Chapter Twenty-three of the Story

Putting her feet on the leather seat in front of her, Elliot asked for the fifteenth time in as many minutes, “Are we there yet?”
Smithy jabbed her in the ribs with his gun. “Ask that again, and so help me, I’ll shoot you.”
Lisa Clearwater smiled thinly and crossed her legs. “Tell me, Elliot, are all you Americans so childish?”
Elliot arched an eyebrow. “Oh, so now you’re not American?”
“No.”
“Oh, don’t tell me, you’re Japanese.”
Smithy chuckled, but Lisa frowned and lifted her nose in the air. “No. I am Russian.”
“Oh my goodness, you and Zann are siblings.”
The other women sighed in frustration. “No. We are not of the same blood.”
Elliot looked at Dante Vang. “Dramatic, isn’t she?”
“Zann Kolzak is not a true Russian.”
“His mother was French?” Being in a private jet for four hours was making her annoying.
She hissed in frustration. “No. He approves of this new regime.”
“Um, you mean a president instead of a dictator? Don’t tell me you’re a communist.”
“I am.”
“And that makes you want to blow up the White House and Pentagon, why? Shouldn’t you like, kill your president like they killed the Czar?”
“This is not about my government. This is about revenge.”
Seeing the expression on Lisa Clearwater’s face, Elliot sighed. “Oh, no. You’re not going to tell me your life story, are you?”
Ignoring her, the other woman began, “True, I was born in the United States, but to Russian parents. My mother wanted me to be American, so they named me Lisa--Lisa Anastasiya Naskedbotah.”
Elliot giggled. “’Naked’ what?”
Lisa glared at her. “In English, it is Clearwater. My father was Viktor Naskedbotah.” She paused expecting Elliot to recognize the name.
Elliot simply blinked. “Well, go on, since you’re dying to tell me.”
Lisa glared at her. “My father was the top Russian agent!”
“Sorry, I was just a baby during the Cold War, and the government still keeps secrets. I don’t know every single spy the USSR sent over.”
Lisa sighed. “This is one of the reasons I hate your country.”
“Technically, it’s your country, too.”
“It is not! Your intelligence caught and put my father to death, while he was close to finding your secret to the nuclear bomb. This is why I shall get rid of your Pentagon and your White House. So, I grew up like my mother wanted me to—a little American girl. I became a nurse like she had been. However, the entire time I planned my revenge for my father’s death. Finally, I found someone to smuggle uranium out of Russia and into the Pentagon and White House. This is, of course, where you and Jerin came in. Kolzak I’m guessing was tipped by someone in Russia and sent to investigate. Oh,and the small base under the National Zoo is one of my father's many hidden command centers.”
“Wait, wait, back up. Dying is a spy’s occupational hazard. Don’t take your father’s death out on an entire country. It’s stupid. Your father knew there was a chance he would die. Don’t freak out because my country defended itself against yours. Plus, we’re on good terms with Russian, now. It’s not even communist, for Pete’s sake! Your nothing but an insane, evil,” she paused and thought, “blonde!”
Lisa smirked, a deranged glint in her eyes. “In a few short hours, your country will be thrown in to turmoil, and my carefully planned revenge will be complete.”
Elliot yawned dramatically. “Yay, that boring story is finally finished. Does this plane have movies? This is an overseas flight right? I’m guessing our destination is Russia?"
“You find the destruction of your leader and intelligence boring?”
Elliot shrugged. “We always have more politicians ready to jump in and the Agency. If you really wanted to destroy our country, blow up something important, like, say, a movie theater.”
“You’re an absolute idiot.”
Elliot sighed. “Not completely. I just don’t like long plane trips. They make me cranky. The real reason I’m not too worried is Jerin and Zann are on this. They’re way smarter than ten of you, and they’ll stop you, no sweat. Your arrogance is your weakness.”
“And your confidence in your friends is yours.”***
~~~
Jerin looked from one corridor to the next. “Okay, I’m lost. Ideas?”
Zann shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I was unconscious when they brought me here.”
“What good are you, then?”
“Good question.” Zann looked from one hallway to the other. “This place is deserted. That’s kinda creepy.”
Jerin nodded, and then frowned. “What’s that smell?”
Zann sniffed, and then said something in Russian that did not sound like an exclamation of joy. “Toxic gas! That’s why it’s deserted! They’re trying to kill us!”
Jerin dug his hands in his pockets. “Nope, no gas mask, sorry.
Zann made a quick decision and walked quickly down a hallway. “Try to breathe shallowly and hold your breath as long as possible.”
“And you know about his stuff, how?”
Zann glanced back at him. “I’ve used this stuff before. Assassin, remember?”
“Oh, right.”
“If we’re lucky, maybe this place isn’t airtight.”
“Great, so the poisonous gas can kill all the field trip kids.”
“And the snakes.”
Jerin rolled his eyes.
They stopped at a door. Zann turned to Jerin again. “How’d you get in?”
“I had an exploding pen. I only had one, sorry.”
“Hang on; I might have a credit card.”
“Those don’t work on electronic doors.”
Ignoring him, the Russian dug through his many pockets. Jerin took a shallow breath. He was starting to feel sick. After several precious seconds, Zann produced a card and slide it through the slot on the computer next to the door. It made a few beeping sounds and the door slid open.
Zann grinned and waved the card in front of Jerin’s face. “Magic card. You can take it anywhere. What’s in your wallet?”
They quickly walked up the stairs and exited the reptile house even faster.
“We need to find a restroom.”
Jerin sighed. “They’ve got Elliot remember? No potty breaks.” He suddenly felt very sick.
Noticing the look on his companion’s face, Zann smiled queasily. “Restroom?”
“Yeah.”
When he left the restroom Jerin found Zann digging in his many pockets once again. He produced an inhaler and handed it to Jerin. “Here. Inhale this.”
Jerin frowned. “I don’t have asthma.”
“This is anti-gas bat spray. It should flush all the toxins out of your lungs.”
“Bat spray?”
“Haven’t you ever seen the nineteen sixty-six Batman?”
“A really long time ago.”
“Oh. It’s my nickname for this stuff.”
“Ah.”
They both used it, and Zann returned it to his pocket. “Now what?”
Jerin pulled his iPod touch out of his pocket and poked it.
Zann sighed. “This is no time to check your email.”
“I’m not. I’m tracking Elliot. ” He frowned “She’s currently at the latitude fifty-five forty-five North, and longitude thirty-seven thirty-six East.”
Zann peered over his shoulder. “That’s Moscow, Russia!”
Jerin powered off his iPod. “Come Robin, to the Bat-plane!”

----
***If you can guess what movie this is from, you rock. I quoted a lot of things in here. Heh.
So, the gang are on their way to Russia. Plus we found out who this Lisa-person really is. She's deranged. *nodnod* See, I knew who she was! And no, I did not come up with this in the past week.
This chapter had me laughing. I would totally be like Elliot if I was dragged over the ocean in a long plane trip and forced to listen to an evil lady tell me her life story. And Zann watches Batman. Is he cool, or what? I love the way I ended this chapter. It made me giggle.
Can you believe it? Only about three more chapters! I'm soooooo excited. Well, I'm off to research hospitals. Toodles.
See ya'll next week, same bat-time, same bat-site!
C.P. out!