The Duo

There was danger lurking in the air. An experienced saboteur crept through an alley towards an oil refinery. He had three pounds of TNT and a small pistol on him. A shadowy figure crept up behind him. Thump! The saboteur was knocked out cold with by a deadly blow from a bone breaker. The shadowy figure stepped into the light. He was a tall man in his thirties with a trench coat and a black hat pulled low over his eyes.

"Psst!" came a voice from the side. "Careful, don't dent that bone breaker! I had to save up to buy it since you broke the last one!" A man stepped into the light. He was much like the first man, except he was a little younger looking and had a thin moustache that curled at the end. The two men were spies – the younger from France and the other from America – who had worked in different intelligence agencies. Their names were Pierre and Dan. Each had worked his way until he was the top agent in his organization. They had both attended a top-secret conference between the US and France. The building they were in was blown up by saboteurs. The only survivors, they vowed to put an end to saboteurs and other threats to their two countries. They started working together without assistance under cover.

"That's the fifth saboteur we have caught around here!" exclaimed Pierre.

"You're right," said Dan. "Something very fishy is going on here."

Pierre walked over to the man lying on the ground and felt his pulse. "He's still alive," he said. Then he noticed some papers in the man's jacket. He picked them up and examined them laboriously. "Sacre bleu!" exclaimed Pierre. "This saboteur was going to blow up the refinery! He was going to blow up a secret conference between our agents!"

Dan turned pale. "There usually are more than a few small saboteurs to blow something like that! We had better hurry."

The two men just started to run down the alley when they sopped in their tracks. Blocking their way were about ten agents. Russian agents. The two acted swifter then you would think. Pierre grabbed his gun with lightning speed, took cover behind a trash can, and started firing. Dan headed the other way to clear an escape route. Three more agents stepped in front of him, blocking his path. Dan didn't stop. He ran into them – fists flying – and broke through. He jumped into a taxi cab. He had to stop the conference building from blowing up.

Meanwhile, Pierre was in a fix, even though four of his enemies were wounded. The agents were closing in and some had started firing back. All of a sudden, Pierre had an idea. He grabbed the TNT off the unconscious man, lit the fuse, and threw it at the agents. As fast as he could, he ran in the direction Dan had gone. There was still one agent there that Dan had not knocked out. Pierre didn't even see the thug blocking his way he was running so fast. He knocked the man over like a six-foot bowling pin and jumped behind a car.

There was a huge blast, but not from the alley. A lump came into Pierre's throat as he realized the explosion had come from the refinery. The next blast went off in the alley, leaving no Russian agents alive. Just then a taxi drove up and Dan got out. Pierre couldn't believe it.

"I—I though you were dead!" he exclaimed.

"No," replied Dan, and smiled. "None of ours are killed."

After a moment of dazed silence, Pierre yawned. "What a day! A little boring, don't you think?

"Oh yes, quite!" said Dan. "I think I have a headache. Let's go catch some sleep."

-- Ryan