ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS
Part 49 – Saving Mohinder

"Dammit!" Gabriel shouted at Laura as they arrived in front of the Washington Monument. "Why do you always have to be so goddamn stubborn?"

"Are we going to stand around here arguing in the middle of the night in twenty degree temps, or are we going to go rescue Mohinder?" Laura replied pulling her sword from its sheath.

He put his hands on her shoulder. "No! We are going to go rescue Mohinder! You are going to go back home! Hiro, take her back."

Laura smiled insolently at him. "Gabriel. You and I both know how this argument is going to end. We can stand here all night until your balls turn blue and fall off, or we can going and find Mohinder. So what's it going to be?"

Gabriel threw up his arms in exasperation. "Fine, you win!"

"Like this was going to go any other way." Peter snickered.

Brandon laughed. "Gabriel, when are you going to learn when my sister makes up her mind to something, you can't change her mind with a shot gun. Why do you even bother trying?"

"Because I continue to hope against hope that she would actually learn from her past mistakes!" Gabriel clenched his teeth. "She just always has to be so damn difficult!"

"And if I weren't, life with me would be awfully boring." Laura smiled kissing him.

"You've got a point there." He reluctantly replied as he returned her kiss. "Ok, fine! But you stay right next to me."

"Nowhere else I'd rather be." She smiled flirtatiously.

"Peter, if you can you hear me, you're walking into a trap."

Peter looked up at the others. "Did one of you guys just say something?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Peter! It's a trap!"

Peter put his hands to his ears. "Guys, Mohinder is contacting me telepathically. He says we are walking into a trap."

"This is what I was afraid of." Laura took a deep breath then exhaling. "Ok, so where does Molly say he is?"

"Catherwood has him in a secret room under the Capitol building." Hana said looking at the map.

"What kind of trap, Peter?" D.L. asked.

"I don't know." Peter shrugged. "This gift only works at half-duplex." He closed his eyes. "Common Mohinder…talk to me again."

"Wait a minute…" Gabriel replied thoughtfully. "I remember reading about there being rooms built under the state buildings in Washington. They were built to keep the President safe during an attack."

"And there are tunnels that run under the city that the secret service uses to move the President around." Brandon added. "DL, can you phase us in?"

Laura shook her head. "Well, before we start walking through walls, we need more information. It could very well be that Catherwood is expecting us to use the tunnels and we will be ambushed."

"So what do we do?" Gabriel asked her. "Wait around for Mohinder to send out another signal to Peter again?"

Laura bit her lip thoughtfully. "No. I have a better idea."

The other's looked at her intrigued.


Mohinder writhed in his chair trying to free himself. It was no use. Whoever tied him up knew what they were doing. He was unable to move his hands in the slightest movement.

"Shit!" He muttered to himself.

"Peter, it's a trap!"Again he tried to reach Peter telepathically. "Are they even hearing me?" He wondered aloud.

"He's hearing you alright." He heard a voice whisper next to him, but he did not see anybody.

Mohinder looked around hearing a familiar voice. "Claude?" Mohinder whispered.

"Yes mate." Claude replied. "Hiro is with me. We don't have much time. What kind of trap have they set for us?"

"I don't know." Mohinder replied under his breath. "He wouldn't' divulge any information to me."

Hiro reached out to him. "Mohinder. Take my hand. I can teleport you out of here."

Mohinder started to reach for his hand. At that moment, Claude came into view.

"Claude!" Mohinder whispered. "What are you doing? You are visible."

Claude shook his head frantically. "Don't look at me, mate. I'm not doing it. Hiro, take us out of here, now."

Hiro tried to teleport, but was unable to use his powers. "I can't teleport! He's blocked my powers"

"Great!" Mohinder groaned. "You come here to rescue me and now they will need a rescue party to rescue the rescue party."

"A little gratitude goes a long way!" Claude hissed.

"I'd be more grateful if I were on my way home instead of being stuck here with you." Mohinder retorted.

"Well how in bloody hell did you manage to get captured in the first place?" Claude bellowed.

Mohinder was silent.

Claude stared at him as a smile slowly spread across his face. "Holy fucking shit! It was a woman, wasn't it? You thought you were going to get a little afternoon shag and you ended up stuck here. You were thinking with your balls! " Claude laughed uncontrollably his eyes watering.

"Shut up!" Mohinder snarled through clenched teeth.

"Well, I see our guests have arrived." They all turned to see Catherwood standing in the doorway. "So sorry about your powers being ineffectual, but don't fret; they will be returned as soon as I get what I want." He walked closer to the trio. "So, where is the rest of your team? Trying to figure out how to get in here without being caught? Well, no matter how they try, they will not be victorious for I have surveillance cameras on every entrance."

"And as always you underestimate your enemy."

Catherwood turned around to see Laura, Gabriel, Brandon, Hana, DL, Niki, Candice and Peter materialize before him.

"How in the fuck did you get in here?" Catherwood shouted.

"The same way you did." Laura taunted him. "Through the front door. We followed one of your staff members."

"Yeah, those surveillance cameras you were bragging about?" Hana laughed. "You really should upgrade. NHP Security does not exactly have the best reliability record on the market."

"NHP…Not Hana Proof." Niki laughed.

"Nice one!" Brandon high-fived her.

"So, if you don't mind, we'll be taking Dr. Suresh and getting the hell out of this freak fest now." Gabriel smirked at him.

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you, Gabriel." Catherwood looked at him complacently. He held up his hand and slowly spread out his fingers.

Suddenly, Gabriel was surrounded by darkness. He turned looking around panic stricken.

"Where in the hell am I?" He shouted. "Laura?"

"I'm right here, baby." He heard her whisper. Turning around he saw her standing next to him. He reached out and held her to him. "Where did everyone go?"

"There's nobody here, Gabriel." She smiled touching his face. "It's just you and me."

Gabriel looked at her and started backing away. "You are not my wife."

"Gabriel, what's the matter?" Laura asked him.

"Where is my wife!" He screamed.

Laura's image morphed into a dark version of himself. He recognized the evilness inside of him. Sylar.

"You!" Gabriel hissed. "Get away from me."

Sylar laughed malevolently at him. "You will never be rid of me! I always have and always will be a part of you! It is only a matter of time until you and I become one again. You can't fight me, Gabriel! You never could!"

"Leave me alone!" Gabriel screamed.

Sylar circled around, leering at him. "Look at what you have become! You are weak! Useless! You used to be powerful. Everyone feared you, but now you are a pathetic excuse for the man you used to be."

"You're not real!" Gabriel shouted. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw Laura holding Seth. She was smiling and playing with him. He smiled and tried to go to her.

But he could not move. His feet were stuck to the ground. "Laura." He whispered.

"Gabriel." She smiled lovingly at him. "Come hold our son."

Then it all went dark. Gabriel tried with all his strength to move, but his efforts were in vain.

"Gabriel?" He heard Laura call out.

Then from behind her, he saw Sylar emerge from out of the darkness.

"Laura!" He screamed. "Get away from her!" He tried everything in his power to move, but there was nothing he could do.

Laura turned around looking directly at Sylar. "Gabriel?" She looked around for him. "Oh God! Gabriel! Help me!"

"LAURA!" He screamed.

Sylar turned to him giving him an ill-omened smile. Turning to Laura again, he pointed his finger at her head and began to open her skull. She screamed in pain as blood started trickling down her face, as the top of her head came off blood gushed from her cranium! "LAURA!" Gabriel screamed in anguish as he watched her fall over dead, as Sylar stood laughing, mocking at him.

"The most powerful prize in the world, and she is all mine!" He sneered at Gabriel.

"NO!" Gabriel cried! "Laura! NO!" Gabriel finally able to move fell over holding his hands over his face screaming in horror.

"Gabriel!" He heard her voice calling to him, but he continued to scream and shed tears of anguish. "Gabriel!" He heard her again. "Baby, it isn't real! He's doing this to you. Fight him."

He opened his eyes and found himself on the ground with Laura cradling his head in her lap stroking his face and hair. "Gabriel, you're ok baby. I'm here."

His tears of anguish quickly became tears of joy as he saw her face smiling down at him. He quickly sat up touching her face, then pulling her to him kissing her passionately. "Oh God! Baby, I thought I lost you again. I killed you."

Laura shook her head as she held his face in her hands. "No Gabriel, it wasn't real. Honey, he's messing with your head. Don't let him do it! He arouses the fears inside of you. I'm ok." She pulled him in holding him tight.

Gabriel looked up at Catherwood who stood grinning superciliously. Brandon stood next to him with a blank stare on his face.

"What is going on?" Gabriel asked looking at the others. Everyone was frozen as if time had stopped except for Brandon and Laura. "What is he doing to Brandon."

"He has Brandon under some sort of spell." Laura replied gravely. Gabriel tried to use his telekinetic power to free Brandon, but his power did not emerge from him.

She reached out touching his arm. "Don't bother. He has put some sort of power inhibitor spell or something on us."

"Brandon!" Gabriel called out to him.

But Brandon could not hear him.

He stood in the middle of a large room and he was alone. Across the room Jake and Colin stood calling out to him. He tried to go to them, but the more he ran to them, the further away from him they moved.

"Daddy!" They both called to him, but he could not get to them.

"Hang on guys!" Brandon called to them. "Daddy's coming."

The room went dark and the boys were gone.

A bright light appeared from the darkness and he could see Colin walking into the light while Jake tried to pull him back.

"Colin!" He screamed to his oldest son! "Stay out of the light!"

But Colin could not hear him. Inside the light stood Robyn reaching for him. She smiled at Brandon as she reached out for their son.

"COLIN!" He screamed. Robyn looked at Brandon shaking her head. "Robyn! Don't take him from me!" But the room was filled with darkness and Colin was gone. Brandon began screaming.

"Daddy!" He heard Jake call to him.

"Jake!" Brandon came back into focus. "Where are you buddy?"

"I'm right here Daddy." He could hear his son crying. "I'm scared. Help me, Daddy."

"Keep talking to me, Jakers!" Brandon called out to him. "Daddy's coming!"

"Daddy, it's dark here!" Jake began to cry. "There's somebody here with me. Help me Daddy!"

"Stay where you are Jake!" Brandon said softly. "Keep talking to me."

As he got closer to Jake, he felt somebody behind him. He turned in the darkness to see Catherwood in his beastly form holding Jake.

"Let go of my son!" Brandon screamed.

"Your son's soul belongs to me!" Catherwood taunted him, his yellow eyes glowing at him.

Brandon reached out for Jake and grabbed him from Catherwood. Looking into his son's dark eyes, they turned yellow like Catherwood's!

"What did you do to my son?" Brandon screamed at him.

But Catherwood only laughed maliciously at him. Brandon felt himself go faint and fell to the ground.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the middle of a field. He was back in Iraq. Behind him he heard bombs going off.

Then out of the sky he saw a missile heading right for him. Brandon ran for cover diving behind an array of large rocks. The missile hit ground, but he was unharmed.

But lying in the field he saw a soldier. Brandon jumped up and ran to him. Kneeling down, he put his hand on his shoulder checking for his pulse, but the man was dead. As he went to turn him over, he saw his own face looking back at him.

Brandon jumped up screaming!

"Brandon!" He could hear his sister's voice calling to him. "Brandon it's ok. Fight him!"

Brandon opened his eyes and found himself back with Catherwood, Laura and Gabriel.

"What happened?" Brandon asked them.

"He had you in a trance." Gabriel told him. "He is fucking with our heads."

"Now that might be a little harsh." Catherwood replied calmly. "Your dreams are yours alone. The fears belong to you."

Laura stood watching as everything went into slow motion. Suddenly everyone was stopped. "Gabriel?" She tried to get him to respond, but he was motionless.

Then, like the bottom fell out of the room, she felt herself falling; rapidly at first, then slowly gliding. She landed softly in what looked like a child's bedroom painted blue with dinosaurs on the wall. Laura stood up looking around.

From a distance, she could hear a baby crying. Slowly, thoughtfully she began to walk through the house. It was not a home she recognized.

"Hello?" She called out.

At the end of the hallway, she could see Gabriel holding a baby she could only assume to be Seth. Laura smiled and ran to him, but as she got closer, they disappeared.

"Gabriel?" She called out to him.

Again, Laura could hear the baby crying. "I'm coming Seth." She called out and ran to him. Once again she could see Gabriel holding Seth. "Gabriel. I can't get to you."

"Come to me, my love." She heard him whisper

"No Laura…it's a trap!" She heard Gabriel whisper inside her head.

"Where are you?" She screamed.

Something made Laura turn around. She could hear Catherwood laughing. Lying beside him was Gabriel's decapitated body. Catherwood was holding Seth, his hands bloody.

Horrified, Laura looked down; her stomach was ripped open. She began to scream.

Then Catherwood took a knife and came down on Seth ripping his heart out.

"NO!" Laura screamed falling to the ground screaming in anguish.

She heard Gabriel call to her again"Laura! Come back to me! Fight him Laura."

In an instant Laura opened her eyes and she was standing back in present. Gabriel, Brandon and the others were still frozen. She found herself standing right in front of Phinneus Catherwood.

Laura grabbed her sword from its sheath. "Nice try, Phinneus, but your little scare tactic didn't work."

"I must admit, child of Grace Malone, you have grown in your strength." He replied dismally. "But you are still weak. Tonight, chosen one, you die and I will have my son's by my side. I will take your son's heart and my beautiful Siobhan can live by my side again."

Laura began to laugh. "Say what? Do you keep her corpse lying around as a memento or something? You're an even bigger whack job than I thought."

"Do not speak in insolence about my love!" He sneered at her.

"Hey, from what I heard she was an even bigger whack job than you are." She smiled circling him. "It sounds like my great, great…whatever, great grandmother did you a huge favor by knocking her ass off."

Catherwood screamed and lunged at her. Laura jumped up hovering in the air.

Stunned, he looked around. He turned and saw her lowering herself to the ground. "Sorry." She shrugged. "I hate it when I do that."

Catherwood pulled his sword from under his coat. "Now you die!"

"Yeah, well there's a problem." She smiled. "First you have to catch me." Laura's voice echoed as Catherwood looked around confused. He watched in astonishment as a purple glow emitted around her as Laura multiplied into two organisms. "You weren't expecting that, were you?" She laughed.

Catherwood picked up his sword and ran at Laura screaming. She waved as her image disappeared.

"Missed me!" She taunted him from behind.

Turning once again, Catherwood came at her with his sword. She turned to face him as jolt of red energy shot out of her stomach sending Catherwood sprawling against the wall.

"Holy shit!" She laughed flabbergasted by the occurrence. "I didn't do that. I think my little boy is stronger than you are, dumbass!"

"Well, it is clear that I have under estimated you." Catherwood smiled threateningly. "But that only means it's time for my alter ego to come out and play." Catherwood spread out his arms as the beast emerged from inside his body.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Oh please! Your squealing pig face only makes you uglier, not more powerful. I wasn't scared of you when I was two and I'm not scared of you now. Your breath, however…that's an entirely different story altogether."

He opened his mouth and his tongue came out opening up exposing several rows of teeth. Laura calmly approached him with her sword.

"I wonder if I cut it off if it would grow back." She smiled casually circling around him.

Catherwood opened his mouth and let out a roar that sounded like a clap of thunder that shot out around Laura overwhelming her. She fell to the ground, but quickly jumped up.

"I see your thunder, Catherwood. And I'll raise you with lightening!" Opening her hands, she flung back her arms as bolts of lightning shot out of her fingers sending him flying through the air.

Catherwood landed. Picking up his sword he flung it into the air hurling right at Laura who opened into blocking stance sending the sword spiraling back at him. She smiled at him shaking her head as Catherwood caught his sword in his hand.

Catherwood bowed to her. "Your skills are impressive, chosen one."

She nodded to him. "Thank you."

He stood next to the entrance. "Today you live, child of Grace Malone. As do your friends. But one day soon we will meet again. And on that day, my sons will take their place at my side and you're son will give life to my love."

Laura laughed spitefully. "You have a serious Vader complex, you realize."

He stood before Laura angrily. "You go on home and enjoy the little time you have left with your husband and your friends. They will come to me. And they will come to me of their own free will. And I will take your son from your womb."

Laura shook her head. "No. You won't. As you learned today, Catherwood, I am stronger than you. The only thing stopping me from killing you is I am inside a federal building and I do not want to risk going to federal prison for taking the life of a US Senator. But we have a date set for April 19, 2013 in Galway Ireland. I will be there. My husband and my son will be at my side along with those I call my family. And you will be dead. I don't care if I die on that day, as long as I rid the world of your evil forever. And I am going to make damn sure you do not become the leader of this country. I will not allow you to incarcerate humans with abilities for your own sick and twisted game. You will exposed for the fraud that you are!"

"Well, good luck with your little army." He laughed. "Of course that is if you can wake up your friends. And when you get home…if any of your army is left."

Laura's face slowly dropped. "What is that supposed to mean."

He smiled smugly. "Oh, I will save that surprise for you to find out on your own. Until we meet again!"

He bowed to her as he disappeared into a green mist.

She turned and looked at the others. "Shit! What in the hell am I going to do about you people?"

Laura felt a powerful force come from inside her. Closing her eyes she allowed it to take control. "Awake!" She shouted.

Everyone slowly began to revive again. They all stared at her baffled.

"I did it!" She remarked to herself incredulously.

"What happened?" Peter whispered.

Gabriel looked around. "Where's Catherwood?"

"Guys, I'll explain later, but we have to get back to the compound right now." Laura replied uneasily. "Catherwood said something that made me really nervous."

"What did he say?" Hana asked her.

Laura took a deep breath. "I think his army attacked the compound. This whole thing was a ploy to get us all away from there. They must have somehow been able to track us! Shit! It was a fucking ruse!"

"Oh God." Niki whispered looking at Peter. "Micah!"

"Get Mohinder out of there. We need to get back to Okinawa now!" Peter shouted.

Claude untied Mohinder than grabbed his arm. "Common, hurry!" Mohinder shouted running to join the others.


Alan and Cecelia were enjoying their morning coffee as Celeste sauntered in sitting down joining them.

"So, it sounds like your mission was a success." Cecelia smiled at her as she sat down.

"More than you know." Celeste replied proudly as she stirred her coffee. "I left as soon as the Senator arrived, but I did my part." She took a sip of her coffee. "And how is our project coming?"

Alan stood up unfolding a map in front of her. "Well, from what we were able to interpret, their home base is in Okinawa, Japan."

"Well, there are dozens of non-operational military bases in the Okinawa Prefecture." Cecelia replied staring at the map. "The trick will be to find which one they are hiding at."

"How did you get this information?" Alan looked up at Celeste.

Celeste smiled. "We have a wonderful new recruit that is able to intercept brain wave signals. The yummy doctor was trying to send out an SOS to his friends and although he was successful, so were we."

As Callahan entered the room, they all looked up smiling. "Good morning Senator." Alan greeted him.

"Indeed it is." Callahan grinned looking at the front page. "I have moved up 4 points in the polls and we are closer than ever to locating those idiots who think they are smarter than I am. We'll see who is smarter once we move in and attack."

"Did you make any progress in bringing your sons to our side?" Celeste asked him.

"No." Callahan replied soberly. "But the setback is only temporary. Laura Ryan is much stronger than I gave her credit for. Once the child is born, she must be killed."

"Just say the word and I will take her out." Cecelia replied. "You know I can."

Callahan smiled and touched her cheek. "I am aware of your magnificent abilities my dear, but I don't even think you are a match for her. Even carrying a child she can fight. The combination of her skills and powers make a formidable enemy. I was on my best game last night and if she really wanted to, she could have killed me." He stood up looking out the window. "No, the way to defeat the chosen one will not come by fighting. No, we must strike her where she is the weakest."

"Where would that be?" Alan asked.

Callahan looked over his shoulder at them. "Her heart."


"Well, everything looks normal." Hana concluded as they visually studied the compound.

"Well, I'm glad I'm wrong." Laura replied. "He might have been fucking with me, but they are looking for us. It is only a matter of time before they find out where we are, if they haven't been able to locate us already. Catherwood has an army of 1500 and no doubt many of those people have powers, so we don't know who or what we are up against. Just by us going back to the states, we have compromised our security. We need to make some decisions about what we do next and we need to make them fast."

Peter nodded. "Laura's right. They will attack and when they do, we have to be ready. Our team may not be ready to fight yet, so we need to be ready to fight with our wits."

"It's my fault entirely." Mohinder sighed. "I should have known that woman was an employee of Callahan."

"And you think you're the first man who has ever thought with his dick?" Peter snickered.

"Mohinder, you were bamboozled." Niki replied. "It happens to the best of us. Trust me."

"I lead them right to us." Mohinder said angrily. "What was I thinking?"

"That you wanted to get laid in the afternoon by a beautiful woman." Gabriel scoffed. "If I were in your shoes, I probably would have done the same thing." He could feel Laura's eyes penetrating him. "What?" He asked her ingenuously. "I get laid daily by an insanely beautiful woman."

"Good answer." She nodded narrowing her eyes at him.

"Ok, no more trips back to the states until we are fully trained." Hiro told the group. "The risk is just too great."

"I agree." Claude nodded looking at Mohinder. "That means everyone."

Mohinder glared at him.

"Ok, we can sit here and placing blame all day, or we can be proactive by checking the camp." Hana replied. "I'll take a look around at the barracks. Claude, Hiro…you two check the hangars. Mohinder and DL, you two check the recreational areas. The rest of you, especially you, Laura, go on home. Get some rest. Brandon, go be with your boys. You have been without them for too long."

"You won't get no arguments out of me." Brandon half-smiled.

Niki nodded at Hana. "You call us as soon as soon as you have checked things out?"

"Of course." Hana replied.

Laura smiled at Mohinder. "I'm glad you're ok." She gave her friend a heartfelt hug.

Gabriel stared at him for a moment. "Glad you made it." He finally said. "We need you here."

Mohinder nodded half-smiling. "Thank you."

Hana took the team to check the base for intruders while the others retreated to their homes.


"Fine!" Gabriel groaned rolling his eyes as they walked in their house. "You were right, I was wrong!"

"There." Laura giggled. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

He led her up the stairs. "I only wish I could have been coherent to see the whole thing. At least you didn't have to watch your own nightmares play out before your eyes."

"Guess again." She replied. "He made me think Seth was ripped out of my stomach. But I heard you telling me it wasn't real. On some level you knew what he was doing to me. You brought me back."

"I bet it freaked the shit out of him when he realized he couldn't control you." Gabriel laughed.

"I gave him a fight." She smiled proudly. "But you know what? You would have been proud of your son. He shot out some sort of red energy that sent Catherwood flying across the room. It was awesomeness!"

"So my boy protected his mom." Gabriel smiled softly.

"Yeah." She replied thoughtfully. "Scott was right. Seth can protect me."

Gabriel put his arms around her waist kissing her softly. "Well, you may be able to protect yourself, but I still like elude myself into thinking I'm your knight in shining armor."

"You are." She whispered closing her eyes resting her head on his shoulder. "You have saved me more times than you know."

He kissed the top of her head. "So can I get anything for my beautiful lady?"

"Yes." She smiled up at him. "Your arms and sleep. I'm exhausted."

"That, I can do." He smiled leading her to the bed sitting her down beside him.

"Actually, there is one thing you can do for me."

"Name it." He whispered.

"Help me get my boots off." She laughed softly. "I just don't have the strength to bend over right now."

Gabriel laughed. "She can make Phinneus Catherwood her bitch, but she can't get her boots off. There's an irony in here somewhere. I'm just too damn tired to find it."

"Me too." She replied sleepily laying back on the bed.

Gabriel took his clothes off, then scooted into bed lying down next to her. He closed his eyes, and then opened one eye looking at her. "Do you realize we have been here almost a week and we haven't had sex once?"

She propped up on one elbow. "Really? That's got to be a record for us."

"We aren't turning into a 'married couple', are we?" He asked groggily.

"Never!" Laura replied kissing him softly. "You still send my hormones into overdrive. But right now…"

"I know." He whispered. "Me too."

They both drifted off into a deep sleep.


Phinneus sat in his townhouse looking inside a wooden box. From the box he pulled out a piece of tartan rubbing it between his fingers. He carefully placed it back in the box and pulled out a ring displaying the Catherwood family crest. Closing his eyes, he thoughtfully ran his fingers across the stones that surrounded the crest on the tarnished gold band.

"Senator." He looked up to see Ella standing in the doorway.

"Yes Ella." He replied returning the ring to the box as he locked it back in the drawer.

"Alan is here to see you." She replied.

"Thank you Ella." Catherwood smiled gratefully. "Please show him in."

"Yes Senator." She went out and returned followed by Alan then she returned her cleaning duties.

"Alan, any news?" Catherwood asked sitting back down.

"We have been able to pin point their exact location, Senator." Alan announced proudly. "They are on a defunct army base near Yaese Town, Okinawa."

"Excellent work!" Catherwood happily stood up slapping his hands on Alan's shoulders.

"Should we send word to our troops to be on alert to attack?" Alan asked anxiously.

"Not just yet." Phinneus replied thoughtfully. "Right now they are expecting an attack and are probably armed and ready for us. Let's give them a few months to wonder what we are planning. And then when they think we may have forgotten about them; that is when we will attack."

"Brilliant Senator." Alan grinned. "Once again you have proven why you are the man for the job."

Catherwood smiled malevolently at him.

END OF PART 49