[This excerpt is just a little bit longer than the previous ones. This is the first conversation between Deanna and Chen that appears in the novel. The man they're talking about is in fact Heiji, whose old code name was 'Akuma'—hence the title. As for Chen... I swear, this man would give me the creeps as well...]
The face that appeared on the large screen was no one else’s than Eric Chen’s, looking as alert as ever, his dark eyes gleaming with a satisfaction he didn’t even try to conceal. It sure wasn’t the expression she had expected to see him; in fact, she didn’t expect him to contact her that fast.
“Good evening, Deanna”, he started without even letting her the time to greet him.
“…Mr. Chen”, she nodded, quickly putting on a neutral expression to not show him that he had somewhat taken her aback.
Eric Chen, on the private Syzygy channel, past midnight, barely one hour after she had sent her report? Not good. Not good at all. That the man in charge of all the operations of the Townsend on the colony was to call her in such a way, himself still in his working clothes, denoted that she had struck the right chord, yet oddly enough, she wasn’t feeling very happy with this idea. Chen had always frightened her, sometimes more than just a little, although she wouldn’t admit it to anyone; he pulled strings that herself had never been able to discover, and working for him didn’t mean that she liked what the man had in mind most of the time. It was a blessing to not be in the Syrtis branch of the company, else she’d likely had turned crazy by now.
“I’ve finished reading your report. An eventful day, isn’t it.”
The alarm bells set off at once in her mind; when the conversation started on the bantering tone, it always meant she wasn’t going to like its outcome.
“Yes, Sir”, she answered, making sure that her voice wasn’t going to waver even once during this exchange. “We’re getting things back in control. Tomorrow, it’ll be over. I don’t think there’s anything to really worry about.”
“There is, my dear. For that matter, there is. But I know you’re doing what’s needed. What I want to talk about first is this recording of… what’s her name? The girl. McAran, that’s it.” He snapped his fingers in a casual move — another sign that she wasn’t going to like this call.
Deanna nodded in silence, placing her arms behind her back in a stance that much looked like the one she had been used to, back when she was a low-level Agent. Forcing herself to not fidget with whatever she had under the hand demanded her more focus than she would have thought. Chen’s presence always had this effect on her, she didn’t know why; one of the descendants of the Sino-American settlers who had come to Mars in the middle of the 22nd century, the man didn’t have anything special to his looks, with his regular features and neatly cut slick black hair, except perhaps this self-confidence that appeared in every of his gestures. A shark in a lion’s disguise, old Laraby once had said. He had climbed the complex, stiff hierarchy ladder of the Corporation that fast in barely twelve years; this was a sure sign that he knew what he wanted, and knew how to obtain it, whatever the means involved.
“McAran, yes”, Deanna said, her mouth dry. “The hacker.”
“Not much data available on her, right? They have such a way of covering their tracks, these little rats.”
“Jen McAran seems to be quite a talented one, indeed. Too bad she’s on the wrong side.”
She swallowed hard. She already knew what was to follow, and Chen seemed to have read her mind, for she clearly noticed the calculating smile at the corner of his lips, right before he went on:
“The man’s interesting, too. Much more interesting.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“We both know it’s him, right, Deanna?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“And all this time, we thought he had died in Syrtis. I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad surprise. If Laraby was still alive, I’d make an example with him, just for having not finished the job.”
For a second, only a second, Deanna closed her eyes. A part of herself wished she never had found this document, had never gone on Juno Street to question the reporters and lay her hands on their recording; the other part knew that had she dared to dissimulate this to Chen, her situation would have sooner or later turned for the worst. She couldn’t afford to be in the spotlight, not when it came to Eric Chen, not when they both knew she stood in the palm of his hand.
“I want him dead, Deanna. For good. No supposing and believing.”
The Security Chief opened her eyes again, staring at the screen, and nodded, unable to acknowledge the order in a loud voice.
“I don’t care what means you need to use, I want this man. I want to know how he managed to escape. How he fooled us for so long.”
“So you want him taken… alive?”
“Alive, yes. I want to see the look on his face when he realizes his life is between my hands. He’ll understand. And then, he’ll die.”
“I’ll do my best, Sir.”
“Of course, you’ll do. You don’t have the choice.”
His smile had vanished all of a sudden, his voice taken on a threatening tone. Again, Deanna nodded in silence, the barely veiled threat still echoing in her ears. Stay in your place. She kept on repeating the old motto in her mind, aware that slipping only once would mean her death too. There was another rule, an unspoken one — once an Agent, always an Agent. Trying to get out could only be done through one, unique door.
Tags: excerpt | NaNoWriMo | novel | writing
