White_Rabbit
Mr. Trixter
thanks P!nk. sure, I'll add you. And Erin, how come you're always the one to guess correctly!!! damn ! :angry: 
s'all good.
s'all good.
Flood
- Thread starter White_Rabbit
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YoungStarsOwner
Cadet
White_Rabbit said:thanks P!nk. sure, I'll add you. And Erin, how come you're always the one to guess correctly!!! damn ! :angry:
[post="1248722"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]
Because I have ESPN !!! :lol:
White_Rabbit
Mr. Trixter
Well, Erin, I doubt your ESPN can even begin to comprehend things to come...muahahhahahhah! *eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil grin* Be prepared for the two-part finale, coming soon!
Anywayz, back to business.....
-------------------------
A/N: Sorry it took so long, guys. I was just waiting for some good stuff to pop into my head, because I hit a block with this story and then...boom! They came! Helleluja! But beware, and be aware. Expect the unexpected. The Dixon Twist is just the first of many to come. You have been warned.
Chapter 8-Take Off
Dover Air Field 4:58 AM
“Bristow! We need you on the plane.” The co-pilot called out to Sydney, who stood alone on the strip, her breath emitting clouds in the cold morning air.
“Yes! One minute, please!” She called back before resuming her conversation on her cell phone. “I'll have to go radio silent with you. Permanently, until my trip back. Triple agent duty is too risky, too tricky, with this job.”
“Right. We'll meet when you get back to L.A. Tread carefully, Red Rabbit. The Followers are new territory for you.”
“I know. I'll be careful. We'll talk when I get back.”
“Good luck.”
“Bye.” Sydney hung up and ran for the plane, climbing up into the main cabin through the rain. She sat down across from Vaughn and said
“So, you ready?”
“Yeah.” he responded, smiling. “Let's do this.”
Two hours later, they are up in the air, Sydney emerged from the small bathroom of the plane as Vaughn turned a page in his complete MRF, or mission review file.
“The walls of Tank are basically un-penetratable. Tank, that's the name of the facility.” he said, turning around to face her.
“Let me guess, wired with explosives, motion sensors, the whole deal?”
“Pretty much. But what really packs a punch are the guards. They've been trained under the UEI Special Forces.”
“Oh, please.” she said, laughing and sitting next to him. “We can take 'em.” They both smiled and Sydney snuggled against Vaughn's arm.
“You know, I've been wondering,” Sydney said softly, “who we're going to be.”
“Oh, well, your file says you are Franchesca Emerson, and I'm Gregory Kane.”
“Hey, Greg? I'm feeling very-“
“Yeah, me too.” Vaughn said, interrupting her with a kiss. Thomas exited the cockpit and sat down in a seat across from them.
“Uh, we're busy.” Vaughn said, glaring at him.
“Yeah, I know, cute and all, but we've got business to take care of.” He took out two rings and placed them on the small table.
“What are these?” Sydney asked, sitting up straight.
“Laser mikes. CIA will be able to hear us, but we won't be able to communicate with them.”
“Wonderful.” Sydney grabbed them and handed one to Vaughn.
“I'll check in with the pilot.” he got up and left them. Sydney and Thomas were left sitting there, glaring at each other.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Franks and Deckerson Accounting
Prague
The doorman held open one of the double doors for Vaughn, who entered carrying a briefcase, followed by Sydney and Thomas in suit. All three of them strolled to the front desk, Vaughn in front.
“Good morning, my name is Mr. Kane, and this is my associate, Ms. Emerson, and our junior assistant, Daniel Dyson. We have a meeting with Mr. Henken.”
“Ah, yes.” The woman behind the desk replied, checking the computer files. “Mr. Kane, youÕre right on schedule. Through that door and to the left.” She pointed to a door in the back. Vaughn followed her directions and they continued down a long hallway until Henken himself was in front of them.
“This area is restricted.” he said. “We're Special Services.” Vaughn replied.
'You're parameters?”
“Right up your alley.” Henken smirked.
“Right this way.”
//////////////////////////////////
Tank, Followers Of Rambaldi Facility
Rec Room, 2200 Hours
Sydney and Vaughn sat at a long table, putting guns together. “Where's Thomas?” Sydney asked.
“Interview with Henken.”
“Vaughn, there's something I have to tell you....”
“Project Teach, I know. Thomas as a test subject, and now he's malfunctioning.”
Sydney looked at him, taken aback. “How did you-“
“Your father investigated it. He told me. Look, Thomas needs to be stopped.'
She nodded. “I know.”
Elena and Roma entered the room. “Emerson, Kane, Henken wants you two in for a brief. His office. Daniel will be there as well.” Roma told them. Sydney and Vaughn dropped their weapons and headed for Henken's office.
~~
'I know you three are new, but we just received some new Intel. A bio research company, called Gen Tech, has recently drawn up specs for a new device. We don't know what it is but we do know that Gen Tech has transferred the specs to the main server of an office in Spain, one of their front companies. We're sending the three of you tomorrow. roma will go over the details with you. She's waiting in her office. That's all.” Henken said all this with determination, and Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas quickly left his office and headed for Roma's office.
~~
“Glad you guys could make it.” Elena actually smiled as they took their seats.
“Okay, let's get straight to business.”
1 HOUR LATER
“Stage One, enter the waiting room. Gregory, you will introduce yourself as a client and leave through the door by the desk. Daniel, you'll sit on the couch, posing as Greg's son and somehow immobilize the clerk, swipe her key card, and disable the lights and security cameras, but make sure the access panels are open. In all the commotion, the guards won't notice you in the hallways. That's Stage Two, rendezvous with Greg here.” She pointed to a place on a map strewn across her large desk.
“Got it.” Thomas said with a slight smile, leaning forward.
“Franchesca,” Roma continued “you'll be on comms for this one. Greg and Daniel, brush pass there and Daniel will hand the keycard to Gregory, then continue up the stairs. Greg, you'll get into the server room, download the specs, leave a decoy, and meet with Daniel on the roof. Behind the building and across the street a van will be waiting to take you to the airport and on a plane back here. Any questions?”
Vaughn smiled. “Nope.”
“Good. I'll see you in the morning. Get some rest.”
As they left the office, Vaughn and Sydney secretly nodded to each other, and an hour later, at midnight, Sydney went out for a jog.
***FLASHBACK***
Taylor stood in her office, speaking to Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas.
“When you're recruited into the Followers, they'll trick you and they'll lie to you. Obviously, they keep you under surveillance 24/7. But their tracking spectrum can't be too far, because their facility is underground a city of high profile. Anytime you need to pass on Intel, here's the protocol.”
***
The large door of the garage opened, and Sydney emerged running up the ramp to ground level. Putting her headphones in, she began her run into town.
***FLASHBACK***
“You'll go to a bar, ten blocks away, and ask the bartender for a martiny dry, with apples. When he gives it to you set your glasses down on the table.”
Taylor slid a pair of slick glasses across her desk, and Sydney picked them up.
“He’ll lead you through a back door and down a steep set of stairs, and down a long hallway, through a series of security checkpoints, then down another small set of stairs and you’ll stop at a steel door. He’ll leave you at that point, and you’ll have to enter a five digit code. This is a series of five digit codes. They rotate weekly.” Taylor took a small piece of paper out and handed it to Sydney.
“You’ll want to memorize that. And be careful.”
***
Surprisingly, there were many people out on the streets that night, so it was easy for Sydney to get lost in the crowd. Within five minutes, she found the bar. She took off her headphones, slipped on her sweatshirt, and entered.
Sitting down at the bar, she looked to her side and saw a tall woman with chesnut hair and sun glasses, dressed in a pinstripe suit. She asked for a chocolate martini and set her glasses down when it was served to her. Sydney inconspicuously tried to see the woman’s face, but her hair hung so low that she couldn’t quite....
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
She was suddenly brought back to earth as the bartender spoke to her. She blinked, silently scolding herself for her low concentration, and spoke up.
“Martini dry, please.”
He looked at her suspiciously, like he knew something.
“With apples.” She said the last part in a soft, low voice.
Two minutes later, the bartender brought her her drink. She placed the pair of glasses on the counter and he winked at her. She got up and followed the bartender through a door next to the bar, and down a very steep set of steel stairs. She hung on to the railing tight. The bartender nodded to her as he pushed back some plastic curtains and continued leading her down a long hallway. Along the way, there were fences that opened up vertically as he and Sydney approached them. Finally, after what seemed like about half a mile, they came to another set of steel stairs and the bartender led her up those and they stopped at the door with one glass window and a keypad on the wall next to it. He looked at her, nodded, and left.
Sydney sighed and unzipped her sweatshirt, because the heat of the furnace below ground was high, and thought hard, remembering the code. She slid up the panel and punched it in, and the door slid open. She entered a well-lit room that was quite bare, except for a black, long, rectangular four-legged table in the middle and a chair in front of it. On the other side of the table, against the wall, there was a large video camera. The only thing on the table was a red button. Sydney walked over, sat down, and pressed the button. She did all this in a cautious manner.
By pressing the button, she activated the camera, and looked up to face it.
“Um...hi. This is Anchorwoman, reporting in. We’ve just been given an assignment by the Followers.”
She stopped suddenly and looked around, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and disgusting. As if something wasn’t right with where she was. She shuddered actually and placed her right hand on her left shoulder. She took a deep breath and continued.
“There’s a bio. research company, called GenTech, who has drawn up specs for a new....device. We don’t know what it is, but the Followers are sending me, Vaughn and Thomas to retrieve them from a front company office in Spain.”
Over the next five minutes or so, Sydney went on to explain the details of the assignment. She looked at her watch and realized it was almost one o’ clock in the morning. The Followers’ guards would be doing their rounds of the living quarters soon. She had to get back.
“There’s one more thing. The second objective, finding the cause of the increased network traffic at Tank, has hit a dead end. We don’t know what all the hype is down there, but we will try our berst. As for The Passageway, I’m hoping that this mission in Spain will lead us to that as well. Hopefully this will all come full circle soon. That’s all. Anchorwoman out.” She pressed the button again and the camera turned off.
Suddenly wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, Sydney got up and left the room, closing the door behind her.
~~
CIA Operations Center, Los Angeles
Taylor Reynolds sat in the head seat, alone in the conference room, watching the video of Sydney’s breif, and thinking softly to herself.
An officer entered the room.
“How’s progress?” he asked her.
She looked up at him sternly. “Good.” she said. “We’ll be in posession of The Passageway soon.”
“Don’t lose track of this mission. Those agents are trained well and are not to be lost. Not yet, at least.”
“Yes, sir.” she said.
-------------------------------------------
PS-Erin, I really like your sig! Not the quality of the pics of course, but the pics themselves and the words and the style is awesome! who came up with those words?
Anywayz, back to business.....
-------------------------
A/N: Sorry it took so long, guys. I was just waiting for some good stuff to pop into my head, because I hit a block with this story and then...boom! They came! Helleluja! But beware, and be aware. Expect the unexpected. The Dixon Twist is just the first of many to come. You have been warned.
Chapter 8-Take Off
Dover Air Field 4:58 AM
“Bristow! We need you on the plane.” The co-pilot called out to Sydney, who stood alone on the strip, her breath emitting clouds in the cold morning air.
“Yes! One minute, please!” She called back before resuming her conversation on her cell phone. “I'll have to go radio silent with you. Permanently, until my trip back. Triple agent duty is too risky, too tricky, with this job.”
“Right. We'll meet when you get back to L.A. Tread carefully, Red Rabbit. The Followers are new territory for you.”
“I know. I'll be careful. We'll talk when I get back.”
“Good luck.”
“Bye.” Sydney hung up and ran for the plane, climbing up into the main cabin through the rain. She sat down across from Vaughn and said
“So, you ready?”
“Yeah.” he responded, smiling. “Let's do this.”
Two hours later, they are up in the air, Sydney emerged from the small bathroom of the plane as Vaughn turned a page in his complete MRF, or mission review file.
“The walls of Tank are basically un-penetratable. Tank, that's the name of the facility.” he said, turning around to face her.
“Let me guess, wired with explosives, motion sensors, the whole deal?”
“Pretty much. But what really packs a punch are the guards. They've been trained under the UEI Special Forces.”
“Oh, please.” she said, laughing and sitting next to him. “We can take 'em.” They both smiled and Sydney snuggled against Vaughn's arm.
“You know, I've been wondering,” Sydney said softly, “who we're going to be.”
“Oh, well, your file says you are Franchesca Emerson, and I'm Gregory Kane.”
“Hey, Greg? I'm feeling very-“
“Yeah, me too.” Vaughn said, interrupting her with a kiss. Thomas exited the cockpit and sat down in a seat across from them.
“Uh, we're busy.” Vaughn said, glaring at him.
“Yeah, I know, cute and all, but we've got business to take care of.” He took out two rings and placed them on the small table.
“What are these?” Sydney asked, sitting up straight.
“Laser mikes. CIA will be able to hear us, but we won't be able to communicate with them.”
“Wonderful.” Sydney grabbed them and handed one to Vaughn.
“I'll check in with the pilot.” he got up and left them. Sydney and Thomas were left sitting there, glaring at each other.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Franks and Deckerson Accounting
Prague
The doorman held open one of the double doors for Vaughn, who entered carrying a briefcase, followed by Sydney and Thomas in suit. All three of them strolled to the front desk, Vaughn in front.
“Good morning, my name is Mr. Kane, and this is my associate, Ms. Emerson, and our junior assistant, Daniel Dyson. We have a meeting with Mr. Henken.”
“Ah, yes.” The woman behind the desk replied, checking the computer files. “Mr. Kane, youÕre right on schedule. Through that door and to the left.” She pointed to a door in the back. Vaughn followed her directions and they continued down a long hallway until Henken himself was in front of them.
“This area is restricted.” he said. “We're Special Services.” Vaughn replied.
'You're parameters?”
“Right up your alley.” Henken smirked.
“Right this way.”
//////////////////////////////////
Tank, Followers Of Rambaldi Facility
Rec Room, 2200 Hours
Sydney and Vaughn sat at a long table, putting guns together. “Where's Thomas?” Sydney asked.
“Interview with Henken.”
“Vaughn, there's something I have to tell you....”
“Project Teach, I know. Thomas as a test subject, and now he's malfunctioning.”
Sydney looked at him, taken aback. “How did you-“
“Your father investigated it. He told me. Look, Thomas needs to be stopped.'
She nodded. “I know.”
Elena and Roma entered the room. “Emerson, Kane, Henken wants you two in for a brief. His office. Daniel will be there as well.” Roma told them. Sydney and Vaughn dropped their weapons and headed for Henken's office.
~~
'I know you three are new, but we just received some new Intel. A bio research company, called Gen Tech, has recently drawn up specs for a new device. We don't know what it is but we do know that Gen Tech has transferred the specs to the main server of an office in Spain, one of their front companies. We're sending the three of you tomorrow. roma will go over the details with you. She's waiting in her office. That's all.” Henken said all this with determination, and Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas quickly left his office and headed for Roma's office.
~~
“Glad you guys could make it.” Elena actually smiled as they took their seats.
“Okay, let's get straight to business.”
1 HOUR LATER
“Stage One, enter the waiting room. Gregory, you will introduce yourself as a client and leave through the door by the desk. Daniel, you'll sit on the couch, posing as Greg's son and somehow immobilize the clerk, swipe her key card, and disable the lights and security cameras, but make sure the access panels are open. In all the commotion, the guards won't notice you in the hallways. That's Stage Two, rendezvous with Greg here.” She pointed to a place on a map strewn across her large desk.
“Got it.” Thomas said with a slight smile, leaning forward.
“Franchesca,” Roma continued “you'll be on comms for this one. Greg and Daniel, brush pass there and Daniel will hand the keycard to Gregory, then continue up the stairs. Greg, you'll get into the server room, download the specs, leave a decoy, and meet with Daniel on the roof. Behind the building and across the street a van will be waiting to take you to the airport and on a plane back here. Any questions?”
Vaughn smiled. “Nope.”
“Good. I'll see you in the morning. Get some rest.”
As they left the office, Vaughn and Sydney secretly nodded to each other, and an hour later, at midnight, Sydney went out for a jog.
***FLASHBACK***
Taylor stood in her office, speaking to Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas.
“When you're recruited into the Followers, they'll trick you and they'll lie to you. Obviously, they keep you under surveillance 24/7. But their tracking spectrum can't be too far, because their facility is underground a city of high profile. Anytime you need to pass on Intel, here's the protocol.”
***
The large door of the garage opened, and Sydney emerged running up the ramp to ground level. Putting her headphones in, she began her run into town.
***FLASHBACK***
“You'll go to a bar, ten blocks away, and ask the bartender for a martiny dry, with apples. When he gives it to you set your glasses down on the table.”
Taylor slid a pair of slick glasses across her desk, and Sydney picked them up.
“He’ll lead you through a back door and down a steep set of stairs, and down a long hallway, through a series of security checkpoints, then down another small set of stairs and you’ll stop at a steel door. He’ll leave you at that point, and you’ll have to enter a five digit code. This is a series of five digit codes. They rotate weekly.” Taylor took a small piece of paper out and handed it to Sydney.
“You’ll want to memorize that. And be careful.”
***
Surprisingly, there were many people out on the streets that night, so it was easy for Sydney to get lost in the crowd. Within five minutes, she found the bar. She took off her headphones, slipped on her sweatshirt, and entered.
Sitting down at the bar, she looked to her side and saw a tall woman with chesnut hair and sun glasses, dressed in a pinstripe suit. She asked for a chocolate martini and set her glasses down when it was served to her. Sydney inconspicuously tried to see the woman’s face, but her hair hung so low that she couldn’t quite....
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
She was suddenly brought back to earth as the bartender spoke to her. She blinked, silently scolding herself for her low concentration, and spoke up.
“Martini dry, please.”
He looked at her suspiciously, like he knew something.
“With apples.” She said the last part in a soft, low voice.
Two minutes later, the bartender brought her her drink. She placed the pair of glasses on the counter and he winked at her. She got up and followed the bartender through a door next to the bar, and down a very steep set of steel stairs. She hung on to the railing tight. The bartender nodded to her as he pushed back some plastic curtains and continued leading her down a long hallway. Along the way, there were fences that opened up vertically as he and Sydney approached them. Finally, after what seemed like about half a mile, they came to another set of steel stairs and the bartender led her up those and they stopped at the door with one glass window and a keypad on the wall next to it. He looked at her, nodded, and left.
Sydney sighed and unzipped her sweatshirt, because the heat of the furnace below ground was high, and thought hard, remembering the code. She slid up the panel and punched it in, and the door slid open. She entered a well-lit room that was quite bare, except for a black, long, rectangular four-legged table in the middle and a chair in front of it. On the other side of the table, against the wall, there was a large video camera. The only thing on the table was a red button. Sydney walked over, sat down, and pressed the button. She did all this in a cautious manner.
By pressing the button, she activated the camera, and looked up to face it.
“Um...hi. This is Anchorwoman, reporting in. We’ve just been given an assignment by the Followers.”
She stopped suddenly and looked around, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and disgusting. As if something wasn’t right with where she was. She shuddered actually and placed her right hand on her left shoulder. She took a deep breath and continued.
“There’s a bio. research company, called GenTech, who has drawn up specs for a new....device. We don’t know what it is, but the Followers are sending me, Vaughn and Thomas to retrieve them from a front company office in Spain.”
Over the next five minutes or so, Sydney went on to explain the details of the assignment. She looked at her watch and realized it was almost one o’ clock in the morning. The Followers’ guards would be doing their rounds of the living quarters soon. She had to get back.
“There’s one more thing. The second objective, finding the cause of the increased network traffic at Tank, has hit a dead end. We don’t know what all the hype is down there, but we will try our berst. As for The Passageway, I’m hoping that this mission in Spain will lead us to that as well. Hopefully this will all come full circle soon. That’s all. Anchorwoman out.” She pressed the button again and the camera turned off.
Suddenly wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, Sydney got up and left the room, closing the door behind her.
~~
CIA Operations Center, Los Angeles
Taylor Reynolds sat in the head seat, alone in the conference room, watching the video of Sydney’s breif, and thinking softly to herself.
An officer entered the room.
“How’s progress?” he asked her.
She looked up at him sternly. “Good.” she said. “We’ll be in posession of The Passageway soon.”
“Don’t lose track of this mission. Those agents are trained well and are not to be lost. Not yet, at least.”
“Yes, sir.” she said.
-------------------------------------------
PS-Erin, I really like your sig! Not the quality of the pics of course, but the pics themselves and the words and the style is awesome! who came up with those words?
Agent P!nk
Cadet
First of all, thanks for the PM.
I really love your update, the tension is building up!!!
Please give me more!
I really love your update, the tension is building up!!!
Please give me more!
YoungStarsOwner
Cadet
Awwww, you like my siggy!!!!!! I adore it lol. I saw the quote on someone's signature over at SD-1 and I asked someone to make me an animated banner and they did. I added the last line to it "when you find them....." such a great quote i passed it along to a few friends and they loved it as well.
Okay, chapter.
Is anyone really good or really bad in this fic, or is there just so much gray lol.
can't leave a quotable review... gotta get back to the damn quotes from my freakin' essay.
Can someone just put me out of my misery please!
Okay, chapter.
Is anyone really good or really bad in this fic, or is there just so much gray lol.
can't leave a quotable review... gotta get back to the damn quotes from my freakin' essay.
Can someone just put me out of my misery please!
White_Rabbit
Mr. Trixter
Erin, I feel your pain. Waiting for my final high school results, then I'll know where I'm going. Oy, this is torture!!!!!!!!
ALiAs_AgEnT_423
Cadet
Great update Ethan! LOL...I actually like the fact that no one really "seems" good...it keeps you on your toes.
Erin: I feel you pain... all I have to say is that "its almost over!!!" I graduate soon!
Erin: I feel you pain... all I have to say is that "its almost over!!!" I graduate soon!
Alias Fan Gillian
Cadet
Great chapter. Please write more soon.
Thanks for the pm.
Thanks for the pm.
White_Rabbit
Mr. Trixter
A/N: Yes, my dear readers. This is it. Welcome to the two-part finale of Flood. Yes, it might be a tad long, so feel free to read it in pieces, although I wouldn’t mind some R/R? But be warned: there are two HUGE revelations in Part 2, that will look like they were taken from real-life events and events going on in Alias. But I must let you know, and this is very important, that I had this whole story, from beginning t o end, planned in my head already, including these two revelations, so please do not think that I ever copied or tried to offend anyone by placing those two things in my story. I had these thoughts in my head before they ever happened in real life or were brought up on Alias; I PROMISE YOU THAT. If you don’t understand what I mean, well, you will. Soon.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Chapter 9-Down Play, Part 1</span>
Tank Air Strip
Sydney ran for the plane but stopped when she saw an envelope placed on top of the large garbage can.
She picked it up, opened it, and read the paper:
You’ll make a copy of the specs and leave it seat pocket 47B.
Easy enough, she thought to herself.
~~~~~~~
Corporate Bank
Gen Tech Front Company Office, Spain
Roma pulled up in front of the building, driving a limo. Vaughn, Sydney and Thomas sat in back.
She stopped the limo and handed them some equipment.
“Franchesca, you’ll stay in a booth out back, in contact with Greg and Daniel. You two will move in, and...do your thing.”
Thomas smile d, but Vaughn grimaced. They got out of the limo and Sydney walked quickly around the side of the building.
Vaughn and Thomas entered and Vaughn approached the desk.
“Exuse me, miss. My name is Richard Kensington, I’m one of Mr. Derek’s clients. I have a three o’ clock scheduled.”
The clerk smiled and leaned forward. “Yes, Mr. Kensington. I have you on file. Mr. Derek’s expecting you. And who is this sweet little thing?” She asked, looking down at Thomas.
Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but Vaughn spoke up. “My son, Ethan. He’ll be waiting here.”
“Very well. He can sit on that couch over there.” She gestured to the long blue couch next to the door. Vaughn smiled and left, and Thomas went and sat down.
For the next few minutes, Thomas pretended to play with the toys on the coffee table. At one point he fiddled with a Game Boy and looked up to the clerk.
“Mis, can you help me please?” he smiled weakly at her, putting on his best baby face.
She smiled and got up from her seat, walking over to sit next to Thomas. “What seems to be the problem?”
“You see, I can’t quite....” he elbowed her in the face and high kicked her, knocking her out. Thomas then detached the keycard from her suit and moved to behind the desk.
He switched some controls and turned on his comm.
“Game Boy to White Rabbit. Lights and security surveillance disabled.”
Sydney sat in a booth out back.
“That’s a copy. I’ll notify Skywalker. White Rabbit to Skywalker, do you copy?”
Inside the building, Vaughn traveled through the hallways, guided by the flashlight of the panicked security guards, and placed his hand to his ear.
“Copy, White Rabbit. I’m moving to brush pass with Game Boy.”
He made a turn and saw Thomas at the other end. As they passed each other, Thomas held out the key card and Vaughn swiped it. Thomas continued straight ahead and through a stairwell door.
“Game Boy to White Rabbit. Brush pass complete. Skywalker has the key card and is heading toward position. I’m heading for the extraction point.”
“Copy, Game Boy. I ’ll meet you there.”
As Thomas reached the top flight, he heard Vaughn’s voice in his ear.
“Skywalker to Game Boy, do you copy?”
He stopped in his tracks and placed his hand against the wall.
“Copy, Skywalker. What’s your status?”
“Code Blue. The key card won’t work. The clerk must have suspected us from the beginning and disabled all access panels. Nothing will open anywhere now.” he whispered all this in a swift fashion as more guards rushed past him.
“Go to secondary protocol.” Thomas looked around frantically, praying that no guards showed up where he was. “Use the lock pick on the door.”
Vaughn almost scowled. “Okay, that I can’t do. The guards will definitely notice me then. You have to create a diversion.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Think of something. Quick.”
At the top of the stairs, Thomas stood looking down, sweat forming at his forehead. Another headache was coming. They came often lately. He didn’t know what was causing them, but lately he felt he was losing his....spunk.
“Thomas!”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, okay...” he was brought back to earth as he looked around and noticed a fire alarm next to the door leading to the stairs that led to the roof. He leaped for it and pulled the lever. The alarm sounded, and he pressed the intercom.
“Fire on the sublevel. Repeat, there is a sublevel breach. All units to level C now.”
Back in the first floor hallway, Vaughn moved his head in the dim light and heard the footsteps become softer and softer. He knew the guards were gone.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Thomas sighed and rushed through the door to the roof. When he finally emerged outside, he leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees. He felt the diziness again, the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach and throat.
“Oh....” he leaned further.
Vaughn heard the click inside the lock and pushed the door open. He placed the picks back in his pocket. He walked slowly towards a large computer at the far end of the room. Taking out the small remote modem, he stopped and placed it on top of the processor. He sat down and began to type furiously.
“Skywalker to White Rabbit, the remote modem is in place.”
Sydney leaned against the door of the booth. “Copy that. Sending the relay now.” She pressed a key on her laptop and a dotted line flashed across the bottom of the screen.
“Access code?” Vaughn waited inside the room for Syndey’s signal.
“The pass code is blackbird. All lower case.”
Vaughn typed the pass code in and snapshots of documents flashed on the screen.
“Game Boy to Skywalker, have you acquired the specs yet?”
Vaughn’s eyes widened as he witnessed what was on the screen.
“These...specs...they’re...they’re not...”
“Just download them and get to the roof through the ventilation system! Now! We don’t have any more time.”
He waited until the light on the modem turned green before he removed it, and leaped for the grate.
On the roof, Thomas leaned against the wall next to the door, trying to catch his breath, and looked to the side of him.
“We got a chopper, coming in. It’s not one of ours.” He looked closer. “It’s police. Repeat, law enforcement closing in. You better get up here now.”
Thomas flashed his eyes at the ventilation duct on the roof as Vaughn emerged. He stood next to Thomas and nodded, and they both ran for the other edge of the building. After climbing down the fire escape, they ran across the street and hopped into a gray, unmarked man, that immediately sped for the airport.
~~
Los Angeles
CIA Operations Center
Taylor Reynolds ran for the phone.
She picked it up and dialed a number quickly.
“Project Manager reporting to Senior Officer.”
“Urgent emergency?”
“Yes. Project Subject is failing. He’s malfunctioning. We need to send an agent in to Prague immediately.”
“No, that’s not an option. Let the operation continue. They’ll read The Passageway and go to the location. We’ll intercept them there. We can use them as bait.”
“Agent Dixon, if they find the SCI Code Word documents detailing Project Teach, we won’t get anywhere near our objective.”
“They won’t. Proceed as planned. Call me if you need anything.”
“Yes, sir. I will.”
~~
Tank, Followers Of Rambaldi Facility
Briefing Room
Thomas, Vaughn, Sydney, Roma, Elena, and Henken sit in a circle. Roma stands in the middle.
“You did good work in Spain. Surprisingly, our analysts have already decoded The Passageway.”
“What does it say?” Sydney leaned forward.
Roma sighed and took out a wrinkled piece of paper.
“It’s...as follows. The Passenger and The Chosen One will battle. Neither will survive. They will meet at The Holy Grail and one time and find the one thing they have been looking for: Peace. Peace will lead the Passenger to The Deep, and The Chosen One will continue on. The Chosen One will guide The Source to the door. What’s behind the door is The Protector. Only The Source can open the door. Only The Source has the key and the key is love.”
“Love?” Vaughn asked, suddenly intrigued.
“Now, we know that The Passenger is Nadia Santos, The Chosen One’s, Sydney Bristow’s sister. We are concerned about sending you three in. It could be the end of your lives.”
“We’d like permission to conduct the assignment, please.” Thomas spoke up.
“Well, ok.”
Back in their room, Sydney paced in front of Vaughn, who sat on the bed, his eyes narrowed in worry.
“I mean, what the hell are we gonna do?” she paced her hand to her head and continued pacing. “I...it’s a miracle that they don’t realize I’m Sydney, with my mask and disguise and all, but..what the hell is The Source? I...can’t handle this.”
Vaughn suddenly grabbed her by the waist and kissed her hard. He pinned her against the wall and rubbed her shoulder.
“Vaughn....”
“What?”
“Thank you. I needed that, but I...I need to focus.”
“Okay.” they stepped back and sat on the bed. “We know that Peace is probably your mother. We know that The Passenger is your sister. And we know that The Holy Grail is the same place Rambaldi’s DNA was found by you and Lazarey.”
“Exactly. So, we can assume that whatever I’m supposed to find there is...bad. Dangerous. I think we should go. To prevent whatever is supposed to happen. You in?”
Vaughn smiled small. “Yeah. I’m in.”
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Chapter 10-Down Play, Part 2</span>
Fish River Gorge, Namibia
Thomas approached the entrance to the cave, holding a lantern out in front of him. Vaughn and Sydney followed behind him.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward, breathing in the dark, dusty air.
Suddenly he began to choke on the air, and fell over onto his face. Out of his bag fell a manila folder, which read PROJECT TEACH, TAYLOR REYNOLDS in big, black block letters.
~~~
Thomas awoke with a start, sitting up and choking. He caught his breath and looked around, realized he was in his room in the living quarters of Tank.
He sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.
~~~~~
Fish River Gorge, Namibia
Sydney climbed to the top of a sand hill, followed by Thomas and Vaughn. She stared out into the distance at the top of the cave, which had the Rambaldi symbol <o> carved into it.
A minute later, they entered the cave and began their walk to the cavern in the middle of the cave.
Vaughn spoke up. “Are you sure that’s where your mo....where whatever Peace is would be?”
“It’s my best bet.”
Thomas made a choking sound and stopped.
Sydney turned around and ran over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Vaughn eyed her curiously.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
“Yeah, I’m...I’m fine, I just...choked on some dusty air. I’m okay.” They paused and he looked at her in a shocked way.
“Why are you helping me?”
Syd smiled and stood up straight. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”
As Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas continued their trek through the cave, they thought they heard rustling in the far ends. Like someone else was with them.
~~
Dover Air Field
Same Time
Taylor Reynolds and Marcus Dixon walked slowly towards one of Taylor’s helicopters. Taylor wore a chesnut-colored wig, and glasses, and carried a aluminum suitcase with a keypad lock.
They both smiled to each other before boarding, and thirty seconds later, they were in the air.
~~
Fish River Gorge, Namibia
Sydney pushed some of her hair away from her face and asked Vaughn without looking at him,
“Vaughn? What if my sister--”
Suddenly they heard a banging noise and began to run for it.
As they were turning a corner and about to enter another opening, someone fell out of it.
“Nadia?”
Nadia Santos, Sydney’s sister, wore a green, dirty tank top and shorts.
“I knew you’d be here.” She helped her sister up, gently.
“Syndey?” another familiar voice was heard, and Sydney turned around again to see her mother, Irina Derevko.
“Hello, Sydney.”
Sydney looked at her mom in a questioning way, the way she looked at her that day at the ice hockey rink, the day Will was cleared.
“I need to speak with Nadia....”
A moment later, Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas felt pressure on their necks and everything went black....
TWO HOURS LATER
Irina and Nadia walked slowly through the tunnel, being careful to step over the obstacles in the way.
“Why did you lead me here?” Nadia finally said something to her mother, for the first time in her life.
“Because I love you. There’s something here I want to show you. Something you need to see.”
In another area of the cave, Sydney and Vaughn awaken to see nothing but sandy, light-brown colored ground, with an arrow made out of black sand pointing East.
They took one long look at each other. That was all they needed. They knew they had to follow the arrow. It was the only way...maybe it would end all the crazy, insane complicated things that went on in their lives.
This could be the end.
They dragged themselves to their feet and began the walk.
It finally led them to a door, with no knob.
Vaughn reached his hand out to the door.
Irina and Nadia stopped at the edge of a path, and when Nadia looked down, she saw an alcove, almost like a trench.
“I hate to be the bringer of de ja vu, but...”
“Yes, Nadia?” Irina smiled.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“What’s down there, sweetheart, is...something that might scare you. But it’s the key to your innocence.”
Nadia, as she gazed down into the dark, felt a gust of air push against her face and a group of papers flew upward and onto the ground.
“What...” but her voice stopped caught in her throat as she picked up the papers and began to read:
To my sweet dear daughter,
You have no idea how much I regret writing you this letter, tears in my eyes as I write these words. My pursuit of Rambaldi has left me at a dead end. I’ve said this before, but I am ending my works in espionage.
Espionage, lying, cheating, has been my life for so long, that I have to end it. My life. I’ve left you everything you need. You’re life will go on.
Unfortunately, mine can not. I love you.
Arvin
Nadia was already crying and on her knees by the time she’d finished reading the letter.
“There’s something else...unfortuantely, Arvin’s plans....I can’t let go forward.” Nadia turned around at the words of her mother and felt a pressure in her chest.
~~
“Wait, Vaughn.”
Sydney put her hand on his, stopping him from opening the door.
“What?”
“I think I figured this all out. The Chosen One, the Passenger, you...The Source.”
“Exactly, and the Protector is behind this door.”
“But we have no idea what the Protector is.”
“So let’s find out.” he reached for the door again.
“No, Michael, don’t!”
But it was too late. The door had already opened forward, and Vaughn’s father stood there, looking at the ground.
~~
Thomas awakened outside the cave. The sun was barely out. It was still dark, but the sky was blue.
The whirring of helicopter blades interrupted his thoughts. He looked up, barely moving at all, to see a small, fast, black helicopter land on the sandy cliff, just feet away from him.
Taylor and Dixon stepped off and onto the ground, and then walked slowly over to Thomas. He let Dixon dragged him to his feet. He probably would’ve shoved him off and knocked him off the cliff, if he had any strength. The fact was, he had none.
“Mr. Brassin,” Dixon began, “I’m sorry we had to meet this way. My name is Marcus Dixon. I work for the CIA.”
“I know who you are, you disgusting son of a b****.” Thomas retorted.
“Why would you say a thing like that, Tommy?” Taylor asked.
“Don’t call me Tommy. I checked up on you. I know you’ve been up to something, both of you. Something....rogue.”
Dixon chuckled. “Rogue, alright. Quite rogue.”
“What do you want?” he asked them.
Taylor opened her briefcase and took out a black folder with an electromagnetic lock. She entered a code and the folder opened, revealing black, seemingly blank papers. She walked into the almost pitch black darkness of the cave, and Thomas and Dixon followed her.
She shined a mini-black light and words were revealed.
Classified Top Secret. Highest Level.
Handle Via SCI Code Word Channels.
National Security Information. Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sentence.
Taylor turned the page.
Top Secret Eyes Only.
Operations Review No. 767-TR/47
Project Teach.
Project Initated: 7 April 1991.
Thomas’s birthday. A tear ran down his cheek.
Project Subject: Thomas Gregory Brassin
Project Status: Active
Senior Project Manager: Taylor Reynolds.
Her signature was at the bottom of every page. The pages followed detailed the project; including plans for Thomas to undergo brain washing that included various MK-ULTRA and Project Christmas techniques when he was younger, then to infiltrate the CIA through Project Manager, and to lead The Chosen One and The Source to the Passageway and to the rambaldi artifact. In the various pages, it was indicated that Taylor had a superior, but his identification/classification number was blacked out. It was Dixon’s number.
“How could you?” Thomas asked, looking up at her from the ground. “You ruined my life.”
“Eh...” Taylor shrugged. “Least I could do.”
Four security men working for Taylor dressed in black ran in, armed with machine guns, and pinned Thomas to the wall.
“Thomas...” Taylor waved her hand and two more men came in, carrying a large box. They opened it, an it revealed what looked like a towel rack, and yet a large, translucent cylinder with a clear liquid inside.
“What’s that?” Thomas asked the obvious.
“You see...” Dixon started, “This device will unleash a power that will keep us from harm, but no one else. It releases particles in the air and in the Earth’s core, and in the sky, and in space, that cause tidal waves...tsunamis so high and intense that it will wipe out nearly the entire human population.”
“Oh.” Thomas said. “Great.”
~~
“Dad?”
Bill Vaughn fell forward, and Vaughn saw the knife stuck in his back as he fell onto his son, and he caught him. He saw a pair of legs around the corner, but to the surprise of Sydney, he didn’t chase after them.
He just cried.
Not even caring about the knife, Vaughn just embraced his dead father, and rocked back and forth on his heels, crying and screaming.
“I wanted him to be alive. I wanted....’”
Sydney sat and embraced Vaughn, closing her eyes and letting his head rest on her neck.
“I know. I know.” she said. She carefully removed the knife from Bill Vaughn’s back and threw it away.
“Syd...I love you.”
She smiled and cried with him.
~~
“Yet...” Thomas smiled, genuinely, for the first time in a long time. “I don’t think I really want this to happen.”
He took out a pen, clicked it, and everyone in the room except for him fell unconscious.
Running over to the device, he saw it was already activated. It was counting down, already at a minute and a half. He immediately took out his cell phone and dialed Sydney’s number.
“Thomas...are you okay?”
“Yeah, um....look..we’ll talk later, right now I have a device that’s about to wipe out all of humanity with the technical building of a nuclear bomb, and it’s about to go off in a minute. I need your help.”
“Okay, um...here’s what you do......”
~~
An Hour Later
Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas emerged from a hill inside the cave and shielded their eyes from the bright light of the sun as it rose that very moment.
*Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow it up
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
They began their walk to the edge of the cliff.
*O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
To be understood is to understand.
To be loved is to love.
For it’s in giving that we recieve.
And it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it’s in dying that we are born.
To eternal life, I’m in.
They stood together, looking out at the ocean, and thanked God that the waves were calm.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>THE END</span>
*"Prayer of Saint Francis" by Sarah McLachlan. The last two words might be amen or I'm in. I'm not sure. It sounded to me when I listened to it like "I'm in."
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Chapter 9-Down Play, Part 1</span>
Tank Air Strip
Sydney ran for the plane but stopped when she saw an envelope placed on top of the large garbage can.
She picked it up, opened it, and read the paper:
You’ll make a copy of the specs and leave it seat pocket 47B.
Easy enough, she thought to herself.
~~~~~~~
Corporate Bank
Gen Tech Front Company Office, Spain
Roma pulled up in front of the building, driving a limo. Vaughn, Sydney and Thomas sat in back.
She stopped the limo and handed them some equipment.
“Franchesca, you’ll stay in a booth out back, in contact with Greg and Daniel. You two will move in, and...do your thing.”
Thomas smile d, but Vaughn grimaced. They got out of the limo and Sydney walked quickly around the side of the building.
Vaughn and Thomas entered and Vaughn approached the desk.
“Exuse me, miss. My name is Richard Kensington, I’m one of Mr. Derek’s clients. I have a three o’ clock scheduled.”
The clerk smiled and leaned forward. “Yes, Mr. Kensington. I have you on file. Mr. Derek’s expecting you. And who is this sweet little thing?” She asked, looking down at Thomas.
Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but Vaughn spoke up. “My son, Ethan. He’ll be waiting here.”
“Very well. He can sit on that couch over there.” She gestured to the long blue couch next to the door. Vaughn smiled and left, and Thomas went and sat down.
For the next few minutes, Thomas pretended to play with the toys on the coffee table. At one point he fiddled with a Game Boy and looked up to the clerk.
“Mis, can you help me please?” he smiled weakly at her, putting on his best baby face.
She smiled and got up from her seat, walking over to sit next to Thomas. “What seems to be the problem?”
“You see, I can’t quite....” he elbowed her in the face and high kicked her, knocking her out. Thomas then detached the keycard from her suit and moved to behind the desk.
He switched some controls and turned on his comm.
“Game Boy to White Rabbit. Lights and security surveillance disabled.”
Sydney sat in a booth out back.
“That’s a copy. I’ll notify Skywalker. White Rabbit to Skywalker, do you copy?”
Inside the building, Vaughn traveled through the hallways, guided by the flashlight of the panicked security guards, and placed his hand to his ear.
“Copy, White Rabbit. I’m moving to brush pass with Game Boy.”
He made a turn and saw Thomas at the other end. As they passed each other, Thomas held out the key card and Vaughn swiped it. Thomas continued straight ahead and through a stairwell door.
“Game Boy to White Rabbit. Brush pass complete. Skywalker has the key card and is heading toward position. I’m heading for the extraction point.”
“Copy, Game Boy. I ’ll meet you there.”
As Thomas reached the top flight, he heard Vaughn’s voice in his ear.
“Skywalker to Game Boy, do you copy?”
He stopped in his tracks and placed his hand against the wall.
“Copy, Skywalker. What’s your status?”
“Code Blue. The key card won’t work. The clerk must have suspected us from the beginning and disabled all access panels. Nothing will open anywhere now.” he whispered all this in a swift fashion as more guards rushed past him.
“Go to secondary protocol.” Thomas looked around frantically, praying that no guards showed up where he was. “Use the lock pick on the door.”
Vaughn almost scowled. “Okay, that I can’t do. The guards will definitely notice me then. You have to create a diversion.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. Think of something. Quick.”
At the top of the stairs, Thomas stood looking down, sweat forming at his forehead. Another headache was coming. They came often lately. He didn’t know what was causing them, but lately he felt he was losing his....spunk.
“Thomas!”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, okay...” he was brought back to earth as he looked around and noticed a fire alarm next to the door leading to the stairs that led to the roof. He leaped for it and pulled the lever. The alarm sounded, and he pressed the intercom.
“Fire on the sublevel. Repeat, there is a sublevel breach. All units to level C now.”
Back in the first floor hallway, Vaughn moved his head in the dim light and heard the footsteps become softer and softer. He knew the guards were gone.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Thomas sighed and rushed through the door to the roof. When he finally emerged outside, he leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees. He felt the diziness again, the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach and throat.
“Oh....” he leaned further.
Vaughn heard the click inside the lock and pushed the door open. He placed the picks back in his pocket. He walked slowly towards a large computer at the far end of the room. Taking out the small remote modem, he stopped and placed it on top of the processor. He sat down and began to type furiously.
“Skywalker to White Rabbit, the remote modem is in place.”
Sydney leaned against the door of the booth. “Copy that. Sending the relay now.” She pressed a key on her laptop and a dotted line flashed across the bottom of the screen.
“Access code?” Vaughn waited inside the room for Syndey’s signal.
“The pass code is blackbird. All lower case.”
Vaughn typed the pass code in and snapshots of documents flashed on the screen.
“Game Boy to Skywalker, have you acquired the specs yet?”
Vaughn’s eyes widened as he witnessed what was on the screen.
“These...specs...they’re...they’re not...”
“Just download them and get to the roof through the ventilation system! Now! We don’t have any more time.”
He waited until the light on the modem turned green before he removed it, and leaped for the grate.
On the roof, Thomas leaned against the wall next to the door, trying to catch his breath, and looked to the side of him.
“We got a chopper, coming in. It’s not one of ours.” He looked closer. “It’s police. Repeat, law enforcement closing in. You better get up here now.”
Thomas flashed his eyes at the ventilation duct on the roof as Vaughn emerged. He stood next to Thomas and nodded, and they both ran for the other edge of the building. After climbing down the fire escape, they ran across the street and hopped into a gray, unmarked man, that immediately sped for the airport.
~~
Los Angeles
CIA Operations Center
Taylor Reynolds ran for the phone.
She picked it up and dialed a number quickly.
“Project Manager reporting to Senior Officer.”
“Urgent emergency?”
“Yes. Project Subject is failing. He’s malfunctioning. We need to send an agent in to Prague immediately.”
“No, that’s not an option. Let the operation continue. They’ll read The Passageway and go to the location. We’ll intercept them there. We can use them as bait.”
“Agent Dixon, if they find the SCI Code Word documents detailing Project Teach, we won’t get anywhere near our objective.”
“They won’t. Proceed as planned. Call me if you need anything.”
“Yes, sir. I will.”
~~
Tank, Followers Of Rambaldi Facility
Briefing Room
Thomas, Vaughn, Sydney, Roma, Elena, and Henken sit in a circle. Roma stands in the middle.
“You did good work in Spain. Surprisingly, our analysts have already decoded The Passageway.”
“What does it say?” Sydney leaned forward.
Roma sighed and took out a wrinkled piece of paper.
“It’s...as follows. The Passenger and The Chosen One will battle. Neither will survive. They will meet at The Holy Grail and one time and find the one thing they have been looking for: Peace. Peace will lead the Passenger to The Deep, and The Chosen One will continue on. The Chosen One will guide The Source to the door. What’s behind the door is The Protector. Only The Source can open the door. Only The Source has the key and the key is love.”
“Love?” Vaughn asked, suddenly intrigued.
“Now, we know that The Passenger is Nadia Santos, The Chosen One’s, Sydney Bristow’s sister. We are concerned about sending you three in. It could be the end of your lives.”
“We’d like permission to conduct the assignment, please.” Thomas spoke up.
“Well, ok.”
Back in their room, Sydney paced in front of Vaughn, who sat on the bed, his eyes narrowed in worry.
“I mean, what the hell are we gonna do?” she paced her hand to her head and continued pacing. “I...it’s a miracle that they don’t realize I’m Sydney, with my mask and disguise and all, but..what the hell is The Source? I...can’t handle this.”
Vaughn suddenly grabbed her by the waist and kissed her hard. He pinned her against the wall and rubbed her shoulder.
“Vaughn....”
“What?”
“Thank you. I needed that, but I...I need to focus.”
“Okay.” they stepped back and sat on the bed. “We know that Peace is probably your mother. We know that The Passenger is your sister. And we know that The Holy Grail is the same place Rambaldi’s DNA was found by you and Lazarey.”
“Exactly. So, we can assume that whatever I’m supposed to find there is...bad. Dangerous. I think we should go. To prevent whatever is supposed to happen. You in?”
Vaughn smiled small. “Yeah. I’m in.”
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Chapter 10-Down Play, Part 2</span>
Fish River Gorge, Namibia
Thomas approached the entrance to the cave, holding a lantern out in front of him. Vaughn and Sydney followed behind him.
He took a deep breath and stepped forward, breathing in the dark, dusty air.
Suddenly he began to choke on the air, and fell over onto his face. Out of his bag fell a manila folder, which read PROJECT TEACH, TAYLOR REYNOLDS in big, black block letters.
~~~
Thomas awoke with a start, sitting up and choking. He caught his breath and looked around, realized he was in his room in the living quarters of Tank.
He sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.
~~~~~
Fish River Gorge, Namibia
Sydney climbed to the top of a sand hill, followed by Thomas and Vaughn. She stared out into the distance at the top of the cave, which had the Rambaldi symbol <o> carved into it.
A minute later, they entered the cave and began their walk to the cavern in the middle of the cave.
Vaughn spoke up. “Are you sure that’s where your mo....where whatever Peace is would be?”
“It’s my best bet.”
Thomas made a choking sound and stopped.
Sydney turned around and ran over to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. Vaughn eyed her curiously.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
“Yeah, I’m...I’m fine, I just...choked on some dusty air. I’m okay.” They paused and he looked at her in a shocked way.
“Why are you helping me?”
Syd smiled and stood up straight. “Come on, let’s keep moving.”
As Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas continued their trek through the cave, they thought they heard rustling in the far ends. Like someone else was with them.
~~
Dover Air Field
Same Time
Taylor Reynolds and Marcus Dixon walked slowly towards one of Taylor’s helicopters. Taylor wore a chesnut-colored wig, and glasses, and carried a aluminum suitcase with a keypad lock.
They both smiled to each other before boarding, and thirty seconds later, they were in the air.
~~
Fish River Gorge, Namibia
Sydney pushed some of her hair away from her face and asked Vaughn without looking at him,
“Vaughn? What if my sister--”
Suddenly they heard a banging noise and began to run for it.
As they were turning a corner and about to enter another opening, someone fell out of it.
“Nadia?”
Nadia Santos, Sydney’s sister, wore a green, dirty tank top and shorts.
“I knew you’d be here.” She helped her sister up, gently.
“Syndey?” another familiar voice was heard, and Sydney turned around again to see her mother, Irina Derevko.
“Hello, Sydney.”
Sydney looked at her mom in a questioning way, the way she looked at her that day at the ice hockey rink, the day Will was cleared.
“I need to speak with Nadia....”
A moment later, Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas felt pressure on their necks and everything went black....
TWO HOURS LATER
Irina and Nadia walked slowly through the tunnel, being careful to step over the obstacles in the way.
“Why did you lead me here?” Nadia finally said something to her mother, for the first time in her life.
“Because I love you. There’s something here I want to show you. Something you need to see.”
In another area of the cave, Sydney and Vaughn awaken to see nothing but sandy, light-brown colored ground, with an arrow made out of black sand pointing East.
They took one long look at each other. That was all they needed. They knew they had to follow the arrow. It was the only way...maybe it would end all the crazy, insane complicated things that went on in their lives.
This could be the end.
They dragged themselves to their feet and began the walk.
It finally led them to a door, with no knob.
Vaughn reached his hand out to the door.
Irina and Nadia stopped at the edge of a path, and when Nadia looked down, she saw an alcove, almost like a trench.
“I hate to be the bringer of de ja vu, but...”
“Yes, Nadia?” Irina smiled.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“What’s down there, sweetheart, is...something that might scare you. But it’s the key to your innocence.”
Nadia, as she gazed down into the dark, felt a gust of air push against her face and a group of papers flew upward and onto the ground.
“What...” but her voice stopped caught in her throat as she picked up the papers and began to read:
To my sweet dear daughter,
You have no idea how much I regret writing you this letter, tears in my eyes as I write these words. My pursuit of Rambaldi has left me at a dead end. I’ve said this before, but I am ending my works in espionage.
Espionage, lying, cheating, has been my life for so long, that I have to end it. My life. I’ve left you everything you need. You’re life will go on.
Unfortunately, mine can not. I love you.
Arvin
Nadia was already crying and on her knees by the time she’d finished reading the letter.
“There’s something else...unfortuantely, Arvin’s plans....I can’t let go forward.” Nadia turned around at the words of her mother and felt a pressure in her chest.
~~
“Wait, Vaughn.”
Sydney put her hand on his, stopping him from opening the door.
“What?”
“I think I figured this all out. The Chosen One, the Passenger, you...The Source.”
“Exactly, and the Protector is behind this door.”
“But we have no idea what the Protector is.”
“So let’s find out.” he reached for the door again.
“No, Michael, don’t!”
But it was too late. The door had already opened forward, and Vaughn’s father stood there, looking at the ground.
~~
Thomas awakened outside the cave. The sun was barely out. It was still dark, but the sky was blue.
The whirring of helicopter blades interrupted his thoughts. He looked up, barely moving at all, to see a small, fast, black helicopter land on the sandy cliff, just feet away from him.
Taylor and Dixon stepped off and onto the ground, and then walked slowly over to Thomas. He let Dixon dragged him to his feet. He probably would’ve shoved him off and knocked him off the cliff, if he had any strength. The fact was, he had none.
“Mr. Brassin,” Dixon began, “I’m sorry we had to meet this way. My name is Marcus Dixon. I work for the CIA.”
“I know who you are, you disgusting son of a b****.” Thomas retorted.
“Why would you say a thing like that, Tommy?” Taylor asked.
“Don’t call me Tommy. I checked up on you. I know you’ve been up to something, both of you. Something....rogue.”
Dixon chuckled. “Rogue, alright. Quite rogue.”
“What do you want?” he asked them.
Taylor opened her briefcase and took out a black folder with an electromagnetic lock. She entered a code and the folder opened, revealing black, seemingly blank papers. She walked into the almost pitch black darkness of the cave, and Thomas and Dixon followed her.
She shined a mini-black light and words were revealed.
Classified Top Secret. Highest Level.
Handle Via SCI Code Word Channels.
National Security Information. Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sentence.
Taylor turned the page.
Top Secret Eyes Only.
Operations Review No. 767-TR/47
Project Teach.
Project Initated: 7 April 1991.
Thomas’s birthday. A tear ran down his cheek.
Project Subject: Thomas Gregory Brassin
Project Status: Active
Senior Project Manager: Taylor Reynolds.
Her signature was at the bottom of every page. The pages followed detailed the project; including plans for Thomas to undergo brain washing that included various MK-ULTRA and Project Christmas techniques when he was younger, then to infiltrate the CIA through Project Manager, and to lead The Chosen One and The Source to the Passageway and to the rambaldi artifact. In the various pages, it was indicated that Taylor had a superior, but his identification/classification number was blacked out. It was Dixon’s number.
“How could you?” Thomas asked, looking up at her from the ground. “You ruined my life.”
“Eh...” Taylor shrugged. “Least I could do.”
Four security men working for Taylor dressed in black ran in, armed with machine guns, and pinned Thomas to the wall.
“Thomas...” Taylor waved her hand and two more men came in, carrying a large box. They opened it, an it revealed what looked like a towel rack, and yet a large, translucent cylinder with a clear liquid inside.
“What’s that?” Thomas asked the obvious.
“You see...” Dixon started, “This device will unleash a power that will keep us from harm, but no one else. It releases particles in the air and in the Earth’s core, and in the sky, and in space, that cause tidal waves...tsunamis so high and intense that it will wipe out nearly the entire human population.”
“Oh.” Thomas said. “Great.”
~~
“Dad?”
Bill Vaughn fell forward, and Vaughn saw the knife stuck in his back as he fell onto his son, and he caught him. He saw a pair of legs around the corner, but to the surprise of Sydney, he didn’t chase after them.
He just cried.
Not even caring about the knife, Vaughn just embraced his dead father, and rocked back and forth on his heels, crying and screaming.
“I wanted him to be alive. I wanted....’”
Sydney sat and embraced Vaughn, closing her eyes and letting his head rest on her neck.
“I know. I know.” she said. She carefully removed the knife from Bill Vaughn’s back and threw it away.
“Syd...I love you.”
She smiled and cried with him.
~~
“Yet...” Thomas smiled, genuinely, for the first time in a long time. “I don’t think I really want this to happen.”
He took out a pen, clicked it, and everyone in the room except for him fell unconscious.
Running over to the device, he saw it was already activated. It was counting down, already at a minute and a half. He immediately took out his cell phone and dialed Sydney’s number.
“Thomas...are you okay?”
“Yeah, um....look..we’ll talk later, right now I have a device that’s about to wipe out all of humanity with the technical building of a nuclear bomb, and it’s about to go off in a minute. I need your help.”
“Okay, um...here’s what you do......”
~~
An Hour Later
Sydney, Vaughn and Thomas emerged from a hill inside the cave and shielded their eyes from the bright light of the sun as it rose that very moment.
*Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow it up
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
They began their walk to the edge of the cliff.
*O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
To be understood is to understand.
To be loved is to love.
For it’s in giving that we recieve.
And it’s in pardoning that we are pardoned.
And it’s in dying that we are born.
To eternal life, I’m in.
They stood together, looking out at the ocean, and thanked God that the waves were calm.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>THE END</span>
*"Prayer of Saint Francis" by Sarah McLachlan. The last two words might be amen or I'm in. I'm not sure. It sounded to me when I listened to it like "I'm in."
Agent P!nk
Cadet
Great work on the whole story!!! I love it
I hope you are working on a new story, cuz I like your style.
Hope to hear from you soon!
I hope you are working on a new story, cuz I like your style.
Hope to hear from you soon!
spy_youngster
Cadet
what that was the end!?! It was beautiful... i enjoyed every minute.
White_Rabbit
Mr. Trixter
Thanx, guyz!
Alias Fan Gillian
Cadet
Great ending.
ALiAs_AgEnT_423
Cadet
Awesome ending, Ethan! Thanks for all the PM's!
YoungStarsOwner
Cadet
awesome ending. Your writing style is so unique and always leaves me confused, but in a good way!
so Dixon was bad
and Taylor was bad
but
Did Irina kill Nadia? why?
so Dixon was bad
and Taylor was bad
but
Did Irina kill Nadia? why?
