Scene 15


Executive Officer’s Office, Great Hall of X Marks the Scot


I was sitting in Mike’s office after he had summoned me there. He had been very specific that I was to come alone. He was standing near the window.

“What’s this all about, Mike?” I asked him.

“I have some very special instructions to give you.”

“About our mission?”

“Yes, since it appears that Ivana Rulital may be involved again, I want you to keep an eye out for her.”

“I had figured that out for myself, Mike. Surely that’s not why you called me in here.”

“No, you’re right.” He hesitated a moment, staring out his window. Turning back to me, he sat down in his chair.

He continued. “This is the second time that Globo-Fashion has been stirring up trouble for us. Granted, this time it’s not specifically targeted at any of our members, but we have become involved anyway.”

“Yes, but we’ll stop her again this time.”

“And what about the next time? Or the time after that? Maybe it’s time we did something a little more permanent.”

“What are you saying, Mike?”

“I’m saying that maybe we should eliminate her.”

This comment rocked me back in the chair. “Mike, you can’t mean that. Sure, my team has had to kill in some of our operations, but we’re not assassins. We’re glad to help the League, but if you’re asking us to specifically target someone and murder them, we can no longer work for you.”

“No, of course not,” he sighed. “And I’m glad you said that. You should know, however, that the Moderators just had an emergency meeting where we discussed this very subject. Okay, we won’t ask you to target Ivana. However, there is another alternative. If you should come across her, I want you to capture her. With the technology at her disposal, she could quickly become very dangerous.”

“That we can do. In fact, it would probably be a wise move. Okay, if we encounter Ivana, we will do our best to bring her in. Anything else?”

“Just this, be very careful. With this new technology, her forces can be very dangerous. She no longer has to imprison someone to alter their thoughts. You could be subjected to suggestions and not even know it.”

“My team is always careful, Mike. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of this for you.”