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Date Posted: 02:17:12 08/12/12 Sun
Author: taurus2124
Author Host/IP: CPE-58-161-97-226.nsw.bigpond.net.au / 58.161.97.226
Subject: Chapter 257
In reply to: taurus2124 's message, "The Rising Dragons ... continued ..." on 08:17:25 08/11/12 Sat

Chapter 257

Section’s leader paced the floor of Madeline’s Office pondering the skulduggery of George’s interference in the Rising Dragons’ mission. His face echoed his sour demeanour and if looks could kill, his nemesis would have been six feet under before his body was cold.

“What are we going to do about Belinda?” Madeline asked watching Paul pace back and forth once Birkoff had left her office.

Operations however, had little regard for the issue Birkoff had raised about Walter’s girlfriend. He dismissed Madeline’s inquiry as if he would brush away a fly. To him, it was of little consequence for his mind was on more pressing issues. “Cancel her,” he barked without the slightest thought for what Birkoff had told them.

“I think you should reconsider that,” Madeline cajoled trying to soothe over this small problem before tackling the major one she knew Operations was thinking about.

“Reconsider? You must be joking.”

Madeline continued her placating of the savage beast. “Birkoff raised some valid points Paul. Belinda had the opportunity to withhold the device but she didn't and it did give us the proof we were looking for.”

Her words appeared to have hit the spot. Operations calmed down a little. He pondered her words for a short while before responding with reluctance, “True.”

So Madeline continued with her reasons while giving him time to reassess her status. “Details will eventually leak out into the ranks. Belinda’s death would not be received well by Walter or her colleagues in Med Lab. I'd rather deal with one underperforming Operative than rebellion by several. You know Walter … he can be cantankerous at the best of times. He would take her death hard. Birkoff was right … who knows how he would respond.”

Her logical explanation had the desired effect. “Perhaps I might reconsider then … for the time being,” he added in addendum.

Turning towards Operations Madeline gave another opinion. “Good … I feel that killing Belinda will not serve us well. We cancel her and Walter wouldn’t care if he died too. You remember his three year review don’t you?”

“Of course … So in your opinion he really would be willing to die?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then what? There must be some way to reassess her suitability to Section, but I’m sure you’ll think of something Madeline.”

“I'm working on it. Belinda will make a mistake eventually and then any problem with her status will take care of itself, but in the meantime we have Walter where we need him.”

“Hmmm … and Birkoff.”

He looked at Madeline as if to say it was a win-win for the time being given that the state of the Rising Dragons’ mission was in limbo at the moment. “Walter did perform well on the retrieval mission; we might indeed have to use him again.”

“Yes, you just never know and if he is antagonistic towards us because of Belinda’s death, it could be a huge problem. We can’t have Walter being distracted or becoming recalcitrant if anything happened to his fiancée. It could set off a chain reaction mutiny.”

Operations thought for a moment, looked off into space, then reluctantly accepted Madeline's logic by nodding his head. “Very well … we’ll postpone our decision on Belinda until the Rising Dragon’s mission is finalised.”

“Yes … I agree. That is a sensible compromise … and then we can review her status if things change or improve.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Although what they had discussed went a small way in solving one of the problems they faced, nonetheless what Operations really wanted to discuss was the anathema to him … his rival … George. Birkoff‘s Intel had been explosive. To think that George had a parallel profile on the triad members was staggering and that he had done this for pure one-upmanship by using a mole to further his advantage at Center. Operations’ hackles were heightened and his shell-shocked disposition was evident. Without doubt, you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife in Madeline’s office it seemed so tangible.

Operations’ voice was laced with contempt for Oversight’s leader and he couldn’t hide an escalating irate temper. “This is treason! George has taken this too far this time Madeline. Any of our quarrels pale into insignificance with the implications of this treachery.”

His demeanour at the thought of George’s unannounced visits to Section One to hear about proceedings about the Rising Dragons’ mission rapidly changed until his face was a glaring red hue of rage. His mind backtracked over the times Oversight’s leader had visited. Obviously those times were just a ruse, to see where Section was in bringing the mission to its end game. Although George’s last visit was laced with concern for Michael and Nikita’s wellbeing his motives no doubt were to gauge if he could at last get the jump on Section in capturing the triad members.

Aware of what Operations’ thoughts might be Madeline answered his statements with a dose of reality about what they had just heard from Birkoff. “George wouldn’t have been able to do that without help. Seymour was right Paul … it does all point to Greg Hillenger.”

Her words brought him back to the present moment as Madeline continued. “I suspect that George has been piggy backing off Section One in order to capture Sun Yee Lok before we do. So any Intel on how the mission was going was in his interests if he was to keep in front of the eight ball. George obviously wanted to know what Section One had on the triad leader in order to run a parallel sting on him before Michael and Nikita could bring him in.”

“Precisely … That’s why he visited so many times unannounced.”

“He needed to know what progress we had made and if what Hillenger had passed on to him was accurate before he was transferred.”

“If he could get a jump on our Intel, and if he was to capture Sun Yee Lok, he would certainly claim all the glory for himself and Oversight.”

“So it would seem.”

“I repeat … He has gone too far this time Madeline. The depths to which he would sink to best us are reprehensible.”

“Perhaps he is trying to discredit you in front of Mr. Jones. He knows you have aspirations to be the leader of Oversight one day.”

“He wants to hang on to power at all cost and doesn’t care who gets in his way. George has always been a self serving bastard looking for any opportunity to further his interests and profile for Mr. Jones.”

Madeline emphasised with her leader’s summation about George. “Obviously, but … bragging to Mr Jones at Center about his plans to usurp us on the Rising Dragon’s mission is another matter altogether.”

“It would seem he would stop at nothing to reach that goal.”

“Michael and Nikita’s downtime was the perfect opportunity for George to get a head start on Sun Yee Lok’s whereabouts.”

Madeline had hit a major nerve. “No wonder George was so adamant that they have two weeks … against my better judgement I might add,” he reiterated with scorn.

“Point taken,” conceded Madeline, “Although I hate to say this, downtime was still necessary for Michael and Nikita’s recovery for them to be at their optimum.”

“We don’t know that yet. Two weeks away from the mission could be vital in George trumping Section. That would be intolerable.”

“Let’s hope that he hasn’t jumped the gun on us. I very much doubt he would have, given were the triad stood after the retrieval mission’s success.”

Madeline‘s logic made sense and Operations cooled his heels somewhat knowing that his second in command would have some plans of her own to beat George at his own game. “What are we going to do then?”

“First of all we need damage control with Mr Jones. Who knows what George has been telling him about the Rising Dragon’s mission?”

“Yes … I agree.”

“I’ll contact Center with our status. I’m sure Mr Jones would like a point of view from my perspective,” Madeline proposed with assurance.

He liked what he was hearing. “Go on.”

“We’ll also be able to gauge if George has any leads on the Rising Dragons that we don’t have. We’ll play both sides against the middle. We’ve come too far on the mission profiles to let him defeat us.” She looked at Operations intently. “We can fix this Paul.”

“How? What else do you have in mind?”

“We’ll get Birkoff to call in any informants in Hong Kong and see what they can come up with.”

“Who?”

“Mick Schtoppel for one. He works freelance and is inconspicuous in his movements. He has an overabundance of contacts he can utilise for us. He’s always come through before.”

“Anyone else?”

“Phil Jurgen is located in that area.”

Operations shook his head. “No … Schtoppel is closer to the situation. Doesn’t he have interests in Hong Kong?”

“Yes. You have a point. He moves in a wide range of circles. He’s bound to have heard something.”

“That’s settled then.”

“And besides … It may be better to rely on just one informant than risking George finding out that we are making enquiries about him.”

“He’ll think he has had a two week window on us, but I’m sure Schtoppel may be able to shed more light on the situation in Hong Kong than what George knows.”

“Tell Birkoff to get on to it straight away then.”

“Certainly.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Do you think this will work Madeline?”

“I do,” was her confident reply. Madeline knew that the depth of George’s betrayal had cut deep for Operations but if they acted expediently … they could best him before he turned the tables on them.

Operations was still somewhat apprehensive. “It won't take long before George finds a way to get through to Mr. Jones. And god knows what Intel he’ll have on the Rising Dragons. We have to reel him in before he does.”

“We’ll trump him first. We'll use every available resource.”

Happy with Madeline’s proposition Operations waited for what she had in mind. “I’m all ears.”

“We’re going to give George false information that will lead him on a wild goose chase. He’ll end up with egg on his face when he contacts Mr Jones especially when Section has been successful in capturing the Rising Dragons’ leader.”

“Brilliant …” His eyes suddenly became intense and he gave Madeline a piercing glare. “… but there is another option.”

Knowing where he was heading she was not at all happy with his proposal. “That's an option I'm not completely comfortable with.”

Nevertheless Operations was adamant that his idea would get rid of George once and for all. “You know as well as I do. We push the button, make a hit on George and blame it elsewhere.”

“This is not the time to get personal Paul.”

“It is to me. George has overstepped the line this time. He has to pay.”

Madeline was uneasy with his plan realising the consequences were not entirely for the right reasons. “Of all the people on the planet to target for assassination, George is by far the most dangerous. This would be a last resort. It could backfire on us.”

“Then we'll have to go about it very carefully, won't we … if … I repeat … if he persists in undermining Section on the Rising Dragons’ mission. I won’t tolerate it Madeline. I will not!”

Operations’ tirade put an end to any more discussion on the matter. To him it was over.

However, Madeline had the last word on the subject of George after all. “If it ever comes to that, we’ll have to bide our time for the right opportunity … but this is not the right time. It would be far too suspicious if it were to happen because of his interference in the Rising Dragons’ mission. The finger of blame would immediately be pointed at Section and us. I would not contemplate assassination as the method of paying George back Paul. There are other ways!”

Although he heard what Madeline had to say in reply, he chose to ignore her and changed the subject. “And what about Hillenger?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I think we can arrange for him to return to Section.”

“Elaborate.”

“We’ll say that we need his help in profiling, as our new Intel on the Rising Dragons will overload Birkoff. George will certainly like that, as he’ll have an inside contact in the thick of things especially if the order comes from Mr. Jones for his release back to Section. George will be under the impression that having your enemies closer will work in his favour, but of course we’ll turn the tables on him and have Hillenger cancelled in due course.”

A wry smile crossed Operations’ face as Madeline outlined her strategy. “Excellent.”

“But, we can't do anything about Hillenger … just yet. George will be watching. His status can't be tampered with at the moment. The best we can do is to keep them both from knowing we're on to his subterfuge.”

“Agreed.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So … that just leaves Michael and Nikita.”

“Hmmm!” Operations pondered before smiling at Madeline and removing his glasses. “They’ll have to return to Section of course.” The glee in his eyes was palatable.

She returned his candour. “Yes ... I couldn’t agree with you more. However due to expediency I think we can forgo their Psyche Assessment in the interim. They’ll want to return to the mission if they know they have the best chance of capturing Sun Yee Lok. Michael won’t want George to bring in any person who was responsible for Nikita’s atrocities … including the triad’s leader.”

“Madeline you never cease to amaze me.” Satisfied that they had covered all bases, Operations’ dry wit raised its head. “Another day at the office?”

Madeline smiled in appreciation of his witticism. Operations turned to go, but then he thought of something else. “You said Michael and Nikita were off the radar and their trackers were down. How do you plan on contacting them?”

“I have my ways.”

“Good. Do it!”


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Play on text from … VFTG

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Replies:

• Interesting.... -- Hannah, 15:23:07 08/13/12 Mon
  • Much appreciated Hannah … -- taurus2124, 03:09:38 08/19/12 Sun

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• A correction to a sentence .... -- taurus2124, 03:12:01 08/19/12 Sun