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Jill felt her heart quicken at rebecca&039;s words, a feeling that things were happening too fast and that they weren&039;t prepared Her decision seeh Jill really hadn&039;t doubted that she&039;d volunteer; Rebecca was a lot stronger than she looked She glanced around Barry&039;s wide, open living roo the reactions of her teammates Chris&039;s face was strained, his mouth drawn as he stared absently at the map of Caliban Cove, while Barry walked across to one of the living roo at nothing in particular

They&039;re worried about her, and maybe they should be; Griffith sounds like a serious psycho but would any of us have hesitated if we&039;d been asked to go? It just proved that Rebecca was as co to know the young Bravo had been one of the only bright spots in the frustrating days since the ly optiainst Umbrella even after their suspension, and had worked tirelessly to keep all of their spirits up She was brilliant, too and yet she never flaunted it, or ca to discuss aspects of the T-Virus with the around at the three uely uncomfortable with her deci- sion, probably because of Rebecca&039;s youth Men She&039;s young, she&039;s cute, and she&039;s undoubtedly s and cute part tends to ht her eye and se, Jill had been a professional thief, and a good one She orried about Rebecca, too, but only because she&039;d grown to care about her The fact that she was a young woman wasn&039;t a reason to underestimate her talents Rebecca smiled back, and walked over to sit by her as David nodded hesitantly at his newest tea for Bangor at twenty-three hundred hours, with a con-necting flight to a field just outside of Exeter I thought we could all go over a bit of strategy here, and then drop by your place on the way to the airfield so you can pack a few things"

Rebecca nodded, and after cracking aopen, Barry ainst one arm of the couch He folded his arms across his massive chest and jerked his chin toward David "You&039;re the strategist," he said, not unkindly "Why don&039;t you start us off?"

The respect between the twoJill like David all the more In spite of Barry&039;s screw ups in the Spencer fiasco, Jill had grown to trust hi she didn&039;t do easily and he seemed confident in David Trapp&039;s skills "I don&039;t hts on hoe ht approach this situation I&039;ve known about the STARS&039;s betrayal for several days now though I thought we allour course of action I realize that this must come as quite a shock"

Jill picked up on the same thread of bitterness she&039;d noticed earlier, on the word "betrayal" The fact that the STARS were in bed with U too ith Mr Trapp probably not with Chris or Barry, either Both of them have more time invested with the S TARS than ry that the STARS had sold out, but it wasn&039;t going to be a factor in her decision to work at bringing Umbrella down Her path had been determined on the day that the McGee sisters had been brutally irls were the first innocent victims of the T-Virus spill at the Spencer estate and they had been her friends

She pushed the thoughts away, focusing on theto be a lot tougher Not impossible, but she had to admit to herself that their chance of success had just dropped to so she didn&039;t

It doesn&039;tto pay for what they&039;ve done, one way or another

Barry&039;s gruff voice broke the quiet in the rooo to the press Not local, but soht of that It&039;s a good idea, but right noe don&039;t have the proof tostick" "Yeah, but at least U" "We couldn&039;t count on that," Jill said "If they got to the STARS, they could get to anyone And without evidence well, you gotta ad even the tabloids wouldn&039;t buy"

There was a moment of sullen silence, as if her words reminded them all of how insane it sounded, how insane it would sound to anyone who hadn&039;t experienced what they&039;d been through A virus that accidentally turns people into zo weapons invented and then covered up by a major corporation that hires s All it needs is a Nazi war criminal with an atomic weapon, we&039;d have a best-seller on our hands

"Well, ere talking about before orga-nizing soot a few people in uys I trained with And I know Barry&039;s got a lot of con- tacts" David nodded agreement "Yes, I think that should be a priority My concern is how to get in touch with them The branch offices may already be tapped, and ant to keep U as possible Unfortunately, on&039;t have use of the STARS&039;s resources for o-between," Jill said slowly "Sorinned suddenly "I know a guy from back in the Air Force orks for Jack Hamilton now, one of the section heads for the FBI-I don&039;t know much about Hamilton, but Pete&039;s about as honest as they come And he owes me a favor" "Brilliant," David said "Perhaps you could ask him to help you look into the local police as well Once we have solid evidence froate a federal investiga- tion"

It sounded good, but Jill found herself feeling frustrated by the talk She wanted to act Waiting for the STARS to contact the to be risking her life while they waited idly by would be excruciating

"You said you had sohts about what else we could do," she said David nodded "Yes, though once we involve the govern I had been for a plan to infiltrate Umbrella headquarters, a risky proposition at best It seems wisest to work on a smaller scale for now, but I do believe the three of you should drop out of sight, as soon as possible I also think it would be prudent for you to see what you can uncover on Mr Trent, though I have the distinct feeling that you won&039;t co"

He s e bene- factor had struck her as a very careful et the impression that we&039;ll only find what he wants us to find," David continued, "but it is worth a look And we&039;ll need to arrange for a rendezvous site after we&039;ve"

His soft, musical voice broke off suddenly as he tilted his head to one side, listening intently Jill heard it in the sa in the bushes outside thethat Barry had opened

Umbrella!!! "Get down!" Jill shouted, and rolled off the couch, pulling Rebecca with her as theshattered, the curtains blown aside in an explosive burst from an automatic rifle David dove for the floor as bullets riddled the chair he&039;d been in, already grabbing for his weapon Tufts of padding floated past his wide eyes as a s trail of holes tore across the wall, plaster and wood flying

Bloody hell

There was a split-second break in the onslaught, just long enough for the frohts!" he shouted, but Barry ay ahead of hi out the interun Boom! Boom! The roolass raining down froht still streamed into the darkness from the hall, and there was another hail of bullets from outside Chris scrabbled on elbows and knees for the hall-way and in one smooth hts The living room was now completely black, and the bursts of auto in his ears, David heard boots crunching on glass from back in the kitchen The heavy steps paused, the intruder probably waiting for theshooter to catch up and there will bethe exits Kitchen door, front porch, so the s Another set of steps entered the kitchen, these hurried and shuffling, but they also stopped The pair aiting, either for more of their team or for the assehts raced independently of hi theories and options at light-ning speed

We get upstairs, pick them off one at a tiht through theot the firepower advantage, ets, no contest

All he knew for certain was that they couldn&039;t stay where they were There was no cover for when the thugs got tired of waiting There was shufflingshadow crouched toward hih to see Jill and Rebecca on the other side of the coffee table, both of theuns He couldn&039;t make Chris out, but he was probably still by the hall Barry&039;s house was the last on the block, a wooded park just past If they could slip out, get into the trees The thought stuck; even a bad plan was better than none at all, and they didn&039;t have time to work out alternatives "Baseruff voice was soft and strained "Yeah" No good, it would be posted They&039;d have to get out through the second floor "We go through the park," he whispered quickly "Jill, get to Chris and prepare to lay cover on nal Barry, Rebecca, as soon as we start, hit the stairs fast to an east , softest ju around the couch, disap- pearing silently into the thick shadows, Barry and Rebecca right behind David paused just long enough to scoop up the papers that Trent had given hies cool against his sweaty skin Nothing else in his briefcase would be da to the hall, edging to where Jill and Chris were crouched The entry faced the side of the stairs To the left was the front door and the foot of the steps To the right, the quiet kitchen at the end of the long hall where the two Uht, I&039;ll take left, when the shooting begins the rest of the strike force should rush the front door