Vanity Case By Russell Iles Cargo of fear Part two and part three © 2002 Team Trident arrived back at the deserted farmhouse, Vanity instructed Eva and Sterling to rest, while she sent the photographs of the ships cargo documents to SID via the teams small portable computer, SID got back in touch with Vanity within the hour, Vanity we have some important information for you and your team, we have investigated the photographs of the cargo documents and found that the chemical will kill anyone who drinks it within 48 hours, the colour of the chemical is black, but when mixed with water it is clear, so no one will know the water is contaminated, it is important the chemical is destroyed before Dark Rain get the chance to use it, but there isn't a clue in the documents to tell us who is behind this organisation called Dark Rain. Right we've got the message, replied Vanity, the main objective for one of my team members once we locate Dark Rains base will be to destroy the chemicals, the others will round up the ringleaders, we can't afford to let them escape and do something like this again, over and out, Vanity explained the situation to Eva and Sterling, right lets all rest we have a long day ahead tomorrow and we've only about five hours until the chemicals are loaded onto a container lorry, so as soon as the tracking device starts to bleep, off we go. At ten minutes past seven in the morning the teams wrist receiver alarms sounded, right said Vanity, lets go, the chemicals are on the move, remember the tracking device has a five mile radius, so we can stay well back from the lorry, Team Trident mounted their motorcycles and sped off in the direction of the dock, the tracking device indicated that the container lorry was headed north east, Team Trident stayed well behind the lorry, but within contact as they journeyed north. One hour and fifty two minutes later the lorry stopped, Vanity sent Sterling to investigate while she and Eva waited at the roadside, Sterling contacted Vanity, it's ok he said the lorry as pulled in for fuel, Vanity and Eva set off to catch up with Sterling, the lorries on the move again lets go, said Vanity, they travelled for another 45 miles or so, then the lorry started to slow down, right Eva you go on ahead and get the lorry in your sights and see what happening, ok said Eva, I will contact you as soon as I find out where it's going, Eva then sped off to investigate, Vanity and Sterling waited for Eva to contact them. Eva soon made contact, Vanity the lorry has turned off of the main road and turned into a small side road, about three miles ahead of you, it seems to be heading for some sort of factory building, about a mile down the small road in the middle of nowhere, shall I follow, no stay there Eva, said Vanity, we're on our way to join you, Vanity and Sterling met up with Eva at a secluded area not far from the factory, Vanity then contacted SID to find out what the building was, it turned out to be a fairly large old disused woollen mill or factory, well we've found Dark Rains base, we will wait until nightfall before we make an attempt to gain entry to the mill said Vanity, I will wait here amongst the bushes and survey their base said Sterling, ok said Vanity, you survey the mill and report anything suspicious, Eva and I will go and make enquiries with the local authorities and try and find out who the old factory belongs to, it could be the same person who is behind Dark Rain, the local men folk will love seeing you two riding through town wearing leathers, joked Sterling, it will brighten up their day, replied Vanity. Meanwhile inside the disused mill the chemicals were being unloaded and placed into an underground storage facility until the following night when they would be taken to an unknown destination and added to the water supply, unless of course, 'Dark Rains demands are met by the government, and they get their money. Some hours later Vanity contacted Sterling, we have found out who used to own the old factory, said Vanity, his name's Carlisle Chadwick, But the name does not appear to exist on local records, he may not own the factory anymore or it could be a false name, we are on our way back to you now, over and out. Vanity and Eva arrived back at Sterling's position, Vanity asked Sterling what the situation was regarding his surveillance of the factory, the factory is surrounded by an eight foot fence, said Sterling I didn't detect any security camera's or dogs, but I have seen several guards, three patrolling the grounds and four in the factory building itself, but there may be more, they have unloaded the chemicals and lowered them into an underground store room, there are two more guards down there, it should not be to much trouble getting inside the building, a large black car drove in just over an hour ago, it could be the head man, possibly replied Vanity, we will soon find out for ourselves, said Eva. I have a plan of the factory said Vanity, the top man at the local authorities was only to willing to let us have it once he knew who we were, right, according to this plan the factory is two storey and the main office is on the first floor, that's where the head man will probably be, Eva I want you to get into the storage facility below the factory, the entrance is via a stairway at the rear of the building and destroy the chemicals, use time delay explosive's and set them to go off when you are safely back up at ground level, make sure you take care of the guards before setting the explosive charges, leave it to me, said Eva, Sterling and I said Vanity will take care of the remaining guards and get to the office and round up the ringleaders, the only weapons we have are knockout darts, but only use them if absolutely necessary as we only have three each and there's one more thing, Sterling before you follow me into the building make sure you render their vehicles useless, so that no one can escape in them and get away, also the factory was built next to a small river, it runs through the grounds and under the perimeter fence through a small tunnel, I will get in that way said Sterling, ok said Vanity. It will be dark in about an hour, we will make our move then, we will do as before and enter the grounds separately, we all know what we have to do, lets make it a success and finish off Dark Rain once and for all, Eva get zipped up and ready for action, said Vanity and study the plans of the building with Sterling while I contact SID and ask them about Carlisle Chadwick and let them know we are ready to go in and finish the job. Ok team it's time to get to work' said Vanity, be careful and good luck and remember if you get into any sort of difficulties, make contact, remember we're a team we will help each other, did SID have information regarding Carlisle Chadwick, asked Eva, they have no information on him at all, replied Vanity. Team Trident hid their motorcycles in the bushes and separately made their way to the perimeter fence surrounding the factory. Vanity Case made her way to the fence, she surveyed the area for guards, it was all clear, Vanity crouched down and proceeded to cut a hole in the fence, she climbed through and staying crouched made her way slowly toward the factory building directly ahead, Sterling had found the small tunnel, as he entered he could hear voices, he silently inched his way forward through the darkness to the end of the tunnel, as he reached the other end he could see two guards talking by the side of the river, he crouched down out of sight and waited until the two guards had moved off, Eva had made her way to a part of the fence at the rear of the factory, next to a small clump of tree's, Eva then very nimbly climbed one of the tree's and crouched down among the branches to survey the rear of the building, she could just about see the steps leading down to the storage facility beneath the factory and the container lorry that had delivered the chemicals, which had luckily been parked just to the left, between Eva's position and the stairway, Eva made sure the coast was clear, she then slowly stood up on the branch, after making sure it was safe to do so, and she then inched herself forward until she was directly above the perimeter fence, she then flipped herself over the fence and into the factory grounds, where she then made her way silently over to the container lorry for cover. VANITY CASE TEAM TRIDENT CARGO OF FEAR PART THREE By Russell Iles © 2002 Meanwhile Vanity Case had reached an out building about sixty yards from the factory, she contacted the others to make sure they had got in safely, she then peered around the building wall and saw one of Dark Rains men walking toward her position, she moved silently back behind the out building and waited until the guard came near, Vanity crouched out of sight of the guard as he walked behind the out building, she waited for him to walk past her, then she crept up behind him and grabbed him from behind in a neck hold, as the man struggled she tightened her grip, rendering him unconscious, she then bound and gagged the man with tape and left him out of sight behind the out building. Vanity then moved toward the main building, keeping low and out of sight, she could see a ground floor doorway ahead that seemed unguarded, she decided that, that would be her way into the factory, Sterling meanwhile had taken care of the two guards he had spotted earlier and left them both lying unconscious on the ground near to the perimeter fence, he then made his way to where Dark Rains vehicles were parked, including the head mans large black saloon, Sterling then expertly disabled each of the four vehicles in turn, making sure none could be used as a means of escape by Dark Rains men, Sterling then proceeded to head for the main building and find a way inside, he could see a fire escape at the side of the building, he made his way toward it and quietly climbed the steps to the first floor fire door, he listened for any activity inside, making sure it was safe to do so, he broke the lock and silently made his way inside. Eva was crouched beside the container lorry watching for any guard movement at the entrance to the underground storage area, her leather cat suit reflected the moonlight as she crept toward the stairs leading down to the door, she silently made her way to the door, she could hear footsteps from inside coming towards the door, the door opened, Eva quickly and quietly moved out of sight behind the opened door and watched as one of the guards made his way up the steps and out of the storage area, she sighed with relief, that was a close call, she thought. Eva knowing that only one guard would be in the storage area, quietly opened the door and entered the storage facility, crouching behind some crates she spotted the guard at the other end of the room inspecting the chemical drums, she silently crept behind some crates to within a few feet of the guard, Eva, seeing her chance slowly crept up behind him and grabbed him in a sleeper hold from behind, tightly wrapping her arm around his throat, she squeezed and the guard instantly fell to the floor unconscious, Eva then pulled him out of sight behind the crates, she then lay in wait to deal with the other guard on his return, before planting the explosives. Vanity had got inside the factory on the ground floor and noticed that there were two guards in a room opposite her entry point, she decided to take them out, she loaded the knockout darts into her pistol and moved towards the room, as she reached the door she could hear the two men talking, she quietly opened the door and walked in, she fired a dart at one of the guards hitting him in the shoulder and knocking him out instantly, the other guard rushed towards Vanity grabbing the pistol, as he tried to wrestle it from her grasp the pistol fell to the floor, instantly Vanity struck the guard to the side of the face with a powerful blow with the back of her hand , the guard reeled back against the wall, then with lightening quick reflexes Vanity grabbed the guards arm and threw him over her shoulder to the floor, as he tried desperately to get up Vanity finished him off with a powerful kick to the jaw, Vanity retrieved her pistol, then casually brushed herself off and made her way out of the room and silently moved into the main factory area. Sterling had made his way undetected to the landing area of the first floor in an attempt to locate the main office, he could see a corridor opposite, that must be where the office is, he thought, Sterling contacted Vanity, I have located the office area, said Sterling, well done, said Vanity, make your way down to the ground floor, said Vanity, I need your help in locating the remaining guards, ok said Sterling I'm on my way, over, Sterling silently descended the stairs to the ground floor he crouched down behind some old machinery, he spotted two guards patrolling the main factory area, he moved in closer to get a better view, the guards separated, he watched as one of them headed for the stairs, Sterling's receiver began to flash, Sterling it's Vanity, I'll follow the guard up the stairs and deal with him, you concentrate on disabling the remaining guard down here, then meet me at the top of the stairs, over, out of the corner of his eye, Sterling could see Vanity quietly climbing the stairs in pursuit of the other guard, Sterling moved in on the remaining guard in the factory area, he observed the guard enter a rest room, Sterling followed, he could see the guard using the coffee machine, Sterling crept in through the open door and quietly and efficiently disabled the guard from behind, rendering him unconscious, Sterling made his way back up the stairs, where he found Vanity standing over the unconscious body of the other guard, right said Vanity lets make our way to the office and find out who's behind Dark Rain, and deal with them appropriately, ok said Sterling I'll lead the way. Eva meanwhile had found an hiding place near to the door just inside the underground storage facility, where she lay in wait for the second guard to return, she heard footsteps on the stairs out side, the door opened and in walked the guard armed with a revolver, he made his way over to the chemicals, Eva crept quietly out of her hiding place and locked the door, she then crouched down behind some crates, and observed the guard as he shouted for his comrade, I shall have some fun with him, thought Eva, she proceeded to sneak up to within a few yards behind him and said, in a clear voice, don't move or I will shoot you in the back as I did your comrade, unload your weapon and throw it to the floor, the guard froze and immediately did as he was told and threw the ammunition and weapon across the floor out of harms way, that is good, said Eva, now we are both unarmed' the guard turned around and saw Eva, clad in leather, standing hands on hips a few yards in front of him, I don't need a weapon to deal with a woman, laughed the guard, we will see , said Eva, the guard rushed toward Eva and grabbed her by the throat, Eva easily broke his grasp and with super fast reflexes she grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder and onto his back, Eva stood waiting, arms folded as the guard rose to his feet, the guard attacked again, Eva was ready, she blocked the attack and once again threw him powerfully over her shoulder and onto his back, the dazed guard stumbled to his feet as the watching Eva menacingly encircled him clicking her fingers, The guard attacked once more, Eva easily blocked his attack and again threw the guard onto his back, before the guard had a chance to get up Eva threw herself on top of him, pinning him to the ground, Eva then manoeuvred herself into position and trapped the guards neck in a leg scissors sleeper hold, as the man struggled she slowly tightened her grip until he lost consciousness, Eva then rose to her feet, straightened her hair and brushed off her leathers, before walking over to inspect the chemicals and placing the explosive device, she set the explosives and set the timer to fifteen minutes. Eva then made her way out of the storage facility and up the steps to ground level, she then made her way to the perimeter fence and cut a hole, there she waited for the others to finish the job and to be of assistance if required.