Aftermath (part one)

Dec knew the job wasn’t done. Like any good rescue mission, after the hostages were freed, the next phase began. He checked the snatch team’s bodies for knives to free Sheep and Res from their nylon handcuffs. He removed Sheep’s head covering and told him, “This is gonna hurt. Your beard may suffer a little. Just curl your toes for a second.”, as he ripped the duct tape off in one quick motion. “OOOOWWWwww, jeez,” Sheep yelled after spitting out the gag, “is that your idea of a warning?”

Dec replied, curtly, “yeah, you’re welcome. I roasted a quad to get here. I should still be at the bar throwing back tall boys. So pardon me if I’m rushing things. I’ve been rushing for the past ten minutes. You clowns almost got yourselves killed. We’ll go over the details later. Got a few more tasks.” Dec went to the bathroom and retrieved a cool, wet washcloth, and began cleaning Res up, as best he could. “I warned you Res…I warned you”, Dec murmured as he wiped the blood off her face. “Sheep, make yourself useful. You got any frozen peas or whatever in the fridge?”, he asked. Sheep walked over to the freezer and surveyed the situation. No peas, but a bag of frozen dumplings would have to work. “Here, use this”, Sheep said, tossing the bag to Dec, still on the floor with Res. Dec applied the frozen dumpling bag to Res’s bruised cheek, hoping to bring the swelling down. Nasty hits she must have taken, real tough guys to beat up a girl. “Sheep, close that door and don’t open it for anyone. I don’t care if Jesus Christ himself knocks, you tell him you’re going to hell.”, Dec barked, and Sheep complied. “C’mere, hold this on her cheek. Roll it around a little… if it’s freezing your hand, it’s freezing her face. I need to make sure these guys were alone, and mop up this mess.”, Dec said.

Dec secured Jackson and taped him to a kitchen chair with the crew’s own duct tape. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The magnets that nailed his shoulder did a lot of muscle damage, but he wasn’t bleeding profusely. Dec found a first aid kit in the bathroom, and made an effort to bandage the shoulder. He was lucky Dec didn’t have time to aim better, it could have been much worse than this. He got off lightly and was still passed out from the tackle. Dec wasn’t taking any liberties though, and placed one of the hostage hoods over his head. Done and done. While Jackson and Res were knocked out and Sheep was busy, it was time to check in.

He opened his comms and hit the dialer button three times. A direct call to his team lead. After a few seconds, the lead picked up. “Hello? Dec, what did you do now?”, the Lead said. Dec had a habit of calling only when things had gone sideways, so the Lead always expected the worst. “It’s half of what I did, and half of what some snatch and grab crew was about to do to some of our Splicer analysts. I need a disposal unit and a Mr. Clean sent over to an address. You ready?”, Dec asked, waiting for confirmation before giving his lead the address and coordinates. “Send a heavy quad tow also. I burnt mine on the way over, and this crew’s van needs to relocate. Anything on the wire about this yet?”
“Nope, looks clear so far. Sounds like you stumbled into something not very public. Are the Splicer assets secure?”, the Lead asked. “Yes sir. Probably seen better days but they’re alive and as safe as they can be with me here. We might be on a short leash though… someone is going to expect this crew to check in soon, and I got one left breathing. The other two chose poorly. I got no way to exfil at this point so we’ll need a lift out of here soon. Three of us plus one of this crew.”, Dec said.
 
It felt like wartime, and he was talking like wartime, asking for an evac after the mission was complete. It had been a mission, and a successful one, thanks to 15, Dec’s terminator arm, and a handful of magnets from the Moderns. He knew what the other outcomes would have been. He was more impressed that the Archer unit arrived on schedule and nailed the last target. Their organization was very effective, if it had enough info. Mr. Clean was their code word for a forensic cleanup crew that would show up and make it look like nothing ever happened. They’d even replace the glass in the window. Although, Sheepdog wouldn’t be able to come home for a while, and if anyone captured video of Res at this address, neither could she. “One last request,” Dec added, “we’ll need a secure third-party location for the Splicer assets. They can’t stay here and one of them can’t come back here until we’ve done some homework.”

“Copy that. When evac gets there, tell them you’re going to 242 as the destination. I’ll meet you there. We’ll debrief in an hour”, the Lead replied. Now the wheels were set in motion. Splicer was well equipped for situations like this; it was part and parcel of the security service it sold.