Ten Little Spies
By Toni Walker
While Ethan Fairchild and his team evaded Julian’s men, Julian had other plans in mind. He looked to his new recruit, Cypher, a professional hacker, the best in the business. He’d needed his help on occasion and Cypher had provided it, at a price. But to Julian Black, head of the notorious Black Council, price was no object.
“Can you do it?” Julian asked with a tone that edged on hopeful anticipation.
“This is not hacking through a firewall, Black This is hijacking a man’s mind.”
“I don’t need your opinion on the ethics of this. Can you do it?” Julian’s tone turned lethal.
“If those little nano suckers flowing through his blood have any sort of wireless signal, I can gain access to it. It might take a while to decipher the gibberish in his brain, thought. We’re breaking new ground here. This has never been attempted.”
“I need you to do this as fast as you can. It won’t be long before Ethan will require a refresher of the ATP cocktail Myers shot him full of last week. As you being to tax his nanites, Ethan may become weaker. It’s a drawback we’re just going to have to be aware of. I don’t want you to kill him. I need him alive.”
***
"Mac got Gia, Rudy and the others in stasis out of the basement,” Bobbie said his voice filled with relief.
“What about Jared?” Stephen asked.
“He and Kaye went after Alison & Dare. We’re not sure of their whereabouts,” Bobbie said.
“These sudden disappearances are starting to freak me out. First Alison and Dare and now Ethan.”
“What are you talking about? I thought he was looking for an egress route,” Stephen said.
Bobbie’s confidence was shaken. “That was over an hour ago and he still hasn’t contacted me. Not even wirelessly. I’m worried this sudden extended use of his nanites may be draining him. The last time he nearly died when the mini machines began feeding on his energy reserves. Myers didn’t tell us when he’d have to be dosed again. All I can say is, the sooner we can get back to HQ and deal with this the better I’ll feel.
***
Dare Ransom wasn’t sure what Black wanted with him, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let the bastard get the better of him.
Alison was still beside him. She hadn’t moved since the gurney was wheeled into this fake ambulance façade. If he didn’t miss his guess, Black had made the mistake many had by confusing the identity of Alison and Kaye.
He’d never fallen into that trap. Their personalities were so different it was easy to tell one from another. But then again, he’d been married to their sister, Dyan for years.
“Everything’s going to be all right, Alison. I’ll make sure of it.” Dare whispered in a voice filled with emotion. She didn’t deserve to be pulled into the middle of this. He, however, had known this day would one day come, the day he’d have to pay for his mistakes.
He did love Dyan. He truly did, but she’d been pulling away from him for years. He’d always expected she’d been seeing another man. He’d never had the time to investigate his theory. But the theory was enough to spur him into a mistaken relationship with Kaye who was unstable and edging on the side of delusional. She’d blown up in her mind their few brief encounters into a love affair of epic proportions. When this was all over, he’d suggest professional help. Until then, he just had to keep them all alive.
When the ambulance came to a halt, the hair on the back of Dare’s neck stood on end. He wasn’t sure what to expect when the doors opened but he’d been through this sort of thing enough times to expect trouble.
“I wouldn’t resist,” the driver whispered through the partition. “Those guys are just looking for a fight.”
Dare wasn’t sure why the driver had sympathy for their situation, but he couldn’t afford to trust anyone. Trusting the wrong people was a death warrant.
The guard who opened the door couldn’t have been more than twenty-five. He clutched a semi-automatic in both hands and waved it in the direction of a three-story brownstone. The building looked like much of the architecture in London, so they couldn’t have gone far. All he needed was an opening to get him and Alison into the tunnels beneath the city. Once there, he knew he could easily get them back to safety.
“How can you be so calm? Alison asked her high pitched soprano voice didn’t fit with her smoky-eyed bombshell appearance.
“When I see a threat, I’ll let you know.” Dare mumbled. Then a guard shoved him from behind causing him to stumble forward.
“Get moving,” the guard ordered.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you want, hotshot.” Dare assessed his restraints as he stopped suddenly bumping Guard Number One. Guard Number Two leveled a pistol at Alison’s head.
“Do that again and I’ll put a bullet through her pretty little head.” Guard Number Two looked pleased with himself when Dare backed away.
They led them to an empty room on the first-level. The door wasn’t particularly strong, and all Dare had to do was bide his time until an opportunity presented itself.
Alison punched Dare lightly on the shoulder. She wasn’t strong like her twin sister, Kaye. “Let’s not try to provoke the soldier wanna-bees, all right? I don’t want one of them accidentally shooting my foot off.
Dare chucked.. “Nice to see you’re back in good humor. Most of the drugs must have worn off.”
“When I woke up this morning, this was not how I planned out my day.”
“It wasn’t high on my priority list either.”
“I hope you know of a way to get us out of here.”
Dare stared at her thoughtfully. “I’m working on it.” He liked to work on the fly. And Alison knew better than anyone how he could get himself out of a jam with only a paperclip. She didn’t see any nearby, but she knew it was only a matter of time.
“What do they want with us?” Alison asked as she watched Dare check for escape routes.
“No clue. I’m not really interested in why.” He found a loose large stone near the floor. It opened like a doorway. It was big enough for Alison to crawl through but not Dare. “We have to get out of here before they move us to a secondary location. Crawl through here and find help.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Alison protested.
“I’m a big boy. I think I can handle it.” He rubbed her arm in a comforting gesture. “Please, Alison. Go. Save yourself.”
“No.” She tried to object more but Dare shoved her feet into the opening. He was much stronger than her and before she knew what was happening he’d pushed her completely through and closed the opening.”
“Dammit,” she screamed pounding the rock wall. “Why did you do that!”
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