Tuesday, 26 November, Apartment 4c, Blenheim Apts, Seattle

The man looking out the of the window in the darkened room lowers the hi-tech binoculars and scowls as he turns to look at the other two men in the room with him. The place had been selected for its view of the motel the target had gone to ground in and should have given him a perfect line of sight to the entrance to the room the short human had paid for, but the fragging Seattle rain was making that impossible right now. The forecast indicates that the rain will let up within the hour, but the target may move in that time. Frustrated, the man shakes his head and swears softly in German, his native tongue.

One of the other two men looks up from where he is sitting on the floor against the wall. “Hans, can we get eyes on the place by sending someone in to look?”

The first man, apparently Hans, nods. “Already done. Coms used the leader’s rather good ‘link to keep tabs on his location and the manager of the little motel proved to be quite susceptible to a bribe and confirmed that the man has taken the room. Helga is in the Stuffer Shack across the street, nursing some bad soycaf and Wilhelm is sleeping off a drunk at the corner, but they are both wireless dark and limited to what they can do right now. These guys have proven to be quite canny and we cannot afford to give ourselves away.”

The third man idly strokes the high-powered sniper rifle in his arms, almost as he would a lover. The rifle is set on a small tripod and is currently aimed a very specific door of the motel, but the sniper has no view due to the sheets of rain. “Just give me the word, Hans. I will take them out, no problem.”

Hans stops pacing and looks sharply at the sniper. “Stop that, Adolf, you know what the Colonel said. So far these guys have not indicated that they are going to kill her and an exchange is in the works. You do not take the shot unless I give the order. Understood?”

Adolf shakes his head. “But she is your own sist…………………………”

His words are cut off by the glance he gets from Hans. “Yes, she is my sister, but she thought she could do better at negotiating in person than by ‘link. It seemed things were going well, at least until the last man joined them. Her coms suddenly going dark means we do not yet know for sure what happened in that ambulance. We only know that she sent that quick message about being afraid for her life after she broke free of the vehicle. It certainly seems that she was taken down, but she has not been killed, although they did find her homing device and disabled it.”

Adolf tries again. “So she could be dead already and we just don’t know it. The actions of the man who went into the sewers with Inga tells us that.”

Hans shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe and maybe not. So far they are dealing in good faith and so are we. If everything works out we get her and then leave this place. If she is dead, then we see what actions the Colonel will want to take against them, but that is for other people to decide, Adolf. We follow orders. And, in my opinion, the actions of the man with Inga are those of a smart man, not one who would have killed her and left her behind. He is clearly able to think on his feet and appears to be as ‘wared as the best of us are. Maybe even better if he took Inga down. The same for the man we tracked to this place. He beat her in a fair fight and that is something none of us could do. So we sit and watch and hope this fragging rain stops. They must have some sort of plan to have split up like they did and I still wish I knew who the fourth person is. That he stayed invisible the entire time points to another careful person. Still, unless the one named Al decides to toss away his rather rare and expensive ‘link, we at least know where he is and we now know that at least two of his companions are on their way to join him.”

Hans goes back to the window and glares at the rain outside, willing it to stop.

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