by Jack Parker
The door was open, and exposed the many complex mechanisms within.
The pilot turned around, and gestured me to come in.
I did so, and awkwardly sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "You wanted to see me." I said.
The pilot nodded. "Ma'am, I've received strange signal from Seeker HQ before they went dark." He answered. "Attempts to contact HQ have been useless. I even contacted other Seeker installments in the area, yet I got no answer from them either."
My heart began to beat faster. "Is there any threat to us?" I asked.
The pilot looked back at the screen, and contemplated. "I honestly have no idea. What do you want me to do?"
I leaned back into my chair, and rubbed my forehead.
It was worryingly that Seeker HQ wasn't answering our calls.
I looked back at the pilot. "Stay on the designated flight path for now, but keep on trying to contact HQ."
The pilot nodded, and turned back to his instruments.
I got up and left the cockpit.
I sighed loudly as I leaned against a wall.
I closed my eyes momentarily as I willed myself to calm down and take the necessary actions.
Olsen came up the stairs, a questioning look plastered on his face. "What's happening?" he asked.
I glanced at him; my inner worries came to the surface. "I'm honestly not sure. Something's wrong with Seeker HQ's communication. It could be a mechanical error, but I doubt it. Be prepared for anything."
The Scout frowned, and nodded.
I decided to take my leave, and went back downstairs.
Gizmo was still on his laptop while Elvira checked some of our equipment.
"Any news on that signal?" I asked.
The Tech Expert shook his head, still busy typing away. "I can't do anything. The entire system has been shut down." He replied.
My eyebrows furrowed as I bit my lip. "Just keep at it." I ordered.
"Damn right I will," Gizmo commented to himself.
I sat down on my seat, and rubbed my temples.
I leaned back, and exhaled sharply.
I didn't consider myself as a religious person since my family died, but at that moment I silently sent a prayer to keep my team safe.
Chapter 24: A New Perspective
~ John's point of view ~
A million thoughts whirled around in my mind like a remote control car spinning out of control.
As I watched Rachel leave, a sense of dread tightly gripped my soul.
I was determined to see the mission through as quickly as possible so that I could see her again.
Rachel… She didn't have the faintest clue of how she made me felt.
I was pulled out of my thoughts by the appearance of my good friend Fear at my doorway.
He was leaning against it, his arms were crossed in his signature pose.
I gestured him to come in.
"Having problems with the wife?" He teased as he sat down beside the table.
I snorted, and ignored his remark, though it did give me butterflies in my stomach.
My mind trailed on its own as I packed. "This isn't right." I said. "We shouldn't be leaving them like this."
Fear inhaled deeply. "Are you referring to the team, or just Agent Moore?"
Smartass, I thought, yet I wasn't surprised. Fear was exceptionally sharp.
"I just can't believe that I have to leave her behind. I was assigned as her Guardian to protect her, yet now I'm being sent away. I feel like I'm abandoning her," I replied.
Fear said nothing.
I continued. "I hate this goddamn war. It's been nothing but trouble, and the Phantoms are always one step ahead of us. I just wish that I could protect Rachel during the hard times."
There was a shuffle of movement as Fear adjusted his position. "Agent Moore is more than capable of taking care of herself, John. You should know that."
"I know," I sighed. "Guess I should place more faith in her, huh?" I shrugged my shoulders halfheartedly.
Fear was quiet as he watched me pack the last of my belongings.
I sat down on the chair beside him, and crossed my arms as well. I focused on the floor as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.
A comfortable silence settled between us, something that I could have never experienced with anyone else.
"Do you love her?" Fear asked after some time.
I turned my head to look at him, his eyes were already in my direction.
I was about to answer when a loud ping noise interrupted.
I took out my phone, and realized that our ride had arrived. I winced, not at all pleased with the order, though I had no choice.
I looked up at Fear. "It's time." I said.
He nodded, and pushed himself off the wall.
After grabbing my belongings, we both walked down the hallway. We made a quick stop at Fear's room before we arrived at the opening of the garage.
Fear opened the garage door, and revealed a black SUV that was parked outside with its engine running on low.
A man who wore simple black shades stood by it. He was leaning against the car in a relaxed manner, though he immediately straightened his posture once he saw us coming. "We've been expecting you." He said. "Please come inside."
Fear and I walked towards the car and opened the doors.
As Fear went inside, I took one last glance at the hotel we were at.
I'll come for you, I thought, and entered the black SUV.
________________________________________
We sped through the city, the sun barely started to come out.
I looked out the window absentmindedly, not really focused on the scenery. My mind kept on going over the mission parameters, but mostly about last night.
Last night was amazing; I couldn't have asked for a better one. The feeling of Rachel's body beneath mine was instant ecstasy; she was like a drug that I was helplessly addicted to.
The guilt of leaving Rachel attacked me like tsunami waves. No matter how much I tried to push her to the back of my mind, Rachel always plagued my thoughts.
The motion of the van hitting a bump on the road brought me back from my thoughts.
I shook my head, and composed myself once more. I placed a finger on my temple and glanced at my right.
Fear regarded me with an amused expression, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
He merely chuckled softly, and then looked out the window.
I too looked away, and returned my focus on the scenery.
I had forgotten how beautiful Rome was in that time of year. My mother and I used to walk around our neighborhood every sunset as we took in the many ancient structures lying about. I would have sometimes walked on my own to enjoy the time to myself. There were plenty of nice views to see… with nice long legs…
I blinked rapidly, and mentally scorned myself for getting distracted.
I curled my fingers into a fist, my gloves tightened as I held on.
Thankfully, the airport came into sight, and the van pulled in, and slid past the line of cars. The van drove through the terminals, and made a turn just before the exit.
Finally, it stopped just behind our plane.
Fear, the man with shades and I all got out.
The third fellow turned his attention to us. "Alright agents, your orders are to rendezvous with other higher ranked Seeker agents in Switzerland. The details will be given to you upon your arrival." With that, the man saluted us, and walked off to the side.
Fear and I glanced at each other, and then made our way to the plane.
As we stepped inside, we were greeted by a few other Seeker agents, each preoccupied with their own personal thoughts.
Fear and I decided to isolate ourselves by sitting at the back. The privacy would be much appreciated.
As I clasped my seat-belt in, and leaned back in my chair, the feeling of apprehension developed within me.
I turned to my Assassin friend, but his eyes were closed, and his brea
thing was even.
With no one to talk to, I shuffled in my seat, and stared out the window, the belly door closed as the last of the equipment was packed on.
Within fifteen minutes, the plane's engines powered up, and we were moving down the tarmac. Another couple of minutes later, the plane sped down the runway, and gained enough force and power to take off.
With the plane in the air, I knew that one part of our mission was completed, but we still had several other points to cover.
Our 1 hour and 40 minute flight was to Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland. I've never been there before, but I've been told that it was beautiful.
From what we've been taught back in Seeker Basic, the Shroud was built there as a symbol of peace, though in my opinion I thought it was really because Zurich was among the world's largest financial centers. Something had to fund the Shroud's construction after all.
Just one more landmark among the many museums and art galleries found in the city.
I cracked my neck in an attempt to soothe out the tense muscles. My body was on alert, yet I had no idea why. Must have been due to stress.
During the flight, I kept on squirming around in my seat as I desperately tried to find a comfortable position.
Nothing worked, so I chose to stand up and walked around.
I decided to make my way into the more occupied space of the plane where the rest of the Seeker agents were. There were a dozen of them about, each minded their own business. Only two of them were talking.
With my back facing him, I sat beside the one with simple dark green attire. "What do you think this is all about?" He asked.
The other agent replied. "I think it's just a piss poor excuse to get us to provoke them. It's been like the god damn cold war for over a decade, and now our superiors are getting restless. They'll jump at any suspicious activity just to have an excuse to attack the Phantoms."
"Perhaps, but you do know who we are dealing with right? The Phantoms have been our enemy for years."
The other man snorted. "Yeah, and since when have humans ever gotten along with each other? I say that if we had just put them in their place in the beginning, none of their atrocities would have happened." He said, his thick Irish accent put emphasis on his words.
The first man shook his head. "I don't know about that. When someone, or in this case an organization, is power-hungry, there's no way to change their minds. We should have exterminated them all years ago."
The Irish agent laughed dryly. "Hah! And you think we didn't try? Those slippery bastards knew how to hide. And then there's the fact that their leader came into power when we were least expecting it."
My body went rigid momentarily at the mention of the Phantom leader.
Luckily, the man behind me was too engrossed in the conversations to have noticed. "How could we have missed those rogue agents? Why are we called Seekers then if we can't find them?"
The Irish man shrugged. "I don't know about that, however what I do know is that this mission we're going on is complete bullshit."
I raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Why is that?" I finally asked as I turned around.
The Irish man turned his head towards me. "Who are you?" He asked gruffly.
"I'm Agent Delta: a Seeker Guardian." I replied automatically as I invited myself to sit in the middle of both men.
The Irish man grunted, and then placed his hand out in greeting. "I'm Agent Cian: the best Warrior the Seekers have." He winked.
I took his hand and shook it.
The man in dark green rolled his eyes. "I'm Agent Arrow: Seeker Medic."
I shook his hand, and turned my attention to Agent Cian.
Said person spoke. "I find this mission to be complete bullshit because of the situation in general. What good tactical wise would it do for the Phantoms to attack the Shroud? If they wanted to incapacitate our offensive forces, it'd do them well to attack Seeker Headquarters; that way, we'd be completely disorganized, and the Phantoms could then attack us as we're vulnerable."
I took in what he said, and analyzed it. He did have a point, though a part of me was skeptical about his opinion. "Tactical wise it's sound, I agree with you, but Seeker HQ is perhaps the most secured place in the world. How do you suppose Phantoms would overrun it?
The Warrior leaned forward, and counted off points from his hand. "Deceit, distraction, and a big fucking army. They've got all of those, but it's because of our paranoia that they haven't made a move just yet."
I stared at the man in slight surprise.
He was strong, that I could tell, but he wasn't cocky enough to believe that he was invincible. Not to mention that he was intelligent.
His friend, however, seemed to have thought otherwise. "Ah Cian, there you go again with your conspiracy talk. How about you just wrap your head around reality, instead of fantasy?"
That part got me confused. "What conspiracy?"
The Medic looked at me in annoyance, while the Warrior's eyes gleamed in excitement. "I'm glad you asked boy!" He exclaimed which caught the attention of the other Seeker agents.
He paid them no attention. "You see lad, Phantom agents are damn good at what they do. They've kidnapped and harmed thousands of people back when the war first escalated. What's to say that those victims are not in our own organization? Every day, we catch some punk off the streets doing deals with the bastards. How could they have gotten such sensitive information without help from the inside? I'm telling you, the bastards have spies among the Seekers!" He hissed at the end.
I could only stare at the Warrior in amazement as Agent Arrow shook his head and placed a hand over his face.
"It's true I tell you!" Cian continued. "You never know where they are. They might even be here!"
I shuffled nervously as his hawk-like eyes studied me like an amoeba under a microscope.
His serious expression then melted into that of amusement. "Oh, hold onto your panties lad. I was just kidding around." He said, and laughed hard.
I gave him an annoyed look, but that just amused him more.
"You better go before he dissects you." Agent Arrow commented.
I couldn't have agreed with him more.
I rose and said my goodbyes to them before I made my way back to my seat.
Fear was half awake when I got back. "Where have you been?" he asked.
I shook my head. "Nowhere." I stated simply.
My friend shrugged carelessly before he closed his eyes again.
I spent the rest of the flight reflecting over what Agent Cian had said. I was all too aware of just how right he was.
Chapter 25: Unwanted Responsibilities
I managed to doze off for a bit just before the plane began its decent into the Zurich area.
The abrupt change in pressure combined with the drop in my stomach woke me up from my light slumber. I shook off my fatigue, and adjusted my seat belt.
Out of curiosity, I glanced out the window, and saw fantastic scenery which seemed to have come from a painting.
Slowly, but steadily, the plane descended through the thin layers of clouds, and eventually the airport's runway came into view.
Before I knew it, the plane landed effortlessly, and soon made its way down the tarmac towards the gates.
After ten minutes, our plane was parked along one side of the already busy terminal.
Every occupant inside, myself included, immediately began to unpack the cargo and organize it.
Since we worked efficiently, we managed to finish within thirty minutes, and so we all grouped together on the tarmac.
As we organized ourselves, a line of sleek, black armored vehicles made their way towards our direction.
The other agents and I automatically straightened into attention as the cars pulled up to our group.
One of the doors from the head car opened, and out came a muscled man with a cameo suit on. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Agent Zero, and you will be having your mission briefing on site at the Shroud. I've been
assigned with you folks to make sure that the mission is successful and to ensure the continued security of the Shroud. Any questions?"
No one voiced any concerns, so the man took that cue and continued. "Alright then. Occupy the free vehicles. Move!"
Not needing to be told twice, we quickly filed into a line, and filled up the numerous vehicles.
Fear and I got into one near the middle, and hastily sat down. We put on our safety belts, and leaned back.
There were only seven other occupants with us, though they weren't paying any attention to anyone, except for one agent who sat at the opposite end from where we were.
She was covered in a cloth-like material that resembled strong silk. Multiple slots adorned her pants; I suspected that they held bullets as she did have two harnesses on each side of her waist.
What caught my eye, however, was the fact that she was staring at Fear intently.
I grinned as I had the perfect blackmail to tease him with.
I looked at Fear, and realized that he noticed the staring as well. "She's checking you out." I said slyly.
Fear rolled his eyes. "Yeah, good for her." He replied dryly.
I chuckled lightly in amusement.
I turned my head away, but as I looked through the corner of my eye, I saw that Fear was still looking at the agent.
I elbowed him in the rib which instantly caught his attention.
He glared at me, but quickly turned away, and crossed his arms.
I could have sworn I saw a tinge of red on the part of his cheeks that wasn't covered.
I couldn't hold back my grin as I leaned towards Fear's ear. "She does have a pretty face."
Fear's shoulder tensed up, and he whipped his head to face me. "If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to kick your ass."
I shrugged aside his empty threat. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Why don't you talk to her when we get some free time?"
Fear snorted. "Right, as if I'm the most talkative person out there, never mind talking to women."
I contemplated on pouting, but then I realized that it would looked ridiculous on me.
Instead, I chose to give him puppy eyes. "Oh come on bro, we could die at any moment. Don't you want to make the most of this chance?"