An Agent Lost (Part II)
Part I is here.
An Agent Lost
by Hatcheter
Part II
He must have fallen asleep at some early hour, because the next thing he knew someone was pounding violently on the door. Squinting against the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows, Daniel stumbled across the room and threw the door open.
“What?” he barked, glaring at the man who towered over him.
Teal’c quirked an eyebrow. “Daniel Jackson.”
“Daniel!”
He turned to see Jack standing at the door to his bedroom, dressed only in boxers and holding a pistol with both hands. “What the hell are you thinking?” he hissed furiously.
“O’Neill, I must speak with you,” Teal’c said, brushing past Daniel into the room.
“Yeah, yeah, let me put some clothes on. Why don’t you call room service while I wake Elizabeth.” Jack glanced at Daniel’s haggard appearance. “Order two pots of coffee.”
Teal’c nodded and picked up the phone.
“What time is it?” Daniel asked.
“It is six-fifteen in the morning,” Teal’c answered. “You should prepare to leave this place.”
Daniel nodded, ignoring the pounding inside his head, and retreated to his own room. Minutes later he returned, to find Jack, Elizabeth, and Teal’c seated in the living area. Teal’c offered Daniel a mug of coffee.
“So, I take it brunch is off?” Jack asked.
Teal’c nodded. “I received information from one of my sources that Sha’re Jackson arrived in Greece early this morning.”
Daniel leapt up from his chair, knocking his mug over on the coffee table. “She’s alive? Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We have to go, now!”
“I learned of this less than an hour ago,” Teal’c said. “I have already made travel arrangements for you,” he added, turning to Jack. “A chartered jet will depart in one hour. I’m sorry, but that is the fastest arrangement possible.”
“Thank you, Teal’c,” Elizabeth said. “We really owe you for this.”
Teal’c smiled and nodded. “You can repay me in the usual way.”
“Of course,” Jack replied. “So, did your people learn anything more about who took Mrs. Jackson?”
“Indeed they have. She was not abducted by a mere arms dealer. Shak’l is working for a man known as Apophis.”
“I’ve heard that name,” Elizabeth said. “Our intelligence can’t determine if that’s an organization or an individual.”
“He is a single man,” Teal’c said. “And he is very dangerous.”
“He’s some kind of big fish?” Jack asked.
“All organized crime in the Middle East and the western Mediterranean are in some way connected to his organization.”
“Very big fish.”
Teal’c nodded.
“He’s the one who wants the information on American agents,” Daniel said.
“Such information could reveal moles in his own organization, or be sold for great profit,” Teal’c agreed.
“So how do we find Apophis?” Elizabeth asked.
“I have arranged for an old friend of mine to meet you when you arrive in Greece. He will guide you and offer you whatever resources you will need.”
Alexandroupolis, Greece
The trio of agents stepped off the small Learjet and hurried across the tarmac. The flight had passed in silence, as Daniel’s newfound hope had allowed him to sleep deeply for the few hours they were in the air.
“So did anybody get a strange vibe from Teal’c when he called this guy a friend?” Jack asked as they entered the terminal.
“I’m more concerned that he said he sent our photos to this guy,” Elizabeth said.
“Why?”
They turned to find an older man coolly examining them. “Do you find Teal’c to be untrustworthy? Do you think he would compromise you?”
“Are you Nicholos Bratac?” Jack asked.
“I am.”
Jack nodded. “So?”
“So. It seems I have gotten myself involved in my former pupil’s affairs, or he in mine. Come with me.”
They followed Bratac to customs. He flashed a badge, and they were quickly ushered through.
“You’re Interpol?” Jack asked, surprised.
“Yes.”
“And you said Teal’c was your pupil?”
“At one time, when he was a young man. He has not told you?”
Jack shook his head. “No.”
“I see.”
Bratac led them out of the airport and to his car. They climbed in and drove out into the city.
“So where is my wife?” Daniel asked.
“She is being held in a compound outside of town. We do not know what has happened to her since.”
“Does Interpol have some sort of surveillance going on there?”
“We have the compound under visual observation.”
“Electronics?” Elizabeth asked.
Bratac shook his head. “They have a very sophisticated system to prevent electronic eavesdropping. Nothing we have tried has been able to penetrate their jamming systems.”
“Well, we might have a few toys you lack,” Jack said. “I put in a call to our London office before we left Malta,” he explained to Daniel. “They’re sending some stuff over that we might find useful.”
“You are CIA, yes?” Bratac asked.
“Not exactly,” Jack replied. “But we do have authorization to work with any Interpol operation.”
Bratac scowled at him. “I see.”
“Call your bosses if you want,” Jack said. “Hell, we’ve got the authority to take over, if we see fit.”
“Which we don’t want to do,” Elizabeth quickly added.
“Too much paperwork,” Jack agreed.
“That’s all well and good,” Daniel interrupted, “but how are we going to get my wife back?”
Bratac sighed. “I am sorry to say, Mister Jackson, that your wife is now only a pawn in a much larger game.”
“She’s been kidnapped,” Daniel explained. “You’re the police.”
“And this compound is the property of a foreign dignitary.”
All three passengers fell silent.
“Intruding into the compound would cause an international incident.”
“This makes things more interesting,” Jack said.
“So it does,” Bratac agreed.
Daniel slumped back in his seat and stared out the window. They were leaving the city, driving along a costal road overlooking the sea. It was a cloudy, windy day, and waves crashed ashore on the beach below.
They rode in silence for another ten minutes, until Jack’s phone rang. “O’Neill,” he answered, listening for a moment to the caller. “Good, where are you?” The conversation continued for a moment more, with Jack giving brief instructions before hanging up.
He closed the phone and turned to Bratac. “How good did you say their anti-bug tech was?”
“The best that is available on the black market.”
“Is that all?” Jack asked.
“It is formidable.”
“So are we,” Jack replied. “And by we, I mean the tech geeks who just arrived in country.”
“What do you have in mind?” Elizabeth asked.
“Ah-ah,” Jack chided, raising a finger. “You should be able to figure this one out, Elizabeth. You have a part to play.”
Elizabeth sat back and folded her arms. “What assets do I have?”
An hour later, Elizabeth was repeating her plan to a roomful of Interpol detectives and several newly arrived agents. They where at the Interpol observation post, a villa on a bluff overlooking Apophis’ compound. The compound itself was a mile down the beach. Inside the high stone walls, a large central house was surrounded by expansive gardens and numerous smaller buildings. From the villa, there were no signs of human activity.
Daniel had paced in the back of the room during the briefing, glancing out the windows at the compound below. “I should be going in there,” he declared.
“That would be foolishness,” Bratac said. “That place may look empty, but there is a sizeable security contingent.”
“Daniel, we will get your wife back,” Elizabeth said.
“All you’re going to do is talk!” Daniel yelled. “How will this help her?”
Jack stepped next to Daniel. “Losing your temper won’t help, either,” he said quietly.
“Dammit Jack-“
“No,” Jack interrupted firmly. “You’re too close to this Daniel, you’re not thinking clearly.”
“Maybe you should step outside for a moment,” Elizabeth suggested. “Clear your thoughts.”
Daniel glared at them before turning and shoving through the door, Jack hot on his heels. Elizabeth turned to the others. “Rodney, can you carry your end?”
“Hacking their landlines should be easy enough,” the technician replied. “But if they try any sort of radio communication, the only option we have is jamming it. Which, if they’re as sophisticated as the local cops say they are,” he continued, ignoring the way Bratac bristled, “they’ll know immediately.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Alright. How long to set your gear up?”
“About ten minutes. I should be into their systems twenty minutes after that.”
“Do it.”
As McKay walked out, Elizabeth turned to Bratac. “I’m afraid we might be taking over here after all.”
Bratac smiled and shook his head. “Something is finally happening. For this, I am willing to let you do whatever you need to. I shall make certain that my detectives cooperate fully.”
“Thank you. I should go check on Daniel.”
Elizabeth hurried outside, to find Jack leaning against the back of the van their personnel had arrived in. “Well? Is this what you had in mind?”
Jack shrugged. “I didn’t really have anything in mind,” he confessed.
Elizabeth tried to stifle a laugh and force a frown on her face instead. “So, what, you’re leaving all the hard work to me now?”
“Somebody had to draw up a standard operation,” he replied.
Now Elizabeth did frown. “What are you planning?”
Jack straightened and walked around to the van’s open side door. Elizabeth followed him and looked in to find Daniel and Doctor Beckett, the medic on the newly arrived team. Beckett was applying fresh dressings to Daniel’s burns.
“How’s he doing, doc?” Jack asked.
“The burns are superficial,” the Scot replied, “but most of the blisters have broken. We need to be wary of infection in this situation.”
“He can still carry out an assignment though, right?” Jack asked.
“Yes,” Daniel quickly replied.
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Becket said, glaring at Jack. “But I know you’ll disregard that. Frankly, Agent Jackson, I don’t know how you’ve made it this far. You’ve pushed yourself through what must be incredible pain.”
“What do you need me to do?” Daniel asked.
“McKay!” Jack turned and yelled as the technician emerged from the building. “I need a wire.”
“A wire,” McKay echoed. “A single length of wire? Copper? Fiber optic? Or, do you mean you want a radio to hide on a person?”
Jack glared at the tech. “You know what I mean.”
“Did you hear the part about the fancy counter-eavesdropping gear in the compound?”
Jack shrugged. “Not really.”
McKay glared at him. “I might have something that can get around any detection systems they might have. It’s an encrypted, cycling frequency transmitter that should go unnoticed by their equipment. It’s really an ingenious device, Carter and I worked together to…”
“Yeah, yeah, great,” Jack interrupted. “Set it up.”
“So, what are you really planning?” Elizabeth asked.
“Something Interpol won’t like.”
Elizabeth tensed. “Jack…”
“We can’t let that disk remain in unknown hands,” Jack said. “But that compound is under diplomatic protection. Interpol can’t go in there, and can’t be involved in this.”
“What are you saying?” Daniel asked.
“Right now, there’s an F-117 en route from Italy, with a pair of two thousand pound laser guided bombs. On my order, that compound will be turned into a very large hole in the ground. I’m thinking swimming pool,” he added.
“On a beach?” McKay asked.
“My wife is in there!”
“Did I mention that this was as a last resort?” No? It’s our last resort,” Jack said. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, and they’ll actually be willing to negotiate with Elizabeth.”
“I’ll do everything I can to make them see reason,” Elizabeth said. “But Daniel, you must understand, some people are simply not reasonable.”
“I know,” Daniel quietly said.
Jack turned to McKay. “Did you guys bring that special ordinance I asked for?”
“We did,” he replied. “Are you sure we need this? I’m really not comfortable with the idea of gassing myself.”
“You’ll be fine, Rodney,” Beckett said. “No one has ever been seriously harmed by this.”
“Seriously…” McKay grumbled.
“And the rest of our team?” Jack asked.
“They should be in position by now,” McKay said.
“Good. Elizabeth, tell Bratac that I decided Daniel was too irritable, and I drove him back to town.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
McKay and Beckett grabbed several more cases out of the back of the van and followed Elizabeth back into the building. Jack climbed behind the wheel, and Daniel got into the passenger seat.
“So what do I do?” Daniel asked as Jack started the van.
Nearly an hour later, McKay was typing rapidly on his laptop, trying to ignore the dozen people watching him expectantly. He typed his final command with a flourish, and turned to face the others. “I’m in.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Good work, Rodney.”
“You do realize that this is an illegal wiretap,” Bratac said.
“Technically, we’re illegal foreign operatives,” Elizabeth replied, smiling. “You’re not going to arrest us, are you?”
“You have the authority to take over this operation, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then the answer is no.”
Elizabeth nodded and sat down at the end of the table opposite McKay. “Could I have a glass of water?” she asked.
Bratac nodded to one of his men, who disappeared from the room. He reappeared a moment later with a glass of ice water. Elizabeth thanked him and sat down at the table in the center of the room. “Ready?” she asked Rondey.
“If they can even trace this, I’ve left a trail that will take them all week to unravel.”
“Alright. Let’s begin.” She lifted a phone and began to dial a number McKay gave her. Around the room, Bratac and several other agents donned headphones.
A bored female voice answered the phone. “Kalimera?”
“Let me speak with Apophis,” Elizabeth said brusquely.
There was a moment of silence on the other end, long enough to make Elizabeth wonder if she had dialed the wrong number. There was the sound of someone fumbling with the phone, then a brief, piercing ring that made everyone in the room wince.
“Who is this?” a new voice demanded.
“Scrambling,” Rodney muttered, typing furiously.
“This is agent West of the National Intelligence Directorate. You are Apophis?”
“I am.” The voice was deep, and heavily distorted. “Your accent is American, yet I have never heard of your agency.”
“Then we’re doing a good job,” Elizabeth replied. “It has come to our attention that two missing NSA agents may have become…involved with your organization. We know that Sha’re Jackson is already with you, and her husband, Daniel, is attempting to make contact.”
“I do not know those names.”
“We believe these agents have gone rogue, and have stolen from the United States government. If you have any information about their whereabouts, we would be most grateful,” Elizabeth said.
“And?”
“And by now, you have started a trace on this call, correct?” Elizabeth glanced over at Rodney, who nodded smugly. “Your trace must be running loops through nodes somewhere in central Asia. You can’t find us.”
The man on the other end fell silent. Listening closely, Elizabeth heard a muffled discussion going on. She took a sip of water and waited for them to continue.
“Perhaps I could obtain some information on these missing agents of your. If you have something of value to offer in return.”
“It would be worth a great amount to have the Jacksons, and anything the may have stolen, back in the custody of the United States.”
“I will see if we have any information on your people,” Apophis said. “Call again in one hour.”
“I appreciate you cooperation,” Elizabeth said as the line went dead.
“What was that about?” Bratac asked.
“We have activity at the compound,” one of the Interpol officers said.
Elizabeth glanced at Rodney, nodding slightly. McKay quickly typed a command on his computer. Throughout the villa, equipment set up under the pretense of electronic jamming burst apart, filling the building with smoke. The Interpol agents barely had time to realize something was wrong before they were collapsing to the floor.
“Rodney, Carson?” Elizabeth called, squinting through the fog.
“Here,” Carson replied from across the room.
“Oh god, it got in my eyes!” McKay complained.
“You were supposed to close them when the devices went off,” Beckett said.
“I did.”
“Are you okay Rodney?” Elizabeth asked, moving to the windows that overlooked the compound. She pulled a pair of binoculars from the hand of one of the fallen detectives.
“No!”
“You’ll be fine,” Beckett replied, handing the tech a small bottle. “Rinse your eyes with this.”
“I feel light headed.”
“You took your counteragent pill, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll be fine. Look, if the gas was going to knock you out, it would have done so already. Rinse your eyes, I’ve got to check on these people.” Ignoring Rodney’s continued grumbling, Beckett moved from one fallen man to the next, checking pulses and breathing rates for signs of adverse reaction to the gas.
Elizabeth slipped on a headset and activated it. “Angler, Sparky. We have taken control of the outpost.”
“Roger, Sparky,” Jack replied. “The package has been delivered.”
Daniel drove the sedan he was provided with to the compound’s main gate. The guards inside quickly opened it and ran out, circling his car. He got out of the car, hands raised, and was quickly cuffed and blindfolded.
The guards roughly dragged him into the compound. He stumbled over stairs he couldn’t see, and only the powerful grips on his arms kept him upright. He was taken into the main building and lead to an inner room, where he was dumped on the floor.
“You could have saved your wife much suffering if you had given yourself up sooner. Though, I must admire your determination to follow her this far.”
Daniel stood, turning to try to locate the voice. “Where is she?”
“She is not dead,” the man replied. The blindfold was pulled off, and Daniel saw a neatly dressed man standing before him. “Not yet,” he smirked.
“You son of a bitch,” Daniel hissed. He stared to raise his hands, and the guards grabbed him again.
Apophis reached out and unlocked Daniel’s cuffs. “If you want to save your wife, do exactly as I say. You have encrypted the files. Give me the key, and you will be allowed to take your wife and leave.”
“How do I know you won’t kill me?”
Apophis shrugged. “You have my word.”
Daniel snorted. “Where is she?”
Apophis nodded to one of the guards, who moved to a side door. He opened the door and went through, reappearing a moment later pushing a hospital bed. Sha’re laid on the bed, her face and arms covered with bruises.
Daniel broke out of the other guard’s grip and rushed to the bed, taking hold of Sha’re’s hand. “What did you do to her?” he whispered.
“She was not treated as well as I intended,” Apophis said, walking over to a desk. “A broken rib punctured the left lung. My personal surgeon has seen to her injuries, and I will deal with the one who did this to her.”
“Sure,” Daniel muttered, brushing a lock of dark hair from Sha’re’s forehead.
A gunshot rang out painfully loud in the enclosed room, and Daniel threw himself over his wife’s body. Glancing back, he saw Apophis set a pistol down on his desk. The guard who had wheeled the gurney in lay on the ground, a bullet hole placed neatly between his eyes.
“You see, Agent Jackson,” Apophis said, “your willing cooperation is of the greatest value to me. You have struck at my own organization, eluded your country’s assassins, and managed to find my base of operations. Give me the encryption key, and you two are free to go.”
“Do you have the disk?” Daniel asked.
“Moment of truth,” Jack mumbled.
“You don’t really think that guy will let him walk out, do you?” the man next to him asked.
Jack glared through the scope of his rifle. “It doesn’t matter what I think, Ferretti. It’s what Daniel thinks.”
Both men were dressed in camouflage fatigues, perched on the side of a hill just outside the compound. A dozen commandos were arrayed around the compound, waiting for O’Neill’s order to attack.
“Strike group two, report,” Jack whispered into his radio.
“Still no activity,” the commando replied.
“Sparky?”
“No activity visible within the compound, Angler.”
Jack considered briefly. “Alright. SG-2, enter the compound and find a good spot to hide. SG-3, take the boathouse. SG-1 is heading to the main gate.”
“Copy.” “Roger.”
“Sparky, be ready to move out,” Jack added.
“Roger.”
Apophis sat down behind his desk and regarded Daniel coolly. “I find it interesting that you arrived here immediately after I was contacted by an American agent.”
“They can’t know I’m here,” Daniel objected.
“They know,” Apophis assured him. “The question is, are they hunting you, or are they aiding you?”
“I don’t know what-“
“I am not a fool, Agent Jackson. I do not believe that this is a coincidence. You will give me the encryption key, and then you and your wife will come with me. Once I verify the information, your wife will be restored to you.”
“Do you have the disk?” Daniel asked.
Apohpis smirked. “It is in a secure location.”
Daniel shook his head. “I need the disk itself. The encryption protocol is designed to corrupt the data if you attempt to copy it.”
“Is this so?”
“Yes.”
Apophis sighed, and lifted a phone from his desk. “Prepare my helicopter immediately.”
“Where are we going?” Daniel asked.
“To meet one of my partners.”
“And Sha’re?”
Apophis glanced over at the sleeping woman. “She’ll be here when we get back.”
Daniel shook his head. “I don’t think I can help you.”
“That’s the code phrase,” Feretti said.
“All teams, go, go, go,” Jack hurriedly ordered. He broke into a run as the other team leaders acknowledged.
Feretti and three other commandos were right behind him as they ran along the compound wall toward the main gate.
Feretti pulled a long, flat device from his vest punching several buttons and pointing it toward the gate ahead of them. “Let’s hope the techs got this thing to work, or we’ll be doing some climbing.”
As they got closer, the gate’s motor activated, and the gate began to swing inward. The guards posted inside had barely moved to investigate when Jack’s flash-bang grenade landed at their feet.
Daniel dove toward Apophis’ desk at the sound of the explosion, hands stretched for the pistol that lay there. Apophis moved for it at the same time, as the guard in the room rushed forward. Daniel got to the gun first and snatched it away from Apophis. He rolled off the desk, firing twice at the guard as he went over the edge, planting both rounds squarely in his chest.
Daniel tried to twist toward Apophis, but he was already diving forward. Apophis grabbed Daniel’s arms, slamming them against the leg of the desk. Daniel gasped as he lost his grip on the pistol, letting it bounce away. Apophis tried to reach for it, and Daniel shoved him away and started to climb to his feet.
There was gunfire coming from somewhere within the mansion. Apophis twisted around and kicked Daniel’s legs out from under him. He reached up and slapped a hidden button on the underside of his desk, and a panel on the rear wall slid up.
Daniel scrambled for the gun, too late to stop Apophis from getting out. The door across the room burst open, and one of O’Neill’s strike teams rushed in. “Get her out of here!” Daniel shouted, pointing toward Sha’re, as he ran after Apophis.
The door opened into a narrow corridor, one that Daniel had to walk through sideways. He followed it to a ladder, climbed down, and then had to crawl a hundred yards to another door. He slid it open and dove out into sunlight.
He spun around, getting his bearings. The escape tunnel had opened onto a path in one of the gardens that surrounded the mansion. Apophis was fifty yards ahead of him, running toward the helicopter pad. The helicopter’s rotors were beginning to turn as its pilots prepared to lift off.
Daniel raised his weapon and fired two wild shots as he ran after his target. Apophis stopped and turned, and Daniel recognized the assault rifle in his hands to late.
Jack O’Neill dove out of the bushes next to Daniel, tackling him and knocking both of them clear as Apophis opened fire. They tumbled down a steep embankment and rolled onto the beach below. Jack quickly rolled off Daniel and swore loudly, clutching his left knee.
Daniel leapt to his feet, watching the helicopter rise into the sky. “They can’t get away.”
Jack grimaced and looked up at Daniel. “Sha’re?”
“She’s not on that helicopter.”
Jack nodded and squeezed his radio. “SG-2, take down that chopper.”
“Yes sir.”
The helicopter flew out over the sea, staying low. It was a few hundred yards out when one of the commandos fired on it. The stinger missile streaked out over the water, leaving a trail of white smoke in its wake. It slammed into the rear of the helicopter, blowing the tail off. The helicopter spun wildly as it fell out of the sky and threw a column of water high in the air when it hit the sea. It broke apart on impact, and quickly sank beneath the surface.
Daniel turned from the sinking helicopter to look down at Jack. “Are you okay?”
Jack grimaced and nodded. “Just tweaked my knee,” he said, gingerly rising on his good leg. Daniel reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, helping him stay upright.
“Angler, this is Pitcher. The compound is secure.”
Jack activated his radio. “Roger. Proceed with recovery operations. Sparky, get your people down here. Thirty minutes, and we’re gone.”
Jack took a step forward and nearly collapsed. Daniel hurried forward and grabbed his arm, pulling it over his shoulder.
“Thanks,” Jack mumbled.
“Thank you,” Daniel replied.
New York City, USA
Six weeks later
It wasn’t a surprise to Daniel when he was brought before an NSA review board upon his return to Washington. He had committed an act of treason, and the disk he had copied was still missing.
What was a surprise was the presence at the hearing of not only the Director of the NSA, but also Jack O’Neill, Elizabeth Weir, and several of their superiors. Jack and Elizabeth testified for the board, vouching for his intentions, and his loyalty. In the end, the director deferred to their requests, and Daniel was reassigned.
Which had him, after some time away to look after his wife and pack up his apartment in Cairo, settling in to a cubicle in a nondescript hi-rise office in New York. He had brought few belongings with him. A few pictures of himself and his wife, which were placed on his desk. A stack of language books when into the desk drawers, along with what NSA files the agency allowed him to keep.
A knock caused him to look up. Jack O’Neill stood over him, rapping on the cubicle frame. “Settling in okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, thanks. How are you doing?” Daniel asked, motioning to Jack’s crutches.
Jack shrugged. “Oh, I blew out my ACL again. It’s nothing new, I’ll be on light duty for a few months before I get back into the field. Might even get some time to fish.” He glanced at the photos on Daniel’s desk. “How’s she doing?”
Daniel turned and looked at the photo of his wife. “She’s…she’s in a coma.”
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel shook his head. “The doctor’s can’t find any physical reason why. Her injuries weren’t that severe, she should have woken up by now.” Daniel sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Apophis said something, before I called you guys in. He said that she would be ‘restored’ to me.”
“I think it’s obvious that he never intended to let you go, or to let you have her back.”
“Yeah, maybe. But I can’t help but think that he did this to her, and that he had a way to undo it, too.”
“Daniel, you did the right thing back there. You can’t second guess that.”
“I know. I know. But I’m afraid the only chance Sha’re had is lying at the bottom of the Aegean now.”
“Maybe not,” Jack said. “Director Hammond sent me down to get you up to speed. We’ve been going over the data we recovered from Apohpis’ compound. He was a part of a network of powerful crime bosses. They called themselves the Pantheon, and I’m told their codenames are the names of ancient gods.”
“Apophis said the disk was with one of his partners.”
“If that’s so, one of them might have a cure for your wife, too.” Jack smiled. “Is that a good incentive to help us go get these guys?”
Daniel smiled. “Absolutely.”
“Good. Welcome to the Atlantis Cooperative, Agent Jackson.”
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