Continued from last week...
Timothius stood before the emperor’s desk, struggling to stay upright.
“So,” the emperor drawled. “You decided to finally come around, eh? Good, very good.” He gave a nod towards the interrogator. “He’s good, isn’t he?”
Timothius said nothing, and continued to stare at the floor.
“Are you ready to do what you were assigned?” the emperor asked.
“Why me? Why not get someone else to do it?” Tim finally asked.
“Because,” the emperor said, leaning towards him. “I need someone she knows, someone who she trusts.”
“Who’s she?” Tim was curious now, despite his wounds.
The emperor paused and looked him in the eyes. “Your sister.”
Ryan’s eyes flew open and he catapulted out of bed, breathing hard and a Glock in hand. Instinctively, he felt his forehead. No bullet hole, it had been a dream. What a hellish dream at that. He’d come close to death before, closer than most people did, and he’d lived to tell about it. This, however, really unnerved him. More than any dream he’d ever had before. Now he thought twice about the trust he had put in Sarah, but no, it had only been a dream. He wouldn’t have stopped trusting Laz or anyone else if he’d had a dream of on of them killing him. Okay, so maybe he would…
By now, Laz was awake and was staring at him as he stood there. “You really need to get some sleep pants or something!” he groaned.
Ryan looked down to see that he was only wearing boxers. Blushing, he pulled on his jeans and a fresh shirt that someone had laid out for him.
“What’s wrong with you anyways?” Laz asked.
Ryan shrugged. “Nothing, nothing at all.”
“So…” Laz paused. “You’re telling me that you always fly out of bed every morning… with a gun in your hand.”
“Yeah,” Ryan lied, unconvincingly. “You can’t be too careful.”
Laz looked as if he’d seen through his lie, and then just shrugged. “Yeah, you got a point there.”
As the rest of the IMF agents were just waking up, someone was out in one of the halls, making a phone call. “Yes, I’m sure they’re here, just patch me through to him,” said a muffled voice. There was a pause, as the person on the line was talking, “I don’t know exactly how to get here, don’t you have some sort of tracking signal on my phone?” Another pause. “It doesn’t work here? All right, I’ll have to get you directions some other way.” The informant hung up the phone, and slipped back into the main room, acting as if nothing had ever happened.
“Guys,” Emmy called. “We got some breakfast ready!” She and Kayla were in the secret bunker’s secret kitchen, making a secret breakfast with some secret ingredients.
“All right!” was the response from the guys’ room. They all came piling out, stomachs growling.
“Eat up boys,” said Derek, who had just entered the room. “We got a long day ahead of us.”
“What are we doing?” Chris asked in between mouthfuls.
“We’re going mole hunting,” Derek declared.
Timothius gave the emperor a shocked look. “My sister!”
The emperor nodded. “She’s been raising up a lot of lies about me, saying I kill innocent people, and imprison others for no other means than my own personal good.”
Tim raised his eyebrows. “But, you do that… all the time.”
“Shut up!” the emperor snapped. “I want your sister, and I want her alive! I have something special planned for her.” He paused. “Don’t throw this opportunity away, Timothius. Join me, and together we can rule the world.”
“Somebody’s been watching Star Wars,” Tim quipped.
The emperor slammed his fist on the table. “Are you going to do it, or not?”
The interrogator slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, hoping the answer would be no. The emperor seemed to expect that it would be no, in fact, he was practically sure of it.
Then, to the surprise of them all, Tim said, “Yes, I’ll do it.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Ryan said to Derek as they were searching through a mound of files. “We’re going to find out who the mole is by searching through the personal files of all the IMF members? Why don’t we just do something useful and bust Tim out of the emperor’s dungeon?”
“Not exactly,” Derek shrugged. “But it may point is in the right direction. Whoever the mole is, he or she may have something in their past that made them want to betray us. And let’s get something straight right now, we’re not going to bust anyone out of any dungeons, yet.”
“Makes sense,” Emmy commented as she read through her own pile of documents. There were several other agents from other teams reading through the files as well, at least all the agents that had been idle.
“Isn’t this like an invasion of privacy?” Ryan asked.
Derek sighed. “Sort of.”
Ryan thought about this for a minute and then shrugged. “Cool.”
The agents started to dig through the piles, sometimes making comments about their files.
“Ha!” Ryan snickered. “This guy’s thirty and still lives with his mom.”
“What’s so bad about that?” one of the agents from another team said, defensively.
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “You look just like the guy in this file…”
“Oh yeah,” Laz said. “Beat this, this guy’s hobbies consist of getting rejected by woman and mooching off of his mom.”
“I was never rejected,” another agent cried out. “They just said that they didn’t think it was going to work.”
“That’s rejection,” Ryan pointed out.
“You guys are disgusting,” Kayla muttered as she looked through her pile. Suddenly, she paused and looked closer at the one she held in her hand. It had a short report attached to it about how his father had been on a team with Evan Hunter. His father had not made it out alive, only Evan Hunter did. “He could have a motive,” Kayla said to herself. She checked the name on the file; it was Derek’s.
After a doctor had treated his wounds, Timothius was suited up, much to the protest of the doctor, and debriefed on all the details of his mission that the emperor would disclose. Timothius was then equipped with a car and a reliable story that his sister would believe was the reason for his visit.
“Remember,” the emperor warned him. “I’ve got trackers on you, so if you try anything funny…” he let his words sink kn.
Timothius looked him in the eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t try anything funny.” He climbed into the car and closed the door. The emperor watched as he pulled away, a smile creeping across his face.
Just then, a hooded man came and stood beside him. “Do {ou think you can trust him?”
“Of course,” the emperor smiled. “And if we can’t, we always have you around to do the clean up. Just like you did with those two Roland girls.”
Kayla started to slip Derek’s file in her pocket, when Derek suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Kayla froze, expecting him to grab the file. Instead, Derek pointed at the file he was holding. “This looks interesting,” he said. “This girl here seems to have no special agent training. The emperor just hired her, for unknown reasons. The name doesn’t look familiar though.”
Kayla just nodded and slid Derek’s file into her pocket.
“Do any of you guys know a Jessica Hunter?” Derek asked, waving the file he’d just been looking at in the air. “She’s probably not of any relation to Evan Hunter, just the same last name.”
Everybody shook his or her head. “I’ve never heard of her,” Ryan said. He turned to where Jordan had been sitting, “have you heard of a…” he trailed off. “Where’d he go?” he asked.
An agent who was not on Ryan’s team spoke up. “I saw him grab something and leave; he looked like he was in a hurry.”
Ryan shrugged. “Probably needed a bathroom break or something,” he quipped, turning towards where Emmy had been sifting through papers, but she was gone too.
“Wait, where’d Emmy go?” Ryan groaned and threw up his hands. “What is this? Hide and go seek?”
“Who’s the seeker?” Laz asked, eager to do anything except what he was doing at the moment. Then he held up his hand, “wait don’t tell me, it was just a figure of speech.”
“Actually, I was half serious,” Ryan replied. He turned towards Derek. “I’m gonna go see where they went, come on Laz,” he motioned for Laz to follow him, “let’s go see where they went off to.”
The informant was in a dark corner in the IMF hideout, talking with the emperor. “Yes, I’m sure that’s the exact location,” the informant assured him. “I found a map to this place… I’m holding it right now.”
“Okay,” the emperor said on the other end of the line. “I’m sending Morris over right now.”
“Chuck Morris?” the informant said, sounding afraid. “The same man that killed two men with nothing more than a single chopstick?”
“Don’t be silly,” the emperor lied unconvincingly. “Those are just rumors.” Then he paused and said, “good job, Jessica. You will be rewarded for your service to the empire.” Then the line went dead and Jessica, for that was the informant’s real name, hung up the phone.
Just as Jessica started to turn around and head back to the room where all the IMF agents, or at least most of them, were still sifting through papers, a hand grabbed her arm. “So its Jessica, is it?” said the man that the arm belonged to. “Whoever you really are, you’re in big trouble, Emmy.” Jordan stepped out from the shadows, still holding onto Emmy’s arm. “And when I say big, I mean big.”
To be continued next week... which would be on Tuesday... So don't ask me when the next post is... ;)
Copyright © Imperial Mission, Inc.
Killer Whale Studios
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The works on this blog including posts, comments, and pictures; may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The scanning, printing, uploading and distribution of these works via the internet or any other means without permission of Imperial Mission, Inc, or Killer Whale Studios is illegal and punishable by law. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. For any information the address is:
Xanatosofmalta@gmail.com
Or if you actually want a response: Ryanmaples@comcast.net
Tuesday 29 January 2008
Tuesday 22 January 2008
Mission: Betrayal part 6
It was several hours later that Jordan had solemnly announced that they had shaken off the emperor’s forces. They’d ditched the IMF van in a ditch, of all places, and continued on foot, looking for a new vehicle. Laz had suggested that they bury Zach’s body next to the van, and so they did. Every IMF agent said something about Zach that they’d always loved, such as, “he was a great agent,” or “he always did what needed to be done, whether it was watching the car or shooting a terrorist.” In the end though, they had to move on. None of them had any doubt as what had happened to Timothius now; they knew that the emperor had gotten to him. The question was, could they do anything to save him, or was it too late?
“Where do we go now?” Jordan asked.
“We can’t go back to the hideout,” Kayla stated a fact they all knew. The house was swarming with government agents now; someone had told the emperor about their hideout, they still weren’t sure whom. “We need to go somewhere and regroup, maybe we can organize some sort of rescue effort for Tim… if he’s not already dead.”
“I know a place,” Ryan said. Everyone looked at him; he’d been silent for a long time, which was very unlike him. “A place where IMF agents in distress have always been able to go.”
“Won’t the emperor know where it is then?” Emmy asked.
“No,” Sarah spoke up. “I know what place he’s talking about; even the emperor doesn’t know about it.”
“Evan Hunter himself used it to hide from the emperor’s right hand man, years ago,” Ryan informed them.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Evan Hunter? He was one of the greatest IMF agents that had ever lived. They all knew the story of when the emperor’s right hand man had suddenly started killing agents behind the emperor’s back. Evan Hunter had been the one to bring him down. Now they wondered if the emperor had known about it after all.
“Do you know how to find the place?” Christophear asked.
“Of course I do,” Ryan said confidently. He seemed to be growing surer of himself by the moment. “An old mentor showed it to me a long time ago.”
“A long time ago?” Laz asked. “Like when?”
“Before you joined IMF,” Ryan replied. “I was the one that vouched for you to get in, remember?”
“I could have got in myself,” Laz said, crossing his arms.
“Whatever, let’s not start fighting,” Sarah intervened. “We need to find this place.” She turned towards Ryan. “Do you know how to find it?”
Ryan threw up his hands. “Please, I’m Ryan Cruise. Of course I can find it.”
Two hours later…
“Ryan,” Laz called huffing and puffing. “Are you sure you know where this place is?” They’d been trekking through a forest for two hours now.
“Of course I do,” Ryan called back. He had been leading them throughout the forest, constantly mumbling to himself. The whole team was dirty and their clothes were ripped by now. Chris had fallen three times and the third time he’d taken out Laz and Jordan with him. To say the least, it had been an unpleasant journey.
“I told you, it’s kinda out in the boonies,” Ryan added.
“That’s gotta be the biggest understatement of the year!” Emmy replied with a little bit of irritation in her voice. (That was also a bit of an understatement; there was actually a lot of irritation in her voice.)
“We’re lost aren’t we?” Sarah asked.
“No, we are not lost,” Ryan assured her. “I know exactly where we are; we’re right here.”
Sarah sighed. “That’s helpful.”
“Hey look,” Kayla called. “Is that it?” She pointed towards an old shack off in the distance.
“Aha! That’s it!” Ryan exclaimed. They ran up towards the shack.
Emmy clapped her hands together. “I knew you would find it; I never doubted you for a second.”
When they arrived at the shack, however, they had a different impression. “That’s it?” they asked almost in unison. They all seemed rather disappointed, understandably so.
“Hey,” Ryan shrugged. “This is just the ground floor. Wait ‘till you step inside.” He paused and then added, “None of you are claustrophobic by any chance, are you?” The IMF agents crammed themselves into the shack and Ryan pressed a button on the wall. The floor slowly sunk down beneath them.
“Don’t worry, it’s an elevator,” Ryan assured them. They lowered down a ways and then stopped. A door opened in front of them, and the agents gasped at what they saw.
The hideout was like a huge bunker, complete with concrete ceilings, walls, and floors. It was lined with all of the latest equipment and gadgets. There was a huge gun rack on the west wall, and several screens mounted on the north one. Underneath the screens was a large dashboard, covered with buttons and switches. There was a cabinet on the east side that was labeled: Gadgets, and it was filled with all kinds of gadgets, of course. Hallways appeared to lead off into different areas of the hideout. At the dashboard was a single chair, which appeared to be empty. Suddenly, the chair whirled around. It revealed a man who appeared to be a seasoned agent, his hair was graying and he had a salt and pepper beard.
“Who are you?” Laz asked.
“Are you Evan Hunter?” Emmy whispered.
The man laughed. “No, of course not. Evan Hunter has long been dead. I was with him when he died actually, fine agent. As for me, I believe Ryan Cruise can tell you who I am.”
Ryan grinned as if he’d just found the largest candy store in the world and the owner had told he could have all the candy for free. “Derek! I can’t believe it’s you!” They laughed and hugged each other. Ryan turned to the others. “Guys, this is Derek, the man who taught me everything I know.”
“And everything you don’t know,” Derek added.
“Is he IMF?” Sarah asked. “He looks familiar.”
“Yeah, he is,” Ryan assured her. “But he disappeared a long time ago,” Ryan said, turning towards Derek. “What happened? The emperor said that you were killed on a mission.”
“That’s what he wanted you to think,” Derek said, solemnly. “Truth was, I had crossed him. I disobeyed one of his orders, and then I fled for my life. I’ve been hiding out for about five years now.”
Ryan and Derek filled each other in on what had happened in the last five years.
“Have the Giants won the World Series yet?” Derek asked.
“No,” Ryan shook his head. “They were in the NLCS, but they lost in the last inning of game seven.”
Derek shook his head. “Figures.”
“Um, guys?” Kayla spoke up. “Shouldn’t we be worrying about the emperor right now? And not who won the World Series.”
“Calm down sweetheart,” Derek grinned. “I’ve got that under control.”
Kayla frowned when he said sweatheart, and started to say something, but Ryan interrupted. “Don’t worry, he calls girls sweetheart sometimes. It started after he went on that mission in the South; he had to learn a fake accent for the mission and everything. Still slips back into it sometimes.”
Kayla nodded, still not that pleased at his choice of words.
“We’ve got surveillance cameras set up all over this jungle,” Derek informed them as he walked back over to the dashboard.
“Who’s we?” Sarah asked.
“IMF,” Derek replied matter-of-factly. “You didn’t think you guys were the only IMF agents, did you?”
“Of course not,” Sarah shook her head.
“She’s lying,” Ryan said, earning him a glare from Sarah.
Derek grinned, and then his face turned solemn. “Unfortunately, we still don’t know for sure why the emperor wants us all dead. He’s pretty much signed the death warrant for all of IMF. Part of what Sarah said is true, but I think there’s more to this. Until we find those documents that Cathy had, we won’t ever know.”
Everyone grew very silent at the mention of Cathy. There were even a few tears that came from some of the agents’ eyes.
“How did you know what I said, and how did you know about Cathy?” Sarah asked.
“I’ve been watching you guys,” Derek said. “I’m sorry for your losses.”
They all nodded, quietly. “We’re still not sure where Tim is, though,” Emmy said
Derek swallowed and replied, “I know where he is, in the emperor’s dungeon. Being tortured. I’m afraid I have some more bad news, though.”
“What’s that?” Jordan asked.
“We have a mole in IMF.”
There was a long dramatic pause. “A mole?” Laz asked. “Like a spy?”
“Yes,” Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course like a spy.”
“Who is it?” Kayla asked.
“That’s the problem,” Derek shook his head and sighed. “We don’t know.”
“Do you have any idea who it could be?” asked Emmy.
“Yes, I do have an idea,” Derek nodded, but he didn’t seem too happy.
“Who?” they all asked him in unison.
“I think it’s one of you,” Derek said quietly.
There was another long dramatic pause.
“Wanna run that by me again?” Ryan said, not believing his ears.
“I think it’s one of you,” Derek repeated.
“And why is that, may I ask?” Kayla spoke up.
“Yeah, what did we ever do?” Jordan agreed.
Derek gave another long sigh and began to explain. “Look, it all adds up. Cathy’s on your team, she had the info we needed and she was killed. Michelle might have been the key to get that information after Cathy’s death, and now she’s dead. Who knew their whereabouts? No one did, except for the people on your team. The empire found out your hideout, which no one except your team even knew about.”
He took a breath. “And finally, the emperor hasn’t yet found out about this place. You’re the last team to make it here. If the mole were on another IMF team, he would have already squealed by now.”
Everyone paused dramatically yet again. “Well, you got me convinced,” said Laz. “I almost believe that I’m the mole now.” He paused, “Am I?”
“You could be,” Derek insisted.
“That’s ridiculous,” Sarah said. “I can’t believe that you would accuse us of this. Especially after what’s happened to all of us.”
“Maybe I was wrong,” Derek said, seeming to agree.
“Now you’re talking,” Ryan broke his unusual silence.
“Maybe it wasn’t your team after all, Cruise,” Derek continued.
“Keep talking,” Ryan nodded, grinning.
“Maybe… it was you,” Derek pointed an accusing finger at Sarah.
“Okay, you can stop now,” Ryan mumbled.
“Think, Cruise,” Derek pleaded, walking over towards Ryan. “Think with your head for once. Where did she come from? Where was she when Cathy was killed? She was right there, you saw her. Where was she when Michelle was murdered? Who knows? Maybe she was there that night, blasting her full of holes. How can you trust her?”
“I can, and I will!” Ryan snapped.
“We can’t,” Derek held his forehead in his hands. Sarah, surprisingly enough, was silent. “We can’t afford to trust her on a whim.”
“It’s not a whim, I’d trust her with my life!” Ryan exclaimed. “I was there too, you know. How do you know I didn’t shoot Cathy? Or that Laz didn’t shoot her?”
“Hey!” Laz protested.
“Sorry Laz, just trying to make a point,” Ryan reassured him. “But don’t you see what I mean? Anyone could be the mole.”
Jordan leaned over towards Emmy. “Is it just me or has Ryan gotten way more serious over the past couple days?”
Emmy nodded and whispered back, “desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Derek closed his eyes. “We have to keep her under close watch, Cruise.”
“Not acceptable,” Ryan crossed his arms.
“Wait, Ryan,” Sarah interrupted before Derek could argue. “I agree.”
“What?” Ryan voiced everyone’s thoughts.
“I agree. My actions have been somewhat suspicious, and what better way to prove I’m innocent?” She walked over to Ryan and whispered in his ear. “I appreciate you trusting me, I’ll remember that.”
“You’re welcome,” Ryan whispered back. Two body guards, wearing flak vests that bore the insignia: IMF, on them, came and took her away. “Don’t hurt her!” Ryan warned.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her,” Derek assured him. “When I get back, I’ll show you guys where you can get some rest.”
“I don’t like this,” Ryan shook his head.
“Neither do I,” Kayla nodded in agreement.
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe she is the mole,” Emmy speculated.
“How could you say that Emmy?” Kayla was appalled.
“It’s a possibility,” Emmy shrugged.
Jordan looked at Ryan. “How are you holding up?”
Ryan didn’t answer right away. “I wonder if Timothius is really dead?”
Timothius awoke hours later, from a peculiar dream, after being severely tortured. He groaned as he tried to get up. “Oh, my body.”
The interrogator was still standing there when he got up. “Are you ready to give in, or should I start doing a little shoulder relocation?” He held up a drill and buzzed it a few times for effect.
“No, don’t,” Tim, begged. “I’ll do anything, please.”
“Anything the emperor asks?”
“Anything,” he repeated.
The interrogator laughed, “good.”
After a few miserable hours, Ryan had finally fallen into a restless sleep in the bed provided to him by IMF. All the other men from IMF were still in their beds, fast asleep. The girls were in a separate room. He tossed and turned, thinking about where Sarah was right now. Granted, she wasn’t really in a dungeon-- a more accurate description would be house arrest—but he still felt bad about it. As he lay there, in a fitful sleep, a dark figure wearing black clothes and a dark mask crept towards him out of the shadows. The figure crept closer and closer, until it was standing right by Ryan’s bed. It was obvious now from the figure’s long hair that it was probably a girl. She leaned over and tapped Ryan gently.
Ryan stirred and moaned. “No mom, five more minutes!”
The figure tapped him harder. This time he sprang into a sitting position, grabbing a knife from the nightstand beside him as he did so.
The woman instantly drew a gun fitted with a silencer from her holster and trained it on him. “Drop it,” she ordered. The voice was familiar, too familiar.
Ryan obeyed. “Who are you?”
She laughed. “You know, Ryan? You shouldn’t trust everybody. Especially not the pretty ones.” She tore off her mask and shook out her hair. It was Sarah!
“Sarah!” Ryan exclaimed. “Don’t! What are you doing?”
“Getting rid of an old problem.” She pointed the gun at his head and fired. Ryan sank back down to the bed, a bullet hole through his head.
Copyright © Imperial Mission, Inc.
Killer Whale Studios
All rights reserved
The works on this blog including posts, comments, and pictures; may not be reproduced in any form without permission. The scanning, printing, uploading and distribution of these works via the internet or any other means without permission of Imperial Mission, Inc, or Killer Whale Studios is illegal and punishable by law.
Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
For any information the address is: Xanatosofmalta@gmail.com
“Where do we go now?” Jordan asked.
“We can’t go back to the hideout,” Kayla stated a fact they all knew. The house was swarming with government agents now; someone had told the emperor about their hideout, they still weren’t sure whom. “We need to go somewhere and regroup, maybe we can organize some sort of rescue effort for Tim… if he’s not already dead.”
“I know a place,” Ryan said. Everyone looked at him; he’d been silent for a long time, which was very unlike him. “A place where IMF agents in distress have always been able to go.”
“Won’t the emperor know where it is then?” Emmy asked.
“No,” Sarah spoke up. “I know what place he’s talking about; even the emperor doesn’t know about it.”
“Evan Hunter himself used it to hide from the emperor’s right hand man, years ago,” Ryan informed them.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Evan Hunter? He was one of the greatest IMF agents that had ever lived. They all knew the story of when the emperor’s right hand man had suddenly started killing agents behind the emperor’s back. Evan Hunter had been the one to bring him down. Now they wondered if the emperor had known about it after all.
“Do you know how to find the place?” Christophear asked.
“Of course I do,” Ryan said confidently. He seemed to be growing surer of himself by the moment. “An old mentor showed it to me a long time ago.”
“A long time ago?” Laz asked. “Like when?”
“Before you joined IMF,” Ryan replied. “I was the one that vouched for you to get in, remember?”
“I could have got in myself,” Laz said, crossing his arms.
“Whatever, let’s not start fighting,” Sarah intervened. “We need to find this place.” She turned towards Ryan. “Do you know how to find it?”
Ryan threw up his hands. “Please, I’m Ryan Cruise. Of course I can find it.”
Two hours later…
“Ryan,” Laz called huffing and puffing. “Are you sure you know where this place is?” They’d been trekking through a forest for two hours now.
“Of course I do,” Ryan called back. He had been leading them throughout the forest, constantly mumbling to himself. The whole team was dirty and their clothes were ripped by now. Chris had fallen three times and the third time he’d taken out Laz and Jordan with him. To say the least, it had been an unpleasant journey.
“I told you, it’s kinda out in the boonies,” Ryan added.
“That’s gotta be the biggest understatement of the year!” Emmy replied with a little bit of irritation in her voice. (That was also a bit of an understatement; there was actually a lot of irritation in her voice.)
“We’re lost aren’t we?” Sarah asked.
“No, we are not lost,” Ryan assured her. “I know exactly where we are; we’re right here.”
Sarah sighed. “That’s helpful.”
“Hey look,” Kayla called. “Is that it?” She pointed towards an old shack off in the distance.
“Aha! That’s it!” Ryan exclaimed. They ran up towards the shack.
Emmy clapped her hands together. “I knew you would find it; I never doubted you for a second.”
When they arrived at the shack, however, they had a different impression. “That’s it?” they asked almost in unison. They all seemed rather disappointed, understandably so.
“Hey,” Ryan shrugged. “This is just the ground floor. Wait ‘till you step inside.” He paused and then added, “None of you are claustrophobic by any chance, are you?” The IMF agents crammed themselves into the shack and Ryan pressed a button on the wall. The floor slowly sunk down beneath them.
“Don’t worry, it’s an elevator,” Ryan assured them. They lowered down a ways and then stopped. A door opened in front of them, and the agents gasped at what they saw.
The hideout was like a huge bunker, complete with concrete ceilings, walls, and floors. It was lined with all of the latest equipment and gadgets. There was a huge gun rack on the west wall, and several screens mounted on the north one. Underneath the screens was a large dashboard, covered with buttons and switches. There was a cabinet on the east side that was labeled: Gadgets, and it was filled with all kinds of gadgets, of course. Hallways appeared to lead off into different areas of the hideout. At the dashboard was a single chair, which appeared to be empty. Suddenly, the chair whirled around. It revealed a man who appeared to be a seasoned agent, his hair was graying and he had a salt and pepper beard.
“Who are you?” Laz asked.
“Are you Evan Hunter?” Emmy whispered.
The man laughed. “No, of course not. Evan Hunter has long been dead. I was with him when he died actually, fine agent. As for me, I believe Ryan Cruise can tell you who I am.”
Ryan grinned as if he’d just found the largest candy store in the world and the owner had told he could have all the candy for free. “Derek! I can’t believe it’s you!” They laughed and hugged each other. Ryan turned to the others. “Guys, this is Derek, the man who taught me everything I know.”
“And everything you don’t know,” Derek added.
“Is he IMF?” Sarah asked. “He looks familiar.”
“Yeah, he is,” Ryan assured her. “But he disappeared a long time ago,” Ryan said, turning towards Derek. “What happened? The emperor said that you were killed on a mission.”
“That’s what he wanted you to think,” Derek said, solemnly. “Truth was, I had crossed him. I disobeyed one of his orders, and then I fled for my life. I’ve been hiding out for about five years now.”
Ryan and Derek filled each other in on what had happened in the last five years.
“Have the Giants won the World Series yet?” Derek asked.
“No,” Ryan shook his head. “They were in the NLCS, but they lost in the last inning of game seven.”
Derek shook his head. “Figures.”
“Um, guys?” Kayla spoke up. “Shouldn’t we be worrying about the emperor right now? And not who won the World Series.”
“Calm down sweetheart,” Derek grinned. “I’ve got that under control.”
Kayla frowned when he said sweatheart, and started to say something, but Ryan interrupted. “Don’t worry, he calls girls sweetheart sometimes. It started after he went on that mission in the South; he had to learn a fake accent for the mission and everything. Still slips back into it sometimes.”
Kayla nodded, still not that pleased at his choice of words.
“We’ve got surveillance cameras set up all over this jungle,” Derek informed them as he walked back over to the dashboard.
“Who’s we?” Sarah asked.
“IMF,” Derek replied matter-of-factly. “You didn’t think you guys were the only IMF agents, did you?”
“Of course not,” Sarah shook her head.
“She’s lying,” Ryan said, earning him a glare from Sarah.
Derek grinned, and then his face turned solemn. “Unfortunately, we still don’t know for sure why the emperor wants us all dead. He’s pretty much signed the death warrant for all of IMF. Part of what Sarah said is true, but I think there’s more to this. Until we find those documents that Cathy had, we won’t ever know.”
Everyone grew very silent at the mention of Cathy. There were even a few tears that came from some of the agents’ eyes.
“How did you know what I said, and how did you know about Cathy?” Sarah asked.
“I’ve been watching you guys,” Derek said. “I’m sorry for your losses.”
They all nodded, quietly. “We’re still not sure where Tim is, though,” Emmy said
Derek swallowed and replied, “I know where he is, in the emperor’s dungeon. Being tortured. I’m afraid I have some more bad news, though.”
“What’s that?” Jordan asked.
“We have a mole in IMF.”
There was a long dramatic pause. “A mole?” Laz asked. “Like a spy?”
“Yes,” Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course like a spy.”
“Who is it?” Kayla asked.
“That’s the problem,” Derek shook his head and sighed. “We don’t know.”
“Do you have any idea who it could be?” asked Emmy.
“Yes, I do have an idea,” Derek nodded, but he didn’t seem too happy.
“Who?” they all asked him in unison.
“I think it’s one of you,” Derek said quietly.
There was another long dramatic pause.
“Wanna run that by me again?” Ryan said, not believing his ears.
“I think it’s one of you,” Derek repeated.
“And why is that, may I ask?” Kayla spoke up.
“Yeah, what did we ever do?” Jordan agreed.
Derek gave another long sigh and began to explain. “Look, it all adds up. Cathy’s on your team, she had the info we needed and she was killed. Michelle might have been the key to get that information after Cathy’s death, and now she’s dead. Who knew their whereabouts? No one did, except for the people on your team. The empire found out your hideout, which no one except your team even knew about.”
He took a breath. “And finally, the emperor hasn’t yet found out about this place. You’re the last team to make it here. If the mole were on another IMF team, he would have already squealed by now.”
Everyone paused dramatically yet again. “Well, you got me convinced,” said Laz. “I almost believe that I’m the mole now.” He paused, “Am I?”
“You could be,” Derek insisted.
“That’s ridiculous,” Sarah said. “I can’t believe that you would accuse us of this. Especially after what’s happened to all of us.”
“Maybe I was wrong,” Derek said, seeming to agree.
“Now you’re talking,” Ryan broke his unusual silence.
“Maybe it wasn’t your team after all, Cruise,” Derek continued.
“Keep talking,” Ryan nodded, grinning.
“Maybe… it was you,” Derek pointed an accusing finger at Sarah.
“Okay, you can stop now,” Ryan mumbled.
“Think, Cruise,” Derek pleaded, walking over towards Ryan. “Think with your head for once. Where did she come from? Where was she when Cathy was killed? She was right there, you saw her. Where was she when Michelle was murdered? Who knows? Maybe she was there that night, blasting her full of holes. How can you trust her?”
“I can, and I will!” Ryan snapped.
“We can’t,” Derek held his forehead in his hands. Sarah, surprisingly enough, was silent. “We can’t afford to trust her on a whim.”
“It’s not a whim, I’d trust her with my life!” Ryan exclaimed. “I was there too, you know. How do you know I didn’t shoot Cathy? Or that Laz didn’t shoot her?”
“Hey!” Laz protested.
“Sorry Laz, just trying to make a point,” Ryan reassured him. “But don’t you see what I mean? Anyone could be the mole.”
Jordan leaned over towards Emmy. “Is it just me or has Ryan gotten way more serious over the past couple days?”
Emmy nodded and whispered back, “desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Derek closed his eyes. “We have to keep her under close watch, Cruise.”
“Not acceptable,” Ryan crossed his arms.
“Wait, Ryan,” Sarah interrupted before Derek could argue. “I agree.”
“What?” Ryan voiced everyone’s thoughts.
“I agree. My actions have been somewhat suspicious, and what better way to prove I’m innocent?” She walked over to Ryan and whispered in his ear. “I appreciate you trusting me, I’ll remember that.”
“You’re welcome,” Ryan whispered back. Two body guards, wearing flak vests that bore the insignia: IMF, on them, came and took her away. “Don’t hurt her!” Ryan warned.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her,” Derek assured him. “When I get back, I’ll show you guys where you can get some rest.”
“I don’t like this,” Ryan shook his head.
“Neither do I,” Kayla nodded in agreement.
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe she is the mole,” Emmy speculated.
“How could you say that Emmy?” Kayla was appalled.
“It’s a possibility,” Emmy shrugged.
Jordan looked at Ryan. “How are you holding up?”
Ryan didn’t answer right away. “I wonder if Timothius is really dead?”
Timothius awoke hours later, from a peculiar dream, after being severely tortured. He groaned as he tried to get up. “Oh, my body.”
The interrogator was still standing there when he got up. “Are you ready to give in, or should I start doing a little shoulder relocation?” He held up a drill and buzzed it a few times for effect.
“No, don’t,” Tim, begged. “I’ll do anything, please.”
“Anything the emperor asks?”
“Anything,” he repeated.
The interrogator laughed, “good.”
After a few miserable hours, Ryan had finally fallen into a restless sleep in the bed provided to him by IMF. All the other men from IMF were still in their beds, fast asleep. The girls were in a separate room. He tossed and turned, thinking about where Sarah was right now. Granted, she wasn’t really in a dungeon-- a more accurate description would be house arrest—but he still felt bad about it. As he lay there, in a fitful sleep, a dark figure wearing black clothes and a dark mask crept towards him out of the shadows. The figure crept closer and closer, until it was standing right by Ryan’s bed. It was obvious now from the figure’s long hair that it was probably a girl. She leaned over and tapped Ryan gently.
Ryan stirred and moaned. “No mom, five more minutes!”
The figure tapped him harder. This time he sprang into a sitting position, grabbing a knife from the nightstand beside him as he did so.
The woman instantly drew a gun fitted with a silencer from her holster and trained it on him. “Drop it,” she ordered. The voice was familiar, too familiar.
Ryan obeyed. “Who are you?”
She laughed. “You know, Ryan? You shouldn’t trust everybody. Especially not the pretty ones.” She tore off her mask and shook out her hair. It was Sarah!
“Sarah!” Ryan exclaimed. “Don’t! What are you doing?”
“Getting rid of an old problem.” She pointed the gun at his head and fired. Ryan sank back down to the bed, a bullet hole through his head.
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Tuesday 15 January 2008
Mission: Betrayal part 5
Continued from last week...
“How long is his meeting?” Ryan asked for the hundredth time. He was sitting, impatiently, in the imperial waiting room, along with Laz and Christophear.
The emperor’s secretary, Mattie was what they called her, just glared at him. “He’ll be done when he’s done.”
Ryan leaned over towards Laz, who was reading one of the magazines in the emperor’s waiting room. “She freaks me out.”
Laz shrugged. “She’s the emperor’s secretary, what do you expect?”
Christophear laid down his copy of Imperial Times and sighed. “This is really starting to get boring.”
“You’re telling me,” Ryan rubbed his temple with his hand. He picked up one of the celebrity magazines and then threw it down in disgust. “That Hollywood actress is acting up again.”
“Which one?” Laz asked.
“You know, the one with all those drug problems,” Ryan explained, searching for the name.
Laz looked at him. “Which one?” he repeated.
“The one that went into rehab not that long ago.”
“Which one?”
“The one that--” Ryan started but he was interrupted by Mattie.
“The emperor will see you now.”
“Thank goodness,” they groaned. They trudged up the stairs and up to the Imperial office. Ryan knocked on the door.
“Come in,” the emperor’s voice commanded.
The three obeyed and stepped inside.
“Hello there boys,” the emperor greeted them. He was sitting at his desk as usual atop his chair. His stare pierced them, but it seemed to land on Christophear the most.
“I just heard the news,” the emperor said sadly. “I’m so sorry.”
“What news?” Ryan asked.
“About Michelle’s death,” Christophear reminded him.
“Oh right, of course, Michelle’s death.”
The emperor shook his head. “I know how you must feel.”
“Do you?” Christophear questioned as he sat down in one of the guest chairs.
“Well,” the emperor said, a sly look coming on his face. “I know how you must feel. You’ve betrayed your team, even though they all trusted you. You took advantage of that trust and killed a teammate, who thought she was your friend. What if you get caught? And now, your worst fear has been affirmed.”
Chris frowned, bewildered. “What?”
“Don’t ‘what?’ me, Christophear,” the emperor said. “We know who killed Michelle. The surveillance cameras got it all on tape.” The emperor pushed a button and a large screen TV came down from the ceiling.
“Whoa, where’d that come from?” Laz asked and then shook his head in admiration. “You could play some serious Halo on that thing.”
The emperor ignored his comment and grabbed a remote and started playing a video. It was Michelle’s house. He stopped the camera just as a figure entered. The figure looking up at the camera was Chris!
“Care to explain what you were doing at Michelle’s house at the night of the murder?” the emperor asked. Both Ryan and Laz looked at Chris, questioning looks on their faces.
“That’s not me!” Christophear finally burst out. “I was never at Michelle’s house last night!”
“You got an alibi?”
Chris looked down at the floor. “I was at home alone last night.”
“I didn’t think so.” The emperor called for some guards to come into the room.
“Wait,” Ryan spoke up. “You can’t just arrest him!”
“Why not?” the emperor asked.
“Because, he’s one of my guys! He wouldn’t kill Michelle. Besides, isn’t there something in the constitution that says ‘innocent until proven guilty’ or something?”
The emperor’s gaze pierced Ryan. “Not anymore. Now it’s, ‘guilty until proven innocent.’ And I don’t think our former friend Christophear here will have such luck.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Laz. “He’s still our friend.”
“Yeah, and we won’t let you take him,” Ryan declared defiantly.
The emperor sighed. “I can see you’re going to make this difficult.”
Suddenly, two steel hands grasped onto Ryan’s shoulders. “NO!” he yelled.
Ryan twisted around and elbowed the guard in the stomach and then kicked him hard into the emperor’s desk, sending papers flying. Christophear grabbed the guard behind him by the arms and threw him over his head and onto the ground. Laz wrapped his leg around the other guard’s leg and threw him down onto his face.
The three guards lay crumpled at their feet now. “Cool,” Ryan gasped. “It’s been too long since I’ve done that.” They looked up, but the emperor was gone. “Where’d he go?” Ryan pondered. But before he could say anymore, they heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Great,” Christophear groaned. “The secret police.”
The IMF agents had heard rumors of the secret police, but they’d never actually seen one of them. Probably the same was true for most of the secret police with regards to IMF. They never worked together. Few of the emperor’s secret organizations did.
“Now what?” Laz asked.
Ryan glanced around. They had no weapons. At least none that could match with the countless, top of the line weapons that the secret police were sure to have. “Out the window!” Ryan yelled.
Laz and Chris glanced at each other. “Are you crazy?” they asked.
“Yeah, why do you ask?” Ryan leapt onto the window ledge and kicked through the glass. Laz and Chris shrugged. They ran up to the window.
“Here, Ryan and Laz, take these.” Chris tossed them each a standard issue Sig Sauer P226. “Found these on the guards.” He kept one for himself.
Now, to depict this scene accurately, one has to understand the way the Imperial Palace was designed. From the top of its pointy roof, to about the second floor, it is all glass. The glass is at an incline, slowly rising up, getting steeper and steeper till it hit the top. Right now, they were at about he eighth floor.
Ryan jumped out, backwards and headfirst. He slid down the glass incline upside down, with his back to the glass. Laz and Chris followed after him, using the same technique. They could barely make out the amazed looks that they got when people saw them through the windows, whizzing by.
They were rapidly approaching the second floor. Ryan signaled to the others and then reached to his belt. He pulled out a cable with a hook on it (see Mission 2 part 4), and threw it above him. The cable slid along the glass, searching for a hold. Finally, it broke through the glass and caught onto a window ledge inside, stopping Ryan’s fall. Both Chris and Laz followed suit. They dropped onto the ledge on the second floor and yanked their cables loose.
“Now for the homestretch,” Ryan declared. The attached their cords to the ledge and bungee jumped to the ground. Waiting at the door, undoubtedly to ensure that they didn’t escape, were four guards. Ryan, Chris, and Laz, drew their weapons and took out the guards. They released themselves from their cables and ran towards the IMF van.
“Start it up, start it up!” Ryan yelled to Jordan. Jordan started up the van and Zach opened the doors, standing by with a M60 Saw.
Suddenly, bullets starting whizzing past them, the secret police were firing at them! Kayla tossed them each an automatic rifle, and they started firing back.
Ryan, Chris, and Laz hopped in the van, and Jordan took off. Just as Zach was pulling the door shut a final bullet came screaming into the van. It hit Zach right in the chest and he was knocked back into Emmy by the impact.
Zach groaned. “Oooh, it hurts!”
Ryan whirled around. “Zach! Jordan get us out of here!”
“What does it look like I’m doing!” Jordan screamed. The van roared away from the Imperial palace. “I’m gonna have to try and shake these guys. Hang on.” Jordan started weaving through traffic.”
In the back of the van, Zach’s wound was still bleeding. Chris was trying to put pressure on the wound and Emmy was keeping him elevated.
Zach moaned every time the van moved suddenly.
“Just stay with us, Zach,” Chris said. “Stay awake.”
“I, I, I, cant feel my legs,” Zach groaned. “I can’t feel my legs.”
Emmy started to sob. “He’s gonna die. Oh no, he’s gonna die.”
“No he’s not,” Chris snapped. “Pull yourself together.”
Kayla just stared at Zach in apparent shock. Laz was trying his best to help. “What can we do? Can’t we help him?” he asked.
Sarah seemed devastated herself. “It’s all my fault.”
“Why were they shooting at us?” Kayla finally said, wringing her hands. “We’re on the same side.”
Ryan turned to face her. Wearing a very serious look, probably for the first time in his life. “Not anymore, Kayla,” he declared. “Not anymore.”
Zach was growing weaker by the minute. “He’s losing too much blood!” Chris yelled.
“We can’t do anything about it,” Jordan yelled back. “Just try to hold him a little longer.
“It was an honor serving with you guys,” Zach said.
“Don’t talk like that,” Laz said, leaning over him.
“Goodbye,” Zach whispered. He started to moan again, and then his eyes closed, his breathing ceased. Zach was dead.
to be continued next week...
“How long is his meeting?” Ryan asked for the hundredth time. He was sitting, impatiently, in the imperial waiting room, along with Laz and Christophear.
The emperor’s secretary, Mattie was what they called her, just glared at him. “He’ll be done when he’s done.”
Ryan leaned over towards Laz, who was reading one of the magazines in the emperor’s waiting room. “She freaks me out.”
Laz shrugged. “She’s the emperor’s secretary, what do you expect?”
Christophear laid down his copy of Imperial Times and sighed. “This is really starting to get boring.”
“You’re telling me,” Ryan rubbed his temple with his hand. He picked up one of the celebrity magazines and then threw it down in disgust. “That Hollywood actress is acting up again.”
“Which one?” Laz asked.
“You know, the one with all those drug problems,” Ryan explained, searching for the name.
Laz looked at him. “Which one?” he repeated.
“The one that went into rehab not that long ago.”
“Which one?”
“The one that--” Ryan started but he was interrupted by Mattie.
“The emperor will see you now.”
“Thank goodness,” they groaned. They trudged up the stairs and up to the Imperial office. Ryan knocked on the door.
“Come in,” the emperor’s voice commanded.
The three obeyed and stepped inside.
“Hello there boys,” the emperor greeted them. He was sitting at his desk as usual atop his chair. His stare pierced them, but it seemed to land on Christophear the most.
“I just heard the news,” the emperor said sadly. “I’m so sorry.”
“What news?” Ryan asked.
“About Michelle’s death,” Christophear reminded him.
“Oh right, of course, Michelle’s death.”
The emperor shook his head. “I know how you must feel.”
“Do you?” Christophear questioned as he sat down in one of the guest chairs.
“Well,” the emperor said, a sly look coming on his face. “I know how you must feel. You’ve betrayed your team, even though they all trusted you. You took advantage of that trust and killed a teammate, who thought she was your friend. What if you get caught? And now, your worst fear has been affirmed.”
Chris frowned, bewildered. “What?”
“Don’t ‘what?’ me, Christophear,” the emperor said. “We know who killed Michelle. The surveillance cameras got it all on tape.” The emperor pushed a button and a large screen TV came down from the ceiling.
“Whoa, where’d that come from?” Laz asked and then shook his head in admiration. “You could play some serious Halo on that thing.”
The emperor ignored his comment and grabbed a remote and started playing a video. It was Michelle’s house. He stopped the camera just as a figure entered. The figure looking up at the camera was Chris!
“Care to explain what you were doing at Michelle’s house at the night of the murder?” the emperor asked. Both Ryan and Laz looked at Chris, questioning looks on their faces.
“That’s not me!” Christophear finally burst out. “I was never at Michelle’s house last night!”
“You got an alibi?”
Chris looked down at the floor. “I was at home alone last night.”
“I didn’t think so.” The emperor called for some guards to come into the room.
“Wait,” Ryan spoke up. “You can’t just arrest him!”
“Why not?” the emperor asked.
“Because, he’s one of my guys! He wouldn’t kill Michelle. Besides, isn’t there something in the constitution that says ‘innocent until proven guilty’ or something?”
The emperor’s gaze pierced Ryan. “Not anymore. Now it’s, ‘guilty until proven innocent.’ And I don’t think our former friend Christophear here will have such luck.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Laz. “He’s still our friend.”
“Yeah, and we won’t let you take him,” Ryan declared defiantly.
The emperor sighed. “I can see you’re going to make this difficult.”
Suddenly, two steel hands grasped onto Ryan’s shoulders. “NO!” he yelled.
Ryan twisted around and elbowed the guard in the stomach and then kicked him hard into the emperor’s desk, sending papers flying. Christophear grabbed the guard behind him by the arms and threw him over his head and onto the ground. Laz wrapped his leg around the other guard’s leg and threw him down onto his face.
The three guards lay crumpled at their feet now. “Cool,” Ryan gasped. “It’s been too long since I’ve done that.” They looked up, but the emperor was gone. “Where’d he go?” Ryan pondered. But before he could say anymore, they heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Great,” Christophear groaned. “The secret police.”
The IMF agents had heard rumors of the secret police, but they’d never actually seen one of them. Probably the same was true for most of the secret police with regards to IMF. They never worked together. Few of the emperor’s secret organizations did.
“Now what?” Laz asked.
Ryan glanced around. They had no weapons. At least none that could match with the countless, top of the line weapons that the secret police were sure to have. “Out the window!” Ryan yelled.
Laz and Chris glanced at each other. “Are you crazy?” they asked.
“Yeah, why do you ask?” Ryan leapt onto the window ledge and kicked through the glass. Laz and Chris shrugged. They ran up to the window.
“Here, Ryan and Laz, take these.” Chris tossed them each a standard issue Sig Sauer P226. “Found these on the guards.” He kept one for himself.
Now, to depict this scene accurately, one has to understand the way the Imperial Palace was designed. From the top of its pointy roof, to about the second floor, it is all glass. The glass is at an incline, slowly rising up, getting steeper and steeper till it hit the top. Right now, they were at about he eighth floor.
Ryan jumped out, backwards and headfirst. He slid down the glass incline upside down, with his back to the glass. Laz and Chris followed after him, using the same technique. They could barely make out the amazed looks that they got when people saw them through the windows, whizzing by.
They were rapidly approaching the second floor. Ryan signaled to the others and then reached to his belt. He pulled out a cable with a hook on it (see Mission 2 part 4), and threw it above him. The cable slid along the glass, searching for a hold. Finally, it broke through the glass and caught onto a window ledge inside, stopping Ryan’s fall. Both Chris and Laz followed suit. They dropped onto the ledge on the second floor and yanked their cables loose.
“Now for the homestretch,” Ryan declared. The attached their cords to the ledge and bungee jumped to the ground. Waiting at the door, undoubtedly to ensure that they didn’t escape, were four guards. Ryan, Chris, and Laz, drew their weapons and took out the guards. They released themselves from their cables and ran towards the IMF van.
“Start it up, start it up!” Ryan yelled to Jordan. Jordan started up the van and Zach opened the doors, standing by with a M60 Saw.
Suddenly, bullets starting whizzing past them, the secret police were firing at them! Kayla tossed them each an automatic rifle, and they started firing back.
Ryan, Chris, and Laz hopped in the van, and Jordan took off. Just as Zach was pulling the door shut a final bullet came screaming into the van. It hit Zach right in the chest and he was knocked back into Emmy by the impact.
Zach groaned. “Oooh, it hurts!”
Ryan whirled around. “Zach! Jordan get us out of here!”
“What does it look like I’m doing!” Jordan screamed. The van roared away from the Imperial palace. “I’m gonna have to try and shake these guys. Hang on.” Jordan started weaving through traffic.”
In the back of the van, Zach’s wound was still bleeding. Chris was trying to put pressure on the wound and Emmy was keeping him elevated.
Zach moaned every time the van moved suddenly.
“Just stay with us, Zach,” Chris said. “Stay awake.”
“I, I, I, cant feel my legs,” Zach groaned. “I can’t feel my legs.”
Emmy started to sob. “He’s gonna die. Oh no, he’s gonna die.”
“No he’s not,” Chris snapped. “Pull yourself together.”
Kayla just stared at Zach in apparent shock. Laz was trying his best to help. “What can we do? Can’t we help him?” he asked.
Sarah seemed devastated herself. “It’s all my fault.”
“Why were they shooting at us?” Kayla finally said, wringing her hands. “We’re on the same side.”
Ryan turned to face her. Wearing a very serious look, probably for the first time in his life. “Not anymore, Kayla,” he declared. “Not anymore.”
Zach was growing weaker by the minute. “He’s losing too much blood!” Chris yelled.
“We can’t do anything about it,” Jordan yelled back. “Just try to hold him a little longer.
“It was an honor serving with you guys,” Zach said.
“Don’t talk like that,” Laz said, leaning over him.
“Goodbye,” Zach whispered. He started to moan again, and then his eyes closed, his breathing ceased. Zach was dead.
to be continued next week...
Tuesday 8 January 2008
Mission: Betrayal part 4
... continued from part 3...
Kayla paced the floor of the IMF hideout anxiously, glancing at her watch. It was 0800 now; Michelle was late.
“I don’t like this,” Kayla said to herself.
“Don’t like what?” Ryan asked. He and all the rest of the IMF agents, including Sarah, were waiting in the IMF hideout as well.
“Michelle being late like this, it’s not like her.”
“Your right,” Ryan nodded. “What do you want to do?”
Kayla thought about this for a moment. “Why don’t we just wait a little longer? She could be caught in traffic.”
“Okay,” Ryan agreed. He flopped down on the couch next to Laz and grabbed a TV remote and flicked the power button. The huge flat screen TV on the wall lit up. “Glad we got this HD TV,” Ryan said, flipping it to the news
“You’re just gonna watch TV at a time like this?” Laz said.
“Sure,” Ryan shrugged. “Why not?”
“Okay, cool.” Laz sat back and watched the news with him.
“Are they always like this?” Sarah asked, looking at Christophear.
Christophear, who was pretending that he wasn’t watching the TV, shrugged, “Yeah, pretty much. You get used to it after a while.”
Jordan nodded his agreement, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was watching as well. “Turn it to sports,” he suggested.
“No,” Zach argued. “Let’s turn it to the gun channel.”
“Oh please, not the gun channel,” Emmy groaned, finally speaking up. She was unusually quiet this morning.
Ryan was just about to turn the channel when he stopped. There was a story about a girl who was found dead in her home on, and the picture of the house they were showing looked just like Michelle’s!
“Wait, isn’t that Michelle’s house?” Ryan asked, bewildered.
“Oh my Gosh, it is!” Kayla exclaimed as she looked at the TV. “Turn it up.”
“Will do, would you like it in surround?” Ryan replied.
“Just turn it up!” Kayla yelled. Ryan turned up the volume.
“A young woman was found dead in her house today by her next door neighbor,” the news anchor informed them. “Police are not yet revealing all the details, but it appears that a woman by the name of Michelle Roland was murdered late last night.”
There was a collective gasp among the IMF agents.
“…Police have not released any of the suspects yet, but promise that they are searching for the murderer as we speak.”
“No!” Kayla screamed. “This can’t be happening!”
“We have to do something!” Sarah pleaded Ryan. “You’re the only one that can stop this.”
Ryan was staring at the screen, still in shock from losing yet another agent. “What makes you so sure of that?”
“Because I’ve studied you Ryan Cruise. You’re unstoppable. Anybody who tries to kill you seemingly succeeds, but in the end, they lose. And it’s all because of you, Ryan. Don’t you see? You were born to stop this!”
Ryan frowned. “And I thought I was born because my parents wanted me to be. Not because I was meant to stop this supposed betrayal by the Emperor.”
“Hey, what about me?” Laz protested.
“Why you, Laz,” Sarah said, walking over to him. “You are what makes Ryan so successful. Every Superman needs his Robin, and you are his Robin.”
Ryan turned toward her and raised his eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure that it’s Batman and Robin, not Superman and Robin.”
Jordan frowned as well. “His Robin? That just sounds weird.”
Sarah threw up her hands. “Sorry, I don’t read comics and I’m not that good at motivational speeches, okay. But we’ve got to do something.”
“Well I like it,” Laz said, folding his arms. “At least it’s better than, dopey sidekick.”
“Like what?” Emmy spoke up again. “What could we possibly do?”
“We can fight back! Teach the emperor who’s boss! Show him what we can do!” Sarah was starting to get dramatic now.
Ryan looked at Laz and Jordan. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Jordan shrugged. “I think she borrowed a little on that speech, though.”
Laz nodded, looking smart. “Yeah, she definitely borrowed on that one.”
Sarah slammed her fist on a nearby table, disgusted. “Don’t you guys ever take anything seriously?”
Ryan, Laz, and Jordan looked at each other, and then looked back at Sarah. “No.”
Sarah sighed and walked away towards the corner of the room.
“Uh-oh,” Ryan said. “We have an upset woman on our hands. Who wants to comfort her?”
Jordan and Laz both turned the other way.
“Oh come on, guys!” Ryan rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ll go.”
“Thanks,” Jordan and Laz said, simultaneously.
Ryan walked over towards Sarah. “Sarah,” he said, softly. She didn’t look up, but kept her head down, sniffing every now and then. “Hey Sarah, I tell you what. We’ll check this out, okay?”
Sarah brightened and looked up. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “Really.”
Sarah sighed happily. “Oh Ryan, you don’t know how happy this makes me feel!” She looked him in the eyes. “I can’t stand to lose another one of our IMF agents.”
“I know what you mean,” Ryan replied.
“Pack up guys, we’re going to see the emperor!” Ryan announced to the room.
“Why do we need to pack up?” Laz asked. “It’s only a few miles from here. Heck, I walked there once.”
“Figure of speech, Laz,” Ryan said in mock disapproval.
“Are all of us going?” Zach piped up.
“Yep, all of us,” Ryan said. “Even Sarah.” He looked at Sarah and she smiled at him.
“Good,” Kayla said, her grief was turning into resolve. “He better have a good answer for why Michelle is dead, or I’m gonna…” she trailed off.
Christophear nodded seriously. “This will be in the memory of Cathy and Michelle, two great agents, who never let us down when needed. They will always be remembered in our minds and they will always be with us in our hearts.”
Ryan looked at Chris. “Are you done with the sentimental speech? Good. Let’s hit the road. Everybody, to the IMF van.”
“We have a van?” Laz asked.
“We do now,” Ryan declared.
Everyone followed Ryan eagerly to the garage. The IMF agents stepped into the shiny garage. The place was spick and span. Leading Jordan to quip, “well, we know that Ryan’s never been in here for too long.”
Sitting in the middle of the garage, was the IMF van. It was Black and shiny and unmarked.
“Nice,” Sarah whistled. “It looks just like the Spider mobile.”
“Bat mobile,” Ryan corrected. He walked over to the wall where there hung a picture of some famous actor who believed in scientology or something. He removed the picture to reveal a safe inserted in the wall. He turned the dial on the safe a few times and it popped open. Everyone held his or her breath, expecting something exciting. They waited in eager anticipation; the suspense was killing them. Was it another cool gadget? Maybe some treasure that Ryan planned to share with them?
Ryan reached in the safe and pulled out what was inside; it was… the keys to the van. Everyone released his or her breath in a loud sigh, somewhat disappointed. “Who’s driving?” Ryan asked.
Jordan raised his hand. “Me.” Ryan tossed him the keys and they all hopped in.
“Shotgun,” Ryan called. Everyone climbed in the van. “Sarah, Kayla,” Ryan said, turning around to face them. “We’re gonna need some weapons if this goes south. Go over to the toolbox over there and turn it to the right. You’ll see a keypad, the password is Evan Hunter, when the door opens grab all the weapons you can carry.”
“You’re telling me the password?” Sarah asked, surprised.
“Sure,” Ryan smiled. “I trust you.”
Sarah smiled back and she and Kayla climbed out of the van.
“You really believe what she’s trying to tell us?” Jordan asked.
“No, not really,” Ryan shook his head. “That’s why I sent them out. I think Kayla’s convinced herself that the emperor’s trying to kill us. Look, Laz, Christophear, and I will go and talk things over with the emperor. I don’t want Sarah to go. You guys hold her back when we get there. If anything goes wrong, which I doubt, you’ll give us cover fire.”
“Sounds good,” Jordan said. Everyone else agreed.
“Cool,” Ryan said. “I thought that one up myself.”
Kayla and Sarah hopped in, handing everyone weapons and other equipment. Kayla started to hand Ryan his favorite rifle, but Ryan shook his head. “We’re going in unarmed.”
“Why?” Kayla said, bewildered.
“Because, they’ll take our weapons anyway.”
“He’s right,” Sarah said.
“Of course I’m right,” Ryan replied, as if surprised that anyone would ever doubt him. “I’m always right… except for when I’m wrong.”
Jordan started up the van and they drove out of the garage and towards the emperor’s palace. Little did they know what would be there to greet them.
Timothius sat, shivering in his cell, listening to the interrogator explain the emperor’s demands, wishing that he could be anywhere else.
“… So all that the emperor wants you to do,” the interrogator explained. “Is just rid the world of a few lying, unworthy people. Is that so different from what you’ve been doing all along?”
“I’ve only ever killed villains,” Timothius said defiantly. “And I’m not going to change that now.”
The interrogator smiled and held up the needle. “Then I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to try and make you.” He gave a cruel, wicked laugh. “This will be the day that you regret you were ever born.”
Tim backed away, but didn’t fail to show spirit. “I’ve had quite a few of those…”
The interrogator grabbed him and lifted him up onto the chair. Timothius tried to resist, but the chains prevented him from doing much.
“Welcome to hell,” the interrogator breathed in his ear. He stabbed the needle into Tim’s flesh, and Tim screamed in pain as he felt it hit his bone.
To be continued...
Kayla paced the floor of the IMF hideout anxiously, glancing at her watch. It was 0800 now; Michelle was late.
“I don’t like this,” Kayla said to herself.
“Don’t like what?” Ryan asked. He and all the rest of the IMF agents, including Sarah, were waiting in the IMF hideout as well.
“Michelle being late like this, it’s not like her.”
“Your right,” Ryan nodded. “What do you want to do?”
Kayla thought about this for a moment. “Why don’t we just wait a little longer? She could be caught in traffic.”
“Okay,” Ryan agreed. He flopped down on the couch next to Laz and grabbed a TV remote and flicked the power button. The huge flat screen TV on the wall lit up. “Glad we got this HD TV,” Ryan said, flipping it to the news
“You’re just gonna watch TV at a time like this?” Laz said.
“Sure,” Ryan shrugged. “Why not?”
“Okay, cool.” Laz sat back and watched the news with him.
“Are they always like this?” Sarah asked, looking at Christophear.
Christophear, who was pretending that he wasn’t watching the TV, shrugged, “Yeah, pretty much. You get used to it after a while.”
Jordan nodded his agreement, making no attempt to hide the fact that he was watching as well. “Turn it to sports,” he suggested.
“No,” Zach argued. “Let’s turn it to the gun channel.”
“Oh please, not the gun channel,” Emmy groaned, finally speaking up. She was unusually quiet this morning.
Ryan was just about to turn the channel when he stopped. There was a story about a girl who was found dead in her home on, and the picture of the house they were showing looked just like Michelle’s!
“Wait, isn’t that Michelle’s house?” Ryan asked, bewildered.
“Oh my Gosh, it is!” Kayla exclaimed as she looked at the TV. “Turn it up.”
“Will do, would you like it in surround?” Ryan replied.
“Just turn it up!” Kayla yelled. Ryan turned up the volume.
“A young woman was found dead in her house today by her next door neighbor,” the news anchor informed them. “Police are not yet revealing all the details, but it appears that a woman by the name of Michelle Roland was murdered late last night.”
There was a collective gasp among the IMF agents.
“…Police have not released any of the suspects yet, but promise that they are searching for the murderer as we speak.”
“No!” Kayla screamed. “This can’t be happening!”
“We have to do something!” Sarah pleaded Ryan. “You’re the only one that can stop this.”
Ryan was staring at the screen, still in shock from losing yet another agent. “What makes you so sure of that?”
“Because I’ve studied you Ryan Cruise. You’re unstoppable. Anybody who tries to kill you seemingly succeeds, but in the end, they lose. And it’s all because of you, Ryan. Don’t you see? You were born to stop this!”
Ryan frowned. “And I thought I was born because my parents wanted me to be. Not because I was meant to stop this supposed betrayal by the Emperor.”
“Hey, what about me?” Laz protested.
“Why you, Laz,” Sarah said, walking over to him. “You are what makes Ryan so successful. Every Superman needs his Robin, and you are his Robin.”
Ryan turned toward her and raised his eyebrows. “I’m pretty sure that it’s Batman and Robin, not Superman and Robin.”
Jordan frowned as well. “His Robin? That just sounds weird.”
Sarah threw up her hands. “Sorry, I don’t read comics and I’m not that good at motivational speeches, okay. But we’ve got to do something.”
“Well I like it,” Laz said, folding his arms. “At least it’s better than, dopey sidekick.”
“Like what?” Emmy spoke up again. “What could we possibly do?”
“We can fight back! Teach the emperor who’s boss! Show him what we can do!” Sarah was starting to get dramatic now.
Ryan looked at Laz and Jordan. “That wasn’t so bad.”
Jordan shrugged. “I think she borrowed a little on that speech, though.”
Laz nodded, looking smart. “Yeah, she definitely borrowed on that one.”
Sarah slammed her fist on a nearby table, disgusted. “Don’t you guys ever take anything seriously?”
Ryan, Laz, and Jordan looked at each other, and then looked back at Sarah. “No.”
Sarah sighed and walked away towards the corner of the room.
“Uh-oh,” Ryan said. “We have an upset woman on our hands. Who wants to comfort her?”
Jordan and Laz both turned the other way.
“Oh come on, guys!” Ryan rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ll go.”
“Thanks,” Jordan and Laz said, simultaneously.
Ryan walked over towards Sarah. “Sarah,” he said, softly. She didn’t look up, but kept her head down, sniffing every now and then. “Hey Sarah, I tell you what. We’ll check this out, okay?”
Sarah brightened and looked up. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “Really.”
Sarah sighed happily. “Oh Ryan, you don’t know how happy this makes me feel!” She looked him in the eyes. “I can’t stand to lose another one of our IMF agents.”
“I know what you mean,” Ryan replied.
“Pack up guys, we’re going to see the emperor!” Ryan announced to the room.
“Why do we need to pack up?” Laz asked. “It’s only a few miles from here. Heck, I walked there once.”
“Figure of speech, Laz,” Ryan said in mock disapproval.
“Are all of us going?” Zach piped up.
“Yep, all of us,” Ryan said. “Even Sarah.” He looked at Sarah and she smiled at him.
“Good,” Kayla said, her grief was turning into resolve. “He better have a good answer for why Michelle is dead, or I’m gonna…” she trailed off.
Christophear nodded seriously. “This will be in the memory of Cathy and Michelle, two great agents, who never let us down when needed. They will always be remembered in our minds and they will always be with us in our hearts.”
Ryan looked at Chris. “Are you done with the sentimental speech? Good. Let’s hit the road. Everybody, to the IMF van.”
“We have a van?” Laz asked.
“We do now,” Ryan declared.
Everyone followed Ryan eagerly to the garage. The IMF agents stepped into the shiny garage. The place was spick and span. Leading Jordan to quip, “well, we know that Ryan’s never been in here for too long.”
Sitting in the middle of the garage, was the IMF van. It was Black and shiny and unmarked.
“Nice,” Sarah whistled. “It looks just like the Spider mobile.”
“Bat mobile,” Ryan corrected. He walked over to the wall where there hung a picture of some famous actor who believed in scientology or something. He removed the picture to reveal a safe inserted in the wall. He turned the dial on the safe a few times and it popped open. Everyone held his or her breath, expecting something exciting. They waited in eager anticipation; the suspense was killing them. Was it another cool gadget? Maybe some treasure that Ryan planned to share with them?
Ryan reached in the safe and pulled out what was inside; it was… the keys to the van. Everyone released his or her breath in a loud sigh, somewhat disappointed. “Who’s driving?” Ryan asked.
Jordan raised his hand. “Me.” Ryan tossed him the keys and they all hopped in.
“Shotgun,” Ryan called. Everyone climbed in the van. “Sarah, Kayla,” Ryan said, turning around to face them. “We’re gonna need some weapons if this goes south. Go over to the toolbox over there and turn it to the right. You’ll see a keypad, the password is Evan Hunter, when the door opens grab all the weapons you can carry.”
“You’re telling me the password?” Sarah asked, surprised.
“Sure,” Ryan smiled. “I trust you.”
Sarah smiled back and she and Kayla climbed out of the van.
“You really believe what she’s trying to tell us?” Jordan asked.
“No, not really,” Ryan shook his head. “That’s why I sent them out. I think Kayla’s convinced herself that the emperor’s trying to kill us. Look, Laz, Christophear, and I will go and talk things over with the emperor. I don’t want Sarah to go. You guys hold her back when we get there. If anything goes wrong, which I doubt, you’ll give us cover fire.”
“Sounds good,” Jordan said. Everyone else agreed.
“Cool,” Ryan said. “I thought that one up myself.”
Kayla and Sarah hopped in, handing everyone weapons and other equipment. Kayla started to hand Ryan his favorite rifle, but Ryan shook his head. “We’re going in unarmed.”
“Why?” Kayla said, bewildered.
“Because, they’ll take our weapons anyway.”
“He’s right,” Sarah said.
“Of course I’m right,” Ryan replied, as if surprised that anyone would ever doubt him. “I’m always right… except for when I’m wrong.”
Jordan started up the van and they drove out of the garage and towards the emperor’s palace. Little did they know what would be there to greet them.
Timothius sat, shivering in his cell, listening to the interrogator explain the emperor’s demands, wishing that he could be anywhere else.
“… So all that the emperor wants you to do,” the interrogator explained. “Is just rid the world of a few lying, unworthy people. Is that so different from what you’ve been doing all along?”
“I’ve only ever killed villains,” Timothius said defiantly. “And I’m not going to change that now.”
The interrogator smiled and held up the needle. “Then I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to try and make you.” He gave a cruel, wicked laugh. “This will be the day that you regret you were ever born.”
Tim backed away, but didn’t fail to show spirit. “I’ve had quite a few of those…”
The interrogator grabbed him and lifted him up onto the chair. Timothius tried to resist, but the chains prevented him from doing much.
“Welcome to hell,” the interrogator breathed in his ear. He stabbed the needle into Tim’s flesh, and Tim screamed in pain as he felt it hit his bone.
To be continued...
Tuesday 1 January 2008
Mission: Betrayal Part 3
...continued from two weeks prior...
An hour later, the agents were all gathered in one of their own personal secret hideout. Sarah was confined to a room with insulated walls while they had their meeting. The others weren’t sure whether they could trust her or not yet.
“What’s going on?” Emmy was the first to speak up, no surprise there.
Ryan held up his hand. “Now don’t panic, we’re just being hunted down and taken out one by one; it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about? You always take things too lightly, Ryan!” Emmy shot back.
“And you take them too seriously,” Ryan retorted, an irritated frown gathering on his face.
“Well, somebody has to,” Emmy finished, folding her arms.
“Hey, hey, guys,” Laz stepped in between them. “Let’s not fight here…” Both Ryan and Emmy shot him dirty looks and he trailed off. “Never mind, go at it.” Laz swallowed nervously and stepped back.
Ryan and Emmy promptly turned to each other and started to bicker once again.
Emmy’s eyes flared. “Kayla said that you and that bumbling idiot,” she pointed to Laz, who gave a shocked, ‘who me?’ look. “Are the ones responsible for Cathy’s death.”
“No I didn’t,” Kayla protested, but neither Ryan nor Emmy paid any attention to her.
Ryan skipped the ‘who me?’ look and got right to the outraged one. “What?” he growled, looking about as serious as her ever had. “You’re trying to blame this on us?”
“Well,” Emmy said, walking towards him and laughing coldly. “If the shoe fits.”
The room fell silent. They all understood what she was doing; she was challenging his authority (and not talking about his shoe size as Laz originally thought).
“Do you wanna say that again,” Ryan said calmly. Make no mistake, he wasn’t feeling very calm at the moment; think of it more as the quiet before a storm.
“IF THE SHOE FITS,” Emmy said loudly and slowly.
“All right that’s it!” Jordan yelled. He separated them from each other and held them at arm’s length. “We have got some important things to figure out right now, first of which being how we’re gonna stay alive. Second, we need to decide whether we can trust Sarah or not. Now you two better quit the bickering or we’ll all end up dead. Please, just kiss and make up.”
“Ew, don’t kiss,” Laz protested. “That would be like, romantic.”
Jordan frowned. “Figure of speech, man.”
There was a string of silence, and Emmy and Ryan considered what Jordan, and Laz, had just ‘laid down for them’ as Jordan would say.
Ryan and Emmy looked at each other. “Aw, what the heck,” Ryan waved her off. “We’ll fight later, right now we have some strategizing to do.”
“You’re right,” Emmy nodded. “I forgive you.”
Ryan rolled his eyes and shot the other guys an, I’ll-never-understand-women look. They just nodded and shrugged in return. There was yet another awkward silence.
Michelle broke the silence. “I think she sounds all right.” She was referring to Sarah of course. “She did help you guys escape, right?”
Ryan nodded. “That’s true. She also said that she was part of IMF.”
“That doesn’t mean that she is, though,” Christophear pointed out.
Zach nodded. “I agree with Chris. We can’t just blindly accept everything she says.”
“What do you suggest,” Ryan asked.
“Well,” Zach began. “I think we should hear her out. Maybe consider what she has to say.”
“Okay, sounds good,” said Ryan. “Call Sarah in,” he ordered Chris. Chris opened the door where Sarah had been staying and let her out.
“Well, I hope you have decided to listen to me,” Sarah said, a little irritated at being locked away during their conversation.”
“We’ve decided to hear you out,” Ryan informed her.
“Thank you,” Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “Look, what I’ve been trying to tell you guys all along is that the emperor is trying to hunt us all down and kill us.”
“But why would the emperor do that?” Emmy asked.
“Because, we know too much about him, you know how paranoid he can get about losing his power. The emperor has convinced himself that IMF is endangering his reign as emperor.”
“And how do you know this?” Ryan asked, trying to sound smart.
“Cathy.”
“Cathy?” they all asked.
“Yes, Cathy received some incriminating information about the emperor, don’t ask me how. Anyways, she learned of all kinds of crimes the emperor had committed. Like, killing journalists, executing innocent people, who just so happened to be bitter rivals, and, among other things, trying to kill us.”
“And how can you prove this?” Kayla asked.
“Well,” Sarah said weakly. “Most if it’s circumstantial; Cathy had all the real evidence.”
“And where’s this evidence?” Ryan asked.
Sarah hung her head. “I don’t know.”
“Of course,” Jordan smirked. “You really expect us to believe all this?”
“I was hoping that Cathy’s death, and Tim’s disappearance would convince you.”
“Well,” Ryan said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “Maybe we should sleep on this. Tonight, everyone go back to their own homes and think it over. We’ll meet here tomorrow at exactly 0730.”
“Should we go back to our houses if the emperor is after us?” Michelle asked.
“No,” Sarah said. “That would be stupid.” “Yes,” Ryan contradicted. “We should go home; even if the emperor is trying to kill us, we don’t want to tip him off that we know something.”
“Good point,” Laz agreed.
“Thank you,” Ryan gave a look as if he came up with good ideas all the time.
“Where will I go?” Sarah asked.
Ryan pondered this for a minute.
“She can go home with me,” Kayla offered.
“Okay, sounds good,” Ryan nodded. “Everyone agree?”
“Everyone who agrees say, aye!” Laz shouted. “Aye!”
Everyone looked at him disdainfully.
“Okay, never mind, just say yes.”
“Yes,” everyone said. Everyone except Sarah, who still wasn’t happy about their plan.
Nobody cared at the moment though. They all departed and went to their own homes.
As they walked out the door, Emmy grasped Chris’ hand. “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll figure this out.”
Chris nodded and pulled his hand away.
Emmy just coughed awkwardly and walked away.
“That was weird,” Chris muttered.
A dark figure wearing a black coat walked up to the gate near Michelle’s house. The person’s figures were mostly hidden by the dark, but it was definitely a male. He walked up to her security system and placed his thumb on a pad that came out of the wall.
“Access granted,” a computer-animated voice said.
The gate opened slowly and the man walked inside. “Welcome, Christophear Danaford,” the voice said as he walked inside.
He walked up the pathway and up to Michelle’s door. He knocked on it three times, looking up at the security camera by the door as he did.
He waited a minute as Michelle checked who it was. Suddenly, the door opened.
“Hey, Chris!” Michelle said from where she was standing in the doorway.
“Hello, Michelle,” Christophear said.
Michelle welcomed him in. They walked inside and sat down in her kitchen.
“What brings you here?” Michelle asked, curious.
“Just one thing,” Chris said, standing. Michelle turned to face him, with a coffee pot in her hand.
“What?” she asked.
He reached inside his coat, which he had never taken off, and withdrew a Colt .45. “Emperor’s business,” he said.
Michelle’s eyes opened wide. “Chris, no!”
A wicked smile spread across Chris’s face. “Yes.”
Suddenly, Michelle sprang into action. She threw the coffee pot at Chris’ face; hitting him square in the chin and spilling hot coffee all over him.
Chris screamed and howled in pain. Michelle rolled to her right and ran to where her nearest gun was hidden.
Chris had recovered quickly, however, and he snatched up his .45 and shot at Michelle three times. Michelle jerked and fell on her face.
Chris walked over to her and stood over her body. “Thought you’d get away, didn’t you?”
“You’re not really Chris, are you?” she moaned.
Chris laughed. “No, I’m not.” He or whoever it was, lifted his gun and fired a fourth shot. A scream could be heard, and then it was cut short. The birds listening outside flew frantically away, warned by some intuition give to them in all stories and movies.
The figure walked out, making sure to glance at the security camera once again, and headed back to his vehicle.
Timothius sat in his cell, cold and alone. He was shivering nonstop and muttering to himself.
“I should have seen this coming,” he muttered. “Should have seen this coming…”
Suddenly, someone burst into the room. Light came streaming in, blinding Tim for the moment. “Who are you?” he asked, blinking.
“Your worst nightmare,” said a spooky voice. The voice laughed wickedly.
Tim strained to see who it was, but several days in a dark dungeon had made him very sensitive to light, so he couldn’t see.
“I’m the interrogator,” he said.
Tim’s heart sunk. The emperor had sent the interrogator to his cell; that couldn’t be good news.
The interrogator slammed the cell door shut and turned on a light that was sitting on a small desk.
“Where’d the desk and the light come from?” Timothius asked. He was determined to show the interrogator that he wasn’t afraid.
“You have to have a light and a desk to do interrogations,” the interrogator explained.
“Why?” Tim asked.
“Well…” the interrogator pondered this for a while. “Oh, I don’t know. You just do, okay? Now let’s get this interrogation started.” He pulled out a long and thin, yet still strong, needle.
“What’s that?” Tim asked nervously.
“This,” the interrogator said, with another one of his wicked smiles. “Is a most interesting tool. Looks harmless, right? Wrong. When I stick this needle in your shoulder, I’m going to start asking you questions. If you don’t answer the way I like, then I push the needle farther. Once this baby hits the bone, it’s gonna be pretty painful. Might even knock you out.
Timothius bit his lip and closed his eyes.
“Scared, huh?” the interrogator laughed.
“No,” Tim said through gritted teeth. “And I won’t give up my friends. No matter what you do to me.”
“Well,” the interrogator smiled again, walking towards Timothius. “You won’t have to.”
Timothius looked up surprised. “What?”
“Do I have to repeat myself? You don’t have to give up your friends. The emperor already has a way to wrap those guys up, pathetic bunch. The emperor wants something different from you.”
Timothius stared at the interrogator, still not getting it. “Want to explain what that is?”
“Sure…”
To be continued next week...
An hour later, the agents were all gathered in one of their own personal secret hideout. Sarah was confined to a room with insulated walls while they had their meeting. The others weren’t sure whether they could trust her or not yet.
“What’s going on?” Emmy was the first to speak up, no surprise there.
Ryan held up his hand. “Now don’t panic, we’re just being hunted down and taken out one by one; it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about? You always take things too lightly, Ryan!” Emmy shot back.
“And you take them too seriously,” Ryan retorted, an irritated frown gathering on his face.
“Well, somebody has to,” Emmy finished, folding her arms.
“Hey, hey, guys,” Laz stepped in between them. “Let’s not fight here…” Both Ryan and Emmy shot him dirty looks and he trailed off. “Never mind, go at it.” Laz swallowed nervously and stepped back.
Ryan and Emmy promptly turned to each other and started to bicker once again.
Emmy’s eyes flared. “Kayla said that you and that bumbling idiot,” she pointed to Laz, who gave a shocked, ‘who me?’ look. “Are the ones responsible for Cathy’s death.”
“No I didn’t,” Kayla protested, but neither Ryan nor Emmy paid any attention to her.
Ryan skipped the ‘who me?’ look and got right to the outraged one. “What?” he growled, looking about as serious as her ever had. “You’re trying to blame this on us?”
“Well,” Emmy said, walking towards him and laughing coldly. “If the shoe fits.”
The room fell silent. They all understood what she was doing; she was challenging his authority (and not talking about his shoe size as Laz originally thought).
“Do you wanna say that again,” Ryan said calmly. Make no mistake, he wasn’t feeling very calm at the moment; think of it more as the quiet before a storm.
“IF THE SHOE FITS,” Emmy said loudly and slowly.
“All right that’s it!” Jordan yelled. He separated them from each other and held them at arm’s length. “We have got some important things to figure out right now, first of which being how we’re gonna stay alive. Second, we need to decide whether we can trust Sarah or not. Now you two better quit the bickering or we’ll all end up dead. Please, just kiss and make up.”
“Ew, don’t kiss,” Laz protested. “That would be like, romantic.”
Jordan frowned. “Figure of speech, man.”
There was a string of silence, and Emmy and Ryan considered what Jordan, and Laz, had just ‘laid down for them’ as Jordan would say.
Ryan and Emmy looked at each other. “Aw, what the heck,” Ryan waved her off. “We’ll fight later, right now we have some strategizing to do.”
“You’re right,” Emmy nodded. “I forgive you.”
Ryan rolled his eyes and shot the other guys an, I’ll-never-understand-women look. They just nodded and shrugged in return. There was yet another awkward silence.
Michelle broke the silence. “I think she sounds all right.” She was referring to Sarah of course. “She did help you guys escape, right?”
Ryan nodded. “That’s true. She also said that she was part of IMF.”
“That doesn’t mean that she is, though,” Christophear pointed out.
Zach nodded. “I agree with Chris. We can’t just blindly accept everything she says.”
“What do you suggest,” Ryan asked.
“Well,” Zach began. “I think we should hear her out. Maybe consider what she has to say.”
“Okay, sounds good,” said Ryan. “Call Sarah in,” he ordered Chris. Chris opened the door where Sarah had been staying and let her out.
“Well, I hope you have decided to listen to me,” Sarah said, a little irritated at being locked away during their conversation.”
“We’ve decided to hear you out,” Ryan informed her.
“Thank you,” Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. “Look, what I’ve been trying to tell you guys all along is that the emperor is trying to hunt us all down and kill us.”
“But why would the emperor do that?” Emmy asked.
“Because, we know too much about him, you know how paranoid he can get about losing his power. The emperor has convinced himself that IMF is endangering his reign as emperor.”
“And how do you know this?” Ryan asked, trying to sound smart.
“Cathy.”
“Cathy?” they all asked.
“Yes, Cathy received some incriminating information about the emperor, don’t ask me how. Anyways, she learned of all kinds of crimes the emperor had committed. Like, killing journalists, executing innocent people, who just so happened to be bitter rivals, and, among other things, trying to kill us.”
“And how can you prove this?” Kayla asked.
“Well,” Sarah said weakly. “Most if it’s circumstantial; Cathy had all the real evidence.”
“And where’s this evidence?” Ryan asked.
Sarah hung her head. “I don’t know.”
“Of course,” Jordan smirked. “You really expect us to believe all this?”
“I was hoping that Cathy’s death, and Tim’s disappearance would convince you.”
“Well,” Ryan said thoughtfully, stroking his chin. “Maybe we should sleep on this. Tonight, everyone go back to their own homes and think it over. We’ll meet here tomorrow at exactly 0730.”
“Should we go back to our houses if the emperor is after us?” Michelle asked.
“No,” Sarah said. “That would be stupid.” “Yes,” Ryan contradicted. “We should go home; even if the emperor is trying to kill us, we don’t want to tip him off that we know something.”
“Good point,” Laz agreed.
“Thank you,” Ryan gave a look as if he came up with good ideas all the time.
“Where will I go?” Sarah asked.
Ryan pondered this for a minute.
“She can go home with me,” Kayla offered.
“Okay, sounds good,” Ryan nodded. “Everyone agree?”
“Everyone who agrees say, aye!” Laz shouted. “Aye!”
Everyone looked at him disdainfully.
“Okay, never mind, just say yes.”
“Yes,” everyone said. Everyone except Sarah, who still wasn’t happy about their plan.
Nobody cared at the moment though. They all departed and went to their own homes.
As they walked out the door, Emmy grasped Chris’ hand. “Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ll figure this out.”
Chris nodded and pulled his hand away.
Emmy just coughed awkwardly and walked away.
“That was weird,” Chris muttered.
A dark figure wearing a black coat walked up to the gate near Michelle’s house. The person’s figures were mostly hidden by the dark, but it was definitely a male. He walked up to her security system and placed his thumb on a pad that came out of the wall.
“Access granted,” a computer-animated voice said.
The gate opened slowly and the man walked inside. “Welcome, Christophear Danaford,” the voice said as he walked inside.
He walked up the pathway and up to Michelle’s door. He knocked on it three times, looking up at the security camera by the door as he did.
He waited a minute as Michelle checked who it was. Suddenly, the door opened.
“Hey, Chris!” Michelle said from where she was standing in the doorway.
“Hello, Michelle,” Christophear said.
Michelle welcomed him in. They walked inside and sat down in her kitchen.
“What brings you here?” Michelle asked, curious.
“Just one thing,” Chris said, standing. Michelle turned to face him, with a coffee pot in her hand.
“What?” she asked.
He reached inside his coat, which he had never taken off, and withdrew a Colt .45. “Emperor’s business,” he said.
Michelle’s eyes opened wide. “Chris, no!”
A wicked smile spread across Chris’s face. “Yes.”
Suddenly, Michelle sprang into action. She threw the coffee pot at Chris’ face; hitting him square in the chin and spilling hot coffee all over him.
Chris screamed and howled in pain. Michelle rolled to her right and ran to where her nearest gun was hidden.
Chris had recovered quickly, however, and he snatched up his .45 and shot at Michelle three times. Michelle jerked and fell on her face.
Chris walked over to her and stood over her body. “Thought you’d get away, didn’t you?”
“You’re not really Chris, are you?” she moaned.
Chris laughed. “No, I’m not.” He or whoever it was, lifted his gun and fired a fourth shot. A scream could be heard, and then it was cut short. The birds listening outside flew frantically away, warned by some intuition give to them in all stories and movies.
The figure walked out, making sure to glance at the security camera once again, and headed back to his vehicle.
Timothius sat in his cell, cold and alone. He was shivering nonstop and muttering to himself.
“I should have seen this coming,” he muttered. “Should have seen this coming…”
Suddenly, someone burst into the room. Light came streaming in, blinding Tim for the moment. “Who are you?” he asked, blinking.
“Your worst nightmare,” said a spooky voice. The voice laughed wickedly.
Tim strained to see who it was, but several days in a dark dungeon had made him very sensitive to light, so he couldn’t see.
“I’m the interrogator,” he said.
Tim’s heart sunk. The emperor had sent the interrogator to his cell; that couldn’t be good news.
The interrogator slammed the cell door shut and turned on a light that was sitting on a small desk.
“Where’d the desk and the light come from?” Timothius asked. He was determined to show the interrogator that he wasn’t afraid.
“You have to have a light and a desk to do interrogations,” the interrogator explained.
“Why?” Tim asked.
“Well…” the interrogator pondered this for a while. “Oh, I don’t know. You just do, okay? Now let’s get this interrogation started.” He pulled out a long and thin, yet still strong, needle.
“What’s that?” Tim asked nervously.
“This,” the interrogator said, with another one of his wicked smiles. “Is a most interesting tool. Looks harmless, right? Wrong. When I stick this needle in your shoulder, I’m going to start asking you questions. If you don’t answer the way I like, then I push the needle farther. Once this baby hits the bone, it’s gonna be pretty painful. Might even knock you out.
Timothius bit his lip and closed his eyes.
“Scared, huh?” the interrogator laughed.
“No,” Tim said through gritted teeth. “And I won’t give up my friends. No matter what you do to me.”
“Well,” the interrogator smiled again, walking towards Timothius. “You won’t have to.”
Timothius looked up surprised. “What?”
“Do I have to repeat myself? You don’t have to give up your friends. The emperor already has a way to wrap those guys up, pathetic bunch. The emperor wants something different from you.”
Timothius stared at the interrogator, still not getting it. “Want to explain what that is?”
“Sure…”
To be continued next week...
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