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The rest of the drive went pretty smoothly for both agents. Nick focused on the road, and Brian tried to ignore his snide comments, giving his attention to the arid lands and his Blackberry. When Nick finally came to a halt in front of the CIA branch located in LA, it was the CIA agent’s turn to brag on. Noticing the small plaudit in 008’s face, a proud smile dispersed on Brian’s face.

“Welcome to the CIA, Agent 008.” He got out of the car and started walking towards the big, creamy white building, leaving a surprised agent behind, knowing full well that he would be soon following him.

No matter how much he despised the American government and all of its departments, mainly CIA, Nick had to admire the work of art and the air that captured him the minute he walked inside the agency’s building. After all, to quote Pearl, they were working for the same goal with only different ideas. Though, there was no way he would ever admit that to the arrogant prick who called himself an agent.

“Agent, my ass,” he muttered under his breath as he followed Brian, who was giving him a small tour of the building, through the main hall.

“And as you can see, this is our memorial wall on your left, every star representing an agent who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country,” Brian continued, showing the white wall with 87 stars on it. On top of it, Nick glanced at the inscription, which read, “In honor of those members of the Central Intelligence Agency who gave their lives in the service of their country.”

What about the innocent lives it took? Nick thought inwardly, almost unable to hold his tongue from saying it out loud. Gritting his teeth, his mind went back to that day, the day when his hatred towards the US government had started…

No, now was not a good time to start dwelling on the past. He couldn’t do it, not when they still had a lot to do with the stolen weapon. “Move on, Littrell,” he spoke seriously. “We don’t have time to honor your great, glorious past.”

Jolted by the serious tone of the younger agent’s voice, but getting irritated by yet another snide comment nonetheless, Brian’s jaw clenched, his hands balled into fists, and he stepped in Nick’s way. His glare, two deep blue eyes, meeting Nick’s, he spoke softly, but still threateningly enough to get Nick to back off.

“Look, you sorry ass of an agent, we are on my turf now, and you better act cooperative, or I call this mission off. I guess you wouldn’t want to be labeled a failure again now, would you? I don’t care what got stuck up your ass by the government before, but I can’t say I enjoy your presence either. So we can get on with it, or you can walk back to your shiny car, for all I care.”

A flash of anger and hatred passed through Nick’s eyes during Brian’s speech, and though he wanted Brian to meet his fist more than anything at the moment, he kept his desire to himself, knowing full well that they wouldn’t get anywhere if they went on with this. “Fine,” he just said, even calmer than he imagined he would be. “Now show me where this very precious and talented cryptographer of yours is.”

Sighing, Brian turned around and continued walking, and he didn’t say a word again till they reached the office where the certain cryptographer was. Through the glass doors, Nick could only see a woman with dark hair sitting with her back to him, working behind a computer with many screens.

“I already informed her about our coming,” Brian spoke, his eyes softening when he saw his dear agent. “I better go inside and let her know we are here. Mind staying here for a sec?”

Shaking his head, Nick watched Brian go through the glass doors and touch the woman’s shoulder. The woman looked up, and her face literally beamed when she saw whom it was. Getting up from her seat, she gave a sincere hug to Brian, and at that moment, Nick could finally get a full visual of her face.

“Well, well, aren’t you a piece of art?” he murmured, as a smile spread across his face. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea at all to work with CIA. She wasn’t actually what he’d go for, normally, but with her long, dark hair and big, green eyes – he guessed they were green, as much as he could tell from that distance, and he had good vision – she had a totally different air than the blonde women he preferred. Not skinny, not chubby, but with a healthy figure, this CIA woman was just… a perfect appetizer. Suddenly, he noticed the weird hand motions of the pair, who were smiling and constantly moving their hands in a way of…

“Sign language? What the hell? Why do they talk in sign language?” He was seriously confused now, and before he had any time to process what was going on, they came out of the office and approached him.

“Well, Agent 008, let me introduce you to our very talented cryptographer, Ashavari Desai, also known as Opal to us.” Smiling broadly, Opal shook Nick’s hand and let it go again to do some more signs with her hands.

“She says, ‘It’s very nice to meet you’,” Brian translated, grinning from ear to ear. His small plan to make fun of this agent was going incredibly well. Oh, what he wouldn’t give to Kodak the stupid look on his face. Noticing Opal was continuing with her hand gestures, he quickly added, “Oh, and she says that she is very pleased to work with you to decode the weapon.”

Still baffled, but too experienced with every kind of women to miss the opportunity, Nick gently took Opal’s small hand and brought it to his lips, trying not to break the eye contact. With a flash of his ever-charming smile, he spoke carefully, making sure she could read his lips.

“Pleasure is all mine, milady.”

Trying hard to hold his laughter and wishing he had his camera with him once again, Brian tried to keep a straight face as much as he could, making a mental note to take Opal out to dinner for agreeing to do this.

“Let’s get going, shall we?” He broke Nick’s inefficacious Romeo gestures and motioned to go inside the office, adding a couple of weak hand movements just to make sure Nick wouldn’t get suspicious. Opal smiled broadly and nodded. Her big, green eyes were showing how much fun she was having, and, of course, only Brian could understand that.

“She likes me,” Nick stated, as both agents followed her inside, his eyes not leaving Opal’s rear for a second. He heard Brian scoff, loud enough for him to understand that he thought else. “So you say she’s deaf?” Nick questioned Brian, as Opal seated herself in her remaining position and the two agents stood behind her. The last thing on his mind now was the stolen weapon.

“Hearing impaired, we like to call it, Carter. We, as polite people,” Brian retorted. The game was fun, but it was starting to bother him that Nick was actually paying so much attention to her. She was Opal, for God’s sake, HIS Opal. Desperate to change the subject, he cleared his throat. “I believe Opal can hack into the Russian system quickly and will be able to tell us what this weapon is all about.”

“Man, you got yourself a winner here. Never know CIA was employing such babes.” Nick grinned, not even showing one sign of interest in their mission. “How do you learn this sign language stuff by the way? Can she read lips?” Glancing the woman who showed no sign of understanding, he looked back at Brian. “Well she can kiss my lips instead of reading but..”

Now Brian was having enough of it already. “Look, man, she won’t be interested in you, take my word. She knows better than to date stupid agents.”

“Ha, I can sense she doesn’t give you the time of the day, but who can blame her, eh?”

“Oh, shut up, you two.” The voice that came beside Nick startled him, and suddenly – as quick as the red color spreading inch by inch over his face – he realized how they’d gotten him.

“Oh yeah, man, we got you bad.” Brian’s annoying laugh was topped off with a high-five from Opal.

“Sorry, Agent Carter, but I just couldn’t resist the urge,” Opal spoke with her calm, soothing voice. “But I’d like to take your words about me as compliments. So, thank you.”

Her smile was contagious. “Your welcome, Opal,” Nick said with a small smile, still not able to shake off his embarrassment. “And call me 00Carter, please. Or Nick.” His tone was still flirty. I think I hang out with Diamond too much, he thought, when he noticed it.

“Don’t you learn from experience, or are you too stupid to notice she doesn’t give a damn about you-?”

“Guys!” Both agents turned their attention back to Opal, who was looking between two screens and continuously typing on the keyboard. For the next couple of seconds, the only sound was the aggressive click of the keys. When she spoke again, only three words left her beautiful lips. “Oh my God.”

“What? What’s wrong? What’s the weapon about?” Nick bombarded the questions, his eyes darting from one screen to the other in order to understand what this complicated weapon was about. Opal typed some more, and this time the image of the weapon appeared in front of them. Not a photo of what the weapon really looked like, but a blueprint of it.

“From what I can understand, this weapon is a type of a laser,” Opal informed them, her eyes reading quickly the imprints and additional information written on the blueprint. “A type of laser that melts ice, huge amounts of ice. Like icebergs and polar ice caps. And…”

“And? There’s more?” Brian questioned, confused with the information he’d just learned. What could possibly be done with such a weapon?

“And it can evaporate large amounts of water, namely oceans, if it’s used with the right kind of power source. But in order to do this, you need a high amount of energy, and I have no idea where you can get it. Almost close to impossible, when you consider the fact that such evaporation would cause climate changes, not to mention the death of thousands of species. It would basically bring the end of the world.”

“It’s like playing with the world’s buttons,” Nick spoke slowly. The ocean was a weak spot of his; he was always fond of being out in the ocean, whenever he could.

“What could possibly be done with such a weapon?” Brian folded his arms across his chest grimly. This situation was far worse than he expected. And how could he succeed in this mission with this highly incapable Himitsu Takana agent?”

“Well, that’s what you are qualified for, Agents,” Opal stated and handed the printouts to the agents. “I think you’ve got yourself one hell of a mission.”

Both agents glanced each other. Didn’t they know it.


± ± ±


“Antarctica?!” Nick screeched. “Shitballs… she has got to be fucking kidding.”

“Shitballs?” repeated Brian in amusement, momentarily forgetting his dislike for his new “partner.”

Nick didn’t even crack a smile. His eyes, steely and serious, were still fixed on his wristwatch, which was not, Brian had learned, a watch at all; in fact, it appeared to do everything but tell time. At the moment, he had used it to get in touch with Professor Pearl back at the HimTak headquarters; she was looking into the plans for the weapon Opal had decoded, trying to uncover any information she could about its existence or whereabouts.

“What’d she say?” Brian probed, curious as to what Antarctica had to do with the stolen Russian weapon.

Nick’s eyes scanned the text message again. “A few things. She hacked the Russian system again and found classified surveillance photos of a ship that left a Russian port on the night the weapon went missing. It was flying the Russian flag and looked like a military ship, which is probably how it managed to depart without too many questions, but on closer inspection, the ship didn’t belong to the military.” He pressed a few buttons on his watch, then held his wrist out to Brian, tilting it so he could see the image he had pulled up in the tiny window.

Brian squinted. “What are those letters on the side? Just some kind of identification?”

“Pearl says it’s not. The letters are t.A.T.u. No idea what that means.”

Brian nodded. “So… where does Antarctica come in? Is that where the ship went?”

“Pearl dug a little deeper and intercepted a report from the New Zealand navy. Their Defence Force has been tracking an unidentified ship they picked up on radar. It was headed towards Len-… Lenin-… god damnit, hang on.” Nick fiddled with his watch some more, returning to the text Pearl had sent. “Lenin… grad… skaya?” he sounded out awkwardly. “Leningradskaya. It’s a Russian territory on the coast of Antarctica.”

“But why would the ship be going to Russian territory? If it’s carrying the weapon they stole from the Russian government, you’d think they’d want to avoid Russian territory.”

“Pearl doesn’t think the ship went there at all. But the New Zealanders would assume that’s where it was heading, since it was flying the Russian flag. That’s the only Russian territory in that part of the continent. But they don’t know about the stolen weapon. We’re the only ones who have all the information and can put it together,” Nick explained.

Brian nodded slowly, the wheels in his mind turning, processing all that he had been told so far. “Antarctica…” he murmured. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? Remember what Opal said – this laser could be powerful enough to melt ice… ‘huge amounts of ice.’”

“‘Like icebergs and polar ice caps,’” Nick added. “Right. And if they’ve taken it to Antarctica, it sounds like that’s exactly what they want to use it for.”

“Hard to believe they transported that huge weapon all the way to Antarctica without being caught. I wonder why they didn’t go to the Arctic instead. It’s much closer to Russia,” contemplated Brian, frowning.

“Well, duh – ‘cause it’s much closer. If you steal something, do you hang right around the corner with it? Hell no! You run like hell and get it as far away as you can. In this case, the other end of the world.”

Brian arched an eyebrow. “Shoplift much as a kid?” He smirked. He was only teasing, but Nick’s face reddened.

“No!” he shot back defensively. “It’s just common sense.”

“Right. So… the weapon’s most likely somewhere in Antarctica.”

“Yep. And guess where we get to go to try and track it down?”

Now Brian understood. “Shitballs.”

A fleeting smile passed over Nick’s face, quickly transforming into a scowl. “God damn, are they fucking insane? They want us to go to Antarctica? How are we s’posed to get there? How are we s’posed to find the damn thing once we get there? Antarctica’s the fucking South Pole! It’s fucking freezing there!”

“Don’t like the cold, do you?”

“Are you kidding? Hell no! I grew up in Florida! I live in the middle of a fucking desert, for God’s sake! You think I like the cold?”

“Well, look on the bright side – it’ll be a nice change of scenery for you,” Brian replied pleasantly. He was uncomfortable with all of Nick’s swearing and taking the Lord’s name in vain, though he’d certainly heard worse from the people he dealt with. He didn’t dare comment on that – he wasn’t that righteous – but it amused him to see the look of disgust on Nick’s face when he combated the man’s rage with pure positivity. Passive payback, Brian liked to call it.

“Scenery… psh. What is there in Antarctica besides ice and snow? And… and fucking penguins!”

“Perfect place to smuggle a stolen, top-secret, ice-melting laser, huh?” Brian grinned.

“You better stop smiling like that, or I’m gonna push you off an iceberg when we get there. You’re creeping me out,” Nick fumed.

Brian continued to smile. Nick may have gotten the better of him with that car of his, but now Brian knew just how to push his buttons. Not exactly top secret information, the way Nick showed all of his emotions on his face, but Brian coveted it anyway. Now whenever Nick started trashing the government, Brian could do what he did best: annoy the hell out of him.


± ± ±


The bickering continued over the next two days, as the unlikely partners geared up for their mission to the South Pole. Armed with weapons, supplies, and information, they boarded a plane to Argentina. They decided it was best to ignore each other for the long flight, but the sniping soon picked back up again and carried over to the helicopter that took them from Cape Horn to McMurdo Station, a science research center owned by the U.S. and situated on the southern tip of Ross Island, off the coast of Antarctica.

They spent the next few days scouting the area, talking to the scientists and few residents who lived in McMurdo and venturing outside its borders on their own, on the lookout for any suspicious findings. At first, there was nothing, and then, little by little, the missing pieces started to come together. Several people reported seeing a ship in the distance, a ship whose vague description led Brian and Nick to believe it could be the same one from the surveillance photos. A scientist remarked that on a recent expedition, his party had noticed strange behavior from some of the penguins who lived on the Ross ice shelf.

Nick sent the reports back to Pearl, who worked from the HimTak headquarters to get them as much information she could. Soon, they had satellite photos taken over the last few days. They scoured the satellite images, looking for anything that appeared out of the ordinary. The good thing about Antarctica was that in a world of white, anything not made of snow or ice stood out.

“Look at this,” Brian said, attracting Nick’s attention to the laptop computer he had brought. “This looks like an iceberg or something, right off the coast of the ice shelf. But what’s this dark spot next to it. Could it be a ship?”

Nick squinted over his shoulder at the blurry image on the screen. A slow smile spread across his face. “Could be.”

“If it is, it’s pretty darn close to that berg. Why would it sail so close?”

“Yeah, didn’t they see Titanic?” Nick joked, chuckling.

Brian smiled, but didn’t laugh. “It’s hard to tell in a still picture, but maybe it wasn’t moving. Maybe it was docked there. But why would a ship try to dock at an iceberg?”

Nick’s own grin grew even wider. “Because it’s not really an iceberg.”


± ± ±