Hi, I'm back with (I think) the long awaited chapter 7 of For Better Or For Worse
Hi, I'm back with (I think) the long awaited chapter 7 of For Better Or For Worse. Seriously you people make me so happy when I know that you're enjoying my story and now that my gracious beta Reidluver has helped me to correct some grammar errors and the like this chapter is ready to be enjoyed by my lovely audience.
Any way here's the chapter.
Disclaimer: If I owned Alex Rider and co. I would have change the way the movie played out.
The drive to the Scorpia headquarters for this assignment was long and strenuous for Alex. With the virus beginning to take its toll on his body, the constant sudden contact with the walls as they outmaneuvered any pursuers was unusually painful and trying.
Alex knew it had to be painful for Wolf as well. The man wasn't showing any obvious signs of pain, but his face was very pale and his expression pinched as he clutched his forearm to stem the blood flow.
After a particularly harrowing turn, Alex decided to take a strip from his own shirt to wrap Wolf's arm. When it was crudely but tightly wrapped, Wolf tried flexing the arm to see if he could still use a gun if he ever got a hold of one. But the woman had aimed skillfully, completely incapacitating the muscles that enabled him to flex his fingers, rendering that arm useless. Being in the SAS, he had been trained in ambidextrous combat to a certain degree, but it remained indisputable that his left would not aim as reassuringly accurate as his right.
Sighing, he nodded a thanks to Alex for the makeshift bandage. Alex nodded in return and turned to continue staring out the window. After awhile he realized that the camera in his left eye was probably recording their route.
Finally they stopped in front of a small, innocent-looking, cabin-like house in the middle of a slightly sloped open field, across were more open fields.
A second later, Carmen opened the car door on Alex's side and yanked him out, making him stumble. Someone else did the same to Wolf, but he faired much better than Alex, even with his injured arm.
They were led into the house and down a long flight of steps to a pristine, high tech basement. Then they turned left and entered a large, white room. It was completely empty except for a tall, interesting looking man with black hair and eyes, and a physique similar to Yassen's. He had one hand in the pocket of his black pants and a look of unshakable confidence on his face.
"Thank you Mastrat, I'll be taking it from here." he spoke in a clear, almost musical, voice with no accent.
Wolf glanced at the woman who had shot him and saw a confused and angry look on her face.
"You must be mistaken Sockai. I was placed in control of this mission."
Sockai laughed, "Actually, the mistake Mastrat, is that you've made too many. Mr. Kepler has seen fit to relieve you of the seniority of this assignment. You've outlived your usefulness." He turned to two of the other operatives in the room. "Deal with her."
"If you think this will go unchallenged Sockai you're as delusional as you claim not to be!" Carmen yelled as the men forcefully led her into the hallway and down a different walkway to what Wolf assumed was a holding cell of some kind.
Then the man named Sockai, completely ignoring her outburst, turned to Alex. "Unlike her, I don't make assumptions or predictions based on meager facts or large speculations. I function on definite knowledge. I am not going to assume that you weren't set up by MI6 to get captured, nor am I going to assume that you haven't been prepared for this encounter with equipment. What I am going to do is strip you down and check myself. Then I'll know for certain." By the end of his little speech the man seemed confused by Alex's indifference. He had been told that Alex was unpredictable and cheeky. But this boy didn't even seem to hear him.
He came closer and gave him a backhand across the face causing Wolf to inwardly wince. "Did you hear me or do you not care?"
Before the next blow came Alex spoke, "I can't hear you." He realized a spilt second later that the man would take it as mockery, which he did. The next blow knocked him to the floor.
Wolf stepped forward "He means what he says. He can't hear; anyone."
Sockai looked at Wolf suspiciously. "Since when?"
"Since the virus started to take effect."
"I don't believe you of course but we'll soon know for sure, after he's debugged. MI6 thinks they're smart but they've never dealt with me."
Alex, still struggling to get up from the floor, felt it to be in his best interest to try—despite the eyestrain—to read what he could from this man's lips. The only words Alex could garner from him though were MI6, bugged, and smart. He decided to assume the worst and began rapidly formulating a plan to get out of the examination just incase Smithers was mistaken about the gadgets. Instead of continuing to get up, he allowed the pain and fatigue to wash over him and stayed on the floor, exhibiting all the signs of the sickness he felt.
Wolf looked on in alarm as Alex stopped trying to get up and instead lay there in a fetal position. He called, knowing partially that it was no use but hoping nonetheless that he would respond to the noise.
Sockai glanced at Wolf and then grabbed Alex by the arm to drag him to his feet. But Alex wasn't entirely acting and he didn't seem able to be standing on his own two feet anymore.
"Get up," Sockai commanded calmly, drawing blood with this slap. His uncanny ability to stay composed served to fuel Wolf's anger
"Damn it! Can't you see your freak virus is killing him?!" Wolf shouted.
"You'd better make him find his strength then, before I give him a good reason not to be able to stand," Sockai countered.
He stepped back and allowed Wolf to come over and try to communicate sense to Alex. But even as Wolf shook him slightly and tried to tell him to get up, Alex just shook his head and sagged further. "I just can't," he whispered. Alex didn't feel quite as bad as Wolf was probably assuming, but for the act to be convincing Wolf had to think he was dying too.
Wolf, growing desperate but not showing it, pulled him to his feet again but Alex just groaned, "I can't Wolf, stop it."
"It's no use. He isn't playing around."
"He'll get a quarter portion of the antidote after we've scanned him."
"Can't you see? He's getting worse! It's in your best interest to keep him alive if you want to get any information out of him."
"So he did break the agreement. It's a good thing we killed Harris then," Sockai smirked knowing the kid he spoke of wasn't dead yet.
"Do you think I'd let the whole breaking into my house thing go without questioning; he had to tell me."
"Nice excuse," the man laughed. "The question is; who else did he tell? Anyhow, he won't die before I'm through; he'll probably experience a little well-deserved pain though."
Wolf looked as though he was about to argue further but Sockai stopped him. "You're becoming problematic," he directed the two operatives from before. "Take him to the PC cell." With that Wolf was forcefully pulled and shoved from the room.
As he was driven down the hall, Wolf worried, in particular, about what Alex's unexpected breakdown could mean for him.
He had argued with Mrs. Jones against the installation of the binding chemical for nearly half an hour but it had been no use. MI6 was convinced that everything else was going to fail and that this idea was ingenious indeed; no one would ever suspect such a thing.
Wolf sighed, no amount of antidote that Alex got was going to help him and if he had already degraded so far, then he could be dead by the end of the night.
Wolf shook his head in disgust as he was shoved into another virtually empty room. Sitting there strapped into a solitary wooden chair, he decided to use the time to come up with a plan to save the child from those who would extinguish his life so cruelly.
Sockai had Alex dragged into an adjacent room, put on a table, and every article of his clothing discarded. Sockai then concentrated on checking his facial features for possible devices, clearly remembering the braces that Nile had missed.
Alex was not exactly unconscious but everywhere hurt too much for him to make an effort to move. He was awake enough to know that the man was checking him for surveillance devices, despite his plan to dissuade him and to be frightened by it, but he could not move any part of his body in protest to the harsh treatment. He was also beginning to think that his plan to let go of his steel resolve to keep the pain at bay had been a bad idea.
Using a penlight, Sockai checked his mouth and teeth, ears and nose. He carefully examined every limb to make certain there were no skin colored devices hidden on the surface and last, using a fine toothcomb, he vigorously combed through his hair as if removing lice. Then he had him dressed in white jumpsuits with a tracking device installed in the waistband and sent him to the infirmary.
"He's clean," Sockai pronounced as he followed the gurney into the infirmary talking to the Dr. Dave.
"But I find it strange that he didn't come in contact with MI6 at anytime. However I don't intend to fail," he continued. "Whatever they're dearly hoping for isn't going to happen."
"Give him a one quarter dose of the antidote and let me know as soon as he awakens; I'll be in the interrogation room."
At St. Ann's Hospital, Rachel was on duty at the Nurses Station; however, she was beginning to think she would become a danger to her patients because of her constant worry for Wolf and Alex. She noticed herself occasionally slipping up and that was unacceptable. A co-worker came up to her and rubbed her back comfortingly.
"What's wrong Rae? You haven't been yourself all morning. Something happen?"
Rachel nodded reluctantly, Emma was very perceptive to others' feeling, part of what made her such a good nurse; it was no use trying to hide something by merely keeping a straight face. "Remember the child I told you about who's staying at my place for awhile?"
"Hmm."
"Well he's come down with this strange virus that we've come across and with everything else that he's been through, I don't think he's going to survive. I've grown kind of fond of him you know, and he's already getting sicker."
"Lord, have mercy. My prayers go out to him. How old is he?"
"14."
"I don't know what else to say, but be strong my dear, I know you're doing everything you can for him as if he were your own." Emma hugged her. "Will you be alright?" Rachel nodded. "You don't hesitate to talk if you need to okay."
Rachel nodded again.
"I'll be on to my duties then. Take care!" Emma gave her one more concerned glanced before leaving.
Rachel thought about what she'd said for a second and then called Wolf on his cell to see if he and Alex were okay. Emma was a good woman but Rachel couldn't have possibly told her what was really bothering her.
After 17 rings and no answer she assumed the worst and called Fox instead. He had known about the plan MI6 had set up and would probably be able to tell her if something had happened.
"Hello, Ben?"
"Hi, Rachel," Rachel noted that he seemed to sound rather grim.
"I was wondering if you'd heard from James. I can't get through to him and I was thinking you might know about it."
Rachel heard him sigh into the phone "Um Rachel, I think he might have been taken too. The house is empty and there's no sign of him anywhere."
Rachel's breath caught. "Can you be sure that he didn't just go out for something?"
Fox sighed again and said something to someone. When he answered his voice was definitely grim. "Yeah."
"Well, what is it?" Rachel struggled to keep her voice calm.
"There was some blood on the door and porch, we don't know whose."
Rachel closed her eyes and gripped the desk to keep from fainting with dread.
"Rachel, are you okay?"
"I'm still here," her voice trembled slightly.
"We're still looking, okay? Don't worry too much."
"Ben, is there anything else I should know?"
There was an audible silence that stretched into long seconds. The rest of K-unit had come across the letter from Wolf to Alex outlining what they hadn't known about MI6's plan. But they didn't know how much Rachel knew or should know. After what seemed like a full two minutes he said, "No."
"For some reason, I disagree," Rachel told him, trying to suppress her sudden unreasonable anger at him.
"It can wait until you get home."
"Ben, I have a right to know."
"We can't discuss it over the phone." He didn't want to do it, but to ward off any more questions he hung up on her.
Her day had just gotten a whole lot worse but she was determined to get through it.
"Sir, I'm not sure what's happening but the antidote is not working. He's not improving as he should."
"What do you mean it's not working, Dr. Dave? Your job is to make it work!"
"Sir, his is a special case. The pain spasms have not decreased in frequency and I do not—"
"Is he awake?"
"Yes, Sir but—"
"Then send him down."
"Sir, I don't think he will be—"
"I did not ask for your opinion, Doctor. I told you to send him to me in the interrogation room."
"Yes, Sir!"
"And one more thing; test his hearing for me. His guardian claims he's deaf."
"He is to words, Sir. Language is a garbled mess to him because his sound processing nerves are damaged by the virus. However, he can hear loud, simple sounds like a gunshot, thudding foot steps, etc."
"I see, well send him anyway."
A few minutes later Alex entered the room where Sockai was sitting at a desk occupied by two computer monitors and a microphone. The first thing he noticed was that Sockai seemed very pleased with himself and what he'd done so far. Not being able to understand what was going on was becoming a real pain in the arse to Alex, but not more so that the slow burn he was beginning feel all over his body now.
For lack of anywhere better to sit he lowered himself into the chair across from Sockai on the opposite side of the desk and started at the man with contempt.
Sockai spoke into the microphone and thanks to the speech recognition program apparently at work, what he said appeared clearly on the screen for Alex to read.
"What I want you to do is very simple. I will ask you a question, and you answer with the truth and nothing else. If you don't I will know and I will punish you. Do you understand?"
Alex thought about what he was getting at and decide for now he would play along; he didn't have the energy to do much else anyway. "Yes."
"Good. Did you come in contact with MI6 at anytime between the other night and now?"
The man sat back waiting for an answer while Alex tried to think of an effective way around the question.
"Do you really believe that I'm going to tell you the absolute truth?" he asked scornfully.
Sockai smiled and turned on the second monitor without a word. There, Alex saw Wolf sitting in an empty room with two guards to the side and back of him.
"I want every detail of the encounter."
Alex thought about it and then settled on a probable (but untrue) scenario.
"It was only for a short time and I wasn't the one who saw them."
"I believe you still know what transpired though."
"Well, maybe you believe wrong."
"I wonder just how much electric current your friend here can withstand before he collapses from the pain."
Alex looked mildly shocked but sighed, "After the attack last night I gave Wolf the vial with the antidote in it to give to MI6. But I didn't go with him."
"You lied!" Sockai declared still looking at Wolf.
"No I didn't!" Alex yelled indignantly wondering what he planned to do.
"Yes, you did."
He pressed a button and talked into the mic again but what he said apparently went through a speaker to Wolf's room. One of them stepped forward with a Taser gun in his hand, set to drive stun, and pressed it to Wolf's arm but didn't engage it.
"Now I'll ask you again and if you lie I will have him shocked. What are the details of the encounter you had with MI6 that night?"
"I already told you, you're just assuming that I'm lying so you can have a reason to do this you sadistic freak."
Sockai laughed. "Wrong answer boy."
Sockai gave the command and the guard held down on the trigger causing Wolf to be painfully stunned by the Taser charge continually.
"You start talking the truth and I'll have him stop."
Alex stared at the screen in shocked disgust as Wolf was needlessly and constantly shocked.
"I already told you!"
"I don't believe you. You know exactly what happened and I need to know as well."
Alex knew that to back down now would mean a whole lot more trouble for both him and Wolf. He glanced at Wolf, who was in obvious agony with tightly pressed lips and closed eyes, then looked back at the man.
"There's nothing else for me to tell," he near choked on his voice. Sockai glanced at the screen where Wolf was beginning to go limp.
"No, you haven't."
"YES I HAVE! Damn it, you're killing him! There's nothing else I can say!"
Sockai told the man to stop.
"I know the way to verify your story and when I prove that you're lying, you're going to beg for mercy."
Alex watched with dread as Sockai spoke into the mic again. The guard prodded Wolf with the Taser so that he wearily sat up and looked directly at the screen.
"Did you come in contact with MI6 between the night of the attack and now?"
Wolf looked at the screen in disgust for a second before smirking. He, despite his fatigue and pain, was amused by the audacity of the villain. "I didn't make it through two months of SAS interrogation training for nothing. You could go to hell before I simply tell you what you want to know," he laughed scornfully, "for free."
Sockai's lips became a thin line, "Do what ever you want with him. I'll be down in a little while," he told the guards.
As the two guards started their harsh treatment again Sockai turned off the monitor, to Alex's dismay and turned to him with a menacing expression on his face.
"Next question, how did MI6 find out that the source of the virus was untraceable?"
Alex hesitated long enough for Sockai to assume that he was about to lie. Smirking Sockai leaned closer.
"I'll let you in on a little piece of information." Alex just looked at the screen with a bored yet hateful expression. Sockai continued, "Tom Harris is not dead." He was pleased by the look of shocked disbelief on Alex's face.
"That's right Alex, we bluffed, just so we could devastate you twice. You see, if you don't answer my questions truthfully I will torture him instead. He can't hold his own can he? Not like your other friend."
He turned on the monitor again but this time Alex saw Tom sitting in a small room all by himself, his face was tear streaked and paler than usual. The next second a man came in and Tom stood up looking fearful of the Taser gun that the man held.
Alex looked at Sockai in pure hatred and hissed. "I told them."
Sockai laughed "'Atta boy, now what did you use to send the message?"
Alex hesitated again and Sockai pressed the button to say something to talk to the guard in Tom's room. "I—" Sockai turned back to him.
"I used a device I was given about a week ago."
"I see, what about the game, who so generously designed it for you?"
Alex was about to answer but instead he closed his eyes and hunched over the table as a wave of alternately chilling and burning pain washed over his body, starting at the base of his neck and spreading at last to his fingers and toes. As he tried to ward off the most painful wave yet, he bit his lip hard trying not to cry out as he had in the infirmary, in front of this man who gained pleasure from his suffering. Alex swayed slightly as he rode through the last of the bout with the ending sensation being similar to having all of your toes and fingers slammed in a heavy metal door with your back on fire.
As it finally passed, he slumped against the desk further; his loss of energy leaving him barely conscious.
Sockai watched, sadistically fascinated until it was finished then he poked the kid brutally in the side until his attention returned to the screen that he had been reading from.
"Who gave it to you?"
Alex momentarily forgot the consequences of freely speaking his mind as he lost his temper because of his current, violent frustration. So he allowed his usual sarcastic attitude to color his tone.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I'm guessing he must be very high up in Special Ops to reveal that kind of information."
"I bet you never won a game of Twenty Questions before."
Sockai said something to the guard who fired two Taser darts at Tom who yelled in painful indignation when they pierced the skin of his arm.
Alex gasped as he watched. "The Deputy Head of Special Ops," he answered.
"Dear old Jones Alex? Don't make me laugh, you can do better than that, her name isn't even 'Smithers'."
Tom was shot again in his leg this time.
"Okay, okay you can bloody well stop now."
Smooth move, Alex, the young agent chided himself "Smithers did it with out permission. He's the covert devices specialist; not extremely powerful as you can see."
"Powerful enough to give you information I want Alex. You would do well to be so kind as to give it."
"I'm running a little low on kindness you see, perhaps you could tell me why."
"I could tell you that Tom Harris is going to hate you after this." He began to talk in to the mic again.
"Well you didn't ask me anything more." Alex interjected impatiently.
Sockai laughed and had the guard explain to the boy that his punishment was the result of Alex's lack of cooperation. Then he turned to continue with Alex but the boy had his head lying on the table again.
Jabbing Alex in the ribs again, the man gestured to the screen but since Alex was getting worse, the poke just initiated another spasm, one which left him unconscious for a minute before Sockai decided that perhaps another quarter dose of antidote was in order.
After the second amount was administered by Dr. Dave and nothing happened after ten minutes as it should of, Sockai decide to change tactics as he was often known to do.
He had Alex dragged into the room where Wolf was and dropped in the corner. The soldier was slumped in his chair and bedraggled looking but obviously triumphant; the guards looked put out by the lack of 'give' in him. When the door opened he looked up and his eyes widened in alarm at Alex's condition for a second before his face returned to a blank stare.
"Your friend here is dying," Sockai stated in a conversational tone. "I need information from you instead. And I don't play nicely like these slackers here."
Wolf looked at Sockai for a moment and then said, "I'm sure you don't," in a tone similar to an adult reassuring a child that he wasn't being doubted but subtly indicating that he wasn't being taken seriously either.
Sockai laughed as he shoved Alex into a corner of the room. "You're a young one aren't you, fresh out of training with the delusional idea that you can withstand anything, right?"
Wolf's only answer was a seemingly nonchalant shrug.
"I remember when I use to think like that, I didn't know what a foo—"
"Pardon the interruption in your stroll down memory lane," Wolf interjected patronizingly, "but you said something about information from me, not best forgotten tales of your not so beloved crèche years." He really wasn't in the mood for any chitchat and if that's what this man planned on doing he was going to let him know, right away, to forget it.
Sockai was effectively silenced. He calmly glared at Wolf as though trying to retain some semblance of composure while struggling to suppress his anger as well.
He took out a gun and aimed it as Alex's head and said, "The game is simple, I ask you a question, you answer truthfully, and if you don't—I shoot him."
Wolf considered it for a second and decided to put his plan into play with a few adjustments. One of his many talents was that he was a brilliant strategist. Predicting, utilizing, and then countering an opponent's response to a maneuver was one of the things he did best; one of the reasons he was the leader of his team, the other being his natural propensity to be bossy.
Right now it felt like more gambling to him, but it wasn't to be avoided.
"That sounds kind of wasteful don't you think? If I mess up once, you kill him and all you get is one lie and zero truths."
Sockai smirked. "Still counting on your invincibility and total resistance to any Pain Compliance equipment I might have in back. I admit, your courage is admirable but I assure you I will get that information. "
"And how long will it take—days, a week?"
"That's assuming that you have the guts to sit here and cause the death of him." He gestured to Alex who was awake and trying to think of a plan through the haze of pain. Strangely, the unintelligible mess that he was growing accustomed to was becoming slightly less so. He could catch a couple of words from time to time if he concentrated hard enough.
"What is he to you anyway?" Sockai continued. "Son, nephew, little brother?"
"Teammate and friend."
"I see, well I doubt you'll let him die after only one question, more likely—"
"I have a better idea," Wolf perilously cut him off again "I give you my word that I will tell you what you want to know if you will give Alex enough of the antidote to have an effect on him."
Sockai laughed as though he was just told a hilarious joke. "So now we've moved on from petty insults to bargaining. You—"
For the last time Wolf cut him off again with a win or die proposition.
"That or nothing." His eyes were bright with unanticipated strength and conviction. He knew he had no place to decide such things but he reasoned that if Alex was not given enough antidote to saturate the binding chemical in his blood and in turn start to reverse the effects of the virus, then he was better off dead now, to save him some pain. Further more, at this rate, he would probably die before MI6 could get their hands on him even if they dispatched a rescue team now anyway.
This situation only had one way out for both parties, when Tom wasn't factored into it.
Sockai thought about the proposition long and hard, turning it over and analyzing it from every angle, but failing to remember his handle on Tom whom he had not wanted in the picture anyway. He no longer doubted that Wolf meant what he said and he understood his reasoning; the boy would either die of a gunshot wound now or later from the virus unless he was given a massive dosage now. Sockai concluded that if the young spy showed too much promise of recovery then he would dispose of him anyway with his questions answered.
He wasn't foolish enough to assume that Wolf was going to completely tell the truth though. Still not knowing Sockai's methods of proving the information true or false, the man would be going too far to gamble with that.
"You barter well Wolf; I can't say I'm not impressed. We will do it your way under one condition."
Wolf tensed.
"Answer one question to prove to me that you will tell the truth."
"I'm listening."
"Earlier when I had my men stun you—continually—it was because of a piece of information concerning you that Alex all but swears is true. I want to hear your account. If the two stories differ in anyway, since I have a sneaking suspicion that he made it up along the way, I will kill him now and the deal will be void. Am I understood?"
Wolf answered with growing dread. "Yes."
Sockai nodded. "Good. Did you come in contact with MI6 at anytime between the night of the attack and now?"
If this wasn't stressful then Wolf figured nothing was. Their lives depended on his being able to exactly deduce what Alex had told this man in a tight spot when he had absolutely no clues whatsoever to the boy's style of thinking much less his idea of what to say in a situation like this.
Very slim chance indeed.
A second later, he realized he did have some clues actually; but few. The first was that Sockai told him that he thought Alex had made up the story along the way but it was obviously plausible enough for Alex to stand firm with it. Wolf was not sure how much Alex had discerned about their captor, but if Sockai believed it enough to let it pass until a chance at confirmation presented itself—despite his paranoia of MI6 watching—it had to be pretty close to the truth yet at the same time leaving out the bit about the gadget installation. That meant he'd had to have left out the encounter with MI6 in the morning altogether.
That left the space of time right after the attack in the night. He should have remembered that Sockai had asked him that question earlier but the subsequent Taser assaults had muddled his memory somewhat.
Wolf cautiously answered. "Yes."
"You hesitated," Sockai stated.
"That's because I don't know if what he said is true yet you seem to be taking his word as the truth."
Sockai simply nodded. "Give me the details of the encounter."
Wolf cast around for a probable reason why they would have come across MI6 that night while still leaving out any bit about the implants. After the attack, what could they have gone to MI6 with that would make sense but still serve to leave MI6 no reason to suspect another one?
"Right after the attack, I had Alex explain everything that was going on. When he told me about the supposedly impenetrable vial of antidote—" Here Sockai interrupted him with a scornful snort. Wolf wasn't sure what his displeasure was aimed at but he doggedly plowed on with the story he had going, steeling himself for the blow that was most likely to come once he failed.
"—I went gave the vial to MI6. They decided to try and open it before sending him in here on a foolhardy mission that was likely to fail. They did say there might be another attempt but I don't think they expected it again so soon."
"Then what about you, why are you with him if you weren't recruited to?"
"That wasn't my doing, ask Muskrat or whatever her name is. Alex begged her not to kill me and instead she shoots and halls me along for a ride. Probably to use me against him."
Sockai was quiet for a moment. "I see." Then he spoke into a lapel mic causing Wolf to visibly tense. A few long moments passed before Dr. Dave entered with another doctor carrying a metal brief case and went straight over to Alex who'd been watching the whole altercation closely.
Wolf was partially relieved.
"Give him one full dosage and wait ten minutes," Sockai commanded.
The doctors did as bidden and laid the boy on his back by the wall as they waited for it to work, using the slowing of his pulse to indicate that it had taken effect. The minutes crawled by.
"Give him another one." Sockai barked impatiently.
A half hour went by like this.
"Give me the damn needle! Perhaps he needs it in a spot a little more direct than the crock of the elbow." He aimed for the jugular vein with a rough, untrained hand.
"NO!" Wolf shouted.
Sockai spun around "Why not, this is no more drastic than what you'd proposed!"
Wolf wet his dry lips. "That blood vessel is particularly weak because of an accident a couple weeks ago. If you do that, you're still going to kill him and lose the chance of me answering your questions."
The doctor's looked shocked by Wolf's audacity; Alex was shocked by something else.
For the whole time that the doctors had been hovering over him, he'd been conscious enough to know basically what was going on but he couldn't move or speak, nor did he want to, considering the pain. But now, although it seemed the antidote still hadn't worked—meaning, he was still in constant unabated pain, and he was even beginning to have a little trouble breathing—there was one thing that was reversing and it was his hearing loss.
He could actually hear what was going on in full detail. He heard what Wolf said and was equally proud and frightened by it. He also heard what Sockai had said that elicited that response from the man and he concluded that he definitely preferred Wolf's usually rough and occasionally curt voice to Sockai's depthless oily singsong one any day. The idea that he had the presence of mind to have preference between voices but not to assess the imminent danger he was in, actually made him smile with the irony of it. Where were his priorities? he thought.
Sockai stopped his cruel ministrations when he saw the smile. "Not one more drop of that antidote will he get even if he screams for it; time to live up to your end of the bargain."
Wolf allowed himself a brief smile of satisfaction and nodded. "Ask away."
Sockai frowned at Wolf's apparent good cheer and began the interrogation anew.
"Who has MI6 assigned operative for this mission?"
"That is something I wouldn't know. The boy was told not to show anyone the game much less the password. And he didn't share any information with me either. All I know is what I specifically asked him the other night."
Sockai noted the answer and asked something else. "Why is he showing premature signs of the disease; it should have taken at least a week."
Wolf decided that the man had to be toying with him why he would ask these questions that were basically irrelevant to his cause.
"The accident that I mentioned earlier severely weakened his nervous system so your virus didn't have much work left to do."
"Nice way to put it. Now let me ask a simple question, what exactly was MI6's plan to stop us this time?"
Wolf sighed; the guy had finally cut to the chase. Wolf for the most part intended to keep his word. "If they weren't able to open the container then they were going to have him come in fitted out with gadgets they hoped would not be noticed." He even dared to add, "Stuff in his hair and all."
The remark made Sockai smile. "Continue."
"And send him in to gather any information on the formula or location of the antidote."
"Pathetic so far," the villain laughed. "And under what pretense was he to gather this information?"
Wolf looked as though he genuinely had to think about the question.
"I supposed they expected him to come up with that as he went along," Wolf answered darkly.
Sockai gave him a long piercing stare before he simply turned on his heals and left the room with a smile on his face.
There you have it. Like it, hate it, can't stand me for doing that to Alex, Wolf and Tom? Hope it's the former.
I know, I know the cliffy was mean but I it won't be for long.
As an extra note I think you all would like to know that the next chapter is totally written and all I have to do have my beta kindly look over it for me. The only thing stopping me from posting it right away is the fact the it's much more enjoyable to milk reviews out of you guys for this chapter first. (grins evilly) The power is in your hands. ;)
