Ad Hominem (1- Directed against a person rather than against his or her arguments.
2- Based on or appealing to emotion rather than reason)
Summary – The Vice-President of the United States vanishes on British soil and who better to blame than Britain? Alex must find the Vice-President before WWIII erupts – with help from someone he believed dead
Warnings – Mild violence in later chapters and mild coarse language
A/N Wow! Did you read that right? Yes, you did! There is finally an update! (And I bet there is more than one person who sat there looking at the email alert that they got thinking, 'Ad Hominem? Is that a story? I don't remember that!')
Ok, so some of the time away from fanfiction I can explain (broken computer, school exams etc.) and the rest was.... well..... pure procrastination I suppose :). Before I posted this, I made sure that I re-made all of my notes and research (*resists urge to throw computer out window*) and made some headway on the next chapter.
Oh, and one small note, my spelling will be in New Zealand spelling. I have no idea how different my spelling is compared to other people's but yeah... There may be some small differences. They shouldn't be too noticeable though (and yes, I am going to use that as a thinly veiled excuse for my spelling mistakes).
Thanks to all of the people who reviewed. You made some great comments that I can work from and you were all very encouraging! They were all lovely, but I shall reply to a couple here (let's just hope they remember reviewing!)
L8rg8r123 - Na, I did mean COBRA, like in the 5th book with the meeting and the talking and the whatnot :)
Nyxelestia - I'm going to make up my own character for the VP simply 'cause I'm not American and I don't know jack... shite... about politics. Heh, and no matter who I chose there was probably going to be someone wanting to shoot me!
M333gan - Thanks for the drink, though it took a while for the caffeine to kick in! :)
Anyway. Onwards, dear readers!
Blunt was briefing Alex as the car brought them closer and closer to Downing Street, if you could call it briefing. He seemed to be doing all he could to avoid telling Alex what the so-called disaster was. As soon had he gotten into the car, he started talking to Mrs Jones, who was seated in the passenger seat in the front.
"Mrs Jones, are all of the notes ready for the meeting?" He had replied to an answer in the positive with a, "Good. We will need all of the information we can if we can convince them of our innocence. And call Smithers. Make sure that all of the gadgetry is ready, no matter the outcome of this meeting. I need all of his technology ready to be used at a moment's notice."
Blunt finally turned his attention to the teen, who was sitting calmly on the seat next to him. "Thank you, Alex. I know that you don't want to be here right now, but we are in the middle of a crisis. We have some people here from the United States of America who are leading an operation and one of them has specifically asked for you."
"Who are they? And how do they know me? I haven't exactly been advertising myself." Said Alex, and if his look towards Blunt was slightly accusatory, nobody commented on it.
"The one that asked for you is Joe Byrne. I believe you know him? He is the deputy director for operations in the Covert Section of the CIA. His boss, the director, Mitchell Reynolds, is also here. They will be heading up any operations that arise from any decisions made at this meeting."
"Why the CIA involvement? And why are they leading the operations if it's a British emergency?"
"Because it's not just a British emergency. While the crisis is indeed centred in Britain, a prominent American figure is involved and the Americans..." He trailed off, looking towards Mrs Jones, who, looking in the rear view mirror, nodded lightly. Blunt, reassured by his colleague's decision continued, "The Americans no longer trust us."
"Didn't we leave off well after the whole 'Invisible Sword' thing?"
"Between Britain and America as a whole? Yes. But there are certain individuals within the British government who still maintain that the Americans could have, and should have, done more. They believe that they should have complied with the demands instead of risk the lives of millions of British school children on a gamble that they could have found the dishes. And they did lose the gamble. The only thing that prevented the deaths of millions was you. And now, the Vice-President of the United States has disappeared, and we have practically no information that could help in this situation."
"So the Americans don't trust the British anymore and the Vice-President is missing. Why did Joe Byrne call me in?" Alex asked sceptically. While the situation was certainly important, he didn't see how he could help.
"We aren't particularly sure. He must trust you to some degree or he wouldn't have even mentioned you. The Americans refuse to leave, or even use our resources. They don't trust us at all," he ended bitterly.
"Can you blame them though," muttered Mrs Jones quietly, speaking for the first time. Seeing both Alex and Blunt looking at her she expanded, "A few months ago, nearly all of the school children in London almost died because the Americans didn't comply with demands, however impossible those demands were to fulfil. Some British people, all with a great amount of power and influence on the government, might I add, believe quite openly that the Americans were to blame for the near disaster. And now, three months later, just enough time to create a plan of this magnitude, the Vice-President of the United States disappears on British soil. The most likely suspects would be those with access to the Vice-President's itinerary and personnel information, and with enough political power to hide behind powerful people if they get caught. The chance that this was a job by the British government, however unlikely it may seem to you or I, is incredibly high right now."
There was a small silence as Blunt and Mrs Jones allowed Alex some time to think over the implications of that. His next question however, surprised them both.
"So why does Byrne trust me?"
"We're not all that sure. We do know that he must trust you to some extent, or he never would have mentioned you at all, let alone requested your presence at this meeting." Blunt replied.
"It may be because of your independency. You have certainly worked outside of MI6 before, both by yourself and with other agencies. Joe Byrne may simply feel more comfortable with you working for the cause than someone else because he knows you, and your sense of right and wrong. He would have more reason to trust you than any other of MI6's people, and we requested one of our own in the operation. It was the only condition they would agree to, and they decided who they wanted."
"We're here, sir." Interjected the driver who had thus far been silent.
Blunt suddenly looked older and far more tired. Cursing lightly, he stepped out of the car and held the door open for Alex, who stepped out quickly. Looking up, he saw through, for the second time, into 10 Downing Street.
Okay.... It was short.... Very short.... But the next chapter is already on it's way! Sorry guys.
So, like it? Hate it? Too busy choking on my over-abundance of commas to review? :) Well, if your airways are clear, chuck me a comment for me to use for the next chapter!
Thanks,
Jezza