The Mission Part1
Sydney zipped up her wetsuit, pulled the diving goggles over her eyes and dove into the cold water. Taking a mini propeller out of her diving bag and switching it on she jetted through the water to a boat two miles out. She switched the propeller off and surfaced discreetly next to the boat. She double-checked that this was the right boat, The Kindness, and slowly moved around to a ladder hanging on one side being careful not to make any loud noises. She started climbing the ladder and paused below a porthole about halfway up the boat. Hooking her arm on the ladder she balanced herself while she removed her diving gear, put it all in the bag, along with the propeller and tied it to the ladder.
Still holding onto a rung Sydney unzipped her wetsuit and slid out of it revealing an outfit similar to what the guards onboard the boat were wearing; black combats and a tight black top. The only difference was that the guards Sydney and her partner Marcus Dixon had observe earlier were all male. Also she was wearing a leather necklace, which hid a detachable microphone and was her only contact with SD6.
Unfortunately she hadn't had any room to conceal much in the way of weaponry. All she had in the off chance she was made was a small knife. She made sure that it was still strapped to her boot, hooked her wet suit over a rung and pulled out what looked like a pair of binoculars from one of the pockets in her combats. She unscrewed a bolt from the hinge and took out the small remote camera that was hidden in there. Flicking up a panel from the side of the binoculars she made sure the equipment was working. A green light appeared on a small screen through which she could make out an image of herself. Dammit! she thought, there's no sound!
Sydney climbed up the ladder until she was level with the porthole making sure that if there was anyone in that room they would be unable to see her. She slowly moved the camera towards the porthole window knowing that if she made any sudden movement then she would be spotted. Taking a small piece of the gum from her mouth she stuck the camera discreetly on the window and checked the panel on the binoculars. Still no audio! Inspecting the small screen closely she noted that there were two people in this room, a woman and a man. From another pocket of her combats she took out a tiny earpiece turned it on and inserted it in her ear.
"Dixon, do you read me?" Dixon was back onshore monitoring the operation.
"Yes Sydney, I've got the video feed do you have audio?"
"No, the glass is too thick. I'm going to get closer."
"Sydney, it's too dangerous this is supposed to be a fact finding mission only!"
"I'll be fine Dixon. Can you tell how many people are onboard?"
"Heat sensors tell me there's four. There's the two we can see on the video. A guard patrolling the deck and another driving the boat."
"Thanks Dixon."
"Be careful Syd."
"I will. Going radio silent." She heard a click as she flicked the switch on the transmitter.
Turning the left viewfinder of the binoculars she listened for a faint click.
"Base ops, this is Mermaid. Do you read me?" Sydney whispered quietly.
She was about to repeat herself when she heard faint static through the earpiece. Suddenly Michael Vaughn's voice came through loud and clear almost making her jump.
"Mermaid, this is base ops. Don't worry but there will be a slight delay of about 5 seconds as the equipment we're using is so small. Do you have visual on the suspects?"
"Yeah, sending it now." Sydney said as she turned the other viewfinder.
"Got it." He replied seconds later.
"The woman's Melissa Taylor. Do you recognise the man?" She asked.
"We're running his picture through the system now, should take a couple of minutes."
"OK. I can't get any sound so I'm heading onboard."
This time the delay wasn't because of the satellite. She knew he wasn't happy.
"Be careful Mermaid." He said eventually.
