Chapter 11 - Agent Provocateur
Monday, November 13th.
NATO administrative headquarters
Downtown Paris, France
1:30 pm
After the apprehending Anton Drenznev at the Hades' Gate night club, Anton was taken to a secure location which happened to be NATO's administrative HQ building in Downtown Paris. Anton was seating inside an interrogation room, in front of him was a table with a microphone connected to a recording device. On his left side was a door which was guarded with two armed soldiers, his hands were handcuffed to the table in front of him. He looked at the soldiers and just chuckled to himself when someone knocked on the door. One of the soldiers opened the door and Amanda Hunt along with Kira Mercier entered the room.
"Just so you know, I can have my men demolish this building along with all of you" Anton said without looking at the two female agents.
"Very poor choice of words..." Kira said.
"Mr. Dreznev, we know you're only a pawn in a bigger chess board" Amanda sat down in front of Anton, she was wearing a dark business attire.
"Aside from the module you're planning to sell" Kira added.
"If I tell you what you think you may know, it won't make a difference" Anton scoffed.
"I suggest you start cooperating... starting with your connection to Hassan Sayeed and Jae Kwan" Amanda said with a very calm but stern tone.
"Hassan Sayeed... that guy who used to be muscle for Al Qaeda? I've never had any dealings with that nut case" Anton replied.
"I knew you were going to say that" Amanda smiled.
In the room next door was a large monitor that showed what was going in the interrogation, inside was Declan and Jack observing.
"This guy ain't gonna snitch" Jack said.
"Don't worry, mate... he will crack eventually" Declan replied.
Izumi walked into the room with a cup of coffee in her hand, she changed her clothes. She was wearing a pair of jeans, a white t-shirt and a hoodie.
"Has he talked yet?" Izumi asked.
"Not yet" Declan responded.
Izumi took a sip from her coffee "It's gonna be a while before he says anything"
Back inside of the interrogation room.
"What do you know about him?" Amanda handed a picture of Jae Kwan.
"Never met him" Anton answered without looking at the picture.
Amanda pulled her smartphone and played a recording from Anton's radio conversation from earlier.
"The Ghost Shadow cars... the project wasn't scrapped"
"So? What about it?" Anton said defiantly.
"We were able to trace the signal from your transmission... after all you took my car" Kira said.
Anton changed his demeanor from arrogant to fearful.
"The the transmission comes from somewhere in the Caribbean, it's only a matter of time before we pin point the exact location" Kira continued.
"You don't know what you're dealing here" Anton said as sweat was trickling down his forehead.
"Who's pulling your strings?" Amanda asked.
"I'm as good as dead... crossing them has a high price, if you value your lives I suggest you walk away" Anton said.
Back in the observation room.
"So its true" Declan said.
"What?" Jack asked.
"We're against something big... real big" Declan said in an unusual tone of voice.
"Declan, what are you talking about?" Izumi inquired.
"It is... the Consortium..." Declan and Anton said in unison.
Back in the Interrogation room.
"What's the Consortium?" Amanda asked.
"It's an organization that started shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union and it's sole mission was to re-stablish order in the region should communism fall... but it was all a rumor" Kira explained.
"Part of it is true... but all of it's members were killed by the Russian Federation that replaced the Soviet Union... but it was taken over by a man only known as the Ancient One... we don't know who that man is" Anton confessed.
"This is a load of bullshit" Amanda replied.
"Not entirely" Declan walked in the room.
Amanda looked at Declan with a puzzled look on her face.
"I've heard the Consortium is a secret society that is trying to manipulate economics and aided countries with socialist and communist ideals... such as the rise of socialism in places like Venezuela and Bolivia and furthering the power of China in southeast Asia" Declan explained.
"And how do you know this?" Kira asked.
"I've killed several twats with rumored ties to this organization" Declan answered.
"Very well... but that's all I have to say about the matter..." Anton declared.
"Why helping us all of the sudden?" Amanda asked.
"We're all dead and it's what I was instructed to tell you... society as you all know it is finished" Anton replied.
"Take him away and place a heavy guard to stand watch... I want nothing to happen to him" Amanda ordered to the two soldiers standing guard.
"Yes ma'am" one soldier replied while the other took Anton.
"One last thing... you should check the black market meet that will take place on the south east coast of Somalia" Anton said before being taken away.
"What's going on in Somalia?" Amanda asked.
"A stealth module for long range missiles will take place there, that's why I'm here in France" Kira exlpained.
30 minutes later in a conference room on the 18th floor of the building.
"As you heard from Anton, he's affiliated with this Consortium. However, we ignore how reliable is his info" Amanda said, she was standing in front of a large screen.
"I don't believe a word he's saying, for all I know he's trying to throw us off with my original investigation" Kira responded.
"What kind of investigation?" Izumi asked, she was seating with the cat she found the previous day.
"What is that cat doing here?" Amanda wasn't much of a cat person.
"His name is Sora" Izumi replied.
Amanda only shook her head.
"My investigation was to locate stealth tactical missiles stolen from a base two months ago, they may be up for sale in Somalia" Kira continued explaining.
"Further more we found the last survivng scientist that worked on the Sky Arrow, he's in Cuba. We were able to do some research and he was able to escape the political purge. His name is Mikhail Petrovich, he's currently living in a mansion 50 miles east of Havana and he's protected by the Cuban government" Amanda explained as the picture of an older man appeared on screen.
"So he knows how to destroy the Sky Arrow?" Jack asked.
"He knows but getting him to talk won't be easy... he lives good in Cuba" Amanda replied.
"More than likely that's where Anton's call originated" Kira mentioned as she looked at the screen, then her phone rang and left the room.
"We have two places to investigate, Cuba and Somalia" Declan said.
From the other side of the room a door opened, Col. Duncan walked in. He was wearing a business suit as usual.
"I heard we've found more information on what we're up against" Col. Duncan said.
"Yes, Colonel" Amanda nodded.
"Good" Col. Duncan smiled. Kira also walked back into the room.
"Colonel, it's good to see you again" Kira was surprised to see Col. Duncan.
"I'm surprised to see you here" Col. Duncan replied.
"We just happen to be after the same thing. By the way, I heard about Dalton and I'm..." Kira said.
"He's fine, he's recovering" Col. Duncan placed his hand on Kira's shoulder.
Amanda got closer to both Kira and the Colonel "We're after the same thing?"
Kira nodded "I just talked to my superiors back in Washington and we're ready to share our intel and resources with NATO and MI6"
"Very well then" Col. Duncan said.
The briefing was about to resume when Jade Wong came into the room.
"I think we got a break on the Cuba location, this guy Petrovich is hosting a private gathering where military leaders of several rouge countries will attend" Jade said.
"We've got two targets... Let's focus on that" Amanda said.
The screen displayed the maps of both Cuba and Somalia with several pictures.
"Kira, you know about the arms deal in Somalia... since we're on the same side I suggest you go there and find out all you can about those missiles you mentioned and get as much info you can" Amanda said.
"Can't let you have all the fun there, I'm coming with you" Declan said as he cocked his gun.
Kira only looked at Amanda, the latter only nodded.
"Don't slow me down, hun" Kira replied.
Amanda turned to Izumi "As for Petrovich we need him so I need you to extract him and bring him over, I know you're an expert in undercover work and can get in there without alerting anyone"
"Leave it to me" Izumi replied.
Then Amanda looked at Jack "And you make a great get away driver... I think you and Izumi can bring Petrovich here..."
"I've always wondered how the street scene is in Cuba" Jack chuckled.
Col. Duncan stepped in the center "Just remember, if you're killed or captured, we'll disevow any knowledge of your actions... However, I trust you all will come back in one piece"
"I've always wanted to hear that... makes you feel loved" Declan said sarcastically.
The Junkie's Notes: I had to do a little brainstorming for the next chapters and even searched some info before I came up with the direction the story will go. Once again thank you for checking out this story. I revised some of the chapters to add more mystery and you'll see it in the next three chapters. One love to you all!
