Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest. I am making no money off of this and it is purely for fun and enjoyment.
Chapter 5
Race groaned from the pain in his gut and the spinning in his head. His eyes focused for a brief moment as he felt the van in which he was riding come to an abrupt stop. Watching as the long-haired youth opened the side door of the vehicle, Race felt Phil grab one of his arms as the gun-toting metal-head grabbed the other.
"Come on." Phil grunted as he worked with the youth to extract Race from the vehicle.
"This shit hurts." Race mumbled as the two other men secured him and started leading him down a dark passageway. The rain in this part of the city had gradually receded, with only a light drizzle now assaulting the group.
Race wanted to say more, but he felt a wave of nausea wash over him as his legs, already wobbly and unsteady, slid out from beneath him, pulling the other two men down with him as well.
"Steady, Bannon." Phil moved to reposition his footing based on Race's weakening condition.
"This way." Jade breathed as she led them down a short flight of stairs and through a door.
Within moments Jade had brought the two I-1 agents to the tattoo parlor where she had previously met with her young contact, Gregor. Opening the door, then holding it ajar for the trio to pass through, Jade watched as Gregor, who was now alone, stood and took in the scenario with both shock and anger.
"What's this?" He glared at Jade.
"He's been shot." She replied.
"Then take him to the hospital." Gregor shot back.
"These are the men I told you about earlier, Gregor." Jade told her comrade.
"Can you help him or not?" Corbin sneered at the duo.
Shoulders heaving with a sigh, Gregor motioned them forward through the door to the rear of the room. Entering the other room, it appeared to be another tattoo suite, but this one had what appeared to be a surgical or hospital style bed in the middle, convenient for inking customers' backs. Gregor flipped a switch and a large overhead light illuminated the bed.
Phil and Gregor's other man placed Race upon the bed as Gregor pulled up a chair before donning surgical gloves. "How bad was he shot?"
Phil shook his head. "I think it was a ricochet; no exit wound."
Gregor nodded as Phil began to strip Race's vest off so Race could pull up his shirt. Exposing the wound, Race lie back down on the bed, his forehead dripping with sweat. Gregor prodded around the wound, pressing on Race's torso while at the same time using gauze to wipe away the blood.
"What qualifies you as a Doctor again?" Race hissed through his clenched jaw as he watched the tattoo artist work.
"I was a medic during my conscription," Gregor explained as he reached for a scalpel. "The bullet is not deep. I think I can remove it, but this will hurt."
Race gave Phil a pleading look, but the other man just stood to the side, watching the scene playing out before him. Meeting Race's look, Phil shrugged and said, "Not much other choice, Bannon."
Race nodded, "Just do what you have to do."
Gregor gave the rest of the occupants one last look, his gaze lingering a tad longer on Jade as if to admonish her for bringing the wounded agent to him, then turned his attention to performing the back-alley surgery.
Using the scalpel, Gregor made an criss-cross incision, opening the wound further. Race gritted his teeth, fighting back both the pain and the sudden desire to pass out. Sweat drenched his face and chest and his entire body felt like it was on fire, his hands gripped the edges of the bed so tightly that his fingers began to ache almost immediately.
Setting the bloody scalpel down, Gregor next reached for a spreader which he stuck into Race's wound in order to keep it open. Race's body jerked, as he let out a short yell.
"Try not to move." Gregor's voice was serious.
"I'm trying, damnit." Race spoke through short gasps.
"Now comes the painful part," Gregor said as he picked up clamps. "This may cause you to pass out. You as well." He added the last part with a look to Phil and Jade who both stood side by side watching the surgery.
Jade watched as Phil rolled his eyes. She could tell he was concerned about his partner, but she knew his mind was probably racing with a thousand different questions and scenarios. "You could be a little more supportive of your friend, Corbin." Jade said in a low, hushed tone.
Grunting he turned to glare at her. "While I appreciate your help in this situation, Jade, I didn't ask for your advice."
Jade guffed at him, "Is it really that hard for you, Phil?"
"What?"
"To not be a dick all the time." Jade smirked at him.
"You two need to knock it off or get out of here," Gregor said, keeping his eyes on his work.
Phil huffed as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his attention back to Race.
Race braced for what he knew was going to be an onslaught of pain, but when Gregor stuck the clamps into his open wound, the actual flash of searing agony was more than he had expected. He felt the cold, steel clamps prodding, seeking the bullet that had lodged itself somewhere in his torso. Gregor sneered as he worked the clamps in the direction of where he had felt the round. Race cried out as the clamps twisted in Gregor's hand, turning to snatch the bullet and pull it free.
Phil moved over to Race's side and placed his hands on the big man's shoulders, providing both a level of comfort but also helping brace Race from fighting and twisting too much.
"Almost there," Gregor breathed as he continued to twist the clamps.
"He's almost got it." Phil said, looking between the tattoo artist digging in Race's flesh and at his partner, whose face was flushed a bright red and still gushing sweat.
"I think," Gregor mumbled, biting down on his tongue and securing the clamp to the discovered bullet. As the device grabbed the bullet, he quickly pulled the clamps back and out. Secured within the clamps was a blood covered bullet and a piece of Race's shirt. "Got it!" Gregor exclaimed proudly as he held the clamps up for all to see.
Race lifted his head to see as Phil removed his hands from his friend's shoulders. Holding out his hand, Race gestured to Gregor, who responded by dropping the bullet into Race's palm.
"A souvenir?" Phil joked as he patted Race's upper arm.
Race curled his fingers around the cartridge as he dropped his head back onto the table. "I'm gonna return this in kind to, Vostok."
Gregor went to work on cleaning, sterilizing, and bandaging Race's body as his long-haired companion came over to Race and handed him a bottle of liquor. Pulling the cap off, Race took a swig of the clear, potent liquid and felt it burn in his gut. "Now you give this to me!"
"Alcohol thins the blood." Gregor said.
"Yeah." Race sighed as he took another drink.
Returning his attention to their rescuer now that Race was attended to, Corbin shot the short-haired woman a scathing look. "So, what exactly prompted you to come to our rescue?"
Jade rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "You could just say thank you, ya know."
Phil kept his focus on her actions and words and not her body. His dealings with Jade in the past led him to know that she was an expert at distraction and manipulation, especially with the men that crossed her path. "Nothing you do is out of the goodness of your heart, Jade."
"Phil, lighten up, man," Race started, he was weak, and while the pain was subsiding thanks to the alcohol, he still struggled to remain focused.
Phil held up a hand, cutting the other agent off. Keeping his eyes on Jade he said, "Everything Jade here does, benefits Jade. That's it. Don't for one second think she saved us from Vostok because she wanted to help."
Jade let out a short laugh. "You think you know it all, don't you, Phil? Perhaps I did want to help."
"Is that why you attacked him in the alley the other night?" Phil jerked a thumb back at Race. "Because you just wanted to help?"
Jade shrugged lackadaisically. "I had no idea he was one of your I-1 men." She could tell the veteran agent was still hyped up from the shootout, but she also knew that he was suspicious of her based on their past encounter.
"Bullshit." Corbin spat. "You want me to believe you, tell me the truth. Why did you help us?"
Jade sighed and confessed. "I found something the other night. Something that made me realize that I was being played and was in way over my head. I knew," she hesitated as Phil continued to stare her down, then realized she had to give him at least some of the truth, if for no other reason than to calm him down. "I knew you were here. I saw you at the Square the other day. I assumed you were after this."
Reaching in to her purse Jade withdrew the black vial. She held it up for the two agents to see and gloated a tad on the inside at the looks of surprise on both men's faces.
"What is that?" Race asked.
"I was hoping you would know." Jade said, however she made no move to hand over the vial.
"Where did you get it?" Phil asked.
"Let's just say I acquired it by accident." Jade smiled. "I brought it here to Gregor, but he doesn't have the ability to analyze what might be inside."
"And you think we do?" Race asked, but Phil shot him a look, cutting the younger agent off. If Phil had a way to tell what was inside the vial then Race didn't know, but it appeared that Jade might.
Sighing Corbin said, "You want to prove your trustworthiness to me, Jade. Give me the vial." He held out his hand.
"It's not a matter of proving anything to you." Jade replied with a curt smile.
"Fine," Phil countered, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Then give to me as a show of good faith. If that thing contains what we think it does, I don't like the idea of you just walking around with it in your purse."
Jade pondered the agent's words for a few minutes. Finally, she acquiesced and gently placed the vial into Phil's hand. Giving the man a playful grin she said, "Just take good care of it. We remember what happened last time in Korea."
Phil seethed at the woman's shot, but he had to shake it off. He knew she was intentionally pushing his buttons just to get him worked up; it was how Jade operated.
"Now what?" Race sat up after Gregor was finished with his stitches and bandages. He was still woozy and needed some rest, but the good news was that he had been damn lucky, really damn lucky that the bullet hadn't gone any deeper.
"We need to get some sleep." Phil offered as he tucked the vial away in his pocket. "I'll make some calls and we can regroup in a few hours."
"Sleep sounds damn good right about now." Race threw in as his head started to throb. He wondered if it was from the procedure he had just endured, the adrenaline from the shootout wearing off, the alcohol, or a combination of all three.
"Alexander and I can take you back to your hotel," Jade stated. "I want to know what's in that vial, Phil. After all, I found it."
Phil nodded, but didn't offer any explanation as to how he planned to discover the contents of the blacked out tube.
"We should get going." The long-haired man, Alexander, suggested.
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His mood foul, Vostok barreled through the door of the farm, startling his men as well as Peter, the bomb maker. "How did they find out about our plans?" Vostok shouted as Colonel Yasimov trailed along behind the irate General.
"Someone must have tipped them off, General." The Colonel offered.
Vostok's eyes narrowed at the suggestion. "None of my men would ever turn tail and run to the Americans. No, Nikolai, it had to be something or someone else."
"Doctor Arman perhaps?" Nikolai suggested.
"That is more logical, but I do not think he would do so either. More than likely his flamboyant spending caught their attention. The fool!" Vostok deduced.
"How much do you think they know?" Nikolai asked.
"We have to assume they know all. Which means we need to change our plans." Vostok stroked his chin as he thought. Turning his attention to the bomb maker, he watched the nervous man as he attempted to act as if he was not listening to the conversation.
Walking over, Vostok placed a hand on the man's shoulder, tightening his grip to display his strength and dominance. "Peter, how imperative is it that you have the delivery system for my plan's surprises?"
Gulping Peter replied, "If you want me to make the device safe for transport, then I would need those components."
"I do not care about that, comrade." Vostok growled. "Not anymore."
Peter eyed the General with concern, "Without it whoever delivers the devices could be exposed, General."
"Again, I do not care about that." Vostok repeated. "Continue to make the bombs to the specifications I require. I need them ready to be delivered as soon as Doctor Arman delivers the bio-agents."
"Yes, General." Peter mumbled as he turned back to his work.
Vostok motioned to Yasimov, who appeared just as confused as the bomb maker, as he proceeded back outside into the cold, dark night. "Have your man that guarding Arman bring the Kazakhstani here. I no longer trust the man to work without my supervision."
"Yes, General." Yasimov replied. He hesitated, then started. "Without the safeguards from the delivery system components,"
"Doctor Arman's foolishness has brought the Americans in on this sooner than we wanted, so Doctor Arman will deliver the device to the Americans. Setting the bombs off in the Russian and Jewish Districts of the city will no longer matter. Now I just want to make these American dogs suffer as greatly as possible."
"Where do we attack?" Yasimov asked.
"Where they will least expect it." Vostok laughed, the menace and hate that poured forth from his lips resounded through the otherwise quiet night.
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"Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, Doctor Quest." Corbin said as he shook hands with the up and coming scientist. The two men stood in the lobby of the Aria Hotel, where the Quests were staying as guests attending the Bio-Defense Symposium. The lobby was beginning to feel cramped as guests, tourists, and locals moved about, ready to begin whatever plans they had arranged for the day.
Corbin had placed a call to the Doctor, asking for his help with identifying what, if anything, was inside the blacked out vial. In the past, Doctor Benton Quest had worked on a handful of U.S. Government research projects and was familiar with Intelligence One. He and the young Agent had met once before when the Doctor had briefed I-1's Director Stephens.
"Of course, Agent Corbin." The bearded man offered. "I wasn't aware that the organization was operating here at the moment, so you understand there was a bit of a surprise when you called."
Corbin smiled briefly. He was tired, having only gotten a few hours of sleep before having to get ready to meet Quest. He had left Race at the hotel, insisting he'd only be gone a short time and that Race needed time to recover.
"I understand completely and I promise not to take up too much of your time. I know you want to enjoy the city with your family before the symposium."
The Doctor nodded with a smile. "And speaking of," He said as he saw his young wife approaching. With the other Doctor Quest was a young boy, the Quests' son Jonny, who appeared no older than two to three, as well as a short haired brunette woman who appeared to be roughly the same age as Rachel Quest.
Phil straightened and readjusted his tie as the group approached, hoping to mask both his exhaustion and his worry. While he needed Quest to help with the vial, he also did not want to create a panic in the event this was a false lead.
Corbin watched as Doctor Rachel Quest, the young blonde woman who had caught the eager scientist's attention a number of years prior, gave her husband a slight peck on the cheek before turning towards the I-1 Agent. "Good morning." She smiled warmly at him.
"Rachel," Benton stated as he gestured at the younger man. "This is Agent Phil Corbin from Intelligence Once. He and I worked briefly together a couple of years ago."
"Nice to meet you, Doctor." Phil offered as he shook her hand.
"Likewise, Agent Corbin. I hope my husband didn't bore you too much with all of his scientific mumbo-jumbo." Rachel laughed.
"Not at all." Corbin smiled then looked at the young boy that was clinging to his mother's leg. "And who is this young man?"
"This is Jonny," Benton said. "Say hello, Jonny."
The little boy smiled, his bright blue eyes, identical to his mother's darted back and forth as he looked between his father and the stranger that stood before him. "Hello."
"Hello." Phil smiled and received a grin in return from the child, before Jonny lost interest in the adult.
He mumbled before tugging at his mother's jeans and pleading, "Come on, Mommy. I want to go see the castles."
"It takes him time to get used to new people." Rachel offered. "He's a handful though, that's for sure. It's like he never slows down."
Phil gave Rachel a kind smile; he definitely was not used to dealing with children and therefore did not really know how to appropriately respond.
"Believe me, Agent, I know how you feel. He treats me the same way and I've known him since he was a baby." The second woman said as she offered her hand to Phil. "Alena Stasny, MP and a longtime friend of the Quests."
Phil smiled, blushing slightly as he took the woman's hand; he found her features stunning and her accent captivating. "It's alright. We don't deal much with children in my line of work."
"Just wait till you become a father." Alena replied and received a subtle smile in return from the American Agent.
"I think I need to settle down first before that happens."
"You just need to find the right woman to make you settle down." Alena offered playfully.
"So, Dear" Doctor Quest addressed his wife, not picking up on the subtle flirtations between his wife's Czech friend and the I-1 Agent. "Agent Corbin needs my help for a little while. You can go ahead and start your shopping without me and we can meet up later for lunch?"
"Of course, Benton." Rachel said.
"Will you be joining us, Agent Corbin?" Alena asked.
Shrugging Corbin replied, "I can't promise. It all depends on the results of what I've asked Doctor Quest with for help."
"Well, let's hope the results are in your favor then." Alena stated, but then added with a hint of seriousness in her voice, "But may I ask you a question, Agent?"
"You can call me Phil." Corbin found himself saying.
Smiling Alena continued, "Is there something going on that I should be aware of? Is there a threat to my city that would bring you here? I may only be a low-level MP at the moment, but that does not mean I am not concerned about the welfare and safety of my fellow citizens."
Corbin found another reason to like her. Besides her looks, she was smart as well. Nothing got past this woman. He had seen that the news reported their shootout as being gang related and there was no communication from the States that he or Race had been discovered. But he also didn't like the idea of lying, so he shrugged off her questions, "Not at all. This is just routine work. Boring stuff really."
She appeared satisfied with his answer, at least for the moment. "Well, perhaps you can fill me in on the details some other time. Will you be attending the Symposium?"
"I think I can make some arrangements." Phil responded.
"Then I hope to see you there. I'm interested to know more about you and why exactly you need to steal Benton away from us this morning."
"I'm sure we can find something to converse about."
Giving the Agent one last wily smile, Alena turned towards Rachel and Jonny, "Let's head out, Rachel. I want to get something special for Jonny, my little Angel."
The young boy perked up at the mention of his name and took Alena's hand. Waving at the men, Rachel and Alena headed out the doors of the hotel lobby with Jonny in between them.
Exhaling, Phil watched the two women disappear from sight before turning to Doctor Quest again. "Again, thank you for your help, Doctor."
"Let's head over to the University's lab." Benton said as the two men started off as well. "And like I said, no trouble at all. Believe me when I say, I'd rather be in a lab than out shopping with those two ladies."
Phil grinned as Benton clapped him on the shoulder. "If you say so, Doctor."
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A faint noise pulled Race into wakefulness and he groaned as his stiff body protested the sudden movement. Gritting his teeth, he paused, wondering if the noise had just been a part of a dream but just as he was almost convinced that was the case, he heard it again. Someone was in the suite, out of sight from Race's bedroom area.
Pushing the covers off, Race slowly and quietly got out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. Grabbing his handgun from the nightstand, he silently made his way from the bedroom. Pushing on one of the French doors that closed off the bedroom from the living area, Race moved towards the kitchenette where he heard the rustling for the third time.
Handgun low, but ready to be brought to aim within a split second, Race rounded through the room, moving in on the kitchenette with grace and skill. As the area came in to view, he saw a figure crouched in the shadows, prompting him to raise the handgun and order, "Stop right there."
Slowly standing up, the figure stated, "I was just looking for some drinks."
Race sighed and lowered his weapon. "How'd you get in here?"
Turning to face him, Race was confronted by the mysterious Jezebel Jade. A playful smile spread across the woman's lips as her eyes gazed upon Race's half-naked body. "Wow, you I-1 guys sure like to work out."
"What do you want?" Race asked.
With a soft-purr like tone, Jade replied. "A lot of things at the moment."
Race rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for your games. How'd you get in here and why are you here?"
With a feigned look of hurt, Jade pouted her lips as she brushed past Race and into the living area. Sitting down on one of the couches she looked at the white-haired man and said. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Jade."
Race sighed. "Race Bannon and I know who you are."
Jade snorted a laugh, "Race? What kind of name is that?"
"It's a nickname." Race explained. "My real name is Roger."
Jade huffed. "I think we'll stick with Race."
Race glared at the woman, but found himself slowly relaxing. she may have broken in to his hotel and she may be all the things that Corbin had said she was, but she also saved their lives and for that Race had to be somewhat thankful. "What do you want?"
"I want to help." Jade offered.
"Really?" Doubt laced in Race's response.
"Look," Jade explained. "All you know about me is what Phil told you, right? He doesn't trust me, I get that."
"Maybe because you stole those codes from him." Race shot in.
"I didn't steal them from him," Jade countered, "at least not directly. I just prevented him from getting them back."
"You were ready to hand over launch codes to a nuclear missile to the North Koreans for money."
Jade shrugged off Race's statement. "I'm a businesswoman."
Race crossed his arms over his chest, "And you wonder why Corbin doesn't trust you."
"I didn't sell them though." Jade stated. "So he was safe, the only damage that was done was to his ego. And now I've not only risked my neck to save you two last night, I've handed over that vial. Yet, you two still have your doubts." Standing she said, "Perhaps it would be best if I went back to working on my own. I'll take my score back to my employer and let you two deal with Vostok and whatever it is that Russian psychopath has planned."
Race sighed, "Ok, look, I'm sorry."
Jade eyed him for a moment, but then sat back down.
"How can you help?"
"Where's your partner?" Jade asked.
Race shook his head. "He went out to meet a contact. He has the vial. Don't worry, it's safe."
Jade pondered the information for a moment. "Your partner is a lot of things, Race, and while he drives me just as crazy through his fanatical devotion to regulations as I must drive him crazy with my...methods, he is loyal and dedicated. Those attributes count for something, even to someone like me."
"Get to the point, Jade." Race stated. He didn't think her statement was meant to be manipulative, but the last thing he needed was for Jade to try to play him against Phil and Intelligence One.
"Like I said, I want to help. But we don't have a lot of time at the moment." She stood and Race saw the sly, manipulative Jezebel Jade replaced by a woman driven by seriousness and determination. "I know where Doctor Arman is."
"You do?" Race perked up at the information.
"For now, yes. But for how long I don't know."
"We need to get our hands on him." Race said. "Give me a minute to get dressed. We need to call Corbin as well."
"Every second counts, Race." Jade watched him move back towards his bedroom area and she pushed the illicit thoughts about the man from her mind...temporarily. "We don't have time to wait for Corbin."
"Fine," Race called, his voice raised from behind the bedroom doors. Minutes later, he emerged fully clothed, handgun strapped to his belt. Grabbing his leather jacket he slipped it on, concealing his weapon and said, "Let's head out. We'll let Phil know if we find anything after we get there."
"Sounds like a plan," Jade said as she fell in step with Race. "By rule I work alone, but you know something?"
"What?" Race asked over his shoulder as they headed out of the room and into the hallway.
"This is kind of fun." Jade replied.
Race gave the woman a quick smile as he pulled the door closed, "Yeah, for sure."
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A/N: MP = Member of Parliament. In this story, Alena Stasny is not yet the President of the Czech Republic as she is in TRAJQ S2.
To Be Continued...