"Melody's End"
by Bob Marley (ncript@hotmail.com)
The roaring early morning surf neatly concealed his approach, but former
special operations agent Melody Powers still managed to get the
custom-built USP pistol she carried everywhere out and into her shooting
hand a full second before the high velocity "cookie-cutter" rounds from her
assailants weapon tore into her shoulder and right arm, sending her reeling
to the cold beach sand. It was Vance of course, the Company always sent the
best when they retired a pro of Melody's calibre. Even as she felt the
blood spurt from the massive entry and exit wounds in her body, Melody's
efficient mind evaluated the younger specialists choice of weapons, rather
melodramatic overall, he could have done a much more covert job with a
rifle from long range, but leave it to Vance to take this operation head
on. The younger man regarded her with a look of pity as she lay fighting
for a breath, blood puddling and sinking into the sand. "I'm sorry it had
to be this way, Melody" could that be a tear forming in the young agents
tired eye? "But times change, so does policy, and so does the Company, the
Red's are our allies now and you're too much of a threat to leave alive."
Vance kneeled beside the ruined body of the women he had once loved. As
Melody felt the blackness she'd been fighting start to overwhelm her, he
spoke for the last time. "In the end, you hated the communists so much you
became the personification of that rage and America's best weapon, but a
rabid dog has to be destroyed, and I want you to know I understand HQ's
decision even though I disagree with it." The blond haired agent, pausing
only to close Melody's now sightless eyes, reholstered his rebuilt Beretta
before beginning the long walk back up the still beach to the nearby Villa.
The Company would want a report about the operations successful conclusion
post haste, yet somehow he hoped his next assignment would never come.
(Author's note: This was an attempt at seeing how close I could get to
Daria's general writing style as per her "Melody Power's" series and it's
up to the reader to decide how close I got. Of course, Daria probably
never would have included the nit-picky stuff about the different weapons
used but otherwise I'm fairly satisfied with this short story and for me,
that's saying something.)
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