| "Cold as Ice" | |||
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11 June 08 The conversation between Paige and Jordan bothered her, the glance they gave her, somehow she was connected with this; she was sure of that. Yet, there was nothing that gave her reason to worry. Instead she shrugged inwardly, and sat down to wait alongside her prisoner. Only when Jaime joined them did she stand up and move over to join in, to hear him ask, "The CIA's here?" she was confused when Paige simply shook her head before replying, "No, he's definitely not CIA.", and without thinking she found herself asking, "Then who is he?" It seemed important to know, who they were up against, and why. She looked over at Paige, who shrugged, "that's what I plan on finding out," before she turned to see the figure behind Saf and asked "Who's that?" She smiled wryly, as she turned to face him, "That was our bogey, we took him in." Remembering the urges she had felt to take his blood, and had to repress those urges had left her unfulfilled, she had never felt so cold or emotionless as she felt now. Paige and Jordan left with the prisoner, and she was left alone to her thoughts. She didn't hear anything, focussed in on concentrating on staying here in the now, rather than in the past; minutes passed until the comm's lines opened and she heard Paige's voice. It snapped her back into mission mode, "Alpha three, come up on our position." Jordan's answer was equally as brief, "Acknowledged, Alpha two." Saf returned waiting and watching events unfold. When Paige and Jordan returned, she was accompanied by Bella. Bella looked as though she was stumbling and with more than general tiredness, explanations were quickly forthcoming about drugs. Saf shrugged, shit happened, it was just part of life's little fuck-ups or big one's, depending on the amount of fallout that went with it. Paige outlined the second attempt on Petrenko's life, actually it was the same as the first plan, just that this time the `others' wouldn't interfere. She didn't really care about who they were, or why they were there, just that they got the job done and this time without having to run interference. 12 June 08 03.10hrs Their ingress this time was smooth, uneventful and she watched as first of all Paige made her way to the wall, followed by herself. It still irked her that the villa was in darkness and the guards were not visible, it was as though it was a set-up and one where the principal was the victim strung out waiting for his killers. Paige's voice over the comm unit forced her back into the now, "Tac 1 from Alpha two, piggyback on," her voice was quiet but authoritative. There was a brief pause before Simon's response came through, "Received Alpha two." And then they waited for the final ok. When it came, she was ready, the climbing route she had chosen required little equipment, just a steady nerve and strong hands. Acknowledging Paige's call with her own, she started the climb, feeling through her hands and feet where the holds were, silently scaling the wall. Only once, did she feel the wall flake beneath her hands, but quickly she ensured that the debris was minimised and she stashed the remnants on a small ledge to prevent sound from reaching any wary guards; though she doubted that any of them were actually awake. She tied off the rope around her waist, uncertain as yet of what would actually be her exit point. She reached the balcony, moments after Paige had reached her position, not even breathless from the climb, and she spoke softly to herself, "After three? No�. I don't think so." She checked the door for alarms, but none were present. A sheet of adhesive stuck to a pane allowed it to break off and be pulled free and she inserted her hand inside and opened the door with the key in the lock still. Sighing heavily about their inept security, and thanking them for making her job easier, she stepped inside. "Tac 1, Alpha 4 in." she didn't waste time with unnecessary conversation, she had a job to do and that was to ensure that nothing interrupted what was about to go down. Opening the doorway, she could see no signs of movement, except from Paige who was just entering Petrenko's room on her left. As the door closed behind Paige, she swept the corridor, still surprised that no-one was patrolling, surely Petrenko couldn't have been stupid enough to trust the remoteness of the dacha, could he? Hearing footsteps on the corridor beneath, she stopped motionless, but they carried on as though there was nothing wrong. Low tones, from the corridor below drifted up the staircase and then the footsteps moved on quietly. She shook her head, when they found out their Principal was dead, someone would have to pay the price; she was just glad that it wouldn't be her. She stepped away, towards the staircase at the end of the hall to her right, to ensure that the guards did not enter while Paige was occupied. She tested out each footfall to ensure that no creaking floorboards gave her away before moving her weight onto the leading foot. As she neared the stairs, she heard Simon's voice say "Tac 1, all units, egress initiated." As she passed one of he rooms, she heard movement. She stopped, not wishing to alert the occupant to her presence, and hung back in the shadows. As the door opened she knew she had to move; she had taken out her knife in case, the oiled blade exited the sheath noiselessly. It took no more than a couple of minutes to eliminate the problem. The body held tightly to her was female, one of her hands was over her mouth and the other held the knife that slid into her neck and through her jugular as though it was cutting into soft butter. She felt the body go limp and she released the hand over the woman's mouth, and let it slid to the floor. The blood had not stained her, but she picked up the corpse and placed it back on the bed. She had no idea of who her victim was or what they had been doing here, and probably would never know. She looked down coldly at her handiwork and left the scene behind her closing the door silently behind her. She strode back towards Paige's position, to see that she was holding a body of a man which as she watched, slid slowly to the floor. She didn't pause, but spoke softly "Let's go." They entered the room opposite the one which Saf had climbed onto the balcony, and she opened the windows onto a similar balcony, Paige indicated for her to go first, "age before beauty." Her only response was to snort, but she pulled on her gloves and taking the rope from around her waist, she slipped it through the stonework and wrapping the rope around her wrist, followed the rope path downwards, feeling the rope sliding smoothly down through her hands and applying just enough pressure to slow her descent before her feet touched the ground. She heard the voices, above her, just as Paige was swinging a leg over the balcony. She pulled her Sig out of her holster and aimed upwards, but knew that Jaime would be watching, waiting and hopefully aiming straight and true. There was a single moment, when she thought that she was going to see Paige die in front of her, as one leaned over and aimed his weapon down, but as he did a jerk forced his body backwards, she knew Jaime was performing well, seconds later the second figure also went down and then she heard his voice over the comm.."You're clear Two and Four," it was good to hear a familiar voice, it made her think about the past times with Section; they hadn't all been bad. Paige let go of the rope early, no doubt her wrist was hurting, and Saf leaned over to help her to her feet and then they were gone into the shadows, moving swiftly away into the darkness that surrounded them. 04.45hrs Swiftly they packed up and loaded into the van. She slipped into the driver's seat with some relief, it gave her something to do, rather than think. She noticed the lights behind them a split second before Jordan's voice said "we're being followed" there was a brief pause before Paige told Simon to call ahead to the airfield, and as a by note told her to pick up the speed. It was difficult, the road was rough and the lights were dimmed to avoid detection. All she replied was "I see them," plunging her foot down on the accelerator and holding the steering wheel firmly as the van sped down the surface of what passed as a road. She tuned out the conversations going on behind her, necessity making her concentrate on where they were going, one lapse of judgement meant that the followers would have an opportunity and she offering nothing to them. She saw the airfield gates and made a sharp turn towards where the plane was parked. She made a handbrake turn to ensure the main doors were nearest the plane and as it stopped she shouted, "Alright, we're here." She took the keys out of the ignition and threw then into the long grass, no point in making things easy for their pursuers. Grabbing bags with both hands she chucked them into the plane, the others helping out while Paige and Jaime provided cover. When the last bag was in, and the rest of the team was on board, Simon yelled for Jaime and Paige to get in, the plane was already rolling down the runway when the door was finally shut behind them. Saf had taken a seat near Jordan, something was obviously eating at Jordan, she could see that; but it was clear that she didn't want to discuss it just yet. Saf was patient, when Jordan was ready to talk, she would be there for her and until then she would bide her time. Jordan made a comment about sleeping, and she couldn't help herself, sleep was impossible at times, for that would require her to relax and if she did so the memories she kept repressed flooded into her mind. So she didn't sleep until exhausted, when the deadness of her sleep kept those memories at bay. She muttered something conciliatory, and Jordan laughed, "No kidding. I'm sure if we wait a couple hours until we are really tired, I mean REALLY tired, we'll drop off like babies." Saf was good at hiding things behind a blank expression, but she upped the stakes now and hid behind a fa�ade of normality that she neither felt nor was, and chuckled, "Good plan, but I don't know about the sleeping like babies bit. Haven't done that in years and I don't see it happening anytime in the near future. Shove over and I'll tell you why." She made up some story about not sleeping, enough to ensure Jordan didn't enquire, but it was nowhere near the truth; that was too unpalatable even for her to digest, never mind anyone else. SH1 Conference Room 1 11.45hrs She didn't offer much as input during the debrief, just answering the questions that were asked of her. She was content to sit quietly and listen to all that went on around her. Paige had the brunt of the questions, having taken the lead in the operation, but also her interaction with the `other team'. Wellington summed up the operation, stating it was a success, and giving them details on the other team was that they had interacted with. Saf had been working with the Russians over the secure network but hadn't heard of RZS before. Though everything the Russians did was secretive, even from their own side so their being out in the open could only mean that in future they would be working more closely together. 12.30hrs Finally they were let go, though only so far as outside into the lounge area, as they had to shadow Baz's meet later, and Paige stayed behind to answer more detailed questions. Saf poured herself a cup of coffee, and stood looking out of the window onto the streets below. She wanted to be out in the fresh air, not cooped up in a building in the middle of the city, but out on the beaches, feeling the wind ruffling her hair and smelling the salt in the air. If she thought about it really hard, then she could almost hear the plaintive cry of the seagulls as they quested for food; scavengers really, the rats of the sky, eating anything that was available to them, and stealing from unwary passers by if they spotted an opportunity. Joshua was sitting on one of the couches, and Baz, with his coloured hair was accompanied by a smaller version of himself. Saf could see this in the reflection of the glass, separate and yet a part of them. 13.00hrs Paige emerged from the meeting and on noticing Baz and his small shadow, she pointed to Brian, "What the hell do you call that?" Brian stood grinning up to her. His hair had been dyed purple with blue tips, exactly matching Baz's, though Baz's was much longer and the effect was that much more contrasting on his hair. Saf had turned to watch the encounter, smiling at the mock anger on Paige's face, and the matching lack of consternation from Baz. Jordan walked over and quietly said, "Let's leave them to it." Saf nodded, and walking past the trio they couldn't help but giggle. "You're on your own Baz," Jordan had said softly. As they walked up the corridor, Jordan smiled, "What a goof eh?" She laughed, "Mm. Paige is pissed." That was an understatement, but Baz was quite capable of getting on the good side of Paige, in fact with any of them. He was good to have around, even she recognised that. Jordan hesitated, "Well, sorry to ditch you like this, but I've got a couple phone calls I need to make, check up on the bookstore and all." Saf knew when she wasn't wanted around, and took the hint quickly, "No worries Jordy, I'll catch up with you later." She couldn't get out of here, but she could go up to the roof, it would give her a break. "Sure," Jordan took out her cellphone and made for the stairway. Saf looked after her, until she disappeared before she made her own way up to the roof to kill the time before they left to oversee Baz's meet. She had uploaded the details of the operation onto a PDA, and it looked relatively simple, it should be over and done with and then she would be free to go home. 13 June 2008 03.00hrs She watched the screen intently as it showed Baz and two others, it appeared that their conversation was getting a little heated. The other three, Paige, Jordan and Bella looked equally unhappy at the events unfolding on the screen. She thought about it before saying, "Just give him a minute, let's see where it goes." Outwardly she was calm, but she had a bad feeling about this, but it had to be played out or the work of the past few days would be wasted. Jordan was the first to question her authority, "Maybe we should go?" Safara continued to stare at the screen, thinking of alternatives, and watching Paige as she watched the screens; she could see how anxious Paige was. "We don't want to blow this meet..." Safara said evenly. As her words emerged, the one called Stewart drew his weapon, and her authority was finally flouted, "Fuck this," Paige got up and was out of the van door in an instant She couldn't let it go, "Paige," she called out after her. Saf stayed where she was, nothing she could do now would prevent Paige from intervening, all she could do was to try and keep a handle on the meet. Gunshots were heard, and then Baz's voice, "This meet is not going down." His voice sounded apprehensive, Saf chewed her bottom lip, `Stay with it Baz, don't let him get to you' she urged him mentally. Simon's voice interrupted her thoughts, "We've got a civilian on the scene," Simon said and she could hear the panic in his voice too. "It will be ok, we just have to let it play out." She stated calmly, hating herself for being so calm when things were going wrong. "It's another fucking cop," Baz hissed. "He is not part of the scenario. I repeat, not part of the scenario." Her voice was quiet and calm, "Do not engage," she ordered. "I've got two bogies leaving, south alley," Paige said from her vantage point. Saf made a decision, "I'm sending Alpha Three out," nodding towards Jordan who exited the van softly. She watched the next few minutes unfold, with increasing discomfort; Baz put his head over the garbage can and then popped a few shots down one side of the alley. "Simon, tell him to fall back, and no more firing." The calmness was turning to iciness, she could feel it enclosing her in ice; this was not going well. Simon gave the orders, but events overtook Baz and he broke cover, saying "There's not time, cover me." Presumably his words were aimed towards Paige, as Jordan hadn't made it to the alley in time. She watched Baz falling, his body pushed backwards by the impact of bullets striking his body. She felt her heart flinch in unison. She hadn't anticipated this, and was stunned by what she saw on the screens. Finally her brain came back online, and she spoke into the comm, "Report Alpha Two." Knowing what the outcome was before Paige had responded. She had been responsible for him, as team leader, and he had paid the ultimate price. Alpha team was no more, he had been their core and the one that had held them together; nothing would be the same. Return |
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