Kim is dozing in her father's arms in the living room of Steve and Louise's house, while everyone else gathers in the dining room. Nikita helps Louise clear away the last of the breakfast dishes, as Dani leans back in her chair, "That was amazing. Best breakfast I have had in so long."
Steve smiles over at her, "Agreed." He nods to himself and exhales slowly, "We need to talk about what happened yesterday. Kim's abduction was well planned. I am guessing that they have been watching your movements. Who knew you were going to MK yesterday?" Steve asks Sasha.
Sasha thinks back to the previous morning, "It was a last minute decision, Kim seemed a little unhappy so I decided to take her out for a little retail therapy. I told Kurt and no one else."
"They must have been watching and waiting for an opportunity. How often are vehicles swept for listening or tracking devices?" Dani asks, deep in thought.
"Once a week currently" Steve says thoughtfully.
"Any chance they could be swept today and change the schedule moving forward?" Dani asks, softly.
Louise takes out her phone and leaves the table saying, "I will make the call and get an update from Kate."
Steve kisses and releases her hand as she gets up. "Love you." He whispers, unable to take his eyes off of his wife as she leaves.
Dani feels her heart melt, seeing this show of genuine affection, "You are so lovely together." She says, almost without thinking.
Steve gently smiles back, "Thanks Dani. Everyday still feels like the first with her. I am looking forward to spending more time with her."
"I'm sorry I stayed away so long." Dani admits, sadly.
"No need to apologise darling, The main thing is you are here now." Steve says, in a gentle tone, he pauses with a faraway look in his eye, "I think I understand what you were doing."
"You found the pattern then?" Dani Asks with a smile.
"Not quite. Didn't work it out until Cambodia. One of the survivors heard you talking to Sergei. Have you got all the investors?" Steve asks, with a lop sided grin.
Dani nods, somberly, "Yeah, everyone who invested in Medteqniq or Lund, is either dead or in prison. I didn't want to risk any of them coming after us."
"Kate says hi. She is dodging calls from the police at the moment, but she will pop over, once she can get clear." Louise says, re-entering the room, "The story we are going with is that one of our operatives, recovered Kim and left the men for the police, before bringing her home. We are distancing ourselves from the ambush site."
"Any word on who is behind this?" Steve asks, rising to greet his wife with a kiss on the cheek.
"We have no leads on those responsible at this time."' Louise says, hugging her husband, before taking her seat. "The site where they ambushed Niki was torched, bodies burned beyond recognition, all trace evidence gone. The site where Dani rescued Kim didn't yield much either."
"The ambush site wasn't torched when we departed." Nikita says, concerned.
"I rigged it to go up, before we left." Dani confesses. "Needed to eliminate any trace evidence that we were there. But at the same time ensure the police investigate."
"Why do you want the police to investigate?" Steve asks, shaking his head.
"They will document the scene meticulously." Dani says pursing her lips, "Whoever did this, is well funded, well equipped and will have planned for everything. It stands to reason that they will see the police report on their guys and realise that the sonic emitter is gone." She underlines her point by placing it on the table, "This is not a street level item, there are a handful of places in the world where they may have acquired it. When they see that it is not logged on the police report, they will try to cover their tracks."
"There can't be many places that offer this kind of gear. We need to move quickly, find the place, get in, get their sales record and get out. Then we wait and see who turns up." Nikita says, casually.
"Exactly." Dani says, her eyes twinkling.
"Let's gear up and get cracking." Sasha says, brightly.
"Not in your condition you aren't." Steve says, "And Dani isn't licensed."
"Really. You think that will stop me?" Dani asks, incredulously.
"We need to get you licensed to carry a gun and act as a Supplementary Legal Operative. Once you have that, you can do your thing." Louise explains, with a gentle smile.
"No problem, I wont carry any firearms and can ride with Niki as a trainee." Dani offers.
"Works for me." Nikita says, nodding.
"Ok, but you don't give her a gun." Louise warns Sasha gently, before turning to Dani, "Any sign of trouble, pull back and let Niki deal with it."
"I can go as an observer." Sasha says, with a smile.
As one, Louise, Steve, Dani and Nikita all say, "Not in your condition."
Dani leans back in the Jaguar's passenger seat and stretches her arms and legs. Getting used to the feel of the fresh grey Neoprene and Kevlar Interweave Suit, that clings to her like a second skin under her jeans, t-shirt and bomber jacket. "Back less than a day and in the field again. Only this time, I am not alone. I wish we could have Sasha with us, but we can't risk anything happening to the baby."
She lights a cigarette and opens the cars window just a crack to pull the smoke out. "I'm surprised that there is only one stockist of the sonic emitter in the UK." She pauses, looking at her sister, "I am glad we are in this together. Are you cool with the plan?"
"Don't give me that. What is going on? Why are we doing this?" Nikita asks, with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow.
Dani exhales a plume of smoke towards the window and speaks softly, "I wanted to talk to you, without anyone else listening."
"The story with the lioness was true, wasn't it?" Nikita asks, chewing her lip, as she parks her Jaguar around the corner from the specialist non-lethal ordanance and tech supplier.
"Yes." Dani says, offering her sister a cigarette.
Nikita declines and closes her eyes, deep in thought, before she speaks, "How is this possible?"
"When you traded with the lioness for claws and fangs, she got something from you." Dani says, "She has no larynx, so cannot speak, but she can understand English and can write."
"You talk like you spoke to her for a bit." Nikita probes, unwilling to contemplate the implications of her sister's words.
"I spent about a month with the pride. It was interesting to say the least." Dani says in a cagey tone.
"Why so long?" Nikita asks, concerned.
"The PCS infused liquids from the basement of Lund's facility, leaked into the water table and got into the food chain. The lioness and I had to fight tooth and nail against the other lions, apes and crocodiles to prevent the local wildlife being wiped out by frenzied predators. It was pretty rough." Dani says, before exhaling slowly.
Nikita catches the sorrowful look in Dani's eyes and gently holds her hand. "Why do I get the feeling that there is a lot you haven't told us?" Nikita asks, looking at her sister and wondering what she has been through.
Dani closes her eyes and swallows hard, "I need time."
"I will wait as long as you need, I am here for you." Nikita says, squeezing Dani's hand.
Dani looks into her sisters eyes and smiles gently, "Thank you, I am here for you too. I have no idea what you have been through, but when the dust settles, we can talk."
Nikita thinks back to her darkest days, the days she never discusses and nods subtly, "I think I would like that."
"We had better get going." Dani says trying to change the subject.
Nikita checks her sidearm and pulls out her back up weapon. "Do you want a gun?"
"I don't want you to have to break your promise to Lou. Besides, just because I don't have a gun, doesn't mean I am unarmed." Dani says, with a smile.
"I guessed that much." Nikita says, nudging her sister.
Dani stubs out her cigarette and winks at Nikita. As she reaches for the car door, she thinks to herself, "This is a risky plan, I hope we can pull this off."
Nikita discretely watches the street, while Dani picks the lock of the rear entrance to the specialist supplier. She softly taps her foot on the floor twice, to indicate that they are in and carefully opens the door. A soft beeping noise can be heard from within and she slips inside quickly, spotting the controls for the alarm.
Dani spots the biometric scanner attached to the alarm and softly says, "Shit." She pulls a small but wide roll of medical tape from her jacket pocket and smooths a strip over the sensor. "Here goes." She thinks as she presses her gloved thumb to the sensor and says a silent prayer.
The light on the control panel flashes green and the beeping noise stops. She exhales slowly and gives Nikita the thumbs up. Nikita holds her fore finger and index finger to her eyes and then uses them to point to the street, indicating she will watch the door.
Dani's fingers brush the balisong, strapped to her thigh for reassurance, before she presses deeper into the building. Moving quickly she sweeps through the loading area, barely breaking her stride to pick the lock of the door to the showroom. A moment later, she stands behind the main workstation and looks up from the screen into the showroom. "Ok, no password written down, would need to be something easy to remember." He gaze lands on a display for compact defibrilators and she smiles, typing in the name of the top model, "Caduceus20kv"
When the desktop loads, she smiles to herself and shakes her head, "Always good when they choose something easy to work out." She begins to search for records of sales, when she pauses feeling something amiss.
Dani clicks her earpiece twice and breathes a sigh of relief when Nikita sends three clicks back. She resumes her search, but cannot shake the feeling of something wrong.
Nikita lowers her hand from her ear and resumes her vigil, senses sharp and alert for trouble. "This feels right somehow. Dani and I in the field together." She thinks, smiling to herself.
Her eyes narrow as she sees a pair of traffic wardens approach her Jaguar, she clicks her headset five times in rapid succession, alerting Dani that something is wrong. Dani clicks her twice in response.
"Unusual to see a traffic warden on a Sunday. Although not unheard of in this part of London." She carefully scrutinises the street and thinks to herself, "I can feel them, but there is no one else around. Nothing looks out of place."
From the alley way at the rear of the show room, she watches one of the wardens print off a ticket and slip in under her windshield wiper, then begin tapping on a small tablet. "I will sort the ticket out tomorrow."
Dani opens the sales ledger and searches for the Guvari Pulse emitter and exhales slowly, when the results of the search load. "Metropolitan police five units for testing, Eclipse Elite Protection Services eight units, Linkman Security two units, Thorn twelve units. I think we can rule out the Met. The others are worth looking into."
Her fingers dance across the keys as she pulls up the customer files for Linkman Security and Thorn. Reviewing the files she exhales softly, "Linkman purchased two and returned them a month later after an incident on a site in the Midlands."
"This is odd, The Eclipse and Thorn account numbers are consecutive and the files have been wiped. Someone has beaten us to it." Dani thinks, tapping her headset once and then a further two times after a short delay.
She pulls out a thumb sized burner phone and sends a text saying, "Eclipse Elite Protection Services - bank account 1779897400351 and Thorn - bank account 1779897400352. Customer files wiped."
Dani erases the message from the phone and turns it off, before slipping it back into its hiding place. Shuts down the computer and begins heading back to Nikita, tapping her earpiece four times, to indicate she is on her way.
Nikita watches with incredulity as a tow truck pulls up in front of her Jaguar, "Shit, That car is loaded with assault gear. I can't let them take it."
She taps her earpiece repeatedly warning Dani that she is leaving her post and strides across the road with her ID card ready. "Hey, hold up a minute."
One of the wardens looks up from his tablet and fixes her with a bored gaze, as she approaches.
"I am a Nirvana operative, under license and that is an official vehicle." Nikita says, calmly showing her ID to the warden, from the opposite side of the vehicle's bonnet.
"Tell it to the office." The Scouse traffic warden, says looking back at his tablet.
"May I have the number, please?" Nikita asks, thinking to herself, "He is just doing his job, don't snap his neck."
He sighs to himself and pulls out his phone. The warden opens the phone book and begins scrolling slowly through the numbers. With a look of impatience, he holds up the phone for Nikita to copy the number.
Nikita tries to make out the number but the screen is too cracked to see it from this distance. "I can't read it from here."
He shakes his head and sighs again, "Fine." He tosses the phone to her, "If the screen goes dark, just give it a tap."
"Cheers." Nikita says, watching the street warily. She starts to enter the number for the warden's office, about halfway through, the screen begins to dim.
She taps the screen, activating the concealed capacitor in the device, flooding her body with thousands of volts in an instant. As her spasming body falls to the ground, she thinks to herself, "Dani. Your plan sucks."
Revelation (M/F) (F/M) - A sequel to Devastation
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Dani ducks back into the shadows of the alley way, seeing Nikita being lifted into the back of a van. "Damn it. They are about to leave, If I try to intervene now, they are more likely to shoot to kill than try and bring me in. I will have to follow them and intervene when it is safe."
She silently watches the recovery vehicle pull the Jaguar onto it's sloping flatbed. trying not to think about what is happening to her sister in the rear of the van. "Typical." She thinks looking at the empty street, "There is nothing I can steal to keep up with them."
"This was such a bad idea. It should be both of us together." Dani thinks, feeling her heart sink, "The plan was we get captured and then when we get to their place, we free each other and take them down, eliminating a long investigation."
The sound of the van's rear doors slamming closed, snaps her from her musing. She watches a traffic warden open the passenger door and get in before the vehicle pulls away. She closes her eyes cursing herself, "I can't just let them take her like this. I have to try to stick with them."
Nikita struggles to co-ordinate her limbs in the back of the van, despite all her strength, she is powerless to resist the man removing her clothes, casually tossing everything in the corner of the van. The rasp of the taser is deafening in the confines of the vans cargo area. The fresh jolt causes her to helplessly flop around on the floor.
She feels her body as if from a distance, watching as the man in the back of the van pulls out a long metal bar, hinged in the middle, with four indents on each half. He grunts with exertion, manhandling her into a seated position against the side of the van, quickly bending her legs and pulling her arms forward. He takes the metal bar and places her ankles into the the outer indents on the bar and her wrist in the inner indents, then folds over the other half of the bar, locking them together with a combination lock.
Nikita takes a breath and calms herself, staring at her wrists and ankles, assessing her situation, "Wrists locked six inches apart, between my ankles and secured with a lock I cannot reach." She tugs gently, trying to pull herself free, but in her heart she knows that the restraints are locked too tightly, "I am glad Dani isn't here, we would not have been able to free each other from these."
She takes a look at the man in the rear of the van with her, assessing him, "Everything about him is precise, from the cut of his suit to his precisely worn pony tail. His clothes are tailored and hands manicured. He is not a soldier, he looks like a marketing executive. But he moves with a measured precision, maybe a former intelligence operative."
He holds a large black ballgag in front of her mouth and calmly speaks, "You can either open your mouth for this, or I can tape your mouth shut. The choice is yours."
Nikita glares at the man and says "Ta...." But is cut off as the ball is forced into her open mouth. The man dispassionately says "Good choice.", while tightly buckling the leather strap behind her neck.
She unleashes a stream of unintelligible expletives at the man and gives him a look harsh enough to stop a charging bull.
"For what it is worth, I am sorry about the harsh treatment. We are well aware of your operational reputation, so we cannot risk the change of you getting loose. Your clothes have been removed to eliminate the possibility of something you are carrying being used to aid your release." He says calmly, before taking a solemnly continuing, "Whilst you are with us, you will be kept restrained at all times, but will be treated with the professionalism and respect you are due."
Nikita glares at him with utter disdain, but something in his tone tells her that, at least on some level, he means it. She drags her gaze away from him to stare at her gear, thinking, "Even if I could get to my gear, there is nothing that would get me out of this."
She calms herself and feels the lifepulses around her as the van pulls away, "Two up front in this vehicle, plus this joker, two in the tow truck bringing up the rear and another three in a car up ahead. Dani still at the building, probably watching, if she makes a move now, they will shoot to kill and bolt away from here."
Nikita feels the vehicle begin to move and looks up at the man in the rear of the van with her and smiles thinking, "Dani and I are going to destroy you." In that moment, her blood turns to ice as she feels Dani's lifepulse, blink out.
Dani breaks from the alleyway and takes cover behind a tree. She flicks open a balisong one handed and uses the blade as a mirror to view the small convoy of vehicles, as they begin to pull away. "I am going to have one chance at this."
She waits as long as she dares and runs as quickly as she can keeping low. She leaps forward, catching the back of the recovery vehicle. She grits her teeth feeling the rough tarmac of the road, chewing through the knees of her jeans. With a grunt, she heaves her body onto the flat bed and drags her legs behind her. She pauses for a moment confused, "Why aren't I breathing heavily?" She close her eyes for a moment and realises that her heart isn't beating.
She scrambles to remove one of her gloves and watches as the pallour returns to her skin."This must be like Sasha's claws, manifests with the right emotional cue. That must mean that it can be dismissed to."
Dani looks around the rear of the flatbed and crawls under her sister's car into a dip between the ramps. "This wont do for long, I need a plan, but first.", she thinks to herself, "I think it is time to admit what happened on the Road of Bones."
Nikita feels herself filled with rage, sensing Dani's pulse vanish. "I will murder every one of you bastards." She thinks to herself, fixing the man in the van with her with a white hot, rage filled gaze.
The man sees her gaze and smiles gently at her, "I appreciate your hatred. You are an elite operative, one of the best in the business and you have been captured and rendered helpless twice in as many days. This must be so humiliating for you." He says in a supportive tone.
She glowers at him, thinking, "When I get out of this, I will show you humiliation."
Nikita tugs her arms involuntarily, reminding herself that she is stuck. "After I killed everyone at Lund's facility I made a promise to myself, to only use my powers to heal. I haven't even used my claws or fangs. It's funny in a way, I discarded everything that tied me back to my old life, to make a fresh start. Instead I have filled my life to the brim to hide from myself."
"All my skills and training mean nothing right now, maybe my powers are the only way out of this for me." Nikita thinks, half listening to the man in the back of the van with her, as he keeps droning on about how pleased he is that she will not experience the pain that he is capable of giving.
Dani thinks back to that night in Siberia, remembering the feeling of being carried. "There was no one else there, so who carried me?"
"No footprints." She thinks, getting jostled by the tow truck taking a sharp bend. Dani rubs her face with her hand and freezes, staring at her palm.
"When I am dead like this, it feels like I move through an act of willpower." Dani thinks to herself, before closing her eyes for a moment, "I lifted my whole body through an act of will."
She chuckles to herself softly and shakes her head, "Don't be daft. You can't fly." Her chuckle faulters, when she asks herself, "Did I?"
"Still doesn't explain how the blanket covered me." She thinks shaking her head.
Dani looks to her side and realises that the vehicle is passing through some form of gate, "Time to disembark." She thinks to herself, shuffling out from under the car.
Nikita barely registers that the two lifepulses from the tow truck are no longer behind them, as she thinks back to the lioness, focusing on the moment she reached out to the lioness to ease her pain and comparing it to when she has healed people since.
"When I heal, I sweep blockages from lifepulses. But with the lioness, I reached into her lifepulse and then swept away the blockages, rather than plucking them from afar." She thinks to herself, "Maybe I could try that again." She muses, as the seeds of a plan that shouldn't work, start to form.
"I took physical characteristics from the lioness, could I do that again, but with a different target." She wonders.
"We are nearly at our destination, Miss Green. I will need to get you ready for loading." the long haired man says, gently.
Nikita looks at the man and begins twisting her head, moaning softly trying to force the ball from her mouth.
Her captor looks down at her, with sympathetic eyes. He gently cups her chin and gazes down into her eyes, "Is your jaw starting to hurt, dear?"
She nods, gazing up at him with pleading eyes, Thinking to herself, "I have one chance at this."
Dani rolls off of the back of the tow truck as it pulls to a halt and immediately realises that there is a problem, "Shit. Where are the other vehicles?"
The drivers door of the vehicle opens and the drivers eyes widen as he steps out seeing her, "Who the hell are you?" He yells, fumbling in his coat for a weapon.
Dani streaks forward, faster that she knows she can run, slamming her shoulder into his chest driving the air from his lungs. She catches a flutter of movement from the corner of her left eye and dives backwards, narrowly avoiding a shot from the vehicles passenger across the drivers seat.
The driver collapses to the ground covering the bullethole in his cheek and gasping for air. Dani rolls backwards, then dives left when she draws level with the rear of the tow truck, leaving the driver alone to cough up a gob of blood and teeth.
Howard leaps from the cab of the van and rolls, once he hits the ground. He comes up in a low combat stance, handgun held in a secure two handed grip as, he purposefully circles around to the rear of the truck.
Dani flicks open a balisong, waiting and ready to throw the weapon as soon as the passenger moves into view. He takes careful aim and fires three times, sending the ricochets into Dani's shins.
She grunts in pain dropping to the ground, lettiing the knife slip from her grasp. Howard purposefully moves into view, with the pistol aimed squarely at her head.
Dani raises her hands, knowing she would not be able to pull a weapon and throw it, before he can shoot.
"I don't want to shoot you, but I will if you give me a reason." Howard says, calmly.
Through gritted teeth Dani asks, "Where is my partner?"
"By now, she is being loaded onto a boat, headed for international waters." Howard says, keeping his tone even, "You will never see her again."
Dani struggles to keep her emotions in check. She speaks slowly, struggling to maintain her composure, "What will you do with me?"
"Find out what you know and if you are still alive at the end of it, leave you at a hospital." Howard says, unemotionally.
"What will happen to my partner?" Dani asks, feeling hollow.
"She will be held until we get what we want from your employers." Howard explains, in a regret filled tone.
"What is it that you want? Maybe I can help?" Dani asks, wearily.
Howard smiles to himself, "You have no idea, do you?" He says raising his gun and tightening his finger on the trigger. "You know nothing."
She silently watches the recovery vehicle pull the Jaguar onto it's sloping flatbed. trying not to think about what is happening to her sister in the rear of the van. "Typical." She thinks looking at the empty street, "There is nothing I can steal to keep up with them."
"This was such a bad idea. It should be both of us together." Dani thinks, feeling her heart sink, "The plan was we get captured and then when we get to their place, we free each other and take them down, eliminating a long investigation."
The sound of the van's rear doors slamming closed, snaps her from her musing. She watches a traffic warden open the passenger door and get in before the vehicle pulls away. She closes her eyes cursing herself, "I can't just let them take her like this. I have to try to stick with them."
Nikita struggles to co-ordinate her limbs in the back of the van, despite all her strength, she is powerless to resist the man removing her clothes, casually tossing everything in the corner of the van. The rasp of the taser is deafening in the confines of the vans cargo area. The fresh jolt causes her to helplessly flop around on the floor.
She feels her body as if from a distance, watching as the man in the back of the van pulls out a long metal bar, hinged in the middle, with four indents on each half. He grunts with exertion, manhandling her into a seated position against the side of the van, quickly bending her legs and pulling her arms forward. He takes the metal bar and places her ankles into the the outer indents on the bar and her wrist in the inner indents, then folds over the other half of the bar, locking them together with a combination lock.
Nikita takes a breath and calms herself, staring at her wrists and ankles, assessing her situation, "Wrists locked six inches apart, between my ankles and secured with a lock I cannot reach." She tugs gently, trying to pull herself free, but in her heart she knows that the restraints are locked too tightly, "I am glad Dani isn't here, we would not have been able to free each other from these."
She takes a look at the man in the rear of the van with her, assessing him, "Everything about him is precise, from the cut of his suit to his precisely worn pony tail. His clothes are tailored and hands manicured. He is not a soldier, he looks like a marketing executive. But he moves with a measured precision, maybe a former intelligence operative."
He holds a large black ballgag in front of her mouth and calmly speaks, "You can either open your mouth for this, or I can tape your mouth shut. The choice is yours."
Nikita glares at the man and says "Ta...." But is cut off as the ball is forced into her open mouth. The man dispassionately says "Good choice.", while tightly buckling the leather strap behind her neck.
She unleashes a stream of unintelligible expletives at the man and gives him a look harsh enough to stop a charging bull.
"For what it is worth, I am sorry about the harsh treatment. We are well aware of your operational reputation, so we cannot risk the change of you getting loose. Your clothes have been removed to eliminate the possibility of something you are carrying being used to aid your release." He says calmly, before taking a solemnly continuing, "Whilst you are with us, you will be kept restrained at all times, but will be treated with the professionalism and respect you are due."
Nikita glares at him with utter disdain, but something in his tone tells her that, at least on some level, he means it. She drags her gaze away from him to stare at her gear, thinking, "Even if I could get to my gear, there is nothing that would get me out of this."
She calms herself and feels the lifepulses around her as the van pulls away, "Two up front in this vehicle, plus this joker, two in the tow truck bringing up the rear and another three in a car up ahead. Dani still at the building, probably watching, if she makes a move now, they will shoot to kill and bolt away from here."
Nikita feels the vehicle begin to move and looks up at the man in the rear of the van with her and smiles thinking, "Dani and I are going to destroy you." In that moment, her blood turns to ice as she feels Dani's lifepulse, blink out.
Dani breaks from the alleyway and takes cover behind a tree. She flicks open a balisong one handed and uses the blade as a mirror to view the small convoy of vehicles, as they begin to pull away. "I am going to have one chance at this."
She waits as long as she dares and runs as quickly as she can keeping low. She leaps forward, catching the back of the recovery vehicle. She grits her teeth feeling the rough tarmac of the road, chewing through the knees of her jeans. With a grunt, she heaves her body onto the flat bed and drags her legs behind her. She pauses for a moment confused, "Why aren't I breathing heavily?" She close her eyes for a moment and realises that her heart isn't beating.
She scrambles to remove one of her gloves and watches as the pallour returns to her skin."This must be like Sasha's claws, manifests with the right emotional cue. That must mean that it can be dismissed to."
Dani looks around the rear of the flatbed and crawls under her sister's car into a dip between the ramps. "This wont do for long, I need a plan, but first.", she thinks to herself, "I think it is time to admit what happened on the Road of Bones."
Nikita feels herself filled with rage, sensing Dani's pulse vanish. "I will murder every one of you bastards." She thinks to herself, fixing the man in the van with her with a white hot, rage filled gaze.
The man sees her gaze and smiles gently at her, "I appreciate your hatred. You are an elite operative, one of the best in the business and you have been captured and rendered helpless twice in as many days. This must be so humiliating for you." He says in a supportive tone.
She glowers at him, thinking, "When I get out of this, I will show you humiliation."
Nikita tugs her arms involuntarily, reminding herself that she is stuck. "After I killed everyone at Lund's facility I made a promise to myself, to only use my powers to heal. I haven't even used my claws or fangs. It's funny in a way, I discarded everything that tied me back to my old life, to make a fresh start. Instead I have filled my life to the brim to hide from myself."
"All my skills and training mean nothing right now, maybe my powers are the only way out of this for me." Nikita thinks, half listening to the man in the back of the van with her, as he keeps droning on about how pleased he is that she will not experience the pain that he is capable of giving.
Dani thinks back to that night in Siberia, remembering the feeling of being carried. "There was no one else there, so who carried me?"
"No footprints." She thinks, getting jostled by the tow truck taking a sharp bend. Dani rubs her face with her hand and freezes, staring at her palm.
"When I am dead like this, it feels like I move through an act of willpower." Dani thinks to herself, before closing her eyes for a moment, "I lifted my whole body through an act of will."
She chuckles to herself softly and shakes her head, "Don't be daft. You can't fly." Her chuckle faulters, when she asks herself, "Did I?"
"Still doesn't explain how the blanket covered me." She thinks shaking her head.
Dani looks to her side and realises that the vehicle is passing through some form of gate, "Time to disembark." She thinks to herself, shuffling out from under the car.
Nikita barely registers that the two lifepulses from the tow truck are no longer behind them, as she thinks back to the lioness, focusing on the moment she reached out to the lioness to ease her pain and comparing it to when she has healed people since.
"When I heal, I sweep blockages from lifepulses. But with the lioness, I reached into her lifepulse and then swept away the blockages, rather than plucking them from afar." She thinks to herself, "Maybe I could try that again." She muses, as the seeds of a plan that shouldn't work, start to form.
"I took physical characteristics from the lioness, could I do that again, but with a different target." She wonders.
"We are nearly at our destination, Miss Green. I will need to get you ready for loading." the long haired man says, gently.
Nikita looks at the man and begins twisting her head, moaning softly trying to force the ball from her mouth.
Her captor looks down at her, with sympathetic eyes. He gently cups her chin and gazes down into her eyes, "Is your jaw starting to hurt, dear?"
She nods, gazing up at him with pleading eyes, Thinking to herself, "I have one chance at this."
Dani rolls off of the back of the tow truck as it pulls to a halt and immediately realises that there is a problem, "Shit. Where are the other vehicles?"
The drivers door of the vehicle opens and the drivers eyes widen as he steps out seeing her, "Who the hell are you?" He yells, fumbling in his coat for a weapon.
Dani streaks forward, faster that she knows she can run, slamming her shoulder into his chest driving the air from his lungs. She catches a flutter of movement from the corner of her left eye and dives backwards, narrowly avoiding a shot from the vehicles passenger across the drivers seat.
The driver collapses to the ground covering the bullethole in his cheek and gasping for air. Dani rolls backwards, then dives left when she draws level with the rear of the tow truck, leaving the driver alone to cough up a gob of blood and teeth.
Howard leaps from the cab of the van and rolls, once he hits the ground. He comes up in a low combat stance, handgun held in a secure two handed grip as, he purposefully circles around to the rear of the truck.
Dani flicks open a balisong, waiting and ready to throw the weapon as soon as the passenger moves into view. He takes careful aim and fires three times, sending the ricochets into Dani's shins.
She grunts in pain dropping to the ground, lettiing the knife slip from her grasp. Howard purposefully moves into view, with the pistol aimed squarely at her head.
Dani raises her hands, knowing she would not be able to pull a weapon and throw it, before he can shoot.
"I don't want to shoot you, but I will if you give me a reason." Howard says, calmly.
Through gritted teeth Dani asks, "Where is my partner?"
"By now, she is being loaded onto a boat, headed for international waters." Howard says, keeping his tone even, "You will never see her again."
Dani struggles to keep her emotions in check. She speaks slowly, struggling to maintain her composure, "What will you do with me?"
"Find out what you know and if you are still alive at the end of it, leave you at a hospital." Howard says, unemotionally.
"What will happen to my partner?" Dani asks, feeling hollow.
"She will be held until we get what we want from your employers." Howard explains, in a regret filled tone.
"What is it that you want? Maybe I can help?" Dani asks, wearily.
Howard smiles to himself, "You have no idea, do you?" He says raising his gun and tightening his finger on the trigger. "You know nothing."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
I fear for Dani but even more for Nikita ... haven't they suffered enough ? Both have had their share of suffering and pain. I hope they will get through that.
"Thank you." Nikita says, flexing her jaw, as the man removes the ball from her mouth.
"You are most welcome. We are at the docks now, so the only people that might hear you work for us." He says, in a gentle tone.
"What's going to happen to me?" Nikita asks, in a fearful tone.
"You will be safely returned to your people, provided we get what we want." He says, in an off hand tone.
"What do you want? If it is money, I can help." Nikita asks, in a hopeful tone, whilst focusing on the life pulses around her.
"I doubt you would have enough money to buy your freedom." The bearded man says in a regretful tone.
"One imperial ton of gold." Nikita says, taking a risk. "Accessible by myself or my sister."
The long haired man purses his lips, looking at her suspiciously, "How did you come by it?"
"It was the gold reserve of Herman Lund. We liberated it." Nikita says, with a little smile, "What's your name anyway?"
He gives an appreciative nod, "Roberts." He says almost without thinking before composing himself, "What would you want for the gold?"
"Freedom." Nikita says, reaching out for the lifepulse of a small creature crawling nearby.
Dani sees his finger slowly tighten on the trigger, "Thorn." She say forcing the words out.
Howard motions with his pistol, "Keep going."
"Enough sonic weapons to drop a football stadium full of people. Concealable sub machine guns, with high velocity ammunition. Military spec comms." Dani says breathlessly, "That is just the gear we know about, so far. Our analysts are still trying to workout, if you are aiming for a singular assault or a larger conflict."
"I will give you points for trying but you are fishing." , Howard scoffs, raising his weapon.
"Do you blame me? I am dead either way." Dani shrugs, absent mindedly, chewing a fingernail.
Howard nods appreciatively, "I don't blame you at all." He leans against the side of the tow truck, lighting a cigarette. "Want one?' He asks, nonchalantly.
Dani nods and catches the pack and lighter he tosses to her and draws a deep lungful of smoke into her dead lungs. "Thanks." She says, tossing the pack back to him.
"Truth is, no one knows the full plan, everyone knows their part. My part is get the car stowed and get on a boat." Howard explains, keeping the gun on Dani.
"Cellular organisational structure, minimises risk of infiltration and widespread collapse. Good strategy but you wont win." Dani says defiantly, thinking to herself, "How big is this operation?"
"That's what they all say. But no one has stopped us yet." Howard says, disdainfully.
Dani watches the driver breath his last, as he succumbs to shock. "I felt his passing." She realises, absent mindedly whispering, "The squirrel."
"What are you on about?" Howard says, with a look of confusion.
Dani smiles, willing the bones in her legs to fuse back together and wrapping he mind around the bullet holes to close. "Doesn't matter. So why my partner and not me?"
"She is related to the big boss, you are not listed on their files." He raises his pistol and aims at her head, "That said, it might be useful for Roberts to have a word with you, just to be sure you know nothing." He raises his weapon above his head and begins to bring his arm down, "I think there may be room on the Cumbre Vieja for you after all."
Roberts begins pacing the back of the van with his hands behind him, deep in thought.
Nikita thinks to herself, "Now or never.", she reaches into the lifepulse of the rat and visualises what she wants to take from it.
Roberts stands with his back to her, "Of course you understand that if I do this, I will have to run from my people. There is a lot of risk for me."
Nikita tries not to react as her hands and feet change into the slim paws of a rat, staring at Roberts' back, she tries to pull her limbs free but to no avail. "Shit." She thinks, "I was sure this would work." She exhales slowly, feeling her hands and feet return to normal.
Roberts turns to face her once more, "This is too risky. My tradecraft is good, but, they are too well connected."
Nikita sighs, "Ah well, can't blame a girl for trying."
"If you have that much gold, why act as a Nirvana operative?" Roberts asks, curious.
"When my sister died in Africa, I needed something to fill the void. I threw myself into the training and found out I was good at it." Nikita explains, calmly. In her mind, she is scrambling "There must be a way out of this. Something I can take to get myself out of this."
A dark smile graces her lips, as she realises the perfect creature to get her out of this. "I just hope I can pull this off."
The van pulls up at the docks, next to a medium sized researchy vessel, shrouded in wintry fog from the river. Two security officers approach the van cautiously, each man is dressed as a dock worker, but carries a taser, under their heavy jackets.
"What do you actually know about this lot?" Figgis asks, with a frown .
"Enough to know, if I want to get paid, it's best not to ask questions." Simms says, with a wry grin to the younger man.
Figgis snorts, "Sounds about right." Then all humour drains from him as he asks, "What was that noise?"
Simms frowns and raises his weapon, "Not sure."
Figgis draws his taser and nod towards the van that has just pulled up. his eyes catch the look of concern on the driver and front passenger. Simms signals the men in the van to hold position and takes the lead, as he and Figgis, approach the vehicle.
Simms nods to Figgis and points his weapon at the van's side door. Figgis grasps the handle and gets ready to pull, but freezes, as he hears a man inside the van, cry out, "Help me, Nikita Green has got free."
Figgis gives a silent three count, using his fingers before opening the side door of the van. Simms steps in front of the open door, seeing a woman dressed in their employers clothes and their employer, naked, in some strange metal restraints.
The prisoner raises her hands pleading, "Wait, this is not what you think."
Simms points his taser at her chest, "Don't move, bitch."
"She is dangerous, take her now." The long haired man orders.
The prisoner steps forward with her hands raised, "You don't understand."
Simms fires without hesitation, hitting the woman in the chest. "Why don't you explain it to me love?"
The woman slams backwards into the side of the van behind her and drops unconscious. "Good work gentlemen, now get me out of this and get her restrained before she comes to." The long haired man says. "She changed the combination on the lock, you will need to cut it off."
Simms retreives a set of bolt cutters while Figgis begind remove his employers clothing from the prisoner. "Stick that ballgag in her mouth and buckle it tight, she can be a biter."
Figgis, nods his ascent and viciously tightens the strap behind her head, before using his taser again on the prisoner. "Don't worry sir, we wont take any chances with this one."
Simms returns with a pair of bolt cutters and sets to work cutting the lock. Looking at how solid the bar is he shakes his head, asking "How did she get out of this?"
"Not entirely sure."' Roberts says, shaking his head, "I got up to stretch my legs for a moment and my back was turned for a few seconds, she cracked me on the back of the head and I woke up naked in this thing."
Simms whistles, "Her reputation, doesn't do her justice."
"I was bloody stupid, turning my back on her." Roberts grunts in relief, as the bar is removed and he watches the men secure the prisoner. "What are your names gentlemen? I will make sure you get a thank you for this."
"I am Simms and this is Figgis, sir."
"Excellent. Can you please take her where she needs to go? I will join you once I am dressed." Roberts says, pulling on his boxer shorts.
"Very good sir." Simms agrees.
Nikita senses all of the pulses around her and on the ship, and in dismay thinks to herself, "There has to be over a hundred people on board. I have no idea how to play this."
As she considers her option she sense the approach of Dani's life pulse approaching, "She doesn't know what she is walking into and I have no way of warning her."
"Calm your shit down." Simms says, deliverying a back handed slap to her cheek, drawing blood.
She settles with a muffled grunt and allows herself to be carried onto the ship, Her eyes drink in every detail of the ships interior as she is carried into it's bowels
Simms kicks open the door to the cell and he and Figgis drag her inside. The cell is clean and light, with heavy padding on the walls, the only furniture is a chair, a sink and a toilet.
She moans pitifully as Figgis wraps a chain around the metal bar and padlocks it in place. "Moan all you like, once the door closes, this room is sound proof." Simms says coldly, before he throws the end of the chain over a beam above their heads and he and Simms heave hard and secure the chain so her head is six inches from the ground as she swings.
She moans softly, as all of the weight of her body is held by the metal digging into her wrists and ankles.
Roberts looks up as one of the security team knocks on the side of the van. He finishes buttoning his shirt before asking "Yes?"
"Sir, the recovery driver is here. He has the prisoners partner in custody." The security operative confirms.
Roberts slips his shoes on and steps out of the van, looking the operative in the eye, "Show me."
The operative nods to Howard who opens the passenger door of the truck and pulls Dani from the cab, without emotion. She issues a muffled grunt as she hits the ground hard, landing on her shoulder.
Roberts nods appreciatively, noting the heavy leather straps around Dani's arms, pinning them together, viciously behind her back. He wallks over to where she lays, ignoring the garbled vitriol muffled by the towel secured in her mouth with duct tape. He reaches down and gently brushes angry tears from her cheek.
"She has spirit, I will give her that. Sling her over your shoulder and lets take her to see her partner." Roberts says, calmly.
"Certainly Mr Roberts, can the driver dump the gear from their car in the armoury?" The operative asks, as he throws Dani over his shoulder, despite her protests. He pins her legs to his chest, thankful that they have already been strapped together.
"Probably best if it's stowed." Roberts says, looking across at Howard, "Thank you. Good work, we will reward you for your efforts today."
Howard nods and hefts a large bag from the boot of the vehicle and approaches the gang plank of the ship.
"This sucks." Dani thinks, feeling the shoulder of the man carrying her, dig into her stomach. She carefully observes the route that they take occasionally fixing Roberts with an icy stare.
"There is something about that guy. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know if it is the walk or his smell, but something is wrong about him." Dani thinks, before coming to the conclusion, "He is following, so I think he will be keeping Niki and I company. This is going to be a problem."
As they make their way through the ship Dani notes the locations of the Armoury, medical, communications entrance to the engine room, smiling to herself as she goes, compiling a list of targets.
She assesses the crew as she goes, "Competent, experienced crew members, but possibly not on the same crew. Assembled for this operation, possibly handpicked, have heard over a dozen accents so far, from Polish to Somalian. This is a crew with a purpose. This is a big ship, there is evidence from their ground teams that they are well equipped, there is a lot of money at work here."
"The so called ransom of Thirty Million that they asked for when Kim was taken is a red herring. I wonder what they are really after." She wonders, with a feeling of dread building inside her.
Her feeling of disquiet grows, as the operative sets her down on the floor and she sees her sister hanging upside down from the ceiling. She sees the blood on her sisters cheek and glowers at Roberts, "I will find the person who hurt her and eviscerate them."
Dani takes a moment to look around the room while Roberts dismisses the security operative. "Deep within the ship, sound proof padding on the walls, no bed, minimal furniture. This is an interrogation room. This is going to be rough."
Nikita gazes wordlessly at a helplessly strapped Dani, thinking, "Why did you have to come? I have no idea how I can get you out of here."
"You are most welcome. We are at the docks now, so the only people that might hear you work for us." He says, in a gentle tone.
"What's going to happen to me?" Nikita asks, in a fearful tone.
"You will be safely returned to your people, provided we get what we want." He says, in an off hand tone.
"What do you want? If it is money, I can help." Nikita asks, in a hopeful tone, whilst focusing on the life pulses around her.
"I doubt you would have enough money to buy your freedom." The bearded man says in a regretful tone.
"One imperial ton of gold." Nikita says, taking a risk. "Accessible by myself or my sister."
The long haired man purses his lips, looking at her suspiciously, "How did you come by it?"
"It was the gold reserve of Herman Lund. We liberated it." Nikita says, with a little smile, "What's your name anyway?"
He gives an appreciative nod, "Roberts." He says almost without thinking before composing himself, "What would you want for the gold?"
"Freedom." Nikita says, reaching out for the lifepulse of a small creature crawling nearby.
Dani sees his finger slowly tighten on the trigger, "Thorn." She say forcing the words out.
Howard motions with his pistol, "Keep going."
"Enough sonic weapons to drop a football stadium full of people. Concealable sub machine guns, with high velocity ammunition. Military spec comms." Dani says breathlessly, "That is just the gear we know about, so far. Our analysts are still trying to workout, if you are aiming for a singular assault or a larger conflict."
"I will give you points for trying but you are fishing." , Howard scoffs, raising his weapon.
"Do you blame me? I am dead either way." Dani shrugs, absent mindedly, chewing a fingernail.
Howard nods appreciatively, "I don't blame you at all." He leans against the side of the tow truck, lighting a cigarette. "Want one?' He asks, nonchalantly.
Dani nods and catches the pack and lighter he tosses to her and draws a deep lungful of smoke into her dead lungs. "Thanks." She says, tossing the pack back to him.
"Truth is, no one knows the full plan, everyone knows their part. My part is get the car stowed and get on a boat." Howard explains, keeping the gun on Dani.
"Cellular organisational structure, minimises risk of infiltration and widespread collapse. Good strategy but you wont win." Dani says defiantly, thinking to herself, "How big is this operation?"
"That's what they all say. But no one has stopped us yet." Howard says, disdainfully.
Dani watches the driver breath his last, as he succumbs to shock. "I felt his passing." She realises, absent mindedly whispering, "The squirrel."
"What are you on about?" Howard says, with a look of confusion.
Dani smiles, willing the bones in her legs to fuse back together and wrapping he mind around the bullet holes to close. "Doesn't matter. So why my partner and not me?"
"She is related to the big boss, you are not listed on their files." He raises his pistol and aims at her head, "That said, it might be useful for Roberts to have a word with you, just to be sure you know nothing." He raises his weapon above his head and begins to bring his arm down, "I think there may be room on the Cumbre Vieja for you after all."
Roberts begins pacing the back of the van with his hands behind him, deep in thought.
Nikita thinks to herself, "Now or never.", she reaches into the lifepulse of the rat and visualises what she wants to take from it.
Roberts stands with his back to her, "Of course you understand that if I do this, I will have to run from my people. There is a lot of risk for me."
Nikita tries not to react as her hands and feet change into the slim paws of a rat, staring at Roberts' back, she tries to pull her limbs free but to no avail. "Shit." She thinks, "I was sure this would work." She exhales slowly, feeling her hands and feet return to normal.
Roberts turns to face her once more, "This is too risky. My tradecraft is good, but, they are too well connected."
Nikita sighs, "Ah well, can't blame a girl for trying."
"If you have that much gold, why act as a Nirvana operative?" Roberts asks, curious.
"When my sister died in Africa, I needed something to fill the void. I threw myself into the training and found out I was good at it." Nikita explains, calmly. In her mind, she is scrambling "There must be a way out of this. Something I can take to get myself out of this."
A dark smile graces her lips, as she realises the perfect creature to get her out of this. "I just hope I can pull this off."
The van pulls up at the docks, next to a medium sized researchy vessel, shrouded in wintry fog from the river. Two security officers approach the van cautiously, each man is dressed as a dock worker, but carries a taser, under their heavy jackets.
"What do you actually know about this lot?" Figgis asks, with a frown .
"Enough to know, if I want to get paid, it's best not to ask questions." Simms says, with a wry grin to the younger man.
Figgis snorts, "Sounds about right." Then all humour drains from him as he asks, "What was that noise?"
Simms frowns and raises his weapon, "Not sure."
Figgis draws his taser and nod towards the van that has just pulled up. his eyes catch the look of concern on the driver and front passenger. Simms signals the men in the van to hold position and takes the lead, as he and Figgis, approach the vehicle.
Simms nods to Figgis and points his weapon at the van's side door. Figgis grasps the handle and gets ready to pull, but freezes, as he hears a man inside the van, cry out, "Help me, Nikita Green has got free."
Figgis gives a silent three count, using his fingers before opening the side door of the van. Simms steps in front of the open door, seeing a woman dressed in their employers clothes and their employer, naked, in some strange metal restraints.
The prisoner raises her hands pleading, "Wait, this is not what you think."
Simms points his taser at her chest, "Don't move, bitch."
"She is dangerous, take her now." The long haired man orders.
The prisoner steps forward with her hands raised, "You don't understand."
Simms fires without hesitation, hitting the woman in the chest. "Why don't you explain it to me love?"
The woman slams backwards into the side of the van behind her and drops unconscious. "Good work gentlemen, now get me out of this and get her restrained before she comes to." The long haired man says. "She changed the combination on the lock, you will need to cut it off."
Simms retreives a set of bolt cutters while Figgis begind remove his employers clothing from the prisoner. "Stick that ballgag in her mouth and buckle it tight, she can be a biter."
Figgis, nods his ascent and viciously tightens the strap behind her head, before using his taser again on the prisoner. "Don't worry sir, we wont take any chances with this one."
Simms returns with a pair of bolt cutters and sets to work cutting the lock. Looking at how solid the bar is he shakes his head, asking "How did she get out of this?"
"Not entirely sure."' Roberts says, shaking his head, "I got up to stretch my legs for a moment and my back was turned for a few seconds, she cracked me on the back of the head and I woke up naked in this thing."
Simms whistles, "Her reputation, doesn't do her justice."
"I was bloody stupid, turning my back on her." Roberts grunts in relief, as the bar is removed and he watches the men secure the prisoner. "What are your names gentlemen? I will make sure you get a thank you for this."
"I am Simms and this is Figgis, sir."
"Excellent. Can you please take her where she needs to go? I will join you once I am dressed." Roberts says, pulling on his boxer shorts.
"Very good sir." Simms agrees.
Nikita senses all of the pulses around her and on the ship, and in dismay thinks to herself, "There has to be over a hundred people on board. I have no idea how to play this."
As she considers her option she sense the approach of Dani's life pulse approaching, "She doesn't know what she is walking into and I have no way of warning her."
"Calm your shit down." Simms says, deliverying a back handed slap to her cheek, drawing blood.
She settles with a muffled grunt and allows herself to be carried onto the ship, Her eyes drink in every detail of the ships interior as she is carried into it's bowels
Simms kicks open the door to the cell and he and Figgis drag her inside. The cell is clean and light, with heavy padding on the walls, the only furniture is a chair, a sink and a toilet.
She moans pitifully as Figgis wraps a chain around the metal bar and padlocks it in place. "Moan all you like, once the door closes, this room is sound proof." Simms says coldly, before he throws the end of the chain over a beam above their heads and he and Simms heave hard and secure the chain so her head is six inches from the ground as she swings.
She moans softly, as all of the weight of her body is held by the metal digging into her wrists and ankles.
Roberts looks up as one of the security team knocks on the side of the van. He finishes buttoning his shirt before asking "Yes?"
"Sir, the recovery driver is here. He has the prisoners partner in custody." The security operative confirms.
Roberts slips his shoes on and steps out of the van, looking the operative in the eye, "Show me."
The operative nods to Howard who opens the passenger door of the truck and pulls Dani from the cab, without emotion. She issues a muffled grunt as she hits the ground hard, landing on her shoulder.
Roberts nods appreciatively, noting the heavy leather straps around Dani's arms, pinning them together, viciously behind her back. He wallks over to where she lays, ignoring the garbled vitriol muffled by the towel secured in her mouth with duct tape. He reaches down and gently brushes angry tears from her cheek.
"She has spirit, I will give her that. Sling her over your shoulder and lets take her to see her partner." Roberts says, calmly.
"Certainly Mr Roberts, can the driver dump the gear from their car in the armoury?" The operative asks, as he throws Dani over his shoulder, despite her protests. He pins her legs to his chest, thankful that they have already been strapped together.
"Probably best if it's stowed." Roberts says, looking across at Howard, "Thank you. Good work, we will reward you for your efforts today."
Howard nods and hefts a large bag from the boot of the vehicle and approaches the gang plank of the ship.
"This sucks." Dani thinks, feeling the shoulder of the man carrying her, dig into her stomach. She carefully observes the route that they take occasionally fixing Roberts with an icy stare.
"There is something about that guy. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know if it is the walk or his smell, but something is wrong about him." Dani thinks, before coming to the conclusion, "He is following, so I think he will be keeping Niki and I company. This is going to be a problem."
As they make their way through the ship Dani notes the locations of the Armoury, medical, communications entrance to the engine room, smiling to herself as she goes, compiling a list of targets.
She assesses the crew as she goes, "Competent, experienced crew members, but possibly not on the same crew. Assembled for this operation, possibly handpicked, have heard over a dozen accents so far, from Polish to Somalian. This is a crew with a purpose. This is a big ship, there is evidence from their ground teams that they are well equipped, there is a lot of money at work here."
"The so called ransom of Thirty Million that they asked for when Kim was taken is a red herring. I wonder what they are really after." She wonders, with a feeling of dread building inside her.
Her feeling of disquiet grows, as the operative sets her down on the floor and she sees her sister hanging upside down from the ceiling. She sees the blood on her sisters cheek and glowers at Roberts, "I will find the person who hurt her and eviscerate them."
Dani takes a moment to look around the room while Roberts dismisses the security operative. "Deep within the ship, sound proof padding on the walls, no bed, minimal furniture. This is an interrogation room. This is going to be rough."
Nikita gazes wordlessly at a helplessly strapped Dani, thinking, "Why did you have to come? I have no idea how I can get you out of here."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Seems pretty hopeless ..... but I have the feeling there might be some surprise. I hope so ... Nikita seems to have a plan though. Let us keep fingers crossed. Neither Nikita nor Dani deserve more torture.
Roberts reaches down and gently begins to unwind the tape from around Dani's mouth, once the outer layers of tape are removed, she braces herself for the painful tugging of the tape against her skin. But the pain doesn't come, as she expects. "He is surprisingly gentle." She thinks as the last of the tape is removed and the cloth is pulled from her mouth.
He walks to the sink, casually pulling a towel from the rail and running it under the tap. Dani glances at her sister, seeing the misery on her face and the blood pouring from the angry cut on her face. Her gaze shifts to Roberts, when he returns and crouches once again next to Dani and begins wiping her face, removing the last traces of adhesive from the tape.
She watches closely, as he leaves her side and takes a seat in the chair, thinking, "Strange, most men don't swing their hips like that when they walk."
"Good afternoon, My name is Mr Roberts. This is my ship and my crew. It is my understanding that you were captured by one of my operatives. Can you confirm that this is the case?" He says, is a grave tone.
Dani nods, thinking to herself, "Bit of a daft question to ask."
"As a prisoner here, you will be afforded the professional treatment that you deserve and will be treated with respect." Roberts says, calmly.
Dani looks away from him, to gaze at her sister, seeing once again that the cut on her face is gushing blood, She turns her gaze back to her captor with a look in her eyes that could rend flesh from bone.
Roberts stands and shrugs, "Quiet type eh? I can relate to that." Dani's gaze follows him across the room until he stands next to her sister.
"So, you are this ones partner?" He asks, pushing Nikita gently, causing her to sway slightly. "What is your name?"
Dani sizes the man up and in a Bordeaux accent answers, "Non Monsieur, I am not this ones partner, my name is Zoe Rouseau."
Roberts looks at her closely, his eyes gouging into her soul, "Funny, you look like her lost sister."
"Thorn's original plan had me return to the fold, while you held the step daughter, to keep them off balance and let me get close to Marks and his family." She says, coldly, "Seven months of painful medical procedures and learning everything about her life down the toilet because your cretins could not hold on to one little girl."
Roberts stands there in stunned silence, allowing her to continue, "Originally, I was to infiltrate Nirvana to co-opt their resources, but because you have endangered this operation, Thorn sent me to handle things and bring you back to face the music."
He nervously runs his fingers through his long dark hair. "That is not going to happen. You are all wrapped up and going no where." Roberts says, sweating a little.
With stunned surprise, Roberts watches the leather straps that bind her unwrap themselves and fly at him, wrapping his body tightly and buckling themselves
With his legs pinned together and his arms wrapped to his sides, he is unable to catch himself as he falls flat on his face. Zoe watches him wriggle with a look of confusion and fear on his face. She snaps to her feet and snatches up the damp towel that Roberts used to wipe her face and shoves it into his mouth, taking a spare strap to secure it in his mouth.
"You have compromised this operation, this vessel has been exposed, as a result of your actions. My agent is in the process of decommisioning this vessel. Thankfully for us, a contingency has been activated." Zoe says coldly, before turning to Nikita, "Sorry babe, you are no longer needed. With luck one of the crew will release you before this vessel sinks."
A soft knock at the door, draws her attention and Zoe crosses the room relaxed and opens it, accepting a package from the man the other side and closing it softly. She returns to Roberts' side and crouches opening the dark fabric bundle and revealing it to be a large canvas bag. "You are going in this bag. If you do anything to draw attention, I will kill everyone who might be able to see." She picks up Roberts and roughly closes the bag around him and zips it tightly.
Nikita thinks to herself, "There was no one there. There was a knock at the door, but there was no one there."
Zoe hefts the bag onto her shoulder and struts towards the door, turning at the last minute to Nikita, "Sorry you and Kim got dragged into this." She exits the room without another word.
Howard walks slowly away from the cell and heads deeper into the ship continuing his long march that has taken him to the infirmary, the canteen, the armoury and the makeshift dorm rooms. His lifeless eyes, see nothing but still he moves with inexorable purpose and with unfeeling fingers he opens the bulkhead door to the engine room and steps inside.
Guided from afar, by a mistress whose will refuses to let his body rest, he crosses the room, like a corporeal ghost. Unseeing eyes scan the room confirming that the lone man in the cavernous room is busy watching porn on his tablet.
With silent fingers, he reaches into the sports bag over his left shoulder, taking a black duct tape wrapped package from the bag over his shoulder and slips it behind a control panel. He nods to the man watching porn and respectfully leaves him to finish his business.
He shuffles along stepping aside, when crew members cross his path, head slightly bowed, shoulders slumped. Every aspect of his body language, is designed to make him appear small and innocuous, blending into the back ground. Howard ducks into an alcove, allowing a small group of maintenance technicians to pass.
Shrouded in the half light of the alcove, he removes a package from his bag, placing it in a bin behind him. Howard reaches into his pocket and presses a button on a fob. Inside the bin, a small red light begins to flash on the package, in unison with other packages across the ship. Without emotion or thought of his own, Howard begins to walk again.
Zoe ducks into an unlocked crew room, closing and locking the door behind her, she breathes out slowly and gently sets the bag on the bed. Slowly she unzips the bag and opens it out. She stares down into the fearful eyes on the man inside and smiles.
"Change of plan, Mr Roberts." Zoe says, softly, stroking the side of his face.
Roberts, moans softly, shaking his head and trying to free his mouth. Tears of frustration leak from his eyes and every attempt he makes to speak is thwarted, by the cloth in his mouth.
Dani chuckles softly, "You should see the look on you face." She says, unable to control herself, "Or should I say, the look on the face you are wearing?" She pauses for effect. "Niki."
Dani gently reaches down and undoes the strap around her prisoners mouth and removes the cloth. Roberts slumps his shoulders and sighs, "How did you know?"
"Little things." Dani says, with a crooked smile, "Your smell, the way you move, the way you sit, the cut supposedly on your cheek that wasn't healing and a few other things."
Roberts shakes his head, "You had me going there. Even though I could see your lifepulse, I was nearly convinced you were Zoe, even your body language was different. I even asked you a control question and monitored your responses when we spoke and it was like you weren't lying"
"I created a persona in my head and inhabited it, convincing myself I was telling the truth." She shrugs, before bursting out with laughter "I am so sorry, I couldn't resist." Dani chuckles, before her expression turns to open fascination, as she touches the skin on Roberts cheek. "How is this possible?"
"Just like the lioness, I reached in and stole physical characteristics." Roberts says, with a shrug.
"Can you change back? This is too wierd." Dani confesses.
Nikita breathes out slowly and Roberts features, melt away allowing her natural looks to return. "How's that? Not sure if I can change back into him though."
"Much better babe." Dani says, marvelling at the process of her transformation. "That is awesome by the way."
"Feels so strange to do." Nikita says, visually checking that she has everything she should and nothing she shouldn't.
"Just another way that you are amazing." Dani says, "Why don't you try changing back into him for a moment?"
Nikita focuses for a moment and closes her eyes, feeling the transformation take hold. She relaxes and opens her eyes, looking down at her male body. "Do you know what this means?" She asks, excitedly.
"Yeah, you can become the ultimate infiltrator, if you can do it without changing the other person into you." Dani says, with a grin. "A problem for another day, I think."
"How did you get out of the straps and wrap me up in them?" Nikita asks, with a little smile, changing back into her natural appearance.
"I have been animating my own body through force of will for eighteen months. A little cow hide was so much easier." Dani says, releasing the straps from her sister, "I felt the exact moment someone died before me and realised that on the Road of Bones, I must have animated the body of the squirrel to pull the blanket over myself."
Nikita smiles with a look of surprise, "Damn and you say I am amazing. What else can you do?"
Dani gives a cheeky grin, as there is a knock at the door. Nikita, puts her hand on her shoulder to stop her, "There is no one there."
Dani winks at her and stands up, walking to the door and casually opening it. A moment later she closes the door and passing a canvas bag to Nikita. "Gear from the car and a crew uniform. This one is yours."
Nikita looks questioningly at the door, "Who was that?"
Howard slowly trudges forward, working his way up from the bowels of the ship to emerge on deck. He is unmoved by the dramatic gun metal grey sky and sea. The sea of the English Channel is calm despite the brisk, ice wind. All around him members of the crew busy themselves, securing anything loose to the deck.
He moves forward like a force of nature. Unwavering, he climbs the steps to the ships conning tower. Howard knocks on the door to the bridge at the top of the steps and waits. A smartly dressed ensign opens the door, with a clip board, "Name?"
Howard plants his left hand in the middle of the mans chest and shoves him backwards with inhuman strength, and strides onto the bridge. He pulls a handgun from his jacket pocket with his right hand and swings his left back from the shove to retrieve the fob from his pocket.
"We haven't got much time." Dani says, donning a black cap and pushing her hair up into it.
"What was with the act in the cell?" Nikita says, pulling a set of crews overalls over the top of a fresh Neoprene and Kevlar Interweave suit.
"At my signal, several charges will detonate in key areas of the ship. One will not detonate, this is a charge from the armoury here. Roberts thinks that his organisation has turned against him and attacked this ship, using an assassin and a trusted employee. He will go to ground and move covertly against his former employer." Dani says, picking up Roberts' Jacket and retrieving his mobile phone. "Damn, thumb print."
Nikita takes the phone and changes back into Roberts, she unlocks the phone and passes it back to Dani, before changing back to herself and pulling on a set of boots.
Dani looks at Nikita with admiration, "It is just so effortless for you." She says, with a smile, "If I wasn't here, you would probably be running this ship. I see your body language and you still have doubts about yourself, but you are so much more formidable than you can imagine. You have no idea what you are capable of."
"To be honest, I haven't really used my powers since Africa apart from for healing. Haven't even used my teeth or claws." Nikita says, downcast.
Dani places a hand on her sisters shoulder, "We are in the middle of something big and we are not going to get through this by holding back."
"I am scared of letting go." Nikita says, swallowing hard.
With fire in her eyes, Dani grins, "It isn't about letting go, it is about taking the reins and charging in hard, fully in control. You cannot master what you can do, by hiding from yourself." She looks away, focusing on something unseen, "Neither of us can."
Dani takes out a tiny mobile phone and copies the contacts, emails, messages and files, from Roberts' phone, then zips everything she copied and emails it. "We can go through that later."
"The sooner we start the better." Nikita says, donning a cap and tucking her hair into it.
"Already in process." Dani says, slipping her phone away.
Nikita looks at Dani, curiously wondering, "Who is she sending that to? Is she working with someone else?"
Both sisters spend a moment, loading their pockets with gear from the bag. Dani picks up the leather straps that she removed from her sister and wraps them around her waist like a series of belts. "Might be useful." She says, as much to herself as to Niki, before looking across at her sister, "Are you alright?"
"There is something I have to say and it can't wait." Nikita says, in a serious tone.
"Niki? What's wrong?" Dani asks, focusing entirely on her sister.
"Dani." She pauses, trying to find the words, "Your plan sucked." She pauses a moment, before cracking a smile.
"You soppy cow, you had me worried." Dani says, giggling, "You are not wrong though. Next time, you come up with the plan."
"Fair enough." Nikita says, with a laugh of her own.
"Ready?" Dani asks, calming herself.
Nikita calms herself and checks her gear. She nods, getting to her feet and slipping on a facemask.
Dani slips her own mask in place and smiles, "Let us begin."
He walks to the sink, casually pulling a towel from the rail and running it under the tap. Dani glances at her sister, seeing the misery on her face and the blood pouring from the angry cut on her face. Her gaze shifts to Roberts, when he returns and crouches once again next to Dani and begins wiping her face, removing the last traces of adhesive from the tape.
She watches closely, as he leaves her side and takes a seat in the chair, thinking, "Strange, most men don't swing their hips like that when they walk."
"Good afternoon, My name is Mr Roberts. This is my ship and my crew. It is my understanding that you were captured by one of my operatives. Can you confirm that this is the case?" He says, is a grave tone.
Dani nods, thinking to herself, "Bit of a daft question to ask."
"As a prisoner here, you will be afforded the professional treatment that you deserve and will be treated with respect." Roberts says, calmly.
Dani looks away from him, to gaze at her sister, seeing once again that the cut on her face is gushing blood, She turns her gaze back to her captor with a look in her eyes that could rend flesh from bone.
Roberts stands and shrugs, "Quiet type eh? I can relate to that." Dani's gaze follows him across the room until he stands next to her sister.
"So, you are this ones partner?" He asks, pushing Nikita gently, causing her to sway slightly. "What is your name?"
Dani sizes the man up and in a Bordeaux accent answers, "Non Monsieur, I am not this ones partner, my name is Zoe Rouseau."
Roberts looks at her closely, his eyes gouging into her soul, "Funny, you look like her lost sister."
"Thorn's original plan had me return to the fold, while you held the step daughter, to keep them off balance and let me get close to Marks and his family." She says, coldly, "Seven months of painful medical procedures and learning everything about her life down the toilet because your cretins could not hold on to one little girl."
Roberts stands there in stunned silence, allowing her to continue, "Originally, I was to infiltrate Nirvana to co-opt their resources, but because you have endangered this operation, Thorn sent me to handle things and bring you back to face the music."
He nervously runs his fingers through his long dark hair. "That is not going to happen. You are all wrapped up and going no where." Roberts says, sweating a little.
With stunned surprise, Roberts watches the leather straps that bind her unwrap themselves and fly at him, wrapping his body tightly and buckling themselves
With his legs pinned together and his arms wrapped to his sides, he is unable to catch himself as he falls flat on his face. Zoe watches him wriggle with a look of confusion and fear on his face. She snaps to her feet and snatches up the damp towel that Roberts used to wipe her face and shoves it into his mouth, taking a spare strap to secure it in his mouth.
"You have compromised this operation, this vessel has been exposed, as a result of your actions. My agent is in the process of decommisioning this vessel. Thankfully for us, a contingency has been activated." Zoe says coldly, before turning to Nikita, "Sorry babe, you are no longer needed. With luck one of the crew will release you before this vessel sinks."
A soft knock at the door, draws her attention and Zoe crosses the room relaxed and opens it, accepting a package from the man the other side and closing it softly. She returns to Roberts' side and crouches opening the dark fabric bundle and revealing it to be a large canvas bag. "You are going in this bag. If you do anything to draw attention, I will kill everyone who might be able to see." She picks up Roberts and roughly closes the bag around him and zips it tightly.
Nikita thinks to herself, "There was no one there. There was a knock at the door, but there was no one there."
Zoe hefts the bag onto her shoulder and struts towards the door, turning at the last minute to Nikita, "Sorry you and Kim got dragged into this." She exits the room without another word.
Howard walks slowly away from the cell and heads deeper into the ship continuing his long march that has taken him to the infirmary, the canteen, the armoury and the makeshift dorm rooms. His lifeless eyes, see nothing but still he moves with inexorable purpose and with unfeeling fingers he opens the bulkhead door to the engine room and steps inside.
Guided from afar, by a mistress whose will refuses to let his body rest, he crosses the room, like a corporeal ghost. Unseeing eyes scan the room confirming that the lone man in the cavernous room is busy watching porn on his tablet.
With silent fingers, he reaches into the sports bag over his left shoulder, taking a black duct tape wrapped package from the bag over his shoulder and slips it behind a control panel. He nods to the man watching porn and respectfully leaves him to finish his business.
He shuffles along stepping aside, when crew members cross his path, head slightly bowed, shoulders slumped. Every aspect of his body language, is designed to make him appear small and innocuous, blending into the back ground. Howard ducks into an alcove, allowing a small group of maintenance technicians to pass.
Shrouded in the half light of the alcove, he removes a package from his bag, placing it in a bin behind him. Howard reaches into his pocket and presses a button on a fob. Inside the bin, a small red light begins to flash on the package, in unison with other packages across the ship. Without emotion or thought of his own, Howard begins to walk again.
Zoe ducks into an unlocked crew room, closing and locking the door behind her, she breathes out slowly and gently sets the bag on the bed. Slowly she unzips the bag and opens it out. She stares down into the fearful eyes on the man inside and smiles.
"Change of plan, Mr Roberts." Zoe says, softly, stroking the side of his face.
Roberts, moans softly, shaking his head and trying to free his mouth. Tears of frustration leak from his eyes and every attempt he makes to speak is thwarted, by the cloth in his mouth.
Dani chuckles softly, "You should see the look on you face." She says, unable to control herself, "Or should I say, the look on the face you are wearing?" She pauses for effect. "Niki."
Dani gently reaches down and undoes the strap around her prisoners mouth and removes the cloth. Roberts slumps his shoulders and sighs, "How did you know?"
"Little things." Dani says, with a crooked smile, "Your smell, the way you move, the way you sit, the cut supposedly on your cheek that wasn't healing and a few other things."
Roberts shakes his head, "You had me going there. Even though I could see your lifepulse, I was nearly convinced you were Zoe, even your body language was different. I even asked you a control question and monitored your responses when we spoke and it was like you weren't lying"
"I created a persona in my head and inhabited it, convincing myself I was telling the truth." She shrugs, before bursting out with laughter "I am so sorry, I couldn't resist." Dani chuckles, before her expression turns to open fascination, as she touches the skin on Roberts cheek. "How is this possible?"
"Just like the lioness, I reached in and stole physical characteristics." Roberts says, with a shrug.
"Can you change back? This is too wierd." Dani confesses.
Nikita breathes out slowly and Roberts features, melt away allowing her natural looks to return. "How's that? Not sure if I can change back into him though."
"Much better babe." Dani says, marvelling at the process of her transformation. "That is awesome by the way."
"Feels so strange to do." Nikita says, visually checking that she has everything she should and nothing she shouldn't.
"Just another way that you are amazing." Dani says, "Why don't you try changing back into him for a moment?"
Nikita focuses for a moment and closes her eyes, feeling the transformation take hold. She relaxes and opens her eyes, looking down at her male body. "Do you know what this means?" She asks, excitedly.
"Yeah, you can become the ultimate infiltrator, if you can do it without changing the other person into you." Dani says, with a grin. "A problem for another day, I think."
"How did you get out of the straps and wrap me up in them?" Nikita asks, with a little smile, changing back into her natural appearance.
"I have been animating my own body through force of will for eighteen months. A little cow hide was so much easier." Dani says, releasing the straps from her sister, "I felt the exact moment someone died before me and realised that on the Road of Bones, I must have animated the body of the squirrel to pull the blanket over myself."
Nikita smiles with a look of surprise, "Damn and you say I am amazing. What else can you do?"
Dani gives a cheeky grin, as there is a knock at the door. Nikita, puts her hand on her shoulder to stop her, "There is no one there."
Dani winks at her and stands up, walking to the door and casually opening it. A moment later she closes the door and passing a canvas bag to Nikita. "Gear from the car and a crew uniform. This one is yours."
Nikita looks questioningly at the door, "Who was that?"
Howard slowly trudges forward, working his way up from the bowels of the ship to emerge on deck. He is unmoved by the dramatic gun metal grey sky and sea. The sea of the English Channel is calm despite the brisk, ice wind. All around him members of the crew busy themselves, securing anything loose to the deck.
He moves forward like a force of nature. Unwavering, he climbs the steps to the ships conning tower. Howard knocks on the door to the bridge at the top of the steps and waits. A smartly dressed ensign opens the door, with a clip board, "Name?"
Howard plants his left hand in the middle of the mans chest and shoves him backwards with inhuman strength, and strides onto the bridge. He pulls a handgun from his jacket pocket with his right hand and swings his left back from the shove to retrieve the fob from his pocket.
"We haven't got much time." Dani says, donning a black cap and pushing her hair up into it.
"What was with the act in the cell?" Nikita says, pulling a set of crews overalls over the top of a fresh Neoprene and Kevlar Interweave suit.
"At my signal, several charges will detonate in key areas of the ship. One will not detonate, this is a charge from the armoury here. Roberts thinks that his organisation has turned against him and attacked this ship, using an assassin and a trusted employee. He will go to ground and move covertly against his former employer." Dani says, picking up Roberts' Jacket and retrieving his mobile phone. "Damn, thumb print."
Nikita takes the phone and changes back into Roberts, she unlocks the phone and passes it back to Dani, before changing back to herself and pulling on a set of boots.
Dani looks at Nikita with admiration, "It is just so effortless for you." She says, with a smile, "If I wasn't here, you would probably be running this ship. I see your body language and you still have doubts about yourself, but you are so much more formidable than you can imagine. You have no idea what you are capable of."
"To be honest, I haven't really used my powers since Africa apart from for healing. Haven't even used my teeth or claws." Nikita says, downcast.
Dani places a hand on her sisters shoulder, "We are in the middle of something big and we are not going to get through this by holding back."
"I am scared of letting go." Nikita says, swallowing hard.
With fire in her eyes, Dani grins, "It isn't about letting go, it is about taking the reins and charging in hard, fully in control. You cannot master what you can do, by hiding from yourself." She looks away, focusing on something unseen, "Neither of us can."
Dani takes out a tiny mobile phone and copies the contacts, emails, messages and files, from Roberts' phone, then zips everything she copied and emails it. "We can go through that later."
"The sooner we start the better." Nikita says, donning a cap and tucking her hair into it.
"Already in process." Dani says, slipping her phone away.
Nikita looks at Dani, curiously wondering, "Who is she sending that to? Is she working with someone else?"
Both sisters spend a moment, loading their pockets with gear from the bag. Dani picks up the leather straps that she removed from her sister and wraps them around her waist like a series of belts. "Might be useful." She says, as much to herself as to Niki, before looking across at her sister, "Are you alright?"
"There is something I have to say and it can't wait." Nikita says, in a serious tone.
"Niki? What's wrong?" Dani asks, focusing entirely on her sister.
"Dani." She pauses, trying to find the words, "Your plan sucked." She pauses a moment, before cracking a smile.
"You soppy cow, you had me worried." Dani says, giggling, "You are not wrong though. Next time, you come up with the plan."
"Fair enough." Nikita says, with a laugh of her own.
"Ready?" Dani asks, calming herself.
Nikita calms herself and checks her gear. She nods, getting to her feet and slipping on a facemask.
Dani slips her own mask in place and smiles, "Let us begin."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
-
girlstiemeup
- Forum Contributer
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 5 years ago
Awesome story so far
Amen to that
I had my suspiccions about what happened - but how you made it? Just great. I liked the humor of the Girls at the end!Thank you mate, welcome aboard, I hope you continue to enjoy.
Cheers Caesar, thank you for your continued support of this tale, I try to keep things interesting by foreshadowing at times and planting seeds in advance.
Thank you to to [mention]Bandit666[/mention], [mention]OldTUGger[/mention], [mention]slackywacky[/mention], [mention]bje[/mention] and to everyone else who has stuck with this and some of my other tales. It has been a wild ride and there is plenty still to come.
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
The ship is rocked by explosions, as Howard pushes the button on the fob and drops it. Across the length, bredth and depth of the ship, the loud crack of explosions rings out. In the space of a second, the engine room, armoury, batteries, server room, communications office and various corridors are transformed into so much flaming and twisted metal.
Howard raises the gun and fires, missing the captain and hitting the console of the navigation officer. Crew member dive left and right, taking cover behind heavy steel work stations and drawing weapons. Howard slowly walks forward his limbs slowly beginning to stiffen from the first traces of rigor mortis. He raises his weapon again and takes aim at a bridge officer and hesitates for a split second allowing the officer to dive out of the way.
His shots skim the bridge officers back and slam into the ships Radar console. Two junior officers meet each others gaze and nod to each other. In unison they dive from cover and fire at Howard, unloading their weapons into him. His body shudders from the impact of the bullets, but does not fall. He raises his weapon again and aims at the man on the ground nearest him, as the prone man scrambles to reload.
The captain and three other bridge officers break from cover and take aim, stunned as much by the number of bullet wounds the intruder has, as they are by the fact he is still standing. Howard pulls the trigger, narrowly missing the man on the ground. The shot galvanises the bridge officers into action and they open fire, peppering the man with heavy handgun fire, until he drops lifeless to the ground.
The man he narrowly missed rolls to his feet and leaps to his side, kicking the dead man's weapon away and confirming he is dead.
Dani stands by the door and holds up her hand, signalling to wait. Nikita stands behind her wondering what her sister is waiting for. The boat seems to lurch in every direction at once and Nikita looses her footing for a moment.
Screams ring out in the corridor and the sound of booted, heavy footfalls rings out as the crew rush to attend the many incidents occuring on board.
"What the hell was that?" Nikita asks, sensing lifepulses erratically moving.
"I did say about a series of explosions." Dani explains, "Just enough to cripple this ship and leave it dead in the water but not enough to sink it." She gazes into her sisters eyes and asks, "Are you ok?"
"A little shaken but ok." Nikita pauses considering what Dani has just said, "How come you didn't want to sink the ship?'
"Coastguard will get reports of smoke coming from a ship that wont respond to their hails. Navy may attend, boat will be searched and they will find a lot of illegal gear on board. Authorities will move in and will pull this ship and everyone on it apart looking for answers." Dani explains, noting that the sound of boots in decreasing in volume.
"What's your plan for getting us off the boat?" Nikita asks, nervously.
"We get out of here before the coastguard arrives." Dani says enigmatically, "Lets go."
Dani opens the door and emerges into the smoky corridor, turning to head deeper into the ship.
Simms feels the ship rock around him and glances at Figgis, they get to their feet simultaneously and Simms takes the lead, breaking into a run.
"Boss what's the hurry?" Figgis asks, struggling to keep up.
"Something bad has happened. It is connected to that woman, I am sure of it." Simms asks, drawing his sidearm on the run. Figgis nods his ascent, and draws his weapon, as he sprints after his partner.
They skid to a halt outside of the cell that they had only recently left and flank the door. Simms gives a threecount and Figgis opens the door, allowing Simms to sweep into the room weapon drawn.
"Sir!" Simms calls out seeing Roberts hanging upside down. "Figs, watch the corridor."
Simms rushes to his employers side and holsters his weapon before unbuckling the gag in the suspended mans mouth. "Are you alright sir? Are you hurt?"
"I am fine, get me down from here." Roberts orders, straining against the metal digging into his limbs.
Simms hurriedly released the combination lock around the chain keeping Roberts suspended and lowers him to the ground, before he sets about releasing the end of the chain around the bar. "What happened sir?"
Roberts opens his mouth to answer, but stops, thninking to himself, "What did actually happen?" He thinks back over everything since the van, "The prisoner turned into me, whilst I turned into her. She got released and I got locked up. Then a clone of the missing sister working for Thorn came in and dragged who she thought was me away."
"I have no idea. But it appears we have been betrayed." Roberts says, in a grave tone. "We need to get to the bridge and make sure everyone gets clear of this vessel."
"My idea is to blow a hole in the lower hull and then swim for it." Dani says, thoughtfully as she proceeds down a quiet stairwell.
"Long shot, but during my training as a rescue technician, I have to memorise dozens of ship's deck plans, building schematics and oil rig layouts. From what I have see so far, at one time this ship, was a research vessel and might have a moon pool. We could enter the water covertly and slip away unnoticed." Nikita says, "Would have diving gear too. Might be worth a shot."
Dani smiles warmly at her sister, "That's better than my plan. Let's try that. Are we still clear?"
Nikita focuses and confirms that the lower decks are clear, "All good. There was a small group of people low down in the boat, I think I can find where they were."
"Lead the way." Dani says, with an exaggerated bow.
Nikita returns the bow and jogs down the stairs to the lower level. Dani follows thinking, "Even now, with everything she has done, she still doesn't see, just how good she is."
Dressed in crew coveralls and wearing boots two sizes too big, Roberts enters the bridge, flanked by Figgis and Simms. Seeing the chaos of the room, he barks, "Sitrep, now."
As the room falls silent, the first officer turns and rests his hand on the back of a chair, "Targetted explosions across the ship. We have no main power or engines, back up power down to twenty percent. Unable to determine how many insurgents at this time." He points to a body covered in a blood soaked sheet, "This man entered the bridge by force and opened fire, damaging sensitive systems and killing the captain before he was neutralised."
Roberts crouches by the dead man and lifts the blanket. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, "This is the man who brought the Rousseau woman in."
"Who sir?" The first officer asks, with a squint.
"Doesn't matter right now." Roberts says firmly, "Order a full evacuation of the ship, tell everyone to go to ground and await contact. I don't know what has happened here, but it is clear that this ship and everyone on it, is compromised."
Nikita pauses hearing the alarm, "They are evacuating before the authorities arrive." She advises, opening the airlock door.
Dani follows her inside the small airlock and smiles, "So far so good."
"What is the deal with the guy helping you?" Nikita asks, waiting for the inner airlock door to open.
"He had me cold, I was out of options. He shot someone in the mouth, by accident and they died of shock. I felt his passing and senses his body laid out. In that instant, it clicked that I animated the squirrel on the Road of Bones, to cover me with a blanket." Dani says, warmly, Flashing her sister a cheeky grin, "I had a Niki Moment."
"A Niki moment?" Nikita asks, feeling her hackles rise.
"Yeah, a moment where everything hangs in the balance and only the most unlikely thing will work." Dani explains, with a heartfelt smile.
Nikita gives a crooked smile and a wink, "I'll take that. What did you do?"
"I reached out with my mind, picked up one of the dead guys broken teeth, flew it into Howard's mouth and down his throat, destroyed his lungs and punctured his heart." Dani explains, wincing at the memory.
Nikita looks at her open mouthed, for a moment and shudders. "That is rough." She steps out of the airlock into the moon pool area and turns sharply, "So he was dead."
Dani nods, giving an embarrassed shrug.
"That is mad, so all the while we were together, you were controlling him as well." Nikita says in a moment of realisation, "That is unreal."
Dani steps out of the air lock and closes the door behind her. "Worked out well for a first try. Quite stressful though."
Nikita nods in appreciation and begins to look at the SCUBA gear, in racks against a nearby wall.
Dani takes out her phone and begins taking photos of the assembled gear, with a look of concern on her face. She moves towards the underwater sleds and submersible drones with equal concern as she keeps taking pictures.
Dani pulls a small watertight bag from a shelf and empties her pockets into it, deep in thought.
"Dani? Are you ok?" Nikita asks, noting the look on her sisters face.
Dani looks around the room and chews her lip, "There are enough top of the line rebreathers, wetsuits, sleds and gear here to equip fifty divers. Whatever they were doing was water based. I have photos of the gear and serial number on some items to enable tracing."
"I hadn't thought of it that way, i was just looking for gear for us to wear." Nikita says, sadly.
Dani rushes to her side and places a hand on her shoulder, "We are here, becuase of you. We wouldn't know at all if it weren't for you."
"Thanks, but I still missed it." Nikita says, upset with herself.
Unsure what to say to comfort her sister, Dani asks, "Did you find anything we could use?"
"No they only have wetsuits." Nikita says, pulling a watertight bag of her own from the shelf and loading her gear into it.
"Not ideal for January in the English channel. They would trap freezing water against our skins and we would never be able to warm them up." Dani says, bitterly.
"They must have been heading for warmer waters." Nikita says, without thinking.
"True. Doesn't help us much though." Dani says thinking about how to get them both to shore.
"If you take your Zombie form, you wont feel the cold and wont need to breath so you should be ok with some swim fins and goggles." Nikita says, letting her voice trail off.
"What about you though?" Dani asks, her eyes still searching the room.
Nikita's eyes light up, as she has a moment of realisation. "I think I am having a Niki moment."
Howard raises the gun and fires, missing the captain and hitting the console of the navigation officer. Crew member dive left and right, taking cover behind heavy steel work stations and drawing weapons. Howard slowly walks forward his limbs slowly beginning to stiffen from the first traces of rigor mortis. He raises his weapon again and takes aim at a bridge officer and hesitates for a split second allowing the officer to dive out of the way.
His shots skim the bridge officers back and slam into the ships Radar console. Two junior officers meet each others gaze and nod to each other. In unison they dive from cover and fire at Howard, unloading their weapons into him. His body shudders from the impact of the bullets, but does not fall. He raises his weapon again and aims at the man on the ground nearest him, as the prone man scrambles to reload.
The captain and three other bridge officers break from cover and take aim, stunned as much by the number of bullet wounds the intruder has, as they are by the fact he is still standing. Howard pulls the trigger, narrowly missing the man on the ground. The shot galvanises the bridge officers into action and they open fire, peppering the man with heavy handgun fire, until he drops lifeless to the ground.
The man he narrowly missed rolls to his feet and leaps to his side, kicking the dead man's weapon away and confirming he is dead.
Dani stands by the door and holds up her hand, signalling to wait. Nikita stands behind her wondering what her sister is waiting for. The boat seems to lurch in every direction at once and Nikita looses her footing for a moment.
Screams ring out in the corridor and the sound of booted, heavy footfalls rings out as the crew rush to attend the many incidents occuring on board.
"What the hell was that?" Nikita asks, sensing lifepulses erratically moving.
"I did say about a series of explosions." Dani explains, "Just enough to cripple this ship and leave it dead in the water but not enough to sink it." She gazes into her sisters eyes and asks, "Are you ok?"
"A little shaken but ok." Nikita pauses considering what Dani has just said, "How come you didn't want to sink the ship?'
"Coastguard will get reports of smoke coming from a ship that wont respond to their hails. Navy may attend, boat will be searched and they will find a lot of illegal gear on board. Authorities will move in and will pull this ship and everyone on it apart looking for answers." Dani explains, noting that the sound of boots in decreasing in volume.
"What's your plan for getting us off the boat?" Nikita asks, nervously.
"We get out of here before the coastguard arrives." Dani says enigmatically, "Lets go."
Dani opens the door and emerges into the smoky corridor, turning to head deeper into the ship.
Simms feels the ship rock around him and glances at Figgis, they get to their feet simultaneously and Simms takes the lead, breaking into a run.
"Boss what's the hurry?" Figgis asks, struggling to keep up.
"Something bad has happened. It is connected to that woman, I am sure of it." Simms asks, drawing his sidearm on the run. Figgis nods his ascent, and draws his weapon, as he sprints after his partner.
They skid to a halt outside of the cell that they had only recently left and flank the door. Simms gives a threecount and Figgis opens the door, allowing Simms to sweep into the room weapon drawn.
"Sir!" Simms calls out seeing Roberts hanging upside down. "Figs, watch the corridor."
Simms rushes to his employers side and holsters his weapon before unbuckling the gag in the suspended mans mouth. "Are you alright sir? Are you hurt?"
"I am fine, get me down from here." Roberts orders, straining against the metal digging into his limbs.
Simms hurriedly released the combination lock around the chain keeping Roberts suspended and lowers him to the ground, before he sets about releasing the end of the chain around the bar. "What happened sir?"
Roberts opens his mouth to answer, but stops, thninking to himself, "What did actually happen?" He thinks back over everything since the van, "The prisoner turned into me, whilst I turned into her. She got released and I got locked up. Then a clone of the missing sister working for Thorn came in and dragged who she thought was me away."
"I have no idea. But it appears we have been betrayed." Roberts says, in a grave tone. "We need to get to the bridge and make sure everyone gets clear of this vessel."
"My idea is to blow a hole in the lower hull and then swim for it." Dani says, thoughtfully as she proceeds down a quiet stairwell.
"Long shot, but during my training as a rescue technician, I have to memorise dozens of ship's deck plans, building schematics and oil rig layouts. From what I have see so far, at one time this ship, was a research vessel and might have a moon pool. We could enter the water covertly and slip away unnoticed." Nikita says, "Would have diving gear too. Might be worth a shot."
Dani smiles warmly at her sister, "That's better than my plan. Let's try that. Are we still clear?"
Nikita focuses and confirms that the lower decks are clear, "All good. There was a small group of people low down in the boat, I think I can find where they were."
"Lead the way." Dani says, with an exaggerated bow.
Nikita returns the bow and jogs down the stairs to the lower level. Dani follows thinking, "Even now, with everything she has done, she still doesn't see, just how good she is."
Dressed in crew coveralls and wearing boots two sizes too big, Roberts enters the bridge, flanked by Figgis and Simms. Seeing the chaos of the room, he barks, "Sitrep, now."
As the room falls silent, the first officer turns and rests his hand on the back of a chair, "Targetted explosions across the ship. We have no main power or engines, back up power down to twenty percent. Unable to determine how many insurgents at this time." He points to a body covered in a blood soaked sheet, "This man entered the bridge by force and opened fire, damaging sensitive systems and killing the captain before he was neutralised."
Roberts crouches by the dead man and lifts the blanket. He closes his eyes and shakes his head, "This is the man who brought the Rousseau woman in."
"Who sir?" The first officer asks, with a squint.
"Doesn't matter right now." Roberts says firmly, "Order a full evacuation of the ship, tell everyone to go to ground and await contact. I don't know what has happened here, but it is clear that this ship and everyone on it, is compromised."
Nikita pauses hearing the alarm, "They are evacuating before the authorities arrive." She advises, opening the airlock door.
Dani follows her inside the small airlock and smiles, "So far so good."
"What is the deal with the guy helping you?" Nikita asks, waiting for the inner airlock door to open.
"He had me cold, I was out of options. He shot someone in the mouth, by accident and they died of shock. I felt his passing and senses his body laid out. In that instant, it clicked that I animated the squirrel on the Road of Bones, to cover me with a blanket." Dani says, warmly, Flashing her sister a cheeky grin, "I had a Niki Moment."
"A Niki moment?" Nikita asks, feeling her hackles rise.
"Yeah, a moment where everything hangs in the balance and only the most unlikely thing will work." Dani explains, with a heartfelt smile.
Nikita gives a crooked smile and a wink, "I'll take that. What did you do?"
"I reached out with my mind, picked up one of the dead guys broken teeth, flew it into Howard's mouth and down his throat, destroyed his lungs and punctured his heart." Dani explains, wincing at the memory.
Nikita looks at her open mouthed, for a moment and shudders. "That is rough." She steps out of the airlock into the moon pool area and turns sharply, "So he was dead."
Dani nods, giving an embarrassed shrug.
"That is mad, so all the while we were together, you were controlling him as well." Nikita says in a moment of realisation, "That is unreal."
Dani steps out of the air lock and closes the door behind her. "Worked out well for a first try. Quite stressful though."
Nikita nods in appreciation and begins to look at the SCUBA gear, in racks against a nearby wall.
Dani takes out her phone and begins taking photos of the assembled gear, with a look of concern on her face. She moves towards the underwater sleds and submersible drones with equal concern as she keeps taking pictures.
Dani pulls a small watertight bag from a shelf and empties her pockets into it, deep in thought.
"Dani? Are you ok?" Nikita asks, noting the look on her sisters face.
Dani looks around the room and chews her lip, "There are enough top of the line rebreathers, wetsuits, sleds and gear here to equip fifty divers. Whatever they were doing was water based. I have photos of the gear and serial number on some items to enable tracing."
"I hadn't thought of it that way, i was just looking for gear for us to wear." Nikita says, sadly.
Dani rushes to her side and places a hand on her shoulder, "We are here, becuase of you. We wouldn't know at all if it weren't for you."
"Thanks, but I still missed it." Nikita says, upset with herself.
Unsure what to say to comfort her sister, Dani asks, "Did you find anything we could use?"
"No they only have wetsuits." Nikita says, pulling a watertight bag of her own from the shelf and loading her gear into it.
"Not ideal for January in the English channel. They would trap freezing water against our skins and we would never be able to warm them up." Dani says, bitterly.
"They must have been heading for warmer waters." Nikita says, without thinking.
"True. Doesn't help us much though." Dani says thinking about how to get them both to shore.
"If you take your Zombie form, you wont feel the cold and wont need to breath so you should be ok with some swim fins and goggles." Nikita says, letting her voice trail off.
"What about you though?" Dani asks, her eyes still searching the room.
Nikita's eyes light up, as she has a moment of realisation. "I think I am having a Niki moment."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Well it looks like I take my eye off the ball for a few days. Due to the loss of someone dear to me. Only to return to yet more epic chapters of what is unquestionably the most intriguing and suspenseful tales.
Great updates as always. So well written and thought provoking. Long may it last
Great updates as always. So well written and thought provoking. Long may it last
Dani kicks hard roughly twenty feet under the surface, her still heart and lungs, demands no oxygen and she effortlessly glides through the water. She smiles looking left to her sister, who swims beside her.
Nikita, glides through the water, swimming as if she was born to it. The gills slits from a dogfish, draw oxygen from the water as she streaks through the water towards shore. She smiles back at Dani, the sea washing her tears of joy away, "This is incredible, I feel so alive." She thinks, perceiving her surroundings through the senses of the dogfish.
She marvels at the sparkle of fish around her, from their nervous systems. Nikita feels the earths electromagnetic field and knows where she is. Her nose curls at the tang of waste and pollution, subtly overlaid over the natural odours of the sea and its inhabitants. "I have never felt or seen the world like this."
Nikita looks at Dani and to her new senses, she appears as a void in the water, not as a corpse or piece of meat, but a blank space. "Interesting, she is not dead, but something else when, her heart is stopped."
"It is so quiet. So quiet after so much noise. Why have I never done this before?" She asks herself, following her sisters path.
In the dim light under the water she sees the world with fresh eyes. "I feel one with the sea, I feel the bodies of sea animals, the gentle tug of the current calling me deeper. I feel weightless, as if I have no body, it is just my soul floating here."
They drift on the currents, each in their own way, falling in love with the sea.
"Angel is so cool." Kim thinks laying back on her bed, "She can do anything. I wish I could be just like her."
She closes her eyes and thinks back to the previous night, recalling the way she stopped the men who captured her aunt. "I feel bad for lying to Dani, but I didn't close my eyes when she fought those people holding Auntie Niki."
A buzz from her pocket, pulls her from her thoughts. Kim leaps from her bed, clutching her leg in surprise. She breathes a sigh of relief when she feels the phone Dani gave her.
Kim nervously pulls it out of her pocket, to see that she has an email. She opens it and reads the message.
"Kim, this is Angel, I am with Niki.
Attached to this email is a file taken from the phone of a senior person involved in what is going on. I need you to show them to Sasha and my dad as soon as it is safe to do so, they will know what to do with them.
This is very important, that is why I am trusting you with this.
Luv Dani"
"Angel trusts me." Kim thinks with joyous tears in her eyes. She checks herself in the mirror, "Black leggings and long sleeve t-shirt. Just like Angel would wear."
She listens to her father on the phone to work while she pulls a pair of black trainers on, "He is too busy with work. I will have to get to the academy myself."
Kim tip toes into the room her father shares with Sasha and pulls a box from under their bed. She quickly returns to her room and begins putting on the spring loaded stilts, whilst gazing out of the window at the main training centre, "They are in the control room in there, it is not too far. I can do this."
She opens her bedroom window and makes sure the phone is tucked safely away. She sits back down on her bed and stares at the floor. "I can't just go without telling dad." She says to herself.
"Go where?" Kurt asks, concerned that Kim is wearing Sasha's stilts.
Kim jumps a little in surprise, not having heard her father, "Hi Dad." She says, with a guilty look on her face. "I need to see Sasha and Steve."
"I'm sorry sweetie, they are very busy at the minute. It will have to wait until tonight." Kurt says gently.
"But it cant wait, it is really important." Kim pleads.
Kurt enters the room slowly and sits on the bed next to Kim, gently taking her hand in his, "I need to talk you like a grown up."
Something in his tone, makes her feel scared, not of him, but of what he will say. "Oh no, please let Sasha be alright." She thinks, fearfully. With trembling lips, she whispers "Ok?"
Kurt rubs his forehead and takes a deep breath, "You are such a brave girl. I don't want to hide the truth from you." He says, gently, "Auntie Niki and Angel, have gone missing. Sasha and Steve are working on finding them. So you can't disturb them at the moment."
Kim pulls her hand from her fathers grip and excitedly reaches into her pocket to pull out the tiny phone. "Angel gave me this for emergencies. She has sent me an email, I need to show Sasha and Steve."
He gently takes the phone from her, between his thumb and forefinger gently, as if afraid he might break it. "I didn't think that they made phones this small." He pauses for a moment thinking, "I am not keen on her having a phone at her age, but, I must admit I like the idea of her having one for emergencies."
Kurt passes the phone back to her, "Get those stilts off we'll take the car."
"But you have work to do." Kim says, hopeful that he really means it.
Kurt wraps his arm around her shoulders, "Niki and Dani are family and family is more important than work."
"Thank you dad." Kim says, hugging her father.
Kurt squeezes his daughter gently and whispers, "I will get my shoes on, you get those stilts off and we will get moving."
"Still nothing on police comms about the girls." Kate says, wearily staring at communication feeds.
"Facial recognition is not coming up with anything in London or the home counties." Sasha says staring at her screen.
"Got a report of an abandoned science vessel in the English Channel about an hour out of Harwich. Signs of gunfire and explosions aboard. Law enforcement suspiciously quiet about it. By my reckoning, they could have easily gotten from last known contact to Harwich docks in time for departure." Steve says, rubbing his chin.
"It is times like this that I miss Mike. He could have been looking over their shoulder." Steve says, stretching.
"I miss him too. He was a lovely guy. How long has it been now?" Kate asks, sorrowfully.
"Just over a year. Still can't wrap my head around it." Steve says, shaking his head, "I think he is still out there but, he wont show himself, until he is ready."
Kate smiles sadly and pulls out a packet of cigarettes and begins unwrapping the cellophane wrapper. Sasha winks at Steve, then turns to Kate, "Sorry do you mind. It is not good for the baby."
Kate raises her hands in mock surrender and puts them away, "Sorry." Confusion covers her face as she thinks about what Sasha has just said. She looks up in open mouthed shock and with her voice cracking asks, "Baby?"
Sasha smiles and nods, "Three months."
Kate leaps from her seat and rushes across the room, to hug Sasha. Tears of joy flow freely and Kate cannot speak as she embraces her neice. "I am so happy for you." She says between joyful sobs. Kate thinks of the scared girl she rescued from the courtyard of this facility all those months ago and the strong and confident woman that she has become. "This is just the best news."
Kate turns to Steve and smiles, "Congratulations grandad."
Steve smiles back, so proud of his daughter and responds, "Thank you great-aunt."
Kate feels the impact of the words like a hammer to her heart. Her body and appearance is still twenty years younger, thanks to Nikita's healing eighteen months ago, but at the sound of Steve words, she feels the sprouting of her first grey hair.
The door bursts open and all eyes turn to Kim, as she leans against the door frame, out of breath, as she tries to speak.
Sasha springs from her seat and races across the room to her. Concerned she cups her step daughter's cheeks in her hands and brushes the hair from her face. "Slow down sweetie. What ever is the matter?" She signals to Steve, who tosses her a bottle of water. She catches the bottle without looking, opens it and passes it to Kim.
Kim gulps the cool water greedily and her breathing slows, "Need to show you something." She fumbles in her pocket and pulls out the tiny phone, thrusting it into Sasha's palm, before gulping more water down.
Sasha takes the tiny phone and reads the text message and email. She nods to herself and forwards the email to herself, Steve and Kate, calling out, "Incoming."
She smiles and places a gentle hand on Kim's shoulder. "You did the right thing showing me this. I am very proud of you." She looks down at the tiny phone and asks, "Where did you get this?"
"Angel gave it to me." Kim answers, in an innocent tone.
She passes the phone back to Kim and thinks, "Tidy little piece of tech. Might have to get myself one of those as a backup."
Steve opens up the email and immediately opens the zipped files, "Kate you got it?" He calls out, looking over.
Kate nods opening the zipped file, "I will take emails, are you ok with call logs? Sasha, can you take text messages."
Sasha gives a thumbs up, seeing Kurt running towards the door of the room.
Kim snuggles into her father's arms in rapt fascination, watching the back and forth between Sasha, Kate and Steve. "Wow, this is like a spy film." She thinks as Steve rapidly speaks.
"Call patterns indicate a call to the same number at around eighteen hundred every day, duration approximately twenty minutes, possible call to spouse, while on way home. Two calls per week to an off shore number, each one lasting up to an hour, repeating every week for the last three months. Pinging you the numbers now" Steve rattles off, like a burst of machine gun fire.
"Got 'em." Sasha says, intently watching her screen, "First number definitely a spouse, text messages mainly concerned with dry cleaning, shopping, little I love you messages. Other traffic minimal." She squints, staring at the screen, "Message from unique number, received last night, it simply reads. Payload confirmed."
"Have a few email chains referencing the payload, but no direct confirmation of what it is." Kate calls out.
"I think I might have something, records of video chats, different email account each time, every Monday." Sasha says, "Content has been erased."
"The off shore number, appears to be in Seattle. I am sending the details to a contact of mine see if we can find out who it belongs to." Steve announces utterly focused.
Kim wants to watch more, but the urgent pressing from her bladder is getting more insistent. She relents, knowing the she cannot ignore it any more, "Sorry dad, can you let me up, I really need a wee."
Kurt smiles down at his daughter, opening his arms, "Away you go love. When you come back, we should make a move, leave them to it."
Kim moves to protest, but instead of speaking yawns widely. She nods weakly and mumbles, "Ok dad."
Kim wipes herself and flushes before slowly getting to her feet, as she pulls up her underwear and trousers, she reflects on the last couple of days, "No one at school will believe me about this weekend. The greatest adventure of my life and if I tell anyone, I will just get laughed at again. Part of me wishes I lived a normal life, so I could talk to dad and Sasha about how awful that school is and part of me wishes this weekend will never end and I never have to go back."
She folds down the lid of the toilet and sits down, staring in silence at the pristine cubicle door. "I wish I was strong, like everyone else." She thinks slowly getting up.
Kim opens the door and crosses the room to the sink, her eyes downcast, tired hands catch soap from the automatic dispenser by the taps. She yawns lazily, as she rinses the soap from her hands.
He eyes bulge as a powerful arm wraps around her pinning her arms to her side and lifting her off of the ground. Her eyes stream, from the acrid fumes of the cloth pressed brutally over her mouth and nose, swallowing her screams.
She struggles with all she has, but the person holding her is too strong and the fumes she inhales, slowly rob her of her strength. As her movements become slower and more forced she refuses to give up, but the man who has her is too strong and soon she is spent. Kim's last thought before blackness engulfs her is, "I love you daddy."
Nikita, glides through the water, swimming as if she was born to it. The gills slits from a dogfish, draw oxygen from the water as she streaks through the water towards shore. She smiles back at Dani, the sea washing her tears of joy away, "This is incredible, I feel so alive." She thinks, perceiving her surroundings through the senses of the dogfish.
She marvels at the sparkle of fish around her, from their nervous systems. Nikita feels the earths electromagnetic field and knows where she is. Her nose curls at the tang of waste and pollution, subtly overlaid over the natural odours of the sea and its inhabitants. "I have never felt or seen the world like this."
Nikita looks at Dani and to her new senses, she appears as a void in the water, not as a corpse or piece of meat, but a blank space. "Interesting, she is not dead, but something else when, her heart is stopped."
"It is so quiet. So quiet after so much noise. Why have I never done this before?" She asks herself, following her sisters path.
In the dim light under the water she sees the world with fresh eyes. "I feel one with the sea, I feel the bodies of sea animals, the gentle tug of the current calling me deeper. I feel weightless, as if I have no body, it is just my soul floating here."
They drift on the currents, each in their own way, falling in love with the sea.
"Angel is so cool." Kim thinks laying back on her bed, "She can do anything. I wish I could be just like her."
She closes her eyes and thinks back to the previous night, recalling the way she stopped the men who captured her aunt. "I feel bad for lying to Dani, but I didn't close my eyes when she fought those people holding Auntie Niki."
A buzz from her pocket, pulls her from her thoughts. Kim leaps from her bed, clutching her leg in surprise. She breathes a sigh of relief when she feels the phone Dani gave her.
Kim nervously pulls it out of her pocket, to see that she has an email. She opens it and reads the message.
"Kim, this is Angel, I am with Niki.
Attached to this email is a file taken from the phone of a senior person involved in what is going on. I need you to show them to Sasha and my dad as soon as it is safe to do so, they will know what to do with them.
This is very important, that is why I am trusting you with this.
Luv Dani"
"Angel trusts me." Kim thinks with joyous tears in her eyes. She checks herself in the mirror, "Black leggings and long sleeve t-shirt. Just like Angel would wear."
She listens to her father on the phone to work while she pulls a pair of black trainers on, "He is too busy with work. I will have to get to the academy myself."
Kim tip toes into the room her father shares with Sasha and pulls a box from under their bed. She quickly returns to her room and begins putting on the spring loaded stilts, whilst gazing out of the window at the main training centre, "They are in the control room in there, it is not too far. I can do this."
She opens her bedroom window and makes sure the phone is tucked safely away. She sits back down on her bed and stares at the floor. "I can't just go without telling dad." She says to herself.
"Go where?" Kurt asks, concerned that Kim is wearing Sasha's stilts.
Kim jumps a little in surprise, not having heard her father, "Hi Dad." She says, with a guilty look on her face. "I need to see Sasha and Steve."
"I'm sorry sweetie, they are very busy at the minute. It will have to wait until tonight." Kurt says gently.
"But it cant wait, it is really important." Kim pleads.
Kurt enters the room slowly and sits on the bed next to Kim, gently taking her hand in his, "I need to talk you like a grown up."
Something in his tone, makes her feel scared, not of him, but of what he will say. "Oh no, please let Sasha be alright." She thinks, fearfully. With trembling lips, she whispers "Ok?"
Kurt rubs his forehead and takes a deep breath, "You are such a brave girl. I don't want to hide the truth from you." He says, gently, "Auntie Niki and Angel, have gone missing. Sasha and Steve are working on finding them. So you can't disturb them at the moment."
Kim pulls her hand from her fathers grip and excitedly reaches into her pocket to pull out the tiny phone. "Angel gave me this for emergencies. She has sent me an email, I need to show Sasha and Steve."
He gently takes the phone from her, between his thumb and forefinger gently, as if afraid he might break it. "I didn't think that they made phones this small." He pauses for a moment thinking, "I am not keen on her having a phone at her age, but, I must admit I like the idea of her having one for emergencies."
Kurt passes the phone back to her, "Get those stilts off we'll take the car."
"But you have work to do." Kim says, hopeful that he really means it.
Kurt wraps his arm around her shoulders, "Niki and Dani are family and family is more important than work."
"Thank you dad." Kim says, hugging her father.
Kurt squeezes his daughter gently and whispers, "I will get my shoes on, you get those stilts off and we will get moving."
"Still nothing on police comms about the girls." Kate says, wearily staring at communication feeds.
"Facial recognition is not coming up with anything in London or the home counties." Sasha says staring at her screen.
"Got a report of an abandoned science vessel in the English Channel about an hour out of Harwich. Signs of gunfire and explosions aboard. Law enforcement suspiciously quiet about it. By my reckoning, they could have easily gotten from last known contact to Harwich docks in time for departure." Steve says, rubbing his chin.
"It is times like this that I miss Mike. He could have been looking over their shoulder." Steve says, stretching.
"I miss him too. He was a lovely guy. How long has it been now?" Kate asks, sorrowfully.
"Just over a year. Still can't wrap my head around it." Steve says, shaking his head, "I think he is still out there but, he wont show himself, until he is ready."
Kate smiles sadly and pulls out a packet of cigarettes and begins unwrapping the cellophane wrapper. Sasha winks at Steve, then turns to Kate, "Sorry do you mind. It is not good for the baby."
Kate raises her hands in mock surrender and puts them away, "Sorry." Confusion covers her face as she thinks about what Sasha has just said. She looks up in open mouthed shock and with her voice cracking asks, "Baby?"
Sasha smiles and nods, "Three months."
Kate leaps from her seat and rushes across the room, to hug Sasha. Tears of joy flow freely and Kate cannot speak as she embraces her neice. "I am so happy for you." She says between joyful sobs. Kate thinks of the scared girl she rescued from the courtyard of this facility all those months ago and the strong and confident woman that she has become. "This is just the best news."
Kate turns to Steve and smiles, "Congratulations grandad."
Steve smiles back, so proud of his daughter and responds, "Thank you great-aunt."
Kate feels the impact of the words like a hammer to her heart. Her body and appearance is still twenty years younger, thanks to Nikita's healing eighteen months ago, but at the sound of Steve words, she feels the sprouting of her first grey hair.
The door bursts open and all eyes turn to Kim, as she leans against the door frame, out of breath, as she tries to speak.
Sasha springs from her seat and races across the room to her. Concerned she cups her step daughter's cheeks in her hands and brushes the hair from her face. "Slow down sweetie. What ever is the matter?" She signals to Steve, who tosses her a bottle of water. She catches the bottle without looking, opens it and passes it to Kim.
Kim gulps the cool water greedily and her breathing slows, "Need to show you something." She fumbles in her pocket and pulls out the tiny phone, thrusting it into Sasha's palm, before gulping more water down.
Sasha takes the tiny phone and reads the text message and email. She nods to herself and forwards the email to herself, Steve and Kate, calling out, "Incoming."
She smiles and places a gentle hand on Kim's shoulder. "You did the right thing showing me this. I am very proud of you." She looks down at the tiny phone and asks, "Where did you get this?"
"Angel gave it to me." Kim answers, in an innocent tone.
She passes the phone back to Kim and thinks, "Tidy little piece of tech. Might have to get myself one of those as a backup."
Steve opens up the email and immediately opens the zipped files, "Kate you got it?" He calls out, looking over.
Kate nods opening the zipped file, "I will take emails, are you ok with call logs? Sasha, can you take text messages."
Sasha gives a thumbs up, seeing Kurt running towards the door of the room.
Kim snuggles into her father's arms in rapt fascination, watching the back and forth between Sasha, Kate and Steve. "Wow, this is like a spy film." She thinks as Steve rapidly speaks.
"Call patterns indicate a call to the same number at around eighteen hundred every day, duration approximately twenty minutes, possible call to spouse, while on way home. Two calls per week to an off shore number, each one lasting up to an hour, repeating every week for the last three months. Pinging you the numbers now" Steve rattles off, like a burst of machine gun fire.
"Got 'em." Sasha says, intently watching her screen, "First number definitely a spouse, text messages mainly concerned with dry cleaning, shopping, little I love you messages. Other traffic minimal." She squints, staring at the screen, "Message from unique number, received last night, it simply reads. Payload confirmed."
"Have a few email chains referencing the payload, but no direct confirmation of what it is." Kate calls out.
"I think I might have something, records of video chats, different email account each time, every Monday." Sasha says, "Content has been erased."
"The off shore number, appears to be in Seattle. I am sending the details to a contact of mine see if we can find out who it belongs to." Steve announces utterly focused.
Kim wants to watch more, but the urgent pressing from her bladder is getting more insistent. She relents, knowing the she cannot ignore it any more, "Sorry dad, can you let me up, I really need a wee."
Kurt smiles down at his daughter, opening his arms, "Away you go love. When you come back, we should make a move, leave them to it."
Kim moves to protest, but instead of speaking yawns widely. She nods weakly and mumbles, "Ok dad."
Kim wipes herself and flushes before slowly getting to her feet, as she pulls up her underwear and trousers, she reflects on the last couple of days, "No one at school will believe me about this weekend. The greatest adventure of my life and if I tell anyone, I will just get laughed at again. Part of me wishes I lived a normal life, so I could talk to dad and Sasha about how awful that school is and part of me wishes this weekend will never end and I never have to go back."
She folds down the lid of the toilet and sits down, staring in silence at the pristine cubicle door. "I wish I was strong, like everyone else." She thinks slowly getting up.
Kim opens the door and crosses the room to the sink, her eyes downcast, tired hands catch soap from the automatic dispenser by the taps. She yawns lazily, as she rinses the soap from her hands.
He eyes bulge as a powerful arm wraps around her pinning her arms to her side and lifting her off of the ground. Her eyes stream, from the acrid fumes of the cloth pressed brutally over her mouth and nose, swallowing her screams.
She struggles with all she has, but the person holding her is too strong and the fumes she inhales, slowly rob her of her strength. As her movements become slower and more forced she refuses to give up, but the man who has her is too strong and soon she is spent. Kim's last thought before blackness engulfs her is, "I love you daddy."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Kim lays back dreamily, dimly registering her numb body, being shaken. She rolls her head sluggishly, struggling to string a thought together. "What happened to me?" She manages to ask herself, but the answer is just outside of her grasp.
In the distance someone is calling her name. Her brow furrows, as she struggles to remember whose voice it is. The shaking of her body seems more real for some reason. She feels the hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her.
"A hand." She thinks, horrified, as the memory of a cloth being pressed to her nose and mouth flashes in her mind.
Her eyes fly open and she thrashes wildly, screaming, "No! Leave me alone."
She feels herself being lifted, her arms pinned to her sides. She begins to relax as she hears her fathers soft voice, whispering to her, "It's ok Kim. You are safe baby, I have got you." She lets him rock her gently back and forth, allowing his voice to soothe her panic, as he repeats, "Everything will be alright darling." Over and over again.
She looks into her fathers eyes and sees his tears, "Daddy?"
Kurt gazes back at her, his face a mask of sorrow and concern, "Yes darling."
"What's wrong?" Kim asks, trying to focus, while the last of the fog in her mind clears.
"Everything is going to be alright." Kurt says, his eyes flicking away from hers and down to her neck for a moment.
Kim sees the fear in his eyes and she hugs her father tightly, "What's the matter daddy?" She asks softly.
"Did you see who did this too you?" Kurt asks, trying to keep his voice calm.
She pulls back from him fearfully, to look into his eyes, "Did what to me?"
Kurt stares at his daughters neck, dumbstruck by the thick, smooth metal collar that is seemlessly encirling her throat.
Sasha gazes tearfully at Kurt and Kim, "How did this happen?" She asks, barely above a whisper.
Steve hugs her tenderly and kisses the top of her head, "We will find those responsible, darling. I promise."
"The cameras have picked up the man, when he left the toilet and can track him through the lobby, but we lose him in the grounds." Kate says, pensively, "However, there isn't a single clear shot of his face. Reminds me of how Ryan works a bit."
"Mike would have avoided the cameras altogether." Steve says, flatly, feeling numb inside.
Everyone is lost in their own thoughts, when Louise enters, her eyes are red with tears and fatigue, as she gazes around the room. "I came as fast as I could, I am so sorry."
Kurt looks up, his face lined with worry, "Thank you for coming Lou."
"We will do everything we can to get those responsible, I have men with dogs and drones, scouring the grounds for any trace of the man responsible." Louise says, desperately trying to think of anything else that they can do. She sits on the sofa next to Sasha and puts her arm around her, staring helplessly at Kim and the device around her neck.
An unfamiliar phone rings, prompting confused looks from everyone assembled. Kim looks fumbles for the phone Dani gave her but looks at it blankly, when she realises it is not ringing. Sasha leaps up from the sofa and runs to the bedroom.
She swiftly returns clutching a mobile phone in hand, "This is the phone they left when they took Kim." She says, in a voice hoarse with crying.
Kate boots up the call tracing software and her fingers fly across the keyboard, as she tries to isolate the call, so it can be traced. Steve pulls out his phone and begins recording with a nod.
Sasha answers the phone, putting in onto speaker, "Hello."
"Good evening. With whom am I speaking?" A male voice says, in a soft American accent.
"Sasha Smith, who is this?" She asks, swallowing her nerves.
"I am a man with an agenda and orders to be fulfilled." He says, coolly.
Sasha forces down her anger and manages to keep her voice even, "What to you want?"
"Direct. I appreciate that." He says, in a tone that makes Sasha visualise him nodding. "By now you understand that there is a metal collar affixed around the neck of your step-daughter. This collar, is effectively a shaped charge, designed to direct its force inwards. Any attempt to remove it, will result in it's detonation. Failure to comply with my instructions, will result in it's detonation. Any transgression on the part of yourself or your family, will result in it's detonation. Are we clear?"
"Perfectly. What do you want?" Sasha asks, with a hint of impatience.
"For now, I want you to understand that your step-daughter will stay safe. I will call again with instructions that are to be followed, after which time, I will tell you how to remove the device." He says, in a calm almost smug tone.
"Just tell me." Sasha says, pleadingly.
"Keep the phone on." He says, ending the call.
"No!" Sasha cries, collapsing to her knees, her body shaking with heavy sobs.
Kate hangs her head, "Too short to get a trace, call was routed through multiple exchanges."
Kim squirms out of her fathers arms and rushes over to hug her step mother. "Don't worry Sasha, it will be ok."
Something in Steve snaps, seeing Kim's bravery and compassion and he snatches up his phone. He sends the recording of the call to Kate, Sasha and his laptop. "Kate can you isolate background noise from the call, see if there is anything we can glean from it? Lou can you take Sasha's laptop and see if we can identify the voice, ping a copy to Adam, he is good with identifying regional accents."
"What will you do?" Louise asks, taking a seat at Sasha's laptop and loading voice software.
"I need to make a phone call." Steve says, with a quiet nod.
"Hello." A man answers in a confused tone, not recognising the number.
"Faizal, it's Steve." He says, wearily.
"Oh shit, this must be bad." Faiza says, slapping his cheeks to wake himself, "What do you need mate?"
Steve takes a deep breath, "I need a family tree on an EOD. Check your inbox."
"Hold on, just checking now." Faizal says, distracted. Steve waits listening to the clicking of Faizal's keyboard.
"How have you been?" Steve asks, in a conversational tone.
"Not too bad, have finally retired from the business. Doing a little consulting just to keep busy." Faizal says, in a relaxed tone, "And what of you? I hear you got married, where was my invite?" He chuckles.
"The wedding was in St. Lucia, I didn't think you would want to come to the Caribbean after the thing with the boat." Steve says with a chuckle.
"Ah don't remind me." Faizal says, in a tone of mocking weariness, "I was picking lobster shell out of my hair for a week after that."
"I still have no idea how you put that much explosive in a lobster."' Steve says with a shake of his head.
"The lobster was a distraction, the real challenge was rigging the champagne bottle so it would detonate in such a way as to consume the detonator and powder the glass." Faizal reveals, with a laugh. "This thing you have sent me. The image shows a curve and interlocking parts but no hinge. Is that correct?"
"I have sent images all the way around. Can see the seam where they lock together, but not a hinge to allow it to close around the neck. I am wondering about a memory metal casing." Steve thinks aloud.
"That could explain no hinge, the question is, is this the resting shape or the tensile shape? If it is resting, then a current will open it, if not, a current will at best heat the metal at worst tighten the collar." Faizal whistles slowly, "Very specialist. Not many work with memory metals for this type of work."
Steve listens to Faizal typing and cursing to himself in French. "Three people are capable of such a device, One died last year, one is in a medically induced coma, in South Carolina and the last is a freelancer." He pauses, typing, "Marcus Pike, Former Sargeant Major in the British Royal Engineers. Linked to a number of bombings and kidnappings across Europe and North America over the last four years. I am sending you his file."
"Thanks Faiz. Appreciate the rush on this." Steve says, rubbing a hand over his scalp, "This is a family matter."
"Tell me where you are, I can be in the air within the hour." Faizal says, sincerely.
"No old friend, we will find this man and take care of this ourselves." Steve says, warmly, "Thank you for this. Can I call on you, if I need your services?"
"After Cairo, you can call on me whenever you wish, my friend." Faizal says, solemnly.
"We have a name." Steve says, re-entering the room, "We are looking for a Marcus Pike." Retakes his seat, emailing Pike's file to everyone.
"Adam reckons the voice sounds like it has a Washington state accent." Louise calls out, not looking up from her screen.
"That would fit with a Seattle number." Kate says nodding. She opens the file that she has just recieved from Steve. She reads it with raised eyebrows, "Who did you call to get this?" She asks, shocked.
"I called in a favour." Steve says, in a guarded tone.
"Don't give me that, this includes that man's military record, police reports from across the globe on operations he has done. This is so detailed." Kate says, shaking her head in disbelief.
"His name is Faizal, he is head of Libyan intelligence. He has files on every active bomb maker in Europe, North America and Africa. When I was looking for Dani, I helped him escape from Cairo." Steve says, relenting.
"Speaking of Dani. Have we heard from her or Niki?" Louise asks, stretching.
Dani sits on the edge of the beach and opens her waterproof bag pulling out two microfibre towels, tossing one to Nikita. "Any idea where we are?"
"From the pollution in the water and the amount of ships around, I would say, near to Dover, probably not that far down though." Nikita says, roughly towelling her hair dry.
"Could be worse, could be all the way over in France." She checks the time on her phone, "It's half seven. We need to get moving."
"We find a train station and grab a car." Nikita says, pulling boots from her waterproof bag.
"Nah, too many cameras. I say we check farmer's field on the way to Dover. At least one around here is likely to offer cheap parking, with minimal security." Dani says, putting her towel away. She stares out to see with a faraway look in her eyes and words on her lips, she fears to speak. She turns back to her sister, "Niki, I need you to make me a promise."
"Dani? What's wrong?" Nikita asks, concerned.
"I have done some pretty mad things, but this feels different. If I don't make it, I need you to do something for me." Dani says, solemnly.
"Behave yourself, you are unstoppable." Nikita says, dismissively.
"I am wanted across the world, one day there may be a knock at the door." Dani says, her voice cracking.
Nikita hears the the strain in her sisters voice and thinks, "She doesn't need me to say, we will protect her, she is carring a burden and needs to know she is not alone."
Nikita smiles gently at her sister, "If anything happens, I have your back. What do you need, babe?"
Dani pulls a cigarette out of her bag and lights is offering one to her sister. When Nikita declines, Dani puts them away and takes a deep lungful of tobbaco smoke before speaking, "If something happens to me before this is all done, when it is over, I need you to go to Cambodia. Go to a town on the coast called Kampot and find a streetfood stall run by a man named Prem. Order the special and pay one hundred US dollars. He feeds a lot of the homeless in the area so the money is worth it." She takes another deep lungful of smoke and continues, "Once you have eaten, head north on that road until you get to a Buddhist temple. Light a joss stick and say a prayer, the ask for Brother Tran. Tell him your name and go where he takes you."
Nikita listens intently and regrets turning down the cigarette, more with each word her sister speaks. "What happens, when I get there?"
"You will know what to do." Dani says, softly nodding to herself, "It doesn't matter who goes with you, but you need to speak to Brother Tran."
"I will Dani. I promise." Nikita pledges. "What happens if you get through this ok?"
Dani smiles weakly, before speaking. "We go together."
In the distance someone is calling her name. Her brow furrows, as she struggles to remember whose voice it is. The shaking of her body seems more real for some reason. She feels the hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her.
"A hand." She thinks, horrified, as the memory of a cloth being pressed to her nose and mouth flashes in her mind.
Her eyes fly open and she thrashes wildly, screaming, "No! Leave me alone."
She feels herself being lifted, her arms pinned to her sides. She begins to relax as she hears her fathers soft voice, whispering to her, "It's ok Kim. You are safe baby, I have got you." She lets him rock her gently back and forth, allowing his voice to soothe her panic, as he repeats, "Everything will be alright darling." Over and over again.
She looks into her fathers eyes and sees his tears, "Daddy?"
Kurt gazes back at her, his face a mask of sorrow and concern, "Yes darling."
"What's wrong?" Kim asks, trying to focus, while the last of the fog in her mind clears.
"Everything is going to be alright." Kurt says, his eyes flicking away from hers and down to her neck for a moment.
Kim sees the fear in his eyes and she hugs her father tightly, "What's the matter daddy?" She asks softly.
"Did you see who did this too you?" Kurt asks, trying to keep his voice calm.
She pulls back from him fearfully, to look into his eyes, "Did what to me?"
Kurt stares at his daughters neck, dumbstruck by the thick, smooth metal collar that is seemlessly encirling her throat.
Sasha gazes tearfully at Kurt and Kim, "How did this happen?" She asks, barely above a whisper.
Steve hugs her tenderly and kisses the top of her head, "We will find those responsible, darling. I promise."
"The cameras have picked up the man, when he left the toilet and can track him through the lobby, but we lose him in the grounds." Kate says, pensively, "However, there isn't a single clear shot of his face. Reminds me of how Ryan works a bit."
"Mike would have avoided the cameras altogether." Steve says, flatly, feeling numb inside.
Everyone is lost in their own thoughts, when Louise enters, her eyes are red with tears and fatigue, as she gazes around the room. "I came as fast as I could, I am so sorry."
Kurt looks up, his face lined with worry, "Thank you for coming Lou."
"We will do everything we can to get those responsible, I have men with dogs and drones, scouring the grounds for any trace of the man responsible." Louise says, desperately trying to think of anything else that they can do. She sits on the sofa next to Sasha and puts her arm around her, staring helplessly at Kim and the device around her neck.
An unfamiliar phone rings, prompting confused looks from everyone assembled. Kim looks fumbles for the phone Dani gave her but looks at it blankly, when she realises it is not ringing. Sasha leaps up from the sofa and runs to the bedroom.
She swiftly returns clutching a mobile phone in hand, "This is the phone they left when they took Kim." She says, in a voice hoarse with crying.
Kate boots up the call tracing software and her fingers fly across the keyboard, as she tries to isolate the call, so it can be traced. Steve pulls out his phone and begins recording with a nod.
Sasha answers the phone, putting in onto speaker, "Hello."
"Good evening. With whom am I speaking?" A male voice says, in a soft American accent.
"Sasha Smith, who is this?" She asks, swallowing her nerves.
"I am a man with an agenda and orders to be fulfilled." He says, coolly.
Sasha forces down her anger and manages to keep her voice even, "What to you want?"
"Direct. I appreciate that." He says, in a tone that makes Sasha visualise him nodding. "By now you understand that there is a metal collar affixed around the neck of your step-daughter. This collar, is effectively a shaped charge, designed to direct its force inwards. Any attempt to remove it, will result in it's detonation. Failure to comply with my instructions, will result in it's detonation. Any transgression on the part of yourself or your family, will result in it's detonation. Are we clear?"
"Perfectly. What do you want?" Sasha asks, with a hint of impatience.
"For now, I want you to understand that your step-daughter will stay safe. I will call again with instructions that are to be followed, after which time, I will tell you how to remove the device." He says, in a calm almost smug tone.
"Just tell me." Sasha says, pleadingly.
"Keep the phone on." He says, ending the call.
"No!" Sasha cries, collapsing to her knees, her body shaking with heavy sobs.
Kate hangs her head, "Too short to get a trace, call was routed through multiple exchanges."
Kim squirms out of her fathers arms and rushes over to hug her step mother. "Don't worry Sasha, it will be ok."
Something in Steve snaps, seeing Kim's bravery and compassion and he snatches up his phone. He sends the recording of the call to Kate, Sasha and his laptop. "Kate can you isolate background noise from the call, see if there is anything we can glean from it? Lou can you take Sasha's laptop and see if we can identify the voice, ping a copy to Adam, he is good with identifying regional accents."
"What will you do?" Louise asks, taking a seat at Sasha's laptop and loading voice software.
"I need to make a phone call." Steve says, with a quiet nod.
"Hello." A man answers in a confused tone, not recognising the number.
"Faizal, it's Steve." He says, wearily.
"Oh shit, this must be bad." Faiza says, slapping his cheeks to wake himself, "What do you need mate?"
Steve takes a deep breath, "I need a family tree on an EOD. Check your inbox."
"Hold on, just checking now." Faizal says, distracted. Steve waits listening to the clicking of Faizal's keyboard.
"How have you been?" Steve asks, in a conversational tone.
"Not too bad, have finally retired from the business. Doing a little consulting just to keep busy." Faizal says, in a relaxed tone, "And what of you? I hear you got married, where was my invite?" He chuckles.
"The wedding was in St. Lucia, I didn't think you would want to come to the Caribbean after the thing with the boat." Steve says with a chuckle.
"Ah don't remind me." Faizal says, in a tone of mocking weariness, "I was picking lobster shell out of my hair for a week after that."
"I still have no idea how you put that much explosive in a lobster."' Steve says with a shake of his head.
"The lobster was a distraction, the real challenge was rigging the champagne bottle so it would detonate in such a way as to consume the detonator and powder the glass." Faizal reveals, with a laugh. "This thing you have sent me. The image shows a curve and interlocking parts but no hinge. Is that correct?"
"I have sent images all the way around. Can see the seam where they lock together, but not a hinge to allow it to close around the neck. I am wondering about a memory metal casing." Steve thinks aloud.
"That could explain no hinge, the question is, is this the resting shape or the tensile shape? If it is resting, then a current will open it, if not, a current will at best heat the metal at worst tighten the collar." Faizal whistles slowly, "Very specialist. Not many work with memory metals for this type of work."
Steve listens to Faizal typing and cursing to himself in French. "Three people are capable of such a device, One died last year, one is in a medically induced coma, in South Carolina and the last is a freelancer." He pauses, typing, "Marcus Pike, Former Sargeant Major in the British Royal Engineers. Linked to a number of bombings and kidnappings across Europe and North America over the last four years. I am sending you his file."
"Thanks Faiz. Appreciate the rush on this." Steve says, rubbing a hand over his scalp, "This is a family matter."
"Tell me where you are, I can be in the air within the hour." Faizal says, sincerely.
"No old friend, we will find this man and take care of this ourselves." Steve says, warmly, "Thank you for this. Can I call on you, if I need your services?"
"After Cairo, you can call on me whenever you wish, my friend." Faizal says, solemnly.
"We have a name." Steve says, re-entering the room, "We are looking for a Marcus Pike." Retakes his seat, emailing Pike's file to everyone.
"Adam reckons the voice sounds like it has a Washington state accent." Louise calls out, not looking up from her screen.
"That would fit with a Seattle number." Kate says nodding. She opens the file that she has just recieved from Steve. She reads it with raised eyebrows, "Who did you call to get this?" She asks, shocked.
"I called in a favour." Steve says, in a guarded tone.
"Don't give me that, this includes that man's military record, police reports from across the globe on operations he has done. This is so detailed." Kate says, shaking her head in disbelief.
"His name is Faizal, he is head of Libyan intelligence. He has files on every active bomb maker in Europe, North America and Africa. When I was looking for Dani, I helped him escape from Cairo." Steve says, relenting.
"Speaking of Dani. Have we heard from her or Niki?" Louise asks, stretching.
Dani sits on the edge of the beach and opens her waterproof bag pulling out two microfibre towels, tossing one to Nikita. "Any idea where we are?"
"From the pollution in the water and the amount of ships around, I would say, near to Dover, probably not that far down though." Nikita says, roughly towelling her hair dry.
"Could be worse, could be all the way over in France." She checks the time on her phone, "It's half seven. We need to get moving."
"We find a train station and grab a car." Nikita says, pulling boots from her waterproof bag.
"Nah, too many cameras. I say we check farmer's field on the way to Dover. At least one around here is likely to offer cheap parking, with minimal security." Dani says, putting her towel away. She stares out to see with a faraway look in her eyes and words on her lips, she fears to speak. She turns back to her sister, "Niki, I need you to make me a promise."
"Dani? What's wrong?" Nikita asks, concerned.
"I have done some pretty mad things, but this feels different. If I don't make it, I need you to do something for me." Dani says, solemnly.
"Behave yourself, you are unstoppable." Nikita says, dismissively.
"I am wanted across the world, one day there may be a knock at the door." Dani says, her voice cracking.
Nikita hears the the strain in her sisters voice and thinks, "She doesn't need me to say, we will protect her, she is carring a burden and needs to know she is not alone."
Nikita smiles gently at her sister, "If anything happens, I have your back. What do you need, babe?"
Dani pulls a cigarette out of her bag and lights is offering one to her sister. When Nikita declines, Dani puts them away and takes a deep lungful of tobbaco smoke before speaking, "If something happens to me before this is all done, when it is over, I need you to go to Cambodia. Go to a town on the coast called Kampot and find a streetfood stall run by a man named Prem. Order the special and pay one hundred US dollars. He feeds a lot of the homeless in the area so the money is worth it." She takes another deep lungful of smoke and continues, "Once you have eaten, head north on that road until you get to a Buddhist temple. Light a joss stick and say a prayer, the ask for Brother Tran. Tell him your name and go where he takes you."
Nikita listens intently and regrets turning down the cigarette, more with each word her sister speaks. "What happens, when I get there?"
"You will know what to do." Dani says, softly nodding to herself, "It doesn't matter who goes with you, but you need to speak to Brother Tran."
"I will Dani. I promise." Nikita pledges. "What happens if you get through this ok?"
Dani smiles weakly, before speaking. "We go together."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Even though I've read the entire saga - all the way from when Steve first met Louise - I don't think I've ever gotten around to commenting. So, first things first - bravo. It's been quite a wild ride you've taken us. Thank you.
Having said that - you really don't let up, do you? Wow. I'm really, really, really interested to see where this ends (although I have a hard time thinking there will ever be a time when the Marks family will be able to 'live happily ever after' with what looks like the entire universe gunning for them...)
Having said that - you really don't let up, do you? Wow. I'm really, really, really interested to see where this ends (although I have a hard time thinking there will ever be a time when the Marks family will be able to 'live happily ever after' with what looks like the entire universe gunning for them...)
[mention]NotSeen[/mention] Bravo to you too. Thank you for sticking with it since the early days of Deception. It has been a wild ride so far and the ride ain't over yet.
More challenges await our intrepid heroes and heroines. They will be tested like never before, as the adventure continues.
More challenges await our intrepid heroes and heroines. They will be tested like never before, as the adventure continues.
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Well, if past is any indication of what's to come, I pity whoever tries to go after the protagonists...
Dani begins to pull on her boots, when a buzzing in the bag alerts her to an incoming call. She whips out her phone and activates the speaker, "Angel speaking."
"Thank goodness you are ok, where have you been?" Steve asks, with a voice filled with relief.
"There are a lot of boats on the water, we had to stay deep and drift clear of the furore around the ship. We are on the Kent coast, between Ramsgate and Dover." Dani advises, tying her laces.
Nikita, shrugs on her backpack and pipes up, "Hi Dad."
"Hello Niki." He says, with a lightness to his voice, before continuing in a darker tone, "You need to get back here, as soon as possible."
Nikita's brow furrows detecting something off in his voice, "What's wrong?"
"Someone penetrated the academy's security and." He pauses, centring himself, "They locked a bomb around Kim's neck."
Dani and Nikita exchange a glace, before Nikita says, "We are on our way. What do we know about the device?"
"Memory metal casing, hingeless fitting. Smooth exterior, interior details unknown." Steve advises, watching Kim settle again into her father's arms.
"Sounds high end, very specialist. Any indications on it's source." Dani asks, concerned.
"Made by a man named Marcus Pike. I am sending you his file. We are trying to trace him." Steve advises calmly.
"How is Kim?" Dani asks, feeling her heart stop, when she opens and glances at the file.
"She is holding up well. She is a tough cookie." Steve says, smiling at Kim.
"Glad to hear it, give her a hug from us. We will be there soon, will call when on the move." Dani says, passing the phone to Nikita.
"Have they made any demands?" Nikita asks, watching her sister silently punching a tree.
"Just await instructions. Get back as fast as you can, we need you." Steve says, wearily.
"We're on our way, see you soon. Love you dad." Nikita says ending the call.
Nikita crouches next to Dani and puts an arm around her shoulder, not feeling her lifepulse, "Dani? What's wrong?"
Dani struggles to compose herself, while she blurts out, "The bomb maker is dead."
Nikita looks at her sister in shock, "What do you mean?"
"When you were taken. He was the man with the sonic emitter. I killed him, when I freed you." Dani says, sadly.
"Shit." Nikita whispers, softly, "His body would be taken to Watford Morgue, My ID would get me in, but not you."
"What are you thinking?" Dani asks.
Nikita closes her eyes and sways slightly, "I bring him back. We question him and find out how to get the bomb off of Kim."
"Are you sure? What about last time?" Dani asks, concerned for her sister.
Nikita smiles gently, thinking of Kim, "It is worth the risk for that little darling." She says, firmly.
"Ok, Let's get a car." Dani says, calmly, heading inland from the beach.
"I wont be able to get you inside." Nikita says, sadly.
"If only there was some way, I could turn into a corpse on demand and you could wheel me in." Dani says, with a smile.
Nikita tilts her head to the side and smiles, "Good point, well made. Stop messing about and get us some wheels."
The phone the kidnapper's left with Sasha, rings again, snapping everyones attention to the non descript ring. "Hello?" Sasha says, putting the phone onto speaker.
"Put Mr Smith on." The voice says, calmly.
Kurt glances at the faces of everyone in the room and nervously answers, "Speaking."
"You currently have two containers laying over, in the port of Agadir in Morocco. Consignments 5879 and 9354 according to your documentation. You will switch the delivery addresses of the consignments. You will then release both for delivery and instruct your delivery escorts to effectively go radio silent. Do you understand?" The caller says, calmly.
Kurt looks down at his daughter, "When will you tell us how to remove the device around my daughter's neck?"
"We will tell you, when we are ready." The caller says, with calm implacability, "May I suggest, that if you value her life, you will do what we say, when we say, how we say and not ask questions?"
"I'm sorry. I will do as you ask. Please promise me, you will tell me how to remove the collar." Kurt begs, as the line goes dead.
"What are the consignments?" Kate asks, as gently as she can.
"5879 is medical equipment from Turkey, heading for a hospital in Morroco." He pauses, tapping the details into his tablet, "9354 is just drilling equipment heading for the La Palma. I have just switched them over."
"What? We need to think about this first." Kate says, holding her hands up.
"You think all you want.This is my daughters life we are talking about. This is done." Kurt says, with a finality to his tone.
"I'm sorry Kurt. You are right." Kate says, feeling awful for her reaction.
"What do you reckon, track both and see who pick them up?" Louise asks, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.
"Maybe. Can you confirm exactly what is in each container?" Steve asks, furrowing his brow.
"Er let me see." Kurt says, tapping on his tablet, "9354, looks like heavy duty excavation gear, large scale industrial deep drills." He keeps searching on his tablets, before he nods, "5879 shows CAT Scanners and MRI machines."
"Nothing obvious there. This is a lot of risk and effort. Why?" Steve asks, staring into the middle distance.
"When we accept responsibility for a delivery, the charge hand will enter the container and take a video of contents, before it is loaded onto a ship. I can get those videos, but it might take a few hours to get the one from Turkey." Kurt says, sending a request to his personal assistant.
"That might be handy." Steve says, deep in thought, "Maybe there is something in one of them that is out of place. For now, we track both."'
"No, please! Stop!" Dani screams, in terror, "Please Niki, stop."
Nikita calmly turns to her sister and smiles, "What is wrong with you?"
"Slow down!" Dani begs, spotting the speedometer of the vehicle out of the corner of her eye.
"We have a hundred miles to cover and at least one stop on the way, now is not the time to slow down. That little girl is counting on us." Nikita says, easing the stolen Porsche within a hair of a hundred and eighty miles per hour.
"She is counting on us to arrive in one piece." Dani flinches, as the vehicle whips past a line of traffic and between two large lorries.
"This whole thing stinks to high heaven. The boat and the diving gear, they were going somewhere warm. Now this. We are missing something. This man Pike, would have the answers. I want to find out what he knows." Nikita says, conversationally as the vehicle streaks along the inside lane, skirting a slow line of traffic and then, zip across two lanes of traffic, as soon as it is clear.
Dani watches the ease with which Nikita handles the vehicle and cannot help but be impressed. "I knew you werre good from when you chased Kim and I in MK, but I didn't know you were this good. Where did you learn to drive like this?"
Nikita hesitates for a moment, guiding the vehicle onto the slip road and slowing it, "I had a good teacher." She says, flashing a smile.
Nikita eases the car into a space and leans back in the seat, "I needed that."
"I need a new pair of underwear, you sod." Dani says, giggling nervously, from the adrenaline in her system.
"Sorry babe." Nikita apologises, sheepishly, "Well we are here intact, shall we do this?"
"Lead the way." Dani says, stopping her heart.
"Strip off and put your stuff in this bag, I will grab a stretcher." Nikita says hopping out of the vehicle, and putting a duffel bag on her seat.
Dani watches her sister run across the car park and unzips her coveralls, "Niki was right in the car, we are missing something. I have a bad feeling about this. There were a lot of resources invested in that ship, given how well resourced this operation is, maybe there is a backup plan."
She slaps her face and berates herself, "Figure it out later, right now you need to focus." With practiced efficiency, she loads her gear into the duffel bag and peels off her NAKI Suit and looks down at her hands and thinks about the lives she has taken. "So much blood and still my family isn't safe."
Dani is shaken from her thoughts, by a soft tap at the window. She smiles seeing Niki grinning back at her and nods to Nikita. Nikita opens the door and says, "I managed to get a stretcher and body bag, and told the desk clerk that I need storage for a body overnight, I need to make a show of loading you into the bag. Are you sure you are ok with this?"
Dani nods, "Needs must, babe. Did you at least get a clean bag?"
"I think so. Can't promise anything." Nikita says, grinning.
Dani leans back in her seat and shakes her head, "Let's get this over with."
Nikita stoops and gently lifts her sister from the car and manhandles her into the bag, taking more time than she needs to, in order to give the clerk a show. She loads the duffel bag under the trolley and zips the body bag closed. "I hope this works."
Andy watches the Nirvana SLO, as she wrestles with the woman's body, "Wow, the operative is gorgeous. I hate this job sometimes, night shift, dealing with creeps and the only time I see a beautiful woman is when she has been killed. Tonight is the kind of night that makes it worth it."
He waits with baited breath as the doors open and the operative wheels the stretcher in, he gazes up at her with wide eyes. "Ma'am, do you need any help?"
"No, thank you Andrew." She says, with a gentle smile, "To be honest, I think I might need a shower to wash her smell off me."
Andrew blushes from head to toe, unable to speak, imagining her in the shower, washing off the grime of the day, the bubbles caressing her breasts, sliding between her legs, as she rinses off.....
"Hey Andy, any chance I could drop this young woman off and be on my way?" Nikita asks, with a smile.
"I. Er. Yeah sure." Andy says, flustered, "Down the corridor and last door on the left."
"Thanks babe. You are a lifesaver." Nikita says, blowing him a kiss before, she pushes the trolley away from his desk.
Andrew watches the gentle sway of Nikita's hips as he pushes the trolley away and sighs to himself, "Man alive, she is lovely."
The echoes of the trolleys passing ring out along the corridor until Nikita gently eases it to a halt. She cracks open the door to the morgue and her hair splays around her in the cold blast of the fan cooling the storage room. She grunts with exaggerated effort, pushes the trolley inside.
Nikita quickly unzips the body bag, the moment the door to the storage room closes behind her. Dani smiles up at her sister, "Why exactly do I need to be naked again?"
"I wasn't sure if an examiner was here, easier to explain a naked body that one in a bullet resistant combat sheath." Nikita says, with an enigmatic smile.
Dani gives her sister a suspicious look, before she climbs out of the body bag. "Can you find a manifest, while I get dressed again?"
Nikita turns her back to give Dani some privacy and checks the desk for a list of the 'residents' of the morgue. She thinks to herself, "I feel bad about, teasing Andy but it was a nessecary evil. Seeing Dani naked and watching the wiggle of my bum, will leave him hard for the rest of the night. He will be unable to stand before dawn."
"Any joy?" Dani asks, freshly dressed in her NAKI suit, with the duffel back over her shoulder.
"Yes!" Nikita whispers, triumphantly, barely audible above the rooms cooling fan. "Drawer seven."
Dani crosses the room stealthily and quietly opens the drawer. When she reaches down for the zip of the body bag containing Marcus Pike, Nikita joins her, with a nervous look on her face.
Dani slowly draws the bag open and reveals it's contents. Nikita stares at the charred bones with dismay. She turns away and rubs her hair over her face and through her hair. Dani feels the change in her sisters mood and turns away from the drawer and places a hand on her shoulder, "Are you ok? It's ok, if you don't think you can do it. I know Africa must have been hard on you."
Nikita turns looking suddenly tired in the harsh lighting of the room, "I want to, but there is not enough of him."
"Damn it. It was worth a try, at least now we know." Dani says gently, "I am relieved in a way, I was worried that it might be a repeat of Africa."
"I have failed." Nikita says feeling lost.
Dani places a comforting hand on her sisters arm and gently rubs with her thumb, "If you don't have a back up, you don't have a plan. This isn't over."
"What do you mean? Nikita asks, confused.
"Don't judge me." Dani says reaching into the duffel back and pulling out a balisong. "Can you grab a sealable bag whilst I cut out his tongue?"
"Thank goodness you are ok, where have you been?" Steve asks, with a voice filled with relief.
"There are a lot of boats on the water, we had to stay deep and drift clear of the furore around the ship. We are on the Kent coast, between Ramsgate and Dover." Dani advises, tying her laces.
Nikita, shrugs on her backpack and pipes up, "Hi Dad."
"Hello Niki." He says, with a lightness to his voice, before continuing in a darker tone, "You need to get back here, as soon as possible."
Nikita's brow furrows detecting something off in his voice, "What's wrong?"
"Someone penetrated the academy's security and." He pauses, centring himself, "They locked a bomb around Kim's neck."
Dani and Nikita exchange a glace, before Nikita says, "We are on our way. What do we know about the device?"
"Memory metal casing, hingeless fitting. Smooth exterior, interior details unknown." Steve advises, watching Kim settle again into her father's arms.
"Sounds high end, very specialist. Any indications on it's source." Dani asks, concerned.
"Made by a man named Marcus Pike. I am sending you his file. We are trying to trace him." Steve advises calmly.
"How is Kim?" Dani asks, feeling her heart stop, when she opens and glances at the file.
"She is holding up well. She is a tough cookie." Steve says, smiling at Kim.
"Glad to hear it, give her a hug from us. We will be there soon, will call when on the move." Dani says, passing the phone to Nikita.
"Have they made any demands?" Nikita asks, watching her sister silently punching a tree.
"Just await instructions. Get back as fast as you can, we need you." Steve says, wearily.
"We're on our way, see you soon. Love you dad." Nikita says ending the call.
Nikita crouches next to Dani and puts an arm around her shoulder, not feeling her lifepulse, "Dani? What's wrong?"
Dani struggles to compose herself, while she blurts out, "The bomb maker is dead."
Nikita looks at her sister in shock, "What do you mean?"
"When you were taken. He was the man with the sonic emitter. I killed him, when I freed you." Dani says, sadly.
"Shit." Nikita whispers, softly, "His body would be taken to Watford Morgue, My ID would get me in, but not you."
"What are you thinking?" Dani asks.
Nikita closes her eyes and sways slightly, "I bring him back. We question him and find out how to get the bomb off of Kim."
"Are you sure? What about last time?" Dani asks, concerned for her sister.
Nikita smiles gently, thinking of Kim, "It is worth the risk for that little darling." She says, firmly.
"Ok, Let's get a car." Dani says, calmly, heading inland from the beach.
"I wont be able to get you inside." Nikita says, sadly.
"If only there was some way, I could turn into a corpse on demand and you could wheel me in." Dani says, with a smile.
Nikita tilts her head to the side and smiles, "Good point, well made. Stop messing about and get us some wheels."
The phone the kidnapper's left with Sasha, rings again, snapping everyones attention to the non descript ring. "Hello?" Sasha says, putting the phone onto speaker.
"Put Mr Smith on." The voice says, calmly.
Kurt glances at the faces of everyone in the room and nervously answers, "Speaking."
"You currently have two containers laying over, in the port of Agadir in Morocco. Consignments 5879 and 9354 according to your documentation. You will switch the delivery addresses of the consignments. You will then release both for delivery and instruct your delivery escorts to effectively go radio silent. Do you understand?" The caller says, calmly.
Kurt looks down at his daughter, "When will you tell us how to remove the device around my daughter's neck?"
"We will tell you, when we are ready." The caller says, with calm implacability, "May I suggest, that if you value her life, you will do what we say, when we say, how we say and not ask questions?"
"I'm sorry. I will do as you ask. Please promise me, you will tell me how to remove the collar." Kurt begs, as the line goes dead.
"What are the consignments?" Kate asks, as gently as she can.
"5879 is medical equipment from Turkey, heading for a hospital in Morroco." He pauses, tapping the details into his tablet, "9354 is just drilling equipment heading for the La Palma. I have just switched them over."
"What? We need to think about this first." Kate says, holding her hands up.
"You think all you want.This is my daughters life we are talking about. This is done." Kurt says, with a finality to his tone.
"I'm sorry Kurt. You are right." Kate says, feeling awful for her reaction.
"What do you reckon, track both and see who pick them up?" Louise asks, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.
"Maybe. Can you confirm exactly what is in each container?" Steve asks, furrowing his brow.
"Er let me see." Kurt says, tapping on his tablet, "9354, looks like heavy duty excavation gear, large scale industrial deep drills." He keeps searching on his tablets, before he nods, "5879 shows CAT Scanners and MRI machines."
"Nothing obvious there. This is a lot of risk and effort. Why?" Steve asks, staring into the middle distance.
"When we accept responsibility for a delivery, the charge hand will enter the container and take a video of contents, before it is loaded onto a ship. I can get those videos, but it might take a few hours to get the one from Turkey." Kurt says, sending a request to his personal assistant.
"That might be handy." Steve says, deep in thought, "Maybe there is something in one of them that is out of place. For now, we track both."'
"No, please! Stop!" Dani screams, in terror, "Please Niki, stop."
Nikita calmly turns to her sister and smiles, "What is wrong with you?"
"Slow down!" Dani begs, spotting the speedometer of the vehicle out of the corner of her eye.
"We have a hundred miles to cover and at least one stop on the way, now is not the time to slow down. That little girl is counting on us." Nikita says, easing the stolen Porsche within a hair of a hundred and eighty miles per hour.
"She is counting on us to arrive in one piece." Dani flinches, as the vehicle whips past a line of traffic and between two large lorries.
"This whole thing stinks to high heaven. The boat and the diving gear, they were going somewhere warm. Now this. We are missing something. This man Pike, would have the answers. I want to find out what he knows." Nikita says, conversationally as the vehicle streaks along the inside lane, skirting a slow line of traffic and then, zip across two lanes of traffic, as soon as it is clear.
Dani watches the ease with which Nikita handles the vehicle and cannot help but be impressed. "I knew you werre good from when you chased Kim and I in MK, but I didn't know you were this good. Where did you learn to drive like this?"
Nikita hesitates for a moment, guiding the vehicle onto the slip road and slowing it, "I had a good teacher." She says, flashing a smile.
Nikita eases the car into a space and leans back in the seat, "I needed that."
"I need a new pair of underwear, you sod." Dani says, giggling nervously, from the adrenaline in her system.
"Sorry babe." Nikita apologises, sheepishly, "Well we are here intact, shall we do this?"
"Lead the way." Dani says, stopping her heart.
"Strip off and put your stuff in this bag, I will grab a stretcher." Nikita says hopping out of the vehicle, and putting a duffel bag on her seat.
Dani watches her sister run across the car park and unzips her coveralls, "Niki was right in the car, we are missing something. I have a bad feeling about this. There were a lot of resources invested in that ship, given how well resourced this operation is, maybe there is a backup plan."
She slaps her face and berates herself, "Figure it out later, right now you need to focus." With practiced efficiency, she loads her gear into the duffel bag and peels off her NAKI Suit and looks down at her hands and thinks about the lives she has taken. "So much blood and still my family isn't safe."
Dani is shaken from her thoughts, by a soft tap at the window. She smiles seeing Niki grinning back at her and nods to Nikita. Nikita opens the door and says, "I managed to get a stretcher and body bag, and told the desk clerk that I need storage for a body overnight, I need to make a show of loading you into the bag. Are you sure you are ok with this?"
Dani nods, "Needs must, babe. Did you at least get a clean bag?"
"I think so. Can't promise anything." Nikita says, grinning.
Dani leans back in her seat and shakes her head, "Let's get this over with."
Nikita stoops and gently lifts her sister from the car and manhandles her into the bag, taking more time than she needs to, in order to give the clerk a show. She loads the duffel bag under the trolley and zips the body bag closed. "I hope this works."
Andy watches the Nirvana SLO, as she wrestles with the woman's body, "Wow, the operative is gorgeous. I hate this job sometimes, night shift, dealing with creeps and the only time I see a beautiful woman is when she has been killed. Tonight is the kind of night that makes it worth it."
He waits with baited breath as the doors open and the operative wheels the stretcher in, he gazes up at her with wide eyes. "Ma'am, do you need any help?"
"No, thank you Andrew." She says, with a gentle smile, "To be honest, I think I might need a shower to wash her smell off me."
Andrew blushes from head to toe, unable to speak, imagining her in the shower, washing off the grime of the day, the bubbles caressing her breasts, sliding between her legs, as she rinses off.....
"Hey Andy, any chance I could drop this young woman off and be on my way?" Nikita asks, with a smile.
"I. Er. Yeah sure." Andy says, flustered, "Down the corridor and last door on the left."
"Thanks babe. You are a lifesaver." Nikita says, blowing him a kiss before, she pushes the trolley away from his desk.
Andrew watches the gentle sway of Nikita's hips as he pushes the trolley away and sighs to himself, "Man alive, she is lovely."
The echoes of the trolleys passing ring out along the corridor until Nikita gently eases it to a halt. She cracks open the door to the morgue and her hair splays around her in the cold blast of the fan cooling the storage room. She grunts with exaggerated effort, pushes the trolley inside.
Nikita quickly unzips the body bag, the moment the door to the storage room closes behind her. Dani smiles up at her sister, "Why exactly do I need to be naked again?"
"I wasn't sure if an examiner was here, easier to explain a naked body that one in a bullet resistant combat sheath." Nikita says, with an enigmatic smile.
Dani gives her sister a suspicious look, before she climbs out of the body bag. "Can you find a manifest, while I get dressed again?"
Nikita turns her back to give Dani some privacy and checks the desk for a list of the 'residents' of the morgue. She thinks to herself, "I feel bad about, teasing Andy but it was a nessecary evil. Seeing Dani naked and watching the wiggle of my bum, will leave him hard for the rest of the night. He will be unable to stand before dawn."
"Any joy?" Dani asks, freshly dressed in her NAKI suit, with the duffel back over her shoulder.
"Yes!" Nikita whispers, triumphantly, barely audible above the rooms cooling fan. "Drawer seven."
Dani crosses the room stealthily and quietly opens the drawer. When she reaches down for the zip of the body bag containing Marcus Pike, Nikita joins her, with a nervous look on her face.
Dani slowly draws the bag open and reveals it's contents. Nikita stares at the charred bones with dismay. She turns away and rubs her hair over her face and through her hair. Dani feels the change in her sisters mood and turns away from the drawer and places a hand on her shoulder, "Are you ok? It's ok, if you don't think you can do it. I know Africa must have been hard on you."
Nikita turns looking suddenly tired in the harsh lighting of the room, "I want to, but there is not enough of him."
"Damn it. It was worth a try, at least now we know." Dani says gently, "I am relieved in a way, I was worried that it might be a repeat of Africa."
"I have failed." Nikita says feeling lost.
Dani places a comforting hand on her sisters arm and gently rubs with her thumb, "If you don't have a back up, you don't have a plan. This isn't over."
"What do you mean? Nikita asks, confused.
"Don't judge me." Dani says reaching into the duffel back and pulling out a balisong. "Can you grab a sealable bag whilst I cut out his tongue?"
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
Nikita eases the stolen Porsche out of the Morgue's car park and circles around the rear of the building and parking a few hundred yards down the road. The moment, she stops the vehicle, the passenger door opens and Dani jumps in. Putting her duffel bag in the back of the vehicle.
Nikita pulls away in silence, appearing deep in thought. "Is everything alright?" Dani asks, cautiously.
"How do you do it?" Nikita asks, guiding the vehicle around a roundabout.
"What do you mean?" Dani asks, unable to read her sister's mood.
"You always keep cool and in control, almost as if you know what is going to happen." Nikita says, wary of how this conversation could end.
"Pull in here." Dani says, jerking her thumb towards a supermarket car park.
Nikita readies herself for action and pulls into the car park, with the vehicle facing towards the store. She turns off the engine and the sister's sit in silence for a moment that seems to last forever.
"The kid in the red jumper on the push bike, will pull up to stop with enough force on the front brake to lift the back wheel off of the floor and he will panic, before falling off of the bike. The man and woman sharing a bag, will rush to help, he will stand back and she will rush to help. He is an accountant and she does something medical, not a doctor, possibly a paramedic or nurse. The kid will thank her and then chain up his bike, before heading in to the shop to buy a bottle of water and a pack of chewing gum." Dani says, speaking quickly.
Nikita opens her mouth to speak and closes it again, when the boy falls off of his bike. She watches in rapt fascination as the woman rushes to the boys aid, under the watchful gaze of her partner. When the boy enters the supermarket, she turns to her sister, "How the actual fuck did you do that?"
"I have always been able to see the truth of a situation and get a pretty good impression of how things will go. I am not always right. At the suppliers, I thought they would try to take us together. On the ship, I was genuinely shocked to see that you had taken on the appearance of Roberts." Dani explains, "When things don't go as I predict, I try something based on the available options, sometimes it works out, sometimes not."
"I had a good teacher." Dani says, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. She squeezes she bridge of her nose, before continuing, "I follow logic and do what needs to be done. You follow your heart and do what you feel is right." She pauses, nodding to herself, "That is why you are better at this than I am."
"What are you on about?" Nikita asks, incredulously. "You are babbling."
Dani turns sharply to her sister, feeling anger rise in her heart. "No you arent li...." She begins to yell, before lowering her tone and shaking her head, "Wait. I am sorry." She pauses awkwardly, "Do you feel angry, hurt, confused and emotional for no reason?"
Nikita thinks about her feelings before she speaks, "I do a bit to be fair."
"It is the tongue. We need to do this soon." Dani says, thinking to herself, "It carries the pain of Pike's death. Can we get moving so we can deal with this?"
"I will play along, but if this is a wind up, we will have words," Nikita says, angrily but feeling confused, not knowing where the words came from.
The strorage facility is quiet and the desk clerk, barely looks up as Dani and Nikita walk past his desk. Dani walks with purpose and strides forth with her duffel bag over her shoulder. Nikita feels tense, following her sister, her eyes fixed between Dani's shoulder blades. Calmly she thinks, "If this is a trick, or she has set me up for an ambush, I will teear her limb from limb."
Dani opens the half full storage locker and steps inside. "This is my staging area, where I have been keeping some spare gear. We can do this here." She flicks on a dim white overhead light, "Can you close the shutter?" She busies herself, moving some of the smaller boxes away from the middle of the room to create a space roughly two metres square.
Nikita closes the shutter warily, never taking her eyes off of her sister and waits.
Dani takes out the tongue and removes it from the bag, laying it on the floor and sitting cross legged before it, indicating that Nikita should join her. Nikita reluctantly sits and glares at her sister.
"When I start, try to keep still and don't breath too deeply." Dani says gently, "The air needs to be still as possible."
"Sure." Nikita says, fighting the urge to deploy her claws.
"No sudden moves, ." Dani says, lighting a cigarette and drawing smoke deep into her lungs. Dani exhales slowly, breathing smoke over the dead man's tongue.
"This is bullshit." Nikita thinks, glaring at the tongue. She watches the smoke lazily spill from her sister's mouth and cover the dead meat like a fog. Her eyes widen in disbelief, as the smoke coalesces roughly an inch above the dead man's tongue, into a roiling cloud, shaped like the dead mans face.
The cloud glows lightly in the dim white light of the room. Sightless eyes peer out from an ephemeral face gripped in fear. Nikita starts in fear, when he speaks, "What is going on? Why can't I feel anything? Why can't I see?"
"You are dead Mr Pike." Dani says softly.
"I remember the flying woman. Noise and then nothing." Pike says, fearfully.
"That's right Marcus. I killed you." Dani says, unaware that the whites of her eyes and her irises are pure black in colour. "Now you are mine."
"You bitch, I will end you." Pike hisses, angrily.
"No, you wont. You are already dead, the only reason we are speaking is because I have need of you." Dani says, calmly.
"Screw you. I will not help you." Pike defiantly whispers.
"There are no lies in death. You will tell me what I want to know." Dani says, in a matter of fact tone.
"Never!" Pike cries, furiously.
"Did you make the bomb using a memory metal case?" Dani asks, taking another lungful of smoke, before letting it spill from her mouth, into the cloud.
"Yes." Pike says, startled at his admission.
"How do we remove it?" Dani asks, in a calm tone.
"Place a magnet at the apex of the curve of the collar, this will pull a wire out of alignment, stopping the current." Pike says laughing.
Nikita gazes confused at the roiling smoke cloud, as Dani gently exhales more smoke to strengthen it, "Why are you laughing?" She asks, calmly.
Pike chuckles, "Because, less than two seconds after it comes off, it will explode."
"Is there any way to remove it without it detonating?" Dani asks, pulling out her phone and typing a message, before revealing it to her sister, "Ask anything you want, but try not to breath on the cloud."
"No, it is designed to detonate, after a short delay. Rewiring it would take far longer than you will have." Pike says, in a smug tone.
Dani makes eye contact with Nikita and nods towards Pike. Taking the opportunity, Nikita asks, "What type of explosive and fragmentation, does the device use?"
"Detonation cord core, four ounces of plastique, three ounces powdered radium." He explains, fighting not to talk.
Dani and Nikita exchange a glance both feeling the same pit of dread in their stomachs. Dani looks down at the cloud with disdain, "Why a dirty bomb?"
"Keep you lot out of the way." The cloud announces. "My employer wants you all, either dead or incapacitated long term."
"Who do you work for?" Nikita asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Malachi Thorn." Pike says, in a weakening tone.
Dani lights another cigarette and continues to feed the cloud with smoke, "Why do you need us out of the way?"
"A lot has been invested to get to this point, we cannot allow you to stop the bomb going off." Pike says, with an air of defeat in his voice, "Please let me go, release me from this nothing."
"I will let you go soon enough." Dani says, keeping her voice even, "What bomb? What is the target?"
"One of the warheads from an SS eighteen, somewhere off the coast of Africa. Will be planted with divers." Pike says, a dreamy tone entering his voice.
Nikita sees Dani turn very pale and senses from her lifepulse, that she is nauseated. Nikita stares at the cloud, "What is the backup plan?"
"Plant it on land somehow. I don't have the details." Pike says, wearily.
"Where?" Dani asks, feeling hollow.
"An island off of the West African coast. Don't know which." The cloud says, as it begins to shake.
"We don't have much time." Dani mouths to her sister before asking, "Why?"
Pike begins to laugh uncontrollably, "To change the world." He continues to laugh, hysterically, his mouth opens impossibly wide and his lips curl over his face, as the cloud turns inside out and dissipates.
Nikita feels every ounce of tension leave her body in a powerful rush, forcing her to exhale sharply. A wave of peace washes over her, permeating her being, filling her will a feeling of safety, surety and focus. Tears fill her eyes and she hugs herself lightly.
Dani leans forward and puts the tongue back in the bag, sealing it closed. After rinsing her hands in a small metal sink and then sits next to Nikita and wrap an arm around her. "Are you alright?" Dani softly asks, "I am sorry, I should have warned you."
Nikita tearfully looks up, "What happened?"
"I don't fully understand it myself to be fair. I think the essence of a person gets released slowly to whatever awaits them upon their death. When they manifest like that, I think it is a fast release and the world feels like a better place for their passing." Dani tries to explain.
"Do you think he was telling the truth." Nikita asks, while thinking, "Did we really just summon and question the ghost of a dead man?"
"Lies require will to tell, the dead have no will power. They cannot resist or mislead when they speak." Dani says, softly, "We really need to get back. Get the device from around Kim's neck and warn them about the bomb."
"What is an SS eighteen anyway?" Nikita asks, snapping back to herself.
"It is a MIRV, designed to transport and disperse multiple nuclear bombs. From the sound of it, they have one of the bombs and plan to detonate it off of the coast of Africa." Dani says, gravely.
Nikita pulls away in silence, appearing deep in thought. "Is everything alright?" Dani asks, cautiously.
"How do you do it?" Nikita asks, guiding the vehicle around a roundabout.
"What do you mean?" Dani asks, unable to read her sister's mood.
"You always keep cool and in control, almost as if you know what is going to happen." Nikita says, wary of how this conversation could end.
"Pull in here." Dani says, jerking her thumb towards a supermarket car park.
Nikita readies herself for action and pulls into the car park, with the vehicle facing towards the store. She turns off the engine and the sister's sit in silence for a moment that seems to last forever.
"The kid in the red jumper on the push bike, will pull up to stop with enough force on the front brake to lift the back wheel off of the floor and he will panic, before falling off of the bike. The man and woman sharing a bag, will rush to help, he will stand back and she will rush to help. He is an accountant and she does something medical, not a doctor, possibly a paramedic or nurse. The kid will thank her and then chain up his bike, before heading in to the shop to buy a bottle of water and a pack of chewing gum." Dani says, speaking quickly.
Nikita opens her mouth to speak and closes it again, when the boy falls off of his bike. She watches in rapt fascination as the woman rushes to the boys aid, under the watchful gaze of her partner. When the boy enters the supermarket, she turns to her sister, "How the actual fuck did you do that?"
"I have always been able to see the truth of a situation and get a pretty good impression of how things will go. I am not always right. At the suppliers, I thought they would try to take us together. On the ship, I was genuinely shocked to see that you had taken on the appearance of Roberts." Dani explains, "When things don't go as I predict, I try something based on the available options, sometimes it works out, sometimes not."
"I had a good teacher." Dani says, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. She squeezes she bridge of her nose, before continuing, "I follow logic and do what needs to be done. You follow your heart and do what you feel is right." She pauses, nodding to herself, "That is why you are better at this than I am."
"What are you on about?" Nikita asks, incredulously. "You are babbling."
Dani turns sharply to her sister, feeling anger rise in her heart. "No you arent li...." She begins to yell, before lowering her tone and shaking her head, "Wait. I am sorry." She pauses awkwardly, "Do you feel angry, hurt, confused and emotional for no reason?"
Nikita thinks about her feelings before she speaks, "I do a bit to be fair."
"It is the tongue. We need to do this soon." Dani says, thinking to herself, "It carries the pain of Pike's death. Can we get moving so we can deal with this?"
"I will play along, but if this is a wind up, we will have words," Nikita says, angrily but feeling confused, not knowing where the words came from.
The strorage facility is quiet and the desk clerk, barely looks up as Dani and Nikita walk past his desk. Dani walks with purpose and strides forth with her duffel bag over her shoulder. Nikita feels tense, following her sister, her eyes fixed between Dani's shoulder blades. Calmly she thinks, "If this is a trick, or she has set me up for an ambush, I will teear her limb from limb."
Dani opens the half full storage locker and steps inside. "This is my staging area, where I have been keeping some spare gear. We can do this here." She flicks on a dim white overhead light, "Can you close the shutter?" She busies herself, moving some of the smaller boxes away from the middle of the room to create a space roughly two metres square.
Nikita closes the shutter warily, never taking her eyes off of her sister and waits.
Dani takes out the tongue and removes it from the bag, laying it on the floor and sitting cross legged before it, indicating that Nikita should join her. Nikita reluctantly sits and glares at her sister.
"When I start, try to keep still and don't breath too deeply." Dani says gently, "The air needs to be still as possible."
"Sure." Nikita says, fighting the urge to deploy her claws.
"No sudden moves, ." Dani says, lighting a cigarette and drawing smoke deep into her lungs. Dani exhales slowly, breathing smoke over the dead man's tongue.
"This is bullshit." Nikita thinks, glaring at the tongue. She watches the smoke lazily spill from her sister's mouth and cover the dead meat like a fog. Her eyes widen in disbelief, as the smoke coalesces roughly an inch above the dead man's tongue, into a roiling cloud, shaped like the dead mans face.
The cloud glows lightly in the dim white light of the room. Sightless eyes peer out from an ephemeral face gripped in fear. Nikita starts in fear, when he speaks, "What is going on? Why can't I feel anything? Why can't I see?"
"You are dead Mr Pike." Dani says softly.
"I remember the flying woman. Noise and then nothing." Pike says, fearfully.
"That's right Marcus. I killed you." Dani says, unaware that the whites of her eyes and her irises are pure black in colour. "Now you are mine."
"You bitch, I will end you." Pike hisses, angrily.
"No, you wont. You are already dead, the only reason we are speaking is because I have need of you." Dani says, calmly.
"Screw you. I will not help you." Pike defiantly whispers.
"There are no lies in death. You will tell me what I want to know." Dani says, in a matter of fact tone.
"Never!" Pike cries, furiously.
"Did you make the bomb using a memory metal case?" Dani asks, taking another lungful of smoke, before letting it spill from her mouth, into the cloud.
"Yes." Pike says, startled at his admission.
"How do we remove it?" Dani asks, in a calm tone.
"Place a magnet at the apex of the curve of the collar, this will pull a wire out of alignment, stopping the current." Pike says laughing.
Nikita gazes confused at the roiling smoke cloud, as Dani gently exhales more smoke to strengthen it, "Why are you laughing?" She asks, calmly.
Pike chuckles, "Because, less than two seconds after it comes off, it will explode."
"Is there any way to remove it without it detonating?" Dani asks, pulling out her phone and typing a message, before revealing it to her sister, "Ask anything you want, but try not to breath on the cloud."
"No, it is designed to detonate, after a short delay. Rewiring it would take far longer than you will have." Pike says, in a smug tone.
Dani makes eye contact with Nikita and nods towards Pike. Taking the opportunity, Nikita asks, "What type of explosive and fragmentation, does the device use?"
"Detonation cord core, four ounces of plastique, three ounces powdered radium." He explains, fighting not to talk.
Dani and Nikita exchange a glance both feeling the same pit of dread in their stomachs. Dani looks down at the cloud with disdain, "Why a dirty bomb?"
"Keep you lot out of the way." The cloud announces. "My employer wants you all, either dead or incapacitated long term."
"Who do you work for?" Nikita asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Malachi Thorn." Pike says, in a weakening tone.
Dani lights another cigarette and continues to feed the cloud with smoke, "Why do you need us out of the way?"
"A lot has been invested to get to this point, we cannot allow you to stop the bomb going off." Pike says, with an air of defeat in his voice, "Please let me go, release me from this nothing."
"I will let you go soon enough." Dani says, keeping her voice even, "What bomb? What is the target?"
"One of the warheads from an SS eighteen, somewhere off the coast of Africa. Will be planted with divers." Pike says, a dreamy tone entering his voice.
Nikita sees Dani turn very pale and senses from her lifepulse, that she is nauseated. Nikita stares at the cloud, "What is the backup plan?"
"Plant it on land somehow. I don't have the details." Pike says, wearily.
"Where?" Dani asks, feeling hollow.
"An island off of the West African coast. Don't know which." The cloud says, as it begins to shake.
"We don't have much time." Dani mouths to her sister before asking, "Why?"
Pike begins to laugh uncontrollably, "To change the world." He continues to laugh, hysterically, his mouth opens impossibly wide and his lips curl over his face, as the cloud turns inside out and dissipates.
Nikita feels every ounce of tension leave her body in a powerful rush, forcing her to exhale sharply. A wave of peace washes over her, permeating her being, filling her will a feeling of safety, surety and focus. Tears fill her eyes and she hugs herself lightly.
Dani leans forward and puts the tongue back in the bag, sealing it closed. After rinsing her hands in a small metal sink and then sits next to Nikita and wrap an arm around her. "Are you alright?" Dani softly asks, "I am sorry, I should have warned you."
Nikita tearfully looks up, "What happened?"
"I don't fully understand it myself to be fair. I think the essence of a person gets released slowly to whatever awaits them upon their death. When they manifest like that, I think it is a fast release and the world feels like a better place for their passing." Dani tries to explain.
"Do you think he was telling the truth." Nikita asks, while thinking, "Did we really just summon and question the ghost of a dead man?"
"Lies require will to tell, the dead have no will power. They cannot resist or mislead when they speak." Dani says, softly, "We really need to get back. Get the device from around Kim's neck and warn them about the bomb."
"What is an SS eighteen anyway?" Nikita asks, snapping back to herself.
"It is a MIRV, designed to transport and disperse multiple nuclear bombs. From the sound of it, they have one of the bombs and plan to detonate it off of the coast of Africa." Dani says, gravely.
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
A nuke.
A real f'n nuke.
You really do not let up.
You've taken us for a few wild rides so far, but it looks like those were the dress rehearsal, if that. This one...
Oh, I'm very much interested to see how this plays out.
A real f'n nuke.
You really do not let up.
You've taken us for a few wild rides so far, but it looks like those were the dress rehearsal, if that. This one...
Oh, I'm very much interested to see how this plays out.
Dani hurriedly begins packing a large sports holdall with equipment and pulls on a set of black motorcyle leathers, boots and gloves. "Niki grab anything you need. What's mine is yours, we roll in two minutes."
Nikita begins looking through the boxes until her eyes fall onto a rack at the back of the room. She stalks over to it and pulls a bottle out of the rack. "Can I bring this, or are you saving it?"
Dani spots the bottle of Merlot, in her sister's hand and nods, "Sure no worries, I didn't know you liked red wine."
Nikita winces, before she reluctantly says, "It's for Kim."
"What?" Dani says shocked, "She is far too young."
Nikita rubs her face with her free hand, "The bomb around her neck has Radium in it. It doesn't sound like it is shielded. Red wine contains an anti oxidant, which can protect cells from damage."
Dani raises her hand to her mouth and shakes her head, she looks tearfully at Nikita and exclaims, "Shit. The baby."
Nikita looks back in shock, "I didn't even think of that. We gotta go."
Dani snatches up her bag and heads for the door, "You drive, you have a heavier foot."
"We aren't far away. Maybe ten minutes." Nikita says, grabbing her bag and following Dani.
"On the way, could you tell me a bit about the layout of the house and grounds on the way?" Dani asks, thoughtfully.
"You got a plan?" Nikita asks with a smile.
Kim leaps up from the sofa, the moment she hears a key in the door. She rushes out to the hallway to see Nikita step in the front door, with a "Hello sweetie."'
Kim hugs her and looks up tearfully. "Where is Angel?"
Nikita looks down at her tenderly, "She is just moving some of her gear in next door."
Kurt moves to follow her, but Nikita raises a warding hand, gently saying, "Give them a minute."
Steve eyes her suspiciously, "What's going on?"
"Dani is on top of things. It has been a long day." Nikita says, thinking back to the ghost made of cigarette smoke, the thought of Dani controlling a dead man's body, her new ability to take on the appearance of others and breath undewater like a fish.
Louise sees the emotions play across Nikita's face and nudges Steve, while she asks, "Are you alright, love?"
Nikita laughs wearily and rubs a hand over her face, a moment before the muffled crump of an explosion next door, brings everyone to their feet.
Kim rushes past Nikita like a greyhound with it's tail on fire and vaults over the fence and runs inside, calling out "Angel."
"In the living room sweetie." Dani calls back, her voice echoing in the sparsely furnished room. She looks up and smiles, waving at the young woman, the moment she enters the room.
Kim leaps at Dani, wrapping her arms around her neck. "I have been so worried about you Angel. I missed you."
"I missed you too darling." Dani says, hugging her step-niece tightly. "Are you alright?"
Kim loosens her grip around Dani's neck and looks into her eyes. "Someone locked this around my neck. Everyone is trying to protect me but I know it is a bomb."
"You are so brave, Kim" Dani says looking at the device. "I can't see it very well. Let's see if the light is better over here." She says gently carrying the girl over to the door to the homes, empty armoury and setting her down.
Dani crouches before Kim, gently taking the device between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand. "Kim. Do you trust me?" She asks in a serious tone, putting her right hand in the trouser pocket of her biker leathers.
"Of course I do Angel." Kim says without hesitation.
The moment Kim speaks, Dani pulls a fridge magnet from her pocket and presses it to the apex of the collar, causing it to spring open. Dani flings the collar into the armoury with her left hand, as she brings her right arm back. The collar flies into the dark, armoured room and pings off of the back wall, at the same time as Dani slams the door shut with her right. Dani wraps her arms around Kim, before she can react and launches them both across the room praying that she can reach the door.
The thump of their landing in the hallway, is drowned out by the muffled crump of the explosion, sealed in the room behind them.
Kim stares in open mouthed awe at Dani, who simply winks in return. Kim hugs Dani tightly and buries her face in her shoulder, "I knew you would save me."
Dani rises to her feet, leaving Kim's arms around her and supporting her with one arm around her back and another under her knees. She gently kisses the top of her head, and makes her way towards the front door.
Kurt bursts into the hallway and his heart skips, seeing his daughter alive and well. He stretches out for her allowing Dani to gently place his daughter in his arms. A part of him melts, holding his daughter in his arms, safe, well and free from the device around her neck. He kisses her on top of her head, the mouths the words, "Thank you." to Dani.
She follows behind them as Kurt carries his daughter home, but pauses before entering, softly saying, "I will be in shortly."
Dani lights a cigarette and leans back against the front wall, staring out into the darkness.
"What a day." She exclaims, recalling the events of the day. She stares at the moon, thinking to herself, "Going to be a long night, too."
She blows smoke out of the corner of her mouth and pulls out her phone, typing a text message, "Kim is safe. Possible aggressor Malachi Thorn, further details unknown. Future target, island off of African coast, Mirv warhead from SS eighteen missile. Objective unclear. Possible lead, ship Cumbre Vieja, confirm ownership and history of ports."
Dani reads and re-reads the message over and over again, before finally hitting send.
She takes a deep lungful of tobacco smoke and stares at the moon, she smiles to herself regretfully and writes another text, "I never thought it would be this hard coming back."
The excited burble of conversation quietens, upon Dani's entry to the living room. Nikita makes eye contact and gives a thumbs up, flicking her eyes to Sasha and Kim. "Thank goodness, everyone is ok." she thinks, claiming a seat in an arm chair and flooping back in it.
Steve passes her a beer and places a gentle hand on her shoulder, he looks down at her and whispers, "I am so proud of you."
"Thanks dad. Niki got us off the boat clean though, she is awesome." Dani says, tearfully, "I can't believe how much everyone has changed, since I have been gone."
Steve looks down at her thoughtfully and cocks his thumb towards the kitchen. She follows her father out of the room and pushes the door closed.
Steve hugs Dani. "So much time has passed, I wish that we had more time."
"You feel it too." Dani asks, thoughtfully, "You feel events accelerating?"
Steve nods, leaning back against the kitchen counter, "Things are building and we need to be ready."
Dani chews her lips and nervously asks, "Has Niki had chance to tell you about the nuke?"
Steve steps back in surprise, "What? No, she hasn't had time."
"Looks like a guy called Malachi Thorn, wants to detonate a MIRV warhead from an SS eighteen off of the coast of Africa." Dani explains, nervously.
"How do you know this? Nikita said you found the man who made the bomb around Kim's neck but not much else."
"He told us everything, or at least all he knew." Dani says, warmly, not wanting to explain how she found out.
"We had contact from the people who put the collar around Kim's neck. They want to switch a couple of deliveries, one going to a hospital in Morroco and one going to a geothermal plant on La Palma." Steve explains.
"I would guess that is where the Cumbre Vieja was heading." Dani says, with a shrug.
Steve and Dani's eyes lock in horror, as they simultaneously say, "Oh fuck."
They both storm into the living room and Steve pulls out his phone, dialling a number.
Nikita smiles up at them as they re-enter the room, "I need to grab a shower. Do you mind if I go first?"
Dani's eyes moisten with tears, "Sorry babe, it'll need to be a quick one, we need to move."
Everyone except Steve looks at her in disbelief, but their gaze switches to him as soon as he speaks, "Collins. Code Black, muster every unmarried operative without children. Full battle dress, briefing in the hangar in an hour, wheels up in two. We will need the Hercules."
He pauses listening to Collins' reply, before speaking, "Don't worry about landing, just return to the UK." He pauses again briefly, "No mate, if we fail, no one is coming back."
Nikita begins looking through the boxes until her eyes fall onto a rack at the back of the room. She stalks over to it and pulls a bottle out of the rack. "Can I bring this, or are you saving it?"
Dani spots the bottle of Merlot, in her sister's hand and nods, "Sure no worries, I didn't know you liked red wine."
Nikita winces, before she reluctantly says, "It's for Kim."
"What?" Dani says shocked, "She is far too young."
Nikita rubs her face with her free hand, "The bomb around her neck has Radium in it. It doesn't sound like it is shielded. Red wine contains an anti oxidant, which can protect cells from damage."
Dani raises her hand to her mouth and shakes her head, she looks tearfully at Nikita and exclaims, "Shit. The baby."
Nikita looks back in shock, "I didn't even think of that. We gotta go."
Dani snatches up her bag and heads for the door, "You drive, you have a heavier foot."
"We aren't far away. Maybe ten minutes." Nikita says, grabbing her bag and following Dani.
"On the way, could you tell me a bit about the layout of the house and grounds on the way?" Dani asks, thoughtfully.
"You got a plan?" Nikita asks with a smile.
Kim leaps up from the sofa, the moment she hears a key in the door. She rushes out to the hallway to see Nikita step in the front door, with a "Hello sweetie."'
Kim hugs her and looks up tearfully. "Where is Angel?"
Nikita looks down at her tenderly, "She is just moving some of her gear in next door."
Kurt moves to follow her, but Nikita raises a warding hand, gently saying, "Give them a minute."
Steve eyes her suspiciously, "What's going on?"
"Dani is on top of things. It has been a long day." Nikita says, thinking back to the ghost made of cigarette smoke, the thought of Dani controlling a dead man's body, her new ability to take on the appearance of others and breath undewater like a fish.
Louise sees the emotions play across Nikita's face and nudges Steve, while she asks, "Are you alright, love?"
Nikita laughs wearily and rubs a hand over her face, a moment before the muffled crump of an explosion next door, brings everyone to their feet.
Kim rushes past Nikita like a greyhound with it's tail on fire and vaults over the fence and runs inside, calling out "Angel."
"In the living room sweetie." Dani calls back, her voice echoing in the sparsely furnished room. She looks up and smiles, waving at the young woman, the moment she enters the room.
Kim leaps at Dani, wrapping her arms around her neck. "I have been so worried about you Angel. I missed you."
"I missed you too darling." Dani says, hugging her step-niece tightly. "Are you alright?"
Kim loosens her grip around Dani's neck and looks into her eyes. "Someone locked this around my neck. Everyone is trying to protect me but I know it is a bomb."
"You are so brave, Kim" Dani says looking at the device. "I can't see it very well. Let's see if the light is better over here." She says gently carrying the girl over to the door to the homes, empty armoury and setting her down.
Dani crouches before Kim, gently taking the device between the thumb and forefinger of her left hand. "Kim. Do you trust me?" She asks in a serious tone, putting her right hand in the trouser pocket of her biker leathers.
"Of course I do Angel." Kim says without hesitation.
The moment Kim speaks, Dani pulls a fridge magnet from her pocket and presses it to the apex of the collar, causing it to spring open. Dani flings the collar into the armoury with her left hand, as she brings her right arm back. The collar flies into the dark, armoured room and pings off of the back wall, at the same time as Dani slams the door shut with her right. Dani wraps her arms around Kim, before she can react and launches them both across the room praying that she can reach the door.
The thump of their landing in the hallway, is drowned out by the muffled crump of the explosion, sealed in the room behind them.
Kim stares in open mouthed awe at Dani, who simply winks in return. Kim hugs Dani tightly and buries her face in her shoulder, "I knew you would save me."
Dani rises to her feet, leaving Kim's arms around her and supporting her with one arm around her back and another under her knees. She gently kisses the top of her head, and makes her way towards the front door.
Kurt bursts into the hallway and his heart skips, seeing his daughter alive and well. He stretches out for her allowing Dani to gently place his daughter in his arms. A part of him melts, holding his daughter in his arms, safe, well and free from the device around her neck. He kisses her on top of her head, the mouths the words, "Thank you." to Dani.
She follows behind them as Kurt carries his daughter home, but pauses before entering, softly saying, "I will be in shortly."
Dani lights a cigarette and leans back against the front wall, staring out into the darkness.
"What a day." She exclaims, recalling the events of the day. She stares at the moon, thinking to herself, "Going to be a long night, too."
She blows smoke out of the corner of her mouth and pulls out her phone, typing a text message, "Kim is safe. Possible aggressor Malachi Thorn, further details unknown. Future target, island off of African coast, Mirv warhead from SS eighteen missile. Objective unclear. Possible lead, ship Cumbre Vieja, confirm ownership and history of ports."
Dani reads and re-reads the message over and over again, before finally hitting send.
She takes a deep lungful of tobacco smoke and stares at the moon, she smiles to herself regretfully and writes another text, "I never thought it would be this hard coming back."
The excited burble of conversation quietens, upon Dani's entry to the living room. Nikita makes eye contact and gives a thumbs up, flicking her eyes to Sasha and Kim. "Thank goodness, everyone is ok." she thinks, claiming a seat in an arm chair and flooping back in it.
Steve passes her a beer and places a gentle hand on her shoulder, he looks down at her and whispers, "I am so proud of you."
"Thanks dad. Niki got us off the boat clean though, she is awesome." Dani says, tearfully, "I can't believe how much everyone has changed, since I have been gone."
Steve looks down at her thoughtfully and cocks his thumb towards the kitchen. She follows her father out of the room and pushes the door closed.
Steve hugs Dani. "So much time has passed, I wish that we had more time."
"You feel it too." Dani asks, thoughtfully, "You feel events accelerating?"
Steve nods, leaning back against the kitchen counter, "Things are building and we need to be ready."
Dani chews her lips and nervously asks, "Has Niki had chance to tell you about the nuke?"
Steve steps back in surprise, "What? No, she hasn't had time."
"Looks like a guy called Malachi Thorn, wants to detonate a MIRV warhead from an SS eighteen off of the coast of Africa." Dani explains, nervously.
"How do you know this? Nikita said you found the man who made the bomb around Kim's neck but not much else."
"He told us everything, or at least all he knew." Dani says, warmly, not wanting to explain how she found out.
"We had contact from the people who put the collar around Kim's neck. They want to switch a couple of deliveries, one going to a hospital in Morroco and one going to a geothermal plant on La Palma." Steve explains.
"I would guess that is where the Cumbre Vieja was heading." Dani says, with a shrug.
Steve and Dani's eyes lock in horror, as they simultaneously say, "Oh fuck."
They both storm into the living room and Steve pulls out his phone, dialling a number.
Nikita smiles up at them as they re-enter the room, "I need to grab a shower. Do you mind if I go first?"
Dani's eyes moisten with tears, "Sorry babe, it'll need to be a quick one, we need to move."
Everyone except Steve looks at her in disbelief, but their gaze switches to him as soon as he speaks, "Collins. Code Black, muster every unmarried operative without children. Full battle dress, briefing in the hangar in an hour, wheels up in two. We will need the Hercules."
He pauses listening to Collins' reply, before speaking, "Don't worry about landing, just return to the UK." He pauses again briefly, "No mate, if we fail, no one is coming back."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
La Palma? Cumbre Vieja? Looks like this story is headed for a volcanic, earth-shattering climax! Great stuff!
Links to all of my stories can be found here in the Story Catalog: https://www.tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=6023
The large hangar seems very small in the face of the challenge ahead. The assembled men and women gather in identical dress, Neoprene and Kevlar Interweave Sheath, full blunt trauma shielding, combat webbing loaded with ammunition and gear. A murmur of conversation ripples around the waiting operative, speculating on what is so urgent to require so many one them to be deployed at once.
Stunned silence floods the room as Steve, Louise, Kate and Nikita stride across the hangar towards them in full battle gear, with a strange white haired woman in black motorcycle leathers and combat webbing.
Steve Takes centre stage, gazing into the eyes of everyone sat before, each in turn, as he speaks. "At the end of this briefing, anyone who wishes to step down from this operation is free to do so without prejudice. This is a voluntary operation, for reasons that will soon become clear."
Steve pauses, allowing the point to sink in before he proceeds, "We have intelligence that a nuclear device will be detonated on the Island of La Palma in the next few hours."
Looks of shock and fear play across the faces of the operatives. One brave soul raises her hand, prompting a nod from Steve. The operative in her thirties, stands and asks, "Why us?"
Steve nods, appreciatively, "Excellent question. By the time, we are in contact with Spanish authorities, however, by the time they confirm the veracity of this threat, it will be too late for them to deploy forces to react."
A short, nervous operative, fires back, "Would it be easier to evacuate La Palma and let it go off?"
Steve looks over at Dani and sweeps his hand towards the crowd, allowing her to take the stage, while he watches the operatives before him. Dani nods, stepping forward, "The time taken for such an action would be too great, plus, you have the effects of fallout on the other Canary Islands. However, the main problem, with allowing this device to go off, is that the intelligence appears to indicate that the target for the device is Cumbre Vieja."
Dani gazes across the room, seeing a mixture of confusion and wide eyed fear on the faces of those she is addressing. "Cumbre Vieja, is the name of the Old Summit of the volcano of the island." She pauses, taking a deep breath, "If they can drop the weapon into one of the vents for the volcano and detonate it deep enough, it may be enough to trigger an eruption, which would result in the collapse of the volcanoes caldera."
Nikita steps forward, effectively taking the baton from her sister, "If this happens, we could witness a collapse of the island, sending up to five hundred cubic kilometers of rock into the sea." She chooses her words carefully, "Three hours later, we may see three hundred foot waves, strike the coast of north western Africa. Eight hours later, we could see waves up to a hundred and fifty feet tall, travelling in excess of five hundred miles per hour, hit the western coast of the United States, with twenty foot waves striking the British coast at a similar juncture. This will also devastate the Amazon basin."
Those listening to the briefing, cannot decide what is more disturbing, the news of the disaster, or the look of fear on Nikita's face as she speaks. "If we fail, millions will die and the shape of the world will change."
Louise steps to the fore and addresses the unsettled operatives, "I respect everyone in their room. I respect your courage and skill, each and every one of you. Not everyone, will be coming back, of those that survive there is a possibility that at least some or all of us may be arrested for engaging in a military action on foreign soil. No one is asking us to do this, we are doing it, because we are the only ones who can. The decision to come, is yours and your alone." She pauses, taking a breath to centre herself, "We will be leaving in an hour, if you want to join us, we thank you in advance. However, if not, we respect your decision and ask that you help the world recover, should we fail."
The living room seems so empty after the noise of the day, Sasha nestles into Kurt's shoulder and they watch Kim gently sleeping on the other sofa in the room. Neither speaks but each feels the others thoughts, as if they are their own.
Kurt pulls his wife close and tenderly kisses the top of her head. Softly he whispers, "I love you." as he reaches under her t-shirt and strokes the warm soft flash of her stomach. He bends down and lifts her t-shirt, exposing the subtly bulging bump and softly kissing it. "I love you too, little one."
"You rest darling, I am just going to put Kim to bed." He says, gently.
"Bless her she is worn out." Sasha says, quietly.
Kurt rises from the sofa and gently scoops Kim up in his arms. He gazes at his wife, sseing the strain and worry on her face and nods to himself. "Just be a moment darling."
A moment later, he pulls the covers back on Kim's bed and lays her down. He places her shoes under her bed and pulls the covers over her, before placing a kiss on her forehead. He breathes out slowly, wondering what might have been if Dani hadn't saved his daughter. He sits in the chair by her bed, feeling very small, in the face of everything spinning around him.
He stares at the floor, thinking about what he knows will happen next.
Sasha rises from the sofa and idly crosses the room and opens the concealed entrance to the armoury. She walks past the firearms trailing her fingers lightly across their hilts and stares sadly at the close quarters weaponry. "Not your fight, babe." She whispers, to herself, the words echoing harshly back at her.
A soft knock on the door behind her, draws her gaze straight to her husbands eyes. She sees the words on the tip of his tongue, but his expression makes them inscrutable. "Is everything alright?" She asks, her voice filled with concern, "Is Kim ok?"
His expression softens and he smiles sadly, "She is sleeping soundly after another big day." He steps in and pulls the door closed behind him.
"I was really worried about her." She says, "I would be devastated, if anything happened to her."
"I know you would." Kurt says, looking her in the eye, "I also know, how much this is killing you."
Sasha tries to feign confusion, as she splutters, "What do you mean?"
He enters the room and takes her in his arms, "Everyone is going off to war and you are here, wishing you were there standing shoulder to shoulder with them."
"Oh wait, no." She begins, but cannot find the words to finish.
Kurt places a hand on her stomach and speaks softly, "For the entire time that they are away, you will worry. If anyone gets hurt, you will blame yourself for not being there." He kisses her gently, letting his lips, tenderly brush hers, "I knew you were a woman of action, the moment I met you. A woman who follows her heart and does whatever she must. I always knew this day would come." He pauses, hugging her gently, "Go to war my love. We will keep the home fires burning until you return. You were born for this. You are magnificent. You need to go and save the world."
She struggles to find her voice to decry his claims, but, in her heart she knows he is right.
Kurt pulls her close and kisses her deeply. His arms tremble, as he releases her from his embrace. He reaches up to the top shelf and pulls a holdall down, presenting it to his wife.
Sasha raises her eyebrows in surprise, "How did you know where my go bag was?"
Kurt smiles gently, "I have always known darling. I check it every other day, to make sure everything is clean and charged." He blushes slightly, "I haven't got the skills to join you in the field, I like to think that this will make sure you have what you need, when you need it."
"I don't know what to say." Sasha says, feeling torn between staying with her husband and joining the rest of her family.
"Say nothing." He says, gently pressing a finger to her lips, "Get yourself ready, then go and get messy. We will be here when you come back."
"I love you Kurt." She whispers, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving in for a kiss.
The past few days have made her tense and unsettled. His lips against hers in this moment cuts through every doubt and worry and she feels at the centre of of storm. No, not the centre of a storm, she is it's heart and she needs to unleash her power.
Kurt's lips lock with Sasha's in hungry, desperate abandon. She leans into the kiss and moans softly, reaching up and tearing her top in two. Kurt's hands smoothly, slowly glide down her back and come to rest around her firm buttocks. She gasps, when she feels herself lifted and allows Kurt to place her on a cabinet filled with swords, leaning back and supporting herself with her hands.
He tenderly peels off her leggings, tracing a line of kisses on every inch of skin as it is exposed, before rising to meet her. She leans forward and unbuttons the fly of his jeans with a warm hunger, pushing them down and casually discarding her underwear.
He flings his t-shirt on the floor, a moment before Sasha pounces on him. His pulse races, feeling her legs clamp around his waist and the tip of his member, teasing her womanhood. Sasha purrs with delight, revelling in the feel of his rock-hard, chiselled body pressed against her toned, tender flesh. She eases herself down, guiding Kurt into her.
She flings her arms around his neck and kisses him deeply. Kurt lifts her and spins, pressing her back to a wall. A gutteral moan escapes his throat, rising and falling in pitch with each powerful thrust of his hips. Sasha bucks and thrusts wildly in response, burying her face in his shoulder. Quietly moaning, "Harder."
Sasha feels a fire in her core, explode into an inferno that floods her body with heat and power, she bites Kurts shoulder, to stifle the scream threatening to explode from her throat. Kurt grunts at the feeling of Sasha's teeth in his shoulder and feels the base of his shaft tighten, as he pumps into her with move force than he ever has before.
In the hangar, groups of operatives, gather together to discuss the operation at hand. So engrossed are they that they fail to notice that one of their number has slipped away unnoticed. He stands in the equipment locker staring at the gun racks.
"I thought the bomb, would have slowed them down more." He leans against one of the myriad racks of ordnance, feeling nauseated. "Better report in."
He hangs his head, pulling out his phone and texting, "We are mobilising, for La Palma. Wheels up less than an hour. Advise?"
The man slowly and thoughtfully examines the weapons before him when a response, brings his phone to life. "Thank you Sal. Stop them, any means necessary. We will look after you."
Sal finds himself intoxicated by the smell of gun oil and explosives, as he draws his knife and approaches the racks of parachutes that have been gathered for the nights operations. "God forgive me."
Stunned silence floods the room as Steve, Louise, Kate and Nikita stride across the hangar towards them in full battle gear, with a strange white haired woman in black motorcycle leathers and combat webbing.
Steve Takes centre stage, gazing into the eyes of everyone sat before, each in turn, as he speaks. "At the end of this briefing, anyone who wishes to step down from this operation is free to do so without prejudice. This is a voluntary operation, for reasons that will soon become clear."
Steve pauses, allowing the point to sink in before he proceeds, "We have intelligence that a nuclear device will be detonated on the Island of La Palma in the next few hours."
Looks of shock and fear play across the faces of the operatives. One brave soul raises her hand, prompting a nod from Steve. The operative in her thirties, stands and asks, "Why us?"
Steve nods, appreciatively, "Excellent question. By the time, we are in contact with Spanish authorities, however, by the time they confirm the veracity of this threat, it will be too late for them to deploy forces to react."
A short, nervous operative, fires back, "Would it be easier to evacuate La Palma and let it go off?"
Steve looks over at Dani and sweeps his hand towards the crowd, allowing her to take the stage, while he watches the operatives before him. Dani nods, stepping forward, "The time taken for such an action would be too great, plus, you have the effects of fallout on the other Canary Islands. However, the main problem, with allowing this device to go off, is that the intelligence appears to indicate that the target for the device is Cumbre Vieja."
Dani gazes across the room, seeing a mixture of confusion and wide eyed fear on the faces of those she is addressing. "Cumbre Vieja, is the name of the Old Summit of the volcano of the island." She pauses, taking a deep breath, "If they can drop the weapon into one of the vents for the volcano and detonate it deep enough, it may be enough to trigger an eruption, which would result in the collapse of the volcanoes caldera."
Nikita steps forward, effectively taking the baton from her sister, "If this happens, we could witness a collapse of the island, sending up to five hundred cubic kilometers of rock into the sea." She chooses her words carefully, "Three hours later, we may see three hundred foot waves, strike the coast of north western Africa. Eight hours later, we could see waves up to a hundred and fifty feet tall, travelling in excess of five hundred miles per hour, hit the western coast of the United States, with twenty foot waves striking the British coast at a similar juncture. This will also devastate the Amazon basin."
Those listening to the briefing, cannot decide what is more disturbing, the news of the disaster, or the look of fear on Nikita's face as she speaks. "If we fail, millions will die and the shape of the world will change."
Louise steps to the fore and addresses the unsettled operatives, "I respect everyone in their room. I respect your courage and skill, each and every one of you. Not everyone, will be coming back, of those that survive there is a possibility that at least some or all of us may be arrested for engaging in a military action on foreign soil. No one is asking us to do this, we are doing it, because we are the only ones who can. The decision to come, is yours and your alone." She pauses, taking a breath to centre herself, "We will be leaving in an hour, if you want to join us, we thank you in advance. However, if not, we respect your decision and ask that you help the world recover, should we fail."
The living room seems so empty after the noise of the day, Sasha nestles into Kurt's shoulder and they watch Kim gently sleeping on the other sofa in the room. Neither speaks but each feels the others thoughts, as if they are their own.
Kurt pulls his wife close and tenderly kisses the top of her head. Softly he whispers, "I love you." as he reaches under her t-shirt and strokes the warm soft flash of her stomach. He bends down and lifts her t-shirt, exposing the subtly bulging bump and softly kissing it. "I love you too, little one."
"You rest darling, I am just going to put Kim to bed." He says, gently.
"Bless her she is worn out." Sasha says, quietly.
Kurt rises from the sofa and gently scoops Kim up in his arms. He gazes at his wife, sseing the strain and worry on her face and nods to himself. "Just be a moment darling."
A moment later, he pulls the covers back on Kim's bed and lays her down. He places her shoes under her bed and pulls the covers over her, before placing a kiss on her forehead. He breathes out slowly, wondering what might have been if Dani hadn't saved his daughter. He sits in the chair by her bed, feeling very small, in the face of everything spinning around him.
He stares at the floor, thinking about what he knows will happen next.
Sasha rises from the sofa and idly crosses the room and opens the concealed entrance to the armoury. She walks past the firearms trailing her fingers lightly across their hilts and stares sadly at the close quarters weaponry. "Not your fight, babe." She whispers, to herself, the words echoing harshly back at her.
A soft knock on the door behind her, draws her gaze straight to her husbands eyes. She sees the words on the tip of his tongue, but his expression makes them inscrutable. "Is everything alright?" She asks, her voice filled with concern, "Is Kim ok?"
His expression softens and he smiles sadly, "She is sleeping soundly after another big day." He steps in and pulls the door closed behind him.
"I was really worried about her." She says, "I would be devastated, if anything happened to her."
"I know you would." Kurt says, looking her in the eye, "I also know, how much this is killing you."
Sasha tries to feign confusion, as she splutters, "What do you mean?"
He enters the room and takes her in his arms, "Everyone is going off to war and you are here, wishing you were there standing shoulder to shoulder with them."
"Oh wait, no." She begins, but cannot find the words to finish.
Kurt places a hand on her stomach and speaks softly, "For the entire time that they are away, you will worry. If anyone gets hurt, you will blame yourself for not being there." He kisses her gently, letting his lips, tenderly brush hers, "I knew you were a woman of action, the moment I met you. A woman who follows her heart and does whatever she must. I always knew this day would come." He pauses, hugging her gently, "Go to war my love. We will keep the home fires burning until you return. You were born for this. You are magnificent. You need to go and save the world."
She struggles to find her voice to decry his claims, but, in her heart she knows he is right.
Kurt pulls her close and kisses her deeply. His arms tremble, as he releases her from his embrace. He reaches up to the top shelf and pulls a holdall down, presenting it to his wife.
Sasha raises her eyebrows in surprise, "How did you know where my go bag was?"
Kurt smiles gently, "I have always known darling. I check it every other day, to make sure everything is clean and charged." He blushes slightly, "I haven't got the skills to join you in the field, I like to think that this will make sure you have what you need, when you need it."
"I don't know what to say." Sasha says, feeling torn between staying with her husband and joining the rest of her family.
"Say nothing." He says, gently pressing a finger to her lips, "Get yourself ready, then go and get messy. We will be here when you come back."
"I love you Kurt." She whispers, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving in for a kiss.
The past few days have made her tense and unsettled. His lips against hers in this moment cuts through every doubt and worry and she feels at the centre of of storm. No, not the centre of a storm, she is it's heart and she needs to unleash her power.
Kurt's lips lock with Sasha's in hungry, desperate abandon. She leans into the kiss and moans softly, reaching up and tearing her top in two. Kurt's hands smoothly, slowly glide down her back and come to rest around her firm buttocks. She gasps, when she feels herself lifted and allows Kurt to place her on a cabinet filled with swords, leaning back and supporting herself with her hands.
He tenderly peels off her leggings, tracing a line of kisses on every inch of skin as it is exposed, before rising to meet her. She leans forward and unbuttons the fly of his jeans with a warm hunger, pushing them down and casually discarding her underwear.
He flings his t-shirt on the floor, a moment before Sasha pounces on him. His pulse races, feeling her legs clamp around his waist and the tip of his member, teasing her womanhood. Sasha purrs with delight, revelling in the feel of his rock-hard, chiselled body pressed against her toned, tender flesh. She eases herself down, guiding Kurt into her.
She flings her arms around his neck and kisses him deeply. Kurt lifts her and spins, pressing her back to a wall. A gutteral moan escapes his throat, rising and falling in pitch with each powerful thrust of his hips. Sasha bucks and thrusts wildly in response, burying her face in his shoulder. Quietly moaning, "Harder."
Sasha feels a fire in her core, explode into an inferno that floods her body with heat and power, she bites Kurts shoulder, to stifle the scream threatening to explode from her throat. Kurt grunts at the feeling of Sasha's teeth in his shoulder and feels the base of his shaft tighten, as he pumps into her with move force than he ever has before.
In the hangar, groups of operatives, gather together to discuss the operation at hand. So engrossed are they that they fail to notice that one of their number has slipped away unnoticed. He stands in the equipment locker staring at the gun racks.
"I thought the bomb, would have slowed them down more." He leans against one of the myriad racks of ordnance, feeling nauseated. "Better report in."
He hangs his head, pulling out his phone and texting, "We are mobilising, for La Palma. Wheels up less than an hour. Advise?"
The man slowly and thoughtfully examines the weapons before him when a response, brings his phone to life. "Thank you Sal. Stop them, any means necessary. We will look after you."
Sal finds himself intoxicated by the smell of gun oil and explosives, as he draws his knife and approaches the racks of parachutes that have been gathered for the nights operations. "God forgive me."
View my latest story, Revelation, here;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8719
To view it's prequel Devastation, please click below;
https://tugstories.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7458
A shocking Cliffhanger ..... Sal should roast in hell. I fear for our heroes. Sounds like a massacre is about to happen .....