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The Mercenary _is the first arc of The Underground series

Chapter 8 of 32_

Simple Negotiation

"Where did you dump the body?"

Atir stood in front of the marble desk, which the powerful stallion presided behind as rain streamed down the glass windows behind him. "The pier. It won't take long for them to find her that way."

Hets swiveled around in his chair. "Good. Did you get anything else useful out of her?"

"Well," Atir hesitated, "nothing exactly useful in the traditional sense."

Hets leaned back pensively. "Hmm, yes I see." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I have decided to go ahead with the Failsafe."

Atir looked up, shocked. "Sir?"

"Oh come now, Atir." Hets replied, calmly. "You weren't surprised were you?" Laughing Hets stood up and walked around his desk. "After all, there are plenty of mercenaries for hire. Our friend, Mr. Alias, was one of many."

"May I ask why, sir?" Atir asked subordinately.

"I'm a business man." Hets explained in a simple manner. "Everything I do here, all of this, is in the interest of having the companies under me flourish. The only question is who gets rich, and who gets killed. Personally, I prefer rich." Walking over to a mirror, which hung closer to the large wooden double doors, Hets tightened and straightened his tie under his black suit. "Alias, as good of a mercenary as he was, had a weakness. As a businessman, it was my obligation, to evaluate how this would affect me and if it would make him a liability." He said turning around to face Atir again. "Alias has no allegiances, save his own interests, he has no family, no public image to worry about, nothing to keep him straight, or help us keep him straight."

Atir's brow furrowed. "So, he's going to be executed off a hunch?"

"Not a hunch." Hets rebuked. "Knowledge of the past. Come now, Atir. How long do you think it would be before Alias was offered a handsome sum to give up the gravy on myself and this whole operation here at the Lazarus Institute?" The stallion walked over to Atir and clasped his hand down on his shoulder. "Alias served his purpose, but he is a risk I cannot afford to take any longer."

"But, sir, don't you worry about his potential?" Atir asked, concerned.

"Potential?"

"His skills, sir." Atir clarified. "I've seen him in action before. Sir, he's good...too good. I've honestly never seen anything like it before, it's like he knows the plays before they go into motion."

"Well then, Atir," Hets replied, "we can only hope that Alias doesn't realize he's walking into a setup."

Atir nodded in silence, looking down to the floor.

"As I would love to discuss business strategy all day, I am afraid work must intrude. Here is the new target. We need to move quickly." Hets informed Atir, handing him a manila envelope.

"How quickly, sir?" Atir asked.

"Tonight."

Atir looked confused. "Sir?"

"This one's father is a wealthy CEO of competing companies. Lately there have been some medical breakthroughs that could either put me well beyond the black, or into the red. All depending on if I get them." Hets returned to his seat. "Now, this information is nothing one can simply steal from a vault. The scientists who developed it, the data collected, the test subjects, the final product: I want it all. And our friend here is going to help us get it."

"Extortion." Atir confirmed nodding his head.

"Precisely, either he gives what he knows to us, or his daughter can die a rather painful death. And say perhaps the story gets leaked to the press, that dear old dad would not help his own daughter, that could be bad for business." Hets chuckled slightly at his own sarcasm. "I've been having her followed for weeks. As it is Friday, judging by her normal weekend activities, she should be dancing the evening away at Club Xero by now."

"You want a public grab, sir?" Atir asked.

Hets shrugged. "The manner in which this operation is completed is in your jurisdiction." Hets's eyes narrowed. "Just remember, Atir, if you or anyone of your crew is caught, you will not make it to testify."

Atir swallowed hard. "I understand..."

"Excellent!" Hets replied clasping his paws together. "Now, go take a lovely young vixen out for a night on the town."

The black figure sat on one knee, feeling the rain soaking his body outside the window. The two inside the office were completely unaware that he had been sitting outside, under their very noses, while they chatted. He could have killed them both in the blink of an eye, and had half a mind to.

Cold, wet, and highly pissed off; Alias watched the conversation go down between Hets and Atir. It had taken him nearly an hour to clear the building where he had been used for target practice, and almost deep-fried.

Whatever special ops had attacked Alias were all over the building in minutes. The elevator shaft was systematically locked down, and the special ops were sweeping the stairs. The way Alias saw it, he had two options: A) Start world war three while going down the stairs, or B) get to the bottom of this and figure out why Hets had sought to kill him.

Climbing carefully down the elevator shaft, nearly forty stories, Alias came to the basement. Crawling along the shadows of the industrial setting, Alias came across two guards at the east exit, a rabbit and a rat. The shadow fox was upon them before they could react.

Delivering a crippling kick to the rat's solar plexus, the rabbit reached gripping his automatic gun, aimed it at Alias, who in turn, grabbed the barrel of the gun and easily twisted it in a clockwise motion. The rabbits paws could not bend in the direction Alias turned the gun, forcing him to let go. Spinning around in an elegant blur Alias drove the stock of the submachine gun into the rat's temple, sending the rodent sprawling onto the concrete floor. The rabbit meanwhile, swung at Alias who dodged nimbly. The rabbit swung extremely fast, and began to panic when his fists could not connect with Alias. Alias grabbed the rabbit's paw, spun around, and flipped the hare over his shoulder into the brick wall of the hallway. The rabbit slammed into the wall with a disgusting crunch, then slid to the floor like a broken doll. Alias looked back to the rat, who was reaching for his side arm. Alias delivered a swift kick to the rat's nose. His head whiplashed back into unconsciousness.

Alias knew that killing Hets wouldn't stop the countless mercenaries who were sent to see him disposed of. Instead there must be something Alias could do, or acquire that could be used as a bargaining chip, something Hets wanted more than Alias. So the fox wasted no time in scaling the high-rise tower where Hets conducted business. It had been rather treacherous climb. The combination of the wind, rain, and slickness of the brick used during construction made Alias's climb something of a sport. However, his paws finally gripped the landings where Het's office windows were. Then he waited.

Alias was tempted several times to burst through the glass and send several lead bullets into Hets. He could feel the surge of energy as the explosions from each of his pistols erupted. He could taste the satisfaction he would have in killing the bastard who set him up over money. Alias did have a weakness when it came to cash, but he wasn't a liar, or a sellout for that matter. Even Atir knew, so he too would be after him when Hets discovered that none of the bodies recovered on the fortieth floor was Alias.

Alias watched as Atir walked away, ready to go find this mystery vixen. What Atir didn't know was that Alias was going to be a Club Xero also. Hets had handed Alias is bargaining chip. If Hets wanted to play business, Alias could dance to that.

Alias turned and stood looking down at the lights of the city, obscured by the rain. It was a simple negotiation. Alias would bag whoever this was, and trade her for his own safety. If Hets truly wanted this medical stuff, then he would work with Alias. Hets could offer him enough money to start a life far from here and never be seen again. Just as Alias hoped for. This time, Alias would select the beat, and Hets would dance.