Something in the cellar

[MD1, 3:15PM, Tom's house]

Zenya took a good look around at the neighborhood as Jim drove up to Tom's house. Several of the homes showed evidence of children living in them, as Tom had said. At the house next door to Tom's, there was a woman sitting on the porch watching as a child of about three played in the yard. She eyed the car suspiciously as Jim pulled into the driveway and around to the back of the house. Zenya smiled and waved to her, which seemed to allay her suspicions a bit.

Jim unlocked the door and they went inside. It was a fairly typical house, small but comfortable, a few personal items here and there, but nothing excessive, just enough to make it feel like a home.

At first glance, nothing seemed out of place. The house was neat and tidy, everything put away with typical military precision. In the kitchen, though, a couple of the cabinet doors stood ajar. In the hallway, the drawer in a small table had a envelope sticking part way out of it. The cushions on the couch weren't aligned quite right.

Zenya slipped her gun out of its holster. Turning, she saw that Jim was doing the same.

"Someone's been here," she whispered.

"I was just reaching the same conclusion. I'll take the upstairs."

Zenya nodded and returned to the kitchen. Two doors opened off the room. The first turned out to be the pantry, and the second opened on stairs to the cellar. A light switch was located at the top of the stairs. Zenya tried the switch but nothing happened. There appeared to be no windows in the cellar, and no source of light save what came in from the open kitchen door. As she slowly descended the stairs, Zenya pulled the door shut most of the way. No reason to let anyone who might be down there have a better view of her than she had of them.

At the bottom of the stairs, Zenya tried to take a look around. There didn't seem to be much in the cellar. By the scant light from upstairs, she could make out the outline of a stack of boxes in one corner and what appeared to be a workbench near the stairs. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that there was a pull chain attached to a light fixture over the work bench. She made her way over to the bench, pausing before she reached for the light and holding her breath, listening for any sounds that might indicate that someone else was there. Hearing nothing, she reached for the chain.

As she did, she detected movement to her side. Before she could react to it, she felt the impact of a solid object against the small of her back and the next thing she knew, she was face down on the other side of the work bench, and her gun was sliding across the concrete floor. Turning over, she could just make out a pair of feet running up the stairs.

"Damn it," she muttered, scrambling to her feet and retrieving her gun before giving chase. By the time she picked it up, she heard the back door slam. "Jim," she yelled, already racing for the stairs, "out the back door!"

As she reached the top of the stairs, Jim was already in the kitchen. "You all right?"

"Fine. Go after him."

Jim went out the back door while Zenya went to the front door, struggled with the bolt for a second and finally made it out onto the front porch just as a dark blue Chrysler sped off down the street. Jim came around the side of the house at virtually the same moment. Zenya pointed in the direction of the car with her gun, not really taking aim as it was already out of range, but pointing it out to Jim.

"No plates," she said.

"Did you get a good look at him?"

Zenya laughed and shook her head. "No, but I'd recognize the shoes if I saw them again." She reholstered her gun. "Come on, let's get back inside before we draw any unwarranted attention."

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NRPG: Well, at least it wasn't a window this time. Hmm, I'm starting to get the feeling that Zenya's role in this group is to take all of the abuse! Guess someone has to! ;)

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Sydnie Kathryn MacElroy
e-mail
alternate

SA1 Kate Calloway, X-Files, DELTA
SA3 Zenya Gorky, X-Files, ZULU
Fianna Nikal, Kal-Dixas Spaceport
(visit the DELTA archive )

Linguae quae genera distincta non habent inuriam faciunt feminis.

"It may not be apparent, but I am often amused with human behavior."