Jack and I continued searching through Lucy's pockets, in search of something we weren't even sure of. Irina, in the meantime, had made her way over to where the shooter had fallen. I watched as she rolled the body over, and then looked towards us. Catching my eye, she nodded slightly.

"I think you might want to see this."

Jack and I exchanged glances before we both stood up and hurried over to her side. My breath caught in my throat as I realized the identity of the shooter.

"Somehow, I'm not entirely surprised," Jack said wryly. Shaking his head, he walked back over to Lucy's body. I glanced up at Irina.

"What the hell does she have to do with this?"

"I don't know everything, Mr. Vaughn," Irina responded smoothly, though her eyes betrayed her own uncertainty.

"I never said you did," I replied crossly. "I'd think you would realize I wasn't asking you directly. I'm just a bit curious as to why Anna Espinosa was sitting in these trees shooting at us." Irina glared at me, obviously not appreciative of my sarcasm.

"I don't know why she was here, nor why she was shooting at us. And, since she's now rather dead, I don't think she'll be answering any of our questions anytime soon either." Sparing one last look at Anna's body, Irina stretched to her full height and walked over to join Jack. I didn't move, instead standing there and trying to figure out just how it was all connected. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling more baffled with each passing second.

Suit and Glasses acting as our contact in Greece… Anna Espinosa killing our contact in New Zealand… it had to be something more than mere coincidence… didn't it? My head was already beginning to throb, and I hadn't even started on the difficult things yet.

"Michael!" I turned my attention to Jack, who I found to be watching me intently.

"Did you find something?" I asked.

"She was carrying a disk. Irina is checking it out now." I nodded, then glanced at the two bodies.

"What… what do we do with them?" Jack looked at them for a long, silent moment, and then faced me.

"Leave them," he said simply.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow at my outburst.

"You heard me Michael. We leave them."

"We're just supposed to leave two bullet-riddled bodies on the outskirts of one of the largest cities in New Zealand?"

"What alternative course would you suggest, Michael? Store them in a cooler on the plane, perhaps?" My shoulders slumped in defeat.

"This is insane," I grumbled as I walked past him and onto the plane.

"Tell me about it," I heard him sigh.

"Any news from Sark about that damn code?" I questioned as led the way towards Irina's office.

"Nothing as of yet," Jack responded.

"Figures."

"Be patient, Michael, I'm sure he'll turn up something fairly soon." I chose not to reply as I pushed open the door to Irina's office. She looked up, appearing to be annoyed, as we entered.

"Well?" Jack questioned.

"Disk read error," Irina read, indicating the screen. I threw my hands up in frustration.

"This whole stupid side trip has gotten us nothing but a pair of dead bodies, a useless disk, and a code that we apparently can't crack!"

"It may seem like a waste of time, but there must be a reason behind it. We cannot forgo all of the stops we were told to make… Sydney's life may well depend on it." Irina stared at me for a long moment, until finally, I nodded.

"I know, I know… it just all seems like it's a set up, or something. I mean, how could Anna have known exactly where we'd be? It just doesn't make sense."

"Maybe things will be cleared up once Sark finishes decoding that file," Jack offered.

"We seem to be hinging everything on what the file says. But what if it's nothing of importance? We're letting it all ride on that, and who's to say it's not just a recipe for some really good cheesecake?" I argued. Jack looked amused.

"While I highly doubt that to be the case, you do bring up a valid point. We really don't know what's contained within the 'packet,' but we have every reason to believe it to be directions for how and where to proceed after this."

"Straight into the sights of another sniper rifle," I grumbled.

"When did you become so pessimistic?" Jack questioned.

"When did you become so optimistic?" I fired back. Before he could reply, we were interrupted by a brief knock, and the door easing open. Sark stepped into the room and held up a few sheets of paper.

"I've finished decoding it. I think you'll find this… rather useful."

Many many many thanks to those of you who are still with me here! And also to those of you who are just returning. ;-)