CHAPTER EIGHT

Innsbruck, Austria –

Benji and Luther sat in the living space of their safehouse. Grace was taking a rest in her bedroom while Luther carefully packed parachutes for Ethan. Ethan, on the other hand, had left to get food for the team before their mission began. That gave Benji and Luther time to discuss their concerns.

"Something isn't right, Luther," Benji commented. "Ethan is walking around like a zombie. I haven't seen him shed one bloody tear for Ilsa. He's pushing the grief down, and it's going to explode when he sees Gabriel."

"I know that. I'm going to talk to him before I go off the grid," Luther said.

Benji hummed. "Maybe it's what he has to do, you know? To go on with working and all. But, c'mon. They were in love. I mean, it was obvious from the second I saw them in the back of that getaway car in Vienna."

"You're right, Benji. I do believe that he loved Ilsa with his whole heart."

"Exactly! So, why isn't he falling apart? It's just strange. Mission or not, the man is human."

"Who's human?" Ethan asked upon entering the safehouse.

Benji gulped. "We were talking about video games. A character in one of them. Luther thought he was, you know, a different type of creature thing. What'd you get for us to eat?"

"Chinese," Ethan replied.

Benji raised his eyebrows. "Okay. Lo Mein in Austria. Sounds exotic. I'll go wake Grace. She needs to eat something. It'll settle her nerves."

With Benji gone, Luther prepared to talk to Ethan about their mission. Ethan had put the food down in their tiny kitchen before Luther called him over. Luther patted the parachute pack with his hand.

"I packed you a normal parachute and a speedwing since I don't know what height you'll be jumping from. This is where I leave you, Ethan. I have to go to a secure location to sort through the data The Entity left on my hard drive."

Ethan sighed. "I understand."

"Before I go, I want to remind you that Gabriel is the only man who knows how to use the key. The way I figure it, The Entity has two possible outcomes for this mission. Either you're killed on that train, or you kill Gabriel. If you kill him, we'll never know where to go or what to do with that key."

"I know that, Luther."

"You say that now, but it'll be different when you're looking the man in the eye."

Ethan pictured Gabriel's face. Rage burbled in his ribcage. It wasn't just because of his past with Gabriel, those pre-IMF days. No, it was about Ilsa. Gabriel nearly killed her, and now Ilsa had to be in hiding. Ethan had no way of knowing that Ilsa made it safely to Sweden, and it was eating him alive inside. All he wanted to do was see her, touch her, and be with her. Gabriel had stolen that from him, and it was the final straw. He wanted to see Gabriel dead.

But the mission, he thought sadly. He has to live.

"I'll remember," Ethan promised Luther.

Luther sighed. "I hope so. It's okay to grieve, you know. It might help you release some of that hatred beforehand."

"I can grieve later. We have a mission to complete," Ethan responded. He headed towards the kitchen with a glance over his shoulder. "I got you that spicy beef dish you like so much. Extra beef."

That made Luther laugh. "My man."

Things were not going according to plan. Then again, they rarely did. Ethan found himself driving a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuting onto the train. He crashed through a train car window at a very opportune time, as Grace needed the backup. From there, Ethan went about the mission with ice in his veins and a focused mind. That led him to the roof of the train.

Gabriel, who had the completed key, was on the roof. Ethan readily attacked Gabriel. Before he knew it, he was on top of Gabriel with a knife to the man's throat. Gabriel, in his unending arrogance, had to rub the situation in Ethan's face.

"You can't kill me. I'm the only person who knows where and how to use this key," Gabriel said. This caused Ethan to pull back on his knife ever so slightly. Yet, Gabriel couldn't help himself. "But you want me dead. I kill the women you care about. You can't seem to keep them alive, can you?"

Ilsa. Ethan recalled seeing her on the bridge with that knife sticking out of her. When he thought she was dead, everything inside of him died too. If it had been real, if that knife had sliced into her heart, Ethan didn't know if he could have gone on. He never wanted to give Gabriel a chance to kill Ilsa, or anyone he loved, ever again.

Right before he could slit Gabriel's throat, Briggs from American intelligence arrived with a friend. That kept Ethan from killing Gabriel. It also gave Gabriel a chance to escape by leaping onto a truck that was waiting for him. He smugly watched the train chug onward with Ethan on it. A bridge was sure to explode ahead, which would kill everyone on the train.

Or that was the plan.

Ethan and Grace managed to save the train. Also, Ethan managed to swipe the completed key from Gabriel's pocket. Just like with Ilsa, Gabriel made the mistake of not checking the pulse of his assistant, Paris. The woman had been saved by Ethan in Venice, so she repaid the favor by saving Ethan and Grace. She gave them vital information regarding the key and what it unlocked.

However, the American agents were still after Ethan. He took the speedwing from his pack and safely floated away from the train. From there, he caught up to Benji. Benji opened the car door so Ethan could hop inside.

"We get it?" Benji asked.

Ethan held up the key. "We got it. We also got information. The key opens a chamber on a submarine called the Sevastopol. The code to destroy it is in there."

"Great. So, we find the submarine, slip aboard, and access the system. I get the code to destroy The Entity, and then we insert the code into one of its servers. Easy," Benji said.

"Benji, why do you make everything sound simple?"

"Maybe because it's better than panicking, Ethan."

"You have a point."

"I most certainly do. How do you know all that, by the way? Gabriel?"

Ethan shook his head. "No. Gabriel's assistant. He tried to kill her because he knew she'd help me for saving her life in Venice. She had the intel. Gabriel escaped."

"Well, this is a start. What next?"

"I need you to create mobile phones that The Entity can't access. We'll start digging on the Sevastopol and go from there."

Benji paused. "Why do you want mobile phones? We should stay together on this one."

"Relax. We're staying together. It's just in case we ever need to communicate from a distance…"

Borgholm, Sweden –

The small town of Borgholm, Sweden was located on the island of Öland. A library in the center of the town was well stocked with books, and they often welcomed book transfers from other branches. Those working in the library had gotten to know a woman known as Astrid Svensson. She came in daily to read various books, and she had requested many others.

One afternoon, Astrid left the library with twelve books stacked in her arms. She made the lengthy walk back to her seaside cottage. On the outside, it appeared to be an old and rundown place. Astrid entered through the back door and wandered to her bathroom. She stepped into her tub, fully dressed and wearing shoes, and began tapping on bathroom tiles. She then jerked on the showerhead, causing her to descend into her secret basement.

Astrid Svensson was, naturally, Ilsa Faust. The seaside cottage in Borgholm was once a safehouse for Solomon Lane. She was the only one who knew about its existence. It came with plenty of materials, money, and security.

Ilsa dropped her books on her worktable. An array of tools and technological bits and bobs were scattered about. It was her goal to learn everything she could about tech, as she wanted to create a safe computer system. It had to be cut off from The Entity's wide reach, and she wasn't going to stop until she put it together.

At the very least, it'd keep her busy while she was waiting to hear from Ethan. She had to believe that she would. If she didn't hear soon, she feared that meant he was gone.

"He wouldn't fail," Ilsa told herself as she picked a book from her stack. "We will find each other again."