Rose, Carrie and Oscar have left MI High and are now working in Edward Dixon-Halliday's elite MI9 unit. The team have to deal with a high stakes extortionist who seems to be trying to bankrupt the country. Illya Gordovski is one of my own characters from the "Spy School" story.
"You see. We have kept our side of the bargain, and now you will keep yours," said the woman. "Put him on the steps," she instructed the men. They helped Oscar out to the steps and sat him down on the middle step, where they left him, returning to the building. "Now you come with us !" she said to Edward. He glanced back at Oscar who had turned to look at him. Their anxious eyes met for a moment and then the door closed between them.
As his father's face disappeared behind the door, Oscar felt closer to despair than he had in many years. Unable to summon the strength to get up he sat on the doorstep shivering with cold. He heard footsteps running across the road towards him and looked up to see two MI9 medical personnel coming to him. They carefully cut off the gag and freed his hands. They gently helped him to his feet and supported him as they slowly and silently made their way across the road to the waiting black ambulance.
Oscar was made to lie down on a stretcher while they closed the doors and the ambulance set off. The paramedics attached monitors to his finger and chest and wrapped him in warm blankets. Emotionally numb and exhausted he was unable to answer their questions, staring blankly back into their kindly faces.
Oscar woke again in an MI9 hospital bed. A saline drip was now attached to his arm, along with another smaller bag of clear liquid. His injured leg was very painful with a deep, throbbing ache. A nurse came over to his bed. "Awake finally. Your leg hurting ?" Oscar tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry. He nodded. She held a cup of water to his mouth so he could take a sip.
"Thanks," he finally managed. She smiled and left the room.
A doctor in a white coat came into the room. "Agent Cole. Good to see you back in the land of the living. Let us have a look at your leg again," he said, letting the nurse pull back the blankets. Oscar looked down at his leg which looked red and swollen around the new dressing over the wound. "Who stitched you up ?" asked the doctor.
"Agent Dixon-Halliday," said Oscar. His voice still sounded hoarse. He swallowed in an attempt not to sound so feeble.
"Well, his stitching is not bad at all. I should get him teaching field dressing," said the doctor smiling. "Unfortunately it has since become quite badly infected. We've checked the antibiotics you were using, which were suitable, but we've had to replace them with another general purpose antibiotic. Once pathology have identified the bacterial infection we will replace it with a targeted antibiotic which should clear the infection up more effectively. In the mean time you will have to remain in bed. We can't risk the infection travelling through your blood stream and we can't risk the leg becoming gangrenous. Complete bed rest for now," he said. The nurse covered Oscar over again and the two left the room.
Oscar lay staring at the ceiling, feeling stunned. He'd lost his Dad and all he could do was lie in bed. The door to his room opened again and he was surprised to see the Head of MI9 come in.
"Agent Cole, I'm glad to see you're awake," she said. "Did you see anything useful while you were captured ?" she asked. Oscar shook his head.
"The waitress had a Southern African accent," he said hoarsely. He hated the way his voice sounded. He sounded so weak ! The Head pressed a switch and raised the head of his bed slightly. She handed him a cup of water. He tried to hold the cup, but his fingers were still quite numb after being tied tightly for so long. The cup slipped and the Head had to grab it again. She held the cup to his lips so he could get a good long drink this time. "Thanks," he said finally. His head fell back against the pillow. He was so tired.
"Yes, we've got a possible identification on the woman," said the Head. "We believe her mother died in an MI9 operation which your father was loosely associated with about ten years ago. It appears these people did not know that you are Agent Dixon-Halliday's son. Otherwise it might not have been so easy to extract you."
"They've got Dad though," said Oscar. He didn't mean to sound so desperate. It just came out that way. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean it like that."
"I understand Agent Cole," she said. The Head appeared to be considering him and then she smiled slightly. "Agent Cole, I would not send any agent of mine alone into a trap without adequate support. Do you understand me ?" she said, leaning her head forward meaningfully. Oscar started to understand what she was getting at. The slight hope must have shown in his eyes, because the Head smiled more broadly at him. "I think you should concentrate on getting better. If your father returns to HQ to find you missing one of your legs, there will be hell to pay ! Good day Agent Cole !" she said, turning and leaving.
"Ma'am," whispered Oscar. He shifted position slightly in an attempt to ease the pain in his leg. The nurse came in again carrying a tray with hypodermic and phial.
"Some pain killer for you," she said. She injected his sore leg which made it hurt even more for a minute, but then the pain started to ease off. "There, that should see it off," she said, smiling efficiently. She lowered the bed again so that he was lying flat. The lack of pain was sending Oscar into a stupor. He was exhausted and it was an effort even to lift his hand to pull at the blanket. The nurse tucked him in and told him to get some rest. She dimmed the light and left the room. Oscar let himself drift off to sleep. There was nothing else he could do. He had to trust his team to get his Dad back for him.
Carrie, Rose and Illya were sitting in front of computer terminals, wearing headphones. "How was Oscar ?" Rose asked Carrie, lifting off one of her headphones.
"Fast asleep when I looked in," said Carrie, pulling off one of her headphones. "They said he'd had mild hypothermia and his leg wound had become infected. He's not allowed to get out of bed for a couple of days. This one's up to us. We've got to get Edward back before Oscar starts coming round or he's going to be beside himself." Rose nodded to her and they put their headphones back on and turned back to the screens.
They were looking at a moving image of the inside of the blackmailers' secret headquarters. Edward was wearing contact lens cameras and a secret microphone was fixed to his neck, concealed as a mole. They could see and hear everything that he could. Technical had decided against giving him a tracking device in case it was detected. This turned out to be a good decision because the blackmailers had done a scan to search for tracking devices. The team had temporarily stopped the contact lenses and microphone from transmitting for a couple of minutes to make them harder to find. This appeared to have worked. When they switched them back on, Edward was being led through the facility with the surveillance devices still intact.
"You haven't carried out all these atrocities just to get me have you ?" he asked.
"No. You are going to help us with a few details," said the woman. "You may call me Theresa," she instructed. "I will call you Edward. It will be quicker," she added. She led him down steps into a cellar area. There was a large room with comfortable chairs and a table. An open door led into a much smaller room with brick walls and a single metal chair. He noticed drips of blood on the floor by one of the chair legs. He didn't have to ask where Oscar had spent the night. "If you behave yourself we can sit in the large room. If you are going to cause trouble we can use the smaller room. Which will it be ?" she asked, waving the gun. The two men who had helped Oscar up the stairs came down behind them. They also had weapons. Clearly fighting was not an option, so he may as well be comfortable.
"I'll take the sofa if that's OK with you," said Edward. She motioned him over and he sat down. "What is the point of all this ?" asked Edward.
"The point ? The point Edward is that we like to make a point," said Theresa. "The point is that we can do whatever we like and nobody can stop us. The point is that when we ask for something, we expect to get it." Edward tried to read her emotions, but her face was a mask. He had no idea where this was going.
"What were you going to do with two tonnes of gold ?" asked Edward. "You can't exactly slip it into your pocket !"
"No of course not. We were simply making a point," said the woman. "Our requirements are going to be much more specific from now on. So, to business. I need some information from you." She looked more animated. "There was an organisation in Africa which you may remember," she said, looking into his face. He nodded.
"I think I know the one you mean," he said.
"Good. There was an attack on a compound and a number of people were killed, including my mother," said Theresa. She looked as though she were struggling to maintain control.
"Anna De Boek ?" asked Edward. She nodded.
"I want to know who killed her," said the woman.
"Well, I can answer that," said Edward. The woman looked surprised.