Laws
Sarah Rogan did not move. She bared breathed as the security guards roughly hauled the human who had tried to smuggle a bomb into her proximity was hauled away, still cursing in several languages. Her mom was right beside her and Oprisa stood nearby, but she felt very alone.
For so long, she had worked hard to control the powers that she had. She hadn't known what final form they would take, no psi did before the emergence period. She had assumed she would be an agent or an analyst or something. Not this. She felt her fear rise and worked to calm it even as Oprisa looked at her. Even with her powers blocked, Sarah could see her mentor's worry.
I am all right. Sarah said in her mind. Even with her powers blocked, Oprisa knew her well enough that the other psi would read that. She jerked as a voice sounded nearby.
"Are you all right?" Sarah turned to see the security agent who wore a suit instead of a uniform looking at her. She nodded to the man. He looked at her and then at Oprisa who returned his gaze calmly. "When is your flight?"
"An hour and a half." Oprisa replied as she moved just a little. It was a calculated move, placing herself just to the side of Sarah and Maggie. It didn't block view, but it was clearly -at least to Sarah- a defensive gesture. "Have you checked the video?"
"How did you know?" A curt voice demanded from nearby. Everyone looked to where a man in uniform stood, eyeing the disassembled jacket with its deadly contents.
"I didn't." Oprisa was still calm, but Sarah could almost feel the other psi's tension ratchet up a notch. "I thought he was a pickpocket, but nothing was taken. That seemed odd. Hence why I alerted you people."
"So you just appear out of nowhere with two silent women, catch a terrorist and-" He broke off as the man in the suit coughed. "Sir?"
"You are not cleared for who she is." What was obviously the supervisor of these agents said quietly, but firmly.
"Sir, we have to know-" The man in uniform started again, only to freeze as the man glared at him.
"You are not cleared." The suited man said flatly. He paused as Oprisa held up a hand. "Agent?"
"Agent?" A chorus of disbelief went around the room.
"I would prefer my designation not leave this room." Oprisa was very quiet, but her gaze speared the officer who was questioning her. "My job is to protect these two. No more. No less. The reason they have not spoken is that I told them not to. There are enough problems without miscommunication." Her tone was calm, her eyes and face flat. But the officer flushed anyway. "Your boss knows who I work for. You do not need to know and frankly? You do not want to know."
All of the customs agents in uniform looked at the man in the suit who nodded, his face grave.
"You gave Agent Conners your card." The supervisor said with a nod. "I spoke with him. He understands. He won't say anything."
"I knew something was wrong the moment I realized that man hadn't stolen anything. That he had tried to plant something. I didn't realize it was a timer at first. Not one I am familiar with, but the design is clear." Oprisa eyed the jacket with distaste. "I had no idea about this or I would have bundled my charges up and run like hell."
"And anyone who got in your way would have been flattened." Was that humor in the supervisor's voice? He shook his head. "Dang, my manners are slipping. Agent Rapriro." He held out a hand to Oprisa who took it. "Transport Security Administration."
"Nearly being blown up can have that effect. Genni Oprisa." The alien psi said smoothly. "I can say I am with the Foreign Office." At that, everyone in the room froze. She smiled a little as she retrieved her hand. "And before anyone asks? I can't stand martinis."
A nervous laugh swept the room, but everyone relaxed.
"So you are heading to California." Rapriro said with a nod. "Things are a bit tense there."
"So I have heard." Oprisa frowned a little. "Thing is..." She looked at Maggie who remained blank. "We have some potential bad news to deliver. So it cannot wait."
"Bad news?" Rapriro asked carefully. Maggie looked at Oprisa who nodded.
"I can't say where we were or what we were doing, but my husband is missing." Maggie said softly.
"He is not dead." Sarah snapped her mouth shut as everyone looked at her. She shook her head savagely, but Oprisa smiled at her and she relaxed.
"If this is some off the books intelligence operation..." The loudmouth who had questioned them before started. "We won't have it. That is not legal."
"Only legal if it is one run by your agency, Agent Tobias?" Oprisa's tone was calm, but held a sharp bite as well. He flushed and would have retorted, but his supervisor coughed loudly and he subsided. "In point of fact, no. Everything is above board, just held very quiet so that nutcases like the one who was just here don't get ideas. Hence why I am here instead of a tac team. And why we are flying commercial from here instead of private or military."
"That does make sense." Supervisor Rapriro frowned. "But we do have questions."
"What I can answer, I will." Oprisa shrugged. "But they stay with me."
"Fair enough."
37 minutes later
It wasn't as bad as Sarah had feared. After a few attempts that had been met with silence, all of the questions had been directed at Oprisa.
"Do you know what language he was speaking?" A new agent had met them in another room, smaller and just as sterile, but with chairs and table. This one female with a nametag that said 'Koros'. She wore the uniform of the TSA, but her insignia was different.
"Honestly? I am not sure." Oprisa had settled Maggie and Sarah into chairs and stood beside them. "It sounded similar to a couple of languages I know, but I didn't hear any words I know. He was cursing, and it made no sense for the most part, even in languages I did know."
Sarah was pretty sure that was not true. If she had understood Rylan curses, then there was no way the elder psi hadn't. But saying it was an alien language wouldn't end well.
"What languages do you speak?" The female agent asked, curious, and Oprisa just looked at her and the human flushed. "Sorry."
"This is unusual enough to be remarked on, Agent Koros." Oprisa warned. "But that is not a good thing. My worry... He did not make those things."
"No, he did not." Agent Koros agreed, eyeing Maggie and Sarah who remained silent. "Were you the targets? He went straight for Sarah."
"I don't see how. This was very rushed and we did not inform anyone we were coming." The psi shrugged. "Sarah's clothing is eclectic enough that he had a good chance of hiding the device in it. "
Oprisa had always astounded Sarah with her ability to keep a straight face while sounding incredibly disapproving. Sarah rubbed the leg of her pants dress even as Maggie put a hand to her face to cover her smile. Mostly. Sort of. Sarah fought to keep her face under control, but Oprisa was speaking again.
" Add to that... the device he had was small enough that it would have dispersed that substance, but the blast would have only killed him." The psi shook her head. "Would have made a mess, but there wasn't enough to hurt more than him." She frowned. "Did Hazmat take the device?"
"The RCMP sent a team." The TSA agent clearly wasn't happy about that. "We will get a report. Eventually." Oprisa scoffed and the agent actually smiled.
"We have places to go and bad news to deliver." Oprisa said with a shrug. "We done?"
"I..." The TSA agent slumped a bit but then nodded as Oprisa stiffened. "According to federal statue, as ones involved in a terrorist incident. I have to bar you entry."
"Bar us entry for being victims." Oprisa's tone was calm, but both Maggie and Sarah froze. Something... "Let me guess. New directives from on high?"
"I can't say." The agent who had been kind a moment before said firmly. Oprisa heaved a sigh and the agent flushed, but did not speak again.
"Fine." Oprisa scowled, but kept her face under control otherwise. "Maggie. Sarah, we are leaving. We will come back another time. Hopefully with fewer cracked fools." It was hard to say if she was speaking of the would-be terrorist or the TSA. "Understand that there will be words between the Home Office and your State Department over this." She said to the agent who wilted further.
"I have to hold you here." Agent Koros said slowly. "You are under arrest."
"For?" Oprisa asked, her tone tightly controlled now.
"Suspicion of collusion with terrorists." Koros rose, her hands coming up with cuffs, but she froze as Oprisa moved to stand between her and the seated women. Two men in TSA uniform entered the room, both tense.
"Put those away. You Yanks are all bloody mental." Oprisa said softly, her hand now in her pocket. The customs agent tensed, but she relaxed as Oprisa's hand came out with her phone. The agent's eyes went huge as Oprisa tapped it on.
"You won't get a signal in-" The agent's eyes nearly bugged out of her head as the phone chirped and Oprisa flicked the screen, showing a horde of information that was too small to make out before putting it to her ear.
"Oprisa 184." The psi said flatly into the phone, her other hand up in a wait gesture to Sarah and Maggie who rose form their chairs and moved to the wall, out of the way. "I need the Boss. Now. We have a situation." At that, the customs agent paled. Oprisa shook her head. "Not your fault, agent. You are just obeying orders. It shouldn't splash on you." She jerked and focused on her phone. "Yes, sir. A situation. Did you get the video I sent? Ah good. They are not letting us in." A pause and she winced. "Yes, sir. They say 'Collusion with terrorists'."
She jerked the phone away from her head and a torrent of loud British cursing sounded from it. Even with it not on speaker, it was impressive. Maggie and Sarah both stared at Oprisa who shook her head and rolled her eyes. When the noise subsided a bit Oprisa put the phone gingerly back to her head.
"Ah... sir?" Oprisa asked warily. "Yes. I am here. Uh, no. They are probably going to go with clause six or twelve." Agent Koros stared at Oprisa and then swallowed hard. "Yes sir. Ah, sir. If we do that, we will miss the flight." She jerked to almost stand at attention. "Yes sir. Right sir. I will tell them." Her phone turned off and she stared at it for a moment, her expression pensive, before she put it away. "Well... that is that."
She waved at Maggie at Sarah to relax and moved to the wall to stand just ion front of them. There she stood, her posture calm, but ready.
"You are all three under arrest." Agent Koros tried again. Two other customs agents started forward but froze as Oprisa glared at them.
"No, we are not." Oprisa replied evenly. "And before you try? This area may or may not technically be part of the US, but it is surrounded by a Canadian Airport, not your precious States. If you so much as lay a finger on any of us... My boss is already angry. He might order an SAS extraction and to hell with the consequences. So be very sure that you can live with the results if you try to be stupid. He told me to wait. I am going to wait. You are not my boss and you are not taking my charges." She stretched, just a little. The implication was clear. The only way she was going anywhere was unconscious or dead.
It wasn't very long before something else happened. Maybe two minutes later, the door opened again.
"What the hell?" Agent Rapriro stormed into the room, his face furious. "What the hell are you doing?" Everyone stared at him and he snarled "I just got a call from DC saying the British Prime Minister is on the phone and furious."
"My boss has little tact sometimes." Oprisa winced. "Especially when he deals with crack headed twits."
"Your boss is the Prime Minister?" Rapriro shared her wince.
"No." Oprisa replied. Her eyes were on the two other customs agents and her hands hadn't moved. "Gun."
"You two." One of the newcomers said flatly as he aimed a handgun with a long tube attached to it at Oprisa. The other had a similar one aimed at the customs agents. "Against the wall." Oprisa ignored him, eyeing Rapriro who had frozen.
"No orders came through you." The psi said softly. He shook his head. "These are not yours." He shook his head again. "I see."
"Move." The fake customs agent with the gun snapped.
"TSA? DOWN!" Oprisa snapped as her hand flashed.
Sarah saw it all happen. Both men with guns seemed to hesitate. Or they were frozen momentarily. Koros and Rapriro ducked as Oprisa's hand came out of her pocket with a small weapon. The TSA agents didn't see the two bursts of energy that flared from Oprisa's weapon, each striking center mass. But instead of burning holes in them like most energy weapon Sarah was familiar with, each of the fake agents fell to lie limp on the floor. Oprisa moved like a striking snake, her foot lashing out to send the fallen pistols skidding far across the floor. Her aim did not waver from the fallen men.
"What the hell is that?" Koros stood up slowly, staring at the device in Oprisa's hands. Oprisa smiled and opened her hand. The agent's eyes went wide as she saw a lipstick container attached to something else. Sarah's eyes widened too. "Ah..."
"Short range stunner." Oprisa said with a nod as Rapriro rose as well, bending down to carefully pick up one pistol, then the other. "Designed to be undetectable and look harmless. No lasting damage and won't penetrate anything solid. They will wake in an hour or so. Not even a headache when they wake up." Maggie stiffened but Oprisa smiled at her and the human subsided.
"Q Branch really exists?" Koros asked, staring from the odd weapon to the fallen assailants and back.
"You know I cannot answer that." Oprisa said with a snort as she stepped back to the wall. "That said? Nerds are nerds. Even ones who read to many spy thrillers." She said with a shrug. "They make cool toys that work sometimes." Koros' eyes went huge and Oprisa shook her head. "Please don't ask." She turned to the supervisor who was eyeing her. "I am betting the cameras in here malfunctioned just before those two came in."
"Haven't checked." The supervisor said with a frown. "But if they hadn't... someone would have come in."
"And probably died." Oprisa said with a frown. "Anyone willing to smuggle firearms in here..." She paused and knelt by the men, patting one down expertly. "Nope. No ID. Didn't really expect that."
Sarah was shaking little and her mom took the girl's hands in her own. Maggie pulled Sarah gently into an embrace and held her as she shook.
"You okay?" Oprisa asked the girl. Sarah shook her head but then took a deep breath and nodded. "I know this isn't your kind of thing, Sarah, but it was likely not aimed at you. Could have been me, could have been your mom. Could have been random and us stopping the nut caused these..." She waved slightly at the unconscious forms as Rapriro and Koros cuffed them. "...to go into damage control mode. We don't know. And if they are what I think? We won't."
"What do you think?" Rapriro asked carefully as he stood up, laid the pistols down on a table far away from the unconscious forms and pulled out his phone. Koros just glared at them. "I will have more people here in moments."
"What I think doesn't really matter since this isn't my job, but they scream 'intelligence operative' to me." Oprisa said with a frown. "No mercenary is going to be dumb enough to do such a thing for any amount of money. I mean, really?" She shook her head again. "Bad enough smuggling firearms into a controlled facility, but threatening TSA officers with firearms is not a misdemeanor charge if I remember correctly."
"No." Rapriro said with a nod. "Automatic felony unless they have changed that in the last day." He muttered something about 'not yet'.
"I hate to say this..." Oprisa said quietly. "But am I under arrest? If so... This is going to get worse."
"I haven't heard anything about it." Rapriro said to Koros who flushed. "Agent?" She passed him her phone and he scanned it then shook his head. "This looks legit, but it would have come through me and I would have kicked it upstairs on general principle." He shook his head,. "Consider these orders countermanded, Agent Koros. And if you could call off your boss, Agent Oprisa?"
"I will try." Oprisa pulled her phone out and started dialing. "He will want to know who these guys are. Any chance on a joint investigation since they targeted me and mine?"
"All I can do is ask." The supervisor said with a wince. "But stopping this from becoming a full blown international incident would help." Oprisa nodded with a jerk and then focused on her phone. She pulled out a tiny earpiece and slid it in, talking very quietly and texting at the same time.
""Are you two all right?" Rapriro asked Sarah and Maggie. They shrugged and he made a face. "She told you not to talk and you obey orders. Can't blame you." They both smiled at his tone and nodded.
"Let's see if we can uncluster this mess."