Disclaimer: I do not own Jonny Quest. I am making no money off of this and it is purely for fun and enjoyment.
Chapter 10
Much to Race's dismay, Phil has insisted that they head out early in the morning again, but the investigation had to continue. The events of the Symposium had been enough to wrack both of the men's nerves almost to the breaking point. However, even with though he wanted to head out first thing in the morning, Phil had taken the brunt of the dealing with the locals, to include recounting the events over and over to Inspector Kovar and his team; much to Race's relief.
Exhaustion was beginning to set in as Race and Jade sat at one of the tables, watching Corbin interact with the INTERPOL Agent Kovar. From what Race could tell, the exchange was starting to get heated as it appeared Kovar seemed to feel the Americans had made him look bad instead actually caring that they had stopped a massive tragedy.
"Glad I'm not a part of that conversation." Race mumbled with a snort. "I'd have decked the guy by now."
Jade released a low laugh, her body language indicating she was just as worn out by the ordeal as Race. "Agreed."
Throwing his hands in the air, Corbin grunted as he turned away from Kovar. Coming over and sitting at the table with Race and Jade he sighed as he ran his hands over his face.
"You know when you become the Director, that's going to be your full time job right there." Race joked. "No more chasing down bad guys and saving the world."
Phil eyed his partner with a smirk. "Perhaps, but I'll definitely run our organization differently than Stephens does. For starters, I wouldn't put up with assholes like Kovar trying to make a political statement when people's lives are at risk."
"Does he realize Vostok is still out there?" Jade asked.
Phil nodded, "Of course he does, but he doesn't want our help. Its political for him. Fucking INTERPOL. I've never liked working with them."
"So what does that mean? We just go home?" Race asked, not sure he liked what his partner was getting at.
Shaking his head, Phil replied, "Hell no. We're not here at his request, so he can piss off for all I care. I'll deal with the ramifications of blowing off INTERPOL when we get home and I file our report to the Director. Until then, we concentrate on our task at hand."
"Finding and stopping Vostok." Race stated.
Looking at the pair, Phil offered, "Why don't you two get out of here while you can? I can handle it from here."
"Are you sure, Phil? I can stay and help." Race countered, even though he was ready to bolt the moment Phil had suggested it.
"You've done enough, both of you." Phil smiled. "Now get out of here before Kovar tries to question you again. I'll meet up with you later."
Standing they smiled at Phil who suddenly rethought his previous statement, "Actually, you know what, I'll just see you in the morning bright and earlier at zero-six. I don't want to...interrupt anything."
Race laughed as Jade wrapped an arm through his. "See you in the morning, partner. Try not to work too late."
With a smirk, Corbin headed back to the gaggle of local authorities, to include the INTERPOL Agent Kovar and the brunette woman who Race had noticed his partner with earlier in the evening.
"Let's get out of here then." Race said as he turned his attention to Jade.
"Lead the way, handsome." Jade replied as they made their way to one of the rear doors that had been unblocked.
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The next morning, Race made his way to the lobby of his hotel; this time Jade had stayed and was at his side as they met up with Phil, who much to Race's surprise, didn't comment about Jade's presence at all. Race assumed that after yesterday evening, the other Agent was thankful for any help they could get, even if it was from the woman who had burned him years ago in Korea.
"Where are we headed?" Race asked as they left the hotel. The early morning fog, typical of Prague at this time of year, was heavy and lingered like an ominous warning, reminding them that even though they had stopped one disaster, they still hadn't found Vostok.
"To the Charles Bridge," Phil answered. "Pavel texted me last night, said he had some information."
"It could be the break we need to find Vostok before he strikes again." Race suggested hopefully.
"You think he is going to strike again?" Jade asked.
"Even if we hadn't of stopped Doctor Arman, I don't think that was Vostok's main target." Race explained as they traversed the quiet, sleepy streets. "Even though he was obviously distraught, Arman made it sound like it was a test run. While taking out some of the world's most renown scientists would have been significant indeed, it didn't feel right for Vostok."
"What do you mean?" Jade inquired, concerned that their efforts may have been in vain.
"He means that Vostok doesn't care about those people. Killing them wouldn't make any impact towards his ultimate goal of Soviet reunification." Phil replied. "There's something else significant about this time of year, something I hadn't thought about until speaking more with the locals."
"What's that?" Race asked. He figured Phil had learned his information from his new friend at the conference, but decided now was not the time to prod Corbin about the woman.
"Tomorrow kicks off the celebration for the Velvet Revolution."
"When the country split and gained its independence?" Race asked.
"Right," Phil nodded. "It was only a coincidence that the Symposium was at the same time. This is a big city, lots of events occurring simultaneously. Vostok used Arman to attack those that had shunned Arman and his work during the Cold War. Now Vostok's real attack will be against the people that chose freedom over the oppressive iron fist of Soviet rule. Tomorrow morning the weeklong celebration commences. We originally thought he was going to attack a mass transit system, but that's seems to have changed."
"We probably threw a big enough wrench into his plans that he had to adjust. He still wants to make a statement, just a different type of statement." Race surmised.
"At this point he just wants to show his strength and brutality. Once he's accomplished that, then he'll continue on with his campaign of terror and reunification."
"So we have to find and stop Vostok before tomorrow morning." Race stated with determination.
"That's the plan." Phil replied.
"And if we can't?" Jade asked the obvious.
"Then we hope we can stop him before he sets off his bomb tomorrow morning." Phil said. "I've already pleaded with the Czechs to cancel or at least postpone the celebration. Kovar knows that Vostok is still loose, but even with what happened yesterday, he's not convinced there will be a second attack."
"What a bull-headed fool." Jade said.
"He's letting his pride get in the way of reason." Phil grumbled as they approached the bridge.
Seeing the silhouette of a man seated on the bridge, both men could tell something was off. While the figure was surrounded by birds and fog, the man did not appear to move at all.
"Something's not right." Race said, his hand instinctively moving to hover over his holstered pistol.
"Wait here." Phil said through gritted teeth as he moved forward cautiously. Slipping his weapon free from his own holster, Corbin kept the firearm low, but ready.
Approaching the lone occupant of the bridge, Phil tensed as he drew closer, the cooing of the hungry pigeons filling his ears as each step brought him nearer to his contact, who still sat motionless on a wooden folding chair.
"Pavel?" Corbin called the man's name, but there was no response.
Stepping forward, the body came into view. Phil's eyes went wide with shock then he turned away from the sight; the old man was dead. Looking back he saw that Pavel's face was blotted and bruised; his nose and orbital bones had been broken during what could only have been a brutal beating. However, the blunt force trauma was not what had killed the poor old man; the fact that his throat had been slashed open from ear to ear was the obvious cause of death. The top of the man's shirt and jacket were drenched in blood.
"Damnit." Phil spat as he holstered his weapon, the numerous pigeons taking flight at the sound of the man's anger. Moving closer to the body he saw a piece of paper clutched in Pavel's broken and twisted fingers. Reaching forward he pulled it free, un-crumbled it and stepped back to read it. As he did, he heard Race and Jade approaching.
"Jesus," Race muttered as he saw the old man's body. "Vostok did this? Fucking bastard."
"Vostok wanted us to find him like this." Phil stated and Race could hear the anger in the man's voice.
"What's that?" Jade asked, pointing at the paper in Phil's hand.
Turning he said, "Call the authorities to report this." Stepping past them, Phil headed back in the direction they had come.
"Wait, Phil, where are you going?" Race followed quickly after the other man. "We can't leave him like this."
"This has to end. That man didn't deserve to die like that." Phil growled.
"I know, but stop and think for a minute, will you?" Race attempted to reason. He was as angry at the old contact's death as Phil was, but he couldn't allow that anger to cloud their judgment.
"Think about what?" Phil shot back. "How many more people have to die before we get Vostok?" Then looking at Jade he said, "Call your friend Gregor. We need some more firepower."
Race kept in step with his partner, then watched as Phil stopped in front of a random vehicle, withdrew his weapon, looked around, then smashed the window. Reaching in and popping the door open, Race grabbed his friend's arm and said, "What the hell do you think you're doing, Corbin?"
"I'm going to find this son of a bitch." He slapped his hand against Race's chest, pressing the paper from Pavel's hand against him. "And I'm going to put a bullet in his fucking skull."
Race took the paper and reading it saw that it was an address outside of the city, he assumed it was Vostok's hideout. "You can't go alone. And you sure as shit can't being stealing cars!"
"Get with Jade's crew and meet me at this address." He ordered, ignoring Race's protests. "I'm sick of these games, Race. We have to stop this madman once and for all. No one else is going to die, not if I can do something to stop it."
"You don't see this for what it is? It's a damn trap, Phil! Vostok wants us to come after him. And you're going right to him. Stop and think for one damn minute." Race reasoned, trying to contain the anger and frustration in his own voice. "We need to go in as one force."
Getting into the driver's seat, Phil pulled out a pocket knife, then began to work at stripping the steering column in order to hotwire the vehicle. "I'll go recon the place. I'll wait a fair distance off, use your GPS plug-in from your comms to locate me."
Running his hands through his short hair, Race clasped his fingers together on top of his head and said, "I don't like this plan, Phil. We should stick together."
Phil looked up , but past Race, at Jade. "Go get your crew and take Bannon with you."
Jade smiled, nodded and pulled Race back just as Phil got the car started. Throwing the stolen vehicle in gear he pulled out of the parking spot and headed off, disappearing into the early morning mists.
"What the fuck just happened?!" Race shouted, throwing his arms in the air, watching his partner speed off.
Jade laughed at Race's shock in regards to his partner's actions, "I just gained a new level of respect for that man." Tugging at Race's arm she said, "Come on, make that anonymous call to the cops as I get Gregor moving. We need to get to that address as quick as possible."
"And I thought I was the reckless, hot-headed one on this team!" Race mumbled as he shook his head and got to work on following through on Phil's orders.
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As the last remaining moments of the early morning's grey bleakness lingered in the air, Corbin pulled his vehicle off the side of the country road just down from the private drive that led to the address of Vostok's alleged hideout. The stillness and quiet of the morning was quaint, but Phil could find no solace in its calming effects. As he had driven out of the city and towards the address, aided by his own GPS unit, his anger had grown, not subsided.
Shutting the vehicle off, he pulled his cell from his pocket and sent off a quick text message. Without waiting for a response, he turned the phone off, then removed the SIM card and battery, intending to dispose of each at separate points along his path. He stuffed the items into his jacket pocket before opening the door and stepping out of the vehicle.
As soon as his feet made contact with the soft, muddy ground he pulled his firearm and turned in the direction of the wood line and the gravel drive. Two steps forward the peace of the quiet countryside was disturbed by a sharp ping. Spinning on his heels, Phil ducked just in time as a bullet bounced off the roof of his car and over his head.
"Guess Race was right." He grumbled aloud as he crouched down next to the car.
He heard a shuffling of feet and surmised that whoever was out there was moving in to surround him. Cursing he tried to steal a quick look at the woods, but was forced back down by another report from the silenced sniper rifle somewhere in the forest.
Knowing he had to move, Phil quickly assessed his situation. A low ditch on the opposite side of the road should give him more cover and concealment than his current location and perhaps buy him a few precious seconds to think up a plan.
Popping up on the balls of his feet, he feinted a move to the front of the vehicle, drawing the sniper's fire forward. As soon as he heard the shot, Phil readjusted his route and darted across the road. Just as he reached the ravine, the sniper fired again. Moving to dive forward, Phil grunted as the sniper's round grazed against his lower right leg, causing the I-1 Agent to stumble. His own momentum and the impact of the round grazing his leg was enough to send him over the edge of the road and into the muddy and wet shallow ditch on the other side.
"Well, I made it." He laughed to himself, wincing in pain as he spoke, "Just not how I had planned." Doing a quick check, he saw that the bullet had grazed the side of his right leg, just below the knee. Also he felt a trickle of blood already running down the side of his head from when he had fallen into the gravel and over the edge of the road.
Breathing heavily, he realized that the sniper had intentionally wounded him versus killing him outright. The image of Pavel's beaten and broken body immediately came to his mind just as he realized that he had dropped his handgun when he'd fallen into the ditch.
The methodical stomping of military style boots against the crushed gravel drew Phil's attention back to the road; his attackers knew where he was. Pushing the burning pain from his mind, Phil attempted to scramble out of the ditch, hoping to lose his pursuers in the tall grass in the field that stretched out before him. As he did, he heard laughter, then the splashing of boots as two men jumped down into the watery ditch, one of each side of him.
Grabbing the wounded agent, one of the soldiers hefted Phil upward just enough to turn him over and slam him down on his back against the muddy ground.
"You should have killed me." Phil spat as he tried to sit back up in defiance, but was forced back down by a boot to the chest from one of the soldiers.
The blonde haired man that stood over him was not Vostok, but Phil knew him to be Colonel Nikolai Yasimov, Vostok's right-hand man. "Where would the fun be in that, comrade?"
"I'm not your fucking comrade." Phil shot back. Yasimov's smile disappeared as he pulled a .380 semi-automatic Makarov pistol from the leather holster on his belt.
"No, you are not." Yasimov growled with menace. "You're an American spy that has interfered in General Vostok's plans. But now it appears that you've run out of time." As if to make his point, he aimed the pistol at Phil's head as the two soldiers grabbed the agent by the arms and pulled him up to his knees; forcing him to kneel in the mud before the Colonel.
"Your General couldn't even come out here to deal with me himself? Had to send his lackeys out here to do it for him?"
"You Americans are something else." Nikolai taunted. "Here you are, faced with impending death, yet you continue to run your mouths like the insolent, annoying pests that you are. Even in the face of death, you are too stupid to be afraid."
"It's not stupidity, I'm just not afraid of you." Phil said and spat at the Colonel's feet.
Scowling at the act, Yasimov crouched down to lock eyes with Phil and snatched the other man's jaw in his hand. "You will be, comrade." Letting go of his prisoner, Nikolai stood then motioned to one of the soldiers.
"Go to hell." Phil shouted just as the soldier to his left let go of his arm and raised his rifle.
Suddenly the black darkness was all Agent Corbin knew.
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"So your man took off on his own?" Gregor asked.
Jade and roused the young man from his sleep and had basically demanded that he help. Gregor had been about to protest, until Race had explained to the young ex-Army operative what had happened at the Symposium the night before and that Vostok was still out there and planning another attack. That news seemed to get through to the young man, whose pride in his city and his country was enough to motivate him to fight to save it.
"He's reconning the site." Race explained as he helped Alexander, the long-haired metal head friend of Gregor's, load a weapon's storage case into the back of Gregor's van.
"You shouldn't have let him go out there on his own." Gregor said as he loaded two large gym bags into the back of the van. "It's open country out there, not many places to hide."
"I wasn't going to stop him." Race said.
Jade added, "He can take care of himself for now, but we need to hurry. We need to stop Vostok today."
"You say he's planning to attack the celebrations tomorrow morning?" Gregor asked.
"That's what we think and we think he still has a biological weapon that he plans to use for that attack."
Gregor shook his head as Alexander slammed the back of the van closed. Motioning with a nod of his head for everyone to climb in, Gregor said, "Well, let's go stop him then. It's been a while since I've been in a good old firefight."
"Really? I thought you were a medic." Race smirked.
"I was, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the thrill of the battle either." Gregor explained and received a confirmation nod from Alexander as the van headed down the road. Then glancing at Race through the rearview mirror he said, "Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about."
Race frowned, but responded with a short nod; he knew exactly what Gregor meant. It was something that couldn't be explained, the thrill of combat even as devastating and horrible as it was, was still something that he missed. "Let's just get out there, meet up with my friend, and stop Vostok. Got it?"
"Got it." Gregor agreed as he concentrated on his driving.
Jade saw a change in Race's demeanor and touching his arm, she asked. "Hey, handsome, you alright?"
Race gave her a short smile and a nod as he slid across the bench in the back of the van to start loading some extra weapon magazine. "Yeah, I just suddenly got a weird feeling."
"Like what?" Jade asked as she started mirroring Race's actions with the magazines.
"I just hope Phil didn't go and get himself killed by taking off like that."
"Phil's not stupid, Race." Jade offered. "He'll be fine."
"I hope so. I like the stubborn bastard." Race smiled.
"He's a good guy and you can give him a hug and a kiss and tell him that once we get there." Jade joked.
The stern look returned to Race's features. Grabbing one of the H&K G36 rifles from the storage container, Race slapped a fully loaded magazine into the well and said. "Vostok is going to pay for all of this. No matter what, that son of a bitch is going to pay."
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To Be Continued...