The Agent
(The Secret Service and The Wells-Chandlers)
By Thomas Mc
Note: Secret Service Agent Scott Myers finds himself continually crossing paths with the Wells-Chandlers. Soon the higher ups in the Secret Service develop an increasing interest in Alexander and his leonine relatives. This story is set during the same time frame as the stories 'Alexander' and 'Dating An Urban Legend' but examines the events from a different viewpoint.
Chapter 1: The Foiled Plot
January 2067
Agent Scott Myers stood his assigned post his nerves were drawn to a fine edge as he tried to keep himself ready for the unexpected. Though he was relatively new to the Secret Service he had risen through the ranks very quickly and now he was the youngest agent to make the Presidential Security detail. He took his responsibility very seriously, which is one of the reasons he had risen in the ranks so quickly and for the last three years he had consciously protected President Carlton from anyone who might try to do him harm. This current assignment was a particularly tricky and unsettling situation.
The President was opening the anti-terrorism session of the UN General Assembly. This event had been well known for over a month and the chatter picked up on the various communication networks led to the conclusion that the terrorists were planning something big for today. Much of the available intelligence suggested that one or more of the delegates to the conference could be involved but, unfortunately, every delegate in the room had diplomatic immunity. Despite the warnings of danger and the urgings of some of his advisors, President Carton had refused to back down. The special session would go on as planned and President Jerry Carlton would be there to open this very unusual and historic General Assembly session.
All in all it was a bad situation that was ripe for disaster.
The prominent delegate and current leader from one of the more prominent Middle East nations had just finished his rather lengthy introduction of the President when Scott's team leader spoke over the radio and cautioned his team to be on their toes.
As President Jerry Carlton moved toward the podium Scott and his team leader took up flanking positions. The President had no sooner reached the podium than someone stood up in the middle of the General Assembly floor and began spouting unintelligible gibberish at the top of his lungs. He was also holding up some type of mechanism above his head. Immediately Scott and his supervisor moved in closer to defend the President from the threat as they scanned the crowd.
Scott caught some unusual movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see a figure swinging down from just to the left of directly overhead on the end of what appeared to be one of the temporary Video broadcast cables. The intruder collided with the disruptive delegate and they both disappeared from view as they tumbling across the floor. Scott clearly heard the words, "BOMB . . . EMPIRE STATE . . . RADIO TRIGGER!" called out by the intruder over the panicked chatter of the rest of the delegates.
As he watched in surprise a second delegate ran up and began shooting into the two men struggling on the ground. How the hell had he gotten a gun in through the very tight security? Then the second attacker was shot down by several guards. His attention was again distracted by another swift movement close by. As he moved in to shield the President, shots rang out nearby and Scott and his supervisor both dove in front of the president to protect him from this new threat. Scott saw his supervisor go down as he rushed to get the President out of harm's way. Time seemed to stretch out as the sounds of panic seemed to recede into the distance. Two more of his fellow agents joined him as he hustled the president off of the podium. The sounds of gunshots also seemed to fade into the muffled background and the only thing that mattered was the President. Scott saw the President's head jerk at the same time that he felt a sting to the side of his neck. Then he shifted position to place himself more directly between the President and the sources of the shots behind them. Again he felt a sharp pain, this time on his thigh. He and his two fellow agents quickly hustled President Carlton towards the nearest exit.
As they moved down the hallway past the exit doors Scott quickly scanned the President assessing his condition. Despite the obvious blood along the side of his head, President Carlton appeared to be little more than slightly dazed. Scott keyed his communicator. "This is Ajax Two. The Eagle is injured. I repeat, the Eagle is injured. We're heading out the west emergency exit. Alert the hospital that we are on our way." He could feel the pain in his thigh getting worse and knew it was slowing him down just a bit. He was thinking that he had to get the President out of here before his own wounds left him too disabled to do his job.
~ o ~
As the ambulance pulled away from the UN building Agent Scott Myers finally had time to assess the situation. He had three bullet wounds; one in the neck, one in the upper thigh and one in the left arm. None of them appeared to be life threatening though he knew that they could slow him down if he didn't stop the bleeding. He had seen his team leader go down and suspected that his wound had been fatal. The other two agents appeared unhurt. The president however had been hit and Scott refused the paramedics initial attempt to treat himself, insisting that they concentrate their efforts on the President. There was a bloody wound on the right side of the President's head and he appeared dazed. There was also a lot of blood down the right side of his shirt and on his left sleeve. The paramedic was quickly checking the President over to determine the extent of his injuries. As they got closer to the hospital President Carlton began to recover from the stunned daze he had been in.
Once the paramedic had assured himself that the president's injury was not life threatening and the bleeding under control, he turned his attention to the wounded Secret Service agent. The agent had already begun working to get his own bleeding under control. His injuries were far worse than the president's and the wound on his neck continued to bleed despite his attempts to stem the flow however rate of blood loss didn't appear to be life threatening at present and the agent kept insisting that the President's welfare must take precedence. A few quick bandages and he turned his attention back to the president, checking his vitals though he continued to keep a wary eye on the injured agent.
When they arrived at the hospital they wanted to take President Carlton and Agent Scott into the building on gurneys. The President, however, had spotted a camera crew standing near the hospital entrance and refused, insisting on entering the hospital under his own steam. The bleeding of the wound in Scott's neck had not stopped and he was beginning to feel drained but the death of his team leader had left him in charge. Scott Myers was not about to abandon his post over a few minor wounds so he also refused the gurney. They were immediately rushed over to the first emergency treatment room. The doctors did a quick deep scan of the Presidents head and found that, other than a mild concussion, there had been no serious damage to his skull or brain. One bullet had grazed The President's skull the other had gone clean through his left arm halfway between his elbow and his shoulder. The physicians and staff that attended to them were very professional.
Scott's injuries turned out to be more serious than President Carlton's. The bullet that had hit Scott's neck had grazed the artery and the doctor had to perform a quick emergency procedure to repair the still minor damage before the weakened artery could burst. The procedure itself, though serious, was fairly simple and, under Scott's insistence, done under a local anesthetic. Until he was relieved, Scott felt that he must remain alert and aware.
As the doctors were treating them, Scott and President Jerry Carlton watched the video screen intently as it replayed the entire incident in the UN. The doctor had just finished treating the President's head wound and had started on his arm, when the video image zoomed in on someone being loaded onto the litter in the middle of the General Assembly floor. Scott gazed at the video screen in astonished disbelief. The figure in the litter did not appear to be human. It looked more than anything like some kind of fantastic lion-man. Its hands, crossed below the slowly spreading blood stain, were covered in fur and its fingers ended, not in nails, but in very dangerous looking claws. Even critically injured and possibly dying, there was something powerfully, dangerously primal about its appearance.
"Good Lord, what is that?" President Jerry Carlton blurted out.
The doctor that had been treating him glanced at the screen for a moment. "It looks like Broadway Leo." He replied, shrugging as he turned his attention back to the wound in President Carlton's arm.
"What?' Scott asked as he tried to process the image on the screen.
One of the other doctors treating Scott replied. "That's the name the media gave to the 'Creature of Central Park'. I always thought it was just another urban legend, like alligators in the sewers or the Lady of the Brooklyn Bridge." He shook his head. "I remember when I was a kid back in '41 there was a sighting in Central Park by a bunch of college kids. The furor from that lasted over two years before it finally died down. That's when the radio stations gave it that name."
The doctor had finished with Scott's neck and they had moved on to remove the bullet from his thigh. Scott was so engrossed in the image on the screen that he barely noticed.
The President and Scott were both quickly and efficiently treated then they were taken up to the third floor. The orderlies tried to take Scott and the President into separate rooms. Though he was hampered by a significant limp and blood loss, Scott still refused to leave his assigned post until he had been officially relieved. The President approved and the doctor that had accompanied them relented, allowing Scott to accompany the President. Scott continued to order the rest of his team of agents, making sure that there was adequate protection for President Carlton. Next he made sure that the First Lady was notified of the President's condition. Finally he contacted his superior in the Secret Service to give his preliminary report.
~ o ~
President Jerry Carlton sat propped up in his hospital bed watching the video monitor as the doctor was checking him over. Scott also kept an eye on the video as he went about organizing his fellow agents. The news on the video was all about the miraculous appearance of the Creature of Central Park who had foiled the terrorist plot to blow up the Empire State Building. The announcer reported that the creature had been shot several times during the confrontation and rushed to Saint Vincent Hospital where its condition was unknown. The same video of the incident inside the UN was running in the background.
That report got Scott's immediate attention. That creature was here, in this hospital? The newsman went on to report that one Secret Service agent had been killed and another wounded. Finally the background video showed President Carlton and Scott walking from the ambulance into the hospital as the News Caster reported that the President of the United States had also been shot during the incident but his injuries were reported to be non life threatening. Scott thought that it was strange that the president was mentioned last.
"Such are the vaguarities of politics and the public." President Carlton remarked to Scott. "I'm nearly assassinated and that creature gets the lion's share," He gave a quick snort of a laugh, "pardon the pun, of the press."
Scott unobtrusively rolled his eyes and smiled. The first time he had heard the President use the word 'vaguarities', nearly three years ago, he had tried to look it up. It didn't exist. This was not the first time he had heard President Carlton create words out of thin air. The political cartoonists often had a lot of fun with it, though the created words often were very effective in getting his point across and this particular word had actually appeared in the latest edition of Webster's Dictionary. Scott's English professor father had nearly blown his top over that.
President Carlton looked over at the doctor attending him. "Has anyone heard how it's doing?" He indicated the image of the creature once again being displayed on the video.
"All I've heard is that he is still alive." The doctor shrugged. "I understand that Doctor Peterson is attending to him. He's the very best ER guy we've got."
Their attention was drawn to the video as it announced a bulletin on the President and the Creature. ". . . President Jerry Carlton and the Creature of Central Park, also known as Broadway Leo, are both currently at Saint Vincent Hospital. The President's condition is listed as satisfactory. An inside source informs us that the Creature's condition is critical. We will continue to update you as new information comes in . . ." The doctor suggested to President Carlton that it was getting late and he should get some rest then he left. He also suggested that Scott needed to get some rest as well. The hospital staff had arranged for Scott to have the room directly across the hall from the Presidents room. Reluctantly Scott finally ceded control to the Team Leader of the agents that had just arrived and let the doctor lead him to the next room and give him a sedative.
As soon as the doctor left Scott's room he contacted the home office, identified himself and his temporary bounce to team leader then he told them that he wanted everything that they could find on the Central Park Creature urban legend as well as whatever they could get on the men that staged the attack at the UN. He also wanted a complete report on the Empire State Building bomb. He wanted it all in his hands by tomorrow morning. He was informed that the head of the Secret Service, the head of Homeland Security, and the President had also made the same request.
As Scott lay in his bed he kept going over in his mind what had happened. Two questions kept plaguing him. How had they gotten guns into UN? What was that creature and where had it come from? It occurred to him that if that creature was here in this hospital he should assign a couple of agents to keep an eye on it. If it survived, his superiors were going to want to find out what it was, what it knew and what its intentions were. He also suspected that it wouldn't be too long before the military, the NSA and the department of Science took an interest in that creature as well. He would look into it tomorrow morning. Right now he could feel the sedative beginning to take effect and surrendered to the pull of much needed sleep.
~ x x x x x ~
When Scott awoke the next morning he was feeling much better and, though his neck felt a bit stiff, his limp was much less noticeable. Another agent from his team handed him a folder that contained the information he had requested including what was currently known about the terrorists' plot and the bomb that had been found in the Empire State Building. It had been a fully functional nuclear bomb and the terrorist that the 'Creature' had tackled had been carrying the radio trigger. The seriousness of the situation and the description of how close it had come to total disaster sent a cold chill down his spine.
Apparently that, so called, Creature of Central Park had, quite literally, saved New York City and most of the leaders of the world from total annihilation. One item in the report that gave him pause and sent shivers up his spine was the description of four dead terrorists found in the basement of the Empire State Building. They had every appearance of having been mauled by some very large cat or . . . 'lion'. Scot again thought back to the pictures of that creature with his deadly looking claws being carried out of the UN General Assembly. There was also some information about a girl named Alexandra that had actually found and reported the location of the bomb. Scott wondered if there was a connection between that girl and that creature as he set aside the report and headed across the hall.
Scott entered the President's room and took command of the guard detail. He was informed that the First Family had arrived late last night and was currently down in the lunchroom having breakfast. President Carlton was awake and watching the video. Scott noticed a duplicate of the report he had just read on the President's bedside table.
The news on the video was still all about the incredible events of yesterday. The announcer was talking about the public reactions and opinions over what had happened. Over all, based on a poll taken last night, opinions about the creature ran about 70% pro. They had also stated that the creature's condition had been upgraded to 'serious'. Scott was surprised. He would have sworn based on what he had seen on the video images of the creature being carried from the General Assembly floor that the wounds had been fatal.
President Carlton turned up the volume to hear what the reporter on the scene at the Empire State Building was saying. ". . . This just in. The bomb located at the top of this historic building has been described by a source as being a fifty megaton nuclear device. It now appears that the entire city of New York owes a huge debt of gratitude to Broadway Leo . . ."
"It was twenty megaton, moron." President Carlton muttered under his breath.
Scott had to smother a laugh. He knew that President Carlton had never liked that particular reporter.
The announcer continued to rehash the events of yesterday with the added emphasis on how truly serious the situation had actually been. They even included a map on the upper right corner of the screen showing the projected areas of destruction had the bomb gone off, while at the same time replaying the video of the creature's miraculous intervention. As he watched the video again the thing that struck Scott was how incredibly agile and strong that creature had to be in order to do what he had done.
"At least your map is accurate." President Carlton groused as he shook his head. The map on the screen was identical to the one in the report Scott had read. President Carlton looked up at Scott and continued, "I wonder where they got their information."
Scott shrugged his shoulders but he decided that he would see about finding out who had leaked to the news.
After a few seconds a text crawl passed across the bottom of the screen ". . . Instant Public opinion poll (90% pro Broadway Leo, 5% against and 5% undecided) . . ." Next they showed a view of all of the News crews camped out all around the hospital and restated what was currently known about the condition of the President and Broadway Leo. Scott did not like the situation. All that confusion around the hospital would make it too easy for an assassin to slip into the hospital unnoticed.
The doctor made some marks on a chart. "Everything's fine Mr. President. I will be releasing you to your own physician's care after lunch and you should be able to go home tomorrow morning if he approves."
President Carlton nodded. "Thank you, Doctor, for the excellent care you have given to me and Agent Myers." He waved in Scott's general direction.
Scott was distracted when he got a quick report over his communications unit. He thought that this aught to be interesting as he shifted his attention over to the hospital room door just as the Science Adviser stormed into the President's hospital room.
"I wondered how long it would be before you would show." President Carlton remarked with just a hint of annoyance.
The Science Adviser immediately started ranting. "We have to get that creature to a secure location immediately so that we can properly study it."
Scott had never liked the President's Science Adviser but it wasn't his place to approve or disapprove so he kept his opinions to himself. In this case however he sincerely hoped that someone else would express a dissenting opinion.
Then the Public Policy Adviser, who had been sitting quietly over in the corner spoke up. "I would definitely advise against it, Mr. President. That creature is very much in the public eye and very popular right now and you have elections coming up." The policy adviser faced the Science Adviser ready to defend his position. Those two had often ended up on opposite sides of many a policy debate.
Scott silently cheered to himself. He didn't particularly like the idea of the unknown factor that was presented by having that potentially dangerous creature in the same hospital as the President, but he certainly didn't like thinking about what that Science Adviser might have in store for it. That creature definitely presented a thorny problem on many different levels. He suspected that President Jerry Carlton would choose the side of compassion given half a chance.
The Science Adviser jumped in. "That thing is an important scientific discovery. Biologically it could be invaluable. We have to get it out of this hospital and into a secure laboratory, quickly, before others can interfere." He glared at the Public Policy Adviser. "I've already lost precious time arguing with those fools guarding that thing and then trying to get past your over zealous SS guards."
That got Scott's attention. Who could it be that was guarding that creature? Apparently they were sufficient enough to balk the Science Advisers plans. At that moment he was startled when the Political Adviser burst into the room, stared daggers at the Science Adviser, then addressed the President. "Is it true?" He asked as he glared again at the Science Adviser.
"Is what true?" The President asked.
The Political Adviser reached over and turned up the volume on the video monitor. ". . . that even while the heroic savior of New York City fights for his life in the hospital, the President's Department of Science wants to spirit him off to some secret place where they can dissect him . . ." He turned the volume back down. Everyone in the room looked at each other in stunned surprise. Scott was thinking with no little satisfaction that someone had certainly set the fox among the chickens. Soon a heated argument was engaged. After about ten minutes the Public Policy Adviser drew their attention back to the video. The text crawl at the bottom of the screen displayed dire news. ". . . Latest instant public opinion poll – Support for President Jerry Carlton (12% positive) – Support for Broadway Leo (93% positive) . . ." President Carlton glanced around at his advisers in surprise. His popularity had dropped 60% within minutes of the reports of the Science Department story. It was obvious that the President was not happy over the political damage that the Science Adviser's precipitous actions had caused.
President Carlton addressed the Science Adviser, his displeasure, though unspoken, was evident in his face and in the tone of his voice. "You are to maintain a strictly hands off policy where that creature is concerned until we have a more complete picture of the situation." He caught and held the man's gaze. "Is that understood?"
Scott was silently applauding the President's decision; he had always liked President Carlton's style of command. In the last three years he had shown a strength of command that was surprising. The big United Nations Conference on World Terrorism that President Carlton had organized was a good example of his take charge attitude.
At that point the First Lady and her daughter entered the room. The First Lady, Helen, was quite literally staring 'very pointed daggers' at the Science Adviser as the President's six year old daughter, Sandra, ran up to President (and father) Jerry Carlton. "Daddy you won't let them hurt him will you?" His daughter pleaded as she grabbed his hand. Scott had to smother a desire to laugh.
Jerry Carlton, the caring father and husband that Scott had come to respect, looked at his wife then at his daughter. "No honey, I won't let anyone hurt him." President Jerry Carlton looked at the Science Adviser. "If you want information about the creature," He paused shaking his head. "I really need a better name for it than 'The Creature' or 'Broadway Leo'," He paused looking at his Science Adviser. "As I was saying, if you want information, talk to his doctor. Otherwise it's hands off." President Carlton held the resistant Science Adviser's gaze for several moments.
Barely suppressing his annoyance, the Science Adviser finally nodded and left the room without a word. Helen watched him leave then joined her daughter at her husband's bedside. Sandra clambered up into her fathers lap as he turned up the volume on the video.
". . . cent Hospital has become surrounded by thousands of New Yorkers demanding that the government leave their hero alone. As of yet there has been no response from the President or the Whitehouse on this latest development. The only thing that is currently known is that the President's Science Adviser arrived at the hospital about an hour and a half ago . . ."
Jerry Carlton turned the volume back down and turned to his Policy Adviser. "I want you to arrange a quick press conference. Only one Camera crew and two reporters will be allowed. Let the media chose their representatives among themselves. Let me know when everything is ready."
At that moment President Carlton's personal secure phone signaled. It was the Pentagon. Now they wanted to get their hands on the creature. They were arguing strategic necessity and super soldier. After a few rather tense words he gave them the same orders that he had given the Science Adviser. "Hands off!"
Continued in Part 2
'Beauty and the Beast' and its characters are owned by Witt-Thomas Productions and Republic Pictures. No infringement on copyrights is intended. This story is presented merely for the enjoyment of fans. Original concepts and story elements may be used by other authors as long as appropriate credit is given.
