The Exiles

Chapter One

A Candle For Danny

Author's Note: This story is a sequel to Chloe And The Mice which I wrote about two years ago. You don't have to read Chloe And The Mice to enjoy this story. The only important facts are that sometime during late fourth season, Chloe O'Brian from 24 was assigned to temporary duty with MI-5. While she and Ruth aren't really close friends they did establish a friendly professional relationship. Chloe also had a brief affair with the late Colin Wells. The story also had a lot of running around, screaming, shooting, explosions, murder, treason, and other unpleasant things none of which have anything to do with this new story.

I would like to dedicate this story to my old pal Exotic Rooftile who helped me out with some of the Britspeak on that story.

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The last person to step off the Greyhound bus was an attractive woman in her mid thirties. Her brown hair was tied into a ponytail and she wore an ankle length blue dress. She had never been to Los Angeles before and clutched a city map in one hand. Ruth quickly claimed her one suitcase and headed out to the street. It seemed a lifetime ago since she had been to Britain and she was terribly homesick. She missed her home, her cat, her job, and Harry. Since then she had never been anywhere for any length of time. She had just spent three months working as an insurance investigator in Denver but her boss kept asking uncomfortable questions about her past. Ruth was aware that her cover was paper thin. It was time to move on. Her friend Chloe was excellent at forging identity papers.

Ruth had done some research before coming here and knew where Chloe lived. After taking a city bus to the apartment complex she wandered through the parking lot looking at the car's license plates. No sign of Chloe's car so Ruth sat on the bench at the bus stop across the street and waited. A large tree shaded the bench from the hot California sun and the afternoon was very pleasant. Ruth pulled a paperback book out of her handbag and sat reading, glancing up at every car that entered the parking lot. After about twenty minutes a Toyota pulled in, Ruth put away her novel and got up.

The woman who got out of the Toyota was wearing a yellow maternity dress and was extremely pregnant. In spite of the dark brown hair Ruth recognised her immediately. "Chloe?"

The woman turned quickly and stared at her, wary, suspicious. A woman who has lived on the edge for far too long and has seen far too many friends die horribly. Her eyes widened in surprise then narrowed again. "Ruth? Ruth Evershed?"

Ruth felt a thrill at hearing her own name for the first time in over two years. "Yes."

"I heard you've been dead for the past couple of years."

Ruth allowed herself a smile "I was, but I'm feeling much better now."

"Well don't just stand there! Help me with these groceries!"

Inside the kitchen the two women were stowing away the groceries. "I seem to remember you being blond." Ruth remarked.

"I outgrew it."

"And you've remarried Morris?"

"Yeah, let's cut the crap. Usually when a dead person comes to visit me, it's because they want something. What do you need? A passport? Driver's license? A whole new identity?"

"Yes Chloe, if you don't mind."

"I don't work for CTU anymore."

"Yes, I've heard about it being disbanded. So where are you working now? The FBI?"

"I don't work anywhere. I've got a reputation as a troublemaker and the word has spread. Everybody's turned me down. FBI, CIA, NSA, DOD, even LAPD. The whole alphabet hates me."

Ruth shook her head. "I'm so sorry. How about Morris."

"He's back selling women's shoes. He's in the upper one half of the upper one percent when it comes to intelligence. He almost as smart as I am. And what does he do with this vast brain power? He sells women's shoes. He doesn't sell men's shoes or children's shoes. No! Just women's shoes!"

"I'm sorry if I came at a bad time. I'll just go."

Chloe wrung her hands nervously. "No, stay. I've still got some resources. I can help you out. And it's good to see a friendly face."

Ruth turned her head as the front door opened and a bald man with a short beard came in. Morris had worked at MI-5 long before her time but she had read his file when Chloe came in for temporary duty and she never forgot a face. As he entered the kitchen she caught a whiff of alcohol. The small smear of lipstick on the side of his throat was a much darker red than the light pink colour Chloe was wearing. Ruth glanced over at Chloe and saw that she noticed it too. Chloe's lips tightened but she didn't say anything. Morris eyed Ruth suspiciously. "So Chloe, who's your friend?"

"It's your cousin Jenny from Yorkshire. She'll be staying with us a few days."

"Cousin Jenny hates me. She think's I'm a bloody traitor to the crown for emigrating over here in the first place!"

"Then we won't have to worry about the real one showing up." Chloe replied.

"More cloak and dagger crap! I suppose she's working for Bill Buchanan too!"

"Morris! We'll discuss this privately! Now if you'll excuse us for a few minutes." Chloe led Morris into the bedroom.

Ruth didn't mean to eavesdrop but their voices were loud and the walls were thin.

"Morris! We don't discuss Bill Buchanan in front of anybody! Understand?!

"Well, you're always hanging out with him. Sometimes for days at a time!"

"I'm not having an affair with him if that's what you're thinking!"

"Hell! I wish you were having an affair with him! It's better than what you are doing! All this spy stuff is just fine when your working for the government but when you're a civilian it's against the law!"

"This is important! The government's been infiltrated!"

"So you're out to save America! I think America's made it very clear that they don't want your help!"

"I think you're confusing the American government with America! Bill needs me!"

"Please Chloe! You've done your bit! Now it's someone else's turn! Besides, you always hated working at CTU. That job's given you nothing but misery and pain. Why don't you apply for that job at Industrial Lights and Magic?"

"Because people's lives are at stake! That's much more important than making special effects for the next lame Keanu Reeves movie!" Chloe paused. "Morris, you can either help me or you can get out of the way but you're not going to stop me."

"Chloe, I just don't want you to go to prison! I can't lose you a second time!"

"You're not going to lose me! Thick or thin, we're in this together!"

Chloe emerged from the bedroom. "It's OK. Morris won't say anything, He knows when to keep his mouth shut. " She lowered her eyes. "He's not a bad man. Not really. He's just . . . weak."

Ruth didn't say anything.

"Maybe you can help me out on something. I've got a recording that I'd like you to listen to and tell me what you think." Chloe led her over to the computer station and turned it on. Ruth noticed an odd looking device wired to it.

"Isn't that the CPU to a Hays Supercomputer?"

Chloe stared at the screen. "Yeah, and I'd thank you to keep your mouth shut about it."

"Chloe, I know how much these things cost and there's no way you could afford something like that."

"When they shut down CTU they put the computer into storage. I simply pulled the CPU before it was sent to the warehouse."

"Isn't that like stealing?" Ruth's voice was concerned.

"It isn't like stealing. It is stealing." The machine was taking quite a bit of time to boot up. "I jury rigged it to my computer. It's like putting a Maserati engine into a dump truck. It doesn't really work at it's full potential."

"But eventually they'll take the CTU computer out of storage. They'll know the CPU was taken."

"They'll have a hard time finding it. I 'accidentally' reversed some key serial numbers and sent it to a different warehouse. It's a big warehouse. I think it's the one from Raiders of The Lost Ark." She handed Ruth a pair of headphones. "I have a fragment of a conversation here. One of the speakers is British. I want to know what you think. You guys sound all alike to me."

Ruth listened. There were two men talking. One of them was an American and the other was British. "I can send you four fillies two of them are four months old. The others are five and six months old. All are blacks from good Kentucky stock." The American said.

"Very good. When can I expect delivery?" The Englishman said.

"Three weeks, delivery should be on the eleventh."

"Very well, you can expect payment then. Those two whites and the brown you shipped me were most satisfactory. The six month old black was sick and we had to put it down."

I'm sorry to hear that. If you send proof that the horse is dead I will send a refund."

"Thank you. It is so rare to find a businessman who keeps his word in this day and age."

The fragment ended. "Play it again." Ruth said.

After hearing it the second time, Ruth put down the headphones. "The accent sounds Cornish. It sounds like he was very well educated. Possibly Eton."

Chloe scowled. "Thank you. You've been a big help."

"So why are you after horse trader's"

"Those aren't horses. They're children. The months are actually years."

"Oh my God!"

"Kentucky stock means Sangala. Colonel Dubaku sells children as a fund raiser to finance his revolution. He's selling his country's future!" Chloe stared out the window. "Most people think the slave trade died out about the same time Lincoln did. But we know better."

"I want to help. Who's he speaking to?"

Chloe brought a picture of a man up on the screen a sandy haired man in his late forties. "David Drake, former CIA. Likes gambling and women. He lives in Las Vegas." She stared at the man. "I would love to get into his computer but it's offline."

Ruth stared into space. "We need to get someone into his house. You say he likes women?"

""Yeah, he likes them classy. You're a frumpy old maid. Not his type."

Ruth grinned. "You're right. I've never been real comfortable with men, and you're a very pregnant geek. Not his type."

"Fine pair of spies we make." Chloe said. "We'll never make good Bond girls." She began tapping a pen on the desk. "He still has contacts. We can't have any intelligence officers. He'll spot them right off the bat." Chloe leaned back in her chair and thought 'Who? There's Kim but she's stupid and Jack would kill her if anything happened to his daughter. Besides she's a disaster magnet'

"I think I have someone." Ruth said. "She's no longer an active agent and she has played the femme fatale. Emphasis on the fatale. Let me make a phone call."

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In Santiago's Metropolitan Cathedral a very attractive woman with reddish blond hair pushed a stroller into the cool darkness. She paused in front of a statue of the Virgin and lit one of the candles in front of it. She wasn't sure why she was doing this. Neither she nor Danny were Catholic. But she had to do something on the anniversary of his death besides getting all drunk and weepy.

The baby in the stroller cooed and the woman stooped to pick him up. The infant seemed fascinated by the flickering candles and reached for them with a pudgy hand.

"No, no, Danny. Usted sera' quemado. You'll get burned."

The woman's purse chirped and she fumbled in her purse while holding the baby on her shoulder. She flipped open the cell phone. "Hello?"

"Zoe, it's Ruth."

Zoe Reynolds' brow furrowed "Ruth? What do you want?"

"I need your help. Can you fly up to Los Angeles for a few days?"

"I don't play that game anymore. I'm married to a wonderful man. I have a son. I'm happy. Get someone else."

"Zoe, we don't have anybody else."

"I'm not Zoe anymore. I'm Gina Hamilton. I have a life." She put little Danny back into the stroller.

"Please, these are some really bad people."

Zoe was getting angry. "Well I have a news flash for you! They're all bad people! The world is full of bad people! And I bagged my quota of them! Now it's someone else's turn! Goodbye!" Her finger moved toward the cut off button.

"For God's sake Zoe! They're selling children!"

Zoe's finger paused over the button. Selling children? Oh my God! She looked at little Danny lying in his stroller and felt a wave of horror and disgust. Selling children. She knew what that meant. She looked up. On the cross over the altar Jesus was staring at her. She lifted the phone back up to her ear. "OK Ruth, I'm in."