THE BUTTERFLY KILLER

Prologue: Let The Chips Fall Where They May

By Aaron Stanley

Domino followed Gabriel to the roof of the parking garage next to the small hotel, and looked at the small aircraft he had.

He followed her gaze, and smiled. “Nice, eh? It’s a jump jet. Similar to the Avengers old quin jets, but smaller,” he said. He walked over, and entered an access code on the control panel. The canopy hissed, and then slowly opened. He climbed in, and strapped himself in. “It’s a new model.”

“Get in, I’ll get us moving,” he said.

Domino climbed inside, and strapped herself into her seat, as Gabriel started the engines.

“There’s a stack of files in cargo hatch between the seats. It’s all we have on the Butterfly Killer, as well as the mandate for the Mutant Affairs Division. At this point, there isn’t much to it. After we catch this maniac, I’ll be expecting you to flesh it out, put a staff together, that sort of thing.”

Domino pulled the files from the compartment. As she opened it, she turned to the SHIELD officer.

“And just how in the hell do you expect me to set up a US investigations agency? Honestly, are you on glue?” She challenged the man, as he gunned the engines, and rocketed them skyward. The VTOL engines on the jump jet were powerful, and they were soon at 10,000 feet, and he transitioned to a horizontal configuration as he continued the climb.

“No, but if you look at the file, the first page is a list of people who could be brought in, to help with that. Some of them have run government task forces; some are just good office people. Other’s have special skills that will be necessary for any team you put together,” Gabriel Jones said, pushing the throttle to its midpoint. It was going to be a short flight, thanks to the ability for the jump jet to enter a low-Earth orbit, cutting down the distance as it shot a parabola into space. He set the flight plan, then the auto-pilot, and settled in. “We will be in New York in just about three hours. I suggest you work on your case first.”

Domino eyed the man. For someone that was only supposed to be an advisor, he was awfully pushy. She decided to let it slide, and moved the Butterfly Killer case to the top of her small stack of files, and opened it. On the first page, was a list of private detectives in New York. The top of the list was someone she’d hired previously, and was a drunk. She crossed his name off the list with the pen that was hooked on the cover. The second name was someone she’d never heard of, but she put a line next to the name, preferring to go through all the people on the list, removing people before she started getting in depth.

As she moved down the list, she came across one name she remembered being hired by a few acquaintances during their divorce proceedings. Why people in the intelligence community married civilians she couldn’t understand, but the word on the woman had been great.

“What time is it in New York? And does this thing have a phone?” Domino asked Gabriel Jones, who was working on a PDA.

Gabriel looked at his watch, and then turned to the luck-bending mutant. “It’s 1630, and yes. Press this button, dial the number, and then just wait. Works like a normal phone, except it works by bouncing off a spy satellite.”

“Thanks,” she replied. She hated moments like these, being alone with a former lover, in a confined space. Reminded her of a time when she’d been trapped in a cave with G.W. Bridge for a few days, after they’d stopped sleeping together. Good times in the Middle East. She looked up the number, and dialled it in. It rang a good dozen times before someone picked up.

“Dakota North,” replied the woman on the other end.

“Ms. North, this is Beatrice Thurman, with the Mutant Affairs Division. How’d you like to work for the US government on a temporary basis?” Domino asked, using her given name. She’d long since stopped calling it her real name, as hardly anyone called her that.

“Long as the cheque doesn’t bounce, I’ll work for anyone. Lord knows I ain’t getting any work as a PI,” Dakota said. With the advent of the internet, and small cameras, being a PI was getting harder and harder.

“Great,” Domino said. She flicked through the papers until she came to the one with the address of her office in New York. “Meet me at 1690 East 143rd Street, Suite 103, at 9 am tomorrow, and we’ll go over the details of the work you’d be doing.”

“Sure. 9 am, 143rd Street. Good bye,” Dakota said. She hung up the phone, not waiting for a reply.

As Domino closed the line, she put a star next to Dakota’s name on the list. She moved to the next sheet down, which listed support personnel. She decided she’d worry about that after she put her serial killer in Ol’ Sparky. She turned to the first victim, and looked at the pictures. The young man was Caucasian, 18, and of average build. She figured that he’d be considered cute, if it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes were fixed open, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. The next picture showed a close-up of the neck, which had deep purple bruises on both sides of it, and over the middle. She wrote on the blank notepad she’d found, “strangled – upper body strength greater than that of first victim, male suspect.” While she didn’t have any basis for it other than personal experience being strangled, she knew that it took a lot of strength and size to strangle someone, especially an 18 year old that looked to be in reasonably good shape, other than being dead.

The next picture showed a picture of the young man’s back. Two deep, angry wounds ran from just below the shoulder to about mid back. A ruler had been placed next to the wounds, to give a scale. Each one was about 18 inches long, three inches wide at the widest part, and relatively new. Domino again scribbled. “Body was found ‘fresh’. Wounds appear clean, precise. No excessive bleeding. Victim killed first, than wings removed after rigor mortis set. Surgeon or doctor, someone with medical experience. Victim lain on stomach after death to avoid blood pooling?” Having seen as many dead people as she had, she knew that if the person died on their back, blood pooled in that area, leaving it looking like a deep bruise. Since the only blood came from the spot where the wings had been removed, she knew the young man had been placed on his front.

“Domino, I hate to bug you, as you look like you’re in the groove, but you might want to take a look around. Might not get a view like this again,” Gabriel said from the other side of the small jump jet.

Domino looked up and around and almost gasped. She’d been so focused, that she hadn’t realized it, but she was no looking down at the world. She couldn’t make out anything, other than the ocean and clouds, all below her, with the West Coast of North America ahead of her. “Wow,” was all that passed her lips. She looked around her, and above her, looking out at the great void that was space. She tried to remember as much as she could, because she’d probably never be this close to space ever again.

“Well, if nothing else, I have to thank you for the view, Gabby,” Domino said, thanking the SHIELD officer, who had stayed mostly quiet on the trip so far.

“You’re welcome. I figured I’d mention it to you, as we’ll be starting our descent soon, and I wasn’t sure if you got into near-Earth orbit that often,” the man replied, smiling.

“Oh yeah, all the time,” she joked back.

As Gabriel pushed the flight column down, the nose of the aircraft pointed towards the ground. Gabriel hit a button, and metallic shutters slid over the view screen.

“Have to do it to avoid the view screen from cracking. It’s going to get hot, even on the shallow re-entry vector we’re taking,” he said by way of explanation.

“Sure, I knew that,” Domino said in reply, as if she was a professional at space travel. “This thing going to shake like in the movies?”

“No. We’re not coming in that steep. Plus, in the movies, its old space travel methods. This is something closer to the space shuttle. It should be pretty gentle.”

Domino nodded, and settled in for the ride. She’d worry about the rest of the case when she got to New York. For now, she was content to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Later that Day

As Gabriel landed on the Helicarrier, Domino stretched. It’d been quite the ride, and she was more than happy to get out of the cramped little aircraft. She gathered all the files she’d made use of, and took them in her arm as she climbed out of the jump jet.

“Well Gabby, thanks for the fabulous ride. How do I get down from here?” she asked, looking down at New York City, which was starting to light up as the night edged closer.

“I’ve got a helicopter that’s set to take you to one of our facilities. From there, you’ll be drove to your apartment, so you can make yourself comfortable. It’s not the greatest, but I figured I could set you up at one of SHIELD’s safe houses while you got your department together.”

“Yeah, thanks. Not to be a bitch, but what about my bike back in Madripoor?” she asked, as she thought of the motorcycle that was sitting below the hotel where she’d spent last night, or was it yesterday night? Domino hated time zones.

“I’ll have it shipped over here. Should be a few days and you’ll have it back,” Gabriel replied. “If that’s it, I got a lot of work I have to get back to,” he said. He hated to brush off Domino, but the job didn’t wait for anyone, and he’d probably be a day or two catching up.

“That’s fine. I’ll see ya around, Gabber,” she said, using the pet name she’d used when they were seeing each other. She’d always remembered fondly the time she’d spent with Gabriel, even if it was limited. ‘Should have tried to stick it out with that one,’ Domino thought to herself, as she was escorted to a waiting helicopter.

One Hour Later

As Domino was dropped off in front of the apartment building where she was told she’d be living out of, she looked around her. It didn’t seem to be that bad a location, the streets were clean, well lit, and it didn’t look run down. She climbed the stairs, and went through three keys before she found the one that let her in the front door. She climbed the stairs to the second story, and found her apartment, then did the many key routine until she opened the door on her new place.

She dropped the files on the stand that was inside the door, and hit the light. She was in a little entrance room, and moved into the living room/dining room of her small apartment. She made a mental note to mention to Gabby that she wanted a bigger place. Then again, if she was getting paid enough, she’d just get her own. She looked at the table, and saw a present.

“Welcome to your new home,” the card said, that was attached to the box. “Typical Gabby,” Domino said to herself. She tore off the wrapping paper, and found a small wooden box. She opened the lid, and inside was a small badge. It read “Mutant Affairs Division,” along the banner that was top and bottom. In the middle, it had a double helix. Domino smiled. ‘Maybe it’ll open a few doors if I look more official,’ Domino mused. She moved into the kitchen, and opened the fridge. Nothing was in it, and she laughed to herself. She picked up the wall mounted phone that looked like it was from the last century, and dialled the number for a pizza place.

“One large pepperoni, half dozen soda, and some chicken wings,” she said, opening her wallet. She laughed to herself. “Do you take dollars from Singapore?”

Next: Domino meets with Dakota North, and actually gets to work.