Chap.24- Where the Sidewalk Ends
By the time the plane had landed in Lithuania, Vaughn had received a message from the Ops center telling them the exact location of the nuclear bomb. Night had already fallen and they ducked into a dark alley. After changing and tossing their bags into the nearby bushes, they headed off in the direction of the nuke.
They stood on a sidewalk in a distance, surveying the large building they were about to break into. The shortest way was through the field but the sprinklers were on and there was always the potential danger of underground alarm systems. Mark pointed out a side entrance and the five of them nodded to each other and walked towards it.
Ana swiftly shot two guards with tranquilizers. James took their guns and felt in their pockets for keys. He tossed them to Mark who gently eased open the heavy steel door. On guard, the five of them walked quietly into the building and Sydney turned on her comm. link.
"Home base, this is Mountaineer. Do you copy?"
"Copy that, Mountaineer. This is home base."
"We are in the building. I repeat. We are in the building."
"Copy, head fifty paces south, and ten northeast."
She repeated the directions to the rest of the team and their swift pace soon broke into an easy jog. They arrived at the door and after a few moments of hesitation, Sydney reached out and turned the knob. The door was unlocked. Steeling herself, she slowly pushed open the door and walked into the room.
"Are you sure this is the right room?" Ana asked quietly.
"Fifty paces south and ten northeast." Sydney repeated.
The room wasn't anything like either of them had imagined or suspected it to be. Instead of a cold warehouse floor, it was furnished with plush carpet. A large redwood desk with a sleek computer sat in the middle with an empty leather chair behind it. The heavy curtains of the large window were pulled back and James walked to the window to look outside.
"The view is amazing in here." He commented.
Vaughn walked over to the desk and pulled open desk drawers that contained the usual office supplies and, after picking the lock of the biggest drawer, important official documents. He looked along the walls to see impressive documents and noticed the gold plated pen that commemorated fifteen years of service.
"It looks like the executive office."
Sydney nodded in agreement and frowned at a small knob behind the sofa. With Mark's help, they pushed the couch out of the way and Sydney pulled on the small knob. The door wouldn't budge. Gritting her teeth, she dug her fingernails under the small space that did give and pulled hard.
The door flew open and something heavy fell towards Sydney, who instinctively held her arms out to catch it. She then gasped and closed her eyes when she realized what she was holding. Gently, she lowered it to the carpet.
It was a young woman who couldn't have been older than twenty-two. There was so sign of any physical injury that may have caused her death, but she was.
"Mountaineer, this is Home base. I repeat this is Home base. Do you copy?"
"Copy, home base. This is Mountaineer." Sydney replied, her voice still shaky.
"Get out of there, Mountaineer! Do you read me?"
"Yes."
Sydney watched as Mark, Ana, James, and Vaughn carefully lifted the body back into the coat closet and pushed the couch against it. Her eyes became unfocused and the pattern on the carpet ran into each other.
"Syd, Syd! We have to go, come on!" Vaughn urged.
Unawares, Vaughn lifted her to her feet and pulled her along with him until they were safely out of the building and was back at the same sidewalk they had started on. More slowly, the five of them trudged back to the dark alley, the bright moonlight illuminating their figures, throwing their shadows onto the street.
None of them had gotten any sleep on the plane and when they arrived at the Ops center, Mark was practically sleep walking. They were ushered into the conference room and after taking their places at the table, Kendall and Jack walked into the room, locking the door behind them.
"We received your Intel about the body hidden in the office and we sent a team to extract it." Jack said. "Our scientists finished the DNA sequencing just a few moments ago and it has been confirmed that that body is Mariana Veltri."
"It's not the same person I talked to a couple of days ago." Sydney whispered.
"That is true. She was also not the same person whose picture our contact sent us." Kendall said.
"Are you saying he's a double agent?" James asked.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Kendall turned to Jack who reached for the remote control. Turning off the lights and turning on the projector, he flipped to a candid picture of Peter walking in the cobbled streets of an unknown place.
"His real name is Pitor and he was born in Moscow, Russia."
"Is he KGB?" Vaughn asked.
"No. Not K-Directorate either."
"So who does he work for?" Sydney asked.
"We don't know."
Goosebumps emerged on Sydney's arms. How do you fight against something you know nothing about?
Kendall signaled to Jack again who changed the picture to a long series of numbers.
"Are these familiar to you?" He asked the five agents.
"Yes." James answered for all of them. "He recited us to those in the car and told us that Mariana Veltri is Rambaldi's last relative and heir."
"He wasn't lying. Mariana was the last." Jack said. "The line is dead."
Silence encased the large room as everybody paused in a daze of disbelief.
"What do we do now?" Sydney asked quietly, breaking the eerie silence.
"We find the nuke." Kendall answered. He changed the picture again and it changed to one of the code. "Whoever the person that was posing as Mariana broke the code using the real way for the first two lines. After that, it was altered to mislead you to go to Lithuania."
"Why would they do that?" Ana asked, confused. "Why didn't she just use the fake code for the whole thing?"
"She was ordered too, most likely. The reason is apparently unknown. But the important thing is that our analysts used the pattern of the first two lines and figured out the pattern and have broken the entire code."
"Where's the real nuke?"
"Bosnia-Herzegovina," Jack answered. "As we suspected."
Kendall and Jack looked around the room at the faces of the five agents sitting before them. Woefully, Mark asked tentatively,
"When do we leave?"
"You won't be leaving for a while. We might even bring in another team. It's not for certain though. But I do know that we need time to find out the details. You will be informed. Dismissed."
Mark, James, Ana, Sydney, and Vaughn filed out of the conference room and walked to their desks to retrieve their bags so they could head home. Vaughn arrived at the elevator first Sydney joined him when he was reaching out to push the "down" button. The door slid open and they walked into the elevator together, facing forward with both hands clutching their suitcases as the door slid shut again.
"Going home?" Vaughn asked.
Sydney nodded.
"I'm tired."
"Well, you should get some rest."
"No...Not tired physically...more emotionally, I guess."
Vaughn looked at her, frowning.
"What do you mean?"
Sydney sighed.
"I am so tired of being deceived. I'm so tired of being double- crossed. I'm tired of seeing the worst of people. And...I'm just so so tired of being lied to."
By the time the plane had landed in Lithuania, Vaughn had received a message from the Ops center telling them the exact location of the nuclear bomb. Night had already fallen and they ducked into a dark alley. After changing and tossing their bags into the nearby bushes, they headed off in the direction of the nuke.
They stood on a sidewalk in a distance, surveying the large building they were about to break into. The shortest way was through the field but the sprinklers were on and there was always the potential danger of underground alarm systems. Mark pointed out a side entrance and the five of them nodded to each other and walked towards it.
Ana swiftly shot two guards with tranquilizers. James took their guns and felt in their pockets for keys. He tossed them to Mark who gently eased open the heavy steel door. On guard, the five of them walked quietly into the building and Sydney turned on her comm. link.
"Home base, this is Mountaineer. Do you copy?"
"Copy that, Mountaineer. This is home base."
"We are in the building. I repeat. We are in the building."
"Copy, head fifty paces south, and ten northeast."
She repeated the directions to the rest of the team and their swift pace soon broke into an easy jog. They arrived at the door and after a few moments of hesitation, Sydney reached out and turned the knob. The door was unlocked. Steeling herself, she slowly pushed open the door and walked into the room.
"Are you sure this is the right room?" Ana asked quietly.
"Fifty paces south and ten northeast." Sydney repeated.
The room wasn't anything like either of them had imagined or suspected it to be. Instead of a cold warehouse floor, it was furnished with plush carpet. A large redwood desk with a sleek computer sat in the middle with an empty leather chair behind it. The heavy curtains of the large window were pulled back and James walked to the window to look outside.
"The view is amazing in here." He commented.
Vaughn walked over to the desk and pulled open desk drawers that contained the usual office supplies and, after picking the lock of the biggest drawer, important official documents. He looked along the walls to see impressive documents and noticed the gold plated pen that commemorated fifteen years of service.
"It looks like the executive office."
Sydney nodded in agreement and frowned at a small knob behind the sofa. With Mark's help, they pushed the couch out of the way and Sydney pulled on the small knob. The door wouldn't budge. Gritting her teeth, she dug her fingernails under the small space that did give and pulled hard.
The door flew open and something heavy fell towards Sydney, who instinctively held her arms out to catch it. She then gasped and closed her eyes when she realized what she was holding. Gently, she lowered it to the carpet.
It was a young woman who couldn't have been older than twenty-two. There was so sign of any physical injury that may have caused her death, but she was.
"Mountaineer, this is Home base. I repeat this is Home base. Do you copy?"
"Copy, home base. This is Mountaineer." Sydney replied, her voice still shaky.
"Get out of there, Mountaineer! Do you read me?"
"Yes."
Sydney watched as Mark, Ana, James, and Vaughn carefully lifted the body back into the coat closet and pushed the couch against it. Her eyes became unfocused and the pattern on the carpet ran into each other.
"Syd, Syd! We have to go, come on!" Vaughn urged.
Unawares, Vaughn lifted her to her feet and pulled her along with him until they were safely out of the building and was back at the same sidewalk they had started on. More slowly, the five of them trudged back to the dark alley, the bright moonlight illuminating their figures, throwing their shadows onto the street.
None of them had gotten any sleep on the plane and when they arrived at the Ops center, Mark was practically sleep walking. They were ushered into the conference room and after taking their places at the table, Kendall and Jack walked into the room, locking the door behind them.
"We received your Intel about the body hidden in the office and we sent a team to extract it." Jack said. "Our scientists finished the DNA sequencing just a few moments ago and it has been confirmed that that body is Mariana Veltri."
"It's not the same person I talked to a couple of days ago." Sydney whispered.
"That is true. She was also not the same person whose picture our contact sent us." Kendall said.
"Are you saying he's a double agent?" James asked.
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Kendall turned to Jack who reached for the remote control. Turning off the lights and turning on the projector, he flipped to a candid picture of Peter walking in the cobbled streets of an unknown place.
"His real name is Pitor and he was born in Moscow, Russia."
"Is he KGB?" Vaughn asked.
"No. Not K-Directorate either."
"So who does he work for?" Sydney asked.
"We don't know."
Goosebumps emerged on Sydney's arms. How do you fight against something you know nothing about?
Kendall signaled to Jack again who changed the picture to a long series of numbers.
"Are these familiar to you?" He asked the five agents.
"Yes." James answered for all of them. "He recited us to those in the car and told us that Mariana Veltri is Rambaldi's last relative and heir."
"He wasn't lying. Mariana was the last." Jack said. "The line is dead."
Silence encased the large room as everybody paused in a daze of disbelief.
"What do we do now?" Sydney asked quietly, breaking the eerie silence.
"We find the nuke." Kendall answered. He changed the picture again and it changed to one of the code. "Whoever the person that was posing as Mariana broke the code using the real way for the first two lines. After that, it was altered to mislead you to go to Lithuania."
"Why would they do that?" Ana asked, confused. "Why didn't she just use the fake code for the whole thing?"
"She was ordered too, most likely. The reason is apparently unknown. But the important thing is that our analysts used the pattern of the first two lines and figured out the pattern and have broken the entire code."
"Where's the real nuke?"
"Bosnia-Herzegovina," Jack answered. "As we suspected."
Kendall and Jack looked around the room at the faces of the five agents sitting before them. Woefully, Mark asked tentatively,
"When do we leave?"
"You won't be leaving for a while. We might even bring in another team. It's not for certain though. But I do know that we need time to find out the details. You will be informed. Dismissed."
Mark, James, Ana, Sydney, and Vaughn filed out of the conference room and walked to their desks to retrieve their bags so they could head home. Vaughn arrived at the elevator first Sydney joined him when he was reaching out to push the "down" button. The door slid open and they walked into the elevator together, facing forward with both hands clutching their suitcases as the door slid shut again.
"Going home?" Vaughn asked.
Sydney nodded.
"I'm tired."
"Well, you should get some rest."
"No...Not tired physically...more emotionally, I guess."
Vaughn looked at her, frowning.
"What do you mean?"
Sydney sighed.
"I am so tired of being deceived. I'm so tired of being double- crossed. I'm tired of seeing the worst of people. And...I'm just so so tired of being lied to."