He moves through the foliage, just inside of the tree line along the shore. The lack of moon light is a bonus. The stars provide all the light his feline eyes will need and the low light will aid him in his stealth. As he approaches the perimeter fence, he keeps low and observant for any sentries or motion sensors. The wire cutters make a hole in the chain link fence just large enough for him to fit through easily. Once through, the cut out section is put back in place and secured by wrapping the cut links with gray duct tape. It will hold up under all but close scrutiny and provide a fast exit. After marking the place by inserting a stick in the ground, Shrag moves across a stretch of open ground in the direction of the officers housing.

The assignment is relatively straight-forward, but just seems different from others in the past. After a lifetime of training and experience, this should be easy, he thinks. Being selected as a child, Shrag spent many years at the agency known as CAT (Covert Assignments and Terminations). His days and nights were filled with weapons training, strategy, stealth skills, and physical training. He was not the only anthro-jaguar, as they had a reputation as assassins. The tigers were typically larger, but most of the time size was not an advantage.

The open area is traversed quickly and unobserved as he moves among the shadows. Finding the quarters of Captain Ryan, his target, Shrag makes his entry by slipping the window latch with the aid of a spring driven drill and a hardened steel probe. The window raises easily and he enters the main room of the house. There is only one room with a light on and he moves slowly towards it as he draws his wakazashi short sword. The door is slightly open, giving a view to the bedroom where Captain Ryan is sitting in front of a mirror, brushing her hair. For the first time in Shrag’s life, he hesitates. His target sees him in the mirror and turns to face him. Shrag leaps into the room and holds his sword to her throat, but does not strike. He feels something foreign to him. Captain Ryan is a tall, well built mountain lioness with blond hair and blue eyes. She looks up at Shrag with question and fear in her eyes. "What do you want?" she asks. Shrag is at a loss for words, but does not lower his sword. After a moment he asks, "Are you Captain Ryan?"

"Yes. Captain Finola Ryan, and why are you in my bedroom? Do you plan to kill me?"

"I was sent here to kill you. I am.." His words fail him. He cannot force himself to strike down this beautiful creature. Something is very wrong here, he thinks. Shrag sheaths his blade and says, "My apologies Miss Ryan. There seems to be some kind of mistake." He turns and leaves as quickly as he came, jumping through the open window and running towards the fence. He expects lights and alarms to come on any second and is glad to have had the foresight to leave an escape path. The cut out section of the fence breaks away easily as he jumps through it. Rolling to his feet, he begins to run flat out through the trees. There is still no audible alarm sounded or any other sign of alarm or pursuit. This strikes Shrag as odd, but his main concern now is to put distance between himself and the base.

Finola sits with her brush in her hand. As an afterthought, she stands and closes her robe around her body. "What was that about?" she wonders aloud. Going to the living room she sees the open window and closes it. There is a small hole drilled through the wooden frame near the latch. She locks the window. Her mind is full of questions, but mainly she is curious why he didn’t kill her, if that was his reason for being there. She is a career officer and has bound to of made some enemies, but to send an assassin. Maybe the Rabbit Monarchy sent this jaguar. There were certain forces from that area that would like to see her dead. She returns to her chair in front of the mirror and resumes brushing her hair as she thinks. The thought of sounding an alarm crosses her mind, but she dismisses it.

Shrag makes it to his car and places his gear in the trunk. He sits behind the wheel with the engine off for several minutes, thinking what to do next. The routine was to place a call from a pay phone to the agency and give the code word when the assignment was completed. This assignment was far from routine now. Failing an assignment was very serious, but sometimes it was unavoidable. As long as it was extremely rare, the agent was not severely disciplined. This time he just did not follow orders. He did not kill his target. Why didn’t I do it, he thinks to himself. Am I just loosing my edge? Am I tiring of all of the death I have seen, and caused? He thinks about it and believes there is something more. Captain Ryan’s face keeps appearing in his mind. Those eyes looking at him. Just the thought and mental image makes Shrag feel strange. "Oh shit," he says. "Could I be falling in love with someone I just saw for a moment?" The idea seems ludicrous to him. He struggles with the concept, trying to think of another explanation. He keeps coming back to her face, looking up at him. Why were there no alarms sounded, he wonders. Surely she reported an intruder on the base immediately. This is becoming very confusing. Shrag starts the car and begins to drive towards his apartment. Plans are starting to finalize in his mind as he drives. First off, he will not call the agency. Nor will he report back, ever. He will remove all necessary items from his apartment and find a new place to live. This is risky, but he knows he will never kill for someone else’s reason again. He is through being a paid assassin. Second, he will find out more about Captain Ryan. Something about her made him change. He does not understand yet, but has to try and find out what it is about her that makes him feel the way he does.

 HOME

Next Chapter