The Secret Beneath The Waves

Chapter 8: Tony call the CIA

*Picture of Tony at the top

Chapter Eight - Tony calls the CIA

Running up the stairs, Spencer made her way all the way up to the top deck. Banging her fist on the door repeatedly, a tired looking Andrew opened. "What is it Shelbey?" he said, rubbing his eyes. His skin looked even blotchier without his glasses. Spencer just showed him the phone call, which she had recorded, his tiredness flaking off as each second of the call passed. She half thought that Andrew wouldn't care, but she knew that he was a relatively good person nonetheless. "Five days" he said. Spencer nodded, and in that moment, she knew that he did care. She sprinted to the opposite side of the deck. Climbing a ladder, at the top was a warning bell. Taking a deep breath, she tugged on the lever as hard as she could. Immediately, red and white lights flashed, practically blinding her.

In ten minutes flat, every person on the boat was assembled in the pavilion. Shawn and Oliver were the first two to join her. "What happened?" Shawn asked, his hair sticking up at random places. Trying to keep calm, Spencer just told him "you'll see" before running up to Andrew. He stared at the sound system again, before kicking it. A whirring sound erupted from the machine, and a green light flashed on. Wincing, Andrew turned to her, briefly nodding. A silent understanding passed between them. He walked away right as Tony jogged up the stairs. "What happened?" he asked, running a tired hand through his brown hair. She shook her head, plugging the phone into the speaker. About to press the button, she looked at Andrew. She needed everyone to be silent.
"Hey!" he shouted. Almost immediately, all talking ceased. Apparently Andrew still has some control she mused. Andrew looked at her and she pressed play. The unknown caller's voice boomed across the pavilion.

Adrianna is not here. And if you wish for her to live, you will bring the serum to us within five days. Do it, or your friend will be harmed

Tony turned to her again, raising his eyebrows. Andrew shuffled towards them. "If we alert any authorities, then her life will be even more compromised than it is now." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck" he nodded at her before walking away. Spencer was too stunned that he had any faith in her whatsoever, and that he had let her lead after the last mission, that she completely forgot he had actually gotten her name right.

Confused and overwhelmed beyond what she thought was possible, she climbed up the stairs and back to her room. Spencer made her way back to her bubble, attempting to go to sleep for a few hours before the six o'clock work bell rang. Giving up after roughly twenty minutes, she sat up, her back against the headboard, and pulled out a notebook. A list was soon made, of everything that they had to complete within the next two days, in order to give enough time for the journey up to Maine.

She was up and out the door, a few pages and three cups of coffee later. She made her way to Tony's bubble, needing advice. He was the most philosophical person on the boat, so he would have to do. He opened and she looked at him. "Maybe Andrew's wrong." she said. Her uncertainty must have been evident, because he sighed, and opened the door wider to let her in. "Maybe Andrew's wrong" she repeated. "Maybe I'm not even cut out for this job, let alone the rescue mission. I already lost a member on the Bahamas mission. What's to say I don't completely botch this one too. I can't risk that! Adri's in danger." She turned to look at Tony. "What do you think?"

Tony, at the moment, chewed on a Snickers bar, regarding thoughtfully. "You're right" he said after a few seconds. Taken by surprise, she stared at him. "What?" she asked incredulously. "You're right" Tony repeated, pointing the Snickers bar at her. "Let's face it: You're just not cut out for this job. You weren't able to save Maxence, and now you're not even able to get the slightest lead on Adri." He yawned. "I agree, Andrew's wrong. The boat stops to stock up on supplies in ten days. Give the mission to Timothy, and you can just be on your way." At this, Spencer literally stomped her foot down, "Excuse me?" she said. "Who the hell do you think you are? This is my job and I'll damn well do the mission-" she paused, her lips forming a silent o at Tony's smirk. "See that" he pointed again, "that fire" he grinned. "Don't ever lose it, it's about the only attractive thing you got." sticking her tongue out, she walked out, ready to demand that Andrew listen to what she had to say.

Marching up to Andrew's office, she opened the door to find Andrew sitting at his desk, scribbling notes on post-its and sticking them on a bulletin board behind him. Red, green and black string stretched from various thumbtacks too spots on the board, ranging from the post-its, to pictures, to random scraps of paper and newspaper clippings. "What's all...this?" Spencer inquired, pointing at the board, which took up an entire wall of his office. "Notes" Andrew stated simply, not even turning around. He did turn around, when she put her notebook on his desk. "We need to trace the phone call." Spencer explained. "If we can trace it, we might be able to see if there were security cameras on the liocation. That could give us a clue to who the caller is." Andrew nodded. "The second thing," Spencer said. "What is this serum?"

Andrew sighed. "After the tuna incident, about two weeks prior, we conducted a long-term lab to find a cure. The same day that you left for the Bahamas Mission. The lab was lead by Tony Ranger. The group found a solution in a matter of a single week." He shook his head, amazed. "They had found a way by just letting the creature consume a liquid, the chemicals would immediately find their way into the animal's DNA. The idea was for the serum to sort of replace the 'infected' genes. However, there were a lot of serious side-effects, so we kept quiet. Instead it made the egnes stronger, and a higher percentage of the species ended up contracting the genetic mutations." he took off his glasses and pinched his nose bridge. "We didn't want to start an epidemic, or something worse. Which, would happen if any of the creatures to get so severely contaminated that entire species are destroyed." He sighed. "We disappointed many teams, especially the German and French branches. They funded most of it." He looked at her. "But how does this unidentified person know about the serum?"

"The better question is, why would he want it if it has these side-effects?" Spencer inquired. "If they know about the serum, they must have also gathered intel about how destructive it could be." At this point she was pacing back and forth. A second later, she spun around, making her way out of the room.

Climbing the stairs to the third floor, she knocked adamantly on Tony's door. "Come in" was heard, and she twisted the doorknob and opened the door, to reveal Tony sitting upside down from the couch. "What are you doing?" she asked, walking up to him. "Trying to solve my problems from a different perspective." He got up. "So far, they still appear to be problems" he informed her.

Rolling her eyes, Spencer informed him of her plan, to call a CIA agent, to see if they could trace the phone call, and possibly run a voice analyzer on the speaker. "Sounds good" Tony said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "What do you need me for?"

Sighing, Spencer looked at him "You need to make the call" she informed. "The man called from Adri's phone, and contacted mine. I would have been able to recognize the voice if he knew me, so that means that he got my number either from looking through Adri's contacts, or from pure luck. The first option is most likely." She grinned at him, "Considering what awful terms Adri and you are on, I'm assuming she does not have your contact, or has deleted it." Tony nodded. "So they would have a harder time figuring out if you called any 'authorities'."

Spencer picked up his phone from the coffee table, handing it to him, "Call them." Tony looked at her, clearly doubtful, but he took the phone anyways and dialed.