A little bit late - sorry. This chapter put up a fight, but then it is based around Sahara so I should probably have expected her to be awkward!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The arrogant smirk that Sahara made a point of wearing around Penny faded as the woman settled herself into her helicopter. Things were still going her way, that was true, but there had been more deviations from her original plan than she was really happy with. She welcomed the chance to collect her thoughts as she flew towards her rendezvous with Virgil. That at least seemed to be progressing as planned and she'd soon have another hostage to add to Penny - and a Tracy, at that - giving her increased bargaining power when she next went up against International Rescue.

Penny… Sahara had waited so long to get her own back on the woman who had destroyed the comfortable life she'd built up for herself when she'd worked for Sir Reuben McAllister. The former Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, top British secret service operative and International Rescue's most valuable agent, was a broken woman now, just as Sahara had intended, but – and it pained her to admit it - it had turned out to be a hollow victory, too long in the making. Penny hadn't been herself for a long time, thanks to the car crash which had led her to turn her back on her glamorous but dangerous secret life. There was no glory to be found in defeating such a feeble opponent and Sahara couldn't help but feel cheated.

Angry at Penny for having spoiled her fun, she'd considered asking Sebastian to bring Simon along when he handed over Virgil, but she'd forced herself to be sensible. It would have been enjoyable to torment Penny further, but yet another hostage would complicate things, and right now that was the last thing she needed. Maybe she should just have the man killed and be done with it…

Then again, Sahara thought, maybe she shouldn't be too hasty. Anyway, who would do it? The father and son who owned the farmhouse were crooks but not killers and Sebastian was far too squeamish to wield a weapon himself, though he'd probably be delighted to show off his skills by programming the man to kill himself. Eric Younger would have done the job without hesitation, of course, but he was out of action - and that was the thing which really bothered her.

She might have been excluding him from any of her big plans for the future, but she still needed her partner in crime and former lover. Why did he have to get himself in trouble right now? The situation worried her more than she'd let on when she'd discussed it with Chen. Oh, she'd checked out the story Sebastian had told her and it had all seemed genuine. A nurse at the hospital had confirmed everything when she'd called pretending to be Eric's sister. She just wished she could have actually spoken to him - one thing she'd learned quickly when she'd joined MI5 was not to believe anything she didn't witness with her own eyes and ears. But there had been no time for a visit, and anyway, if it was a trap and Eric had been captured... But that was impossible. Her contact at MI5, the same one who'd provided Eric's fake ID when he'd abducted Virgil, had not only checked the hospital's patient database and confirmed the man's admission, but had also assured her that no one had a clue as to the identity of the kidnappers or the whereabouts of the organisation's chief.

No, she had to accept that everything was still under control. But Eric wouldn't be playing any further part in events - and Virgil Tracy was going to regret putting him in hospital. She'd handle that herself, but in the meantime, there were other things to think about, not least the continued success of the kidnapping plot.

Sebastian Swayne would have to take on Eric's role. Sahara knew he'd do a good enough job - he was desperately keen to show the General just what he could do, especially since riches and glory were the reward. That was the problem, though. Sahara didn't trust him, not the way she did Eric – the man wasn't loyal to her and she had no hold over him beyond their business arrangements. But she had no choice other than to rely on him to carry out the General's commands. There was no question of ignoring those – not yet, anyway. Sahara had always believed in having a plan B. If things fell through with regard to International Rescue she'd definitely need both the money and the protection the General had promised her.

Sahara couldn't help but smile when she pictured the likely reaction to the ransom which had been demanded for the return of Prince Louis. The crown jewels, indeed! Of course, she hadn't smiled when the General had first told her what he wanted - those who laughed at the power-crazed dictator tended not to live long enough to laugh at anything else - but she'd found it funny all the same. She'd wished Freddy McAllister had been with her - he'd have loved it. Poor Freddy, she thought. As much as he'd infuriated her at times, she'd cared deeply about him.

Not for the first time, she cursed Penny and Scott for the part they'd played in the man's death.

Well, Penny was already paying for it and Scott was next on her list. Of all the Tracys, Sahara wanted to get her hands on the eldest son. It had been a very pleasant surprise when he'd turned up at the Dog and Duck. She'd expected him to be far away on Tracy Island since he hadn't been at Penny's wedding. Parker had told her that Scott had been invited but had refused. He hadn't said why, though she'd guessed. International Rescue duty, obviously, though she'd never been alone with Parker long enough to ask him anything about the operation - and she certainly wasn't going to risk Eric or Sebastian finding out what she was plotting. She hadn't really needed to quiz him anyway, not when she'd been confident of getting her hands on Jeff Tracy. She was still furious that Swayne's men had left him behind at Westminster Abbey. Things would have been a lot less complicated now if he hadn't reacted so badly to the knock-out gas. Still, she liked a challenge, and she did have one Tracy under her control. Or at least, she would have very shortly. Then, of course, Virgil would give her not only International Rescue, but his brother, too...

She was enjoying a fantasy in which Scott rather than Virgil was the one under her control, obedient to her every command and desperate to please her, when the beeping of an alarm jolted her back to reality. Six am. Time to call Sebastian.

"Good morning."

"Sebastian. Is everything in order?"

"Of course." Swayne sounded offended. "Mr Tracy is ready and waiting."

"You broke him?"

"I'm hurt that you have so little faith in me. Although, I have to say he didn't offer much of a challenge."

"Really?" Sahara was surprised - and suspicious. Surely International Rescue would train their operatives to withstand attempts to discover their secrets? Not that Sebastian knew there were any secrets to discover, of course. But still...

Swayne was speaking again. "Oh, yes. An artist and musician, I understand. Well, the creative types are often the quickest to succumb. They use the right side of their brain the most, you know, so they're naturally more open to the-"

"I don't need a lecture, Sebastian. You're sure about this?"

"Oh yes. He'll do whatever you want. I don't suppose you're going to tell me what that is?"

Sahara didn't dignify that with an answer.

"Be in Burden's Field in ten minutes," she said. "Leave Virgil there and go back to the farmhouse. I can rely on you to handle the ransom for Prince Louis?"

"Of course. Quinn's there now."

"Good."

"One thing you should know..."

"What?"

"No need to sound so anxious, my dear. It's just that I did as you asked and gave Mr Tracy the highest dose of my drug that I could risk without causing him harm. It did the trick as you'll see for yourself in a few minutes, but he is rather drowsy right now. I'm afraid he won't be fit for much for a few hours."

"I see." Sahara considered this. She'd seen Swayne in action and his victims did seem to need time to sleep off the effects of whatever it was he used to break down their defences. It was annoying - she'd been looking forward to knowing all about International Rescue by the time she got back to her hideout - but it didn't particularly worry her. She just hoped the man didn't snore the way Parker had when he'd been sleeping off his conditioning – it wasn't going to be the most enjoyable flight if he did. "You're sure he's completely broken?"

"Completely. He's programmed to do anything you want him to do."

"He'd better be."

Without further ceremony, Sahara ended the transmission and turned on the jammers. Virgil Tracy might well be carrying a transmitter and she didn't want International Rescue tracking him down. Reaching her destination, she spent a few minutes scanning the area for any life-signs or surveillance equipment as well as carrying out a visual inspection. The place was deserted.

A Land Rover bounced along the track which led to the field and Sahara recognised it as the one from the farmhouse. Sebastian, she thought, though she didn't come into land until he'd stopped, gone round to the passenger side to open the door and pulled a decidedly uncoordinated figure out, leaving him standing unsteadily in the middle of the field before driving away.

A minute later Sahara was on the ground, making sure her gun was loaded before walking the short distance to her prey, scanning him for any device which might be transmitting a signal and finding nothing. He wasn't wearing a watch, she noticed, remembering the IR communications devices she'd seen once before.

It was all going to plan.

"Virgil?"

He blinked at her and yawned.

"Come with me."

Without a word he followed her, stumbling a little over the uneven ground. He offered no objection when she ordered him to cuff himself to the armrest of his seat.

"Good boy," she told him, before settling herself back into the pilot's seat and lifting the helicopter off the ground. "Looking forward to seeing Penny?" she asked.

There was no answer and she turned to see him apparently asleep, his head lolling uncomfortably against the window.

"I can wait," she told him, and turned her focus to her instruments. But she couldn't help looking back at him from time to time, excitement building with every passing minute.