Spies Like Me

by Doug Solter

  Uganda Army Coop Probabilities

  Russian President Assassination Plot and Conspirators

  CIA Space Drones

  Emma caught one group watching a large monitor with satellite images of shoppers on a street. The corner of the frame had letters in Chinese. She had no idea why they were watching that street.

  Emma went back down to the lower level and explored another portion of the complex that was adjacent to the labyrinth. She found a cafeteria with dark, solid-rock walls. The individual tables were thick and luxurious looking, the chairs big and comfy. Clean plastic trays were stacked to the side and waiting to be used on the buffet. Some dishes were steaming under the lamps. Salad was in another section. Desert in the other. Kitchen workers grinned and kept the island serviced.

  Emma glanced at a hanging menu listing special drinks. Special food requests. And homemade shakes?

  She had a horrible weakness for sugar.

  “How much for a shake?” Emma asked one of the men.

  He glanced at her badge. “It’s a free service. What shake would you like?”

  In five minutes, Emma sat at a table, enjoying the best chocolate shake she’d ever tasted.

  Mrs. B’s cane clipped against the tiled floor as she made her way to Emma and sat down. The large bald man followed and stopped a few feet behind her.

  “I see you’ve discovered the shakes. That does look scrumptious. Do you mind if we share?”

  Emma shook her head.

  “Aardvark? If you would, do find me a spoon.”

  The large bald man nodded without a word and left.

  Emma couldn’t help herself. “Did you just call him…Aardvark?”

  “Of course, dear. That’s his name. Didn’t you read the pad I gave you? The code names?” Mrs. B lowered her voice. “Aardvark is sensitive about his name. Don’t make fun of it. The last man who did…well, he can only eat soft food for the rest of his life.”

  Aardvark arrived with her spoon. Mrs. B took it from him. Aardvark bowed and said nothing.

  Mrs. B tasted Emma’s shake. “What do you think of the place? Does it interest you?”

  Emma would be lying if she said it wasn’t interesting. “How old was my mom when she joined The Authority?”

  “Angela was eighteen. That’s when I told her about what I really did during the day when she was at school.”

  “She didn’t know until she was eighteen?”

  “Being a part of this organization is a serious decision. One for a mature mind. You have a good head on your shoulders, dear. I believe that you can make that decision wisely.” Mrs. B brushed back Emma’s hair. “You look a lot like your mother. Same eyes. Same cheekbones. She was beautiful too.”

  Emma concentrated on her shake. “From what I remember, Mom was much prettier than me.”

  “You’re both quite beautiful.”

  Now Mrs. B had stopped sounding like a woman in a position of power at a spy agency and more like…her grandmother.

  But Emma had a grandmother. One that didn’t want her anywhere near this place or this woman.

  “My grandmother didn’t act very happy to see you. Why is that?”

  Mrs. B folded her hands on the table. “Your grandmother thinks the world would be a safe place if we destroyed all our weapons and just loved one another. Then, every human being would be happy and the earth would be this peaceful blue jewel tucked into the fabric of the Milky Way. Don’t misunderstand. It’s a pleasant dream. But it’s still only a dream. What she doesn’t realize is people like her need people like us to protect them. The artists. The visionaries. Those who elevate our societies. Those who fight for justice and equality. Those who fight against tyranny. They need people like us who are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect them.”

  Emma and Mrs. B finished up the delicious chocolate shake. The bald man named Aardvark removed the glass and spoons.

  “The day is fading. We should get you back home,” Mrs. B said. “Aardvark will take you.”

  “Will I have to be knocked out again?”

  “I’m afraid so, dear.”

  “What if…I joined The Authority?”

  “Are you absolutely sure? This is not the same as signing up for a raffle. This would be a major commitment. Your life will never be the same.” Mrs. B pressed her lips together. “No, perhaps you should sleep on it. Yes. That would be best. Tell me your answer tomorrow. Aardvark? Be so good as to escort Emma back to the relaxation room and prepare the girl for her trip back home.”

  Aardvark bowed and held his hand out for Emma.

  Emma didn’t move. “If I join, would you help me punish those who murdered my dad?”

  “We will bring them to justice. That’s all I can promise you,” Mrs. B said. “I don’t want you to join for revenge. I want you to join because you want to make a better world for all of us.”

  Aardvark waited for her hand.

  “Okay, then. I don’t need to sleep on it. I want to do it.”

  Mrs. B turned in her chair, a serious note on her face. “Your father’s dead. Avenging him won’t make the pain inside you disappear. You’ll have to live with it for a long time. But I’m offering you a way to direct that anger and frustration into something positive. Do you understand what I’m proposing to you?”

  Emma crossed her fingers. “I do.”

  “As a field operative, you could become injured. You could become crippled. You could lose your life. Again, do you understand what you are stepping into, Emma?”

  Emma hesitated at the word crippled. She glanced at the deep scar on Aardvark’s throat. She thought about her dad and what had happened to her mom. The world wasn’t safe. No one was totally safe. But if joining The Authority would give her the confidence she needed to hunt down her dad’s killers…then that was what she wanted.

  “Where do I sign up?”

  Mrs. B released a smile. “Report back here tomorrow after school to begin your training. Due to the time constraints of the mission, I’m afraid you won’t go through the standard six-month TR program. However, we will focus on giving you the skills for the mission itself. Aardvark? Miss Emma can take the scenic route home now.”

  Aardvark nodded and again offered his meaty hand. This time Emma rested her palm on his. They walked over to the elevator landing and stepped inside the middle elevator. Aardvark pushed a button and they went up.

  “Is this complex underground?” Emma asked.

  Aardvark shrugged.

  The elevator opened and they were in some sort of room. But the floor was curved and made of polished oak. In fact, the entire room curved like they were inside some sort of ball made of wood. There was a metal ladder in the center. Aardvark climbed up and opened the hatch. They popped through the hatch and Emma realized they were inside a gigantic barrel. A row of such gigantic wooden barrels lined each side of a massive warehouse. Were they inside a winery? Emma had seen pictures of one before, but had never been inside one.

  Aardvark held open a door and gestured for Emma to go first. She went through and found herself inside a wine-tasting area filled with tourists, many of whom were nibbling on free pieces of cheese with their glasses of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Emma couldn’t believe this. No one had a clue what was buried just under their feet.

  They headed through the gift shop and out into the parking lot. A large sign hung from the main building—

  Welcome to the Burlington Winery. Napa Valley.

  ***

  After her morning shower, Emma picked out her clothes and got dressed for school. She discovered Snoopy waiting patiently by her door, ready to greet her for the new day. Emma rubbed his head and Snoopy followed her downstairs into the kitchen, where Grandma was finishing up cooking breakfast.

  “It’s a beautiful morning. I thought we’d have our breakfast in the garden.” Grandma nuked a plate of turkey bacon in the microwave, then turned off the heat to the skillet of fresh scrambled eggs.

  Emma poured her
self some juice and felt the glass chill under her fingers. She still hadn’t told Grandma about her decision to join The Authority. And it was odd that Grandma hadn’t mentioned it since Emma had come back.

  Emma wasn’t looking forward to telling her.

  Grandma topped Emma’s plate of white cage-free eggs with gouda cheese. Then added the nuked turkey bacon. Next, a fresh biscuit from the dozen Grandma had baked this morning. The fruit was pineapple this time. Emma’s favorite. Grandma and Emma went outside to the garden, parking themselves at the birch table under the lattice covering the deck. Grandma split her biscuit in half and coated one side with a locally produced jam. “What’s wrong, young one? You’re not eating.”

  Emma cracked off a piece of bacon and chewed.

  Grandma observed her like an owl. “Is the bacon overcooked?”

  “No. I like it this way.” Emma shifted her eyes to her plate, cracked off more bacon and used her fork to spear a slice of pineapple.

  She sneaked a look at Grandma. Who caught her.

  Emma dug into the juicy slice of pineapple and washed it down with juice.

  “Something on your mind?” Grandma asked.

  Emma knew there was, and it was hard for her to say.

  “You better come out with it.” Grandma sipped her coffee.

  Emma wiped her mouth with a napkin and sat back in her chair. “Mrs. B asked me to join.”

  Grandma hesitated before sipping more of her coffee. “And what did you say?”

  Emma hesitated.

  Grandma put down her coffee. “You told her yes.”

  “There was no pressure and she gave me plenty of time to think about it. But yeah, I have to do this.”

  “You don’t have to do anything. You can walk away and be a normal kid. Your future is here in Berkeley, with me. The college is only a few miles away. You can be a vet or whatever you want to be.”

  “That’s for after high school. I’m talking about right now. I have to find out who killed—”

  “Captain Ahab died as he hunted down the white whale. Revenge consumed him. You’re sixteen. Your future is clear. Filled with possibility. Why soil your heart? Your father wouldn’t want you to do this for him.”

  “If something happened to me…Dad would spend all the money he had in the world to find the people responsible, wouldn’t he?”

  “Of course.”

  “So I love him just as much. And until I can find the people who killed him, I don’t have a future to look forward to.”

  “Don’t talk like that.”

  “For the longest time I didn’t know what to do. Writing all those emails and calling all those officials and it didn’t do anything. I felt helpless and depressed because I knew I was letting Dad down.” Emma stroked the end of the fork with her thumb. “But now Grandma Laura gives me this chance to finally do something about it. Maybe she’s taking advantage of me…but so what? I’m using her too because I don’t want to stay in the dark anymore, wondering why. Why did my dad have to die?”

  Grandma took another sip of coffee. The steam from the cup surrounded her. “Sounds like your mind is made up.”

  “It is.”

  “And nothing I say can persuade you from destroying yourself?”

  Emma crossed her arms. “Nothing.”

  “I don’t enjoy the idea of burying my granddaughter next to her mother and father. If you make me do that, Emma…I’ll never forgive you.”

  Chapter 6

  After school, Emma drove up I-80 northbound out of Berkeley and up through Vallejo until she could jump on California State Highway 29 to enter Napa Valley. Emma parked in the Burlington Winery lot and headed for the gift shop entrance. A small bell rang when she opened the wooden door. Emma kept her head down through the wine-tasting area, which was for twenty-one and over only, until she slipped through the Employees Only door that Aardvark had let her through the other day. Emma searched the vast collection of gigantic wine barrels and realized she didn’t remember which one they had come out of.

  “Can I help you?” A man with a beard approached. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

  “I know. I’m lost. I’m looking for The A—” Emma stopped herself. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to say the name. Maybe this guy was a normal employee and didn’t know about all the secret spy stuff. “Do you know where I can find a hollow barrel? One that has a ladder inside it?”

  The man cocked his head. “This area is only for employees. I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”

  “Can I call someone quick? It’ll just take a moment.”

  “I insist that you leave, miss.”

  Emma turned on her phone. “Seriously, it’ll take like two seconds.”

  The man with a beard pulled his smock back to reveal a gun.

  Emma froze as the man snatched her phone.

  “Back the way you came, miss. Nice and easy. I’ll give your phone back when we reach the parking lot.” The man turned over his wrist and spoke into his watchband. “Echo six. UV detected. Escorting to PA. Transportation required.”

  “Hey, wait a second. I’m on the same side. I’m—”

  “Stop talking and walk.”

  “But I know about everything. Give me a sec—”

  “Move,” the man grunted in a voice that would not tolerate another word.

  Emma bit her lip and headed for the door while the man followed.

  When they reached the Employees Only door, it swung open to reveal a long-haired hippie with round glasses. He shut the door and looked over Emma. “Is this your UV?”

  The bearded man confirmed.

  “I saw this girl with Aardvark yesterday,” the hippie said.

  Emma jumped on it. “Aardvark! Yes, he’s my friend. He drove me home yesterday. Can I speak with him? Okay…crap…I know I can’t literally speak with him, but if you could just go get him, please? I’m supposed to be here for training.”

  The bearded man put away his gun. “You’re supposed to tell me a code word.”

  “I am? Nobody said anything to me about a code word.”

  “Take her to the gift shop while I call CAC,” the hippie said.

  It took twenty minutes before Aardvark came up to collect Emma and take her back down to the offices. Typing on his own tablet, Aardvark conveyed his apologies for not telling Emma about the official secret entrance near the Burlington Winery Mansion.

  After providing Emma with her credentials for getting in and out of the facility, Aardvark led her down into the labyrinth. They followed the glowing signs pointing the way to the TR division and stopped at a sealed door. Aardvark had Emma swipe her new card to make sure it worked. A seal popped and air escaped as the door opened automatically. Aardvark didn’t move, only gestured for her to go through. Emma did and the door sealed back into place.

  Emma was on her own.

  The TR division was a massive area carved out like a giant cave. There was a full gym, an indoor gun range and an area of mats where some men were wrestling each other as an instructor shouted at them. Another section had three large cubes balanced on heavy-duty metal pistons. One of these cubes moved and swayed as the large pistons hissed. Emma looked closer at the lettering on the cubes.

  Flight simulator.

  Evasive-driving simulator.

  Submarine simulator.

  Also, there was a rock-climbing wall from hell. Bigger and badder than anything Emma’s school had.

  A large woman with blond hair noticed her presence. “You look pretty. Are you here to pick up boys?”

  Emma balked at her comment. The woman had a thick accent so maybe she’d just misunderstood her English. “Hi, I’m here for my training?”

  “Name?”

  “Emma.”

  “Nyet, we don’t use real names here. What is your code name?”

  “I…uh…I don’t think I have one yet.”

  “Everyone have code name.” The large woman sighed and pointed her phone at Emma. She snapped a picture and
touched a few buttons. The woman waited and her phone dinged. She looked over the result. “Black Opal. That’s what it says here…ah…you are part of the Gems Project, interesting.”

  “Black Opal is my code name?”

  “According to your bio, da.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Tough cookies.”

  “Is there somewhere I could go to, like, get it changed?”

  “You can’t change it.”

  “It has to be a precious gem, right? So why can’t I be like…Turquoise? Pearl? Diamond? Oh, Diamond would be sweet.”

  “Don’t care if you want to change it to Pig Dung. It says Black Opal, so that is what I call you in training.”

  “What’s your code name?” Emma asked.

  The woman swelled. “Lioness.”

  ***

  The first two weeks of training with Lioness were intense. She made Emma run two miles every morning before school. On weekends Emma did four. Mondays and Wednesdays after school Lioness had her do upper-body weight training. Tuesday and Thursday afternoons were lower body. Every night they ran through self-defense moves at half speed. On weekends they went at full speed on the cushions inside the training, or TR division. (Emma wondered why they always said TR instead of the word.) Between running, weight training, and self-defense training, Emma somehow had to find time to keep up with school. She picked up the habit of bringing her backpack with her to headquarters so she could sneak in homework during breaks and meals.

  On the Monday of week three, they skipped the weights. Lioness and Emma stepped inside another elevator which deposited them inside a shoddy-looking woodshed above ground. Lioness opened the door and they were outside in a field near one of the vineyards. The sun hung low over the horizon as Emma followed her instructor up a grassy hill that overlooked the Burlington Mansion, which was another part of the gigantic estate and winery.

  Lioness pointed at the ground. Her way of saying stand here.

  Emma complied.

  Lioness faced her, backtracking several paces. “Today, show me all you have learned. Do not hold back. I expect you to commit fully to each move, regardless of consequences. Understand?”