Thursday, September 13th, 1984 – Dreamland
Mary Anderson was busy at work on the schematic for the triggering device for the mobile killer satellite when her boss knocked on the door to her office, opened it and walked in with a man trailing behind.
“Sorry to disturb you Mary, I know you’re busy on a very complex system analysis, but we have some very disturbing news about our work that has been brought to our attention by Mr. Riddle here.” Mary looked up from her computer, saw her boss with another man and pushed back from her desk.
“What’s happened Tom? Has our program funding been cut?” It was hard to fathom what the problem could be from the deadpan looks on each of their faces.
“No Mary, I’m afraid the problem is of a different nature, but nevertheless just as critical if not more so. Mr. Riddle would like to talk to you, if you don’t mind. He’ll be able to explain everything to you.” With that, Tom Crenshaw, the head of the design team left her office looking quite disturbed.
“Well, Mr. Riddle, I’ve never seen Tom so visibly upset before. What could possibly be causing him so much consternation?” She quickly caught her manners, got up from her sitting position, walked around her desk and met him with a smile while she put out her hand and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry, please forgive me. I’m Mary Anderson and I’m very pleased to meet you Mr. Riddle. Won’t you please sit down?” She gestured to one of the two leather chairs in front of her desk.
Riddle smiled, shook her hand and took the seat and watched with rapt attention as she sat in the chair opposite him. She wore a dark blue skirt and a white form-fitting blouse. She was five feet four inches tall, naturally blondee as far as he could tell with beautiful blue eyes. She had a tiny waist and being a man who appreciated the female form, he could see that she possessed some magnificent breasts. They stretched the white cotton fabric to the limit. He strained to keep his eyes focused on her pretty face and not her chest. She was a natural cover model for Playboy if he ever saw one. He thought, Kurt is going to have one hell of a time keeping his mind focused with this beauty next to him! The make up artists will have a real challenge on their hands trying to make her look like the ILS executive’s wife. After catching his breath from her devastating natural beauty, he swallowed hard and tried to start his conversation lightly. “Anderson, that’s a Swedish name, isn’t it?”
“Yes, my father was an engineer in Sweden. He helped design a fighter plane for the country. He’s retired now and lives with my mother in Sweden. I came to the U.S. many years in my early twenties to study electrical engineering and fell in love with this country and became a citizen.” After a brief pause, she said, “Won’t you tell me what it is you’re here for, Mr. Riddle?” He already knew all about her, but he didn’t let on. He thought some light conversation would help.
“Right to the point. Just like someone else I know. Sorry for the small talk, Miss Anderson. I was just trying to break the ice, so to speak. I’ll get right to what has brought me here.” Riddle told Anderson about the leak in the system that caused the critical information to be passed to the Soviets and what he had shared with Stillwell for getting misinformation to them and what the NSA wanted her to do to make the changes in the plans.
Anderson was shocked that they wanted her to help with this mission they were proposing and said, “Mr. Riddle, I’m not one of your special agents or spooky spies or whatever it is you folks call them. I don’t think I’d be very helpful to you. I’ve spent most of my life with electronics. Your world is a far cry from what I do.”
“We’re well aware of that, Miss Anderson, but…”
She cut him off with a smile and a raised delicate hand, “Please call me Mary. If you’re going to try to talk me into being some kind of ‘Sneaky Pete’, you can at least call me by my first name. I’m not so sure I can help, but I am willing to listen to you.”
That helped Riddle relax a bit and he went on. “Okay, Mary. You can also call me Bob, if you don’t mind. It will help in two ways; one, we won’t have to be so formal and two, it will make me feel good being called by my first name by such a pretty young lady.” Mary blushed at that remark and Riddle went on, “We don’t really expect you to be more than what you are right now. We have a very skilled person who will take you into Russia and get you into the lab with the help of another agent so you can make the necessary changes to the electronic circuitry on the drawings and then he’ll get you out again. He was a pilot in the Special Operations Command during the Vietnam War. He is extremely well trained and is the best man for the job. You’ll be able to trust him implicitly with your safety. He even saved my life one time. I can personally attest to his expertise.”
Riddle told Anderson about the makeup they would use to disguise her and Stillwell to look like the ILS couple and how they would use Stillwell’s son to get them into Russia as part of the foreign exchange program. Also, how they would make the switch after their arrival at the museum and get Stillwell’s son back out again safe and sound.
Mary Anderson was frightened by all this. Even though Riddle had assured her that she would be in good hands, she was still scared. More than scared; terrified is a better word for it. Our national security is at risk and they really need me. I guess there isn’t much time and I’m the only one on hand who can make the changes they need to make the Soviet satellite fail. This was to be more excitement than she had ever dreamed would come into her life. Still, it was somewhat thrilling