Chapter 130 -- LFN Storyboard 2

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Date Posted: 07:32:48 09/29/07 Sat
Author: taurus2124
Author Host/IP: CPE-124-188-3-27.nsw.bigpond.net.au / 124.188.3.27
Subject: Chapter 130
In reply to: taurus2124 's message, "The Rising Dragons ... continued ..." on 07:49:03 09/02/07 Sun

Chapter 130

When they arrived back at their building the three friends stood outside their respective apartments and bade each other goodnight. Thankfully Karen had not asked her to join them for coffee as she would have refused anyway. She was weary and physically exhausted. Nikita watched as Karen and Steven entered the apartment and closed the door behind them, then opening her own door she flipped on the light switch and made her way to her living room. Nikita kicked off her shoes, padded into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

The encounter at the nightclub had caught her off guard and she didn�t like that at all. Under the circumstances it was fortuitous that Karen and Steven had become separated from her ... especially in light of what had happened next. Little did she know what would transpire inside the club. In hindsight it had been a mistake that she had refused assistance when Birkoff had asked if she needed back up. Nikita knew she was impetuous and stubborn. Refusing backup had been an error of judgement but thankfully Michael had been there for her. If it hadn�t been for his intervention she would surely have been exposed when she�d opened fire at the hostiles that had surrounded her. Although he�d disobeyed orders ... Michael had been her lifesaver. She had been surrounded and had narrowly dodged bullets from the hostiles before he had come to her rescue. If she�d been caught the mission would have been affected considerably. Hopefully Operations would understand. Being compromised on a mission meant that you were off the mission and Section would have to start from scratch all over again. He would not have been happy especially after they had come so far and were on the verge of breaking the triad wide open.

With a bit of luck Operations would be of the same view and sanction Michael�s behaviour.

Making her way into the bedroom, Nikita changed out of her cocktail dress sliding the material off her arms and down to her waist loosening her hair from its topknot constraint as she went. Sliding the dress completely off, she headed into her bathroom naked and flipped on the light. Quickly showering, Nikita felt great relief from the soothing warm spray from the shower head as it caressed her body. Putting on her comfy pyjamas she intended to wait up for Michael but Nikita was exhausted after what had happened tonight. Her eyes drooped in tiredness and she was unable to wait for Michael�s return from Section any longer so she went to bed and was soon fast asleep.

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

Section One never slept.

Even though it was relatively late when Michael walked through the main corridor to report to Operations in the Perch, operatives were still manning the computers and monitoring missions taking place. Despite being called into Section by Operations because of the aborted mission he was thankful as he also needed check out a few things of his own.

Michael walked past with his signature strut. The operatives glanced up from what they were doing and all eyes watched Section One�s top field operative pass by. His presence was always commanding and his body language marked him as a man who was extremely self-assured and formidable. Michael Samuelle was hard to read and his minimalist expressions gave little away of the man beneath the cold operative veneer. He was both admired and feared and for good reason. Nothing this man did revealed anything about his emotional or mental state when he was within the walls of Section One. The operatives did not engage him in conversation or acknowledge him as he passed by as Michael looked like a man on a mission.

With a smooth and unhurried gait he continued on towards Operations� aerie. Although he appeared to take no notice of the operatives at their tasks Michael missed nothing. He noticed that Walter was still in Munitions and as he approached Comm., he saw Birkoff overseeing something in Tactical. Michael was glad he was still up; otherwise he would have needed to rouse Birkoff from his quarters as there were things he needed him to do for him on the quiet.

He�d already contacted him to do a search on Nikita�s neighbour Karen Ho and he was still waiting for his answer. That was his first priority. He was suspicious about the interior designer even if Nikita wasn�t. She seemed to be way too familiar; too buddy-buddy, far too questioning and inquisitive and he smelled a rat, even though Nikita seemed to trust her judgement as to her friend. Maybe he would be proven wrong but if his suspicions were true as he believed they were, Nikita may have been compromised to the triad. If that was the case she was on borrowed time.

The fracas at the nightclub was another thing he needed to check out. Why there were members of rival triad gangs at The Triangle and where was Andy Koo when the disturbance broke out? Section knew that he was a member of the Rising Dragons but the bloodshed and fire bombing at the nightclub was unexpected. Thankfully they would have their own surveillance footage of the nightclub so Birkoff may be able to piece together the people who had attended plus the perpetrators of the melee.

Meanwhile Nikita had been caught up in the middle of it. The fact that Karen Ho and her boyfriend had ushered her towards the exit when they had seen what was about to happen was a double edged sword as far a he was concerned. Did they know something was going down or were they protecting Nikita for ulterior motives? After all Andy Koo had made a dinner date with her. Did he have hidden objectives too? How much did Karen really know? And how much was she really involved or was she, as Nikita insisted, innocent? He knew Nikita would be in a tenuous position the longer she was around these people, but he would do his upmost to protect her. He�d mused over whether to bring Karen and her boyfriend in tonight or to wait until after the club. He was thankful that Section had approved surveillance cover on the couple. Nikita would be safe until his return. Although Karen Ho and Steven Ma were minor players, they could inadvertently lead Section to the leader of the triad.

Her superior Inspector Jiang Ng at the OCTB was also someone he needed to keep an eye on. He was a far greater threat to Nikita�s safety as far as he was concerned. Perhaps there would be an opportunity to bring him into Section sooner rather than later and then he would be able to shed light on the inner workings of the Rising Dragons. Ami Yeung had given her life to give him the disk on Inspector Ng and although he appeared to be above board at the moment ... that could change within the blink of an eye if he was given a directive by his leader Sun Yee Lok. The explosive Intel that Birkoff decrypted showed just how ingrained were his roots to the triad. His position of authority within the OCTB was the perfect foil for the triad to gain the upper hand and this was not acceptable.

How much did the inspector know about Nikita? That was a worry too. Madeline had worked up a profile that would leave no loose ends about why Nikita was in Hong Kong ... but was it watertight? Jiang was a smart man. Perhaps he had already figured out her role at the Water Police. Hence it was imperative that he needed to check to see if Inspector Ng had been doing any prying into Nikita�s movements while she was with the Water Police and in particular Aberdeen.

Yes. It was just as well he had returned to Section. There was much to do. When he had debriefed with Operations he would be checking his sources, beginning with Birkoff.

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

�Michael?�

Walter�s voice echoed behind him but it sounded awfully loud against the silence and broke Michael from his thoughts. Turning his head at the sound of his name, he momentarily looked at the bandana clad weapons� expert but continued on his way.

Seeing he had captured Michael�s attention, Walter rushed to catch up to him. Once he had fallen into step with the younger man he murmured, �Where�s Nikita? ... Why isn�t she with you?�

Michael continued walking without looking at Walter but unexpectedly he turned and gave him his patented blank stare. �Operations only called me in.�

But Walter was none the wiser and looked at Michael with a puzzled look. He stopped walking while Michael hastened his stride. �Why ... what�s going on?� Walter enquired after him. However, he did not reply to his question.

As soon as Walter had uttered the words though, he froze. He watched Michael�s retreating back as he continued on his way to the Perch. Something was going down. Michael had only just returned to Hong Kong and now he was back in Section again. Inquisitiveness flashed through his thoughts in speculation. Things were not always as they seemed in Section, but all this to-ing and fro-ing was destabilising and put the mission in jeopardy, not to mention it left Nikita vulnerable all on her own. Perhaps Michael had returned to request more back up.

Walter stopped, and watched as Michael turned the corner leaving him to ponder the severity of the situation. Something was not right and he was going to find out just what the problem was. Turning on his heels, Walter went in search of Birkoff. Surely he must know something.

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

Operations knew that Michael was in the building. He�d seen his Level 5 operative approach while he was glancing out of the perch and was waiting for him to make an entrance. He had expected Michael back a lot earlier than this, but Birkoff had informed him that there had been a situation at the club soon after he�d issued his order to return. Whilst all the backup team had left the premises in the mission van, Birkoff had informed Michael that he needed to alert Nikita to his orders before his return to Section. He�d then remained behind because of a conversation between Karen and Nikita of an unlikely situation that threatened to explode inside the club, which indeed had happened. Trouble quickly escalated and Nikita was in danger of being compromised.

What had then transpired was something he would need to discuss with him.

Summoning Michael back to Section so soon after he had just returned to Hong Kong, was a necessity. The aborted mission to apprehend Andy Koo had not gone ahead due to the greater opportunity with Nikita one on one the following evening. The target�s obvious interest in her would work to Section�s advantage and instead of bring him into Section as first planned ... Madeline had profiled that Nikita would capitalise on his infatuation with a different profile. She had already arranged that Nikita be cleared for absence from the OCTB for a short while to expedite the new profile. They knew that Michael wouldn�t like it but it was for the good of Section ... after all ... the end justified the means. Section would use whatever and whoever to achieve their objective.

�Sir ... Michael has arrived.�

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

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