Chapter SEVEN: A Free Agent.

South Africa

A few days later, all the agents are in position and everything is going off without a hitch.

Jack took his appointment as Director of the Aerial Navigation Security of the South Africa zone with his characteristic seriousness He had been introduced to the Transport Minister and had already seen most of the country's airport directors during the past week. His directives were principally focussed on security, organization and discipline. Then, he was introduced to the command centre of the security of the surrounding area of the Johannesburg International Airport, along with its strong points and its weakness. With the experts of the administration, he looked at the air security system, the instructions, the landing and take-off protocols, the air navigation corridors, the parking lanes, the directives for each type of accident; etc.

This evening, Jack, Van Der Meer and Weiss are going to infiltrate the Johannesburg Airport. Their mission is to verify information they were given by an informant. An illegal shipment of weapons is to be stored this evening inside a hangar in the south of the airport. If the intel turns out true, they'll put a a tracking device on the illegal freight.

The three men are leaning over a scaled architectural drawing of the airport on which Jack had highlighted the most vulnerable areas for an clandestine. Weiss quickly notices the stress his new colleague lets show through his cool attitude. Roger can't stand in place in Jack's office, while the latter throws quick gazes at him. Eric moves near the young agent and whispers to him, "Stay calm. All will go well."

"How would you do the infiltration, Agent Van Der Meer?" Jack asks suddenly.

Roger jumps with surprise, begins by stammering, sighs and ends by answering, "I think we could go through there, " he points out the place on their map, "……we could follow along the building, and dodge in and out of the freight switching room. Then, Agent Weiss and I could put this duplicator in the phone central and the other in the technical bracing room, while……"

The ringing of the Jack's cell phone cuts him short.

Jack answers, "Bristow."

Weiss notices immediately the barely hidden embarrassment of his boss as he watches him discretely.

"This evening? It's difficult!" Jack retorts while he moves away as far as possible to gain some privacy.
…….
He nods. "Where?"
……

"What time?"

Jack nods again as Weiss observes his neck which is becoming slightly pink. He wonders who the mysterious caller is as his boss puts the phone down.

Jack resumes straight away, "The infiltration of the airport will occur as you said. I'll take care of the offices and put a tracking device on the merchandise while you two do as you were told. We are leaving in five minutes." And he leaves the room.

Weiss turns over to his fellow agent, "It's just routine. Don't worry. We know the patrol's schedule. All we have to do is follow the plan and it will be a piece of cake. . ."

"I know., I'm not panicking, but……I'm a bit edgy because I don't want to mess up." Van Der Meer breathes deeply to relax himself. "What are you stressed by?"

Eric thinks a couple of seconds and answers to him with a sly grin, "Do you really want to know what adrenaline is? Spice up your life a bit? "

"Of course"

"Ok! Man or woman?"

"What?" He is incredulous, "What are you talking about?"

"Jack's phone call. Man or woman?"

Van Der Meer understands him but remains uncertain. There is a challenge here, of course. "Ok!" and he laughs with his fellow.

"Want to bet?" Asks Weiss cheerfully.

"Ok! I bet twenty bucks."

Weiss smiles inwardly, remembering Jack's reaction to the call and he is convinced it was a woman. "You're on!" And they shake hands.

Another Pretoria District

A beautiful building bathes in an artificial soft light. A relative silence reins only disturbed by the usual buzzing of insects which began two or three hours ago. Dozing in his sentry box, soothed by this soft evening lullaby joined by pleasant fragrance coming from the still damp ground, the guard didn't see anything, even the shadows that are climbing the wall behind him.

Sydney and Vaughn reach the roof at last. They communicate with each other by signs to avoid any sound. Sydney takes the lead of their nocturnal expedition and heads towards a hatch. She removes the bolts from it and opens it while Vaughn installs the ropes that they will need to climb back down to the ground.

They penetrate inside the building and walk through the main corridor, running lightly and easily. They stop in front of the director's door. Sydney neutralizes the alarm system in a flash, enters the room and switches the computer on while Vaughn does the exact same thing in the secretariat.

Both put a small device above the central unit which vampires all the data contained in the hard disk, then they bustle about setting bugs in several rooms. Once they have finished with their tasks, they get out by following their previous path.

The guard, still asleep, doesn't hear the slight whistle resulting from the friction of the nylon ropes.

Staked out in a car, Weiss et Van Der Meer are watching Jack climb out of his and walk towards a dark little park.

Following him without being detected was child's play! Eric is still laughing inwardly about that. He didn't tell Roger a word so he'd tease him a little, but in fact Jack's car is equipped with a tracking device. A safety measure! Ha! Ha! Ha!

A few laughs won't hurt! Even more so after this evening's operation which had undergone marvellously well and the plan worked out perfectly.

Now, serene and proud, Van Der Meer jumps into the game. He, "So, are we going?"

"Ok, let's go!" Weiss answers back with a bit of jubilation.

They leave the car and walk round the park. hugging a building and finding a convenient place to spy on their boss. There is almost no one in this area. Jack heads for the wall… and leaning against it, a woman is waiting for him. She watches him moving nearer to her.
Weiss turns towards his friend, "You lost!"

They look at Jack who stops a few yards from the woman. They cannot see her face clearly, but it's nevertheless a fact that her smile is nothing less than charming and enticing.

In the shadowy light, they are exchanging inaudible words cut by numerous stops and strained silences. The woman hands a brown envelope to Jack who takes it and slides quickly in a breast pocket of his jacket. They stare at each other a long time, the physical attraction between them is so strong that it's even palpable to the two hidden spies.

Van Der Meer is well aware of the reciprocal craving which fills both Jack and the woman. As he watches them, the tension rises again and Jack moves towards her, unmistakably attracted by this woman with her intoxicating appeal.

Breathless, Van Der Meer sees his superior framing his partner with his two arms outstretched supported against the wall. Taller by a head, his fiery gaze seeks the woman's. Slowly, never leaving her gaze, Jack bends his face towards her parted lips as she offers herself to him . At the beginning, their kiss is soft and tender as she embraces him, her arms stroking his back and his shoulders. Then without warning it becomes a fierce and demanding one, almost raw and bruising.

They stop only to catch their breath and right away dive back into a blazing kiss. Van Der Meer swallows with difficulty.

Jack seizes his companion by her waist, hauls her up against him and presses her body on to the wall with the effect that it's her who is looking down at him. She tenderly runs her fingers through his hair. They look at each other again, breathless and panting, their faces showing the lust and desire what boils inside them. Then, their lips join again in a tender and yet burning kiss. Van Der Meer stares at Weiss, who is as surprised by the spectacle as he is.

Their languorous assault stops, but suddenly this time. Jack tilts his head up and listens attentively for a moment. Eric and Roger are totally frozen, their hearts racing in their chests… "He is going to kill us!" Weiss succeeds in thinking…

Then Jack and his partner exchange few words and a last passionate kiss. He moves away without failing to throw a glare towards the area the two other associates are hidden. She follows him with her gaze, absorbed, a conniving and sad smile on her lips that are still glistening from their mingled saliva.

Van Der Meer wipes his hands on his trousers, swallows his saliva and follows his partner who is as stunned as himself. Once they reach their car, Van Der Meer gives to Weiss the twenty dollar bill for their bet he just lost. "Wow! I'd never expected..."

This confirms the opinion Roger has about his boss and his job: he's James Bond! He asks Weiss, "Did you know about this?"

"Not at all! Jack Bristow… I never thought to see him running wild like that… He's always so cold and so reserved… I can't believe there is someone who could break the ice… That he could be susceptible to carnal pleasures on this earth … Sometimes I even wonder if he's from another planet!"

The next day

Sydney is sitting at her desk and she is finishing preparing for her next class on Hemingway. Dora enters the room: she has just ended her class. They had rapidly connected, and they share the same teaching vocation.

"How did your class go?" asks Sydney.

"Well! But this year I still have David as student and I have no choice but to bear him!"

"What's the problem with him?"

"He's the kind of guy who believes that he's better than everyone; a rich kid, haughty and arrogant… and handsome which doesn't help matters! He thinks he is subtle when he makes me his obvious overtures Well, I don't have to spell it for you!" She sighs a little exasperated and shakes her head as she smiles to Sydney.

"Does he cause you trouble?"

"Nothing I can't settle by myself! But men like him... where do they think they are?"

"In a harem maybe!" And they laugh together.

Dora resumes with difficulty, her words broken by her giggles, "Last year……after a class… he came to… me… to invite me … to go out with him... and his pickup line was... Ha! Ha! Ha!" She remembers this anecdote and it makes her giggle even more and she can't add a word. At last, she quietens and then adds, "He told me… 'you are brilliant and you've even noticed that I'm a man with a future…'" At this, they laugh together again and joke about some men and their vanity.

Having composed herself, Sydney asks her, "Do you have somebody in your life?"

"Currently, no." She sighs a little and tells her, "I'm not lucky in love, and I'm always attracted by odd guys." Thinking, she stops.

"Losers ?" suggests Sydney.

"No, I'd rather say liars." She looks at her friend and grins with melancholic smiles.
Dora is so like Francie, her dear friend now dead; she is frank and cheerful and she shares the same simplicity and ability to understand than Francie had. But they don't look alike. There is Asian blood running through Dora Tang's veins; yet, even as several generations of interbreeding had smoothed the main physical characteristics, she keeps the exotic charm of those from far away countries of Asia. She possesses a great wild feminine beauty. A golden skin covers her delicately muscular body and her beautiful dark brown hair falls on her finely chiselled face ornamented with superb almond-shaped green eyes.

The same day, other Pretoria district

Weiss and Van Der Meer are at the hangar; they hadn't seen Jack again since the previous evening for which they are relieved. They are still alive, and that is a very good sign.

"This late evening meeting is going well, Jack and Sydney keep ignoring each other all along but at least they haven't exchanged any direct attacks. I'm relieved: that tension gets on my nerves. And Jack seems right normal with Roger and me," thought Weiss with a good amount of satisfaction.

Michael tends not to make things easy either; sometimes he becomes aggressive. Worse, he knows Jack still doesn't approve of his relationship with Sydney. I'm happy things between them worked out…They are going well together. In any case, he has always remained crazy about his Syd. The agony that the last year was for him! I hope the relationship between father and daughter will improve……"

But this ambiance isn't good for Roger; he just joined the team and obviously he's bothered by it but he's adapting well. Despite that, the situation mustn't continue or else it will become unbearable and could jeopardize our covers. I think Jack is well aware of that."

"The tracking device we placed last night allowed us to track the plane that transported the freight and discover the identity of the staff who had taken charge of the aircraft and its merchandise. We have a first list of suspects." Jack stops talking and gives files to Van Der Meer, "Surveillance pictures. Have you got other intel about the traffic network, Agent Weiss?"

"I was contacted by Agent Peel by the proper procedure. A delivery of ecstasy pills hidden in a freight of dolls is expected in Chicago in 48 hours. The plane's taking off from Johannesburg Airport. Another similar operation is being set up but this time it'll be about a weapons deal."

"We will proceed in the usual manner. Marshall, you'll supply us with the equipment." He turns to Vaughn and Sydney, "Something new about your mission?"

"We gave Marshall copies of the content of the hard disks of the foundation and he has to analyze them now," answers Vaughn; and Jack turns naturally towards the engineer with an interrogator's gaze.

"Err! Yes… with Carrie, err… I wanted to say Mrs Flinkman… Agent Flinkman, we studied the hard disks. It's wonderful all the research they are doing… Their database has to be seen! A marvellous thing… You put a name, a reference inside and right then…" With the glare Jack gives him, he stops the explanations he was telling and resumes, "Err… We have recovered all the intel about their dig sites and the future ones they are planning. But there's no contact names. Nothing about their means to communicate between them. Nothing concerning the provenance of their information."

After a long pause while Jack seems absorbed, he says to Vaughn, "You'll track the director of the foundation, as well as the people she meets, with my daughter." Then he asks our genius, "Anything thing else?"

"No… Nothing new, Sir," replies Marshall.

Vaughn believes he must add something. "About the university, we don't have any lead at the moment. But almost all the offices are under electronic surveillance now, so all we have to do is wait."

Things are progressing slowly, but surely, Weiss tells himself.

TBC

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