DESCRIPTION
The end of the "Spooks" saga. Published by me alone, due to differences between the authors. For the rest of the story, simply send an E-mail. Hope you'll enjoy [1,173 words]
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
A quiet guy from the northern realms of Germany, who has stories to write and things to change. Perhaps, one day... you will see my name on the shelves somewhere, perhaps not. [June 2001]
Tammen hated waiting, especially for a woman. It had only been 6 hours now since he left Stilling and Black with that little note of appreciation. They would have alerted their superiors by now, and there was probably already a team of hackers trying to trace the wired 10 million dollars he had taken from Heavenly Corporation as his, well, payment for services rendered.
The Baltimore Washington International airport was once again a busy place, just as he had left it not ten days ago, during that firefight. Today, however, there were no transactions, no guns, and certainly no interactions with fellow spooks, although one could never be too sure of that in the business. Tammen stood by the entrance to the International terminal, sporting a tan trench coat over a dark brown and gray suit combination. His dark-blond hair had been cut again, and he wore a pair of sunglasses today, pilot models. He held a metal briefcase in one hand, the newest edition of the Baltimore Sun in the other. It appears that the bodies of several men had been found in one of the big company headquarters.
What a tragedy, Tammen thought with a smirk, that these journalists never appreciated you unless you were caught and put on trial. “The shooting apparently began when a small group of burglars entered the building to steal from the company vault,” read the lift-out quote. The story went on to speak of the heroic deeds done by the security men and “company employees” who were killed in the battle. What a bunch of bull, the tall terrorist thought, recalling the fire-fight and the “heroic deeds” that had almost cost him his life, yet another example of modern society. No wonder someone like Black is needed in this world of gutless pigs.
His gaze lifted from the paper as he folded it under his arm once more, a strange sense of nervousness invading his otherwise calm features. Where is she?, the man thought, glancing down at his black G-Shock, then up again across the crowded hall. He had called that waitress’ number right after he had finished packing, and she had agreed to meet him here. He had wondered about that, briefly, then had listened to her explanation of why she would come and leave with him. It appears that everyone had his or her demons, and Amanda had just lived through a truly strange and frightening relationship. It appears she wanted to see more of the world, and who better to choose for traveling than a terrorist, especially one with Tammen’s current ambitions.
He had been standing here now for about 2 hours, and she was already 20 minutes late. If she did not show up soon, they would certainly miss their plane, and that would mean an increased chance of some security man recognizing Tammen, and thus causing another battle, one for which Tammen was unprepared, and not in the mood. As he watched, a family headed past, a father and mother and two children, well behaved even though they must have been about 6 years old each, and that was usually a pretty bad age for a child. The little girl smiled and waved at the agent, and a mixture of emotions could be seen on his face. His lips curled into a smile, gentle and warm this time, and he lifted his hand, waving back gently. A bemused twinkle came to his eyes as he regarded that naïve display of emotion, so unheard of in most adults.
There must still be some good in this world, the usually cynical ex-agent though, watching the procession go by, to produce such happiness. Where does this uniform regard for life, this gentle naïve emotion go when we age? Saddening…
Still, there was no sign of the cute Indian girl, even though another 10 minutes had passed. Then, finally, he caught sight of a dark spot in the crowd, coming toward him, and the gentle smile turned into one of general happiness as he spotted his chosen companion. Moving slowly, with all the care shown by secret agents, he crossed toward her, taking the small Trolley suitcase from her hand into his own.
“Hello there, gorgeous princess,” he started, watching her cheeks lighting up in a crimson fire, a desired effect,” I almost gave on you. Thanks for coming.”
“Well, umm,” the girl stammered, slightly embarrassed by the situation, and taken by the surprise at the stranger’s invitation to join him in his new chosen home, “I couldn’t really say no, now could I? Even though my room mate Amy told me not to go because you seemed like a “weird” kind of guy to her.”
Tammen regarded the object of his desire, barely restraining a chuckle at the spoken words. “Well, to tell you the truth dear,” he spoke, an amused smile on his lips, his tone very light, somewhat mocking, “I am kind of weird, at least that is what most people see me as when they first meet me.” Grinning brightly now, he hoped she would understand his type of humor. When she did smile, he noticed that she did, and that he seemed to have chosen wisely.
The screen behind them changed at that moment, signaling that their flight had just arrived. From here they would go to Chicago, then board a United Airlines flight straight to Edinburgh, and from there they would drive north, into the highlands. Tammen had just used some of his Caiman accounts to purchase a small home there, a castle recently abandoned by one of the lesser security agencies of the world. It would do nicely for his retirement purposes..
“Well, sweetheart, that’s our flight,” Tammen spoke in his gentle bass, the accent permeating his every word, ”I always get stuck in those metal detectors, so I think we should hurry up a little.” Laughing, he took her hand, but felt her free herself for a moment. The frightful thought of rejection came to him in that second, but he was soon appeased when she laced her arm with his own, pulling him with her in her eagerness to get out of the country.
30 minutes later they were in their seats in the small city-hopper, already rising from the runway into the skies of Baltimore on another sunny mid-winter day. It seemed sometimes that there was a circular motion for everything in this life. Seasons changed but returned each year, people were born and died, and sometimes, stories closed just where they began, with the same people present.
Mr. Black stood by a Heavenly Corp. company car, a simple black Hummer, and watched the plane streak into the early afternoon air. He had predicted the terrorist’s course of action from here, but had not acted upon that knowledge. The man had earned his rest for a while. As the plane departed, Black lifted his hand to his forehead, silently saluting his…friend. Until we meet again, you old man, until we meet again.
READER'S REVIEWS (3) DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"Rather than be pissed at the fact that you posted the ending to a story I created and suggested we write together, I'll just say nice job. It's premature and as you know I do have a copy of the final chapter that you previously sent me and actually planned on posting it anyway. Again, it's premature, because I still have plans for MY two protagonists, as it is MY story. Nothing changes. Spooks Chapter 5: Consequences and Repercussions will be up shortly. And it won't be what you expect, but I'll write it and the subseqent chapters to fit the ending that you wrote...out of respect for your writing style only. I would be remiss were I to say that it didn't compliment my own. And onto chapter 5 ladies and gents." -- Smokey.
"Just for your information, the story is our idea, and I created the most popular chapter in it. Besides, this chapter written here was my creation, and not yours. As far as I know, it says "Jan&Smokey" in the posting area, and that certainly does mean that we wrote this story together. You left the story resting for over 3 months while you were pouring your heart out over the entire Kate incident. I was thus justified to write the ending, and be done with all of it. As for chapter 5, expect to see it on the boards very soon. " -- The German.
"The most popular chapter, Jan, is chapter one, which I wrote, it sets everything up. Because I came up with the idea and plot, way before I even told you about it. The idea that we discussed was something called "Cleaners" a very different thing. But I am not about to start another war on this site. Before I leave for senior week, I'm going to post one more "HOPELESS CYNIC" essay which have become ever so popular. To Jan: If you want to continue the Spooks story, go right ahead, Stilling will probably read it. And I suppose you are going to use the plot we talked about, that's ok. Kill my character off though, and don't use the Wentling's name either. Those are Robisms, staples of my own stories, that I created when I began the story before I asked you to write it with me. The best thing about me is that I always have more stories to tell. You know that. When I get back from senior week, I will post a new series--as I have ended the In the Light of A Shadow saga--that's a bit different. Good luck with the series, and work on your dialog a bit. It's kinda stale. To miss Van Cleaf: this was EC ALLEN's suggestion to me when I started In the Light of A Shadow, if you go back and read the review posted. To work on my dialog. At the time, I really didn't find anything wrong with it so it kinda pissed me off, but looking back, it was kinda stale. I hope I have since improved and personally look forward to your review, Miss Van Cleaf (sorry if I spell it wrong), when I post my new story in about a week. That's why I dedicated my "HOPELESS CYNIC" essays to him. I had no idea he'd left the site, but I was hoping he'd read it and see that I'd improved as a writer; the man was quite a writer himself, and I repected him. I shall dedicate the next story to him as well, since his prodding was the reason I decided to blend action with comedy, so I could work with my dialog. Sorry if I uspet you, I meant no ill will toward you or EC. And if you could, see if you can get him to read my latest when it comes out, as I will respect his opinion. And now, back to being a cynic... " -- Rob Hagans.
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