Missions of the Retrieval Team - The Girl with the Silvery Smile

[davedove]

Commercial Break


An Open Field



A thinly built man, dressed very dashingly in a pink camouflage kilt is running slowly across a field, chasing four men who are obviously outrunning him.

The man stops and drops to his knees, apparently exhausted.

The narrator speaks. “Are you running out of energy just when you need it most? Are you done for the day even before the morning is over?”

The kilted man looks towards the audience and nods.

The narrator continues. “Then you’re probably not getting the right nutrition. Your body needs high quality fuel to keep going.”

The scene changes to a kitchen table. On the table a breakfast is laid out with orange juice, milk, and a box of cereal. On the box is the label ‘X-Flakes’. The kilted man sits down at the table and picks up the box. He pours a serving into the bowl and pours milk over it. He takes a spoonful of the cereal and milk and eats it. As he chews, a blissful smile comes over his face.

The narrator continues. “X-Flakes are made from one hundred percent whole grains and are fortified with one hundred percent of the daily recommended requirements of twenty essential nutrients. As part of a balanced breakfast, they will help keep you going all through the day.”

The scene changes back to the field. The kilted man is again chasing four men, but this time he easily overtakes them and wrestles each to the ground. When he has disabled them all, he stands triumphantly over them.

The narrator again speaks. “X-Flakes, energy for whatever your day throws at you.”

[davedove]

Scene 24


Inside the Grant Estate


Ms. Raven slowly opened the door then slipped into the hallway. Ms. Thrush and I followed a quietly as we could.

When we reached the door to the room where Ms. Ritchgarl was being held, Ms. Raven attempted to open the door. Finding it locked, she knelt down and removed a few tools from her belt pouch. Ms. Thrush and I kept watch down the hallway in case a guard should come by.

It only took a few seconds for Ms. Raven to open the simple lock. She put her tools away and opened the door. She slipped inside, followed closely by Ms. Thrush and myself.

Looking around the large bedroom, we noticed that someone was sleeping on the bed, so we stayed as quiet as possible. Ms. Raven unwrapped a long piece of black cloth from her waist and began to stuff it into the crack of the door. This would keep any light that we might use from leaking out into the hallway and revealing our presence. When she was done, I turned on my flashlight to examine the room while Ms. Thrush moved to the bed.

As I looked around the room, I noticed that Grant was keeping Ms. Ritchgarl in elegant surroundings. The room was not only large, but also very well appointed. Glancing to one wall, I saw the entrance to a large walk-in closet containing very stylish clothing. Another door revealed a large private bathroom.

Ms. Thrush reached the bed and gently placed over hand over Ms. Ritchgarl’s mouth. This sudden movement caused Ms. Ritchgarl to awaken, so Ms. Thrush spoke quickly. “Please, Emma, stay quiet. We’re here to help you.”

The effects of the choker that Ms. Thrush wore were nearly instantaneous, as Ms. Ritchgarl made no sounds. She slowly rose from her sleeping position and looked up at us. She was still wearing the same clothing she had worn at the benefit and it was obvious she had been crying.

“Are you going to get me out of here?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I answered. “Are you okay? Has he done anything to hurt you?”

“No, in fact he seems to be trying to be extra nice to me.” She gestured to the closet. “I mean, look at the clothes he got for me. And he has had incredible meals prepared. But he won’t let me leave. I’m a prisoner here. And he keeps talking about how I’m going to be his queen. It’s all so creepy.”

“Well, hang tight and we’ll get you out of here shortly.” I turned to Ms. Raven, who was looking out the window. “Can we get out that way?”

“Not now,” she answered. “A group of five guards has shown up below. There’s no way to get through them without being noticed. We’ll either have to wait them out or go another way.”

“Okay, is the hallway still clear?”

Ms. Raven moved back to the door. After we extinguished our lights, she removed the cloth from under the door. Using her mirror again, she checked the hallway.

“No good,” she said. “A pair of guards is patrolling there now.”

“Well,” I said. “It looks like it’s not going to be a simple in and out stealth job.” I activated my headset. “Ms. Starling, we’re going to need that distraction. Ms. Wren, we’re coming out your way.”

[davedove]

Scene 25


Inside the Grant Estate


In a few moments we began to hear a rumbling sound from the front of the house. In preparation for this mission, we had acquired a large truck with a reinforced front bumper. The rumbling we heard was Ms. Falcon driving this truck towards the front gate. The rumbling grew louder as the truck drew closer and then a loud crash as the truck rammed through the front gate.

Immediately after the crash, we began to hear small arms fire and my team and the guards exchanged fire.

At about this time, the lights began to flash on and off within the house. I knew this was happening all over the estate. Ms. Swan had tapped into the security system of the estate and had activated a program causing the lights to randomly turn on and off.

Ms. Raven was watching the hallway with her mirror. “Okay, they’re gone,” she announced to us.

We opened the door and quickly moved towards the back of the house. I took the lead with Ms. Ritchgarl right behind me. My two associates followed closely while keeping watch behind us.

As we moved down the hallway and down the stairs to the lower floor, we encountered no resistance. Apparently, the diversion my team was providing was working better than we hoped.

The shortest route to the back door led through the game room, so we headed that way.

Just as I opened the door to the room and began to step inside, I was grabbed by the arm and pulled into the room. Off balance, I fell to the floor. As I recovered my feet, I saw that Ms. Ritchgarl had also been pulled into the room and was being held captive by Grant. Big Mikey stood in front of the door. I noticed that he had managed to close it and block it before my associates were able to enter.

“Let her go, Grant,” I demanded. I could hear my associates beating on the door behind Big Mikey. As long as he blocked the door, I would be on my own.

“You would like that wouldn’t you?” Grant answered. “You fool, I’ve been following your pathetic rescue attempt since you entered the building. Did you really think I would let you steal my queen away from me?”

“I am not your queen!” yelled Ms. Ritchgarl.

“Silence, my dear,” Grant responded. “It’s obvious these meddlers have poisoned your mind. Soon we will be wed and all I have I will share with you.”

“As for you, Mr. Dove,” Grant continued. “I can’t have you following me again. I believe I will let Big Mikey here deal with you. Mikey, when you’re done, follow me.”

Grant pulled the struggling Ms. Ritchgarl after him as he fled the room.

I turned my attention back to Big Mikey. With a smile, he advanced towards me.

[davedove]

Scene 26


Inside the Grant Estate


Several years ago, shortly after I had started my retrieval service, I had a mission from a wealthy client to retrieve an artifact that had been stolen from him. It was one of the few missions where I did not return the target to the client.

It turned out that the client was a collector of rare items, but it didn’t matter to whom the item belonged, only that he had it. I tracked the artifact to a remote valley in the Himalayas. The artifact was being held in a small temple. They had not stolen the artifact; they had recovered it after it had been stolen from them. Not only was this artifact rare, it was old and integral to the beliefs of this sect.

While I do honor contracts, I am not a mere mercenary. I have principles and taking the artifact from the temple would have been wrong. I contacted the priests of the temple and explained to them my situation and my decision.

The priests were very grateful and approved of my decision. My decision to break my agreement in favor of higher principles showed them that I was a good man and they rewarded me. They let me stay at their temple for several months while I enjoyed their hospitality. I did perform small chores alongside the priests to show my thanks.

These priests had developed an unusual style of martial arts. It was called ‘Crafty Buffalo’ and its basic premise is to take an attacker’s force and turn it back against him. During my time at the temple, I learned many of the techniques of this unique art.

As Big Mikey approached me, I began to back away from him. My objective was to get him moving faster by appearing to shrink away from his attack. He would be overconfident and make mistakes.

When he saw my apparent hesitance to engage him, his smile grew bigger in his confidence. I was almost running backwards when he dove for me. Just when he was about to grab me, I spun away, grabbing his arm and flinging him passed me, using his own momentum against him.

Big Mikey is a large man. He had a lot of momentum.

I hadn’t realized just how close I had come to the wall behind me. As I flung Big Mikey past me, his momentum carried him head first into the wall. His head struck the wall and became imbedded by several inches.

Big Mikey pulled his head from the wall and stood up. He was shaking his head and staggering. Then, his eyes rolled up into his head and he fell over backwards, completely unconscious.

I quickly moved back to the door and removed the blockage. My associates poured into the room as I opened the door.

“Come on,” I said. “Grant has got Ms. Ritchgarl. We’ve got to catch him.”

[starbkjrus]

snip...
... is the label ‘X-Flakes’. ...snip

So basically we're all flakey? :food-smiley-002:

[davedove]

Scene 27


Inside the Grant Estate


We made our way through the game room towards the back of the house. We continued to hear gunfire from the front of the house. Our associates were continuing the diversion.

As we went through the back door, we were quickly stopped by what we found. Grant had been stopped on the back patio by the team waiting there. Ms. Wren, Mr. Loon, and Mr. Toucan had him surrounded. Grant was still holding Ms. Ritchgarl tightly, only now he had his gun pressed against her. Apparently, Grant wasn’t above using his “queen” as a hostage.

Grant had seen us come out the door. “Back off!” he yelled at us. “I don’t know how you bettered Big Mikey, but you’ll not stop me. You will let me leave with my queen or I’ll kill her here and now.”

I started to move towards Grant when I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to see Ms. Thrush. “Let me,” she said quietly.

Ms. Thrush started to move forward. For this mission, she had tied her hair back. Now, she reached up and released it, letting it fall down over her shoulders. She also unbuttoned the top part of her blouse, putting more of her feminine assets on display.

Grant was almost constantly turning around, trying to see if anyone was moving towards him.

“Grant,” Ms. Thrush called out softly.

Grant spun around to face her and yelled at her. “Keep back, I said.”

“But Grant,” she said softly. “Do you really want to keep me away? Don’t you recognize me?” She took a small step forward, letting the light reveal who she was.

“Veronica?” Grant said in disbelief when he recognized her.

“Yes, Grant,” she said, still speaking softly to him. “I’ve come back to you.”

“But I waited for you. I was in that institution for so long. I thought you would come to see me there. I thought you had forgotten me.” The loss in his voice was almost painful to hear.

“I’m so sorry, Grant. I wanted to come but they wouldn’t let me.”

“You wanted to visit me?” His voice almost cracked with disbelief.

“Yes, Grant, I felt so bad that I had to leave you before. We were getting along so well and you looked so manly in that kilt. I can’t begin to tell you how much I wanted to continue where we left off.”

“But, but,” he stammered. “When you didn’t come to see me, I gave up. I thought you didn’t want me. And then I met Emma here, and she liked my kilt so much. That’s why I chose her for my queen.”

“I know, Grant, and I don’t blame you. I treated you so badly. But I’m here now. Emma likes your kilt, Grant, but she doesn’t want to be your queen. Let her go, Grant. I can do so much for you. Things that no one else has done.”

“Do you mean?”

“Yes, Grant, I think I owe you a kilt check.” The promise in her voice was unmistakable.

“You want to give me a kilt check?” His longing was so apparent it was almost pitiful. The gun he had held against Ms. Ritchgarl started to slip.

“Yes, Grant, all you have to do is let Emma go. I’m right here for you.”

Grant dropped the gun away from Ms. Ritchgarl, although he still held it. He released the grip of his arm and she quickly slid away from him. When she was free, she ran in my direction.

Grant was ignoring Ms. Ritchgarl as he watched Ms. Thrush slowly walk towards him. However, when Ms. Ritchgarl reached her position, she quickly grabbed her to run back to my position.

“Take him,” Ms. Thrush yelled to us.

“What, Veronica, no!” Grant called out. Then he realized what had happened. “You tricked me!” He raised his gun and started to fire at Ms. Thrush as she retreated.

Ms. Thrush threw Ms. Ritchgarl to the ground and covered her with her own body to protect her. The rest of us quickly hit the ground for protection. Ms. Wren, Mr. Loon, and Mr. Toucan assumed a prone firing stance to return fire.

Grant, realizing his predicament, turned and fled into the bushes surrounding the yard.

[davedove]

Commercial Break


The living room of a small home


We see a man pacing back and forth across the room. He has a worried look on his face.

A woman walks into the room and addresses him. “What’s wrong honey?”

“We’ve got that Scottish benefit later this week and we forgot to order the kilt. It will never get here in time.”

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. Now you’ll have to wear your trousers.”

A kilted man steps into the scene and addresses the audience. “Has this ever happened to you? Well, it used to happen to me too. But then I discovered the Sciuropterus Delivery Service.”

The scene changes to the inside of a delivery service. We see many flying squirrels zooming across the room while men work below moving packages.

The same man walks into the room. “Here at the Sciuropterus Delivery Service, they have men and squirrels working twenty-four hours a day to ensure your package is delivered when you need it.”

The man walks into a small room. In this room, men are placing packages into a small chamber and closing a door. Another man throws a lever on a console and a flash of light emits from the chamber. When the chamber door is opened again, the packages are gone.

The man continues. “The Sciuropterus Delivery Service has developed a patented faster-than-light teleportation system that allows them to get your packages on their way quickly, sometimes even before you have actually ordered.”

The scene changes back to the couple in their living room. The man is modeling a new kilt for his wife.

“What do you think, honey?” he asks.

“Oh, you look so manly. Isn’t it wonderful that Sciuropterus delivered it so quickly.”

“It sure is.” The man turns to face the audience. “Thanks, Sciuropterus.”

The scene changes to the Sciuropterus Logo and the narrator speaks. “Sciuropterus Delivery Service. Doing our best to get your packages to you before you order them.”

[davedove]

Scene 28


Grounds of the Grant Estate


I got up off the ground as Grant fled. “Toucan, Loon, follow him!” I called out. “Wren, to me!”

The two gentlemen took off in pursuit of Grant. Ms. Wren quickly joined our associates and me. “Ms. Wren, you and Ms. Thrush stay here with Ms. Ritchgarl. Ms. Raven, you’re with me. Ms. Wren we need firearms.”

Ms. Wren quickly handed Ms. Raven and I each a pistol. We had not taken firearms into the manor, as we felt the need for stealth was greater than the need for firearms.

“Where are the security men?” I asked Ms. Wren.

“We got a call for assistance from Ms. Starling. Apparently, there were more minions than we expected. The three men went to try and flank the guards.”

“Okay, inform Ms. Starling of our situation. Ms. Raven, let’s go.”

As we broke through the bushes we heard a sharp scream, almost girl-like in pitch. Running towards the sound, we came across Mr. Loon and Mr. Toucan. They were both laughing so hard they could barely retain their footing. The screaming was coming from a clump of bushes just ahead of them.

“What’s going on?” I demanded. “Where’s Grant?”

Through his laughter, Mr. Loon barely got out the words “Over there.” He was pointing to the bushes where the screaming originated.

I stepped forward cautiously, my pistol at the ready. When I pushed the bushes aside, I too almost fell over with laughter.

There, lying on the ground was Grant. He was screaming as though he were about to be eaten alive.

Standing over Grant was the shaggy bulk of Wompet. Wompet had his muzzle buried in Grant’s crotch. Looking closer, I could see that Wompet had sunk his teeth into Grant’s sporran. The large dog was growling.

From the intensity of Grant’s screams, you would have thought that Wompet had bitten off something important. “EEK!!! Get him off! Get him off!”

I walked over to stand over Grant. “What’s the matter, Grant? Don’t you like our dog? You know, I wouldn’t struggle too much. He likes to fight with his prey.”

I didn’t think that Grant’s eyes could get any wider, but they did. He also quit struggling, now in fear of his life.

I knelt down and picked up Grant’s gun, which he had dropped in his encounter with the large dog. I tossed the gun to Ms. Raven and turned back to Grant.

“So, Grant, do you give up? Should I call off the dog?”

“Yes! Yes!” he pleaded. “Anything you say.”

I had to chuckle a bit as I went to Wompet and grabbed his collar. “Good boy,” I said as I tugged gently on the collar. “Let him go boy.”

Wompet released his hold and turned to face me. He leaned his head against me to receive his reward of a scratch behind the ear.

Grant quickly scrambled out from beneath the dog, only to be stopped by Ms. Raven, who held him at gunpoint.

I keyed my headset. “Ms. Wren, bring everyone over to my location. We have Grant in custody.”

“So, you caught him?” she asked.

“I can’t take credit for this one,” I answered. “The whole catch was by Wompet.

Wompet, hearing his name, leaned in to be scratched again.

[davedove]

Scene 29


Grounds of the Grant Estate


As my associates brought Ms. Ritchgarl to my location, I contacted Ms. Starling.

“Ms. Starling, what’s you sit-rep?”

“It’s not looking good,” came her reply. “I’m estimating that Grant had over one hundred guards here. We’re pinned down and running out of ammunition. Ms. Hawk circled around to meet up with the security team. Mr. Splash and Mr. BEEDEE have now joined us, but while Ms. Hawk and Mr. Mender were covering the movement of those two, they managed to get pinned down themselves. I haven’t been able to establish contact with them. We’ve got the means to pull out, but it would mean abandoning those two.”

“I understand. I’m going to bring Mr. Loon and Mr. Toucan with me and we’ll see if we can’t circle around to help them. Keep up the covering fire as long as you can, then pull out.”

“Roger.”

I turned to Ms. Raven. “Stay here with Ms. Thrush and Ms. Wren and keep watch over Grant and protect Ms. Ritchgarl. Keep Wompet here as well. I don’t think Grant will give you any trouble as long as the dog’s around. Mr. Loon, Mr. Toucan, follow me. We’re going to play cavalry.”

The two men and I made our way around the house. As we came to the front, we concealed ourselves to check the situation. Most of the guards we could see were concentrating their fire towards the large truck near the front of the yard. I could see that my associates there were returning fire, but in a measured way, obviously to conserve ammunition.

Off to one side, I could see another group of guards surrounding a small stone building. Occasionally, one of the guards would fire towards the building and gunfire would be fired in return from within the structure. At least one person was still active inside the structure. I could only hope that both people were still okay.

“Okay gentlemen,” I said. “We’ve got to give Ms. Hawk and Mr. Mender an opportunity to get out of that building. Our other associates are tied up right now, so it’s up to us. Here’s what we need to do.”

I quickly explained my plan to the two gentlemen and also relayed the plan to Ms. Starling. When everyone understood we prepared to move out.

We moved to a small hill in the yard to make our attack. Our plan was to draw enough guards away from the stone building that the two inside could escape. We would attempt to fire and move in such a way that the guards thought we were a much bigger force.

We opened fire on the guards, who quickly turned about to meet the new threat. Moving quickly between trees and rocks, we tried to keep under cover as much as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Loon take a hit and fall to the ground. I could see him lying there, motionless.

“Cover me!” I called to Mr. Toucan and moved to Mr. Loon’s side. As I examined him, I could see that the wound would not be fatal, provided we could get him some attention. Unfortunately, we were not in a position to give him that attention.

I quickly picked him up in a fireman’s carry and called out. “I’m coming back.” I took off back towards Mr. Toucan’s position, doing my best to keep behind cover.

It wasn’t good enough though. Just as I was about to duck behind a small hill, I felt a blow to my leg and I was knocked over, Mr. Loon falling to the ground beside me.

[Livingston]

ouch I knew I needed to stop and get that kilt in the Army tartan