Luna

05th January 2032

00:47

Artemis Briefing Room, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

All members of the Bravo squad and Aiden were sitting around the table. Sohel asked, "Aiden, is the CIA there already?"

"Yes. Chief said he himself would seal the building after collecting the evidence."

Sohel's forehead wrinkled as he rested his face on his hand and started thinking. After a period of silence that went on for a long time, Sohel asked, "Mitali, are you done with the autopsy?"

Mitali hands a file over to Sohel while saying, "Yes. All three skeletons belong to girls around 10-12 years. The cause of their death was...… well...…."

"What?"

"They died from excess stimulation of the Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis."

"Speak English, please."

"What I meant is they died from not being able to endure excessive pain."

Naomi sighs, "Poor kids. How can someone be this cruel?"

Mitali continues, "That's not all. After they died, they used chemical corrosives to melt off the tissues and organs of their body."

At this Aiden, Jacob and Annabelle lower their gazes out of grief. Sohel kept looking forward with blank eyes. His fists clenched subconsciously. Sohel asks, "ARIA, can you recreate their faces?"

"I can, boss. Just put the skulls in my scanner and I can recreate a face with almost 95 - 97% accuracy."

"Do it, then. Mitali, put the skulls in the scanner."

At that moment ARIA says, "Captain, looks like the little girl woke up."

Sohel gets up and goes to the female sleeping room. Naomi followed him while Annabelle, Jacob, and Aiden stayed behind to gather their thoughts.

Luna was sitting on Naomi's bed and looking around. Sohel says, "Slept well?"

Luna gets startled by Sohel's sudden voice and looks at him. Sohel was standing by the door. He gets in and crouches in front of Luna. Naomi follows and stands a little far.

"How do you feel? You slept in the car, so we moved you here."

Luna says in a low voice, "I'm OK. Th…Thanks."

"That's good. So, le...…."

Sohel was about to continue but stopped as Luna's stomach growled.

"Let's get something to eat first, shall we? What would you like to eat?"

Luna stayed silent. Sohel urged, "Come on. Don't be shy." Luna still remained silent. Sohel sighed, looked at Naomi, and said, "Can you bring us some food?"

Naomi nodded and left the room. Sohel tried to continue the talk but it was in vain as Luna remained silent the whole time. 10 minutes later Naomi enters the room with two plates full of sandwiches. She holds one in front of Luna and the other in front of Sohel. Naomi looks at Luna and says, "Here. these are for you."

Luna stares at the Plate. She moves her gaze to Naomi's face and slowly takes the plate as she feels assured by her smile. Sohel says, "Why did you bring food for me? I'm alright."

Naomi replies in a commanding voice, "No, you're not. When was the last time you had a proper meal?"

"Uhm, I had a protein bar just this evening."

"And you think you're alright. You'll finish all these sandwiches right now?"

Sohel takes the plate. Sohel smiles at Luna and says, "Let's eat."

They silently finish the food. After Naomi removes the empty plates Sohel says, "Are you feeling alright now?" Luna nods. ARIA speaks through Sohel's glasses, "Captain, may I interrupt you for a moment?"

"Does it have to be now?"

"It's important."

"Ok. What is it?"

"Sir, I'm picking up electromagnetic waves from the back of the girl's head."

Sohel thinks. Then he says, "Luna, can you come with me for a moment?"

Luna looks unsure. But she gets up and nods. Sohel takes him to the med bay and calls for Mitali. Once Mitali arrives he asks her to scan Luna. Mitali takes Luna and lays her down on a stretcher. Then she slides the stretcher in a full body scanner. After the scan is complete, Mitali helps Luna get up and gets back to Sohel. Sohel says to Luna, "It's pretty late. Let's sleep for tonight, okay? We'll talk and play a lot tomorrow." Sohel whispers to Mitali to ready the scan reports and leaves the room with Luna. He lays Luna back down on Naomi's bed and stays with her until she falls asleep. After that, Sohel gets out and goes into the briefing room. He calls everyone there. After they come to the room and take their seats Sohel asks, "What did you find in the scan, Mitali?" Mitali hands Sohel a tablet and says, "Look at it. A small chip connected to her vocal cord relays everything she says to someone."

"So, that's why she's trying to avoid talking to us?"

"Not only that. The chip also contains a small receiver. That means the person controlling the chip can kill her at any time."

Sohel asks Annabelle, "Can you disable it?"

"I do."

"Then get to it. What about the faces?"

"It will be ready in an hour or two."

"OK then. You're dismissed for the night. Finish the job and get some rest."

Everyone leaves the room. After they leave Sohel asks ARIA to connect him with Shadow. Two minutes later Shadow's voice comes from the speakers, "Shadow speaking."

"I've got one last job for you on this mission."

"What is it?"

Sohel and Shadow talk for around 20 minutes. After that Shadow says, "Consider it done."

"That'll help a lot."

"Shadow out."

05:58

Artemis Male sleeping quarter

Sohel gets up at the voice of ARIA. She says, "Looks like the kid's awake, captain."

"OK. Call the Princess and tell her to come to the briefing room with Luna."

Sohel freshens up and goes to the briefing room. Five minutes later Annabelle enters the room with Luna. She sits Luna on a chair. Sohel asks Annabelle, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, boss." Sohel goes to Luna and says, "It will sting a little bit, okay?" Annabelle comes to Luna with a small syringe. After determining the precise location of the chip she inserts the syringe in Luna's neck and injects something. Luna shrieks in pain. Annabelle says, "Now Luna can speak all she wants. I've injected some nanites into the chip to disable it."

Sohel smiles and says, "You heard her. You're free now."