Without hesitating, Sam moved forward, grabbed Rebecca's thumb, and pulled it backwards. There was a cracking sound, and Rebecca gave a small cry. Then Sam slipped a loop over Rebecca's hand. "Ah, much easier," she remarked.
Rebecca grit her teeth together. "Why do I get the feeling you enjoyed that?"
"Oh, I've been waiting to do that for a long time," Sam answered with a smile. She untied the rest of the knot and pulled it off. Rebecca stretched her arms and back, careful not to jostle her broken thumb. "Here," Sam said, taking out a piece of cloth from her satchel and holding it out.
Rebecca gave her a sarcastic expression. "Thanks," she said, holding out her hand. Sam wrapped Rebecca's hand in the cloth.
"Who...who are you people?" came a voice.
Sam looked back, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Your boyfriend is awake," she said.
"He's not my boyfriend," Rebecca answered steely. "Far from it." She pulled her hand away from Sam and moved towards Imraan.
"What are you--" Imraan got out before he started vomiting. Rebecca gave Sam a cynical look, and Sam shrugged.
"Ether?" Rebecca questioned, annoyed.
"What? Not like I could find any chloroform. Besides, it's so much easier and faster than a choke hold," Sam responded.
Rebecca rubbed her forehead. "You didn't have to knock him out in the first place."
"But that's half the fun," Sam said with a smile.
Imraan stopped vomiting and wiped his mouth. "What are you planning to do with me?"
"Oh, kidnap you, torture you, interrogate you, then throw you into a ditch...the regular stuff," Sam answered.
"Sam," Rebecca warned.
"What?" Sam asked innocently.
"Shut up," Rebecca commanded.
"Fine," Sam replied. "He's your prisoner anyway." She walked a distance away,
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to her, Imraan," she said, squatting.
"How do you know my name?" Imraan asked, sitting up.
Rebecca thought for a minute. "You're not going to believe me when I tell you this."
"Tell me what?" Imraan asked. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rebecca."
Imraan stared at her cynically.
"Agent Stapley? Come on, you have to remember me," Rebecca said, standing.
"I remember a crazy blonde agent,” Imraan answered. He paused for a moment, then added, “Who could be very moody.”
"Oh really?" Rebecca asked, interested. "What else do you know about her, Imraan Helvik?" she crossed her arms. "Because I don't believe she was crazy, or moody. She just took bigger risks because, not only was it fun, but it solved problems way faster than anything else. And she wasn't moody. Moody implies that she was ill-humored and temperamental. She wasn't either of those, from what I can remember. I think she has a very good sense of humor, in fact, and she doesn't change moods that easily. Maybe you're stuck on the time she dragged you and your twin Armaan by your ears. Let's not dwell on the past. Last time I saw you, we were fighting off the FNTTMS at the HIA, which was when I got stabbed. Thanks for that, by the way. What a great protector you are."
Imraan still sat on the ground, looking up at her with wide eyes. "Rebecca?"
"No, the Queen of England," Rebecca said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"How do you look like that?" he questioned, extremely confused. "Is that a mask?"
"It couldn't possibly be, or Laura would have found that out by now," Rebecca replied. "It's important that she doesn't know, which is why you are here."
"Know what? I thought you, or Ashlynn I guess, was working for the SSAWPS?"
"Ashlynn is; I'm not. Laura can't know that they are one and the same or she may jeopardize my mission."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Imraan asked.
"Go back to Laura and say you were trying to follow us but you passed out from exhaustion and when you woke up we were long gone. Say a group of about seven SSAWPS agents rescued me and now we are heading back to the SSAWPS facility," Rebecca responded. "Remember, I am not Rebecca. I am Ashlynn. It is imperative that you don't forget. Understand?"
"Yah, but why did you have to knock me out and drag me all the way out here for this? Why couldn't you just escape and leave it at that?"
"I need to have someone on the inside that I can trust that knows who I am and will keep the secret safe. It is dangerous for both Laura and I when we are together. I need you to make sure that that doesn't happen again."
"Fine," Imraan answered with a sigh. "But you know you'll owe me one."
"Don't even start with me," Rebecca said with a glare. "You owe me your life."
Imraan stood. "That's not how I see it."
"Your opinions don't matter," Rebecca responded. "I'll talk to you later." She threw a small square to Imraan, and he caught it. "I trust you know how to use that?"
"How could I forget?" Imraan answered, turning around. He headed down the tunnel.
"Oh, and Imraan?" Rebecca remembered.
"Yah?"
"Sorry about the ether," she added. Then she and Sam disappeared down the opposite end of the tunnel.
*******************
When Laura exited the tunnel somewhere in Norway, she immediately began to gulp the fresh air. Everyone around her did the same. They'd been trapped in the sewers for such a long time that all of them had forgotten what it was like to breathe clean air. Imraan was the last one to climb out. Laura was so happy that they had managed to find him so quickly. Too bad he wasn't able to recapture the SSAWPS leader, Ashlynn. She couldn't worry about that right now. Norway was a beautiful, but risky place to go, since it was hardly inhabited in the north. Not to mention that the communists from Russia had secretly infiltrated Finland and some parts of Norway. She turned to the group, which had decreased in size about a fourth of what it had originally been.
"I know that we're all tired, but we're going to have to set up camp in a safe place. The mountains are probably the safest from the SSAWPS, but we'll be in danger because there are some dangerous animals there and the communists are in control of most of the mountainous terrain. The populated areas aren't an option because we're Danish and they're Norwegian. It would look really suspicious if a group of 75 Danes all of the sudden moved into a town. We can't split up. The only place that we can go is in the woods, and the closest forest is about 10 kilometers away. I know that we've traveled a great distance in a few days underneath the sea, but we still have to move. So let's take a 15 minute break. Afterwards, we move northwest."
*******************
Connor grumbled about not being able to be the hero in front of the girls all the way to the basement, where the controls were all foolishly kept. He immediately began to work on hacking the alarm system. In one minute, sirens and the sound of a robotic woman saying, "Intruder alert" began to sound upstairs. Connor quickly moved out of the basement into the safe area that he had designated earlier: the men's bathroom. He certainly hoped that Armaan would be able to get out of the hot zone fast enough. Connor heard more men moving past the bathroom, and he waited for the footsteps to disappear into silence. When it did, he assumed that it was safe enough for him to move towards the west wing, where their planned exit was.
The plan was working.
**********************