27.

September 6, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Starting as a small fishing village in the 12th century, this town has become the capital city of a whole country over time. Amsterdam is one of the largest cities in Europe today, one of the centers of industry and commerce of the whole continent.
It is not far behind in terms of scenic and architectural beauty too.
The metropolis is often compared to Venice due to its poetic beauty and cozy atmosphere.

A Boeing of KLM landed at Schiphol airport in this capital at 8:30 in the morning.
It was a connecting flight that arrived here from Rio De Janeiro via Lisbon, Portugal. Taxiing lazily, the Boeing slowly came to the side of the terminal building. This time from the body of the building a crocodile disembarkation tube stretched out around the front exit of the aircraft.
After a while, the door was opened, and the rush was visible among the passengers who were coming out.
The fatigue of the long journey was prominent in everyone's eyes.

Among the crowd, there was a non-white young man about six feet tall. He always keeps his dark hair properly brushed, but at the moment his hair was all messy. He had thick-framed glasses on the top of his nose with a medium-sized mustache under it. He had quite long mullets,
The build of his nose was a little crooked as if someone punched him right on his nose so hard that it has lost its shape permanently. No one can imagine this look was made by a make-up artist. 

Although traveling together for sixteen long hours, not one of his fellow passengers suspected that behind the disguise a very handsome young man was hiding.

Kim Seokjin.

In response to the farewell greeting of the flight attendant standing at the door, he came out of the exit with a polite smile, he began to move forward through the disembarkation tube, keeping pace with the other passengers.

Several airport officials were standing in order at different places in the narrow passage to monitor the passenger convenience...plus to maintain security. Though their presence was nothing unusual, still Jin stayed on guard.

Jin's head was filled with worry.  According to Arya's calculation,
the Uno-virus will hit at 2 pm tomorrow local time in the Netherlands.

The cataclysm of the cyber world will begin at once. 

All in all, there were still almost sixteen hours left in their hands, but they haven't made any progress on the assignment yet. They were still there where they were before.

They couldn't get anyone to make the anti-virus yet, let alone distribute it to the world right on time.

Eight of the ten Unos have already died, and the ninth...Dr. Stanley Donnen, they found him on time but were unable to save him anyway.

Jin was feeling guilty, with a feeling of guilt an unbridled rage was also building up in his chest. It will not stop until the murderers are punished and that too should be by his own hands.

But Behind the whole thing
It is not yet clear who was swinging the strings...to seek revenge or punishment- the identity of the enemy must be known first!

The whole mission was made more difficult by Douglas Bullock. 
About forty-eight hours have passed since escaping the Montego Ice-shelf. But none of Jin or Arya could use the time to research or do some problem-solving in the meanwhile just because of him.

He was faced by a furious CIA chief who again threatened him with demotion; Now that man has become desperate to satisfy his anger.

As usual, he blames not himself but Jin for what happened. So both of them had to take a lot of precautions and measures to evade Bulldog and his spy sources all over the world. And a lot of effort and precious time was ruined because of that.

They landed in a mountainous area on the Alaskan border with the Coast Guard's J-hawk helicopter. Arya landed the helicopter in a narrow canyon between two mountains, then they camouflaged it with tree branches and leaves. From there, they crossed the border on foot and entered Canada. 

Neither of the two was completely healthy, not only physically exhausted but also their endurance had reached its limit. In the end, they reached a small border town, and from there, Jin called NIS' Montreal branch's scrambled line.

The branch head was already on standby to rescue them with Dr. Donnen from Montego Ice shelf if needed. As soon as the phone was received, he sent an airplane to an airfield near that small town.

Jin and Arya rode it to Montreal and took shelter in the agency safe house.

They did the next work from there. 
In addition to taking the necessary treatment for their wounds, they started to search for Dr. Elisa Van Buren, the last Uno.

The Agency operators did a really great job. They managed to find her and collect all her details within twelve hours. All family information was available there, as well as her whereabouts.

After completing her studies, she returned to her homeland,
Started a software company in Amsterdam and has been in business for the past ten years. She is extremely dedicated to her work that she didn't even bother to marry someone or create a family.
With her effort alone, her organization has become one of the top-twenty computer-based companies in Europe.

Creal Tech- her company, only made software at first, its flagship product was an anti-virus software named- Creal protect which won several international awards.

 As the name of the company started to gain recognition, recently they concentrated on hardware too. That means the company has also started making various computer parts; 
It is being advertised that the company will launch their own computer in the market soon.

But that's just it. The operators of the Montreal branch couldn't locate the whereabouts of Dr. Elisa Van Buren.

The staff at her company were not opening their mouths. Jin had no time to wait for the whereabouts to be revealed slowly, so deciding to find Buren himself, he came to the Netherlands in person.

It was possible to reach Amsterdam in only four hours from Canada if they used Concorde Jet.

But Jin decided to take a detour on a normal flight. At the request of the American government, the government of Canada kept sharp eyes on all types of aircraft and others traveling outside the country to arrest two NIS spies who attacked a Coast Guard Ship and stole one of their aircraft.
Jin and Arya were informed that they had arranged thorough surveillance of the transport.
Besides, Bulldog had mobilized his own CIA agents who were active inside Canada.
It was possible for Bulldog to join the dots if he looks into the close circle of Dr. Donnen and the mysterious death of his friends. In that case, it isn't impossible for him to find Dr. Buren already. If he has, then it is easy to assume that Jin's next destination will be Amsterdam. In that case, he will keep a close eye on all the flights on that route. That's why Jin and Arya were forced to take an alternative route. One of them left the country in disguise and went to Brasil, the other to Morocco.

From there, Jin changed his identity again and came to the Netherlands on a connecting flight.

Jin slowly walked towards the customs desk along with other passengers. He was one of the thousands of common passengers at the busy airport right now.
No one will notice any special feature about him in this surge of people.

 Jin stood in line to complete the formalities and after some time, his turn came. 

There were two customs officers at the desk, handing over the passport and documents to one of them, he looked around for a moment.

Two security men were standing behind the officers, chit-chatting with a third person...he Looked American.

Bulldog's man?

But he didn't have to worry too much about it. A very relaxed and loose atmosphere was there among them.
One of them looked at him, then went back to their chatting.

Jin's luggage came on the conveyor belt. pulling up the suitcase, a customs officer placed it on the desk and opened it to look inside.
Another one was checking his passport and documents.

"Mr. Ricardo Gomez," said the officer.  "I see you are a Frequent traveler, visited many countries. What do you do actually for a living?"

Jin nodded politely and said, "why, can't you see? It is written in my paper - I am an International Representative of Yander Iron Company."

Traveling to different countries was true. Ricardo Gomez's character was an emergency cover alias of NIS. Any agents in need can use that alias whenever they need to leave the country or enter into any other country.
To keep Gomez's disguise intact and believable, some agents from different parts of the world travel around the globe using that passport regularly.

"Huh, what's your job?" asked the officer.

"My company takes iron ore from different mines in Brasil and delivers them all over the world. Export, Maintaining contact with clients as well as collecting orders, bills, etc, I have to manage all of these. That's why it's I have to travel a lot."

"And you are here to..."

"To talk to two big shipyards in your country. The contract is still under review though. Once the contract is done, we will supply all the iron they need for the whole year."

"Okay," the officer returned the documents, satisfied. 

Jin thanked him and started walking with the suitcase.

He carefully looked back to the American who was chatting with the two security guards still. What was he doing here?

Jin came out of the passenger lounge. Putting the suitcase on the pavement, he touched his hair in a specific way. As soon as he did that, a sedan parked one hundred yards away came to life, approaching in front, It stood right next to him.

The driver opened the door and got out, with a smile on his face, he hugged Jin as if two relatives were meeting one another after so many years. Jin put the suitcase in the trunk of the car and rode with the driver.

The car left the airport and came onto the A-4 highway, speeding towards the suburbs of Amsterdam. Jin watched back with a wary eye. after ten minutes passed without seeing anything suspicious, he breathed a sigh of relief—no, they weren't being followed. But still, there was a little itch in the back of his mind. That American man with airport security- what was the man doing? His presence at the customs desk was not a normal occurrence.

"What's the matter, Jin?" asked Arya who was disguised as the driver.

She arrived here two hours earlier from Morocco. She finished a few small errands here then rented a car under a new disguise and went to the airport to receive him. 

"You look worried. Why?"

"I saw a man there at customs," said Jin, "he wasn't any airport personnel.
He was standing with the two security guards, just talking. He looked like an American..."

"I saw him too!" said Arya.

Jin instantly frowned, "when?"

"Two hours ago...when I landed."

"He was still there?" Jin wondered, "what was he doing??"

"Nothing. I was afraid that he was standing there to catch me, but he did not even look back. Seemed like he was waiting for someone else or something else."

"Strange!" Said Jin absentmindedly, 
"he didn't look at me either. If he wasn't there for us, then why on earth he is just standing there?"

"That guy was not alone," Arya said, "I saw at least three more men there."

"Where? I didn't see them!"

"Probably you did not go to where they were. I saw one man
In the cafeteria, one was in the international lounge, and the last one was over there on the immigration desk."

"Mnn, why did you go to so many places?"

"I saw very strict security at the airport, there was a police van outside as well. So I wanted to assess the situation by walking around for a while inside."

"Well done," said Jin, "what is the news here? Have you been in touch with Woosung-sshi?"

He was talking about Choi Woosung, the head of the Amsterdam branch of NIS.

Arya shook her head, "I called when I checked in at the hotel."

"What did he say?"

"I could not discuss in much detail, we had to speak in code language so that no one can understand anything even if they overhear us. Woosung-sshi only said that he still could not find Dr. Buren. It has been confirmed that the lady is still somewhere inside the country...but that's just it. No one can tell where she has been hiding herself recently."

"Yes, that means Dr. Buren took Dr. Donnen's warning seriously."
said Jin, "looks like she's still alive... since the news of her death isn't out yet. She is a famous person, if something happened to her, it would have surely made it into the news."

"How long will she stay safe is the main question now. The murderers even went to the Arctic to kill Dr. Donnen."

"The bigger problem is time," said Jin in a calm voice, "only sixteen hours are left until the deadline. We have to find Dr. Buren within the remaining hours and we have to make her agree to make an anti-virus."

"What do you want to do now, Jin?"  Arya asked, "should we go to the head office of Creal-Tech? Someone out there must know where is their boss. We can take attempt to make them talk if someone knows."

"I don't think that will work, Woosung-sshi could have got it out already if it were that easy."
Jin shook his head.

"Then?"

Jin thought for a moment and broke the silence, "was there any address of Dr. Buren's residence among the information Woosung-sshi provided?"

"One minute," slowing down the car, Arya reached for the dashboard and took out a notebook. She parked the car on one side and started to scour through the pages. After a while she said, "here it is... here it is! There's the address—108, Grumberg Avenue, Aalsmeer."

"Do you have a guide map?"

Arya shook her head and opened the glove compartment and brought out a folded map.

Jin opened it and looked carefully and said, "mnn...elite area for residence. Let's go there."

"What is the benefit of going? Woosung-sshi said the house is empty...locked. It has been like that for the past couple of months now."

"I want to search the house a bit. Maybe we can find any clue about where the lady can go."

Arya shook her head and moved the sedan forward again.






half an hour later.

The distance from Schiphol to Aalsmeer is only thirteen miles.

They reached there in no time. Seeing the road marking and signs, they finally found Dr. Elisa Van Buren's house.

It was a nice duplex house in a large area on the banks of the Westeinderplassen lake.
It was surrounded by low walls of beautiful well-trimmed bushes. The large lawn was adorned with green grasses with several beautifully made flower beds and some low sculptures placed on some pillars. In the middle of the circular driveway, large rose bushes were increasing the beauty of the lawn. There was a small dock in the back, with a new model of speedboat tied with it—looks like that computer scientist likes to ride on a speedboat in her free time.

Arya parked the Sedan in a parking lot a mile away and they both walked around the house carefully but could not find any way to get inside.

All the front and back doors and windows were closed, and the locks were not ordinary at all either. Those were advanced electronic locks. 

Looking at the situation, it seems that the alarm was also fitted there carefully.
It will alert the police if there was a forced or broken entry into the estate.

Jin began to worry about how to get in, but Arya's smile interrupted his thoughts. 
"What's the matter?" He asked.

"Electronic lock, dear Jin," said Arya, "it's just child's play if you ask me to break the code. It is much easier for me to unlock that compared to a normal lock."

"If it was a normal lock, you could call me a lock magician," smiled Jin, "hurry to work, time is precious."

Arya ran away and returned within ten minutes - she brought her laptop computer. She bought this new laptop in Amsterdam.

She opened the cover of the electronic lock of the back door of the house and then connected the computer with a data cable and then got busy breaking the access code. Jin stood a little away and on watch.

Within five minutes there was a clicking sound. Turning his head, he saw the green light shining on the display of the lock— it was open! 
Arya's eyes were smiling, her brow
danced, and smiled, "told ya."

"Good job, Arya," said Jin.  Then he entered the house with her.

The kitchen was just on the other side of the door, nothing to see there. 

The two of them came to the main part of the house through the corridor. The ground floor was like a big hall room.

The shape was circular, with several doors around to lead to different rooms. A wide staircase leads to the second floor right in the middle of the hall room. The whole house was covered with expensive carpets. Wood paneling adorned the walls. There were various types of paintings and stuffed animal heads on the wall. On one side of the hall room, several rare antiques were also spotted. In the whole scene, it screamed wealth.

"Ah, the lady looks quite rich," remarked Jin.

"She didn't get wealthy overnight. She was born rich," said Arya, "why despite having so much money and influence and prestige, her father still went to war to fight against the enemy I still don't get it."

Jin remembers the information Choi Woosung found out about that woman. Dr. Elisa's ancestors were once barons, they had a lot of influence and power over here. However, her father did not like the monotonous life of barons at all.

That gentleman was adventurous, straight from the start of World War II, he went and enrolled in the Royal Air Force, and he did not accept any objection from anyone from the family. He served as a Bomber pilot in the Eighteenth East Indies Squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1942 to 1945 and gained a lot of respect from the force. He went to America for training and there he met Dr. Buren's mother and started a chapter of their romance and love.

That gentleman died ten years ago.
Elisa's mother died earlier, and now she was the only one in the family.
There was no one except her younger brother.

"Many people cannot be satisfied with just the identity of father and grandfather," said Jin, "they want to show their ability to do something."

"Like you." Smiled Arya.

"I wasn't born rich," reminded Jin, "uncle adopted me. I still have to return the favor for giving me a second chance in this world."

"You've returned enough." Arya smiled.

"Not enough." Jin shook his head, "I still owe to my country for finding me useful even after some serious allegations."

"If those who are running the family system in our country understood this!" Arya smiled encouragingly, "you know It is highly honourable how simply you think about yourself and ready to give back?"

Jin smiled a little shyly, "enough about me. Let's do what we came to do."

"The house is very big. Where do you want to search?" Arya dropped the matter seeing Jin a little embarrased. She needs to make him more acceptable to compliments- she mentally noted it down.

"There must be something like study.  Let's find out. We can have an idea where she can go if we look into the documents there!"

Jin and Arya got busy. They Opened all the doors downstairs and started peeking inside. A little later the study house was found at one end of that house. A small library was also seen in the room.

It seemed like an office, Dr. Buren probably does her official work here if she was at home.

The study had several file cabinets, including a large one. The desk table was decorated with a modern computer. 

Asking Arya to turn it on, Jin himself went towards the cabinets and peeked inside to see the documents.  After a while he had to be disappointed, all the cabinets were
locked. A sound of annoyance came out of Arya's mouth.

"What happened?" asked Jin.

"It is password protected," Arya said, "I can't get in."

"Have you tried to crack the password?"

"Of course! But it's not surprising that an Uno will not let her personal computer to get hacked that easily. A defense system is running here made in Uno code. it is not possible to enter into this computer."

"The cabinets are also locked," Jin remarked.

"What can be done then?"

"I'll take a round to the surrounding rooms, I'll look for something to pick the locks. You go upstairs and find Dr. Buren's bedroom. Take all of her personal belongings and come here."

"What things should I bring?"

"Family album, letters...whatever you think important. If we are lucky enough, we can also get her personal diary."

"What's the point?"

"It will be understood to where does Dr. Buren usually go? Go, don't be late. Finish it."

Arya shook her head and left. Jin also came out of the study after Arya.
After finishing viewing the two rooms, he was suddenly startled by the heavy sound of the engine.

A car pulled up in the driveway. After a while, the front door was opened. There was a faint sound of footsteps in the hall...Not Arya, someone else! 

The posture of the walker was different, that person seems to be wearing heels. That means women!

Jin was surprised. Who could it be? Choi Woosung said this house was locked for the last couple of months. He said no one was there. Then Who came suddenly? Dr. Buren herself?

He opened the door and peeked carefully and stopped immediately. 

No.

Fate has not been that kind to them yet. The person was not an old computer scientist, but a young woman.

A young woman—no more than late twenty. She was wearing a gray plaid skirt and jacket with contrast-colored high heels on her legs and a shoulder bag to her side. She came to the hall in a relaxed manner and hung a hand-held overcoat on the attached hook on the wall. She lowered the bag and put it on the side table, then she walked down the corridor to the kitchen.

Jin was at a loss. The girl will open the back door there! That one was close but definitely not locked. Will she notice the matter?

The answer came in no time. He saw her coming out in the corridor with a panic-ridden face in the hall.

The girl looked around as if to assess if the intruders were still inside the house.

Who knows what she understood?
Hesitantly, she walked over to the telephone on a small stool on one side of the hall room. She was definitely going to call the police.

Jin couldn't sit back and watch. If the police come, there will be a disaster.

Jin carefully opened the door and came out, approaching the girl carefully.

Her back was facing Jin. As soon as the dial was finished, he reach her.

At the last moment, the young woman could feel someone's presence near her neck.

She tried to turn quickly. But before that, she was hit from behind.
Jin held the girl with one hand and shut her mouth with the other hand so that she can't shout.

The girl started struggling to get free, but Jin was strong.
The poor thing was not supposed to win against him, so she quickly gave up.

"Put down the receiver," said Jin in a calm voice, not loosening his grip on the girl.

The prisoner obeyed the order with trembling hands, her eyes were filled with terror and panic.

As soon as a few drops of water fell on Jin's hand covering her mouth- Jin realized that the girl was crying.

He said in a calm and soft tone, "don't be afraid, I won't harm you. I'll move my hand away from your mouth if you promise not to scream. Will you?"

The girl tried to shake her head fearfully.

"Okay," said Jin, removing his hand from her mouth. His other hand also loosened around her body. But a setback occurred at the last moment.

"Oh god! Who is this again?"
Arya was coming down the stairs, she just exclaimed seeing a person out of nowhere. Hearing her voice, Jin lost his concentration for a while.

The girl seized the opportunity and moved her elbow, and at the same time brought down the heel of her right foot on Jin's feet.

Jin grunted with the sudden hit under the ribs. He felt the pain in his leg more than his pain in the ribcage.

The arms around her loosened immediately, and the young woman pulled herself away with a jerk and ran through the corridor to the kitchen.

"Shit!" Arya cursed colorfully.

"Stop her!" said Jin, trying to catch his breath. "Don't let her run away!"

Arya threw all the papers in her hands on the stairs, jumped down on the floor over the top of the railing, and started running along the corridor.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top