Thank you for all of the comments and enthusiasm!
Calder didn't take any time to appreciate how far he had progressed in his career as he sat in the White House with the Secretary of State and US Ambassador to China waiting to brief the President. The small group determined that Operative Anderson was worth the diplomatic efforts necessary to retrieve him. Hopefully the Chinese would be willing to accept the cover story that he was a blind tech guru traveling on business with limited connection to the government. This was his normal operations cover, and most likely what he would reveal if tortured. With diplomatic plans in place, he returned to Langley.
...
Annie wasn't sure what to do as the DPD awoke from their moment of shock and started walking up to her, some of them in tears.
"Guys, I'll explain what I can later, right now I need..." Before finishing the sentence, she ducked into Barber's office and shut the door, leaving herself alone with the emotionally conflicted tech lead.
"Annie," He said.
"I'm sorry, Eric. I thought you guys knew."
"Calder said he was going to read me in on something when he got back from his meeting." He couldn't stop staring. "I assumed it had to do with getting Auggie out of China."
The shock was immediately evident on Annie's face. "Auggie is still in China?"
"Oh shit." Barber replied, seeing the fury spread across her features. "We are going to get him back, I swear! We have a whole team working on it, and we are getting Hummingbird running, and-"
Barber's words were cut off by Calder walking in through the side door of tech ops.
"You had me do a debrief while Auggie is stuck in China?"
"I see that you two have read each other in." Calder stated, calmly.
"Not completely." Annie snapped back. "Why is Auggie still in China?"
"The MSS picked him up just after you got out of Hong Kong."
Annie's eyes lit up. "He's been in Chinese custody for over 24 hours? And you let me sit in that room discussing old news while I could have been on a plane back over there?"
"The last thing we need is for you to step foot on Chinese soil right now. We have people on the ground making progress. People that aren't being sought after by every police officer on the island."
"I know Auggie better than anybody. I should have been looped in."
"So you could do something rash?" Calder asked. "You and Auggie are a great team, but when it comes to taking care of each other you both make poor decisions. Now, I just got back from a briefing with the President of the United States and the Secretary of State on this matter, and they are working for a diplomatic release."
"Have the Chinese admitted to having him?" Annie asked.
"No, but one of the operatives at the Chinese desk that was helping him with your situation saw him being taken. She has given us good information. We'll have him back soon, Walker."
"What can I do?" Annie asked.
"Let Barber get you up to speed and help us think of things Auggie may have done to leave us a trail of breadcrumbs."
...
Auggie waited for his consciousness to slip away after the injection. In the slow motion way things work during a crisis, he wondered if he would notice the black curtain rising that he remembered from passing out once when sighted. Perhaps he would notice it in his touch, or feel something shutting down his body that he never noticed before. He wiggled his fingers to test.
A voice spoke. "You may feel your heart rate slow a little. Maybe some numbness in your fingers. When your colleague shot this into me the other day I had blurry vision, but I guess you don't need to worry about that."
Auggie said nothing.
"While we wait for the medicine to take effect, tell me your name."
Auggie fought a smile. "Ray Charles."
A fist quickly landed in his gut. "When that serum works it's magic you will be more than cooperative. No need to cause yourself unnecessary harm now."
Auggie knew the act they expected to see. He couldn't be too willing to give information, or too resistant. They expected their serum to work. Auggie didn't. The man waited a few minutes before talking again.
"What is your name?" He asked again.
"August Anderson," Auggie replied.
"That's not what's on your passport."
"My client is powerful enough to supply us with aliases for certain projects."
"Who is your client?"
"The US Government."
"Who is your employer?"
"GTG Inc." Auggie recited.
"What do you do for them?"
"I'm a tech guy."
"What kind of tech?"
"Set up and maintain servers, mostly. Fix bugs in the system on occasion."
"Why are you in Hong Kong?"
"There was a bug in the system. The normal technician wasn't able to make the trip. The powers that be usually keep the blind guy at headquarters. They are worried that I might accidentally get in the car with MSS or something."
Auggie could definitely feel the serum working. It gave him a feeling of being drunk. He was used to keeping secrets even when he had lost the rest of his inhibitions, so this was a little easier for him than most.
…
Annie was looking through the security footage that Barber found, trying to see if she recognized any of the MSS agents that she encountered.
"What about his phone?" Annie asked.
"Surely that would be the first thing they take from him, maybe after his cane." Barber replied.
"Not necessarily. It's possible it was on him while they traveled to wherever they are holding him."
Barber typed away. "That would make them pretty crappy spies." He mumbled.
"Everybody makes mistakes once in a while." Annie replied.
"It looks as though they crushed his phone about a mile from where they picked him up. I'm pulling up the cameras at that location. It's nothing but roadway."
"But this is Auggie's phone - maybe he had something special programmed for a situation like this?" Annie suggested.
"Like what?" Barber asked.
"Maybe there are other signals nearby when his phone went out?" Annie asked.
Barber looked at the information on the screen and saw that one signal appeared the moment that Auggie's phone disappeared. He had worked a way to send a signal out from the nearest phone if his were ever destroyed.
"You are a genius, Annie."
"Auggie is the genius." She replied.
"I'm glad you are here, Annie." Barber said, softly.
"Let's get Auggie on the way home, and I'll explain everything that I can." Annie replied.
…
Auggie fought to maintain control as the MSS agent asked more questions. They were getting more sensitive, and one slip would let them know that he was as valuable a resource as they originally thought.
"You are a good fighter. Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Army." Auggie replied. "Can I have some water? I've done a lot of talking."
"Not yet."
"Why were you in the car that stopped traffic earlier today?"
"That's where my driver stopped." Auggie replied.
"Yesterday you were in another fight, at the Observatory. Who were you fighting?"
"Somebody that attacked me, that's all I know."
"Do you usually get in this many fights?"
"No," Auggie replied. "I'm just a tech guy these days."
…
With Annie's discovery, Barber was able to direct the team in Hong Kong to a more specific area. She described the place where she was held, in case they had Auggie in a similar room. The city was dense, and even with a more specific location, they had a lot of area to search.
…
After hours of interrogation, Auggie was struggling to fight the drugs. He felt another shot and his consciousness waned. He could barely struggle as they moved him to the floor and cuffed him to a pipe.
"Sleep," They ordered.
He didn't imagine that it was possible, but the drugs in his system counter-acted the adrenaline and soon he was unconscious.
…
The parabolic mics weren't picking up any information in the building, but the team was fairly certain they were in the right place. Barber had managed to hack into the parking garage cameras and saw an unusually high volume of traffic involving men in suits for such a low-rent building. Dressed as college students, a small team of agents carefully went door to door, listening then breaking in to each apartment.
It was their 23rd try that they found him.
