September 8th, 2262. 11:15 Washington D.C. Senate Public Hearing Room

The hearing had been relatively uneventful this morning. To the great surprise of many in the audience and observers in the Navy, Admiral Shephard confirmed that the attack was destined for failure. The most vocal voice defending Commander Shephard had changed his tune.

Even more surprising were John’s statements that the simulation the Admiral had submitted the previous evening was some of the finest he’s ever made. A feeling that was shared by a large number of other people that were asked to testify. Though there were differences on how many more ships were needed to win, it was generally accepted that the fleet needed at least six or seven more cruisers to have changed the outcome decisively.

John leaned back in his chair and sighed.

Brook noticed that and looked at him, “Dare I ask what that was about?”

“Trying to figure out how to have a private chat with the Senator.”

“No. Don’t even try that,” Julia said quietly, “We’ve discussed how that’s a horrible idea.”

“But I need to do,” John insisted quietly.

Brook looked back, “Look, you can’t take on this group. Do you know how much security is here?”

“I sure do. You think those guards believe I’m part of the problem?” John smiled, “Besides I know how to get to his office just fine. It’s getting in there and chatting with him that’s the issue. Buuuuuut…”

John quickly got out of his chair and darted down the aisle. The protestations from the pair of captains were ignored. He ran out of the hearing room and hung a right at the door and continued to run down the hallway. Eventually, he came upon a hallway to his left, he turned and walked twenty steps down to the security checkpoint.

Senator Fitzpatrick had just been scanned by the guards and let through. He was flanked by security and a pair of aides. John continued to watch the senator slowly walk down the hallway. John’s gaze was interrupted by the security guards.

“ID please,” the taller guard said.

“Here it is. Lieutenant Lief. I’m discussing something with Admiral Olson. Or Senator Olson, not sure which title I should use in this building.”

The smaller guard verified his ID, “You’re not on his list, but go on through. I think we can safely assume you’re not a security risk.”

“Much appreciated. This was an impromptu visit.”

The taller guard stepped aside and waived John through. He hopped through the checkpoint and ran down the hallway. John had spied the Senator entering the elevator. The sixth floor was highlighted. There was an audible sigh given off by him as he darted up the stairs.

“These shoes suck for running here,” John said to no one in particular as he went up the building.

He managed to beat the Senator’s elevator to the sixth floor. The door to his office was locked. That wasn’t a surprise to John, his tablet was already open and pressed against the command pad. The door then slid open as John stepped in. He took a seat on the couch inside and to the right of the door. He sat down and waited.

“I want to know what the hell Admiral Shephard was up to,” Senator Fitzpatrick said as he stepped inside the waiting room to his office not noticing John, “I was under the impression his simulation was going to damage the Lieutenant’s assessment.”

The female aide shook her head as she followed him inside the room, “He had nearly thirty admirals and tactical staff sign a statement confirming that not only Kory’s initial assessments, but the Admiral’s first response were garbage.”

The male aide stopped and looked straight at John, “Why don’t we just ask him?”

John smiled and waved at them as he stood up, “I had a conversation with the Admiral last night. Though the content of the conversation wasn’t about dictating what he did or didn’t say, it was more about what happened two decades ago.”

John slapped the Senator on the shoulder as he walked by him and into his office, “You two, stay out there. He and I need to have a private conversation.”

“Sir…” the female aid looked worried.

Senator Fitzpatrick smirked, “For the sake of my aides, am I correct in presuming that if you wanted me dead…”

John finished the sentence, “You wouldn’t have made it to work this morning. My success rate was legendary.”

The Senator smiled and followed him into his office, but he paused and looked back at his aides, “Stay here. Call the guards if we don’t walk out of this room together.”

John sat down in a rather comfortable brown chair. He took notice of the red leather chair that the Senator had behind his desk. Both it and the desk clashed with the color of the walls and floor. He smiled as he knew this was something he’d do, and it’d irritate Alice to no end.

The Senator walked around his desk and fell into his chair, “Well, this is incredibly ballsy. But after reading your file you have a long history of interpreting orders. If not outright breaking them.”

“The success of the mission is paramount to the orders. Something about the ends justifies the means and some such.”

Fitzpatrick shook his head, “That is precisely why civilian oversight needs to occur. There are far too many rogue officers and operatives. You were clearly the latter and are turning into the former.”

“And let groups like the Sunset Initiative apply more influence on the military? No sir, we don’t need their kind of oversight.”

“They’ve been around for over eight decades. They’ve never been violent,” Fitzpatrick said dismissively.

John pulled a data slate out and tossed it on the desk in front of the Senator, “We both know that’s a load of bullshit Senator. This is however the first time they’ve been caught in an assassination attempt. And as an aside, a piss poor plan of attack I might add.”

The Senator didn’t respond and was glued to the data slate.

“I know you have at least three mistresses. You were with your wife still because of an odd sense of obligation to your vows, which you don’t seem to mind when you’re with one of your paramours. But I do know that you didn’t want your wife to be murdered.”

“What do you want?”

“I want your file on them. Then I want you to ensure that I don’t need to come back to this farcical hearing for a couple of days and to just ignore the rumblings amongst the ruling elite.”

“You would murder people in cold blood?”

“They are terrorists. You could make an argument that they were citizens prior to their attack on sitting senators, serving members of the military, and cabinet members. I’m duty bound to detain and call authorities were I to uncover any wrongdoing. Should any fight back or escalate matters I’m allowed to defend myself,” John slid back in his chair, “I know your faction wants them gone. It’s a win-win for you.”

“And if I don’t play your game?”

John flashed that evil grin of his, “Take a look at the insurance policy on that.”

Senator Fitzpatrick picked up the data slate again and flipped the screen over to the insurance folder on its home screen. His eyes widened for the briefest of moments. John could see a vein pulse on his forehead. He smiled as he watched that.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I should point out something, that isn’t my file, nor is that Naval Intelligence’s file on you. Ours is much more detailed,” John paused and looked at the wall above the senator’s head, “Sadly, I don’t have access to that one anymore. But I remember everything that was on it.”

“You play a dangerous game Lieutenant. This could be construed as blackmail.”

“I’ve not presented you with any negative condition should you refuse cooperation. Your attempt to turn this back on me has failed. I’m presenting you with a golden option, your biggest rival can be defeated without you or yours even lifting a finger.”

“You won’t be able to eliminate that organization. We’ve been trying to do that for years without success.”

“You don’t play the same game that I do. And ultimately you are right, I cannot eliminate the organization. I know how to cripple it though. Weaken it so much, such that any attacks by yours and other organizations would be able to finish the job.”

Fitzpatrick was tapping his finger on his desk. The young man sitting across from him was without a doubt the most confident individual he’d ever had in his office. He was also a dyed-in-the-wool killer. The trick was to ensure this wouldn’t come back to him in any way. Fitzpatrick paused for a moment and sized up the Lieutenant again.

“I’m not going to give you an answer right now. You’ll have my answer by Wednesday though.”

John nodded, “You can keep that one, I don’t need it. I’ll see myself out.”

He stood up and opened the door. One of the aides ran behind him and peaked in. John gave him an insulting look. Murdering a sitting senator in his office with his aides in the next room would be incredibly stupid. John was many things, but a stupid killer he was not.

The Senator continued to read through the insurance policy John had left him. Any one of these items was enough to cripple his power base. Collectively it was enough to destroy his kingmaking abilities. Getting rid of the Sunset Initiative would reduce a very vocal and powerful political enemy though. There was something about the price though.

Lexie walked into the senator’s office ten minutes later wearing a worried look, “Sir, we have a serious problem.”

“I suspect the issue is no longer in this room.”

“Your personal files were accessed during your meeting. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING, was copied. But we neither know how it was copied or what it was copied to. Technically the who could be anyone, but a one-time spook was in your office.”

Senator Fitzpatrick leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead, “It seems I may have overplayed my hand. He was offering an olive branch to me in his own way, maybe even asking for permission in his roundabout way of asking. I rejected it by delaying an answer. So, he does what all of us in power do when we’re told no.”

“Aren’t you going to try and stop him?”

“No, he had sufficient leverage on me, though it was clear he had no willingness to use it as such. Now he has life-ending information on me and career-ending intel on my associates. It seems we’ve been rendered impotent.”

“Should I acquiesce to his demand to be released from the hearings?”

“Yes, but only in part. Let’s give him a couple of days off here and there. We need him on a leash somewhat.”

“I’ll make sure he needs to be present Thursday, Friday, and Monday.”

18:37 Hyatt Washington D.C./National Mall Suites

John walked down the hallway quietly. His stealth suit was running on reserve power, and only a slight crackle of electricity could be heard. He stopped in front of a door and had the VI on his suit override the lock on the door. He turned to look down the hallway when the elevator dinged.

John stepped into the room quickly and closed the door behind him quietly. He pulled a small video device from a pouch on his chest, turned, and let it magnetize onto the door frame. It was time to step into the bathroom and wait quietly for his prey.

The suite’s main door then opened moments after John hid in the bathroom.

“I’m going to destroy that pussy of yours,” a man’s voice said.

“Oh, I’m sure you’re going to try big guy,” the escort smiled as she spun out of his attempt to hug her and kissed him on the cheek, “I’m going to freshen up. You get ready for playtime.”

She then opened the door to the bathroom. The light was turned on then she locked the door behind her. She set her bag on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror.

“What have I gotten myself into,” she said quietly to herself, “Fuck it, his money is good enough…”

It was then that she caught a ripple of light. She leaned closer to the mirror and squinted. There it was again. What was she seeing?

Before she had a chance to turn around and check her eyes, she felt a hand go over her mouth and an arm lock around her neck. Her eyes went wide when she realized her feet were well off the ground. Her heels fell off onto the floor, then her vision darkened.

John laid her down on the ground silently. He then pulled a needle from another pocket, stabbed her with it in her exposed arm, and depressed the plunger. While she was unconscious, the chemical cocktail he had injected would ensure she would be out for at least six hours.

John opened the door slowly.

“Jesus lady,” the voice said from the bedroom, “How long are you going to take? I’m raring to go here!”

John turned the light off and walked out. He sighed deeply when he saw a portly man bare ass naked jerking himself off to get ready for the action he had paid for. This wasn’t an officially sanctioned mission, but damn if he didn’t curse at himself for not getting hazard pay for this.

John drew his gun and deactivated the stealth field and spoke with a heavily modulated voice, “If you finish doing that, I’m going to kill you.”

The fat man stared at John and then smiled, “Doing some roleplay? I am so…”

The man continued to play with his cock until John pulled the trigger. The suppressor did its job and cut over ninety-five percent of the noise from the shot. The round entered the bed two inches south of the man’s sack. It shattered when it struck the floor and shattered into hundreds of bits of copper shrapnel.

“Get your hand off your dick and cover yourself with that pillow, I’m really not joking. The next shot is going to make you a eunuch for the rest of your life,” John tossed a data slate at the man, “What’s your name?”

“Dav… Da… David Newman.”

It struck him square in the chest and ricocheted onto the bed. The fat man’s eyes bulged. Fear overtook him. Tears began falling down his cheeks.

“Uhm, can I go into the bathroom to clean up? I think I uh, shit the bed.”

“Move and your dead,” John was disgusted at what he was seeing, “Pick up the data slate. Give me the information I’m looking for and you’ll survive.”

He leaned over and picked the slate up. Sweat was beading up all over his fat body. He wiped his brow with his hand and looked up at John.

“They will kill me if I…”

“They will be dead when I’m done with them. You are a nobody. A wannabe member. You don’t have the stones to be one of them. But there’s something to be said about having useful idiots in the ranks. They are the first to fall on the swords thrown at the higher-ups,” John all but sneered the words, “You can die right here and now, or take your chances for a future of some sort.”

“Do you have any idea what they could do to you? Your family? They won’t just kill you. I’ve seen them destroy people for the pettiest of reasons.”

John pointed his gun at the man, “I doubt they have the kind of blood on their hands as I do. Now choose. The certainty of death here and now, or the possibility of life.”

The man looked back at the data slate. Then at John. He began breathing very loudly and was sweating profusely now. He wiped his forehead head with his forearm.

“Fine, I’ll talk. It’s…”

“Transfer everything from your encrypted partition to that data slate. I also want all of your contacts loaded too.”

The man nodded and hurriedly did as he was instructed. John watched his VI scan the information as it was being transferred between devices. The VI also made a virtual copy of the whole tablet just in case the man didn’t do as he was told.

“It’s done,” the portly man began to sniffle, “What are you going to do now?”

John threw a dart at the man, “This.”

The man didn’t see John throw anything. But he felt a needle stick into his sweaty chest. His vision began feeling fuzzy and he was groggy. His right arm reached up to his chest and he pulled out the dart. His eyes strained to get a clear look at the dart.

At that moment the man fell forward and to his right onto the bed. John was then allowed to bear witness to a fat man’s ass. Which had shit smeared all over his backside.

“I should kill your fatass for this,” John said in a very disgusted tone, “Fucking hell, I’m going to need to bleach my eyes after that one.”

21:12 Regent’s Estates

John drove down a road on his motorcycle and came to a stop at an intersection. The stealth suit's leggings looked like part of a two-tone set of leathers. His HUD was directing him to an estate at the end of this street.

“Yeah, that’s a no go this way,” John said, “Way too many fucking cameras. Eve are you able to remotely access the security systems?”

“No, they are hardwired and not part of a connected network,” his VI said.

“What can you connect to?”

“Camera systems, internal temperature controls, internal door controls, and the window blinds.”

John turned right and drove down the road, “There are smart doors inside the home?”

“There appears to be a safe room of sorts located under the garage. One entrance is in the basement. Displaying the home’s schematics,” Eve said.

“Is there external access to that room?”

“Unknown.”

John drove around the neighborhood until he was just about behind the house. He pulled off the road and drove the motorcycle behind a hip-high bush. After pushing it back a bit to better conceal it John shut it off and tossed his backpack onto the ground. He stepped off the bike and hung his coat on the handlebars.

Then he leaned down over his backpack and pulled out three small squares. He pressed a button in the middle of each box and the drones took shape. Their rotors spun up and flew toward the target house. The backyard was the target of the diminutive drones. John could see their feeds as they darted here and there.

John walked over to the tree and sat down against it, “What’s that by the jungle gym?”

Eve directed two of the drones to get closer. Infrared scans were also run. To John’s eyes, it looked like an access hatch of some sort. One drone landed and began a seismic scan. The drones then flew up and away from the home, taking the long way back to John.

“Access hatch is confirmed. I also have control over it. There are external cameras but only can see visible light or night vision. They are triggered by movement, but the stealth field should prevent them from triggering so long as you move slowly and methodically,” Eve said as proudly as her programming would allow her to be.

John smiled inside his helmet, “He would’ve been safe against virtually all of the people in the world that wanted him dead, save for me.”