Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction ❯ Falling ❯ Knocking on Forbidden Doors ( Chapter 8 )

All I ever wanted was days out by the sun,

To watch the world go by and take each day as it comes.

All I ever wanted, a chance to catch my breath,

To see the world go by and lay my ghost to rest.

Dirty Vegas - “Ghosts”

 

The setting sun cast long shadows over North America as evening reigned in Kansas. The plane trip had been long but quiet from Japan to America as the two Americans and their Japanese companion returned to Salina. All were glad to be done with the journey, but no one was eager to deal with what was coming the following day - Father Juliano's briefing. The three would be among the rest of the RFO-7 team participating in the briefing, but would not have the luxury of catching up on sleep lost to jet-lag. Instead, they would have to rely on whatever sleep they could glean, but only after they took care of their first priority - debriefing Julia and the rest of the office.

 

No one at RFO-7 office had been made aware of the particulars of what had gone on in Japan. All they had been told was that Father Juliano would be briefing the team in the morning on a matter of importance, and that it likely tied in to what the team had been doing in Japan. This was all that Julia could ascertain about the situation; the particulars of the debriefing that Anne, John, and Karasuma were about to give would likely come as a surprise to everyone including her.

 

The briefing was set to begin as soon as the three had returned. Looking tired and weary from their journey Anne, John, and Karasuma made their way into the conference room where all were assembled. It was late in the evening, well after everyone's “dinner-times”, and Julia had ordered pizza in anticipation of the appetites that this late meeting would likely incur. The pizzas, in their boxes and delivered fresh from a local pizzeria, were sitting in the center of the table. As soon as introductions were made, everyone took a slice or two of pizza for themselves, and Julia took her spot at the head of the table.

 

“First of all, welcome back,” she said by way of greeting to the three, then abruptly shifted gears. “Let's get down to business. This station, as of twenty-four hours ago, has been placed on “Inactive” status until the conclusion of tomorrow's briefing with Father Colegui. He placed us on this status, which suggests that he has an important mission for us. Tomorrow's briefing will be at 0900 sharp, so get whatever rest you can tonight. I don't know what all this is about, but I get the feeling that we'll all know soon enough. Any questions?”

 

Heads shook in the following silence and Julia half-turned toward where the three sat. “Since tomorrow's briefing may have something to do with the recent mission we undertook with regards to STN-J, I'd like now to take the time to debrief Anne and John, who have brought with them a member of STN-J along for oversight and to provide, I suspect, her own insights.” A curt nod and the teeth pulling of the session started.

 

An hour was all that was needed to share the story, from beginning to end, with the remaining members of RFO-7. There was a surprising lack of reaction when the three stopped speaking and sat down, awaiting questions and comments from the rest of the group. A scan of the faces of their colleagues revealed that most were not showing their reactions to the news. It took a full minute for the debriefing to digest before the first question was asked by Julia.

 

“If you were aware of all this for almost a day, why was there no effort made to contact Chief Kosaka or myself?

 

Anne nodded from her seat at the table. “We felt that there wasn't much of a chance to attempt contact with anyone. We had been ordered to turn off our communicators by a group that seemed hostile. It seemed best to follow their instructions and hope that they would, perhaps, better compromise with us later on.”

 

“What about your ground support? Didn't this “Michael” become suspicious when you stopped responding?”

 

Taking a deep breath, Anne composed herself before answering. “Michael had no way of knowing that there was a problem because Karasuma and Hanako were covering for the team. At about the same time, STN-J's computer mainframe was hacked by an unknown party which resulted in a disruption of communications as well as a temporary shutdown of the mainframe until Michael could control the damage.” Anne kept a straight face, refusing to betray the secret she was now harboring. Michael was STN-J's proverbial “ace in the hole”, and she wanted to keep his innocence out in the open as long as possible until he was truly needed.

 

“Did you bring back the guns that the unknown assailant used?” This question came from across the table, where a slender young woman with short brown hair and glasses sat, listening attentively. Jane French was the team's occult expert, and one of the younger members.

 

Anne and John had been anticipating the question. “No, they were left to STN-J to investigate. I can get you access to all their data, though,” John replied, leaning back in his chair and stifling a yawn. “From what we know, though, they were warded MPG-5s, with specially-warded “anti-witch” 5mm bullets. The wardings were designed to neutralize any Craft-users' shields, and they were fragmentary as well, to cause the most harm.”

 

“Sounds like a fairly rare weapon. I'm sure the database can track them down for me,” Jane commented with a chuckle. “I have yet to meet a weapon I couldn't eventually identify.”

 

“What about the mystery hunter himself?” Ben asked from where he was sitting, his laptop already out and open as he hastily made notes. “Is there any way to conclusively identify him?”

 

John translated the question for Karasuma, as this fell under STN-J's jurisdiction and the two Americans did not want to have to respond to all the questions by themselves. She pondered this for a moment and then replied in Japanese, which was translated to Ben by John.

 

“The hunter in question left no real identification whatsoever. There was no blood from which to obtain DNA, nor fingerprints at the scene. The best we have to work with is eyewitness accounts. Even if we had a name or other means of identification, if he is Solomon then we cannot easily learn of his existence since they closely guard their hunters.”

 

“As we learned so readily with Hanako,” Anne muttered to herself from where she sat before turning to Ben. “I think, though, that if you're going to find anything you'll have to backtrack through Solomon's e-mail server and see if there have been any anomalous e-mails sent out lately to anyone in Japan.” A long shot, she didn't add, but then again Ben simply wanted to keep as busy as he could helping them out. “If that doesn't work, I suggest you find and get pictures of all American or European males matching the basic description we've given who entered the country starting a week ago and haven't left yet.”

“Haven't left?” Julia asked, echoing the question.

 

Anne turned slowly in her chair, her good hand holding her shoulder. “I don't think his mission there is complete. And I think he may have botched it up by firing on me. No matter how you look at it, it's still safe to assume that he is in the area.”

 

“This may very well be true,” replied the final staff member from where he sat. Sam Gordon, John's twin, listened to the conversation and inclined his head. Though well traveled and knowledgeable in people, places, and languages, he did not have the “ear” his brother did; his insight was used to provide information on targets, almost like a psychological profiler at the FBI would do. “If this hunter has, indeed, violated his standing orders in some unknown way, I think that he may not be allowed to leave until either his true objective is accomplished or he has sufficiently atoned for his mistake to his superiors.”

 

The rest of the table pondered this for a moment but the connotation was obvious enough. “I wonder if Robin and Amon are his target?” Anne thought out loud, but that seemed to be quite obvious by now. She turned her attention back to the table where more questions were already being asked of John and Karasuma.

 

The questions seemed to dwindle after a few more were asked; clearly everyone was satisfied with the answers being given. Sensing the lull, Julia looked up from the notes she had made while the three gave their debriefing. “While conjecture is a nice and necessary part of this office, it is not relevant to the matter at hand. STN-J will, I am sure, handle that possibility if it arises. For now, it is beyond our jurisdiction.” She nodded to Karasuma. “No offense intended, Agent Karasuma.”

 

“None taken.”

 

“However, what is important right now is this debriefing. Under the circumstances, I am inclined to believe that there is more that could have been done by both of you,” Julia continued coolly, fixing the two agents with a stare that reflected her cold demeanor right now. “While I agree that the two of you were given a series of highly unusual circumstances, you are supposed to be two of the best agents from STN-A, and as representatives of our agency, you are trained to react to most circumstances that come your way, even the compromising of this very office. That you were not able to react better to the circumstances as they presented themselves is disappointing.”

 

Julia paused to let the words sink in, observing the lack of reactions the two showed. Anne's head was bowed slightly, but she remained calm as the waves on a lake in the middle of a perfect summer's day. John faced Julia impassively, hands folded on the table as if resigned to accept his fate.

 

“But I also know that, sometimes, the parameters of the mission change unexpectedly, and you can only do so much with your resources. If an entire STN is corrupted or no longer operating as a cohesive unit, especially one you are supposed to work with, then the circumstances become such that two people alone cannot necessarily handle the task. What happened with Robin and Amon was completely unexpected, and the unknown hunter who shot at you was even more unexpected. With Father Juliano arriving tomorrow for his briefing, I cannot say one way or the other what grade to give you for your assignment. Tomorrow will tell.”

 

---***---***---

 

Dawn broke over the flatlands of Kansas cloudy and cool, a stark change from the warm spring weather that the area had recently enjoyed. Soft red light filtered from the cloudy horizon as the town of Salina as its inhabitants continued on their daily routines. The sagely residents who stopped at Salina's five-and-dime chattered about the chances of rain and hoped it would not cause any damage to their crops. The day did not begin normally for those at Solomon Electronics, however. The team filed into the briefing room, where Julia waited with an older man wearing a cloak and top-hat. Sunglasses obscured his eyes but the Catholic pendant he wore combined with the Roman collar identified him to everyone as both a highly-respected hunter and a member of the church. Father Juliano Colegui looked impressive as he always did, a silent man whose face was worn with lines of not just age but worry. He gave a polite nod as Karasuma entered the room accompanied by John and Anne. The Japanese hunter recognized him immediately and bowed politely before taking her seat at the table between her two escorts.

 

“Good morning,” Julia began as the clock on the wall read 9:00 A.M. “This is Father Colegui, who has come here from Solomon headquarters to brief us this morning.” Her introduction was to the point. She did not know why Father Juliano had come, and was just as curious to hear him out as the rest of the team was. Taking her seat at the head of the table, Julia waited for the veteran hunter to begin.

 

“Good morning, everyone,” the priest began as he slowly removed his hat and sunglasses from their perches to set them down on the table in front of him. “For hundreds of years, it has been Solomon's duty to seek out and destroy witches and protect the innocent. Through the STNs, the task has been made easier and we can now monitor witches worldwide. The use of special hunters, such as yourselves, to neutralize those who show the threat of being a risk has greatly reduced both our necessity for manpower and allayed any fears of witches becoming more of a threat than they are presently. For the first time in our history, Solomon has managed to keep witches in check across the globe.”

 

“Yet times have changed, and Solomon must change with time if it wishes to remain as powerful as it is today. There are some who believe in the ages-old theory that Craft-users in Solomon are not to be trusted. Zaizen was one of these, and pushed a chemical known as `Orbo'.” Juliano nodded in the direction of Karasuma. “As you all should be aware, Orbo was really the distilled “essence” of witches, and its collection was less humane than killing them outright. What was perhaps worst of all was that it was being collected under the guise of a “humanitarian hunt”, which the members of STN-J were participating in without knowledge of what the true situation was. But, I digress.”

 

Managing a faraway smile that seemed to suggest he was thinking of the past, the elder hunter and priest continued. “There are those at Solomon who still believe that such a product is feasible, and the need for Craft-based hunters such as some of you a relic of the past. These purists feel that the use of the Craft in any form pollutes Solomon's true intent. Others at Solomon feel that, especially in today's society, Craft users can be properly “rehabilitated” and can fit in with everyone else without ever having the need to rely on their Craft for their own benefit. All can agree, however, that mankind is not ready for the revelation of the Craft. To show man that he is actually the inferior of the two species would promote chaos and pandemonium that this world has not seen since 1939.”

 

Again, Juliano paused to take a breath and a sip of water from a glass sitting on the table in front of him. His gaze was more focused this time, as if he had found some focus that was previously missing, and it passed over each member of RFO-7. Their gazes instinctively found his, and all for a moment shared the focused intensity his next words produced. “I have worked as a member of Solomon for more years than I can count. I have existed within this organization longer than any of you have lived, and it is likely I will continue to do so until I am quite old. I was a young priest when the Pope instituted the Vatican-II protocols and “revolutionized” the church. Solomon's mission did not change then, and today it remains constant. I sense that the time is coming, though, when Solomon must accept and embrace the change that is on the horizon.”

 

His next words caught the entire briefing room off guard. “You are no doubt aware of the attack on my granddaughter, Robin, and your own members only a few nights ago. What I am about to tell you is classified to almost all of Solomon. There are only a handful, yourselves included, who have knowledge of this. The hunter who fired at you,” he nodded in the direction of Anne, who had sat silently through his entire speech so far, laptop on the table in front of her, “Is a special hunter under the control of Solomon. His purpose, his intent, is to eliminate any possibility whatsoever of change happening within Solomon. His true target was my granddaughter, but you and your companions from STN-J foiled his mission. It is likely he will strike again.”

 

“Your orders, then, are to assemble a team, return to Japan, and either capture or eliminate this hunter. For this mission you will be accountable only to me. This mission has been cleared with the upper levels of Solomon, but the orders themselves are classified. During this mission, your team will be placed on “Vacation” status until your objective is completed. You will have the full cooperation of STN-J personnel for this assignment. I will be briefing them tomorrow.”

 

“Know this, then: Your mission is a voluntary mission; you must decide whether or not to accept it. I cannot force you, and I will not force you to make a decision. I will allow you a chance to question me, and my motives, and decide for yourselves what course of action to take.”

 

Folding his hands in front of him, Juliano took a step back from the table and swept the room with his focused gaze again. All sat silent, stunned, only their professionalism preventing the range of emotions they were feeling from showing on the surface. Anne's hands were poised mid-air, hovering over her keyboard, where they had been when Juliano delivered his “orders”. Karasuma, receiving translation from John, was wide-eyed and sitting bolt upright in her chair. Julia, sitting next to the spot where Juliano had been speaking, looked no different. Slowly, the table seemed to come alive again as the team finally understood what had just been said. They looked at one another, the emotions they were feeling visible in their eyes only. As the team began to awaken from their surprise, Father Juliano Colegui took his seat and waited for the inevitable deluge of questions to begin.