Brian agrees.

"Fair enough. And unfortunately, the whole "Queen and Country" bit does work on me."

Artis sees the last of the goons drop and goes right for his phone.

"This is Agent Goose - I've got a walking wounded here at... (looks around for the address). Nevermind the backup, we could use a medical unit with prisoner transfer capability."

Then Artis looks for any thugs still breathing, securing dropped weapons as he goes.

As the two distance themselves from Thames Hose, Jess takes out her cell phone and dials Harry's number.

*And now, for my next trick, I shall let a generous sum of money vanish into thin air - I see that we have a volounteer over there...*

The phone picks up, followed by a loud sigh on the other end.

"Ok, whatever you want, it better also come with a date and a little something extra...if you know what I mean. Why don't you spend some of that dirty inheritance money of yours???"

Jess grins at her end.

"I'd gladly do that, if it only was as hard to trace as yours. Anyway, good news. You can collect your money, and preferably anything else that happens to be on Catesby's accounts. As for something extra - I've got a few ideas. But since we're a bit strapped for time here, that will have to wait until I'm back. Sorry for the whole money dealing, but as Osprey can tell you, we've caught our own type of flak out here; London would be just the place for a vacation if there weren't so many people with guns running around trying to kill us. I mean, Russians ! Freaking Russians !"

Jess hears Harry frantically typing, hearing Harry mumble something about damn Russians in the background.

"Ok. I retrieved the money initially transferred into Catesby's numbered account...that's not the hard part. The difficulty comes in hacking into her holding company's mainframe without anyone noticing. Stand by..."

Harry comes back on.

"Alrighty. Their encryption system was bit tricky, but I managed to leech out $165,000 (US) before their intrusion countermeasures kicked in. I trust that will be enough to raise attention?"

"Definately. Thanks a bunch, Harry, I really owe you. I swear I'll make good on it when I have time to breathe again. Bye."

As soon as the call is ended, she's already dialing Catesby's number and switching her voicebox to Samantha mode.

Quote:

Quote: from Gatac on 4:35 pm on Dec. 1, 2003
"Definately. Thanks a bunch, Harry, I really owe you. I swear I'll make good on it when I have time to breathe again. Bye."

As soon as the call is ended, she's already dialing Catesby's number and switching her voicebox to Samantha mode.

"Damn right, you will!", Harry says while laughing maniacally into the phone.

Jess dials Catesby's number, the number ringing through with her picking up almost mid-sentence. (i.e. call waiting)

"Yes, whoever this is, call I you back? I have an urgent matter on the other line..."

Yelling and commotion is heard on Catesby's end. Jess can't make out all of the voices, but they all sound like they are in various states of distress.

-What do you mean the money isn't there???
-Check the account!
-I did!
-Well, check it again!

"Something the matter, Diane ? I tell you, terrorism is a gamble; sometimes you win, and sometime you lose. And this time, you lose. As for your cash, spasiba. I'll see to it that it shall go towards a worthy cause - namely, mine. Oh, by the way, you might want to worry about Rufus Alexander - he didn't like it when I told him that I gave his money to you, and now consider how much he'll hate it when you tell him that you've lost it. As for me - my plane leaves in a few hours. If you manage to get to Biggin Hill Airfield before Midnight, you can wave me goodbye."

At this point, Jess completely loses the Russian accent, but still keeps the Samantha voice activated.

"Before I leave, I should probably mention that I'm not Samantha Illingworth. But then, you being a smart girl, you probably figured it out."

A long stream of expletives (in Russian, Scottish, and a few new ones Jess never heard) come out of the phone. Catesby composes herself and responds back.

"Whoever you are, I hope you know that you've just written your death sentence..."

Her phone goes quiet followed by the sharp sound of it hitting something hard, the line abruptly going dead.

Jess closes the phone, then turns to Brian.

"Invitation sent. Now we need to set up the party."

Brian nods.

"The usual? Or are we actually going to make an attempt at being subtle?"

Jess pats her handbag.

"I'll answer you as soon as I've looked up 'subtle' in a dictionary. Seriously, I'd say we clear the airfield, hide everyone we have with a gun nearby and position me in the middle to taunt Catesby some more. If a major tactical disadvantage will not pretend them from acting stupid, nothing will, at which point I dive for cover and you introduce them to overlapping fields of fire."