Missions of the Retrieval Team - Kiltmen Down

[ccga3359]

I think Ivana Rulital is actually Alan H in trousers!

[Splash_4]

Why does this remind me of a Pinky and the Brain episode??? "What do you want to do tongiht Brain?"

[Tattoo Bradley]

WHAT A HOOT!! This has really gotten good.

[davedove]

Why does this remind me of a Pinky and the Brain episode??? "What do you want to do tongiht Brain?"

The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to take over the world!

Thanks for the kudos everybody. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow and into next week, so I won't have much time to write. There will be more though, so stay tuned.

[Canuck]

Meaning we have to deal with reruns until the new season.
That's OK as long as the residual cheques keep coming in.

[davedove]

Commercial Break


Nighttime outside a large manor house


We see a young African American woman, dressed in a black jumpsuit, with black shoes and stocking cap, hiding behind some bushes. Two guards with submachine guns are patrolling the yard between the bushes and the house.

The scene focuses on the woman. Across the screen these words are flashed:

Ms. Raven, operative of the Retrieval Team

The scene pulls back. The guards are walking in opposite directions, away from each other. The woman leaves the bushes and runs across the yard between the two men, out of their sight.

As the woman is running, the scene flashes to her black, athletic shoe striking the ground.

The scene returns to the woman running and we see her dive behind a decorative wall, just before the guards turn around again.

The scene changes to behind the wall. We see the woman pull out some small tools and use them to open the lock on the door. She opens the door quietly and steps into the building.

The scene changes to inside the house in a darkened room. The woman quietly moves across the room to a set of stairs.

The scene flashes to her shoe being gently placed on the floor.

The scene changes to the woman quietly walking up the stairs.

The scene changes to the hallway at the top of the stairs. We see the woman quietly move down the hallway to an open door.

The scene changes to a darkened, empty bedroom. The woman enters the door and moves to the window. She opens the window quietly and climbs out.

The scene changes to the outside the window. The woman climbs out onto the ledge. She slowly works her way along the ledge.

The scene changes to her shoe being moved along the ledge.

The scene changes back to the woman on the ledge. She reaches another window, gently opens it, and climbs inside.

The scene changes to another darkened bedroom. This one, however, has someone sleeping in the bed. The woman slips quietly across the room to a picture on the wall.

She gently lifts the picture from its hook and sets it aside. The door to a safe is set into the wall behind where the picture was hung.

The woman removes a small device from her belt, which she attaches to the safe. Tiny lights flash on the device. The woman turns the combination dial slowly, which causes different lights to flash on the device. Suddenly, all the lights on the device turn green and she stops turning the dial. She reaches to open the safe.

When the woman opens the door to the safe, alarms suddenly begin to sound. The person on the bed stirs and sits up. We see it is a heavyset man. He sees the woman at the safe and moves to apprehend her.

The woman jumps up and delivers a spinning kick to the man’s head.

The scene changes to her shoe impacting the side of the man’s head.

The scene changes back and we see the man fall to the floor, unconscious.

The woman quickly retrieves her equipment and removes a small bag from the safe.

She moves to the window, removing a rope and hook from a small pack on her back. She places the hook over the windowsill and tosses the other end of the rope out of the window. She then climbs out.

The scene changes to the woman on the ledge outside the window. She grabs the rope, wraps it around herself and steps off the ledge to rappel down the wall.

The scene changes to show her shoe land on the wall and push off again.

The scene changes back and we see the woman land on the ground. She gives the rope a sharp flip and the hook comes loose from the window and falls to the ground. She quickly winds up the rope and jams it back into her pack. She begins to run across the yard.

We hear dogs barking and suddenly to Doberman’s burst into the scene.

The scene flashes to show her shoe splashing in a puddle.

The scene changes back and we see the woman grab a tree branch with both hands as she runs. Her momentum causes her to swing around the branch and she catches herself atop the branch, out of reach of the dogs. We still hear them barking from below.

She stands up on the branch. She leaps from the branch towards a nearby wall.

The scene flashes to her shoe landing atop the wall.

Flashing back, we see the woman standing on the wall. A pickup truck comes down the road and slows as it passes under the woman. She leaps from the wall into the back of the truck.

The scene flashes to her feet landing in the bed of the truck.

Flashing back, the woman moves to the front of the truck. She reaches up to open the passenger door, and then swings into the seat, closing the door behind her.

The scene changes to inside the truck cab. A woman with dark blond hair that is tied back in a ponytail is driving the truck. She looks over at the woman who just entered the truck.

The black-clad woman removes the stocking cap and shakes her long hair loose. Reaching into her pouch, she removes the bag she took from the safe. She empties the contents of the bag into her hand, revealing a jeweled necklace crafted in a Renaissance style. She looks up at the drive and smiles.

The driver returns the smile and the two women high-five each other.

The scene changes to show just a shoe of the same style as the black clad woman was wearing. It is a black athletic shoe. Part of the decoration is a black leather ‘X’ sewn to the side of the shoe.

The following words are displayed on the screen:

The X-Trainer from X Marks the Scot, because life is an adventure.

[davedove]

Scene 24


Private manor owned by Globo-Fashion


I watched as the guards led Robert away. “What is going to happen to him?” I asked.

“He will be reeducated,” said Ivana. “His mind will be reprogrammed to accept my way of thinking.”

“What do you mean ‘reprogrammed’? You can’t just change someone’s thoughts.”

“Ah, but I can Mr. Dove. I have already done so with many of my guards. And I am currently doing it with those I have kidnapped. It’s not a difficult process. Would you like to see it?”

I saw this as an opportunity to learn the layout of the house better. “Yes, I would like to see that.”

“I knew that you would. You think you can learn something to thwart my plans. You will be disappointed, however. My plan is well underway and you cannot stop it now.”

As we were sitting there and the servants brought drinks and appetizers to us, I noticed that one of the servants kept making eye contact with me. She was a very attractive woman with dark hair. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had seen her somewhere before.

“Come, let us go,” said Ivana. She gestured to the guards and two of the men came up behind me with their guns drawn. “We wouldn’t want you to attempt any surprised now, would we Mr. Dove?” She rose from her chair and moved to the hallway.

The guards prodded me with their guns, so I rose from my seat and followed Ivana. I noticed that the same servant was watching me intently.

Ivana led me down the hallway to a guarded door. The guard opened the door for us, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

We made our way down several flights of stairs until we reached a door at the bottom. As we opened the door, a guard on the other side reached for his sidearm until he saw that it was Ivana and relaxed.

After passing through another guarded door, we entered a small room with a glass window along one wall. Looking through the window, I could see five men seated in chairs watching a video screen. Various images were flashed quickly across the screen, almost too fast to make out the individual images. The men were also wearing headphones. The men were facing the opposite direction, so I could not see their faces.

Two men were seated in the room with us, watching the other room and occasionally adjusting the controls on a panel before them.

“Welcome to my reeducation center, Mr. Dove,” she said, gesturing through the glass.

“What’s happening to those men?” I asked.

“The screen in front of them continues to flash specially chosen scenes keyed to probes placed on their bodies. When it is something I want them to accept, nothing happens, but when it is something I am trying to eradicate from their thoughts, a small painful shock is delivered to them. At the same time, vocal reinforcement of this process is being given to them through the headphones. And finally, they have been given a drug to put them in a more receptive frame of mind.”

“So, you’re brainwashing them to believe what you want them to?”

“That is a crude way of describing it, but yes, you are essentially correct. Isn’t it ingenious?”

“No, it’s twisted. You’re taking away their freedom of choice.”

“Exactly. I can see you don’t approve. A pity, I suppose you will have to be reeducated as well, but not before dinner. It is always good to have dinner guests, even if they are enemies.”

“We dress for dinner,” she continued, “and it is always formal. Since you seem to have an affinity for kilts, a formal kilt outfit will be provided for you. Enjoy it, for it will be the last time you will wear a kilt out of season.”

She gestured to the guards, who directed me out of the room. As I left, Ivana was watching through the glass, smiling.

[davedove]

Scene 25


Private manor owned by Globo-Fashion


The guards led me to another small room that, although it had more amenities than my previous room, could still only be called a cell. This one did have a small bathroom, about the same size as what you would find on a cruise ship.

“Get cleaned up,” said one of the guards. “Your outfit will be brought to you.”

The guards closed the door behind me, and again I heard it being locked.

I removed my clothes and took a quick shower. I made sure to place my belongings in the bathroom near me, just in case someone tried to take them away while I was showering.

I had finished my shower and was wearing only a towel wrapped about my waist, waiting for the outfit to arrive, when the door to my room opened.

The same serving girl who had been watching me earlier stepped through; carrying a zippered case that I assumed was my outfit.

I heard one of the guards from behind her, “Just knock when you’re ready.”

She moved to lay the case on the bed. When the door lock clicked, she quickly turned to me and grabbed my hand.

“You’re Mr. Dove, from X Marks, right?” she pleadingly asked.

“Yes,” I told her. “What’s the matter?”

“You’ve got to help me. I don’t know what to do.”

I pulled her down to sit beside me on the bed. She still clung to my hand desperately.

“What can I do?” I asked her.

“You’ve got to help me get out of here. I came looking for my husband and now I’m trapped here.”

“Slow down; tell me the whole story.”

She calmed a bit, though she didn’t release my hand. “About six weeks ago, my husband disappeared. The police made a report, but it didn’t seem like they were too concerned. I guess they thought it was just another husband trying to run out on his marriage. But I knew he wouldn’t do that.”

“Go on,” I told her.

“Well, I figured that if I was ever going to see my husband again, I would have to be the one to find him. I not sure how I found out, but I discovered a link to Globo-Fashion. I took a job as a minor model to find a clue, any clue, to his whereabouts.”

Amazing, I thought, she had found the link to Globo-Fashion on her own.

“As you know,” she continued, “Beginning models don’t always make much money, and I soon found myself needing some. I took the extra work that was offered and found myself working as a serving girl here. But this place is guarded constantly. There is no way I can look for my husband without raising suspicion. And I’m trapped here. I can’t even try to leave without someone catching me.”

“What makes you think that I can help? I’m a prisoner here.”

“I’m desperate. I saw your kilt and heard Ivana call you Mr. Dove. You just said you are from X Marks. My husband and I are both members, so I took a chance to talk to you.”

I suddenly realized where I had seen this woman before. Her image had graced the forum several times. “You’re Dirka Skene, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Yes, and my husband is Celtic Menace. Can you help me?”

[davedove]

Scene 26


Private manor owned by Globo-Fashion


“Of course I’ll help you,” I said, “but you’ve got to help me as well.”

“Anything,” she replied. “What can I do?”

“Do you know the location of the rest of my team?”

“No, I’m afraid not. I am generally kept in the living quarters to work as a servant. I only managed to get down here to see you because I was the first person they found.”

“Okay, it would have been handy if you knew, but we’ll work it out. You should know that I already have a mission. I am here to rescue the other men that Ivana has kidnapped. I also need to get to the rest of my team. However, I will help you.”

“Oh, thank you!” she replied. She threw her arms around me in a hug. I hugged her back, being careful that my towel stayed in place. She was a married woman, after all.

She released her hug and I again took her hand. “There is something you can do,” I told her, “A role you can play.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I don’t know precisely how I am going to proceed. So, anything I come up with, anything I say when I’m with Ivana or any of the other people here, I need you to agree with me. Can you do that?”

“Of course.”

“Good, now remember, it might be anything, even something unusual or even questionable. I may even seem to be going along with Ivana’s plans, for instance. I just need you to go along with it.”

“Okay,” she said, with determination in her voice. “I can do that.”

“Good, now return to your normal duties. I guess I need to get dressed for dinner.”

“Thank you again,” she said, again hugging me. “I had almost given up hope.”

She released her hug and went to the door. She looked back at me with relief in her eyes. Then she knocked on the door and the guards let her out. I again heard the door lock.

Now, I just needed a plan.

[Tattoo Bradley]

:::grabs milk duds:::