Savanna : The Assasin

Kabanata 1

The rings

Two rings — two silver rings that are keys of the laboratory where a chemical bomb was stored. Owned by President Kathleen of USA, was stolen last December 2017 by an Arab man at exactly 23:45 at night where President herself was being murdered.

"That's how valuable this
one is? Ha! At paano ito napasok dito sa Pilipinas?" tanong ni Andrey.

"As usual our system sucks Drey,  do you even have to ask that?" sabi ko dito. "That Arab probably think Philippines is his escape."

Mataman kong tinitigan ang dokumentong nasa harap ko. Nakasaad dito ang lahat ng detalye noong pinaslang ang Presidente ng US at ang pagkawala ng dalawang silver rings na susi sa isang laboratory kung saan nakalagay ang chemical bomb.

Tatlong buwan na simula nang mangyari ang insidenteng ito at ngayon lang na-trace ang kinaroroonan ng Arab killer na iyon. Napailing ako sa nakita. Ilang beses na bang ang Pilipinas ang ginagawang takbuhan ng mga banyagang pinaghahanap ng mga awtoridad sa ibang bansa.

"It's maybe time they should know, Philippines is not what they think it is..." pag-ulat ko.

"Savanna, that's not our job."

Napatayo ako nang marinig ang boses sa likuran ko. Sumaludo ako dito nang makaharap ko na ito.

"Sir Zeke..." bati ko dito.

Tumango ito at dumiretso sa harapan naming lahat.

"Now that you've read what happened,  I guess you know what might be our job?" tanong ni Sir Zeke.

Nagkatinginan kami ni Andrey. Alam naming dalawa ang maaaring maging trabaho namin ngayon.

"To kill the Arab?" isang boses ang nangibabaw sa aming mga agents sa loob ng workplace.

Napalingon kaming lahat dito. A trainee... Napailing-iling akong napangiti. I remember my first time here because of that trainee. I was once like that too. Too naive for my job. Akala ko kasi, the moment Sir Zeke told me, I'll become an assassin, it's meaning was only to kill and nothing else.

"Are you sure young man?" tanong ni Sir Zeke.

"Yes Sir,  we are assasins right?  So the only job we do is to kill. No matter who they are..." taas-noong sagot nito.

"Oh hell..." mura ni Andrey na katabi ko.

Nakita ko ang pag-igting ng panga ni Sir Zeke. He might be in his late thirties but his cold looks could freeze your breath up, the moment he looks at you. Dahan-dahan nitong nilapitan ang baguhang lalaki at saka binulungan. The guy then looked troubled. He literally froze. Napangisi ako sa nakita.

"This organization wasn't built just to kill. Remember that, we are here to save lives. Innocent lives!" napalunok ako nang lumakas ang boses nito.

"Savanna!" sigaw nito.

Shit! "Sir?" sagot ko.

"Your up. Bring the rings back. Remember, do not kill an innocent. Understand?" saad nito.

Tumango ako dito. Hindi nito hinintay ang kahit anong tanong namin dito. Diretso itong pumasok sa office nito. Nakahinga naman ako ng maluwag. Nakakatakot talaga 'yong matandang 'yon.

"Sav? Do you have any plan?" tanong ni Andrey.

Napatingin uli ako sa mga dokumentong hawak-hawak ko. Napag-aralan ko na ito kanina. But the only thing I know about this Arab was his name and whereabouts. Hindi ko pa alam kung sino siya o ang maaaring kaya niya.

"Jackson? I need the blueprints of that bar he usually goes. We need to plan it out. Nasisiguro kong may mga imbestigador na pupunta doon. We can't let them get to us..."

"Sav, ito na ang blueprints ng bar, " sabay bigay nito sa blueprint sa'kin.

Nilatag ko ang mga dokumento sa isang medyo may kalakihang mesa at doon ay pinag-aralan ito. Sabay-sabay naman na lumapit sina Jackson at Andrey sa mesang kinaroroonan ko.

"It's a bar where women entertain through dances. I had check it out before the meeting and the only thing I found was for you to undercover as a waitress. They didn't thoroughly run a scan to their waitress. Mas madali kung ito na lang..." mahabang sabi ni Jackson.

Napatingin ako kay Andrey. He was busy scanning the blueprints. He was known as the nut agent here. He could go crazy to the point of not following the plan just to do the job. Siya rin ang unang agent na nakapasok sa PISO after it's chaos before. Mas matagal nitong kasama si Sir Zeke kaya nakakatakas ito sa mga hindi pagsunod sa plano. But he's a nice guy, nice and crazy. At kailanman ay hindi pa ito nagkaroon ng failure,  bagay na gustong-gusto ni Sir Zeke.

I don't exactly know the reason why he joined the organization but one thing I know, he's too driven to do his job right no matter if it costs his life.

"I can erase your data after the job is done Sav, I'll deal with the CCTV and the exit. But they have a very strict system. Once it detected a system breach it will automatically shut down after ten minutes..." napatingin ako kay Jackson matapos itong magsalita.

Jackson on other hand is a doctorate of computer technology. Anything with technology, save it to him and he'll do it all. I heard that he's got a backer, kaya mas maluwag si Sir Zeke dito. I didn't know who but I'm sure, isa iyon sa mga kaedad ni Sir Zeke na bumibisita dito sa building, every now and then.

Napatango ako kay Jackson. "That means I only have ten minutes huh," tiningnan ko uli ang blueprints. "Do you have something about him?" tinuro ko ang larawan ng Arab killer na nakalatag sa aming harapan ngayon.

"And that's the part where we have a little problem," biglang sabad ni Kyla na kanina ay busy sa ginagawa nitong research. Kanina pa pala ito nakikinig sa amin.

Napakunot ang noo ko. "Bakit?" tanong ko dito.

"I tried everything I can do Sav, but I only found his name and how he had lived five years before he killed the President. I can't even find any footprints in the stores and restaurants, trust me I did my best  but maybe, you know it's not enough but really, I..."

"Okay, okay, Kyla I understand," pagputol ko pa sa sinasabi nito.

Kyla is a really good researcher but the only downside to that is she's a nagger. Sa aming mga babae dito, only Kyla knows what is fashion. Mahilig siya mangolekta ng mga dresses and shoes. To be honest, she's more suitable to do the undercover but she can't fight. Or that's what I think of, I had never seen her out in the field.

"Teka, bakit sinabi mong, you can't even find his footprints in the stores and restaurants? Kailangan ba talaga sa lugar na mga 'yan nandiyan siya dapat?" tanong naman ni Jackson dito.

"Jack, no matter if your good or evil.  You have to dress and eat. Jesus!"

Nagkatingingan kami ni Andrey sa sagot ni Kyla saka kami sabay na napangiti. Yeah, she's got good metabolism too.

"Ibig bang sabihin sasabak ka do'n Sav nang hindi kilala ang lalaking iyon? Paano kung may tinatago iyon? Y'know we don't know how he works. Delikado 'yan," nag-aalalang sabi ni Andrey.

I sighed. Kung hindi kami kikilos agad siguradong mawawalan ulit kami ng trace nito. And I can't risk that. The rings he have are dangerous. He can use it tomorrow or probably today. Mas maaga mas maigi.

"Kyla, have you tried coordinating with the US Intelligence? Baka may impormasyon sila," tanong ko dito.

"Yes and no, Sav. The same thing happens. Wala silang ibang record sa Arab na 'yan. He's like a ghost," sagot nito sa'kin.

"Ghost or not, the plan continues. We'll do this by evening," pinal kong saad.