Excerpt from intercepted transmission.
Voice 1 (Male, medium pitched, age range estimated as between 30-40 years. This voice has the manner of somebody who is attempting to assert authority. However, tremors in speech betray either extreme anxiety or fear) : 9:01 AM "Zeek... Zeek… Jesus, are you even there?"
Voice 2 'Zeek?' (Also male, somewhat higher pitched than voice 1. Estimated age is mid to late twenties. The second speaker has a curt manner of talking, an edge of irritation clear in his tone. It seems likely this is due to a dislike of the first speaker, although outside circumstances cannot be ruled out): 9:01 AM "Yeah I'm here. Calm the fuck down man. Everything's under control,"
(a lengthy cessation in conversation ensues, although the sound of a person rapping their fingers repeatedly on a hard surface of some sort can be heard for the majority of this time. In the background, a number of times, gentle murmurs are audible. However, the audio cannot be boosted to a sufficient quality for anything significant to be made out)
Voice 1 (The façade of confidence appears to slip for this speaker at this point, as his nervousness/fear is barely concealed. Obviously he must not handle pressure very well, despite seemingly being the superior of the others in the conversation): 9:02 AM "You got the kids yet?"
Voice 2 'Zeek?' (At this point the speaker seems to lose his temper for a brief instant, snapping his reply at high volume before apparently reigning in his annoyance in order to finish speaking. Post this point though, this speaker's voice retains a large measure of frustration in his speech): 9:03 AM "NO! For fuck's sake…we're going there now,"
(there is the sound of a weapon being cocked, an educated guess places it as a small arm of some description)
Voice 3 (The third speaker is female, with a medium pitched voice. However, she seems younger than her counterpart 'Zeek', and estimates place her at under the 25 year mark. She has a distinctive drawl and appears to be entirely at ease, with little emotion entering her tone aside from a measure of bravado): 9:03 AM "Locked, loaded, and ready to kick ass,"
Voice 2 'Zeek?' (Here the speaker sounds much less angry (probably because the subject of his irritation is the first speaker, and indeed, he proceeds to chuckle after speaking, perhaps indicating he is making a jest): 9:03 AM "It took you long enough Alexis, I've seen monkeys prepare faster than you,"
Voice 3 'Alexis?' (Presumably. The reaction of the third speaker appears to indicate that she is friendly with the second (Zeek?) as her response belies any kind of hostility): 9:03 AM "Hahaha,"
(A second pause begins here, although this is shorter than the first by a not-insignificant margin, the sound of rapping fingers resumes, with a notable increase in volume, as if the person performing the action is more anxious now than previously)
Voice 1 (Once again, the speaker is apparently making an attempt to reassert himself, or at least be seen to be taking part. As before, the act isn't entirely convincing, nevertheless, it seems a genuine effort to encourage the others): 9:04 AM "Good luck guys. Here's hoping for a successful mission,"
Voice 2 'Zeek?' (The second speaker doesn't take kindly to this interjection, unsurprising considering his earlier response to his superior's interference and responds in kind. This leads me to speculate the first speaker is only in charge nominally, as soldiers would be unlikely to get away with such insubordination under normal circumstances): 9:04 AM "Look 'Boss' cut the crap and let us do our job… fucking faggot… (this last is muttered under his breath – the speaker probably thought a direct insult was taking it too far)"
(There is the sound of a deep sigh, and a two second pause before the transmission is terminated)
Duty officer's notes: Although a trace was attempted on this transmission, initial attempts at tracking it ended in failure. The coding on the message was eventually cracked, but by the time this had been achieved, it would be many weeks too late to track down the perpetrators. However, as we all know, by that point tracing the communication was a moot accomplishment, as at that time, it was more or less irrelevant information.
Extract from the diary of Geoff Deeps
…Can't fucking believe we lost again today. I swear that half of our team is there just to make up numbers. Hell, I'm pretty much just there to put eleven men on the field as it is, I've about one iota more skill than those others and that's about it… Tch. We came so close though, that's what was so frustrating about it... I've heard soccer described as a 'funny old game' - fickle more like it. Took the lead early on and were in control for the majority of the match, then we got suckerpunched twice within the last five minutes of time. That loss moves us into a commanding eleventh position... out of twelve. Yep, our school soccer team sure is the pride of the year.
…In other news that douche of a best friend Peter was trying to hit on a couple of the girls; again. Heh, at least it was some of the nicer ones, Chantal Villiers and that Sarah Beau, they had the decency to let him down gently. Peter has had problems with girls in the past, most specifically with that ... unprintable Mari Laret. He doesn't really have the best of the luck with the ladies my pal. Poor Peter… I guess he just doesn't see that he hasn't got that special something that girls look for. Neither do I for that matter. No, it's the cute kids like Deacon which the chicks go for, I almost feel sorry for him too, he always has girls fawning over him, and he hates it… Deak just wants to go out and do his sports and that sort of thing, but wherever he goes he has the chicks lined up beside him for another chance to flirt. He's hardly a flustered innocent about it, but I guess it must be difficult for a guy who likes to be on his own or just with friends to suddenly having to fend off infatuated members of the fairer sex every five minutes... maybe now he claims to have found that 'special someone' they'll leave him along, but I doubt it, ha! Funny that the guy who's barely interested has to fend off the girls with both hands, whereas the other two of us, who would very much like to get a girl would be lucky to have a single person approach us. And even then it would be a prank.
… De Viet was being his usual assholish self. Today he was picking on that Sammar kid. Jeez, the shit that guy goes through is absolutely unbelievable. He's a big man, that's for sure, and in a way, I think that just makes it worse. For De Viet, bigger equals tougher, and he seems to get a kick out of beating down on somebody larger than he is, disregarding the fact he couldn't punch his way out of a wet paper bag. But I suppose that's De Viet. He doesn't have the guts to go after anybody brave enough to stand up for themselves. I guess that's why he targets me on occasion too; he knows I won't fight back. Then he laughs, that fucking laugh… I'm glad I started hanging around with Deak, because that limits my attractiveness as a target. De Viet gets a double whammy there: he doesn't want to risk Deak joining Kay's footballers by beating up on one of his buddies, and he's afraid that picking on somebody with a tough friend won't make said friend too happy. Good thing De Viet is mostly wrapped up in that little schism the football team has got going on these days. Never thought I'd be thanking Andrew Kay for something...
…finished that book today. It was pretty good even if I do say so myself. Gives you some food for thought, like: 'what would I do in that position?' certainly makes you think… Still, it was hardly a masterpiece for the ages, even if it was an entertaining read. Trouble is, now I have to find something else to take along on the senior trip. Reading fast is a bitch eh? ... Well, it's late, and I can't think of anything else to write. Sayonara diary.
A hidden location.
"So everything's in place?"
The man known as Boss looked up from his desk, still holding his transmitter in one hand, looking fraught with worry. Boss was slight and had a general air of frailty about him, as well as a careworn face. He put people into the mind of a sick person – perhaps an asthmatic or somebody suffering from some other kind of debilitating condition. His hair was both greying and thinning rapidly, barely concealing his pate in some places. If one were to tell somebody that Boss was in his mid-thirties they would be laughed out of the room. Stress, and perhaps some kind of trauma had aged him prematurely, making him appear decades over his real age.
In at least one area, the person walking towards Boss was a stark contrast to the scrawny, worn man. Where Boss was skinny to the point of seeming almost emaciated, the other enjoyed a large girth, with quite a considerable paunch. He had a jocular air about him and a booming voice – certainly this man had a huge personality. Although he was overweight, he didn't seem overly unhealthy, coming across as one of those people who being fat just suited, one definitely couldn't imagine him as being average sized. Aside from his prodigious belly, he was also rather large in general terms, topping the 6ft mark by some inches. He was, much like Boss, balding, but his face was far from careworn, indeed the only lines etched into his face were those caused by laughter and smiling. Seeing him, most would think that such a man was obviously one who believed in living life to the fullest.
"Sure thing Chief, Zeek and Alexis are getting the kids as we speak,"
Speaking now, Boss sounded less like somebody trying to maintain their authority, and more tired. Just like the man himself, his voice sounded worn out and at least somewhat defeated. His manner was also different, obviously this time around he wasn't speaking to unruly soldiers, but a friend – or at least somebody more than a casual acquaintance. Chief sat down opposite him in a chair which seemed rather too small for him, especially as the action was accompanied by no small amount of uneasy creaking from the furniture. Chief let out a relieved sigh as his weight was taken off his feet – bearing the burden of carrying the large man around must have been hell on his lower limbs. He reached into his waistcoat after a moment and produced a hip flask, which he proffered to Boss, who mutely shook his head. Chief shrugged as if to say 'suit yourself' before taking a long draught. Wiping his mouth off with a satisfied sigh he started to talk again.
"I wouldn't worry about getting drunk Boss, it's barely alcoholic. But... Alexis and Zeek - you only sent the pair of them?"
Chief sounded a little sceptical, and it wasn't really hard to see why. Sending only two soldiers on a mission which was important enough to get Boss in such a state directing it seemed at best overconfident, and at worst simply foolhardy. On the other hand, given Boss seemed a total wreck, unless the intent was to deliberately sabotage the attempt, then there must have been some kind of logic in putting him in charge of the whole operation. Either that or whoever Boss' superior was he was simply incompetent and had no idea what he was doing. There was always that.
"Chief, you've seen each of the pair of them get the business done. Do you seriously believe it will take more than the two of them to take out a supervisor and gas a bus full of unsuspecting teenage kids? They might not like or respect me, but I know I can rely on them to complete the mission with a minimum of fuss,"
Somehow, Boss suddenly seemed less tired and world-weary, more like a man in charge and less like a meek man being bullied by his subordinates. Perhaps the man had his merits after all, although he clearly had some deficiencies, as well as an issue with his confidence. Far from perfect then, but not perhaps as useless as he originally came across to be. Chief, in the meantime, removed a long cigar from his breast pocket and looked at it ruefully for a long moment, before letting out a sigh and replacing it.
"Got to watch what vices I'm indulging in these days. Shame I was a bit hot and bothered after climbing all of those stairs really, because I could really do with a smoke. But back to the matter at hand… I suppose you're right, but I would have preferred if you'd sent one of the others along. Silver or Kade, Aaron maybe,"
Boss raised an eyebrow speculatively at Chief's suggestions, his demeanour completely altered now that he had his mind focused on a particular possibility rather than on the success of the mission. In a way, his nervousness only came into play because he was waiting for the results of something that he no longer had any way of influencing. In massive contrast to earlier on, Boss now looked sharp and aware.
"Silver would be a liability. She's… well she's certainly something alright. Way too unpredictable to bring along. You never know when she's going to flip out, and with such a small team, that's going to cost us. Kade is a lunatic, and he'd probably wind up losing it and getting too trigger happy, which would result in unnecessary bloodshed, remember after all we can only afford to lose a couple of students, otherwise we'll be under that fastidious quota. And Aaron? You know him better than anybody Chief – he's your assistant. Intelligent and fit he may be, and heck, he's a deadeye on the firing range, but he's squeamish, inexperienced, and far too cowardly to be of much use. I would have sent Drew or Dex but we needed both of them to take care of the transport, and beyond that the others would have just got in Zeek and Alexis' way,"
Chief lurched awkwardly to his feet and laid both of his hands on the desk, looking Boss dead in the eyes, a serious look at odds with his usual expression. He made to turn away and indeed took a few steps towards the door, before looking around again and calling to Boss over his shoulder.
"So you say… I hope you're right Boss,"
The big man made his way from the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving Boss sitting there in silence with his reservations and anxiety. Chief's words came to him again, and a single thought went through his head in mute response to them.
Me too Chief. Me too.
