Thanks to those of you that have read and reviewed the previous chapters. I appreciate your feedback. When I finally finish some time next week, I will have to go back and do a full re-write. I am hoping to use your comments in that process. I do not own Chuck.
Sarah woke to the sound of Chuck's breathing. She closed her eyes again thinking that if she could just pretend to sleep, she could make everything they would have to do today go away. But, the longer she lie there the more obvious it became that if she didn't have a cover for the team, today could go very wrong very quickly. She slid her arm out from behind Chuck and slid out from under his. She tucked the blanket back where her body had been and went back to a terminal at the back of the plane. Okay Walker, she thought, let's get to work on this cover.
Chuck awoke some time later. After stretching and grabbing a soda, he walked back to Sarah. Hands on her shoulders, the kissed the top of her head.
"Morning," Sarah said curtly, "I think I've found our cover. We have about two hours until touchdown. I'll wake Casey and Morgan in about an hour and we can go over the details." Chuck was not surprised or disappointed in this shift in her mood. More like relieved.
"Alright Mrs. Bartowski. While you put the finishing touches on our new pretend life, I'm going to have a seat and see if I can keep our real business afloat." Sarah looked away from the screen just long enough to smile, then returned her focus to the mission.
Chuck flipped open his laptop and examined V.I.C.T.O.R.'s green blob analysis of Anderson International. A single thick red line gushed from the image. Not only did Chuck program V.I.C.T.O.R. to detect breaches in online security, but he wrote a subroutine that allowed V.I.C.T.O.R. to fix these breaches as well. All of the minor leaks were gone, but the main threat grew considerably. This had never happened before. Chuck grabbed pair of headphones and started to work.
An hour hadn't quite passed when Casey's eyes snapped open. He looked around as though it took him a minute to ascertain exactly where he was. It all came back to him in an instant.
"Okay Walker, what's the plan?" he sat up and strode over to the seat next to her.
"I've made a few calls, placed a few stories in the local paper and arranged all transportation in-country. I have some documents to print, then I'll be ready to brief the team."
"Great. Briefing in ten then?"
"Affirmative Colonel."
Casey stood up and headed to the head for a Navy Shower and change of clothes.
As the lights came up in the cabin, Morgan opened one eye, closed it, then opened the other eye and closed it. After a long stretch, he finally opened both eyes and scratched his head with both hands. "Oh man, I really slept. Nothing tires a guy out like getting punched in the face and losing his fiancee." He looked down at the floor, interlocked the fingers of both of his hands behind his head and squeezed. "Tell me we have a plan Sarah."
"Of course we have a plan Morgan. And, if things go according to plan, we should be back on this plane with Alex inside of twenty-four hours."
"Fine, okay... Wait, 'if things go according to plan?' Since when does anything 'go according to plan?'"
"Sometimes," and after a beat, "this time." Sarah went over and sat in the chair next to Morgan. "Morgan, we all have a lot riding on this mission. You have to promise me you're going to do exactly what I tell you, when I tell you - no questions."
"Come on Sarah. I'm no rookie here. You've seen me in action. I know how this works. Frankly, I'm a little surprised you think this little talk is necessary."
"Can I be honest with you Morgan?"
"You have to ask? Of course. I'm a pro."
"I have serious reservations about having you on this mission. Not only are you too close to the subject, you are not now, nor have you ever been, a covert operative. I know you were able to play one a few times, but frankly, if you weren't Chuck's best friend, you would be in Chicago right now."
"Whoa. Sarah. I mean, you don't have to pull any punches here. How do you really feel?" he looked down. Then he slowly lifted his head up, looked her straight in the eye and spoke very softly and very deliberately, "Sarah. This is Alex. If she doesn't come back from this mission, I don't come back. I know I may not have much training, but nobody wants her back safely more than me. Not you, not Chuck, not Casey." He leaned in closer and continued. "I know you have her best interests at heart as well, so I will excuse your opinion of me, but Chuck or no Chuck, there's no way I would have stayed back in Chicago," he punctuated this speech by staring directly into her eyes.
"Okay Morgan. I understand. Just remember, you do what I say, when I say it," Sarah stared right back.
"Understood."
"Good. Morgan?"
"Yes?"
"Could you please do something for me right now?" Sarah asked. Morgan offered one slow nod. "Please go and brush your teeth."
He leaned back quickly eyes widening a little as he snapped his right hand up to this mouth. "Oh gosh. Yea, umm... you're right. Nothing worse than morning breath. Especially after the dinner. I mean, I like raw onions as much as the next guy, but these were... well I guess you know."
"Just go brush, we brief in ten."
Sarah arranged folders for each of the team members. Dossiers of the major players, fake passports, cover stories - everything they would need to infiltrate the slum without raising any suspicion. After straightening the folders one more time, she looked over to Chuck. She recognized the look - knitted brow, pursed lips, squinty eyes. There was a problem. And, if she could still read his face well, it was a big one. She walked over and slid one earphone off. "Everything okay honey?"
"Sarah. Umm. Yea," but he didn't take his eyes off the screen. "I mean, no. Well, I'm not sure. I've been trying to repair the Anderson International site - they are an intelligence and surveillance company that hired us just before we had to leave. Man, whoever is after them is buried deep."
"Well, I'm sure if anyone can help them, it's you." The attempt at encouragement fell on deaf ears.
"Right. Yea. Uh huh," he leaned into the screen a little closer. "But this is what really has me concerned. You should see this. Here," he pointed to the screen. "This is the CEO of Anderson International. He was a former diplomat, and one of his posts was right here in Nairobi."
Sarah read the bio from the company website. "Okay. I'm sure there've been plenty of diplomats here over the years. What troubles you about this one."
"Well, here's were it gets even more interesting. I keep running across the name Tommy Delgato. See, right here," he pointed to a window, closed it and opened another, "and here and here. He's been a consultant, client, source. He's all over the place in here."
"Wait, Tommy Delgato - Fulcrum agent?"
"That's what I don't know for sure. His CIA file is suspiciously incomplete. From what I can tell, after his arrest about seven years ago, he has been almost forgotten, but when we was active he was the closest thing to an expert on the Intersect that the CIA has."
"Right. He was working to develop a version for Fulcrum, wasn't he?"
"He was working with Bryce on it. According to his psych evaluations while incarcerated, he was a bit obsessed with pursuing and possessing the Intersect. Something about overcoming feelings of inadequacies. Man, when we saw him he seemed to have taken care of any inadequacies. He nearly killed me."
"Okay, so what is the connection between Anderson International and Tommy Delgato?"
"I don't know." He stopped typing and took the headphones completely off, set them on the table and turned to look at Sarah. "And it'll have to wait. This obviously takes priority. Look at this," he took his iPhone out of his pocket. "I have an Alex finder. I used the algorithm for the chip frequency modulation to program this iPhone to lead us to Alex. I even used her face as the icon for the app. See?" He held the phone closer to Sarah so she could get a good look. Sure enough, there was Alex's smiling face.
"Great Chuck. That should help us get close to her once we're in." Casey and Morgan entered and made their way to their earlier seats.
"Alright Walker, what's the plan?"
Sarah pulled up a map Kibera on each of the monitors in the cabin. "Okay, here's the slum. Basically, there are two ways in and two ways out if we're in a vehicle - Kibera Drive right here runs east into the slum and west back out of it," an arrow appeared on all of their monitors. "Larry's command post is right here," another arrow, "and there is a Salvation Army facility immediately adjacent," third arrow.
"Turns out this Salvation Army post frequently takes in children from the surrounding community, feeds them, lets them play a little and offers them some basic schooling. Due to the economics of the area, the Salvation Army is constantly inviting teachers and contributors in to take a look at the program, meet the instructors and the children and get a look at the facilities. What you are looking at here gentlemen are four grade school teachers from Indiana who are coming to work with the teachers and tour the compound inside Kibera."
"Wow Casey, a dream come true. Elementary school teacher," Chuck smiled.
"Hey, little kids love me."
"Why can't I get the image of Arnold from KindergartenCop out of my head?" Morgan chimed in.
"At least I graduated the 3rd grade moron."
"Hey, I graduated 3rd grade," Morgan said.
"The first time?" as Casey said this, Morgan's head drooped.
"My mom didn't believe in social promotion."
"Anyway, if you look at the magnification, the wall here is a common wall between the Salvation Army and Larry's compound. And this building right here, which I think is the church, buts right up against that wall. That should provide us with ample cover to find a way over, under or through that wall."
"Nice work Walker."
"According recent satellite images, Larry's compound is only four building - these four right here. Of the four, the largest is the one Larry uses as part-time residence and command HQ. If he has her, she will be there. Chuck has finished an app that uses the algorithm key to track the chip. If she still has the chip, this app will lead us right to her."
"What do we do once we find Alex and the chip?" Chuck asked.
"Well, that's going to depend. Ideally, we can slip in undetected, get Alex and the chip and slip right back into the SA facility. From there, back into the bus and back to the plane."
Casey grunted, "And if not?"
"I have rendezvous points marked on each of your maps. We will all have comms. If things go sideways, listen on the comm for the appropriate rendezvous point. If that fails, fallback to the plane."
"Questions?" The men all looked down at their papers in silence. "Good. Now, here's the last thing, and Casey I believe you're probably going to have the hardest time with this, but it's non-negotiable. We are all tranq gun on this."
Casey looked up, forehead creased.
"There are going to be children everywhere. And most of the men that work for Larry are locals who don't have many other ways to feed their family. I will not have the children jeopardized or these men killed. Is that clear Colonel?"
"Crystal," Casey snapped. While he was going to bring a sidearm and live ammunition, he wasn't opposed to limiting gunplay. There was, after all, another child in there he didn't want to see killed.
"Okay, it's peak of the rainy season right now, but it looks like we have caught a bit of a break. No rain today and temperatures in the mid to high 70's," Sarah concluded.
"Sounds like a perfect day to rescue my girl," Morgan said.
