| Subject: Chapter 9 |
Author:
Juli
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Date Posted: Monday, July 31, 04:43:13pm
In reply to:
Juli
's message, "Anti-Virus" on Wednesday, May 17, 05:25:56pm
Chapter 9
They hadn’t really talked much on the drive back to Michael’s house. He unlocked the door and opened it for her. He led her to the living room and motioned for her to sit on one of the soft, suede couches.
Nikita waited patiently as Michael gathered his thoughts.
“About 10 years ago, Walter and I both worked as consultants for the CIA,” Michael began.
“The CIA!?!?” Nikita exclaimed, leaning toward him. “Really???”
Michael nodded, then continued. “Davenport was the agent that we worked through. We did various jobs for them for … a while. That’s where Walter got all of his gadgets. I had access to databases and computer equipment that normal people could only dream of. One of our assignments was to catch a hacker, who turned out to be Birkoff. He was good, obviously, but young and naïve. We trapped him in his own game, but we didn’t want to turn him over to Davenport.”
“Why not?” Nikita asked, interrupting.
“He was a kid, sixteen or seventeen. He was brilliant. Both Walter and I could see that his talents would either be wasted in jail or exploited by the government. At that time, we were still pretty young and dumb ourselves, so we took our concerns to Davenport. Basically, he told us that our job was to catch the kid and bring him in, not to have a conscience. We basically told him to go … uh, screw himself and we left. He threatened to have us arrested, the works, but I guess the higher ups decided that Birkoff wasn’t that much of a security risk – especially after we recruited him, and he stopped hacking into government computers. The problem was, that Davenport was humiliated and lost a big promotion over our leaving. He may be holding a grudge.”
Nikita was silent for a few moments while she digested the information Michael had told her.
“Can’t you contact someone else?” she asked, looking up.
Michael shook his head. “We could, theoretically, but it would take too long for them to investigate and take the threat seriously. It looks like Wolfe is almost ready to test, according to the system. We can’t wait. People are in danger if this stuff gets out.”
Nikita’s eyes filled with tears again at the thought of the part she had played. Michael got up from his place on the couch and gathered her into his arms.
“Shhhh, ‘kita, it’s ok. You didn’t know. All of the blame lies with the others on the team and with Wolfe,” he said, stroking her hair.
“Will you get in trouble with Davenport when you call him,” she managed to get out between sniffs.
Michael cocked his head. “Welllll, that’s what we’re not too sure about. I think Walter is hoping that giving him this huge tip will outweigh our little sins in the past. Plus we’re not going to flaunt Birkoff right under his nose,” he said.
“I can talk to him too, Michael. I’ll do whatever I need to so that you don’t get in trouble,” she said, taking his hand.
Michael smiled appreciatively. “Thank you. I’m sure that he will want to interview you. The thing that I am most worried about now is Wolfe. I still have to go back to him and tell him that the system is secure. However, I wonder why he hired us in the first place,” Michael said absently. “Why would someone who is hiding something so potentially dangerous, hire us to try to break into the system.”
“Especially if the Blatt’s and Dr. Hollingsworth are in on it,” Nikita commented, confused.
Michael’s eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to him. He didn’t want to frighten Nikita though, so he kept it to himself. “Walter and I will come up with something. If I hadn’t found you, we would not have gotten into the system anyway. We were striking out on every guy we sent, so it shouldn’t be too hard to convince him that we struck out for good.”
“I still have to go into work tomorrow, Michael,” she said nervously. “How am I supposed to fake it now that I know?”
“Can you call in sick?” Michael asked.
Nikita’s brow furrowed. “Maybe. If I can tell them I’m sick, I can just say I’ll work from home – which is what I normally do anyway,” she suggested.
“That’s fine. I don’t want you going in there unless you have to,” Michael warned.
His serious tone made Nikita nervous. Michael’s phone rang.
He glanced at the display, then flipped it open. “Birkoff? What do you have?” he asked without saying hello.
“Michael, the system was working through Wolfe’s files. I’ve found a timetable,” Birkoff answered, his tone grim.
“When?” Michael asked.
“The system shows a ‘demo’ on Wednesday,” Birkoff answered.
Michael swore. “That’s not much time. Keep working it. I’m going to call Davenport. You haven’t been dabbling anywhere you shouldn’t have lately, have you?” he asked.
“No Michael. All my stuff is strictly legit. Or at least the public sector,” he amended.
“Good, make sure it stays that way,” Michael warned, and then flipped the phone shut.
“What is it?” Nikita asked, her voice concerned.
“Birkoff found a date for a demonstration of the toxin on Wednesday,” he repeated solemnly.
Nikita gasped.
“I’m going to call Davenport now. This may take a while. Do you want to go take a nap?” he asked.
Nikita began to shake her head, but then realized how drained she felt. They had spent the entire night making love and then had gone running early, and now all of this. Was it just last night that she and Michael had gone out on their date? She suddenly felt exhausted.
“I think I will,” she said.
“My bedroom is at the top of the stairs on the right. Make yourself at home,” he said with a warm smile.
Nikita stood then leaned down and kissed him lightly on the mouth. Michael put his arms around her legs to keep her next to him and laid he cheek against her tummy. She ran her hands through his hair.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling suddenly guilty for bringing him into all of this.
Michael stood and held her, tipping her face so he could look into her eyes. “It is NOT your fault,” he told her. “Once we have all of this sorted out, we will go away somewhere,” he promised. “We’ll get to know each other properly.”
Nikita smiled, some of her fire coming back at his show of support. “I guess I will have some free time after my boss is put in jail and my job goes away,” she joked.
Michael smiled and kissed her, a slow, leisurely kiss full of promise. “Go. I want you well rested for later,” he said, his look full of intent.
“Yes, sir,” she replied, throwing a mock salute. Then she headed upstairs to find Michael’s bed.
Michael watched her go and then sighed. He walked to the other room and picked up his PDA and began searching for Davenport’s number.
***
“Agent Davenport,” came the voice that Michael remembered.
“It’s Michael Samuelle,” he answered, bracing himself for a blowup.
“Samuelle? You’ve got a lot of f**king nerve calling me. I could have you arrested, you know,” Davenport’s angry voice came over the phone.
“I know. Look, this is more important that you or me, or ten years ago, or missed promotions. We’ve stumbled …” Michael said.
“Look, I don’t know why you are calling, but don’t think that I’m just going to roll over and help you out of whatever f**king mess you’ve gotten yourself into,” Davenport shouted into the phone.
Michael held the cell phone away from his ear. This wasn’t going well at all, he thought.
“Look, Davenport. Listen to me,” he shouted back. “What I have for you, may very well get you that promotion you missed out on and more. It could be a citation from Homeland Security,” he tempted.
There was silence on the line.
“I’m listening,” Davenport said, his volume at a normal level this time.
“It’s a long story, but the short version is, we’ve stumbled on a guy selling a mutated version of nerve gas. He is supposed to make a ‘demonstration’ on Wednesday,” Michael said, cutting to the chase.
“How did you…? Never mind, I don’t want to know. My blood pressure is already through the roof. We need to meet. I want details, but not over the phone,” Davenport told him.
“Where and when?” Michael asked.
“Is your guy local?” Davenport asked.
“Yes, he’s in Los Angeles,” Michael replied. “We have someone on the inside.”
“Fine. I’ll fly out from Washington tonight. Where do you want to meet tomorrow?” he said.
Michael considered. The office might be the best place, but he didn’t want to rub Birkoff’s continued existence in Davenport’s face.
“We’ve leased a beach house. It’s secure. I’ll have … I’ll get all the supporting intel that we’ve downloaded and have it here tomorrow,” Michael told him switching into mission mode.
“Good. Who’s your guy on the inside? I’ll want to talk to him,” the agent commanded.
“It’s a she, and she’s here. She’s a chemist for the company,” Michael replied, his jaw tight.
“Fine. I will be there by 0800. What’s the address?” he asked.
Michael gave him the address and hung up the phone. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“All things considering, that went better that I could have hoped,” he thought.
He set his phone down and tiptoed upstairs to check on Nikita. He leaned against the door frame to the master suite and gazed in on her.
She was laying on her side, facing him. She had pulled half of the down comforter over her and was fast asleep.
Michael marveled at how beautiful she was. He too, was astonished that they had only met the previous day. It seemed like he had known her forever. He silently vowed that after this whole L-virus mess was sorted out that he would take her away.
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