Two U.N.C.L.E. agents, dressed entirely in black to conceal them in the darkness, carefully paddled their way through the New Orleans Bayou. Napoleon and Illya were in a black, two-man kayak, and were using muffled oars in effort to avoid detection by the man they were following. Thee blond, who was in the front seat, had even covered his hair in a black wool hat to prevent the light from the waxing moon from showing it up.
They could just about see the man they were following, as he too had taken pains to conceal himself against the night. He had, however, neglected to quieten his oars, so the men from U.N.C.L.E. found it relatively easy to stay on his tail by merely keeping their ears open. It was believed that the man was carrying important Thrush intelligence, and was on his way to hand it off to a courier.
Neither Napoleon nor Illya spoke as the slow-speed chase continued until something bumped into their hull. The kayak rocked slightly.
"Are alligators nocturnal?" Napoleon whispered, trying to see what was in the water with them.
"Yes," Illya replied. "They prefer to hunt in the evening, but we should still be careful. They tend not to attack humans unless they're provoked, so be careful with your oar."
Despite what his partner had told him, Napoleon was still nervous, and he became exceptionally cautious with the way he moved the oar. They both fell into silence again, before realising that they had begun to gain on their quarry as he had stopped paddling. Following suit, they soon noticed the reason why the man had stopped. Another kayak was approaching the Thrush man. Without discussion, Napoleon and Illya carefully manoeuvred into the shelter of some overhanging trees. They would follow the second man as soon as it was possible.
As they watched, the first man pulled a small package from inside his sweater and held it out to the second man. Unfortunately, as the second man reached for it, his kayak was knocked by an alligator, and he dropped the package. It landed on the surface, where began to slowly sink. Reacting entirely on automatic, the courier plunged his hand into the water to try and stop it from sinking too far.
The quiet, still of the darkness was suddenly filled with a bloodcurdling scream.
"I guess one of the alligators was surprised by a sudden arm in its vision," Napoleon stated quietly. "Do you think the package was rescued?"
"It does not seem so," Illya answered, watching as the uninjured Thrush accused the other of incompetence. "And I have no desire to search for it."
"Me neither," Solo agreed. "Let's head back and let Mr Waverly know the bad news."
As they silently paddled away from the Thrush operatives, they could clearly hear as the pair argued about who was going to report what had happened. Illya couldn't help but think that they would probably be better off letting the alligator finish the job.