Missions of the Retrieval Team - A Kilt By Any Other Name

[davedove]

Scene 51

X Marks Mountain

Julie directed us as we slowly moved through the darkness.

“Down!” Ms. Raven ordered and we all dropped in the darkness. She pointed ahead of us and I saw two men moving through the trees.

“Keep your eyes open,” one of the men said. “The boss said that the signal was coming close to this mountain.”

“I wonder why they would do that,” the other man said. “Their headquarters was destroyed. Why would they come back here?”

“Who knows? All I know is that the boss said that device she’s carrying detected a signal and that it was closing in on the mountain.”

I quietly got Ms. Raven’s and Ms. Hawk’s attention and signaled to them. Each of them rose quietly and moved away in the darkness.

As we hid in the shadows the two men slowly made their way in our direction. I readied my rifle in case I had to use it.

My rifle wasn’t needed though. Two other shadows rose up behind the two men. The only sound I heard was the bodies of the two men slumping to the ground.

Ms. Raven and Ms. Hawk returned, carrying the weapons the men had held.

“Where to Julie?” I asked.

“The door is about halfway up the mountain here. It’s somewhat steep, but there are no climbs,” she answered.

We slowly picked our way through the rocks in the direction indicated. As she started to climb over a rock ridge, Ms. Raven suddenly dropped back down. She motioned for us all to get down.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“More men, at least twenty.”

“Can we get around them?”

“It won’t do any good,” Julie answered. “The secret entrance is just on the other side of this rock.”

“There’s no way we can take them all out without them raising the alarm,” said Ms. Hawk.

“Okay,” I said. “The three of us will move to the right and try to distract them. Julie and Diane will take David in through the passage. We’ll circle back around and sneak in later. Has everyone got that?”

Ms. Hawk and Ms. Raven both nodded. I looked back at Diane and David; they nodded as well. I looked over to where Julie was watching our rear to see her response, but she didn’t answer me.

Julie was no longer there.

[Kilted_John]

[davedove]

Scene 52

X Marks Mountain

I looked around frantically to find her. The sound of rocks rolling down the hill drew my attention. When I looked, I saw Julie moving around the mountain.

The men on the mountainside saw her as well.

“Over there!” I heard one of them yell out.

Suddenly several flashlights were pointed in Julie’s direction and I clearly saw her fleeing form. She seemed to be making no effort to be stealthy.

“What’s she doing?” Diane asked in confusion. “They’ll catch her for sure.”

I knew the answer. “She’s distracting them for us. She wants them to follow her.”

“We can’t let her do that!” Diane said and started to follow Julie.

I caught her shoulder and held her down. “No,” I said. “Don’t waste her effort. She's doing it for us. You’ve got to get David inside the mountain. Hopefully, the rock in the mountain will block his signal.”

The men above us on the mountain all moved away, chasing after Julie. In doing so, the path to the secret entrance was cleared.

“Go!” I said. “Get David inside.” I pushed Diane and David towards my associates.

“What about you?” Diane asked.

I looked in the direction Julie had moved. “I’m going after her,” I answered.

I stayed hidden behind the rocks as I watched my companions move up the mountain. They stopped and Diane moved to an old stump. She did something on the ground next to the stump and then lifted the top. She climbed down into it and then my associates helped David inside.

I knew David would be safe now, so I moved away in Julie’s direction.

[davedove]

Scene 53

X Marks Mountain

As I approached in silence, all the men had their attention focused on following Julie. I slowly crept up behind the rear guard.

I had to carefully silence the man, but I didn’t really want to harm him. After all, he was just doing his job. I rose behind him and quickly clamped my hand over his mouth, bringing my knife to his throat at the same time.

The man started to struggle, but quickly stopped when he felt the blade. I took his rifle from him and set it aside as quietly as I could.

I took the knife from his throat and quickly brought the pommel down on the back of his head. I quietly eased him to the ground as he slumped into unconsciousness.

I was moving up on the next man when gunshots rang out. Some of the men had spotted Julie and were firing at her.

As I watched, I saw Julie dive behind a group of rocks for cover. She began to return fire.

The Bureau men all took cover as I watched. One of the men gestured and I saw two smaller groups move off to the side, obviously trying to flank Julie’s position.

I quickly weighed my options and decided my best chance would be to outflank one group of the flankers. I moved quickly to circle around.

It took several minutes to make the circle, as I didn’t want to be detected. Meanwhile, the shootout continued. I peered over a rock and spotted one group of flankers ahead of me. Unfortunately, I could see that they had closed on Julie’s position and could see her ahead, unaware of them. Two of them were raising their rifles to fire at her.

I quickly brought my rifle up and fired, taking one of the flankers in the back. His shot went wild.

The other man, however, fired true and the round caught Julie in the back. She fell forward against the rock.

The other two flankers spun around to face their new threat, only to be hit by the shots from my rifle. The man who had shot Julie tried to turn, but I shot him before he could.

I sprinted to Julie’s location and dove to her side.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded through her pain. “You’re supposed to be getting David to safety.”

“He is safe; the others took him into the mountain. I came to help you.” I quickly examined her wound. It was bad.

“That was stupid,” she choked out. “You should have gone with them.”

“I couldn’t, I don’t leave a member of my team behind. Don’t talk, you’re hurt pretty badly, but you’ll be okay,” I lied to her.

She coughed and shook her head. “No, I won’t. I’m glad I got to know you; you’re a much better man than our Dave ever was. I hope you can forgive me for trying to kill you.”

“Completely forgiven,” I told her.

She smiled, then coughed again and breathed her last.

[LadyGriffin]

um, ouch?

[davedove]

Let's see, who should I kill off next?

[davedove]

Scene 54

X Marks Mountain

No more shots came my way, but I knew that the flanking group would make their appearance soon. I slid as far into the shadows as I could.

Suddenly, a voice rang out, “Now!”

Flashlights were turned on and pointed directly at me; I was temporarily blinded.

“Drop your weapons!” the voice demanded.

Unable to see anything, I was forced to comply. I dropped my rifle to the side and raised my hands.

“Both of you!” the voice demanded.

“She can’t,” I said. “She’s dead.”

I heard movement around us and then a figure was silhouetted in the light. The man slowly walked towards us.

“Keep your hands where we can see them,” he ordered and kicked our rifles farther away. “Check her out,” he ordered.

As one man knelt to examine Julie, the one who had spoken squatted in front of me and turned on his light. The light illuminated his face and I saw it was John, the man I had hit in the park the day before.

“Well, well,” he said, “if it isn’t ‘Mr. Dove.’ Anna has been hoping to meet you again.”

“I can’t say I’m particularly interested in seeing her again,” I responded, “but I guess I don’t have much choice.”

John laughed at that. “No, you don’t. Now get up so you can go talk with her.”

“What about my friend?”

“She’ll be taken care of; now get up.”

I got up and started walking along with John. He immediately directed me to walk up the side of the mountain.

When we reached the top of the mountain, I saw that a command center had been established there. Several vans were parked among in the ruined courtyard, along with a larger van with several antennae atop it, obviously a communications vehicle.

“Over there,” John told us, as he directed me to a van with no windows.

When he reached the van, he opened the rear door. Inside I saw Anna sitting towards the front.

“Here’s the one we found; the other one is dead,” John told her.

“Well done, John,” she answered. “Mr. Dove,” she addressed me, “so good to see you again. I was so hoping we could talk some more. Please, come in.”

John pushed me from behind and I climbed into the van.

“Have a seat,” Anna directed.

We settled onto the bench seats along the side of the van.

“Thank you, John, that will be all,” Anna said. She reached behind her and pulled out a small duffle bag. “I wish to ‘question’ him in private,” she said with an evil smile.

John returned a knowing smile and closed the door behind me.

[davedove]

Scene 55

FBI Command Post

I glanced at the door behind me. There was no way to open it from this side.

“Please, relax,” Anna told me. “I really do just want to talk with you.”

I nodded towards the bag. “And that?” I asked.

“Just a bit of show for my men. It contains some very unpleasant instruments that are used for interrogation. I don’t plan to use any of them though. They really are quite barbaric.”

“So, you just want to talk?”

“Yes, and feel free to speak freely. This is my private interrogation van. It is well insulated, so very little sound will escape. No one outside can hear us if we don’t yell.”

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

“Well, your entire existence for one thing. You never have explained how you are alive when hundreds of people witnessed your execution and burial. Plus, something you said when you left me in the park intrigued me.”

“What’s that?”

“You said you knew someone very much like me. Would you care to explain that?”

Something about her tone made me want to trust her. “Okay,” I said, “Maybe I should tell you a little about what I know. I know that you were born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Your parents were Thomas and Eileen. You were named Annabelle, but always preferred Anna. You were an honor student all through school and majored in both Criminology and Forensics in college.”

Her eyes had widened as I told her all these things. “How do you know all that?” she asked.

“As I said, I know someone very much like you.”

“But you described me, not someone like me.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“I am David Dove,” I said, “just not the same one you knew about.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say I’m not from around here.”

She looked confused as she stared at me, but I could tell her mind was working, putting together clues. Obviously her mind worked just like the Ms. Starling I knew.

Suddenly, her eyes widened, as though she had reached a conclusion, but a conclusion she wasn’t sure she could believe.

I smiled at her. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?”

“I think so, but it’s almost too fantastic to believe. But it would explain so much, like how you were executed but still walking around alive and well. Tell me, if we were to open your grave, your remains would still be there, wouldn’t they?”

“I would imagine so.”

“Plus, you were traveling with a woman who was at the same time incarcerated in a prison in New York, existing in two places at once.”

“Correct.”

“I really can’t believe I’m asking this, but you’re not from this world, are you?”

[davedove]

Scene 56

FBI Command Post

I shook my head in amazement. “You really are like the Anna I know,” I told her.

“My counterpart, from your world?” she asked.

“Yes, she’s my partner. We work together.”

“Incredible, but how did you get here?”

I proceeded to tell her my whole story. She listened intently, entranced by the possibilities I described.

“This man, the one who created the gate on your world, do you think he exists here?” she asked.

“Possibly, but I doubt if he is doing the same thing. He sells highland wear on my world. I don’t think that would go over too well here.”

“No, I don’t suppose it would. So, the man you rescued, he wasn’t really the leader of the KLF?”

“No, he’s the man we came to your world to rescue.”

She sat and thought for a few moments.

“The fashion laws, they don’t exist on your world?” she asked.

“No, generally speaking, people are allowed to wear what they want.”

“Amazing,” she said, shaking her head sadly, “if only we could get back to that here.”

Her remark startled me and she noticed my reaction.

“What?” she asked, “Do you really think I went to school and joined the Bureau just so I could chase down people who don’t want to wear this year’s fashions? You made a comment before that I was fighting on the wrong side. Things are not always what they appear to be.”

Now it was time for me to put the pieces together. “You’re the one who leaked the information to the KLF!”

“I do what I can. Whenever I hear of someone being jailed for his or her fashion choices, I try to get the information out there so the KLF can act on it. I can’t help everyone, but I can’t do as much as I would like and keep my actions secret.”

“But why are you telling me this?”

“Because you don’t belong here and I want to help you get home. Because I think the KLF, while I don’t always approve of their actions, is working for the right cause. And because I’m tired of my agents being brainwashed by those people in the DAA. Do you know what it’s like to have one of your people, who you’ve known for years, suddenly start spouting out that fashion drivel?”

“I’ve had some small experience with it on my world, but we’ve been able to thwart Globo-Fashion.”

“Consider yourself lucky. There seems to be no stopping them here. I expect several countries in Europe will come under their sway in the next few months.”

[davedove]

Scene 57

FBI Command Post

“Wait a minute,” I asked, “if you’re trying to help the cause, how could you let them arrest all those people in Franklin?”

A sad expression came over Anna’s face and she bowed her head before responding.

“I am so sorry about that,” she said, “but I couldn’t stop the arrests. Too many people were aware of the situation. The best I could do was delay the raid so that you got away. I really am sorry and I’ll do whatever I can for them. In the meantime, we need to help you.”

“How are you going to do that?” I asked.

“I’m going to help you escape. The KLF has a knack for disappearing in the area of this mountain. I assume you have a way of contacting them?”

“Do you have a radio I can borrow?”

“There’s one under the console at the front of the van. Okay, you’re going to take this van and make your escape. If you’ll notice, it’s pointed directly towards the road. All you have to do is take off and hit the road. Contact your people so you can get away.”

“What about you? Are you just going to throw away your cover or do you expect me to hold you as a hostage for my getaway.”

“That’s the hard part. Are you ready to do this?”

“I guess; what do you have in mind?”

“You’re going to wrestle the keys away from me, shoot me, and throw me out of the van.”

“Shoot you?”

“It’s the best way to keep them from suspecting me. Are you ready?”

“No, but what do want me to do.”

“Here are the keys,” she said, handing me a set of keys and holding one out. “This is the key to the ignition.” She stepped to the door of the van and handed me her handgun. “I’m going to stand here by the door.” She took my hand with the gun and placed it against her side, so that any shot would pass through the skin at the side of her waist. The shot would be painful, but not critical. “We have to be quick about this. When I throw open the door, you pull the trigger and push me out. Then, take the van and get out of here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, let’s do this.”

She threw open the door of the van. When I hesitated, she placed her hand on mine and forced me to pull the trigger of the gun. The bullet passed through the flesh on her side.

She doubled over in pain from the shot and I hesitated, realizing I had just shot the woman who was my closest friend back on my world.

“Good luck, now go!” she said and threw herself backwards out the door.