A Change in Plans

Joanne looked at the Peace Pogota through the windshield of Peter's sport car. It was a beautiful structure. She hadn't had the chance to visit Battersea Park on the south bank of the River Thames since coming to London, but now that she'd seen some it she was determined to come back and do some exploring. If she wasn't in prison, that was.

A couple of hours after the news had broken that Olivia was missing, Peter had called to let her know he was on his way over to pick her up. It would have only taken Olivia twenty minutes, at the most, to walk to Cecil Court, so it was doubtful that she was going to turn up there. Still, he had called one of his people to sit at the observation window opposite the store to keep an eye on it, just as a precaution. Once in Peter's car, Joanne learned that the KSN had mobilized everyone they knew and trusted to help locate Olivia before the MRU did. She and Peter drove the streets of Knightsbridge and the areas around Hyde Park searching for her.

With no luck in those areas they had slowly and methodically worked their way towards the Thames, while avoiding contact with any of the prowling MRU units. Finally, one of their operatives called in to say that a person he knew in Soho had a woman at his place that was on the run and needed his help. Soon after that they got the call verifying that it was Olivia.

As they came up to a hospital, Peter pulled in and parked so that he could help coordinate Olivia's extraction from Soho with whomever was running the operation. As Joanne had learned from her grandmother, there were several KSN cells in London, each with their own responsibilities. Once Olivia was picked up she would be passed along to someone in Peter's organization.

"Poor Olivia," Joanne said. "I feel badly that I told her about Lani now. I had no idea she would react this way."

"I think you were right to warn her. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the Welch's are in tight with the Regime and with politics being what they are someone with an axe to grind could use Olivia's kinks to bring George down. The Network has nothing against George Wright, and having him in charge of border security actually works in our favor."

This surprised Joanne a little. "Oh? Why is that? I thought you said he was sly and dangerous?"

"Well he is, but he's not a fan of the MRU, and we've benefited from that. He wields considerable influence among the Ministers, and that has so far kept the MRU from completely taking over border security." Peter paused to open his window to let in a little of the cool evening air. "It's just a shame that we're losing Olivia just when it looked like we might be gaining a source of information. Even without the planner notes, if we knew where George was going when he went out of town it would give us a little bit of warning if we were about to run an operation in that area."

"Maybe she could be convinced to stay," Joanne said, shifting in her seat so she faced Peter. "Maybe I could get her to stay and help us."

"I don't think we could chance that, Jo," Peter Taylor said as he looked over at the brunette sitting in the passenger seat of his Aston Martin. "I'd be gambling with not only the Leather Bound safe-house, but also the transmitter station, and..." he hesitated while searching for the rights words..."and you," he finally admitted.

He quickly looked straight ahead to avoid making eye contact with Joanne. At this point he wasn't at all sure which of three he was more scared of loosing. There were two other safe houses in the city, and although the features of the old transmitter provided quirks that made its signals hard to detect, it could still be replaced. There was only one Joanne Hallewell, though, and the thought of putting her in danger was...

"Are you afraid I'll get caught and sent to be Regenerated, sir?" Jo asked in what could only be described as a playful tone.

"It's more likely that you would disappear into an MRU prison," Peter replied. "And that would be not be good."

"No I suppose not," Joanne mused, and then settled in to the silence that followed while continuing to think about ways to keep Olivia from running. Even if they did somehow manage to convince her, where could she say she'd been all of this time? Doing what? She looked over at Peter and saw his distant gaze, not really focused on anything in particular, and knew his mind was churning, too.

"Can I ask how she'll be picked up?" Joanne asked, remembering what her grandmother had told her about the division between cells, but still curious to know since she was trying to work out some plan in her own mind.

Peter didn't respond right away and Jo wasn't sure he had even heard her until he replied, "Falcon will be picking her up with his truck. From there he'll take her to a safe house on the west side of town to stay until things cool down. Getting anyone past the outer rim check points for the next two weeks will be too dangerous to attempt."

"Since she's going into hiding and then leaving the country anyway, wouldn't it still be worth it for me to try and talk her into staying? I could do it in the truck where it's safe." Jo looked over at Peter and saw that his eyes were closed and his head was leaning back on his seat's headrest.

"That would be the safest place to talk to her," Peter agreed without opening his eyes. "But she would have some hard questions to answer if she were to stay now, though. She's forced her own hand." He tilted his head back down and looked over at Joanne. "She'd need someone to give her an alibi; someone above reproach."

They sat in silence for several minutes, and then Jo asked, "What about your friends who were at the gala last night, you know, um, Patricia and Sir Nigel? They're all friends aren't they? Patricia would help her, I'm sure."

Peter turned in his seat so he faced Joanne more squarely. "Yes...that might work. George has worked for Nigel for what...nearly ten years now? He won't want to see one of his best department heads being taken down by the MRU. There's little doubt that Sir Humphrey would pressure the Prime Minister to place an MRU officer in George's spot."

That said, Peter sat silently, eyes locked with Joanne's as if together their minds were working out the solution to the dilemma they now faced. Finally, Peter broke off the connection. "Having the MRU in full control of border and checkpoint security would be a disaster for the KSN. There's no way to know what pressures will be put on Sir Nigel to terminate George if his wife defects, and I think there's too much at risk to chance it. I think our best course of action is to try and get her to stay, and she may just do that if you were to ask her. But how's that going to work now that the whole city has been turned up-side-down looking for her?"

"Maybe she could say that she'd been with Patricia the entire time and that they didn't know anyone had been looking for her," Joanne offered.

Peter laughed. "As long as they don't say they'd been watching the telly all day."

"Right," Jo agreed. "Do you really think Patricia and Sir Nigel would help her? And how are we going to find out without compromising ourselves?"

"Patricia and Olivia go way back, and I've known them all for a long time, Jo. I haven't any doubts that they'll help her out of this, and I have an idea on how it can all work." He reached into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone.


"Thanks," was all Joanne could muster as she gripped his hand and then stepped out of the car. 

Walking quickly back to where Agent Falcon was standing, Jo saw him holding a ski mask in one hand. As she approached, he put it on. They were to pretend Joanne wasn't to see his face.

"In you go, then?" he asked as he reached down towards the release catch under the frame of the truck, and then looked for her response.

Joanne nodded and waited a few seconds for the man to pull back the sliding panel. She looked at Falcon and asked, "In here?" and then looked up to see Olivia. "Oh wow!" She climbed up into the secret compartment. She hoped that it would appear to Olivia that she had no idea about the function of the truck, or had ever seen it before. It all had to seem new to her.

"Joanne!" Olivia gasped. "What are you doing here? Are you running, too? Why?" came the stream of questions by a completely surprised Olivia Wright.

"Good heavens no!" Joanne came back. "I was asked to convince you not to run."

"What?! By whom?"

"They said they were from the Kink Support Network. Oooo!" Joanne braced herself against the opposite wall from her seat as the truck lurched into gear. "We're moving! This is so exciting!"

Olivia had braced herself, too, but seemed much less enthusiastic. "I don't understand," she said. "What's happening?"

Now that the ride was smoother, Joanne crossed over to sit next to her friend. "Some men came to the store and told me you were running and that some of their people were helping you. It was a shock to find out this whole network thing is actually real! How did you know?" Joanne asked. "How did you find them?"

"Never mind that right now," Olivia said, regaining some of her composure and taking charge of the conversation. "Why don't they want me to run? They're suppose to be helping me to get out."

"Okay." Joanne sat up and gave Olivia a look as if she was about to recite something. "It has to do with George."

"George?" Olivia asked.

"Yes. Let's see," Joanne paused. "They said they're afraid that if anything happens to George, like he's fired or something, that the MRU will take over his job and that'll make it a lot harder for them to get other women out of the country. They don't want to see the MRU getting any more powerful than they already are. Does that make any sense?"

"It makes a lot of sense," Olivia said. "George has been very worried about that lately, too. To tell you the truth, what my leaving will do to George is my only concern about this whole thing."

"So if George gets fired, do you think the MRU would really take over his job? That would be bad, right?" Joanne hoped she didn't sound too clueless, but she wanted Olivia to be the one to put the pieces together.

"Of course! That would be terrible. We'd have paramilitary checkpoints all over the place and no one would be free to move anywhere. George has been pressured to do that, but has refused. This would really be a police-state if that were to happen."

"And then the Network would have a harder time moving around, too, I guess," Joanne concluded.

"No doubt," Olivia agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment and then Olivia said, "I was thinking I'd go stay with my cousin in France and find a way to help other women once they got there, but now it's possible that my leaving will make it harder for them rather than easier. I've made such a mess of things, Jo. What am I going to do?"

"Well, I was suppose to tell you that they will honor your request to defect, if that's what you want to do. If you decide to stay, they have a plan worked out."

"What do you think I should do?" Olivia asked.

Joanne put her arm around her friend and hugged her. "I think you should stay, Miss Libby. I don't want to lose you!"

"What about Lani?"

"What about her?" Joanne asked. "Tell her you've re-dedicated yourself to your loving husband like the good wife that you are."

"Ooo, I like that," Olivia cooed.

Both women hung onto their seats as the truck slowed down. There was a slight crackling overhead and then Falcon's voice filtered in over the speaker system. "We've reached a point where I need to know which way to go," he said. "Any decisions?"

The two women looked at each other and then Olivia lifted her head and said, "I'll be staying."