The Adventures of the Jade
Dragon
Episode 6
Chapter
2
Melissa
Metro City, USA,
1926
“It’s
the least you can do, Natassia. The
poor child had been terribly abused.
I think you can help her.”
Natassia Green, also known as Nova, turned toward her Aunt
Priscilla. The elderly woman
had ceased to be Natassia’s guardian when the heroine had turned twenty-two,
but it did not stop her from ordering her around as if she were still a
child. “I suppose you are
right, Auntie. After all I was
in something like the same position
myself. What can you tell me
about her?”
“Well,” said her aunt, hesitating, “some of the information
about her is best not discussed in polite
company. Let us just say that
she has had a hard life. She
was stolen from her parents when she was very young and raised by
heathens. As a result, she hardly
speaks any English, but instead babbles away in
Chinese. I thought you might
be able to help there since you have some knowledge of the
language.”
“And the abuse? I suppose
that is the information that cannot be discussed.”
“Yes,” said her Aunt, coloring.
“Let’s just say that she is permanently
scarred. I won’t say any
more than that.”
“I might be able to help her,” conceded Natassia, thinking of the
years that she had spent in the Shaolin monastery in
“She’s staying with the mission down on
“No,” said the heroine.
“I have to do some shopping
anyway. I’ll stop by and
pick her up. Perhaps she might
want to come with me and pick up a few
items. Also it will give me a
chance to know her better.”
“You’re a gem, Natassia.
It’s a shame that all young women are not more like
you.”
Natassia smiled. Giving her aunt
a kissed she headed toward the garage.
The young girl she picked up at the mission was one of the most beautiful
young women that Natassia had ever seen.
She wore what appeared to be a cotton hand-me-down
dress. Natassia guessed that
it was something the mission happened to have on hand that would fit the
young woman. But the simple dress
could not hide the strong athletic body beneath the thin
fabric. Not could her dowdy clothes
or lack of make up disguise the perfect symmetry of her
face.
The girl had long brown hair that she wore in a braid that hung to her
waist. Her deep brown eyes were
set above high cheekbones that set off her straight nose and bee-stung
mouth. She was tall, about the
same height as Natassia, with high, well-formed breasts, a tiny waist, and
long legs. Natassia smiled as
she approached her, escorted by one of the ministers who helped run the
mission. “Hello,” she
said. “I’m Natassia
Green. And you must be
Melissa.”
The girl did not answer, but smiled back a little
uncertainly. There was something
very subdued about her, and Natassia remembered what her aunt had said about
the girl being abused. A closer
look revealed a lack of luster in her
eyes. Instead they showed deep
pain. Something terrible had
indeed been done to this young woman.
Natassia hoped that she would be able to help her.
She shook hands with the girl and then walked her to the
car. The girl had no possessions
to take with her and Natassia announced that they were going to go shopping
before she took the girl to her new home, Natassia’s
home.
The shopping trip was uneventful.
The girl seemed to enjoy buying clothes, but was terribly shy and
would not talk at all, until she learned that Natassia spoke
Cantonese. Then Melissa came
out of her shell a little and exclaimed at all the strange new things she
was seeing. Natassia understood
this very well, having spent most of her childhood in
Natassia settled the girl into her home.
Aunt Priscilla helped. Now
that Natassia had come of age, the older woman seemed to need someone she
could educate in the correct social
mores. She constantly monitored
Melissa’s behavior, informing her of the dos and don’ts of polite
society. Natassia smiled when
she saw this, remembering how the old woman had badgered her when she first
returned to the
Melissa was polite and well behaved, and anxious to learn about her new
country. It turned out that she
was a complete orphan. Her parents
had been killed in
There was only one problem posed by the
girl. Each night, Natassia changed
into her alter ego of Nova and patrolled
Melissa settled into her new home.
Her new friend, Natassia and her Aunt Priscilla seemed like nice
people. And she desperately needed
a place to stay where she could try and forget what had happened to her at
the hands of the Master Assassin.
The memories of that ordeal came back to torment her every
night.
It was because of those haunting memories that she was aware of Natassia’s
nocturnal ramblings. Her new
friend went out almost every night after Aunt Priscilla turned
in. At first she decided it was
none of her business. She did
not want to offend her new acquaintances.
She supposed that Natassia was probably going out to meet a
boyfriend. But after awhile,
she became curious. If Natassia
had a boyfriend why did they never meet during the
day? Natassia was an
adult. She didn’t have to
sneak around. The mystery nagged
at her, until one night she decided to find out exactly what her friend was
up to.
She went to bed at her usual time, but did not go to
sleep. She seldom did
anyway. Whenever she slept she
suffered terrible nightmares. She
lay in bed fully dressed in dark tight fitting
clothes. As she waited for Natassia
to make her move the memories of her escape came flooding
back.
She had only a confused recollection of what had actually
happened. It was Ho who got her
away. Fang Yin’s cousin
took her several hundred miles by donkey.
Much of the time, Melissa was suffering too much pain and psychological
trauma to pay much attention to where she was
going. But the ex-guard looked
after her well. He dressed her
wounds, and made sure that she got enough food and water while he moved by
back roads to a place of safety.
Eventually they reached a small town with a Christian
mission. Ho turned her over to
the missionaries and departed. He
had no wish to stay too close to someone who might be sought after by the
Assassins’ Guild.
The missionaries were horrified at Melissa’s injuries, and mystified
at her inability to speak English beyond the level of a five-year-old, but
they took good care of her until she was well enough to travel. They also
managed to figure out who she was.
Although there was no formal way of identifying her, it turned out
that she was the spitting image of the wife of a young
missionary. That woman was probably
her mother. Sadly, both of her
parents had been murdered by Chinese bandits over ten years ago, so there
was no one in
She sat up in bed. She had heard
the soft sound of Natassia’s footsteps in the hallway
outside. Silently, she eased
herself out of the room. Natassia
was heading toward the garage.
Melissa followed as close behind as she
dared. Her assassin’s skills
came back to her almost automatically.
She moved like a wraith through the
darkness. Natassia entered the
garage and opened the outside door.
Then she got into her car.
Melissa had ridden in it before; it was a large powerful
vehicle. Natassia had called
it a Cadillac, whatever that meant.
She waited until Natassia had pulled the car out into the driveway
and got out to close the door, then she climbed on to the rear bumper and
held on tight.
The trunk of the car was quite high-backed and it effectively hid Melissa
from the driver. Fortunately,
the spare tire was carried on the back and provided her with a solid handhold,
so that even going around curves she was quite
secure.
Natassia drove to a part of town Melissa had never been to
before. It consisted of numerous
rundown buildings. It was obvious
that this was the poorer part of the
city. Her eyes
widened. She had seen a sign
in Chinese. She had not expected
that. After awhile she noticed
that most of the signs were in Chinese.
Clearly
Natassia got out of the car and went to the door of the
building. She tapped several
times in what seemed to be a sort of code and the door was opened by a
middle-aged Chinese man dressed in the traditional Chinese garb of a
servant. Natassia was admitted
and the door closed behind her.
Furiously curious, Melissa moved from the
shadows. She studied the
building. With her assassin’s
skills, getting into the structure posed no
problems. It took her only seconds
to shinny up the downspout to the roof and she soon gained the top of the
structure. Once on the roof she
proceeded to a large skylight set in the middle of the
roof. She was about to peer in,
when she detected a noise coming from the rooftop
exit. At least two people were
coming up the stairs toward the roof.
Quickly, she ducked into the shadows in one corner of the
roof. At that moment the door
to the roof opened and Natassia emerged, but she had completely
changed. She was wearing a skintight
white and black costume, and her face was
masked. It was only from her
build that Melissa was able to recognize
her. Right behind her was another
woman, similarly dressed in a costume of green and
black.
Melissa suppressed a gasp. She
never would have guessed such a thing if she had not seen it with her own
eyes, but it seemed very clear to her
now. Natassia and the other woman
were members of the Assassins’
Guild. She huddled in the shadows,
stunned. All the memories of
what had been done to her came flooding
back. What if Natassia found
out who she was? She was sure
that the woman she had thought of as her friend would take brutal action
against her. She had escaped
from the Guild once. Next time,
if she was caught she was sure that she faced death.
The two costumed women walked to the edge of the
roof. Melissa shrank back even
farther into the shadows. What
were the two women up to? Why
had they come up to the roof? Then
the woman in green and black did something that Melissa would have thought
impossible. Seemingly without
effort, she leapt from the roof, but leapt with such power that she sailed
across the street to the roof of the neighboring
building. Then as Melissa watched
open-mouthed, Natassia followed, easily matching the first woman’s
jump.
Curiosity overcoming her fears, Melissa moved to the edge of the roof, just
in time to see the two women move from the roof they were on to the next
building. Although they seemed
to move unhurriedly, their tremendous leaps covered considerable distance
rapidly. Melissa desperately
wanted to follow them, but could not compete with such power and
agility. Even as she watched
they vaulted across another street to move even farther
away. Quickly, the two figures
disappeared into the darkness.
For a few seconds Melissa stood,
frustrated. Then she had a flash
of inspiration. Natassia and
her mysterious friend had moved away from her in a straight
line. If they didn’t deviate
from that direction it was possible she might be able to catch up to
them. Quickly, she descended
to the street and moved off in the direction the two women had
taken. They had quite a head
start. If they kept moving she
would never catch them, but it was just possible they might stop for some
reason.
Moving the way she had been taught, Melissa slipped silently and undetected
through the dark streets. She
could not follow the exact course the two women had taken, as buildings often
stood in her way, and she had to detour around them, but she kept doggedly
after them.
She kept going for over an hour.
She had lost track of her quarry, but hoped that some lucky break
would give her a glimpse of them.
She constantly scanned the tops of buildings as she
moved. She realized that most
people almost never looked up, and that Natassia and her companion might
not be expecting anyone to spot them.
Nevertheless, she was about to give up in frustration, when a slight
movement atop a very large building caught her
eye.
At first she thought she might be
mistaken. The building appeared
to be a large abandoned warehouse, its broken windows staring blankly into
the street, but then she caught a glimpse of a figure moving like a spider
near the top of the structure. It
was the woman in green and black, and right behind her was Natassia’s
white and black costume.
This time the two women were not moving from roof to roof. Instead, they
seemed to have found what they were looking
for. They paused for a few seconds
near the edge of the roof and then headed in toward the center of the
building. Determined to find
out what was going on, Melissa approached the
building. She didn’t know
how she was going to get in, but was sure that her assassin’s skills
would help her find a way. Quietly
she moved off into the darkness.
Sun Lin, the Jade Dragon, signaled to Natassia, also known as
Nova. They dared not
speak. The criminal they were
hunting was one of their most deadly
foes. He had disappeared for
a time, but now rumors of his return were spreading through the city, as
was the evidence of his activities.
A number of bizarre and daring crimes had occurred in the last few
weeks that pointed to the presence of a criminal mastermind, and one well
known to the Jade Dragon and Nova.
Sun Lin pointed down. Nova
nodded. Somewhere in the huge
warehouse was the lair of Dr. Ivan Retinoff, or so they
believed. It had taken awhile
to trace him, but the trail of clues and information from their informants
said that he awaited somewhere below.
The problem was to get into the building and apprehend the arch villain without
being captured. Retinoff, or
“Mad Ivan,” as he was often called, was notorious for his deadly
traps. Sun Lin and Natassia had
suffered too often at his hands to proceed carelessly against
him.
They were right above a skylight.
Below them they could see lights and a large seemingly empty
room. It looked like a good place
to enter the building, but the two women were
cautious. Such an obvious opening
was not to be trusted, and so they looked for a safer way into the
building.
A large ventilation shaft seemed to hold promise, but that too could not
be trusted. Natassia peered into
it. Sun Lin shook her
head. If the shaft was a trap
it would be almost impossible for them to escape from
it. The green and black clad
heroine went to the edge of the building.
There were hundreds of windows along the two
floors. It would be impossible
to booby trap them all. She took
out a grappling hook, set it into the edge of the roof and swung over the
side of the building. She dropped
about twenty feet and swung in through a broken
window. Nova watched her progress
from the roof. A minute went
by and then there was a tug on the rope.
Nova seized the line and followed.
Inside the building Nova found Sun Lin waiting for
her. They were in a large room
crammed with large wooden crates.
Cautiously they moved across the
floor. They kept a spacing of
about twenty feet. If one of
the heroines sprung a trap, at least they would not both be
victims.
As it turned out, the room was safe.
They moved across it and encountered a
door. Sun Lin opened it a
crack. It opened into a dimly
lit corridor, and from somewhere to the right came the sound of voices.
Stealthily, they moved into the corridor, stepping silently toward the
noise. Ever cautious, they crept
slowly forward, watching for any sign of
treachery. With any luck, they
would find Retinoff and would not run into any of his infernal
traps. It all depended on how
long he had been in the building.
If he had only been there a short time, he would not have had time
to build any of the deadly devices that made life for heroines
miserable.
The sound of voices was louder now, emanating from a room near the end of
the corridor. Slowly, the two
heroines closed in. They were
intent on avoiding any trap the nasty little Russian might have set for
them. Retinoff was actually the
only villain that any of the heroines of
The Jade Dragon’s martial arts skills were
legendary. She had never met
an opponent she could not handle, and the powers of her mind gave her enhanced
skills as great as any Chinese master of the ancient art of
Wushu. Nova was also skilled
in the martial arts, but she relied less on her skill and more on the mystical
properties of the Dragon’s Eye, an emerald green gem that gave her strength
and speed far beyond that of the
ordinary. Even so, Retinoff had
trapped both of the heroines before, and his treatment of them had been
savage. They wanted to make sure
they never fell into his clutches again.
Sun Lin eased the door open a crack.
It was another large storage room.
Inside several thugs were playing cards, an assortment of weapons
lying close at hand. There seemed
to be no one else about.
Carefully, Sun Lin closed the door.
They could deal with the thugs
later. She wanted
Retinoff. Once again they moved
off. They went past several other
closed doors, but hearing nothing within, kept on
moving. The building was
huge. Retinoff could be anywhere
in it.
The sound of a door opening behind them caused them to spin
around. Two men emerged from
one of the rooms that they had passed.
They were both carrying Thompson submachine
guns. Before the eye had a chance
to register, Sun Lin’s hands
flashed. Several spinning disks
flew down the hall. Even as the
thugs leveled their weapons, the disks caught
them. One of the disks buried
itself in the forehead of the one of the gunmen; the other caught the second
hoodlum in the throat. Without
a sound, they both dropped, but almost immediately another goon poked his
head out of the same doorway.
His head disappeared almost as soon as he spotted the bodies of his dead
buddies in the hallway. But both
women knew they were in a bad spot.
The corridor provided no place where they could
hide. They had to get out of
it quickly. They were almost
at the end of the corridor.
Quickly, Sun Lin sprinted for the doorway at the far end, Nova hot
on her heels. Both women had
taken only four or five strides, when suddenly a twenty-foot section of the
floor gave way beneath their feet.
They had found Retinoff’s trap!
Even as she dropped into the dark space created by the opening of the trap
door Sun Lion did not panic. She
knew that the drop could not be much more than thirty feet, unless Retinoff
had dug deeper than the foundations of the
building. Both she and Nova could
easily handle such a fall. She
reached out with her mind, slowing her
descent. She could not actually
fly, but she had enough command over her body to enable her to jump and fall
farther than any normal human. As
for Nova, a drop of thirty feet would harm her no more than falling a yard
for anyone else.
They had not reckoned with Retinoff’s ingenuity,
however. He did not intend to
try and kill any intruder, just capture them, and he had devised the perfect
trap for dealing with invaders of all types.
SPLLLOOOOPPHH! Sun Lin
and Nova splashed down into something soft and
sticky. Both heroines knew instantly
what it was. A strong, sweet
smell assailed their nostrils.
Retinoff had dropped them into a giant tank of
molasses!
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