"Head for the elevators!" barks Peter, dumping out the spent casings and speed-loading a batch of S-JEC rounds into the empty cylinder.

Artis tells Moten to break off, spraying the remaining guard with suppressive fire as he leapfrogs back towards the bank of elevators.

Ayumi hits the UP arrow button on the wall, yielding a red flashing circle as her finger depresses it. A stream of bullets rake the back wall adjacent to her position as the others arrive, firing over their shoulders at the reinforcements.

"We've got more trouble than that!" shouts Ayumi, giving a quick nod to the elevator's apparent security as she switches out her blades for pistols.

Peter gives the elevator's security the once-over as Moten, Ayumi, and Artis take turns peppering the advancing horde.

Key-card operation. Odds are one of the mooks we wasted has it on him.

He looks back at the hallway and sees it being filled with heavy gunfire and littered with spent shell-casings. Artis looks back at him with get on with it! glare.

Time for a bypass.

Peter holsters his revolver and pulls out his Leatherman prying the ensconced control panel off the wall. Inside is a maze-like spaghetti of wires and circuitry. Scratching his chin at the mess, he goes to work.

"Any day now!" yells Ayumi, ejecting both her clips and popping in fresh ones.

"Twenty seconds!"

Moten and Ayumi fall back to the elevators leaving Artis with suppressive duties. The sheer volume of gunfire is nerve-wracking as beads of sweat drip down on Peter's splice-job. He twists together the last set of wires with the elevator light going green as the doors *ding* open on an empty car.

Peter shouts.

"Everybody aboard!"

Ayumi takes point, stationing herself in front of the elevator and blasting away with her handguns in a Don't even show me your face, motherfucker! fashion while the others pile in.

Omsk, outside Petrenko's mansion

Ilyanna spends thirty minutes on the phone going through the proper (and a few improper) channels to secure what amounts to "official" clearance for her and the Team to enter the house with expressed permission to "observe" and "report" as independent investigators.

Clearance has been faxed to the Field Op commander, Detective Tomas Stavne.

----

The situation at Samantha's apartment building is quickly reaching its boiling point as the elevator doors slowly close on Team A, Ayumi giving the advancing guards both barrels before being pulled inside.

Everyone in, the elevator begins its ascent creeping to a stop somewhere around the 7th floor. The motors shuts down with the main lighting winking out, replaced by a small halogen back-up system.

Peter grabs his Leatherman and sets to work on the side panel.

"Sounds like they cut the power. I'll see if I can't jam the emergency brakes of the cab into place, that should keep them busy for a bit."

He points upwards.

"You can try to manual route."

"On it," Artis says, attempting to wrench or cut open the roof hatch and climb on top of the elevator car.

Artis looks up and sees frosted glass covering the entire ceiling of the elevator. It's hard to make out where the access hatch would be, but after some poking and prodding, the wheelman finds a loose hinged pane allowing for easy maintenance access.

Jumping up and grasping on to the ceiling's framework, Artis can see a series of dim yellow service lights running up the elevator shaft, barely illuminating a service ladder bolted adjacent to the lighting. Moten hands up his service flashlight for a better look. The path leading up seems clear, at least for the time being.

The side panel comes off with a bit of work from Peter. The backside of the panel door illustrating what switch does what and where to find it on the fusebox. It's obvious that it was two different kinds of engineer responsible for installing the elevator system. This shows the work of a meticulous electrician. The emergency brake over-ride is clearly labeled.

For a change, Ilyanna is really in her element. She makes calls, requests favors and twists influence. To her mind, this is what "local agents" are for. And the payoff is not long in coming.

"Thank you, commander Stavne," she says when the clearance comes through the fax. "I'm sure we won't be in your hair too long. Can you give us a rundown of what has been learned so far?"

Once the commander is finished, Ilyanna turns to Carla and Brian. "All yours, boys and girls," she says with a smile. While it's not exactly her area of expertise, she will join them in scouring the place for any clues that may have been missed previously, being careful not to disturb anything unduly.

Artis hands the light back to Moten, instead powering up his starlight contact lenses. If the plan is to override the brakes and then ride the car up, Artis will stay on top and ride shotgun. If not, he'll lead the way up the access ladder.

Brian smiles when he hears they've got clearance. Local agents are all manner of useful.

"Nicely done. Shall we get going?"

Elevator Shaft, Odessa

Artis' starlight specs reveal more detail of the dark abyss above him. About 10m up, he sees the exterior elevator doors being pried open, the light momentarily blinding him.

Peter works the controls.

Perhaps I can get the doors open...then we can bypass them.

(Edited by Gatac at 2:48 pm on May 5, 2005)

Artis opens up on the cracked doors above him, then heads for the access ladder.

Peter fiddles with the control panel, wiping the sweat off his brow as he consults the diagram against the actual wiring.

Green and Blue, no wait...Green and Yellow. Cut the ground and the hydraulic wiring...

*clip*

The car doors give off a slight hiss as the automatic locks disengage, opening the doors a few inches and revealing that they're between floors. The landing for the seventh floor is at eye-level. It won't be much of a challenge for Ayumi to slink through the opening, but for the larger team members it's going to be a tight fit.

Artis sees the doors on the floor above open all the way, a flashlight momentarily shining down the shaft.

Team B proceeds inside the fence, taking notes.

The front yard has been torn up by various heavy vehicles and foot traffic. A worn path leading to the backyard finds a full crime scene investigation still underway. A uniformed policeman stops them at a perimeter cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. Ilyanna shows the cop their credentials.

"Wait here."

He walks over to the largest of three tents, about 10m inside the perimeter, bringing back with him a man in his early thirties with premature greying at the temples.

"Hello. I was told by my superiors that you would be here today. I didn't expect you so soon."

(holds out a hand to Ilyanna)

"I'm Detective Tomas Stavne, temporarily in charge of this investigation. And you are?"

Ilyanna shakes the proferred hand with a friendly smile. "Ilyanna Kinski, detective. Pleased to meet you. I appologize for any inconvenience." She will introduce Carla and Brian using whatever names fit their current cover, if any.

"Can you give us a rundown on what has been learned so far?"

The detective takes the Team to his command tent, giving the leave us nod to his subordinates as they enter.

"Have a seat. Tea? Coffee?"

Stavne sits down at the table and lights a cigarette.

"I'm not sure why my superiors deemed it necessary to send you, but far be it from me to question their judgement." says the detective with unabashed sarcasm.

"I wish I could tell you more, but it's all in my boss' report he sent back to Moscow. I'm just babysitting this place until he gets back from Bol'shoy Fontan and does a final sign-off on the investigation."

Following Stavre into the tent, Ilyanna takes a seat in a ladylike fashion. "Thank you. Tea would be wonderful."

She listens as Stavre deflects her request, nodding. "You wouldn't happen to have a copy of that report that we could review. If not, I'll have to see if I can get one through channels," she says with a confident smile, as though it were no trouble.

"They didn't send you a report?" remarks the detective, appearing to be a bit puzzled at the request.

Stavne's cordial demeanor is replaced with a scrutinizing eye and a stonewall look.

"The report was transmitted by my men through all standard channels. There is no reason why you shouldn't have received it."

(standing up and giving a whistle)

"Just who, exactly do you work for?"

The three men Stavne told to exit the tent return.

"You have five seconds to tell me or I'll have to ask you to leave the premises."

With that order, the detective's men reach for their sidearms, one calling on his shoulder-mic.