Ever had one of those days when everything seems to go right? If so, you're lucky.

Anyway, an odd thing happpened to me in orchestra today…

The VP of our orchestra quit yesterday, and the treasurer stepped up to the position. Our good ole' director decided that she'd have a ballotless election for treasurer… she handed out papers and told people to write down the top four names of people who they thought would 'be good leaders' etc. etc.

I don't vote for myself, not because I though that it would be wrong, but because I thought I, that weird person who knows almost nobody because he fell from the top orchestra due to a schedualing conflict, had no chance. The results come in, and I somehow win by a landslide. ??????

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More of the good old story I've been writing. I'm speeding through the plot too quickly…

(view last entry for prelude and ch 1)

CHPT2

As Jacques walked into the airport, he was greeted by a short and slightly plump Dutch man who seemed quite jovial. “Hello, I presume you’re Jacques Badeau, I’m Bert Lansing. It’s a pleasure to meet you,â€? the man vigorously shook Jacque’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Lancing. I take it that you’re the MIVD agent assigned to Mr. Charles’ team?â€?

“Correct, I’m supposed to escort you to your transport.â€?

“Well then, let’s be on our way.â€?

“Certainly, sir. Once we get to the terminal, you’ll meet up with your team and go from there. By the way, have you ever been to Holland? A mighty fine place she is…â€? Bert continued on in this manner until they arrived at the terminal. As Jacques stepped into the terminal, the first thing he noticed was a stunning woman, who walked over to greet him. “Hello Jacques, I’m Dariya Eltsina, SVR operative. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.â€?

“The pleasure is mine, Dariya, how do you like France?â€?

“Enough of this small talk, we are supposed to be airborne by now, and you two sit there chattering like a couple of jackasses!â€? came a deep voice from the other side of the room. As Jacques looked over, he saw a tall man, probably in his late 30’s, who seemed to have an aura of bureaucracy surrounding him.

“Ah, and you must be Jacob Black, the American CIA agent. It’s nice to meet you too.â€? Jacques responded as he walked over to the man.

“I recognize sarcasm when I see it, Monsieur Badeau, now, if you don’t , mind, why don’t you come over here and help me with my luggage so we can get under way?â€?

“Bah, why would you need much luggage for an assignment like this? What have you got in there? One of your American gas-guzzling trucks? A portable TV? No sir, I believe you should take care of your ‘luggage’. Now, if you don’t mind, why don’t you stop whining like a baby and come over here?â€?

“You bastard, I’ll make sure you have hell to pay for this. I’ll…â€?

Jacob was interrupted by the slam of a door as Mr. Charles and a young Hebrew rushed into the room. “Sorry that we were late, there was a traffic jam outside the airport, and we were delayed.â€? Mr. Charles panted as he threw down his supplies. “This is Ychanan Zahav, he’s the Mossad agent assigned to my team.â€?

“Hello Mr. Badeau, Ms. Eltsina, Mr. Black.â€? the Mossad agent continued, “I’m to fly the helicopter, a MH-53, as close to the Hezbollah base as possible, then we are to land it and hide it and continue on foot. Are we ready to depart?â€?

“Yes, let’s load up the transport and be on our way. Mr. Black, I recommend that you discard some of your ‘luggage’, sir.â€? Jacques responded.

Grumbling, Mr. Black opened up his pack and removed enough supplies to equip a squad of marines for a week. As they entered the helicopter, Jacques couldn’t help but notice how beautiful Dariya was, and how much he wished Mr. Black would take his TV and go home.

From his vantage point, Munahid could see everything. He radioed the leader, informing him of this development. He watched in satisfaction as they boarded the transport. “They cannot stop us, they are doomed.â€? He thought to himself as he watched the helicopter lift off.

CHPT3 (needs work)

Jacques awoke to the sound of Ychanan’s voice coming over the intercom. “ETA 15 minutes! Prepare to disembark.â€? It announced. Still groggy, Jacques sat up to find everyone else but Dariya asleep. “Quiet, isn’t it.â€? She commented, and she was right, the MH-53 had been modified to be silent, and in the dark it blended in with the sky. It was ideal for a mission like this one.

“Yeah, it is. Do you think we should wake up the others?â€?

“Yes, though I really don’t feel like waking up Mr. Black.â€?

“He’s not the friendliest fellow, now is he?â€? Bert said as he got off of his cot.

“Hello Bert,â€? Jacques greeted him. “I guess we should wake up Charles and Jacob now.â€?

Jacques proceeded to stand up and walk over to Charles’ bunk, when all of the sudden, the helicopter lurched and he was thrown off balance. “Sorry about that,â€? Ychanan continued, “I had to steer away from the road, a vehicle was driving up it, and I’m pretty sure that it had a missile rack.â€?

“Take us down in the nearest safe spot, we’ll continue on foot from there. We can’t risk being detected,â€? Charles ordered as he hopped out of his bunk. Mr. Black got up and began grumbling about a sore neck and the sorts. “Prepare for landing, we’re coming inâ€? Ychanan shouted over the commotion in the back. He took the helicopter down in an abandoned field near a small town. “Ok, everyone, let’s get ready to move,â€? Jacques said as the helicopter touched down.

Everyone grabbed their packs and weapons and hopped out. Most everyone was equipped with a stun baton and a 92-FS, though Ychanan had an Uzi and Jacques had a shortened AR-15. “Ok, Charles, take your team and comb the town. I’ll take mine and head directly for the camp. Understood?â€? Charles nodded and took his team off into the dark. As Jacques watched them fade into the distance, he had an ominous feeling that this may be the last time he ever saw them.

“Ok, Mr. Black, you take up the rear, Dariya, you make sure that we don’t get approached from our sides. I’ll be slightly ahead making sure that our path is clear,â€? Jacques ordered as they set off. As they crept across the terrain, Jacques noticed that all the houses they passed seemed unusually still, even for this time at night.

“Get down!â€? Dariya’s yelling interrupted his thoughts, and he immediately dove down onto the ground and brought his weapon to his shoulder. “What?â€? he heard Jacob saying behind him.

“I saw lights up ahead, down the road.â€?

“I didn’t see…â€? Jacob started, only to be interrupted by the roaring of an engine growing steadily louder.

“Everyone, get some cover. Now!â€? Jacques ordered as the roaring drew nearer. As he watched, Jacques noticed a searchlight sweeping across the trees ahead of him. The roaring stopped, and he heard doors slamming and some foreign voices murmuring up ahead. “Ok, everyone stay calm,â€? he said as he saw figures moving through the trees up ahead, “Don’t move.â€? Suddenly, he heard some movement and the beam of a flashlight played next to him. For what seemed like an eternity he waited for the light to hit him, but instead, he heard the three quick pops and screaming. When he looked up, he saw Jacob standing, gun in hand, over the bodies of two dead men.

“That’s two less to work about,â€? Jacob proudly proclaimed as he stood over the dead men.

“You fool, now the Hezbollah will certainly know that we’re here!â€? Dariya screamed as she stood up.

“What other choice did I have? Should I have let them find Jacques? They certainly would have known that something was going on.â€?

“Silence, what’s done is done. We could possibly make this look like an accident.â€? Jacques intervened.

“Maybe we could make it look as if they ran into a tree and their ammo went off, killing them.â€? Dariya responded.

“That just might work, all we need to do is run the car into a tree and hope that their ammo does go off.â€? Jacques replied. They proceeded to load the bodies into the car, and then Jacques sped toward a clump of trees. As the car accelerated toward the woods, he leapt from it and hit the dirt rolling. As he looked up, he saw the car collide with a large tree and become a pulverized heap of metal. He watched in satisfaction as gunshots began going off, and the smoldering wreck lit up the forest like a torch. “Come on, let’s move,â€? he said as he walked away from the car.

Charles watched the patrol as it rounded the corner. He wondered why the Hezbollah would be patrolling a seemingly ordinary house, so he decided that his team would have to do some surveillance. He ordered Ychanan to quickly run across the street and secure the area while he and Bert circled to the opposite side of the house. When he came up next to the house, he found Ychanan crouching among some bushes. “Does it look like there’s anyone home?â€? he asked Ychanan.

“No sir, I’m almost positive there aren’t any people in the house.â€?

“Good. Bert, keep a lookout from the bushes. Radio me if you see any activity. Ychanan, come with me and help sweep the house.â€? Charles and Ychanan entered the house and began going from room to room searching for anything that aroused suspicion. As they entered what appeared to be an office, they stopped dead in their tracks. Surveillance equipment lined the walls, and a guard sat asleep in a chair, head rested against his gun. “What do we do now? They’ve probably picked us up on camera, so we can’t just leave,â€? Ychanan asked Charles.

“We incapacitate the guard and destroy any readings they have of us. Then we disable their equipment for a few minutes and get away from this bloody place. Think you can sneak up on him?â€?

“I’ll try.â€? Ychanan began to creep toward the guard, and just as he was reaching foreword with his stun baton, the guard awoke with a star and spun around and brought his rifle to bear. “Don’t try anything, drop your weapons. Now.â€? The guard ordered, and Ychanan and Charles complied. “Now, raise your hands over your head and…â€? the guard suddenly slumped to the floor, with a stun baton falling beside him.

“You’re welcome.â€? Burt stepped into the room, “I heard some commotion, crept up to the doorway, and hurled my baton at the guard. Now let’s get this mess taken care of.â€? Ychanan proceeded to run through the sensor logs and deleted all traces of them. As he prepared to shut the cameras off, he glanced at a monitor. “Charles, you might want to take a look at this.â€?

“What?â€? Charles walked over to the display and gasped; there were at least ten heavily armed men wearing masks approaching the building. “Burt, Ychanan, take up defensive positions in the room, Ychanan, up front, you have heavier firepower. Burt, take my pistol, you’ll do better with two. Get ready.â€? He watched the monitor as the men circled the house. He saw at least five of them, clad in body armor and armed with machine guns enter the house.

“Here they come!â€? He yelled as he dove for cover behind a computer. All of the sudden, everything became silent. All he heard was his heart racing in his chest. He heard footsteps in the hall, then he head banging on the door, and the next few seconds were a blur. Five men burst through the door, and Ychanan opened fire from behind a file cabinet. Immediately, one of the men fell to the floor, dead, and the others dove behind a bookcase and began shouting. They returned fire on Ychanan, but right then Burt popped up from behind a desk and pulled off a quick round into the nearest guard. Charles took the moment of opportunity to roll out from his hiding place and grab a fallen guard’s weapon. As he grabbed the gun, one of the remaining guards noticed and aimed for Charles’ chest and fired. Pain seared through Charles’ body as a bullet grazed him, but he was still alive. He lunged at the guard and brought the stock of his gun down on the guard’s head. Ychanan jumped out from behind the cabinet and mowed down the remaining guards. “Here come more!â€? Burt shouted as he glanced at the monitor. This time, it appeared that all the guards were coming in.

“There’s no way that we can take them all.â€? Charles muttered as he prepared to fight the next wave.

“But there is!â€? Ychanan replied, “There’s a door behind that cabinet over there. It should lead out of here!â€? He ran over, shoved the cabinet aside, shot the lock on the door, and they all ran out into the night. They found one of the guards’ jeeps with the key still in the ignition. They hopped in and sped away.

“That’s a bummer,â€? Burt commented as they left the confused guards in their dust.