Familiar Adversary - Episode 13

Episode 13

I opened my eyes expecting white walls and a hospital and instead found Nick hovering over me with a concerned look on his face.

“What happened?” I asked. My mouth felt like cotton. I was dehydrated, but my headache was gone.

“One of the blood vessels in your head burst,” Nick said. The beautiful black woman was standing beside him.

“The human brain is only supposed to support less than ten percent of cognitive function. Your brain is working at thirty-five percent, three times the normal level. The problem with you is that what you do, you do naturally. You have no way of turning it off and on.”

This was too much information. All I wanted to do was sleep. I felt like I hadn’t gotten a lot of rest lately. And those odd flashes of my brother’s voice, the broken windshield and the blood were concerning me.

“I just want to go home. Sleep is my own bed. I’m tired of this strange waking nightmare.”

Mala took Nick aside. “You know what you have to do,” she told him. “The girl is too important to let her go now.”

“I know but she didn’t sign up for this,” Nick said.

“What she wants is irrelevant at this point,” Mala said her voice was ultra-calm. “If we want to succeed against our adversaries, we need her, no matter what we have to say to get her to believe us.

“Interdimentional war? Where did you come up with that?”

“Just testing the waters, Nickey boy. I want to see how easily she’ll detect a lie,” Mala said glancing over Nick’s shoulder.

“She’s right. You’re doing your damn psy-ops thing.” Nick stood as a baracade between the bed and Mala. “We need her. You said it yourself. Don’t scare her off before we can get the information we need.

Mala turned and faced the window looking out into the garden. “Don’t act so self-righteous. She doesn’t even know who you really are. You’ve changed since she first wrote about you.” 

Nick’s mouth set in a hard line. “I can’t change the past. I can only move forward.”

“And hope little girlie here doesn’t discover the truth.”

***

I had no idea what Mala and Nick were whispering about across the room. The only thing I did know was that their expressions were freaking me out. A few times Nick’s face looked downright evil.

I couldn’t get out of bed and attempt an escape. My head pounded just thinking about an escape route.

When Mala and Nick finished their pow-wow, orderlies came in and wheeled me into a very cozy-looking room. If we were still in the hospital, it was in the awfully fancy wing.

“Where’s your new best friend?” I asked Nick. He had been acting oddly since his conversation with Mala.

“She had things to attend to,” he said stiffly.

“Is it all right if I give the patient her meds?” The nurse looked expectantly at Nick who nodded.

“You need to rest. I’ll talk to you later.” When he left I felt a clutching sense of panic in my chest. And it wasn’t because Nick had left the room. Something was definitely fishy here.

“He’s not actually a bad guy,” the nurse said. Her accent was touched with an inflection of British.

“I don’t know what to think All I do know is that my bad vibes are pounding so strongly I can feel it pulsing inside my head.”

“We have to get you out of here,” the nurse said hoisting me up by the shoulder. She was stronger than she looked.

“What do you mean?” I asked my voice hitched with a tint of fear. “Where are you taking me?”

I could already feel the drug taking effect. Even if I resisted her eventually I’d pass out. What would happen then would be up to her.

“I don’t think this is a good idea. You shouldn’t move an injured woman so soon after surgery.”

“You don’t know what’s good for you, Walker,” the nurse said. She carried me to the window and signaled for someone beyond the garden.

“You know,” the nurse said. “The only reason you stopped writing about me is that I blocked my thoughts. I got pretty good at it, actually.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, slurring my words. 

“I’m one of those characters you wrote about in the beginning. I’m Angela Hastings. Ta-Da. Aren’t you excited to see one of your characters in the flesh?”

“Been there, done that,” I said weakly. The woman loosened my restraints and one of them I swear she broke in half. “Why are you helping me?”

“The Foundation wanted you here for a reason. I have to figure out what that reason is.”

Suddenly, I was face to face but I couldn’t move. The drugs Mala and Nick had given me slowed down my motor function. I’d be lucky if I could keep breathing at this point.

“I can’t move,” I said in as much panic as my weak and exhausted voice could manage.

She looked at me with concerned hazel eyes, then touched a device hidden in her ear. “Hank, we have a problem. She’s having trouble breathing.”

“My dossier says she has asthma. She’s probably reacting to the drug. Get her back here fast,” Hank said in his quick tone. I could hear him talking to himself and cursing the people of the Foundation. “Angela, if you don’t make it back here in five minutes, she won’t make it either.”

Somehow the woman must have had superhuman strength. She picked me up like I weighed nothing and tossed me over her shoulder. She’d made it all the way to the window when a voice shouted from the other side of the room.

“Angela, stop!” It was Nick.

She did a half turn to look at him, her face frozen in a scowl.

“You really are alive,” he said.

“Yeah, Nickey, I am. No time to chat, though.”

Nick would see my face. I was trying to concentrate on taking slow deep breats but every second that ticked away make it harder and harder to breathe.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked.

“Whatever drug they gave her, I think she’s allergic. If you want her to live, I’ve gotta go.”

Nick nodded. He didn’t say the words, he just nodded.

Angela reached for the window when Mala and a group of military men burst into the room. The black woman barked orders and one of the men dressed in black fatigues grabbed Nick. The rest came forward toward us and fanned out across the room.  Angela stood on the window ledge and looked down. WE had to be on the second or third floor.

“What are you doing,” I whispered.

“Even you can’t make that jump,” Mala mocked. “Give the girl back to us. She’s no concern to you.”

Angela didn’t answer. She swiveled, stepped onto the ledge and jumped. As the concrete rushed toward us, I passed out.

***

I woke up with a start, jerking my head back. It impacted with a cushioned surface that I later realized was the head rest of my car. My eyes darted around frantic. What in the hell had just happened?

My breathing was just as strained as before and I felt a wetness coming through my shirt. It was blood. I looked at my bloody hand and my breath hitched coming faster

“What’s happening to me?” I muttered through shaky breaths. A minute ago I was falling to my death and now I was here. I could hear a faint voice calling to me. It took me a minute to realize it was my phone, my old clunky gray model from 1996 that should in no way still work. I put it to my ear almost afraid of what I’d hear.

“Hello?” I said. My voice was shaky and uneven. 

“Oh, thank God,” sighed a relived voice on the other end.

“Aaron?” It sounded like my brother, but I couldn’t be sure. Nothing about today was making sense.

“Yes. Yes, it’s me. Where are you?”

I looked around, high weeds surrounded me. The nose of my car was in water, maybe a ravine or a deep ditch. I couldn’t see anything else and the only thing I could hear was the silence of the country, birds, crickets and the wind. Nothing stood out as relevant.

“I don’t know. My car is face down in water. The only thing keeping this one on is the car battery. An old charger is connected to a cigarette lighter. If I wanted to get out and look around, I’d have to leave the phone here.”

“The cops are trying to triangulate your signal, but it’s more difficult since it’s analog.”

“I don’t know what happened to me. I don’t even remember how I got here.”

“You were coming to visit me like you always do.”

I held my breath when he made that comment. That wasn’t true. I hardly ever visited my brother due to the fact that he lived so far away. Who was this person? Or maybe it was Aaron and people were making him say these things. Maybe he’d been compromised.

I paused. Compromised? Who said things like that? My spy writing was definitely coming into the foreground coloring my wording.

“Right,” I said stalling. “I remember now. I was coming to visit you.”

“Did you remember to bring that gift for grandma?” he asked.

Grandma? My grandmother was dead. Maybe he meant his wife’s grandma.

“I don’t know if I brought it or not. If I did, it’s probably broken now. Everything here is smashed.”

“Okay,” he said. “Keep on the line and…” his voice faded into nothingness and the phone blinked off.  I hadn’t realized sometime during our conversation the interior light of my car had gone dark, even the radio ceased to play.

The car battery must be dead.

It was probably for the best. If some contingent of bad guys was after me, the less Aaron knew the better.

I reached into the back seat and opened the door to the rear compartment. The backseat doubled as a secret passage to the trunk. I grabbed the aluminum ball bat and tested its weight. If any bad guys approached me, at least I’d have something t protect myself with.

My head filled with possible dialogue for a scene. But I really didn’t want to write an episode right now. I wanted to go home, lie down and sleep for a week. Suddenly, I realized I’d been hearing the same phrase over and over in my head.

“You have to get out of the car.” It was distinct, spoken as if the person were right next to me. “Get out of the car,” the voice insisted. “Get out of the car NOW!”

I held the bat to my chest and ran from the vehicle. I stopped and leaned against a big oak tree not far from my abandoned car.

“What in the hell was that,” I screamed. “I just want to go home.” I slapped the tre and stared at my car. Even from this distance I could see the blinking light from inside the driver’s door. I had a sudden feeling that blinking light wasn’t a good sign and sprinted in the opposite direction. 

I could feel the force of the explosion even from a distance. The resulting energy wave knocked me to my hands and knees in the mud. If this was how the spy game was played, I really didn’t like it very much.

“I’m a good person,” I said. “Why are people trying to kill me?”

“What in the hell is wrong with you?” The voice in my head was now standing next to me. “Do you have a death wish or something?” Angela Hastings appeared to my right.”

“I don’t know what is wrong with me. I think I’m having blackouts.”

“Wonderful,” Angela muttered. “Hank, can you fix her?”

“Oh, right. Ask the impossible of me. I’m a scientist not a physician.”

“Just look at her.”

Hank looked nothing like I’d imagined. I was expecting an ultra thin geek, but instead this man was relatively good-looking. Smart and good-looking, what were the odds?

The scientist had a chiseled face and a European wine country look about him. His voice was a mixture of French and English accents. I could listen to him talk all day and never be bored. 

He reached into my ear canal and removed a small device. It must have been some sort of communication device, because suddenly the chattering in my head came to an end. That alone made me feel a bit more relaxed.

“We call it a ComLink. It’s one of the newer models. Not ours, however.” He grabbed his Swiss Army knife and used one of the blades to deactivate it. “That’s better.” He smiled at me. “You’re one popular girl.”

“Why is the sixty four thousand dollar question.” Hank put his hands on my stomach and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“No broken ribs. That’s a plus, but I’m going to have to bandage that wound. Take off your shirt.”

My face reddened. “Pardon me?”

“Your shirt. Take it off. I must be able to clean the wound thoroughly.” Hank rifled through his bag of tricks and came back with antiseptic and bandages. He really was too good to be true.

Angela and Hank didn’t know what to make of me. I think the only thing keeping me alive was the fact that the Foundation wanted me more than Angela and Hank did. Anything the Foundation wanted, they knew they had to keep a hold of.

I wasn’t sure where we were. I wasn’t even sure I was thinking clearly. My mind felt like mush, like it was constantly changing channels. One moment I was in a car ditched in a ravine and the next I was being rescued from the clutches of the Foundation by Angela and Hank. Who knew which scenario was the true one.

Night had fallen and the area where Angela had decided to use as a hideout looked vaguely familiar.

“Where are we?” I asked. Hank set a large metal suitcase on one of the tables. Vending machines lined one wall, but it was the cappuccino machine that brought a light bulb into my mind. We were at the rest area not far from my brother’s house. Somehow the two realities had finally converged.

“I don’t think Mala and the Foundation will be looking for you here,” Hank reassured me.

“We’ve slipped under their radar,” Angela said.  “We should be safe for tonight.”

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel reassured. This all had suddenly become all too real. I wish I knew why any of these people wanted to pay tug-of-war with my life.

Trouble With UFOs - Episode 5

Foreign nanos are taking over Tafffy's body. Clarke and Jack race to find an answer.

http://troublewithufos.blogspot.com

Trouble With UFOs - Episode 4

Dr. Clarke Jenkins and military liaison, Jack Osbourne fight to save Taffy's life when foreign nanites are discovered in her blood.

http://troublewithufos.blogspot.com

Familiar Adversary - Episode 12

Familiar Adversary

Episode 12

I awoke with a start lying on a couch in the middle of a large library. This one had to be located inside a mansion-type structure. The ceiling went straight upward for at least three stories. A balcony jutted out into the room halfway up the wall on the one side, a vacant area amid bookshelves.

I sat up and surveyed my surroundings. I’d seen this place before, maybe in some vague recollection, but it was definitely familiar.

The sun was high in the sky and glinted off dull brass plaques attached to the fireplace. A section of the plaque was so antique the wording had burned off, except for a few that struck a chord with me: 

Chandelor Knight and the Knights Foundation. 

I jumped back, my heart racing. I unconsciously glanced around checking the room for hidden cameras. If this was the Knights Foundation, I definitely knew someone was watching me.

The library doors were locked. I figured as much. These people were nothing if not thorough. I wondered where Nick was, but I knew I couldn’t worry about him. All I could do was save myself. I eyed the second story balcony and contemplated the easiest way to scale the wall.

The bookshelves were old and rotting and probably wouldn’t support my weight. After much thought, I decided to tie ripped strips of the strong tapestry curtains together and fashion them onto a three-pronged candlestick which I painstakingly bent into a claw. 

I’d used my MacGyver-like thinking to come up with this plan. I thought it was pretty inventive. Before I could even throw my homemade grappling hook someone appeared on the balcony. She was a beautiful black woman with a sour expression painting her face. I could immediately tell she was not someone who smiled a lot. Her eyes were filled with a rage that was currently all centered on me. Apparently, escaping capture was not something they held in high regard.

“I could advise you that your current course of action is incorrect but then again, I do so love watching people suffer.”

My eyes widened at her remark. I could tell she was serious. I didn’t recognize her so I knew she was either wearing a disguise or was an enemy I had yet to meet.

“I do give you points for inventiveness, though.” She stared down at the metal claw I had fashioned. “Yes, very ingenious indeed. It’s no wonder the council wants to recruit you.”

The woman’s cryptic comment had me wondering what the Foundation was up to. I still remained baffled at how they had transported me here in the first place. They weren’t known for their supernatural abilities. I knew that once I discovered their secret, I’d be one step closer to breaking free from their hold.

The woman’s cold eyes were nearly violet and her skin the color of soft mocha. She was a visual combination of fire and ice. Not to mention she was freakishly scary.

It took me a moment to realize she wasn’t standing at the balcony any longer. She had disappeared. This was my chance to escape. I darted to the nearest bookshelf and began checking it for loose connection. I switched to the next one and when my search revealed nothing.

As I made my way around the room, I was getting frustrated. I’d never seen a spooky mansion that didn’t have a secret passageway or two. In the end the only place I hadn’t searched was the fireplace. I sat on the nearest chair and noticed its feet were bolted to the floor. That was very odd. I jumped up and took a second look at the fireplace.

A chain hung on the right side that didn’t seem to be attached to anything inside the fireplace. I pulled on the chain and watched the reaction inside the room. The chair with the bolted legs fell backward through a sort of trapdoor in the floor. It would be an effective way to eliminate someone if their intention was death.

I stared down the hole and saw what looked like water. Could there be an underground cavern beneath the mansion? A noise came from the doorway and the mocha skinned woman peeked inside. Her eyes were dramatically painted with kohl liner and the look reminded me of an Egyptian queen. She probably had a bit of Egyptian in her genes somewhere.

“I see you’ve done a bit of redecorating,” she said.

I looked back into the room and winced. Books were thrown everywhere.

“Am I a prisoner here?” I asked trying to remain positive.

“That depends on your level of participation and cooperation,” she said.

“Participation in what?”

“If you successfully help us locate Angela Hastings and John Holland, we’ll be generous in your sentence.”

“Sentence? That sounds like I’m under arrest.”

“In a manner of speaking, you are. You’re here for your own protection. Nick is beyond saving. The enemy has already captured him.”

I felt like I’d woken up in a novel, one I’d forgotten to read. This woman was unknown to me. She kind of reminded me of Asia Mott, but she was a part of a different series entirely. She shouldn’t be in my Legacy Universe.

I tried not to feel defeated, but Nick was gone and I was sitting inside the library of what looked like the Knights Foundation. My heart was hammering in my chest like a jackhammer. For the first time, I couldn’t anticipate my adversary’s moves, and that knowledge was damn scary.

“What are you planning on doing to me,” I asked.

“You mean besides ring your pretty little neck?” The woman with mocha skin chuckled. “I’m part of a group that is here to protect you. The time for your coming has been predicted. We brought you here, into your own world, as a way to test you. We had no idea you’d literally take control of the simulation.”

“I don’t understand. Why did you bring Nick into my world?”

She looked at me straight in the eye and smiled. “We didn’t… you did. Quite frankly, we didn’t know you possessed such power. It was a nice surprise. It will make our mission quite a bit easier.”

“Mission?” I squeaked. “What mission?”

“You’ve been tested for years. We’ve been preparing you since your birth to help us fight and win the interdimensional war.

I tried not to smile. The woman must be crazy. I must have just jumped into Psycho Land or someone had let the insane people out of the asylum. 

“I understand how this sounds,” she said.

“Really? Because from where I’m standing that statement is a bit out there. Interdimensional war? Are we talking between parallel Earths or are you just going through some sort of worm hole?”

I was only joking but the woman took my question quite seriously.

Before she could answer a spasm hit my brain without warning and the pain dropped me to my knees. I screamed. The Egyptian queen looked concerned but I wouldn’t seem to focus on anything. The pain was unbearable.

“What is happening to me?” I asked stumbling to the nearest couch. All I could think of was lying down and having Nick by my side to protect me. Because of the pain I couldn’t over think the situation. And that, in the end, was what saved me.

“Mala, we need to get her out of there now,” said the voice of someone I couldn’t see. 

The commotion in the hallway was loud and noisy. The doors to the library burst open and Nick ran to my side. My eyes were watering making it hard to see him.

“If we don’t get her to the infirmary, she’s not going to make it,” Nick said. He seemed in his element bossing the big wigs around.

I could feel them carrying me on a gurney into another room, but I felt strangely detached from my body. The dark mahogany paneling flickered like a misaligned strip of film. The image switched from paneling to stark white walls. The people pushing the gurney morphed too. One moment they were Knights Foundation agents along with Mala and Nick. The next second they were ER doctors and nurses with extremely somber looks on their faces.

“She’s awake,” one nurse beside me said.

The gurney stopped abruptly below a shining white light inside a large room. The doctor’s face was hidden behind a protective mask.

“Does anyone know what’s happened to her?” the doctor asked.

The hallway with the dark paneled walls was gone, replaced by this new environment. I was so confused. I didn’t know what was happening to me.

“Car accident on I-57 near the rest area by mile marker 269,” a nurse said looking at the police report. “EMT brought her in. Get this, she somehow managed to call her brother through a broken cell phone from the mid-nineties that had no service. It was analog. They said even if the phone had worked, she would have never gotten a call through…”

That was the last bit of conversation I remembered before passing out.

Trouble With UFOs - Episode 3

Check out the newest episode of
Trouble With UFOs

Episode 3: Implantation

General McCabe has had enough with Taffy's questions. He wants her to behave. See what extremes he goes to in the next exciting episode.

http://goo.gl/b/Frtu

Shattered: The Trust - Episode 2

The Legacy presents
THE TRUST
Episode 2: The Facility

Marcus and Elizabeth from the Echelon Facility have kidnapped Jenna from The Trust and are returning her to their boss.

Hank, Bailey and Candice from The Trust discover that Jenna's face has turned up in many government databases as an employee. Who are these Jenna look-alikes? And what is Echelon's aim?

Check out our latest episode:
http://shatteredseries.blogspot.com

Shattered: The Trust - Episode 1

I've combined a segment of Legacy of Spies and the Shattered Mission of the Legacy into an ongoing story. It's called The Trust.

THE TRUST - Episode One: The Escape

A girl has escaped from a facility on the edge of a dense wooded area. Helicopters chase her, soldiers trail her. And as she runs, her memory is quickly slipping away.

She runs into a cabin where a retired scientist lives. She begs him to remove the implant just before she passes out.

What is this facility? Who is this scientist and what they they want with the girl?

Read the newest episode of The Trust!
http://shatteredseries.blogspot.com

The Nightingale Effect

I've been working on a screenplay called The Nightingale Effect. It's my first foray into script writing, and I find it quite interesting. The link above will take you to the Google Document where I'm working on it. Let me know what you think.


Below is the synopsis for my first script: The Nightingale Effect. If you could review it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

The Nightingale Effect

Division One is a covert agency with many sister alpha sites around the world. This agency is currently looking into the development of serums that bring out certain characteristics in people. Basically, they’re looking to create psionic super soldiers.

Division One seeks out “candidates” who fit the DNA profile of people who would accept the technology they’re trying to create.

Michela Forsythe is one of these “candidates”. She works for the nemesis of Division One. They are called The Trust. The Trust sends Michela in to gain intel on Division One and their research and during her time there, she gets selected to be one of their psionic test subjects. Division One along with their director, Philip Lancaster, test the Nightingale protocol (NE-23) on her.

Michela escapes from Division One after surviving the first injection. It takes two different serums to create the effect they are looking for.

Michela inadvertently gets a teenager named Kit Martin involved in her escape. And later, Kit is labeled as a “candidate” for a different protocol called W-8. No one had previously successfully lived through the NE-23 or W-8 injections.

The Trust enlists the help of police officers Holt Martin and Leo Sutherland to come to the aid of Michela and Kit. Holt also just happens to be Kit’s brother and has a vested interest in keeping her alive.

Main Cast:

Michela Forsythe portrayed by Kristin Alphonso

Kit Martin portrayed by Emma Roberts

Holt Martin portrayed by Chad Michael Murray

Leo Sutherland portrayed by Shemar Moore

Phlip Lancaster portrayed by Robert Davi

Bailey Chase portrayed by Anthony Head

Candice Kent portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski

New Hosting for The Legacy

I have a new web host for The Legacy: webring.com

Here is the link: http://webspace.webring.com/people/sl/legacy_adventure/

I've also uploaded some of my graphics from previous years. Take a gander at my flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonispywriter/

Geocities closing

Well, it looks like Geocities will be closing in the summer and I won't have a web site in which to post my stories. When I do have episodes, I guess I'll have to put them here. I know it's not an ideal situation. Not much I can really do about it. It sucks and I'm sorry.

If you want to keep up with the continuing saga of the Legacy, please come back here to check for new episodes.

Thanks for your support.

Toni

Ten Little Spies - Hacking Ethan

Ten Little Spies
Hacking Ethan
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 in a tone that edged on hopeful anticipation.

“This is not like hacking through a firewall, Black. This is hijacking a man’s mind.” Cypher’s fingertips whizzed across the keys of his laptop. It was specially made, his own design.

“I don’t need your opinion on the ethics of this. Can you do it?” Julian’s tone slowed and turned lethal.

“If those little nano suckers flowing through his blood have any sort of wireless signal, I can gain access to it.” Cypher nodded and frowned a bit. “It might take a while to decipher the gibberish in his brain, though. We’re breaking new ground here. This sort of thing has never been attempted.

Julian consulted the Blackberry that buzzed at his hip. Even he had someone to report to.

“I need you to do this thing as fast as you can. It won’t be long before Ethan will require a refresher of the ATP protocol Myers shot him full of last week. As you begin to tax the nanites, Ethan may become weaker. It’s a drawback we’ve got to be aware of. I don’t want you to kill him. I need him alive.”

“What about Computer Chip Barbie? The one you have on ice back there?” Cypher glanced back at the redhead woman who couldn’t have been more than twenty. She’d been out of service for six months as he attempted to rebuild her programming. “She not enough muscle for you to fulfill your little game with the Legacy?”

Cypher couldn’t see the red stain crawling up Julian’s neck

“Why I want them both in service is of no concern to you. Just do it. Make it happen.”

Cypher saluted the boss man as he exited barely glancing at the redhead in stasis. The man had balls of steel.

^^^

“Mac got Gia, Rudy and the others in stasis out of the basement.” Bobbie Sullivan said his voice filled with relief. Seeing his friends incapacitated was getting to him. He took a deep breath and continued his work.

“What about Jared?” Stephen Webb asked.

“He and Kaye went out after the Council goons who grabbed Dare and Alison. 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 Ethan was looking for an egress route,” Stephen asked.

“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 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.“ Bobbie’s confidence was shaken, but losing Ethan was not an option.

^^^

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 Corday was still beside him. She hadn’t moved since the gurney was wheeled into his fake ambulance façade. If he didn’t miss his guess, Black had made the mistake many had by confusing the identities 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 tight 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 idea alone was enough to spur him into a mistaken relationship with Kaye who was unstable, 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 hault, 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 much like 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 nasal soprano voice didn’t fit with her smoky-eyed bombshell appearance.

“When I see a threat, I’ll let you know,” Dare mumbled as a guard shoved him from behind.

“Get moving,” the guard ordered.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you want, hot shot.”

Dare assessed his restraints as he stopped suddenly bumping into Guard No. 1. Guard No. 2 leveled a pistol at Alison’s head.

“Do that again and I’ll put a bullet through her pretty little head.” Guard No. 2 looked pleased with himself when Dare backed away.

They led him 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 himself.

Alison punched Dare lightly on the shoulder. She wasn’t strong like her twin sister, Kaye. “Let’s not try to provoke the soldier wannabees, all right? I don’t want one of them accidentally shooting my foot off.”

Dare chuckled. “Nice to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor. Most of the drugs must have worked their way out of your system.”

“When I woke up this morning, this was not how I planned out my day.”

“It wasn’t high on my priority list either,” Dare said.

“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. He turned around and gave her a wink. It opened like a mini door. It was big enough for Alison to squeeze 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 protest more but Dare picked her up by the waist and shoved her feet through the opening. He was much stronger than she and before she knew what was happening he’d pushed her completely through and closed the opening.

“Damn it! Why did you do that?” Alison screamed as Dare shoved the large stone back into place. She pounded on the wall but her attempts made only hollow thuds against the surface. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that man, sacrificing himself for the greater good.

When Alison centered herself enough to turn around she saw a guard walk past an open window. She ducked behind a pillar just avoiding been seen.

“Mother of God,” she whispered her heart pounding in her chest. “That was close. Damn that Dare Ransom.”

She listened for the guard. When she heard nothing, she hurried past the window making her way to the side of the building. Alison figured the side or the back of the brownstone was where she had her best shot at escaping. She didn’t know, however, that an entire contingent of Black Council operatives had made their base in the belly of the monstrous facility. Each step she thought took her closer to the exit was instead leading her into danger.

^^^

He wasn’t sure at what point he’d passed out but Ethan awoke to a shaky feeling of sea sickness. Every slight shift in his weight caused the wood planks he was lying on to shift. He didn’t think much about the strange sensation at first, who would?

As he attempted to roll over and push himself up, the wood beneath him heaved to one side. Suddenly he was falling. The adrenaline shot straight to his heart as Ethan groped for a hand-hold. The slats between the wood planks were his only savior as the fingertips from one hand held on for dear life.

Ethan muttered a few colorful curses as his muscles strained under the exertion. He soon realized the plank he’d been on was built on a pivot point and fashioned over a hole so deep he couldn’t see the bottom. He was sure something nasty awaited anyone who managed to survive such a fall. Currently, he was hanging on to the board, his feet dangling into the hole.

This was obviously someone’s sick idea of a joke. And he knew of only one lunatic crazy enough to attempt it -- Julian Black. However, it wasn’t Black’s voice he heard wafting out of the shadows a few moments later.

“You seem to be in quite a dilemma, lover.” Octavia Kassoff’s blonde hair almost made her appear somewhat angelic in this dark tunnel. A light from above shone on her face, giving him a better view of the predicament he was in.

Her laugh echoed down the chamber. She’d set this entire situation up from the beginning. Octavia and her father, Isidor, along with his general nemesis, Julian Black.

“I’ve beaten worse,” he grunted readjusting his grip. His nanites were nearly out of juice. That had to be the reason he passed out. They were now greedily munching on whatever available energy was left in his body. If he didn’t escape soon and stop exerting himself, he’d be dead for sure. His death attributed to the tiny microscopic machines running around in his bloodstream.

“You think I don’t know about your condition? I do have a medical degree. And I know just how long you have before the nanites feast on every bit of available energy in your body.” The smug look on Octavia’s face said it all.

“You kill my brother,” Octavia said. “Now I kill you.” Ethan found it quite amusing how quickly she reverted to her Russian dialect. Now that she no longer had to pretend to be one of them, her true colors came out in her voice.

“An eye for an eye, is that it?” Ethan asked. He couldn’t already feel his grip slipping.

“I may not be religious,” she said. “But in some ways traditional is always best.”

She’d had ample opportunity to kill him over the years. He wondered why now, today, was so important.

“You’ve told me about your brother, Erik. Is this all because of his death?” Ethan asked attempting to pry information out of the Russian beauty.

Her face flushed red and she aimed her Glock at his head.

“If he had never known you, he’d be alive,” her tone was soft but tense.

“And what if I’d never known you or Isidor? You’d both be dead by now. I did you a favor. I gave you something to live for. Vengeance.”

“You are such a bad liar. I take care of myself, my father. We live on our own terms.” The Glock wobbled as she attempted to get her emotions under control.

“That’s a joke. You’re just a puppet for Black.” Every taunt chipped away her to perfect control.

“No. He wants to keep you as a specimen in his zoo. I only want you to die!”

Octavia shot at the metal pivot point closest to her. The board wobbled wildly as he shifted to avoid the ricochet.

Sweat ran down his face and the adrenaline rush he’d felt moments ago was now gone, eaten up by the nanites. He knew death was close now. All emotions had left his body along with the chemicals.

Octavia smacked the muzzle of the gun against his left hand and it gave away swinging wildly.

“I wish my father could be here to see this glorious day,” Octavia said a smile brightening her face.

Ethan wrenched himself up and tried to position himself over the pivot point running down the center of the planks. She only laughed at his attempts. Ethan overshot and nearly threw himself off. He grappled to keep his fingers clinched onto the boards.

The phone at Octavia’s hip jingled and she stepped down a side tunnel to answer it. “What do you want,” she hissed.

Ethan took the opportunity to make a second attempt, and this time returned to the position he’d found himself in upon waking. Sweat covered his face and his breath came in gasps. The nanites were doing a number on his system.

When he caught his breath, he pushed himself off the boards following the pivot point. Ethan stood and stumbled down the tunnel toward what he hoped was the exit. He attempted to use his nanites to send Bobbie a wireless signal but he wasn’t sure what would come through. He’d never felt this weak before.

^^^^

Octavia returned to where she’d left Ethan still talking on the phone. When she saw he was gone, she screamed.

She peered down the deep tunnel, but only saw darkness.

“You made me miss it, you idiot!” she said into the phone. She snapped the connection closed and grunted. “Damn it!”

^^^

Bobbie Sullivan searched the security grid for Ethan. The system was quite efficient and complete. Ezekiel Zeller must have been a paranoid man.

“If Zeller wasn’t the one who planned this little strange spy reunion, why do you think he had a system this elaborate?” Bobbie asked.

Stephen Webb shrugged. “Rich men like to stay that way.” A sudden call on his cell had Stephen listening to the latest update. He closed the phone and turned to Bobbie. “Mac found Adrian Zeller. Looks like Jared tied him up in the basement to keep him out of the way.”

“It was probably for his own good,” Bobbie said. “I’ve seen his exploits on tv. He’s not the brightest bulb in the batch.”

“But he did know one little tid bit. He said he saw Franklin Fairchild morph into someone who’s description strangely resembles Julian Black.”

“Great. That’s all we need right now -- more adversaries,” Bobbie sighed. He sat up a bit straighter as he noticed something on one of the monitors. “Wait! I think I just saw Ethan.” His fingers whipped across the keys of his laptop. “There he is!”

“Where?” Stephen was ready to act.

“A tunnel off the chamber where we found Gia and Rudy.” He saw another flash on the screen and gasped. “Oh, God! Octavia’s down there too and Ethan just collapsed. How fast can you get down there?”

He turned toward Stephen but the man wasn’t there. He’d taken immediate action.

^^^

“You are only annoying me, Ethan,” Octavia taunted. Even if you escape, we’ll be able to get to you.

Ethan didn’t respond, he couldn’t.

She dialed Cypher on her cell. “Tell me you’re close,” she said to him.

“Only a few more clicks and we’ve got him,” Cypher said with giddy excitement.

“Good. As soon as you get a connection, do it!” Octavia closed the phone shoving it into her back pocket.

^^^

Stephen ran as fast as he could back into the catacombs beneath the Zeller mansion. He felt like a mouse running through a maze as he dodged up and down hallways and descended stairways. By the time he reached the chamber, he called Bobbie. “Where now, kid?”

Octavia appeared in the chamber from the left side shoving Ethan into the room.

“You thought you could escape this house, Webb? Unfortunately, you won’t be leaving.”

She shoved her Glock into Ethan’s hand. “Kill him.”

^^^

Bobbie watched helplessly as Octavia taunted Stephen. He could hear the conversation since Stephen’s phone was still open. He couldn’t understand what she was up to. Ethan would never shoot a friend. But what he saw wasn’t possible.

Ethan took the Glock, weighed it in his hand, then pointed it at Stephen.

“Kill him,” Octavia said again.

Ethan glanced at her with no emotion on his face. Then he swiveled toward Stephen and pulled the trigger.

Stephen seemed to fall in slow motion. Bobbie could only helplessly watch as multiple shots entered his friend’s body.

Bobbie stood shoving the chair away from the security station. He was speechless as Stephen’s body laid still in the basement and Octavia led Ethan away back into the tunnel.

“Somebody help!” Bobbie managed to choke out.