Chapter 7 – An Old Threat ReturnsAlison sat on the couch in the living room while staring at a blank screen, the TV was 32x28 inches and it probably wasn't enough space to place all of her most wanted answered questions on, she entered her trance like space and tried to think about one question at a time but they all seemed to rush by like people running past her vision to catch a nearby bus, she had no time to inspect them. The doorbell's chime snapped her out of her thinking state and she got to her feet and went over to the door. She pushed down the handle and pulled it open.
"We need you in the briefing room now, it's urgent" Hearing Vina's voice again was heaven to her ears.
"Sure, I'll be there in a sec" Alison responded as she slipped on her converses and followed Vina across the near kilometre walk of Campus but as they started to develop into a sprint the journey only took about two minutes.
They entered the building and it was clear that the air-con was not working still as it seemed hotter outside than it did in. They moved across the near empty reception room, people behind the desk were either too indulged in a newspaper or were enjoying a cup of coffee to notice them. Vina pressed the button to call the elevator and seconds later the doors opened. The inside wasn't exactly clean which showed that the elevator had been used many times and no one had had the decency to come along and give it a quick wash out.
The elevator began to rise and there was silence apart from the sound of machinery above them straining to pull the large metal container upwards. As the elevator began to slow Alison's stomach seemed to drop further that it should have as gravity took over their change in speed as the elevator began to slow down again.
The doors opened once more to reveal the briefing room; it was five floors up and had huge glass windows that gave an amazing view of the campus below. She was the first one there and spent her time by staring out of the window. Black clouds littered the sky and soon the downpour took place. The patting rain drowned out the squeaking of the elevator as it rose up to the fifth floor but got her attention when the doors opened with an even louder squeal. She turned and her face lit up in a smile as her eyes made contact with familiar faces.
"You will be working with Ryan Sharma and Fu Ning" The voice belonged to James Adams who had become one of the few briefing instructors a few years ago.
The documents were given out, all three had their own names printed on the front and what lay inside would determine their role on the mission. The front had a picture of Cherub's logo which covered at least half the page and the text was written in capitals which stated:
MISSION BRIEFING:
FOR ALISON DALIS
DO NOT REMOVE FROM CAMPUS
DO NOT COPY THIS DOCUMENT OR MAKE NOTES
There was silence as they read through the several pages of documents.
"No way!" Ryan nearly shouted, breaking the silence and scaring the hell out of Ning and Alison. "I swear this guy was dead two years ago!" He added.
"That's what we also thought, but it looks like either his ex-wife is a lousy shot or Mr Aramov got extremely lucky." James commented.
"This bastard is still alive!?" Ning shouted, adding to the anger that Ryan had already shown.
"Who is this guy?" Alison asked, she felt like she was missing a vital piece of the puzzle as she had no idea why two of her closest friends hated this guy's guts.
"This bastard killed my step-mum, that's who this shit-face is!" Ning shouted, her tone was vicious but Alison knew that Ning wouldn't shout at her like that if they were in a different situation.
Ning and Ryan continued to rant on which gave Alison some time to read through her own document, the first page started off with the main target and his role of terrorism.
LEONID ARAMOVIrena Aramov's son who was supposed to gain the role of second in command after she had passed away, however after Irena found that Leonid was stealing money from her bank accounts she banished him from the Aramov clan where his two sons (ALEX ARAMOV and BORIS ARAMOV) followed their father after he was kicked out after Irena forcefully removed his ear in warning. Irena's grandson ETHAN ARAMOV helped her in recovering the money from Leonid's bank accounts and managed to lock him out of one before the TFU stepped in and locked both Ethan and Leonid out of the other accounts and made sure that the money did not fall back into the hands of the Aramov Clan. He moved to Mexico with his two sons and was soon re-united with his ex-wife TAMARA ARAMOV and his youngest son ANDRE ARAMOV who were working undercover for the TFU and Cherub to determine what Leonid was planning to do after he was banished. Andre found the blueprints to a PGSLM missile construction facility and used his father's SAT NAV system to find the facility where retired agent JAMES ADAMS used one of his own missiles to destroy Leonid's construction lines. The missile caused massive amounts of destruction to the surrounding area so stopping the development of this missile caused some stress to be taken off of the remaining mission. Tamara supposedly killed her ex-husband while he was in the bath with a bullet to the head, however upon closer inspection of the body it was clear that she had missed the shot and hit Leonid in a vital part of his nervous system which caused him to go into unconsciousness for several weeks. He was declared dead when he arrived at the hospital as his pulse had diminished but his body was declared missing when it was planned to be taken to a nearby morgue and to be awaited for burial. The body was not found and was declared as missing but major organisations such as the TFU did not worry about this as they had got reports of his death.
It has become clear that Leonid Aramov had set up a new ARAMOV CLAN alongside his two sons as second in command and is working for a Russian name ALEXSEI (last name unknown), upon contact he has agreed to work with the TFU to report Leonid's doings. Leonid has agreed to split his earnings from the missiles by half, however it is unknown yet if Leonid is selling these missiles to other terrorist groups or the government, furthermore if Leonid still has control of these missiles then he is a lethal target and must be stopped by any means necessary.
MISSION ROLESWe believe that the people who attacked ALISON DALIS on her way back from school in the Wednesday evening were men working for Leonid Aramov, however their role of causing harm to Alison is unknown and we believe that sending her on this mission would be risky if her appearance is not altered (Hair colour and make-up). Alison will take the role of Alexsei's niece and RYAN SHARMA will take the role of Alexsei's nephew where they will then be admitted to enter Alexsei's secret bunker and be able to keep their eye on Leonid's doings while remaining low in suspicion. Ning has had previous contact with the target so sending her face-to-face with Leonid would have a chance of jeopardizing the mission altogether and may cost us the lives of our agents or Leonid's location. Ning will remain in a submersible with retired agent JAMES ADAMS and monitor the CCTV system which Alexsei will give us permission to use for the duration of the mission. James Adams will also be on radio contact and will advise Alison and Ryan through their mission.
IN CASE OF EMERGANCYIf for any reason the mission goes wrong and the lives of either Alison or Ryan are put at risk it is commanded that they are removed from the mission at the earliest moment and returned to campus WITHOUT delay.
NOTEThis mission was accepted by The Cherub Ethics Committee, on condition that Alison Dalis, Ryan Sharma and Fu Ning all understand the following:
This mission has been classed as a MEDIUM RISK and all agents chosen for this mission are reminded of their right to refuse or withdraw from this mission at any time.
The document finished there, the ranting had died down a bit but Ning was still in fury after hearing that her step-mum's murderer was still alive but was cursing to herself and was no longer filling the air with her screaming. Alison looked up and closed the document where the huge emblem of Cherub showed once more.
"Clear?" James asked
"Crystal" Alison replied.
James walked over to the desk and piled a few pieces of paper on top of each other before picking them up and looking back at Alison
"You sure you want to go through with this? You do have the option to decline the mission" James asked, making sure that all of this wasn't scaring their new agent.
Alison looked over to her two friends who were indulged in their documents and smiled before answering
"Wouldn't miss it for the world" Alison cheerfully replied. James smiled
"Better get ready then" He instructed as he awaited the last two's replies.
The helicopter descended, the rain was heavy and the strong wind was causing the helicopter to sway as it tried to land. Alison's hair was dyed blonde and was put into plats, she hated them, she looked like a typical goody-two-shoes type of school girl all she needed now was the uniform to go with it.
"Ah, I'm glad to see you arrived!" Alexsei shouted over the sound of the running propellers. He greeted them both with a hug. Alexsei had the role of their uncle, which he had been told he would be to them just days earlier.
"Let us get inside, disgusting weather out her, eh?" Alexsei added, while still shouting over the running propellers and the wailing wind.
They ran in the building and into cover, the inside of the building looked very modern, just like an office block reception. Stairs led them closer and closer to the center of the Earth. The patter of rain outside faded as they made their way further and further down the steps. The stairs levelled out and revealed a huge labyrinth of twisted corridors and various rooms. The walls shone with a bright frost white metallic colour that seemed to reflect the light that emanated from the lights above.
"I'll show you where you'll be staying while dad is on his business trip" Alexsei tried to remain formal to show that these two children were family and he was doing a very good job of it.
They rounded the corner and bumped into a figure that was walking the other way, the impact caused them to come to a halt. Alison looked up and saw the face that she easily remembered from her briefing document. It was Leonid Aramov!
"Ah Leonid! Good to see you friend! Let me introduce you to me niece, Jasmine and my nephew, Sam"
"Nice to meet you two, I'm sorry to disturb you Alexsei, I'll be on my way" Leonid stated, seeming to be desperate to get away to somewhere. Alexsei watched Leonid until the corner blocked his line of sight.
"He suspects something, this is not good…" Alexsei said to himself but was loud enough for Ryan and Alison to hear.
Something wasn't right, he swore that Alexsei's niece looked somewhat familiar to him but he knew that the chance of the TFU knowing of his survival was very small so he let the thought fly. He knew that Alexsei would soon use the missiles against him; it was time to make the first move.