PROJECT ASTERIA

T E N

"Alejandro," Carina smiled casually as his eyelids slowly fluttered open. It had been a couple hours since the Seven had given her the new order, and he was just waking up. He was bound to his chair, a dark hood covering his face. She could tell he was scared, from the way his chest was moving. But he didn't seem surprised.

Carina sighed, and again, it was like when she was interrogating the British spy. This time, though, she could not leave a trace. His mouth was gagged, so he couldn't scream for now. Not that she'd have to make him scream. She pressed the button on the recording device.

Then she ripped off the hood, and along with it, her humanity.

Like a typical person, the Colombian businessman broke quickly. She silently thanked God for her ability to easily connect with people, for the information that he'd given her earlier allowed her to pry deep into his mind, bringing out his deepest, darkest fears and secrets. After an hour or so, she had all the information the Seven wanted, and all the information she needed. She kept the questions relevant, so the Seven might have wanted to hear it, without raising suspicions on her part.

Carina glanced at the pile of dead bodyguards in the corner of the room, the ones she'd poisoned with a bit of thallium sulfate. Sure, it was illegal, but she was in the CIA. Legality went out the door for her.

Alejandro was left nothing but a sobbing, shaking mess. And he had given her secrets, so many secrets. He'd been a trusted friend of the Seven, which was strange, considering that he had run away. A tiny what if scenario crawled into her head. Maybe he had been set up? But by who? And why?

He told her he had already informed people—the intelligence agencies of South America and trusted few friends placed around the world. The plans of ASTERIA had made its way from Colombia to Argentina and Brazil, and now to Italy and Portugal. And now, the world would zero in on the Seven. But there was corruption everywhere, and unless the governments of Europe and America dropped it for the sake of the abstract idea of justice and morality, the Seven would always win.

Carina's blood ran cold. He had done the right thing, but knowing the Seven's influence, she knew it would be put down as if it were nothing. How was she supposed to bring the information back to the Seven knowing that Rin or Igor would send her out to kill more people? And how was she supposed to put a bullet through Alejandro's head, knowing all of this? She sympathized with his plight, having funded and assisted the Seven, until he found out about ASTERIA and its sickening circumstances.

She breathed out. He has become a liability.

How was she supposed to save him?

She turned off the recording device, knowing that it had picked up everything they said. If the Seven had no more use for Alejandro, then she would pick him up. She didn't usually help people, but over the years, she had made a lot of friends. As many friends as enemies. And if she wanted him to be protected, he would be.

Carina's mind worked fiercely as she thought about the logistics of the entire operation. She'd have to contact her agent-of-influence friends. In the early stages of the Cold War, the CIA had created an operation called Operation Mockingbird, and she knew the agency still commanded massive influence over the world's media outlets. She'd get the papers in Colombia to report on the kidnapping and the eventual death of the billionaire Alejandro Delgado whose body was found at the bottom of the Magdelena River, loosely tie it to cartel rivalries and rebel insurrections, and put him somewhere offshore under the protection of the Colombian government.

And even if he was "dead," the oil company would go straight back into control by Colombia, so not all would go down terribly. But now, she had a tough decision to make. If she saved his life, she probably would have to tell him everything, reveal to him that she wasn't the bad guy, even if she had just tortured him. And it wasn't guaranteed that he would go along with the plan. What if she went along with all the trouble, and then Alejandro decided it wasn't worth it to live his entire life in fear, and blew his brains out?

There was only one way to find out.

"Alejandro," she said very softly, and he looked at her with nothing behind his eyes. She pulled off her disguise, and then her wig, letting her hair fall in loose curls around her shoulders. He flinched. "It's me."

"Liliana?" He asked hoarsely, eyes widening. "Did they tell you to do this?"

"Yes," she said. "Don't worry."

He looked at her suspiciously. "But-"

"I have to bring the recording of your answers back," she said. "My orders were originally to bring you back, but now they just want that, and they have no use for you. So now, I have to kill you."

He sagged against the ropes. "Please-"

"I'm not actually going to kill you," Carina said, pressing her hand on his shoulder. "Please calm down."

She explained the plan. First, she needed to smuggle him out and replace his body with that of a fake. Second, she'd contact all her agent-of-influence friends and get them to put the news of his death in the paper. This would become international news, and she'd tie it loosely to the cartels and rebels. Saying her plan out loud made her more confident, and so she committed to it. Then, she'd put him in a far away island, give him a new identity, and put him under protection of the Colombian government. As for his oil company, he agreed to relinquish his position to the government. She would help move his money offshore, and then he'd live the rest of his life safe from the Seven, in a new country with a new passport and a new everything. Hopefully.

The plan had a ton of holes in it, but she'd improvise as they went along.