Muddy Poodle, RoutineRiot & agent belle: Thank you all so much for your feedback.
agent belle: Can totally understand the hectic thing...work and uni is crazy for me at the moment.
Disclaimer: The title of this chapter comes from the song 'Club Foot' by Kasabian.
One…Take Control Of Me, Yer Messing With The Enemy
When Summer had left, Thea turned to Lauren. "She is not as accepting as we had anticipated."
"She'll come around," Lauren replied.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I am her mother and whatever she gets from Michael and Sydney can be manipulated to make her believe whatever we desire."
"Are you sure that we aren't taking too big a risk?" Thea asked. "Maybe we should just plant another mole, somebody with experience."
"No. Summer is necessary," Lauren snapped. "There are many things that I hope to achieve with this endeavour, but there is one thing in particular that I want to do more than anything else. And I am going to use that girls in every way possible to ensure that I get what I have been dreaming of for nineteen years."
"Ok," Jack said, sitting down in front of Sydney. "It's a fairly simple op- just observation, but it could lead us to some valuable intel."
"I take it this has to do with our little ex-Covenant friends?" Sydney asked wryly.
Jack nodded. "Echelon picked up several burst transmissions that appear to be in relation to the mole that was discovered. From what we gathered there is going to be a meet with several players- damage control and what not."
"And so you want me to monitor the meet and try to identify who we're dealing with?"
"You'll be going in with Nadia, leaving tomorrow evening," Jack said. "Another thing- Echelon provided us with more that just intel on this meet."
"What else is there?"
"Well, if those meeting are who we anticipate them to be, ex-Covenant, then we now have name of their organization," he replied. "They are referring to themselves as The Allégeance."
Sydney paused. "Allegiance? You know, loyalty would not be a characteristic I would use to describe those people."
Jack simply raised an eyebrow as he handed over a disc. "The mission specs are on that. Review them, make any changes you think necessary and return them to me ASAP."
"Do you mind if I take them home with me?" Sydney asked. "Vaughn is working late and I don't want to leave—"
"It's fine," Jack replied. "First thing tomorrow will be fine."
Summer clasped the small silver compact. Opening it, she saw that it contained shades of blue eye shadow. Raising an eyebrow, she looked up at Thea.
"You know, this so isn't my colour. I prefer greens- try and accentuate my eyes and all that."
"We'll keep that in mind for next time," Thea replied dryly.
Summer snapped the case shut. "So what is it?"
"It's a device that will allow you to clone a computer's hard drive and then transmit it to us," Thea explained. "Designed so that you don't have to place it upon the computer, it works within several feet."
"So I just have to sit near it and the eye shadow does all the work?"
"Not specifically the eye shadow, but yes."
"So when do I have to do this by?"
"As soon as possible."
Drawing in a deep breath, Summer stepped through the front door. This was it. Once she went through with this there was no turning back.
'Who are you kidding?' came the small voice from the back of her mind. 'There was no turning back the second you started to suspect your parents and consider working for Lauren.'
Shaking those thought aside, Summer started to make her way up the stairs and was almost trampled by Liam, who came barrelling down.
"Whoa…sorry, Sum," he laughed.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"Tomas scored the new Guitar Hero, so I'm heading over there with Brad," Liam answered, the latter referring to one of Mitch's younger brothers.
"Oh…are dad or Syd home?"
"Dad, no, but mum is in their room- though she's working so she probably doesn't want to be distracted." With that he continued to run down the stairs, yelling "See you later" as he went.
Stopping by her own room to dump her bag, Summer then made her way to Sydney and Vaughn's room, her mind acutely aware of the small compact in her pocket.
"Sydney," she said quietly, stopping in the doorway.
Sydney looked up from where she was seated on the bed. "Hey Sum."
"Are you busy?"
"No, it's fine," Sydney waved a hand, as she closed the lid of her laptop. "Come in…what's up?" she asked as Summer settled herself down on the edge of the bed.
"Nothing. I just wanted to say hi."
Sydney smiled. "How is the workload? You still stressing?"
"A little," Summer said, shrugging her shoulders slightly and then motioned to the laptop. "Were you working?"
Sydney nodded. "I've got a trip tomorrow night…but I wanted to bring it home- you dad is working late."
"How late?"
"Late late," Sydney replied. "And with Liam otherwise occupied, it looks like it's just you and me."
"Sounds—" Summer cut off as he mobile started to ring. Shooting Sydney an apologetic look, she reached into her pocket and pulled it out. "Hello?"
"Transmission is complete," came Thea's voice. "Can you get the second hard drive?"
"Oh, hey Mitch," Summer replied. "Tomorrow?"
"We need the information ASAP."
"I know and it totally irks me when the books I need aren't getting in until then."
"Fine. We should have the information you just received ready to see within half an hour," Thea said and then hung up."
"Ok…that would be great," Summer continued. "Thanks." Flipping her phone shut, she looked at Sydney. "I'm just going to stop by Mitch's- he's got some books I can use for an assignment."
"Ok then," Sydney smiled. "Will you be back for dinner?"
Summer nodded. "I shouldn't be too long."
"You wanted to be privy to information?" Thea said to Summer as she entered one of the back offices at V.O.J Insurance.
Summer nodded. "What was on Sydney's laptop?"
Thea gestured to the computer on the desk before them. "See for yourself."
Almost apprehensively, Summer sat down and took a look at the screen. What was displayed were the outlines of a meet, the details of when, where and exactly who would be attending. The way it read was that whoever her father and Sydney worked for were organizing this meet.
Summer looked up at Thea. "This tells me noting. Who's to say that this isn't being organized on behalf of the CIA?"
"See those names mentioned?" Thea said and Summer nodded. "Open the second file. It is their profiles, detailing their criminal histories and known terrorist associations," she paused as Summer did so. "These are the people what your parents are collaborating with. However, now we are going to be able to monitor this meet and hopefully gain some damaging information. And this is all because of you, Summer. You have done the right thing and we at the CIA are truly grateful."
Frustrated, Nadia blew a strand of her curly red wig out of her face. "How come you always get to be the blonde?" she grumbled at her sister.
Sydney grinned, as she continued to flip through the collection of old records in front of her. "Those in OP Tech obviously think that I need to have more fun," she replied, glancing up. The crowded and busy market place was an ideal location for the meet. Nobody would bat an eyelid at three men supposedly sharing a coffee by one of the food vans. However, since Sydney and Nadia's arrival, the tables had remained empty. "Where are these guys…they were supposed to meet an hour ago."
Nadia shrugged. "Maybe we intercepted the message wrong?"
Sydney shook her head. "Maybe…but have you seen those people who work in analysis? I don't think 'wrong' is in their vocabulary."
"Then maybe they rescheduled, or they put the message out there as a white rabbit or—"
"There is always the possibility that they knew we were going to be here," Sydney mused aloud.
"But…"
"They've already planted one mole. Who's to say that there isn't another one," Sydney pointed out.
"Actually, what I was going to say is that we haven't had a new addition to the rotunda for a very long time and we have nothing suspect until now."
"Hmm," Sydney said, well aware of just how patient a person could be before taking upon their real actions. "Well, it was just a possibility. There is nothing to be sure about…except the fact that we have been stood up."
"The meet was rescheduled," Lauren informed Thea, "and it went along without any further interruptions."
"So Summer's intel came through."
"Yes. We got lucky this time and we are going to have to be extra vigilant from now on. we have managed to stay invisible for nineteen years, but that is no longer so," Lauren said. "The CIA caught one of us, exposed our organization. We cannot allow any other personnel to be identified. I got used to going about my daily work without the watchful eye of the government. I don't want to have to give that up."
"Which is only going to increase our need for Summer," Thea said. "Can we truly trust her, when she is still vocally distrustful of us?"
"I told that I would take care of Summer. All I need to do is turn on some maternal charm."
Thea hesitated for a second. "Maternal charm? Are you sure that, uh, that you are capable—"
"I got Michael Vaughn to marry me while he was still grieving for the love of his life," Lauren interjected. "Compared to that, turning my daughter will be a walk in the park.