Chapter 176 -- LFN Storyboard 2

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Date Posted: 05:10:27 08/10/08 Sun
Author: taurus2124
Author Host/IP: CPE-124-188-8-95.nsw.bigpond.net.au / 124.188.8.95
Subject: Chapter 176
In reply to: taurus2124 's message, "The Rising Dragons - continued" on 05:02:56 08/10/08 Sun

Chapter 176

Michael jiggled the doorknob a little and found that the door was bolted but not locked. Carefully he loosened the bolt and slowly released it cautious of the fact that he was unaware of what or who may lie beyond when he opened the door. He inched the door open just enough to be able to see but to his surprise Michael discovered that some kind of bookcase disguised the tunnel�s secret entrance and concealed the opening to a secret passageway. Entering the space, he listened then hurriedly ran his hand along the back of the bookcase searching for the mechanism that would open this sesame. Locating a button he pressed it. Suddenly the secret entrance was revealed as a panel within the bookcase rose wide enough for him to slip through.

Peering inside Michael then made his way further into the room. His eyes immediately looked around searching for any clues that would lead to Nikita�s whereabouts but there was nothing. �Birkoff can you give me a reading yet?�

�Hold on Michael ... I�m on to it.�

Tapping some keys on his computer Birkoff locked onto Michael�s position but as he did so his monitor showed an ancillary signal was also being sent from inside the monastery. His eyes lit up with renewed vigour and delight. �Oh my God! ...�

Alarmed Michael asked, �Birkoff! What�s happening?�

�I�m getting another signal ... Nikita has activated her tracker...�

�What tracker?�

�She had one in her shoe.�

Relief flooded through Michael�s body ... Nikita was still alive. The shot he had heard earlier had not been for her. �Where is she?�

Looking at a schematic of the monastery sectionalized floor by floor, Birkoff now had a full access and egress on the interior of the monastery and the surrounding rooms. He zoomed in on the hot spot which was obviously where Nikita was being held. As he watched his monitor, square markings appeared on the screen indicating the amount of people in the room with her. A satisfied look crossed Birkoff�s face as he quickly reported the Intel back to Michael as to Nikita�s position.

�Work your way through the room. Outside on the South East corner, you'll find a stairwell that leads to a corridor. Go up there and standby.�

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

Quietly opening the door Michael was about to exit the room when he heard the sound of voices and a sharp warning from Birkoff in his comm. unit. �Michael hold! ... Hostiles approaching.�

He stepped back into the shadows of the room as the footsteps came nearer. The men stopped just outside the room where he was hiding and Michael listened to the conversation of their raised voices.

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

�That bitch tried to strangle me with her feet.�

�Let it be Andy ... She has been well trained. Obviously Section One operatives have backbones of steel.�

�We�ve tried everything. What do we tell Sun Yee Lok when he calls?� he asked nervously.

�Yes ...� Yang pondered, �He will want to know what progress we have made with the woman soon.�

Andy gave a flippant but frustrated reply. �Well that�s easy ... none. She won�t crack.�

Feeling the frustration of his colleague Wang Yu tried to placate him. �That�s why we�ll need to try a different approach.�

�What do you suggest?�

�I told you there was another way.� He looked at Andy and philosophically said, �You�ll attract more files to honey than you will to vinegar.�

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

Michael fell deeper into the shadows when he heard the sound of the door handle engage. With his gun poised he waited as the door was slightly opened, but just as the men were about to enter the room, an alarm sounded in the corridor and an announcement blared out. Alert! ... Alert! ... Intruder Alert!

Wang Yu opened his cell phone. �Report!� He listened then turned to Andy when the call was finished.

�What?�

�Karen has just been retrieved from the grounds.�

�What? ... She was supposed to be in Hong Kong. How did she get here?�

�She was kidnapped.�

�By whom?�

�Michael Samuelle.�

�Ah ... so he did find us after all.�

�Apparently.�

�It seems that he is somewhere within the grounds or building.�

�Is Karen okay? Sun Yee Lok won�t like it if his daughter has been harmed. Where is she?�

�In the parlour. She�s waiting for us to report.�

�Let�s go then!� Andy stated closing the door sharply behind him.

The two men turned away from the room and hurried away leaving Michael to ponder what they had been talking about. As they rushed to where Karen was located, Wang Yu looked at Andy Koo. �Our honey may just have arrived,� he stated cryptically.

Andy nodded in agreement. �You may be right.�

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

Michael�s near discovery had been a close shave and their conversation had been enlightening. However, the new explosive Intel about Karen�s relationship with Sun Yee Lok would keep for his sole objective now was to retrieve Nikita without delay and egress as quickly as possible.

�Michael ... proceed ... the corridor is clear.�

Time was of the essence as the triad knew he was on the premises somewhere. Quickly opening the door Michael made his way into the empty passageway and headed to the stairwell at the end. Once again he held his silencer at the ready and climbed up the set of stairs two at a time. He ended in a landing which led to another corridor.

�I'm here.�

�Okay ... There�s a second flight of stairs, to the left. Ascend, then at the end of the hall turn right. You�re closing in. The torture room is along there.�

Following Birkoff�s instructions to the letter he proceeded to his destination and once there reported back to him, �Where is she?�

Michael knew he was close to Nikita now. Although he hoped that she would be fine, he knew this may be wishful thinking. Would she have the stamina to make her way to egress? The tape he�d seen was testament to what the triad was capable of and also what they had done to her. Would he be able to get Nikita out in one piece the same way he had managed to get into the monastery?

With these thoughts running through his mind, he waited impatiently for Birkoff to respond. There was a long silence before he finally heard a reply from him. The intonation in Birkoff�s voice told Michael that he was going to hear something he wouldn�t like.

�Michael ... there's a lot of electrical energy near her ... and water.�

Michael became rigid. His eyes deepened to a steely dark hue.

With his voice quavering somewhat Birkoff voiced out loud what he was doing. �I�m trying to get a visual of the room. I�ll have to disable their monitoring system first. Give me a minute.�

�Let me know when you do.�

Furiously Birkoff tapped away at his computer and keyed into the mainframe that had worked successfully in the security cameras and sensors. He created a layered matrix and soon had a visual inside the torture room. �Got it. The triad have been trying to make Nikita talk judging by the equipment in the room Michael.�

Birkoff's voice suddenly went quiet. �Nikita�s strung up to a rafter. She�s alive but it looks like she�s beaten up pretty bad from what I see.�

Michael felt numb. His emotions were in turmoil for all the suffering Nikita had endured for the Section. But the pain of their separation and the fact the he had been unable to protect her ate away at him more. He felt a cold wave of regret for his inability to protect her and disdain for the triad waft through him. What had the Rising Dragons subjected her to?

The words of Andy Koo echoed in his brain torturing his mind. We�ve tried everything ... Electrodes had obviously been used to torture her. What kind of state would he find her in? His heart felt the pain of Nikita�s suffering ... but it hardened with the loathing and contempt for the perpetrators of her torture. They would pay ... and pay dearly. Once he had rescued Nikita and the back up team had arrived to take care of the other triad members at the monastery, he would seek revenge but in the meantime he would do whatever it took to retrieve her.

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

Wang Yu and Andy Koo had left Steven and Eddie Yip in the torture room with Nikita with instructions to return her to her room but Steven had other ideas.

He watched the prisoner. Her body hung like a limp rag doll from the rafters. He�d observed how Nikita had recoiled at Andy�s last attempt to make her talk. The episode with the rats had nearly been her downfall, but by far the most explosive method had been their water torture. Before cutting her down and following his orders, Steven decided to try one last time to see if he could make any headway with Nikita.

�All right this is the last time that I'm going to ask. Look at me. LOOK AT ME!� he yelled.

Sweat dribbled down Nikita�s brow into her eyes but she defiantly raised them and stared at the man who had pretended to be a meek musician but was anything but.

�Why did you kill Tong Wong and where is Madame Cheung?�

She refused to reply. She closed her eyes.

�Did you dispose of her too?�

Nikita�s silence was beginning to get on his nerves. Steven signalled to Eddie to get the hose ready to spray her as he again threatened to use the electro shock treatment on her. �Do you have anything to tell me? Anything?�

Slowly opening her eyes, Nikita tried to focus on her interrogator. She heard footfalls as they brought Eddie closer to her until he was within her line of sight too. Nikita saw what Eddie intended to do. �Wait!� she uttered, then whispered a little softer, �Wait� wait.�

Happy that Eddie had done enough, Steven smiled a pleased, malicious smile then menacingly came closer. �Yes ... I�m listening.�

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

Michael hastened along the corridor but stopped when he saw two triad members who were watching what was going on in the torture room through a glass observation window. The men were preoccupied and didn�t hear him approach until Michael swiftly slammed one man back against the wall. The guard reached for his gun but before his hand could reach his weapon Michael shot him. The impact of the muffled bullet caused the man's body to jerk and fall into a heap on the floor. The second man tried to get a shot at Michael but he was aware of the guard�s movements behind him. In a split second, he grabbed him by the throat. The man lashed out and somehow managed to wrench away from his attacker. He tried to make a run for it to raise the alarm of an intruder, but Michael took aim and shot him down. The victim keeled over. His head hit the floor with a thump and blood spilled from his mouth.

Returning to the observation window Michael peered through. His eyes locked on the sight before him. Time stood still. There was no mistaking the long blond hair hanging down around the face of the beautiful tortured woman inside the room.

At last he had found her.

He had found Nikita.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Play on text from ... Friend, Not Was and Soul Sacrifice

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