Chapter One
The air was extremely hot and humid, causing beads of sweat to stand out on both Vaughn and Sydney's faces as they circled around the dimly lit camp. The camos they wore only caused to slow them in their observation, and they crept closer, material sticking to their damp backs.
"How much longer do we have till we're cleared to move in?" Sydney whispered, her breathing already slow and heavy as a result of the heat.
"Shouldn't be much longer," Vaughn replied, wiping his glistening forehead with an earth toned sleeve.
Inwardly, Sydney couldn't help but wonder if the delay was due to the fact that everything had to be perfect, and since the particular mission they were on was supervised by Lauren, she secretly blamed her for the excess heat.
"This is the Queen of Hearts to the Walrus and the Carpenter," the feminine British voice sounded through their earpieces. "You're clear."
As the pair began quickening their pace towards the camp, Vaughn's voice cut through the humidity. "So... who's the walrus and who's the carpenter again?"
Sydney smirked a little, glad for his humor. "I'm the carpenter. It's easy to remember."
"Why, because I'm the heavy, slow one with long and pointy facial features?"
"And I'm the smart one who figured out how to steal the oysters in the first place."
They quietly laughed and moved further down, then heard the strict, displeased voice of Lauren in their ears again. "This is not the time to be fooling around! There's a job to be done. I suggest you both mature quickly and attend to it."
In the darkness it was impossible to see Sydney's eye roll, but Vaughn sensed it all the same. He couldn't really blame her, Lauren was acting uptight and was obviously not used to their mid-mission banter. They neared the camp and any thoughts of talking ceased; silence was of the utmost importance as they crept around the noisily slumbering guards to the warehouse located at the rear.
Sydney pointed at the guard slumped over at the entrance once they reached the heavily bolted door of the warehouse. He could tell immediately what she was thinking. 'Some protection they got here.' Just to be safe she injected him with an agent to make sure he didn't rise during their break in. The locks were disabled in less than 20 seconds courtesy of Marshall, and Vaughn slicked the doors hinges with an oil for fear of squeaking.
Carefully, the door was pushed open and the two agents entered silently, steps nearly synchronized.
Inside the warehouse, the only light was provided by a buzzing, flickering white bulb overhead. Not knowing what to expect around the dark and quiet corners, Sydney and Vaughn chose to remain nonvocal. Sydney nodded her head in the direction of a steel door past a few graffiti ridden walls, and Vaughn followed her there.
The first thing she noticed about the room she entered was it's temperature; her breath rose in clouds and bumps rose along the exposed skin of her neck. It was a shocking contrast to the humidity and heat of the African air she had spent to hours sweating bullets in.
The second was the rather large archway dominating the center of the small windowless dungeon. Lack of light prevented her from determining the material it was made of, but the shape was irrefutable. A curiosity came over her so strongly that even though her senses screamed the something was not right, she moved towards the impressive arch with the extent to examine what she thought were carvings on the exterior.
When she placed her fingertips to the indentations, however, they were stung as though a bee had angrily jammed his stinger into each of them, and she drew her hand back in surprise. Blood rose from the ends of her fingers, and the stain on the arch glistened brightly. Anger welled in her as the tiny burn began to spread through her fingers, slowly creeping through her hand to her arms, scorching fiery paths in their wake.
As the pain grew in intensity, a glow emitted from the center of the arch, enveloping her quickly until she was blinded and her senses were lost in a sea of bright light. Her body slumped to the ground and the pain receded as the light washed over her in waves that somehow comforted the stinging trails of pain, and lulled her into a sweet sleep. Vaughn cried out her name from the entrance to the room, but the sound was lost in the ever growing light of the archway.
***
"Hey Syd? You awake?"
She awoke herself before opening her eyes, wondering briefly why it felt as if it was moving. She became aware of her surroundings a second later, and her eyelids fluttered open. She smiled a little as she looked to her left, and quietly spoke. "Hey."
"Hey. You dozed off around Magnolia. We're almost home."
The air was extremely hot and humid, causing beads of sweat to stand out on both Vaughn and Sydney's faces as they circled around the dimly lit camp. The camos they wore only caused to slow them in their observation, and they crept closer, material sticking to their damp backs.
"How much longer do we have till we're cleared to move in?" Sydney whispered, her breathing already slow and heavy as a result of the heat.
"Shouldn't be much longer," Vaughn replied, wiping his glistening forehead with an earth toned sleeve.
Inwardly, Sydney couldn't help but wonder if the delay was due to the fact that everything had to be perfect, and since the particular mission they were on was supervised by Lauren, she secretly blamed her for the excess heat.
"This is the Queen of Hearts to the Walrus and the Carpenter," the feminine British voice sounded through their earpieces. "You're clear."
As the pair began quickening their pace towards the camp, Vaughn's voice cut through the humidity. "So... who's the walrus and who's the carpenter again?"
Sydney smirked a little, glad for his humor. "I'm the carpenter. It's easy to remember."
"Why, because I'm the heavy, slow one with long and pointy facial features?"
"And I'm the smart one who figured out how to steal the oysters in the first place."
They quietly laughed and moved further down, then heard the strict, displeased voice of Lauren in their ears again. "This is not the time to be fooling around! There's a job to be done. I suggest you both mature quickly and attend to it."
In the darkness it was impossible to see Sydney's eye roll, but Vaughn sensed it all the same. He couldn't really blame her, Lauren was acting uptight and was obviously not used to their mid-mission banter. They neared the camp and any thoughts of talking ceased; silence was of the utmost importance as they crept around the noisily slumbering guards to the warehouse located at the rear.
Sydney pointed at the guard slumped over at the entrance once they reached the heavily bolted door of the warehouse. He could tell immediately what she was thinking. 'Some protection they got here.' Just to be safe she injected him with an agent to make sure he didn't rise during their break in. The locks were disabled in less than 20 seconds courtesy of Marshall, and Vaughn slicked the doors hinges with an oil for fear of squeaking.
Carefully, the door was pushed open and the two agents entered silently, steps nearly synchronized.
Inside the warehouse, the only light was provided by a buzzing, flickering white bulb overhead. Not knowing what to expect around the dark and quiet corners, Sydney and Vaughn chose to remain nonvocal. Sydney nodded her head in the direction of a steel door past a few graffiti ridden walls, and Vaughn followed her there.
The first thing she noticed about the room she entered was it's temperature; her breath rose in clouds and bumps rose along the exposed skin of her neck. It was a shocking contrast to the humidity and heat of the African air she had spent to hours sweating bullets in.
The second was the rather large archway dominating the center of the small windowless dungeon. Lack of light prevented her from determining the material it was made of, but the shape was irrefutable. A curiosity came over her so strongly that even though her senses screamed the something was not right, she moved towards the impressive arch with the extent to examine what she thought were carvings on the exterior.
When she placed her fingertips to the indentations, however, they were stung as though a bee had angrily jammed his stinger into each of them, and she drew her hand back in surprise. Blood rose from the ends of her fingers, and the stain on the arch glistened brightly. Anger welled in her as the tiny burn began to spread through her fingers, slowly creeping through her hand to her arms, scorching fiery paths in their wake.
As the pain grew in intensity, a glow emitted from the center of the arch, enveloping her quickly until she was blinded and her senses were lost in a sea of bright light. Her body slumped to the ground and the pain receded as the light washed over her in waves that somehow comforted the stinging trails of pain, and lulled her into a sweet sleep. Vaughn cried out her name from the entrance to the room, but the sound was lost in the ever growing light of the archway.
***
"Hey Syd? You awake?"
She awoke herself before opening her eyes, wondering briefly why it felt as if it was moving. She became aware of her surroundings a second later, and her eyelids fluttered open. She smiled a little as she looked to her left, and quietly spoke. "Hey."
"Hey. You dozed off around Magnolia. We're almost home."