about the Starfighter. “Can I sorta
change my mind about my graduation present?”
“I wondered how
long it would take you to get to that,” Digby said.
-oOo-
Two weeks of
real time and six months for Tessa. She was ready for the hit on
the Colombian drug lord, Fabio Restrepo. Unavoidably, Marion had to
be told. She was not happy.
“Does the term
‘child soldier’ mean anything to you Digby? That’s when you get
children to do things unspeakable when they’re too young to have
developed a proper sense of morality. Or any proper defences,
leaving them traumatised for life.”
“Trauma, my
ass,” Tessa said. “You’re talking to the Queen of Trauma.” She
decided not to mention to either of them the nervous spasms in her
guts whenever she thought about doing the killing thing, even on
the monsters she had as targets.
Of course,
Marion could hardly claim to be surprised. It was the logical next
step in the life Tessa seemed determined to have for herself.
Giving up, she said, “It will all end in tears,” reinforcing the
point by drenching them all in a rainstorm of tears through which
she exited.
“Okay,” Tessa
said, “is that a ‘yes’?” after the water had dissipated.
“Project Tessa,
you are cleared for take-off,” Digby said, using his hands as a
megaphone.
-oOo-
The tiny
shuttle, only Tessa-sized, deposited Tessa on a ridge overlooking
the hacienda. Being the obvious place to put a sniper, the ridge
had watchtowers and patrols. This would work to Tessa’s advantage
because the plan did not call for assassinating Fabio Restrepo.
That would draw too much attention. The patrols and watchtowers,
isolated from the main troops down at the hacienda, were a much
better target for practice. Tessa exited the shuttle tactically, as
she had been taught, as she had practiced many times now on a ship
creation of this very same ridge, including every single gunman
currently occupying it. Already she had killed copies of them many
times and had learnt how each of them reacted in a variety of
situations.
Tessa flitted
along the ridge, the Amalfi weapon and her working as one. In
addition, her ghostly combat suit now had a ghostly pocket filled
with the little glowing spheres containing the jellyfish. She
reached the third and final watchtower and decided this time to
clear it with a jellyfish. Afterwards, she conducted a scan of the
ridge. No human life. She allowed herself the luxury of climbing to
the top of the watchtower. Down in the valley below, the hacienda
was in turmoil. The noise of death visiting had carried down into
the valley. 4WDs with machine guns mounted in the back, set out
along a dirt road towards the ridge. Gunmen, some with small
missile launchers, scrambled into open trucks which also headed for
the dirt road. A helicopter lifted off a pad.
Time to go.
Tessa called the shuttle to her and was gone from the top of the
watchtower in one smooth movement.
-oOo-
In her
bathroom, in her living quarters on the sphere ship, Tessa thought
about gunslingers and how they cut notches on their rifle butts
when they had killed someone. Tessa had arranged a bathroom for
herself that was seriously oversized and crammed with pampering
equipment and accessories. She sat on a bench seat embroidered in
satin, contemplating her tattoos in her reflection in the mirror. A
change had occurred in the tattoos on her face and on her left
shoulder. A small part of each tattoo had become raised as though
it was embossed and the colours had changed from red and blue to a
uniform jet black. She had not done this change herself. It had
always puzzled her why she had done sketches of these particular
designs and given them to the tattoo studio, especially the one on
her face which had freaked out her foster parents, although her
acquaintances in the underground had thought it pretty cool. Even
she had been a little freaked out. She touched the small embossed
part of the tattoo on her face. The embossing spoke
change my mind about my graduation present?”
“I wondered how
long it would take you to get to that,” Digby said.
-oOo-
Two weeks of
real time and six months for Tessa. She was ready for the hit on
the Colombian drug lord, Fabio Restrepo. Unavoidably, Marion had to
be told. She was not happy.
“Does the term
‘child soldier’ mean anything to you Digby? That’s when you get
children to do things unspeakable when they’re too young to have
developed a proper sense of morality. Or any proper defences,
leaving them traumatised for life.”
“Trauma, my
ass,” Tessa said. “You’re talking to the Queen of Trauma.” She
decided not to mention to either of them the nervous spasms in her
guts whenever she thought about doing the killing thing, even on
the monsters she had as targets.
Of course,
Marion could hardly claim to be surprised. It was the logical next
step in the life Tessa seemed determined to have for herself.
Giving up, she said, “It will all end in tears,” reinforcing the
point by drenching them all in a rainstorm of tears through which
she exited.
“Okay,” Tessa
said, “is that a ‘yes’?” after the water had dissipated.
“Project Tessa,
you are cleared for take-off,” Digby said, using his hands as a
megaphone.
-oOo-
The tiny
shuttle, only Tessa-sized, deposited Tessa on a ridge overlooking
the hacienda. Being the obvious place to put a sniper, the ridge
had watchtowers and patrols. This would work to Tessa’s advantage
because the plan did not call for assassinating Fabio Restrepo.
That would draw too much attention. The patrols and watchtowers,
isolated from the main troops down at the hacienda, were a much
better target for practice. Tessa exited the shuttle tactically, as
she had been taught, as she had practiced many times now on a ship
creation of this very same ridge, including every single gunman
currently occupying it. Already she had killed copies of them many
times and had learnt how each of them reacted in a variety of
situations.
Tessa flitted
along the ridge, the Amalfi weapon and her working as one. In
addition, her ghostly combat suit now had a ghostly pocket filled
with the little glowing spheres containing the jellyfish. She
reached the third and final watchtower and decided this time to
clear it with a jellyfish. Afterwards, she conducted a scan of the
ridge. No human life. She allowed herself the luxury of climbing to
the top of the watchtower. Down in the valley below, the hacienda
was in turmoil. The noise of death visiting had carried down into
the valley. 4WDs with machine guns mounted in the back, set out
along a dirt road towards the ridge. Gunmen, some with small
missile launchers, scrambled into open trucks which also headed for
the dirt road. A helicopter lifted off a pad.
Time to go.
Tessa called the shuttle to her and was gone from the top of the
watchtower in one smooth movement.
-oOo-
In her
bathroom, in her living quarters on the sphere ship, Tessa thought
about gunslingers and how they cut notches on their rifle butts
when they had killed someone. Tessa had arranged a bathroom for
herself that was seriously oversized and crammed with pampering
equipment and accessories. She sat on a bench seat embroidered in
satin, contemplating her tattoos in her reflection in the mirror. A
change had occurred in the tattoos on her face and on her left
shoulder. A small part of each tattoo had become raised as though
it was embossed and the colours had changed from red and blue to a
uniform jet black. She had not done this change herself. It had
always puzzled her why she had done sketches of these particular
designs and given them to the tattoo studio, especially the one on
her face which had freaked out her foster parents, although her
acquaintances in the underground had thought it pretty cool. Even
she had been a little freaked out. She touched the small embossed
part of the tattoo on her face. The embossing spoke
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