Chapter 3
Before Irina left the room she went over to the intercom and insisted that Khasinau meet her outside.
"Alexander would you kindly escort Jack to an empty room. I'd like to have a word with him before we proceed with anything else".
Khasinau gave her a look, "certainly Irina…but what may I ask is the purpose of this conversation". I thought we were to dispose of Jack when we captured him. I'm surprised he's still alive," he said sarcastically.
"That is none of your concern. Just do as your told, and enough of this foolishness. Honestly I'm starting to question where your loyalty really lye".
Khasinau was outraged by her comment.
"I have been completely loyal to you! But I'm beginning to worry that you're taking this prophecy too seriously".
"How can I not! I thought you wanted power"?
"I do, but at certain limits! Look at what you are doing to your children for God's sake! Vera can't even tell reality from that insidious program that you… "
"Enough!" Irina interrupted.
"What I did for Vera was for her own good. She's a good agent but not good enough. She started feeling regret and sympathy for those she's killed. She started to become like Sydney and that compromises everything. I didn't want her to lose her "talent" so I implanted the microchip in her. Just so her emotions won't distract her. I never intended her any harm".
"Well you must've not programmed her right. Seeing how she did get emotional, and what if she was performing those procedures to a dangerous foe. What then"?
"Just get me Jack!" she said turning away from him.
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Two men burst through the door and were heading to Jack. Sydney could see that they were uniting him and a sudden feeling of horror struck her. Please God don't let them kill him. Sydney also saw Vera and Khasinau standing at the door. She looked at Vaughn and he tried to give her a comforting look, but even that didn't work. Jack turned and gave Sydney one final look before the guards shoved him out the door.
After the guards had escorted Jack to an empty room Khasinau instructed them to leave, leaving Khasinau, Vera, and him to be alone.
"If you hurt my daughter I'll make sure you…"
"Calm down Jack I'm not going to hurt Sydney. Irina on the other hand…" Khasinau's voice drifted.
"Well there's just no telling what she's capable of".
Jack raised his eyebrow and gave Khasinau a puzzled look.
"Why are you telling me this"?
"Because Jack Sydney…she's my granddaughter. And Vera here is your daughter".
"I don't know what you're trying to pull here Khasinau, but whatever it is I'm not buying it".
Jack turned to face Vera and to his shock he did see the resemblance.
"She has your eyes doesn't she"?
Jack looked at Khasinau in bewilderment and answered him hastily.
"How"?
Khasinau took out seven neatly folded pieces of paper and handed them to Jack.
"I knew you'd ask that so I took the liberty of copying Vera's file for you. DNA, birth certificate, everything you need to know about your… daughter".
Jack sat quietly for a moment trying to take in all the new information that he had just learned. Then the silence was quickly broken by Kahsinau.
"I must have those back now Jack. Irina will be here any moment".
Jack handed Khasinau the files while taking a quick glance at Vera. The resemblance is uncanny. Vera to could not help but look at Jack. He looks so strong as if nothing can break him. As soon as Jack noticed Vera gazing at him she quickly turned away.
"Well it's just about time that I fetch Irina. Vera you watch him and Jack… I regret telling you but I thought it's just "right" that you should know".
As soon as Khasinau left, the room was completely silent until to Jack's surprise Vera started to speak to him.
"I've always wanted to know what you were like. I've heard stories from my "mother" but she's…"
" I believe the word you're searching for is deceitful".
Vera gave Jack a smile and continued to speak.
"I never wanted to be an agent…but I never had a choice" she said shaking her head.
"And I know you may think of me as a ruthless killer but I'm not. I'd always tell myself that the people I've killed deserved it…and most of them did but I just couldn't bare the pain of taking someone's life. All this anxiety would start to take over and just eat me up".
Jack looked at Vera with sympathy but then started to shake the look off.
"You didn't seem to distressed when you were murdering my colleague".
"Well that's because my mother had our neuro-tech implant a very high-tech microchip in me. Every time I start to feel emotion or unfocused the chip would send signals to my brain telling me it's nothing".
"If you say you never wanted to be an agent why didn't you just run away or turn yourself in"?
"I can never escape my mother. She'll find me and have me killed without a doubt".
Before Jack could respond Irina entered the room. She signaled Vera to leave, leaving the two of them alone. Irina smiled at Jack but he quickly turned away.
"Now Jack is this anyway to treat your wife"?
"What is it that you want with me or Sydney"?
"No small talk I see…very well then".
"What I want with Sydney is none of you're concern. All you need to know is that I'm about to offer you a chance to join me Jack. Think about it don't be as foolish as to turn it down, think about what happened when Sydney did that".
"I hate to ruin your plans but I nor Sydney would every agree to your "foolishness" ".
"Why do you do this to me Jack I'm trying to save you".
" The only person that will need some saving is you because if you intend on harming Sydney in any way I won't hesitate to kill you".
"Well then our discussion is over".
Irina called out to Vera making her enter the room.
"Vera get Mr. Vaughn ready and please have someone escort Jack back. I wouldn't want him to miss this" she said smiling.
Vera gave Jack a look of grief and then left the room. Irina kissed Jack on the lips and whispered, "I'll see you soon my love." Jack was utterly disgusted and jerked his head sideways. Irina gave Jack a smile before exiting the room. As soon as she left, in came more guards, who began tying Jack up again.
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Meanwhile, Simons was left in an empty room, contemplating whether or not he should escape. Screw it. I'm not gonna wait for some Russian bastard to kill me. If I go, I'll go doing it the right way.
Simons slowly got up from the floor and hobbled toward the door. He slowly opened it and peeked outside. To his surprise, no one was there. Simons made his way through the warehouse and into a hidden control room. In there, he used concealed cameras to help him locate where Sydney and the others were being kept.
Then he spotted them in the interrogation room. From what Simons could see, Sydney was almost free from her restraints, so he carefully got her attention by using the camera placed in front of her. Sydney spotted a tiny bright red light and noticed that someone was doing Morse code. She decoded half of what Simons was signaling. "FOUR-GUARDS-OUTSIDE. TWO-IN-THERE. LIGHTS-WILL-GO-OFF. GET-READY". As soon as Sydney freed herself, she alerted Simons. Soon enough the lights switched off and Sydney headed straight out the door.
She met up with the guards and quickly took care of them. She then headed toward the other end of the interrogation room, and finished the guards off there with multiple spinning kicks to the face. Sydney started to free Vaughn and Will, when she suddenly heard a noise.
"Sydney!" Jack said holding up a gun.
"Dad, how did you…"
"It doesn't matter how; just untie those two. I've got an extraction team that will be here in thirty-minutes."
"Dad, Simons is somewhere around the building."
"I'll go find him. You three meet me outside and wait from a far distance. Once I have Simons, I'll set the place to detonate. Wait exactly five minutes before the place blows. If we're not out by then, leave. You understand?"
Sydney paused and then nodded in agreement.
"Good, now go."
"Wait, Dad, do you know where to look?"
"Yes, now go!"
"Alright, be careful."
Jack gave Sydney a nod and ran in the opposite direction. He knew exactly where to look because all of the warehouse's main power was in the control room, so it was obvious to Jack that Simons had to be there. Jack was now in front of the hidden door leading to the control room. As he entered, a gun was pointed at the side of his head.
"Come one step closer, and I guarantee you that's the last step you'll take."
"It's Jack," he said approaching Simons cautiously.
Simons lowered his gun and allowed Jack to enter.
"You alright?"
Simons limped over to Jack, "Yeah I'm fine, nothing too serious."
"Hmm, well, then I better start the detonation sequence," Jack said walking, over to a computer.
"I've already programmed it. Only problem is, there was a minor glitch in the computer. Instead of programming it manually, the computer was on an automated mode, so I couldn't over-ride the detonation sequence."
"How much time did it give us?"
"Twenty minutes. We're up to seventeen now."
"Well, that gives us both enough time to get out of here then."
"I sure hope you're not saying that I'm incapable of keeping up with you?"
Jack ignored Simons and opened the door. As the two of them were heading out, Jack set his watch for sixteen minutes.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah."
The two of them were halfway out the building when Jack pushed Simons against the wall. A group of guards ran past them.
"Clear?"
Jack paused for a moment then motioned Simons forward. Jack and Simons were almost out of the building, when Sark held a gun out in front of them. Jack and Simons immediately pointed theirs back at Sark.
"Listen," Jack said, "We've just engaged the detonation sequence in this building and it's about to blow. So, I suggest you tell whom you must and let us go. You have exactly twelve minutes to choose. What will it be?"
Sark put his gun down and began to speak, "I have no desire to kill you, Agent Bristow…In fact, I'm letting you both escape, since I'm nearly done with this operation."
Simons eyed Sark with suspicion. "What operation?" he asked quickly.
Sark also answered him directly, "I'm British SIS. I've been working "The Man" case for some time now, and now that I finally know the identity of "The Man" I'll be returning to England."
As Sark was about to leave, Jack called out to him, "Sark wait…warn Vera."
Sark gave Jack a nod and took off. As Sark left, Jack hurriedly helped Simons out the door and they ran out the building. They soon met up with Sydney and were headed toward the extraction point. Jack took one final look back and then looked at his watch. Five minutes.
Sydney and the others were ahead of Jack, and when Sydney noticed this, she called out to her father, "Dad!"
Jack turned and closely followed Sydney from behind. When they reached their extraction point, a helicopter swooped down and threw them a ladder. As they were climbing it, they heard the sound of an enormously loud blast from behind. Sydney closed her eyes and continued up while Jack closely followed her. Vaughn helped Sydney up and briefly gazed in her eyes, "You all right?" he asked, giving her a smile.
Sydney smiled back, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Will jealously watched from behind, while Jack stared out the window. Then Will remembered his story.
"Jack," Will whispered. "I forgot to mention that I wrote a story exposing SD-6."
Jack gave Will a frustrated look and softly but firmly responded by saying, "You what?"
"I thought that something might happen to me, and if that was the case I wouldn't just let SD-6 get away with what they've done to people."
"It doesn't matter…I'll take care of it," Jack said, turning his head.
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Sloane impatiently awaited Sydney and Jack Bristow's arrival. Soon enough, Jack walked through his office door.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Jack, where the hell have you and Sydney been?"
"In Kazakhstan. Sydney got a lead somehow about her mother's whereabouts. She went looking for her there and…"
"And you went after her," Sloane interrupted.
"Yes. You do have to realize, Arvin, that this is an especially difficult time for Sydney, learning the truth about her mother and realizing that she may still be alive. That's too much for her to handle right now. And you know how Sydney can be."
"Yes, yes I know. She was raised to be quite a spontaneous woman wasn't she?" Sloane said, giving Jack an accusatory look.
Jack gave Sloane a glare. "Well, if that is all, then I better get back to work."
"Yes, of course. But before you go, how exactly did Sydney get this lead?" Sloane asked, giving Jack a suspicious look.
"I have no idea. My best guess is that someone might want Laura to come out of hiding for unknown reasons, and they're using Sydney to do it. I don't think this is such a major concern. If Laura is involved, it most likely has to do with sabotage or intelligence gathering. Nothing to worry about."
"Maybe so, but I'd still like to look into this."
"Very well, but you'll only waste valuable time."
"I'll be the judge of that. Thank you for letting me know though."
"No problem."
As Jack was about to leave the office, Sloane called out to him, "Oh Jack, one more thing. If you see Sydney, would you please tell her to come to my office? I'd like a word with her."
Jack nodded in acknowledgment and walked out. As he left, he spotted Sydney. Before they began to speak Jack took out his scrambler, and instructed Sydney that they had sixty seconds to talk.
"Sloane is asking a lot of questions about where we were."
Sydney looked worried, "What did you say?…Does he suspect anything?"
"I told him that you got a lead from an unknown source about your mother, instructing you to go to Kazakhstan. And that you went to follow up on that lead, and that I came along with you. As for Sloane suspecting anything remains a mystery. He's looking into this, so you…" Jack was interrupted by a sudden beep. Which meant thier conversation was over.
"Well then, I'll see him right away. Thank you," Sydney said, walking away and entering Sloane's office.
As Sydney entered the office Sloane eyed her with a questioning look. "Sydney, you're limping. Are you all right?"
Sydney gave him a smile, as if she thought he actually cared about her wellbeing, "Oh yeah, I'm fine…well, better than I was before anyway."
"What happened?"
"Well, I got an unknown lead about where my mother was…Actually I didn't even know if it was true or not, but I had to find out. So, I went to Kazakhstan and my father went along with me, completely objecting to all this. Finally, he talked some sense into me, while he and I went on a hike, and that's where this incident happened," Sydney said pointing to her ankle.
"Well, that's Jack for you. You know, Sydney," Sloane began, laying his hand on hers, "if you ever need anything, or anyone to talk to about this matter, I'm here for you."
Sydney gave Sloane a weak smile and thanked him. "By the way do you want me to look into this?"
"Well to tell you the truth, Sydney, I was going to have someone look into it, but now that I've had this talk with you, it isn't worth the time."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure. We have too much on our hands, especially with "The Man" on the loose. But I'm certain we'll find out who this bastard is and we'll bring him down. I promise."
Sydney gave Sloane yet another weak smile while exiting his office.
