Chapter 19: Subliminal Messages

Steve stared out the window of the airplane which was due to land in Estonia's capitol in thirty minutes. The airplane was specifically designed for the armed forces, so the team rescuing Ali was allowed to talk freely and begin to come up with a plan of attack.

"I should do reconnaissance before we attack," Anna suggested. "Odette is bound to set traps around any areas which she believes spies or military would enter through."

Kono stood from her seat, opened the overhead compartment and pulled out a map. She unfurled it on a small table that had been built in the plane.

"Commander Grant from Pearl Harbor gave this map to us," Kono informed. "Maybe it could help."

Steve looked at the map; it was an aerial view of a small mountainous village. There weren't many houses. It was clear that any sort of larger town or city was miles away and if Ali managed to escape, she would have to hide in the forestry. Steve didn't know if Ali could survive against the elements…

"This is good," Rick said. "Even if Odette is expecting us, she still doesn't expect us to have everything we do."

"Or the amount of people coming," Derek added, sending Kono a half-smile.

"I've got these mikes," Chin explained as he began to hand them out. "They're good for about three city blocks, so don't run too far."

"Have you seen the size of this town, babe?" Danny piped up, pointing at the map. "It's smaller than my apartment."

"We should land about here," Rick informed, placing his finger on a spot in the forestry that was two and a half miles away from the village.

"Couldn't we land closer?" Kono asked.

"If we do, one of the cult members could hear the aircraft," Steve explained, understanding the reasoning behind Rick's plan.

"And it's the most cleared area, by the looks of it," Rick added.

"Wouldn't Odette set up traps there?" Kono questioned, glancing at Anna.

"She doesn't know the land as well as the cult. She's been there a total of what? Twice? None of the members will listen to her either-they don't trust her yet-and she's not expecting me, Anna and Rick, only Steve," Derek explained.

"Kono, how many people are in the village?" Steve asked, disregarding the spy's monologue.

"Around three hundred, but there could be more or less," she answered.

"Let's hope for less," Anna remarked.

"How is an entire village that practices Satanism not monitored carefully?" Chin questioned.

"It's exactly like cults in the United States. Estonia has freedom of religion and if that religion doesn't harm anyone then officials don't care," Derek replied. "They didn't think Frakstioon Valitud would ever grow or expand from that mountain region, so nobody touched them."

"Like the hill people in our mountains," Danny remarked.

"Exactly, except not inbred and focused more on rituals," Anna informed.

"How are you guys saving Ali?" Declan asked. Steve had forgotten that Declan was sitting in a corner seat of the plane.

Steve looked up at the man and felt a wave of anger sweep over him. It was because of his cowardice that Ali was abducted. It was because of Declan that Steve felt lost. Steve knew that he could kill everyone involved in her kidnapping, he could hunt down every person in the cult, he could swear to avenge her, but if Ali died there was nothing that would bring her back. He would have to live with knowing he allowed himself to be played; guilt would consume him for not checking out Odette.

"We split up into two groups," Steve suggested, coming out of his trance.

"So if one group is caught the other still has a chance of saving Ali?" Danny thought out loud.

"Tactical and gutsy," Rick nodded. "We should integrate the groups though."

"There's-what? Seven of us?" Derek said.

Steve saw Demetrio pop his head out from the cock pit where he was sitting with the pilot, "Nine of us, Derek. Two of us are an analyst and assisting."

"So seven of us," Anna backed up Derek in a defensive tone. "I hate when he does that! He's an anal-"

"Guys," Kono tried lowering tempers. "We're not here to argue whose career is more significant. We all need to work together."

"Nice put, rook," Danny remarked.

"I think Steve and Rick should lead the groups," Derek brought up. "You guys can hand out orders just as good as you take them."

"I'm with McGarrett," Danny quickly interjected, receiving confused looks from everybody. "I already know I'm getting shot at with him."

"Kono and Derek, you can come with me," Rick instructed as he strapped on his army utility belt.

"Anna, Danny, Chin," Steve waved them over to no place in particular. "You guys will be with me."

"Commander," Anna said, making him look up at her as everybody was focused on the map on the table, trying to add more to the plan.

"Yeah?" he asked as she sat beside him.

"I know you've known Agent Sarna for a long time," Anna began.

"Yeah," Steve confirmed.

"You think of her as if she just began to condition herself for this," Anna brought up to the SEAL.

Steve felt his face contort into a look of confusion, "Wh-"

"You need a clear mind for this op' and for that you need to know that she isn't helpless," Anna interrupted him. "She's been caught before and she was able to get out, getting shot isn't something new to her. This might be the first time someone's trying to kill her for a personal reason, but she's a good spy. Between you and me, Ali was going to be transferred to a secret sector in the agency. "

Steve arched a brow, "What are you saying, agent?"

"What do you think I'm saying, commander?" Anna replied.

He knew there was a different reason for Anna's little talk. He believed the part about her wanting Steve to have a clear mind, but deep down he had a suspicion that there was a different reason for Anna saving Ali. He suddenly wanted to know if Anna was really just a spy, or if she worked for a "secret sector" herself. Had Derek promised Anna that Ali would work for her if she were saved?

"I know she can protect herself," Steve backed down. "I'm going to be anxious until I see that she's okay."

Anna gave him a cunning smile before she stood and wandered off to the cockpit. Steve brought his hand to his head and rubbed his temples. Normally he didn't insert himself directly in the center of issues in the world of espionage, he was a SEAL, but now it seemed as if he was going to have to figure out what was happening.

**H5-0**

Ali shivered from the cold wind as Odette roughly pulled her out of an old, small car she used to drive from a small city airport to the village. She tried adjusting her rope bound hands as she surveyed the small piece of land that was tucked away in the mountains so that nobody could find it. To Ali, this place was hell. It was where the devil had raised an army and trained it to slaughter anyone who crossed them. While the village was tiny, it had so much power because of its previous leader, Francois. He had been so well connected in the world, but he was still hungry for power, so he created his own church by brainwashing an isolated community.

While Odette tugged on Ali's bound hands, Ali surveyed the village. The shacks that passed as houses were dilapidated as ever, the entire town was surrounded by thick forestry, trees that soared to the sky, and there were a few locals outside that were staring at the newcomers. Ali noticed that they were glaring at her, Odette and Francois. They still hated the young spy for being a professional liar, but they hated Odette just the same because of how quickly she was welcomed to work for the cult. The gears in Ali's head began to turn. If she was able to make the townspeople act on their anger towards Odette, she could slip away unnoticed and steal the car to drive to safety. Her plan was a stretch and it would take a miracle for her to pull it off, but her career was based on those two elements.

"Sasha!" Francois shouted to a young girl that looked underfed and had blonde hair.

She sauntered over, a nervous gleam in her brown eyes which had dark circles beneath them. Sasha looked wan and as if there was pressure on her shoulders that she couldn't handle. She also seemed malnourished… a side effect of the stress, perhaps? Ali saw she held her hands together and anxiously rubbed them.

"Da?" she said yes in Russian, surprising Ali.

There were never any Russian families in the village. This girl could not have been born in the cult, she had to have found her way here. She was scared, alone, and from a different culture. Ali knew her conclusion was a long-shot, but she was sure the girl was a runaway. Ali began to rethink her previous plan of turning the villagers around. She had to dig her way into this girl's head and turn only her on the villagers.

"Otvedy k tiorbmy," Francois ordered Sasha to take Ali to the jail, which was really just one cell in the basement of the Francois's old home (she assumed that whoever lead valitud lived there now).

"Da," Sasha nodded, glanced at Ali and then turned around.

Odette shoved the spy, causing her to trip over her own feet and fall in the mud. Ali felt a wave of misery wash over her as Francois sneered. Sasha turned around and rushed over to help Ali stand up.

"Otvedy k tiorbmy," Odette repeated with a sharp tone.

Sasha grabbed the rope that bound Ali's hands and began to walk with more urgency towards the jail.

As soon as they were far enough away Ali tried to catch Sasha's attention.

"You're not Estonian," she said in English as the girl stared at her.

"No," Sasha replied with a heavy accent. "I should not be having a talk with you."

"I'm from a place where your neighbor doesn't threaten to kill you," Ali told her.

"Be quite!" Sasha hissed, her eyes pleading Ali to stop talking.

"Wouldn't you like to live in a place like that? One where the devil isn't over your shoulder?"

"The devil does not scare me as much as …" the girls voice drifted away.

"As much as?" Ali urged.

"The leader. He promised me to keep me safe from everything," Sasha explained to Ali as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Is there any way you can get to my cell, Sasha?"

"Of course, I'm the one who cleans the house every day," she told the spy, who knew her plan was beginning to work.

"Visit me there today," Ali suggested as they neared the house where she would be prisoner in.

Sasha stopped walking, but Ali shook her head, knowing if they stopped it would look as if they were conspiring together.

"I will."

With that Sasha knocked on the door of the house where a man with dark hair appeared. His eyes were so dark that they appeared black. To Ali, they reflected the man's soul, the reason she had been ripped from Oahu.

"Thank you, Sasha," his lips curled into a menacing smile. "I can take our guest from here."