"It's amazing how quiet a mall can be in the middle of the Christmas buying frenzy..." Tahira mused as she curled herself against the concrete wall of the largely empty storage area. Actually, though, it wasn't all that surprising. Apache Plaza was an empty shell of a mall at best, its twin levels containing more empty storefronts than occupied ones... which explained why she had chosen the location. Little security, no interruptions, and no one to care if she borrowed a spare phone line for her own purposes.

A few moments digging around in her Herberger's shopping bag and she found what she was looking for, a rather sleekly designed laptop computer which she quickly attached to a phone jack. If only the public knew what Intel was really capable of doing, they'd have realized that the Pentium "errors" had all been just another scam. Tahira made yet another mental note to thank them for their 'contribution' when Hades and Antarctica formally switched weather forcasts as the screen flickered to life with an extremely impressive three dimensional graphic display of the world beyond the looking glass.

Several quick clicks on the keyboard and a pair of headphones later the image changed. Realtime video scenes from the 'Mission: Impossible" movie mingled with the well-known theme music, drawing a groan of mixed amusement and frustration from the young woman's mouth. "Rambo," she muttered softly, "one of these days your little games are going to get us caught. This much bandwith just might get noticed."

"And a scrambled transmission won't? They'll just pick up the video and assume its a huge file, that's all. Now, your mission, should you choose to accept it..." a reedy tenor came in over the phones, matching the words as they scrolled across her screen, "...well, actually, you know that whole bit. Remember that little mind-control implant experiment information I got for you last month? Found out the main site for it. Transmission to follow in three, two, one... Oh. And be careful." The screen changed again, showing a three-d view of an office buildings floor plan on one half of the screen, walls fading in and out to show the underlying structure. On the other half, text information scrolled down rapidly, the flickering casting odd lights across her face in the darkened room.

After a couple of minutes the scrolling stopped, the softest of beeps confirming the completion of the download. Tahira tucked the HDCD away in her pocket, returned the computer to its resting place, and slipped out the back door of the abandoned store. Out of habit as much as anything else she snuck into the bathroom at the end of the hallway and exchanged wigs and contact lenses, going from a hazel-eyed redhead to a green-eyed faux-blonde in a matter of moments. Slipping the headphones back over her ears and tuning in the local police channel on her radio/scanner, she strolled back out into the nearly deserted mall, her heels clicking on the faded tile floor.

Her eyes fell on the Post Office kiosk in the center of the common area and she altered her direction to pick up a few things. Stamps, envelopes... all from the ever-present vending machine. The 'Most-Wanted' listings were there too and she shuffled through them in a casual "I'm bored" fashion, her expression never changing as she soon discovered her own picture. Several times over. More than a dozen artists renderings of Tahira Fischer aka Cheshire, "Wanted for Murder, Terroristic Acts, Terroristic Threats, Grand Theft Auto, Robbery, Breaking and Entering...", as she was suspected to look these days stared back at her from the pad. No pattern was available facially, only the slender build and height estimates being similar. And even then two of them insisted that she was showing signs of being pregnant.

The bored postal employee's attention drifted away from his lazy observation of her legs as she threw her head back and laughed. "Strange." he thought, "Wonder what could be so funny about the wanteds?" But before he could form the question into words, she had walked away and soon exited the mall into the brisk winter air.

-----

"Tahira Fischer is going to be hitting the Weyauwega Medical offices in the Norwest Bank building at one o'clock pm Sunday," the baritone voice announced on the St. Paul Police Department's Anonymous Tip line. Several officers came to sudden attention in the briefing room as they heard the name, not relaxing in the slightest when the briefing sergeant clicked off the tape-recorded message. Even the usual quiet banter was hushed as the sergeant gripped his podium.

"You all recognize the name, and I'm quite certain that you all realize the danger that exists here." he finally began. "Cheshire - Tahira Fischer - has been involved in quite a bit of terrorist activity over the last several months. Why she's going after a medical research facility's offices is anyone's guess, but several tips of this sort have been received by various police departments in the recent past. Most have turned out to be true. We cannot afford to ignore this."

"We're going to divert most of you to this duty today. We've spoken with the building managers at Norwest, and they have agreed to allow us access. Officers will be assuming the duties of the security guards within the building as per the written instructions currently being passed around. Still more will be assigned to the seventh and eighth floors where Weyauwega is located. Your instructions are to capture her if possible, but she is to be treated at all times as armed and extremely dangerous. This is to be treated as though you were handling a meta-human, given the risk factor inherent to the assignments."

"Pictures are being passed around but remember that Miss Fischer is rumored to have had plastic surgery since the incident at Dow Chemical. No one except other officers is authorized to be in that building today."

"Let's get to it." The briefing sergeant turned away from the room and shot a thin-lipped smile to Captain Johannsen, receiving one in return. Cheshire would be a nice feather in both of their caps when she was captured and with the number of police officers in that building and the security cameras available, even her near-legendary ability to slip past security measures wouldn't be enough to save her.

-----

Downtown St. Paul was busier than on a normal Saturday, and Tahira actually had to look around for a few minutes before finding a reasonable place to park the van that was both near enough to her target for easy access and far enough away to not draw attention. She slid out of the vehicle, dropping the keys underneath the seat so that when the police found it they would be able to return it to its rightful owner with a minimum of hassle. El Nino was doing a surprisingly good job at keeping the weather nice and warm for Minnesota in December, and she didn't even need to button her heavy winter jacket up against the wind that cut between the buildings.

The security guard looked up at the attractive young woman with a warm smile as the doors opened for her automatically. "ID, Miss?" he asked brightly, nodding her past as she flashed an appropriate tag and proceeded towards the elevators. He kicked back and let his eyes fall on the TV, watching the Vikings blow yet another game as they tried to get themselves out of the playoffs. He toyed with the walkie-talkie on the desk for a moment, then raised it to his mouth as the elevator doors slid shut and hit the transmit button.

"We've got her for sure." Captain Johannsen chortled, setting his walkie-talkie down as his eyes scanned the security cameras from the basement station. The sergeant nodded beside him with his thumbs hooked into his belt and sucked in his substantial paunch, trying to imagine what the headlines would be nationwide. The thought brought a wide smile to his face that matched the Captain's. Scene after scene flashed across the screens, showing officers on their patrols, the silent hallways, and the empty elevators...

Tahira paused a moment at a bend in the stairs to catch her breath and glanced up at the door on the landing above. Unmarked, but with a securtiy card reader. This must be the one then. Pulling a VISA Card from her purse she strode confidently toward the door and swept it across the reader, bringing forth a satisfactory click and buzz as the latch lifted. "It's everywhere you want to be." she remarked with a grin as she turned the handle and strode through the door.

The clock on the far wall read 1:12 when a call came down to the security office. "We've got her, Captain. Tried to sneak up the stairs, but Officer Clausen caught her. She maced him, though, so he's getting a little treatment for it. Three of us are bringing her down in the service elevator." "Excellent," Captain Johanssen grinned, "I'm locking off all floors except the sub-basement, just in case she tries to escape." His eyes turned to the TV wall again, the black-and-white images of three police officers and a slender young woman bringing cheer to his heart beyond that of the season. "Phone call for you Captain, line 2 - it's the Weyauwega people answering your message."

The security door opened onto an airlock chamber, bringing a simple nod from Tahira as she stepped in and closed the door shut behind her. Normally, if the information Rambo had gotten for her was correct, she would be given a cleaning for the sterile room beyond but she certainly didn't have the time. And she doubted those beyond would care too much about how sterile the room was by the time she was through. With a quick swing of her hand she broke the glass covering the emergency override switch and pulled down sharply, setting off any of a number of alarms and disabling the locks on all the doors. A quick kick at the door in front of her showed a white-walled laboratory filled with suddenly attentive men and women in white coats, strobing security lamps, and a number of tables covered with assorted electronic equipment.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen." she announced, stepping smoothly into the room and pulling a plate-sized disc from her pouch. "You know me, but like many others you may not recognize my face. That's why I always carry a good-sized chunk of explosives." Without so much as breaking stride she broke a sleep gas capsule underneath the rising security guard and he slumped down almost instantaneously. Hardly paying attention to the shocked looks of the technicians, she turned and pressed the disc against the wall, locking the electromagnet into place and setting the timer for three minutes. With a jaunty grin she turned and held the door galantly open for those in the room.

The technicians scrambled for the door with all due haste under Tahira's watchful eyes, not a one of them making even the slightest of resistance as the timer dipped lower and lower. Finally with only thirty seconds left on the clock the last of the techs scrambled out the door and began running down the hall. Strolling across the room, she quickly rifled the file cabinet, examining selected pages before tossing them aside. A bell sounded as the timer hit zero.

"Time to run." she said with a grin, quickly setting a few smaller but far more real bombs around the room. Quickly she discarded her wig and coat, revealing a much lighter but still weather-appropriate one underneath. The glass gave way quickly to a vial of acid, allowing her to jump the short distance down onto the rooftop below, carrying the security man over her back. A protective tarp was settled across his unconcious form as she hid him behind the air vent where her grappling hook was just where she had left it, and she slid down into the alley below. Crossing over to a service entrance on the next building over, she paused a moment to press the remote, setting off a series of localized explosions, completely destroying the laboratory.

-----

Captain Johannsen picked up the phone with a military snap to his wrist and brought it up to his ear. The briefing sergeant looked on, listening in on half the conversation. "Good afternoon Mr. Fascetti, I'm glad to finally speak with you. There was a threat... oh, they informed you... No sir, it was against your offices in the Norwest building... That's right the Norwest building, and I assure you my men are all over it..." The Captain jerked his head back at the sudden incoherent screaming that erupted from the earpiece. "Mr. Fascetti, that's absolutely impossible, we caught her just minutes..." the rest of his statement was drowned out in the rumble of an explosion across the street. The phone fell from his nerveless fingers as he and the sergeant stared at the blast on the exterior security cameras.

-----

Tahira spun the wheel of the Metro as she turned her way onto Highway 94 after having dropped off a package containing copies of Rambo's readout into yet another mailbox, a slight smile crossing her lips as she combed her hair into a semblance of order. Those wigs really could be brutal after a few hours. Still, with the police and fire departments no doubt scrambling through the wreckage and the 911 lines backed up with sudden emergency calls it was profoundly unlikely that they would be able to spare anyone to track down yet another stolen vehicle. She'd just leave it in Minneapolis before catching a bus down to the airport.