෴Raz෴

෴Fidel෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

The Morning After

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Raz woke up very disoriented. His body ached and felt very stiff. When he tried to stretch out he remembered he was trapped. He suspected that the aching was from being forced to stay so still for so long. That last piece of good news that awaited him upon waking all the way up, was the feeling of a very full bladder. As the previous day came back to him, he took a self inventory. Clenching his muscles and trying to move against the restraints was very uncomfortable to his stiff muscles and joints. He kept at it for a few minutes and found it was slowly lessening the discomfort of having been kept immobile overnight.

He was still dressed in the paper gown, and suspected that not only would Braithwaite enjoy making him piss himself, but he’d punish him for it as well. He distracted himself from the growing discomfort by checking out how much progress those status bars had made. Thinking about the status bars caused the dim visual overlay version of the HUD to display a message. Despite being a pale overlay in the darkened room, the overlay as a whole appeared sharper and more easily seen, without interfering with his vision at all as far as he could tell.

[System/Host Integration Status: Upgrade data stream recovered, beginning datastream optimization.]

That seemed like good news. He closed the message and another popped up.

[System/Host Integration Status: Upgrade data stream is now optimized.]

There were no time stamps to show how long it had taken or any other information, so he dismissed this one as well. Another message popped up behind it.

[System/Host Integration Status: Upgrade data stream reinitializing integration.]

Raz controlled his impatience and closed this message as well, with another predictably appearing behind it.

[System/Host Integration Status: Upgrade data stream integration complete.]

This seemed like more good news. Raz found himself thinking that at least he didn’t seem to be suffering from treatment-related negative side effects.

Of course, those side effects can take days to manifest, and you run the risk each time you get a treatment, so I suppose I shouldn’t get cocky.

After closing the completion message, a new type of message popped up.

[Host Welcome Message: Good morning user, and welcome to the level one cortical perceptual interface heads up display system.]

[Please take all warnings seriously to reduce the risk of major harm to host/user and or death.]

Well, that's not ominous or anything.

Raz closed the message and was about to start looking into the features of when the sound of approaching footsteps came into earshot. Unsure how many more messages might be stacked up, he willed them all to move to the sidebar and tried his best to relax and stay calm.

A few seconds later Fidel walked in and announced in a calm but loud voice. “If you are faking sleep, it will gain you nothing. If you are asleep, wake up now.”

Raz opened his eyes cautiously and looked at him. Fidel was dressed in a grey sport jacket, white shirt and dark slacks. Even including the longish dark hair pulled back into a tie, and the boots that looked a bit too utility for the office, he would have been unremarkable in many corporate offices. The shiny red eyes, however, would have been a big issue in most places on Earth.

Fidel looked him up and down and smiled. “You have not pissed yourself. I am glad to see this. It is beneath the dignity of a person to be made to soil themselves. There is one here who would be less happy, but he is not here, and I am given the task of moving you. I know that you expect the worst of me, and I am not here to change your mind. I regret the way things transpired here yesterday, but the past we cannot change.” He looked to Raz for a response.

Raz looked back expectantly.

Fidel sighed. “This is not an attempt to trick you. I am well aware of how the Doc-.” He stopped himself and looked over his shoulder. “How Mister Braithwaite operates, and I am sure he has threatened you greatly. I am not him, and while I will not hesitate to visit great harm upon you if it is needed, I do not wish to do that, nor do I desire or require that you show me fear and obeisance.” He pulled a phone out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and then slipped it back into his back pocket. “The technicians will soon be here to release you. Give me no reason to correct your behavior, and you may stretch your legs and walk with me to your quarters.“

Raz nodded.

Fidel waited, and then nodded back. “You are cautious. I would imagine that yesterday has had that effect upon you. Very well. Speak or not, that is your choice.”

A pair of technicians entered the room. As with yesterday, the full-body coveralls and safety glasses along with face shields made it hard to determine anything much about them. Raz suspected that the shorter one was female and the somewhat taller one moved like a man. He idly wondered if that was correct.

Without warning a translucent message box popped up.

[HUD user message: Available data supports user conclusion with 78% confidence.]

[Upgrade host perceptual abilities to increase confidence.]

In a panicked reaction, Raz quickly hid away the window but didn’t close that message and filed that tidbit as something he needed to revisit later. Hoping he hadn’t given himself away, he looked up only to see Fidel doing something with his phone, completely oblivious to his momentary fear.

The shorter lab technician seemed to notice something. “Whoa, check out that spike.” she said to her coworker.

He looked at it, and then up at Raz. “Hey man, you can relax. We’re just here to get you unhooked from this thing and then you can go somewhere more comfortable. But, you have to stay chill.” he said quietly.

Raz realized there must be a biometric readout of some kind on the device. He managed a distracted nod, his mind nervously racing at the idea that they might be able to tell when he was using the HUD.

Fidel called out. “If he cannot relax enough to be unhooked, just let me know and I shall return in an hour or so.”

The taller lab tech whispered urgently. “Dude, you don’t wanna be here for the rest of the day, and I don’t want to mop up your piss, so just find your happy place so we can get you out.”

Raz nodded again and closed his eyes. He took several slow deep breaths, letting the tension flow out of him. He realized he’d need to get this HUD configured so that it stopped putting messages up at everything he thought about. He was mostly unsurprised when a message popped up.

[System configuration change request: Please confirm reduce interface verbosity.]

He thought about that for a moment while he continued to breathe deeply. He wished the system would just be smarter about what it told him, and when. ‘At least no one else can see the HUD messages when they pop up.”

[HUD User Message: The required level of smart messaging is not supported at this HUD level.]

It was followed by two more messages.

[HUD User Message: User conclusion incorrect, current user cognition security can not prevent remote access to this HUD.]

Raz sent that one to the side. He suspected he’d need to look into that one in more detail. The configuration question popped back up.

[HUD System configuration change request: Please confirm reduce interface verbosity.]

Raz hoped this wasn’t something he’d regret, and thought ‘confirm’. He wondered if it was reading that he was unsure about making that change, or simply didn’t understand his answer. ‘confirm reduce interface verbosity.’

[System configuration change: Verbosity level set to low.]

[All non-urgent messages will be placed in the queue, currently located in the lower half of the left edge of the HUD.]

Someone took one of his hands, then the other. Raz opened his eyes. The two lab techs each had one of his hands in their gloved two-handed grip. “Alrighty, let's step out of the boots, and watch yourself, you haven’t been holding yourself up all night, let's not fall over,” the taller one said.

Raz gingerly lifted one foot, then a second from the metal restraint boots. His legs felt shockingly weak for a moment, but then seemed to stabilize, and he simply felt tired and a bit stiff and sore.

Fidel spoke up, “Good. Now we go. You two, help our guest to his room. I will follow along in case he chooses to show us some kind of terrible decision making skills.”

Raz could tell that even without Fidel escorting him to wherever they were taking him, escape would have been impossible. He could barely walk. As the blood started flowing, his legs regained their strength quickly enough, and he was walking on his own by the time they delivered him to a small cell with an attached bathroom. When the two technicians walked off, Fidel stood in the doorway and looked at him.

“Comrade, hear me now. From where you stand, you have but two paths. In one path, you will be fortunate enough to manifest a useful ability, and my employer will offer you a contract. If you do not manifest an ability, then perhaps your wits will allow you to survive long enough that Braithwaite grows bored of you, and you have a chance to work here. The money and extra” He paused as though searching for the word, “perks are surprisingly good, and best of all, they usually do not kill you. I hope I do not have to make painfully clear the alternative. I mean what I have said in genuine sincerity. Think it over.”

He turned to leave, and then looked back at Raz. "You should also know, that I have hidden your earlier escape attempt from him. If he knew, your hands and feet would already be removed. Be smart. Do not try again," with that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

Raz looked around the room.

Or I can make my own path and get out of here. One thing's for sure, I got lucky with that second chance. No more half-assed attempts. The next escape has to succeed.

෴WD40෴

෴Wilson Meyers෴

෴Darby O'Cellan෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Priorities

෴෴෴෴෴෴

After Doktor Midnight vanished right in front of them, Wilson and Darby left the public offices and returned to their secure location.

“I know he pays well, and he even seems like a decent guy, all things considered anyway. But sometimes I feel like we should stop taking that guy’s calls.” Darby stated flatly.

“I hear you. I know last night was bad, but his jobs pay our entire operating cost and almost half of our fun toy fund. Without that, we’ll be behind the gear curve within a few years. Not to mention with his treatment we can offer something to our new hires that no one else can.” Wilson argued.

“No no, I get it. I know its more than worth working with him. Sure, we'd need to take a few more jobs for the easy stuff that we try to avoid, but we make enough money. I mean, I guess what I’m thinking about is, you have thought about the reality that unlike any of our other clients, he could wipe our entire company out, without breaking a sweat.” Darby started pulling off his tactical gear and stowing it. “Doesn’t that give you even a little pause?”

Wilson frowned. “Of course it does. Guy fucking terrifies me. But he’s actually the best client we’ve ever had, and I don’t even mean the money. You weren’t here back when we got started, but in the bad old days, we were taking clients that routinely sent us into high threat environments with little or no preparation or warning. Tonight was bad, but he was there every time we called, and he didn’t try to spread us thin and gave us all the info we could have expected about possible threats. Most clients do none of those things. That wall of remembrance didn’t get so many pictures because we were doing safe missions. We didn’t get where we are in this region by taking safe work. The thing is, having his business means we get two things that every company like us needs.”

Wilson took a deep breath and looked Darby in the eye. “First, we get enough high dollar jobs to not just keep going, but stay ahead of the gear curve. I know that doesn't sound like much to you, but that's because you’ve always been on the right side of that curve. Do you know how many other companies around here send out troops with AP and thermite ammo?” He looked pointedly at Darby. “None of them.”

Darby tried to jump in but Wilson made a slashing motion with his hand and cut him off. “Let me finish. Even more important, we get something that no amount of money can buy. I don’t know how many other teams can call in someone like Doktor Midnight?” He looked at his partner.

Darby shrugged, “Not many I guess.”

“Yeah, damn right not many. I have no idea how many exactly, but it's a small and exclusive club that can make a phone call and request help from the heaviest hitter in the world.” Wilson replied. “Do you recall the Oil field security job in the sandbox from last year when they showed up with attack helicopters and tanks?”

Darby nodded, his expression said he already knew where this was going.

Wilson continued relentlessly. “And you recall that the client told us to expect, what did they say, ‘a few guys in the backs of pickups with AKs’. So as you recall we were not even close to ready for military armor with air support.”

Darby sighed, “All right you win. I know you called him and he came and knocked them down and disabled the armor for us.”

Wilson nodded. “What you don’t know, because I didn’t think it was all that relevant at the time is that he was in Atlanta when I reached him. Apparently, he’s here a lot more often than we think.”

Darby looked confused. “That can’t be right. He was on-site in less than ten minutes.”

“Now you’re getting it, and it was more like five minutes by audio logs. I gave him our coordinates and then he hung up. You remember how he came down looking like a white hot needle with that armor of his glowing like a magnesium flare. I didn’t tell him we have video, but I’ve watched that video so many times. He comes in so fast that the wide angle high frame rate camera doesn't see him at all until suddenly he hits the ground with a big spray of sand. The area where he lands turns to glass and his armor goes black again and looks like the normal armor shape. Then he takes them apart like its nothing, waves, and poof he’s gone. The camera catches one frame where he’s taken off straight up, but then he’s out of frame.”

Darby pulled up the calculator on his phone. “No way, that can’t be right.” He punched in numbers muttering about airframe integrity and elevation air density for a moment and then looked up at Wilson. “If he’s telling the truth about being in Atlanta, the only way he could get there in that time frame is to travel over 80,000 miles per hour. That's not even possible. Even if he went into space instead of passing through all the air. Which is crazy to even talk about but given who we’re talking about I’ll consider it, it still means he would have had to do a reentry.” he shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t even know what to say about that. I both wish you’d told me this back then and wish I didn’t know it now.”

Wilson patted his shoulder. “I did the math and realized that the last thing a pilot like you wants to hear is one more thing that this guy can do better than anyone or anything else on earth.” He paused and considered. “I suspect that he usually leaves the atmosphere when he needs to get somewhere fast. There isn’t a lot of good footage of him when he’s flying fast, but it’s what there is, almost always shows him going straight up or pretty close to straight down. So worse, that means he might have actually traveled a lot further than the sea level distance. But considering what that really means, combined with what we already know about him. I hope you can see why I don’t always like him, but I always don’t want to piss him off.”

Darby shook his head. “Damn, I always wanted to try for one of the flight types. Flew throughout my tours and somehow I have no aptitude for it.” He said, not trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. “I keep trying to figure out the math to know how much thrust he must have and I just don’t even have the formulas to figure it out. It's not like he’s burning rocket fuel and getting lighter as he goes.”

Wilson pursed his lips, clearly trying to decide whether to say something. Darby saw it in his face.

“You don’t need to say it. I know. What can I say, I’m glad he can cure the sociopathy that comes from too many abilities, but I’m not sure I want to surrender myself to his labs just to try for it.” He swallowed. “Maybe one day, but if we went that route, and he still said I couldn't ever fly, I’m not sure I could take it.” He confessed.

Wilson pulled Darby in toward him. Darby stiffened for a second and then returned the embrace. They whispered to each other for an all too short intimate moment.

When they parted, both took a moment to wipe their eyes before looking around the room at the combat gear piled up. With an unspoken agreement, they started cleaning up and putting things away.

An hour later the two finished stowing the mission gear.

“That looks like everything.” Darby looked over at Wilson, who was scribbling down notes again.

Wilson grunted, “Yeah, give me a couple minutes. Got some shit to write up while it’s fresh on my mind.”

Darby frowned, “More notes? Why so much writing stuff down this time around.”

Wilson stopped writing and looked him in the eye. “You know what actually bothers me the most about this job?” His expression and voice somber.

Darby caught the sound and sat down across from him. “What?”

“I double checked my notes, but every other job he’s ever hired us to do, he knew where to send us, what we were up against, and basically drowned us with intel. Even when there is no way he could have known any of it, he does. So why doesn’t he seem to know anything this time around?”

“I wondered about that myself, but I figured you’d handle it.”

“I guess I will, I just don’t like when things don’t fit the pattern.”

Darby smelled himself and winced. He then stripped off his clothes. “I’m getting a shower, join me if you like.”

෴Adele Owens෴

෴Paolo Garcia෴

෴Tony Dubois෴

෴Marcus Suarez෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Maternal Instinct

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Adele was glad to have checked out of the hotel and moved on to the unstructured ‘rustic sightseeing’ part of her trip itinerary. She’d hoped to use this time as a relaxing getaway and a chance to visit and learn more locations, but the same unscheduled time let her move into the compound and monitor the activity there.

Once inside the compound she could drop the persona she showed the world and change into more casual and practical clothing. She suppressed a yawn and realized she’d be wanting to get to bed soon. Despite the late hour, the facility was still active with people moving around and doing their jobs.

She walked down the hall toward the main ready room. On the way, she saw Javier. Outside of the car and out of the chauffeur outfit he looked both taller and younger. His current uniform looked more practical and ready for action than the office or the car. He was carrying a tablet and speaking to someone on a headset. From what she heard, it was about logistics. He nodded respectfully as they passed one another in the hallway.

She stopped at one of the many small communications rooms and knocked softly. A moment later a male voice called out. “Come on in Mrs. Owens.”

Inside she saw the large array of computers and various screens and displays. Sitting at one of the two workstations was a young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties dressed in a short-sleeved button-down khaki shirt and grey shorts. He had close-cropped hair and a headset on. As she opened the door he spoke up. “Come on in and shut the door please. Have a seat if you like.”

She came in and closed the door, but remained standing. “You’re one of the Norns right?”

He grinned, “Well, I’m not a mythical Norse creature of fate, nor do I imagine myself an endless font of cosmic wisdom, but yes, I’m on the Norns team. I wouldn’t mind a team name that was a little less given to delusions of grandeur, but I didn’t pick it. Liz and the trainee are off shift right now. But don’t worry, anything significant happens and we go to all hands on deck.”

A small camera on the young man’s desk turned to face her. She noticed that one of the many screens showed a grid of small squares, each square showing a young man or woman. As she watched, one woman in the video feeds reached out and touched something. The surrounding grid glowed a solid white.

A female voice came from a speaker, “Good morning Mrs. Owens, how can the Norns help you today?” The white square outline around the video of her disappeared as soon as the woman stopped speaking.

Another box lit up white and a male voice spoke up. “I’m working with the big boss right now if you’re here for an update.” His white box winked out.

Adele looked at the young man in the room with her. “I assume they can hear me?”

He nodded.

Adele spoke up a bit and addressed the group. “You’re right. I’m looking to learn how things are going. I don’t want to take much of your time, I know that what you do is critical, but I’d like an honest and unfiltered opinion on what's going on, and how things are going for him, from the people working closest to him. I’m a mother, I can’t help but worry right now.”

Several boxes lit up simultaneously and then winked out as they realized they were all trying to answer at once.

The man in the room with her put up his hand to the camera and spoke to his teammates. “I’ll give her the basics, and if any of you have anything to add, come in at the end and correct me. Everyone good with that?” He asked.

The boxes around the video streams blinked green until every one of them but one was outlined in solid green. A few seconds later the un-outlined box lit up white, “Sorry, I was on the line with the Boss relaying some intel. I’m good with that.” the white outline blinked off and was replaced with a solid green. A few seconds after every box was outlined in green the outlines faded away.

The young man took off his headset and pressed a series of keys on his workstation. “Did you have specific questions, or shall I just address what you already said?” He asked.

“Let's start generally, and get more specific if I need it, er.” She looked at him expectantly.

“I’m Paolo, good to meet you.” He extended his hand.

She stepped forward and shook it. “Ok Paolo, tell me what has been going on.”

He straightened up in his chair. “Well, the boss man is staying very busy. It seems that in his absence a lot more dark sites have popped up. He isn’t in any danger, but I don’t think he feels like he’s making any progress. A lot of the sites we’ve been able to get intel on are already mostly or all the way shut down. He’s done some fighting, but like usual the fights are over pretty quick. Nothing has been said directly, but my personal assessment is that he is getting a little worried and discouraged. He’s mentioned feeling that he’s in uncharted territory.”

Paolo shrugged. “I could go into a lot more detail, but that's the high level look at how things are going.”

Adele looked at him for a moment and then looked over at the camera. “Thank you Paolo, do any of the rest of you have anything to add?”

One by one the squares lit up with a brief flash of red until they all had the red outline. Before it even faded away Adele spoke, “Thank you all for your hard work. I appreciate the information. I’ll leave you to it.”

She left, closing the door quietly and continued toward the main ready room.

As she entered the room Tony was just signing off. She waited until he disconnected the call. “Anything worthwhile in the report? It's been days.” She asked.

Tony shook his head. “Sorry Ma’am, it's just more of the same. He mentioned that there were a lot more covert labs than he expected. ‘Popping up like roaches’ was his exact phrase. I wish I had better news.”

Adele gritted her teeth. “All right, and did he mention anything about next moves?”

“No Ma’am, I’m sorry to say he did not. He called to let me know the reports were in, and to let me know that the party planning will be necessary after all. Between you and me, I think he’s getting frustrated.” Tony said.

“Well of course he is.” She snapped. Seeing Tony blanch, she moderated her tone a bit. “Of course he is. You know how important this is. The stakes could not be higher. We have to find him before any of those horrible Martine people do. Between you and me, I don’t think he’ll be able to take it if we can't. So much of what he’s done is to let my son have a chance at a normal life for as long as possible.” She said.

Just then a man walked into the room with them. Much like Tony and Javier, everything from his haircut to his choices of clothing, physical build, and his way of carrying himself said former military. He stopped just past the door when he saw Adele speaking with Tony.

Tony saw him and waved him over. “Marcus, good to see you. The boss man was just asking if the party planning is complete. I gave him your report on our prepared assets. Everything still good on that front?”

Marcus smiled. “Yes sir. We have several teams ready to go. They are positioned near the boss in case he calls for them. Once they get the signal, the teams can be on site within two hours. If he wants them closer, just let me know.”

Tony shook his hand. “Excellent, it's just what you said in your report and what I told the boss man. He seems content to have the ace in the hole. Are your people somewhere safe in the meantime?”

Marcus grinned and gave an exaggerated shrug. “Meh, safe enough. I don’t micromanage my team leads. I know they are all close enough to get into action, and using a disguise that will not draw any attention to themselves.”

Tony smiled back. “Good enough.”

Adele cut in. “No. It’s not good enough. You men are doing your part, but I am expected to just smile and be patient.” She looked each man in the eye. “My patience has run out.”

Marcus swallowed hard. “Ma’am, what do you intend to do?”

Tony looked sharply at his subordinate. “Ms. Owens, what I believe Marcus is trying to say, is that we are doing everything we can. However, if you have something in mind, that we aren't doing that you want us to do, please let us know and we will get right on it.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Tony, Marcus, I’ve known you both ever since I hired you, and the deep background checks before that let me feel that I have a solid chunk of insight into how you think. I dare either of you to tell me you aren’t at some level just humoring me because you expect me to act the part of the irrational mother in a situation like this.” She said, gazing at them both calmly.

Both men found somewhere else in the room to be looking at that moment.

She broke into a smile. “Excellent. Don’t take it the wrong way boys, I appreciate the gallantry of your trying to handle everything. Really I do. It’s one of my favorite things about you Spaniards and Caledonians.” The smile vanished and her tone went hard. “But my son is missing, and your boss is gallivanting around looking for him with no solid leads. You asked what I intend to do? I’m going to get in touch with Mercator. He’s the reason we’re in this mess in the first place.”

“What!?” Tony blurted out. “I mean, there has to be some other way?” He looked horrified. “You can’t be serious. Mercator is crazy, and dangerous. In fact, ‘crazy dangerous’ is how you yourself put it when someone suggested that we talk to him about something else a few years ago.”

Marcus looked confused. “Mercator? That is a type of map, right? What is so bad about that? Is this a name, or is he a cartographer?”

Adele shook her head. “No Marcus, well, sort of. He’s something much more. But among other things, he’s someone that can turn this searching into finding. I don’t care about the risks.”

Tony’s brows furrowed as he looked at her. “I, I don’t even know how you would get to him. Ever since he put up the labyrinth, lots of people have tried. Most of them pop out in another country weeks or months later thinking they were almost there. The labyrinth doesn't even let them in a second time.”

Marcus looked like he had so many questions, but knew better than to interrupt. He stepped a half pace back and looked back and forth at the other two as they talked.

Adele pointed her finger at Tony. “You’re right on all accounts. But I have several advantages those people don’t have and you know it.” Her smile faltered. “Not to mention I also have one or two aces in the hole that you wouldn’t know about.” Her expression determined, she glanced over at Marcus then back to Tony and continued. “But just so you can’t say I didn’t ask, tell me. What could I do here, that would accomplish more to help find my son?. Go ahead, I’m listening.” She gestured and a point in the air near her became a disc of nothing the eye could almost perceive.

Both men reflexively tried to focus on it and found their eyes trying to look away. Despite best efforts, they could only look at it for a second before their gaze slid off the floating disc that wasn’t there.

She made a small gesture and the disc of horrendously wrong nothingness in the air became a simple disc of darkness. Something white and gaseous began to flow out of the hole, falling to the floor. “I’m serious. If you can think of something that I can do, that will have at least as big an impact on this search as getting help from Mercator, tell me and I’ll do that instead!”

Tony sighed. “Ok Adele, you win. But please, at least let me send a security detail with you. I know you don’t much appreciate it, but the last thing the big boss needs is to be distracted by worry.”

She thought about it for a second or two. “Ok, but only people I already know and get along with, and those who volunteer to come. It will be dangerous, and I won’t have time to be debating with them what will happen or who is in charge.” She looked upward, thinking. “And only two. Two of your guys with some durability could be helpful. I’ll work with your tanks, but no straight up blasters. If Mercator thinks for a second that we’re there to start a problem, he’ll drop us into a map so fast we’ll never see it coming.” Her tone and entire bearing communicated that she would not bend on this point.

“Okay, I’ll get a couple of my guys that're willing to go.” Tony nodded reluctantly.

“I’ll go.” Marcus spoke up. They both turned to look at him as though they had forgotten he was in the room. Under the pair of intense gazes he shrunk back a little. “I mean, if you’re looking for volunteers and need toughs. I can help with that.”

Tony looked like he was about to object. Adele smiled, her expression lighting up her face with joy for a moment. “Thank you Marcus. I’d love for you to come along. Let me go ahead and clear it with your boss’s boss.” She paused theatrically. “Yep, she says she’d appreciate your help. Let’s hope we find one more as easily.”

Tony nodded and shrugged. “Ok, Marcus, you heard the lady. She’s in charge till you get back. Don’t screw up.” He looked back at Adele. “Ma’am, Marcus is a real asset to the team, I’d like him back in one piece.”

She nodded. “That's the plan. Now, if you’ll go round me up one more volunteer, Marcus and I now have some things to talk about.”

Tony turned to leave.

Adele put her hand on his shoulder. He looked back. She pulled a digital key from her pocket.

“One more thing Tony. I need you to get a message to the operative this key can contact.

“Of course, what’s the message?”

She pressed the key into his hand. “The message is ‘Spare no expense.’ Send it now."

Tony nodded and hurried off, already talking on his earpiece.

Adele took a deep breath and appeared to let go of some tension. She turned to look at Marcus. “Thank you for volunteering. He sometimes forgets how the chain of command works, but he’s a good man and I’m glad to have him on our side. What about you?”

He swallowed. “Um, What about me?”

She made an exaggerated frown. “Do you understand chain of command, and are you a good man?”

On more solid ground, he answered confidently. “Yes Ma’am.”

“Good, I hope that both of those things are true. Before we learn whoever else is coming with us, do you have any questions for me?” She noticed his gaze sneaking back to the disc in the air. “Any questions at all?”

Marcus mustered his nerve to say what had been on his mind since the disc of nothing appeared. “What is that?”

“Oh this little thing? Nothing much. It’s a hole to my fridge.” She reached her hand into the hole. He boggled as her arm seemed to disappear along the hole’s event horizon. She pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to him. He numbly accepted the cold bottle. The hole vanished.

She opened her bottle and took a big drink. “Now then, let's head back to my office. We have a lot to do, a lot to talk about, and not a lot of time to do both. After we talk, I need to send an email to my sons, but then we both need a good night's sleep. I plan to leave first thing in the morning.”