Redemption
Chapter Forty Four
Jack sat at the communications desk as calmly as one could in his situation. They'd lost communications abruptly with the team in St. Petersburg twenty minutes earlier after what sounded like gunfire had filled the airwaves. In addition to the communications loss the infrared sensors which picked up heat and they used to track the teams movement had also stopped functioning.
Marshall was pounding quickly on his keyboard attempting to recover the lost signals or at least determine what had happened. "Well good news and bad news," he announced. "Someone has deliberately interrupted our satellite feed for the infrared and scrambled the coding. I've tried to bypass theirs but no luck. None of the team's communications have been damaged as far I can tell they've just been turned off-
"Why would they be turned off?" Kendall fumed. "We're assembling a recovery team at a nearby location. I want to review their last communication Marshall."
Marshall pulled up the communications tape and began replaying the last two minutes "You don't think she actually shot any of them right?" he asked Jack. "I mean she wouldn't do that, she wouldn't hurt Sydney right?" His question went unanswered as they all listened to the tape.
"You don't need to do this." "Stop." "It doesn't have to be like this." "Katy put the gun down. Just put it down. It's not the answer you know that." "Just stop!" "Do you see what you've done?" "Katy put the gun down, please just put it down." "I can't." "Katy, No!!!!"
The last sound they heard was an ear-piercing scream as the gunfire began.
"That was her screaming wasn't it," Marshall asked nervously. "That was Kat."
"You should never have sent her," Jack told Kendall accusingly. "Katarina was not ready for this."
"I had no choice Jack-"They were interrupted as a voice crackled through the communications link.
"Base Camp this is Boy Scout, do you copy? I repeat Base Camp do you copy?"
"Boy Scout, this is Base Ops, you're coming through loud and clear. Are you all right? What happened we heard gunfire?" Kendall asked.
"It was tranq darts," Vaughn explained. "Scriber, Retriever and Mountaineer are coming around now."
"Where is 'Shiner?" Kendall asked his eyes meeting Jack's cold ones.
"I don't know," he said hesitantly.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jack thundered.
"I mean I don't know. She's not here I don't know where she is!"
~ ~ ~ Forty Minutes Earlier
"Nervous?"
Kat nodded her eyes darting around nervously at the others that were getting ready for the infiltration.
"You'll be fine," Vaughn gave her a smile as he adjusted the strap on her bulletproof vest. He helped her pull the knitted black turtleneck over her head and then adjusted the communications in her ear. "Just stay with Will at all times and let him know if you recognize anything."
"Okay," she nodded. "Thanks Mike."
"No problem Kit-Kat," Vaughn ruffled her hair slightly as he passed and went to check his guns.
Kat lifted herself up onto the counter of the small trailer they were occupying while readying for the operation. She took a shaky breath as her hands formed fists at her sides.
Everything was happening so fast. One minute Sydney was waking her up and the next she was on a plane to Russia. The plan was to infiltrate the house, secure it, and then Kat would search for the scroll. That was assuring that she actually recognized the house. The others were old pros at this, she wasn't and it scared her. This wasn't like Spain. This wasn't a game where she was pretending to be someone else. For the first time she was herself and this was real.
At Sydney's command they moved out. Weiss disabled the security and then the five moved in. Kat stayed with Will as they spread out each taking a section of the house.
Will adjusted his ski hat as they moved up the stairs. It was an old house and the stairs creaked under their weight. The upkeep had been done well since Alexander Khasinau's death. Not a spec of dust could be seen and not a thing was out of place. The house was richly decorated. Plush carpeted hallways were lined with various pieces of art. All one of a kind originals.
"Do you recognize anything?" Will asked.
"No," she said softly. "Nothing."
"Base Camp this is Scriber," Will communicated with Jack who was running the operation from the JTF back in LA. "'Shiner hasn't recognized anything so far."
"All right Scriber, keep us posted," Kendall spoke despite Jack's harsh glare.
"I'm going to check out those rooms up there, stay here." Will requested.
"Sure," she nodded. Kat turned and began examining the paintings on the wall as Will made his way down the hall. She recognized them but she wasn't sure if they were from a book or from her past.
She trailed her fingers along the old wallpaper walking back to the beginning of the hall. The wallpaper didn't seem right to her though. It was striped but it should have been cream with tiny blue flowers. Her finger caught the edge of a peeled corner and she pulled it back. Cream with faded blue flowers. Tracing the edges she tried to remember more. She tried but there was nothing.
There was a small table at the end of the hall. Dark cherrywood sitting below a window. Kat pulled her ski hat off as she noticed something on the table. A vase of fresh cut daisies. She pulled one out and smelt it briefly before crushing it in her palm, her hand shaking.
After clearing the two rooms, Will entered the hallway once more, "Kat?" She wasn't there. He called her name again, louder this time. But still nothing. Quickly he checked the other rooms. Nothing. "'Shiner, this is Scriber please respond." Will waited a moment before trying again. "'Shiner, what is your location?"
"Agent Tippin what is going on?" Kendall drummed his fingers on the desk.
"She's not here."
"What do you mean she's not there?" Jack asked his voice rising with every word.
"She was here a second ago, now she's gone," Will explained.
"Katarina answer me right now," Jack clenched his hand around a coffee cup. Marshall watched him wondering if it could actually break.
No answer.
"Base Ops this is Mountaineer, what's going on where is she?" Sydney asked nervously.
"Katarina?"
No answer
"Katarina, answer me."
"She's not on the second floor," Will stopped at the end of the hallway. "Is her com link broken?"
"Marshall!"
"I'm on it." Marshall wheeled his chair around to the other desk and began typing furiously on a computer. "It's..... off," he announced.
"Off?" Kendall asked.
"She turned it off."
"Team, this is base Ops," Kendall stood and began pacing the floor. "It appears Kat has turned off her com link. Find her and get out of there."
"I found something," Will knelt down in front of a small table. "It's her hat." Lying beside the black article were several flower petals and to the right Will saw a set of stairs going up, with several more crushed petals. He drew his gun. "I think she might be on the third floor, I'm going up."
"Keep us apprised Scriber."
Will ascended the stairs quietly his gun drawn to his side. He wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow and readjusted his grip on the gun. There was an open door at the end of the hall. His breathing was shallow as he neared it. There was definitely movement inside but he had no idea what he would find.
Aiming his gun he stepped inside the room. "Damn," he swore. He kept his gun aimed and spoke into his com link. "Syd, fourth floor, last door on the left. You need to get up here now." He eyed Kat nervously keeping his gun aimed.
Kat stood several feet in front of him her fingers clutched tightly around a silver .48. She swallowed hard and her hands shook slightly but she never lowered her gun. Her eyes were dark and cold, unfeeling.
"Kat?" Will took a step towards her.
"Stop." Kat cocked the gun. "Don't come any closer Will."
Chapter Forty Four
Jack sat at the communications desk as calmly as one could in his situation. They'd lost communications abruptly with the team in St. Petersburg twenty minutes earlier after what sounded like gunfire had filled the airwaves. In addition to the communications loss the infrared sensors which picked up heat and they used to track the teams movement had also stopped functioning.
Marshall was pounding quickly on his keyboard attempting to recover the lost signals or at least determine what had happened. "Well good news and bad news," he announced. "Someone has deliberately interrupted our satellite feed for the infrared and scrambled the coding. I've tried to bypass theirs but no luck. None of the team's communications have been damaged as far I can tell they've just been turned off-
"Why would they be turned off?" Kendall fumed. "We're assembling a recovery team at a nearby location. I want to review their last communication Marshall."
Marshall pulled up the communications tape and began replaying the last two minutes "You don't think she actually shot any of them right?" he asked Jack. "I mean she wouldn't do that, she wouldn't hurt Sydney right?" His question went unanswered as they all listened to the tape.
"You don't need to do this." "Stop." "It doesn't have to be like this." "Katy put the gun down. Just put it down. It's not the answer you know that." "Just stop!" "Do you see what you've done?" "Katy put the gun down, please just put it down." "I can't." "Katy, No!!!!"
The last sound they heard was an ear-piercing scream as the gunfire began.
"That was her screaming wasn't it," Marshall asked nervously. "That was Kat."
"You should never have sent her," Jack told Kendall accusingly. "Katarina was not ready for this."
"I had no choice Jack-"They were interrupted as a voice crackled through the communications link.
"Base Camp this is Boy Scout, do you copy? I repeat Base Camp do you copy?"
"Boy Scout, this is Base Ops, you're coming through loud and clear. Are you all right? What happened we heard gunfire?" Kendall asked.
"It was tranq darts," Vaughn explained. "Scriber, Retriever and Mountaineer are coming around now."
"Where is 'Shiner?" Kendall asked his eyes meeting Jack's cold ones.
"I don't know," he said hesitantly.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jack thundered.
"I mean I don't know. She's not here I don't know where she is!"
~ ~ ~ Forty Minutes Earlier
"Nervous?"
Kat nodded her eyes darting around nervously at the others that were getting ready for the infiltration.
"You'll be fine," Vaughn gave her a smile as he adjusted the strap on her bulletproof vest. He helped her pull the knitted black turtleneck over her head and then adjusted the communications in her ear. "Just stay with Will at all times and let him know if you recognize anything."
"Okay," she nodded. "Thanks Mike."
"No problem Kit-Kat," Vaughn ruffled her hair slightly as he passed and went to check his guns.
Kat lifted herself up onto the counter of the small trailer they were occupying while readying for the operation. She took a shaky breath as her hands formed fists at her sides.
Everything was happening so fast. One minute Sydney was waking her up and the next she was on a plane to Russia. The plan was to infiltrate the house, secure it, and then Kat would search for the scroll. That was assuring that she actually recognized the house. The others were old pros at this, she wasn't and it scared her. This wasn't like Spain. This wasn't a game where she was pretending to be someone else. For the first time she was herself and this was real.
At Sydney's command they moved out. Weiss disabled the security and then the five moved in. Kat stayed with Will as they spread out each taking a section of the house.
Will adjusted his ski hat as they moved up the stairs. It was an old house and the stairs creaked under their weight. The upkeep had been done well since Alexander Khasinau's death. Not a spec of dust could be seen and not a thing was out of place. The house was richly decorated. Plush carpeted hallways were lined with various pieces of art. All one of a kind originals.
"Do you recognize anything?" Will asked.
"No," she said softly. "Nothing."
"Base Camp this is Scriber," Will communicated with Jack who was running the operation from the JTF back in LA. "'Shiner hasn't recognized anything so far."
"All right Scriber, keep us posted," Kendall spoke despite Jack's harsh glare.
"I'm going to check out those rooms up there, stay here." Will requested.
"Sure," she nodded. Kat turned and began examining the paintings on the wall as Will made his way down the hall. She recognized them but she wasn't sure if they were from a book or from her past.
She trailed her fingers along the old wallpaper walking back to the beginning of the hall. The wallpaper didn't seem right to her though. It was striped but it should have been cream with tiny blue flowers. Her finger caught the edge of a peeled corner and she pulled it back. Cream with faded blue flowers. Tracing the edges she tried to remember more. She tried but there was nothing.
There was a small table at the end of the hall. Dark cherrywood sitting below a window. Kat pulled her ski hat off as she noticed something on the table. A vase of fresh cut daisies. She pulled one out and smelt it briefly before crushing it in her palm, her hand shaking.
After clearing the two rooms, Will entered the hallway once more, "Kat?" She wasn't there. He called her name again, louder this time. But still nothing. Quickly he checked the other rooms. Nothing. "'Shiner, this is Scriber please respond." Will waited a moment before trying again. "'Shiner, what is your location?"
"Agent Tippin what is going on?" Kendall drummed his fingers on the desk.
"She's not here."
"What do you mean she's not there?" Jack asked his voice rising with every word.
"She was here a second ago, now she's gone," Will explained.
"Katarina answer me right now," Jack clenched his hand around a coffee cup. Marshall watched him wondering if it could actually break.
No answer.
"Base Ops this is Mountaineer, what's going on where is she?" Sydney asked nervously.
"Katarina?"
No answer
"Katarina, answer me."
"She's not on the second floor," Will stopped at the end of the hallway. "Is her com link broken?"
"Marshall!"
"I'm on it." Marshall wheeled his chair around to the other desk and began typing furiously on a computer. "It's..... off," he announced.
"Off?" Kendall asked.
"She turned it off."
"Team, this is base Ops," Kendall stood and began pacing the floor. "It appears Kat has turned off her com link. Find her and get out of there."
"I found something," Will knelt down in front of a small table. "It's her hat." Lying beside the black article were several flower petals and to the right Will saw a set of stairs going up, with several more crushed petals. He drew his gun. "I think she might be on the third floor, I'm going up."
"Keep us apprised Scriber."
Will ascended the stairs quietly his gun drawn to his side. He wiped a sheen of sweat from his brow and readjusted his grip on the gun. There was an open door at the end of the hall. His breathing was shallow as he neared it. There was definitely movement inside but he had no idea what he would find.
Aiming his gun he stepped inside the room. "Damn," he swore. He kept his gun aimed and spoke into his com link. "Syd, fourth floor, last door on the left. You need to get up here now." He eyed Kat nervously keeping his gun aimed.
Kat stood several feet in front of him her fingers clutched tightly around a silver .48. She swallowed hard and her hands shook slightly but she never lowered her gun. Her eyes were dark and cold, unfeeling.
"Kat?" Will took a step towards her.
"Stop." Kat cocked the gun. "Don't come any closer Will."