Desmoterion, page 3
They stopped at an unoccupied room with the heavy metal door wide open.
“Go stand by the wall at the far end of the room.”
Jaxon walked inside and turned around, wide-eyed, wondering how he’d meet his fate. Trent followed and tapped into the control panel, making the heavy door closed to seal them in.
With a sigh, Trent turned and pulled out a handgun.
Jaxon‘s expression changed to one of panic. “Wait, you’re not supposed to do this.”
Trent held the gun up to aim at Jaxon’s head. “True, but it’s my job tonight. Goodbye, Jaxon.”
“Wait a minute, there’s a team for this. I know you, so it’s not right. It should be someone I don’t know.”
“Sorry, we don’t grant final requests here.”
“But why do you have to do this?” Jaxon pleaded.
Trent cocked the bullet into the chamber. “It’s my job to carry out missions, even if I don’t like them. That’s what you do when your leader gives you an order. Unlike you, I follow my orders.”
Jaxon moved about, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and bobbing about like a Jack-in-the-box, causing Trent to readjust the angle of his aim. “No, I want to be canceled by another team. I don’t want this!”
“You don’t have a choice. You’ve made your bed, and now you must lie in it.”
Jaxon opened his mouth to protest further, but a single gunshot cut off his words. Despite the sound cushioning materials that lined the walls, the sharp snap of gunfire reverberated in the confined space before dying out.
After watching Jaxon’s lifeless body drop to the ground, Trent noted the stain of shiny red and pieces of brain splattering over the pink wall.
With a sad sigh, he turned to tap out the code to open the door. It swung open to reveal two men dressed in black with cleaning gear ready to take over before the blood dried.
Trent walked out of the room without a backward glance, but his mind’s eye pictured Jaxon’s lifeless shoved into a black bag for incineration in the basement.
Under his breath, he mouthed, “You fool.”
* * *
Trent ascended the staircase leading to the leader’s chamber, each step heavy with apprehension. He couldn’t shake the nagging fear that there were more unpleasant tasks awaiting him, perhaps another stint with the cancellation team. The thought hung like a heavy cloud over his head as he approached the entrance.
With a hesitant push, he entered the room, and an empty void of silence met him. A furrow etched itself into Trent’s forehead.
Without a clear purpose, he wandered towards the railing, casting his gaze across the desolate expanse below. The leader had to be engrossed in mission planning somewhere, and everyone else had retreated to their respective quarters.
His footsteps faltered as he spotted the leader, facing the left in the direction of the cancellation rooms. Though the leader never turned to acknowledge him, a palpable awareness of Trent’s presence lingered in the air.
“I hear you were successful with Jaxon’s cancellation,” the leader’s voice pierced the firm and unyielding silence.
Trent replied, his voice bearing the weight of recent actions, “Yes, I did the job.”
Slowly, the leader pivoted, locking his frigid gaze onto Trent. “I don’t owe you an explanation for the decisions I make. However, given the recent shift in personnel, I feel it might serve well to clarify. The truth of the matter is, that Jaxon had formed a connection with a member of the cancellation team — a female operative. After consulting with various sources, including the male counterpart of the team, it became evident that she had promised Jaxon her help should he find himself on her list for cancellation. She promised Jaxon she’d get him out.”
Trent frowned in confusion. “Why would he think such a thing is possible? She has no access to the outside world.”
“I believe he was not thinking with his brain and had more to do with what’s in his pants. Either way, I couldn’t let either of the cancellation team take care of Jaxon as he’d hoped. From the video footage I saw of your task, Jaxon was surprised you were taking care of it.”
“Yes, he was desperate for me to call the cancellation team. Now I know why, but it was very odd at the time.”
“Indeed. Regardless, the cancellation team is now down one person. I’ll assign another, from the female side of Desmoterion presently.”
* * *
Trent headed to the workout area to clear his troubled mind.
On one side, a defeated man who waited for death. On the other, a man hoping to get out by possibly pretending to be defeated and get sympathy.
Trent got on the treadmill and punched a few buttons to bring it to life.
Why would someone go to the lengths of convincing others he was scared and useless in combat? Why put faith in one person? That’s a lot of power in someone else’s hands.
Now both of them were dead leaving no one for Trent to question for answers.
Trent started running faster on the treadmill, trying to forget about a dead man with foolish goals. It was a waste of his time fixating on the mystery and the sooner he forgot about it, the better.
For a while, the only sounds in the room were Trent’s harsh breath as he pushed himself to go faster and the stomping of his feet on the treadmill.
And then he heard it.
Trent peered around the deserted room. He could hear voices, faint and at a distance, but voices nevertheless. “Mike?”
Thinking maybe Mike was hanging around again to give him another lecture about not sleeping enough.
But nothing answered his question.
Then the voices got louder.
From faint whispers to soft-spoken words. He couldn’t make out what they were saying still, but they were getting nearer.
Trent gasped for a breath, jumping off the treadmill and searching around the room. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”
Still nothing answered, but the voices got louder still, now taking on the qualities of regular levels of talking as if they were talking right beside Trent.
Trent whipped around to face each side, his handgun drawn and aiming in all directions. “Who are you?”
The voices got so loud they brought Trent down to his knees, toppling the gun to the ground in the process. He reached to cover his ears, the noise now unbearable for him to hear.
Trent screamed out, “Leave me alone!”
And then it all stopped.
Trent stumbled to his feet, his body shaking with a fear he hadn’t felt in a long time. He gulped in air, trying to calm the out-of-control asthma taking over his lungs, and retrieved his gun from the floor.
His legs staggered out of the workout area towards his room. He had no idea if they would carry him far enough, but he hoped his leader didn’t see such a thing.
To show weakness in this organization meant instant death.
That was the last thing he needed.
CHAPTER TWO
Startled from the clutches of another vivid dream, Girish jolted upright, his lungs gasping for air as if emerging from the depths of a submerged world. He ran trembling fingers through his unruly mane of long, dark hair. Squeezing his eyes shut, he fought to suppress the whirl of emotions welling inside.
The dream thrust him into a past he’d vehemently attempted to scrub from his memory and back to a history he didn’t want to admit to. It should be erased from his mind like the events that led up to it. Just a wisp of a memory long buried away.
In prison, he’d worked at the art of self-preservation, advancing to the next chapter in his life, relegating these memories and emotions to the recesses of his psyche. Mental self-preservation was his only sanctuary; he needed to retrace those steps now.
Girish had no intention of unveiling the chinks in his emotional armor to anyone, least of all to Trent or Mike, who would exploit it.
Curling into a tight ball on his side, Girish fortified himself for the arduous battle that lay ahead. Confronting his inner demons demanded everything he had to give. Weakness was a fault here in this new prison just like it was in the last one.
* * *
Trent approached Mike before his class started and pulled him to the side so no one would overhear them. “I eliminated Jaxon last night.”
“Somehow, I’m not surprised by that. He made fuck-all effort. Did you ever figure out why he was so determined to fail?” Mike’s reaction was cold and callous, and Trent didn’t expect any different.
Trent hesitated to share what he knew, but it didn’t matter. Mike was bound to find out, eventually.
“The female in the cancellation team had promised to get him out. They were having some sort of relationship and he thought he was on to a winner.”
“Seriously?” Mike stared at Trent. “What kind of idiot would believe such a thing? I get there’s no opportunity to fuck, and he probably wanted to get laid and get out, but to take such a chance? He had to know it wouldn’t go his way.”
“Exactly. It’s hardly a foolproof plan, I guess he was desperate enough that he was willing to push common sense aside and believe in the impossible. And even then, you risk someone else figuring it out. I think it was her work partner who ratted on her.”
“Doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. That guy has always been a bit egotistical for my liking. You can bet he encouraged her to think she’d get away with it, waited until she made Jaxon a promise, and then went running to his boss just to look good in the leader’s eyes. The fucker tortures the hell out of people before killing them because he can.” Mike stared into the distance and breathed in a deep breath. “I assume he took her out?”
“Yes, an hour before I took out Jaxon. He was angry I didn’t call the cancellation team, and now I know why. It’s not the kind of job I like, but I can see why the leader asked for it.”
Mike started to walk away from Trent. “Can’t say I’m surprised. He only cared about one thing while here — himself. And that’ll get you eliminated faster than failing your martial arts training.”
* * *
Trent headed upstairs to watch over Mike’s class from the overhead railing. People disappearing after a time had become normal, so he wondered if anyone would notice Jaxon was missing.
He didn’t have to wait long.
“Where is the blond guy?” Girish looked around the area. “Jaxon, I think he’s called.”
Mike ignored it and addressed the class, “Today, we work on repeating various stances and movements. We’ll do three for today and another three tomorrow. I expect you to practice until the next class.”
Girish moved out of the line of recruits. “Didn’t you hear me? Where is he?”
Mike was about to say something, but a recruit with spiky black hair interrupted, hissing loudly, “Shut up, you idiot. He’s gone.”
“Gone? Back to prison?” Girish frowned at that statement.
“Dead! He’s fucking dead. Now shut up, or we’ll all be killed.”
Girish glanced over at Mike. “Killed? Why?”
Mike glanced up at Trent with an annoyed expression.
Trent addressed the class from above, “Recruits that don’t excel in their training are eliminated. There is no point in wasting time on those who refuse to learn, and they’ve nowhere else to go. This path has only one track. Excel here in training, or fuck off out of here.”
Girish turned around to glare at Trent. “You had him killed?”
“No, that is the decision of our leader. I just carry out his orders, like all of us do. Every single person has completed this training and passed it. There’s no tolerance for carrying baggage who underperform.”
“He wasn’t baggage. He was a man like the rest of us.” Girish sneered at Trent. “I believe you killed him yourself. You couldn’t wait to take him out once and for all.”
The recruit to Girish’s right turned and punched Girish in the gut, knocking him to the ground. “Do you want to die? If not, shut the fuck up. I’m not getting killed because of your stupidity.”
Trent raised an eyebrow at Mike, who responded with a smile. “If you have any other questions about it, Girish, you know where my office is.”
Girish scrambled to his feet, intent on hitting the other recruit, when Mike stepped between them.
Mike glared at Girish. “Never attack in anger! How many times do I need to tell you this? For this, you’ll be my partner in this session, and I intend to beat that into your head until it sticks.”
The anger left Girish’s body, and he moved back into the line without a word.
“Good, now repeat what I do. Position one!”
* * *
Trent went downstairs to talk to Mike after his class had finished but Girish approached the trainer first with his head bowed. “I’m sorry for acting in anger. I guess I have a lot to learn here.”
Mike scoffed at the dramatic change in tone. “Despite your pretty words, I am unconvinced of your change of heart. You’ll be my partner for the remainder of the week, and then I’ll decide if you’ve changed. Now go.” Mike jerked his head. “Practice what we’ve learned today; I’ll be testing you tomorrow.”
Girish moved away toward the crew quarters without another word.
Mike’s eyebrow rose at the sight of Trent nearby. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Trent hesitated, something he rarely did, but this kind of thing wasn’t the norm.
Mike noticed it. “What? Am I going to be eliminated next?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. I just wanted to know if there are side effects to not sleeping as much.”
Mike folded his arms across his chest. “Despite his apparent hatred of you, the two of you are very much alike: you completely tune out anything I say.”
Trent turned and was about to walk away when Mike reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Yeah, there are side effects. Most notably the inability to focus on simple tasks, irritability which makes you a joy to work with, and with enough time, hallucinations and full-blown delusions.”
“Hallucinations?”
“I take it you’ve been experiencing hallucinations?”
“Auditory last night. I don’t know what they were saying, but they kept getting louder and louder.”
“I shouldn’t need to tell you how to rectify such things.”
Trent turned away to stare into the distance. “There’s too much to plan before the Lund mission. Namely picking two of our new recruits for the assignment. From what I’ve seen of the classes, I’ve a feeling it will be Colin and Rowland.”
“Colin’s a good choice; he fits the part and demeanor. Though, if I might, I’d suggest Kannan.”
Trent glanced back at Mike. “You can’t be serious. I mean, yes, he looks the part, but he’s way too emotional. He’ll blow the whole mission.”
“Maybe.” Mike shrugged. “But I think it’s an excellent test to see if he’s changed. What better way than to throw him to the wolves on his first test? If he fails, then we’ll know right off the bat instead of wasting time on him later. And if he succeeds, maybe he’ll be a decent recruit after all.”
“I believe Mike is right.”
Trent froze at the sound of their leader’s voice overhead. How long had he been standing there? Long enough to hear the conversation before it?
“You’ll work with Kannan to get him up to speed on how to use the communication systems and what the mission will entail.”
Trent clenched his jaw. “Have the mission details been finalized? I thought they were still in progress?”
The leader eyed Trent for too long without speaking in the way that he often did. “I finished adding my parts to them this morning and will send the final draft of the mission your way after this. It’ll take place at the end of this month, so make sure Kannan is ready. Colin has completed undercover operations before; there’s no need to train him further. Renard will brief him when the day comes.”
“Very well, I’ll do as you ask.” Trent turned to Mike to say, “You dismissed him to his quarters for practice?”
“Yes, he should be there practicing with the other recruits.”
* * *
When Trent arrived at the crew quarters, Girish was in the middle of a crowd. A recruit with shoulder-length brown hair jabbed a finger at Girish while shouting at him. “Look, newbie, I’m only going to say this once — stay in line, or you’ll get to go the same way as Jaxon.”
Girish turned, looking between the eight men. “As I already told you, I apologized to Mike, and I won’t do it again. I was just angry they were keeping it from us, that’s all.”
“At least you won’t go down like that idiot Jaxon. All because of some pussy on the side. He was a fool to think he could get out all on some girl’s promise.”
A blond recruit with buck teeth nodded. “And she got iced right before he did. Idiots, both of them.”
Girish moved out of their circle until another recruit grabbed his arm. He frowned at him. “What?”
“One more thing, don’t piss off Dupont, or you’ll be dead even sooner. He’ll kill anyone that’s a pain in his ass.”
“I can take care of Dupont. He’s no threat.” Girish boasted.
“Kannan, we need to talk.”
The man froze in place while the rest of the recruits backed away from him, moving closer to their rooms but stood outside so they could still hear the conversation.
Trent approached Girish. “You’ll come with me to my office for a briefing on an upcoming mission.”
Girish turned to frown at Trent. “Just like that? I’ve only been training for a few days.”
“Correct, but it’s within your capabilities.” Trent glanced at the recruit with shoulder-length brown hair. “Colin, you’ll also be on this mission. As you’ve already done an undercover mission, the chief strategist will brief you closer to the date. Until then, you’ll continue your training.”
Colin stood up straighter. “Yes, sir.”
* * *
Trent opened the door to his office and moved to the side.
Girish frowned at it. “What?”
“Just making sure I can see you coming if you’re going to take another swing at me.”
