Solo rolled with the rocking V-kar, made it to his knees and set off, crawling towards the door to the bridge. Loud pounding vibrations sounded over his head, and the grinding sound of metal on rock assaulted his ears. The rear of the kar lifted upwards as he approached the door and threw him hard against it. Finding the latch and ignoring the pain in his twisted shoulder, he opened the door and tumbled in.
    Gilda Brandon and her son were strapped into seats on opposite sides of the room. They fought violently with the controls before them as they guided the V-kar through the rumbling volcano. Solo made it to another seat to his left before the kar lurched again and threw him upward. He landed with blinding force longways across his chair. He heard and felt a familiar snap in his rib cage, but quickly struggled to a sitting position and pulled the strap over his shoulders.
    He took one deep breath and calmly called out to Miss. Brandon, who either ignored him or never heard him. "I thought we were going to give them ten minutes?"

It was several hours before the V-kar emerged from the depths of the ocean. It came up just short of French Polynesia. It was a little over another hour before the French Military could be convinced not to attack them outright, to dock the V-kar, and to wait while it and the passengers were searched and debriefed. Finally, Solo was able to secure a private channel to Alexander Waverly.
    Instead of the enthusiastic and surprised greeting he expected, Solo was greeted with a brisk question. "Mr. Solo, is Kuryakin with you?"
    Taken aback and raising his eyebrows as he spoke, Solo responded, "I was actually going to ask you a very similar question, Sir. The last I saw him was outside the UN. Why? Where is he?"
    "We’ve lost contact with him and his team. If he’s not with you, than what have you to report?"
    Solo ignored Waverly’s lack of concern for his health and proceeded to report how he had discovered the source of the vanishings, stopped a crazed madman and mass murderer, destroyed the massive weapons laboratory and escaped, saving his own life and the lives of fifty others including the worlds great men and women and the creator of the Molecular Remapper.
    "Very good, Mr. Solo," was all Waverly said when he finished. "Return to New York immediately. Waverly out."
    "Just a minute, Sir. What are you not telling me about Illya?" Solo demanded.
    Waverly’s sigh was audible, even over the radio. "Mr. Kuryakin and his team have been out of contact for... nearly four hours."
    "Illya and his team? What team? Where is he?" Solo was frustrated with Waverly’s unwillingness to come forth with information.
    "He and a team of five scientists were performing a cursory examination of the Volcano, he was reporting their findings when it erupted. We haven’t heard from them since.
    "The Volcano! Sir, that Volcano is about to sink into the ocean if it hasn’t already!" Solo almost shouted into the microphone.
    "Yes, Mr. Solo, the lab has already informed me of that fact. Accompany those you rescued, and those you captured, to New York immediately." Waverly broke the connection, but knew his orders were not likely to be obeyed. The team of Solo and Kuryakin was one he was uncertain he should have ever put together. Their accomplishments together were tremendous, but the risks they took on each others behalf were not in the U.N.C.L.E. code of conduct!
    Solo dropped the mic. in disgust and stood considering his next move. Outside he heard the unmistakable whir of helicopter blades.

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