File: Deletion Block Number: 4 Block Name: [Directive Four - Classified] ........................................................................... Rem awoke to a sickly medicinal taste in his mouth. As his hearing returned he picked up the sounds of people walking briskly around him. "Mr Remington.." came a voice from his right side. The voice had repeated the question before he managed to open his eyes. He looked up into the face of a female nurse. She turned away & departed from his vision. His hearing picked up her voice again, the words "he's ok" softly spoken. Rem took in his surroundings. He looked up into twin floresurent lights suspended from the ceiling. The light gave the walls a white-than-white sheen. His wandering eyes came to rest on a red rectangular sign with the words 'Recovery Room' boldy printed. "Mr Buttingdon, nice to see you back in the world of the living" came a male voice from his left. Rem tilted his head sideways to examine the newcomer. A doctor in his middling to late forties approached his bed with a clipboard in hand. "Everything check out ok Doc?" croaked Remington. The white suited man, pushed his small glasses back onto the bridge of his nose before extracting a red pen from his coat sleeve and using it to examine his clipboard. "Weeeell, Mr Buttingdon, the cyberimplants checked out fine, a few niggly things that needed correcting but nothing to write home about" finished the doctor as he handed the clipboard to Remington. Rem scanned the report quickly and then looked back at medic. "What about the rest of my team? Any problems?" asked Remington. "Oh nothing much" began the doctor as he folded his arms and adjusted his glasses once more, "some of them had some out-of-date circuitry which was easily replacable, the only real problems were with Mr Nagasaki" "Oh? How so?" Rem enquired. "Oh, it seemed your Japanese technician had customized his cyberware several times in the field, continued the doctor, "..it took a while for the computers to work through his alterations but he's as good as new now" finished the medic, rubbing the palms of his hands together. "Do you know why me and my team was called in to see you guys?" continued Remington casually. A shrug issued from the medic followed by the answer "Sorry boss I just work here" to Rem's probing question. Remington handed the clipboard back to the doctor and settled back down onto the bed. "Anything I can get ya Mr Buttingdon?" inquired the medic. "A glass of water be nice" answered Rem, closing his eyes, "I've got a horrible taste in my mouth" he finished. "Probably the after-effects of the anasethic (sp? 8-)), they've never been able to get rid of that, continued the voice of the medic as Remington slipped back into unconciousness... ........................................................................... His head ached and felt heavy. As his senses returned Rem felt a swave of material encasing his head and a burning pain from the area of his right ear. KAAAAABBBBBOOOOOMMMMMM!. A spray of rank water struck the left side of his face, his nostrils registered the smell of acrid smoke. The sound of gunfire could now be heard, distant yet the bullets falling close to him if the richochet sounds were anything to go by. "Move it people, we've gotta make the tree line" he hears a voice cry somewhere nearby. Remington could now sense that he was being carried, his eyes looking down into the splash-splash wake of running boots. Another dull explosion and a sudden fountain of water to his right. The sound of the heavy machine gun again. The incessant throbbing in his temples. The blood, warm and viscous, dripping from the side of his face. The person carrying Remington grunted and stumbled. Remington felt the cold waters of the swamp engulf him and tasted its stagnant cocktail. He could feel his grip on consciousness slipping as he was lifted again. The throbbing in his temples blissfully stopped as the darkness returned. ........................................................................... Remington scanned the faces of his team as they stood on the tarmac of the airstrip. A few vehicles moved around, their headlights momentarily flashing across the party, illuminating their faces. "Is this gonna be a stand up fight Sir? or another bug hunt?" began Fauteuil, smiling as he stood in a riotous hawaiian shirt and shorts. The beach ball under his left arm completed the ensemble and Rem couldn't help but smile. Giving Guy the money had been a mistake thought Remington. But you live and learn, better to get the bad decisions out of the way now rather than in Cuba. Suprisingly Guy's antics seemed to have have enlivened the team and they seemed to be geniningly in good spirits. Rem watched a plane slowly taxi out of a hanger on his far right and head out onto the runway. 2 small headlights provided the only illimunation on it silky black sheen.. "No Fauteuil" began Remington, looking back towards the party. "This is deadly serious". The smiles and happy atmosphere quickly evaporated. "We've be dealt a tough hand this time by EBM", continued Remington,"more than likely a few of you guys won't be coming back" This got their attention and the boys & Ms Knight were now, all ears. "Still, none of you guys liked each other much anyway huh?" finished Rem, the joke received the odd smile but in the main the party remained silent. "So where ARE we going & what's the mission dude" asked Mr Zee blunty. Remington thought back to Bryant's words before repling "That's classified" This received a sneer from the black solo as he flexed the fingers on this cyberarm. "Classified sheet", he retorted. Time to stamp down & regain some authority thought Remington. "Oh I'm deadly serious" replied Buttingdon, this quietened the solo but didn't removed the sneer. "you wanna now how serious Mr Zee", continued Rem. He reached into his inner coat pocket and pulled out the transmitter given to him by Bryant. A slow wave in front of the team allowed them each to examine it in turn. "See this?" continued Rem, "I type a code in here and I can kill each and everyone of you, anywhere in the world" he finished coldly. The sneer disappeared. The team who where muted before now became deadly silent, a few looked at each other with worried faces. The new solo, Stone fingered the hilt of the machete he wore. The black plane had reached their position and stopped. A door opened and series of three metal steps were lowered down. "Right, now that thats over, I wanna make sure each and everyone of you understands the magnitude of this mission and the implication of failure." continued Remington, "you will do what I say, when I say it and you'll like it. Hear?" A slow nod from a some team members. "Ok, lets get on the plane, we've got a long flight ahead" finished Rem as he picked up his pack and headed for the plane. The other team members quickly follow, all bar Zee and Nagasaki. Mr Zee looks at Nagasaki, and Nagasaki returns the stare. A few silent moments pass before the pair heft their gear and walked slowly towards the waiting plane. ...........................................................................