Clash Of Worlds (23 page)

This fact pleased James for more than one reason. He loved missions and he had never been to Australia, but this wasn’t the thing that he was looking forward to the most.
Sydney is the city where Cody is stationed!
James was excited by the knowledge that he would get a chance to meet up with the young Texan with whom he had built up a close friendship during his time at the training facility. He hadn’t seen Cody in the two years since they had become agents.
Has it really been that
long? He really couldn’t wait to meet up with him again.

The professor now ended the briefing and wished the agents good luck. He then spoke one last time. “Before I sign off, James?”

“Yes sir?”

“It’s good to hear from you,” the professor said, who then ended the transmission.

James smiled to himself. It felt good knowing that the professor had wanted to speak to him on a personal level too, but he had to remain professional.

The three agents removed their earpieces as the briefing concluded. Sophie tossed hers to the floor, almost in an uncaring nature. She sat down alone, in the corner of the small room. James had picked up on the fact Sophie had looked bemused during the entire briefing.

“What’s the matter with her?” whispered Boris.

“I’m not sure, but I think you should gather our things. We’re leaving for Sydney immediately.”

Boris nodded and began to gather their belongings and other items from around the room.

James slowly approached Sophie, walking nervously with his hands in his pockets. For all of his unique skills and abilities, he never quite learned how to deal with a woman’s feelings and a clearly moody one at that! Sophie sat facing the wall, shielding her face from view. She heard James approaching and began to wipe a few tears from her cheek.

“So are you going to tell me what’s going on?” James said softly. Sophie remained motionless. James picked up a nearby chair and placed it next to her. He sat down and put his hand on the bottom of her face, slowly turning it around to reveal her tears. James was a little taken back. He had never seen her upset before. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing, I’m just being stupid,” she answered, feeling embarrassed that James was seeing her like this.

“What is it? Maybe I can help,” said James. The whole situation in Tokyo had affected Sophie far greater than he had first realised. James was different to her. He could simply turn his emotions on and off when he needed to. Everything he did whilst he was an agent, whether it be during a mission, or his undercover job as a banker in New York, he never let things get personal.

Sophie had made the mistake of letting herself get close to her work colleagues whilst in Tokyo. She was close to Arisu and especially Marty. She knew that she had broken Marty’s heart. Sophie had grown feelings for him, but she could never see him again. And Arisu….she had watched Arisu die before her very eyes and hadn’t lifted a finger to try and stop it. She could also now never return to Tokyo or even Japan for that matter after they departed for their next mission. The Japanese, (as mentioned earlier, were no friends of the World Order) would arrest and imprison her if she was ever discovered on this country again. Tokyo had been part of her life over the past year and a half and to suddenly have that taken away and become one of the nation’s most wanted criminals had hit her hard.

James tried his best to give her words of encouragement, but he knew she had to find the strength to carry on from within herself. Sophie appreciated James efforts to comfort her and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. “Thanks. Now come on, we’ve got a job to do!” she said rising to her feet.

The three of them left the studio and headed for a private airport on the outskirts of the city. A jet was there to greet them and they boarded the vehicle, which set off into the sky. It’s destination: Sydney, Australia.

Chad walked through a busy corridor full of youths. The corridor was much like something you would find in a school. Flyers for social clubs were posted all over the walls and lockers were lined up in large quantities along the corridor. The youths were a little older than your regular school goers, however. This was because Chad was walking inside a corridor in the University of Paris. Chad reached a door, which had a large glass window on the top section of it.

Chad peered through the glass and could see a lecture theatre full of students and a male teacher standing on a stage at the near side of the room, close to where the door was located. Chad had come to speak with the teacher, but it appeared a lecture was in progress. He waited patiently outside the classroom for over half an hour. Finally, the class finished and the pupils began to disperse from the large lecture room.

Several of the female students eyed Chad affectionately as they exited the theatre. Chad paid them no mind.
Once upon a time I would have loved that,
he thought. Stacey had seen an end to his womanising ways however. When the majority of the students had left the room, Chad made his way inside. The few pupils who remained made their way past him as he entered. The teacher, who had been on the stage up until now, sat at a desk in the far corner of the room. This man was no stranger to Chad. They had met two years ago under rather bizarre circumstances. The man was the French archaeologist whom he and James encountered during their raid on the mysterious tower off the coast of Costa Rico during their practical examination to become an agent.

Since their meeting two years earlier, the Frenchmen, whose real name was Gilles Beaumont, had returned to his old job as a University Professor of Archaeology. After investigating Beaumont’s background thoroughly, the World Order had concluded that he was indeed the honest man he proclaimed to be. He had simply been hired, somewhat against his will, by the ninja group who invaded the island for his knowledge and expertise of archaeology. The organisation had deemed him not to be a threat and released him from custody. They had called upon him from time to time when they wished his opinion on archaeological matters. However, as Professor Milton himself was familiar with the archaeological field, Beaumont was only called on rare occasions. Chad had bumped into the professor several months ago during his patrols of the French city and the two had been in regular contact ever since.

Beaumont realised someone was still left inside the lecture room and lowered his glasses down his nose a little. “Ah Chad, my friend. Do take a seat!” Chad accepted Beaumont’s invitation and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the Frenchman’s desk. “So what do I owe the pleasure of your company today?” Halfway through his question, however, the Frenchman had guessed from Chad’s glum facial expression that this was not a social visit. “It’s getting worse isn’t it?” said Beaumont. It was clear he knew about the nightmares that had been haunting Chad throughout the night. You see, it was not the first time that Chad had been plagued by such images.

The dreams had begun over six months ago. They were a rarity to begin with, only occurring perhaps once every several weeks. As time had gone on, the hellish nightmares had become far more frequent. Chad was now having them two, sometimes even three times a week. He looked jaded as if he hadn’t had a decent nights sleep in a long time.

Chad knew of Sergeant Coopers concerns over his status as an active agent of the World Order. Stacey had told him as much. Therefore, he didn’t wish anyone in that organisation to learn of the constant horrific dreams he was having. He hadn’t even told James. Chad instead had confided in Gilles Beaumont, which was kind of ironic when he thought about it. It was he who had been the most untrusting towards Beaumont to begin with. Even after overwhelming evidence proved the Frenchman was nothing more than a pawn in the ninja group’s scheme during the mission two years ago, he still had his doubts. Gradually, over time, he began to build bridges with the man, now to the point where he actually trusted Beaumont more than he trusted many members of the World Order.
I trashed you to begin with and now you’ve become my guardian angel.
Chad had to laugh at the thought. “They’re getting more intense, they feel so real,” said Chad, referring to his nightmares.

“More real? How do you mean? After all, they are only dreams…right?” replied a concerned Beaumont.

“They feel real like I’m actually there.”

“You mean the dark place you’ve been seeing?” said Beaumont. “Sometimes dreams are your mind bringing forth your most inner desires, or your worries…or even memories long forgotten.”

Chad continued on about the images he had seen. “I don’t recognise the place at all, but it feels…I don’t know, somehow familiar. And the voice…”

“Voice? The one who speaks to you throughout?” Asked Beaumont.

“Yeah, it’s the voice of a man, or maybe it’s my voice? I’m not sure.”

It was these part’s of Chad’s dreams that worried Beaumont most of all. Chad had told him of a voice that spoke to him during the nightmares. The voice spoke to him throughout, telling him to do certain things. Chad always obeyed the voice in his dream. Beaumont was well aware that crazy people often confessed to hearing voices before committing an unforgivable act. Beaumont didn’t think Chad was crazy, but he was at a loss to explain the meaning behind the voice in Chad’s nightmares.

“I killed her this time, I killed her in the dream,” said Chad, sounding a little upset as he spoke.

“I assume you are referring to your girlfriend?”

Chad had told Beaumont of his girlfriend, although he did not tell him her identity. He trusted Beaumont, but not enough to tell him that he was dating the daughter of Sergeant Cooper. He could not risk the sergeant finding out about their relationship. Only James knew his girlfriend’s true identity.

“The voice asked you to kill her?” asked Beaumont.

“No. I did it out of anger,” Chad admitted.

This was much to the relief of Beaumont. Psychopathic killers often committed murders at the orders of voices in their heads, and although only a dream, it would not be good if Chad had done the same. “The death of a loved one within a dream could be the minds way of symbolising fear of loss.” Said Beaumont. “Do you fear losing her?”

“It’s hard to explain. Our relationship is kind of forbidden,” explained Chad.

“Then why don’t you tell the sergeant that you love his daughter?” answered Beaumont. The Frenchman was indeed clever. He had deducted that for a man of Chad’s intelligence and position, his girlfriend would have had to be someone who was fraught with danger in order for him to be afraid. They would need to be associated with powerful and dangerous people for Chad to hide the relationship. It had been an educated guess on Gilles Beaumont’s part that his girlfriend could be none other than Stacey Cooper, daughter of Sergeant Cooper, the man in charge of the most formidable and secret organisation in the world.

The Frenchman had simply thought of the most dangerous situation he could fathom. A situation in which the outcome would be disastrous if the knowledge of such a relationship had become known.
Chad and Sergeant Coopers Daughter,
Beaumont had thought.
Such a relationship brings new meaning to the phrase ‘playing with fire’.

Chad considered denying it for a moment but quickly realised it was pointless. He understood Beaumont was a clever man and besides, he seemed to have figured it out for himself. “It’s complicated,” said Chad, sounding very dejected.

“Keeping such dark secrets can be a terrible burden, they are not good for the soul,” replied Beaumont. The Frenchman was indeed a wise man, so wise in fact that just for a moment, Chad wondered whether or not he had figured out his other secret, the unrevealed truth only Chad and James shared. His fears quickly disappeared with Beaumont’s next words. “It must be a strain on her too, to keep such a thing from her father.”

Chad stood up from his seat. “I won’t lie, it’s not easy, for the both of us. But it’s just the way things have to be…for now anyway.”

“What do you think would happen if her father ever found out?”

“I’d probably be expelled from the organisation, lose my status as an agent, left to fend for myself,” answered Chad, in a very non-caring manner.

Beaumont was well aware of the unconcerned demeanour of Chad’s answer. “Don’t you care?”

“About what? My job? Not really! Nothing will come between us, not even him!” said Chad, his tone slightly more aggressive than he would have liked.

The Frenchman stood up from his seat and placed his hand on Chad’s shoulder. “Let’s get out of here and get a drink shall we?” Chad nodded and the pair exited the lecture theatre.

Several hours later, Chad opened the front door to his apartment and walked inside. Relief flowed through his body as he crossed the threshold of the front door. He had grown into the place after spending almost six months here, but the real cause for his positive frame of mind was the fact that Stacey was still around. She wasn’t due to travel back for a few more days and he was looking forward to spending more quality time with her. He carried in his left hand a bottle of champagne, just the type he knew she would love.

He had only been gone for a few hours, but he wished he hadn’t left her at all. The talk with Gilles Beaumont had cleared his head though and he was eager to catch up with Stacey now. He wanted to make the most of their time together before she had to leave and return to her father.

“Chad?” Stacey called out. The young girl had heard him come in. He found her sitting on the couch in the living room. The room itself was nice enough, just about what you’d expect from an average apartment in Paris. It had a large, open plan Living room, similar to that of a studio. The kitchen was offset at the rear of the room, making them both one in the same.

Stacey rushed up from the couch and the pair embraced in a hug and then locked lips. Chad hid the champagne behind his back. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Yeah about that, where have you been?” she asked, spoken with just enough of a serious tone that Chad knew he had to provide a suitable answer. She did have a point too. The pair never got to spend nearly as much time together as either would have liked.