by Sydnie MacElroy
NRPG -
I was already formulating this idea before I got to the NRPG message on Alton's post. Really. But since I didn't want it to look like it was a completely unoriginal thought, I changed it from vans full of men in black suits, to men in black vans. :) Whether or not they are wearing black suits can be up to someone else.
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RPG -
>"Be careful!" Zenya called pulling out her phone and turning it on.
>Martin ended his phone call and turned to Zenya, "What did I miss?"
>"Vanessa's hurt. Jordan and Leo went back in to get her and Jim out."
"What happened," Martin asked, alarmed.
Zenya shrugged to Martin as she gave what little information she had to the emergency operator, stressing the point that it was a federal agent in need of assistance, in hopes that it would bring a faster response.
"Were you talking to Emily," Zenya asked when she hung up the phone.
Martin nodded, casting a sideways glance toward the entrance to the sewer tunnels. "Yes. I think we're okay now."
"It's about time. When you've found something good, it's wise to take very good care of it."
"I know."
"Then don't forget it." Zenya checked her watch, although she knew only a few minutes had passed, and leaned against the car door. "I hate waiting," she muttered.
*****
[somewhere in New York]
"When did the call come in," one of the men asked. They were already running into the garage where their vehicles were kept.
"A minute or so ago."
"Damn. Can we intercept the ambulance?"
"It's going to be close."
"Do your best. I'm willing to bet that traitor Kleinberg is with them."
*****
"What happened," Kleinberg asked. "Was there another one? Did it.."
"We don't know," Zenya told him for the fourth time. She looked down the block to where Martin was pacing along the sidewalk. Lucky him, she thought. Kleinberg was still in the car, half hanging out the window like a dog on a joy ride and growing more and more agitated. Zenya had set herself the task of trying to calm him. Not only had that not worked, but his alarm was putting her on edge as well.
"They should be out by now," Kleinberg observed.
The ambulance should be here by know, Zenya thought. "It really hasn't been that long," she told him. "Try to relax."
"Easy for you to say."
A siren sounded in the distance. Zenya breathed a sigh of relief. At least it might keep Kleinberg quiet for a little while. Martin turned and paced back toward the car, also looking a bit more at ease with medical help on the way. Only Sandy, who had been comparatively placid, or perhaps it was just contemplative, since they emerged from the sewers, reacted with anything but calm. She started to whine and looked to Kleinberg with an expression of fear.
"What's wrong with her," Zenya asked.
Kleinberg shook his head.
"She's probably reacting to the sound of the siren," Martin said, rejoining them.
"She knows what a siren is," Kleinberg said, offended. "Something's wrong."
A couple blocks up the street, the ambulance rounded the corner, headed in their direction. As it did, Sandy was on her feet, taking up most of the back seat, and growling.
"We've got to get out of here," Kleinberg whispered. "She's sensing something. We're in danger."
Zenya exchanged a glance with Martin. Sandy's instincts had been right so far. After all, she had been created for situations like this.
"Stay in the car," Zenya told Kleinberg, "and stay low."
A black van turned the corner behind the ambulance, came to a stop and sat idling. "We've got company," Martin commented.
Zenya turned and saw that a second van was stopped a block away in the other direction. She nodded and glanced toward the tunnel entrance, hoping to see the rest of the team on their way out. No such luck.
The ambulance rolled to a stop nearby. Just as the paramedics started to get out, the car Zenya was leaning against roared to life. She jumped away just as Kleinberg, who had climbed over the seat, shifted into gear and pulled away. He roared around the ambulance, hitting the driver's side door and knocking it closed to the dismay of the driver, who had barely managed to jump back in.
"Who has the keys to the other car," Martin asked, running toward it hopefully.
"Jim," Zenya answered. She was watching Kleinberg's progress helplessly. She could see one of the men in the van aiming a rifle at the stolen rental car, but at this range, there was nothing she could do about it. "I don't suppose you know how to hot-wire a car?"
The second van was in motion now, following Kleinberg.
"I don't know," Martin said already getting into the car, "never tried it before."
Kleinberg approached the first van. The man inside fired the rifle as he passed. The car swerved, then corrected it's course. The other van was moving fast, approaching Zenya and Martin's position. A rifle was being aimed in their direction. Zenya raised her gun while Martin fiddled with the car's wires.
"I think this might be it," Martin called.
The van slowed at it passed them. The driver said something to the passenger holding the rifle, who then put the rifle down. The driver looked out the window at Zenya and nodded as he passed. Zenya felt a chill as he did so. Then the van sped up in pursuit of Kleinberg.