Title: 'People vs. Chegwidden' - Part Twelve
Author: Daenar Disclaimer: See Part One
From part eleven:
Jeannine let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. Mac had told her of Harm's overprotective nature. 'I think I know what she means.' "I know everything I need to know. It's okay, Sergei," she said gently.
He smiled, blushing slightly. "You know, I'm a little worried about what you're gonna do. I'd rather you wouldn't."
"Hey, I'll be okay." Jeannine glanced up to his kind eyes. "Thank you for caring."
"You know, it's just..." Sergei hesitated, collecting his courage. He swallowed. "Ya looblyóo, Yanina," he whispered. [I love you, Yanina.]
Jeannine didn't know any Russian except the few words that Mac had already taught her. But she was a musician. And she loved Russian opera, especially Evgeny Onyegin by Tchaikovsky. Knowing the score by heart, she had understood exactly what Sergei had just told her. Feeling her pulse accelerate to double speed, she reached up and softly kissed him on the lips.
"Ya tulka looblyóo, Sergei." [I love you, too, Sergei.] "Don't worry. I'll be safe."
Part Twelve:
Mon, March 1st 0649 ZULU Minton Greenwood Inc. 50 miles SE of D.C., VA
"There they are," Sturgis said in a low voice as he indicated the Roberts's van that stood half-hidden behind a row of bushes, approximately ten yards away from the fence that marked the rear border of MG's grounds. He, Sergei and Jeannine, all dressed in dark sweats that Sturgis had been able to provide them with, neared their 'ops central', cautiously sticking to the shadows. Sturgis softly knocked three times at the van's sliding door. Mac almost instantly opened it, quickly granted them access and quietly closed the door as soon as they were cramped inside.
Sturgis let out a low whistle as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. Bud, with Fred's help, had transformed the back of his car into a high tech observation room. Four computer monitors were showing different images, changing camera positions every five seconds. A fifth monitor with desktop and keyboard was Bud's operation desk. At the moment he was sitting in front of it, intently studying the readings on the screen, his fingers resting on the keys, while Fred was peeping over his shoulder. With his right index finger, the young Italian pointed to something and Bud immediately modified a few command lines in the C++ code. From a nearby loudspeaker the low humming of the building's air conditioning could be detected.
"Thorough work, Bud," Sturgis commented, impressed.
"Thank you, sir," Bud answered distractedly, his eyes never leaving his programming.
Grinning, Sturgis exchanged a quick look with Mac. "Carry on, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir," Bud murmured.
Turning to Fred, Sturgis was now anxious to learn about the state of op. "Did you manage to disarm the alarm, Fred?"
"Yes, sir, Lt. Roberts needed about twenty minutes to do it. Clayton Webb's contact supplied us with hints where to hack in so it wasn't too hard. For now, the alarm is still operational, sir. We figured that we didn't want anyone to find out about us and have it fixed before we had our fun."
"Good thinking, Lieutenant. When do you plan to switch it off?"
"0155, sir, if everything goes smoothly. We prepared the video files that will be sent to the security monitors. Whereas..." Fred's face showed traces of a satisfied gloat, "What you see here, sir, are the actual security readings that normally go to the building's observation center. We thought they might come in handy."
Sturgis' esteem of the two eager young men rose to no limits. They sure knew their informatics. "So, where do we see Cadet Stiller's recordings?"
Fred indicated another monitor and loudspeaker that Sturgis hadn't noticed before. "Here's where we'll follow her every move." He cast Jeannine a quick winking smile. Turning back to Sturgis, he sobered. "Sir, I suggest we let Sergei do the guiding job..." he lowered his voice so only Sturgis could hear him, "I think that it would make the cadet feel more at ease."
A smirk showed on Sturgis's face as he followed Fred's guarded glance and witnessed as Sergei was right now adjusting Jeannine's headset, his touch being of a much more tender nature than would have been necessary to do the job. The young girl was smiling, her eyes closed. "I guess, you're right," Sturgis consented. "Keep a keen eye on everything, though, Fred. Let me help Bud do the general stuff at his operation console over there. You stick with Mac and Sergei."
"Aye, sir."
By now Jeannine was ready. She stepped over to them and addressed Sturgis, her voice just a little shaky, while Sergei stood by silently, watching with a very Rabb-ish frown of concern marring his features. "I'm ready, sir. Where do I go?"
Just then a low beep was heard and a colorful reading popped up on Bud's PC. "Security's disabled, sir," Bud reported, his gaze still glued to the monitors.
Silently asking Mac for her consent and seeing her nod briefly, Sturgis turned to the girl in front of him. "Let's do it then, Cadet. I'll come out with you to help you over the fence. The entrance to the sewer system is about halfway between the spot where you'll access the grounds and the nearest wall of the building in front of you. Your gear working?"
"Yes, sir." Jeannine switched it on. Immediately they could see on the monitor whatever the camera next to her right ear registered.
"Say something, Janni," Mac demanded, "Low, please."
"Do you copy?" Jeannine mumbled with a lopsided grin. Her amplified voice resounded clearly from the nearby loudspeakers.
"Yeah, I guess we do." Mac's grin mirrored her friend's, immediately fading. "Thank you, Janni."
"You're welcome," she answered simply.
Mac quickly patted her on the arm. "Good luck."
Sergei pulled his girlfriend into a quick hug. "Daaváai," he whispered with a soft encouraging smile. [Let's go.]
Jeannine briefly smiled back. "I'll be fine." With that, she exited the van, followed closely by Sturgis. Those who remained in the car could see them cross the space until they arrived at the fence.
Sturgis then made a hunchback and let Jeannine sit on his shoulders. He straightened so that she was just able to swing her legs over the top of the fence. With a swift movement she was in, walking in the direction Sturgis had pointed to. After a few yards she knelt down and on the monitor Sergei, Fred and Mac could see her open the drain and lower herself into the system. All went pitch black until Jeannine reached the ground and switched on her flashlight.
Sergei was anxiously watching everything that was going on. 'If only I hadn't gotten so personal earlier,' he kept scolding himself silently. But then... he hadn't really expected her to understand him. For a moment he had been determined to tell her straight out that he was in love with her, but as he had prepared to let the words out, his courage had faltered, making him say them in Russian instead. The safety of his mother tongue would spare him additional concern for now, shutting the admission of their feelings out of the scheme for the moment.
At least so he had thought. Sergei's knees had nearly buckled when he'd heard her answer. 'She loves me back!!!' everything inside him wanted to shout out loud. He wanted to lose himself in the feeling of finally having found someone who cared for him that way. And not just anybody, but the very girl his brother was deeply indebted to for saving his and Mac's lives. Jeannine Stiller sure was a remarkable young woman. And she was in love with him!
Sergei was feeling all giddy and restless, in a definitely positive way. But this bond between them, on the other hand, made his concern for her safety grow considerably. The subsequent uneasiness added to the turmoil in his mind - not exactly a guaranty for a successful mission. Sergei tried to will his emotions back in check. He had to deny them for now, for Jeannine's sake. She depended on him.
["Sergei?"] came her voice over the intercom.
"I'm right here, Janutchka," he immediately responded, trying to sound reassuring. "Everything's gonna be all right."
Mac hid a melancholy smile. This was so Harm.
["Where do I go?"]
Sergei watched as Mac pointed out the estimated route on a map of the building.
"You just follow the tube you're standing in, Jan. After about... umm... 80 yards you should arrive at an intersection. You turn left and take the second maintenance exit that you come by at your left hand side," he explained to her.
["Roger that."]
Mac, Fred and Sergei saw the image beginning to waver as Jeannine walked in the direction Sergei had described. Eventually she reached the crossing and turned left, using the second maintenance exit to crawl upwards into a small maintenance cabinet inside the building in question.
["I'm in."] Jeannine hissed into her microphone.
"Dobry," Sergei murmured to himself, relieved. She had passed the initial hurdle. [Good.] "Okay. Listen, Jan, I want you to get out of the cabinet and turn to your right. Walk down the corridor, up to the second intersection, and then turn right again."
["Okay."] Jeannine set off, her soft tennis shoes making no noise on the linoleum. She cautiously neared the first crossing, peeped down both directions of the intersecting corridors, quickly crossed it and went on. At the second intersection she again stopped, made sure she wasn't being seen and quickly turned around the corner.
Sergei watched, holding his breath, his hands subconsciously clutching the armrests of his seat. Mac felt compassion for her young brother-in-law. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, earning herself a slightly embarrassed but grateful smile.
On the monitor, Sergei could see that Janni approached a heavy two-wing door. He quickly checked his notes. "Okay, I know where you are, Jan," he explained. "Behind those doors is MG's administration. Do you have your gloves on?"
["Yeah."]
"So, the key code is... just a moment..." he gesticulated to Fred who said something to Bud who quickly thumbed through a small stack of papers and handed one to Fred who brought it over. Sergei passed the combination on to Jeannine who inserted Jeremy Cullum's security pass into the keypad at the side of the door and typed in the numbers. With a click and a low buzzing sound the doors slowly swung open.
["Wow..."] Jeannine seemed to be awed by what she had just done.
"What?" Sergei asked, smiling softly.
["You know, Sergeant, I feel like... let's say... Emma Peel or someone in that league,"] she whispered back, obviously amused.
"I'll take you up on the peeling part later, Jan," Sergei couldn't resist answering. A gasp was his answer.
Mac tried hard to hide her grin. This banter reminded her of two certain other people. Talk about genes. But they all had to concentrate on the mission right now. So she hoped that her voice held at least a little scolding edge when she replied. "Could you save the small talk for later, too, Sergeant Zhukov?"
"Yes, ma'am." Sergei's military reflexes kicked in instantly. Again Mac fought a losing battle with her grin.
Jeannine had closed the doors behind herself and looked into just another long corridor. ["What next?"]
"You walk right up to the end of the corridor you're in, Jan, and we'll give you the key code to the office at your right."
Jeannine acknowledged and set off again. As Mac silently followed the pictures on the monitor next to Sergei, she at one point turned to him, curious. "Why does she call you by rank, Sergei?"
Sergei chuckled. "I guess that's the result of a little word game that we came up with the other day on the phone. We were talking and one of us, I don't remember the particulars, used an alliteration we both immediately noticed. So we kind of talked on in ever new alliterations until she had to go and, instead of a goodbye, she said: 'See you, Sergeant Sergei, sir!' That stuck. She even called me Serg Serg once, but I objected to that one."
"I bet you did," Mac replied, grinning, her eyes fixating the monitor. "Okay, guys," she then said a little louder in Sturgis and Bud's direction, "Code to room A 128, please."
"Here you are, ma'am," Fred said as he instantly reached over and handed her another slip of paper that Sturgis had supplied. Sergei read the code to Jeannine who cautiously opened the door, swiftly stepped into the office and closed the door again. She let her flashlight graze the long rows of shelves, sighing.
["Where do I start?"] She sounded just a little skeptical.
"We'll have a problem if they keep the files in a totally different place but Mac says she thinks that bills tend to stick to bills. So look for accounting."
Fred, Mac and Sergei watched as Jeannine slowly skimmed the rows. Seven minutes and twenty-two seconds, according to Mac, passed in silence. Then Jeannine spoke up, making them jump. ["Found it. Now?"]
"Tell her to look under 'B' as in 'Branwick Industries'," Mac instructed Sergei who passed on the request.
Mac followed Jeannine's research on the monitor. Suddenly she shouted: "Hold it!", trying to keep her voice guarded.
"Mac seems to have spotted something in there, Jan," Sergei told his girlfriend.
Jeannine looked at the folder she had just taken out. ["You're right! That's Branwick Industries. I presume I take it with me?"]
"Yeah, but try to rearrange the folders so they won't immediately notice one's missing."
["Done. What now?"]
"Can you take a quick look at what's inside?" Mac had taken the radio now.
They saw Jeannine open the folder and thumb through it. ["Bills mostly. And descriptions of disposal locations. As far as I see... without interruption from October 1997 until now, indicating one tour every two weeks."] Jeannine took the time to read over a few pages. ["Mac, I don't really know about such things but as far as I can tell, the sums listed wouldn't even cover the gasoline that would be necessary to ship the cargo to the locations mentioned."
"Good work, Cadet," Mac acknowledged. "Now we need you to go back to the door..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence. "Ma'am, guard approaching A 128!" Bud called out to her.
'Damn,' Mac inwardly swore. Why couldn't things go smoothly just once? "Janni," she quickly hissed into the intercom, "Try to hide somewhere. We have a guard on an inspection tour approaching your room."
Jeannine willed the panic down and quickly turned to look around. The spinning images on the monitor made the onlookers slightly nauseous. ["There's nowhere to hide!"]
Sergei looked at Mac, silently imploring her to come up with a plan of salvation. Mac bit her lip, her conscience stirring. She should have gone in herself. Now, because of her being overly obedient to her doctors, the girl was in danger. 'Think, Mackenzie! There's got to be a way out of this mess.' Suddenly she had an idea.
"Take the folder in your mouth and stuff the flashlight in your waistband."
["Hmm hmm."]
"Now climb up on top of one of the shelve rows, quick!"
Knowing better than to question the decision of a combat-experienced Marine officer, Jeannine did as she was told. The camera's images didn't make any sense to the observers as she climbed past the rows. ["Hmmmm?"]
"Lay down flat on top and don't make any noise!" was all Mac could tell her before the door was heard clicking again and the dim night lights came on. The next four minutes and twelve seconds were the longest Mac had ever counted. Over the loudspeaker Jeannine could barely be heard breathing as the guard did a routine sweep of the room, not noticing anything suspicious. As soon as he had left, Mac addressed her friend.
"You all right, Janni?"
["Yeah. What do I do?"]
"Try to reach room C 226, Jan." Sergei had taken over again. "You go out, open the metal doors to your right, take the stairs that are located behind the third door to your left. The room is one floor above from where you are right now."
Jeannine quickly found the door in question, tightly holding on to the folder. ["This is the office of General Manager Kristen Cramer-Bernstein,"] she told Sergei.
"I know. Mac wants you to go in there and look for files that somehow relate to Branwick or North Star. We're sure they are somewhere in there if they are at MG at all. Mac doesn't think Maryann would trust anyone else with them than her sister. Start to look everywhere for anything," Sergei added, a little compassionate sarcasm palpable in his voice.
["Great,"] Jeannine muttered to herself. They saw her open drawers, rummage through cupboards, dust bins, file cabinets...
'God, they have to be there, somewhere in that office,' Mac kept telling herself. But the longer Jeannine searched the lesser was the possibility that she would really find something. Eventually Jeannine sighed. She was standing next to Kristen's desk, looking at the floor, defeated.
["I don't know where else to look, Mac."]
"Are you sure you left nothing out, Janni?" Mac had taken the mike again, knowing the answer. Jeannine was too thorough to leave anything out.
["I am, Mac. Look, there's no use continuing in here."]
But on the monitor something had caught Mac's attention. "Kneel down, please, right where you're standing."
Wondering slightly, Jeannine complied. And then she saw them, too. Traces on the carpet, as if the heavy desk had been moved several times recently. ["Do you want me to have a look under the drawers compartment, Mac?"]
"That's what I was thinking about. Can you do that?"
["Sure."] Low moaning and heavy breathing could be heard as Jeannine obviously moved the desk again. ["Mac, there's a couple of photocopies underneath."]
"Good work. Let us have a look at them."
Sergei leaned closer to the monitor as Jeannine lifted the documents to her camera eye. Harm's brother immediately nodded. "That's the material we're looking for."
"Okay, Janni, get the stuff under your sweater, pull back the desk and get the hell out of there," Mac ordered.
["Aye, ma'am."]
On her way back, Jeannine didn't encounter any difficulties, and soon she was at the fence again. Sturgis had taken Fred with him who right now sat on his shoulders, throwing a rope down to Jeannine. She attached it around herself and climbed while Fred pulled her up. As she reached the top and was about to pull her second leg over, she slipped, reflexively grabbed Fred for a hold and sent all three of them toppling to the ground. Fortunately, except for a few bruises for each party, no one was hurt. Minutes later, they were all inside the van again. Bud shut down the computer, having reinstalled the building's security systems, then took the driver's seat and headed off home.
Sergei was overwhelmed with relief that Jeannine was back safely. He immediately pulled her into a tight embrace and made her sit down on his lap. She just took several deep breaths, her eyes closed, trying to relax.
"You did an exceptional job in there, Cadet," Sturgis observed calmly. "I'll make sure that, once all this is over, I'll have Captain Wells add my report to your service record."
"Thank you, sir."
Mac was giving the evidence a quick first survey, whistling under her breath. "I don't know too much about aeronautics, but if this is what I think it is, we have something really big at hand. I doubt it will be enough to clear the admiral's name completely, though. There's still no indication as to who killed Sydney in the first place. But with the North Star data and the bills we found, we should at least be able to raise enough doubt to prevent a finding of 'guilty'. Problem is that we'll have to share our knowledge with Krennick. But I suggest we do that at the latest possible time." She looked up to Fred, determination shining in her glance. "I want you to call Kristen Cramer to the stand."
"So do I, Mac. So do I," Fred answered slowly, somehow confident that he wouldn't be afraid of the task that lay before him.
To be continued... (Feedback always appreciated!)
Author: Daenar Disclaimer: See Part One
From part eleven:
Jeannine let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. Mac had told her of Harm's overprotective nature. 'I think I know what she means.' "I know everything I need to know. It's okay, Sergei," she said gently.
He smiled, blushing slightly. "You know, I'm a little worried about what you're gonna do. I'd rather you wouldn't."
"Hey, I'll be okay." Jeannine glanced up to his kind eyes. "Thank you for caring."
"You know, it's just..." Sergei hesitated, collecting his courage. He swallowed. "Ya looblyóo, Yanina," he whispered. [I love you, Yanina.]
Jeannine didn't know any Russian except the few words that Mac had already taught her. But she was a musician. And she loved Russian opera, especially Evgeny Onyegin by Tchaikovsky. Knowing the score by heart, she had understood exactly what Sergei had just told her. Feeling her pulse accelerate to double speed, she reached up and softly kissed him on the lips.
"Ya tulka looblyóo, Sergei." [I love you, too, Sergei.] "Don't worry. I'll be safe."
Part Twelve:
Mon, March 1st 0649 ZULU Minton Greenwood Inc. 50 miles SE of D.C., VA
"There they are," Sturgis said in a low voice as he indicated the Roberts's van that stood half-hidden behind a row of bushes, approximately ten yards away from the fence that marked the rear border of MG's grounds. He, Sergei and Jeannine, all dressed in dark sweats that Sturgis had been able to provide them with, neared their 'ops central', cautiously sticking to the shadows. Sturgis softly knocked three times at the van's sliding door. Mac almost instantly opened it, quickly granted them access and quietly closed the door as soon as they were cramped inside.
Sturgis let out a low whistle as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. Bud, with Fred's help, had transformed the back of his car into a high tech observation room. Four computer monitors were showing different images, changing camera positions every five seconds. A fifth monitor with desktop and keyboard was Bud's operation desk. At the moment he was sitting in front of it, intently studying the readings on the screen, his fingers resting on the keys, while Fred was peeping over his shoulder. With his right index finger, the young Italian pointed to something and Bud immediately modified a few command lines in the C++ code. From a nearby loudspeaker the low humming of the building's air conditioning could be detected.
"Thorough work, Bud," Sturgis commented, impressed.
"Thank you, sir," Bud answered distractedly, his eyes never leaving his programming.
Grinning, Sturgis exchanged a quick look with Mac. "Carry on, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir," Bud murmured.
Turning to Fred, Sturgis was now anxious to learn about the state of op. "Did you manage to disarm the alarm, Fred?"
"Yes, sir, Lt. Roberts needed about twenty minutes to do it. Clayton Webb's contact supplied us with hints where to hack in so it wasn't too hard. For now, the alarm is still operational, sir. We figured that we didn't want anyone to find out about us and have it fixed before we had our fun."
"Good thinking, Lieutenant. When do you plan to switch it off?"
"0155, sir, if everything goes smoothly. We prepared the video files that will be sent to the security monitors. Whereas..." Fred's face showed traces of a satisfied gloat, "What you see here, sir, are the actual security readings that normally go to the building's observation center. We thought they might come in handy."
Sturgis' esteem of the two eager young men rose to no limits. They sure knew their informatics. "So, where do we see Cadet Stiller's recordings?"
Fred indicated another monitor and loudspeaker that Sturgis hadn't noticed before. "Here's where we'll follow her every move." He cast Jeannine a quick winking smile. Turning back to Sturgis, he sobered. "Sir, I suggest we let Sergei do the guiding job..." he lowered his voice so only Sturgis could hear him, "I think that it would make the cadet feel more at ease."
A smirk showed on Sturgis's face as he followed Fred's guarded glance and witnessed as Sergei was right now adjusting Jeannine's headset, his touch being of a much more tender nature than would have been necessary to do the job. The young girl was smiling, her eyes closed. "I guess, you're right," Sturgis consented. "Keep a keen eye on everything, though, Fred. Let me help Bud do the general stuff at his operation console over there. You stick with Mac and Sergei."
"Aye, sir."
By now Jeannine was ready. She stepped over to them and addressed Sturgis, her voice just a little shaky, while Sergei stood by silently, watching with a very Rabb-ish frown of concern marring his features. "I'm ready, sir. Where do I go?"
Just then a low beep was heard and a colorful reading popped up on Bud's PC. "Security's disabled, sir," Bud reported, his gaze still glued to the monitors.
Silently asking Mac for her consent and seeing her nod briefly, Sturgis turned to the girl in front of him. "Let's do it then, Cadet. I'll come out with you to help you over the fence. The entrance to the sewer system is about halfway between the spot where you'll access the grounds and the nearest wall of the building in front of you. Your gear working?"
"Yes, sir." Jeannine switched it on. Immediately they could see on the monitor whatever the camera next to her right ear registered.
"Say something, Janni," Mac demanded, "Low, please."
"Do you copy?" Jeannine mumbled with a lopsided grin. Her amplified voice resounded clearly from the nearby loudspeakers.
"Yeah, I guess we do." Mac's grin mirrored her friend's, immediately fading. "Thank you, Janni."
"You're welcome," she answered simply.
Mac quickly patted her on the arm. "Good luck."
Sergei pulled his girlfriend into a quick hug. "Daaváai," he whispered with a soft encouraging smile. [Let's go.]
Jeannine briefly smiled back. "I'll be fine." With that, she exited the van, followed closely by Sturgis. Those who remained in the car could see them cross the space until they arrived at the fence.
Sturgis then made a hunchback and let Jeannine sit on his shoulders. He straightened so that she was just able to swing her legs over the top of the fence. With a swift movement she was in, walking in the direction Sturgis had pointed to. After a few yards she knelt down and on the monitor Sergei, Fred and Mac could see her open the drain and lower herself into the system. All went pitch black until Jeannine reached the ground and switched on her flashlight.
Sergei was anxiously watching everything that was going on. 'If only I hadn't gotten so personal earlier,' he kept scolding himself silently. But then... he hadn't really expected her to understand him. For a moment he had been determined to tell her straight out that he was in love with her, but as he had prepared to let the words out, his courage had faltered, making him say them in Russian instead. The safety of his mother tongue would spare him additional concern for now, shutting the admission of their feelings out of the scheme for the moment.
At least so he had thought. Sergei's knees had nearly buckled when he'd heard her answer. 'She loves me back!!!' everything inside him wanted to shout out loud. He wanted to lose himself in the feeling of finally having found someone who cared for him that way. And not just anybody, but the very girl his brother was deeply indebted to for saving his and Mac's lives. Jeannine Stiller sure was a remarkable young woman. And she was in love with him!
Sergei was feeling all giddy and restless, in a definitely positive way. But this bond between them, on the other hand, made his concern for her safety grow considerably. The subsequent uneasiness added to the turmoil in his mind - not exactly a guaranty for a successful mission. Sergei tried to will his emotions back in check. He had to deny them for now, for Jeannine's sake. She depended on him.
["Sergei?"] came her voice over the intercom.
"I'm right here, Janutchka," he immediately responded, trying to sound reassuring. "Everything's gonna be all right."
Mac hid a melancholy smile. This was so Harm.
["Where do I go?"]
Sergei watched as Mac pointed out the estimated route on a map of the building.
"You just follow the tube you're standing in, Jan. After about... umm... 80 yards you should arrive at an intersection. You turn left and take the second maintenance exit that you come by at your left hand side," he explained to her.
["Roger that."]
Mac, Fred and Sergei saw the image beginning to waver as Jeannine walked in the direction Sergei had described. Eventually she reached the crossing and turned left, using the second maintenance exit to crawl upwards into a small maintenance cabinet inside the building in question.
["I'm in."] Jeannine hissed into her microphone.
"Dobry," Sergei murmured to himself, relieved. She had passed the initial hurdle. [Good.] "Okay. Listen, Jan, I want you to get out of the cabinet and turn to your right. Walk down the corridor, up to the second intersection, and then turn right again."
["Okay."] Jeannine set off, her soft tennis shoes making no noise on the linoleum. She cautiously neared the first crossing, peeped down both directions of the intersecting corridors, quickly crossed it and went on. At the second intersection she again stopped, made sure she wasn't being seen and quickly turned around the corner.
Sergei watched, holding his breath, his hands subconsciously clutching the armrests of his seat. Mac felt compassion for her young brother-in-law. She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, earning herself a slightly embarrassed but grateful smile.
On the monitor, Sergei could see that Janni approached a heavy two-wing door. He quickly checked his notes. "Okay, I know where you are, Jan," he explained. "Behind those doors is MG's administration. Do you have your gloves on?"
["Yeah."]
"So, the key code is... just a moment..." he gesticulated to Fred who said something to Bud who quickly thumbed through a small stack of papers and handed one to Fred who brought it over. Sergei passed the combination on to Jeannine who inserted Jeremy Cullum's security pass into the keypad at the side of the door and typed in the numbers. With a click and a low buzzing sound the doors slowly swung open.
["Wow..."] Jeannine seemed to be awed by what she had just done.
"What?" Sergei asked, smiling softly.
["You know, Sergeant, I feel like... let's say... Emma Peel or someone in that league,"] she whispered back, obviously amused.
"I'll take you up on the peeling part later, Jan," Sergei couldn't resist answering. A gasp was his answer.
Mac tried hard to hide her grin. This banter reminded her of two certain other people. Talk about genes. But they all had to concentrate on the mission right now. So she hoped that her voice held at least a little scolding edge when she replied. "Could you save the small talk for later, too, Sergeant Zhukov?"
"Yes, ma'am." Sergei's military reflexes kicked in instantly. Again Mac fought a losing battle with her grin.
Jeannine had closed the doors behind herself and looked into just another long corridor. ["What next?"]
"You walk right up to the end of the corridor you're in, Jan, and we'll give you the key code to the office at your right."
Jeannine acknowledged and set off again. As Mac silently followed the pictures on the monitor next to Sergei, she at one point turned to him, curious. "Why does she call you by rank, Sergei?"
Sergei chuckled. "I guess that's the result of a little word game that we came up with the other day on the phone. We were talking and one of us, I don't remember the particulars, used an alliteration we both immediately noticed. So we kind of talked on in ever new alliterations until she had to go and, instead of a goodbye, she said: 'See you, Sergeant Sergei, sir!' That stuck. She even called me Serg Serg once, but I objected to that one."
"I bet you did," Mac replied, grinning, her eyes fixating the monitor. "Okay, guys," she then said a little louder in Sturgis and Bud's direction, "Code to room A 128, please."
"Here you are, ma'am," Fred said as he instantly reached over and handed her another slip of paper that Sturgis had supplied. Sergei read the code to Jeannine who cautiously opened the door, swiftly stepped into the office and closed the door again. She let her flashlight graze the long rows of shelves, sighing.
["Where do I start?"] She sounded just a little skeptical.
"We'll have a problem if they keep the files in a totally different place but Mac says she thinks that bills tend to stick to bills. So look for accounting."
Fred, Mac and Sergei watched as Jeannine slowly skimmed the rows. Seven minutes and twenty-two seconds, according to Mac, passed in silence. Then Jeannine spoke up, making them jump. ["Found it. Now?"]
"Tell her to look under 'B' as in 'Branwick Industries'," Mac instructed Sergei who passed on the request.
Mac followed Jeannine's research on the monitor. Suddenly she shouted: "Hold it!", trying to keep her voice guarded.
"Mac seems to have spotted something in there, Jan," Sergei told his girlfriend.
Jeannine looked at the folder she had just taken out. ["You're right! That's Branwick Industries. I presume I take it with me?"]
"Yeah, but try to rearrange the folders so they won't immediately notice one's missing."
["Done. What now?"]
"Can you take a quick look at what's inside?" Mac had taken the radio now.
They saw Jeannine open the folder and thumb through it. ["Bills mostly. And descriptions of disposal locations. As far as I see... without interruption from October 1997 until now, indicating one tour every two weeks."] Jeannine took the time to read over a few pages. ["Mac, I don't really know about such things but as far as I can tell, the sums listed wouldn't even cover the gasoline that would be necessary to ship the cargo to the locations mentioned."
"Good work, Cadet," Mac acknowledged. "Now we need you to go back to the door..."
She didn't get to finish her sentence. "Ma'am, guard approaching A 128!" Bud called out to her.
'Damn,' Mac inwardly swore. Why couldn't things go smoothly just once? "Janni," she quickly hissed into the intercom, "Try to hide somewhere. We have a guard on an inspection tour approaching your room."
Jeannine willed the panic down and quickly turned to look around. The spinning images on the monitor made the onlookers slightly nauseous. ["There's nowhere to hide!"]
Sergei looked at Mac, silently imploring her to come up with a plan of salvation. Mac bit her lip, her conscience stirring. She should have gone in herself. Now, because of her being overly obedient to her doctors, the girl was in danger. 'Think, Mackenzie! There's got to be a way out of this mess.' Suddenly she had an idea.
"Take the folder in your mouth and stuff the flashlight in your waistband."
["Hmm hmm."]
"Now climb up on top of one of the shelve rows, quick!"
Knowing better than to question the decision of a combat-experienced Marine officer, Jeannine did as she was told. The camera's images didn't make any sense to the observers as she climbed past the rows. ["Hmmmm?"]
"Lay down flat on top and don't make any noise!" was all Mac could tell her before the door was heard clicking again and the dim night lights came on. The next four minutes and twelve seconds were the longest Mac had ever counted. Over the loudspeaker Jeannine could barely be heard breathing as the guard did a routine sweep of the room, not noticing anything suspicious. As soon as he had left, Mac addressed her friend.
"You all right, Janni?"
["Yeah. What do I do?"]
"Try to reach room C 226, Jan." Sergei had taken over again. "You go out, open the metal doors to your right, take the stairs that are located behind the third door to your left. The room is one floor above from where you are right now."
Jeannine quickly found the door in question, tightly holding on to the folder. ["This is the office of General Manager Kristen Cramer-Bernstein,"] she told Sergei.
"I know. Mac wants you to go in there and look for files that somehow relate to Branwick or North Star. We're sure they are somewhere in there if they are at MG at all. Mac doesn't think Maryann would trust anyone else with them than her sister. Start to look everywhere for anything," Sergei added, a little compassionate sarcasm palpable in his voice.
["Great,"] Jeannine muttered to herself. They saw her open drawers, rummage through cupboards, dust bins, file cabinets...
'God, they have to be there, somewhere in that office,' Mac kept telling herself. But the longer Jeannine searched the lesser was the possibility that she would really find something. Eventually Jeannine sighed. She was standing next to Kristen's desk, looking at the floor, defeated.
["I don't know where else to look, Mac."]
"Are you sure you left nothing out, Janni?" Mac had taken the mike again, knowing the answer. Jeannine was too thorough to leave anything out.
["I am, Mac. Look, there's no use continuing in here."]
But on the monitor something had caught Mac's attention. "Kneel down, please, right where you're standing."
Wondering slightly, Jeannine complied. And then she saw them, too. Traces on the carpet, as if the heavy desk had been moved several times recently. ["Do you want me to have a look under the drawers compartment, Mac?"]
"That's what I was thinking about. Can you do that?"
["Sure."] Low moaning and heavy breathing could be heard as Jeannine obviously moved the desk again. ["Mac, there's a couple of photocopies underneath."]
"Good work. Let us have a look at them."
Sergei leaned closer to the monitor as Jeannine lifted the documents to her camera eye. Harm's brother immediately nodded. "That's the material we're looking for."
"Okay, Janni, get the stuff under your sweater, pull back the desk and get the hell out of there," Mac ordered.
["Aye, ma'am."]
On her way back, Jeannine didn't encounter any difficulties, and soon she was at the fence again. Sturgis had taken Fred with him who right now sat on his shoulders, throwing a rope down to Jeannine. She attached it around herself and climbed while Fred pulled her up. As she reached the top and was about to pull her second leg over, she slipped, reflexively grabbed Fred for a hold and sent all three of them toppling to the ground. Fortunately, except for a few bruises for each party, no one was hurt. Minutes later, they were all inside the van again. Bud shut down the computer, having reinstalled the building's security systems, then took the driver's seat and headed off home.
Sergei was overwhelmed with relief that Jeannine was back safely. He immediately pulled her into a tight embrace and made her sit down on his lap. She just took several deep breaths, her eyes closed, trying to relax.
"You did an exceptional job in there, Cadet," Sturgis observed calmly. "I'll make sure that, once all this is over, I'll have Captain Wells add my report to your service record."
"Thank you, sir."
Mac was giving the evidence a quick first survey, whistling under her breath. "I don't know too much about aeronautics, but if this is what I think it is, we have something really big at hand. I doubt it will be enough to clear the admiral's name completely, though. There's still no indication as to who killed Sydney in the first place. But with the North Star data and the bills we found, we should at least be able to raise enough doubt to prevent a finding of 'guilty'. Problem is that we'll have to share our knowledge with Krennick. But I suggest we do that at the latest possible time." She looked up to Fred, determination shining in her glance. "I want you to call Kristen Cramer to the stand."
"So do I, Mac. So do I," Fred answered slowly, somehow confident that he wouldn't be afraid of the task that lay before him.
To be continued... (Feedback always appreciated!)