Danger Money by John Van Stry Page A

hate or fear us outright that is.
    "What's up?" she asked looking at the printouts all over the table.
    "He goes to church every Thursday." I looked up at her, "You don't have a problem with that do you?"
    "I don't pull the trigger Jotun. You know that." She looked away.
    "Yeah, and I do." I sighed and got up walking over to her. "Listen Rieselle," I said putting my arms around her. "You know I'm sick of this more than anybody."
    "But nobody gave you a choice," she sighed. "Another year and Shotoon and I get rotated out. But not you."
    "No, never me. Has it been four years already?"
    "You're the first one we ever worked with who lived this long." She said quietly putting her head against my shoulder, "We'll both miss you."
    "Yeah, me too. But it'll be awhile yet and the work never ends."
    "That it doesn't, does it?"
    "Have you two decided where you're going next?"
    "Ship's security." She answered without hesitating. "I've had enough of this business."
    "You and me both!" I laughed. "So sit down and let me show you what I have so far. When Shotoon gets back we can all plan our escape."
    We spent the next six days setting things up. The hardest part was the day we would have to spend afterwards, waiting for our extraction. Both Rieselle and Shotoon wouldn't be able to leave early, as I would need their help.
    Next came the Dye. As everybody in that church would see me, and possibly photograph me, some kind of disguise would be needed. Simply dying my fur black was the easiest. Even if they figured it out there were so many spotting patterns on Leopards they'd never ID me. We also made a few other minor cosmetic changes too, again just in case.
    We broke into the church the night before and I found a spot to hide. Shotoon wired up a few remote control smoke bombs as well as some pepper gas. The smoke would create confusion, the pepper gas would send them running. I had a remote trigger for each.
    My hiding place was in one of the air intakes for the heating system. We fixed it so it could open quietly. As it led out into the back of the church, most people's eyes should be facing away from me. I watched as Shotoon and Rieselle left. Then I laid down and waited.
    I awoke suddenly, I knew where I was and what I was doing. I opened my eyes then peeked out through the grill into the church. The lights came on and I blinked. As I watched a priest came in followed by what I guess where acolytes. They moved to the altar, then spent a while setting things up.
    After a little while people started to file in, I checked my watch and saw I had two hours yet before my target was expected to show. So I sat back and watched curiously. After all, I had never seen what happened in a church before, this being my first time in one.
    It quickly became apparent that they were performing a ceremony of some sort. It was interesting, but I knew nothing about religion, so I was somewhat confused. After fifty minutes the crowd left, and a new priest came in. Then it started all over again. I noticed that at one point during the ceremony everybody stood and their attention was focused forward as they listened to the priest. Even he was facing forward, rather than back at the crowd. It looked perfect to me.
    Twenty minutes after that, everybody left and a new group came in. This time I saw my target enter, bodyguards in tow. Both followed him down the aisle and one sat on either side of him. They did not seem as taken by the ceremony either, I noticed as it started. Fortunately I was blocked by the crowd every time they stood.
    Eventually my time came, I slipped out of the vent and slowly walked down the aisle. I had my gun in my right hand, which was relaxed by my side. In my left hand I held the trigger for the bombs. Nobody noticed me at first, and the crowd was still blocking my view of the bodyguards and vice versa.
    I was halfway there when a man came along side of me.
    "Excuse me," he said in a hushed voice, "But we don't allow your kind in here."
    I