A New Dynamic
Part One
Eugene sat outside of The Director’s office, the large mahogany door stood like a sentinel protecting some valued treasure.
The agent sighed and shifted his rear-end slightly.
“You shouldn’t have turned around, man” the man beside Eugene said absently, he was tilted backwards in the chair.
“Well, if I had thought that bloody tosser was still conscious I’d have been sure to cover my ass.”
McEnroe grinned and laughed “No one ever expects the guy bleeding out his neck.”
Eugene shifted again “Thanks, by-the-by. Without you he’d have got me in the back, not the ass.”
McEnroe shrugged “Like I’d really let him shank my partner.”
The receptionist leaned over her desk and cleared her throat “Agent Ruabie? McEnroe? The Director will see you now.”
She pressed a button and the door clicked slightly, Eugene stood and walked towards it, it opened easily to his touch.
“Well, let’s get it over with” Eugene said with a weary sigh.
McEnroe frowned as he followed Eugene into the room.
The room was cooled differently than the others in the base, slightly colder, Eugene shuddered involuntarily.
It was decorated in a rather ostentatious fashion as well. It was a far cry from the ultra modern decor that the rest of the base sported.
Above the door hung a painted mural of the creation of Adam, it was obviously a reproduction but it still added to the grand feeling of the room.
In fact the entire room was designed to make the person entering feel small; from the wood panel flooring to the luxurious oak desk.
Both Eugene and Mack sat carefully into the chairs facing the desk; The Director was facing the other way, looking out over the valley that their headquarters rested in.
“Gentlemen,” The Director went silent again.
Eugene shifted off his stabbed cheek.
With a slight whoosh The Director shifted around and looked at the two agents “I’m assigning a third party to your team.” Eugene raised his eyebrows “What? That’s it?! Gods! I thought you were going to tear us a new one!”
The Director shook his head “I’m holding my tongue on the way you handled that last little venture. But there’s a more pressing issue. ArGor is assigning an ex-member of the GASP military to our division of the ZPF.”
Mack narrowed his eyes “Why?”
The Director swivled his chair so he was facing the wall “Why the hell do you think McEnroe? Z’s little PR nightmare! Ambassador ArGor is sending a little insurance to keep an eye on me, they all love The PKF.”
“So…it’s kind of like Adjana joining the PKF?” Eugene asked, then winced when The Director shot him an angry look.
“Yes…yes. Just like that. Just like I asked YOU to do Ruabie. Join the PKF, then report back to me.”
“Well…I was thinking it was really more of a ‘observer’ kind of-”
“Shut the fuck up Eugene,” The Director shifted to stare out the window again “Do you know we’re coming up on our quarterly review from GASP?”
Mack nodded “Yes, sir. But…with all respect…GASP doesn’t exactly give us much in the way of funding…so why do you care so much?”
The Director whirled back to face the pair “No…they never have, have they? Their ‘hands off’ policy. But the support they give us, the weapons and technology…those are invaluable. So we get this ‘observer’. ArGor supports us, luckily, but he still has people he answers to. Which makes his life just as shitty as mine.”
“So we get a baby sitter. Go down to the first floor information desk and meet them. They’ve got some trifle to deal with, something about a hacker punk sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Eugene perked up “Is it Breaker again?”
The Director shook his head “No. Breaker’s been keeping a low profile since you showed up at his house a few months back. This is some middle aged insurance exec.”
Eugene shrugged “I like that kid. Spunky. Took four hours to find all his data-storage.”
Mack grinned as The Director went back to his papers “Go. Get out of here. You’ve got work to do.”
Eugene and Mack stood and headed.
“Eugene?” The Director didn’t look up from his paper “How’s the ass?”
Ruabie smiled “Well toned and ready to get stabbed again if need be.”
The Director nodded, the pair took it as their dismissal.
* * *
The elevator was crowded and Eugene hopped out in a hurry, glad to escape its confines.
He started towards the kiosk with Mack a step behind him.
“So what do you think?” Eugene asked.
“About what?”
“Our new partner, you tosser, what else?”
Mack shrugged “Probably just like The Director said, just a new babysitter, isn’t it? We just have to be on our best behavior and it’ll work out.”
Eugene grinned as he leaned up against the kiosk “Heh, our ‘best behavior’ is likely to get a normal bloke fired.”
“But we aren’t normal blokes, are we?” Mack said as he leaned over the counter and asked the secretary about the transfer.
Eugene, however, had become distracted by a Velkin woman he had never seen before.
“Well, hello there, I haven’t seen you around here before,” Eugene said with the smarmiest smile he could muster “new in town?”
The woman didn’t even turn towards him “New to the planet, actually.”
“Really? Well now,” Eugene reached out his hand and bowed slightly “I’m the official welcome wagon for this humble little spheroid and I’d love to take you out to a wonderful restaurant I know, what do you say to that?”
The woman took his hand and bent it back.
Eugene yelped and knelt down, he heard the bones in his wrist rub together. It sounded like bubble-wrap.
“You’re Eugene Ruabie, aren’t you?” she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.
Eugene forced a grin.
She let go of his hand and narrowed her eyes “Your reputation precedes you.”
Eugene stood up and rubbed his hand “Ah…Heh. Who…Uh…”
“That’d be me, Ruabie,” The woman behind the counter said with a grin “and I’m still waiting for that phone call.”
Eugene smiled uneasily “Well…uh…hmm…Yes, well, my phone broke in half and I lost all my numbers. Sorry about that Sandra…How about I make it-”
“Becky, and No.”
“Well…alright then…” Eugene turned back to the Velkin and leaned in “She’s a little crazy…”
Eugene rolled his pointer finger around his temple.
Becky swatted him with a folder she was holding “You’re an idiot Ruabie. Now take your orders and go and save the world. Or whatever it is you do when you’re not striking out.”
Mack chuckled.
“You shut up, you,” Eugene said as he waggled his finger at Mack.
“Where the hell is this new partner of ours anyhow, wankers late as all shit.”
The receptionist snorted as the Velkin woman reached out her hand “My name is Cella Ta’Ami. Transfer number 38452, from the GASP special investigations unit to the ZPF special forces, unit three. You can call me Agent Cella, Agent Ruabie.”
Eugene looked wide-eyed at the woman and took her hand “Well…fuck me sideways, eh?”
Mack was stifling his laughter so much that he was clutching his stomach.
Ta’Ami took the folder from the table and opened it “There’s been a breach in mainframe security, I took the liberty of reading the files before you arrived.”
Eugene shrugged “Some little insurance guy?”
“Some paper pusher in New York. He broke into the system through the less than secure connections in the DOD.”
Eugene frowned “Then he got nothing. Everything we share with the DOD is fluffer. Nothing about Non-Indigenents or tech. Just some stuff on ‘terrorist threats’ and other ‘need-to-know’ trash.”
Ami shook her head “Someone thinks it’s valuable. Listening posts picked up a communication from the KC offering a large sum of money for the information.”
Mack leaned over and looked at the paper “He refused though.”
“The idiot thinks it’s more valuable than the KC has offered.”
Eugene pulled himself up on the counter “So? We set up a ghost buyer and nab the prick when he comes. Problem solved.”
Ta’ Ami shook her head “The KC is already moving in,” She said as she snapped the file shut “we’ve picked up two breaches in Zictin air space in the last hour. They want what he has and they’re willing to risk discovery to get it.”
Eugene jumped off the table “OK, let’s roll then. To the hanger!” He cheered happily and set off.
Mack caught up to Ami, who was a few paces pack, he held out his hand.
“Hey, nice to meet you. My names Sheldon McEnroe. Everyone calls me Mack though.”
Ta’Ami studied him for a moment “Is this where you attempt to hit on me?”
Mack hesitated then cocked an eyebrow “Uhh…I was trying to be nice, actually. I’m pretty gay.”
Ami narrowed her eyes “What does being happy have to do with anything?”
Mack snorted “Holy hell…you’re really straight off the ship, aren’t you?”
He grinned and called up to Eugene “Hey! Eugene! She thinks ‘gay’ means ‘happy’!”
Eugene turned around and laughed “Seriously?”
Ami was beginning to look angry “What the hell is so funny?!”
Mack turned around “Sweetie, I fuck guys.”
Ta’Ami stopped short, flustered “I-I uhh…s-sorry. You…uhh…hmm…There’s not too many…in my people.”
“Sure there aren’t,” Mack grinned and patted her on the shoulder.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“I’ve got a very nice Velkin couple you should meet if you really think that.”
Ta’Ami frowned “Fair enough”.
* * *
Eugene thought how happy he was to have reached their destination as he swiped his card for the hanger doors.
The utter silence that pervaded their walk had begun to bother him.
Eugene blinked as the warm air washed over him.
“Jak must have taken Baby out for a spin” Mack said as they walked into the cavernous room.
Ta’Ami’s eyes raked the room “There’s only one ship in this hanger.”
“Yeah, Jak’s the lead mechanic and our best pilot. So he gets a hanger to himself, sometimes there’s other ships in here, but only when they need some love.”
Ta’ami nodded “That hunk of debris obviously needs some ‘love’” she jutted her chin towards a small, fly-shaped ship sitting in the center of the hanger.
Eugene and Mack both looked at each other and snorted “Uhh…that’s Jak’s pride and joy. Don’t… Don’t insult it. I’ve seen him get into bar brawls over people insulting its paint job.”
Ami’s face screwed up “It’s…ancient! I thought it was supposed to be a museum piece! It’s a gods damned 37-KrS!”
“Dat’s a MODDIED 37-KrS Xs, ya blind bitch,” a voice behind her corrected.
Ami spun around and was face-to-chest with the nine foot tall Harner, he took a sip of his coffee “And dona jah forged dit.”
The grey alien shoved past her and clouted Eugene on the shoulder, his knees buckled slightly.
“Sorry about that Jak, I was just about to get to it,” Eugene grinned as he rubbed his shoulder.
