I have completed Janus, following on from The Three Lives of Mr. Amazing. This is the second installment of what I think will be a trilogy.
Janus has a whole host of new characters, new adventures, new action, new villains, new heroes, and, of course, an old favorite that (I hope) you will continue to love to hate.
I will be publishing Angel early in 2024, and then in the spring, I will add Janus. Below is a chapter tease that I hope you will enjoy.
Chapter 3. Damascus
“And how much for the whole lot?” – said a man smoking a thin cigar.
The man was in a room on the top floor of a hotel in Damascus, Syria. Three other men were in the room, which was dimly lit, and the blinds were closed. Outside, it was night, and Damascus went about its business. The man smoking the cigar was Arabic. He was dressed in an expensive-looking navy blue suit, a crisp white shirt, and a tie made of luxurious Italian silk.
The other three men were Russians and were all dressed in black leather jackets and white t-shirts. Two of the Russian men were standing, and one of them was sitting. The man sitting had a shaved head and a large scar down his face – that went across his left eye and down to his chin. The man’s hands and neck were covered in crudely drawn tattoos, and he was smoking a cigarette.
“$5 million,” – said the Russian man, his face serious.
The Arabic man smiled and chuckled. “Dmitri – we have been friends for a long time and done much business…” – started the Arabic man, but Dmitri cut him off.
“We are not friends. If you want to argue and haggle like you are in one of your filthy souks, the price is $6 million.”
The Arabic man puffed his cigar, and his face also became serious. He adjusted his tie and jutted his chin out – “And they are the real German ones?”
He was buying German anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades from the Russians.
Dmitri nodded and puffed his cigarette.
The Arabic man puffed his cigarette, his face serious – and then he smiled – “Done! $5 million for the lot.” Dmitri puffed his cigarette, smiled, and extended a hand for the Arabic man to shake.
Two hours before the events inside the hotel room in Damascus, a Hercules cargo plane had taken off from the Royal Air Force Base on Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, about 300 miles from Damascus. The Hercules plane had flown high in the atmosphere above 30,000 feet and then circled above the Mediterranean. As the Arabic man had arrived at the hotel, the plane flying above the Mediterranean changed its course and flew to a higher altitude above Damascus. The rear ramp of the Hercules began opening, and an athletic and muscular-looking woman stood at the edge of the ramp. The woman was dressed in a black catsuit and had a parachute attached to her back.
The woman placed a pair of goggles over her eyes, and then she fell forward in a swan dive and began falling to earth. The ramp at the rear of the Hercules began rising, and the plane changed direction and banked back towards the Mediterranean.
The woman was Agent X – The Agency’s replacement for Mr. Amazing and a newer and improved superhuman created by Dr. Janus.
Agent X fell towards earth, her body streamlined and zooming through the air. She adjusted her trajectory and was now almost directly above the city center and the hotel where the Arabic man was buying the RPGs from the Russian men.
Agent X looked at her altimeter. The earth below was rushing towards her, and when the altimeter read one thousand feet, she deployed the chute and glided to the hotel’s roof, unseen.
The Arabic man took Dmitri’s hand, and they shook hands.
There was a noise above them on the roof of the hotel. The two standing Russian men looked up at the ceiling.
“Have the money transferred to this account,” – said Dmitri, and he handed the Arabic man a piece of paper – “When I have the money, you can have the hardware.”
As Dmitri said this, the patio door to the balcony slid open – and Agent X stepped through the curtains, smiling.
The two Russians standing went for their guns in their shoulder holsters, but as they reached for their weapons, Agent X pulled two black-bladed throwing knives from the straps across her chest and flung them across the room, and the blades stuck in the Russian goon’s foreheads. They fell to the floor, dead.
“I hope I am not interrupting anything, boys!” – said Agent X, stepping into the room, and grinning.
Dimitri’s hand went to the inside of his jacket, and as soon as his hand moved, Agent X pounced and grabbed the hand, pulled it forward, and stabbed a blade-bladed dagger through it, pinning his hand to the coffee table. Dmitri screamed, grabbed his hand, and tried to pull it free. The blade stuck out from the underside of the table, which was made of solid wood, and it dripped with blood.
Dmitri continued to whimper, and cry.
Agent X sat beside the Arabic man, who looked a combination of confused, shocked, and terrified.
‘Are you going to behave, Hussien, or do I have to put you on the naughty step with Dmitri?” – said Agent X, smiling and lighting a cigarette.
“I…I…will behave…” – he stammered.
“Good!” – said Agent X, and she smiled at Dmitri, who was crying and whimpering.
####
Agent X’s name was Cynthia Howard. Cynthia was born into a wealthy family who had made a fortune from cable TV, newspapers, movie studios, and the internet.
Cynthia’s father, Cameron Howard, was the CEO and Chairman of Howard Communications Corporation, the company his grandfather, Ebenezer Howard, had founded over a hundred and fifty years ago. Howard Communications Corporation, or HCC, had started as a telegram company. Then Ebenezer Howard had bought a newspaper, and then more newspapers, and then his son, Clement Howard, expanded into TV, cable TV, and satellite TV. Now, HCC owned a network of media companies that spanned the globe, making The Howard family fabulously wealthy and powerful.
Cynthia was the youngest of Cameron Howard’s children and the only one from his third marriage to Cynthia’s mother, Estella.
Estella worked as a crew member on Cameron Howard’s mega yacht, Ulysses. Estella and Mr. Howard had become close, and then they started a secret affair, and then they announced their engagement, and then they were married.
Cameron Howard’s other, older children disapproved of the marriage – and demanded that Estella be forced to sign a prenup renouncing any claim to the Howard family billions. Cameron Howard refused, and to spite his children, he changed his will to leave everything to his beloved third wife.
Estella had died in a skiing accident when Cynthia was young, and Cynthia had been raised in New York by a governess. Cameron Howard was always working and had no time for any of his children – so the young Cynthia was raised in her father’s New York mansion alone. Cynthia would attend the family parties in Southampton for Labor Day, visit the family’s Aspen lodge for Christmas, and sit at the long table at the family’s palatial estate in upstate New York for Easter.
But Cynthia felt like a stranger to her family. Her older half-brothers and older half-sisters didn’t want to know her – and considered her a cuckoo, brought in the world by her gold-digging mother to parasitically feed from the Howard family riches. None of her mother’s family were invited to these family gatherings – so there were no friendly aunts and uncles to sit with and talk about school or how her horse riding lessons were going.
Just like Baxter McGill and billions of others, Cynthia was obsessed with Mr. Amazing. Cynthia had been raised on the images of Mr. Amazing on TV and had even met him once when he visited The Howard Foundation when her family made a substantial donation to Mr. Amazing’s charity. Cynthia wasn’t allowed to be at the ceremony, but at the reception afterward, she had found Mr. Amazing sitting in a cloakroom alone.
Mr. Amazing was smoking a cigar and glugging Scotch from a bottle. He looked like he had been crying. When he saw her, he wiped his face and stood. He tried to hide the bottle of Scotch and then smiled. He said he was just getting a few moments of quiet time and that something had got in his eye – and he wiped his eyes again. Mr. Amazing said she was a very lucky girl to meet him, and then he gently pinched her cheek, left the cloakroom, and returned to the reception, smiling.
After university, Cynthia went to work for her family’s foundation on the board of directors – and it was during this time that she began her search of the dark web, where she found Mr. Black, whom she met at Harry’s Bar and Grille.
Cynthia didn’t know what she was looking for – but she was searching for something. Cynthia wanted to be like Mr. Amazing, and she spent hours and days and weeks and months and years searching…until she found Mr. Black. Cynthia had also met Miss Purple and had undergone the doctor’s treatment.
There had been some changes to Dr. Janus’ treatment. After reflecting on Mr. Amazing and Baxter McGill, Dr. Janus decided that the next superhuman they created would be different. The next subject would be given less power. They would still be powerful – but not as powerful as Mr. Amazing or Mr. McGill. Mr. Amazing was made to be amazing, and Baxter McGill was made super-powerful to kill the weakened Mr. Amazing. The next subject’s powers would be subtler, more nuanced, and less muscly.
Cynthia’s treatment increased her stamina and strength and made her more powerful – but she retained her appearance, albeit a more muscular and athletic version of herself. Dr. Janus had not erased Cynthia’s memory either. The mind erasure with Dick Rollins, or Richard Ladd, or Mr. Amazing, had left a psychological void within the subject – and caused depression and several other side effects. Cynthia knew exactly what had happened to her.
There was no fame for Cynthia and Agent X either. Agent X’s work for The Agency and her existence was closely guarded. Cynthia continued to work for her family’s foundation – but every once in a while, she would get a message and then have to make excuses about a trip or some other innocent-sounding activity while she went to work for The Agency, taking care of their business.
And Cynthia had been fitted, just like Baxter McGill, with a tiny but powerful explosive device inside her brain. If there was any drama with Cynthia Howard or Agent X, the tiny bomb inside her brain could be detonated remotely – and the drama would be over.
As Cynthia Howard sat strapped naked in Dr. Janus’ contraption before the “treatment”, Dr. Janus had explained everything.
“We have had some…behavioral issues in the past with our subjects. Now I like my creations to be good boys and girls – so to ensure that there are no future issues, we will implant a small device inside your head. Now this device will track your location and enable us to terminate this agreement anytime we see fit, and for any reason, we see fit…”
Cynthia had stared at Dr. Janus.
“…at this stage, Miss White, this is non-negotiable. But, as long as you are a good girl and behave yourself – you will not need to worry about any terminations of agreements and suchlike…”
And Dr. Janus smiled, and her assistant informed her that they were ready to progress – and then Cynthia Howard underwent the treatment and became Agent X.
####
“So…” – said Agent X, putting her feet of the coffee table and smoking her cigarette and smiling.
Hussien, the Arabic man, looked terrified. He kept glancing between this strange American woman who had suddenly appeared and killed Dmitiri’s bodyguards and then stabbed Dmitri’s hand to the table and Dmitiri who was crying and sniveling and whimpering as his hand bled, stuck to the table with a black blade sticking out of it, and the door.
Hussein was terrified – and he stayed rooted to the spot.
“What were you fellas having a chat about?” – said Agent X.
There was silence, except for Dmitir’s whimpering.
“Let me take a guess – were you talking about German RPGs?” – said Agent X, and she turned and smiled at Hussein, who gave a strange, uneasy, terrified smile back.
“Okay – so we know where Dmitri got the RPGs, and we know that you are buying them for what – five or six million?” – said Agent X, still smiling at Hussein – “But who are you buying them for?”
“I…” – said Hussein, and a bead of sweat ran down his face.
Agent X stared at him, and smiled.
“I…I do not know their names – I just met them, and they asked me to help them with this transaction…”
Agent X puffed her cigarette and stared at Hussein and smiled.
“I…I am telling the truth…” – said Hussein, and another bead of sweat ran down his face.
In a flash, Agent X grabbed Hussein’s hand and pulled it over the table, and pulled a black bladed dagger from her vest. She held the blade high, ready to stab in Hussein’s hand.
“Are you telling me the truth, Hussein?” – said Agent X, the cigarette gripped between her teeth.
“YES, I swear on my children…please!” – begged Hussein.
“You are sure you are sure?” – said Agent X, the blade still poised high above.
“Yes – I am sure, I am sure!” – begged Hussein again, tears rolling down his face and his lip trembling.
Agent X shrugged.
“Okay – so here is the plan, fellas,” – said Agent X, and she released Hussein’s hand and tucked the blade back in her vest, and leaned forward – “The deal goes ahead, but we are going to switch our RPGs with Dmitiri’s RPGs – and then I will be able to track them and find out where they are going – and then I can pop in and say hello in person.”
Hussein was holding the hand Agent X hand grabbed with his other hand, and his eyes were wide and terrified – “Th..th..they will check for tracking devices…”
“Don’t you worry about that, Hussein,” – said Agent X, and she stood and pulled the blade from Dmitri’s hand and wiped the blood from it on his shoulder – “Now it is business as usual, fellas, and mom’s the word on this little meeting! I don’t want to hear about either of you blabbing to anyone else about me or our little plan – you boys understand?”
Hussein nodded, still cradling his hand and still looking terrified. Dmitri was also cradling his hand, and blood dripped from the wound and tears rolled down his face.
“The deal goes ahead, gentlemen. Hussein pays the money to Dmitri, and Dmitri delivers the RPGs from this warehouse…” – and Agent X tossed a piece of paper on to the coffee table – “…and Hussein makes sure that these RPGs get delivered to the mystery end buyer as per their instructions.”
“My hand…” – grimaced Dmitri, clutching his bleeding hand.
“If your hand hurts too much, Dmitri, sweetie – let me know, and I can cut it off for you,” – said Agent X, and she smiled sweetly.
Dmitri didn’t reply, and silently sobbed. Hussein continued to cradle his hand, and look wide eyed at this strange American woman.
Agent X pulled the blades from the foreheads of the dead Russian bodyguards and wiped the blades on Dmitri’s jacket. She tucked the blades into her vest, and then pulled a bundle of black cloth from inside her vest. She unfurled the bundle of cloth, and then she pulled it over her body, and then pulled on a hood. She was dressed in a full black niqab, with only her eyes showing.
“Good night, gentlemen, and remember – the deal goes ahead, or else!” – said Agent X, and she walked to the door of the room, and left.
Hussein sat and cradled his unharmed hand, and looked at Dmitri as Dmitri sobbed and cradled his bleeding hand.