#9 - "First Strike"

Tentatively I stepped out from behind the changing screen. The outfit I had just put on fit perfectly. Of course it should fit perfectly since I had been fully measured for it just two days ago. It had arrived by express delivery at my apartment just a few hours back. It was the first of two business outfits that Sheryl Campbell had commissioned from the famous fashion designer Georgio and his staff.

"So what do you think, Gwen?"

I was currently in the Manhattan townhouse of Gwendolyne Kingston, who was far better known to the world as the Enchantress. We were upstairs in her changing room. We had briefly been teammates in the Crusaders many years ago. Gwen and Morning Star had been my closest teammates back in those days. We had kept in casual contact over the years, but now that the Enchantress was back in town and a member of the Avengers we got to see each other more.

Gwen was from a wealthy family and was used to the finer things in life. Her sense of style was impeccable. I just wished I had thought about contacting Gwen days earlier. It was Sheryl's idea to have Georgio make appropriate business attire for me. Gwen was a fan of his work as well.

I regarded myself in the dressing mirror from a variety of angles. I was wearing a navy blue jacket with golden buttons and white trim. Matching this was a knee length navy blue skirt. Under the jacket was a pastel blue blouse. Add nylons and navy blue Ashur shoes and you had an idea on what the ensemble looked like.

"Very nice," Gwen complimented. "I like the cut on the jacket. Very sharp, quite stylish. Although you may wish considering pinning your hair up to present a more professional appearance. I think that would look much better. Here, allow me."

With my permission, Gwen quickly restyled my hair. She pulled it up and pinned it off into a stylish coif. Normally I just let my hair fall back straight down my back. Fancy hairdos were something that I usually avoided.

"It's not bad," I mumbled after seeing the changes Gwen had made. "Not bad at all. I like it. That was a very nice touch with the hair."

"Much like beauty, fashion sense in is the eye of the beholder," Gwen explained. "But in this instance, I would say that Georgio solidly hit the target."

"It's just like Sheryl said, clothes really do make a difference." I actually felt and looked confident and successful in this outfit. Granted, I was in Gwen's dressing area and not in front of employees, but the feeling was still there. "We'll see how well it works tomorrow."

"Big day tomorrow?", Gwen inquired.

"You could say that. There's going to be a press conference with Donald Henderson and myself about the release of the HE 4000 computer line featuring the new version of my Lore processor. Should get pretty big media coverage."

"Donald Henderson? One of the Cambridge Henderson's?"

"I doubt it," I responded with a chuckle. The Kingston's were an old and famous family from the Boston area. It was only natural that Gwen was familiar with other famous New England families. "Donald Henderson, the founder of Henderson Electronics, is a self-made man. The HE computer line is one of the more popular ones in the world and exclusively use my processing chips. In fact many government organizations and installations like PRIMUS and the Strongholds make use of our systems."

"I'm impressed," Gwen answered.

It was now Sunday Afternoon and the subject of clothes had come up at Helena's party last night. I had been filling in Muskateer and the Enchantress on the latest happenings in my life. It was all leading up to my asking Muskateer if he would be interested in taking over at Tyler Labs for me. I fully explained the situation to both he and Gwen. Since they were now dating and I considered both of them to be friends, it seemed only fair to consult Gwen as well.

She was skeptical at first. Can't say I blame her. It was pretty obvious that she was very much in love with Steven. The idea of him taking on a potentially dangerous job might not sit well with her. Granted being Muskateer was a pretty dangerous proposition on its own. But then again, while being Muskateer you expect danger. Sitting at a desk just waiting for something bad to happen is quite different. Of course Muskateer had yet to make his decision.

During the course of the discussion the subject of my wardrobe, or lack there of, had arisen. Turns out that the designer Sheryl often used was one of the ones Gwen favored as well. Gwen had offered to help me out in this matter, so once I got the package I came over to her place to show off my new outfit.

Last night's party had been lots of fun. The food was great and I ate as much as Jaime would let me. She had been on a weight loss kick as of late. I had gained a few pounds from my stay out in California and Jaime was determined to make sure I lost them. At times she's even worse and far more vocal than my conscience.

The highlight of the party had to be the eating contest between the Thing and Supreme. Or maybe I should say low point. It was -- well, let's just say that it wasn't something I was soon to forget even if I couldn't store my memories on disk. After that we had a friendly volleyball game. Well, as friendly a game as those with superpowers could be.

The party started to wind down and most of the guests had gone home. The Avengers had a mission first thing in the morning and departed at a reasonable hour. That just left our hosts, Lydia, Kor, Megan and myself at the party. We crashed on the patio and talked for a couple of hours.

Turns out that Kor was a nobleman from an alternate Earth refereed to as Terra Nova. It was a world where magic was commonplace and technology was merely a curiosity. It didn't sound all that appealing to me. I'll take my gadgets and gizmos any day!

An evil empire led by 'Oeramm the Merciless' had overrun his families' lands. What a cute name! It sounded like something out of one those 1930's movie serials! I just hoped that he dressed better. Guess I've still got fashion on the brain. Kor was here on Earth to gain experience and recruit allies to return back to Terra Nova and reclaim his lost lands.

"Alternate dimensions!", Jaime nearly shouted into my head. "That's it!"

"What's it?", I mentally sent her back. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember back when I was going over those high tech robberies for Muskateer?" (Editor's Note: Back in Scarlet Sabre #6)

"Yes? Does this have something to do with the Energy Amplification Array?" Jaime had deduced that some of the parts that had been reported stolen could be combined in such a way to do something she considered to be only theoretical.

"It has everything to do with it. The theory was that by generating an intense magnetic field at specific resonating frequencies, it is possible to open momentary doorways between dimensions. If such a device could be constructed, it would need something like the EAA to focus and intensify the magnetic field."

"Oh-kay", was my response. Still it's a crazy world out there and just about anything was possible. If that was the purpose the EAA had been stolen for, then just who was seeking to travel between dimensions? And why? And how would the flaw in the focusing mechanism in the EAA affect the end result? All questions for which we still didn't have any answers.

I listened to the conversation with Kor and the others for a while before calling it a night myself. It was after midnight by the time I got home. Westchester was quite a haul from Staten Island. Still, I had a good time and got to meet some people that I normally don't get to hang out with. All in all, it was good day.

Next morning the Avengers got into a major league tussle with someone calling himself the Ravager. By the time I even heard the news it was all over with. From what Gwen was telling me, a third mystery vortex had appeared on Friday morning and sucked in a couple of the actors from the Guardian Angel television show. They re-appeared this morning having been transformed into their television characters! (Editor's Note: As shown in Avengers #25)

Talk about bizarre, huh? It made Jaime's theory about the EAA being used to punch holes into other dimensions somewhat more believable. Like I said before, it's a crazy world out there.

Gwen had filled me in on the details of the Avengers battle with the Ravager. It sounded like one heck of a fight! I was almost sorry to have missed it. Almost. Heck, this Ravager goon had even caused part of the Brooklyn Bridge to collapse. And people used to complain about traffic jams before this!

The conversation turned back to clothes once more. Ever since it had become a subject, Jaime had been searching clothing websites for outfits. That's the sort of thing that Jaime does best. Even better, it all happened in the background and didn't take up any of my time.

I had brought a laptop computer with me and booted it up. We showed Gwen just some of the things we had found. She liked some of the clothes that Jaime had located, but was polite enough to not come right out and say that she hated some of them. We experimented with different color and pattern combinations and managed to settle on several different outfits. Orders were placed and my new business wardrobe would be arriving by mail. I guess shopping by computer gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'window shopping'.

It was a new experience for Gwen. She never was the type to get herself a home computer and generally preferred to go into stores and look around. Much of her wardrobe was custom made, but occasionally she would find something nice off the rack. I suppose that method had its advantages. The chance to get out and relax with friends. Unfortunately, I usually didn't have the luxury of free time to waste.

The afternoon with Gwen was fun. It had been a long time since I had done something like that. This whole weekend was shaping up that way. I always seem to be too involved in some project or out doing stuff as the Scarlet Sabre to have much of a personal life. It's sort of funny to find doing normal everyday things different and refreshing. Naturally, it was a situation that would not last.

I was back in my apartment at CII when it all started. I had a light dinner and was reviewing some papers and reports for the morning meetings before turning in. That's when my evening was rudely interrupted by the plant security system.

"We've got an intruder!", Jaime excitedly informed me. Let me tell you, she startled the heck out of me. I had been in deep concentration when she came along and shouted into my mind.

"What do you have?", I sent back after recovering. I closed my eyes to make it easier to concentrate on the images that Jaime was feeding me.

Out on the edge of the plant, a Monitor Drone had detected movement and was moving in to investigate. Most of the CII security system is automated and controlled by Jaime. There are two types of drones: Monitor and Security. Each is essentially flying spheres, but the Security Drones are larger since they contain weaponry. The smaller Monitors were basically flying cameras.

The image from the Monitor Drone began to form in my mind. Night had fallen and the image had been artificially brightened to compensate for the darkness. Hovering near the fence was what appeared to be a robot of some type. And it was not one of ours!

This one had an egg shaped main body, with a similar styled head. It had two small arms, hinged at the body and elbows that ended in a three-pronged claw. The construct didn't have legs, but was hovering on flight jets. I guessed that an opaque panel on the head served as its visual receptors.

"Its some kind of robot," I noted aloud.

At the moment I could only guess as to why it was here. Obviously it was up to no good, but just why it was here was a mystery. There were numerous things that it could be looking to steal. Far too many targets to speculate about just yet. Could even be industrial sabotage.

"You think?", Jamie sent me back. Yeah, she's a bit of a smart-ass at times. Of course, had the situation been reversed I probably would have said the same thing. "I'm alerting the closest Security Drones and the guard shack."

In spite of the high-tech security system, we also have regular security guards. Just not as many of them as one might expect for an installation of this size. Plus a few members of the Freedom League were almost always on hand to act as back-ups.

Suddenly, the intruder accelerated forward and streaked past the Monitor Drone! The little guy could move pretty fast! The intruder was momentarily lost from sight. Jamie cycled through images from other Monitor Drones and stationary cameras. This robot wasn't going to shake us that easily!

"Security Drones closing in," Jaime narrated. "This should all be over with in a few moments."

Multiple images started to flood into my mind. Even with my ability to process information at high speeds it was growing difficult to keep pace with everything going on. Jaime, being a computer was not having any problem. I could see the points of view from each of the Security Drones as they moved to surround the intruder.

Surprisingly, the robot came to a stop and hovered once more. Three Security Drones moved in to block its escape. Their weapon systems were armed and locked on target. This should just about be the end of this little escapade.

And then the invader blew up! That was not something that we were expecting. As it self-destructed, it generated an EM pulse that blew out the circuitry of all three Security Drones and the two Monitor Drones that had been watching! Thankfully, the effect was very small in scale. Still, their one unit had taken out five of ours!

"They did that deliberately!", Jaime deduced. "Drew our forces in and took them out!"

"Obviously, our unknown enemy is quite intelligent," I added.

"I'm picking up four more intruders! They're all over the plant!"

The images in my mind changed once more. Four more robots, each identical to the first one had moved in. As Jaime had stated, these new intruders were spread out across the CII facility.

"Pull the Monitors further back," I advised. "Move the Security Drones in and have then open fire as soon as they have acquired target lock. Let's take these ones out before they self-destruct like the first one! I'm going to get dressed just in case."

Opening my eyes once more, I rushed into my bedroom and began to change into my Scarlet Sabre costume. I wasn't sure if I was going to be needed, but I wanted to be ready just in case. "Alert the other members of the Freedom League as well. I've got the feeling that we're just getting warmed up here."

Jaime quickly made contact with my teammates. FIST, Resonator, and Brute were all here. Not a big surprise as each of them lived on plant. Speedster was away on CII business.

As I changed, the first of the Security Drones reached its target. The internal tracking systems locked on to the target and opened fired. It took four hits, but the invading robot was blown to bits. Hopefully there would be enough left to examine. Perhaps it would provide a clue as to who was behind all of this.

I had my black bodysuit on by the time the second invader was engaged. Once more our Security Drone opened fired at the target. This time, a shimmering energy field surrounded the intruder. The laser fire from the Security Drone was reflected back at it! The Security Drone blew itself up!

"Have the Drones fire while on the move," I instructed Jaime as I slipped on my boots. "Let's not see that happen again."

In the third engagement, the Security Drone fired and then shifted position. As expected, the attack was reflected, but this time the reflected laser missed the Security Drone and blasted a hole in a brick wall.

"Engaging in multiple attack vectors," Jamie chimed in.

I could see three Security Drones opening fire at the same time. They swooped in a highly coordinated maneuver and attacked from different locations. Each Security Drone hit the target and together they overwhelmed the reflecting field that encircled the intruder. I grabbed my sword belt and locked it on my waist.

"Good job!", I told Jaime. I watched it explode as I tied my sash around my waist. All that remained was my mask and blouse. The gloves would be pulled on last.

"Engaging fourth intruder," Jaime sent me. I could sense that she was enjoying this. It's not often that she gets the chance to interact in the physical world in this manner.

The Security Drones closed in once more. They opened fire and then shifted position to avoid any possible reflection attacks. However, this intruder didn't have a reflecting field around it. Instead, it seemed to absorb the attack! A moment later, it fired off its own laser and blew up one of the attack Security Drones!

"Yet another new wrinkle," I observed as I tied off my blouse. Almost ready for action! "So far we've been playing right into our enemies hands. He's figured out what our reactions would be and planned accordingly. I just wish I knew what this was all about."

"What should I do now?"

"Coordinate fire and keep the drones moving. Perhaps it has a limit on how much energy it can absorb." At last, the mask went on and I slipped into my leather gloves. I grabbed my night vision goggles from my belt and slipped them on. They would enable me to see well enough in the dark. My transformation complete, I was out the door and looking for trouble.

In my mind's eye I could see the fourth invader go down under heavy laser fire. Looks like my guess was right. There were limits to how much energy it could absorb and release. However, I didn't think that this was the end of the matter.

"I'm picking up new incoming robots!", Jaime reported. "Multiple signals all over the plant."

"How many this time?", I wondered.

"Seventy-two!"

Its times like these that I hate it when I'm right! This was a full-scale invasion! "Do the best you can," I told Jaime as I stepped out of my apartment. With that many targets and the sheer number of units Jaime was controlling it was better for us to keep the conversation to a minimum. Fewer distractions for both of us that way.

I ran into FIST out by the front door. The building that housed my apartment and laboratory also held his as well. The other two occupants, Microwave and Radiance, kept residence in the city. No reason for either of them to be present on a Sunday night.

"So what's the big deal?", FIST grumbled. "A cat set the alarm off? Or has your imp blown a fuse?"

"Its far more serious than that," I answered as I rushed pass. "We're being overrun by flying robots!"

"Robots, huh? Good! I can really cut loose then!" FIST always liked to violently work out his frustrations. This particular enemy would be very therapeutic for him.

Both Brute and Resonators quarters were in a different part of the plant. It would be a while before we ran into them.

I stepped out of my building and looked around. Jaime was now sending me an overhead representation of the CII installation with colored blips representing the invaders and our security forces. At the moment, I had a whole bunch of targets to choose from.

FIST joined me outside as I fired up my lightsabre. "Okay, so where's all these flying tinker toys at?", he inquired of me as he looked around for the enemy.

"There's five of them over that way." I pointed off in the proper direction for FIST's benefit. "I'll take the batch over here." I didn't wait for a reply as I sprinted off in that direction.

Less than a minute later I came across the group of robots that I had noted on Jaime's display. During that short time there had been other engagements between the security forces and the invaders. So far we were holding our own against the enemy forces.

The question still remained just why were they here and who had sent them. Their tactics seemed simple enough on the surface. Attract attention and draw our forces away from their true target. This was all one massive, but very well thought out diversion.

A group of four invading robots were moving over the courtyard at high speeds. The exhaust from their jets made them very clear targets in the night sky. Unfortunately, they were too high above the ground for me to reach.

"Hey!", I shouted to them, waving my arms to attract their attention. "I'm down here you glorified tin cans!"

The group stopped and directed their visual sensors my way. I stood there, my sabre at the ready. My plan was to goad them into attacking me with their lasers and then reflect the attacks back. Give them a taste of their own medicine. Much to my chagrin, they just continued on their merry way and ignored me!

"Ignore me, will you? I'm personally insulted!"

I thumbed the controls on the sabre and shifted it into cutting mode. They'll regret not taking me seriously! Just for safety's sake, I activated my force field belt. This particular gizmo would generate a personal protection field for about a minute. Just in case any of their laser fire should hit me.

I ran forward towards a nearby truck. It was a company vehicle parked for the weekend. I leaped into the back bed and then performed another jump this time to the top of the cab. From there, I continued forward and leaped high into the air towards my quarry!

The jumps had given me enough altitude to reach the closest robot. I had my sabre out before me with both hands. I swung and the sabre hit the robot in the space between its main body and head. The energy blade neatly sliced the invaders' head off! The construct fizzled and then plummeted to the ground with a crash and a thud.

My landing was much nicer as I hit the ground and tumbled to use up the rest of my momentum. I came up to my feet, lightsabre before me, ready for battle. All those years of gymnastics had given me quite a bit of style and grace when it came to acrobatics.

"Alright you tin cans, who wants to go to toaster heaven next?"

It was a pity that whoever created these things didn't give them speech capacity. I always hated fighting silent foes! Verbal sparring was as much a part of combat as the physical attacks. Usually a lot of fun too!

Two of the remaining three robots fired their lasers at me. Reflection vectors were rapidly calculated and my sabre moved lightning fast. Both attacks were blocked and redirected back towards one of the firing robots. It exploded under the twin laser beam assault.

One of the last two robots moved off, the one without laser fire capabilities, while the one who did have ranged attacks continued to hover there. A few beats later, it started to move towards me! What the heck was it going to do? Ram me?

Just as suddenly as it started to move, the robot unexpectedly came a stop ten feet in front of me. What the heck was it doing? Then it all became quite clear.

The robot that had moved off was circling around from behind me. I wouldn't have spotted it if it weren't for the tracking report Jaime was feeding me. The first robot was occupying my attention while the second sneaked around for the kill.

Timing it just right, I fell over backwards, thrusting my sabre in an upward arc over my body. I rolled underneath the robot sneaking up on me and my sabre neatly sliced it in half before regaining my feet. The two halves dropped to the ground and little arcs of electricity played about the sections for a few seconds before fading away. And then there was one.

The remaining robot opened fire. I reflected the attack back and hit. The robot started to smoke. It was damaged, but not yet complete disabled. I rushed forward and finished the job with a swipe from my lightsabre. It joined its neutralized pals on the pavement. There were no other threats in sight.

"How's it going?", I sent to Jaime.

"We're forcing them back," my cybernetic alter ego reported. "We're winning the war. However, I believe that their true objective has just been revealed."

"What do you have?"

"I'm picking up three more robots coming straight down from high in the sky. They're directly over the building holding our lab and quarters. They are rapidly descending."

So it was all just a diversion. The attack had spread our forces out across the entire plant and had left that one particular building virtually unprotected. I spun and started to run back to my home.

"Lock out and shut down all computer terminals in the building! If it's information they're after, they won't be getting it easily."

There were still too many things they could be after in just that one building. Not only were there my lab, but ones for FIST, Radiance, and Microwave as well. That's assuming they were even looking for a piece of new technology.

"Done", Jaime reported. "I'll send Security Drones over as soon as possible."

I sent back my understanding. Reaching the front door, I flung it open and dashed inside. Jaime kept me abreast of the robots' progress. They had forced their way through the roof access door and were in the main stairwell.

I entered the stairwell and could hear the robotic intruders at the top of the stairs. The building that housed my laboratory and apartment was only two stories high. The basement held Radiance & Microwave's Laboratories. FIST had set up residence on the ground floor, which left the second floor for myself.

"They have entered the second floor hallway," Jaime related.

"If I had known that's where they were going, I would have just waited for them to show up," I wryly sent back. "All this running around for nothing."

"You needed the exercise," Jaime shot back. Did I mention before that she's something of a smart-ass?

Okay, so that meant that something I made was their target. The only thing that came to mind was that maybe they thought the prototype for the Lore 3000 processing chip was in my lab. It wasn't, but not many people knew that. My notes were there, but no working models. Those had been built and tested elsewhere.

I ran up the stairs and rushed along the corridor. The hallway was a small one. There were doors leading into my apartment, my lab, and my exercise area. The entrance to the back stairs was at the far end of the corridor.

The door to my lab was open, as was the one to my apartment. It's possible that I forgot to close it when I left in a rush earlier. Or maybe one of those robots was inside my apartment!

I peeked in the door and then quickly stepped away. A burst of laser fire had been sent my way and it slammed into the wall on other side of the hallway! That was not a friendly thing to do!

Sabre ready, I stepped into my apartment and found two of the robots hovering there. What the heck were they doing in my apartment? If they break something I'm really going to be miffed!

I dove forward towards the first robot and tumbled underneath its laser fire. I thrust my sabre into its body and it crashed to the floor disabled.

The second robot decided to fire on me as well. Fortunately, I had kept moving and was making myself a difficult target. I dove behind my couch for safety. Several blasts of laser fire followed me and tore into my couch!

I peeked out from behind the couch and immediately spotted the holes! Stuffing was freely floating in the air like snow. Those dogs! Don't they have any idea just how expensive these things are?

I yelled and rushed the robot. I deflected an attack back at it and then whacked it couple of times for good measure. That'll teach it to wreck my furniture!

I spotted movement out in the hallway. It must be the remaining robot! I gave chase and emerged back out in the hallway. I caught a glimpse of the last robot. Apparently it had decided to flee. It was making its way back towards the roof exit.

"I got it, Jess," Jaime sent to me. "All the robots seemed to be withdrawing."

In my mind's eye I could see a pair of Security Drones converge on the last robot as it tried to fly off into the night. It took three hits, but it finally fell out of the sky.

"That's the last of them," Jaime continued. "I'm reading all clear. It's over."

All that was left was to clean up this mess. Jaime had worker drones on the task all night. They collected up all the robots that had been damaged or destroyed and collected them in one location. Crews would be dispatched to examine them more thoroughly in the morning.

Likewise those CII units that had been damaged were picked up and sent to the repair stations. Fortunately, we have many of these units on hand, so losing a few dozen wasn't going to lessen our defense capabilities. Like anything, it just would just take time and money to repair the damaged units.

I performed a curiosity check on one of the robots that been in my apartment. There wasn't much to it, actually. For the most part it was a remote controlled device. A series of basic commands and maneuvers were stored on ROM chips. The components were commonplace. All in all, no real clues to reveal who had sent these robots and what they hoped to find in my apartment.

Jaime did make one interesting connection. The robots that attacked us were similar in appearance to robots that had attempted to assassinate a Canadian Official up in Seattle a few months back. Those robots belonged to Professor Charles Malevolence. (Editor's Note: From way back in Spectrum #10)

Could this same Professor Malevolence be the one behind tonight's attack? Love the name, by the way. Reports indicated that he was also Canadian in origin. Maybe the last name had some odd French pronunciation to it. Malevolence had been captured by Spectrum at that time, but had escaped with outside assistance. There had been no reports of his activities since then.

Reports were generated and Sheryl was informed of this latest incursion. The physical damage to the plant was minimal. Should only take a day or two to repair. However, I was going to charge them for my couch! And that's pretty much how I spent my Sunday night.

Monday morning came the same way it usually does: way too early. Of course I had been up much later than I had originally planned. My routine was the same as always. Do my morning exercises, shower, and have what Jaime prepared for breakfast. "Grapefruit again?" I complained.

"Watching your weight is important, Jess," she responded back. "I let you get away with far too much at Helena's party."

"Oh come on! It's not like I ate until I couldn't move any more. I mean, fruit's all right, but I like to have something I can sink my teeth into!"

"To consume a grapefruit you have to sink your teeth into it," Jaime deadpanned. "So you should be satisfied."

"You know what I meant," I shot back. I was not happy, but I grabbed a spoon and dug into my breakfast. Honestly, she was worse than my mother at times!

"And don't forget to take your vitamins," Jaime sent me. "I heard that mother crack."

"Yes mother."

After breakfast, what there was of it at any rate, I got dressed in my new outfit, restyled my hair, and was off to face the world. First thing on my agenda was to stop in at Sheryl's office. From there, I had a couple of meetings to sit in on before heading out to the press conference.

After that, I planned on stopping out at Tyler Labs for a situation update. Actually, I pretty much knew what was going on from Jaime but had to keep up appearances. I was to have a meeting with Roma Asheland, the assistant director. It was going to be my task to inform her that she was not going to be promoted to Director and that someone else was going in from the outside. I had no illusions of this being a pleasant task.

Of course I couldn't explain my real reasons to Ms. Asheland either. I suspected that the former director had been murdered and the attack by Feurgeson was just a smoke screen to cover up the deed. I couldn't tip my hand, as Roma herself could be the guilty party.

I walked into Sheryl's outer office. As always, her personal secretary Abigail Carson was there. Abby was on the phone but gestured me to go right on into Sheryl's private office with a wave.

To my surprise, there was a good-looking guy seated in a chair nonchalantly flicking through a magazine. He had brown hair and matching eyes and wore a well-tailored suit. I estimated that he stood about five foot ten. He must be waiting to also see Sheryl.

Sheryl was standing behind her desk and was currently on the phone. I waited at the edge of the room until she was finished.

"Jessica!", Sheryl called out once her call was completed. "You look smashing!"

"Thanks. Feel good too. I can't thank you enough for buying this for me." I advanced towards Sheryl as I spoke.

"Think nothing of it. You've more than earned it from your past efforts for me." Sheryl came around her desk and put her arm around my shoulders. "I've got another surprise for you."

That caught me out of left field. "What do you mean?" What was she up to now?

Sheryl didn't answer. Instead she buzzed Abby in the outside office. "Abby, send Mr. Braden in."

"Right away, Ms. Campbell," was Abby's response.

The door opened a few moments later and the hunky guy I saw in the office entered. He flashed a bright, infectious smile as he approached us. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Flynn."

"Jessica, this is Tom Braden," Sheryl casually explained. "Your new personal assistant."

"I'm looking forward to working with you," he stated as he shook my hand.

"My what!?", was my immediate thought on the matter.