3

The Mission

"Well, at least you're okay. That's the main thing," observed Swanbeck.

Ethan laughed hollowly. "I failed the mission. Stop trying to avoid it."

Swanbeck shrugged. "There were unforeseen circumstances. Anyway, now we have a new mission for you."

"Hey, stop!" said Ethan. "You're not supposed to do this face-to-face. I like something that will self-destruct in five seconds, you know?"

"Too late," replied Swanbeck.

Ethan sank back into the chair. He didn't normally sit down when his IMF chief was talking to him, but he had had a rough flight home.

Swanbeck typed something into his computer, and then turned the screen round so Ethan could see.

A photograph of a man appeared on the screen. As Ethan looked at it, Swanbeck began talking.

"We may have traced the source of this "Firestorm" that Petravich boasted about. The man you're looking at is Maxwell Dennis Vane. He is head of Research at Pyrostar."

"Pyrostar?" said Ethan. The name was vaguely familiar to him.

"Remember that skyscraper that burned down and collapsed in Los Angeles last week? That was the Pyrostar complex. No one knows the cause of the fire, but one of the guards who escaped from it reported that Vane had left mere minutes before the fire started, and that he had been accompanied a strange man. Using the description the guard gave us, we were able to identify the mystery man." Swanbeck typed something. The screen changed. Now an African-looking man took the place of Vane's face.

"Morgan Darter. We've dealt with him before. He's an assassin, and a good one at that. He tried to bump off Salamander a couple of weeks ago, if you remember. He's dangerous."

"Yeah, I remember him," said Ethan. "So what exactly was Vane researching?"

"Pyrostar, as the name implies, is primarily concerned with fire. That is, ways to generate heat as cheaply as possible, in order to save energy. Vane was working on a top secret project called…"

"Let me guess," Ethan interrupted. "The secret project was called Firestorm."

Swanbeck nodded. "But we have no idea what Firestorm is. But I do know this. The fire that destroyed Pyrostar was unlike anything seen before. We have reason to believe that Firestorm is capable of generating a massive amount of heat. But now it has been stolen by the Mafiya. Mr Hunt, your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to go after Firestorm and recover it. Start by visiting the survivors of Pyrostar, see if they can tell you anything. Then try and track down Vane and Darter."

"Do I get any help?" asked Ethan.

Swanbeck nodded, and then said, "I guessed you'd want Luther Stickell, so he's already on his way to L.A. I had to give him a pilot, so I sent Sean Crain. Does that meet with your approval?"

"Yes," replied Ethan.

"Good. In that case, go and talk to Salamander."

"Why?" asked Ethan, a horrible suspicion forming in his mind. "Is he in charge of this mission?"

Swanbeck smiled, and nodded his head. "He feels that he messed up on the arms deal, so he wants to redeem himself by finding Firestorm."

Ethan heaved a sigh. "Okay."

He left the office, and made his way to another room. In this one, he found Salamander.

Seymour Wray was a slimy looking man. He had long dark hair that shone with grease and was peppered with dandruff. He seemed to be permanently hunched in his seat. He had a protruding stomach. A slight moustache grew on his upper lip. His teeth were crooked and yellow. He had a slimy personality, too. Ethan didn't like him much. Wray was a bit big-headed.

"Ah, Mr Hunt!" said Wray, his tone implying that he was comparing Ethan unfavourably to a piece of dog excrement. "Glad to see you're okay. That was a bit of a nasty fight with Petravich, wasn't it? I watched the whole thing on the satellite. Lucky you managed to get one of the guards. Anyway, here are all the things you'll need for your trip to Los Angeles." He waved a hand at a table with lots of equipment on it.

"Just take your pick," he added, as Ethan went over to the table and picked up a gun. Ethan checked the magazine.

"Do you really think you'll need a gun?" Salamander asked.

"Well," said Ethan, "I personally think that whoever wanted Firestorm is a very dangerous person. I think that they'll go to any lengths to get what they want."

Salamander nodded. "I think you're right. Be careful, Ethan. This sounds impossible."

Ethan smiled. "Impossible is my business."