Location: Classified
Date: Unknown

"PING...PING"

 

 

"That sound, that annoying sound designed to transform me from whatever I am at that moment into a killing machine...Someone's taking a shot at me!"

"PING!"

 

"I say to myself,"So much for one shot, one kill!"

"

"I position myself in the corner of that small room. I look around the room and I can see an almost undetectable flicker reflecting off of the panes of broken glass leaning on the wall. That's his scope."

"I have a choice...I can bait the shooter and take him out when I detect the muzzle flash with my goggles or I can distract him long enough to drop by and visit his position undetected."

"Or, there's a third option..."

"I remove a flash grenade from my flak jacket..."

"I crawl across the room and wedge it under a piece of charred wood that used to be a table..."

"I remove a bundle of nylon cable from my pocket and secure one end to the pin of the flash grenade."

"I crawl slowly across the room, making sure that the cable doesn't snag on anything in the room. I make my way to the remnants of what used to be a wall and hurl the bundle of cable over the wall and out onto the ground outside."

"I inspect the other charges in the room positioned under a worn-out tarp. I reposition the balloon that is wearing one of my old boonie hats to make it a suitable "stunt-double" for my own head."

"There's no room for error. If this doesn't go well I'd die and Sergeant Brooks would win that bet!"

"I place the cable on my chest and submerge myself into what feels like a pile of...I don't want to even think about that!"

"I raise my hand...5...4...3...2...1..."

"I tug at the cable and the flash is detonated. I draw fire from all sides for a moment and then...silence."

"I can see my men converging on my location. We run several meters and pop smoke just above a marshy swamp. We wait quietly in the brush. I look at a small monitor that's getting its feed from a pair of small wireless cameras that serve as my "scarecrow's" eyes. Not exactly a text-book military application for web-cameras, but I've used it before and it works!"

"I can see the insurgents converge around my rigged scarecrow. I have a full house now and I give the "go-ahead.""

"The large explosion takes out the insurgents and has destroyed all of the evidence and once again the mission has been accomplished, Sir!"

Agent Black has just finished debriefing his superiors about an event that took place almost eight months ago. It took him that long to get back home after the successful mission that ended in disaster. He tried to reposition himself in the uncomfortable chair as his wounds began to ache and his skin began to itch. He was still healing from injuries caused by the attack that took out the members of the team. The room was darkened to protect his identity and all of the responses were being recorded remotely.

A voice called out,"Agent Black, what happened on December 25?"

"Sir, we were in the squad bay that we shared with a team of Marines and a munition was detonated."

Another voice added, "Who or what triggered the detonation?"

He answered, "I'm not sure Sir!"

Someone else added, "And you call yourself an Intelligence Officer?"

Another sarcastic voice asked, "Who did this munition belong to?"

After a long pause Agent Black answered, "It belonged to me Sir."

"So, you're in a Squad bay with eight marines and six CIA operatives. An explosion rips through the room and kills everyone but you? How convenient! Your men were basically liquefied by that explosion and you walk away?"

"Sir, those men were like family to me. I would rather die than to see any harm come to them!"

"But that's the point...you didn't die and your men...your comrades...were killed with not as much as a tooth to bury! Do you understand? We can't even give their family members one single thing to remember them by. Just a bunch of closed caskets sitting on a runway! Where were you?"

"I was taking a shower, Sir!"

"Taking a shower?"

"Yes Sir, as I've said before, I was knee deep in human waste, I had to take a shower..."

"How is it that the explosion didn't liquefy you as well?"

"Sir, the project is classified but I'll tell you what I can. The explosion releases a large stream of air-borne self-replicating microbes. They attack and reduce organic matter down into water molecules. I was in the shower and the microbes could not latch on..."

"How convenient!"

"Sir, there was nothing that I could do..."

"Did you even get what you were looking for?"

Black answered, "Yes Sir!"

"And where is it?"

"Sir, it has been turned in as ordered."

"Agent Black, are you a double-agent?"

The room was silent.

Agent Black responded, "Sir, you know my record..."

"You are incorrect, we do not know your record. You operate under the radar and all of your missions are classified! You could be the biggest screw-up in CIA history and we wouldn't know a darn thing about you!"

"Sir, I took an oath to defend..."

"Agent Black, you are a disgrace! I will make it my life's mission to get you out of that uniform and to send you back home. There will be no medals, I will make sure that you don't see a penny of your pension and you and your family will starve before you get a job!"

That was it!

Agent Black retrieved an ice cube from the pitcher of water that was placed before him. He placed it on the desk in front of him and with one powerful flick of his middle finger, propelled it across the room striking whoever was speaking. He didn't need a light to see, only a voice to guide him. In this dark and crowded room, no one would know what happened and by the time they found out, the broken ice-cube would melt.

"Sir, please, this is my life..."

He paused and then called out, "Sir, are you still there?"

He could hear a faint voice calling out from the floor; "my mouth, something hit me in my mouth!"

He knew that his accuser would have great difficulties trying to answer. Mission accomplished!

A woman's voice called out, "I make a motion to relieve Agent Black of his duties pending a further investigation!"

"I second that motion!"

"Motion passed! Ladies and gentlemen, allow Agent Black a few minutes to depart and then we'll convene for the day. Regardless of the outcome; his identification must be protected!"

Black exited the room and walked down a dark hallway and then into a small room. He removed his prosthetics and other remnants of his disguise and placed them in his pocket.

He sat on a bench across the street from the building and watched the men and women leaving. He noticed that one man held a bloodied handkerchief to his mouth.

Black thought; Mission accomplished! No one threatens my family!

 

***

Agent Black, whose real name is...classified, returned to his family. For years his family consisted of a team of CIA operatives known as the N.C.S. (National Clandestine Service). They took care of each other and he felt that he was safe with them.

He returned to a small cottage on the outskirts of the city and pulled into his garage. He removed his side arms, disassembled them and placed them into a steel briefcase.

He entered his home and announced, "Honey, I'm home!"

The house began to rumble as his twins Matthew and Mark stormed down into the kitchen.

"Daddy! You're home!!"

"I missed you guys!"

He hugged his twins until his wife entered the kitchen and ran to embrace her family. The reunion came after almost a year of being apart and Luke was glad to be home.

After dinner he played with the twins and then tucked them into bed. His wife was waiting for him in the bedroom - it was time to make up for the long time that they were apart.

At Two AM the motion sensors in the backyard were activated. Luke tapped his wife and she rolled out of bed and ran into the twins' room.
Luke ran into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. The hot-tub filled quickly with water and at the press of a button, the water was frozen solid.

Several rings of LED lights stirred beneath the surface of the water. Within seconds the surface of the frozen water was divided into ten monitors. Luke placed his left fist to his mouth and started a conversation with an unseen and unknown listener via his wedding band.

"We have one moving from west to east, two in the South quadrant, four spread around the east perimeter, three west and two on the north side."

"Zip,Zip,Zip..."

Bullets snapped through the bushes and took three of the intruders down. Their bodies were quickly retrieved and dragged back into the brush.

Luke watched as a camera zoomed in on one man that continued to place a series of charges into the soil that surrounded the foundation of the house. The camera zoomed in on his face and the FRS (Facial Recognition Software) broke down his facial features and identified the intruder.

Luke muttered, "Mitchell? They turned you didn't they?"

"Alright team, let's roll this one up! Doppelganger 365!"

Minutes later the intruders reported to a large black van parked on the side of the road. Mitchell entered the van last and sat in the passenger seat.

"Goodbye Luke and family!"

He triggered the detonator and the explosion caused the foundation to buckle and the house disappeared into a large crater. Mitchell chuckled softly and dialed a number into a cell phone retrieved from a small pocket on the shoulder of his vest.

"Ring-leader, this is Clown-One, the target has been eliminated!"

He laughed and looked at the driver before reclining in his seat.

"Piece of cake! I thought that these CIA types were the best of the best...I'm glad that I didn't stay in that sorry outfit! Let's go!"

He turned and looked at the men sitting in the back and then at the driver again. The driver stared at him and did not start the car.

"Let's go!"

Mitchell nudged the driver and his head rolled forward before he slumped onto the steering wheel. He looked at the rest of his team members and they were all there, but not alive...

"What the?..."

The black van exploded blasting Mitchell and his team of mercenaries into oblivion. The fire engines could be heard in the distance roaring up the long road that led to the cottage.

The flames died down and smoke from the smoldering debris drifted into the air. The coroner arrived and placed four body bags into the back of his van. Moments later they pulled up to a large fenced in area and proceeded to the loading dock.

The bodies were placed on metal carts, wheeled to the morgue and placed in four separate sections. In a small hidden room surrounded by the refrigerated sections housing the bodies,a group of men in tactical gear sat around a large table.

Two of the men opened four compartments from the inside and rolled Luke and his family into the room. They unzipped the bags as Luke, Mark, Matthew and Laura exited the bags wearing clothing covered with ash and soot.

Luke sat at the table and announced; "Okay team, mission accomplished! We can really go home now!"

"Aaron, this plan actually worked didn't it?"

Aaron - formerly known as Luke - replied, "You had doubts, Sergeant Brooks?"

"Listen, I'm just an old Devil-dog that follows orders...You told us to die, so we died and now the country's safe?"

"Yes, the country's safe and our efforts have netted a 'big fish' who's been taken out of the equation. That phone call from Mitchell sealed the deal! We got a hold of some good intel and he needed to take us out of the picture. His hands were on every dirty deal that went down in the past eight years and he knew that we were about to find out!"

"So, most importantly, we're dead according to all records and our files have been destroyed. You're free to go on to your next mission or to go home to your families. I'm sure that you'll all agree that this whole fiasco was worth it, to protect our families! Dismissed!"

The men embraced one another and walked towards the exit. Laura, Mark and Matthew walked over to Aaron.

Aaron hugged the twins and said;"Jacob and Jeremy, it's been a pleasure working with you! Tell your mom that I said hello. And Laura...I mean Joelle, tell your husband that I enjoyed our marriage - however brief..."

Joelle and the twins laughed before walking towards the exit. After the team exited the hidden room, Aaron retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a long number.

"Karen, it's Michael, I'm coming home...it's safe now!"

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 22.12.2009

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