One month later Mead was sitting in the back of a van. She looked around her at the other recruits that were picked up before her, and they were on their way to pick up one last recruit. The trip was going to be long but it was on the way to where they were headed- wherever that was. There were two others besides herself and the driver and no one spoke, so Mead sat quietly too, trying to ignore the discomfort of the silence. She leaned forward on her bag and tried to sleep.
She woke at the next stop, the driver leaned back and told everyone they had ten minutes to do what they needed to do and get back on. When they exited, however, they saw that they were pulled up into a farm house. The van was driven into a barn and the driver pulled out a pump and began filling the tank with gasoline from a pump hidden in a stable wall.
"Go inside the house, you will find a bathroom and some food in the kitchen, help yourself," the driver told them. The three looked at each other curiously and then they moved cautiously to the house.
They walked inside and it looked like any other farm house. The kitchen was loaded with food and drinks in the fridge, along with a few convenience store type items in the cabinets. Mead went to the bathroom to refresh herself and then stopped in the kitchen to grab a water bottle and a premade sandwich from the refrigerator marked 'roast beef'. She went back to the van and climbed in with everyone else, getting settled back into her seat. A few bites of food and some water later, everyone was starting to get in a talking mood. The guy in front of her turned her way and spoke.
"So, how is your part of the trip going? I have been on here since Wisconsin. You ever been there? I love the Dells. That is my favorite place; I used to take my niece and nephew. So how did you end up on the 'bus to nowhere'?" he asked while he popped a few chips in his mouth. She was a little taken back by his questions. She did not think they could talk about where they were going and that was why everyone was so quiet. She looked over at the other recruit; she was making sideways glances at them.
"Uh, no, I have never been there. I have heard it is nice, I have just never travelled that direction," she replied.
He asked her straight out. "So, do you have any idea where we are going?"
"I know as much as any of you. We will find out when we get there I guess." Mead was glad to have some conversation to help pass the time, but was hoping he would change the subject. Just then the girl chimed in. She had long red hair and her blue-green eyes were hidden behind black framed glasses.
"Not knowing makes it a little more adventurous, don't you think? I'm Sarah, by the way," she said. She reached her hand out to for Mead to shake.
"Mead, and yeah, I guess it does make it a little more exciting," she agreed.
"I'm Kody. I think we all might have an idea of where we are going. What did you both used to do before this?" He had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. From the computer bag on his lap at him she guessed that he was good at computers, and probably quite talented at them, actually, otherwise he would not be here.
Mead and Sarah looked at each other to see who would answer first. Mead went ahead.
"I was in the Army. I was an analyst for our Intel section." She felt a little exposed at this point, regretting not letting Sarah go first, but Sarah did not let her down.
"I was teaching English to foreign speaking people. I can speak 12 different languages fluently," she said.
"You win," Mead said, and they both laughed. "That is amazing that you know so many languages. I can only speak a little French, I am a bit jealous of you," Mead told her.
"Don't be jealous, I can teach you what you need to get around in another country pretty easily," Sarah offered.
They looked at Kody, and he told them what he did.
"Well, I didn't do anything as honorable as you both," he hesitated, "I was a hacker. I worked for a group that called themselves Anonymous. Ever hear of them?"
Sarah and Mead both looked at him as if they already knew he was into computers, but working with Anonymous, that did surprise them.
"So you want to use your hacking skills to do good then?" Sarah asked him.
"Yeah, well, I was not really doing anything bad until I stumbled on a firewall and that was not like I had seen before, but I was able to break through. As soon as I did, this guy who called himself Major Harrison came busting through my house with a team of swat guys. I thought I was going to be arrested, but instead he told me he wanted to-"
"Offer you a job?" Sarah inserted.
"Yeah, did you meet that guy too?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am guessing we all did," Mead piped up. "We each seem to have a specialized set of skills that they want. I think you can figure out what we are getting ourselves into."
"I knew it! Oh, this is so cool. Don't you guys think this is so cool?" he asked them both excitedly. They did not say anything, but with a half-smile, nodded in agreement. Kody looked like a bright eyed kid that was ready for anything.
'Oh to have that blissful ignorance again,' Mead thought. She was not much older than him herself, but being in the military and having her experiences made you older in other ways.
They reached the last stop before getting to their location and the driver got out. A young man about Mead's age came on to the van with his duffle bag. The only seat left open was the one next to her and he plopped himself beside her.
Kody turned and introduced himself. "I'm Kody," he told him.
"Peter." He placed the bag between his legs and immediately leaned back, crossed his arms and closed his eyes, making it clear he did not want to be bothered. It was quiet the rest of the way through Virginia.
They reached a place in the woods away from any other living soul. Mead began to wonder what they had all gotten themselves into as they approached a large hill in the middle of the wood. It was fenced off and at the gate there was a guard in a black unlabeled uniform. The driver handed him a clipboard and an envelope and the guard opened the gate, letting him drive through. It seemed like there was nowhere to go from there until the driver stopped, opened his window and ran a card in front of a stump. It must have been an access scanner because the hill began to open up. A camouflage of dirt and foliage moved to reveal a double steel door and that opened to let them continue through. The driver pulled into what looked like a motor pool and parked alongside other vans and vehicles.
"Okay, everyone out. Don't forget anything, I won't be back for three months, if you leave it, you lose it."
The confused group grabbed their things, careful to get everything and checking pockets to be sure all valuables were together. The driver then did a double check through the van and then he turned toward them.
"Good luck. You got some big boots to fill, make it count," then he got back in the van and left the way he came in.
'That was cryptic,' Mead thought. They looked at each other as if they were all thinking the same thing she was. They looked around to see what they needed to do next when a voice came from the shadows.
"Welcome to the Intelligence Defense Agency or as we like to call it, Aunt IDA. Here you are going to learn how to be intelligence agents. Some of you may not make it through this program, it is not for everyone. But we have high hopes for all of you, to be the first line of defense for our nation." The man then stepped from the shadows and they all immediately recognized him as Major Harrison, their recruiter.
"The first thing you will do is get oriented to training. I know some of you might have gone through the military and you might be expecting this to be like Basic or Boot Camp, and in some ways it will be, some ways it won't. Tonight, you will settle in, get a meal and some sleep. Tomorrow starts with some information and you get to have some of your questions answered. You will be assigned to bays and you will have a Bay Leader that you will report to for all information. This is Tobias," he gestured to another man who stepped out of the dark also. He was much younger, with a tidy haircut and dressed in a long sleeve shirt and tie. "Tobias will be in charge of your bay. The rooms are separated by gender, however the bays are co-ed. You are all adults, we expect you to act like professionals. If you have a problem, you will report it to Tobias, but keep in mind; we will be looking at your abilities to work as a team."
Tobias stepped forward. "Grab your bags and follow me. I will show you around and get you to your quarters." He moved quickly and they followed just as he asked.
The group walked down a long corridor; the walls were blank and painted a light grey color. The corridor teed off at the end and we were directed to the right. Continuing down, they were lead to a set of elevators and entered them. Tobias was silent for the whole seven flights as the others fidgeted and wondered where they might be going. When the elevator doors opened there was another set of corridors and they were taken down the hall on the left. Each hall had a sign and this hall had a little sign above it labeled 'Alpha Quarters'. Two others were labeled 'Bravo Quarters' and the other 'Charlie Quarters'. A fourth hall was labeled 'Common Area'.
There were several doors down the hall and they stopped at the last two. Finally the silence ended along with their journey. "These are your quarters. Each room has two bunks, same sex to each room, females in this one and males in this one," he said, motioning toward each room, "The bathrooms and showers are at the end of the hall here, they are co-ed, but any misconduct will not be tolerated. You are here to train, not date. Lights out at 2100, and trust me, you are going to want your sleep. I will give you all updates for training, including where and when. Tomorrow morning is orientation; there will be a lot of boring paperwork to fill out, but also a lot of important information. Drop your gear and I will show you around."
They did as he told them and were lead back the way they came and then down the hall labeled 'Common Area'. It was a short hall but it lead to a large room with tables, couches, and even televisions. There were flags, including the American flag, on either side of an unmarked door.
"This is the Common Area, as you might have guessed from the signage. This is where you will meet every morning at 0800 for orientation. Training rooms are back that way, although not all training is done inside this building," he said as he pointed to yet another corridor to the right, also labeled. "The kitchen is this way. Meal times are set, but you can go in whenever you need to," he said as we walked into a room about the same as the common area.
"Any questions?" Tobias asked the group.
"Yeah, so where is everyone else?" Kody asked.
"Training. Eat, go to bed. Report to the Common Area at 0800 tomorrow. Good night," he said as he scanned an ID card and went through an unmarked door. They were left standing there again, with even more questions now.
"Well, you heard the man, let's eat," Kody said.
"This just isn't fazing you at all, is it? Not knowing what is really going on here?" Mead asked him.
"All I know is right now I am hungry and tired, and we will get our questions answered tomorrow. They would not have brought us all out here if this was not legit," he replied.
She was not satisfied with that. "How do you know it is legit?"
He sighed. "Because- well, because when I hacked into that firewall, I got through just in time to see the name of it. It was called IDA, International Defense Agency. That was all I got to see before the Major busted into my house. When we got here and they told us where we were, I knew this was legit. He told me the firewall was a test, and I passed," he told them. They went into the kitchen where there was a cooler with a few pre-prepped items. They each grabbed a plate and sat down.
Mead, Sarah, and Kody all sat eating, but Peter was sitting at another table. "Could he be any more antisocial?" Sarah asked out loud.
"Peter, you can eat with us," Kody offered.
Peter stopped eating and finally spoke. "Do you not realize what you are here for? What we are going to be training for? We are here to become spies. Spies do not have a long shelf life, so don't get attached to each other," he said as he stood up to throw out his food and leave.
"What a ray of sunshine he is," Mead said as soon as he was gone.
"But he is right, I mean, we can't be naïve here, we know why we are here and what happens to people in this line of work," Sarah said.
"But that doesn't mean it will happen to us, right?" Kody asked, sounding like a lost child. Mead could not leave him feeling that way.
"That is what the training is for, just pay attention and take it all seriously, you will do fine," Mead assured him. It must have worked because he nodded and went back to eating his sandwich.