Gone In A Flash

Chapter 11: Sunday (2)

Chapter 11: Sunday (2)

Evening came fast, and it wasn't long before the agents that Blacker had recruited were assembled on the Spectrum flight pad. It was located near the flatlands, meaning that although it was easy enough to access, any aircraft departing from it wouldn't have any witnesses to spot them.

Blacker was inside the helicopter that they would be using, talking to Zuko, who would be flying them up the mountain. Presumably he was giving directions of some sort, because he had a map out and was pointing to it while Zuko nodded along.

Hitch walked among the agents, running last-minute checks and making sure that everybody knew what was going on. Kekoa and Sam Holt seemed to be caught up on everything, and both of them seemed fine with the plan, as it was, but that left at least eight other agents on differing levels of knowledge about what was happening.

Hitch caught a flash of bright red-pink hair, and raised a quizzical eyebrow, walking quickly over to meet Agent Lillian.

"Didn't think I'd see you here," he said. "Aren't you still mad at me?"

"Oh, furious," they agreed. "But Blacker offered, and I figured – well, might as well see this thing through to the finish. Whatever 'this thing' is, anyway." They grinned, baring their teeth in an oddly vicious manner. "You still haven't told me."

"Agent Redfort's missing and we've found the Count's base," Hitch said with a half-shrug. "These facts also happen to be connected."

"And LB?" Lillian asked with a tilt of their head.

"Ask me again later," said Hitch, and turned to talk to Kip Holbrook, one of Ruby's fellow trainees for the agent program. He was eager to help. Apparently the animosity between him and Ruby masked a great deal of affection for her, which sounded about right- a lot of Ruby's friendships appeared to be based on large amounts of affectionate insults and ribbing.

Three agents who Hitch didn't know personally were also there – but Blacker had assured him that they were loyal enough and had insisted on coming after hearing the full story.

As well as all of those people, SJ had shown up, although she admitted freely that there wasn't much of a chance she'd contribute anything of use to the rescue mission, being only a lab tech.

"I did bring liquid nitrogen, though," she said cheerfully, hefting a heat-proof canister. "I think Blacker was joking, but I figured – hey, just in case."

Finally, Doctor Harper was there as well- toting a large bag full of various medical paraphernalia that she also claimed was 'just in case' – and with Ruby's post-mission track record in mind, Hitch agreed that this was an entirely fair precaution to make.

It took a while to get everybody organized and crammed into the helicopter. They were a few kilograms over the standard weight limit, according to Zuko. Although SJ offered to stay behind, they eventually worked out a way to get everybody up the mountain that involved ditching the spare fuel tank and hoping desperately that they actually wouldn't need it.

And that was how twelve Spectrum agents that weren't so much 'rogue' as 'slightly bending the rules so their boss wouldn't notice' ended up setting up an impromptu field camp on the plateau outside the hidden entrance on Great Bear Mountain.

It was dark when they arrived and although it was possible to see, the addition of lighting made the task a lot easier. Kekoa took the position of command, directing everybody into place. Although it was clear that she was more than slightly out of her element on land, everybody seemed to listen to her.