So after a three month hiatus, I’ve finally returned to writing this damn chapter. Complain all you like in the comments, and jog your memory in case you’ve forgotten what’s been happening in this story.

Austin State Hospital, Austin, TX, United States of America
10:11 – 19 February 2021

“Come back! Come back!” yelled Justin while frantically waving his arms at the departing helicopter.

“I don’t think that chopper’s coming back,” informed Lawrence as he checked the scattered guns on the floor for ammunition and a working laser sight.

“Oh, fancy meeting you here,” cried a mysterious voice from the door leading to the roof. The pair looked at the source to see two women in the doorway. The taller one wielded two assault rifles akimbo, while the smaller one carried a minigun that looked far too large and heavy for her.

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So here are chapters 7 and 8 in non-encrypted form along with chapter 9.

Chapter 7

Volkner Pharmaceuticals, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Germany
01:23 – 18 February 2021

A year with Rajan had made Jason grown accustomed to having the fairly useless and cowardly handler by his side, and he did feel slightly naked without the annoying voice of Rajan in his ear as he entered the ventilation shaft.

But Rajan was still too much of a liability on this mission. After being denied again an interview with Nicole Volkner, Jason had staked out the Volkner offices since the morning. He’d gotten Madeline to keep Rajan busy, and while Jason didn’t know the exact details, Rajan’s job had involved one of Madeline’s fencing rivals. Jason was certain he’d heard the name of the rival before, but he couldn’t place it.

Anyway, now was not the time for idle thoughts. Jason once again unscrewed the tar-flavoured cola bottle and got out another tar-flavoured toffee, then combined the two on top of a padlocked chain. In seconds the unusual mix of ingredients ate away the chain, leaving Jason free to crawl out of the vent into one of the pharmaceutical labs.

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Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany
14:03 – 16 February 2021

Originally built as a gym for Germany’s bid for the 2000 Olympics, the Max-Schmeling-Halle has become a multi-functional gym and arena. While typically used to hold boxing and European handball events, today the arena was holding a much more thrilling, dangerous and somewhat sexy sport.

When the ability to generate ‘antigravitons’ (or more specifically, gravitons able to neutralise the Earth’s graviton emissions) was finalised in 2019, many people attempted to combine zero-gravity situations to normal everyday sports. Zero gravity basketball did not catch on, as it was impossible for players to dribble continuously in the arena. Zero gravity polo only resulted in a lot of sick horses. Zero gravity wrestling negated many of the signature smackdown moves of wrestlers.

Eventually the list was whittled down to a few sports. Zero gravity woman’s volleyball was unusually popular, despite the many flaws of that sport. Zero gravity rhythmic gymnastics lifted the artistic sport into new realms. Zero gravity table tennis became a new staple on the television.

And zero gravity fencing became the new combat sport of champions.

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Express Cargo Flight XX, HKG-BER
18:43 – 15 February 2021

“Why couldn’t we just take a normal flight?” asked Rajan as he awkwardly sat on a strapped-down bundle of average sized metal cargo boxes.

“I already told you, General Cheung will be monitoring all traffic from Hong Kong,” replied Jason for the umpteenth time.

The pair had managed to sneak through airport security, reached this large plane on the runway and snuck aboard. Officially they were stowaways, but the crew were well paid to take no heed of them.

“Man, when I signed up for this I didn’t think I’d be running from the damn US Army,” complained Rajan as he took a bite out of his freeze dried dinner packet. Thankfully after the incident eight months ago the quartermaster had ordered a large number of vegetarian rations. When they were equipping themselves for the trip the quartermaster had looked warily at Jason and rubbed his buttock unconsciously.

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Stanley Prison, Stanley, HK (AFR I)
00:00 – February 15, 2021

Using the tracker implanted into every UN employee for situations not unlike this one, Jason and Rajan managed to track Stephanie to the maximum security Stanley Prison. This was unsurprising to Jason, as General Cheung had always been a bit predictable. However this did not make his task any easier.

Four years previous, the Correctional Services Department approached Waiyin Security (a subsidiary of Waiyin Miltary) and asked them to futurise the prison after the embarrassing escape of the infamous British smuggler only known to the public as Mr Cheap. After two years of renovations Stanley Prison became virtually impregnable. Surrounding the prison was a cordon of three steel fences: two steel plate fences with one electrified mesh fence in between. Between the fences was an overlapping grid of heat sensors and a number of pressure pads. At each of the perimeter guard towers were four mounted guns capable of automatically firing forty tranquiliser darts per minute with frightening accuracy. Just outside the prison was a building which housed ten Unmanned Aerial Rotorcraft with a full arsenal of ‘Physihack’ weapons, which could short out the electronics or crash the internal computers of any vehicle they hit. Underground a team of autonomous robots, called ‘Moles’, roamed a series of small tunnels, ready to alert security at the slightest hint of a vibration.

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Waiyin Dynamic Research and Development, Floor 58, Sin Central Plaza, HK (AFR I)
20:02 – February 14, 2021

Despite being the scene of the crime, the offices of Waiyin Dynamic were devoid of the usual police tape and plastic tags indicating evidence. That was because the offices did not officially exist, and attempts by the Hong Kong police to find the scene of the crime were met with frustration and blueprints of floor 58 being tossed at hapless police trainees.

However it was not spared the stylish gaze of Hans Gurber, who in the short time between the meeting and Jason’s entrance into the office had put up some patriotic bunting around the place. Namely, Germanic bunting. The coat of arms of Germany, a proud eagle, looked proudly down on Jason and Rajan. It was a far cry from the Gundams and Nerdoroids that the deceased Hans had placed on shelves around the office walls.

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UNAPR Head Office, Floor 68, Sin Central Plaza, HK (AFR I)
18:23 – 28 February 14, 2021

Eileen had just finished setting up the webcam link to Kimberthy in the conference room when there was a knock at the door. Eileen, expecting Air Chief Marshall Lee, Agent 777 and the rest of the team, was rudely hit in the face by the solid teak door when James Sin, CEO of Waiyin Enterprises, barged in with a mysterious man by his side.

“Kimberthy! I’ve found a replacement for Hans!” exclaimed James, “His name is also Hans! Hans Gurber! He’s half-French, half-German and so cute!” At which point he wrapped his arms around this ‘Hans’. The man jumped away from James in an instant.

“Sacrebleu! Get your filthy hands off me, you dirty pig!” shouted Hans.

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Foreword

Originally I planned to write a short interim story involving treasure hunter John Wang and/or a sequel to the story of Morgamad Erorma. But the ideas I had for both didn’t work out on paper (figuratively speaking). So instead it’s straight to the sequel to In the People’s Secret Service, You Only Die Twice.

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