Now We Are Free - Chapter Two

No Escaping

    Twenty minutes later the pair were perched on the roof of a tall skyscraper thirty blocks away from the office building. Twinkling city lights reflected off the wet glass and pavement below. The sounds of muffled traffic monotonously filtered up between the skyscrapers, the dull drone reaching to the skies. A steady cold wind cut through the night with the smell of rain to come hinting in its bitter gusts. Tav had guided them there in silence.

    Till now.

    He whirled to confront her, sliding the mask down from his face to reveal a firm jaw and a rounded nose. “What were you doing in there?” he demanded.

    She also slid her mask down, showing pursed red lips. She glared at him with sudden vengeance. “I was doing my job! Why were you there?”

    “So that’s how you take care of a job?” He retorted angrily, avoiding her question. “You’ve done over a dozen jobs like this, what came over you?!”

    She paused, and then fell silent for a second. She began slowly, “I’m... I’m not sure. There was something about him. He wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t afraid to die. That was the strangest thing, it’s almost like he either didn’t care, or he was welcoming it. Why was he not afraid to die? Then he said—”

    “You talked to him!” Tav exploded, his tone matching his frustration and exasperation, “Dez, you of all people know that conversation with the target is the easiest way to lose control of the situation. What will the Director say!”

    Dez quickly pleaded, “Don’t tell him! Please!”

    Staring at her a moment or two, Tav caved saying, “Fine, I won’t. This time. But don’t let that happen again. What was the paper he had?”

    Inwardly, Dez cringed to think he knew about that too. But she replied with an unaffected voice, “I’m not sure, but he seemed to think that it was important. I’ll look at it later. Do you know his name?”

    “I think it’s Bently, Rodger Bently.”

    They were silent for a minute then Dez blurted out, “He said I could start new, get away. I just, something about him was... weird. There were messages in my head shouting, ‘don’t kill him!’ But I kept telling myself that he was just like the others, though, he wasn’t. I don’t understand why I’m so ruffled over this! It’s not like I haven’t eliminated a target before. I want to get away, Tav, not just on a foreign mission, but out of the agency entirely!” she ended with sudden sincerity.

    “You know they won’t let you do that. Remember what happened to Fix and Zi? We can never get away from them. The only way to stay alive is to do what they tell us. They own us for the rest of our lives. Come on, let's go back to the base before they miss us.” He turned from her and ran to the far side of the roof. Dez paused for just a second more, gazing out across the glistening city, then followed him.