Chapter 4: Wake Up Call
…Connection Re-Established…
Nigel reported to the Moon Base at 5 o'clock in the morning, he had informed his parents that his school was going on a field trip to Europe and Rachel followed up with the same excuse.
Rachel had already arranged for Fanny to be in charge while she was gone and ordered the boy hating girl to inform her of any strange activity.
They met on the main dock, along with the team Rachel had hand-picked.
There were four other operatives on the main deck, not including Rachel or Nigel.
Nigel turned to Rachel and proceeded to ask her a question. "Care to introduce me to our new team mates for this mission? I mean we are headed into enemy territory and it would be of great use if I knew who they were."
"Oh sorry, allow me to introduce them to you. The operatives I choose for this mission are some of the most decorated and hardened operatives ever to serve the KND."
All the individuals before them had a standard black uniform, with each one possessing unique attributes that gave some suggestion to what their specialized field was.
She pointed to the first member of the team.
He was wearing a set of dark shades, and had a very slim physique. His hair was sleeked back and the boy seemed to have a calm personality.
"Numbuh 624, meet Numbuh 1". The two operatives shook hands.
"It's a pleasure to meet such a legendary operative such as yourself. Your tactics are often spontaneous and risky, but they get the job done, and that's all that matters".
Nigel smirked a bit, he felt flattered by such compliment.
Numbuh 624 then resumed, "I will be the sharp shooter of your group, I specialize in reconnaissance as well as infiltration, a job similar to Numbuh 362's former job as an espionage agent. If you can excuse me; I still have some final preparations to attend to".
He turned and loaded a modified Kids Next Door 2x4 rifle into his bag, along with a set of binoculars.
They switched their attention to a short girl with brown hair, who was wearing a black beanie along with her black uniform. Her physical appearance suggested she had seen a lot of action during her time with the KND, and was apparent through her sharp black eyes.
"This is Numbuh 900, she is a one of the most deadliest combatants of the KND and specializes in hand to hand and close quarters combat."
The operative before him looked back directly towards his direction. He made eye contact with her for a split second. A thought entered his mind; something was off about this girl.
"She has somewhat of a tragic story, apparently she was part of some incident that happened not too long ago. She never talks about it much though, in fact she hardly talks at all." Rachel whispered to Nigel.
Nigel got one last good look at Numbuh 900, on her wrist she had a thin golden bracelet that was encrypted "Death before Dishonor".
Rachel introduced him to the third operative she selected for the team, he was a big fellow, nearly towering over him and making Rachel look like an ant.
"Nigel this is Numbuh 789." Nigel lent out his hand to the giant figure.
The tall operative stared at Nigel, and then finally accepted his hand shake, his strength nearly crushing Nigel's hand in the process.
"An honor meeting you Numbuh 1! I have heard many stories about you, including how you're related to the legendary Numbuh Zero and how you managed to defeat Grand Father. My job includes carrying heavy ordinances in case the missions gets a bit messy as well as serve as your mechanic."
"I see". Nigel said a bit shaken on the size of the boy.
Rachel calmed Nigel a bit and patted him on the back, sensing his fear. "Hey I know he's a bit intimidating, but he's a really nice guy."
Nigel felt a sense of jealousy in him at Rachel's comment. "Whatever you say." He murmured to himself in a slightly irritated voice.
"And this is the last member of the team, Numbuh 222." Nigel looked at the fellow operative; he wore the same thing as all the other members, a black uniform; however his grey hair and scar across his face was something that stood out to him.
Numbuh 222 acknowledged him from a distance, nodding his head at him as he packed some strange looking gear onto the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.
Nigel then asked Rachel. "What does he specialize in?"
Rachel responded quickly. "Unconventional tactics and guerrilla warfare."
This boy like Numbuh 900 also had a unique story.
Apparently he grew up in the Balkan areas of Eastern Europe, an unstable and volatile place that was plagued by political instability as well as ethnic cleansing. Father took advantage of this situation and hired several mercenaries in the area to do his bidding.
Unlike Numbuh 900, his story was well known. His village was ambushed by Father's mercenaries in his attempt to kidnap or even dispose of all the children in the area. The village was burned to the ground and he was marked the only survivor.
Rumors say he then trailed the ones who committed such atrocities towards his people and followed them into the forest. What happens here, only he knows, but sources say all they could hear were blood curdling screams, followed by an eerie silence.
Nigel was a bit shocked. Rachel smiled and proceeded to lighten the mood, hoping to alleviate any tense feelings Numbuh 1 was feeling
"Hey don't worry, he's generally calm and stable, just don't interrupt when he gets in his zone and you'll be fine."
"If you say so." Nigel relaxed a bit and began assembling his own gear.
As they all finished loading up their gear, they began boarding the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.
As they proceeded to load into the ship, Rachel then looked at Nigel, her brown eyes piercing right through his soul. "Hey Nigel, do you mind if I ask you a, um, personal question?" She mustered in the cutest voice Nigel had ever heard.
"Sure, go for it."
"I know this is a bit personal, but do you still think about Lizzie from time to time, I mean I noticed you do seem to space off sometimes, and I don't want this to affect the outcome of this mission".
Nigel didn't know how to respond.
"Sometimes… I really did care for her, but apparently my duty to the Kids Next Door got in way of our relationship and she just couldn't take it anymore. I wish things would've turned out more differently."
Rachel then began to feel a naught in her throat slowly develop as she attempted to hold back her emotions from showing. "Oh, I understand…" She then remained silent as they boarded the ship that would take them to their destination.
She wondered to herself why she asked such a foolish question. It had only been a few weeks since they broke up, of course the boy still had feelings towards his former girlfriend.
As they took their seats, Nigel had begun to notice how uncharacteristic she was acting. She was sitting right next to him, hair covering her eyes, in total silence.
He didn't understand why she suddenly had such a drastic mood change. Was it something he said?
The thought of something bothering his Supreme Leader ate away at him and finally words slipped out of his mouth.
"Hey Rachel is everything ok?"
Rachel turned her head towards Nigel and softly responded. "I'm fine, thanks for asking though".
However, she still felt hurt inside, seeing how Nigel still had feelings towards Lizzie. She always wondered what he saw in that girl. She was controlling, aggressive, judgmental, and always accused him of cheating with other women. But Nigel seemed to care dearly about the girl, and Rachel respected that.
Rachel shrugged off the thought, and cleared her mind. She had a mission to do.
Their final destination would be the last location Father was spotted, somewhere in Moscow, Russia. At this location, they also hoped to find the kidnapped scientists, which they suspected had a connection to Father.
Several minutes after the S.C.A.M.P.E.R entered into Earth's atmosphere, the ship abruptly landed on a Kids Next Door Gihugeacarrier.
"Hey this is nowhere near our destination, what's going on here?!" Numbuh 222 exclaimed
The pilot of the ship snorted at the grey haired boy. "I received last minute orders from the admiral."
Rachel shifted her attention to the pilot and commanded him. "We don't have time for this, take off now. I'll explain the situation to him later."
A voice suddenly broke out near the exit of the vehicle.
"I'm afraid we have much too discuss Supreme Leader".
The person in question was wearing a navy blue uniform with golden threads embedded at the end of his sleeves.
He was decorated with a variety of medals.
This person was Numbuh 288, admiral of the KND Atlantic fleet.
"Excuse me admiral, but we don't have enough time for this."
The admiral then turned to acknowledge Rachel's concern.
"Your right, we don't."
Rachel looked at Numbuh 288.
Was it possible he knew about their plan? Was he ordered by Global Command to stop her from proceeding further?
He analyzed the other operatives onboard the S.C.A.M.P.E.R beforel he finally spotted Nigel.
"Oh, I see you brought along the famous Numbuh 1 with you as well. Please follow me too my main office. We'll talk from there."
She signaled the rest of her team to follow.
"No, just you two." Rachel sighed. Another top secret briefing for VIP's only she assumed.
As they walked into the entrance of the carriers hull, they noticed a large amount of activity going about around them. The crews on deck were loading KND bombers as well as fighters, and seemed to be prepared to launch at a moment's notice. Several K.O.L.O.S.S.A.L.I.N.E.R cruisers as well as the other smaller ships also seemed have taken up defensive positions.
The admiral was getting ready for something and Rachel knew it.
As they reached the admirals office, he shut the door and immediately sat at his deck.
He smiled.
"Please take a seat."
They sat down and Rachel looked at the boy very intently.
"Do you know something we don't? You look like you're gearing up for war."
The captain's smile then slowly dimmed down.
He brought up a hologram that showed KND positions around the world as well as enemy activity and locations.
"This was a month ago." The hologram showed an image of the globe, with large amounts of green dots, and a small amount of red dots.
"The green dots indicate Kids Next Door Sectors and positions and the red dots represent the enemy's."
The two operatives analyzed it, before the admiral quickly changed the image. This time the amount of red dots increased exponentially, mainly in places such as Russia and Eastern Europe.
He then turned his attention to Nigel and Rachel. "You know just as well as I do that Father is up to something, and the Intel gathered by my drone's shows overwhelming proof that conflict is inevitable."
"Did you inform Global Command?" Rachel responded back
"Yea, they seem to be turning a blind eye on this subject, incompetent fools."
"You too I see." She said deep in thought
"But still, I don't see why you have to inform me about this. I'm already aware of the situation."
Numbuh 288 sighed.
"I know what you're planning, and may I add that it may be too dangerous. We can't risk sending you guys over deep into enemy territory, especially by air, and the intelligence you may have received Supreme Leader sir, may be weeks old already."
Rachel and Nigel were puzzled by the admiral.
The admiral continued. "The situation has been quickly escalating, the enemy controls the air space in the area, and we lost contact with the Sector in Moscow a week ago."
Nigel stood up. "But we..."
Rachel interrupted Nigel before he could finish his sentence. "No Nigel, he's right, it's too risky to go there by air." She then paused, and thought of another solution.
"How's the situation on the ground?"
The admiral thought about her suggestion for a moment and rubbed his hand on his chin. "It's getting worse every passing day, but I think we can manage to slip you guys in. Upon entering Moscow you can rendezvous with Teens Next Door Operative Maurice, he's been tracking enemy activity in the region for weeks. However, Global Command has yet to declare a state of war, which leaves you on your own once you enter enemy territory."
The two operatives looked at each other. "We're willing to take the risks."
Numbuh 288 nodded his head, accepting their plan. "I must warn you this will be no walk in the park, I advise you proceed cautiously."
The leader of Sector V and the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door then walked out and returned to their S.C.A.M.P.E.R where their team awaited them.
"So what did the admiral inform you about?" asked a calm and collective Numbuh 624.
"It looks like plans have changed, we're going to have to reach our destination by land." Announced Rachel so that the whole team could hear.
"By land? Are you kidding me that will take forever!" Numbuh 222 answered back, last minute changes to plans bothered him a lot, and he considered them to be a nuisance.
Rachel then continued. "I know, but we have no choice."
They arrived in Berlin, Germany, where they met with KND forces stationed in the area.
A convoy was of 2x4 troop transports were already waiting for them.
One of the KND infantrymen approached Rachel.
"Welcome Supreme Leader Sir, we've been expecting you. We got orders to escort you to several miles outside of Moscow, but after that you'll be on your own."
She nodded, and then signaled her team to board the trucks
The rest of the team, for whatever reason chose to ride in pairs. Numbuh 222 with 900, and Numbuh 624 with 789.
They could hear Numbuh 789 complain about how the truck was too small for him in the distance, and this eased the tensions that Nigel and Rachel were feeling about the mission.
It would take them several days, with stops along the way, to reach their final destination.
As they settled comfortably into their seats along with several other KND soldiers, Rachel sighed.
"I can't help but feel like something terrible is going to happen…"
She faced Nigel who was looking at her with re-assuring eyes hidden behind his shades.
"Don't worry; we'll have each other's backs."
It was nightfall, and the convoy was entering the woods which put several of the soldiers on edge. Nigel was still wide awake, thinking about the mission. They were about to enter enemy territory and he thought about the admiral's warning.
The admiral believed that all this activity pointed out to the possibility of war, but what if it was much more than that?
Nigel moved his body to the opposite direction only to find Rachel fast asleep. Her oversized orange tiger striped sweater seemed to engulf her, and acted almost as a sleeping bag. He couldn't help to notice on how peacefully she seemed to sleep.
Nigel turned to back of the vehicle, where there was an opening that served as both the exit and entrance for the back of the truck. He could see the lights of the other trucks nearby, but what caught his attention was how brightly lit the sky was with countless stars.
He wondered if somewhere out there, someone was looking back at him and whether or not that the children there had to deal with the same problems they had on Earth.
He nearly jumped out his seat when he heard a voice, and turned to see two big brown eyes staring right at him.
"Still awake I see?" Rachel said, sounding half asleep.
"Sadly…" he replied back, staring at the stars.
"The stars are beautiful tonight aren't they?"
"Yeah…" he answered back, his mind still in a state of trance as he gazed into the night sky.
"Hey Rachel can I ask you a question?" Nigel added as he turned away from the stars.
"Sure Nigel."
"What made you ask me about Lizzie?" Rachel was dumbfounded by the question.
She proceeded to answer his question, trying to hide any emotions or feelings she held deep inside her.
"Well, you're one of my closest friends Nigel, and the way you sometimes space out deeply concerns me. I was just worried that's all, I wanted to make sure everything was fine."
After taking a couple seconds to assess his thoughts he interupted the brief silence that had fell inside the truck.
"Oh I see… do you think it was wrong of me to do the things I did too her? I mean every time I promised to take her on a date, I'd end up going on a mission last minute or something along those ends."
"No, not at all. I mean, she tried to change the very essence of your being, and even put you and your team mates in danger at times. A person who really cares for you loves you for what you are, nothing more, and nothing less."
Nigel thought deeply about Rachel's response.
"Anyway, I'm going back to sleep, and I think you should too! We got a busy schedule ahead of us and it'll be best if we get our rest"
Nigel yawned, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Night, Rachel."
"Night, Nigel"
The convoy proceeded further into the woods, approaching a set of lights that lit up the horizon.
They were unaware of the figures that had been tracking them ever since they departed from Berlin. One of them, still covered by the shadows then pulled out his communicator.
"Their heading toward Moscow"
"Follow them." A cold voice responded.
"As you wish" the shadowy figure said before turning off the device.
It was morning and they had arrived at a large town not too far from the border between Poland and Russia. The convoy had stopped to refuel at the outpost in the area, and it would take an hour or two before they were ready to make the final voyage to their destination.
Rachel jumped out of the 2x4 truck, preceded by Nigel. They could overhear the chatter of their team mates.
"That had to be the MOST uncomfortable 10 hours of my life." mumbled Numbuh 789 grouchily
"I thought it was really comfortable."
Numbuh 789 turned to the voice. "You've got to be kidding me...well that's coming from you, I mean for Pete sake, you'd probably be comfortable sleeping in a tree."
"I have, it's actually not all that bad." defended the grey haired operative like he was stating a fact
"Everyone just needs to calm down, it wasn't that miserable..." Numbuh 624 butted in.
"Easy for all of you to say, none of you are over 6 feet."
The tall operative then proceeded to get breakfast.
"Wow, after hearing that conversation, I would've never thought they were some of the most elite operatives of the KND." Nigel commented while putting his hands in his pockets
Meanwhile, Numbuh 900 was still sitting in the back of a truck, remaining quiet as usual. Nigel glanced at the girl, who glanced back, which caused him to immediately turn in the other direction.
"Has she always been this way? I mean she's like the definition of anti-social." He whispered to Rachel.
Rachel looked at the ground, trying to recall what she read about 900's profile.
"Hey remember that "incident" I told you when I first introduced you to her?"
Nigel nodded.
"From what I read, I believe she was involved in some covert mission that went wrong."
"Interesting, what was the mission about?" He asked as his curiosity began to take over.
Rachel then yawned, still half asleep. "Well, I believe it was some mission in the Arctic, apparently there was some top secret facility in the area that was developing some scary stuff. Her team was sent up there to destroy the facility along with its research.
She paused. "They succeeded but unfortunately, she was deemed the only survivor, and ever since she's hardly spoken a word."
Nigel then looked perplexed. Before he could say another word, Rachel interrupted him
"Hey let's go get breakfast, I'm getting pretty hungry and by the looks of things you are too."
She was right, the journey did take a toll on him. They then walked together towards the local bed and breakfast inn.
As they entered, they were immediately seated by one of the waiters. "Can I help you?" the waitress said in a heavy Polish Accent.
Nigel, now eager to eat, ordered first "Uh yes, I'll just take pancakes and eggs." The waiter than jotted down the order
"And how about you?" She turned to Rachel
"Oh um, I'll take Egg Benedict, Apple Puff pancakes, and Crepe's please!"
Rachel produced in an incredibly sweet and innocent voice while tilting her head.
The waitress looked puzzled.
She revised her order, "Erm, I'll just have what he's having". The waiter smiled, wrote down her order, and went back into the kitchen.
"Geeze Rachel, what was that all about? Nigel looked at her, his brows moving up behind his shades. He did have to admit though; the way she presented her order to the waitress was pretty cute.
"Sorry! I'm just used to having that for breakfast, that's all."
She did it again, Nigel felt like he was nearly melting inside when he heard her intentionally sweet sounding voice.
There was a reason behined the girl's complicated order. Rachel grew up in a rich family; her father was a renowned surgeon, and her mother was a financial advisor. She didn't like showing off her wealth, but she was used to the better side of life, and sometimes forgot that when she went into public places like restaurants, which she rarely entered.
"Oh, don't worry about it." He turned and made direct eye contact with Rachel.
They stared at each for a few seconds before Rachel twisted away to hide her blushing cheeks.
After several minutes, the waiter returned with their food, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them.
They ate it quickly in order to prevent further delaying of the convoy.
As Rachel and Nigel got out of their seats and exited the inn, Rachel spotted a peculiar figure. He was wearing a face mask that covered everything but his eyes, and wore a tightly kept greyish uniform with black gloves and black boots. On his head, he wore a plain military styled cap. She could also make out a faint bright golden light shimmering from his wrists, but his sleeves covered it almost entirely.
The figures following him wore identical uniforms, except they wore military goggles that covered their eyes, and beanies. She turned back for a second; these guys looked awfully suspicious. As she glanced for a second look, they had vanished.
"Hey Nigel, did you see that?" She quickly turned to Nigel
"See what?"
"Never mind, don't worry about it."
They met up with the rest of their team and loaded up on the trucks.
The convoy would escort to the outskirts of Moscow where they would be dropped off. The area was deemed too dangerous for KND presence, and the disappearance of the Sector in the area reinforced the fear.
As soon as they entered the city, they would immediately rendezvous with Maurice, who would be waiting for them near the Kremlin.
Nigel glared at Rachel, who looked a bit tenser. They were so close to their destination, so close to the enemy. From there, they would be cut off from any support, and she would have to depend on Nigel and the team she assembled.
The thought of the figures she saw near the bed and breakfast inn bothered her, and she quickly refocused her mind on the mission.
Moscow waited, and so did Father
TRANSMISSION INTERUPTED