Missing

Chapter One - 6/30/76 - 1:30pm

Oscar looked at the men seated around him at the conference table and wished they'd all stop arguing and analyzing and just shut their mouths. Time was being wasted, and there really wasn't any to spare. He pulled out his own, private secret weapon - 'the look' - and went around the table without leaving his spot at the head. Jim, Russ, Steve, and Hansen and Jeffries from the NSB: each fell silent when Oscar's eyes said things words couldn't, such as 'Shut up now or I'll wring your neck.' When used judiciously, 'the look' worked every time.

"Ok," Oscar said, without needing to raise his voice, "I think we can all agree that with our nuclear detonation and interception codes in the hands of this particular enemy, we're looking at celebrating the Bicentennial with a nuclear holocaust."

"No pressure there," Steve noted. "Three and a half days to sneak into a Communist bloc country, find the safe and either crack the combo or tear it open in under 60 seconds, before the fail safe blows me into the next world. Piece of cake."

"Goldman, you have an operative who could crack that safe combo in a lot less than 60 seconds," Hansen pointed out. "But I notice she's not here -"

Jeffries let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah - like he'd send Sommers anywhere that she might get a bruise or some dirt under her pretty little fingernails."

"That's enough!" Oscar had reached boil-over level. "Talk that kind of garbage on your own time. Jaime Sommers has already been briefed and is waiting in my office. I saw no reason to subject her to another round of the NSB Smutfest!" He looked at his own three men. "Gentlemen, we're done here."

Jim and Russ immediately returned to business as usual while Steve returned with Oscar to his office. "Oscar, I can handle this on my own; you really don't have to send Jaime."

"You uncomfortable working with her, Pal?"

"Of course not. She learned from the best - us. But there's one thing you might've overlooked."

"And what's that?" Oscar asked, stopping before getting onto the elevator to his suite of offices. There was less chance of Jaime overhearing them talking about her when they were two floors down.

"Exactly how are you getting us into the country?"

"Your plane will do a fly-over, and the two of you will parachute...oh."

"Jaime hasn't strapped on a parachute since her accident."

"Steve," Oscar began, his forehead furrowed with worry, "can she do this?"

"The mission itself? Absolutely; no doubt. But jumping from the plane? I don't know."

Oscar was silent for a moment. He knew he was about to ask an awful lot from his friend. "If she freezes at the last minute, would you be capable of grabbing her and pulling her out with you?"

"That's harsh," Steve said quietly, "but not as harsh as nuclear annihilation. Yeah, I think I could. But Oscar - I really can handle this on my own, and we could avoid putting her through that."

"I know you could, but I'd feel better having the two of you backing each other up."

"Then if one of us is shot, you still have another ace in the hole, right?" Steve asked with some irony.

Oscar didn't have to answer; they both knew Steve had hit the nail on the head. "C'mon, Pal - let's go get your partner."

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" 'Bout time!" Jaime scolded with a smile, getting up from her seat behind Oscar's desk. "I was starting to think I'd been left behind. Hi, Steve."

"Hi, Jaime."

"Jaime," Oscar began, delicately, "there's something I didn't factor in when I briefed you on this assignment, and I never should've overlooked it."

Jaime looked at Steve. "You don't wanna work together, right?"

"No - that's not it," Oscar told her.

"What, then?"

"Babe, I want you to promise me first that if this makes you uncomfortable or you feel you can't do it -"

"Yeah, yeah. Oscar, we're wasting time. Spit it out!"

"Sweetheart," Steve continued, just to get it over with, "the plane isn't going to land to drop us off."

"Well then, how -? Oh." She turned to her boss. "This one's important, and I do want to go. I'll be ok..."

Steve and Oscar exchanged worried glances. "I'll be fine," she told them, more firmly this time. "When do we leave?"

"There's a chopper on the roof right now, waiting to take you to the plane."