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The Taking

Author: Orion Vale
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-09-25 05:09:29

Present Day - Thursday Morning, 4 AM

The explosion above them shakes dust from the underground facility's ceiling.

Sophie stands calmly in the center of the chaos while everyone else dives for cover.

"They're coming for me now," she announces with the same tone she might use to mention that it's raining outside.

Aria reaches for her daughter, maternal instinct overriding everything else.

"Sophie, we need to hide you."

"No, Mama. I need to go with them."

"Absolutely not."

"It's part of the plan."

"What plan? You're four years old. You don't get to have plans that involve being kidnapped by international criminals."

Sophie takes her mother's hand with surprising gentleness.

"Mama, sometimes the only way to win is to let the bad people think they're getting what they want."

The ceiling access hatch explodes inward, raining concrete and metal into their sanctuary.

Rappelling lines drop through the opening, followed by figures in tactical gear moving with military precision.

Elena raises h
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  • The Spy Who Left   Epilogue - The Beginning

    Two Years LaterSophie stood backstage at her graduation ceremony, eighteen years old and terrified in ways that had nothing to do with public speaking.Her mother adjusted Sophie's cap, hands trembling slightly."You don't have to do this," Aria whispered. "You can give a normal graduation speech. Something safe.""When have I ever chosen safe?"Marcus appeared with water Sophie wouldn't drink. "The auditorium is packed. Every enhanced child we've helped is watching. Their families. Media from seventeen countries.""No pressure."Elena entered with last-minute updates. "Shadow confirmed secure communications. Victoria has emergency extraction routes if things go badly. Your grandmother is in the third row, looking simultaneously proud and terrified."Sophie laughed despite her nerves. "Sounds about right."The past two years had been transformative. The network she'd built with twelve children had grown to over three hundred enhanced individuals worldwide. Not an organization, just p

  • The Spy Who Left   The Next Generation

    Forty-Eight Hours After the ExposureThe world was burning with the knowledge Sophie had released.Every news outlet carried the story. Seventy-five years of family enhancement research. Seven generations of genetic manipulation. Twelve children in the current generation identified for future development.And Sophie Vale at the center of it all, the sixteen-year-old who had exposed her own family's legacy.The hotel in Oslo where they'd retreated was surrounded by media. Security had to be tripled. And Sophie's encrypted communication devices wouldn't stop buzzing with messages from people she'd never met."They're threatening to prosecute," Elena reported, reviewing legal documents. "Multiple governments claiming you exposed classified research.""Let them try," Sophie said, though her voice carried exhaustion. "Everything I released is about programs that violated international law."Victoria was monitoring social media responses. "Public opinion is split. Half the world sees you as

  • The Spy Who Left   The Journey North

    En Route to NorwaySophie read Leon's letter for the fifth time, her fingers tracing his handwriting like she could somehow touch the father who had died to protect her.The private plane Elena had arranged carried them north toward coordinates that promised answers and probably more questions.Marcus sat across from her, reviewing the key Leon had included. "It's biometric. Uses genetic markers for authentication.""So only certain people can use it," Aria said."Or only certain genetic profiles. Which suggests whatever facility we're visiting has been secured for specific bloodlines."Shadow was analyzing the coordinates against historical records. "The location is remote. Northern Norway, near the Arctic Circle. No documented settlements. But satellite imagery shows structures that have been there for decades.""How decades?" Elena asked."At least sixty years. Possibly longer. The facility predates digital surveillance, which makes it nearly impossible to research through normal c

  • The Spy Who Left   Vows and Truths

    Two Days After the Awards CeremonySophie was safe.The extraction had worked. Elena's contacts in Swiss intelligence had raided the facility citing human rights violations. Sophie was recovered, shaken but unharmed, and currently sleeping in the hotel room, adjacent to where Aria stood at the window watching Stockholm's morning light.They had their daughter back. That should have been enough.But Aria couldn't stop thinking about Marcus's confession. About her mother's forty-year deception. About the fact that every relationship in her life had been built on lies or manipulation.Marcus entered quietly with coffee, the gesture so familiar it hurt."Sophie's still asleep. Elena's watching the room.""Good.""Aria, we need to talk about what I told you.""You mean about being a operative assigned to monitor me? About your memories surviving the brainwashing that was supposed to make you forget you were planted in my life?"Marcus flinched at the bitterness in her voice. "Yes. That.""

  • The Spy Who Left   Recognition and Revelation

    Three Days Later – Stockholm, SwedenThe award ceremony was held in a concert hall that felt too grand for scientific achievement.Aria stood backstage, adjusting the formal dress that felt wrong when her daughter was missing. Marcus stood beside her, his hand finding hers with familiar comfort."We don't have to do this," he said quietly. "We can leave right now and focus on finding Sophie.""Shadow and Elena are tracking leads. Victoria is monitoring Morrison's movements. Standing here accepting an award I don't want is the strategic play.""Strategic doesn't mean necessary."Aria looked at her husband the man who had stood by her through enhancement programs, congressional hearings, fake deaths, and five years of careful hiding."If the people who took Sophie are here, I need to see their faces. Need to understand what we're fighting.""And if they're not?""Then I accept recognition for work that was stolen from me twelve years ago. Either way, I'm not hiding anymore."The ceremon

  • The Spy Who Left   Five Years Gone

    Present Day – Copenhagen, DenmarkAria had learned to sleep lightly over the past five years.So when her phone rang at three a.m., she was awake before the second ring."Dr. Vale?" The voice was professional but strained. "This is Director Hansen from the International Academy. I'm calling about Sophie."Aria's heart stopped. "What happened?""She's gone. Disappeared from campus sometime between midnight and two a.m. Security is reviewing footage, but""But what?""The cameras show nothing. She was in her dormitory, and then she simply wasn't. No footage of her leaving. No indication of how she got past security checkpoints."Aria was already dressing, Marcus stirring awake beside her."We're coming. Don't touch anything in her room. Don't let anyone leave campus.""Dr. Vale, the police have been notified.""I don't care about the police. My daughter is enhanced. Which means whoever took her knows exactly what they're dealing with."She disconnected and turned to Marcus, who was alre

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