Chapter 6

Play poker all day at the saloon

After I kicked lee out, I tried to find the French bastard, but as it turned out I didn’t need to. The ass emailed me what David gave us, one flash drive worth of speculation and bull shit plus a plane ticket to Australia to meet with a Mr. Kurt Castle. ‘Great’ I thought sucking my teeth. While I got stuck with all the Oceania and Latin America leads, his royal highness got to traipse all over Europe like a prized pony.

            Anyway I put all my angry thoughts aside and tried to focus on the case. Not much was known about Quest. Sure there was an ass load of speculation, like quest ate children, pimped out grandmas, and could do the Jedi mind trick, but other than that there was essentially nothing. What I did know was that Quest was apart of a major GOV. operation that went wrong and now the government wants him gone.

            So I got all of my gear ready to be shipped to Auzzie-a-go-go and carted my ass to JFK. Within three hours I was on a plane headed to California, my first stop before I reached the country of interest. Now this was the time my hangover decided to make an appearance. My head started pounding and my stomach felt topsy tervy. I quickly got up and rushed to the small bathroom on the plane. After I had wrenched my guts out, I got a ginger ale, took two aspirin and closed my eyes. At first all I could here was the low rumble of someone talking. It grew louder, and louder. And then I was asleep.

                                                                         -o-

The room was white, all white. White floors, white walls, white bed and bedding. Two figures stood in the spartan room.  “Recruit number 3657, do you know why you are here?” a gruff voice called. The child, a small eight year old, shook her head, her bobbed black hair shaking. The gruff man chuckled. “You are here because you are going to be the greatest assassin for your generation. You were bred for this business; you will die for your country. You will be a hero.” The man watched the child standing before him. Taking off his glasses he sighed. 

“What is your name?” 

“Cassia Michelle Barlow” 

“What is your code name?”

“Cassia Versey” 

“What is your purpose?” 

“To eliminate all threats to my country ”                          

-0- 

The child was older now, roughly twelve or thirteen. Her hair was longer and she was surprisingly chubby for someone who ate to survive. Then again she always got rewards for doing well, and in her case it was in the form of chocolate shakes and cakes. She was a prodigy, they all said it, and she could do any task they gave her perfectly, effectively, successfully. They taught her everything she knew.   

                                                                 -0- 

There was a child, a small cherub who looked to be about three or four, playing on a rug. Her hair, thick, curly, and long sat atop of her head in a delightful ponytail.

 A tall figure moved over to sit by the child.

The girl looked up at her guardian smiling. “Papa” She called sweetly, abandoning her playthings to take residence in her father’s lap. Cassia watched from the shadows as the man placated the child. “Alexis” the man responded gently. The child grabbed hold of her father’s tie, tugging the fabric gently. “Papa, I missed you all day. Where were you?” the child asked tilting her head to the side, her brown eyes wide with curiosity. Her father chuckled, a deep resonating sound that subconsciously soothed Cassia.

“I was out with a few friends, Mon Cherie, taking care of some business.” Her father reasoned calling her one of her favorite pet names. “But Pippa says that you and Alexander were out beating up bad guys, like in my storybooks.” The child whined, a small frown gracing her features as pulled on fathers tie. Cassia grew annoyed but she continued to watch. 

The man frowned. “Alexis” he whispered sternly. Thoroughly chastised, the child removed her fingers from her fathers clothing pull her gaze from her fathers face to her fingers in her lap. The man sighed as he used two of his fingers to lift the child’s face up.

“Darling” He started, “there will come a time when you will have to make the right decision. No matter what you do, no matter what you choose, remember who you are and who your family is.”

Cassia lifted her gun and aimed.

-o-

She was crying. She couldn’t help it. They said that they were going to be here for ever. They promised. They lied. She cried until her eyes turned red and her mouth was sore. Her lips could barely form the words she had been moaning like a prayer.

-o-

They punished Cassia again. She didn’t forget. How could she, all the blood and all of the screams. So they punished her. She needed to forget. She must forget.

-o- 

I woke with a start. I hadn’t had an Alexis dream for a long while and the only time those pesky memories started to bother me was when something was weighing on my conscious, but past is past and I tried not to think of that often. So sitting up, for sleep would surely elude me, I got my laptop out and began reviewing my information.

I was going to Brisbane to meet with a Mr. Castle. Kurt was a retired Gov. big wig who used to have control of certain black op programs, projects, and experiments. Kurt knew of every program and all major players involved. He would tell me what origin of the enigma that is Quest.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the captain says that we will be landing in Sydney in thirty minutes. Please put your seats in the upright position. We know you have a choice in airlines and we thank you for choosing Quantus Airlines” the flight attendant droned. I sat up and gathered my things; I would be in a rush once I got to Australia.