Chapter 7: Radar
We were called into the Phoenix Foundation today for a briefing from Matty. "Good morning, so glad you could join us." She said, glaring at me as I stepped into the room last. I said nothing, it seemed like the safest option. "Now that we're all here. About 2 hours ago one of our satellites mysteriously dropped from orbit. We don't know if it was intentional or just some malfunction, but it dropped in the Tazmenistanian desert."
"So you want us to what Matty? Send it back up into orbit?" Jack asked sincerely.
"Exactly how would you plan on doing that from the middle of the desert Jack?"
"… Well, I don't know I'm sure Mac could-."
"Actually I could, if there's-."
"Not important! Before they know its dropped we need to retrieve the data chip."
"It's chipped?"
"With some of the most important transmitted code in the past 20 years."
"So you want us to get the chip, but not get rid of the wreckage?" Jack asked.
"Now you're getting it. So Riley will run point with me from here, Mac and Jack will fly out in 40 minutes."
"They can't fly out, Tazmenistani air space is covered they'll notice if a jet just hits them." Riley said sarcastically.
"And they're going to be caught on their radar." Matty smirked.
"What?" Mac asked, one eyebrow bouncing on his bronzed forehead.
"You are gonna let them see you on their screens, you aren't gonna respond to their screens, and you are going to let them fire at you."
"… You want them to think we're dead, so they won't search for us."
"And exactly how are we gonna not be dead?" Jack asked with scepticism.
"You're going to eject at the last minute." I interjected.
"Exactly." Matty said, though she didn't appear interested in elaborating. "Speaking of which, Lola. You speak the language; I want you on the ground in Tazmenistan. You're going to be back up and exfil when the chip is in our hands."
One military cargo plane ride later and I have touched down in Tazmenistan. The sun is scorching hot but I am four hours behind Jack and Angus and hadn't had any contact with them. I borrowed a Jeep from the base and set out towards their satellite location, finally getting up and running with Riley. "There's been a slight change of plan." Was her opening to our conversation.
"What happened?" I asked flatly.
"Well, when the boys got to the site it had already been ravaged, and they followed the trail back to a black site."
"Origin?"
"Russian."
"Fantastic." I said flatly.
"There's more."
"Fantastic." I repeated, this time feigning enthusiasm.
"Mac hopped onto the back of one of their convoys and followed them inside. After that he went dark."
"… They have him?" I asked. I'm sure if anyone had seen me in that moment they might have actually seen the light leave my eyes. The longer silence only made it worse. Riley did not want to give me an answer.
"We don't know. But you need to pick up Jack and go get him." Matty said loudly, commanding me. "Ok." I said, trying to sound … solid.
I found Jack about 15 klicks across the dunes, and he directed me towards the black site. Coms were off, and we didn't say a word for the majority of the journey. "You don't need to be worried about Mac you know, the kid can take care of himself."
"Then why did they hire you?" I asked, a little too much tone in my question.
"Because the idiot won't use guns."
"Do you even know why he won't use guns?" I asked, exasperated that he would throw about the knowledge so freely. "He told me his friend got hurt by a gun when he was a kid."
"… When Angus was 12, he took his dad's old shotgun out to show his friends. Neil tried to shoot at a bird, but Angus just didn't want the bird to get hurt. So he knocked the gun away, but Neil dropped it, and when it hit the ground it discharged. His friend Jesse was shot in the chest, and Angus still blames himself."
"… I didn't know that." Jack admitted quietly as we slowed, reaching the black site. "It doesn't matter. Just, angus is the most rational person in the world, if he swears of something it's for a reason."
"You don't think I know that?"
"I know you do. I just don't think he would defeat his morals for it."
"Ok." He nodded.
We found a back door in, and turned our coms back on so Riley could give us more information about Angus's location. "It looks like he's high up, maybe 4th or 5th floor, centre of the building."
"You check 4th I check 5th?" Jack asked as we cocked our guns at different corners of the stairs.
"Copy." I said, veering off towards the door on my right. Jack went up another level, and I was left to fend for myself. I made my way from our south staircase rendezvous point. "Lola careful, I see two bogeys coming your way." Riley warned me. I ducked into a room near when I needed to be, the first I found that wasn't locked. I closed the door quietly, and found a table inside. On the table, were what looked like the parts to the satellite, but hard as I tried I couldn't find the chip anywhere.
"Green, definitely green." Riley said as I searched further.
"It's not here."
"Guys, I think I have the chip." Jack said, suddenly coming back online. "Little green thing, plugs into a little deck?"
"That's the one. Where is it?" Riley asked.
"Plugged into a little deck. That's plugged into a computer."
"That isn't good. You need to get that chip now Jack. Like right now."
"On it." I stepped away from the table, but before I could head out of the room I heard a disdainful groan. I looked around, but this room was definitely empty. There was a dark door in the far corner, and I couldn't believe I was that lucky. I went to it, picking the lock and letting the door fall skew under it's own weight. There he was. Angus, who had taken a serious deck to the mouth, but sat in the centre of the room bound none on the less. "Pochemu ty zdes'?"
"Ya ne govoryu po-russki." Liar. He does speak Russian, though I suppose that's a far easier response than lying about why he's there. I pulled my knives from the harness, and burst in, throwing one straight into a man's throat. One down, now just the interviewer to go. "Mozhet byt', ya smogu perecesti."
"Suka." He growled at me. It didn't take a moment to charge at the man as he charged at me, slicing at his neck in a single blow. He turned back to me for another round but dropped to his knees before he got the chance, groping at the blood gushing from his carotid artery. I used the same knife to wipe the blood off on Angus's rope ties as I cut him free. He immediately reached for his jaw as I bent down in front of him to release his ankles. "Maybe I can translate? Seriously?" He laughed. I rolled my eyes at him.
"I've always wanted a one liner." I smirked. "Come on, time to go." I said, looking into his eyes. Without even thinking about it, I reached for his cheek and pecked his lips. It was some sort of positive reinforcement that I didn't even mean to do, a single fleeting peck that changed everything. I stood up before either of us could register what I'd done, and just like that we acted as though it hadn't happened at all.
Jack met us on the stairwell as the Russians chased us out of the building. The chase was long and dangerous, but we weren't seriously hurt. Angus built a bomb from sucking some gas from the tank, a spare army t-shirt, and emptying some loose shotgun shells into an old can, Jack slowing the car enough for him to hit the dune to our left. It was a particularly high dune, and caused a miniature avalanche of sand to hit their cars and obscure us from view.
We made it back in our usual three pieces, chip in hand. "You guys did well today. Literally all in a day's work." Matty smiled at us. "Thanks to you guys the chip is back in our hands, though we're gonna keep it safe here. We don't need actual government officials getting their hands on information like this." Jack and Angus exchanged looks. "You guys go home, have a few days of rest. You've earned it after everything that's happened." Matty said, and I could almost see a smile at the corner of her mouth. We all began to filter out of the room. "Oh and by the way you two, personal moments on your own dime next time." She said, her eyes flicking between Angus and I. I blushed uncontrollably and left the room first.
"What was the that about?" Riley asked.
"Matty or Lola?" Angus asked.
"Both."
"… Beats me." He said, and I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my back as I disappeared down the hall.
Hi readers!
I know there aren't many of you but actually was amazed by 100 views, let alone 300. So I'll start by saying thank you for bothering.
Quick things,
1. I have taken the information I have from episodes of the original Macgyver (1985) and moulded it to fit the characters, so I hope you like.
2. I have not been posting daily because I am actually a little hazy about what I want to put in these middle chapters. So they will come frequently but not as frequently as the first few.
3. If anybody is bothered to leave a comment please make it constructive or kind? Or both? I would love to hear feedback as this is my first fanfiction, but I have no place for hate.
Thank you, really.
Carynthian.
