by David Archer
“Very good,” Noah said. “That will help them, as well as making us look good. What else do we need to talk about this morning?”
“The rest of the office furniture and such will be delivered today,” Molly said. “We also ordered in some new computers, a double network system that ties into the mainframe Neil is designing. That will allow the regular employees to access everything they need, while our own people will have access to our own special network. The system will be highly secure and compartmentalized so that nobody on the production floor can open any of our secure files.”
“It’ll also be safe from outside attacks,” Neil said. “I got Esmeralda to help me design the encryption, based on some quantum computing algorithms she came up with. Her brain is the most advanced quantum computer in the world at the moment, as far as we know, and she built the system so that even she wouldn’t be able to break it. If she can’t, there’s no possibility that anyone else could.”
“Good work,” Noah said. “Now, is that everything? Any other factory-related business we need to discuss?”
“I think that covers it,” Wally said. “We’re just waiting for the rest of the goodies to arrive, and then we are in business.” He giggled again. “And I came up with a couple more products while you were gone yesterday. How about a robot chef? You simply put all of the necessary ingredients into specific compartments, and then it performs every task from preparation to delivering it to the table ready-to-eat. You can even program in your own preferred recipes, or just use the recipe database that we’ll include with it.”
Noah looked at him. “That doesn’t sound like something the average person could afford,” he said. “But I can imagine it going over in places like Silicon Valley.”
Wally shrugged. “Actually, it won’t cost that much. I’m also designing a bigger unit that could replace an entire kitchen staff in restaurants.”
“Yeah, and he’s going to put a lot of people out of work,” Marco said. “If Wally keeps going like he is, we may be the company that makes the human race become too lazy to survive. Somehow, I don’t think it would be good to automate everything.”
“I agree, but it makes a good cover,” Noah said. “Now, Molly, you have everything set up for Team Pegasus?”
Molly grinned and nodded. “I do,” she said.
Noah turned to Neil. “Tell them to come on in, please,” he said. Neil went to fetch them, and a moment later they sat down in chairs at the conference table.
Molly picked up a small device and pointed it at one of the big screens on the wall, and several photographs of a woman appeared.
“This is Senator Seraphina Mitchell,” she said. “After going through the NSA files that were sent to us, I can confirm that she is one of the two primary leaks that have been providing information about E & E to GW. That organization has gotten hold of enough information to confirm the existence of the agency, and even provided details of some of our previous missions to Tom Winston at Triple-N News. Noah, we got lucky in the fact that she never gave up your name, even though there’s no doubt she was aware of it. Allison has determined that Senator Mitchell was the woman who was using a voice changing system to impersonate her on the calls with Danielle. On those calls, she mentioned you by name more than once, although our analysis of the last few calls indicates that yours might be the only name she actually had. By eliminating her, we are closing a major security hole.”
“I’ve got a question,” Ralph said. “What if she had more information, but was keeping it quiet? It’s always possible there is a file that will suddenly be released if anything happens to her, right? What happens then?”
“Only those of us in this room, the Queen of England, Catherine Potts and a few people connected to her are aware of who we really are,” Noah said. “Other than us, the only other people who know any details about where we are and what we’re doing would be Allison and the president. From what Allison told us, no one else is being given any information at all that could lead to us here. By keeping it that close a secret, we feel pretty good about keeping a lid on it. As far as my own identity is concerned, here in the UK I am Travis Lightner. There shouldn’t be any great risk of that name being tied to E & E in any way.”
“So,” Ralph continued, “if your name gets out, it won’t be that big a deal?”
“Not really,” Noah said. “The only ones who ever use that name now are those of us in this room. Even Catherine Potts refers to me as Travis, and Allison makes no direct contact at all.”
“Okay, I just wondered.” Ralph looked closely at the monitor. “So she’s the target, right?”
“Yes,” Molly said, “and your mission is to arrange an accidental death, something that can be easily explained and won’t look suspicious. That means no conventional weapons will be employed; you can arrange a car accident, a mugging, just about anything else. The only criteria you have to adhere to is that there has to be a simple explanation the news media is going to buy.”
“Gee, that ought to be easy,” Diana said. “Does she have bodyguards or anything? Anybody we’re going to have to get out of the way before Ralph can make his move?”
“Not that we are aware of,” Molly said. “Senator Mitchell is from Florida, and not particularly concerned about her own personal security. That means she’s more accessible, but being limited to an accidental death scenario means it’s going to take some time and caution to complete this mission.”
“You mentioned mugging,” JC said. “What about that? Perhaps we could make it look like a robbery gone wrong?”
“That’s one possible scenario. I’m not necessarily saying it would be the best one, but it could be a viable option if nothing else presents itself.”
“Car accident,” Benny said. Benny was a former street racer who served as Ralph’s transportation officer. “I’m thinking of maybe a hit and run?”
“Again, potentially a viable option. Ralph is going to have to make the determination on how to handle the mission objective, but it needs to be accomplished rather quickly. We know that she’s scheduled to meet with Tom Winston, the reporter who does all the major exposés for Triple-N, again this weekend. According to NSA sources, she’s planning to drop some very damaging information into his hands. That gives you five days, and you’re going to lose one day just getting back to the States.”
“What about weapons and equipment when we get there?” Ralph asked. “With our agency being persona non grata, are we even going to be able to utilize any government resources?”
“Absolutely not,” Noah said. “However, Wally has some connections that will compensate. Wally?”
Wally leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, then looked at Ralph and giggled. “You’ll be going to DC, of course,” he said. “That means you’ll be walking into the espionage capital of the Western world. In your mission files you will find a couple of names and phone numbers, people you can contact when you arrive. They’ll be able to help you out with weapons and vehicles should you need them, and probably anything else you might want.”
“You also have another asset,” Noah said. He indicated Esmeralda, sitting at the other end of the table. “Esmeralda will be going along with you. She’ll be taking the other mission target, Senator Clark. He’s been working with Senator Mitchell on exposing E & E, and he’s just as dangerous to national security. Esmeralda will handle eliminating him, with Cody, Marco and Renée as her team.”
All of them looked at Esmeralda for a moment, then Ralph turned back to Noah. “Esmeralda? I mean, Boss, are you sure about this?”
“I am,” Noah said. “Esmeralda will be taking over as leader of Team Cinderella for now.”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment, and most of the people sitting at the table turned to glance at Jenny, who was sitting quietly at the opposite end. When she nodded and grinned, they all looked at one another, and then turned back to Noah.
“Okay,” Ralph said. “I can live with that, I guess.�
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“I got a question,” Tommy said. “These guys are US Senators, right? Could it be they’re letting this information out because they think they’re doing the right thing?”
“I’m sure they do,” Noah said. “However, even senators are not above the law, no more than anyone else. There’s a reason certain things are classified as secret, top secret, and so forth. It’s because exposing those things to public scrutiny can damage not only public perception of our country, but also our own national security. For the past several years, E & E has been a major part of our national security effort, and this exposure has taken that away. It has put us in a position of having to resort to these kinds of tactics just to keep protecting our country, and this means we are no longer protected by the intelligence community back home. The way things are now, we can only move on the most important missions, which will leave a number of security holes that our enemies could exploit.”
“But we’re still here,” Ralph said. “Maybe we have to do things a little differently, but we’re still on the job.”
“The situation is very different,” Molly said. “Whereas we were officially sanctioned by the administration in the past, any of us who get caught now would be considered rogue agents. We have no official government standing anywhere in the world; we are strictly on our own. That means we have to be even more careful not to get caught, because there is absolutely no possibility of any diplomatic solution.” She turned and glanced at Noah, then looked at Ralph again. “Of course, we all know how Noah feels about that situation. He’s never left anyone out in the cold before, and I don’t believe he would now. That doesn’t change the fact that we are under an entirely different set of rules today than we were just a couple of months ago.”
Ralph nodded, then turned to Noah. “Okay,” he said. “So we have to figure out how to handle this one, and it has to be done soon. When do we leave?”
“Our airplane is sitting at Heathrow, a Gulfstream 650,” Noah said. “I’ll have it fueled and ready to leave first thing tomorrow morning, a nonstop flight to Dulles. Once you arrive in DC, you’ll make contact with Wally’s people to get personal weapons only, then begin your surveillance of Senator Mitchell. Esmeralda and her team will do likewise with Senator Clark. Remember that while both senators must be eliminated, there can be absolutely no connection between their deaths. Both of them have to look like random events.”
“I have a question,” Jenny said. She had been sitting quietly throughout the entire meeting, but now she waved a hand in the air. “On our last mission, one of Wally’s people gave me and Aladdin some capsules that can be used to cause a heart attack. I still have mine; wouldn’t that be a better way to take these people out?” She reached into a pocket and withdrew two small plastic boxes. “There’s an antidote, as well, just in case something goes wrong.”
Molly looked at her. “I had forgotten about those,” she said. “We’re not allowed to bring Wally’s biological people over here because the UK has extremely strict laws against such things, so it slipped my mind.” She looked at Noah. “What do you think? Those might be the best way to take out both of them, since it’s undetectable. I doubt anyone would be terribly suspicious if they both had heart attacks, simply because of the stress of their jobs.”
Noah nodded. “An excellent suggestion,” he said. “Wally? Your opinion?”
“I remember those,” Wally said. “Roscoe said you can drop one into a drink or mix it into food, or you can pop one on your hand and simply touch the target with it. Of course, you have to take an antidote capsule before that, and if I remember correctly you have to bite it, make sure it bursts in your mouth. The drug does something to the vagus nerve that causes the heart to race out of control until it stops, but then it’s completely absorbed and breaks down in the body, so there’s no trace left to discover in a toxicology report. I think it’s an excellent idea, Noah.”
“Give one capsule and an antidote to Ralph, and another to Esmeralda. She won’t need the antidote, but this is probably the best plan. Ralph, I’m sure you can find some excuse to meet Senator Mitchell and shake hands with her, so try to use it that way.” He looked at Jenny again. “How long before it takes effect?”
Jenny licked her lips. “All the guy said was that it would take a few minutes,” she said. “I’d suggest Ralph gets away from her as quickly as possible after deploying it.”
“Agreed,” Noah said. “Ralph, if for any reason you are unable to use this method, you’ll have to find a way to stage an accident. Esmeralda, I’m certain you can find a way to use this with Senator Clark.”
“Yes,” Esmeralda said. “Since I will be seducing him, I can hold the capsule in my mouth until he kisses me. That should be sufficient, shouldn’t it?”
Wally giggled. “The kiss of death,” he said. “Just remember to limit the moisture in your mouth—you don’t want the pill to dissolve too quickly. It loses potency in about fifteen minutes, so make sure your mouth is dry until you’re ready for that kiss.”
“I had thought of that,” Esmeralda said. “I don’t see a problem.”
“It’s settled, then,” Noah said. “All of you will leave on our airplane in the morning. After you have both completed your missions, report in and we’ll arrange your return flight.”
“Yes, Boss,” Ralph said.
EIGHT
“Now, let’s get back to factory business,” Noah said. “We need to establish hiring procedures for the production floor, and we should probably get started on taking applications and interviewing potential employees. Where are we on that?”
“I took the liberty,” Molly said, “of placing help wanted ads in the local newspaper, and posting them on the community website. The ones on the website are already generating responses, but the newspaper won’t come out until this afternoon.”
“Let’s take a look at those responses,” Noah said. “Who’s going to be the personnel manager?”
“I’ll take that job,” Jenny said. “I mean, if you want me to.”
Noah looked at her for a second, then shook his head. “No, I think I prefer to have you as head of security,” he said. “You handled enough missions to have an eye for weaknesses in security, so that would probably be the best place for you. For personnel, I’m thinking that Molly should keep the job for now, at least until we can hire someone who is actually qualified.”
“I’m okay with that,” Molly said. “Is it okay to start scheduling interviews with the people who have sent in their resumes?”
“I think the sooner, the better,” Noah said. “We need to establish certain positions, such as foremen, as quickly as we can and get them filled. They can spend time with Wally learning about the products we’ll be manufacturing, so they can start to plan out the assembly lines and such.” He turned to Wally. “How many different sections will be in the production facilities?”
“I’m planning one assembly line for each of the products,” Wally said. “One for the Laundry Lady, one for Fred the Folder and one for Charlotte the Chef. I think that’s…”
“Okay, okay, I have to interrupt,” Marco said. “Wally, we love you to pieces, but those names just aren’t going to cut it. You don’t really plan to call them that, do you?”
Wally’s face went blank and he stared at Marco. “What’s wrong with my names?”
“To be perfectly honest,” Molly said, “I don’t really think they’re going to lend themselves to marketing. I was actually going to bring this up to you myself, I just hadn’t planned on doing it in front of everybody. Don’t you think we can find something better to call them?”
Wally shrugged. “Okay, so names haven’t always been my strong suit,” he said. “Anybody got any better ideas?”
“Can’t be too hard to come up with some,” Marco said. “Come on, some of you guys must have some ideas, right?”
Sarah, who was sitting behind Noah and being surprisingly quiet, slowly raised a hand into the air. “I might have some suggest
ions,” she said softly. “Wally, I don’t mean any disrespect, but couldn’t we call the laundry machine something like ‘Laundromatic,’ or ‘Laundromax’? I think one of those might sound better.”
“I like the second one,” Marco said. “Laundromax, that has a zing to it. What about the folding machine, Sarah? What would you call that?”
She grinned, watching Wally’s reaction. “I was thinking maybe you could call it a Personal Valet?”
“I like both of those,” Wally said. He giggled. “I nominate Sarah for naming committee!”
“I second that,” Marco said. “How about the cooking gizmo?”
Smiling, Sarah said, “Smart Chef. I mean, you’ve got smartphones and smart TVs and smart everything else, right? Why not a Smart Chef?”
Noah looked at his wife. “I think you just got yourself a job,” he said. “Wally can tell you about his brainstorms and you can come up with names for them.”
“And I can get the website fixed in a hurry,” Neil said. “Geez, I’m so glad somebody brought that up.” He opened the laptop on the table in front of him and began typing furiously. Within a matter of seconds he looked up and grinned. “Done,” he said. “Laundromax, Personal Valet and Smart Chef are now listed as ‘Coming Soon’ products on the website.”