The day of the auction finally came.
Jarvis had gone, with McGee, out to The Shadow, on the watcher fleet.
She was in the Atlantic, just off Spain, and they notified The Shadow by order of the President to shut down outgoing communications before they even landed their chopper on her deck.
McGee watched as Jarvis delivered the sealed order to the ship's Captain. They were quickly ushered into the surveillance suite.
It was a wonderland of technology, especially to McGee. The communications and surveillance crews were quickly informed of their duty to keep what they heard and saw confidential, based on the President's orders.
Then they set up surveillance systems, targeting their sister ship, The Phantom.
All of it was being fed into MTAC. They made sure McGee was there, in case NCIS needed someone to back up their technology from the other end.
But the picture came in clear.
Vance, Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva were all in MTAC, anxiously waiting for the Auction transmissions to begin.
It was 22:55 hours, and it was scheduled to begin at 23:00.
McGee appeared onscreen, wearing a headset, and adjusted it.
"Hi Boss ! How's the picture?"
"Clear as a bell, McGee."
"Secretary Jarvis is still talking with the Captain, but, we're all set here."
"Good, McGee."
"McGee we will record all of this at MTAC, but as soon as they give out the account number I want you to start your traces from there."
"Yes, Director. Ah, they set me up with my own station, with a really, really, sweet top level processing-"
"Don't get comfortable, McGee, you're not staying."
"Ah, yes, I know, Boss..."
McGee seemed to look away for a moment, nodding, and looking back to the screen.
"Okay, when it starts, you should end up with all the transmissions simultaneously."
In the dark of MTAC, Gibbs could see Tony's posture, the tension in it, as well as Ziva's eyes, gazing at the screen with deadly focus.
He hoped it all went as they planned.
McGee announced, "Clearing the screen now in five, four, three, two, one."
Their screen went dark, and there was a hush in the room. Less than a minute later, one area of the large screen lit, and Latham appeared in it. There was no sound yet, and he appeared to be preparing his headset.
Tony shuddered in his seat. Only Ziva knew, sitting next to him. She reached over without turning her head and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
Tony expelled a shaky breath. He had to keep it together.
Gibbs and Vance were glued to the screen.
In succession, five more windows opened up on the screen.
They were filled with four different men and one woman. One of the men was Prince Omar Ibn Alwaan.
Finally, Latham's voice came over the com.
"Welcome to the auction. There are five of you, but to keep your identities confidential, you cannot see each other and have been assigned numbers, and make your bid using only the number of your identity. The terms of payment are half up front, wired to the account the winner will be provided with. Then half when we deliver the item. Who would like to begin?"
They watched.
The woman was Russian, three of the men, including Prince Ibn Alwaan were middle eastern, and the last man was Chinese. All their pictures were already being scanned for identification. Two were terrorists, the other two bought and sold government secrets and technology for profit.
The bidding started at thirty million.
They watched, tensely, as it started off slowly, and then went higher and higher. First, the one of the middle eastern men bowed out, disappearing off the screen.
At fifty million, the Russian bowed out.
At seventy million, the Chinese man bowed out.
And then it was between Prince Alwaan, and the other middle eastern man.
The were neck and neck, until at eighty seven million, Prince Ibn Alwaan was the winner.
When Latham called it, he and Alwaan were the only ones left onscreen.
Now they had to count on the Prince to set the rest of the trap.
"It appears you are now the owner of this top level technology," Latham declared, holding up the microchip, between the ends of a flathead tweezer. "Mr. Ibn Alwaan, your first payment needs to be transferred now to the following account."
Latham gave him a number for a Cayman account.
And then the Prince spoke, his voice rich and soft, as Tony remembered it.
"Mr. Latham, though Mr. Kort highly endorses you, I hope you understand that I need to check the authenticity of this item, therefore I require a personal delivery, at a...test site."
Latham raised his eyebrows for a moment and pursed his lips.
"A test site? What do you suggest?"
"Kuwait. A location just outside Camp Patriot. There is a munitions storage facility, which is only accessible with proper clearance. I will have my men clear the guard detail outside, so we can run the test unencumbered. I wish to see the microchip access the facility, and also record who has come and gone from it. If it downloads correctly, and is indeed what you say it is, then you will get the rest of your money. I hope it will also work on higher level access situations, but I do not want to risk exposure like that simply for the test."
Latham tilted his head, "I don't usually make the deliveries myself, Mr. Ibn Alwaan, but I assure you, this is an authentic piece of technology."
"Mr. Latham, I am a businessman. And there are ways we do things in my culture, and as an honorable businessman I always conduct my business, in person. I will be there, with four men and one computer technician."
Latham was silent.
They all held their breath.
"Of course," the Prince said casually, "since this is not your usual policy, I am willing to compensate you for the added service."
That got Latham's attention.
"Mr. Kort has a personal investment in finding me solid buyers, and since you came highly recommended by him, I may be willing to negotiate the added fee."
The Prince waited.
"One hundred million, total."
The Prince smiled, and laughed a bit at Latham, saying, "Alright, Mr. Latham. I can easily afford the...upcharge. It will be included with the second transfer."
"Agreed," Latham said. "When are we setting the meeting for?"
"Two days from now. I will give you the coordinates. I assume you have the clearance to be there."
"Of course," Latham said.
After the Prince gave Latham the rest of the details, the Prince's screen cut out, and then Latham's, leaving MTAC dark.
Gibbs let out the breath he was holding, and finally turned to look at Vance, who said, "Looks like the big fish is heading into the net."
"Let's hope so," Gibbs said, looking at Ziva who was now talking in low soothing tones to a pale and shaken DiNozzo.
Kort was with Latham in the chopper. They had two men, plus the pilot.
As they drifted over the beige colored landscape, they approached the Camp Patriot munitions warehouse, on the south coast of Kuwait.
There was a tall fence, with barbed wire around the whole perimeter, and five men, uniformed guards, lying dead in pools of their own blood, by the gate and by the entrance of the building.
Prince Omar Ibn Alwaan stood by one of the two black HumVees parked outside, his men holding large guns that had obviously taken out the guards. One of his men had a bandage around his arm, a bit of blood soaking through it.
The chopper landed, blowing dust and dirt everywhere before the blades slowed and came to a stop.
Latham got out, Kort and his men following him. The pilot stayed in the chopper.
The Prince smiled as he shook Latham's hand, and they both walked past the dead guards, towards the entrance of the warehouse.
They approached the data cube scanner outside the entrance of the facility.
Latham smiled, and took out the chip, passing it over the scanner.
As the doors opened, the smile fell from his face, and turned to a rage filled scowl.
It was Gibbs, holding his gun up with both hands, glaring at him.
"Sean Latham, you are under arrest for treason against the United States of America, and for the murder of Special Agent E.J. Barett. You are also under arrest for the kidnapping of Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."
Latham raised his hands, as the Prince quickly returned to his guards.
Latham's men saw him raise his arms, and not knowing who was in the warehouse, raised their guns, but quickly lowered them when the " dead" guards stood up, training their weapons on them.
The two knew they were outnumbered, and dropped their weapons to the ground.
Latham smiled bitterly, and said, "You'd better have some proof, if you're going make any of that stick, Agent Gibbs. And, last I heard, both Agents Barrett and DiNozzo were still missing."
"What's that, Latham?" Tony stepped out from behind Gibbs, taking Latham's gun from the holster under his jacket, as he sputtered, wide-eyed, obviously shocked to see Tony alive.
" You...you're dead." Outrage burned in his eyes.
Tony laughed at him, though inside he was still fearful of the man for what he and Stratton had done to him.
"Sorry to disappoint you. But still very much alive."
Ziva also appeared now, running out towards the other men.
In the distance, the chopper took off with Kort in it.
"Ah, damn," Gibbs muttered angrily at Kort's slipping away.
And as Gibbs was getting cuffs out for Latham, who was red with rage, Secretary Jarvis also appeared from out of the warehouse.
"Mr. Secretary, " Latham said with disgust.
Jarvis looked at him, with that same beady-eyed scrutiny Tony had experienced himself. Only, this seemed worse. The SecNav's anger was flashing in his eyes.
"Did you really think you could get away with it, Sean?"
"Who says I still won't, you stupid bastard," Latham spat. "And you helped me every step of the way, Clay."
Jarvis sighed. "I've made a lot of mistakes, and the worst one was trusting you."
"Oh please, Clay, you didn't want to know the truth! You're living in your own world."
Jarvis shook his head sadly. "I'm not sure what happened to you Sean, but it's a good thing Sharon didn't live to see this, because she wouldn't have been able to stomach the disappointment you've become."
Gibbs was watching the exchange while Tony stood on the side of them.
They saw Latham's face go ugly, and then a strange glint appeared in his eyes.
Several things happened at once.
Ziva was shouting from outside, as two SUV's were barreling down the road towards the warehouse. Gibbs glanced outside for a moment, knowing it was more of Latham's men. The bastard had a backup plan.
Latham, with his hands still up, took a step closer to Jarvis.
"You're still an arrogant fool, Clay, and that's how you'll die."
Latham looked at Jarvis for a moment, smiling maliciously.
Gibbs heard Latham say the words, "Silver seabird."
Gibbs yelled, "Tony STOP!", as he saw his agent raise Latham's gun to Secretary Jarvis' temple.