Francie does not know that Sydney used to work for SD-6 or the CIA, sorry
if I didn't make that clear. Thanks for the reviews, please, please keep
reviewing - it'll make me write much faster. Hopefully. School started
again today so I may have to write even less than I do now.
Last night's ep was The Passage Part 1 here in the UK. Awww, how sweet was that Syd/Vaughn scene with the watch?!
Yay! Chapter 7, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a while! So, read, enjoy, review :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Summer drifted lazily into autumn and day by day the search for the next disk continued. Sydney threw herself wholeheartedly into her missions and during the lull that came between retrieving Disk One and finding Disk Two she made herself useful in other cases. Marie always accompanied her, as the younger agent needed all the experience she could get, and Sydney was glad of the company. As time passed, the two women became very close and each learned to trust the other with her life. The leaves, which turned golden and fell from the trees, escaped Sydney's notice, as did the shortening days and longer nights. The night before she was due to leave for a mission, she glanced at the calendar that hung next to the fridge and was shocked to find that the school year started the next day. Looking at the clock, she decided it was not too late to call the principal and explain. But what was she supposed to say? She couldn't tell him the truth - that was for sure. Nervously, she dialled the number and waited while it rang.
"Adam Croft speaking, who's calling?"
"Sydney Vaughn."
"Hello, Sydney. What's the matter?"
"I can't come in tomorrow," Sydney winced as she said it and hoped that her nervousness did not come across in her voice.
"Why?" He sounded annoyed.
"I have a. . . erm. . ." she was struggling here, desperately looking around for inspiration.
"You have a what?" He was definitely annoyed.
"A sick friend." Sydney shut her eyes and leaned her head back in self- loathing. She could not believe she was doing this again.
"Oh dear, I hope it's not too bad." Principal Croft sighed.
"They're not sure yet. She's on the other side of the country, I may need to be with her for a few days." Sydney decided that, since she was sitting here lying her head off, she might as well get as much time off as she could. She would work hard for the CIA this week and then go back to teaching after that. She knew that she would have to make a decision soon but she could get away with lies and excuses for the time being.
"Oh, by all means, take as much time as you need. We'll get a substitute teacher until you get back. I think my wife knows someone who's looking for work." Sydney felt guilty that Principal Croft was being so reasonable about this. She almost wished that he would shout and make it more difficult for her because then maybe she would feel better about lying. Seconds later, Croft shattered any thought of getting off lightly. "However," he continued, "I have to warn you that if this kind of thing continues we'll have to replace you. I don't want to do that, Sydney. You're a good teacher and the kids love you, but that won't stop me from getting a teacher who can at least come in on the first day of the year."
"I understand," she said quietly, sadly.
"Sydney, understand that if it was only your interests at stake, I would keep you on. But I'm running a school here and kids that young need a steady teacher."
"Oh yeah, I totally understand. It won't happen again, I promise." She regretted that as soon as she said it. She was in no position to promise things she had no control over. As she ended the call and put the phone down, she wondered how she would ever get this to work. Could she work weekends and evenings for the CIA and weekdays at the school? No, that was stupid. Her job at the CIA was not a normal nine-to-five job. It was an unpredictable, must-be-ready-to-fly-off-at-a-moments-notice kind of job and it would be almost impossible to hold down a steady teaching job as well, wouldn't it? She wondered if anyone had ever been an agent for the CIA and had a normal job as well.
* * *
"Kendall wants to see you," Marie informed Sydney before perching herself on the edge of Sydney's desk. Sydney groaned.
"Any idea why?" she asked. Kendall always wanted to see her for one reason or another. His obsession with separating her from Vaughn while at work was still going strong and he regularly called them in to remind them of his threat.
Marie shook her head. "It might be something to do with your mom," she offered. "He said he wanted to start using her intel again, didn't he?"
"Maybe," Sydney was not convinced. "That was last week though, you'd think he'd have gotten over it by now. One way to find out, I suppose." Sydney sighed and stood up. Marie gave her a friendly grimace as she hopped off the desk and went to get a cup of coffee.
Reluctantly, Sydney pushed open the door to Kendall's office.
"You wanted to see me?" she said, coming to stand in front of his desk.
"Yes," he said slowly and she could see by the expression on his face that she was not going to like what he said next. "We'd like you to talk to Sloane. We've been working on deciphering the code on Disk One and we believe, if we've deciphered it correctly, that there are references to the Alliance, and Sloane in particular."
"What? No!" Sydney's first reaction was one of outrage. Whatever she had been expecting, it was certainly not this.
"Agent Bristow, when I ask you to do something, I don't expect you to refuse. Are we forgetting that Agent Vaughn would be equally good at his job if he was in, oh say, New York?"
"You can't do that," hissed Sydney angrily.
"Oh, you'd better believe I can," Kendall said, his voice low and dangerous. "Get Sloane to tell you everything he knows. It may not be much, but I'm sure he knows something."
"And if he won't talk?" Sydney asked, glaring at Kendall, her disgust clear in her voice and eyes.
"You'd just better hope he does." On hearing this, Sydney shot Kendall a final glare before stalking out of his office
* * *
Taking a deep breath and clenching her fists, Sydney forced herself to walk steadily up to Sloane's cell. He turned as he heard the heavy clanking of the bars lifting to allow her through and his lips curled into a cruel smile when he saw who his visitor was. Sydney shuddered inwardly, but did not let her feelings show. She would not appear to be affected by him this time; he would not have the upper hand again. She stepped cautiously up to the glass partition that kept him away from her and folded her arms across her chest.
"Sydney," he said quietly and slowly, completely in control of his emotions and giving no thoughts or feelings away in his voice. "How nice of you to come by."
"We have intel which leads us to believe that you are involved with Henry Lloyd and whatever he's trying to do."
"Ah, it's not a social call. How disappointing," Sloane fixed his eyes on Sydney's and studied her face carefully. She was unnerved by his manner of speaking. Everything he said was said slowly and with precision, as if he had spent weeks planning for this conversation and was accurately predicting her responses. "I suppose it was naive of me to think you would come to see me when you didn't want something. Tell me, do you ever visit your mother without being forced to?" This was evidently Sloane's favourite part of the conversation. He raised his eyebrows and looked deep into Sydney's eyes. Then he shook his head. "I didn't think so. It's a shame, Sydney. She could have taught you so much." This last part was said cautiously, as if he was not sure what Sydney's reaction would be. He noted her quick intake of breath and he was almost certain that he saw her eyes begin to cloud with unwanted tears. However, she rapidly regained her composure and began to ask questions. Her questions were in vain though. She would ask a question, he would reply with a sarcastic answer, or a comment on her life or work. They repeated this endless cycle for what seemed like hours. Eventually, Sydney lost her patience.
"Tell me what you know! You have nothing to gain by lying or keeping this from us"
"I have nothing to gain by telling you the truth. You're not going to let me go," he said coolly.
"What you'll gain is that you won't have to have the answers tortured out of you." Sydney fixed him with an icy, but emotionless, stare and waited for him to respond to this. His reply sent her thoughts reeling.
"And who's going to ask to have me tortured, Sydney? Will it be you?" he nodded, the cruel smile playing at his lips once again. "You'll sit and watch as I scream out in pain, but you won't get your answers. They'll keep on and on cutting into me but I won't give in, and you'll be watching. Because my torture will be on your orders and you won't be able to tear your eyes away even though it kills you inside. Can you do that Sydney?" he regarded her for a moment before continuing, a dangerous glint in his cold, unfeeling eyes. "No, of course not. If you torture me, you'll become just like me. And just like your mother." Sloane spat the words "your mother" contemptuously then turned his back to Sydney, indicating that he would not answer any more questions.
Sydney was at a loss for what to do. Sloane clearly knew something, what it was she did not know, but that he did have intel was written all over his face and implied in every smug word he uttered. She knew she could not torture him, or even ask for him to be tortured. His words had struck a nerve in her and, as much as she hated him, she also believed them to be true. She was prepared to get the intel from another source if it meant she avoided becoming a cold-blooded killer. Another source. For an instant, Sydney fought a mental battle. There was another source. It was possible that Irina Derevko knew as much about this case as Sloane did. Sydney decided that, however unwilling she was, this was for the good of the country. Besides, she thought, the sooner she got this case over, the sooner she could return to her quiet, normal life.
The last time Irina Derevko had seen her daughter, Sydney had broken down and Irina had comforted her. For a tiny moment they had simply been mother and daughter, but this time the atmosphere between them was strained and uncomfortable. Sydney was ashamed at the way she had behaved before, Irina was resentful that her daughter, whom she had felt a bond with if only for an instant, did not come to see her more often.
"What do you want to know?" asked Irina, in the same soft, lyrical voice that she used whenever she spoke with her daughter. Sydney was saddened by the voice. She remembered Laura Bristow, who had told her bedtime stories and sung to her in the same voice. Although Sydney did not seem to be affected at all, inside she was crying. Crying for the little girl whose mother had died in a car accident, crying for the little girl's father who was so distraught by his wife's death that he could barely look at his daughter and the little girl cried too because every time she came here it felt like her mother had died all over again. Irina knew none of this and waited patiently for another opportunity to regain her daughter's trust.
"Do you know anything about Henry Lloyd? Anything about the disks, what he's planning to do, Sloane's involvement. Anything." It had become almost a plea. Irina seemed unsurprised by Sydney's question and replied without removing her eyes from Sydney's face. She could see some of her own characteristics in her daughter, and not just in her looks. She possessed the same headstrong recklessness that Irina herself had been severely reprimanded for many times during her work for the KGB, and she also had a strong sense of loyalty. Irina had loyalty, in her own way. It had not been for her family, for the people who mattered, but it was there nonetheless. As she looked at Sydney, she knew that her daughter already used their shared qualities for a much better purpose than Irina had ever done, and she felt a strange sense of pride in looking at the person she had so much in common with, yet at the same time so little.
"Sloane was the holder of Disk Two until he was brought in here." Sydney's eyes widened in surprise.
"How do you know?" she asked, amazed.
"That is irrelevant. When you're in this business as long as I am you learn these things."
"But. . . that would mean that Lloyd's been planning this for over four years. . ." Sydney said, half to herself. She was stunned by how important these disks must be if they had been made so long ago. "Wait a minute, why would Lloyd give one of the disks to Sloane? They had a disagreement. . . Lloyd left the Alliance. . . this doesn't make sense."
Irina shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know why, I just know," she said.
Sydney nodded, her mind working fast to take in the information she had just been given. "So, where's the disk now?" she asked. "Sloane must have hidden it somewhere, he didn't have it with him when he was brought in here because it would have been taken away from him."
"When Sark worked for me, he mentioned something about a disk. I believe it may be the one you're looking for. It was supposedly hidden in a medical research centre in Athens. Sark went to retrieve it, but," she shrugged again, "he did not find it. That's all I know."
Sydney looked up at her mother and smiled. "Thank you," she said softly.
* * *
"Sark raided the medical centre four years ago. It must have been around the time Irina Derevko was brought in here, or a few weeks earlier. He broke into an underground vault under the main part of the centre but, as your mother told you, he didn't take anything." Sydney nodded. Her anger at Kendall had subsided and she listened patiently as he informed her of what their next move would be.
"We believe the disk is still there; that it was never in the vault but rather kept in a Dr. Alan Clyde's personal safe," continued Vaughn. "Clyde has ties to Sloane and has been involved with him in past operations so we think Sloane may have asked him to keep the disk for him."
"So, this Dr Clyde. . . do we know where this safe is likely to be?"
"He has an office there where he apparently spends a lot of his time. If it's anywhere in the centre, that's where it'll be." Sydney nodded again before Kendall proceeded to outline the mission.
* * *
Marie rapped lightly on the door of Dr Clyde's office. He opened the door himself, and after looking her asked her who she was. She informed him that she was a medical student from America and was interested in his latest project. He seemed surprised that someone would show any interest in his work, and opened the door to let her in with a wide grin.
"How about a tour of the Centre?" he offered. Marie looked at her watch. She knew she mustn't take too long if they were going to make it out of the Centre undetected. He saw her uneasy glance and offered to shorten the tour to just his latest work. She agreed and he led her off in the direction of the laboratory. From her position crouched behind a trolley of equipment, Sydney watched them until they turned the corner. As soon as they were out of sight, she crawled out from the small space she had occupied and quickly picked the lock to the door of Clyde's office. Once inside she began to search the room for the safe. She worked quickly and precisely, looking behind every picture on the wall and every book on the shelves. She was careful to leave everything exactly where she found it. The Research Centre was like a rabbit warren full of pristine white corridors and they would need all the head start they could get to return safely to the extraction point. Eventually, she found it. It was in a strange place for a safe - very near the floor behind the books on the lowest shelf of the bookcase in the corner of the room. It did not take long to unscramble the code, and soon Sydney had pocketed the disk, which was indeed being kept in the safe. Irina had seemed pretty sure that this was the disk they were looking for, and since it was in an envelope written on in Sloane's handwriting, Sydney was pretty sure that her mother was right.
Sydney returned to her cramped hiding place behind the trolley and waited for Marie to return. Her endurance was soon rewarded as Marie and Dr Clyde returned only a few minutes later.
"Thank you very much, sir," drawled Marie as she shook his hand. "I sure am impressed. Your work is real good." He grinned at her again and let himself into his office, failing to notice that the previously locked door was now unlocked because he was completely delighted that Marie had praised his work so much.
The two agents quickly began to make their way back through the maze of corridors.
"Did you get the disk?" Marie asked, as they turned the corner away from Clyde's office.
"Yeah," Sydney smiled. They continued in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, they heard a guard behind them. He was asking them to stop. "Split," Sydney whispered when she saw they were coming to a junction in the corridors. The guard continued to yell at them. Sydney took the right corridor, and Marie peeled off to the left. The guard stopped in the middle, unsure which of them to follow or if he should even follow either of them. Both women were running now, trying to work their way out as fast as possible. Sydney turned corner after corner until she was sure she was going round in a circle. Marie did the same until she saw someone about to turn the corner. He was definitely not an employee of the Research Centre, as was shown by his black clothing and the rifle he carried. In a moment of panic, Marie darted into the nearest room, which was luckily empty. There was nowhere to hide there, so she stood uncertainly in the middle of the room, waiting. The man in black came closer, looking into each room as he progressed down the corridor. He came to Marie's room, just as she turned her back to the door to assess the possible escape routes.
Sydney continued to work her way through the endless white labyrinth of corridors.
"Drop your weapon!" Sydney froze. She looked around her but could see no one. The voice was coming from a room to her left. She edged closer to the door and pressed herself against the wall next to it. Turning her head to the side, she could see a man. He had his back to the door and was pointing a weapon at someone else in the room. Risking a glance through the window, Sydney could see that the weapon was aimed at a woman who also had her back to the door. Sydney recognised the woman immediately - it was Marie. She withdrew her head instantly and flattened herself against the wall again, listening intently to what went on.
Inside the room, Marie had dropped her gun to the floor and now had her hands in the air next to her shoulders.
"Hands behind your head!" he ordered. Marie hesitated. "Now!" Marie did as she was told and slowly placed her trembling hands behind her head, her fingertips barely touching.
"Now turn around. Slowly!" he barked. Once again, Marie obeyed. She slowly turned to face him and gasped when she saw him.
"Marie?" he asked, his voice painting a picture of shock and wonder.
"Richard!" she exclaimed, her voice rose in terror and it was plain that, though she was surprised, she was not pleased to see him.
Out in the corridor, Sydney's hands flew to her mouth to prevent herself from gasping, her eyes wide in shock.
TBC. . .
Last night's ep was The Passage Part 1 here in the UK. Awww, how sweet was that Syd/Vaughn scene with the watch?!
Yay! Chapter 7, I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a while! So, read, enjoy, review :)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Summer drifted lazily into autumn and day by day the search for the next disk continued. Sydney threw herself wholeheartedly into her missions and during the lull that came between retrieving Disk One and finding Disk Two she made herself useful in other cases. Marie always accompanied her, as the younger agent needed all the experience she could get, and Sydney was glad of the company. As time passed, the two women became very close and each learned to trust the other with her life. The leaves, which turned golden and fell from the trees, escaped Sydney's notice, as did the shortening days and longer nights. The night before she was due to leave for a mission, she glanced at the calendar that hung next to the fridge and was shocked to find that the school year started the next day. Looking at the clock, she decided it was not too late to call the principal and explain. But what was she supposed to say? She couldn't tell him the truth - that was for sure. Nervously, she dialled the number and waited while it rang.
"Adam Croft speaking, who's calling?"
"Sydney Vaughn."
"Hello, Sydney. What's the matter?"
"I can't come in tomorrow," Sydney winced as she said it and hoped that her nervousness did not come across in her voice.
"Why?" He sounded annoyed.
"I have a. . . erm. . ." she was struggling here, desperately looking around for inspiration.
"You have a what?" He was definitely annoyed.
"A sick friend." Sydney shut her eyes and leaned her head back in self- loathing. She could not believe she was doing this again.
"Oh dear, I hope it's not too bad." Principal Croft sighed.
"They're not sure yet. She's on the other side of the country, I may need to be with her for a few days." Sydney decided that, since she was sitting here lying her head off, she might as well get as much time off as she could. She would work hard for the CIA this week and then go back to teaching after that. She knew that she would have to make a decision soon but she could get away with lies and excuses for the time being.
"Oh, by all means, take as much time as you need. We'll get a substitute teacher until you get back. I think my wife knows someone who's looking for work." Sydney felt guilty that Principal Croft was being so reasonable about this. She almost wished that he would shout and make it more difficult for her because then maybe she would feel better about lying. Seconds later, Croft shattered any thought of getting off lightly. "However," he continued, "I have to warn you that if this kind of thing continues we'll have to replace you. I don't want to do that, Sydney. You're a good teacher and the kids love you, but that won't stop me from getting a teacher who can at least come in on the first day of the year."
"I understand," she said quietly, sadly.
"Sydney, understand that if it was only your interests at stake, I would keep you on. But I'm running a school here and kids that young need a steady teacher."
"Oh yeah, I totally understand. It won't happen again, I promise." She regretted that as soon as she said it. She was in no position to promise things she had no control over. As she ended the call and put the phone down, she wondered how she would ever get this to work. Could she work weekends and evenings for the CIA and weekdays at the school? No, that was stupid. Her job at the CIA was not a normal nine-to-five job. It was an unpredictable, must-be-ready-to-fly-off-at-a-moments-notice kind of job and it would be almost impossible to hold down a steady teaching job as well, wouldn't it? She wondered if anyone had ever been an agent for the CIA and had a normal job as well.
* * *
"Kendall wants to see you," Marie informed Sydney before perching herself on the edge of Sydney's desk. Sydney groaned.
"Any idea why?" she asked. Kendall always wanted to see her for one reason or another. His obsession with separating her from Vaughn while at work was still going strong and he regularly called them in to remind them of his threat.
Marie shook her head. "It might be something to do with your mom," she offered. "He said he wanted to start using her intel again, didn't he?"
"Maybe," Sydney was not convinced. "That was last week though, you'd think he'd have gotten over it by now. One way to find out, I suppose." Sydney sighed and stood up. Marie gave her a friendly grimace as she hopped off the desk and went to get a cup of coffee.
Reluctantly, Sydney pushed open the door to Kendall's office.
"You wanted to see me?" she said, coming to stand in front of his desk.
"Yes," he said slowly and she could see by the expression on his face that she was not going to like what he said next. "We'd like you to talk to Sloane. We've been working on deciphering the code on Disk One and we believe, if we've deciphered it correctly, that there are references to the Alliance, and Sloane in particular."
"What? No!" Sydney's first reaction was one of outrage. Whatever she had been expecting, it was certainly not this.
"Agent Bristow, when I ask you to do something, I don't expect you to refuse. Are we forgetting that Agent Vaughn would be equally good at his job if he was in, oh say, New York?"
"You can't do that," hissed Sydney angrily.
"Oh, you'd better believe I can," Kendall said, his voice low and dangerous. "Get Sloane to tell you everything he knows. It may not be much, but I'm sure he knows something."
"And if he won't talk?" Sydney asked, glaring at Kendall, her disgust clear in her voice and eyes.
"You'd just better hope he does." On hearing this, Sydney shot Kendall a final glare before stalking out of his office
* * *
Taking a deep breath and clenching her fists, Sydney forced herself to walk steadily up to Sloane's cell. He turned as he heard the heavy clanking of the bars lifting to allow her through and his lips curled into a cruel smile when he saw who his visitor was. Sydney shuddered inwardly, but did not let her feelings show. She would not appear to be affected by him this time; he would not have the upper hand again. She stepped cautiously up to the glass partition that kept him away from her and folded her arms across her chest.
"Sydney," he said quietly and slowly, completely in control of his emotions and giving no thoughts or feelings away in his voice. "How nice of you to come by."
"We have intel which leads us to believe that you are involved with Henry Lloyd and whatever he's trying to do."
"Ah, it's not a social call. How disappointing," Sloane fixed his eyes on Sydney's and studied her face carefully. She was unnerved by his manner of speaking. Everything he said was said slowly and with precision, as if he had spent weeks planning for this conversation and was accurately predicting her responses. "I suppose it was naive of me to think you would come to see me when you didn't want something. Tell me, do you ever visit your mother without being forced to?" This was evidently Sloane's favourite part of the conversation. He raised his eyebrows and looked deep into Sydney's eyes. Then he shook his head. "I didn't think so. It's a shame, Sydney. She could have taught you so much." This last part was said cautiously, as if he was not sure what Sydney's reaction would be. He noted her quick intake of breath and he was almost certain that he saw her eyes begin to cloud with unwanted tears. However, she rapidly regained her composure and began to ask questions. Her questions were in vain though. She would ask a question, he would reply with a sarcastic answer, or a comment on her life or work. They repeated this endless cycle for what seemed like hours. Eventually, Sydney lost her patience.
"Tell me what you know! You have nothing to gain by lying or keeping this from us"
"I have nothing to gain by telling you the truth. You're not going to let me go," he said coolly.
"What you'll gain is that you won't have to have the answers tortured out of you." Sydney fixed him with an icy, but emotionless, stare and waited for him to respond to this. His reply sent her thoughts reeling.
"And who's going to ask to have me tortured, Sydney? Will it be you?" he nodded, the cruel smile playing at his lips once again. "You'll sit and watch as I scream out in pain, but you won't get your answers. They'll keep on and on cutting into me but I won't give in, and you'll be watching. Because my torture will be on your orders and you won't be able to tear your eyes away even though it kills you inside. Can you do that Sydney?" he regarded her for a moment before continuing, a dangerous glint in his cold, unfeeling eyes. "No, of course not. If you torture me, you'll become just like me. And just like your mother." Sloane spat the words "your mother" contemptuously then turned his back to Sydney, indicating that he would not answer any more questions.
Sydney was at a loss for what to do. Sloane clearly knew something, what it was she did not know, but that he did have intel was written all over his face and implied in every smug word he uttered. She knew she could not torture him, or even ask for him to be tortured. His words had struck a nerve in her and, as much as she hated him, she also believed them to be true. She was prepared to get the intel from another source if it meant she avoided becoming a cold-blooded killer. Another source. For an instant, Sydney fought a mental battle. There was another source. It was possible that Irina Derevko knew as much about this case as Sloane did. Sydney decided that, however unwilling she was, this was for the good of the country. Besides, she thought, the sooner she got this case over, the sooner she could return to her quiet, normal life.
The last time Irina Derevko had seen her daughter, Sydney had broken down and Irina had comforted her. For a tiny moment they had simply been mother and daughter, but this time the atmosphere between them was strained and uncomfortable. Sydney was ashamed at the way she had behaved before, Irina was resentful that her daughter, whom she had felt a bond with if only for an instant, did not come to see her more often.
"What do you want to know?" asked Irina, in the same soft, lyrical voice that she used whenever she spoke with her daughter. Sydney was saddened by the voice. She remembered Laura Bristow, who had told her bedtime stories and sung to her in the same voice. Although Sydney did not seem to be affected at all, inside she was crying. Crying for the little girl whose mother had died in a car accident, crying for the little girl's father who was so distraught by his wife's death that he could barely look at his daughter and the little girl cried too because every time she came here it felt like her mother had died all over again. Irina knew none of this and waited patiently for another opportunity to regain her daughter's trust.
"Do you know anything about Henry Lloyd? Anything about the disks, what he's planning to do, Sloane's involvement. Anything." It had become almost a plea. Irina seemed unsurprised by Sydney's question and replied without removing her eyes from Sydney's face. She could see some of her own characteristics in her daughter, and not just in her looks. She possessed the same headstrong recklessness that Irina herself had been severely reprimanded for many times during her work for the KGB, and she also had a strong sense of loyalty. Irina had loyalty, in her own way. It had not been for her family, for the people who mattered, but it was there nonetheless. As she looked at Sydney, she knew that her daughter already used their shared qualities for a much better purpose than Irina had ever done, and she felt a strange sense of pride in looking at the person she had so much in common with, yet at the same time so little.
"Sloane was the holder of Disk Two until he was brought in here." Sydney's eyes widened in surprise.
"How do you know?" she asked, amazed.
"That is irrelevant. When you're in this business as long as I am you learn these things."
"But. . . that would mean that Lloyd's been planning this for over four years. . ." Sydney said, half to herself. She was stunned by how important these disks must be if they had been made so long ago. "Wait a minute, why would Lloyd give one of the disks to Sloane? They had a disagreement. . . Lloyd left the Alliance. . . this doesn't make sense."
Irina shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know why, I just know," she said.
Sydney nodded, her mind working fast to take in the information she had just been given. "So, where's the disk now?" she asked. "Sloane must have hidden it somewhere, he didn't have it with him when he was brought in here because it would have been taken away from him."
"When Sark worked for me, he mentioned something about a disk. I believe it may be the one you're looking for. It was supposedly hidden in a medical research centre in Athens. Sark went to retrieve it, but," she shrugged again, "he did not find it. That's all I know."
Sydney looked up at her mother and smiled. "Thank you," she said softly.
* * *
"Sark raided the medical centre four years ago. It must have been around the time Irina Derevko was brought in here, or a few weeks earlier. He broke into an underground vault under the main part of the centre but, as your mother told you, he didn't take anything." Sydney nodded. Her anger at Kendall had subsided and she listened patiently as he informed her of what their next move would be.
"We believe the disk is still there; that it was never in the vault but rather kept in a Dr. Alan Clyde's personal safe," continued Vaughn. "Clyde has ties to Sloane and has been involved with him in past operations so we think Sloane may have asked him to keep the disk for him."
"So, this Dr Clyde. . . do we know where this safe is likely to be?"
"He has an office there where he apparently spends a lot of his time. If it's anywhere in the centre, that's where it'll be." Sydney nodded again before Kendall proceeded to outline the mission.
* * *
Marie rapped lightly on the door of Dr Clyde's office. He opened the door himself, and after looking her asked her who she was. She informed him that she was a medical student from America and was interested in his latest project. He seemed surprised that someone would show any interest in his work, and opened the door to let her in with a wide grin.
"How about a tour of the Centre?" he offered. Marie looked at her watch. She knew she mustn't take too long if they were going to make it out of the Centre undetected. He saw her uneasy glance and offered to shorten the tour to just his latest work. She agreed and he led her off in the direction of the laboratory. From her position crouched behind a trolley of equipment, Sydney watched them until they turned the corner. As soon as they were out of sight, she crawled out from the small space she had occupied and quickly picked the lock to the door of Clyde's office. Once inside she began to search the room for the safe. She worked quickly and precisely, looking behind every picture on the wall and every book on the shelves. She was careful to leave everything exactly where she found it. The Research Centre was like a rabbit warren full of pristine white corridors and they would need all the head start they could get to return safely to the extraction point. Eventually, she found it. It was in a strange place for a safe - very near the floor behind the books on the lowest shelf of the bookcase in the corner of the room. It did not take long to unscramble the code, and soon Sydney had pocketed the disk, which was indeed being kept in the safe. Irina had seemed pretty sure that this was the disk they were looking for, and since it was in an envelope written on in Sloane's handwriting, Sydney was pretty sure that her mother was right.
Sydney returned to her cramped hiding place behind the trolley and waited for Marie to return. Her endurance was soon rewarded as Marie and Dr Clyde returned only a few minutes later.
"Thank you very much, sir," drawled Marie as she shook his hand. "I sure am impressed. Your work is real good." He grinned at her again and let himself into his office, failing to notice that the previously locked door was now unlocked because he was completely delighted that Marie had praised his work so much.
The two agents quickly began to make their way back through the maze of corridors.
"Did you get the disk?" Marie asked, as they turned the corner away from Clyde's office.
"Yeah," Sydney smiled. They continued in silence for a few minutes. Suddenly, they heard a guard behind them. He was asking them to stop. "Split," Sydney whispered when she saw they were coming to a junction in the corridors. The guard continued to yell at them. Sydney took the right corridor, and Marie peeled off to the left. The guard stopped in the middle, unsure which of them to follow or if he should even follow either of them. Both women were running now, trying to work their way out as fast as possible. Sydney turned corner after corner until she was sure she was going round in a circle. Marie did the same until she saw someone about to turn the corner. He was definitely not an employee of the Research Centre, as was shown by his black clothing and the rifle he carried. In a moment of panic, Marie darted into the nearest room, which was luckily empty. There was nowhere to hide there, so she stood uncertainly in the middle of the room, waiting. The man in black came closer, looking into each room as he progressed down the corridor. He came to Marie's room, just as she turned her back to the door to assess the possible escape routes.
Sydney continued to work her way through the endless white labyrinth of corridors.
"Drop your weapon!" Sydney froze. She looked around her but could see no one. The voice was coming from a room to her left. She edged closer to the door and pressed herself against the wall next to it. Turning her head to the side, she could see a man. He had his back to the door and was pointing a weapon at someone else in the room. Risking a glance through the window, Sydney could see that the weapon was aimed at a woman who also had her back to the door. Sydney recognised the woman immediately - it was Marie. She withdrew her head instantly and flattened herself against the wall again, listening intently to what went on.
Inside the room, Marie had dropped her gun to the floor and now had her hands in the air next to her shoulders.
"Hands behind your head!" he ordered. Marie hesitated. "Now!" Marie did as she was told and slowly placed her trembling hands behind her head, her fingertips barely touching.
"Now turn around. Slowly!" he barked. Once again, Marie obeyed. She slowly turned to face him and gasped when she saw him.
"Marie?" he asked, his voice painting a picture of shock and wonder.
"Richard!" she exclaimed, her voice rose in terror and it was plain that, though she was surprised, she was not pleased to see him.
Out in the corridor, Sydney's hands flew to her mouth to prevent herself from gasping, her eyes wide in shock.
TBC. . .