I want to thank my readers for the reviews and the likes on this story. It makes creating this series pretty fun. I find that writing with these apps both at work and at home are very useful in keeping up with the uploads. I wasn't able to work on it very much this week because of the projects I have both at work and at home, but I do manage to keep it going. I find that my brain is moving this story along a lot faster than I can put it down, so I have to keep writing it for my own sanity (so to speak. Ha Ha!) The reviews are helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

Chapter 10: Missing Chances

It was late in the evening as Connie James finished up the last few items on her desk before packing it in. She looked up to see Malcolm was still at his computer trying desperately to piece together the information from the flash drive that Lucas took from Marlin's pocket.

Ever since he saw Lucas' name on a list of names he had been obsessed with finding out all that he could on those files. The last time he spent the entire night on the grid he was tracking low level frequencies from the ocean. Those frequencies revealed a Russian submarine in British waters.

Malcolm's commitment to his work was commendable and proven lucky at times, but even he needed to sleep. She grabbed her purse from the bottom of her desk drawer and walked toward him.

"Malcolm, you can't keep going on like this," she said with a concerned look.

"I promise I won't stay for much longer." He tried to reassure her.

Connie stared for a moment deciding whether or not to believe him before turning back to her desk to retrieve her coat draped over her chair. Malcolm had said that once before, quite recently in fact.

"Well, try to remember, Malcolm. You need some rest too," she said as she left for the pods.

As she walked past Harry's office, she noticed that her boss was also burning the midnight oil reading a series of files. She stopped and watched for a brief moment and studied his expressions. He was concentrating so much on the page that his brow furrowed, and his lips were moving to every word.

She walked toward the door and knocked. When Harry announced for her to entire, she opened the door and saw that he had quickly pushed the files into a drawer to his bottom right of his desk. Harry looked up and motioned for Connie to come in.

"I've come to see if you need anything. I saw Malcolm still plugging away at that flash drive, and now you going over more files. Do you need any help?" she asked.

"No, I'll be fine. I'll see to it that Malcolm goes home tonight." Harry smiled.

Connie stared at her boss for a brief period before nodding her head in agreement. She suspected that he was working on something that he did not want anyone to see. She smiled and said her good nights before leaving the office.

Harry waited as he watched Connie enter the pods. He was working on reading the files he pulled on operations that Richard Dolby was once involved in. They were compromised missions that he either planned or controlled. Harry was sure that the files contained some sort of clue that Dolby was feeding information to the Russians, particularly about Sugar Horse.

Sugar Horse was so secretive an operation that only a handful of people knew of its existence. They compartmentalized the assets for their protection, to keep the network safe. It was an operation that lasted for decades, and it continued to be successful.

But, now, after all this time, the Russians had Sugar Horse or at least, knew that it existed. They did not know the assets. They tortured Lucas North for days trying to ascertain its secrets. All Harry knew was that someone told the Russians about Sugar Horse, but who was it? He had to find out in order to salvage the operation and keep it running. That meant keeping his team in the dark.

He was about to resume his work when he saw Malcolm stand from his chair and turn toward the office. Harry waited until he was sure Malcolm was coming to see him and left the files in the drawer. He waited for the knock before calling for Malcolm to come in.

"Yes, Malcolm? What is it?" asked Harry.

"II've tried every program I could to try and retrieve the information on the flash drive, but I'm afraid the information is too corrupted to get any more than I already did," said Malcolm as he walked inside and took a seat across from Harry.

Harry sighed and nodded his head. He tried not to show it, but he was disappointed with the outcome. He was hoping to get ahead of this mystery. Instead, these people are still one step ahead of them, and he was no closer to finding out who they were.

"There is one more option, but it is dangerous with no guarantee of a profitable outcome," Malcolm said sparking Harry's attention.

"There is a chance the he may have copied the files from a computer in the Pakistani consulate. It would require someone to infiltrate the consulate and connect a wi-fi stick to a USB port," Malcolm explained.

"You do realize that it is unethical, not to mention illegal, if we were to copy files from a foreign embassy or consulate without probable cause." Harry was not entirely dismissive of the idea of it were to give them a lead. "Do you know for certain that the files Marlin copied came from the consulate?"

"Based on what I observed from the flash drive and the malware system used to trap it, I can say with a 95 percent certainty that the files came from the consulate."

"That is still not enough for me to authorize an operation that could result in jeopardizing foreign relations."

"And, that is why the operation is dangerous. Unfortunately, I have no other options."

Harry knew that Malcolm wanted desperately to restore that flash drive ever sinve he saw Lucas' name on that list. He did not know the whole story behind the list, but he wanted to protect his friend as much as possible.

Malcolm saw Lucas the night he returned from Moscow. His physical appearance, his eyes, his anxiety around crowds, all showed Malcolm how that Russian prison made life hell for Lucas. Malcolm was determined not to let that happen to him again.

Harry was equally protective, not just of Lucas but his whole team. If Malcolm was this certain that the files came from the Pakistani consulate, than how were they going to get them out? Someone would have to go in and risk getting arrested, perhaps even Pakistani prison. The person would. have to be a deniable asset.

He did not want to admit it, but the first person that came to mind was Nyssa. She was a deniable asset after all, but sending her in would be breaking a promise he made to Sam Walker. HHe promised to look out for her, and if she were to end up in Pakistani custody, the shadow faction could easily get their hands on her.

"Alright, Malcolm. Let me think about it. If no other options present themselves in the next couple of days, than we'll go with that. Now, go home and get some rest. You've done everything you could for the moment."

Malcolm nodded his head and left the office. He was getting very tired, and he really could not do anything anyway. He, too, thought of Nyssa when he proposed the idea, but the idea sounded better in his head until he said it out loud. Lucas would oppose it greatly. It was obvious to the rest of the team how much he cared for her. He would never allow it.

Malcolm grabbed his coat from his chair and left the grid. No matter how tired he was, he knew that his brain would not rest until another solution came to him.

Lucas stepped out of the club with the blond woman from the bar. She was hanging on his arm and pressing her chest against his body. There was no mistaking the lack of underwear that she was sporting under the dress.

He knew exactly what she wanted. He could easily take her home with him. She was more than willing, but he had a problem. Each ttime he looked at her, he saw Nyssa's face.

She had an expression of pain and despair when he left the club with this blond on his arm. Any man could see that it bothered her no matter how much she played against it. He just could not do that to her, not even to prove a point.

He hailed for a taxi rather than call for his car. When the taxi arrived, he opened the passenger side of the vehicle for his new date. She stepped off the curb and turned to face him. She locked her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a long sensual kiss before climbing into the car. She moved over to allow some room for him to get in, but instead, Lucas slammed the door and gave the driver enough money for the fare. Before she realized what had happened, Lucas started walking back toward the club, and the driver drove away. Lucas could hear all the profanities that she screamed at him from the window before the car moved out of ear shot.

When Lucas returned, Nyssa and Zach were nowhere to be found. He began to panic. He quickly walked toward the bartender and question him about the dark red-headed woman he came in with.

"I thought you left with that blond, mate. No matter. That other girl found herself another bloke. She's in the back room with my manager," he said then went back to pouring more drinks.

Lucas felt his anger coming to the surface again. It took all of his will power not to barge into that back room and snap Zach's neck. Lucas ordered another drink and stayed by the bar to continue watching the door. He knew that Nyssa was capable of handling herself, but he still felt protective of her. The images in his head did not help matters either. It was going to be a long night.

While Lucas was stewing at the bar, Nyssa was in a dark room equipped with a large stretch couch in the far corner of the room. It was decorated with navy blue and burgundy pillows along with a couple of blankets draped over it. Take away the pillows and blankets, and the couch looked like a small bed.

Let me guess what that thing is for.

Zach brought over two martini drinks from the bar. He sat them on a table next to the couch and was busy getting the room more comfortable while Nyssa had a quick look around.

There was a small hallway to her right that was brighter than the room itself. She casually walked toward it and noticed at the end was a door marked Office. To the right of that door was another door marked with the unisex bathroom symbol.

So, that's where it is!

Nyssa noticed that from the angle of the couch, it was impossible to see the office door. Nyssa made a plan while Zach worked on making room on the couch.

Nyssa took her seat by Zach and played the interested girlfriend draping herself all over him. He reached for the martini glasses and handed one to her. As he started nipping at her neck, Nyssa positioned her glass between him and her body. Suddenly, the glass tipped over and poured its contents all over her dress.

"Bloody hell," she screamed in a British accent.

Zach's face went red with embarrassment as he constantly apologized. Nyssa jumped up from the couch flicking her arms as the drink rolled down her arms to

her fingertips.

"Where's the loo?" she demanded, droplets traveling down her legs.

"Down the hall," Zach answered pointing toward the hallway.

Nyssa threw her arms up in frustration as she walked down the hall. Once she was out of his line of sight, she pulled out one of her hair pins for the lock but was stopped cold. The lock on the door wwas a card reader which required a coded card to open. No hair pin was going to open that door.

They had to find another way in that office. To add to her problems, she now had to find a way to get out of that back room and leave the club. Nyssa went into the bathroom and washed some of the drink from her hands and legs. She splashed some more water on her dress to add to the mess.

When she entered the main room where Zach was, she played the annoyed date ready to commit murder. Zach looked at her in horror and held up his hands in surrender.

"I'I'm so sorry, luv. I'll pay for a new dress," he said.

Nyssa's expression softened and took a breath.

"I'm going home," she said. "Look, I'll bring you the dry cleaning bill, and you can make it up to me by buying me dinner later."

Nyssa took a pen and napkin from the table next to the couch and wrote down a phone number. She gave him a quick kiss then left the room before he could put his arms around her.

Lucas watched her leave the room with a large liquid stain all over the front of her dress. She pushed through the patrons as she hurried across the dance floor for the front exit. She did not see Lucas having a drink at the end of the bar.

Lucas was both relieved and angry after she left. The stain on the front of her dress produced all sorts of images that made his blood boil. This little job of theirs was turning out to be a lot more work than he anticipated. He just hoped that they could work together without killing each other first.