Chapter 16. You Know that Scene where the Bad Guy Rattles off his Entire Plan?

February 24, 1977, 3:30 PM, off the coast of Jamaica.

The wind blew a continual spray of ocean water on Roan's face, leaving the unwanted taste of salt in his mouth. At the moment, there wasn't much he could do about it. His hands were tied securely behind his back. He also was tethered to another person.

"Can you get free?" he whispered.

"No," Agent Beckman replied. "I would have guessed that you're the type of person that likes being tied up," she added.

"I may take you up on that offer later, but now's probably not the best time." Roan looked up at the two armed guards watching over them. Even if they could run, they'd have to get past them. And then where could they go? They'd been on the boat for about a half-hour, and were far away from shore.

"An interesting gadget." Roan struggled to crane his neck, and saw Romanova emerge with two others, including Fez. The Soviet agent was holding the Klebichok sensor in his hand. "I suppose this is supposed to tell you if my little weapon is around." Roan noticed that the light on the sensor was red again. The agent wasn't on board. "Oh well, it looks like you two came all this way for nothing."

Romanova turned off the sensor and deposited it in a pocket, then studied the two CIA agents. "I trust you two are comfortable."

"Your hospitality inspires, Romanova," Roan replied.

Romanova smiled briefly. "Agent Roan Montgomery. More dogged than I would have guessed. From what I've heard about you, you're little more than a man-child chasing skirts all day."

"That sounds pretty accurate," Roan heard Diane comment. She then spoke louder, and in a voice about an octave lower than usual. "Alexis, there must be some mistake. Surely you don't think I would do anything to hurt you. Not after everything we've had together."

"Ah, Agent Beckman, still playing make-believe." Romanova's smile was more shark-like now. "Did you really think you could fool me?" He walked up to them and put a hand on Beckman's cheek. "Of course I knew who you were. Right from the start. But you were so much fun, why spoil things?"

Roan could feel Beckman shudder behind him.

"And besides, you were a big help to me. To us."

"You mean SPIRITE?"

"You really are clever, Agent Montgomery, not that it's done you any good. Yes, SPIRITE. And yes, Agent Beckman, you were so helpful. Delivering my message just at the right time."

Roan's eyes narrowed. "Then you wanted us to know about your meeting with the Soviet emissary."

Romanova smirked. "That's right."

Roan thought for a moment. "Then this wasn't actually about money, was it? You never planned to sell the Klebichok agent to them. Or to us."

Romanova shrugged. "Money is easy. Anyone can get money. What we are after is something greater."

"Worldwide panic?"

"Something much greater than that." He gave the two CIA agents a speculative look, before saying, "I suppose there's no harm in telling you two. You won't be sharing it with anyone. Panic is only part of our goals."

"Yours?" Roan asked. "As in your new friends at SPIRITE?"

"Ah, but my friends appreciate the realities of this world. Something you Americans, and my former comrades, seem to have lost. We understand human nature. You can disguise it in whatever soft, peace-loving, do-unto-others foolishness you want, but in the end, people respond to one thing. Might. And if that might is no longer to be owned by countries, than it's time somebody else took their place."

"So I'm guessing you weren't too thrilled about those peace negotiations."

Romanova chuckled. "There was never going to be any real peace negotiations. We made sure of that."

"By killing anyone working towards them?"

"Warner was never a serious threat to us, but we needed his death to create dissent."

"And Amasova?"

Romanova made a face. "It's people like him that are destroying the Soviet Union. He honestly believed that some hand-shaking and vague promises would save the world. A fool," he spat. "Fortunately, his death was just the catalyst we needed."

"And you got lucky that the US changed its tune about the negotiations so quickly."Seeing Romanova's expression, Roan shook his head. "But you weren't lucky, were you? Senator Felix, he's one of yours?"

"His interests line up with ours," Romanova replied.

From what Roan had seen, Felix's interests mainly focused on his own career. "I should have guessed. At first, he as so concerned with keeping the negotiations alive he refused to investigate Warner's death. And then when the Soviets started casting blame over Amasova, he runs back to Washington and starts fanning the flames of anti-Soviet feeling. Bringing us to the brink of war. But then what?" He quickly realized the answer, when he remembered the meeting the Director had left to attend. "The Klebichok agent. He has it. And he's going to use it."

"Your current administration is about to suffer some casualties. As will the Kremlin, when they convene their own meeting. I still have a friend or two there, ready at my command."

"So this world you want, created with two terrorist acts. Then what, SPIRITE swoops down to take over?"

"While it may not be our flag flying over your White House, we will be the ones controlling everything. It will be a new world, one of our own devising."

"Pretty clever."

"Too bad there's nothing you can do about it." Romanova nodded, and two of his men grabbed the two CIA agents. They separated the bonds tying the two of them together, but left their wrists tightly bound.

"You know," Romanova said as he watched, "I've always been fascinated of the stories of your pirates, sailing around these waters, taking what they want. They were so dramatic – making their enemies 'walk the plank.' Well, I think I'll take a page out of their playbook."

The two men dragged Roan and Diane to the side of the boat.

"I should warn you, these waters are what you call shark-infested. But the good news is that sharks have poor eyesight. They could swim right by you without even knowing it. Their sense of smell, however, is another story. But you should fine as long as they don't smell blood."

One of Romanova's men produced a knife, and sliced into Roan's and Beckman's wrists, leaving droplets of blood on their arms.

"Oops. Well, maybe they won't be hungry today." He flashed another smirk. "Happy swimming."

True to his word, Romanova actually did have a plank set up, leading off the starboard bow of the boat. The two SPIRITE agents pushed Roan and Diane towards the very edge of the boat. Just before Roan's foot was about to hit the plank, he turned to Beckman and nodded. Then he swiveled his head back and addressed the two enemy soldiers.

"I hope you realize that thing your boss took from me isn't what he thinks it is."

The first agent snorted, and his grip on Beckman didn't waver. The second agent did look curious, though, as he pushed Roan on to the plank. This was his chance.

"It's a bomb, you know, and he just set it. It's going to go off in about five minutes."

The guard was just unsure enough of himself to turn to look back at where Romanova was standing. Roan stomped on the edge of the plank, causing it to fly into the air, hitting the man on the head. Beckman then took the opportunity of the momentary distaction to barrel into the first guard. Despite her smaller size, she moved with enough force to push the man back. Roan then put his knee up, knocking the man overboard.

Roan briefly looked over the side of the boat to see the resulting carnage. "I guess these waters really are shark-infested," he commented.

A moment later, a small projectile passed just over his head. He looked up to see Fez standing on the top deck of the boat, reloading his weapon. "Is that a harpoon?" he asked.

The silent assassin merely grinned in reply.

"C'mon," Diane motioned for him to follow. He hurried behind her as she led them below deck and up to a small door. It took some momentary fumbling to turn the knob, thanks to their bound wrists, but finally they were inside.

The room appeared to be some sort of small office. At first, Roan thought Beckman had led him there to find a place to hide. Those seemed to be in short supply in the room, however, and he could already hear footsteps approaching. Instead, Diane had run to the far wall, which was decorated with several mounted trophies. He finally understood when he saw that one of Romanova's former victories was over a swordfish.

Once the female agent had freed herself, Roan took her place and rubbed his bounds against the trophy's snout until they broke. They left the room and headed towards the stairs. Unfortunately, Fez was standing at the top, waiting for them.

"I don't suppose I could convince you to switch sides?" Roan asked. Fez merely shook his head, and aimed the harpoon gun at them.

Just as the mute SPIRITE agent was inching his finger onto the trigger, an intense booming sound echoed overhead. The boat began to shake, and Fez momentarily lost his footing. Roan charged into him, knocking the harpoon out of his hand. His fist connected to the larger man's face, rocking at back. Diane hurried past the two of them, and grabbed the harpoon gun. The boat rocked a second time, and Roan used the momentum to knock Fez down the stairs, until he landed on his head, out cold.

Once they were back in open air, Roan could see the source of the rumblings. Two fighter planes were blazing through the air. "Are those ours?" Beckman asked.

"I think so. I guess they've decided there are no chemical weapons to set off in here." And they didn't seem too worried about either of them, he thought, as the planes turned around, preparing to fire on the boat again.

It was gunfire from on the boat, though, that immediately got their attention. Two of Romanova's men were ascending on them. "I'll take care of them!" Diane shouted. "You find Romanova."

Roan was going to ask how she planned to do that, but then saw that she had found a gun in the office. He ducked down, and headed over to the side of the boat. The planes fired again, narrowly missing the main deck. Roan steadied himself, and looked around to see if he could find the Russian.

Just as Roan was turning a corner, a large hand grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground. "How many crew members are on this thing?" he mumbled as he eyed the giant standing over him.

The harpoon gun had skittered away when Roan had fallen. Clearly, the odds were against him in hand-to-hand combat. This only became clearer when the larger man grabbed him again, and threw him back on the ground. "I'm beginning to see what they mean by 'hit the deck.'" Roan commented.

This time, he looked to his side and noticed a leftover screwdriver. SPIRITE agents didn't make for the neatest of deckhands, apparently. As the giant reached over to grab him, Roan grabbed the screwdriver and plunged it into the other's meaty shoulder.

The large man barely seemed to wince. He tugged the screwdriver out of his arm and tossed it overboard. But Roan took advantage of his momentarily diverted attention. Seeing a holster at the man's side, he reached over and tried to free the gun. His giant adversary grabbed his neck and began choking him. Roan's vision began to get dark, but he kept trying to grab the firearm. Finally, it was freed and he fired.

Roan massaged his neck for a moment as he took in large gulps of air. He could hear gunfire behind him, but chose not to see how Beckman was doing. She could take care of herself. He needed to find Romanova.

He stepped over the dead SPIRITE agent's body and ran down the deck, steeling himself as the planes flew over yet again. Just as the engine roar faded, he heard a click behind his ear, followed by the feel of steel on his temple.

"I'll take that gun, Agent Montgomery." Roan handed it over to Romanova.

"It's too late, you know," the Russian said. "The Klebichok is already in Washington, and pretty soon your President, Vice President, and Military leaders will all be coming down with a not-so-common cold. SPIRITE's victory is guaranteed. There's nothing you can do."

Roan noticed a small watercraft attached to the boat by a metal chain. "I see you're leaving," he commented. "There room for two on that?"

"A single-seater, I'm afraid. There seems to be little point in my staying. Though I will miss this boat." Through the corner of his eye, he saw Romanova smirk. "Because I have such little faith in your military, I've decided to help them. I have several bombs scattered around here, all set to go off in five minutes. It should give me just enough time to disappear in my little submersible here, and just enough time for you to come to terms with your short, failed life."

Romanova backed towards a winch and turned it, leaving his gun on Roan the entire time. "Goodbye, Mr. Montgomery."

Just as the SPIRITE agent was entering the sub, Roan noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was the harpoon gun he'd lost in the fight with the giant. He stood still, closely watching Romanova's every move. Finally, the man opened the hatch to the sub and Roan had his chance.

He dove to the ground, and scrambled for the harpoon gun. Romanova saw what the CIA Agent was doing and fired a couple of shots at him with his gun. After the narrow misses, Roan reached the harpoon and fired a single missile.

Roan didn't have time to carefully aim, so the harpoon only hit Romanova in the leg. But that was enough. The SPIRITE agent lost his footing and fell into the water. Several sharks, already in the area because of the bloody screwdriver, quickly descended on the bleeding Russian. Roan watched for a moment, then headed off to find Beckman.

The CIA agent was still in the middle of the boat, looking down at the two SPIRITE agents she'd just killed. "Where's Romanova?" she asked when she saw Roan approach.

"Oh, he's hanging around with some chum." Without letting Diane respond to that, he added, "We need to get out of here now. This place is going to explode in less than five minutes!"

Roan led Agent Beckman back towards the side of the boat. Romanova wasn't going to need the submersible any more, so they had an available escape route. Or so he thought. Just as they were nearing the sub, a stray shot from one of the planes hit the side of the boat, and he watched their only means of getting away sink.

"Can we defuse the bombs?" Diane yelled.

"Too many of them! We're going to have to figure something else out!"

"Ahoy!"

Roan turned to see Steve waving towards them, the small speedboat just approaching. He was waving a small US flag. This seemed to catch the attention of the pilots, and the planes scattered.

Roan turned to Agent Beckman. "I guess that's our ride."

"How'd you know we were here?" Roan asked once they'd all crowded together on the small boat.

"Well, there were a couple of things I didn't mention about the sensor," Steve explained apologetically. "For one, it's got a homing beacon, so I could tell exactly where you were at all times. It also has a small microphone, so I could hear everything until it was turned off." He paused to scratch his head, and then turned the boat towards shore. "That Romanova guy sure liked to talk a lot."

"Yeah, he was a sharer." A loud boom echoed from behind, and everyone quickly turned to look back. Romanova hadn't been bluffing; the place really had been filled with explosives. Roan almost felt bad. It was a nice boat.

"So you must have heard Romanova say that the Klebichok wasn't on the boat," Roan said after a while. "And alerted the CIA."

"Yeah," Steve looked down. "I told the Director you were there. I guess he figured getting rid of Romanova was more important."

"Collateral damage," Diane said drily. Ever since embarking on the speedboat, she had remained quiet and watchful, and neither of the other passengers had spoken with her. Bartowski had avoided her gaze, probably because she still was wearing just a shirt and bikini bottoms. Mary had been studying her carefully, as if sizing up competition.

"Well, the bad guy's gone anyway, so everything turned out ok," Steve spoke up, his voice eager. "So a win for us."

"Not exactly," Mary replied. "The Klebichok is still out there somewhere, and we don't know where."

Actually, they did, Roan thought to himself. Romanova had turned off the sensor before Gunter and Bartowski had heard his entire plan, so they didn't know the entire plan. "You think we can hitch a ride with one of those planes?" he asked.

"I can contact them and ask. Why, where do we want to go?"

"To Washington."

February 6, 2011. 9:00 PM, Los Alamitos, CA

"The rabbit has left the garden."

Chuck tried to fight off a smirk, but failed. He could practically hear Casey's eyes roll through the radio. The NSA Agent had been anything but thrilled at having to pair up with Morgan. Clearly, he was still annoyed at having seen him with Alex the other day. But there were a lot of racetracks in the greater LA area, and there were only so many available agents to watch over them. And Casey had grudgingly admitted that if Morgan had to be part of the mission, he would need close supervision.

"We're on our way," Sarah said from the driver's seat of the Porsche. They'd been to two different race tracks themselves, and Chuck wondered if he'd ever be able to scrub off the scent of cigarettes and stale popcorn. Fortunately, Casey and Morgan had better luck, and had spotted Deloski quickly.

"Would you hurry up?" Casey's voice crackled through the radio.

"But what about my winnings?" Morgan's voice asked.

"I told you we didn't have time to place any bets!"

"Hey, as soon as I saw there was a horse named Encino Royale, I knew it was fate. You can't fight fate, John."

"You can't fight, period. You might want to remember that, and listen to what I say. My daughter isn't always going to be there to protect you."

"Um, guys," Chuck interrupted. "Maybe you could tell us what to look for?" They were nearing the track, and he had no idea what kind of car Deloski was driving.

"Sorry," two voices said in unison.

"Hold on, there he is. He's getting into a white Toyota." Casey grunted. "Leave it to a Russkie to not appreciate American engineering. Ok, he's heading towards the 405."

Sarah maneuvered her way onto the highway, and soon Chuck saw Deloski. While the sedan wasn't particularly noticeable, the fez perched atop the head of the driver was.

After they'd been following the ex-SPIRITE agent for a few miles, Chuck glanced longingly over at the notebook on his lap. "We don't really have time now, Chuck," Sarah said, sensing his intentions.

"I know, but I'm almost finished," Chuck protested.

"I thought you said that most of it isn't true anyway."

"I'm still curious." For one thing, he wouldn't mind knowing how Deloski had escaped from the exploding boat. Assuming there ever had been an explosion, or a boat. Still, he was almost there and it seemed a shame to stop now.

"You can finish it when you're done," Sarah said. "But first we really need Deloski to lead us to this chemical weapon."

"Guys, we're right behind you now," Morgan's voice came through the radio. "Is the rabbit still running?"

"Nothing," Chuck replied. "Wait, I think he's turning off now."

Deloski's car veered off the highway, and into the nearest town. Sarah made sure to stay a few car lengths behind. A Porsche was a memorable sight, even in southern California. Finally, the Toyota turned into an empty parking lot by an old warehouse.

The four agents parked half a block away, and quietly headed over to Deloski's hide out. Chuck and Sarah headed to the rear, while Casey and Morgan stayed near the front entrance.

They looked around the deserted warehouse. If there were any sentries, they were sleeping on the job. Still, the place wasn't exactly hospitable, and it took them a few minutes to find a back entrance – an open window.

"You ready?" Sarah whispered.

"Oh sure. Another day, another deadly weapon capable of taking out an entire city."

"Alright, let's go."

Ahh, cheesy, cliched bad-guy dialogue. Is there anything more fun to write? Well, maybe self-indulgent author notes. Check, and Check.

We're just about at the end. One more chapter, or possibly one chapter and an epilogue. Plus, I've decided to let said self-indulgent run rampant, and do a list of all of the Bond references I've managed to shove into this thing. I may put all of them into a single post - either way, I figure I should get all this done before the actual season starts.

And again, thanks to everyone still reading this, and as always, reviews are valued!