A crackling fire was the only sign of life at the deserted campsite. There was a dread attached to the eerie quiet; only the noises of the forest could be heard alongside the pops of burning wood. Napoleon Solo crept a little closer, his gun drawn. "I don't see any indication of someone left behind. THRUSH was careless in leaving this fire burning."
The people who had probably built the fire were UNCLE agents accompanying a noted scientist as he fled from the Hierarchy. This had been designated as a meeting place, where Solo and Kuryakin would take over the journey and deliver Dr. Solomon to safety and a new life. Illya kicked some dirt into the waning flames, totally extinguishing the fire.
"It seems to me that THRUSH may have had more information than would be available to them simply by means of observation.' The blond looked at his partner, both of them assimilating a list of possible leaks. "My vote goes to Maynard. He has been on edge ever since this operation began."
Napoleon nodded, he had also observed that Agent Maynard seemed agitated, as though harboring doubts or concerns. Perhaps he feared being found out.
Illya knelt down and fingered something, turning it over until recognition sparked.
"What do you have there, Illya?" The Russian tossed it to Napoleon who caught it in a quick snatch with his right hand. He examined it, raised his eyes to get a glimpse of his partner nodding in affirmation. "Anderson? He wasn't even assigned to this operation." What Napoleon now held in his hand was a pin with a university insignia; it belonged to Agent Timothy Anderson. The man was Section III, and not assigned as part of this extraction.
"We were just discussing this pin the other day. I admired it in passing, an impressive alma mater, MIT." Illya had taken the opportunity to inquire as to the younger man's field of study, and wondered that he should wind up in Section III with UNCLE. It was, perhaps, no more perplexing than his own path.
"I guess we were wrong about Maynard.'' Napoleon looked around the campsite, trying to ascertain any other clues to what had gone wrong here. Illya straightened up and exhaled a deep breath full of exasperation. "We must assume that our men are dead, and that THRUSH now has Dr. Solomon. The question is, where are the bodies of Agents Trabeck and Neilson?" Illya's raised eyebrows added punctuation to his question. Napoleon had no answers, only a gnawing sense of betrayal at what he now assumed was a traitorous act by Timothy Anderson. It never ceased to amaze Solo that men could be bought; that morality was so easily exchanged for money.
"Do you see anything like a trail? Any kind of clue as to which way they're heading with our doctor?" Napoleon tended to lean on his partner's wolfhound attributes, depending on Illya to be guided by whatever primal instincts helped him to follow a trail. It had been to Napoleon's relief more times than he cared to admit that an uncanny intuition led the Russian to whatever obscure cell Napoleon happened to be in, courtesy of THRUSH or some other criminal type.
Illya was heading into the stand of trees at the edge of the campsite, motioning to his partner to follow him. Napoleon opened a channel to allow tracking and obliged, fully aware that there was little hope of finding Dr. Solomon on foot. He caught up to Illya and prodded him for answers.
"You don't seriously believe that they hiked out of here on foot, do you? I mean, how far…" The question was left hanging in the morning air as the two UNCLE agents stepped out of the rim of trees and into what appeared to be a landing strip.
"Well I'll be… Did we know this was here?" Napoleon was aware as Illya looked out of the corner of his eye, taking a deep breath as he considered the lapse in intelligence on this affair. First came the revelation of a traitor and now misinformation concerning the location chosen for the rendezvous. Someone must have known about this.
Napoleon was contacting headquarters to find out who had been in charge of mapping out this fiasco.
"Open Channel D, Solo for Mr. Waverly." Silence on the other end.
"This is Napoleon Solo. Open Channel D." Nothing.
Illya headed farther out onto the clearing that had been used to land a plane and get away with Dr. Solomon, and possibly the two UNCLE agents. Illya hoped they were alive, although experience told him otherwise. Still, they had not found their bodies, lending credence to his hope. There was something glimmering in the morning sunlight about fifty yards downwind of his current location. Illya started walking towards it while Napoleon contacted Headquarters.
Solo was perplexed at the loss of signal. Sometimes the satellite hit a spot in space and lost contact for a few seconds, but it was unusual. Illya might have better luck out in that clearing. When Napoleon turned around to speak to his partner, the blond was nowhere in sight.
"Now where did he go?" The view held nothing but the landing strip shaped clearing and the woods beyond. Great. First the communicator skipped out and then Kuryakin.
"Illya!" As loud as he could, Napoleon shouted for his partner, but there was no response. A coldness suddenly shrouded Napoleon. Illya wouldn't just walk away like this, but then where…? Napoleon's communicator trilled. "Solo…"
"Napoleon, start walking and head for the shiny object you'll see, it's straight up the middle…' Napoleon looked and spotted what Illya was referring to. "Illya? Where are you? Why did you…" "Napoleon! Just start walking. Do it now." Napoleon started walking, heading towards the glinting object fifty yards away.
When he arrived there, he could see his partner standing on the other side of it. Funny, he didn't see Illya until he got within a few feet of him.
"Illya? What's going on?" Napoleon started to step into the space where he thought Illya was standing, but he was repelled by a hard surface that caused him to fall back, rubbing his head from the impact.
"What the … How did you get … What is this?" Now Napoleon was mad. Illya didn't play games normally, but he obviously knew the barrier was between them. Illya had a smile on his face, the one that said 'I know something you don't and I won't make it easy on you'.
Napoleon walked a little farther down what he assumed was a straight line, touching the invisible wall as he went. Finally, with no small amount of annoyance, Napoleon reached what seemed to be the end and rounded it, only to be on the other side now as he headed back towards his partner.
"Welcome to wonderland, my friend.' Illya extended his hand to the grove beyond. It hadn't appeared this way to Napoleon when viewing it from the other side. The landing strip was a façade, for what lay on the side they came from was not long enough to serve in that capacity. On this side of the wall it was all forested, just like where the campsite was located, including the fire Illya had extinguished. It was still burning.
"Illya, this is … " Illya nodded. "Yes, it is."