Chapter Eight: She was going to kill Sark, Sidney thought. The plane ride had been very smooth and she'd taken the time to get some extra sleep. 30 minutes before landing she'd been given a present nicely wrapped in hand made wrapping paper and tied with a beautiful silk bow. She wished that instead of opening it, she'd thrown it out of the plane.

"Ms. Gavin, the plane will be landing in 30 minutes. Mr. Sark send this with the message to open right away." The flight attendant left, giving Sydney privacy.



Sydney carefully opened the box and peered inside half expecting a bomb. Instead there was a large black domino with a silver phoenix on it, a silk mask, long black gloves and very revealing black silk lingerie that revealed more then it covered. At the bottom of the box was a whip with a note attached to it.

Wear only what's in the box if you want to get in. Hope you had a pleasant trip. Sark P.S. I would recommend changing on the plane rather then in the car. I may join you in the car.

Sydney was still fuming an hour later. It had been dark when she'd exited the plane and into a waiting limo and Sark was still nowhere in sight. She wanted to rail into him for making her wear such a ridiculous outfit. The domino covered every inch of skin but she still felt vulnerable and she didn't like it one bit. At least she had a whip. Something that she knew she'd love to use on him once he showed his pretty face.

As the limo drove up to the castle Sydney couldn't help but gasp in wonderment. It was magical, straight out of her daydreams of Camelot when she was a child. The night was lit up with thousands of lights and under them a line of limos all waited to get to the gate. Outside the limos there were jugglers, entertainers, and singers. The magic was broken when the door opened and Sark slipped inside. He had on a black domino with the hood covering his head.

"It's a pity that the beauty of this place is but an illusion." Sark said. There were a few moments of silence.

"Why?" Sydney asked. Her anger had fled the moment she'd seen the castle.

"Paolo has something I want." Sark replied. "So why me?"

"Because you're the best." At her surprise, he continues. "I don't trust anyone else."

"You expect me to believe that you trust me?"

"Both the CIA and SD-6 already have men on the inside. I wanted to know who they were."

"I'm not going to tell you." At his smirk, she realized that he already knew. Being with Sark was like being in a giant chess game and he was always three moves ahead of her. Her brain worked furiously to figure out why he would need the blackmail disks but not use them without breaking the alliance with the CIA and SD-6. It came to her as they pulled up to the front of the castle.

"You need the tapes for insurance against both the CIA and SD-6, and you need me to destroy the copies so that only you would have the master tapes. You aren't after Paolo since you already know where the master copies are."

"Bravo, Ms. Bristow. Shall we?" The door opens and he exits. He holds out a hand to help her out of the car. She had to keep the domino closed with one hand and she wouldn't be able to get out of the car gracefully without his help so she accepted his hand. "Stay close." Sark and Sydney moved toward the entrance. Before going inside three men stopped them from entering.

Sark pulls out a small metallic card and one of the men scan it. The man nods to the other two and allows him to pass. Sydney is stopped as she tries to follow him. One of the men reached out to touch Sidney but before he does. Sark grabs his wrists.

"She's mine and I don't share." He said warningly. The man backs off quickly and Sark releases him.

"All slaves are inspected by Mr. Smith before they are let in." The man said rubbing his wrist. He steps away and speaks into his earpiece.

After a few minutes another man exits the building. He grabs her elbow and pulls her into the building through another entrance. He pushes her into a room and closes the door. He pushes her hood off her head and runs his knuckles along her neck. She doesn't flinch. He looks at his hand and smiles. He pushes some thing on the desk and then turns around.

"Agent Bristow. My name is Agent Smith. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've taken care of the cameras and audio in this room but we only have five minutes."

Sydney twists the backing on her earing. "Hello this is Freelancer."

"We're here Sydney." Vaughn's voice said in her ear.

"I've made contact with Agent Smith. Vaughn, Sark isn't after Paolo, he already knows where the master copies are and I think that they're somewhere in this building. Where is the Paolo's office?" Sydney asked Agent Smith.

"I don't know where the master copies are kept and Paolo moved the location where copies are kept this afternoon when someone tried to break into his office."

"Sark will know where the new location is. Where can I find him?" Sydney said.

"He's waiting for you in one of the suites. Sark asked that you be directed into his suite after the inspection."

"Vaughn, I can't follow Sark and destroy the tapes at the same time."

"If you tag him with a tracker, we'll be able to follow him while you destroy the tapes and then we'll let you know where he is so that you can get the master copies from him."

"You're in luck, I happen to have a tracker with me. It's state of the art, it can stick to any surface once you take the backing off. It's sends out a distinct frequency which will be easy to track. Good luck Agent Bristow."