Stolen Heart

"The Future is Male Again..."

The hijacked Aerojet's cameras picked up the tag on the side of the building. The pilot responsible for hotwiring the wayward aircraft chuckled at the irony of the reverse message. Katina Bryson had lived to see the day when women were treated as superior to men (and only slightly beneath machines); but at what cost to civil relations...?

A finger tapped Katina on a shoulder and the experienced pilot pivoted her head in hopes of facing Sandra Simons in search of a brief talk during flight. She faced Casey Pope, her determined lieutenant commander, instead.

"Look sharp; we're nearing Silvermein's office." she lightly chided her. "By the way, you're our very best pilot; try to ease off on precision flight..."

With that, a rare smile found Casey's lips.

"...we all know that the men on Silvermein's payroll can't match your aeronautics maneuvers; especially not the goons that he feels free to rent out to his son." she added with a wink.

"Right-O, Lieutenant." Katina answered in broken up English. "Please for you and the others to strap back in for the journey."

"Point taken." Casey answered, crawling across the cockpit and situating herself in between Jade Mathews and Marque Forrester and across from Sandra Simmons, Jessica Kyle, and Sarah Russo again. "Check your restraints one final time, ladies. And check the ammo on your weapons too. This isn't about to be a drill..."

Jade flexed her right wrist just enough that a mechanical barrel emerged from a gauntlet. Before the other passengers could react, however, Casey put a hand over the barrel.

"The concealed flamethrower looks promising to function." she declared. "Have you your sword as well?"

The announcement was clear that Jade needn't demonstrate her weaponry. She did, however, at least reach back with her dominant left hand to produce the Electric Katana that her mother had gifted to her. Jessica was seated across from Jade at the time and had sensed a challenge for them all when she had coyly exposed the flamethrower in midair. Not to be outdone in a challenge, Jessica clapped her palms together, then spread her hands apart to reveal a pair of electrically-charged discs in her palms. Sandra, in turn, elbowed her. Casey could only shake her head.

"Forget checking the weapons in flight; we're all good." she mumbled.

Jade and Jessica exchanged a glare, and a friendly smile, across the cockpit. Marque, the youngest and tiniest, shrugged innocently and managed to jostle her backpack of Exploding Kunais...

===========================

Former president, the late Wilma Tamaran, had taken the idea of "Gender Equality" and accelerated it into a reshaped "Gender Superiority." Her policies hadn't been about promoting female pride; they had been explicitly about preaching the inferiority of males. Coupled with the rise of machinery and technology, President Tamaran's vision was discovered in a new gender war where women preached the inferiority of men and the men, bitterly, strove to fight back for their former place in society.

It had seemed that no one would stand up to President Tamaran's policies. Conrad Silvermein was rich, powerful, successful, and conniving enough to do so. In a world where men were now treated with disdain, Silvermein went back to an antiquated policy and only hired men. Men could work again for a successful mogul; and, in return for a place in society that past men had held for so long, who cared that the millionaire successful media and industry mogul was an international conman at best; and, reasonably possibly, a murderer at worst? Conrad Silvermein was rich and powerful enough that he kept his hands clean of his actual atrocious acts that lemmings in search of an honest job could do for him. As for his latest undertaking, the theft of a certain important heart locket from the underground militant marine unit, was it or was it not his son who now safeguarded the article? Damien Silvermein had access to enough of the senior's guards to successfully ward off a strike. Besides, it wasn't as though even Damien was smart enough to know what the electronic heart locket in his possession stored in its pendant...

============================

Damien Silvermein sat in the penthouse of one of his father's old safehouses. He was to safeguard it while the father was at one of his many beachfront villas "doing business." Damien had nothing to do from his lonely penthouse but to inspect a pilfered heart locket. All that the courier had said was that it had been taken from the underground military movement. That was enough for Damien to know that the article had belonged to the enemy. Besides, he knew of one lieutenant commander who could possibly have owned the locket; and he smirked smugly at the memory of her.

A nearby alarm buzzed as an automated search light scanned the skies. For a moment, Damien removed his Glock from his pocket and rose from his desk chair. Then he remembered something else: Damien was no longer a police officer; he was the heir to his father's empire! His father had sent guards to assist with this messiness! He clicked a button on his desk to signal the guards at the door and settled back into his office chair, twirling the prized heart locket absently on his finger...

The door guards had received the signal and they glanced up at the oncoming ship. Daniels reached for his two-way radio to contact the oncoming Aerojet while Simms checked his mind's built-in computer.

"Forget it; the plates check out." Simms declared, settling a hand on Daniels's shoulder. "That's our ship."

Daniels stifled a yawn and hung the radio from his belt again.

"Princey's getting a bit jumpy, isn't he?" he sneered.

"Ha; yeah; he's his old man's son alright!" Simms spat, striking a cigarette before offering the lighter to Daniels next.

"Hm; wonder why the pilot didn't radio in, though?" Daniels added, ignoring the proffered lighter and scratching his chin. "And he's flying too smoothly too..."

"There you go now; paranoia all around!" Simms snorted as the Aerojet landed safely and smoothly right outside of the electric fence. "It's laughable from the old man; it's almost charming from the heir. You're a young guard and out of the family; paranoia is just stupid!"

With that, he snatched the radio from the younger guardsman.

"Welcome home; we're lowering the shield around the fence." Simms barked. "Debrief at the guard hou...HUH?!"

The side of the aerojet opened up; and two laser blasts flew out of the darkness and into the chests of the shocked guards.

"...Thankie kindly fer the invite, cuzzins." a voice declared as Sarah Russo stepped free of the ship and holstered her laser revolvers once more. "We happily accept."

"Fancy shooting, Tex." Jessica snorted as the other restraining harnesses electronically unsnapped and freed up the marine faction. "Marque, are you good for this, tiny?"

"I-I think so." Marque chirped back in a fraction of her usual pep and optimism. "Casey lost that locket, it's here, and you all need my 'Marque-Good-Luck' to get it back!"

"That's the spirit, little one!" Sandra answered in a distinct Irish accent.

From the shadows of Casey's other side, Jade huffed.

"It could also be said that your 'Marque-Brand-o-Luck' is why it was taken from you in the first place!" she spat.

Marque looked more downtrodden than before if that were possible. Casey raised her laser rifle from her lap and chose to step in.

"Which is why she ought to be here to help remedy that!" she insisted. "Marque, the guards are out of it; getting over the electric fence and turning off the electricity to it now that the shields around it are already down is your show. From there, I want you girls to cover the hallways; I'll rehash a few points with Damien."

Casey then glanced about the cabin and raised her rifle before loading up a laser cartridge.

"Lock n' load..." she began in hopes that Jade wouldn't let her down in finishing the call to arms.

After a beat, there came the sound of revolving machinery and Jade's flamethrower was exposed once more long enough for her to fit in a cartridge.

"...Rock n' roll!" her second-in-command and lifelong best friend added.

With that, the remaining rebel marines filed out of the pilfered Aerojet in single file behind Casey as they were always meant to. Sandra, the last person out of the ship, faced Katina.

"You're good?" she asked.

"I have my drone if things get too hairy." Katina answered, manipulating a handheld controller as evidence. "Miss Casey said that she wants a five minute window to be back onboard with the locket again before taking off."

"That's the order." Sandra answered, squeezing the much smaller woman on a shoulder. "If they find us out and things get rough out here, buck the Lieutenant Commander's call; I want you airborne to save yourself. I'm a passable pilot too, you know."

Katina beamed where she sat. Sandra still cared for her!

"I trained you to fly; and you're passable at it?" Katina quipped.

"Maybe I had other things on my mind during lessons!" Sandra sniped back with a hearty chuckle. "We'll talk about that more over Corned Beef and Cabbage."

Katina crinkled up her nose.

"You always pick the meal!" the pilot faux pouted.

"Show me where we can find some decent Lo Mein in the American heartland of this day and age either." Sandra scoffed. "Besides, you know the deal; I keep picking the cuisine and you get to pick the movie."

Katina grinned coyly once more. Suddenly, Marque peeked back into the ship.

"Girls?" she asked.

"Shoot; I'm on the clock here!" Sandra spat, turning around. "Remember; either in five minutes or at the first hint that you might be in danger, we want you out of here!"

Without a response, Sandra pecked Katina on the top of her head and fled the ship. Once she and Marque had assembled with the team again, Casey counted up heads once more.

"All present and accounted for?" she asked more than demanded as a hint of mirth detracted from her impatience.

"Yep; all here." Sandra answered apologetically as she and Jade knelt low with Marque standing up in between their shadows.

Casey nodded.

"Then, let's..." she began

Suddenly, something in the back of her cybernetic mind began to tick. A premonition! Daniels and Simms were starting to...

Suddenly, Sarah raised her twin six-shooters once more and fired two more stun lasers at them to conk them out once more.

"That'll keep'em down fer a tad longer." Sarah reflected. "However, the more often that I do that, and the longer that their heartrates unnaturally stall like that, the better chance that..."

A piercing wail suddenly filled the air. Jade cursed from her place low to the ground. Casey shook her head.

"...Now we've done it!" she muttered. "Marque, you're going airborne now. Land in that tree and stay to the branches until it's safe rather than aiming straight for the ground yet."

Marque bobbed her head in understanding and stepped in between Jade and Sandra. With that, the two bigger, stronger girls rose simultaneously and tossed Marque up and over the fence. With that, she did land in the branches and waited.

Sure enough, the doors to the building burst open and armed guards piled out. Marque almost let out a scream. However, she remembered and corrected herself at the last moment. Therefore, the guards only saw five of the rebels and one of Silvermein's own ships. Casey and the others wanted to make sure that that remained all that they saw. The lieutenant commander raised her laser assault rifle, Jade revealed her wrist-mounted flamethrower, Sarah raised her pistols, Jessica stretched her hands to reveal her electric palm-discs, and Sandra revealed her own sidearm. The guards saw the potential threat from the other side of the fence and began to charge. However, they got the message when the first three of the guards slammed into the (still active) electric fence. Sandra couldn't help but to wince at the sight of even an enemy in such pain. From her place aboard the ship, it was all that Katina could do to avoid giving herself away by laughing too loudly. With that, the other guards fell back and raised their weapons.

"Drat; they're getting smarter!" Jessica lamented. "It only took three of them to slam right into an active electric fence!"

"You all need Jesus." Sarah chided her.

"Hang on; this could work out in our favor." Casey answered. "Hold back for a second. Sandra, douse that searchlight."

Sandra nodded, raised her sidearm, and shot a grenade charge into the air.

"With any of our luck, that should take care of the exterior lights." Sandra declared.

"Yeah," Jade snorted, "and with Marque's luck..."

"...I choose not to think about that." Sandra interjected.

Sure enough, the grenade charge hit the searchlight at the same moment that the electric fence was shut off for the guards' benefit. With that, Silvermein's men came pouring out to prove that they had shut down their own electric fence.

"That was lucky." Casey declared, tapping rhythmically at her communicator patch and hoping that Marque had studied Morse Code. "You four keep them out here; Marque just got a new assignment. I'm going for broke up top."

Jade nodded abruptly and launched a searing mass of flame. Sure enough, the armed guardsmen came up short and were soon encased in a wall of flames. Casey was already beyond the back wall of fire and knew what to do. She sprinted for the safehouse, as confident as always in Jade's leadership in her absence...

Marque could see Casey heading for the building and she almost bounded out of the tree to go join her. However, she then remembered her new assignment and thrust some of her Exploding Kunais at the generator for the electric fence. If the guards had shut off the fence, it was now up to her to disable the power grid before it could come back up...

Casey was at the building's electronic doors when the explosions sounded and the power died with the doors one-quarter of the way open. Not only that but, with no electricity, now Damien was definitely on high alert; and not even he would have been so foolish as to not have any guards leftover!

"Dammit, Marque!" Casey grumbled to no one in particular before she remembered that the instructions had been hers; and, in her haste, she had forgotten to be specific about a timetable. There was no time left to argue the point and Casey threw her back up against the tree as windows began to be illuminated by flashlights, undoubtedly attached to rifles.

"Marque!" Casey hissed over the sounds of a battle still taking place far away.

Suddenly, Marque's tiny blonde bangs were hanging upside down inches away from Casey's face. As she recovered from the initial start, Casey had no choice but to shake her head in amazement. Only Marque could be so lucky as to be able to hang by her legs from a branch like that in the middle of a fire-fight without falling on her head!

"Did I do good?" she asked.

"Great, Marque; you did really fine." Casey reassured her. "Except...well, I need you to head for that air vent duct on the side of the building, take off the cover, and drop me a line. From there, well, I guess if we'd both already be in the building, what say that the both of us pay a courtesy call on Damien Silvermein?"

Marque grinned, nodded in excitement, and, amazingly, hoisted herself back up into not only an upright position on the branch but a standing one next. She then leapt across the skyline like a tiny, blonde sprite and clung to the air vent cover on the side of the building. With only her sneakers as support against the side of the building, Marque then ripped the vent cover off with impressive strength for her frame and she climbed inside before dropping a cable out.

"Good old Marque." Casey chuckled as she scaled the side of the building for herself and entered the ducting system...

***************************

Damien Silvermein wasn't scared of the dark; he was an ex-cop, the son of a business mogul, and running one of those offices, for gosh sakes! Abrupt power outages still made him feel jumpy.

The last thing that he had seen were the vigilante marines tangling with his guards. Then; nothing. No lights, no cameras, no alarms, no security devices, no electronic doors. The distinct exploding sound just BEFORE the full blackout was just too coincidental.

Silvermein Jr. clutched to the heart pendant and glanced about the dark office in a cold sweat. What would his father say to him upon returning to his penthouse office and hearing that a bunch of vigilante bimbos had been on his property and beating around his guards?

Without thinking it through, the son picked up a phone to try to call a pair of guards whose position was right outside of his office doors. Then, he took pause. The phones wouldn't work and the doors to enter the office were electronic. Besides, a pair of armed guards right outside of his office could hear through a door! Silvermein Jr. rose from his chair, cleared his throat, and adjusted his pressed suit for no one.

"Guards." he still squeaked; then, at a bellow, "GUARDS!"

The overhead lights right above the office promptly exploded and two new shadows dropped down from the ventilation ducts. Naturally, the explosion startled Damien into backing into the desk and dropping the heart locket in his new panic.

"Hello, Damien." a familiar voice declared, aiming a rifle into a sliver of moonlight. "I believe that you stole my heart."

Silvermein squinted into the moonlight.

"Casey?" he demanded, struggling to chuckle but the response coming out sounding nervous. "You always did make a flashy and loud entrance! And, today, you brought one of your lady friends to party in my penthouse!"

Marque gave a pronounced squeak and trembled in place. Meanwhile, a premonition clicked in the back of Casey's cybernetic brain. The door to the hallway; the loud explosions; guards right outside! Shoot!

"Marque!" Casey clipped over her shoulder. "Please tell me that you have any of your explosives left!"

Marque placed her backpack on the ground and unzipped it for a moment. Three charged kunais tumbled out to the ground. Casey sighed in relief. "Good-Luck" Marque struck again!

"Pitch one of them at that door." Casey ordered, keeping her laser rifle pointed at the cowering Silvermein before she used her combat boot to kick the Glock backwards and up against one of Marque's sneakers.

Marque bobbed her head and hurled a single charge at the door.

"...But why just one kunai?" the smaller understudy asked innocently.

"FREEZE!" answered a voice as two completely unfazed guards piled in through the now open doors with their weapons drawn. Silvermein smirked, albeit that he was unarmed and backed up against the desk. Casey hung her head, dejectedly. This was the level of "fortune" that Jade usually mocked when it came to poor Marque...

"That was why, up until now of course, you were to use only ONE charge!" Casey pointed out as gently as possible.

Marque's blonde bangs bobbed up and down in understanding and she promptly threw the other two weapons. As the guns exploded, the guards were tossed backwards and could be heard tumbling clumsily down the stairs.

"Well done, Marque!" Casey declared. "Now, grab that Glock by your foot and point it at its former owner."

Marque kicked the Glock haphazardly so that it flew upward and she did manage to catch it. Her hands then trembled with the gun. Damien read the girl's reaction and he smirked once more. He still held the heart locket. Meanwhile, the girl with the gun was frozen stiff!

"My dear, you have seen the guards that my own father has rented out to me!" Silvermein snorted. "Knowing him, he gave me an unloaded gun as well."

Marque promptly aimed at a nearby potted plant and pulled the trigger on the gun. There was a BANG and the pot for the plant was no more. Relieved, Marque pointed the gun back with a more certain grip.

"You were saying, Silvermein?" Casey demanded. "Besides, you know that my laser rifle is loaded and I hold no qualms about using it!"

Damien was, if nothing else, a smart man. He grinned in innocence and threw up his hands in surrender, dangling the heart locket out to Casey. The leader accepted the jewelry back and noted the gold collar that the young Silvermein still wore.

"I've always hated guys who over-accessorized." Casey declared, tucking the heart locket into the safety of a pocket.

She then hoisted Silvermein back to his feet and she experimentally touched the golden collar. Sure enough, a tiny, electronic light began to flicker to suggest a camera linked directly to Conrad Silvermein, wherever he was.

"Hey, Conrad, we'd just love to thank your son here for his hospitality in your own safehouse!" Casey declared as Marque offered a tiny wave in the background. "He is about as scholarly as his old man; if a bit less of a gentleman. You can talk to him about that at his sentencing..."

With that, Casey switched off the broadcast camera and yanked the pathetic Silvermein son out by the collar of his three-piece suit...

=========================

Finally, the trio reached the safehouse's roof. Down below, Sarah had fallen back to following Sandra's lead while Jessica followed in Jade's lead and left Silvermein's military scattered. Casey reflected on how well Marque had done under her guidance and she grinned. The first through third-in-command were all on the same mission and had found their roles well.

Finally, Casey cocked her laser rifle and fired into the sky. The sound was enough that her forces glanced up. The disturbance drew the guards' attention as well and there stood the feeble, spoonfed son of Silvermein.

"Here stands your chief leader right now!" Casey called down. "What do you all say now?"

The soldiers couldn't have dropped their weapons on their own property fast enough. Casey had her locket back (along with so much more); and the rebel forces had taken a fairly important enemy safehouse. From her place in the aerojet, Katina checked a digital readout. The mission had been satisfied in 4:55...

=====================

The soldiers were humiliated and allowed to make a hasty retreat, never to call the Silvermein family back. As for the Silvermein boy, he was loaded into the jet to be delivered to prison.

Casey approached the pilot's seat one more time and handed Katina the heart locket.

"Scan that for me." she ordered.

The pilot glanced up at Casey and balked.

"But, Silvermein..." she warned.

"He won't know what it is." Casey answered. "Just answer if...the locket's okay."

Katina understood and Marque thankfully kept mum about the double-meaning. The pilot then ran the locket through a computer scanner for five seconds.

"Everything checks out." she reported back. "The locket is...undamaged."

Casey smiled back and tucked the trinket away again.

"That will be all; well done today, girls." the Lieutenant-Commander declared, finding her seat. "Let's drop this well-pressed rubbish at the local prison for his father, Mr. Moneybagged Mogul, to collect later. Then, we go back underground."

With that, the jet took off again as the rebel soldier faction could all celebrate with one another. The locket, and so much more, was safe again...