Ch. 8: An Unexpected Swap
Q surfed into the cloned server from Alec's earlier mission and sighed at the new list of names that popped up.
"This is global," he muttered. "Not that we didn't know that, but…"
James stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles, head leaning against the sofa's backrest and his hands clasped in front of him. "We did. But are you finding more to the rabbit hole, then?"
Q nodded absently. "More companies, more employees. I'm cross-referencing some of the names that Parvati provided us from India against the employee databases and coming up with some fairly significant overlaps. It's like unraveling the thread of a sweater. It just keeps coming."
"Until someone cuts the thread," James commented absently, eyes on Q. "We at that point, yet?"
Q shook his head negatively. "We need to find out all of the players before we can think of cutting threads." His tablet beeped again. "Alec's report." Q opened it up, and skimmed it. "Alec doesn't think the people in Texas have the same skill level as those in Singapore. The electronics were shielded from magical interference only by distance, really. He didn't spot any dampeners, and the wards that protected the main office stopped at the door to the server room."
"The Australian contingent seems more skilled, too," James pointed out. "And rather brazen, to attempt a potion on apparent non-magicals who were there for a visit."
"Ah, that reminds me," Q said, shooting a text off to Severus, asking for potions assistance. He had a reply in seconds.
"Severus says there are a few Veritaserum derivatives that make one amenable to truthful and honest behavior without the dead-eyed glaze that one normally gets with a full dose. He'll analyze what we have upon his return from Mumbai, which will be shortly after his own mission tonight … in about three hours." Q texted back an affirmative rapidly.
"Given that neither of us presented a dead-eyed glare, and it was unremarked upon, I assume we're likely looking for something like that?" James asked.
"Quite likely," Q confirmed, and dove back into Alec's informational treasure trove.
IMBM
Severus Disillusioned himself, tapped a short message to Q, who was on standby in Sydney as his emergency back-up, and apparated to the front door of the Mumbai pharmaceutical company he was investigating.
The blueprints of the facility on file showed the office to be located on the left, just past the first fork to the left after the entrance. Severus cast the ward charm, and he stumbled across the first stumbling block of the mission.
Warded. With blood wards.
Interesting.
Severus thought for a second, then tagged Q in a text. BLOOD WARDS.
A quick response from Q: CAN YOU TELL WHO THEY'RE KEYED TO?
Another charm from Severus, another text. NO.
Ten seconds later, Q responded. ABORT AND RETREAT TO HOTEL FOR MEET.
Severus tapped back. ACKNOWLEDGED.
And left with a soft "pop" of sound.
IMBM
"Care to come with me," Q asked James drowsily. The pair were cuddled up in the pre-dawn of a Sydney morning.
"Hmmm? Where to?"
"Egypt for a tick. Meet with Severus; mission had to be aborted."
"Have I mentioned that I love magic?" James leaned up and curled over the top of his bonded. Gently, he pressed Q into the mattress with his body, and kissed him thoroughly. "To India and back before breakfast."
Q purred. "Let me just make a portkey."
James rolled off and let him up, and the pair dressed while Q filled in the blanks for James. He then grabbed his briefcase and a stray sock, visualized the Egyptian hotel that was Severus' emergency meet destination, and whispered, "Portus." The sock glowed blue, James placed a hand on it, and the pair vanished, only to appear with a slight stumble in the suite.
"Severus," Harry greeted him.
"Q," Severus acknowledged. "James."
Nods all around signaled the start of business. "You said they're blood wards?"
"Among others," Severus nodded. "I took a couple of readings. I could break all the others, I think, but without knowing who the blood wards are keyed to, I won't be able to enter the facility magically."
"It's set to eject magicals entirely?"
"Those who haven't been keyed in, yes." Severus confirmed. "You'll need a non-magical agent to get into that facility."
Q scrubbed his face with both hands, ruffled his hair vigorously, and turned his green eyes on James, who scowled.
"Q, we're set up under cover in Sydney," James reminded him. "And the mark's already seen us. We can't switch up now, or we'll lose our in there."
"Yeah, yeah." Q acknowledged, thinking. "I didn't anticipate blood wards. They're usually only associated with highly secure properties, like ancestral homes."
"And Boys-Who-Lived," Severus snarkily added under his breath.
Q rolled his eyes, having heard him perfectly. "Yes, well, and those were highly unusual, weren't they?"
"True," Severus acknowledged. "Rather ingenious, at that."
"So, you need a non-magical agent to retrieve the data from the Mumbai facility," James summed it up. "Is it still dark in Mumbai?"
"Yes," Severus confirmed. "Deep in the night."
James sighed. "Brief me."
IMBM
With a pass of his hand, Q ensured James was clothed entirely in black, and he transfigured a pillow into a black knit ski mask. James wore his standard weaponry, and he handed his platinum bracelet to Q for safekeeping.
Ejecting any and all magic meant anything he wore had to be entirely non-magical. The platinum dampener should work, but Q wasn't prepared to chance it. Forceful ejection from blood wards usually ended up bloody for the ejectee, and Q preferred his spouse alive, thank you very much.
"You'll have to ignore what your eyes are telling you, James," Q told him briskly. Use your other senses if you can." He affixed an earbud and tracker to James' ear-standard mission wear-and popped up his bio signature on the tablet he carried habitually. "I'll track from here. I've commandeered a satellite feed, and I should have infrared momentarily. I'll be able to tell you if there are any live bodies in there, and I should be able to warn you of any magical traps. Though, truth be told, I think they're likely counting on the blood wards to keep all the real threats out."
"Well, they've never met me, then, have they?" James said confidently. He checked his service weapon, secured the memory stick, and stood at attention. "Ready to go, dear."
Q rolled his eyes, but leaned in to kiss him, briefly. "Stay safe. Severus will take you there. Remember, in and out."
"Acknowledged, darling."
James saw Q raise a hand as the world winked out around him, and with a rush, he and Severus appeared on the dark streets of magical Mumbai. "Ready for the next step?" Severus leaned in to ask.
"Yes; apparated with Q a time or two."
"I imagine so," Severus said quietly, then took James' arm and turned on his heel.
James felt as if squeezed by a tube, and they popped into existence in a shadow outside the edges of the wards. Severus let go of his arm, then stepped back, Disillusioning himself once more. "I'll wait here to get you out of here."
James nodded, and pulled his mask down. Keeping to the shadows, he made his way to the building, passing through the wards easily and making his way to a window on the first floor rather than to the well-lit, secured front entrance. He pulled out his glass cutter, tapped out the square of glass, and set it gently on the ground before rolling over the ledge and into the darkened main lobby. He kept to the ground, using his eyes to scan for cameras, and seeing none. Quietly, James slipped out into the main corridor, taking the left fork at the first turn, and moving toward the first door on the left.
He picked the lock quickly, then stepped into an office identical to the one he saw in Singapore, two doors and all. James shrugged and headed for the right door first, quietly entering the duplicate to the Singapore server room, and shuffling over to the corner where the server lay hidden. He felt for the USB port, plugged the memory stick in, and counted to thirty slowly before disengaging and backtracking out of the room.
"Q, do I have any company at all?"
"None, 007. I see you clearly on the infrared, and I could see the cool special aura in the room you were just in, but there's no one else there. Just make your way out if you can."
"Acknowledged."
James made his way back out through the lobby to his open window, slipped out, and carefully replaced the glass in the frame. With luck, no one would notice that it wasn't secure, at least for awhile. "Making my way out to 0010 now," he said quietly, keeping, again, to shadows as he crossed the ward line and was met with a tap on his shoulder from Severus, who made himself visible in order to identify himself and hold out the portkey.
James grasped it, Severus tapped it with his wand, and they vanished, to reappear in front of Q, who was still watching the infrared.
"Huh," Q said. "Someone just showed up."
James pulled his ski mask off his head and leaned over his bonded's shoulder. "Really?"
"Yeah. Good B & E, 007; you were in and out in less than five minutes. But you did trip the wards, I think, because, look, there, see?" Q pointed to the screen as a clearly magical individual raced to the front door and jerked it open. "That's a frantic company owner, or I miss miss my guess. And he's got the cool magic aura on him."
James shrugged. "Unless he checks all the windows, he's not going to find any proof that anyone was there, much less me. I don't even leave a magical signature behind."
"No, you don't," Q acknowledged, watching the infrared man race around the lobby, checking computers, then head back to the main office, checking locks and windows. "He's releasing the glamour now." The figure appeared to be running its hands over the server. "Checking the server." Then the figure pulled a device out of its pocket and held to an ear. "Ah, phone. Checking in with someone. Wish I'd thought to have you place a bug in there, 007."
"Wouldn't know what kind to place, I suppose," James said. "Still, I think we've learned a bit here."
"Too bad you didn't have a regular camera on him," Severus commented. "We could get a face."
"Oh, right. I can get that." Q pulled up the black and white satellite feed and tracked it back in time to the person's race across the courtyard to the front door. "Ah. Here we are."
All they could see was black hair, as he didn't look up to the satellite at any point during his race. He also appeared to be wearing a basic tunic and trousers, and was clearly male.
Q pulled up the list of names Severus gave him, and matched the employee database, now happily downloading to his tablet, with pictures to the man in the photo.
"Shahid Hussein." Q said it quietly, then pulled up the photo. "It's the only one it could be, based on what we know.
The trio looked at the face on the screen.
"Looks like we have a player, gentlemen," Q said softly. "I'll brief M. And we need to get back to Australia, 007."
"Potion?" James reminded him.
"Ah, yes." Q rummaged in his brief case for the thermos of spiked tea there. "Severus, this is what Prescott's admin tried to feed us. Switched it out for Earl Grey. Can you see what it was she was giving us?"
Severus took the thermos. "I'll get back to my own lab now, and you'll have the results within the hour."
"Thanks," Q said with a smile. "And do get some sleep. I suspect we'll be needing it before too much longer."
"I will," Severus gave a small smile, then twisted his ring to head back to England.
Q gathered up his things, held out the sock to James, and the pair vanished back to Sydney.