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The Hobsons Choice Affair Chapter 29
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Disclaimer
This is a work of amature fiction, no contravention of copyright is intended and no profit is made from this endeavour.
April had made a complete sweep of the immediate area. To her relief,
nobody seemed to have noticed the sudden disappearance of Ryan and
Angelique. "The sooner we finish here and I can get out of this outfit, the
happier I'll be," she thought to herself as she made her way back to the
suite that her fellow agents were hiding out in.
Rounding a corner she almost bumped into Ryan. Her gun was in her hand and
pointing at him before she noticed Illya walking behind him. "Illya?
What's going on? Are we moving the prisoners?" Even as she spoke she
noticed that Illya was looking as if he was about to be sick. Ryan by
contrast had a smug look on his face and seemed very unconcerned about being
in the custody of one of UNCLE's top agents.
"There has been a change of plan," said Illya, his voice carefully neutral.
"I am taking Ryan with me. You and Mark are to wait an hour to make sure
that we have not been followed, and then proceed back to the San Francisco
headquarters. I...I shall be taking Ryan to collect some documents...we
will join you as soon as possible."
April searched Illya's face for a signal to what was going on. "Do you
think it's wise to split our forces like that? I know that we have
Angelique and Ryan, but there's still a lot of nasty individuals running
around." Illya didn't respond. "Well at least let me come with you."
"NO!" snapped Illya, looking clearly ill at ease. "I am perfectly
capable..." He took a deep breath before continuing in a calmer tone.
"This is something that is better dealt with by a single agent. You have
your orders, now carry them out."
April bit her lip. Something was wrong. She couldn't say what exactly, but
all her instincts were telling her not to let Illya go off alone with this
man. Unfortunately, she knew that Illya was not one to be dissuaded from
something once his mind was made up. "Well just be careful," she said,
finally. "I'll see you back in San Francisco." Brushing past Illya, she
made her way down the corridor.
Illya escorted Ryan to the elevator and thumped the button to close the
doors.
"Nicely handled there," said Ryan, a sneer in his voice. "I bet it's nice
to work with people who trust you like that. Bet they wouldn't be so
friendly though if they saw those photos. You know how photogenic you
are..."
Illya slammed Ryan up against the wall of the elevator car. "If you show
anybody those photos...if you *speak* of them to anybody, I will kill you, I
swear it."
Ryan was half choked but he managed to gasp out, "You...you kill me...twenty
four hours later, there'll be copies on the desk of every agent in
UNCLE...*and* the KGB."
Illya released his grip and stepped back feeling sick to his stomach.
"No...you can't...you're bluffing..."
Ryan coughed for a few seconds and then added, "Are you willing to take that
chance? If I don't make a phone call at exactly 9am tomorrow, those photos
will be on their way." Moving over to where Illya was slumped against the
wall he roughly caressed the smaller man's cheek. "But if you behave
yourself for twenty four hours...then maybe I'll consider making that call
and having them destroyed." Bending his head, he forced his mouth onto
Illya's and kissed him hard, crushing his lips against the Russian's. After
what seemed like an eternity to Illya, Ryan pulled away and stood there
sneering. "This is just the beginning, so you'd better get used to it."
It took all of Illya's training not to simply shoot the man where he stood,
but he knew that if he did that, then his career, and maybe even his life,
would be over as surely as if he simply put the bullet through his own
brain. His only hope for survival was to do whatever Ryan wanted...no
matter what the cost to his soul.
-----------------
"What happened to Illya while I was gone?" asked April quietly when she
rejoined Mark. Napoleon seemed to be asleep in an armchair, and Angelique
was bound and gagged in the next room.
"Don't know what you mean luv," said Mark. "He interrogated Ryan and then
said he needed to pick up some documents with him."
"Were you listening in on their conversation?"
"No...why?"
"I don't know," said April slowly. "He just didn't seem 'right' when I met
him in the corridor. I really wish he hadn't taken off like that,
especially with Ryan."
"Yeah, me too," replied Mark.
"And me three," thought Napoleon, who was listening unobtrusively.
"Still," continued Mark. "He's probably just tired. He's been through a
lot in the last few days."
"Another reason why I wish he'd let me go along as backup."
"I'm sure he'll be fine," said Mark, hoping that he sounded more convincing
than he felt. "Besides, if there's any trouble he'll call for help, right?"
-------------------
As Illya settled into the driver's seat of the car, Ryan suddenly reached
over and grabbed his communicator. Before Illya could say anything, he had
snapped it in two and thrown it out the window. "You won't be needing to
talk to anyone until we're finished. Now drive until I tell you to stop."
------------------
"Has there been any contact from Mr. Kuryakin?" asked Mr. Waverly over the
communications system.
"No Sir," replied Mark.
He, April and Napoleon had returned to San Francisco as arranged. Angelique
was safely in custody and being prepped for a full interrogation. But it
was now several hours later and there had been no news from Illya. Efforts
to raise him on his communicator had met with no success, and the tracer
beacon had proved inoperative.
"Damnable business," said Mr. Waverly. "Did he give any indication as to
the importance of these documents?"
"No, but he was acting a bit 'off'..." Mark hesitated before continuing,
"Do you think it was a trap?"
"That is always a possibility." There was a note of reluctance in Mr.
Waverly's voice as he continued, "Unfortunately, there is also another
alternative for Mr. Kuryakin's absence."
April and Mark exchanged puzzled glances before the implication hit them.
"Sir!" exclaimed April. "You can't mean it. There's no way that Illya
would turn traitor."
Mark echoed his agreement.
"I find it difficult to believe myself," replied Mr. Waverly. "But the fact
remains that Mr. Kuryakin has broken any number of protocols in his handling
of this affair, not the least of which is taking a potentially dangerous
prisoner into his own custody and failing to deliver him safely and
promptly. The fact that he has made himself untraceable at this point in
time..."
"He may not be untraceable," said April slowly.
Mark glanced at her as she continued; "I was worried about him...so I
planted a tracer on him when I passed him in the corridor." Seeing Mark's
expression she quickly added, "I didn't want to say anything earlier, just
in case I was overreacting."
"I could kiss you girl," said Mark, a big smile on his face. "C'mon, lets
find him and get him out of whatever mess he's gotten himself into."
Breaking the connection, he and April left the office.
Napoleon had been waiting impatiently outside. "Well? Has there been any
news?"
After being checked over by the medic's, he had been offered transport to a
hotel of his choosing, but had requested to be allowed stay until Illya
showed up. As the hours passed, he had grown more and more concerned for
the safety of the blond agent.
April shook her head, "Napoleon, you really should go and get some rest."
"No way, I need to know if Illya's all right. Why hasn't he called in?
Don't you guys have to check in on a regular basis or something?"
Mark and April exchanged glances, "Napoleon," said Mark, "We're going to see
if we can find out where he's at. Just sit tight and we'll let you know
what's going on just as soon as we find out ourselves."
"I can't just sit around and wait."
"This isn't your fight Napoleon," said April gently. "Illya is our
friend...we'll find him." Seeing the look of disappointment on Napoleon's
face, she relented slightly. "Look...if you promise to stay in the car and
out of trouble...I'll see about letting you come with us once we track
Illya's signal. Okay?"
"Okay," said Napoleon, breathing a sigh of relief.
Their progress towards the communications department was interrupted by a
young agent who handed a slip of paper to Mark. He read it, raised his
eyebrows in surprise and handed it to April.
"What's wrong?" asked Napoleon.
"It appears that Angelique wishes to unburden herself," said April.
"That's good, right?"
"Not really," replied Mark. "You see, she's decided that she'll only talk
to you."
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