Lee was sitting outside looking up at the stars in the sky. It had been hours and still no contact had been made to give Victor any instructions. He sat there for some time looking at the night sky. Little by little clouds were starting to cover the stars and he smelled rain in the air. Ironically, it reminded him the night he had met Kate.
Flashback:
It was rather late in the evening; he was out for the weekend and was heading to one of the bars to meet up with some of his friends. Halfway through his ride, he passed a young woman stopped on the side of the road desperately looking underneath the hood of her car. Initially, he would not have stopped but as he had passed her, the wind had blown her brown hair and he had amazingly been drawn to her. He stopped his motorcycle just a bit further and turned around.
He had stopped just behind her, removed his helmet and slowly walked over to her. She had lifted her head and he smiled noticing she had spots of grease here and there on her face. She looked at him first terrorized. It was true that it was not one of the best neighborhoods and she must have been nervous.
"Can I help you"?
She had stepped back slightly. "No I'm find thank you".
Lee had smiled mischievously. "Are you sure? You really look like you could use a hand".
"No really, I'm good. Thank you".
Realizing that she wasn't trusting him, he played his army card.
"Look , my name is Corporal Lee Christmas. I'm stationed here at Fort Eustis. I don't want you any harm. Really, I just want to help you.. You're not really stopped in one of the safest neighborhoods".
Kate had given a quick look at the surroundings than at Lee.
He had put his hand out to shake hers. She finally took it and shook it. "I'm Kate. Kate Thompson".
He let go of her hand slowly and smiled at her. "Alright then Kate, what do you reckon is the problem with your car"?
"You're asking me what I think is the problem"?
"Well yeah, from the state your face is in, I'd say you've given your car a pretty good look over".
She looked at him in a questionable way. "Oh no.. what's wrong with my face"?
He laughed. "Nothing's wrong with your face. It's perfect if you're into cars and mechanics".
She passed him and went to look at her face in the side mirror. Her eyes widened and she started to rub her face only making things worse. He thought that she was going to cry, but she simply had laughed it off and had returned to the front of the car with him.
"Ok.. to be fair Lee, I've got no idea what is wrong with this stupid car. There's gas in the tank, I have lights and indications on the front board so it's not the battery and I checked there is enough oil. I called the tow truck but they can't have anybody out here for another couple of hours. They said they'd call my cell fifteen minutes before getting here".
Lee looked up at the sky, it was dark and he could smell the summer rain from afar. "Can anybody come pick you up"?
She shook her head. "No. I just recently moved here and I don't know anybody in the area".
Like a forewarning, a couple of drops fell on them and then it started to pour and they were getting soaked.
Lee motioned to his motorcycle. "There's a dinner a couple of streets away from here. We could go have a cup of coffee and wait for the tow truck to call you from there. What do you say"?
Kate lifted her head up to the sky as the rain fell heavily on her face. She then looked at her car, then Lee, than his bike. "Ok".
She quickly went to grab her purse and keys from the car while Lee closed the hood. He then guided her to his bike and gave her his helmet. "What about you"? she had asked.
''Don't worry, I'll be just fine".
He straddled his bike and waited for her to do the same. She placed herself behind him and hooked her arms around his waist. He started the engine and they drove off in the rain headed for the dinner.
End of flashback.
He sighed thinking back at that day. It had been the start of their relationship, their amazing relationship. It had been the perfect relationship. She had been there every step of the way, even waiting for him and supporting him while he was on his tours. He had big plans for them but they had never gotten that far.
"It's gonna rain if you ask me".
He didn't have to look, he knew that it was Barney. He knew that Barney was watching his every move and every reaction ever since Victor had told them that Kate had been taken.
"It will be nice. It will cool the temperature down a bit".
Barney lit his cigar. "Lee, I've known you for years. Are you sure you are OK"?
"I'd be lying to you Barney if I told you I was. In just a couple of hours, I've learned that the woman I've ever truly loved not only didn't leave me because she didn't love me anymore but that she is being held hostage by a group of potential terrorists. I'm having a hard time coping with my feelings Barney. I want to break Victor's face and I want to kill the men who have her. I just keep praying that she is going to be all right and I'll have, we'll have a chance at making things right again".
"I understand Lee. We can do without you on this mission, it may be best if you sit this one out".
He looked at Barney with the same fury he had looked at Victor with previously. "Barney, I know you are trying to preserve me but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here while you guys go and save her. That was my job. I was the one who promised her I'd always look out for her, I'd protect her. I'm a man of words; I'm going to keep that promise. We are going to bring her back".
Barney put his hand on Lee's shoulder. "We'll bring her back".
Gunnar came out to see them. "The mobile phone is ringing".
Barney and Lee quickly left their spots and entered the hangar. Toll Road was ready with the tracing and recording equipment. Barney looked at Victor and nodded at him telling him he could take the call.
Victor swallowed and took the call.
"Hello"?
"Hello Victor. I hope you are well since we saw each other last. I take it you have followed our instructions and have not contacted any authorities".
"Yes. I followed your instructions. Where is my daughter"?
"Kate is fine. You don't need to worry about her just yet. She is currently resting and is unharmed. At least for the time being".
"What does that mean"?
"Well Victor her well-being will highly depend on your willing to cooperate. In a couple of hours, the drug we gave her is going to stop working and she is going to wake up. Every hour that goes by that she is awake without getting what we want will impact her greatly. So you need to listen and listen very closely. You need to get us the SXT-76. We will call back in a couple of hours to see where you are in getting it. Remember Victor, time is key. Speak soon".
The line broke. Lee turned to Toll Road. "Did you get it"?
Toll shook his head no. "Too short and on top of that he's bouncing off multiple satellites. These guys aren't taking any chances, just in case Victor has gone to authorities. It was under 3 minutes Lee, there was nothing we could have done more".
"OK. Let's go over what he said. He knows your first name, so either he knows you personally or he's been researching on you. The same for Kate. What is the SXT-76"?
Victor sighed still holding the cell phone in his hand. "It's an energy weapon. Basically when this is activated, it stops the power surge for a radius of 100 miles. That means, no electricity, no planes, nothing that operates with some kind of electrical power, even cars. But it's not entirely finished and it's not 100% operational yet".
"I could see why this kind of weapon would be useful to some terrorist organizations. Talk about immobilizing a whole city and then being able to lead massive massacres", said Toll Road.
"Victor, I take it that this project is secret defense only certain people know that it exists correct"?
Victor nodded in agreement.
"Okay then, we need to get a full list of people who knew about this project and do some background search on them. How quickly can you get us a list of who was working on the project" asked Barney.
"I have that in the safe at home. Once I'm there it will be quick".
"OK. Lee and Yang will escort you and check the house as well for bugs and assure your safety".
He turned to Lee. "Lee what's wrong".
"I don't know, something is off. Toll, play the recording will ya"?
Toll played the button and they all listened quietly. "There! Go back just a little". Toll rewinded and started to play the recording again.
Lee closed his eyes. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! Damn it"!
Victor looked at him. "What is it"?
"Where ever they are they're not in the US. There is a cathedral or a church bell in the background and it's either 7am or 7PM were they are. No wonder we didn't hear sooner, they were flying out of the country".
Barney nodded. "OK. Lee, you and Yang go with Victor to his house, during that time we will pinpoint the countries with those times. It will give us inevitably Europe and Asia but we need to get a clear understanding of what countries and cities we are looking at".
Yang and Lee took Victor into Barney's pickup truck and headed out to Victor's place.
No one spoke a word but they knew that the fact they had left the country was going to complicate things in locating them and getting to Kate quickly.