Author´s note: The title: In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni: means in
a crude translation: At night we walk in circles, burned by fire.
Chapter two
Operations rushed into the meeting room, still arguing with Madeline.
"That´s enough. We can´t ignore it any longer. It had been a fault we did it last time."
He stared at the agents with his ice-blue eyes, taking in every uncertainty that might have been there. In the end he told them what had happened before.
"Michael has used data that is strictly forbidden, then destroyed it. Even Mr. Birkoff was unable to restore them so that it is now absolutely necessary to get Michael´s copy."
"The first time he broke into the central computer was to find his son", Madeline put in. "We thought that he would never be able to use the information, but we were wrong. We don´t know what his intentions are but when Michael chooses to publish or sell the files Section will be destroyed.
Right now we have no idea where he could be, and he knows it. All of you know that he is one of the best agents. Therefore we have to be very careful in everything that we do."
"Of course we´ll watch all connections to Adam but maybe that won´t do. Every single agent will be used to search for him. All other missions will be canceled. You will get your mission profiles as fast as possible. That´s all." ***
"What do you think?"
Nikita and Walter watched Operations leave the conference room. Walter shook his head.
"I don´t know. Michael is damn good, and as they said that they don´t have any clue where he might be, it may be that we never see him again."
He noticed the look on her face and suddenly sounded alarmed.
"No, honey, no. You can´t do anything, believe me. Stay away from the fire, this is what you can do."
He took both her arms and and made her look into his face.
"Promise you won´t do anything foolish?"
"He could be dead right now", she whispered, tears already in her throat. Walter shook her slightly, his voice firm.
"Promise?"
"Yes", she answered slowly, with only a bit of hesitation. Walter grinned at her.
"That´s my girl. Now go and bring him back."
***
It was soon clear that they were searching for a ghost. Nobody had seen him, heard of him. All stations, bus and subway routes were controlled, every border crossing watched. It seemed impossible to find him. He had disappeared.
Operations slowly went mad. Madeline didn´t say anything. As the weeks went by, Operations was forced to take up other missions again. Still there hadn´t been one single sign from Michael. Other terrorist groups were as active as ever, but there was no attack on Section, nothing that revealed that he had sold the records.
Everyone´s nerves were lying free. Birkoff was already doubting that Michael was still alive. Walter was grinning whenever he watched Operations on the perch. Nikita was tired and almost losing hope of ever seeing him again.
For eight days in a row she had been on a mission to find him, as always without success, and now she felt worn out. She was aware of Operations anger that one of his agents was running free. However, much as she worried about Michael, she noticed she was nevertheless proud of this demonstration of his power.
***
"Josephine." His voice was as clear and suble as ever.
"Yes?" Breathlessly, she waited for his answer.
"Downstairs, two minutes." He paused for a moment, then continued: " Bring something to eat."
A cab was waiting for her at the corner and she got in without hesitating. She was wearing only her nightshirt and a robe, holding the small package with food tight in her hands in her nervousness. The driver ignored her completely so that she was left to her confused thoughts.
Finally they stopped in front of an old house some miles outside the town. More than curious she got out, stretched her legs and looked around. Old trees were standing everywhere, the grass in the garden was long and irregular.
Suddenly the front door opened. A small boy ran out and threw himself into her arms.
"Nikita! What are you doing here? Have you brought Mom and Dad?" Adam´s dark eyes were shining as he looked up at her. Completely taken aback, she just smiled at him.
"No, I´m all alone. Where´s Mummy?" While talking she took his hand and went to the house with him, letting her gaze wander along the trees while she listened to his story. It was hard to be so near to someone whom Michael loved so desperately, and she knew he had to be close by.
"Mummy went to visit Grandpa. I miss her, Nikita. When will she come back?" Adam´s voice had become smaller and smaller while speaking, and Nikita bent down and hugged him tight.
"Don´t be afraid, darling. It won´t be long until she comes back." She tried to sound cheerful and noticed that it worked on Adam, but the truth was that she was more than troubled. Elena´s father was dead, killed by Section. Where was she that she had left Adam behind? When Nikita had visited her not long after the "death" of Michael, she found that Elena had devoted her life to her son to flee from her own pain. Nothing could have taken her from the side of her boy. But of more importance was that Adam had mentioned Michael whom he knew dead. She let go of him and watched his face.
"Darling", she began very softly, "Daddy won´t come back to you."
His cheeks were already stained with tears, nonetheless he stared at her, his eyes round and exited.
"But I saw him.", he protested, "last night he stood right next to my bed."
Hopelessly she smiled at him. "T´was only a dream, honey", she said soothingly. It almost broke her heart to see the hope fade from his eyes, so more so because she knew that Adam was probably right.
"Why do you think your Daddy came to see you?" she asked. He had bent his head and she lifted it with her fingertips. "Last week Nanny got a phone call from two men. They said that Mummy was dead." His lip quivered but he managed to go on. "Then there was another phone call saying that she would come back. So I thought if Mummy could come back, Daddy could, too."
Sadly she shook her head and took him in her arms again. "No, darlin´, he won´t come back to you. But I know that he is very proud of you, and that he loves you with all his heart. You must remember that always, will you?" She felt Adam nod silently against her shoulder and shivered when she saw the dark shadow beyond the trees watching them. *** "I´m sure you will." She had brought Adam back to the house where she had found that his nanny, a reasonable woman in her forties, with gentle manners, was already worried and searching for him. Mrs. Jenkins, thus relieved of her fear of her fear of losing Adam, had invited Nikita to stay for breakfast, obviously wondering what she was doing outside wearing a nightshirt, but was too polite to ask. The tea and scones were excellent and Nikita could see easily that Adam liked her. Promising that she would soon come to visist Adam, Nikita turned to go, having made sure that Mrs. Jenkins stayed with Adam and hearing the promise that he would be well cared for, whatever happened.
Slowly she went along the line of trees, glancing back to the house every now and then to find the place where she had thought she had seen Michael standing and watching her. But she saw nothing, no footprints, no broken twigs or fallen leaves. She already started wondering whether her eyes had played a trick on her when she suddenly noticed what nade her feel uneasy.
It was quiet. Not a single bird sang in the trees, no bee was humming. It was absolutely quiet. She was completely alone. The house had faded from her view about ten minutes ago. She shivered. And then slowly turned around.
Chapter two
Operations rushed into the meeting room, still arguing with Madeline.
"That´s enough. We can´t ignore it any longer. It had been a fault we did it last time."
He stared at the agents with his ice-blue eyes, taking in every uncertainty that might have been there. In the end he told them what had happened before.
"Michael has used data that is strictly forbidden, then destroyed it. Even Mr. Birkoff was unable to restore them so that it is now absolutely necessary to get Michael´s copy."
"The first time he broke into the central computer was to find his son", Madeline put in. "We thought that he would never be able to use the information, but we were wrong. We don´t know what his intentions are but when Michael chooses to publish or sell the files Section will be destroyed.
Right now we have no idea where he could be, and he knows it. All of you know that he is one of the best agents. Therefore we have to be very careful in everything that we do."
"Of course we´ll watch all connections to Adam but maybe that won´t do. Every single agent will be used to search for him. All other missions will be canceled. You will get your mission profiles as fast as possible. That´s all." ***
"What do you think?"
Nikita and Walter watched Operations leave the conference room. Walter shook his head.
"I don´t know. Michael is damn good, and as they said that they don´t have any clue where he might be, it may be that we never see him again."
He noticed the look on her face and suddenly sounded alarmed.
"No, honey, no. You can´t do anything, believe me. Stay away from the fire, this is what you can do."
He took both her arms and and made her look into his face.
"Promise you won´t do anything foolish?"
"He could be dead right now", she whispered, tears already in her throat. Walter shook her slightly, his voice firm.
"Promise?"
"Yes", she answered slowly, with only a bit of hesitation. Walter grinned at her.
"That´s my girl. Now go and bring him back."
***
It was soon clear that they were searching for a ghost. Nobody had seen him, heard of him. All stations, bus and subway routes were controlled, every border crossing watched. It seemed impossible to find him. He had disappeared.
Operations slowly went mad. Madeline didn´t say anything. As the weeks went by, Operations was forced to take up other missions again. Still there hadn´t been one single sign from Michael. Other terrorist groups were as active as ever, but there was no attack on Section, nothing that revealed that he had sold the records.
Everyone´s nerves were lying free. Birkoff was already doubting that Michael was still alive. Walter was grinning whenever he watched Operations on the perch. Nikita was tired and almost losing hope of ever seeing him again.
For eight days in a row she had been on a mission to find him, as always without success, and now she felt worn out. She was aware of Operations anger that one of his agents was running free. However, much as she worried about Michael, she noticed she was nevertheless proud of this demonstration of his power.
***
"Josephine." His voice was as clear and suble as ever.
"Yes?" Breathlessly, she waited for his answer.
"Downstairs, two minutes." He paused for a moment, then continued: " Bring something to eat."
A cab was waiting for her at the corner and she got in without hesitating. She was wearing only her nightshirt and a robe, holding the small package with food tight in her hands in her nervousness. The driver ignored her completely so that she was left to her confused thoughts.
Finally they stopped in front of an old house some miles outside the town. More than curious she got out, stretched her legs and looked around. Old trees were standing everywhere, the grass in the garden was long and irregular.
Suddenly the front door opened. A small boy ran out and threw himself into her arms.
"Nikita! What are you doing here? Have you brought Mom and Dad?" Adam´s dark eyes were shining as he looked up at her. Completely taken aback, she just smiled at him.
"No, I´m all alone. Where´s Mummy?" While talking she took his hand and went to the house with him, letting her gaze wander along the trees while she listened to his story. It was hard to be so near to someone whom Michael loved so desperately, and she knew he had to be close by.
"Mummy went to visit Grandpa. I miss her, Nikita. When will she come back?" Adam´s voice had become smaller and smaller while speaking, and Nikita bent down and hugged him tight.
"Don´t be afraid, darling. It won´t be long until she comes back." She tried to sound cheerful and noticed that it worked on Adam, but the truth was that she was more than troubled. Elena´s father was dead, killed by Section. Where was she that she had left Adam behind? When Nikita had visited her not long after the "death" of Michael, she found that Elena had devoted her life to her son to flee from her own pain. Nothing could have taken her from the side of her boy. But of more importance was that Adam had mentioned Michael whom he knew dead. She let go of him and watched his face.
"Darling", she began very softly, "Daddy won´t come back to you."
His cheeks were already stained with tears, nonetheless he stared at her, his eyes round and exited.
"But I saw him.", he protested, "last night he stood right next to my bed."
Hopelessly she smiled at him. "T´was only a dream, honey", she said soothingly. It almost broke her heart to see the hope fade from his eyes, so more so because she knew that Adam was probably right.
"Why do you think your Daddy came to see you?" she asked. He had bent his head and she lifted it with her fingertips. "Last week Nanny got a phone call from two men. They said that Mummy was dead." His lip quivered but he managed to go on. "Then there was another phone call saying that she would come back. So I thought if Mummy could come back, Daddy could, too."
Sadly she shook her head and took him in her arms again. "No, darlin´, he won´t come back to you. But I know that he is very proud of you, and that he loves you with all his heart. You must remember that always, will you?" She felt Adam nod silently against her shoulder and shivered when she saw the dark shadow beyond the trees watching them. *** "I´m sure you will." She had brought Adam back to the house where she had found that his nanny, a reasonable woman in her forties, with gentle manners, was already worried and searching for him. Mrs. Jenkins, thus relieved of her fear of her fear of losing Adam, had invited Nikita to stay for breakfast, obviously wondering what she was doing outside wearing a nightshirt, but was too polite to ask. The tea and scones were excellent and Nikita could see easily that Adam liked her. Promising that she would soon come to visist Adam, Nikita turned to go, having made sure that Mrs. Jenkins stayed with Adam and hearing the promise that he would be well cared for, whatever happened.
Slowly she went along the line of trees, glancing back to the house every now and then to find the place where she had thought she had seen Michael standing and watching her. But she saw nothing, no footprints, no broken twigs or fallen leaves. She already started wondering whether her eyes had played a trick on her when she suddenly noticed what nade her feel uneasy.
It was quiet. Not a single bird sang in the trees, no bee was humming. It was absolutely quiet. She was completely alone. The house had faded from her view about ten minutes ago. She shivered. And then slowly turned around.