Chapter Two
The Mission
I sat on the park bench idly tearing the bread into chunks and tossing the pieces out into the teaming horde of ducks that had congregated before me quacking eagerly in hopes of getting a bite.
At least something appreciated me. Seeing the eagerness of the ducks and their hysterical antics, in order to get a bite restored my frame of mind somewhat.
I glanced up from the feeding frenzy to watch Maria, as she drew closer to my park bench. Her appearance abruptly destroyed my newly acquired positivity. What did she want?
Sourly, I watched my horde of minions part before her, as they glanced up in order to see whether or not she was going to offer them food too. The traitors!
Maria sat down on the bench a seat length away from me. She didn’t quite look herself, which made me curious, but her wit was the same and as hard biting as ever.
“I never figured you for a bird lady in the park kind of guy.” She said succinctly.
My fist tightened, as I felt remembered anger shoot throughout me, “Why are you here? Is this Chantry’s way of dispensing justice? You show up and make it look like I’m trying to get back at the Agency and thus create a case for open season on me!”
“The effect we wish to have on those watching is something close to that. In exactly 3 minutes I’m going to leave, shortly thereafter an attempt will be made on your life, which will fail by a narrow margin. You will then make your escape from the scene. One of two options will then be available to you. You can choose to keep on running and find a new life for yourself or you can choose to accept the mission I have for you to do.” Maria finished with coolly.
“Yesterday was all a setup?” I exclaimed in question, as I tried to not look too relieved.
“Yes it was and I want you to know that Chantry is very upset for what he has put you through for the last year, especially yesterday. He believed it was necessary though in order to maintain security.”
I felt relief wash through me at the sounding out of her words, but I quickly sobered and asked, “What’s the mission?”
Maria passed a thick folder over to me that she brought out from underneath her coat, “Everything you’ll need you’ll find in there. In brief the Agency has been compromised.”
I looked up startled by the revelation that the Agency had been compromised.
Maria went on, “We don’t know who it is or if there is more than one, but resources of the agency are being misused and it would appear that the groundwork for a hostile takeover of the Agency itself is in play.”
That was hard to believe, but there was no argument to be found in the finality of her words.
“You want me to infiltrate the other side and see if they’ll enlist me as one of theirs?” I asked doubtfully.
Maria shook her head no, “Chantry doesn’t think that will work. The forces behind this we believe to be left over remnants of the Code’s masters trying to find a niche for themselves in the world, where they’ll still be close to power.”
A chill went through me at the possibility of the agency being overrun by such people.
“The Code people are prejudiced against people of your black skin color so it’s doubtful that they would recruit you, instead we’re hoping that after the incident of today that they’ll forget about you as a factor at all and leave you alone to work completely under the radar from the outside, as a few of us work on the problem from the inside. You are not to contact us unless it is absolutely critical and then you are only to speak to Chantry, myself or Flint. Do I make that clear?” Maria asked.
I nodded feeling humbled beyond belief at the importance and sheer enormity of the responsibility that was being entrusted to me.
“Everything you’re going to need in terms of finances has already been set up for you in several accounts. You’ll have to make all the other arrangements you’ll need yourself. We have only one lead to help set you up for your mission to discover who’s behind all this and how they’re doing what they are. Do you remember the robotic person called Flicker from the fight at the tower in Africa?”
“Yes, I read the mission recap concerning her.” I responded.
“Previous to her mental control cord being severed by Agent Logan’s sword she was in complete control by the Code. We think that the Code people are somehow using such a mental control device on members of the Agency, only without the robotic elements being involved. We know that a lot of the Code’s labs were never found, but several researchers have stepped forward to speak of what they were made to do. One in particular, Jane Worthy, seems to really know her stuff. She’s a bit of a conspiracy theorist and claims that she escaped from a Code research lab were terrible experiments were being done. She’s been reticent to say much online, but when she has revealed some things it’s very clear that she knows what she’s talking about. Worthy is an assumed name, as it appears nowhere before the Code’s takeover of the world, but we have tracked several linked signals from this Worthy back to a public library in Georgia, where one Jane Sola works. Jane Sola was very much alive before the takeover and she was involved in scientific research. A considerable bounty has already been placed on Jane Worthy’s head by unknown parties. If we could track the signals than others might too. Get to this Jane and see if she can help us. Other than that there is little we can give to help you solve the mystery of this takeover of an agent or agents within the Agency itself. We don’t even know who to suspect. We are relying on you to provide us with the intel needed to overcome this threat or the Agency will have to be shut down before it can be used as a force for evil instead of good.”
I nodded affirmatively, “I’ll do my best.”
“I’m sure you will.” Maria said, as she rose to her feet.
Almost as an afterthought or something that came out grudgingly she said, “May God help your mission to be a success.” She started walking away then.
I watched her go. There was something different about her, but there was no time to think on what that might be. Speaking of time, I glanced at my watch, 15 seconds left.
Five seconds.
A red dot appeared on my chest and then tracked over to the top of my shoulder and stayed there. I fought to keep from grimacing, this was going to hurt!
Holding still on the park bench was about as hard to do as when I had been a boy and a not so good friend had told me that I had a bee on my back. He had told me to hold still, as he had approached me with a bat. It had hurt and I was never quite sure whether there had been a bee or not.
My body jerked, even as the echo of the shot sounded out a split second later. I was already moving the folder gripped tightly in my hand. Whoever they had out there was a good shot. The bullet had neatly grooved across the top of my shoulder leaving only enough blood loss to make the scene look convincing, but yes like my first experience with the mythical bee this one hurt too. The things I did for the sake of good.
Jane stamped the pile of books before her. They had barcodes, but she simply liked to stamp the due date on the white sticker on the back of the book. The smell of the ink pad, the press of the wooden stamp, life was about the simple pleasures.
She lifted some books off the pile before her to reveal one of the many adult romance books that the library was well-stocked with. Her eyes took in the risqué cover art that was entirely overdone.
The setting was that of a Victorian room with enough colorful tasseled pillows laying around not to mention silk streamers coming off the bedposts to outfit a sheik’s harem room. The man of course was shirtless his skin the color of bronze and he was incredibly buff in the way men of the fictionalized Victorian age, who did no labor and considered anything requiring sweat beneath them must’ve been, Jane mused sarcastically to herself.
The woman of course was classically beautiful, smaller and feminine against the backdrop of her domineering male counterpart. Her period style dress complete with petticoats was dramatically torn off both shoulders and hanging down exposing much of her amazingly full chest in comparison to her otherwise slight looking frame.
The material of the dress clung tantalizingly to what little wasn’t revealed of her breasts. She would’ve had to have had super glue to keep the heavy dress from slipping down to the floor. Jane inadvertently cringed at the thought of that.
The heroine’s face was turned away in melodramatic terror, as the man with a firm jawed expression in place gripped her bare upper arm no doubt preparing to toss her onto the bed behind them where he would complete his ravishment of her. As fake and unreal, as the book’s cover art was it was still somehow alluring in some way.
The two people on it were beautiful and whole. One got the impression that they would work out well together. No doubt the tried but true plot line of the book would mirror that. After a period of raw animal like uncontrolled domination by the male the theme would turn to insipid love by the male for the woman during which time he would apologize for everything, even breathing and only bring out his wicked carnality, when it was snapped for in demand by the woman.
Eventually after much up-and-down emotional drama the woman would admit that she actually did love him. The two would be married and live well with plenty of money they didn’t work for and live happily ever after with a baby in a baby carriage. Emotional rot was what it really was!
Real life didn’t play out like the fictitious rendering before her. People, who were raped were scarred for life by it. For some, dreams no matter how honestly thought and prayed for, would never come to completion and many in this life would die yearning for something finer.
People who wrote this kind of stuff preyed on the fantasies of those locked away by their own life circumstances, as they pined for a way out of it, even if only for a little while from the reality they seemed to be stuck in. A book such as this might provide that temporary boost of fantasy, but it would leave its reader unfulfilled and even more depressed than before. She should know, as she’d read enough of these type books herself.
A shadow fell across her and she quickly covered the sensual natured book up with another. She glanced up, way up.
I couldn’t help but be slightly amused at the red tinged flush that had risen to the librarian’s face at having been caught in the act of something uncomfortable.
She was quite pretty, if not a little bit short. I doubted that she cleared 5 feet and most likely was an inch short of it. While she was pretty she wasn’t my type and I wasn’t looking for a relationship at the moment.
I hadn’t always been the reserved Christian that I was now. There had been a time when quite a few women had walked in and out of my life, but no more. They had all been of the taller variety, as well as being more ethnically similar to me.
I held nothing against her for being white, but I just preferred not to even go there given the nature of my upbringing. So the prim and quite pretty librarian, who gazed up at me with eyes full of shy lust, unknowingly no doubt, would just have to keep fishing.
“Can I help you?” She asked softly her eyes still sort of glazed over in appearance.
Oh boy, I thought to myself, as I mentally prepared myself to handle the infatuation I saw already forming in her eyes for me.
“Yes, I was wondering if you could help me understand this book?”
She glanced down at the book on the counter, ‘Applied Robotics and the Mathematical Theorems that Govern the Science behind the Machine’.
She gave a slight start, but she recovered quickly. She wouldn’t look up at me though.
“I’m afraid I can’t help you with that sir. It’s far above my level of understanding.” She said softly.
I debated for a moment on whether or not to play around the bush, but I decided that it would be best to just be blunt with her. I surprised her by tipping her chin up with a finger.
Her skin was cool to the touch. She was one of those women that needed the input of an external heat source in order to maintain normal body temperature. I truly hoped that she found a mate that would help her with her heating problem, but it wasn’t going to meet me.
“Alright I’m going to be blunt with you Jane,” and then with emphasis I added, “Worthy.” Her eyes flared dramatically at the mention of her assumed online last name. She really was too easy.
“There is a very large bounty on your head and it isn’t dead or alive, it’s just dead. Now I am not interested in said bounty, but rather what you can help me with. I work for an Agency responsible for doing a lot of good things; however a threat has risen in the form of technology that has the ability to manipulate its victim’s minds that threatens said good work from being ever continued past the immediate future. So I was wondering as a former Code researcher and scientist working on this very thing if you would like to spill the beans about all you know and do humanity a favor?”
The shy desire for me was gone from her eyes and now replaced only by a startled anxiety.
I pressed further into the wound of her mortally wounded anonymity, “There is of course the added benefit that I will do all that I can within my power to ensure that you remain safe and have the funds you need to start up a new life elsewhere, once you’ve helped me solve my problem.”
She still looked hesitant yet so I kept pressing.
“If I was able to find you, do you not think others with less kindly motives might also?”
She looked miserable and in a way I felt sorry for her, but I needed her to break and agree to my plans.
“Not here.” She whispered out softly.
“Lead the way then.” I said.
She got her stuff and told the other staff she was going home, because she didn’t feel well. The staff in turn took one glance at me and eyebrows raised. I stared right back at them, until they busied themselves looking elsewhere.
We left the library and had lunch at a small café and I ate heartily, while Jane never so much as touched her food. Throughout the entire meal she watched me steadily with concerned eyes, as if she feared that I would turn on her and attack without notice.
“I’m not a monster.” I said.
She blinked, “What?”
“No harm will come to you from me, even if you don’t choose to cooperate, but I really wish that you would.”
There was silence for a while, as I stared at her waiting for her to comply with my wishes.
“Your Agency’s problem, could you talk about it a little.” Jane asked cautiously.
I told her what I knew and she nodded when I was done.
“Can you devise some method of disrupting such a device’s control or at least show who is being affected by it?” I asked wanting to know if there was a cure or not.
“Possibly, but I don’t have the equipment or the parts.” She said in full admission of what her past had consisted of. She went on, “I’m not sure I can build an entire device either. There are four parts to it and I was only involved with the construction of one part.”
She was lying to me in that last part that she’d said, but I let my observation of her sudden eye dart to the left go uncommented on. “Whatever you can do would be gratefully appreciated, because right now we’re flying in the dark.”
She nodded quickly.
It was strange. I got the feeling that she was both eager to help, but also reticent to at the same time. Why was she lying to me about not being familiar with the whole process?
“Are you going to finish that?” I asked pointing down to her untouched food.
She glanced down at it, as if she had forgotten its existence. She quickly shook her head no and I said, “Okay then, let’s go.”
She followed me out of the restaurant into the street. She started to ask a question at the same moment an explosion rocked the street and out of instinct I pressed her up against the brick wall of the restaurant shielding her body with mine.
When no more explosions were forthcoming I stepped away from a flushed faced Jane and walked away from her to glance around the corner of the street toward the direction of the explosion. The library was in flames, a virtual Dante’s Inferno fed by the ample supply of paper in the form of romance novels among others. I heard Jane gasp by my side.
“If you were going to ask where we were headed, the answer is out of town.” I pulled her to where I had parked my rental car and I pushed her into the passenger side. The enemy, whoever they were, were far too close for my preferences.