Damn, the meeting held me up. Just 5K today.
More tomorrow.
Leaving South Africa, Meeting Saburo, Making Grand Promises (4.5K)
On the afternoon of June 8, after more than an hour spent handing over command and sorting things out, Vera rose from the leisure terrace beside the rooftop landing zone of the Johannesburg International Grand Hotel.
She had already changed out of the combat suit that was dusty, bloodstained, and steeped in the ravages of war. After washing up, she wore a clean white shirt and black trousers, no tie, with mid-calf combat boots on her feet. She had transformed from a terrifying battlefield killing machine back into the glamorous, sharp-looking face of the Corporate Dogs.
"Crunch..."
Holding a South African meat sandwich wrapped in wax paper—a snack of spiced roasted meat and fresh vegetables stuffed between bread—Vera leisurely took a small bite. As she chewed, her cheeks slightly puffed out, she looked toward the horizon in the direction of the international airport.
Black dots were growing larger as they raced toward her.
Her private plane had arrived.
"Supervisor Russell, I deeply apologize. Our negligence allowed your study trip to South Africa to encounter something so unpleasant."
A lean, slightly balding middle-aged white man with sunken eye sockets stepped forward and spoke apologetically.
He was the chief supervisor of Arasaka's Johannesburg branch. His face was exhausted; clearly, the major terrorist attack in the early hours of the 7th had brought reprimands from above and immense pressure upon him.
"I guarantee that the Johannesburg branch will give you a satisfactory answer. We may not be able to guarantee anything about terrorists who escaped Gauteng Province or the city jurisdiction, but those rats still trapped within the city—I'll dig them out one by one and crush them into pulp!"
He gave Vera