Part 3: Personal Connections
"Have you prepared your reports?" Lindsey's voice broke through the silence in the conference room. Agents Weiss, Vaughn, and Bristow nodded. "Good. After this type of failure, we have to do a certain amount of damage control. We need to make sure nothing else slips into enemy hands. Particularly the hands of Irina Derevko."
Sydney resisted the urge to hit her head on the table. She knew what was next. Lindsey would be as vindictive as possible to make sure that every agent in this room knew how Jack and Sydney Bristow were related to the current number four on the CIA's most wanted list.
"Derevko has apparently come back out of hiding. Her interference was responsible for Agent Reed's death and she escaped with the very thing we needed to obtain, a booklet with codes and locations for lockboxes throughout the world that should contain information on certain strongholds for enemies of the United States. Or So Mr. Sloane tells us."
Vaughn was enduring this well, Sydney thought. Of course, she wasn't exactly sure he was breathing either. A myriad of younger agents sat behind Sydney at the tables. Without even turning her head, she could tell they were listening intently. It was typical, but it was also something she herself did when she joined the CIA or rather SD-6. Granted, most of the speech was for their benefit, and the older, more experienced agents knew all the background on Derevko and her organization. Sydney didn't listen, and she didn't care.
What happened that left her this jaded? She used to be just like them, intending to be great, motivated, precise, and eager to prove herself. But that was all before her life was turned upside down. She was shocked to death when she learned that SD-6 wasn't really the CIA, so she did the right thing and became a double agent. That could, very possibly have been her downfall right there. Or it was just the first step on the slippery slope that was her life. And if that was bad, it was nothing compared to finding out that your mother was a) alive, b) spying on your father, and c) heartless enough to shoot you.
And speak of the devil, Lindsey had just brought that lovely fact up. She could feel several pairs of eyes turn in her and her father's direction. She just kept her gaze focused on Lindsey where it should have been, despite the mental pity party she was having. She did not stand up and shout "Yes! I am Irina Derevko's daughter! Do you have a problem with that?" although she considered getting it tattooed across her forehead. Or possibly on her hand just to be Rambaldi-like.
"Agent Bristow was the last person to see her before she escaped, again. Agent Bristow?"
Well, that was a way to get her attention. She saw the attention in the conference room focused on her and answered in what she hoped would remain a blank, unirritated tone. "I chased her down the stairs and out to the parking garage. She got away in a Silver Ford SUV. The license plate was obscured."
Lindsey acknowledged her statement with a nod of his head and started talking again, this time with relevant information. "We received a transmission through Echelon that Derevko or one of her personnel was going to be in Cairo tomorrow to exchange the codes with another terrorist organization, the IRF. We want to intercept the booklet and Derevko. Alive, preferably."
"What do we know about the IRF?" Vaughn asked.
"Nothing, only that that is the name we picked up on the Echelon transmission." Wow, a straight answer from Lindsey, that was impressive. "Any more questions? Good. Agent Weiss will lead the tactical team. You leave in three hours."
"Have you prepared your reports?" Lindsey's voice broke through the silence in the conference room. Agents Weiss, Vaughn, and Bristow nodded. "Good. After this type of failure, we have to do a certain amount of damage control. We need to make sure nothing else slips into enemy hands. Particularly the hands of Irina Derevko."
Sydney resisted the urge to hit her head on the table. She knew what was next. Lindsey would be as vindictive as possible to make sure that every agent in this room knew how Jack and Sydney Bristow were related to the current number four on the CIA's most wanted list.
"Derevko has apparently come back out of hiding. Her interference was responsible for Agent Reed's death and she escaped with the very thing we needed to obtain, a booklet with codes and locations for lockboxes throughout the world that should contain information on certain strongholds for enemies of the United States. Or So Mr. Sloane tells us."
Vaughn was enduring this well, Sydney thought. Of course, she wasn't exactly sure he was breathing either. A myriad of younger agents sat behind Sydney at the tables. Without even turning her head, she could tell they were listening intently. It was typical, but it was also something she herself did when she joined the CIA or rather SD-6. Granted, most of the speech was for their benefit, and the older, more experienced agents knew all the background on Derevko and her organization. Sydney didn't listen, and she didn't care.
What happened that left her this jaded? She used to be just like them, intending to be great, motivated, precise, and eager to prove herself. But that was all before her life was turned upside down. She was shocked to death when she learned that SD-6 wasn't really the CIA, so she did the right thing and became a double agent. That could, very possibly have been her downfall right there. Or it was just the first step on the slippery slope that was her life. And if that was bad, it was nothing compared to finding out that your mother was a) alive, b) spying on your father, and c) heartless enough to shoot you.
And speak of the devil, Lindsey had just brought that lovely fact up. She could feel several pairs of eyes turn in her and her father's direction. She just kept her gaze focused on Lindsey where it should have been, despite the mental pity party she was having. She did not stand up and shout "Yes! I am Irina Derevko's daughter! Do you have a problem with that?" although she considered getting it tattooed across her forehead. Or possibly on her hand just to be Rambaldi-like.
"Agent Bristow was the last person to see her before she escaped, again. Agent Bristow?"
Well, that was a way to get her attention. She saw the attention in the conference room focused on her and answered in what she hoped would remain a blank, unirritated tone. "I chased her down the stairs and out to the parking garage. She got away in a Silver Ford SUV. The license plate was obscured."
Lindsey acknowledged her statement with a nod of his head and started talking again, this time with relevant information. "We received a transmission through Echelon that Derevko or one of her personnel was going to be in Cairo tomorrow to exchange the codes with another terrorist organization, the IRF. We want to intercept the booklet and Derevko. Alive, preferably."
"What do we know about the IRF?" Vaughn asked.
"Nothing, only that that is the name we picked up on the Echelon transmission." Wow, a straight answer from Lindsey, that was impressive. "Any more questions? Good. Agent Weiss will lead the tactical team. You leave in three hours."