Part 8 - Rita

Both girls burst out laughing at Curlly's announcement. "Curlly however did you find that out? Or do I really want to know?" Rita said between laughs.

"Let's just say I heard him in an unguarded moment." Curlly said as she brushed her nails on her shirt. "Call it my excellent skills."

"Sherry! What are you doing dilly-dallying about! They are waiting for you at van access. Rita you should be in comm looking over the profile or do you think you know it already. What kind of example are you making for the new operative? Curlly have you seen North?" Operations was bellowing from across the hall.

The girls all looked at each other and decided that silence this time was the better part of valor. Rita and Sherry scattered. Rita grabbed Emily's arm as she left. Leaving poor Curlly behind to answer Operations query.

"Now Emily, you will learn in time that we at CLHQ protect our own. So I don't think I have to say this but what you heard about North cannot be repeated." Rita said in a low whisper as they walked towards comm.

Emily nodded in agreement liking the fact that they stood by each other. But she was wondering what North was doing going out on a date with someone other than Operations. The best thing to do was gather information and then analyze about everything she had encountered. "No problem Rita. I doubt Operations would ask me."

Rita laughed, "You never know."

At Comm Birkoff was watching their entrance with great interest. "Hey Rita, nice job there."

"Birkoff give me a break you have seen worse from me. On the Richter scale I would say it's a 5. Hey Birkoff this is..."

"Emily imported from Poland the latest addition to the CLHQ." Birkoff interrupted.

"Show off!" Rita chided.

"Hi." Emily said. Thinking this place was a roller coaster ride you never knew what was going to happen next.

"Hope you like it here." Birkoff said as he tapped the keys on his computer. "The team is on route ETA to meeting about 15 minutes."

"Emily you can sit there and observe." Rita said while she put on the comm set. "Birkoff call up the profile for this mission please." Birkoff called up the Intel and read through it. They were meeting a woman, Colette Dubois, she was an informant that had her hands in many pies. She was not exactly trustworthy then again who was in that profession.

Time passed as Rita continued to study. "Birkoff did you do a perimeter sweep?" She said as she looked at the map.

"Of course Rita and it is clean. The team has arrived."

Rita was watching the meet through the glasses Sherry had on. The meet was at a restaurant that was not yet open to the public. Michael and Sherry walked in. Sitting at the table with two bodyguards at her back was a beautiful woman with long blond hair and piercing jade eyes. Rita estimated her age to be around 32. An uh oh Rita thought it seems she only has eyes for Michael.

"Hello. I am so glad you could make it. I am looking forward to doing business with you." Colette said in a sultry voice as she put out her hand for Michael to shake and then held on to Michael's hand for longer than necessary. "Please sit down." Colette seemed to be ignoring Sherry. Since Rita could not see Sherry's face she could only imagine it.

Birkoff who was watching the meet as well began to laugh. Rita glared at him. "Don't worry Rita I am sure that Michael has his hands full enough with you and Sherry that another woman would just be too much for him." As he laughed again.

"Birkoff one of these days you are going to get it." Rita said them she leaned over Birkoff to press some keys on the computer. She had a funny feeling that something was not right. An informant never got far by insulting someone on the first meeting. Calling up the thermal screen she noted that in the kitchen there were red moving points that were not there before indicating the restaurant was not as empty as it first seemed and they were hostiles.

"It's a setup there are 3 hostiles in the kitchen. It's a trap. Get out." Rita said quickly into her comm piece.

From the perch Operations spoke into the intercom, "What is the mission status?"

From her comm piece she heard a burst of gunfire. "Sir we have been misled." She said as she cut off communications with Operations and proceeded to getting Michael and Sherry out of there safely. Sherry and Michael had flipped a table over and were shooting from behind it. "Mentz and Snow get in there and prepare a clean egress route for Michael and Sherry."

Part 9 - Emily

Emily watched as Rita and Birkoff tried to pull the team out of the ambush. "Birkoff, the other way out?" asked Rita.

"There are two - one through the kitchen door and the main one." They are surrounded.

"Birkoff, get us out of here." they heard Michael's voice. "Two hostiles down."

"I'm trying, Michael." answered Birkoff, still typing. "Mentz, try to get there from behind."

"Copy that." they heard Mentz through the loud speaker. Suddenly Birkoff pulled Rita closer to the monitor.

"Look!" he said. "More of them!" They heard shooting.

"Birkoff, we are not clear. They are all over us!" that was Snow.

Emily looked thrilled at Rita. She could almost see the scene. Mintz shouted.

"Mintz is down," said Snow.

"Birkoff." that was Michael again. "What is... "

"Michael? Michael!" Rita shouted to her comm set. She looked at Birkoff. "We lost contact."

Operations stormed to the comm. "What the hell is going on?" he asked.

"We've lost our team, Sir." said Birkoff.

"What?! Are they alive?"

"Possibly yes. Mintz got hurt, but he is still alive. They got captured."

"Find out what happened." Then he looked at Rita. "And you - prepare the rescue team. We don't have time, so do it quickly. Try to get North."

"Sir, we don't have many operatives here at place."

"Take whoever is in CLHQ now. I want them to be ready in 5 minutes." he left the comm.

"Birkoff, where is Nikita?" asked Rita quickly.

"Prague."

"Who else have you got?"

Birkoff checked the base quickly. "Avillion and Kimberly." Rita nodded. "Ok then. I'll lead the mission personally. I'll take Avillion and Kimberly and..." she looked at Emily "...you. Get ready." Emily nodded and left the comm. "Birkoff, try to track them."

"I'm trying all the time." he answered.

"Good." Rita looked at Genie who was standing near. "Genie, call Avillion and Kimberly. Then tell Deiket to prepare the psyche file of Colette Dubois once again. Tell her to check all the possibilities. And get me Sly to my office. I'll need strategy."

Part 10 - Deiket

Deiket was still puzzled. She had talked to all of CLHQ's Moms and they hadn't revealed a thing. "Big surprise." she muttered, "This is Section, even if it is a less formal branch." She sighed and started walking back to her room, but stopped when she heard her name called out. She turned around to face Genie running towards her.

"Deiket! I'm glad I caught you before you left for your mission! There's been a problem with the Dubois mission. The team has been captured. This is Priority One! Operations is going to get someone else to take your place on all your assignments. We need you to re-profile Colette Dubois and then join the rescue mission. Check ALL the possibilities!"

Deiket nodded and watched as Genie took off again, then walked back to comm. Checking in with Birkoff, she got all of the details of the failed mission, especially those that included her subject. Confiscating a computer, she sat down to work.

****

After an hour, she had the new profile worked up, run past a few of her colleagues, and sent to everyone's panels. Deiket had found out that this woman was not what she had seemed, and apparently, she wasn't going to miss her mission after all.

Colette Dubois was not who she seemed.

After much digging, and a rather threatening phone call to her own informant, she learned that Ms. Dubois had been persuaded to join a very new, very dangerous terrorist group called White Fire. The leader of White Fire, Jared McGough, had seduced Dubois, convincing her that Section and all its affiliates were working with certain terrorist organizations, using the same tactics as Adrian had once enforced upon Nikita. (Rumor of THAT mission had started almost immediately after Adrian was brought back to Section and betrayed by Nikita).

Dubois had become McGough's lover in the past few months and together, they had escalated the rate of terrorist activity generated from White Fire. Deiket's original mission was to bring Jared McGough back to Section...

Alive.

"Well," she said to herself, "I'll just have to see that that's done, as well as extracting our team!"

That decided, she headed over to Birkoff's station, where the rescue team was beginning to assemble...