Episode 25
- 50 P.M.
âThree minutes to land. All other units should position on E14. I repeat, position on E14!â The pilot of the helicopter spoke into the mic of his headphone.
A tracker had been placed on Emily, this would enable the CTAN track her location wherever she was and possibly it could lead them to the terroristâs enclave. The tracker was untraceable because of its discreetness; it was a newly developed technology. The tracker would be embedded in the subjectâs skin, just like a tattoo. The only evidence of it is the bar code mark it gave on the skin.
This would enable it to evade any bug scanner.
No sooner had the Airbus EC175helicopter landed on a clearing in a remote part of the city, Emily jumped down, clutching her digital video camera and journal. The disguised Pope was helped down too.
âHelp will come soon Maâam. Youâre assured of thatâ, the co-pilot shouted above the blades. âThat is if weâre not dead by thenâ,Emily thought.
âAnd you old man, donât forget to use the pronoun âWEâ always!â
âIs it a kind of Papal signature or something?â Emily asked.
The co-pilot cast her a curious glance as if she should have known âItâs called the royal âweâ or the majestic plural,pluralis maiestatisin Latin. Signifies that all his actions are done not only in his capacity as a leaderâ he screamed above the noise.
Emily shook her head in affirmation âOh that must have been the reason why the Pope kept on addressing himself in the plural. I guess, Iâve gotten the hint!â
Emily nodded her head absently as she took in her surroundings. The copter took off and the fact that she was alone in nowhere with an old man who could barely do anything to defend himself,let alone defend her if the need arose.
The old man was fully clad in a black soutane with acrux pectoralishanging on his neck and resting on his chest.
He was putting on a pair of red papal shoes known as thecalceameta, a mozzeta and chirotecce gloves. He had a golden ring on his finger and the skull cap also known as thezucchetowas neatly placed on his head.
They were in a sort of forest reserve covered with thick shrubs and trees. Huge mahogany trees spotted different areas.
Soon enough, she spotted a black hawk chopper. It landed close to the clearing.
Her heart skipped a beat as she realized that the detestable moment had finally come. Two young men in military fatigues jumped out of the copter and rushed to them.
One of them brought out a bug scanner and ran a bug tracker all over their body. Her heart skipped a beat as the young man lingered, trying to make sure that she had no bug on her. âTheyâre cleanâ, he finally spoke into his mic.
They handled Emily and the Popeâs double with little hospitality as they blindfolded and shoved them into the back of the helicopter.
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- 45 P.M.
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, U.S.A
Water was dripping somewhere and the sound echoed eerily through the underground alley. Beads of perspiration formed on her forehead.
Imogen felt like pulling off her glasses as she clutched the metal rod tightly. Her knuckles were turning white from pressure of gripping the rusty metal.
In the dimly lit alley, she was snuggled up between two massive pipes running from the roof of the alley to the damp floor. They felt like pillars. She had been in this uncomfortable position ever since they heard the assassins or whoever they were jump into the underground from the manhole. She had quickly drafted an assault plan with Derek and she just hoped that she wouldnât flop.
She swallowed hard as the thought of being overpowered and captured flashed her mind.
They had estimated two to four bad guys.
A shadow caught her attention and it was advancing stealthily. She pressed herself tightly against the crevice created by the two pipes so as not to give herself away..
She had to think fast, if she were to come out. The guy might be directly in front of her and may recover quickly but if she waited. He may round the corner and discover her before she got a chance to bludgeon him.
Lying on the floor just beneath her was a rusty tap. Probably it must have broken off from one of the supply pipes. Stealthily, she picked it up and threw it a few meters away. It got the result she wanted, as the assassin released shots at that spot running towards it. He was so engrossed in the distraction to notice her.
She b@nged the heavy rod on his head; she hit him again and he dropped, a shocked expression on his face.
Rounds of bullet erupted from his machine gun, a bullet ricocheted off a metal pipe and grazed her shoulder. She winced in pain and dropped the weapon, fortunately the guy was already unconscious or even dead.
She heard loud gunshots behind her, for a moment she thought she was the one being shot at and her fear was confirmed when she turned. An assassin clad in black overalls stood with his machine gun pointed at her. She made a silent prayer, the thought of her so much flooded her vision and the thought of joining her deceased mother overwhelmed her. For a split second, nothing happened and the man fell on his knees before lying flat on the floor. She almost screamed with relief.
Derek stood behind the man, the pistol in his hand smoking.
âCome on, letâs get out of here. The others would soon figure out were not the ones shot deadâ, he said stooping down over the dead man and ransacking him.
âHow did you get the gun? I never knew you had oneâ.
âI tackled a guy down here, congrats on that oneâ, Derek said , as he took the manâs earpiece and dipped it on his own ear.
She smiled proudly and stooped down over the assassin she had taken down. She ransacked him. Unfortunately, his earpiece was damaged in the fall but she took his penknife and revolver.
âCan handle that?â He asked, pointing at the revolver.
âLet me seeâ, she said looking closely at it. âJust a 44 Magnum Taurus Raging revolver. Iâm sure itâs a double actionâ.
Derek shrugged.
âNowadays, kids seems to know so muchâ he thought and shrugged.
âWhat of that?â He asked pointing at her shoulder, blood was already gathering on her shoulder blades.
âJust a graze. I got hit but itâs not seriousâ, she said and got closer so that he could get a better look at it. He got out his handkerchief.
Folding the arm of her polo, he tied the handkerchief over the wound and tightened it. âIt would hold bleeding for a while. Weâve got to be movingâ, he said.
He called up the blueprint of the schoolâs underground passages from his BlackBerry. Using the direction, he led the way.
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