Orphans Beloved: "Beth Rhymes With Death…"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved and Sheldon Swifties bits in my Buffyverse and Sheldonverse, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later.
Disclaimer: No copy write infringement intended…
Sorry for delays…Projects, new life, holidays. Will try to continue to finis.
Part XXX…
"Did you say driving into the lake, you lumpen dolt?!" Rachel, anxiously from the back seat. "Hey!" As Alison slapped her own face, rather hard. "You want more, bitch?! Insult my husband again!"
"Honey? You're gonna hurt yourself." Donnie, concerned as he drove along, trying to view the road without headlights, fortunately a strong moon shining on the snow.
"Oh…I sees…" Helena nodded. "Good one, bro-in-law." grin. "See, Rachel, don't be scared…" she patted Alison.
"I'm no fool, I know…" Rachel began. "Then shut your mouth and let Donnie handle this." Alison demanded. "I know you got this, honey…!"
"The ice may not be thick enough…" Rachel, anxious again. "And one shell from Her Majesty's forces…"
"It's thick enough…I was reading tourist brochures in the airport." Donnie beamed. "And if they catch on to us, they won't risk sending us to the bottom. They want Helena intact."
"Who's Helena? Oh, right, the crazy psycho. Is she around?" Helena nodded, doing her best Beth.
"Hey, that was good." Donnie, grinning to her.
"We'll go straight to the bottom…Donnie, if you love me…?" "That's it!" Alison slammed fist into jaw and collapsed.
"Ally?!" Donnie regarded the rear view.
"Oh, my." Helena blinked, looking back at the unconscious Alison, then turning back to Donnie. "I love her but sis can be a bit…Much…At times."
….
"Ally did what?" Cosima's voice on speakerphone in the Dyad conference room, her image from Fee's loft now on split screen with Virtual Aldous.
"Apparently she clobbered herself and Rachel unconscious." Sarah shrugged. "Seems Rach crossed a line...And then some, I guess."
"Could that be bad? Delphine?" Cosima pondered.
"I'm at a loss, ma chere." Sigh. "Aldous?"
"Black box here, I'm afraid." Virtual Leekie shrugged on screen. "But it might not be the best thing for Alison to lose conscious with Rachel there, even if they both seem out for now. I'd be cautious when she awakens, Donnie."
"Right, thanks…Dr. Leekie. Helena thinks she's ok, though she did really give herself a wallop." Donnie's somewhat troubled voice on speaker. "Well, we're not seeing anyone right in our face in pursuit now. Gonna take a slight detour to try and throw them off."
"I don't think Paul's boys can pursue you too much further, Don." Virtual Leekie noted. "Caspir can't risk exposure and there are defined operational boundaries."
"Yeah, thanks again…" Donnie sighed. "Good news."
Does he have to be so eager to help? He thought.
"Paul never worried bout boundaries when he was spying on you down here." Sarah noted. "And those Caspirs poking round…?"
"Individual actions which their Director could claim were rogue. Frankly I believe we've done similar to keep tabs on them from time to time. Delphine?" Virtual Leekie eyed her.
Rather disconcerting, this…Much as it is a remarkable achievement in AI…She thought. "Yes, there have been efforts to penetrate Caspir occasionally, just for general information on their operations. A sort of tolerance exists for that but only for small surveillance…And since we don't have a supply of LEDAs ready to spy for Dyad or Topside…That I know of…" she regarded Virtual Leekie.
"Well…Not exactly…" he agreed. "It's mostly been agents we slipped in as techs, ordinary soldiers, a scientist or two. In fact, Hendrik Johannsen…Whom Aldous had heard you'd encountered."
"Helena, though Art and I had the pleasure of meeting his thugs for Christ…He was yours?" Sarah blinked.
"Obviously not for long, if ever. He was playing both sides against each other, for his own purposes." Virtual Leekie noted.
"Mostly…?" Fee had picked up…
"Aldous?" Delphine stared.
"Well…There was an arrangement made when the organization was initially divided up…" Virtual Leekie explained.
…..
Colonel Dierden's command vehicle, enroute out of Thompson…
"Paint Lake? They're headed for Paint Lake?" he eyed Corporal Meisner.
"All reports suggest it, sir. And the lake is frozen over." She noted. "Drivable, to some extent."
"Lets hope Donnie Hendrix can drive on ice, to some extent. Maintain surveillance, he must be trying to give us the slip there. He knows we can't fire on them on the lake and risk shattering the ice."
"Can we send forces south, sir? Sooner or later he has to turn south. If we cover the south of the lake…"
"We'd be spread too thin…And can't get enough of our people there fast enough, though send team one there, they're the closest. They might just get lucky. The rest, maintain pursuit at a safe distance." He sighed.
"There is one other option…" he shook head. "If we hit the lake south of them with our copters, break the ice, we might be able to force them into a channel we can block off. But that could endanger them…"
"It's a large lake, sir…" Meisner noted.
"Yeah…And given our luck tonight…" he paused. "All right, get me the copter squadron commander."
…
"Ok, we're on the lake…!" Donnie's voice on speaker.
"Whoo!" Helena's voice… "This is beautiful, sestras! Such lovely place, so stark…And moon is…"
"Lightin' you up on the snow…" Sarah, drily. "Don't make this a scenic trip, Donnie. They won't give up till you're far enough south. How far?" she turned to Delphine.
"About one hundred miles south of where they are now, but no guarantees Caspir won't violate the demarcation line." Delphine replied.
"Really? Sounds like you need someone with pull to handle such delicate negotiations." Ferdinand's voice, all turning to see him standing in the doorway. "Glad to be of service. Ms. Manning…Felix, nice to see you again so soon. Detective Bell." Nod. "Sorry to eavesdrop but I didn't want to interrupt till I could be of use." Smile. "So…?" he eyed Beth, seated by Art.
"You're Beth Childs…You know I was a huge fan already? But that was a terrific performance." He beamed.