call it a brief scuffle would not do it justice. The four on the ground saw the sniper fall from the tree, dead before he hit the ground. Winter descended soon after with the agility of a trained gymnast.

Kim, normally the group's resident "tree climber," was in awe. "That was beautiful!" She said.

Winter bowed in humility and said, "I used to climb trees a lot when I was little. Sometimes from time to time, I would take off my kimono and climb a tree when no one was looking. It's nice to know it comes in handy."

"You didn't even disturb the birds," Ming Shi said.

"I didn't know you could be graceful in climbing a tree," Catalina said.

"It's like the old slogan, "You can remove the kimono from a Poison Geisha, but not the grace, nor the poison," Hin said.

"In other words, once a geisha, always a geisha," Ming Shi said.

"The lessons they teach you stay until the day you die."

"Well when we finish this mission, I want to sign up for tree climbing lessons," Kim said.

"Me too. Now let's see if we can enter that building as quietly as Winter climbed that tree," Catalina said.

Back at BIB headquarters, Bliss sat in the planning room with Angelique and Jana. She pondered going out on the field with the others, but she knew her energies would be better spent staying behind and monitoring everyone's progress. Such as the burdens of being in command, she sighed to herself. She looked over at Angelique and noticed that those weight-training sessions are making her look less fragile than she was earlier. Next, she'll enroll her in a martial arts class; perhaps something less aggressive, like aikido.

"Angelique, what do we have?" She said.

"The first team has just entered the building. The entered the second floor first," Angelique said. "There was a sniper in a nearby tree, but Winter scaled the tree and took him out."

"Really?" Bliss replied. "Impressive. Still have your doubts, Angelique?"

The secretary sighed. "Maybe a few."

"Jana, what do you have?"

"So far, the bulk of them have nothing to report," Jana said. "They said 'wait a minute, I'm receiving a message from Diya."

"Patch her to speakers. Yes, Diya?"

"I'm making a report because somehow I don't think your sniper makes a regular habit of doing so," the Silkworm said.

Bliss grinned. She trained Leina to report in only when it was absolutely necessary. Sitting in one place for long periods of time does not make for interesting reports, plus it could possibly compromise the mission if one too many reports were made. She realized she forgot to tell Leina to report in on a more regular basis for this mission.

"What do you have?"

"Leina and myself have located two DOOM agents. We plan to follow them to find more agents. I'd like to report my findings to you so the other assassins can spot them."

"Very good idea, Diya. Keep us informed."

Jana turned and asked Bliss, "When would DOOM make their move to assassinate Martin?"

"The most vulnerable time, during the speech. Right now, we still have some time to play with. Martin's bodyguards still have him well guarded, but every time a public figure reveals himself, he is open to all manner of attacks."

"Sounds like you know this firsthand."

"Unfortunately, I do; more than I care to admit."

"Bliss, the first team is just about to enter a large room on the third floor," Angelique said. "Only token resistance on the second floor."

"Keep mikes open and put on speakers," Bliss said.

In the large living room, a woman in a purple kimono sat on the sofa reading Japanese poetry, or haiku. She paused to look at her watch. It was time to leave, but she hesitated, and instead reopened her book to read more poetry. She finally closed her book again, glancing up to see five women on the other end of the room approaching her.

"Winter?" She said.

"Keiko?" Winter said.

To be continued . . .

For comments, suggestions, or story ideas, send email to shrewsberry@juno.com.