Infinity and Beyond
-Chapter 34-
Betrayal, Part One
"How much time do we have?" Mommy asks Michael as she carries me into our home while Michael's carrying two BIG black bags.
"Birkhoff said that the OP will go active in a couple of weeks." Michael says. "So, I'm guessing that Percy pushes back that timetable now that you've his black box."
Mommy puts me down onto the bed before taking out that thing she calls a black box. "Operation Sparrow... Honestly, where does he come up with these names?"
"All I know is that the more innocuous they sound, the more lethal they are." Michael says. "Percy usually plays things close to the vest, but this is..."
'Innocuous: not harmful. Lethal: can cause death.' Computer mama tells me the meaning of some of Michael's words.
"Paranoia." Mommy finishes for him. "He's scared."
"He should be." Michael says. "Sparrow is an inside job. It's a move against the government."
"So... Assassinate the president? Fake a terrorist attack just to start a war?" Mommy sounds worried.
"Whatever it is, if it fails with Percy's fingerprints on it,then he burns, and he knows that." Michael sounds nervous.
Mommy and Michael's words are making goosebumps pop up my olive skin. I hop off the bed and pull on mommy's arm. "Mommy, is something scary going to happen?"
"No, sweetie." Mommy crouches down in front of me with a smile.
I wrap my arms around mommy. "Mommy, hold me again."
"Alright." Mommy chuckles as she picks me up again.
Mommy looks at Michael as he's tapping a finger on the black box. "Hon?" Mommy grabs his hand with a smile. "I don't think morse code is going to break the encryption."
"There is only one person who can." Michael says. "And grabbing Birkhoff is not going to be easy."
"Why not?" Mommy says. "I've done it twice already."
"Exactly, so he's going to be on the look out for you." Michael says. "This time, I don't think he's going down without a fight."
"But he won't be on the look out for you." Mommy smiles.
But Michael doesn't look very happy. "What?" Mommy frowns.
"Nikita, I'm barely keeping my cover intact." Michael sighs. "I just shot five Division agents, remember? If I do this, my cover is blown."
"Michael, if we succeed, Percy goes down." Mommy tells him with a smile as she sits down on the bed with me on her lap. "And you're free to go wherever you want. Like... Here, for example."
"It's need ten years, living mission to mission." Michael murmurs.
"Well then, it's time to come in from the cold." Mommy smiles at him.
"Mommy, Michael's not outside." I tilt my head with a frown.
Both mommy and Michael laughs a little, but I don't know why it's funny. "That's not what I meant, sweetie." Mommy kisses my cheek happily.
Michael smiles as he moves closer to mommy and I. He kisses mommy on the lips and kisses the top of my head. I smile and raise my arms towards him. "Michael hug-hug?"
"Sure." Michael smiles and gives me a big hug before letting go and looking back to mommy. "I should really get over there. I really shouldn't let Percy suspect me anymore than he already does."
"When you get there, can you check on Alex?" Mommy frowns worriedly. "I should've heard from her already."
"Okay." Michael nods before leaving...
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Vision
Alex is tied to a chair with Wendy standing in front of her. There's a TV screen next to Wendy, but it's not turned on. Alex looks as if she doesn't like Wendy very much, but Wendy just smiles a little.
"Don't worry." Wendy tells her. "I won't torture you. I'm merely here to show you the truth."
"Which is what?" Alex growls angrily. "That you made a little deal with Amanda so that she would hand me over to you?"
"Not quite." Wendy smiles as she takes a step closer to her. "Alex, let me ask you something. How well do you know Nikita?"
Alex narrows her eyes at Wendy coldly. "I know Nikita well enough."
"She's kept something hidden from you." Wendy shakes her head. "Something you need to know. Something you should know." Wendy says before she grabs a remote and presses something.
The TV screen turns on, and the first thing that the screen shows is a girl and an older man. 'Nikolai and Alexandra Udinov.' Computer mama tells me...
End Vision
Mommy and I are waiting inside a house I've never been in before. Mommy's sitting in a chair with me on her lap. A man I've never seen before enters. "Hi, Malcom." Mommy says to him.
I tilt my head up at mommy. "Is he the person mommy's waiting for?"
"Yes, honey." Mommy smiles and nods at me before looking back to Malcom. "Don't worry." Mommy tells him. "I'm not here to hurt you."
"What are you doing in my house?" Malcom narrows his eyes.
"There are people trying to kill you." Mommy says as she stands up and walks over to him with me in her arms.
"What are you talking about?" Malcom frowns.
"Two cryptographers dead." Mommy says. "You'd be as well if you'd be in town."
Malcom just stares at mommy. "What..."
But just then, mommy rushes to a window and glances outside before looking back to Malcom. "Is there anywhere I can hide my daughter?" Mommy asks him as she hugs me closer to her...
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I'm hiding in a dark closet. I hug my legs close to my chest nervously. I don't like the dark...
Just then, I hear a very loud man's voice singing. 'Malcom's TV.' Computer mama tells me.
Then, I hear loud, smashing sounds. 'Nikita's fighting.' Computer mama tells me again. After that, I hear gunshots.
I bite down on my red lips as I whimper softly. I feel goosebumps pop up my olive skin as my eyes grow wet. I don't like the dark and I don't like gunshot sounds. I'm going to start crying soon...
Then, everything becomes quiet. "Mommy..." I whimper and cry quietly as I squeeze my almond-shaped dark brown eyes shut and hug my legs tighter.
"Wow..." I hear Malcom's voice say before I hear footsteps walking towards me and the closet door opening.
"Come here, sweetie." I don't open my eyes until I feel mommy's arms wrap around me and pick me up. "It's alright now..."
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Mommy takes me and Malcom back home. Malcom has a black bag over his head as mommy walks him over to an empty chair and sits him down.
Then, mommy takes the black bag off of his head. "You said you were taking me to safety." Malcom frowns.
"Yeah." Mommy nods. "This is the safe house."
"For you or me?" Malcom sounds as if he doesn't believe mommy. "Am I being kidnapped?"
"Oh, please." Mommy smiles crookedly and rolls her eyes. "Why would I kidnap you? My own daughter's much cuter." Mommy says as she hugs me and kisses my cheek.
"I love you, mommy." I giggle and hug her back.
"I love you too." Mommy snuggles me just like how I snuggle Lily, my toy panda.
Malcom just stares at mommy with raised eyebrows. "Look, those guys back there that wanted to kill you? They wanted to prevent you from cracking this." Mommy tells him seriously as she shows him the black box.
"Maybe I shouldn't." Malcom sounds as if he's unsure of something. "What's on it?"
"Plans for their attack." Mommy says. "That I'm trying to stop."
"Well, how do I know you're telling the truth?" Malcom sounds nervous.
"Because... I saved you, Malcom." Mommy smiles as she gives him the black box. "And because I'm not currently torturing you."
Just then, Michael walks in. "Hey." He says to us. "Alex is on hold at Amanda land, but she should be emerging soon."
I bite down on my red lips. But computer mama told me that Alex is with Wendy...
"Who does this guy work for?" Malcom frowns.
"He's just my daughter's father." Mommy shrugs.
"Michael's gonna be my daddy..." I giggle happily as I raise my arms towards Michael before he takes me from mommy's arms and into his own arms.
"You like that?" Michael smiles.
"Uh-huh." I give him a VERY big nod. Mommy chuckles and raises a hand to rub the back of my head as she's standing beside Michael.
Then, she turns back to Malcom. "So, what do you think about the box?" Mommy asks him.
"Uh..." Malcom says as he looks at the black box closely. "This is a biometric sensor."
"Yeah." Mommy nods. "First level of security requires a blood sample. We have that, the rest is up to you."
"Well, how soon do you need it broken?" Malcom asks.
"Yesterday would be nice." Michael says.
"Can we go back to yesterday again?" I tilt my head with a frown.
"No, sweetie." Mommy smiles a little as she rubs my back before talking to Malcom again. "You can hook up to my computer." Mommy tells him. "How long do you think it'll take?"
"Well... If it's a public key with asymmetric algorithms, and I do a brute force attack, then we're looking at roughly... A thousand years?" Malcom says.
Mommy doesn't look happy. "Dude..."
"Look, most locks are unbreakable if you're just guessing the key." Malcom says, sounding as if he's telling a great story. "My approach is different, I like to mess with the hardware that generates the code. I'm like the kid who hardwired the cable box in the basement to get the adult channels."
"Well, at least he sounds like Birkhoff." Michael smiles crookedly.
"Look, if I'm going to break your box, I'm gonna need my toys." Malcom says. "Super computers, oscilloscopes, lots of other gears."
'Oscilloscope: a device used for viewing changes in electrical currents.' I don't know what computer mama is telling me, but Malcom's toys don't sound like they're a lot of fun...
"Where do you keep your toys?" Mommy asks him...
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Mommy's calling Ryan while I'm sitting on her lap. 'Hey Bob, how are you?' Computer mama tells me what Ryan's saying.
My oval-shaped face frowns. Why is he calling mommy Bob? Isn't that a boy's name?
"Fletchy... I can stand to blow off some steam." Mommy says, but the computer is turning mommy's voice into a deep, man's voice. I giggle quietly. I don't understand what mommy's doing, but it's funny...
"How about a game of wreckingball tonight?" Mommy asks.
'Umm... Kinda busy right now, Bob.'
"Oh, but I let you win last time." Mommy says. "Come on! I promise this will be our best game ever." I don't know what mommy and Ryan are talking about...
'Well, in that case, I can probably shuffle my schedule around.'
"Great." Mommy smiles. "I booked court two, seven PM. Downtown wide, see you then, buddy."
'Okay, sounds good.'
Mommy hangs up the phone after that. "I'm meeting Ryan..." Mommy starts, but stops when the computer is turning her voice weird again.
Mommy quickly stops it as I giggle louder. "What are you laughing at?" Mommy tickles my tummy, making me giggle even harder.
"Mommy, that's funny!" I squeal happily as I turn around to give her a big hug.
Mommy chuckles as she hugs me close to her. "I'm meeting Ryan, platform two, Union Station, downtown Washington." Mommy tells Michael and Malcom.
"What are you going to offer him?" Michael asks.
"Offer him?" Mommy frowns. "He wants to take Percy down as much as we do."
"Technically, you kidnapped the CIA's top code breaker." Michael says worriedly. "You think that's going to buy you some good will?"
"Hey, I thought I wasn't kidnapped." Malcom says unhappily.
"You weren't." Mommy tells him with a nod before looking to Michael. "He wasn't. I saved him."
"You can't trust the CIA." Michael says seriously.
"I don't." Mommy says as she stands up, picking me up with her. "I trust Ryan."
"Then you can trust Percy to be all over him." Michael tells her quietly. "I'm coming with you."
"Hey." Mommy touches Michael's arm. "Better for you to run interferences inside Division, don't you think?"
"We can have Alex do that." Michael says. "You need backup on sight. I'm not going to let anything happen to you and Infinity."
"Where is she?" Mommy says worriedly. "You said she'll be out in a couple of hours. It's been longer than that."
"Three hours and twelve minutes since I've arrived." Malcom speaks up as he looks down at his watch.
"Amanda has been more evasive than usual." Michael sounds worried too. "Something's not right."
"Mommy..." I bite down on my red lips quietly. "Computer mama said that Alex is with Wendy."
"What?!" Mommy's eyes widen as she and Michael both sound unhappily surprised. I shrink back with a whimper.
"Sweetie, what do you mean Alex is with Wendy?" Mommy asks VERY worriedly.
"Wendy and Alex were talking..." I answer nervously.
"Infinity, what were they talking about?" Michael says.
"I don't know... Wendy said something about Alex not knowing something about mommy..." I murmur quietly.
"I don't... I'm not sure if we should consider this good or bad." Michael frowns worriedly.
"Michael..." Mommy sounds nervous as she looks to Michael. "Get her out of there."
Michael nods before leaving...
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Vision
Alex is crying as Wendy looks down at her. "So what will you do now?" Wendy says to her as she turns the TV off. "Now that you know the truth. Are you going to confront her?"
"Why does it matter to you?" Alex growls with a sniffle.
"Because while I do want Nikita to suffer, I don't want Infinity to lose her mother." Wendy smiles crookedly.
"So you're here to make sure that I don't kill her." Alex smiles a little, but it's not a happy smile. It looks angry...
But mommy and Alex are friends, Alex wouldn't want to hurt mommy, right? 'Nikita killed Alex's father.' Something in my tummy rolls around nervously. That doesn't sound good...
"Yes, that." Wendy nods with a chuckle. "Right now, for Infinity's sake, Nikita and Michael needs to stay alive. But no worries, I'll allow you to express some of your feelings to Nikita."
Alex narrows her eyes at Wendy...
End vision
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Author's note: hey guys, here's the next chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! Many thanks in advance!