A wolf in sheep's clothing

Diana had woken up, and started her morning routine, push-ups and sit-ups, before hitting the shower, from the running water she heard her husband: “Putting on your coffee, and maximum calories for kids, are you sure, they need that many carbs?”

“Sure, I am, I checked their schedule, they need the energy” she yelled back.

“And I was planning to make pancakes, but not gonna argue with scientific knowledge”,” he joked. She found the family life tedious, but it had some perks.

“So, are you finally going to put Bill in the spotlight? You’ve been complimenting his performance for weeks” He always remembered even the smallest comment, “As for me, I am having my annual meeting next week. I am feeling good about it!”

“I did, he needs the proper recognition, good work requires recognition” With that she looked at Victoria her eldest daughter's mark sheet, which was subpar at best, and even if everything inside her rebelled against it, she said, “You will do better, Victoria, I know it's just a hiccup” She hated it. She hated that she had to say it…

Bethany, the young human, showed her a picture, it was drawn in typical child fashion, nothing more than sticks, and circles, but she forced herself to nod, and even acknowledge it. Even if on the inside, she rebelled against such foolishness!

She left the house with a kiss to the two daughters, and her husband, and even left an encouraging comment to her husband “You will pass it with flying colours” Though her mind was already in the laboratory, she ruffled the hair of her kids, with an absent gesture.

As she walked uphill towards the research facility, she paused for a moment to watch the shuttle craft flying overhead into space, one of the few things she missed was the endless travel and adventure. However, it was not safe for her out there, her comrades were scattered and being hunted, it's why she chose to remain here at the edge of the galaxy and continue her work.

With a deep sigh, she continued her walk, her eyes focused on her tablet, and she almost collided with a human walking their dog…And it infuriated her, to no end “Keep your mutt leashed!” she lashed out, why should she suffer the indignity of some pedestrian breaking her daily routine?

She walked past the laboratory seal, taking in the chemically cleared air, her favourite scent in the galaxy, she discarded her walking jacket and put on a clean laboratory one. Right now, she was in her element. Where she could give it her all…But a shadow was hanging over her and her lab. The shadow of her past.

Her fist clenched in familiar anger, her research, confiscated and stopped, years of work stolen from her right as she was about to finish! Her funding was pulled and had she not escaped she would have been killed or imprisoned by hypocrites. But not this time. “Not this time,” she repeated the vow in her head. And if this bitch thinks she can steal her research again…she has another thing coming!

Stepping inside the labs she got the usual grunt of a greeting from Cliff the chief of security as she went through the security checkpoint. “Still sitting around like a beached walrus Cliff?” She questioned still acting in her role.

He shrugged “The misses don’t care and besides I'm long past having one of those rock bodies, leave that to the youngsters I’m meant to be retiring soon anyway” He yawned, stretching, his bloated belly poking through his uniform, scratching the few hairs on his balding head, looking like an Earth ape. It was no wonder he was a security officer in a place like this. She would have preferred the elite guards she once had but that would have drawn attention, here no one would suspect her.

As always, her lab was the same right down to the blue sticky notes on her view screen, picking up her data before she carried on to the separate experiment area where the true work took place, inspecting every one of her experiments meticulously, checking the reports and comparing them to yesterday's progress. Progress was sadly slow, one of the experiments came close to the window and placed a hand against it, causing it to receive a shock from the barrier. She lamented the pain; it caused one of her subjects. But there was no other way of progress. Pain will pass. Eventually.

After checking every single one of her experiments she returned to her desk and gave her little bobblehead charm her husband had got her on her first date a small pat. She smiled to herself. Such a simple trinket and yet with so much meaning. 

Her name, her appearance, and even her personality were completely fabricated, she knew that, but she could not stop bits and pieces flowing in her. If it had just been her, she might have broken down, but she thankfully had two friends Bill and George from the old days by her side, though unlike her they had no strings attaching them to this place, only their shared research.

Seeing George enter the lab, twirling his ridiculous handlebar moustache helped settle the familiar war within her, and her favourite beverage in a cup he offered eased her even more. Double espresso, with two splashes of vanilla. “Thanks” she took a sip, waiting for him to speak “We need Bill for the talk, there are some changes to be made”

“Bills not here yet? That is unlike Bill…I’m worried” she said.

“He apparently picked up some guy at the bar last night, perhaps he’s still sleeping it off.”

“Good. He needs to lose some tension” she replied shrugging it off. George looked surprised.

“What’s that look for?” She asked puzzled.

“I’m surprised you are so relaxed usually you are far more paranoid, about these things” George smirked.

She frowned “Both of you have been constantly telling me to get used to civilian ways. Besides Bill more than anyone could do with some relaxation” She shrugged.

“We only say it to keep you in check, boss.” George joked. Before learning forward “I heard through the grapevine Aquarius has herself a new hunting dog.”

Diana shot up anger building within her. “Do you think she’s onto us?”

George shrugged “Unclear but according to my contact, several traitors have committed ‘suicide’ out of guilt or had ‘accidents’ in the field. Officially speaking” He made finger gestures. “Which is why I want to talk to you” he took out a data pad “I’m not sure how much we can cover up anymore. If we lose even one more member we will have the local government on our arses. They are already suspicious, also getting new subjects to test on will also be extremely difficult, local colony security busted our spaceport contact with the latest batch, but I got to him before he could squeal. We need to finish before we are found out or leave with what we can. We can’t afford Aquarius finding us, death would be preferable”. George stated as he browsed through the data pad.

She closed her eyes, considering her options “Then we need to be careful for the next few days and consider the plan Romeo Alpha. We shall discuss that with Bill when he finally arrives. I feel we spent too much time here anyway.” She replied shortly.

“Romeo Alpha? sure you are ready to leave your family behind? It's been a long time” he teased her.

“Family is merely a shield; I can do what's necessary. As I said, the bitch won’t think I would stoop to having a family.” a cold smile came to her lips, almost mocking the unseen 'her'.

George smirked “You really are a cold one.” He said with a hint of admiration.

“No, but I do not deny I almost envy the naivety of them and these other scientists! Look at them, they're almost like dancing monkeys, how many times have we laughed about them.” George gave her an uncomfortable look. “The way they work for a breakthrough is like a dog begging for a treat. It makes me wonder if they knew what really goes on here! Would they aid us or condemn us the very thought excites me!"

George shook his head with a smile “That’s twisted even for you…But I`ll take that bet. Fifty says, condemn.”

“I’ll take that bet, but with a twist, you lose, you are getting into the testing pile” She joked…or was it a full-blown threat? “Now give me my update while I’m in a pleasant mood!”

George gulped and nodded "Mortality rate at 84%, Still far away from the 90% you wanted and a mutation rate of 20%"

"We need to change the bonding agent and increase the dosage of Xulu nine let us see the results of that."

He sighed deeply “Getting more Xulu nine, will be a pain, I will have to ask Cliff for extra shipment and extra security. Then we can move to thirty-thirty-foxtrot. But you know it will just trigger the timeline?”

“I’m aware, let's hope Bill drags his arse in before we begin, time is of the essence, now back to work.” She lowered the privacy field and George got to his feet and stretched before walking back to his desk.

Cliff entered the room giving them a nod and he and George began the discussion about upgrading the security. She tuned it out as her eyes continued to look over the data.

“Well, well, well look what the cat dragged in Bill! I heard you got lucky last night! Are you gonna give us the details?” George Joked.

“You're not…” Cliff began to say before his voice dropped, he drew on his weapon, years of training kicking in, he managed to raise the gun, half point, before he was cut down cold blood sipping from his slit throat, the sound of a shot filling the air. Breaking the work of normally collected lab work.

Above him was Bill with a knife in his left hand and a pistol in his right, but something was off. Bill was not that muscular, and the lab descended into pandemonium.

She was the only one who had not screamed, she was far too numb to death, for that but it had taken her a moment to comprehend what was going on.

Looking at Bill to her horror she realised that it was not Bill, that it was someone wearing a replica of his face.

“Who…!” George began to ask but he was shot three times with a projectile pistol, it was so silent it barely even made a noise; the projectiles and blood exiting his body and slamming into the panel behind him.

“Shit… Shit...Shit!” Diana cursed and went for her own hidden phaser pistol, but the assailant turned to her, and a projectile went through her left shoulder. She kept the scream in as she felt her flesh tear, the force sent her falling backwards onto the cold lab floor.

“Nobody move!” A cold modulated voice rang out from the fake Bill. “Anyone who does will be the next one killed.” 

The other scientist began to cry and whimper, she bit into her fist to stop herself from lashing out. “They really are pathetic,” She thought in her mind. Calmly as possible, she observed her attacker, reminding herself of all the times she overcame life and death-situations.

As much as she wanted to probe the assailant, she could not draw attention to herself. Going through her mental checklist, He was clearly no amateur, nor a spacer looking for some easy score, the only people who went to this level were professionals.

Her brain continued to go through its checks and procedures moving on to the purpose. It appeared he was alone, only two kinds of people broke into a guarded secure facility alone: the idiots and the supremely confident.

Two security guards rushed out of one of the hidden doors but were shot down without hesitation before they could do anything. “I can rule out an idiot…” she muttered to herself, the screams of the other scientists covering her. The assailant's eyes were on a swivel leaving no clear blind spots, it may seem like he was not watching at a point but that was a ruse, he also had a familiar aura around him. “Special forces trained for sure” she muttered once more to herself.

This meant he was here for a specific something, was it her? George was dead, It was also extremely unlikely that Bill was still alive if the assailant was using his face as a mask. But if it was her, why was she not dead yet, unless it was her research he was after?

“Line up against the wall, sit, stand. I don't care, just group up.” The assailant waved his pistol at them, gesturing them to one of the walls, gritting her teeth she reluctantly obeyed, the rest of her fellow scientists sat on the floor, some still sobbing.

“Now then we are going to play a fun game and that is, you're going to give me access to your research, otherwise you're going to end up like your little friend there.” He motioned to George's body still lying on the floor, glassy eyes gazing up at the ceiling.

“Now I’m not being paid enough to kill you, but that being said your lives equally don’t matter to me. I'm here for the research so we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your friend was different. I was paid a lot of credits to end his life, so I’m not gonna bother killing you unless you make me. Decide now do you go home or do you die here and now.”

Cursing more she bit her lip, someone had paid this man to kill George and steal the research, she would have to get in contact with the others… Warn them, that they might be compromised, but it appeared whoever the employer was it wasn’t Aquarius otherwise she would be dead like George and Bill, this had to be someone else.

Unless the assailant didn’t know about her, perhaps her family had shielded her after all, but now she had no choice but to leave without a word if she escaped with her life.

“You swear? That you will spare us.” Alex, a fellow scientist asked, he was a young man, barely old enough to have facial hair in her opinion.

“Of course, Mercenaries honour, my word is my contract, and I would never break my contract. Unless you give me a reason to, I will not harm any of you further.” The assailant said Diana cursed. While she was glad this was not a black ops mission it still presented a problem.

“Fine… Have the damn research… Code Alpha, Golf, Bravo, wun, niner, Ait, Zulu '' Diana spat out, speaking out for the group her anger at boiling point, seeing no other way out of this for now. Once this was over, she would use her contacts and get her revenge.

The assailant typed it on the console and inserted a memory stick, she could only watch as her life work was being taken once again. But if he was just copying, she could rebuild.

To her absolute horror, however, when the stick dinged to indicate it was done, he began to type in something on her console alarms started to blare warning of an emergency destruction of all specimens.

“No! Do you realise what you just did!” She screamed at him, unable to hold back, everything she had worked for, all the things she had done, all the enemies she had made were all now worth nothing, she wanted to rip him apart limb by limb, she wanted to torture him and make his death slow and painful, but that would not be enough to satisfy her...

“I’ve taken all your research and destroyed your samples, leaving nothing but what’s on here? My client is going to pay me handsomely!” He grinned at her with Bill's face, the look in his eyes sent fear and terror throughout her body, chasing away all thoughts of vengeance from her mind, filling it with a desire to flee, she had no choice but to escape and inform her remaining colleagues.

With a kick she launched a nearby chair at the mercenary, to distract him, taking that second, he was distracted to dash for the emergency escape, she heard the impact of the projectile rounds on the wall behind her barely missing her, one grazed her thigh despite the pain she kept going, good luck had not abandoned her yet.

Her now former colleagues began to scream and run around behind her in panic, limping through the lab door, she left them to die closing the emergency door behind her. For a brief second, her eyes connected with the anonymous attacker wearing Bill's face. She smirked at him, offering him a choice. He could follow her, or he could finish his mission.

Surprisingly she managed to escape the lab with no pursuit, the mercenary obviously got what he wanted and no longer cared she would make him regret that and his employer!

She limped to the hangar she and her friends built; in case they ever needed a quick escape! Picking up her encoded comms she needed to report this to her remaining true fellows immediately.

*********************************

Back in the lab, the man who had attacked this facility searched around ensuring the poor specimens behind the glass had all been killed. It was the only mercy he could offer. Reaching for his comms he spoke into them.

“Aquarius this is Hunter, the wolf is retreating to the pack, den has been cleansed, Happy hunting. Hunter Out”