The Gears In My Mind Are Turning Like Dancers - Chapter 6 {Cobra Starship, The Academy Is...}
“Pete, what the hell? I got your message - what the fuck happened here?” Gabe’s eyes widened as he entered the shop.
“I had to go in today, so I left William in charge here and when I got back late last night, I came by the shop just to check things out and it was just as it is now. I tried calling William, but I couldn’t get a hold of him and then this morning this came in the mail.” Pete bit his lip as he gestured towards a laptop that sat on his desk.
“What is that?” Gabe asked, walking over to it, frowning.
“It’s a live feed, Gabe.”
“A live feed of what?” Gabe turned to Pete, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.
“I think that you should take a look yourself.” Pete walked over to Gabe and opened the laptop, turning it around so that Gabe could see it. The live feed took up the entire monitor, and what he saw on the screen made Gabe feel both uncomfortable and angry.
The camera was surveying a small, seemingly windowless room, very dimly lit, and it was aimed directly at William. The young man was slumped in an aluminum chair, his arms hanging at his sides, wrists cuffed to the aluminum bars connecting the legs on each side of the chair. There was a dark cloth tied over his eyes, his ankles were bound to the legs of the chair and a strip of fabric with a knot in the center had been pulled tightly through his mouth.
“He’s not moving!” Gabe turned to Pete, frowning. “Why the FUCK isn’t he moving?”
“Try and relax, Gabe.” Pete took a deep breath. “He’s not dead, he’s just unconscious - they wouldn’t bother with restraining him if he were dead.”
“You said that he was safe!” Gabe turned on Pete, his glare menacing. “Why did this happen to him? Who took him? And more importantly, where the FUCK is he?”
“Look, I know that you don’t want to.” Pete sighed. “But Gabe you need to CALM the fuck down!”
“I’ll calm down,” Gabe hissed, speaking through clenched teeth, “when you tell me why the hell your innocent employee is on a live feed camera tied to a chair.”
“I got a letter with the laptop,” Pete began, closing his eyes. “It seems as though someone knows where you were last Wednesday.”
“That’s not possible.” Gabe shook his head. “I was careful; you and I both know that I’m careful, Pete.”
“Yeah, well they must have been watching you from before - they knew exactly where you were.” Pete looked seriously at Gabe. “They want the map. They said that if YOU don’t bring the map to them in the next 48 hours, they’re going to kill William.”
“Well then get in touch with them and set up the meet.”
“What?” Pete frowned. “Gabe, you’re crazy! You know that you can’t make that trade! This is just one casualty; that’s part of your job.”
“No, Pete,” Gabe hissed. “This is what happens when YOU don’t think about the consequences that what you do could have! If he KNEW what he was getting into going to work for you and did it anyways, yes, I would agree with you, he would be on his own, but he didn’t know, he didn’t have the chance to back out!”
“Gabriel Eduardo Saporta, think of your country!” Pete grabbed Gabe’s wrist. “You are an employee of the United States of America and you will NOT betray them for some law student with a nice ass and a tight pair of jeans.”
“You think that this is about fucking him?” Gabe let out a dry laugh. “Really, Pete? If this were all about sex I would just go find someone ELSE to do it with. This is about William. This is about the INNOCENT young man who is currently undergoing both imprisonment and torture simply because he got involved with us. If you try to keep me from rescuing him, I’ll just have to kill you.”
“You wouldn’t do that.” Pete shook his head. “I’m your handler, you have a duty to me.”
“And you - no, we, have a duty to make sure that things like this don’t happen to people like William!” Gabe shouted. “I really hope that I don't have to hurt you, but I will if you make me.”
“Fine.” Pete paused, thinking for a minute. “You take the map and get William to safety. Once William is in good hands you go BACK in, I don’t care how many people you have to kill or how much danger you put your own life in, but you WILL get that map back, are we understood?”
“Yes.” Gabe nodded. “Get William, go back, get map, take no shit, don’t make Pete regret this.”
“Good.” Pete sighed. “You go get prepped, I’ll set up the meet.”
“Yes, sir.” Gabe turned and started walking towards the door of the shop, ready to speed home and get ready for the mission, unsure of where it would take him.
“Saporta?” Pete asked, stopping Gabe before he was out the door.
“What?” Gabe asked.
“Call me sir ever again with that demeaning tone and it will be the LAST thing that you ever do.”
“Like you could take me.” Gabe shrugged off Pete’s threat and walked out of the door. He was nervous for the first time in a long time. Missions were usually easy for him - yes, they almost always bore the risk of civilian casualties, but so far, the civilians hadn’t been anyone that he knew…let alone someone that he was sure he was beginning to care about. William was a smart, determined, young man, a credit to society and his death was NOT going to be on Gabe’s conscience; of that, the young agent was sure. If there was ever a time to be confident in his abilities as a spy, Gabe knew that the time was now and he was not going to fail, not when there was so much at stake.