Kioni’s Justice

by FreezAntix

London, England - ITEA HQ

            “Hey Cassandra, you wouldn’t chance to know where Lucienne is would you?” Kioni Abasi asked as she entered Cassandra Flick’s office. The Brit was dressed in a sharp business suit as usual with her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail. “I dropped by her office and didn’t see her and with Palmira not around anymore, I don’t know who to take this up with?”

            Cassandra looked up from her computer monitor and sighed, “Lucienne’s been demoted; she’s in the new boss’s office now,” Cassandra answered.

            “Demoted? Why? We just saved all those people and took down Richard Stilton’s criminal organization.”

            “Her command decisions during the whole Waterloo incident for the main part and some other issues as well. Frankly, to be honest, I agree with the board in this one… my sister was at Waterloo; we could have handled that one a better,” Cassandra explained with another sigh.  She was Lucienne’s best friend and she didn’t want to speak badly of her. But since her sister, along with other civilians, was frozen during the Waterloo incident she questioned Lucienne’s competency under extreme stress. It felt as if the French woman was losing her edge. Stepping down from her post to a position with less responsibility might be good for everyone at least for the time being. She knew her friend would eventually be back to herself again and when that time came she would be ready to be the big boss again, but for now it was best for to hold less responsibility.

            “I see…” Kioni said, letting the news sink in while tapping the folder she was holding against her free hand. First Palmira, her team leader, unexpectedly resigned and now her boss had been demoted. The agency was going to be going through some changes. Jumping out of her thoughts she asked, “Who is the new boss?”

            “Sonia Castillo; she was an Interpol section chief, trained Lucienne. Very qualified for the job Kioni, we should be in good hands and plus Lucienne is the new number two now. She’s not very far from her old posting. Sonia is better suited to run the agency; she has that certain mind set.”

            “I’m sure we will be in good hands, I have no doubt, and you think I could see any of them now?”

            “What’s up?” Cassandra asked gesturing to the folder in the Kenyan’s hand. “Anything I could help with?”

            “Maybe…” Kioni replied, stepping into Cassandra’s office and taking one of the two seats in front of the desk. She handed the file across the desk, “That’s the sheets for Rajni Arora and Zhen Shan. We busted them a few nights back when they attacked our people.”

            “Yes, I remember,” Cassandra said as she looked over the sheets of the two women.

            “Well, I just got word from the Yard that they are being released on bail in a few hours. It seems that charges will not be pursued for the time being. They’re actually waiting on extradition before any charges could even be considered.”

            “That sounds about right…” Cassandra confirmed with a sigh. “We just nabbed the brains behind the whole Ouroboros operation, so we have the big fish right now to worry about. No need worrying about the small fish at the moment. Right now our brass, not just Sonia or Lucienne but the really high brass, they want to focus on just the major players and let the individual countries worry about the lesser players.”

            “They attacked our people though. Both women have past criminal records and could be big fish in their own right, in their own ponds. I don’t see why we have to let them go, they’re just going to disappear!”

            “I understand how you feel, but that’s just how things work. They will be extradited and prosecuted in their own nations,” Cassandra explained, closing the file and handing it back across her desk. “Kioni, don’t worry about it; they’re not really getting away and it’s not our job to dictate how the system works. We just follow the rules and hope for the best.”

            “That’s not good enough…” Kioni said with a sigh as she took her folder and stood. “We’re never going to see these women again. If we do, it will be when they’re committing another crime, a crime we could have prevented.”

            “We’ll stop them if they do anything, just like we stopped Richard Stilton. Relax, agent Abasi. We could rest a little; the bad guys lost, at least for now,” Cassandra assured and urged as she returned to her work.

            “I guess…” Kioni mumbled as she left the office. She opened the folder and flipped through the sheets, thinking what to do next. She couldn’t let these women just get away like that. They were willing to attack her friends and now they got a free pass just because their bosses were behind bars. It didn’t make any sense to her. She had to do something, but what?

            Back in her office, Kioni went through another recent case where the main suspect – a Zoe Hollander – had disappeared. What was worse was that the lady Zoe was suspected of kidnapping models for a collection of some sort. Colette and her cousin Ariel were about to even be added to said collection, if it had not been for Hui’s team intervening. She read the details for the case and suddenly it dawned on her. She could just arrest the women herself and store them just like this Zoe Hollander had. She had a large house and access to Type-7 to keep the women suspended. These weren’t innocent people. They were likely to commit crimes again. She would be doing the world a favor if she kidnapped them and stored them. The more she thought about the idea, the more she liked it. She found it arousing to be in complete control of the criminals. She looked at the photos of Zhen and Rajni, both attractive young women. A thought and brilliant notion entered her mind, “Life sized human dolls…” she whispered, grinning. The idea was there. Could she take the next step and make it happen, though?

            A sound of someone rolling something into the Team Zeta office snapped her out from her thoughts. She looked up casually, covering the files she was looking over. Nessa Kelly entered the office, pushing a handcart. On the handcart stood Anna Federov, posed at attention; the woman was clearly under the effects of Type-7 and was dressed in a brown wool skirt and cream-colored blouse with pantyhose and black pumps. Her face sported a goofy grin with her eyes shut. Following Nessa was security officer Yelena Nikitin, dressed in her standard black military style uniform that the ITEA guards wore, which included her interceptor vest and M4. It was striking contrast from what Nessa wore: simple torn jeans, a white slim fitting t-shirt and white sneakers. The Irish agent was dressing more casually these days since hooking up with Juro.

            “Can’t believe she fell for it,” Yelena giggled.

            “Yeah, I know she was just kidnapped, you’d think she’ll be more aware,” Nessa agreed, lowering the handcart and then proceeding to remove her stiffened teammate from it with the help from the tall security guard.

            “What’s going on?” Kioni asked, trying to hide her interest. She never much paid attention to the hordes of office pranks, she was in fact one of the few that were off limits to prank. However, with the idea of capturing criminals and turning them into statues swirling in her head, she found herself curious and looked at the frozen Anna Federov in a whole different light.

            “Anna here, drunk our famous break room coffee,” Nessa replied as she began to unbutton Anna’s blouse.

            “While telling us what she remembered about being kidnapped no less,” Yelena added as she leaned around the frozen Russian, looking for the zipper for the unmoving woman’s skirt.

            Nessa opened Anna’s blouse, revealing the white bra the woman wore underneath. “We thought it would be funny to dress her up as clown and put her in front of the new boss’ office.”

            “A clown?” Kioni asked.

            “I have clown costume in my desk,” Nessa replied.

            “What? You know what – don’t answer that; you guys are not funny,” Kioni said, getting up from her desk with the files in her arms. “I’m heading out for the day,” she said as she turned to leave the office. A grin crept on her lips as she decided on what she was going to do about her plan. The frozen Anna and her co-workers having full control over the unmoving woman had convinced her.

            “It is funny…” Nessa said as she removed Anna’s blouse.

            “It is,” Yelena agreed, dropping the Russian’s skirt, leaving Anna standing in her white panties covered by her pantyhose. “Where’s that costume and why do you have it in your desk?”

Port of Tilbury

Essex, England

            Zhen Shan crept out from around the warehouse and looked down the deserted dock. The dock had two large cargo container ships moored to it. One was bound for Egypt while the other was bound for Vietnam. Both had spent the whole afternoon and most of the night loading up their cargo of grain and were to both set sail in a few hours for destinations. Zhen aimed to sneak aboard the ship bound for Egypt, as it would take her the closest to Europe. She had heard from the news that some suspects had escaped capture in New York when ITEA destroyed Richard Stilton’s secret operation. She was sure her partner and friend Tamaya Qillaq had escaped. Tamaya had vowed not to be caught again. There was also no way she was going to wait around to be extradited back to Hong Kong. Her only chance was to get out of the country and link back up with Tamaya to figure something out. Luckily for her, she had stashed some cash and a change clothes at a storage locker nearby. The only trick was that she had to thwart her police tail, which was not that easy; it took her nearly a day to do so. Finally it was done and she was here, and just on time too. She gazed around at the run-down warehouses that bordered the dock, looking to see if there were any security cameras. As she expected there were none. This part of the terminal was old enough and far enough away from the more busy areas so the cameras were not required yet. That’s why she had picked that dock for her point of escape.

            Feeling satisfied that nothing and no one was watching, she emerged from the corner and shouldered her backpack. She was dressed simply, in a brown jacket over a black long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans over beat-up old gray sneakers. Not glamorous by any means, but it was enough to stow away aboard a cargo ship. As she walked toward her intended target, she tied back her silky long black hair and then fitted a black knitted cap over it. She peeked over her shoulder as she moved. The coast was clear behind her. Ahead was her cargo ship and freedom was a mere fifty yards away. A sound in the shadows caught her attention. Instead of slowing to investigate, her instincts told her to quicken her pace.

            Something felt awry. She had been so confident that she had eluded her tail; had double and triple checked before heading to the port. Surprise struck and her confidence in her skill vanished as someone slammed full-force into her back, knocking her face first to the concrete. Zhen quickly recovered, rolling back over and popping back on to her feet. Her attacker was female, dressed in a tight fitting black outfit. A wrap-around mask most commonly used by police officers covered her face, though it left her long black hair, which was tied back into a single braid, uncovered. Zhen looked behind at the ship that was so close. There was no way she was going to make it if she ran. The woman in black would be on her in no time. She had to take a stand and take this woman out before she could make her escape. Turing back and facing her assailant, who stood in an attack stance, a stance that said cop, all of it. Zhen threw off her own backpack and hissed angrily at the other woman as she settled into her attack stance. The woman in black shot first with a flurry of punches. Zhen dodged and blocked most of them, but was caught by a right hook that sent her stumbling dizzily. The other women tried to capitalize on the punch, but Zhen recovered quickly and spun a kick into her opponent’s gut. The woman grunted, doubled over, but was still on her feet. Zhen moved in on the attack with a combo of punches and kicks. To her dismay, the other woman recovered from her blows just as quickly and deflected all of Zhen’s shots before tackling her to the concrete.

            The two women rolled about on the hard concrete, each trying to gain an advantage on the other by grappling and twisting limbs. The woman in black was bigger than Zhen and close-quarters ground combat seemed to be her forte. Panicking, Zhen lost her focus and ended up on her back between the legs of the woman clad in black. The woman easily pinned the smaller Zhen to the ground. Zhen tried to fight back, kicking her legs and throwing out of range punches. “Who the fuck are you!” she finally screamed in frustration. The victorious woman peeled away her mask and even in the dim lighting to the docks, Zhen saw who it was. “You?!” she gasped. “ITEA doesn’t have any jurisdiction on me. I’m released under Scotland Yard’s protection.”

            “You were escaping the country before extradition,” Kioni answered, still catching her breath. She had to act quickly when she learned the tail that was assigned to Zhen had lost contact with her. She had picked up the trail easily. She used to track down drug dealers when she was a cop; tracking down Zhen was no problem, especially when she knew where the fleeing Chinese woman was headed.

            “You can’t prove it, you bitch; I was taking a walk and you ambushed me! Police brutality if you ask me!” Zhen shot back and spat, hitting Kioni on the cheek, “Call the Yard and tell them what you did.”

            Kioni wiped the spit with her gloved hand and glared at the other woman. “Problem is, I’m not here on official business,” Kioni smiled as she cocked her fist back.

            “No!” Zhen shouted just as Kioni’s punch landed and her vision went from red to black.

            The Asian woman’s eyes were reduced to slits as she moaned softly with her jaw slack. Kioni looked around her, making sure no one was looking her way her heard the woman’s plea. The coast was as clear as it was when she came earlier. She looked at her watch; she had a small time window before she knew the crews of the ships would return. She cupped the stunned Asian woman’s chin, turning her head from side to side. Zhen Shan was out of it, more or less, but according to her moaning and groaning she would be back in a moment. Kioni quickly got off the unconscious woman and roughly rolled her over onto her face. Zhen’s arms moved like wet noodles as she did. She pulled down the back of the collar of Zhen’s jacket, revealing the naked nape of the Asian woman’s neck. Reaching into the small pouch that Kioni wore on her belt, she withdrew a Type-7 chip and stuck it on to the woman’s exposed neck. She let out a sigh, “Well that’s one; one more to go.” Standing up, she went over to Zhen’s discarded backpack and shouldered it. “Stand,” she then simply ordered the chipped woman and smiled at the result.

            Zhen Shan stood, though it didn’t look natural and her stance was rigid. Her face was blank and her lips slightly parted. Kioni noted the empty look in the woman’s eyes, which showed no thought or personality. The Asian woman stood at attention before her as Kioni approached. “Not so tough now, are you?” Kioni muttered as she rubbed her stomach where Zhen had kicked her moments ago. “Let’s go. Follow me,” she ordered.

            “Yes, mistress…” Zhen answered in monotone voice that only brought a smile to Kioni’s lips. This was a good idea, she assured herself as she led the mindless Chinese woman to where she had parked her Honda. She knew where Rajni was and she had a perfect plan to get her too, she just needed to get her Zhen Shan ready.

London, England

Stilton Hotel of London

            Rajni finished the last of her steak and took a sip from her glass of red wine. She wiped her lips with the cloth napkin and glanced around at the luxurious dining room. It was about half full and everyone seemed to be with someone. She sat alone in the corner. After she had been released from custody and told that she would wait extradition, her life had turned upside down. Rajni had worried something like this was going to happen. She wasn’t the type of person to be doing ‘missions’; when she was paired up with the overweight American to kidnap someone, she knew the mission was doomed before it even started. Sure enough she was intercepted, frozen by Type-7 and by the time she was recovered she found herself in a London jail. Her blundering partner had already been prosecuted and on his way to doing some real time. She was lucky however, being released and basically told not to leave the country. Rajni figured that the Brits wanted to save some tax dollars with her release.

            She thought it was too good be true. She had money saved in several bank accounts and access to numerous fake passports. The original plan had to been to lay low for a few hours, perhaps get some food and sleep and then to the airport with one of her fake passports in hand. As it turned out it was too good to be true, as she left the police station she noted she had a pair of police inspectors keeping tabs on her. A new plan was needed, she needed to get away, and jail was not a place for her. Using some of her money, she went on a little shopping spree, buying some new clothes and then checked into the Stilton. Some rest and food she decided would help her figure out what to do next. At the moment she didn’t see the man and woman who were members of the famed Scotland Yard or Metro Police assigned to follow her, but she knew they were close and she had to figure a way to get rid of them before she could think up of another plan.

            Taking another sip of her wine, she looked towards the entryway of the dining room. She spotted an Asian woman enter and look around. The woman was dressed in a stunning single-strapped red cocktail dress with a high hem to show off her shapely legs that were further amplified by the white spiked heels she wore. Her hair fell loose past her shoulders in slight wave. A red hand clutch and a pair red-framed fashion glasses finished the outfit. The woman caught everyone’s attention in the dining for a moment as she stood in the entry looking around. She looked around the room a moment more before heading directly towards Rajni. Other patrons went back to their meals but Rajni kept her focus on the Asian woman. She looked familiar but the Indian woman just couldn’t place her.

            “May I sit?” The woman asked in a near monotone but accented voice. She didn’t look at Rajni when she asked, which seemed odd as she was staring straight ahead and the Rajni wasn’t sure if the red-dressed woman was talking to her or not.

            “Please,” Rajni replied gesturing to the lone seat at her table. Now that the woman was seated, she felt under-dressed sitting across from her. Rajni was dressed in a dark purple short-sleeved blouse over a black pin stripe knee length skirt. Her legs covered in dark pantyhose and a pair of suede purple heels finished the outfit. The outfit had been new and expensive, as with most of her wardrobe in her hotel room, but it didn’t compare to showy cocktail dress that the woman seated in front of her wore. Rajni thought she should have bought a showy dress when she was shopping earlier but the thought didn’t cross her mind at the time as she just wanted to get out of clothes she had worn since she was arrested. Lucky for her, the authorities didn’t have access to her Swiss bank account numbers.

            For what seemed like a long while the Asian woman just sat there staring blankly at Rajni. It was starting to feel awkward so Rajni asked, “Do I know you from somewhere?”

            “Yes, we both worked for the same people a while back. I was captured by ITEA when you were caught,” the woman answered. Her voice sounded completely different than when she had asked to sit. It was still accented but it was not as monotone. The voice still fit the woman but the tone sounded off, Rajni couldn’t put her finger on it though. The woman continued, “My name is Zhen Shan and I have proposition for you, Ms. Rajni Arora.”

            Rajni raised an eyebrow, “A proposition?” she asked and thought. From what she could remember, Zhen Shan was a smuggler so she could know how to get out of Great Britain. So whatever the proposition was, it was going to get them out of the country; surely they weren’t going to do anything on ITEA’s backyard. That was just stupid. “Do continue, Ms. Shan, you have my attention.”

***

            They fitted in with the rest of the patrons in the lobby. It was their job to do so. As members of the Metropolitan Police Service’s covert policing and intelligence division, also known as SCD-10, it was their specialty to blend in with their surroundings and watch people. Senior Inspector Rhys Adams sat in one of the lobby loungers, dressed in a dark suit with a blue dress shirt underneath. Though in his mid-forties he was still youthful looking and it added a sort of unique handsomeness to his appearance. Rhys was glancing through the latest edition of the Times, all the while keeping an eye on the main lobby entrance behind via reflection from the lobby’s shinny dark marble walls. His partner, Inspector Delora Butler, sat on small sofa next to the lounger he was on. She was dressed in a blue strapless dress with a hem sitting just under her knees. A pair of black heels completed her ensemble. She wore her dark hair in a ponytail. She was slender woman who was nearly ten years her partner’s junior, but at this particular time they were playing a married couple for their cover. At the moment she was playing with a cell phone in her hands as if texting. What she was really doing was running a photo that she had just taken.

            It had been only five minutes, but the photo search was nearly completed. Delora and Rhys had observed a woman that matched the description of a suspect that a couple of their colleagues had lost contact with. The woman in question was Zhen Shan, who had a history with the woman they were observing. Both women had worked for the late Richard Stilton and had tried to kidnap members of secret police agency that they were told was simply called ‘IT’. Both women were released awaiting extradition and the Yard was put in-charge of keeping an eye on them before that could happen.

            “It’s Zhen Shan,” Delora confirmed as she put her cell phone back in her purse. “I think we need to split up to keep an eye on these two.”

            “Let’s just call for back up, have Howard and Frank meet us here; she’s their responsibility anyways,” Rhys replied from behind the paper. “We didn’t lose our target, why should we get more work doing their jobs?”

            “Because, we’re good…” Delora began to say just as Zhen Shan, dressed in her high-priced red cocktail dress, sauntered out of the dining room. “Target two is on the move; I’m going to keep an eye on her,” Delora said as she slowly stood, after Zhen had her back to her. From what she could see, the Chinese woman was heading towards the back entrance of the hotel. “You keep an eye on our girl and call Howard,” Delora said as she picked up her purse. She opened it and checked for her Glock 26, then retrieved a small earpiece that acted a receiver and transmitter. “I’ll keep in touch,” she said, putting the earpiece in her ear as she started off.

            “Be careful,” Rhys said after her, putting his paper down. Just as he did so however he caught sight of their original target, Rajni, leaving the dining room. He waited till she had her back to him before he pushed his earpiece into his own ear. “Rajni is on the move,” he spoke softly, knowing the earpiece picked up his voice and that Delora could hear him loud and clear. When Rajni stepped into the elevator that would take her back up to her room on the eighteenth floor, Rhys stood up and casually made his way towards the elevator lobby. Pressing the call button for the elevator he removed his cell phone, “It’s me, Rhys. We got your suspect…” he began as the elevator arrived.

***

            Delora’s plan had been to keep her distance yet maintaining visual contact with Zhen until Howard showed up to relieve her so she could double back to Rhys. That plan, however, went down the drain when she turned the first corner that led to the other, less luxurious lobby of the hotel. Zhen was nowhere in sight. “Bloody hell…” she muttered under her breath as she increased her pace down the hallway.

            “What’s going on, Delora?” Rhys’ voice asked in the earpiece.

            “Not sure yet, but I think I lost contact with Zhen. Hold on.” She trotted down the hallway towards the next corner. She leaned against the corner and was about to peek around to see if she could spot the Asian woman, as it was the only way she could have gone. She gasped in shock as she glanced around to come face to face with Zhen Shan. The woman only looked at her vacantly but before Delora could do anything, Zhen reached out with an injection gun and shoved it against the inspector’s exposed shoulder. The last thing Delora remembered were her senses fading.

            Zhen looked at the now frozen Brit for a moment before lowering the injection gun and putting it back in her clutch. The woman still stood leaning against the corner, both hands on the wall with her weight on one leg. Most of her body was behind the corner while her chest on up was exposed. She carried an empty look in her dark eyes but her face bore a shocked expression with her mouth open and eyes wide. Zhen reached for the woman’s purse and pulled it off of Delora’s stiff shoulder. She opened the purse and noted the Glock before closing it and looping the purse over her own shoulder. A few people walked past the two women but only took a quick curious glance before continuing. “This one looks good, let’s load her up,” Zhen said, leaning in towards the stuck inspector’s earpiece before turning and heading towards the rear lobby doors.

***

            Rhys heard who he knew was Zhen Shan by the accented English in his earpiece. His heart rate quickened as panic set into his body. He was only a few doors down from Rajni’s suite when he heard her voice. With that, he turned and took off, running back. The organization that Zhen and Rajni worked for had a thing for kidnapping cops; that thought alone sent chills up his spine as he quickly and repeatedly pressed the elevator call button. When it finally arrived he was relieved that one that had arrived at the rear doors that could open to the rear lobby. Pressing the button for the rear lobby he impatiently waited for the elevator to reach its location. As it descended, he withdrew his Walther P99. Twice the elevator had stopped before it had reached the rear lobby, but no one dared to climb aboard seeing the crazed look in Rhys’ eyes and the handgun in his hand.

            When the elevator reached the rear lobby, he darted out, shoving the people that were waiting it for it out of his way. He held his P99 low at the ready as he headed towards where his partner would have been if she were coming from the main lobby. He looked over his shoulder quickly and noted there were too many people in the lobby; it would obviously be too difficult to move the body of a frozen woman out that way, or was it? Hundreds of thoughts flowed through his head, feeding his panic. As he turned the corner Rhys was hit was a wave relief that was soon followed with anger. Standing at the corner was Delora and from the static expression on her face and her body’s current position she was obviously under the effects of the muscle stiffener drug. Rhys touched his partner’s cheek and looked around with frustration, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of Zhen, but the woman was nowhere in sight. He only caught some odd looks from passers-by; it was nothing like the Waterloo incident so there was no real panic – as of yet. Putting away his handgun, he pulled his cell phone out and hit the speed dial, “It’s Adams. I have a situation at the Stilton, and I’m going need ITEA and a spot of back up.”

***

            She wasn’t sure why she trusted Zhen, but she did. The Chinese women had told her she had concocted a plan to start a new lucrative business, but first that had to get out of the country. Rajni wasn’t sure if she wanted to get involved in more illegal activities just yet, but she did want out of the country and Zhen seem to know how. The Chinese woman had told her to gather her things and meet her down the block where a red Honda CR-V was going to be parked. When asked about the police tailing her, Zhen had simply told her that she would take care of it. Rajni didn’t really want to know what the woman meant by that, but she didn’t care as long as she got out of the country.

            Rajni, dressed in a slim fitting black trench coat that covered the same outfit she had worn to dinner, closed the door to her suite and pulled her rolling suitcase towards the elevator lobby to head down to the main floor. Three minutes later she found herself in the lobby and noticed some employees rushing about. She could feel that there was something up; the faint but increasing sound of police sirens heading towards the building cemented that thought. Looking around to see if anyone was looking her way, she saw the coast was clear; she was as good as a fly on a wall. Taking a deep breath, she made her way towards the main entrance at a controlled pace, trying to ignore the incoming sirens. A few more minutes she thought, and she would be away from the hotel and hopefully on her way out of the country.

***

            Kioni shut her laptop and removed the headset and boom mike. She sat in the back seat of her CR-V. Her little mission worked out better than she had hoped. She considered herself a decent programmer, picking up some pointers from the technical wing, but the software that she copied from the notorious Ashley Tisdale was downright amazing. Though she couldn’t get Zhen Shan to act like herself by any means, it was close enough and with the voice feature she could talk through the chipped Chinese woman’s own lips to eliminate the dreamy monotone voice generally associated with a chipped individual. Then there were the Recon Glasses that allowed her to see what the Chinese woman’s eyes was seeing too, so everything was like an exciting video game of sorts with Zhen as the puppeteered avatar. Just then Zhen opened the driver’s side door and climbed in. She then handed the Scotland Yard inspector’s purse back to Kioni. Kioni hated to freeze that woman, but it needed to be done in order to get Rajni and she also hoped that the incident would make the Yard think more carefully about releasing criminals. The unlucky inspector should only stay frozen for thirty minutes to an hour according to the dose she was given, Kioni estimated as she opened the Inspector Butler’s purse and made sure it didn’t have a tracking device in it. It was clear. The main reason why she ordered Zhen to take it was that she didn’t want a woman’s service weapon to be available while she was frozen stiff. Kioni checked the Glock and discharged the chamber, taking the clip before stuffing the weapon into the pocket behind the driver’s seat and tossing the purse behind her; she would get rid of both later.

            She and Zhen waited for what felt like hours but was only five minutes before Rajni came into view, trying to look stealthy but being as obvious as if she’s painted herself aircraft orange. Kioni felt a little nervous and wished the woman would walk faster as she heard the sirens heading towards the hotel; no doubt the female inspector had been found by her partner by now. As the Indian woman got closer, Kioni ducked down in her seat. A minute later she heard the passenger door open. “Whatever you did, your plan worked, but the coppers are all over the place,” Rajni commented. Kioni didn’t program Zhen for anything response, so the Chinese woman just sat there staring blankly ahead with both hands on the steering wheel. For a moment Kioni didn’t hear the Indian woman say anything, as if she was eying in Zhen suspiciously. “Well, all right then, let’s just go,” Rajni finally said. Kioni let out a breath of relief as she heard the woman haul her luggage in before climbing in herself. She timed it just right; as soon as the passenger side door was closed, Kioni popped up from the back seat. The Indian woman in the front didn’t even have the chance to notice before a syringe was poked into her neck and the Type-7 injected. Rajni was rendered into a mannequin in seconds. Her arms were slightly held up in surprise, but her eyes held a neutral blank look while her lips were agape as if about to gasp out in surprise.   Not an uncommon look for a passenger in a car weaving through London traffic.

            “Drive,” Kioni ordered she had already programmed her home address into the chip the Chinese woman wore as well as a driving program.

            “Yes mistress…” Zhen said as she started the SUV and pulled into traffic cautiously. Kioni sat back in her seat and smiled, feeling relieved that her plan had worked out perfectly.

Abasi Residence, Hyde Park

A week later…

            Kioni poured herself a glass of white wine, as she did every night after a day of hard work. She took a sip and closed her eyes, enjoying the taste of the Chardonnay, letting it soothe her body. She was in her spacious kitchen, standing over the large polished hardwood island. The house she lived in was old and big; it was considered a small castle to some, but to her it was just a typical mansion. It had belonged to her grandparents; when they moved north they had given the vast residence to her. Not being a fan of living in a cramped and expensive London flat, she took it without hesitation. Though she felt lonely sometimes, she for the most part enjoyed the peace, quiet and privacy. Kioni had shed her conservative business attire and showered as well. She was currently dressed in a sheer pink silken spaghetti top with matching shorts.  She walked barefoot as she padded over to her kitchen table with the half-empty wine glass in hand. At the table, she picked up a thick soft package and tucked it under her arm.

            After her little mission, Team Zeta had been tasked with assisting the Metropolitan Police with tracking down Zhen Shan and Rajni Arora. It didn’t take long for them to realize the trail was now cold and the women were thought to be in the wind. Inspectors Adams and Butler had vowed to track down Zhen as revenge for what she had done. Kioni knew the two would have no luck, and that they wouldn’t be having those thoughts of vengeance if the government had kept the two women in jail in the first place. This was how it was going to have to be; it was Kioni’s own form of justice.

            Heading towards a door at the other end of the kitchen, she descended down a set of marble stairs that led down to her basement. The basement was the largest floor in house, though half of it was hidden; it had served as sort of bomb shelter during the London Blitz and would have been a place of refuge if the Germans had ever invaded. At the bottom of the steps, she slid into a pair of woolen flip-flops and hit a nearby light switch. Like typical basements, Kioni used hers to store things in, so there were shelves and stacks of priceless antique family heirlooms. The storage area was the largest of the usable space. The walls there were casually decorated with family pictures along with random paintings. To the left of storage space was the laundry room, while to the right was a hallway that led down a small sitting area. Her grandfather used to use the space as a sort of ‘man cave’, before that term ever was coined. Aside from the simple room that had large flat screen TV, a bookshelf and a modest sofa set, there was also a half bathroom as well. Kioni never used the private space herself, as there were better areas in the main part of the house. She did find the room quaint though and kept it furnished and cleaned whenever it got dusty. The room now served a handy gateway to conceal her special and very secret prison.

            Moving to the TV, she leaned her shoulder gently along the wall and stepped back. With a metallic groan, the flat-screen along with the wall it was mounted on, slid to the right to reveal an entryway that led into the secret parts of the basement. The rooms there had not been used for years and Kioni had just started to clean them out as a space a store her new 'guests.' There were total of eight rooms in the bunker, which included two bathrooms, a kitchen and a large living room. They were furnished with furniture obtained in the seventies, which gave the space an anachronistic, time traveling feeling. She was still remodeling; in a month’s time she estimated the place would look more like something to her liking. Kioni hit the light switch for the space before she entered and then proceeded to walk into the living room area. She smiled at the sight before her as she set down her wine glass down on a coffee table that sat in front of a long sofa.

            Rajni Arora stood next to the sofa, dressed in a purple harem outfit, minus a veil, with her left hand posed on her hip while her right was cupped under her chin. Her legs were crossed at the knees. Her lovely face held a wide toothy smile with vacant eyes staring at the blank wall ahead of her.

            Sitting on the sofa were two more figures that she had just picked up that week. Mike Bailey had been released from an English jail to await extradition back to Canada. He had given his word to show up at Heathrow when the time came. For some reason the Metropolitan Police believed him and did not waste an officer as an escort. Kioni was not as convinced though. Every night after work she stalked the Canadian. For a first two days it seemed that he was going to keep his word, but then he started looking into ways to escape to France via the channel fairy. As he had never really met Kioni before, she easily approached him. After a one-night stand he was chipped and was placed in her secret prison the next morning. Currently he was seated, only dressed in a pair of black Speedos. His legs were propped on the coffee table and his naked arms spread wide over the top of the sofa. Mike’s face was molded into a drunken grin with his eyes at half-staff. Kioni had found the Canadian stimulating in his frozen state, a true stress reliever.

            Next to Mike was Barry Finnegan. The slightly overweight American was dressed only in a plaid robe. He sat with his legs crossed at the knees and his hands behind his head. His face bore a blank expression with vacant eyes behind his glasses. Metropolitan Police had released him to await his extradition back to the States, though they had stuck an escort on him to keep track of his movements. Kioni was also keeping an eye on him. She was glad that she did so too, as the American had found some way to obtain Type-7 and was able to drug his police escort into immobility. He was about to make his escape when Kioni made her move. Needless to say he was an easy one to catch. Kioni even forced him to chip himself. Though he was far from what she was attracted to in guy, she still had fun with his frozen form. 

Zhen Shan, the last frozen person, stood in the corner of room with her legs together and both hands on her hips. She was completely naked but judging by the whimsically smiling expression that adorned her face it looked like she did not give a care in the world. Of course she didn’t, as she was heavily overdosed on Type-7 as were Rajni and the other three. All four were in a near-eternal state of suspended animation, having become effectively living waxworks. “I got an outfit for you Zhen,” Kioni said to the frozen woman, holding up the package. “Let’s get you dressed up.”  As she passed the sofa, she looked over at the two frozen men in the room. “Afterwards, I think I’ll relax a little, what do you two say to that?” she asked the unhearing men with a giggle.

            As Kioni opened the package, pulling out a red Chinese-style dress, she began to hum to herself, the wheels in her head turning. The world would be safer with these criminals in her secret jail rather than on the loose, no one was getting killed, and Kioni could do whatever she wanted with her prisoners. In the end, she figured it was win-win for everyone.

            The waxwork-still captives had nothing whatsoever to say in the matter.

THE END

CAST

Kioni Abasi - Zoe Saldana

Cassandra Flick - Emily Deschanel

Nessa Kelly - Olivia Wilde

Anna Federov - Sasha Alexander

Yelena Nikitin - Adrianne Palicki

Zhen Shan - Zhang Ziyi

Rajni Arora - Aishwarya Rai

Rhys Adams - Mark Sheppard

Delora Butler - Jaime Murray

Mike Bailey- Shawn Ashmore

Barry Finnegan- Jonah Hill