Don't own Chuck

They walked out of the aft cabin into the forward passenger section and took up their seats. Clara leaned over and whispered something to Sam as soon as they saw them coming forward. This didn't escape Sarah's attention but they had to worry about other things and finding out what the girls were up to had to take a back burner for now. Sitting down Sarah reached over and caressed Sam's face. They had been flying for most of the day and now that they were about to land as it was getting evening.

"The Colonel tells us we're about to land so we should all get ready," said Chuck as Devon and Ellie looked at the two of them.

"So what did the General want that you can tell us about," said Devon. He was worried now that he had let Beckman talk him into this trip too easily.

"Well seems the Premier wants to take you and me on a little hiking trip. He saw on your Facebook page you like outdoor sports so he thought he'd take us on a small trip to see the interior of Costa Gravas."

"Wow that sounds like fun maybe we can chase some tail?" said Devon as Sarah and Ellie looked at him. "What did I say?"

"Just for clarification Awesome and before you get us both in trouble the tail you're talking about is marmots right?"

"Yeah, what else, I mean it's great we can finally get a chance since your bachelor party was a bust. Honey we were going to chase tail... But wait a minute I don't know if there's a huge yellow-bellied marmot population in Costa Gravas. I'll check the internet when we land but they love to be chased."

"I'm sure they do," said Ellie. "I guess we'll have to forgo that exciting experience. So what are we girls going to do while you men are out roughing it?"

"We're going to help with whatever they need to get ready for the celebration. I don't know exactly the Premier's wife; Hortencia will tell us when we arrive."

"Okay as long as I have a little time to run out and do some shopping. I need to get a few souvenirs for friends and colleagues. Clara should bring something back for her class," said Ellie as Sarah reached over and squeezed Chuck's hand as the 'fasten seat belt' sign came on. She leaned over and whispered to Chuck.

"I take it back. Guarding the President would be easier. You wouldn't want to switch jobs and I'll go on the nature hike," she said as she saw the look of concern in his face. "I'm just kidding everything will be okay."

"I promise I'll make this as fast as possible the Big Guy isn't the type to get lost nor is he someone that goes unnoticed so I'm sure we'll find him quickly." As they were talking the pilot came over the intercom.

"Bienvenidos to Costa Gravas, we'll be landing soon so please stay buckled and in your seats until the plane has come to a complete stop." Colonel Panza was talking on his phone as the pilot was giving instruction so as soon as he hung up he came over to them.

"I was just told there's a motorcade waiting for us as soon as we land and it will take us straight to the Palace. The Premier apologizes for not being at the airport but he's currently busy with affairs of the state. I'm sure you understand but he will greet you properly as soon as you arrive at the palace."

Chuck and Sarah couldn't help but wonder if 'busy with state affairs' had something to do with Casey and Turrini but they had to put on their game face for now.

"I don't like this," whispered Chuck as he leaned over and kissed her. "I mean what the Colonel said not the way you kiss."

"I think I could figure that out," said Sarah as she looked in his eyes and kissed him back. "I don't care for it much either. I mean what he said not me kissing you." But as they were whispering they heard the sound of giggling coming from both Sam and Clara who were staring at them laughing. Sarah was about to ask what was going on when Ellie interrupted.

"Excuse me but is everything okay," said Ellie as she made an observation. "You two are whispering and Chuck you've got your serious look."

"Serious look? Who me? No I don't think so as a matter of fact I try to avoid looking too serious because… well because it can cause premature facial wrinkled. That's right it's a well-known fact. Actually some people even call me Mr. frivolous El. I don't…"

"Now you're just being silly. I want to know what's really going on." Chuck was stuck now did he continue the lie or tell Ellie the truth. Chuck took a deep breath but before he could speak Sarah spoke up.

"Okay, the trek in the jungle isn't just a trek to see nature… Well, it is and it isn't, the truth Casey's gone missing and the Premier is organizing a search party. However, because it's now close to the date when their new constitution takes effect he wants to down play it for political reasons."

"But why?" said Devon. "Casey wasn't sent to whack anyone, was he? I knew I shouldn't have let her talk me into this."

"I don't think I talked you into anything," said Ellie. "As a matter of fact it was you who insisted on coming if I remember correctly." Devon started to clarify but Sarah cut him off.

"Come on guys can we keep this down," said Sarah as she looked over at the girls. "Casey wasn't sent to whack anyone all right. He was looking for something that went missing and in the course of his search he got lost."

"Devon, I need for you to come in case he's injured and needs medical assistance. This is as much as we can tell you so don't ask anything more."

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In a backroom of Pedro's Parrot the Colonel lay on his cot. The Doctor was sitting in the corner of the room writing notes in a pad. His hands were shaking as nervous as he was but he wrote away making sure he got his facts straight. Lying in the middle of the table was a small amount of Casey's African Snake Herb and as he wrote he looked up at it from time to time. The Doctor was annotating when and how much of the herbs he had given John so in the future he'd have all the information he'd need to publish his findings.

"How's your patient," asked Scar Face sticking his head in the door. "The Comandante wants him ready for tomorrow. Will he be a go?"

"You've told me that about ten times already," said the Doctor getting annoyed by the constant pestering and badgering. "You sure you don't suffer from OCD?"

"I don't know how do you catch it? I did have a sore throat the other day and my lungs feel a little congested as well as I have this bad cough in the mornings when I get up."

"If you stopped smoking that would help a lot and I bet your symptoms would go away too," said the Doctor. He got up checked Casey's pulse and temperature. "His temperature had gone down and his pulse had slowed down too. With a little more Benzedrine I think he'll be ready. I was a little worried about him before but this African Snake Herb he had with him has done miracles. I might even get a Nobel prize when I publish my findings."

"Doc, have you told El Comandante that you want to publish what you did?" said Scar Face realizing full well the Doctor hadn't.

"Don't worry I know El Comadante doesn't want Casey tied back to him. I've thought about that so I'm going to refer to him as patient 'X' in my article."

"But people still might realize you're talking about him," said the man pointing at Casey. "You can't use his middle name. I mean 'X' is a better middle name that a last name."

"What are you talking about?" asked the Doctor getting confused. Scar Face wasn't making any sense.

"'X' was Malcom's last name so I figure 'X' must be this guy's middle name because we know his first name is John and his last is Casey so it follows 'X' must be his middle name. I bet you though I'd never figure that out?"

"Sometimes you scare me with your intellect not to mention your acute deductive reasoning," said the Doctor as he shook his head. He took out his stethoscope and listened to Casey's lungs as Scar Face left to go report to El Comandante. A few minutes later he was back.

"Can your patient be left by himself for a little bit," asked Scar Face. "El Comandante wants to speak to you in person. Follow me and I'll take you back to see him." The Doctor laid his things on the table then left walking behind the man wondering what this was all about. This was the first time he was going to meet El Comandante and he didn't know what to expect.

"In here," said the man as he opened the door for the Doctor. Inside he found Turrini sitting behind his desk waiting for him.

"Please sit down," said El Comandante as he pointed to a chair on the other side of his desk. "May I offer you something? I have a nice rum for special occasions you should try it. Luis, pour us all one please."

"I shouldn't," said the Doctor. "I'm treating our patient." But Turrini insisted so he gave in not wanting to appear rude.

"Yes you are. I hear he's making a speedy recovery, maybe too speedy. Doc, I just need him to be able to walk tomorrow after that I don't care."

"I'm sorry I'm a doctor and I have my duty to perform," said the physician as he took the glass for Luis. He had never heard any one call Scar Face by his real name until then. "Are you dismissing me?"

"I need you up until tomorrow then you'll be free to go. Luis told me about how you plan on publishing this article by using 'X' for the patient's name…"

"I don't know if he really understood what I meant," said the Doctor realizing he probably had said too much which now made his feel uneasy and nervous.

"I know Luis has difficulties sometimes but he's loyal and strong so I overlook some of his minor defects. No, I think it's a good idea for you to publish. Maybe you can save other lives and who knows what the future might hold."

"Yes exactly that's what I was saying who knows. There could be a Nobel Prize in this. I'm glad you see this that way; I can assure you I'll use the utmost discretion I promise. I don't think you'll be disappointed tomorrow," said the Doctor as he downed his rum in one gulp.

"Be careful Doctor with that medicine you need to savour it. Okay well that's all I wanted I just needed a little clarification from you and I got it so you can go back to your patient now," said Turrini as he dismissed the Doctor.

The Doctor sat down his glass then got up and left. Luis opened the door for him but when he started to go Turrini signalled him to stay. Then after the Doctor left he had him close the door.

"The only thing I want published is the Doctor's necrology in the paper the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow evening when we take Casey to the palace the Doctor will ride along with us but he won't be riding back. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I understand and so does my knife. I'll bring a couple of guys along to make sure things get taken care of."

"As long as they're discreet I don't want anything coming back on us. I want you to also keep an eye out on the Doctor. I don't need for him to get nervous and decide to make a break for it before it's too late."

"Don't worry about him I'll keep an eye out and take him out when the time comes. You know you can count on me."

"I know Luis. Good then the only thing we have to do now is to wait until tomorrow evening. Pour us another rum this is going to be a long wait."

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Frank was walking around the facility making sure everything was running properly. He was micromanaging but given the fate of his processor he had good reason. Marcus was gone he'd sent him away on an errand so he walked through the labs alone. Once he finished with the labs he headed back to the control room where he found Dr. Martin and her staff glued to the big screen watching attentively what was going on.

"Rotate her on her axis fifteen degrees then begin a sequence of bursts ever fifteen second," said Dr. Martin as they watched the satellite moving close to another one.

"What's going on," asked Frank but his question was greeted with angry looks and a wall of silence. Maybe they didn't hear him so he was about to repeat his question.

"Shush," said Dr. Martin. "This is a delicate process. You can stay just keep quiet. I need to concentrate. There, there reverse thrust now," she said as they watched the speed of the satellite slow down until it came to a stop. "Okay, I can talk now you were saying?"

"I was asking what's going on," said Frank as he studied the image. "You brought our bird close to its prey manually, why? Isn't there a program that does that?"

"Yes there is but I use it to get close then I bring the satellite close to the other one manually. I've found I can do a better job that way of lining them up for the next phase. If you want you can watch."

"I don't think I need your permission to tell me what I can or cannot do at this facility but okay I'll humor you, yes I want to see what's next."

"Oscar extend the probe and prepare the interlock," said Dr. Martin to one of her assistants. "Follow me I'll show you what's going to happen. You see these two satellite models... well on ours we have a probe with a data link connector that seats here," she pointed to a place on the other model. "Once we're connected we download from their sat it's Gold code that will allow us to re-sequence it. Afterwards we sent their satellite back into the atmosphere under an uncontrolled re-entry where it'll burn up as ours takes over its function..."

"Until we're ready to bring its secondary processor on line under our control," said Frank finishing her explanation. "I've read all that but I like your demo better."

"You're welcome I always likeed show and tell," said Silvia. She was studying Frank somehow he seemed more attractive than when he first arrived.

"Dr. Martin... Dr. Martin," said Oscar. She was daydreaming and didn't hear him call her name at first. "Excuse me Dr. Martin, the probe is seated and we're downloading its code," said Oscar finally catching her attention. They looked up and saw the two satellites linked.

"Good tell me when the download is complete so we can make the substitution," said the Doctor. She and everyone else watched the percentage indicator begin counting down to a hundred percent and glancing over at Frank to see if he realized he'd been the reason for her being distracted..

"Isn't this where you ran into problems with that CIA spy satellite," asked Frank. Looking around he noticed everyone was holding their breath for the count down.

"Yes, we had the cameras on ours when the spy Sat misfired so we saw it turn. I used our onboard laser cannon to down it before it could film this part of the operation."

"That must've taken some quick reflexes and I guess also answers the question why the satellite landed so close to here not much time for miscalculations when you're shooting from the hip."

"Download complete ready to move into the final phase," said Oscar. He looked up at her and she nodded her head telling him to continue on with the last stage.

"Now we have to immediately shut the transmission down on theirs as we bring the one on ours up before someone at Schriever thinks something has gone wrong with theirs and starts an investigation." Dr. Martin began a blow by blow narrative. "Now we start their thrusters release the couplers and there she goes." On the big screen they saw the bird disappear out of sight below.

"I assume next it will burn up in the atmosphere and no one will be any wiser," said Frank as he watched the video coming in. "Why didn't the spy satellite burn up?"

"It was larger, made of different material and its angle of descent was different all these combined together kept it from burning up completely up."

"Can I tell our people we're ready to begin? I know there are some nervous people who are anxious to hear from me… from us."

"Our people I like that. Well let me do a system test and run a diagnostic over the whole constellation first then we can tell them we're ready. I don't want to say anything then have to take it back."

"No, I wouldn't want to do that either and it wouldn't be conducive to good health."

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Back up in the North American continent….

On Schriever Air Force Base located approximately ten miles east of Peterson AFB near Colorado Springs the home of the Fiftieth Space Wing. A young first lieutenant was sitting in front of a console monitoring the Satellite data stream when suddenly one of the NAVSTAR satellites went out.

"Crap, Captain I need for you to come over here right away and have a look at this," she said calling over her duty officer. "One of the NAVSTAR birds went completely dark."

"Let me see," said the officer as she came over and looked at the console but when she got there everything seemed normal. "I don't see anything. If it went out it's back now, you're sure it went out?"

"I swear I'm not crazy it was gone before and now it's back. I'm not imagining this I saw what I saw with my own two eyes."

"Well it's back now. The codes and parameters look good but go ahead and run a diagnostic check. However, it could just as easily have been a momentary computer glitch. If everything comes back negative then it has to be operator error. How late were you out last night? I heard there was a party in the barracks that ran late."

"It has nothing to do with that and no the Sergeant Major is exaggerating, it didn't get that late. I know he's been ranting about fraternization. Like I said I know what I saw," said the young lieutenant but things came back from the test normal.

"Go take a break and I'll watch your station while you get some fresh air," said the duty officer. "I'd recommend going to bed early tonight to make up for your lost sleep. I could write it up in the logs but you'll have to explain why you're seeing things and with promotion boards coming up I don't know if you want to do that. I heard there's another RIF board coming down the pike to decide who they're going to send home early."

"No maybe you're right I don't want that," said the lieutenant. The last thing she needed was for someone to write in her record that she was seeing things. "No you're right. Let me go grab something from the vending machine. Maybe my sugar level is low."

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As promised there was a motorcade waiting for them when the Yak-40 landed. Colonel Panza over saw to their being loaded up then they quickly drove out of the airport and headed through the city towards the palace. They had traveled the road before so they knew the sights. Nothing seemed to have changed since their last visit. Soon they were at the palace and inside standing in the courtyard to greet them were the Premier and his wife.

"Bienvenidos," said Hortencia as she greeted them all getting out of the vehicle. "We're so glad you're here and you brought your children. I'm so glad you could bring them."

"Yes we're glad too. My people will see you to your rooms. Devon Woodcomb, Chuck tomorrow morning at dawn we'll set out for our little expedition. A group of my men will escort us so we won't get lost too. One of my people will be by later to bring you to dine with us. I have some wonderful news to tell you but first you probably want to freshen up a bit. You have to excuse me but I've got things to organize for tomorrow."

"I'll show you to your rooms," said Hortencia as her husband disappeared with Colonel Panza. "We're quite excited about these changes but who knew democracy could be so tiring. Please follow me." Chuck and Sarah lagged behind trying to get a good idea about what kind of security the Premier had in place. He had taken Panza aside and was adding extra guards.

"Well see I told you I wasn't pregnant," said Sarah as they brought up the rear. "If I were the Premier would've made a comment about it like he did with Ellie."

"I don't think a reformed dictator is the same as getting checked by your OBGyn. Besides I thought you didn't want me to talk about it?"

"I didn't want you to talk about it I never said anything about me," she said then she kissed him.