AIR FORCE CARGO PLANE
OVER DESERT NEAR TABRIZ

Jamie stood by the open cargo door, praying silently to a God she wasn't sure she still believed in. She was having trouble catching her breath, and was barely aware of the lieutenant next to her, counting down. She felt sick. She glanced back inside, at the cargo bay - why couldn't she just go sit back down in her seat?



Maybe this was a suicide mission. How in the hell was she going to penetrate a compound of fanatical terrorists who had teamed up with a scientific madman?



This was completely insane. She knew that now. Oscar had been right, the plan was impossible, and there would be nothing but failure if she even attempted it. Not to mention, she was going to have to freaking jump out of the plane.....

One......mark. Jump.......Jump! Miss Sommers....JUMP!

She looked into the concerned face of the lieutenant and realized she had missed the mark. She also recognized that she was paralyzed with fear.

I....I can't.

You've already missed the mark. If you don't jump in the next five seconds, you'll land in the middle of the city of Tabriz. Go, now!

Jamie was hyperventilating, I....oh....I can't do this....

The lieutenant grabbed hold of her upper arms, and was preparing to push. Without thinking, Jamie struck out at him with her right arm, sending him crashing into the side of the plane, knocking him out cold. Tears were gushing down her face, and she began to feel light-headed.

And then everything went black.

******************

The jerking motion of being pulled upward startled her into consciousness. It was pitch black all around her, but she recognized the feeling of falling through the air; and it panicked her. But she had to stay calm. The automatic deployment of the CYPRES must have fired at 1000 feet, there could be only moments before she hit the ground.

She didn't bother looking at her altimeter, she knew the ground was racing up toward her. Gently she pulled down on the toggles, trying to slow her descent, but she was flying blind. This was not the best way to start off a mission.

A moment later, her legs hit the sand, hard. Jamie fell over, but realized quickly that her bionic legs were not in anyway impaired. She couldn't fight the tears seeping out of her eyes, nor the memories from the last time she jumped from a plane. But there wasn't time for this.

Jamie rolled to her knees, and unbuckled the harness, quickly folding the remnants of her chute up into a big ball. She stuffed as much of it as she could into her helmet, and zipped out of her jumpsuit. There was nothing more she could do to cover her entrance into Iran, save for digging a whole in the sand and burying the gear, which she did as fast as her bionic limbs allowed her to do.

Still on all fours, Jamie surveyed the area around her; the only light was from the three-quarter crescent moon. The sand dunes appeared to stretch on as far as she could see, but she knew that somewhere beyond them was Tabriz. From her small bag of gear, she pulled a tiny pen light and a compass. Once she knew which way was North, she took off at a dead run across the sand.

********************

RUDY'S LAB
O.S.I., WASHINGTON D.C.

The small mustached man leaned against the table, arms crossed in front of him, watching his lanky friend pace the length of the lab once again. He had been pacing for hours, and Rudy had been unable to accomplish a thing. It's not that he would have been able to concentrate without the pacing, but he was willing to try anything to keep his mind off of the incident surrounding Jamie's parachute jump, which the lieutenant had reported. They hadn't heard from her since. Rudy watched Oscar pace up the lab again, and he shook his head.

Oscar, take it easy, I'm sure she's okay.

Goldman turned toward Rudy and growled, Then why haven't we heard from her?

Could be anything, and you know it. Maybe she just hasn't had the opportunity, or maybe the reception in Tabriz isn't all that and a bag o' chips....

Oscar glared in Rudy's direction, he was in no mood for the doctor's odd bird sense of humor, What if something's happened to her?

He voiced the thing that had gripped both of their hearts in fear. Rudy remained silent for a moment, and when he answered, it was very soft.

And if it has, what can you do from here? Rudy held Oscar's dark eyes for a moment longer, then looked away, What can either of us do?

In answer, Oscar picked up his worried pacing once more. Rudy studied his friend's appearance: The impeccably neat Oscar was disheveled, unshaven, had dark circles under his eyes, and looked strikingly pale. At the very least, he needed some sleep.

Wells kept his voice even, Hey....why don't you go lie down for awhile, hmmm? You look exhausted.

I'm fine.

Rudy let out a long sigh of air, it was going to be a long afternoon.

******************

TABRIZ

The woman in the black chador moved quietly and quickly along through the streets. It was as expected: clad in a chador and hijab, she could move through the city unnoticed. When she encountered others, she simply looked to the ground, avoiding eye contact. It worked well until she saw the café confirmed as the cover for the terrorist organization Gillespie cut a deal with - she stared a little too long at it, and caught the attention of the men inside.

A man near the entrance screamed at her in what she recognized as a Persian dialect. He grabbed her hard, before she had a chance to retreat. It sounded like he was questioning her, but Jamie didn't have a clue what he was saying. After she did not respond, he shoved her to the ground. Another man kicked her in the kidney, and a third man was heading toward her with a wooden club.

Jamie's survival instinct kicked in, and she lashed out with her feet at the man holding her to the ground, sending him careening into a glass window of the café, smashing it into small fragments. Unconscious, he slid to the ground. Springing up, she grabbed the man with the club, bending his arm backward. He screamed just before the snap of the bone, and the club fell to the ground. A younger man ripped the hijab from her face and was startled at the pale woman beneath. He began speaking very excitedly to his colleagues, as they started toward her.

Jamie muttered under her breath, Damn, I'm not this bionic....

The young man heard her and recognized the dialect,

Jamie used the moment to exercise the only option left to her: she ran. A group of men took up the chase through the crowded streets. She knew there would be no immediate escape without either revealing her bionics to the city at large, or by finding a clever alternative. Then she saw them: a huge cluster of women in chadors, sitting on the ground under a canopy, praying.

She slipped into the middle of the sea of women, and bent toward the ground, mimicking their actions. But she was the only woman without an hijab. The men chasing her were checking every woman in a chador as they searched through the streets. There would be no covering her identity if they scrambled through the flock of praying women.

The brown eyes watching the strange woman from beneath an hijab shined bright with inquisitive fascination. She moved closer to the pale stranger who was muttering something akin to babble as opposed to a language. The dark orbs darted to the commotion in the street. A group of men were yelling about some pale woman masquerading in a chador.....

The eyes smiled. It was an adventure a thirteen year old Iranian girl could only dream of, and it had landed in her lap! She reached under her chador and yanked at the black fabric, ripping a large piece of it away. She shoved it under the nose of the woman next to her.

Hazel eyes met brown as the recipient looked to see the face of her savior. All she could see were the mischievous eyes of a teenager. Jamie quickly placed the material over the lower half of her face, as though it were an hijab. The young girl implored her with her eyes to simply follow her motions.

The men approached the women and began lifting heads, checking for uncovered faces. The young girl watched in fascination as they questioned many of the older women about a foreigner in a chador without an hijab. The women only shook their heads, keeping their eyes trained to the ground. The injustice of it all infuriated the young girl.

What were men in her country? Bullies who fancied themselves better than anything on earth. Any woman with half an education knew better. Even at her tender age, the girl knew that the whole prophets proclaimed women lesser than men was nothing but crap spun by frightened men who wanted to control their society.

The men checked a few more women, then continued on their way. Jamie took a deep breath as she stopped the intermittent bowing and muttering. The young girl next to her stopped as well, and once again was staring at her.

Jamie leaned in close to the girl, almost hugging her, I realize you have no idea what I'm saying, but I think thank you is something that transcends language.

She stood up to leave, and the clear voice from below startled her, You're welcome.

Jamie stared at the smiling brown eyes, You speak English?

Yes. Don't look so surprised, not all women in my country are denied an education.

But you speak it so well.....

My teacher says I have a.....what do you call it .... a gift! I have a gift for languages.

What's your name?

It is Paree.

You not only have a gift, Paree, you are one. Thanks for helping me out. Jamie smiled and began heading down an alleyway, when she realized the girl was following her, Aren't you supposed to be praying?

The brown eyes smiled again,

Then I think you should probably get back to it, honey, before you get in trouble.

I've never met anyone like you. What are you called?



Jamie. That's unusual. What does it mean?

Well....I don't think it means anything really. It's just what my parents named me.

Oh. My name is fairy in English - I think that's the word.

Jamie smiled almost to herself, As in fairy god-mother.....

The girl continued to walk with Jamie through several streets, asking questions about people and places outside of Iran. After ten minutes or so, Jamie knew she needed to be on her own, and she was concerned that the girl's inquisitive nature would be met by wrath from her parents.

Hey, Paree, isn't your mother going to wonder where you are?

The girl looked down, I don't have a mother. She died six years ago.

And your father?

The girl shook her head, He left Iran before my mother died. I'm not sure where he lives.

Jamie knelt in front of the child, Who do you live with? Who takes care of you?

The village women take turns hiding me.

Hiding you?

The men have no use for one like me. I am a burden to them.

Paree, you're not a burden to anyone.

Maybe not in your country, but here, I am considered less than a boy. Not worth as much - is that how you say it?

Jamie was disgusted but answered anyway, Yes, that's how you say it, but reality it is not. Where do you stay when no one can take you in?

I have places......

The girl eyed the strange woman before her, it was becoming clear that they had one thing in common: in the city of Tabriz, they were outcasts and unwelcome.

Do you want to see my hiding places? Perhaps you might need such a place.

Jamie's eyes darted to the brown ones peeking out from behind the hijab; the girl was sharp.

Paree, it's unwise for you to become involved with me--

--Please, I want to help. I know what it is like to be alone here.

The girl took Jamie's hand and began to lead her through the streets of Tabriz.

*******************

OUTER OFFICE OF OSCAR GOLDMAN
O.S.I., WASHINGTON D.C.

Rudy pushed the glass doors open and smiled slightly at Callahan, Is he in there?

Yes, but.....



Callahan was not forthcoming.



He's in a pretty bad mood, Rudy.

Rudy nodded, He's really worried, Peggy. They exchanged a knowing look, then Rudy continued, Still no word?

Not a peep. He's been climbing the walls in there, and the constant calls haven't helped.



The Secretary.....among others. They're leaning on him pretty hard about this Gillespie thing.



What's his beef with Mr. Goldman anyway?

Power struggle, Callahan, pure and simple. Oscar has more, Jack wants it. He's using the loss of the Gillespie Project to make Oscar look inept with the boys upstairs.

Poor Mr. Goldman....

Rudy nodded, entered the office and closed the door behind him, leaving Callahan to ponder the intricacies of inter-governmental politics on her own.

Oscar was sitting at his desk, he looked up at the sound of the closing door and glared at Rudy, What is it?

Hey....is that any way to talk to the guy who's going to buy you dinner?

Oscar removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, Thanks Rudy, but I've got a ton of work here.

You have to eat, Oscar.

I had something already.







What, what?

What did you eat, Oscar?

Annoyed, Oscar slammed a drawer shut with more force than required as he stood, Food, Rudy. I ate food.

It was a losing battle, and Wells knew it. As Oscar started by him, Rudy gently took him by the arm.

You need to get some sleep, you look like hell.

I'm fine, Rudy.

It's been two days, Oscar, and you've been three straight without eating or sleeping. You've had nothing but aggravation, worry and coffee. How long do you think you can keep going like this?

Until I hear from her.

He broke away from the doctor and headed toward the bar. Rudy, prepared for this eventuality, pulled a loaded syringe from his jacket pocket. Knowing Oscar would never consent, Rudy moved quietly behind the larger man and plunged the syringe into his arm right through his shirt, expelling the contents into his bloodstream.

What the hell do you think you're doing?

Oscar's eyes began to light up with anger, but a few seconds later, they dulled with the effect of the drug. Rudy put an arm around Oscar's waist and moved him quickly toward the couch.

You'll be fine, Oscar. I just gave you something that will let you sleep for awhile.

Damnit, Rudy......damn it......

His words were beginning to slur as Rudy swung his legs onto the couch and placed a pillow beneath his head. The doctor walked over to a cabinet next to the bar, opened it and reached in, extracting a blanket. He moved back to Oscar and covered him with it.

Oscar was barely awake, his eyes fighting to stay open, Rudy..... what about Jamie?

Rudy sat on the coffee table next to his friend, placing a calming hand on his arm, As soon as I hear anything, I'll wake you.

His eyes were fluttering, but he was still resisting,

Easy pal, I promise I'll wake you. Now just relax and go to sleep.

Rudy lingered a moment longer, checking Goldman's heart rate and respiration, making sure he was all right. Satisfied that Oscar would sleep through the night, the doctor stood up and headed for the door. He switched off the lights and gently closed the door behind him. He glanced up at Callahan, whose eyes silently questioned him.

He's asleep, Callahan. I'd appreciate it if you held all the calls and kept everyone out of there for the next few hours, okay?

Wow.....how did you talk him into that?

Rudy smiled and pulled the empty syringe from his pocket, I had a little help.

Callahan shook her head, It must have been a surprise attack then, because he never would have gone for it.

When you're right you're right.

Rudy headed for the glass doors, and Callahan called after him, There's going to be hell to pay when he wakes up you know......

As long as he gets some rest Callahan, I don't care.

******************