'Audition'

by David R. Dorrycott

Miko Yano was sitting at her desk studying the days reports. Normally she didn't bother with them as her job was programming the huge mainframe hidden deep under the building. Security programs were her speciality, but certain coded reports came to her. Another of the enemies agents had been terminated she read. Dutifully she brought up her database and cross referenced the code name. What she found brought a smile to her face. One of the agents involved in her brothers murder. Carefully she entered the preliminary report, adding a notation that this information was unreliable until a Field Commander had confirmed the kill. Still, one less agent of world domination down. Saving the file she dropped the fax into her shredder.

The sharp feel of ice cold steel against her neck changed her smile into an emotionless line. A Jaz disk landed on her desk, making a sharp clatter to the sudden stillness of her life. An enemy agent had infiltrated her field office. Had gotten to her office. How? She had to get the warning out but how? Any move and she'd be dead. Gritting her teeth she 'saw' the button in her mind. Just a few inches to the left of her foot. "I want that file" a woman’s cold voice whispered in her ear. Miko could smell the soap that had cleaned her enemy just that morning. 'So I die with the scent of soap. How fitting.' she thought. Maybe this agent wasn't that up on computer protocols.

She slid the disk in her drive and accessed the utility program she so carefully rewritten just a few months ago. As the hard disks file menu popped up the woman’s hand pointed quietly to each folder she wanted. Miko dutifully highlighted each folder. Agent lists, strike lists, field reports... 'If this gets out were doomed' she told herself. 'They'll destroy us. Humanity will fall into darkness.' She started carefully moving her foot towards the switch. Along with setting of a dozen alarms it would automatically kill the power to her computer.

Suddenly the world exploded as her head was jerked back by her own hair. "Put the leg back or I'll do this myself." Miko gasped for breath trying desperately to clear her sight. The warning was all too clear. She clicked on COPY - DO NOT ERASE.

The drive spun, pages flipped from right to left until finally everything stopped. The Jaz drive spit out it's disk. A disk that seemed to hold a huge file but only carried one small deadly program. A disk that vanished as quickly as it'd come. Miko's hard drive was now as clean as the day it'd been manufactured. "Now stand up and walk with me to the door. Any heroics and your dead."

"Just like my brother?" she gasped.

"You brother was an agent too?" came the question.

"No. My brother worked against the crack gangs. A team of yours tracked him down and murdered him on the street. Now you kill me. Fitting. The last of my family dies with the smell of soap. A clean sweep." There was a puzzled grunt from her captor then silence.

They walked quietly to the side door Miko always used. "Your coat and purse. Your taking your lunch break." She bit her lip. Of course. She'd foolishly gotten into the habit of going to lunch at this hour. Often with a co-worker. The surveillance cameras wouldn't notice anything different. Belatedly she cursed herself for acting like a lowly steno-pool girl and not a spy like she'd tried to become.

Outside it was cool and foggy, typical for summer in Scotland. She walked towards her small car as the woman behind her kept a one sided conversation. There really wasn't any chance to escape now, not outside. Security was designed to catch someone trying to break in. Not two young women headed for a meal in town. She waited until her captor settled in beside her before starting the engine. "How will I die?" she asked softly. "A bullet? Strangled? Drowned? My throat slashed?"

"Oh no little computer typist" the agent answered. "Your much to important to us alive. You know so much. Just what is your name anyway?"

"Miko" she answered with a sob as she started down the street. "Miko Yano."

"Miko Yano? The programmer? Your brother is Dr. Takashi Yano?"

"Yes" she admitted. "But you know that."

"No I didn't and no, he's not dead. He works for us. The people you work for faked his death to get you."

Miko looked over, staring into the agents face. "My brother would never work for a group intent on world domination" she spat.

"No" Sarah agreed. "But his sister does."

"You lie" she screamed, hitting the brakes. A wild idea of jumping out of the car, running back to the building filled her mind but her door wouldn't open.

"I jigged your door Miko Yano. It can only be opened from the outside. Now drive, I'll tell you where." The gun vanished suddenly. "I am not lying to you. When we get to our destination I'll prove it to you. You'll meet your brother face to face."

Sarah studied the smaller woman she sat beside. "We had no idea where you were. You just vanished from Kyoto like the dew. When was the last time you spoke to your brother?"

"Two years ago. They showed me the films, the reports. I saw his casket. He's dead. He has to be I couldn't be wrong about this." Tears were filling her eyes making it hard to see.

"Turn right. Two kilometers then pull into the field. There a copter awaiting us." Miko dutifully followed directions, too shattered to resist.

The helicopter ride was uneventful. She sat by the open hatch, buckled in but waiting to be thrown out. It never happened. They landed on a darkened field and she was marched to another car. This one was English. Huge, powerful. She sat, wondering what kind of drugs they would use. Not listening as Sarah spoke softly into a car phone. Finally the vehicle stopped, her door opened and a face she knew from childhood stared in. "Miko? Dear sister what are you doing in England? I've been so worried."

Tears blinded her as she threw herself into her brothers waiting arms. "They told me you were dead" she sobbed. "I thought you were.. Oh my God..." She pushed away. Reaching over her brothers arm she snatched the disk from Sarah's hand. "It's no good. A killer virus only. You got nothing" she said apologetically. "But if we hurry I can get you into the mainframe remote. They won't worry if I don't come back from lunch. But when I don't show up at the compound by sunrise..." She stopped talking as Sarah grabbed her hand, fairly dragging her towards the building at a run.