The Lioness

Chapter One

Chapter One

　

Time | 2054

I felt more than ready for this last exam mission. Previously having not failed with many and the simple fact that I was itching to get this over with. Get some real action with real criminals and real fights. Not that they held back with close combat in these simulations but if you were not careful enough and got shot, it would be blanks. 

"Johnson, Schneider, Foster. Team one. Connor, Lake and Chen are team two." Mr. White went on with grouping the men and women. I was in team two. Amaya Chen, the most intelligent one in class. It was good to have her on my team. I wouldn't have to bother with switching off the cameras and hacking the security system of the building. Peter Connor was more the silent type and didn't show much of his ability but his arms were casually crossed around his chest, an almost bored expression on his face.

I was afraid that with these two in my team, I'll have to put in more effort to show I'm worthy to be an agent also. 

Team one, four and five were moving over to the back entrance, now that the teams had been announced. I pulled my ponytail tighter and followed Amaya to the side of the complex.

We were under the window next to the surveillance room, waiting for team one to put the alarm system out. Chen suddenly moved and was slipping the necessary tool into the slit of the window frame. I grabbed her shoulder to stop her. "Why the hell aren't you waiting for team one to give us green light?!" I hissed through my teeth. She looked back at me questioningly. "Pay attention, Emma. They already said it's okay to go in now. We have to hurry." 

Peter was looking at me with raised eyebrows. There must be something wrong with my wire or else I would have heard it. I looked up to see Amaya silently sliding inside and I followed her. It would be best for me to be in the middle of these guys. I was getting frustrated already. Chen looked out the hallway and nodded over, signalling it was clear. I moved out and training kicked in, letting me forget the lack of communication I had with the other teams.

I closed my eyes to expand my senses and heard two faint heartbeats. Two persons in the room. I opened my eyes and showed two fingers up. Amaya slammed the door open and pointed her gun to the guy closest to her. I ran up to the other one, my gun not wavering, and told him to get down. I got behind him and took one of his wrists and closed the handcuff around it and thee other one on the pipie of the heaters. Amaya was already talking to the other teams, telling them how many persons in which areas, Peter put the other guy down next to mine and slid on his glasses. The lens on Amaya's turned brighter, showing the captured images of the security cameras.

I cursed under my breath as nothing showed up on my glasses. I took them off angrily. I would have to go in blind. Following the two, I couldn't help but widen the radius of my power even though I knew it would exhaust me. I felt how a team got caught and 'killed' on the upper level. I couldn't let that happen to me or my team. We'd all have to get out. 

Feeling someone coming around the corner, I turned around to surprise him. My gun following his movement even though I couldn't physically see him yet. He came around the corner. "Freeze!" He was close to me now, taller than I had expected him to be. He slowly moved his hand up. He was feeling expectant, also telling me he will try and attack me. His arm shot out and he tried to grab my gun. I had already seen this move ahead. I shoved his hand away and grabbed his wrist firmly and turned it, pressing it against his back. I took my second and last pair of handcuffs out. I took the back of his neck and pushed him into an empty room and locked it. 

I felt slightly panicked when there was no one else on the corridor. Where did they go? Muttering another round of curses, I went to search for them, even though they knew exactly where I was and shouldn't have left me in the first place. The plan had been to work our way to the front so that's where I was headed. I couldn't hear anything which wasn't a good thing. I was able to hear at least trice as good as a normal human. 

I slowed to a stop when I did begin to hear something. Footsteps. Many footsteps. They were coming closer. Turning around, I began to silently jog the other way. After a few seconds, I stopped again. They were coming from the other side as well. Way to many for me alone to take. Or three, if the team still were together. I looked at the doors to my right. There should be windows in these rooms. I hurriedly got in, only to see the windows were locked down. All the windows would be. I ran out, getting into the bigger door on the left side. The blueprints showed there was a staircase. I just had reached the stairs as I heard the door open behind me. They were close. I took two steps at a time. The door to the roof was locked and I shuffled my tools out. It shouldn't take long. The adrenaline was making my legs weak but I tensed them again when the door opened. Slamming the door behind me to gain a few more seconds, I ran to one corner of the building where I had seen the downspout and jumped, knowing there was no time left to make this escape a pretty one. I twisted and stretched my arms out to catch the edge. Pain shot through my knees and arms as I slammed against the wall. Trying to ignore it the best I could, I pressed my legs together and slid down. I could feel my skin heating up under the gloves. I jumped down when I thought I wouldn't hurt myself with the fall. I steadied myself and ran to the east side of the building. The trees there would give me some cover and I would finally be able to get away from the building.

I stopped after five minutes of sprinting and was now resting a bit, not quite sure what I was supposed to do. I didn't know which kind of instructions the others got. Just to retreat or did they get new orders already? Was the mission over? I pulled at the wire and the earpiece fell out. Examining the transmitter, I still didn't get why mine wasn't working. Putting it down on the ground beside me, I recalled on which frequency I had set it. I hurriedly picked it up again, checking if I had seen right a few seconds ago.

My eyes didn't blink for some time before I gave out a humorless laugh. There was just no way this could have happened to me. There really was not. I checked everything before the teams have been announced. I knew I had set it right.

A cracking noise distracted me, making me move up on my feet and crouch close to the tree behind me. "Calm down. Amaya told me you had difficulties with the transmitter." I saw the big frame of my mentor. I stood up and reached out with my power. I was glad he was feeling joyous and not sorry or regret. It meant that I didn't screw it up as much as I had thought.

"The mission is over, by the way. They're driving back to the compound as we speak. Want a ride?"