Government training seminars are boring. God so boring!

They make the important information that we need so stale in its presentation that I and a few are nodding off. However, the presentation picks up near the end.

“We have confirmed encounter of the type three Undead threats “Ghouls” on the British mainland.” This causes the room to perk up with attention. The presenter was a woman in her early fifties dressed in a typical trouser suit. She screamed low level, civil servant.

“A total of three were engaged and all were terminated.” The room murmured at this.

“Operative Griffon lead the team in to seal that breach.” Many turned to him and praised his actions.

“Hey, people I just sealed the breach the Ghouls already had been eliminated.” Henry said.

That got a lot of frowns and surprised looks. The Operatives in the room were left wondering who had taken the Ghouls out. I stay quiet.

“Carrying on we have identified two new types of creatures that who need to be aware of.” The presenter called attention back to her.

She changed to projector image to a picture of the fire breathing dog-like beast I had killed laid out on a table.

“This has been identified as a type two Hound threat. It is fast and aggressive that is appearing in at least one new Breach Zone. This breach has been closed again by Operative Griffon.”

That got me thinking. How many “dives” had Henry done in the last year. I look at him sideways but he wasn’t giving anything away. I was thinking he was pushing too hard doing so many dives.

“The type one and a breakdown of how they have been found to attack are listed on the document now available online for study.” She continued. “This is what we know so far…” I drowned her out as I was there after all.

“Finally, I am happy to announce that later this week we will be announcing to the nation that Operative Griffon will be leading a new strike team.” This really got my attention.

“The full roster will be presented then but I can confirm that Operative Goldsmith will be in this team. Thank you for coming that is all.”

Sarah Goldsmith! What is she up to now? That woman was a pain in my backside. She wants to be the Queen/Superstar Operative. Henry was the most well know male Operative and she was the female. We have crossed paths before and the results were not pleasant at all. To say we butt heads was an understatement.

We file out of the room. I try to speak to Henry but he is swept up by the fanboy/girl operatives. I couldn’t get close as he leaves followed by the gaggle. I walk out of the building slowly deep in thought. Things are moving but in what direction I don’t know.

I meet up with Gregson to go see Lou. We speak on a few things but I know he notices that I am not really engaging. Thoughts rolling around in my head.

We cross the base to the armoury section. We head in through the security entrance and go to Lou’s section. He and his team are working on several projects. The workspace is crowded with cages, workbenches and tools. Weapons and amour are the focus of all the work. Further back there is a large blacksmith forge that has several smiths are working on weapons.

Lou is told as we enter the space by one of his staffers. At that time, he was hunched over studying something on a suit of armour. He looks up and smiles walking over to us.

“Hey, guys glad to see you.” He shakes Gregson’s hand and slaps me on the back. I am knocked forward by the blow.

“How you feeling boy.”

“Back to the world of normality, I am told. Off back home after this.”

“Great news. Before you go, I have a few things to show you.” He leads us over to the table with the armour that he was just looking at.

“With your recent adventures, I have been approved to make upgrades to your armour.”

“Soooo, am I the ginny pig again for this.” I asked.

“Frankly yes.” He answers. Laughing at my face’s reaction of disapproval.

“Because you have a wonderfully amazing ability to find trouble in many forms, we have been trying new ideas.” He began showing us the suit. “The first thing that we have done was to study the fire that dog thing you killed produced. Its fire might be blue but burns like normal. So, we have added a layer of fire-resistant material to the suit.”

I nod to this. I would be happy not to get burned.

“Next, we have strengthened the armour sections of your bodysuit. It will be a bit heavier but a lot more punishment will be absorbed.” He continued. “The helmet we can’t do a lot with but we are looking. Do you want anything else while you are here?”

“Yes, I will need a few more glow sticks and a knife added to my gear.” He nods to the first but asks about the second.

“What type of knife are you thinking?”

“Nothing massive just a combat knife for really close in work. I have been thinking about it and a trench knife would be ideal. You know the type with a knuckle duster as part of the handle.”

“Yea sure we can do that.” A bit surprised.

“Thanks, Lou hopefully I will never need it but with my recent experiences…” I don’t finish my thoughts but he gets where I am coming from.

We chat for a little longer but we have to call it a day so we get going out of the armoury. We head to the bases Helipads and the awaiting ride back to Arbroath.

## ## ## ## ##

Later that week I am upstairs awaiting this announcement about the new team. The last few days have not been good. My mother had not been happy with my extended time away and was pressuring me again to leave Ministry employment.

The same old argument again rehashed. I am getting snappy with her faster as she is refusing to accept that I am stuck for the moment. The mood in the house was tense.

I had seen the alert to the coming announcement. The Government was hyping this up big time drawing a lot of attention. I had planted myself on my chair waiting to see how this could affect me. The time rolled around to the news conference things got started.

The Minister of the Home Office appeared on the screen behind a podium with a microphone. Party time!

“Welcome ladies and Gentlemen to this news conference.” Minister Singh began. “To begin. His Majesties Government is making a major change to how we are moving forward in dealing with the Zone Breaches here within the mainland United Kingdom.”

“The Government is creating a dedicated strike team to head into the Zone Breaches and close them down before they become a threat using the third generation of breach closers developed with our international partners.” He continued. “The Rapid Closures Team or RCT for short will be deployed to newly discovered breaches. When deployed they will seek to seal them as fast and safely as possible”

“The team will be made up of six Zone Operatives. The team will be led by the well-regarded Operatives of Sarah Goldsmith and Henry Griffon.” At naming them they appeared to the right of the Minister smiling at the camera and I presume reporters present in the room.

How to describe Sarah Goldsmith. There is an expression “English Rose” when describing some women. At the same age as me the expression is a good descriptor. About 5’8 when not in heels and with an athletic toned body. Light brown/blonde hair and blue eyes. She had a smooth voice with a classic upper-class accent. She was a competitor to join the British Olympic team triathlon section before she was discovered that she could be an Operative. This fact was revealed when a Breach formed at her training camp and she was able to fend off the creatures until her teammates escaped about four years ago now.

She was working the camera way better than Henry who was good at it. I shook my head at her. We had met a few times and the dislike is shared. I have called her many things loudly and often. A lady was never one of them. They had tried years ago to form a similar team. It ended badly even before we were deployed.

It was decided that we should be kept apart. Due to our views and attitudes on life. I realised quickly she wanted two things money and fame. I understood the first but as she was from a wealthy family the second was always strange to me. She wanted always to be in the limelight while I always wanted to operate in secret. From the few society articles, I have seen she is always out on the town with the latest bit of fashionable arm candy.

“We have selected four of the country’s newest Zone Operatives to join them in this team. They have been training together and deploying on missions for the last eight months working on teamwork and tactics.” The Minister was almost vibrating with enthusiasm at this revelation.

“The other team members are Operatives Grey, Wong, McGregor and Smith.” At this introduction, four more people come to the stage and join Henry and Sarah. I realised that two of the names mentioned were with Henry at the training seminar last week. Made sense now.

“From tomorrow they will be on duty to be ready to go into action at any moment. Either in groups of two, three or with the entire team deployed. The hope is that with the RCT we can start to see a time when the breaches are totally removed from our country” The Minister finished.

“Now any questions?”

The reporters were behind the camera and began quizzing the Minister. They were the usual selection of fluff to technical queries. I drowned out them as I thought of the situation. Sarah Goldsmith in this team was interesting. She could fight that was a given in our job but she always went out of her way to avoid the really dangerous missions from what the rumour mill saying. Going into a new Zone was a dangerous affair as you never know what you will encounter. My last dive is an example.

My focus returned to the conference but the same generic questions and answers were being passed around. I was going to change to another stream when a voice called out.

“Why haven’t the Government assembled an all-veteran team?” Ok, that’s not bad.

“Sorry Miss...?” The Minister replied.

“Alison McDonald from the Zone Watchers Alliance!” This was met by a few sniggers. But my interest was piqued. I could not see her but I was able to hear the soft Scottish accent of the speaker. The camera did not turn to see her.

“We need the more experienced Operatives to continue their vital duties around the country protecting the population.” The Minister answered.

“Yes, but would not the inclusion of other noted Operatives such as Tom Herald, Jennifer Able or the Operative who is only known as the “Axeman” be better.” Alright, now I was concerned. At the mention of the nickname, I was being called the Minister looked confused.

“I am sorry Miss McDonald I do not know this “Axeman” you are referring to.”

“He is a well-documented Operative who the Government is restricting information to the point of secrecy!” She continued. The shift in the attention of the press could be heard. A secret Operative? There’s a story there may be and the media was playing nice to a point. The Minister was looking a bit confused. The Minister tried to hide the fac that he was listening to an ear mic.

“Well, I am afraid I cannot answer that due to the desire of the Operative in question to keep his privacy.”

“So, you admit that he exists then Minister” She proclaimed. The Minister then realised he had errored as the room of reporters became aware of a Zone Operative the Government was keeping quiet.

The press conference quickly changed from a government role out of a new team to who this mysterious Operative was. The tone of the questions had also quickly changed to a more aggressive stance.

The Minister quickly ended the quickly becoming interrogation and beat a fast retreat. The press core still through questions about the unknown Operative.

I am so Fucked!