Jack
Jack had no idea where he was. He didn't even know how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was storming away from Irina's cell, furious at her and furious at himself. That woman had betrayed him once, and now his heart was betraying him again. He had headed straight to the seedy bar he had frequented for the past 20 years, to drown the treacherous memories of Laura one more time, and to give him courage for another day without her. The Scotch had arrived, and he had downed it in one gulp. He remembered feeling confused and fuzzy - damn, his drink must have been doped. Great, he thought disgustedly. Superspy downed by one of the simplest tricks in the book.
Jack heard footsteps approaching. He flinched involuntarily. So, this is what it must have been like for Pavlov's dogs, he thought grimly. Two guards approached his cell, with large pails. Wordlessly, they unlocked the cell and stepped over to where he lay. Jack held himself rigid, ready for the kicks. Instead, the guards upended the pails over him. Cold water soaked Jack to the bone. In the chilly cell, lying on the wet floor with no blanket, Jack knew that sleep would not be coming soon.
Sydney
As Sydney had listened to her mother describe the layout of the underground prison, with its central core of barracks and its perimeter of cells on 5 levels, she had felt overwhelmed by hopelessness. Even if she were to somehow penetrate the central core, it would take her hours to find the cell her father was in.
"Sydney", her mother had said gently. "You understand that there is no way you could safely extract your father, don't you?"
Sydney set her jaw. "All I know is that, if the situations were reversed, he would come after me. The plane leaves in an hour. Are you going to come up with a solution or not?"
"Sydney! Do you think for a moment that that is what your father would want you to do? Needlessly risking your life for his when he might already be dead?" Her mother glared at her, frustrated more than she had ever been by the glass that separated them. Panic at losing her daughter adding an edge to her voice.
"Haven't you ever loved someone enough to be willing to risk your life for him?" Sydney asked sadly.
"Oh, Sydney." her mother choked, turning away as tears sprang to her eyes, remembering Laura, in a different life, double-crossing her handlers to keep them from kidnapping Jack and Sydney back to Russia.
Irina turned back to Sydney and stared at her in silence.
"I might have a plan," she said.
Irina
Irina checked her watch and applied her lipstick with care, sighed, then started moving towards the surface buildings of the Voronezh complex in the distance. As she left the cover of the trees, she moved cautiously, knowing that there would be perimeter security on the facility and knowing that she was a sitting duck for any patrol. Sure enough, she had not moved more than 200 yards before a Land Rover started up and headed in her direction, with a guard at the machine gun mounted on top. Irina put her hands into the air and waited.
Jack had no idea where he was. He didn't even know how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was storming away from Irina's cell, furious at her and furious at himself. That woman had betrayed him once, and now his heart was betraying him again. He had headed straight to the seedy bar he had frequented for the past 20 years, to drown the treacherous memories of Laura one more time, and to give him courage for another day without her. The Scotch had arrived, and he had downed it in one gulp. He remembered feeling confused and fuzzy - damn, his drink must have been doped. Great, he thought disgustedly. Superspy downed by one of the simplest tricks in the book.
Jack heard footsteps approaching. He flinched involuntarily. So, this is what it must have been like for Pavlov's dogs, he thought grimly. Two guards approached his cell, with large pails. Wordlessly, they unlocked the cell and stepped over to where he lay. Jack held himself rigid, ready for the kicks. Instead, the guards upended the pails over him. Cold water soaked Jack to the bone. In the chilly cell, lying on the wet floor with no blanket, Jack knew that sleep would not be coming soon.
Sydney
As Sydney had listened to her mother describe the layout of the underground prison, with its central core of barracks and its perimeter of cells on 5 levels, she had felt overwhelmed by hopelessness. Even if she were to somehow penetrate the central core, it would take her hours to find the cell her father was in.
"Sydney", her mother had said gently. "You understand that there is no way you could safely extract your father, don't you?"
Sydney set her jaw. "All I know is that, if the situations were reversed, he would come after me. The plane leaves in an hour. Are you going to come up with a solution or not?"
"Sydney! Do you think for a moment that that is what your father would want you to do? Needlessly risking your life for his when he might already be dead?" Her mother glared at her, frustrated more than she had ever been by the glass that separated them. Panic at losing her daughter adding an edge to her voice.
"Haven't you ever loved someone enough to be willing to risk your life for him?" Sydney asked sadly.
"Oh, Sydney." her mother choked, turning away as tears sprang to her eyes, remembering Laura, in a different life, double-crossing her handlers to keep them from kidnapping Jack and Sydney back to Russia.
Irina turned back to Sydney and stared at her in silence.
"I might have a plan," she said.
Irina
Irina checked her watch and applied her lipstick with care, sighed, then started moving towards the surface buildings of the Voronezh complex in the distance. As she left the cover of the trees, she moved cautiously, knowing that there would be perimeter security on the facility and knowing that she was a sitting duck for any patrol. Sure enough, she had not moved more than 200 yards before a Land Rover started up and headed in her direction, with a guard at the machine gun mounted on top. Irina put her hands into the air and waited.