Collision Course

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COLLISION COURSE: PART 1- THE BRIEFING (RATING FOR THIS PART: PG)


Sydney and Vaughn finally had some time to themselves. Nadia and Weiss
were on a
date, and Vaughn and Sydney had the apartment to themselves. They sat on the
sofa,
curled in each other's arms, relaxing. Vaughn lightly kissed Sydney's forehead,
and she
smiled. It was the perfect moment- then the ringing started.

"Damn it," said Sydney, reaching for her phone. A moment later, Vaughn's
phone rang.

"Tell me about it," he said, annoyed that their jobs once again seemed to
have it in for
them.

Sydney answered her phone, and heard her father's voice on the other end of
the line.
"We need you in here, Sydney. There's a briefing right away. Nadia and Weiss
are already
on the way."

"Ok, dad, I wasn't busy anyway," she said, hanging up the phone without
another word.
She looked at Vaughn and sighed. "At least we can travel to the office together
dear," she
said with a smile.

Vaughn laughed, and grabbed his keys. "I'll drive, honey," he said,
mimicing her tone.
This time it was Sydney's turn to laugh. With that, they headed to APO.

They arrived and took their seats. Sloane stood in the briefing room,
addressing the
team. "Ok, here's what we know. We've confirmed the existence of another
Rambaldi
artifact, yet to be recovered by anyone. Echelon intercepts have revealed
communications
between this man-" He pressed a button on the console in front ot him, and the
image of a
man, a mugshot, his face hardened flashed before them. "His name is Edwin
McCallister.
He's a British national with ties to the followers of Rambaldi. McCallister is
a renegade,
though, unpredictable and thus usually not trusted by the followers of Rambaldi
because
of his methods."

Sydney chuckled and shook her head, adding, "It's hard to believe they're
picky about
who they chose to work with."

Sloane looked at Sydney and responded, "Only when it draws unwanted
attention to
them, Sydney." He paused a moment, then continued. "McCallister had been in
communication with this woman." He pressed a button again, and the image of a
woman
flashed on the screen, her lips pouty, her hair up in a loose french twist as
she walked and
talked on a cell phone, obviously oblivious to the fact that she was being
watched. "Her
name is Mallory Crawford. She is trusted by the alliance, however, her methods
can be
just as extreme. The difference is she's careful- she doesn''t get caught."

He paused, looking up at the team. "Mallory is extremely dangerous- I know
this from
personal experience. This mission needs to be conducted carefully. Sydney,
Vaughn, you
will go in as potential buyers looking for Ms. Crawford to steal a weapon for
you.
Hopefully, if things go as planned, she'll disclose her itinerary to you and we
will know
where she is heading to recover the artifact."

Sloane leaned over the table, looking at Sydney and Vaughn, his eyes filled
with
concern. "This mission is very dangerous, because of who is involved. We don't
want to
risk communication devices, so much like your work with Liberty Village, you
will be on
your own. Marshall will provide you with similar op tech to the mission in
Russia-
hopefully this one will be as successful. The rest of us will monitor you from
here as best
as we can." He stood, exchanging a look with Jack, and finished by saying,
"Your plane
leaves in an hour."

Everyone got up and left the table, except Jack. He looked at Sloane, his
eyes filled
with doubt. "Shouldn't they know everything? About Mallory?" Sloane shook his
head.
"Too much information, Jack. It might cloud their judgment. Besides, it has no
relevance
to this mission." He paused a moment and studied his friend's face. "Don't
worry Jack," he
said, "as soon as we get the location of the artifact, we'll have the answers
we've been
searching for. It'll all make sense then, Jack."

Jack's expression didn't change. He was not as convinced as Sloane that
this artifact
would clear up the mystery they were currently trying to solve.

**** END OF PART ONE ****