Subject:  Re: Out of the Darkness |
Author:
Cathy R. Myers
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Date Posted: 14:38:39 03/08/01 Thu
In reply to:
Cathy R. Myers
's message, "Out of the Darkness" on 13:13:16 03/08/01 Thu
Out of the Darkness
Nikita opened her eyes, slowly. She saw nothing. The darkness was so black and so thorough that, at first, she thought that she was blind. As her other senses began to kick in, Nikita realized that she was in some sort of a box, a long, flat box with soft, silky sides. Her mind refused to grasp the obvious.
"Birkoff," she screamed, and the sound flattened out and went nowhere. "Birkoff, can you hear me," she screamed again.
"Nikita, where are you?" came the puzzled reply.
Momentary relief washed over her. "Birkoff," her voice was little more than a whisper now, "I think that I've been buried alive."
* * * *
Chester Manfield shuffled the deck of cards one more time before dealing them around the table. His smooth, manicured hands were steady, and his countenance was peaceful, unlike the men around him. They were twitchy and nervous and ill at ease.
Frank Evans, finally, broke the silence.
"How can you be so cool, Chester? My God, man, we just buried an extraordinarily beautiful woman alive. Do you have ice water in your veins?"
Chester smiled, "Relax, Frank. My friend in Section Six assures me that her boyfriend will come through for us. When he does, we'll tell him where she is buried, and he'll rescue her, and they'll live happily ever after."
Frank did not look convinced. "But what if he's not in time?"
Chester threw his head back and laughed. What does it matter to you, Frank? You'd never have her anyway. Not a beautiful woman like her. They never go for the likes of us, so they might as well not exist."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Billy Joe Kelly. Billy Joe, a small time punk, was on his first big job. Although he hated what they did to the girl, he loved the feeling of power that it gave him, as well as, the camaraderie of belonging to a group.
Chester leaned forward and looked from man to man at the table before replying.
"In each of our little worlds, we are surrounded by people who affect our lives. People whose passing away would make some difference, no matter how slight. Individuals outside of that small circle do not exist for us, and therefore, it doesn't really matter if they exist at all, does it? So, the question is, can you kill someone if they don't really exist?"
Billy Joe threw down his cards. "Well, that's about the stupidest thing . . ."
The glint of metal flashed in the air so quickly, that it seemed to have appeared by magic. The shot rang out even as Billy's last words still hung in the air. As Billy slumped forward, Chester stood to his feet.
"Does anyone else have any questions or comments they'd like to make," he asked pleasantly, as if he were closing a ladies PTA meeting. Smiling at the unbroken silence, he motioned to one of the guards.
"Remove the body, please." He motioned to a second guard, "Take Billy's place and play his hand. All right, who'll open the bidding?"
* * * *
Operations faced Michael across the length of the perch at Section One. He wasted no words on formality.
"Nikita's been taken," he said seriously, knowing that those three words said it all.
Michael didn't answer immediately. He stood looking out over the Section, noting how normal everything seemed. He turned to Operations.
"I know," was all that he said, but his intense look belied the quietness of his words.
Operations took a couple of steps in his direction.
"They've contacted you, then?"
"Yes, a few minutes, ago."
"What do they want?"
Michael took a steadying breath before giving his answer. "They want the location of Section One and the entrance codes."
Operations looked surprised, "What makes them think that we would give them that?"
Michael looked almost amused. "They don't think that you would. They think that I would--to save Nikita."
"How did they contact you?" Madeline stepped out of the shadows. She had slipped into the room moments before, noticed, but ignored by the two men.
"A message was broadcast over a Red Cell channel that I was monitoring. The message was Liberman coded."
"Liberman? That code hasn't been used for years." Madeline's look was questioning.
"Exactly." Michael agreed.
Operations began a slow pace, thinking aloud. "That code hasn't been used by Red Cell since Michael broke it, five years ago. Red Cell was stationed in Vienna, then. Michael broke the code and headed the mission that destroyed their base of operations."
Madeline nodded, beginning to understand. "Did anyone escape?"
"Yes," Michael answered. "Their strategist was wounded, but escaped in a private plane housed on the premises."
"What was his name, do you know?"
Operations provided the answer to Madeline's question. "As I recall, it was Manfield." He turned to Michael.
"Yes, that's right," Michael agreed. "Chester Manfield."
"Do you think that's who has Nikita?" Madeline asked.
"Yes." Michael, again turned to look out the window over Section, and then, posed a question of his own,
"Have you heard from her?"
For the space of about thirty seconds, both Operations and Madeline were silent. Neither wanting to relate what they had learned only minutes before. Exchanging a look, Madeline stepped forward to answer Michael.
"Michael, we know that you and Nikita have established a bond, of sorts, and that's obviously what Red Cell is counting on. Nikita contacted Birkoff about fifteen minutes ago. She's unharmed, but in great danger. She says that she's imprisoned in a box." Madeline paused briefly, then, continued. "Michael, Nikita thinks that she's been buried alive."
Michael turned immediately and left the perch, but not before Madeline and Operations abserved the white pallor and shocked expression that appeared on his normally impassive face. Within seconds, he was at Birkoff's side.
"Is she still alive?" he demanded.
Birkoff looked up in surprise. "Yes, she located an air hose that they had provided. We should have about forty-eight hours to locate her."
Give me the mike and patch me through." Michael took the hand-held attachment from Birkoff while Birkoff completed the necessary connection.
"Nikita, its me, Michael. We're coming to get you. Stay calm and try to keep your heart-rate slow.
"Michael." Nikita acknowledged.
"Save your strength, and try not to panic. Birkoff will stay on the line to talk you through this. Can you think of anything that might help us?"
"No," came the soft reply. "Michael?"
"Yes, Nikita."
"Hurry. Please, hurry."
"Hang on. I'll get you out."
Michael handed the mike back to Birkoff. "What do we know? Do we have any coordinates?"
"The last coordinates that we have on Nikita put her in Germany, right outside of Frankfort."
"Do we still have a signal?"
"No, its been blocked some way." Birkoff turned back to the computer and began to pull maps of the area.
Operations and Madeline joined Michael at the computer. "We have the locations of two Red Cell bases in the area. We're running a quantum probability check, now. Assemble your team."
Michael looked surprised. He hadn't expected that Section would provide him with operative support on his rescue mission.
Noting his reaction, Operations explained, "Manfield has too much information and too much confidence for this to be a fluke. He must have someone on the inside. Take him alive, Michael. After we're finished with him, I promise you, he's yours."
Michael left to assemble the team.
End of Part One
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