A/N: OK, I'm feeling generous. I'm posting this right after the chapter 18. MAKE SURE YOU READ CHAPTER 18 BEFORE READING THIS ONE, EVEN IF IT IS JUST A FILLER CHAPTER!
Chapter 19:
There was absolutely no trouble as Alex and Ben made their way through passport controls and reclaimed their luggage. Not that they really expected it. After all, this wasn't an airport run by the CIA. Well, technically it should be ASIS (seeing how they were in Australia) but still.
The first hint of trouble came as Alex and Ben were walking through an extremely large, empty parking lot (taking a shortcut to the hidden car MI6 had arranged for them).
A shout was heard behind them as they reached the middle. Instinctively, Alex and Ben reached for their hidden guns that they concealed on their persons, but did not bring them out into the open. The pair turned as one to face where the shout came from.
They were greeted by a very strange sight. A black, unmarked van with tinted windows had pulled up to the curb at one end of the parking lot (where the two spies had just come from) and four men dressed in typical combat gear had jumped out. They were currently hurrying towards Alex and Ben.
Alex almost immediately recognized the outfits as those used by the Australian SAS (A/N: Yes, I did check the book, and the soldiers that Alex stayed with in Snakehead were called SAS). Instead of running or drawing his weapon, Alex hesitated. If these men were soldiers, then there had to be a reason that they had ran after Ben and himself. Mr. Blunt might've called them to have them give the spies new information. At the same time, the fake passports might've been discovered and the mission might be over before it even started.
Ben didn't have any more of an idea of what to do than Alex. The same things were running through his head, and he didn't know which would be better. To run, and appear even more guilty/miss vital information to the mission or stay and maybe be compromised/receive vital information.
"Alex? How about we keep them about 15 feet away and then have a little chat and see what exactly they want. That way we'll have plenty of time to run if need be or we'll get information that we need."
"Sounds like a better plan than what I was thinking," Alex responded.
"Really? What were you thinking?" Ben asked, slightly curious. After all, it wasn't every day that he could come up with a better plan than Alex.
"I was thinking we take them by surprise, knock them all out, take one as hostage and then interrogate him as to his motives once we reach a secure location."
Ben's eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch, "Well, in that case, I must agree that my plan is much MUCH better. After all, these are soldiers, and we're not exactly in Britain anymore."
"Which is exactly why we're sticking to your plan."
By now, the soldiers were about 30 feet away. As Alex had noticed earlier, this was a VERY large parking lot, and the soldiers were only briskly walking, not running.
Just as Alex was noticing this piece of information, the soldiers suddenly stopped and pulled out guns. Alex and Ben reacted rather quickly and had their own pulled out, but lowered them when they realized that the soldiers were pointing the guns at a group of people who were coming from the direction in which Alex and Ben had been walking.
Whirling around, the Brits realized that there was a second group of four men walking toward them. Alex was surprised to note that these men not only had the same guns as the original group, but were also wearing the same exact uniforms.
(SHORT PAUSE. SHORT PAUSE. IT FEELS LIKE THIS IS WHERE THE COMMERCIAL COMES ON AND EVERYONE IS LEFT WONDERING WHO THIS NEW GROUP IS. SHORT PAUSE. SHORT PAUSE.)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK IS DONE AND SCENE OPENS UP ONCE AGAIN!)
The two groups of men dressed like soldiers were now 20 feet away from each other, but not moving any closer. Alex and Ben were in the dead center of this, about 10 feet away from each group.
"So much for not letting them get closer than 15 feet, Ben," Alex whispered to his partner.
"I know. But now we have a problem. One or both groups is definitely a fraud. Now all we have to figure out is which group is wearing a fake uniform."
"Really? I would've never guessed. Thank you for enlightening me in this situation," Alex responded with heavy sarcasm.
They fell silent as they heard whispering off to the one side. Alex, being the better lip-reader of the two turned to face the man from the second group whispering into a cell-phone, while Ben stood at his back, facing the other group. This way, the spies never turned their backs on the possible enemy.
The words that Alex could read off the man's lips were as follows:
TROUBLE FROM POSSIBLE ENEMY….MEN WEARING SAS UNIFORMS….HAVE TO TALK THE SPIES INTO COMING WIT H US AND NOT THEM….SEND IN… THEY NEVER SHUT UP AND ….SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT THING TO SAY IS.
['….' are where the words Alex missed would be placed. This was a one-sided conversation]
After the man snapped his phone shut, Alex repeated what he had seen to Ben who was silently listening.
"Well, to me, that sounds like something the good guys or actual SAS might say, but we really can't be sure, can we? I mean, the enemy could easily say the same thing," Ben concluded.
"That's what I was thinking too. I mean, the part where the guy said 'men wearing SAS uniforms' implies that he doesn't think they're soldiers. I mean, what non-soldier would say something like that. Wouldn't the enemy just naturally assume that the men were soldiers?"
"Exactly. But in this day and age, all terrorists/criminals are crazy and insane, and you can never really go by anything they say."
A slow smirk spread across Alex's face, "But if we can get them to talk about their purposes and reasoning, maybe we'll be able to distinguish who's telling the truth."
"Ok, Alex. Let's play it your way. You do the talking, though. You're much much better at getting people to pour out their life stories than I am."
"Hi guys," Alex started, lazily-no longer whispering. "Having fun waving guns at each other? No? Then maybe we can speed up this process a little bit before your weak little arms get tired of holding up those guns."
The response was unanimous from everyone. They all glared at Alex murderously.
"I'm sorry. Have I offended you?" Alex sounded anything but sorry. In fact, his tone of voice made it very clear that he was enjoying himself immensely.
After a slight pause, Alex continued, this time in a cold emotionless voice, "Well, too bad. You can go crying home to your mommies later. Right about now I want answers, and I want them now."
Ben smirked at how teenager that sounded.
"First question, though I doubt you will answer this one truthfully. You guys (at this, Alex pointed to the original group of men who had appeared) will answer first, and then you guys will answer directly afterwards. Who the heck are you guys?"
A man Alex immediately nick-named Muscles (due to his extreme muscular build) stepped forward and answered with one word, "MI6."
Alex nodded and turned to the other group (the ones who called for back-up), "And you guys?"
"CIA." Alex nick-named this guy Strongman, seeing as Alex wasn't feeling all that creative and this guy was equally as muscled as the first.
"Ok….So where's the worst place you've ever eaten?"
It was obvious that no one shared the same logic as Alex, as none of the men understood how this could make a difference.
"That queer Egyptian café down the street?" Muscles responded, confused.
Strongman did not respond right away, but when he did, a smile had crept across his face, "The food I had once while…camping."
Ben's eyes narrowed. Something about the way the man had said the word and hesitated before he responded raised alarm bells. The man was definitely hiding something.
"Great! I'll make note to never go camping with you and not to visit that Egyptian restaurant during my stay here. You know, they don't ever say what the worst places to eat are when you read a tour guide book."
If the 'soldiers' had thought that Alex was mental before, they were really convinced of it by now. There were guns out, the tension was thicker than a metal beam, and here he was asking for tour guide information.
"So what's the one thing that you feel most guilty about doing in your life?"
Again, Alex's question was met with confused and incredulous stares, but no one objected it.
"Shooting at this one innocent kid a few years ago," Muscles admitted with a sheepish grin.
His partners jerked their heads to face him. Their faces clearly were screaming 'WHAT THE HECK' even though not a single sound escaped their lips.
"Throwing a grenade into an area that held a kid and no one else," came Strongman's answer.
"Interesting…you both regret doing something that involved a kid and some sort of warfare. Anyone care to give more details about these specific incidents?"
When both men responded negatively, Alex shrugged. "I figured as much. Now…"
Alex's last question trailed off as another black van pulled in directly behind Strongman and his crew. Alex and Ben shared a look and got ready for anything to happen.
The door slid open. A group of men got out. Alex reached for his second hidden gun and pulled it out.
He had recognized the first man to step out of the van.