Sappho's Kitty

From the private journals of Jane Doe:

Journal Entry: 07/05/03

The others are finally asleep and I have managed to pull myself away from their seductively soft skin and tempting curves.

Listen to me, I sound like a bad romance novelist. I suppose then, that I should introduce the cast.

Miss Jane Doe, at your service. I'm the brains of our little operation, and usually end up having to think all of us out of a jam. Most people don't take me seriously, with me being 4' 11", blond hair, blue eyes, 36CC breasts, and a perky disposition, so most people think I'm a bimbo. However, I'm a fair marksman and smarter than most expect.

Tori Adams is the self admitted brawn of the group. Standing at almost 7' tall with 38DD breasts, the slender African American is well trained in a variety of hand to hand and close quarter combat skills. Whatever problems her combat skills can't solve, the .357 Magnum she keeps at her side does.

Mischief is one of our two unknowns. No one but the gangly 19 year old computer hacker knows her true name, not that it would matter much. No one knows the exact circumstances but she erased all data of herself in an attempt to avoid jail time. It worked, obviously, and now the teenaged prodigy works for me, changing identities at the drop of a hat.

Our last unknown is a deadly Asian amnesiac, who we call Yuki, Japanese for Frost. Her demeanor certainly earned the title. At 5' 2" she's tall enough that I have to crane my neck slightly to look her in the eye, but her 32B breasts aren't hard on the eyes either. However beneath her traditional Asian features, was a soul of ice. No one's ever seen a hint of emotion from her, but her lethal skill is undeniable. She's a crack marksman with a number of varied firearms as well as a master of hand to hand combat.

Together we run a little organization called Recovery Unlimited. Officially for the tax books, we're a salvage organization, but when the salvage can be anything from stolen goods to your runaway daughter... we're a little more flexible in the definition of 'salvageable goods'. Which leads us to our current situation.

Now contrary to what many think, our relationship was professional. Sure we were friends, but we were never attracted to women... until we took this latest job.

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Tony Maxcell is the biggest mobster in Dableck City, but his dollar is as green as anyone elses so when he contacted us about a job, it seemed simple enough. I arranged to meet his contact man at our usual place and 20 minutes later I was shaking hands with Carlos "Vinny" Vincenzio.

"How ya been Vinny? How's your family?"

"Just fine, Miss Doe. My wife just got over that flu bug that's been going around."

"Vinny, I told you, call me Jane. So what's your boss want us to get this time?"

"Actually, Jane, this one isn't for the boss."

I arched my eyebrow in curiosity. "That's new."

"It's for his wife. She wants you to recover this." Vinny slid a manila envelope across the table.

I reached in and drew out an 8 x 10 glossy of a sapphire cat statue with ruby eyes. "Looks easy enough. Where is it?"

Vinny sighed. "That's where it gets complicated, Jane. It's in a small Central American country of El Zanzibar."

I purse my lips sourly. "The same El Zanzibar that is currently going through a coup and civil war... I know I'm not gonna like the answer but... where is it?"

"In the old dictator's palace."

"Get in before the rebels raze the place, grab the kitty, and slip back out of the country. It's insane."

"The lady of the house is well prepared to compensate you." Vinny said producing a thick envelope from his jacket and sliding it across the table. I opened and found it stuffed full of pressed hundred dollar bills. "Half a million dolars, Jane. This is simply hazard pay." A second envelope landed next to the first on the table. "That's half your fee."

"Vinny, there's $5,000 dollars here. That's payment for a single job."

"I dunno why she's willing to shell out so much, but like I said, this is half. There's another five grand upon delivery."

The alarm bells were screaming in my head, but I pocketed both envelopes and stood. "Tell the lady of the house she's got a deal."

As I turned to leave, Vinny grabbed my arm. "Be careful, Jane. You and I both know nobody shells out this kinda cash for a simple knickknack."

"I know Vinny." I said heading for the door. "I know."

=========

Mischief spun away from the computer and looked at me with large worried eyes. "I don't like this, Jane. That fucking thing doesn't exist." She snarled jabbing her finger at the photo. "Anywhere! I've sent it through every database I've got, and come up with nothing but the sale to President Algrande."

"So it does exist, but we've no idea where it came from or why Mrs. Maxwell wants it so badly... The more involved we get with this case the more alarms go off in my head."

"Could we just give the money back, call the job a wash?"

"I don't recommend it." Yuki says pushing her silver wire frame glasses up her nose as she looks up from the ledger. "We're about to cross the line into financial discomfort. I do not foresee any other jobs coming to us."

I bite my lip nervously. Bad to show it in front of my girls, I know, but this whole deal was creeping me out. "We do this thing and we do it fast. The sooner that thing changes hands the better I'll feel. Understood?"

The girls were all business now, and it showed in their unified response of, "Yes Miss Doe!"

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The trip in was fine, but no sooner did we have the item then the troubles began.

Our plans for a 24 hour run quickly soured when the radio announced that all aircraft would be grounded while a search was conducted for 'hostile sympathizers'. No big deal in a paranoid dictatorship on its last legs but it meant that we wouldn't be able to leave for a while.

But our first sign that the statue itself was something out of the ordinary was...