Chapter 7: Rescue Me
Raised voices can be heard coming from Harry's office; Cal, who has been listening to the argument for the past hour is glad for the distraction when he sees Lucas enter The Grid. Cal can sense Lucas is not himself and knows the reason for the change is the discovery of Sarah being part of Nightingale. Although, Cal prefers to have small talk with Lucas than listen to the ongoing argument, he is hesitant. Cal knows that Lucas is not one to open up easily when something is troubling him but, not wanting to listen to the shouting any longer, Cal goes over to where Lucas is at his desk. Lucas, who has been lost in his thoughts, senses someone standing in front of him. He looks up and sees Cal with his mischievous smile on his face. Lucas smiles back at him and directs his head towards the shouting.
"So, what's happening in there? Sounds like the whole London can hear."
Cal sits down on the edge of the desk, shrugs his shoulders and responds, "No idea. Been going on for ages. All I know is Adam is in there and Harry is not to happy about something."
"Obviously. But why is Harry having a go at Adam? What's he suppose to have done?"
"From what I could catch from the few words that I could understand, was Harry's mad with Adam because he'd made a could be fatal error on your rescue operation and something about contacting the CIA with outing consulting him first."
The shouting match finally stops and all is silent. Minutes later, Adam emerges from Harry's office and from his facial expression he doesn't look too happy with what Harry had said to him. Without making eye contact with any of the team, Adam returns to his desk.
With no breakthroughs as to what the FSB's motives were in intercepting them in the tunnels, the team has exhausted all their possible leads. Knowing that the FSB could already be planning to launch an attack on the country, the team decides to look at old leads that did not seem plausible at first glance. While the team are double checking those possible leads, Tariq along with Malcolm are attempting to hack into the FSB's phone records and into any of their private contacts when they receive an incoming phone call. Seeing that the contact number reads "Private" Malcolm fetches Harry from his office while the others gather round the desk. Once everyone is around the desk, most of them sitting on other desks, Harry gives Tariq the nod to answer the call. The team waits in silence for whoever is on the other end to speak. The voice soon comes on.
"I know you are all listening to this phone call, so listen very carefully. I want one of your officers to meet me at 9:00 tonight by Tower Bridge. There the officer will get into one of our unmarked vehicles and head over to our headquarters." There is a pause before the voice continues, "On one condition: Lucas North is that officer and if any of your other officers attempt to follow him, I will kill his sister." And with that, the computer screen that is tracking where the call is coming switches on to a live video stream. The video flickers on and on the screen the team could see Erin bound in ropes with yet another gun pointed to her head. The call then ends. Harry sighs. This is a situation he doesn't want to be in. Lucas, however who has seen Harry's hesitation spins around and heads over to his desk to get his gun. Harry notices him leaving and stops him.
"Lucas, where do you think you are going?"
"I'm going in."
"And what do you plan to do once you're in?"
"Save my sister."
Harry shakes his head. "Oh, no you're not." Lucas looks at him as if he has gone mad.
"What do you mean I'm not going in? Of, course I'm going in. They've got Erin again and I'm not going to lose her this time round."
"Lucas, this is delicate. We don't know what they want. It's too risky to just go in their without knowing what they actually want. For all we know it is a trap and if you go barging in without precautions you will fall straight into their hands."
"Harry, I don't care whether it is a trap or not. My main priority is Erin's safety. We can deal with the FSB after we get my sister back."
"The deal is too dangerous. I'm not prepared to compromise the safety of this nation for the sake of one person. Not even one of my officers."
Lucas glares at Harry. So this is all Harry cares about. It doesn't matter who dies as long as this country is safe. Lucas is about to start an argument with Harry when Adam interjects. "Harry, Lucas is right. Our main priority is Erin's safety. We can deal with the FSB later on. We just need to get Erin back before we take on the Russians. If we are ever going to be able to stop them, we need to agree with their terms."
"No, I'm not going to let them have the opportunity to have the advantage over us. Too much is at stake." Harry tells them.
"I'm not being funny," Connie states, "but either way the FSB does have the advantage over us."
"Connie's right," Tariq admits, "one they get the information they want and two, they use Erin as a bargaining chip. Either way they still have the upper hand."
"No, we are not going to agree with their terms. There must be something we can do." Harry tells his team. Lucas strolls over to him, anger clearly in his eyes and in his voice, "So, you're prepared to risk one of your officer's life…my sister just because we will be putting too much at stake?!"
"Yes." comes Harry's reply. Lucas is beginning to lose his patience when Malcolm breaks the tension in the air with a suggestion.
"Okay, because there is so much at risk with complying to the terms and doing nothing, why don't we just compromise the terms that have been give to us?"
Lucas shakes his head. "No. If we compromise the terms themselves and don't follow them to the end, Kachimov is going to kill Erin. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not going to take the risk of losing her. Not again!"
"Well, I'm not going to let you risk the safety of this nation. You will not be going in! None of you, that's an order!" Harry said with final authority. With that Harry turns on his heel and heads back to his office. Lucas slams his fist upon the desk.
"I'm not going to sit back and do nothing while my sister has a gun held to her head. Harry may be in charge and may know what's best in most occassions. But, this time he's wrong. I'm going in."
The others know Lucas is right and although they don't like to disobey orders from Harry, they are not going to risk losing one of their own.
"Okay, we all heard what Harry said, but Lucas is right. This time it is not only the country that is at risk." Adam tells them. "So what we need to do is come up with a counter plan and fast." The team nods.
"Ruth and I will work on finding a way in and out of the headquarters." Ros announces.
"Yes, and I will also dig up the maps and blue prints of the layout of the building so we know just how secure the building is." Ruth continues. Malcolm then comments, "While you guys are doing that, Tariq and I will be hacking into their security system. We'll need to know if any of their security systems can be deactivated."
"Great. While you four get on with that, Ben, Connie, Cal can you guys sort out the weapons we might need?" Adam inquires. The other three nods. While the team gets on with their specified tasks, Adam strolls over to where Lucas is sitting at his desk. As Adam approaches he can see Lucas has his hands over his face. Adam places a hand on his shoulder.
"Look Lucas, I know you are worried about Erin. Lord knows I've already been in this situation before when she was worried about you, but Harry's right about one thing." He lets out a breath before continuing, "Too much is at stake."
Lucas shoots his head up, his eyes filled with anger and tears.
"I don't mean just for the country," Adam replies hastily, "but for Erin as well."
"I know you think I'm being rash, not thinking about a plan but, you need to know Adam that when our parents died, we were just kids. We had no one, no home nor family and because I was only 18 years old when they died I could not look after Erin. She was just a little girl when they passed away. Our lives after that were filled with misery and unhappiness. I could see that as she was growing up, my sister was unhappy so when she turned 19 and I was 21, I married her off to a man. I thought by giving her away she would have a better life. However, when I found out that her husband had abused her, I was angry. I blamed myself because I was the one who had given her away. I was the one who condemned her to a life of abuse because I thought she would have been better off without me. After everything that I have done to her, I promised her I would never let her down again."
Adam smiles at Lucas sadly, "Lucas, what Kachimov has done is not your fault. You can't punish yourself his actions."
"No, but I can blame myself for what I have done in the past. And if she dies, it will be my fault. I would have failed her as a brother again. I would have broken my promise again. I can't bear the thought. I wasn't her brother then but I swear I will be now."
Adam knows Lucas is not going to give up. He is stubborn like his sister and so Adam tells him, "Okay, Lucas prepare to go in. But I'm coming with you."
Lucas shakes his head, "No, Adam. I need to do this one like Kachimov said. On my own. I can't take the risk of losing the two of you. If I did, Harry would probably never forgive me."
"Harry will probably never forgive us for disobeying him." Adam hints. Lucas chuckles softly. Adam has a point. Either Harry would likely be mad at all of they, but at the moment in time, they don't really care. They are going to rescue Erin.
"Fine. You may come." Lucas finally says. Adam smiles and pats him on the shoulder. He then announces to the team they will have a debriefing meeting. Inside the boardroom the whole team sit discussing their plan. Tariq speaks first.
"Malcolm and I have hacked into their security system. On each floor there are CCTV cameras hidden in every corner. Once Lucas and Adam are in I will be able to deactivate the cameras. Once deactivated they will have enough time to find out where they are keeping Erin until the cameras will reboot themselves and restart." Ruth takes over next.
"I have been looking into possible routes for you to follow that should lead you to where you want to go." She rolls out a huge piece of paper. She continues. "Here and here are the staircases in the east wing that leads down to the tunnels were we rescued Lucas. Follow the tunnel and turn in that direction where it shall lead here. Down here are the passageways that lead to the private wing for the most trusted FSB agents including Kachimov. Follow that tunnel until you come across this door. Enter through there and it shall lead to where Erin is." Ros nods and takes over from Ruth, "And while you are down in the tunnels, we shall be here," She points to the map. "This is where the other officers are kept and this is where they keep track of everyone. We will all be wired so we can keep in contact with you." "And if we get a code red from you or you get a code red from us. We'll need to cut off all contact and get out of there as quickly as we can." Ben adds.
