"Vaughn, are you there?" Sydney said softly as she and Sark made their way into what looked like a big corporate research center. In reality, it was an elaborate cover-up for the Covenant's main facility in Rome. The two of them were posing as a husband and wife team of engineers who were interesting in merging their small business with that of the Inganno Corporation.
"I can hear you, Syd," Vaughn's voice echoed back in her ear. "Too bad I can't see you. I hear the clothes your mother found you two are quite a sight."
"That's an understatement." Sydney looked down at herself. She was wearing an extremely sharp Dolce & Gabbana business suit, which consisted of black pants, a black halter dress, and a black jacket. Her mother had found her an amazing short red wig and a pair of transparent red sunglasses. It made Sydney look like she was indeed a part owner of an incredibly successful engineering corporation.
Her mother had outfitted Sark in the same fashion. He was wearing a Versace black turtleneck, knee-length duster, and black pants. The best part, in Sydney's opinion, was the fact that he had agreed to let her spike his hair and highlight the tips a bright blue. His whole image was a complete contradiction, a clash of punk and classy businessman.
"Are you ready, darling?" Sydney asked as she slipped her hand into Sark's.
"Let's do this," he said. Not missing a beat, he continued quietly so that only Sydney could hear him, "I know we're married and all. But I just want you to know that I plan on having an affair with your little sister."
"And I'm going to have one with our co-worker," Sydney said back with a little giggle. "So we're even." She knew that it might not be the most appropriate way to act, joking around like this when her sister and nephew were kidnapped. But she also had come to realize that Sark's strongest defense mechanisms were his complete indifference and his humor.
The couple walked hand and hand into the lobby of the Inganno Corporation. Sydney drew a paper out from her pocket and handed it to the receptionist. "James and Ripley Taylor here to see Mr. Mantovini," she said in a British accent.
Sydney had timed their entrance so that the receptionist was on the phone with a rather important client when she handed her the paper. Since the receptionist was so distracted, she just mouthed the words seventh floor to them and pointed in the general direction of the elevators.
"Thank you," Sark said. He placed his hand on the small of Sydney's back and directed her to the elevators.
Luckily, no one else was around so they were able to get the whole elevator to themselves. Sydney pressed the seventh floor button. As soon as they had reached the fifth floor, Sark stretched around Sydney to press the emergency stop button. Then, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a small disc shaped object. He placed it on the receiver of the emergency phone that was in the elevator.
"Marshall, can you hear my voice?" Sark asked into the newly place disc and phone receiver.
"I can hear you loud and clear." Marshall had programmed the disc to allow him to hear and participate in the conversations that occurred on the emergency phone. While Sydney and Sark were elsewhere, he was using some voice software he had picked up from one of his tech contacts to impersonate both of their voices and British accents. They wanted the Covenant to think that James and Ripley Taylor were stuck in the elevator for as long as they could.
Sydney threw the bag she was using as a purse on the ground and began to rifle through it. She pulled out a few canisters and handed them to Sark. Next she removed a small black pack. She handed it to Sark, lifted up her shirt, and turned her back to him. He fixed it onto her back snuggly and fastened the two Velcro strips securely over her abdomen.
Nodding at her, Sark crouched down slightly and put his hands together into a foothold. Sydney used that as leverage and pushed the emergency hatch of the elevator open. She pulled herself up on top of the elevator and then gave Sark a hand in joining her.
"There's the ladder I remembered. The Covenant has these in all their facilities' elevator shafts. It's a defensive precaution in case someone cuts the facility's power. The agents stuck in the elevators always has an escape route," she explained.
Both of them started to climb the ladder up until Sydney signaled down to Sark, who was below her, that they had reached their destination. Sark was surprised to see Sydney suddenly disappear from view completely. When he had climbed the ladder up to the level she had disappeared at, he realized that there was a door size opening leading into a hallway.
"This place is straight out of a high-tech, sci-fi movie," Sydney said holding out her hand to him. "There are hallways that end in dead drops and doors that lead nowhere. It's one of the many safety measures. It's rather suspicious when someone who's trying to pretend they are an agent of the Covenant can't make their way around the building or keeps opening doors that any agent would know leads nowhere."
"Where are we?" he asked as they started walking down the hallway.
"We're on the ninth floor. The Inganno Corporation's false offices end on the eighth. We're in the heart of the Covenant's operation. Try to look evil. We need to blend in."
"What are we doing here?" he asked.
"I'll explain in just a moment." Sydney stopped at an office door. She stared at the digital keypad for a moment and then punched in seven numbers. The door unlocked with a small beep from the keypad. "You think they'd change the codes when they lose one of their brainwashed agents."
Sark stared at the rather normal looking office. "Where are we now?"
"This is Simon Walker's office," Sydney said with a grin. "We're here to hack into the Covenant's mainframe and figure out where they're holding Kaylee and Gray."
Sark nodded his approval and watched Sydney begin to type rapidly on the laptop that was sitting open on the desk. She began to explain what she was doing. "I figure that my password into the mainframe system won't still be good so I'm just trying to hack a random agent's password. Once I have that I'll log in as them. Hopefully, he or she will have a high enough clearance for me to get the information we want."
"There," Sark said pointing to the right hand corner of the screen. "Looks like Lauren had access to this server. It's only right for you to use her as a gateway into the system. Then the Covenant will think that she's betrayed them to the CIA."
"You're right. It's only fitting." Sydney typed silently for a few more minutes. "Damn," she hissed.
"What's the problem?" rang Vaughn's voice in her ear.
"I see the location that would be my best guess at where they're holding Kaylee and Gray. I wasn't expecting to find any information that completely spelled it out. The Covenant wouldn't be that sloppy, no matter how confident they are getting. However, it looks like the Covenant's system can't be wiped from one of their secondary terminals." Part of their plan was to distract a good portion of the Covenant's operatives present at the facility by wiping clean the whole computer system. On their flight over to Rome, Will had helped Marshall create a rather nasty virus to do the job.
"Do you have a backup plan?" Sark asked her.
"Yes, I think I do." Sydney began to type on the computer again. "Vaughn? I need you to tell my mother and father to get suited up. I'm sending you a location of where I want them to go. I need them in this building if we're going to be able to pull this whole rescue mission off. Sark and I will meet them at the provided location. Get them wired up with Weiss. He's going to have to monitor their progress while you stick with Sark and me."
"Got it, Sydney," Vaughn answered.
Sydney shut the laptop and turned to Sark. "Looks like we need to get back down to the first floor."
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Sark was amazed at the massive amount of knowledge Sydney had begun to recall about the Covenant and their operations. When they left Simon Walker's office, she had quickly led him down a few corridors to a door that opened right into a staircase. She had made some crack about the Covenant being a fan of M.C. Escher, and then they were rushing down eight flights of stairs.
Before she opened the door that would lead them out to the hallways of the first floor, she turned to Sark, "We're going to have to blend in with everything around us. The Covenant cannot realize that you and I are in this building."
"Understood," Sark said with a curt nod.
Sydney walked through the door and began to blend herself into the steady stream of people walking up and down the hallway. Sark waited a moment and then followed her.
They walked for about five minutes, just following the stream of people, before Sark saw Sydney suddenly dart into a room. He followed her lead and found himself in what appeared to be a test site for some biological weapon.
"These are some of the labs the Covenant keeps up to enforce their cover story. They actually have been doing some good work with genetically altered foods," Sydney explained. She walked to the back of the lab to a door that was marked 'Emergency Door. Alarm will sound if opened.'
"Is it wise to open that?" Sark asked as Sydney pushed on the handle. No alarms rang.
"They like to keep their employees locked up inside the building. It's just a scare tactic." She peered out the door she had just cracked slightly. She could see her mother and father making their way over. "They're out there."
Sark grabbed a screwdriver off of the table next to him and put it into the crack of the door. "Let's step back. If we're not in the line of sight, it should make their entrance into the facility look a little less conspicuous."
They stepped over to the side and a minute later, Jack and Irina were standing next to them.
"Explain what you need us to do," Irina said smiling at her daughter.
"Sark and I don't have time to create our own distraction and make it down to the second sub-basement to free Kaylee and Grayson. So we need you to go down to the first sub-basement. When you get there, there should be a room with the main Covenant computer. I sent Vaughn a map of the sub-basement I pulled off Walker's laptop, the codes that should open the door, and the information you'll need to log on to the system. You'll probably have to deal with a few armed guards. That shouldn't be that much of a problem. First I want you to download as much information as you can off of the Covenant computer. We're in a very opportune position, and I won't leave until we've utilized it. Only after that do I want you two to wipe the system like Sark and I originally intended to do. Once that's done, unless Weiss tells you otherwise, get as far away from the facility as you can."
Jack nodded at his daughter and turned to leave. Irina didn't follow him. Instead she stepped closer to her daughter and looked closely into her eyes. "You remind me of myself, Sydney."
"As much as I hate to admit it, I am your daughter," she said through clenched teeth.
"Everything I ever did was to keep you safe," Irina continued. "To teach you the skills I knew you need to survive. I hope that someday you can forgive me for what I've done."
Irina turned and left Sydney staring at her back as she walked away.