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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 5018448" data-attributes="member: 143">Session 10 (June 16, 2008)Chapter 32Catalina winced.  James said, “Hallorand won’t want that to happen, and will know how to handle the information.”“Agreed,” Jane said.  “Hallorand is the right person to tell.”“Okay,” Vasily said.  “Let’s go.”“It’s the middle of the night,” Buzz pointed out.  “Maybe he’s asleep?”  He yawned, to punctuate the statement. “It has been a long day,” Catalina admitted.“All right, first thing in morning then,” Vasily said.  They quickly put away the chips and cards, and stood up, stretching and yawning a bit.  “I need to check something in the lab,” James said, heading out into the main corridor.  “I need to talk to Musa in the morning,” Jane said.  “I put in an order for something special for Doctor Sandesh.”“Thoughtful of you,” Catalina said, stifling another yawn.  The laboratories and workshops at X-COM headquarters never truly shut down, but the main lab was quiet in the early early hours, with just four scientists working at individual stations around the room.  James headed over to the medical display unit, and tapped the screen to wake it from sleep mode.The medical tech on duty, one of the surgical nurses, came out of the supply room.  She was in her late forties, her blonde hair tightly done up in a no-nonsense bun.  “Burning the midnight oil, doc?” she said, noticing James.    Distracted, didn’t reply, but as she came over to him, he looked up.  “Sorry, deep in thought.  What can I do for you?”“Oh, just saying hello.  Say, Doctor Allen, have you seen Doctor Sandesh?  He complained of headaches earlier, said he couldn’t sleep.”“No.  Where do you think he is?”“I prepared him a draught, but I just came from the barracks, and he’s not in his bunk.”“Not in his bunk?”“It’s late, he’s probably just off wandering.  Sometimes it’s hard to sleep in this place, you know.  Sorry to bother you, doctor.”“No problem.  The base isn’t that big, maybe I can try to find him.  Where does he usually go when he’s not sleeping or working?”“He kind of keeps to himself.  Sometimes he likes to find a quiet place to pray.”“Not too many quiet places in this base.  I’ll see if I can find him.”A few minutes later, James poked his head into the barracks.  Buzz was stretched out on his bunk, though he was still awake; Vasily was sitting on the end of his, while Catalina and Jane were presumably behind the folding partition that divided the room by gender. “Vas, you seen Sandesh?  His team can’t find him anywhere.”“Uh, not here.  I just get here.”“He’s not in his bunk.”The Russian frowned.  “He was not hurt, right?”Catalina came in, holding her toiletries kit.  “What?” she said, seeing the others.  “Doctor Sandesh apparently not around anywhere,” Vasily said. “Where could he have gone?” Catalina asked. “Not in bunk or in lab or in canteen?” Vasily asked James.  When the doctor shook his head, he said, “Where else scientist go?”“We can make sure he hasn’t left the base at least, surely?” Catalina asked.  Jane came in, holding a book.  “Something up?” “Doctor Sandesh is missing,” Vasily said.  “We need to spread out, search the base.  Someone ask guards and in hangar.  I will check the east wing.”“I’ll go check the storage areas,” Jane said.  The others followed, fanning out into different corridors as they moved further away from the barracks. “Help you with something, ma’am?” the base guard outside the main lift asked, as Catalina fixed him with a lantern smile.  “You wouldn’t have seen Doctor Sandesh anywhere, would you?”The guard shook his head.  “The Egyptian?  No, nobody’s come through here tonight ‘cept for Drake and that agent, and they were leaving.”“He must be hiding somewhere, I’ll find him,” she said, turning away from the guard with a wink.  James caught up to her as she was heading out to the hangars.  “Cat, before you go,” he said, hurrying to catch up.  “Yes?”“Take one of these for our next mission.  Insurance, in case I’m not available to use it.” She frowned as she looked over the compact kit.  “How do I use it?”“It’s simple.  For any puncture or energy wound, insert the prongs into the affected area, into living tissue, preferably.  Then just hit the plungers.”“Okay, I can manage that,” she said.  Doors slid open and shut in quick succession in an infrequently-used corridor used for storage.  Jane remained in each room just long enough to verify that there was no place within where Sandesh could have been hiding, before moving on to the next one. As Vasily headed down the corridor that led to the east wing of the base, he heard voices up ahead.  Almost reflexively, he slowed down and listened. “So, is it true what they say about stuntwomen?” Eleazar Perez said. “I don’t know, what do they say?” returned a female voice, unfamiliar.  As Vasily turned the corner, he saw its owner, standing next to Eleazar just outside the door to the tertiary barracks being used by Beta Team and the engineers assigned to the new Workshop Two.  She was a curvy blonde, well-equipped with both muscles that showed a lot of work and a Hollywood smile that spread as she caught sight of the Russian.  “Hello,” he said. “They say,” Eleazar began, only to cut off as he saw Vasily.  “Ah, it’s the Russian!”“Yes.  It is the Russian,” Vasily replied. “Vosta… danya, whatever, man.  Got any vodka?”“Don’t mind him,” the woman said.  “He’s an idiot.  I’m Alyssa Sanders.  You must be Vasily Kasprjak.”“Hah,” Vasily said.  “I look for Sandesh.  You know?  Odd Egyptian scientist man.”“No, but I just woke up.  El was watching this gods-awful movie.”“Hey, don’t be dissing my main man!” Eleazar interjected.  His eyes remained fixed on Vasily, though, with a hard look that suggested that he was unwelcome. “Okay.  Thank you both,” Vasily said.  He started to leave, but Alyssa stepped in front of him.  “I was thinking of heading over to the shooting range.  Want to go with me?”“Hey, you never want to shoot with me,” Eleazar protested. “Yes,” she said, shooting a quick glance in his direction.  “That’s right.”“Eh, I wish I could, but… eh, okay.  Need to get used to giant machine gun, hah.”“I’ll bet you do,” Alyssa said. “Bah, I’m going to bed,” Eleazar said, turning away in defeat. Alyssa tucked her hand under Vasily’s arm as the pair made their way to the final corridor at the end of the east wing, where some of the engineers had set up a shielded practice range.  A heavy tarp had been set up to muffle the noise, which Vasily pulled back to let Alyssa by.  “How is life in Beta,” he began, but he was cut off as Alyssa let out a startled gasp.  He followed her to see what had surprised her, then let out a harsh Russian curse.  He quickly jumped over the low barrier that marked the start of the range, and bent over the limp form of Doctor Sandesh. “Is he…” Alyssa asked.Vasily looked up.  “Please go to base corridor.  Get Doctor Allen.  He not dead.  Not yet.”“Right!” Alyssa said, and ran off.</blockquote>

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