Chapter 6

"D'you think you know where they've got the virus?" Dan asked Taya.

She looked unsure, but nodded.

"I think so, but we've got to be careful: I've seen at least seven people working for Constantala."

"Okay, then. Lead on," he said and quickly they set off.

Taya led the way along the empty corridor, trying to remember where she had come from when they had locked her up. She glanced back at Dan.

"How did you find me?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"Some lady saw the registration of the van they snatched you in and Tom worked out where it came from. I'm only sorry we didn't get here quicker."

"Are you kidding?" Taya asked and Dan threw her a confused look. "I'm just annoyed I didn't get the chance to show off my kick-ass skills," she said with a grin. Dan returned it – somewhat relived to see the return of Taya's jokey side.

"What? With a chair leg?" he shot back.

"Don't underestimate the power of furniture," she said ominously, slightly spoiling the effect with a smirk.

Her smile faded again as they carried on down the corridor. Dan noticed the tense look on her face.

"Hey," Dan said, gently, "we're going to get through this."

Taya didn't respond immediately and Dan wondered if he'd said the right thing. Eventually, she turned to him with a small smile.

"C'mon," she said.

Checking the coast was clear, they headed down a couple of flights of stairs and along a white-walled corridor. Taya stopped outside a set of double swing doors fitted with square windows on their left. Dan could hear the sound of machinery whirring from behind them. They ducked down by the door then quickly stuck their heads up, peering through the windows in the doors. The room was filled with large machinery – some sort of conveyor belt system - but as far as they could see, no people. And across the room, the white chest sat on a table, its lid still open.

Double checking they hadn't been spotted, Dan and Taya gently pushed open the doors and slipped inside.

"This must be it," Dan whispered, looking warily at the unassuming vial that held the deadly virus. He glanced at Taya for confirmation and saw that her smile had disappeared again, replaced by a nervous frown.

"Let's take it and get out of here," she said and took a step forward but got no further.

One of Constantala's guards appeared from behind the machines. Dan cursed internally. They had been stupid to think the virus would be left unguarded. He took a step forward to join Taya, ready to fight their way to the virus and gasped in surprise as he was grabbed from behind.

"… Now we've got the vial we're ready to move into the next phase - "

Both Tom and Aneisha heard it at the same time. Eyes wide, they stopped dead, staring at each other, listening to Constantala's voice issuing from an office further down the corridor.

Slowly, Aneisha padded down the corridor, positioning herself closer to the office. She beckoned Tom to follow her.

"It may be some time but at some point someone will notice the girl's absence and may trace her here. We need to finish up here and move out."

Just then there was static and a voice over a radio said, "Ms Constantala? We've got an issue down here, boss. We've apprehended some intruders. You'd better come."

Aneisha felt her heart skip a beat. Had Dan and Taya been caught?

"Hold them there." Constantala replied with brisk authority, "I'm on my way."

Aneisha's heart leapt in shock. Spinning away, she and Tom whirled down the corridor and round the corner, pressing themselves against the wall, holding their breath. And just in time as, a second later, the cosmetics executive swept down the corridor followed by a guard, straight past the spies.

Exhaling in relief, they waited until they could no longer hear her footsteps before looking back down the corridor. In her haste to leave, Constantala had left the office door ajar. Aneisha glanced at Tom.

"Dan and Taya…" Aneisha said, the worry clear in her voice.

"You go," said Tom. "I'll check out her office. I can try and hack their radios so they can't communicate. And I'll call Frank. I don't care what Dan thinks," he said as Aneisha looked concerned. "We need back up."

Aneisha nodded grimly. She turned to go.

"Hey, 'Neish?" Tom called.

She looked back.

"Stay safe."

"You too," she said with a nod and left, jogging after Constantala.

Tom clenched his jaw, watching as Aneisha ran after Constantala. He, too, was worried about his friends but he knew Aneisha would be much better at helping them than he would. Here, he could do what he was good at.

Carefully he pushed open the office door, looking cautiously in case someone else had been in there but the room was empty. Quickly, he slid inside and shut the door behind him.

Looking around he took a second to think.

First of all: the radios. Somewhere there should be a box that controlled them, and as this was the main office of the place…. There. Tom quickly examined it wondering the best way to stop the radios transmitting. Then he found the off switch.

"Aha," he muttered, pressing it. A little red light came on, indicating that radio signals weren't being transmitted.

Next he lent over the computer on the desk that displayed the views from the security cameras around the building. They still seemed to be showing the loop he'd set them on earlier. He tapped away for a few seconds.

"Bingo!" he exclaimed. Now he could see the live feed from the cameras, but they wouldn't show the footage on any other screen the cameras were connected to – just in case they had a second control room.

Finally he pulled out his pencil communicator and switched it on.

"Frank?" he said, his eyes scanning the images in front of him.

Frank answered immediately. "Tom? Where are you? Why didn't you report back earlier?" He sounded annoyed but slightly relieved.

Tom ignored the second question, "We've found Taya, we're at –" he gave the address of the warehouse, "But we need backup." He briefly explained the situation.

"Okay, backup is on its way, ETA 10 minutes." Frank still sounded a little annoyed and Tom could feel the unspoken 'we'll talk about this later' hanging in the air.

"I'm keeping an eye on everything – I can let you know where the guards are," Tom offered, leaning back in the chair, feeling a little less tense.

Something caught his eye.

There was a folder sticking out of one of the desk draws. He pulled it out, opening it and examining its contents. It seemed to be blueprints of something. He looked closer, brow furrowed. It was a plan of some sort of building – something about it looked familiar. And with it was a sheet entitled 'Security'. He examined it for a few seconds. Then his eyes widened as he realised something. Something important. He put two and two together and for once it made four. But someone else, he realised, had made six.

"Frank," he spoke into his communicator again. "I've found something else, too…"

Constantala stood in front of her captives, considering them with piercing blue eyes. Dan struggled in the grip of his captor but to no avail. Taya seemed to have frozen.

Maria tutted. "Oh dear, Taya. This really won't do. And I thought we were friends."

Dan glanced over at Taya. He could see the fear on her face. Her lip was trembling but she tightened her jaw, trying to keep the panic in. Amid the terror in her eyes, there was a hint of steeliness, refusing to let it take over. Dan took a second to be impressed. He had seen a little of Taya's thoughts after her last MI9 mission, and after Stella. He could see how scared she was, and could only imagine what was going on in her mind, yet despite all of that, she had the strength to keep going day in, day out and even when faced with such situations as this. This girl was different to the one he had watched confidently fighting her way through several armed KORPS agents in Siberia on the MI9 database, but somehow, despite all that had happened, this girl was the stronger one.

"You're not going to get away with this," Dan snarled. He knew it was unlikely Constantala would listen, but instinct told him to play for time. "MI9 know we're here and back up is on its way," He bluffed. "You'd better just give up now."

Maria glanced at him. She seemed to find him amusing.

"Brave words considering your position," she said. "Even if MI9 are on their way, I'll be long gone. It won't take long for me to pack all this up and by the time the perfumes have been distributed, they'll be impossible to trace before it's too late. I'm sure after that they'll recall all the products but by then the damage will be done. And I'll have had my revenge."

She held up the small vial that contained the virus for them to see.

Turning away from them she looked at the third guard. "Go and check the rest of the place. See if we've got anymore unwanted visitors."

"Your brother would disagree," Dan called as the guard left. He had to distract her, stop her from carrying out her plan and it was all he could think of. "He was the one who guessed what you might be planning and ratted on you. And why shouldn't he? You didn't show much sisterly love."

Maria turned back to him.

"My brother lacked vision. All he cared about was money; selling this off to the highest bidder when it could be used for so much more.

"And what do you care about?" A voice came from the other side of the concourse. Heads turned and Dan saw, with mixed relief and concern, Aneisha walking towards them. She kept a fair distance though: Constantala only had two of her bodyguards here and they were occupied with Dan and Taya, but as the only person un-hindered, she didn't want to risk losing her advantage.

Constantala pursed her lips, eyes flashing in annoyance. "Seems I need to upgrade my security system," she said, glaring at Aneisha.

Aneisha carried on talking.

"What is it you want to achieve by this?" she asked.

Constantala narrowed her eyes. She clearly didn't care much for answering the question but decided to answer. "Revenge," she said.

"Sure, revenge on the people who wronged you," Aneisha said, "But why target innocent people?"

"You researched in medicine, right?" Dan continued and Maria's head snapped back to look at him. "Medicine's all about helping people. When did that change in your mind?"

"Helping people who don't deserve it," she snarled. "Nobody helped me after my career was ruined. I had to help myself. And all the other people who've had their lives ruined by injuries like mine? What help do they get?"

"But those are the people you'll be hurting! Not the big companies or anyone who did anything to you. If you want to change anything, try campaigning - raise awareness or something. Don't cause more pain."

"Enough of this!" Constantala snapped, her cheeks red with anger.

Aneisha had moved so she was only a couple of feet away from Constantala. The woman was distracted: her full attention on Dan. Seeing her chance, Aneisha made a grab for the vial but Constantala snapped back grabbing the girls arm and twisting it round. Aneisha twisted out of the brace, grappling Maria for the vial.

Dan used the diversion to his advantage. While his guard was occupied, Dan jerked his head back violently, smacking it into the chin of his captor, causing the man to reel backward, crashing into the guard that held Taya, who lost his hold on her. Aneisha had managed to take the vial but Maria kicked her legs from beneath her and as she fell backwards her hand flew upwards, and let go.

All eyes followed the vial as it flew up into the air, flipping once, twice, before falling as if in slow motion.

"Taya!" Dan yelled struggling to escape the guard's grip. She knew what he wanted her to do and, eyes raised, face set in concentration, she took two steps and caught the vial.

Dan felt the tension built up release, but only for a moment. Aneisha struggled to get to her feet, dazed from hitting her head on the floor. Maria rose, her hair coming down from its bun, her face twisted in a snarl.

"GIVE THAT BACK TO ME," she growled, advancing on Taya.

Taya backed away from the enraged woman. She was still clutching the deadly vial but as she glanced around, she realised she had nowhere to go.

A/N: Cliffhanger! You're welcome.

Sorry this chapter took such a long time to be posted...! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas/ New Year/ general winter-ness. The next chapter may well be the last one... (possibly.) The end is nigh! Please leave a review!