Chapter 6
CIA Headquarters, Irina's cell
"Jack?" Irina dropped the book she had been reading all morning into her lap. The sullen look on Jack's face as the guard allowed him entrance into her cell immediately worried her. It was Jack's patented look of parental concern and mistrust. She remembered as Laura Bristow having been on the receiving end of that look. One night, she had been meeting with her KGB officer when Sydney had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendicitis. She had arrived at the hospital an hour after Jack had originally called to inform her of the trouble, and when she finally did show up in the waiting room, he had given her that exact look. "What's the matter?"
"There was a struggle at our daughter's home earlier this afternoon," Jack was trying his best to keep his composure, "and now she is missing."
"What?" Irina asked, standing up quickly. The guards stood at attention, but Jack waved them back.
"It's alright," He said to them. He turned his attention back to Irina. "I want your gut reaction to who might have taken her: Sloane, Sark or other."
"You said there was a struggle," she deadpanned, "how bad was it?"
"A broken door and a few overturned tables, why?" he asked.
"It was Sark."
"I presume from that statement this is not just your gut speaking?"
"He has this thing about kicking in doors. I told him it was stupid and unnecessary to have a trademark." Jack gave her a curious look. "Besides, if it had been Sloane, Sydney wouldn't have put up a fight. He is still her boss, after all."
"Yes, that makes sense, it couldn't have been Arvin. But what would Sark need with Sydney?"
"I don't know," she replied. In an instant her eyes widened. "Oh, no," she breathed.
Barcelona, Underground Laboratory
"Sark," Sydney began, "this is so not amusing." She was lying in a hospital bed with both arms and legs in restraints.
"You might want to stop talking, or I'll have to make this all the more painful."
"I knew you were dying to get me into bed, but resorting to handcuffs without the other person's permission, isn't kinky. It's just pathetic."
Sark held up a long syringe and without a word jabbed it in Sydney's right arm. She bit back a scream.
"I told you to stop talking. Now, I'm going to demand you shut the hell up."
"I hate to ask but what did you inject me with?"
"A virus." Sydney's eyes widened. "You know which one I'm referring to, yes?"
"You bastard," she attempted to kick her legs at him even though in reality she could barely move them. "You sick bastard."
"Don't get so wound up," he laughed. "Would I have taken so much trouble bringing you here if I was just going to infect you with some mundane virus? As much as I hate to say it, it's crucial that you remain alive for the moment."
"Wait, you lied? I'm not sick?"
"I injected you with saline. It was good for a laugh. I assume you don't agree."
"I am really, really," she paused for a moment before smiling, "going to enjoy killing you."
"I don't count on that being part of my plan," he chuckled.
"I assume then," she hoped he was dense enough to divulge some information to her, "you are going to tell me what I'm doing here."
"Nope, I won't be doing that either."
"C'mon Sark. Doesn't the evil genius want to share his plans with the person he's torturing? You don't want to gloat, not even a little?"
"All you need to know is this," Sark picked up a different syringe off the medical tray, "at midnight, I will be more powerful than any man in the Alliance, and I will owe it all to you."
"What does that mean?"
"Patience is a virtue, Agent Bristow."
"Sark, I'm tied to a bed. Holding my bladder is a virtue."
"Okay, now," he said as he prepared, first tying a rubber tube around her upper arm and then releasing the air bubbles out of the empty syringe. She winced as he pierced her vein with the needle, drawing blood. "Don't fuss. Unfortunately, this won't hurt too much."
CIA Headquarters, Irina's cell
"He needs her blood for WHAT?" Jack couldn't control his yelling. He was too enraged. "I can not believe you withheld this information. You didn't think the CIA would want to know about this BEFORE your daughter was abducted?"
"I had no way of knowing that Sark would go after Sydney, Jack. I falsely believed the project would be terminated after my disappearance."
"So that's why Sark joined SD-6, to find you. It makes perfect sense now."
"I never meant for any of this to happen," Irina lamented.
"Yes, you did. Everything you do is planned meticulously down to the last minute detail. I should have remembered that. You're conniving and pathological and if you get my daughter killed I will see to it you rot in hell."
"Jack, I swear I have nothing to do with this," she tried again but it was no use, he was already out of the cell and on his way upstairs to debrief Kendall with the new information.
CIA Headquarters, Jack's Office
"I just spoke to Ms. Derevko. We have a very serious problem on our hands," Jack spoke solemnly to Kendall and Vaughn.
"Three years ago Derevko and Khasinau discovered a Rambaldi artifact that the CIA has no knowledge of. Written on this artifact is another prophecy. They discovered after months of decoding that Rambaldi had hidden a ring in an underground tunnel underneath the Notre Damn cathedral. Derevko retrieved this ring and brought it back to Russia."
"What is so special about this ring? I still don't understand how Sydney is connected in all this," Vaughn asked.
"I was about to tell you Agent Vaughn. The prophecy states that when the ring is stretched and the bonds become broken, it will release an atomic blast unlike anything we have witnessed before."
"So Sark is in control of the most powerful explosive on the planet, that's just wonderful," Kendall retorted.
"You haven't heard the half of it," Jack continued. Kendall covered his face before gesturing for Jack to explain.
"The ring is not just an explosive. The way it deconstructs is revolutionary. Once the bond is initially broken the ring will emit a radioactive signal that speeds up the half-life of all living matter."
"The planet will start to decay," Vaughn hypothesized.
"Yes, very quickly. It is imperative to get this ring away from Sark immediately."
"I don't understand why Sydney became involved?" Vaughn asked.
"Derevko placed the ring in a laboratory underneath one of her safe houses in Barcelona. The ring is locked in a very unique chamber. The only way to open this chamber is with a code. Her DNA."
"I know mother's and daughters share DNA but aren't all DNA codes different?"
"Yes, and that is why Sark came to the states looking for Derevko. What he must have only recently found out is that the code Derevko used was for mitochondrial DNA, which is identical in all maternal relatives."
"Sydney's DNA unlocks the chamber and Sark gets the ring," Vaughn summarized. "Kendall, I'm going to Barcelona tonight."
"Did Derevko give you enough information to successfully send a team into the laboratory?" Jack nodded. "Okay then Agents, suit up. The plane will be ready in fifteen minutes."
"We'll bring her home," Vaughn said to ease his intense worry. "We'll bring her home."
CIA Headquarters, Irina's cell
"Jack?" Irina dropped the book she had been reading all morning into her lap. The sullen look on Jack's face as the guard allowed him entrance into her cell immediately worried her. It was Jack's patented look of parental concern and mistrust. She remembered as Laura Bristow having been on the receiving end of that look. One night, she had been meeting with her KGB officer when Sydney had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendicitis. She had arrived at the hospital an hour after Jack had originally called to inform her of the trouble, and when she finally did show up in the waiting room, he had given her that exact look. "What's the matter?"
"There was a struggle at our daughter's home earlier this afternoon," Jack was trying his best to keep his composure, "and now she is missing."
"What?" Irina asked, standing up quickly. The guards stood at attention, but Jack waved them back.
"It's alright," He said to them. He turned his attention back to Irina. "I want your gut reaction to who might have taken her: Sloane, Sark or other."
"You said there was a struggle," she deadpanned, "how bad was it?"
"A broken door and a few overturned tables, why?" he asked.
"It was Sark."
"I presume from that statement this is not just your gut speaking?"
"He has this thing about kicking in doors. I told him it was stupid and unnecessary to have a trademark." Jack gave her a curious look. "Besides, if it had been Sloane, Sydney wouldn't have put up a fight. He is still her boss, after all."
"Yes, that makes sense, it couldn't have been Arvin. But what would Sark need with Sydney?"
"I don't know," she replied. In an instant her eyes widened. "Oh, no," she breathed.
Barcelona, Underground Laboratory
"Sark," Sydney began, "this is so not amusing." She was lying in a hospital bed with both arms and legs in restraints.
"You might want to stop talking, or I'll have to make this all the more painful."
"I knew you were dying to get me into bed, but resorting to handcuffs without the other person's permission, isn't kinky. It's just pathetic."
Sark held up a long syringe and without a word jabbed it in Sydney's right arm. She bit back a scream.
"I told you to stop talking. Now, I'm going to demand you shut the hell up."
"I hate to ask but what did you inject me with?"
"A virus." Sydney's eyes widened. "You know which one I'm referring to, yes?"
"You bastard," she attempted to kick her legs at him even though in reality she could barely move them. "You sick bastard."
"Don't get so wound up," he laughed. "Would I have taken so much trouble bringing you here if I was just going to infect you with some mundane virus? As much as I hate to say it, it's crucial that you remain alive for the moment."
"Wait, you lied? I'm not sick?"
"I injected you with saline. It was good for a laugh. I assume you don't agree."
"I am really, really," she paused for a moment before smiling, "going to enjoy killing you."
"I don't count on that being part of my plan," he chuckled.
"I assume then," she hoped he was dense enough to divulge some information to her, "you are going to tell me what I'm doing here."
"Nope, I won't be doing that either."
"C'mon Sark. Doesn't the evil genius want to share his plans with the person he's torturing? You don't want to gloat, not even a little?"
"All you need to know is this," Sark picked up a different syringe off the medical tray, "at midnight, I will be more powerful than any man in the Alliance, and I will owe it all to you."
"What does that mean?"
"Patience is a virtue, Agent Bristow."
"Sark, I'm tied to a bed. Holding my bladder is a virtue."
"Okay, now," he said as he prepared, first tying a rubber tube around her upper arm and then releasing the air bubbles out of the empty syringe. She winced as he pierced her vein with the needle, drawing blood. "Don't fuss. Unfortunately, this won't hurt too much."
CIA Headquarters, Irina's cell
"He needs her blood for WHAT?" Jack couldn't control his yelling. He was too enraged. "I can not believe you withheld this information. You didn't think the CIA would want to know about this BEFORE your daughter was abducted?"
"I had no way of knowing that Sark would go after Sydney, Jack. I falsely believed the project would be terminated after my disappearance."
"So that's why Sark joined SD-6, to find you. It makes perfect sense now."
"I never meant for any of this to happen," Irina lamented.
"Yes, you did. Everything you do is planned meticulously down to the last minute detail. I should have remembered that. You're conniving and pathological and if you get my daughter killed I will see to it you rot in hell."
"Jack, I swear I have nothing to do with this," she tried again but it was no use, he was already out of the cell and on his way upstairs to debrief Kendall with the new information.
CIA Headquarters, Jack's Office
"I just spoke to Ms. Derevko. We have a very serious problem on our hands," Jack spoke solemnly to Kendall and Vaughn.
"Three years ago Derevko and Khasinau discovered a Rambaldi artifact that the CIA has no knowledge of. Written on this artifact is another prophecy. They discovered after months of decoding that Rambaldi had hidden a ring in an underground tunnel underneath the Notre Damn cathedral. Derevko retrieved this ring and brought it back to Russia."
"What is so special about this ring? I still don't understand how Sydney is connected in all this," Vaughn asked.
"I was about to tell you Agent Vaughn. The prophecy states that when the ring is stretched and the bonds become broken, it will release an atomic blast unlike anything we have witnessed before."
"So Sark is in control of the most powerful explosive on the planet, that's just wonderful," Kendall retorted.
"You haven't heard the half of it," Jack continued. Kendall covered his face before gesturing for Jack to explain.
"The ring is not just an explosive. The way it deconstructs is revolutionary. Once the bond is initially broken the ring will emit a radioactive signal that speeds up the half-life of all living matter."
"The planet will start to decay," Vaughn hypothesized.
"Yes, very quickly. It is imperative to get this ring away from Sark immediately."
"I don't understand why Sydney became involved?" Vaughn asked.
"Derevko placed the ring in a laboratory underneath one of her safe houses in Barcelona. The ring is locked in a very unique chamber. The only way to open this chamber is with a code. Her DNA."
"I know mother's and daughters share DNA but aren't all DNA codes different?"
"Yes, and that is why Sark came to the states looking for Derevko. What he must have only recently found out is that the code Derevko used was for mitochondrial DNA, which is identical in all maternal relatives."
"Sydney's DNA unlocks the chamber and Sark gets the ring," Vaughn summarized. "Kendall, I'm going to Barcelona tonight."
"Did Derevko give you enough information to successfully send a team into the laboratory?" Jack nodded. "Okay then Agents, suit up. The plane will be ready in fifteen minutes."
"We'll bring her home," Vaughn said to ease his intense worry. "We'll bring her home."