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Post by Tomahawk on Dec 30, 2005 15:55:02 GMT
Arriving back at Agency X Headquarters, Leo was surprised to find that his briefing wasn’t scheduled immediately, but rather, the next day. Still, it was good being back home again, and it gave him enough time to get over his “vacation”. Arriving back in his quarters, he checked his answering machine and found that he had no new messages. After doing a few more things, he called it a night and turned in.
The next day, bright and early, he made his way to the briefing. It was almost a relief hearing Jameson’s voice.
“Hi, Leo- come on in and sit down. Sorry to cut your vacation short, but we had some new intel come in that seems to indicate that the Directorate might be on the move.”
Jameson quickly slides a dossier across the table.
“The man in this file is a Doctor Zlatko Kareshnikov- he’s one of ours. Well, sort of. Kind of an eccentric little guy, runs an energy research lab out of a familial estate in the Balkan country called Symkaria. We fund his research, and he gives us gadgets and gizmos that we can use, and reports in about once every two weeks- usually.
“It’s now been four weeks since we’ve heard anything out of this guy. We didn’t panic or anything- after all, like I said- he’s an eccentric goofball. We figured he probably just took a vacation off to the Alps and forgot to mention it to anyone- he’s done that sort of thing before. But then we got this-“ He slides a second file in a manila folder across the table.
“We intercepted this encoded transmission from a guy we have tagged as having definite ties to the Directorate. Dr. Kareshnikov’s name turns up at least 5 times in the communiqué, although we’re having trouble making heads or tails out of the rest of it.
“Fact of the matter is, we’re not 100% certain what we’re going to find in there, nor do we know what it is that the Directorate wants with Dr. Kareshnikov. However, we believe it has to do with his latest research- flip to the back of his dossier.
“As I said before, the good doctor works with new and weird forms of energy research, code-named 'The Aurora Project'. In his last communication with us, he indicated that he was close to making a breakthrough with harnessing some sort of molecular destabilization and dispersion beam- a “disintegrator ray”, if you will. His intent was to somehow create a means of taking matter apart into its component energies, and then allowing it to be stored and then re-integrated via a reverse process. As you can imagine, this kind of technology is invaluable- the ability to project Agents into any location, or even smuggle in a Tank or army in your back pocket- you get the idea. If he has found some way to make it all work, we want to know about it. More than anything else, we don’t want it to fall into anyone’s hands. Any questions?”
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Post by Silverback on Jan 3, 2006 11:43:19 GMT
Leo listened intently to the directors speech, not only to his words and meanings, but the slight inflections and stresses that normal hearing couldn't detect. This 'problem' with the Aurora Project was troubling Jameson more than he was letting on.
"Something like the transporters from Space Trek, da!?" He queried. Shrike was pretty sure that his boss was holding something back from him, something in his voice. That was the thing with being blind, you couldn't read someones face.
"So. What else do I need to know? What is this . . . thing that you don't want to tell me?" Shrike waited patiently for the man's response, giving him time to gather his thoughts together.
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Post by Tomahawk on Jan 10, 2006 9:47:24 GMT
"So. What else do I need to know? What is this . . . thing that you don't want to tell me?"
“One of these days, Leo,” Director Jameson continued, “You’re going to have to tell me how you do that.” He cleared his throat before continuing.
“Well, yes, there is something else. As I am certain you’ve already figured out, this is a pretty simple operation- something that would usually be handled by some junior agents, and not a Special Agent such as yourself. Which brings me to the next point…”
He shifted in his seat somewhat uncomfortably, and measured his words carefully, pausing to deliberate how best to word things before finally just giving in and saying it.
“Shrike, you’re actually riding shotgun on this mission. It has already been assigned to a rookie- a totally new recruit fresh out of training with no field experience whatsoever. Of course, the only way to get field experience is out in the field- that much is a given. This rookie- this recruit- was selected based upon previous knowledge and experience with the target area, including the intricacies of the local culture, customs, and the situation in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. As you are already well aware, we never send rookies in alone- on any mission. We have trainer agents who we normally use for such things. But in this case, this recruit specifically asked for you.”
He paused to check Shrike’s response to this new revelation, but never had a chance to continue, as from the doorway there was a sudden knock, and a svelte, silky voice intoned,
“Herr Director, You said you needed to see me, ja?”
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Post by Silverback on Jan 12, 2006 10:53:15 GMT
'The recruit asked for me? Why I wonder?" Leo didn't get chance to pursue this train of thought as a voice he faintly recognised spoke up.
“Herr Director, You said you needed to see me, ja?”
Where had he heard that voice before? It was definitely germanic in origin he thought. His eyebrows suddenly raised in recognition. "Director, I must protest, how can we be certain that she's trustworthy?" Shrike didn't care whether she was offended or not.
"We never entirely cleared up the situation at that laboratory did we? Or has there been something else that I haven't been told about?"
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Post by Tomahawk on Jan 13, 2006 10:59:52 GMT
"Director, I must protest, how can we be certain that she's trustworthy?" Shrike said. "We never entirely cleared up the situation at that laboratory did we? Or has there been something else that I haven't been told about?"
“Shrike, calm down. Yes, Agent 29-5-67, come in and have a seat.”
He waited a moment as the young agent silently came in a took a seat at the table. He cleared his throat in his typical ‘let’s get down to business’ fashion, and continued.
“Now, in answer to your questions, Shrike, Agent 29-5-67 was given a thorough psy-scan as well as conventional polygraph analysis in conjunction with her entrance interviews. Her story- well, she can tell you the whole thing on the way- but at any rate, her story checks out, and the boys downstairs say she’s clean. Besides, this is more-or-less a mission we’d consider ‘on the job training’, so get your head in the game. You both know what to do- find a missing nut-job scientist, and secure both him and his work while keeping an eye out for the Directorate.
“The situation over at the lab down in Switzerland is as clear as it’s gonna get. We’re fairly certain that we have all the data downloaded, and the boys are working on decrypting a lot of the Project GECCO stuff, so until we have more on that, we’ll just keep our ears and eyes open. Since then, the Directorate’s been fairly quiet, so when this small bit of intel- something that usually wouldn’t even cross my desk- came in, I knew we needed to move on it.
“On what I am certain is a more personal note for you, Shrike, you’ll be pleased to know that Janson seems to be recovering well, and has healed far enough along that he no longer needs to remain in an induced coma. How we’re going to fix him up is another story entirely, but he’s alive, and when he’s awake, he can have visitors.
“So, I believe that should about cover things from my end, here. Is there anything you two agents have to say?” Jameson leaned back in his chair, almost to the point of tipping it over. He pulled out a cigar, and readied himself to light it.
“Danke, Herr Direktor. First of all, I would like to say to Agent Shrike once again a thank you for getting me out of that dreadful facility, and also say what an honor and privilege it is to be given the chance to work with you. Und Herr Direktor, if you could please not light that cigar… you know my enhanced sense of smell can not tolerate it…”
Jameson let out something akin to a “Harrumpff” and set the cigar down on the table, folding his arms across his chest.
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Post by Silverback on Mar 20, 2006 13:49:48 GMT
"So I'm going to be a babysitter, da?" he asked with a note of disdain in his voice. Shrike didn't particularly care for training missions you had to watch your own back as well as everyone else's with a rookie around.
The news about Janson was indeed good. The announcement he acknowledged with a quick, but silent nod.
"You know how I feel about taking fresh meat out into the field Jonah. Even you should be aware of the potential risks involved." The statement phrased in such a manner that the new agent might assume that Shrike was concerned for her personal safety.
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Post by Tomahawk on Mar 27, 2006 7:28:12 GMT
“ Baby-sitter? Herr Direktor, I was not aware that it was normal for Agents to speak of one another as though they do not stand in the same room… “
“That’s enough,“ Jameson interrupted, cutting both of them off. “Need I remind both of you a certain degree of professionalism is expected here at the agency- and besides, I’m still Director. So the two of you better get to liking the idea of working together here pronto, before I just turn the whole thing over to someone who doesn’t have any problems with authority. Plane leaves in two hours- that’s more than enough time to find another pair of Agents and get ‘em briefed if I need to. If this assignment is too much trouble for you two…”
He let the thought trail off, practically inviting comment from the two persons in the briefing room
“ But Herr Direktor, I did not… I mean… No sir, I have no troubles with this assignment. That is…”
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Post by Silverback on Mar 31, 2006 10:01:39 GMT
"I believed expressing my concerns was being 'professional', Jonah?" The russian queried. "If you mean that I should have no concerns over a rookie agent accompanying me on this mission then a little more candour would be appreciated."
Leo was waiting for Jameson to blow-up in his face but what else could he expect? Shrike didn't feel as if he'd been briefed properly! There had been no opportunity to work with the new agent yet. As far as he was concerned the whole thing stank like a rotten pig!
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