The phone rang. Karma awakened, reaching for his pistol. For a second, he remembered where he was. The purple everything… He was in the Charlie 9 safe house. He quickly checked the time, 5:40 a.m. July 15th. Then he got up and grabbed the phone. He answered it and waited for a response. The voice on the other line was a female voice. She said, "Ummm, Foxtrot lima three six."
Karma wiped the sleep off his face and replied, "Well that is Freeman's call sign, however not Freeman's voice. Is this Opal?"
The voice on the other side was shaken and unsure of herself, but she replied, "Yes, this is Opal, Freeman is on the other line talking with the police. He told me to call you and tell you to change locations."
"The police?" Karma questioned her, "We got trouble?"
"YES." Opal said with urgency, then she said again, "Change locations. Over." With that, she hung up the phone.
Karma's blood rushed. Danger. He hung up the phone and grabbed his silenced pistol from the side of the couch. He ran to the front door and listened for action on the other side. Nothing. Then he looked through the peephole. No one was outside. Karma understood if someone was on their way, he only had a few minutes and he needed to act fast.
Karma ran to the bedroom and quickly sat on the bed. He covered Jynx's mouth with his hand. Doing so woke her up with a muffled cry. Her eyes instantly turned from sleep to wide awake. Karma put his fingers to his lips signaling that they needed to be quiet. Then he released her mouth and said, "New orders. We gotta run. Get your stuff." With that, Jynx nodded and jumped out of bed. In the darkness she fumbled to find her clothes on the ground. Karma got up from her bedside to go back to the living room, but he did a double take when he realized Jynx was sleeping with only her underwear and bra. It's interesting. Karma took a small mental note at her figure. But he snapped back to reality and returned to the living room. He grabbed his personal bag and jacket.
Karma got to the door first and checked the peep hole again. Still nothing. Jynx was right behind him in a few seconds and whispered, "Ready."
With one quick motion, Karma opened the door and quickly walked to the stairwell. Jynx locked the apartment door and followed him. As quickly as possible they traveled down the stairs. Jynx struggled with her large sniper rifle luggage. Karma took it from her to ease the load. They walked outside and across the road. It was still too early for sunrise. The sun would be up in a few hours. Karma walked past the nice restaurant. It was still closed. The employees had not even shown up yet. Karma said, "Sorry we won't get the chance to try out your restaurant."
Jynx threw a half smile at him and asked, "What is the deal? Why are we leaving like this?"
"We got the order to change locations." Karma said while walking toward the street corner. Without looking back at her, he said, "When someone calls to tell you to change locations it means our current location is compromised. When your location is compromised you don't ask questions. You either run or you die."
Jynx caught up to his walking speed and looked at him. She asked, "So where are we going?"
"Anywhere but here. Watch your surroundings. Be ready for anything. Exstrusis Agents hide in civilian clothes and can jump out from any angle.'' They got to the intersection and checked for incoming threats. No one was there. No idol pedestrians. No incoming police cars. Karma turned left and Jynx followed him. The cool morning air rushed past them as they walked.
Jynx waited until they were further away from the safe house, then she said, "Speaking of ready for anything. I was not ready for you to wake me up this morning. For a second I thought you were…"
"…Going to jump your bones?" Karma cut her off. Jynx was shocked by his words. But before she could say anything he continued, "Don't pretend like it was an accident. You went to bed wearing the minimum amount of clothing. While asking if I would ever start a relationship with another agent. That has a lot of implications right there. Were you expecting company? Or am I reading too much into this?"
Jynx was flustered for a second, then she replied, "For one, I was having a hard time falling asleep and needed to get comfortable. Not all of us can sleep fully clothed or in a suit of armor like you can. AND second, why were you staring at me in my underwear?"
"I wasn't staring. I could barely see you out of the corner of my eye." Karma bluffed. They continued to walk as he followed up with, "I sleep fully clothed for situations like this. The faster you can get out of harm's way the safer you are. The last thing you want is to be caught with your pants down. Literally."
Jynx did not respond for a second then she said, "Well, they most certainly didn't cover that in training."
"90% of the important stuff isn't covered in training. That's why I am here." Karma put his arm around her and smiled.
Jynx smiled back then said, "There's that smile again. I thought you only brought it out for rainy days?" Karma did not respond. He realized that he could not stop smiling. He looked at Jynx and thought, what was happening here? Was she playing a mind game on him? Or was he enjoying her company? He had been a solo freelance agent for so many years. He had forgotten this kind of simple banter. Maybe this is what he needed to smooth out his rough edges. As he thought about it, Jynx noticed him. Then she said, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Karma quickly changed the subject. "Your smile is infectious. You can use that to your advantage. Getting information from people. Conversation can be used to levy information out of people. You should practice it. You know, on random people you meet and charm them. When you get good at it, It's a powerful weapon."
Jynx blushed a bit and said, "You like my smile?"
Karma backpedaled to save himself from an awkward conversation, "That's not what I said, I said it's a powerful tool."
"Oh, I think I just found the softy in this big deadly killing machine." Jynx said as she leaned over and hugged his arm. Then she said, "This is fine. It's a part of our cover."
They had been walking for a long time. Nothing seemed to be out of place. No one was following them. Karma stretched his back and put the sniper rifle luggage down. He grabbed a nearby payphone and dialed HQ. When someone picked up, he said, "Bravo kilo one niner."
Freeman was on the other line, he said, "Karma, thank god. Where are you?"
Karma replied, "Street corner, about ten blocks from the safe house. What's going on?"
"Bad news, Indigo and Leo just got arrested at the airport." Freeman exhaled with frustration, "Airport security claimed that they found contraband. Our contact on the inside said it's a cover story. There is no contraband. They are using this bullshit excuse to keep Indigo and Leo behind bars for the next 24 hours."
Karma asked, "How did they know about the flight? Or the operation? I thought we plugged up the leaks with Sidewinder."
"I don't know, man. Something went wrong." Freeman's voice rumbled with his own frustrations. Then he said, "Even though you can't complete the original plan without Indigo, the mission is too important to scrap. You still have the green light for now."
Karma agreed, "Good, do I have your permission to go off the rails with this one?"
"At this point, I hoped that you would. It is one of your best features." Freeman grabbed a piece of paper from a nearby desk and said, "Indigo's equipment drop is at the Accustation lockers. It's your drop now. Locked 0159. Code 4121. Got it?"
"Thanks boss, see you on the other side." Karma hung up the phone and turned to Jynx. "Or teammates are in jail. The job is scrapped. Time to make it up as we go along."
"Wow, just like that?" Karma started to walk over to the bus stop. He opened his bag and pulled out a map of Prague. Jynx followed him and said sarcastically, "Well, it is a good thing I spent all that time memorizing the mission file."
Karma looked at his watch. 7:01 a.m. The storage building should be open. The sun was up as the bus dropped Karma and Jynx off at the AccuStation. There were a few people loading and unloading gear into a truck, but they paid little mind to Karma and Jynx. Once inside, Jynx had to ask, "What is this place?"
"Construction equipment storage facility." Karma walked over to the garage doors looking for number 0159. Then he said, "Lots of overseas companies do regular construction and various other work in Europe. When the job is over, it wouldn't be profitable to ship it home just to ship it back for the next job. Nor could they sell the equipment and buy new the next time they need it. Instead, it is cheaper to rent lockers and store the gear until they need it again." Finding the correct location, Karma punched the code combination 4121 into the keypad. It made a beeping noise, then Karma opened the door and said, "Ladies first."
Jynx walked in and turned on the light switch. Inside was a vehicle hidden under a large tarp. Jynx walked over and removed the tarp to reveal a 1984 black Land Cruiser. She looked at Karma and said, "nice, this is like spy Christmas!"
"It's not the vehicle that is important." He opened the back hatch and pointed out the gear. Then he said, "We have all of the severance equipment. Audio, video, wiretaps, you didn't even notice that we didn't bring any gear with us on the train. It even has our business outfits. This was the payload Indigo and Leo were supposed to bring us."
"Well, at least we are well equipped." Jynx looked over the gear then put the sniper rifle luggage on top. She stretched her back and said, "At least we have a vehicle now. We don't have to carry this around anymore. So now we have a vehicle. What is the plan? I am going to take Indigo's place as the businesswoman?"
"No, first of all, Indigo could talk her way in and out of that building, leaving with every secret they have. That is why Freeman chose her for this mission. She plays a very mean businesswoman. Second, her ID badge has her picture on it." Karma held up the ID so Jynx could see it. Then he said, "Security isn't going to let you pass with this. You don't look much like her."
Jynx could not deny the truth in his logic. She said, "Okay those are two very valid points. So, what are we going to do?"
"We made a new plan… A plan… a vehicle… a sniper rifle…" Karma started to think. Then he said, "Clothes. We need to go window shopping."
"Music to my ears." Jynx said with a smile, "Remember I am an expert in that field."
Karma grabbed the crowbar out of the back of the vehicle and said, "Not that kind of shopping." Karma walked over to another door of the storage facility. Then he used the crowbar to pry the door open. With a pop the door was defeated. He opened the door and looked inside. Then he said, "Nope. Not this one." Jynx followed him and watched as he broke into several more doors. Eventually they came to a locker with a white van. Karma turned on the light and said, "This will do." He looked back at Jynx and asked, "Have you ever wanted to be an electrician?"
Jynx nodded and replied, "Sure, is this a part of the new plan? Or are we dressing up for fun?"
Karma took a moment to explain his grand improvised plan. When it was all said and done, Jynx asked, "You really think that will work? I mean, I don't remember the last time I saw a female electrician. Plus, I don't think I look flattering in overalls."
Karma grabbed a dusty pair of overalls off the wall and held them up to Jynx. Then he said, "I think you will look amazing."
Karma checked his watch. 11:14 a.m. It was almost noon. Time to get the plan moving. Karma drove the van while Jynx followed him with the Land Cruiser. They got to the intersection as Karma looked at the target building. It was a tall, 10 story building with an attached parking garage. Karma pointed to the garage, signaling to Jynx that she needed to park there. Jynx drove the Land Cruiser over to the parking garage and parked on the bottom floor. She walked out of the parking garage as Karma watched her. She was wearing Indigo's business dress. It was red with black buttons. Karma could tell it wasn't her size, but she looked great. She pulled it off very nicely. Jynx jumped in the passenger side of the van and said, "Step one complete. When do I get to start shooting?"
Karma responded, "Patience you must have my young Padawan. We need to go check in first."
Jynx quickly fired back, "We are doing movie quotes now? Look at you. Next you'll be listening to Motorhead and asking me how to headbang."
"Unlikely." Karma said as he drove the van down the street and parked near the Plaza hotel. He climbed out and adjusted his business suit. He walked around and grabbed the sniper rifle luggage from the back.
Jynx walked around the van to look at Karma in his suit. She raised her eyebrow and said, "You look like you are going to buy this hotel. I like it." Jynx brushed her hand along with his jacket to wipe off some white specs. Then she asked, "No gun today? You must be feeling confident."
Karma held up the luggage and said, "Relax, it's in here. Besides, it's a hotel. I doubt we are getting into a gun fight here." He took her hand and said, "Come along darling. We don't want to be late." Jynx happily played along. She took Karma's arm and walked with him toward the hotel. Once inside, Karma put his arm around Jynx and pushed her forward. Then he whispered, "Time to use that charm."
Jynx pulled out her best smile and walked up to the front desk. She made eye contact with the receptionist as he asked her in near perfect English, "Can I help you?"
Jynx faked her best fancy accent as she said, "Good sir, we don't have a reservation here, but I absolutely love the look of your hotel. It's so beautiful. Majestic, modern, and magnificent. It has the look and feel of Prague. My husband told me that we were going to stay somewhere across town, but when I saw this place, I knew we absolutely had to stay here. Do you have any rooms available?"
The receptionist cleared his throat and said, "I am sorry to disappoint you madam, but this hotel is by reservation only."
"Of course, it is. How rude of me to assume you would have something available." Jynx reached into her pocket and pulled out 100 euros and handed it to him. "Perhaps you have something on the top floor? Penthouse maybe?"
Seeing the money, the receptionist's eye bulged, then he looked over the books and said, "It would seem that we have a cancellation right here. 9th floor. Room 902."
Jynx took the key and said, "You are a treat, dear. Thank you for being so understanding." Then she looked at Karma and said, "Come darling this nice man has provided us with a wonderful room and the best views of Prague." She took Karma's hand and led him toward the elevator. The bellboy tried to take Karma's luggage, but he waved him off with one hand. Once inside the elevator and the doors were shut, Jynx said, "Sorry, I wasn't trying to embarrass you. I was just playing the part."
Surprisingly, Karma did not object. He pushed the button to the ninth floor and said, "No, no, you did good. You really played the part of the snobbish rich lady very well. The only thing is you dropped 100 euros on that guy. He probably would have done it for 20. That and rich ladies always have hats. Other than that, your performance was exceptional."
Jynx nodded and said, "Aww, thanks. We should have stopped and bought a hat. Then I could teach you some ballroom dance moves… for classy people. You could have worn a tux while I was wearing a fancy ball gown dress."
"Not really necessary, you wouldn't be wearing it for very long." Karma realized what he said but only after he said it.
Jynx didn't miss it either, she said, "Oh really?" Jynx cocked her head at him. Then she said, "Is that some kind of sexual innuendo? Mrs. Robinson you're trying to seduce me, aren't you?"
"No, that is not what I meant." Karma straightened himself out. Then he added, "I meant in the allotted time span we are going to be changing clothes and your fancy dress would be lost, left behind, or worse. It is better to use Indigo's outfit since we already had it." Karma paused for a moment then said, "I got the reference though, that's a good movie."
Jynx smiled and said, "At least it wasn't a bond reference. I would hate to break the rules." The elevator rumbled to a halt and the doors opened. Jynx and Karma stepped out into the hallway. Karma looked left and right to find their room. While Jynx was still in the conversation. She asked, "Do you ever break the first rule just for fun?"
Karma pulled her hand and led her in the correct direction. He gave her a smug look and said, "You ask so many questions. Maybe you should focus on the mission." Just then a cleaning lady stepped out of a room and into the hallway. Karma stopped talking and nodded to her as they walked by.
Finally reaching room 902, Jynx stepped forward and unlocked the room. She stepped inside and said, "Come darling! Let's order some room service and sleep off this jet lag." Karma just rolled his eyes. He walked into the room and shut the door. Jynx was absolutely floored by the beautiful room. "Look at this place?!" There is a bar. Not a minibar… a full-size bar. Jynx looked up and said, "Look at this ceiling. It's like 20 feet high. I have never been in such a nice room." Karma looked through the peephole to see the cleaning lady's reaction. She didn't react at all. She moved on to the next room. Good. Karma turned around and watched as Jynx poured over the room. Jynx looked in the bathroom at all the soaps and perfumes. She smelled them. She applied one of them to her wrists. Then she realized that Karma was watching her. She immediately felt bad and said, "Sorry." She walked over to him and continued, "I just realized you told me to focus on the mission and I am over here smelling perfumes."
Karma put his hand on her shoulder and said, "It's fine. Are you ready to put your skills to work?"
Jynx smiled and said, "You bet I am." She takes the luggage and throws it on the giant king-sized bed. Opening it up, she grabbed the sniper rifle and snapped it together piece by piece. Once she added the massive suppressor on the end, she pulled the bolt back and loaded the first shell. Then she turned and faced Karma. "How do I look?"
Karma nodded and said, "Like a businesswoman with a silenced sniper rifle. Are you ready?" Karma walked over to the window and opened it with a four-inch gap. More than large enough for the barrel and scope to function. Jynx set up the rifle on the ledge and aimed across the road toward the Financial Company building.
"We are at a funky angle. Not sure if I can hit the target." Jynx said as she focused on her breathing.
Karma picked up the binoculars and stood behind her. He looked at the building and said, "You don't have to hit the compressor. All you need to do is put a hole in the coil. Can you hit it?" Without responding, Jynx pulled the trigger. The suppressor muffled the shot so much that you could hear the metallic TINK of the bullet hitting the air conditioning unit. A second later, Karma could see a small smoke cloud exiting the hole. She nailed it.
Jynx stood up and put the rifle on the bed. Then she said, "Yep, it's broken. Check that off the list." She looked around the nice hotel room and said, "It is sad that we rented this room just to shoot out their air conditioner. Maybe we can stay here tonight?"
Karma shook his head again and said, "No, I don't think so. Imagine robbing a bank then staying at the hotel half a block away. That's not the best plan."
Jynx packed up the sniper rifle into the luggage and laid down on the bed. She stretched out and said, "Ohhhh, it's so comfortable. You have to try it just for one second." Karma moved the luggage off the bed and sat down. Then Jynx grabbed his shoulder and said, "Lay all the way down." She pulled him down until he was laying on the bed next to her. Both of them let out a huge sigh at the same time. Jynx turned her head and looked at him. Then she said, "What do you think?"
Karma replied, "This is nice." They both sat there in silence for a few seconds then Karma said, "Someday, I am just going to live in hotels like this."
Jynx agreed, "Yeah, if you can afford it." Jynx had a minor realization. Then she said, "You probably CAN afford it. If they are paying you as much as they are paying me, I bet you a lot of money saved up after ten years of service." Karma did not agree or disagree. Jynx rolled over on her side and looked at him. Waiting for him to say something. But he didn't. Jynx finally broke the silence and asked, "You can do whatever you want. Live wherever you want. Retire and buy a house in France or move in with your parents and pay all of their bills."
Karma didn't even think about it. He said, "We should go." With one quick motion he stood up and grabbed the luggage case. He walked over to the door and said, "Come on, Jynx. Playtime is over. Time to get ready for the next phase of our plan."
Jynx did not move. She was completely bewildered. She sat up on the bed and asked, "Was it something I said?"
"No, we just need to get going. We can't lay around on the bed all day." Karma turned toward the door and motioned for her to follow him.
Jynx was not buying it. She stood up and said, "You get very defensive when I ask about specific things. It has happened two or three times now. At first, I thought you were just being the Spymaster. The "Professional". Playing the teacher. But now I am starting to wonder if you are hiding something. Are you secretly a millionaire?"
Karma pointed at the door and said, "No, come on. Exit. Please. Now."
Jynx still resisted, "I asked you about your home state. You dodged the question. Is that because you don't come from the United States? You are secretly from another country? Are you a foreigner? Are you an alien? Do you sometimes feel weak around green crystals?"
Karma was only slightly amused by this conversation, but that feeling was fading fast. He once again pointed at the door and said, "If I told you there were green crystals out in the hallway would that get you out of this hotel room?"
"No!" Jynx shouted, her normally friendly demeanor turning hostile for a second. "I am not going anywhere until I get just one honest answer from you. You have been dodging my questions and throwing spy lessons at me left and right. All the while you haven't been honest with me even once. We are partners! We are supposed to have each other's backs. But it is all me leaning toward you and you giving nothing back. If I could have one little thing from you. Just one. I just want you to be honest with me, just this one time."
Karma finally caved. "Fine. If it gets us out of this room and on with the mission, then fine. Go for it. Ask away!"
Jynx was relieved. She wasted no time, she asked, "Okay, where are you from? Like, where is your family from?"
"I don't have one! I don't have a family to go home to. I told Freeman my family was in Boston just to get him off my back. Is that what you want to hear?! I don't have a hometown. I don't have a home state. I don't have anything. You think I stayed in this organization for ten solid years because I like being a spy? Because I'm a real patriot? You think I enjoy getting shot and seeing my friends getting blown up in planes? No, I don't. I'm sick of it. And I am done. I am DONE! I want to get out of this business…" Karma stopped ranting to catch his breath. Then he finished with, "But… I don't have anywhere to go. This is literally all I have."
Jynx had nothing to say. This certainly wasn't the answer she was expecting. A 10-year experienced, superhuman spy with all the right answers. A fitting role model for any aspiring agent to look up to. But here he was now confessing his deep rooted problems. He was only human. He had problems just like everyone else.
A single tear rolled down Jynx's cheek. Other than that, the hotel room was so quiet you could almost hear the clean lady four rooms down the hallway. Both Karma and Jynx stood there speechless for about 30 seconds. Then Karma opened the door and said, "Are we ready to go?" Still, Jynx did not move. She did not expect any of this. It was like she had witnessed the honesty train and she was powerless to stop it.
Finally, Jynx snapped back to herself and wiped the tear from her cheek. Karma was still holding the door open for her. Then she said, "Yeah." Without another word she walked over to the door. But as she got there she quickly turned and gave Karma a huge hug. At first, Karma didn't hug her back but after a second, he let go of the door and held her. They stood there for a moment. Then Jynx said, "I'm sorry." She pulled away and wiped another tear from her eye. She smiled at him and said, "Let's go." She took him by the hand and led him out of the room. In the hallways the cleaning lady was still going from room to room. Jynx just smiled and waved to her as she pulled Karma down the hallway. Once they were in the elevator Jynx pushed the button for the lobby. Then she looked at Karma and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome."