This story is strictly for entertainment purposes, I do not own the characters. It is a parent's job to monitor their children's internet use, not mine.
4. Power Lust
Michael watched the helicopter leave from the top of the hotel, he drove with one eye looking out of the windshield toward the skyline and followed it's path, but the Interstate hampered his momentum and the chopper disappeared into the distance.
"Birkhoff, I need a location." He barked the request, a feeling of frustration had seeped into him.
"The DoD's satellite feed has the helicopter setting down due west of here, I'm downloading the coordinates to your GPS."
Michael's expression was as grim as his mood. "What about Alex and Thom and Amanda? Any luck?"
Birkhoff continued to tap on his keys and talk. "No luck involved in this one, someone rerouted the transmitter back to Division, with a little more time, I know I can crack this."
"There's only a handful of people who could pull that off, it's got to be an inside job." Michael replied angrily.
Birkhoff scoffed. "Yeah. It's got to be her." They both knew it was Amanda.
The van made good time, he pushed it to its limits, and it easily overtook any weekend traffic. The further he drove the cars on the road thinned out. "You have anything on the thermal imaging, how many are we dealing with? What about flash news, any red flags?"
"It looks like the helicopter pilot is still in the chopper and there are three bodies on the perimeter of a building on the north side of a large parking lot. It's next to a bunch of shipping containers. From what I can see, there are four live bodies grouped together inside and a smaller one that's separated, my guess it's Nikita. There's also another group in the building next door. Michael, this has been way to easy, I smell…"
"…a trap." He cut him off. "I know it, but if one of those bodies is Simon Woodson, than I still have a clear mission objective." They both knew his objective had become cloudy. Was it about the arms deal, the recruits and Amanda, or Nikita?
Nikita. Michael had little time to contemplate what seeing her again would mean. Since she had left Division, three years ago, he doubted either could have predicted what their meetings would entail. It angered him to know he could be focused, methodical and heartless, until he saw her. She compromised his judgment, and made him choose between what he thought he knew and what he felt. He never questioned why she was worth saving, but he did question why she would want to save him.
"Where's Percy?" Michael asked, knowing he was being used, and wondering how.
"He's gone and not on this com frequency. You want me to find him for you?" Birkhoff continued filtering through the code on his screen and monitoring the activity on the overhead monitors.
"No, but what do you know about Ari Tasarov, and Amanda?" Michael was searching for answers and connections.
Birkhoff kept working his keyboard and toggling through screens. "What? Nothing! That would be a weird and scary."
"I know she and the recruits are here, they have to be and so is Tasarov." Michael muttered. The GPS guided him off the interstate and down an arterial, it eventually led him into an industrial area filled with warehouses, machine shops and a container yard. He pulled into a large open gravel parking lot.
The van slowed down to a crawl. "I have a funny feeling, there's something strange about this setting…" He looked out at the empty lot in front of him.
Birkhoff picked up on his apprehension. "The chopper is behind the tallest building to your left, use extreme caution, you have no idea what you're walking into. There's a patch of ground in front of you that looks like it's been recently disturbed."
The gut-reaction to danger that Michael and Birkhoff both sensed was not to be dismissed. "I see it, it's been tampered with." He peered at it in the dim light, and the van moved forward another two feet. "It looks like it's been dug up..." Michael suddenly jerked the steering wheel to the right and accelerated, and at the same moment an IED that had been planted in the ground exploded into a firey inferno.
Birkhoff recoiled when he saw and heard the explosion on the satellite feed. "Michael! Do you read me? Michael?" There was no reply, and as the fire burned down, all he could see was a cloud of thick billowing black smoke that obscured the area.
Inside the warehouse, in a makeshift office, a nervous Simon Woodson shifted from one foot to another uncomfortably. Woodson was a South African national who brought buyers and sellers of black market arms and yellow cake uranium together. He knew, if he pulled this deal off, he would be in the big league. His bodyguard had been the one who followed Nikita and then knocked her unconscious at the hotel. He watched the door, while Woodson met with Ari Tasarov, the seller and Kasim Tariq, the buyer.
Normally, he was the middle man between the buyer and seller and his fee was based upon them never having to speak to each other. Standing here with them made him realize that he had made a mistake, and there was something about the way they looked at him, that made his skin crawl.
The tension in his voice was obvious. "I'm still the best conduit to deliver the missiles to you and I've delivered this rogue agent as well." He spoke to Kasim, before turning to Tasarov. "I can ensure the funds are transferred safely and discreetly, nothing will be traced back to you or Gogol." A bead of sweat appeared on his upper lip. "Because I understand the delicate nature of our business, I'm willing to cut my commission in half for both of you. Does that seem fair?"
Before either could answer, they heard the explosion in the parking lot. Woodson cowered and looked frightened, and even more so, when a gun discharged twice into his chest. He fell to the ground, and the Bodyguard lowered his weapon.
Kasim, looked over at Ari and smiled. "We seem to have saved ourselves quite a bit of currency by eliminating the middle man." He nodded toward the Bodyguard with the smoking gun. "His decision to re-align his allegiance from Mr. Woodson to me was the right one, yes?"
The Bodyguard nodded his head with a pleasant expression. He looked as though double crossing Woodson was all part of his job.
Ari looked unaffected but inside he knew he was no longer in control of the situation. "An astute business man is always a pleasure to deal with. Shall we go into the other room and conclude our transaction?"
Kasim answered politely. "Yes, of course, but I must attend to something first, please, may I ask you to wait, I'll join you in the next building in about thirty minutes, yes?"
Ari agreed uneasily and he watched the infamous terrorist step over Woodson's body and walk toward the exit, before he turned in the other direction to leave.
Outside, the explosion had thrown the van on it's side and flames licked around the frame. The demolished vehicle lay in a black crater, it's reinforced armor and Michael's quick reflexes had prevented the van from taking the full impact of the explosion, and that most likely saved his life. Michael used his legs to pound on the door with his feet until it finally gave way and opened. He climbed out of the vehicle, dodging the burning pieces around him.
He stood on wobbly legs that barely supported him, the air was acrid with smoke and burning rubber and this caused him to cough and struggle for breath, the ringing in his ears blotted out any other noise around him. The effort caused him extreme vertigo and he tried to stop himself, but he sank down onto his hands and knees and felt his surroundings go pitch black.
With a heightened sense of apprehension, Percy left Operations for his office. Oversight had made it clear, the arms deal had implications that were far reaching, and this one was not one they would ignore. Percy and Division's task was to find out who was involved in the transaction and once known, decisions would be made. Amanda's mission was to flush out information and collect intel from Tasarov, but now it appeared, she was actively involved in the arms deal that Simon Woodson was brokering. Percy leaned back in his chair, contemplating what a small world it was when it came to covert operations, terrorism, illegal arms dealers and plain old greed.
He understood, she had no choice but to kill Roan, if she hadn't, he would have easily canceled her and the recruits to complete his mission. He wasn't happy that his best Cleaner was dead, but these were the rules of the game, and to complicate matters, Amanda had two impressionable recruits and was one of the few with the capability of disabling Division's tracking chips.
The truth be told, Percy actually admired Ari Tasarov and his lust for power. He was ruthless, vindictive and never to be trusted, traits he saw in himself. It was too bad they were foes, they might enjoy a game of golf together.
Like most people in his life, he had to consider if Amanda could be trusted. Whose side was she on today? Always her own, but would that benefit Tasarov or Division? He sighed to himself… he would soon find out.
Percy pressed the button on his intercom. "Status report..."
"Still trying to track down the recruits and Amanda, the frequency is jammed. Sir, Michael's in trouble, his van hit an IED and he survived the explosion but the video shows he was drug off into one of the buildings."
Percy sipped from the glass of Scotch he had poured for himself. "Your job is to find Amanda and the recruits and keep an eye on them. If they move, you follow them. Is that clear?"
"Yes Sir, but what about Michael?"
Percy answered angrily. "Birkhoff, we have our priorities, Michael's made his choice, he's on his own."
Birkhoff knew any argument would likely be a one sided conversation. "I get it, eyes on recruits and Amanda."
He watched the satellite feed and wondered what was going down and who was going down with it.
Thom tried to be the voice of reason. "You're not helping." He mumbled the words and shot Alex a dark look.
Alex's hot temperament flared up. "She's the one who always wants to talk about it. Let it go Alex...unburden yourself... It's all a bunch of crap... especially when you're on the receiving end."
Amanda spoke quietly and deliberately. "I'd like you to be quiet, if you aren't, I'll have to force you to be quiet, it's your choice."
Thom looked at her sideways and mumbled "Alex... do what she says."
Alex looked contrite. "Okay, I just want to know, what's going to happen to us?"
Amanda had dropped the gun to her side. "That depends on a few factors, some of them are in your control, others are not. Even if I had the time and luxury of explaining, I wouldn't. You have to do what I tell you, your lives depend on it. Agree to what I say, if you don't, you'll die. If you screw this up, you'll die too. It's a microcosm of reality."
Tasarov entered the room, he had left Kasim and his man and joined Amanda and the recruits in the adjoining building. Amanda gave Alex and Thom a cold steely look before she spoke. "Ari, these two have agreed that their future lives within Division walls is bleak. They would be more than happy to join ranks with us." She watched Tasarov's expression, looking for signs of mistrust.
Tasarov looked a little perplexed "I have my own men, I don't need these children."
Amanda gave him an admonishing look. "Children they may be, but both they have access to Division, they can be our eyes and ears and deflect any suspicion away from me. They'll cooperate, if they don't, I'll turn them in as spies for Gogol."
Thom's face turned white, then red, and Alex's eyes grew big and vacant.
Ari smiled wickedly at them. "I will take your suggestion under advice." He looked solely at Amanda. "Woodson is no longer a factor in our business, Kasim made sure of this.
Amanda looked quizzical. "What does that mean for your deal?"
Tasarov shrugged. "I'll soon know. Kasim is currently dealing with this rogue agent Nikita and Michael. I'd like to distance myself from his personal business and keep these two out of the mix for the moment."
"Of course, you're right." Amanda looked pleasantly at them and motioned them toward a door.
Thom and Alex stood stone faced, both realized they're roles within Division had become all the more complicated. Thom kept his hands up wondering about Michael, he followed Alex out of the room, and she could only worry about Nikita.
Amanda prodded the recruits down a short hallway and placed them in an empty room. "Remember what I said." She instructed them, before the door banged shut and was bolted. She took a cleansing breath, and walked back toward the room she left Ari in, she knew this mission had become a tangled maze of lies.
Through her dealings with Tasarov, she had found out that Kasim Tariq was the buyer in the arms deal. She had been the one to use Division resources to contact him, and make it look like it was Percy who was behind it. This was necessary, she had told Ari, to plant the seeds of blame on Division.
Next, she had led Percy to believe that Birkhoff was on to her undercover mission. She blamed their personal communications as the source, and when Birkhoff questioned him about encrypted messages, Percy shut the tech wizard down and told him to cease any interest in them. With Birkhoff thinking Percy was in contact with Kasim, and Percy thinking that Birkhoff was on to her role as a double agent, Amanda knew neither would question the other about what they had found.
Amanda felt it ironic, the only two people in this scenario she had no control over was Michael and Nikita, and this she knew, could be a problem.