Courtny A/N: Hey! I get to start the chapter! Ooooo this is going to be soooooooo cool! Got to go start the chapter!
Lils: Yeah, yeah, don't get yourself all worked up, Court. YOU can't even figure out where COMMAS are supposed to go without me and Jaye having to go over your work! ((ahem)) anyway, this chapter will be cool…lots of Marshall babbling, and high-tech ramble from me. Enjoy!
Jaye: I have one word to say. MONKEYS!Lils: Eh…r.i.g.h.t. Now to reply to reviews!
Lils Evans: Erm…yeah…why aren't people reviewing?
Dandan2300: Thanks for the compliment…and about your thoughts on how we write this…Jaye is in Alabama, and Court and I are in Missouri. Jaye used to live here but then she moved, and her and I decided to write stories over the Internet. Like we copy and paste from e-mail messages onto Word, but in the cases of chapters I-4 and some of 5, Court and I were visiting Jaye at her house. So yeah, it's a little complicated, and sometimes we spazz off…but we're best buddies and love to write together, even though we're like, ten hours apart. Car ride not pleasant…Court can tell you that. She's very hyperactive, and always has to be moving…I thought she was gonna die on the way home…that or kill me. BTTS…thanks for reviewing and sticking with us! You're great!
Mizzle fo' Rizzle: I always wonder about your name…but anyway…yes, mangos and guitars. Just close your eyes and you can picture it, can't you? Unless you're a dude…(lol) But thanks for the review…and about more people? You'll just have to wait and see!
Jaye: Ahh shaddup you! But that was really funny…
Chapter Four :
Panic Attack Back at APO everything is going perfect. All agents are doing what they are suppose to be doing, everyone returning on time, missions completed, no one in trouble with the authorities, and no one dead. Yep, everything is fine and dandy until… " THEY'RE GONE! The chopper BLEW UP!"
"Marshall, get a hold of your self and tell me what is going on!" Jack Bristow yelled.
Marshall followed him into to his office, trying to remain calm in a time of panic. "Now, tell me why you panicked in front of everyone in the office as if you knew that a bomb could go off at any moment?" Jack demanded with a stern, hard glare.
"Sydney, Vaughn, and Sark are missing," Marshall said frantically, "Their plane went down and there radios are shot. We can't get a location and our search teams haven't found anything."
Marshall put his head in his hands. "Oh…I knew something like this would happen! I just knew it!"
"Marshall – "
"How could this happen? I wasn't prepared for this!" he squealed. "Syd and Vaughn are our there…spinning somewhere in the ocean and I can't find them…and…I can't get a hold of them and –"
"Marshall!" Jack Bristow shouted, holding up his hands. "We cannot do anything for Sydney and Vaughn if all you can do is stand here and yell at me in Gibberish."
"But it's not Gibberish!" Marshall shrieked, then added, "Sir," in a quiet voice, "Syd and Vaughn they…their helicopter went down…"
"Where?"
"Well, that's the problem." Marshall smiled weakly and attacked the nearest computer. "I can pull up audio and video feed from the inside of the chopper—pretty nice little invention there—but our grid-line broke down a couple of hours from the Australian ocean-line."
"But that's not where they crashed?"
"No, sir. We have video until the initial glitch, but audio hung on until…well…impact." A lump rose in his throat as the program he was bringing up opened, and a recorded feed began to play out of the speakers, the image coming up crystal clear on the screen. "See, everything is going good here…All zippitty doo da day!" Marshall's fingers flew over the keys, and the image skipped past several hours in a matter of minutes.
"...Now. Sark. He's getting bashed pretty badly… Oh, nice one Syd, that…good… Ooo, take cover Sark!"
"What can you tell us about this agent on the island of yours?" asked the pre-recorded Sydney. Jack watched her closely…and then the helicopter lurched. Video fizzed out in a blur of static, but high-pitched shouts and the frantic whirling of the chopper's blades filled Jack and Marshall's ears.
And then, without warning, the screen went completely blank, the blackout followed by an icy silence.
"Get Sloane, Nadia, and Weiss to the briefing room," Jack ordered.
"Yes…sir," Marshall said. When Jack walked out, Marshall mumbled, "SOMEONE'S a little bossy today…well, everyday…actually…but…yeah…"
As everyone entered the briefing room, they frantically searched each other for answers as to why Marshall was bouncing up and down in the corner, sweating, and clasping his hands to his mouth for dear life.
Mr. Bristow was clearly annoyed, and commanded the briefing to order rather brusquely.
"What is going on?" asked Nadia once everything was settled down…except Marshall that is. He was still in his corner, hands over his mouth.
Sighing deeply, Jack began. "Apparently, as Marshall is dying to tell you all, Agents Sydney and Vaughn's helicopter – while they were transporting Mr. Sark – has crashed. Somewhere several miles off the coast of Australia in the Pacific Ocean."
"And that's not exactly good," blurted Marshall. "You see, we lost our grid-system way before the audio gives out – that would be at impact time…in case you don't know – so we can't exactly make a perimeter that would be even remotely accurate. We might as well just circle the entire Mid Pacific…and maybe a little around the north-eastern section of Australia…but…since…it's already nearly impossible to – "
"That'll do Marshall." Mr. Bristow encircled his temples with his fingers, sighing.
"Eh…oh…kay…" Marshall said weakly.
"We need to extract Sydney, Vaughn, and Sark. I'm sending in Agents Santos and Weiss to find them." Sloane joined the briefing. "Your helicopter leaves in two hours. And now, if Marshall can calm down enough, he will introduce your Op-Tech."
"Heh, yes sir, Mr. Rolling Sloane—Mr. Sloane."
"Hey, Marshall!" Nadia said cheerfully. "I so beat Weiss at bowling."
"What do you mean bowling?" Marshall asked, confused. "You went bowling instead of looking for your sister, Vaughn, and a potentially dangerous terrorist!"
"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked, concerned.
"Syd and Vaughn are missing?" Nadia asked, suddenly wiping the smile off of her face.
"Duh," Marshal shot back. "I told you that three hours ago… and did I just say, gulp, duh?"
Nadia shook her head. "Marshall, what are you talking about?"
"Y-you mean you really don't know?"
"What clued you in?" Weiss folded his arms across his chest. "Sydney and Vaughn are missing, and you didn't call us?"
Marshall's face flushed.
"But…you came to the briefing…Mr. Bristow told you all about it…and…and…you left two hours ago in a helicopter to go find Syd and Vaughn! Or at least…we all thought you did…well, I did…but…Okay now I'm really confused!"
"Don't be. We just found got a call from the pilot asking why Nadia and Weiss didn't show up," Dixon said, walking in.
"But…if it wasn't you…" Marshall was flustered. "Well, if you didn't get on that helicopter, then my name isn't Marshall J Flinkman! And I'm…pretty sure…it is… That's what my mom calls me anyway… But…"
"Marshall. Stop babbling."
Mr. Bristow stood there. "It seems that Nadia and Weiss—who we thought were Nadia and Weiss, at least—never came within twenty miles of the airport."
"But…that would mean…"
"They took a car to Santa Barbara," Jack said in his serious voice.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Marshall screamed.
"NO," Jack shot back.
"Nice one Mr. Bristow," Marshall laughed.
"I try," Jack replied.
"Really?" Marshall asked in surprise.
"No," Jack said flatly.
Nadia and Weiss shifted, still a little bewildered.
"Well…then…" Marshall suddenly became sullen, "If that – the first Nadia and Weiss I mean – if they weren't really Nadia and Weiss…then…who were they?"
The room went silent. "W-what…were they?"
"I don't know," Mr. Bristow admitted harshly. "But whoever they were, they did not depart on the helicopter, leaving you two another chance." He nodded toward Agents Santos and Weiss. "Go. Marshall will brief you through your ComNet on the way there."
"Great plan, Mr. Bristow," said Marshall almost nervously, "but…how do we make sure these guys are the real Nadia and Weiss?"
"Poke me with a stick why don't you?" Weiss laughed.
"Actually, that sounds like a good idea." Jack stepped forward, pulling a needle from his jacket pocket.
"You're serious – "
"Always am."
"I never really did like him."
"You're just saying that because he poked a needle into you, Eric," Nadia laughed.
"…Maybe I am."
"Maybe you are," Nadia said, grinning.
"That man should really try pulling that stick out of his a…" Weiss said as Marshall cut him off.
" Okay, your mission is simple," Marshall started, "all you have to do is find Sydney, Vaughn, and Sark and return them safely after finding the uncharted spit of land that Sark made them crash on."
Jack's eyes burned into Marshall. "You failed to inform me of this very important piece of information that could have saved me a lot of researching and priceless time? Now, when again were you planning on telling me this? Before, or after Sark escapes our grasp?"
Marshall seemed a little embarrassed.
"I…uh…well…the whole excitement of the matter sort of…uh…"
"Never mind," Weiss rolled his eyes.
"Just tell us how Sark made them crash," Nadia stated.
"Well…it's actually a pretty interesting little story – "
"Or a four-hundred page novel…" Weiss snickered.
" – but after reviewing the feedback, I noticed something just wasn't…you know…as a detective would say…right. So I checked it out further and discovered a faint signal…very faint…almost undetectable…well, faint, and radiating so rapidly it was invisible to the human eye and most equipment. Only after I ran it through some of the more high-tech scanners was I able to pinpoint the location of the signal…which took, amazingly, only a few minutes…believe it or not…and I came up with a substance. A bomb."
"Impossible," Jack snorted. "Sark had no time to insert a bomb."
"No! You see, it wasn't impossible, because one: It wasn't your standard bomb. No wires…but a new, very new, internal power source that runs a timer. A time bomb. A new one…like I said, very new…I can only wonder at how he got a hold of one…but it's called an Artium device, and two: It's small. Really small…it was probably stuck on the floor of the chopper from the bottom of Sark's shoe. Very clever…but not clever enough to fool Flinkman's scanners!"
"MARSHALL."
"Well…it was timed to go off at a certain location…but I guess the helicopter kinda spun outta control…and then you know, BOOM! Heh, boom, like a crash, you get it? Ha…you…don't…never…mind."
"So do we have any idea where the signal was directed to?" Nadia asked, trying to get off the other subject.
"Yes and no," Marshall replied. "See the bomb was set to go off on an island about 20 minutes away, but every team we have sent out either they couldn't find it or they disappeared."
" Oh, how reassuring." Weiss stated sarcastically.
"Okay, we are going radio silent for a while so keep in touch when needed and let us know if anything unusual happens," Jack broke in.
" Agreed," Nadia replied as she turned her radio down.
"Don't you find it…a little strange?" Nadia walked next to Weiss out of the briefing room and out to where they were to meet their driver, the one that would take them to waiting chopper.
"What? That someone managed to clone all my good looks and me convincingly enough to fool Mr. Bristow? Yeah."
Nadia blew air out of her cheeks.
"That's not what I meant," she sighed.
"Yeah…you mean about how people that pretended to be us just waltzed right into the briefing, listened to the entire thing, and then didn't even get on the helicopter…What is that about?"
"I really don't know. I just hope Sydney and Vaughn are alright…where ever they are."
TBC…
END OF CHAPTER
Lils: So, you all know the drill, right? You've already read, and now it's time to REVIEW! Gah! I'm all alone down here again…so sad. Terrible. OH HEY! It's Marshall come to keep me company!
Marshall: Uh…hello. And who are you?
Lils: DUH! ONE OF THE WRITERS OF THIS STORY.
Marshall: Oh…that's interesting because…I just wanted to talk to one of you.
Lils: REALLY.
Marshall: Yeah…you see, in your story you make me sound like…well…a babbling…idiot.
Lils: (blank stare) And this is news to me…how?
Marshall: Well I never –
Lils: HA! Now I made you sound like my grandmother!
Marshall: Cut it out!
Lils: No. HAHA!
END
OF INSANITY.
FOR NOW.
REVIEW!