Orion Cyber Security Systems

by Captainrick944

The Piranha shocks Washington D.C. by hacking into all its most important entities, and Washington responds by creating a task force to catch him and putting him to work. This Chuck AU story leverages only some of the canon framework, with very different character backstories and NO INTERSECT...but there is plenty of action, adventure, humor, and of course lots of romance!

6. Chapter 6 - Something Doesn't Feel Right

A/N: Chapter 6 is the last "set-up" chapter that launches the main story line and creates the opportunity to finally bring our characters together. For those who have stuck with me so far, thank you….I continue to be amazed by your kind words of support and encouragement. You are what make this community so completely….Awesome!

Because the Chapter 6, 7 and 8 are so closely tied in terms of flow, I will look to accelerate the release schedule a little, so that no one wants to hunt me down and kill me for leaving a few "cliff hangers."

As you know by now, the story has a "T" rating for some language and adult themes, but nothing explicit or graphic. If you are offended by content, you are welcome to change the channel and read something else.

As always, my undying appreciation goes to Nevr for his time and effort in supporting my inane scribblings….Thank you Nevr…you are a gentleman, a scholar and a friend…..well…at least friend…!

If you like Chapter 6, please take a moment to Review, Follow, and/or Favorite….I really do appreciate it, and I try to respond to every review or PM promptly.

I don't own Chuck or make any money from writing this story, but I've heard Elvis does, and apparently he's left the building…so we remain out of luck….for now.

Chapter 6 – Something doesn't feel right:

Friday, 30 September 2011 – 06:00 Eastern Standard Time
Fort Meade, Maryland – NSA HQ.

Sarah and Carina met in the gym to get some exercise and sparring in before they started their work day. The partners were enjoying their new roles at the NSA and the work with John Walden was interesting and highly educational. Unbeknownst to them Beckman had wanted the two women to be immersed in the NSA culture which not only included a series of HR mandated training and certification sessions, but also exposure to how the NSA actually worked. Since being transferred, they were assigned to a variety of different divisions within the NSA, learning about what each did and how they operated, building their knowledge as well as their internal networks. They also received some basic education on the tools and technology the NSA used to deliver on its mission.

As for Bartowski, he did not seem to be at any immediate risk. His skill at hiding his handy work on their side projects kept him very much off any potential enemy radar. Since working on the Iran project, Chuck had used a variant of the Stuxnet worm on the North Korean missile program, resulting in several spectacular failures. Currently, he was analyzing data patterns to try and find Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, who was on the run from opposition forces who took over Tripoli in August. If anyone looked at Chuck Bartowski, all they would see was a tech entrepreneur that was servicing his clients with his software. Beckman had spoken to Chuck about having a protective detail, but in all cases he rejected the idea and since there was no imminent threat, Beckman acquiesced giving Sarah and Carina more time to train and integrate. It also gave Beckman more time to really evaluate the two transfers before committing them to protecting Bartowski.

The two partners were taking a break from their sparring session and drinking some water, when Sarah got a far-away look in her eye.

"What's up, Blondie?" Carina asked.

"Just thinking. When do you think Beckman will give us our assignment? I mean I am happy with the work we have been doing and the education we are getting, but I thought that by now we would have been given the dossier." Sarah hunched her shoulders as she spoke.

"I'm with you Sarah, but see no reason to rock the boat. So far Beckman has been true to her word, and I think that perhaps she is very interested in making sure we are not gaming her….you know what I mean? And all the stuff she is having us do represents an investment in us, so I see it as a positive." Carina also shrugged as she spoke. "But yeah…it will be good to move on to the assignment she promised."

Sarah nodded. "Yeah…you are right about the investment, and I'm happily surprised that we are reporting directly to her instead of Walden or one of the other Assistant Deputy Directors. Having said that, I'm really looking forward to having something to sink our teeth into. By the way, have you noticed that in the last few weeks the gym has been shut down from 6:00 am to 7:00 am 4 times?"

"You were looking for Mr. Running Man were you, you naughty girl?" Carina laughed at Sarah as she spoke.

"Ha ha, Carina…..No...well….maybe, but since they put frosted glass on the doors of the gym, we can't even sneak a peek." Sarah gave Carina a pout, then started giggling. "I am curious though. I wonder if the gym closures are related to the secret VIP we saw back a couple of months ago? Say, how would you feel about a little detective work to see if we can figure out who he is?" Sarah spoke in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Oooh…That sounds like fun…I'm in." Carina gave a little hand clap in her enthusiasm.

The partners ended their workout session and added a secret side mission to their agenda. Over the next few weeks they kept watch for days when the gym was closed in the early morning, asking seemingly innocuous questions to Mary Larson, John Walden, the cleaning people, and whoever else they could think of, but everyone they spoke to was remarkably tight lipped. The partners weren't discouraged by the lack of progress, rather, they became more deeply intrigued.

= ! =

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 – 16:00 Eastern Standard Time
Fort Meade, Maryland – NSA HQ.

Sarah and Carina had been summoned to Beckman's office, and were sitting in the waiting area when Mary Larson called them.

"Ladies, she's ready for you. Follow me please." Mary led the two women into Beckman's office then turned to exit and closed the door.

"Walker, Miller….please have a seat." Beckman used a formal tone and after asking them to sit, took a moment to scan some papers on her desk, letting silence fill the room. Sarah and Carina had thought that perhaps today they were getting their new assignment, but what Beckman was communicating silently, and without much subtlety, was that she was in charge, and not in a particularly good mood. Both women suddenly felt a little uncomfortable as Beckman looked up from her papers, and pulled her glasses half way down her nose so she could look at them directly. "Ladies, it's come to my attention that you have been asking questions about a VIP that occasionally comes to the NSA…That stops now." She paused for a moment to let the seriousness of her message sink in before continuing. "I love your initiative, and your curious nature. It's one of the reasons you are here. So I will throw you a bone instead of chewing your asses out. The VIP you are asking questions about is related to your upcoming assignment. And the assignment will come in time. That is all you get from me on this, and I do not want to discuss it again. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Sarah and Carina responded in unison.

Then Sarah surprised Carina by speaking up. "Ma'am, it's my fault. It was my idea to try and figure out who the VIP was, so this was my responsibility, not Agent Miller's, ma'am."

"Thank you Sarah, but you are a team, and you are partners to balance each other out. There is no further disciplinary action coming out of this…unless you choose to disobey my directive here, so while I certainly appreciate you standing up for your partner, it is not necessary." Beckman relaxed a little and gave the two women a small smile. "Now get out of here and stay out of trouble…..please…." Beckman waved them away, but broadened her smile diminishing the negative impact of the dismissal.

"Carina, I'm sorry I got you into this." Sarah apologized after leaving Beckman's office.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I joined the party willingly…but I want to thank you for offering to take the heat….You are an amazing partner." Carina then pulled Sarah into a hug. "Sooo, no more worrying about Mr. Running Man for now, though I'm very interested in understanding what Beckman meant when she said he is "related" to our upcoming assignment." Carina used air quotes.

"Yeah, me too…" Sarah ducked her head for a moment. "How about we go celebrate our first chewing out as partners with some drinks tonight? Maybe we can go back to that place in Georgetown where you met that cute bartender?"

"Jules….yes….that is a really good idea. I need to release some tension….Good thinking partner!"

= ! =

Thursday 17 November 2011 – 15:00 Eastern Standard Time
Langley, Virginia – CIA Head Quarters

It had been a hectic 4 months for Chuck and Orion Cyber Security Systems. Since his test meeting in Fort Meade he had made several trips to the Capital area. The first was to implement several security measures at the NSA, substantially fortifying their firewalls. The subsequent trips were to secure contracts with the FBI, who also agreed to pay Orion a $ 5.0 million per annum perpetual license, the Justice Department who agreed to pay US 2.5 million and Homeland Security, whose contract was valued at $4 million. During that last trip he also met with the DEA where the contract value was expected to be valued at between $2.5 and $3.5 million. It was all going smoothly until yesterday when Chuck met with the CIA and perhaps the most arrogant pompous ass he had ever met, a douche bag named Daniel Shaw. Shaw was recently put in charge of a highly classified technology project and implied that it had a virtually unlimited budget. Shaw had been gently directed to work with Orion Cyber Security Systems by the Director himself, who had, in turn, received a message directly from the President, but that was not going to dissuade him from his own objectives.

The meeting started poorly, with Shaw taking every opportunity to belittle the contractor while preening about himself. It was not even that he offered Orion a $500k one-year contract, it was Shaw's decision to throw in an additional "let's see how you do with this, and then we can consider looking at this again next year" barb just for good measure. Orion's business was booming, and Chuck was having trouble hiring qualified people fast enough to keep up with demand, so he really did not need this contract. However, he certainly did not want to jeopardize the goodwill he had built with the NSA and General Beckman in particular. Still, there was something about Shaw that made him very profoundly uncomfortable. He would need to think about this some more.

"Agent Shaw," Chuck said in the most pleasant voice he could muster, "Thank you for your time. I understand and appreciate your position, and…."

"It's SPECIAL Agent," Shaw interrupted, "and if you can't give my office the respect it deserves, I will reduce our offer to $250k for the year."

"Yes, right, of course, SPECIAL Agent." Chuck took a turn emphasizing 'SPECIAL' for sport. "My apologies. As I was saying, I understand and appreciate your position, and I thank you for considering our proposal. I will need some time to consider your offer and will get back to you shortly."

Shaw was starting to see red. "Are you saying no to me?" he asked Chuck incredulously. "Do you know who I am and that working with me on project 'Sand-Wall' could mean for your little start-up?"

Chuck saw Shaw's No.2 momentarily blanche at the mention of "Sand-Wall," so he pretended not to take note and jumped back in….

"Not at all, sir! You have made an offer that is substantially below market. I am simply not sure we can afford to do business with you on those terms. Our references are excellent, and we serve a growing list of your peers, so we want to do what we can to make you happy, but the price you are willing to pay requires some further consideration. That's all. With that, I will take your leave. Thank you again." Chuck bowed a little theatrically and backed his way out of the office. He felt like he needed to shower after spending 45 minutes with Shaw and his toady Bryce Larkin. Chuck's escort was waiting outside the office and led him to the main exit where Chuck's black car was waiting. He had the car drop him off at The Old Ebbitt Grill, but he decided to speak to Beckman before going in to get some dinner.

"Beckman Secure"

"Bartowski Secure"

"This contractor would like to offer his first big client dinner at his favorite place." As a part of their communication protocols, Beckman and Chuck had agreed on a number of things to limit the amount of information they shared even on a secure channel. This was less about the technology itself and more about people eavesdropping or listening in with parabolic microphones. If the invitation was for dinner, the agreed time was 8:00 pm, and the location was the Old Ebbitt Grill.

"How's the weather?" Beckman asked. (How critical is the issue?)

"Variable," responded Chuck. (Disconcerting but no immediate threat)

"Acceptable," responded Beckman. (Meeting confirmed)

At precisely 8:00 pm, Two large men in dark suits entered The Old Ebbitt Grill, and hidden somewhere between them was the diminutive red-headed General Beckman. They walked past the bar and found Chuck at a quiet table in the back.

"Good to see you, Chuck. You look well but a little tired. Are you getting enough rest? You are doing amazing work, but we need you to stay healthy," Beckman offered in a somewhat motherly tone.

"Thank you, Diane. I'm fine, but yes, a little tired. We are burning the candle at both ends and the middle. I think I will need a vacation soon," said Chuck.

"You should take some time, Chuck. We need you to be focused and ready to go."

Over the course of dinner, Chuck recounted the meeting with Shaw and the incredibly bad feeling he had about the guy. The only saving grace, he shared with Beckman, was that it looked like both Shaw and his pal Larkin were still recovering from a serious ass-kicking that was probably happened months ago, and was probably very well deserved. The comment drew a Chuckle from Beckman.

"One day, I'll show you a tape that might make you feel better about what actually happened to those two," Beckman added enigmatically.

"I'd like that" Chuck responded before continuing. His worry was having a person with Shaw's ego owning what was positioned as a critically important intelligence project. This was not really about the money as Chuck would have gladly taken the $250k with gratitude for all the love the US government was showing him, but something there troubled him.

"Diane, something is seriously off here," Chuck voiced with concern, "I'm not sure what it is, or if I am blowing things out of proportion, but during our meeting, Shaw mentioned something called Project 'Sand-Wall.' I think it was a slip because Larkin's reaction suggested it was something that should not have come up. I think we should…."

Diane raised her hand to cut Chuck off and sat motionless and expressionless for a moment, then said quietly, "not here, not now. I'll have the plane ready to take you back to California at 11:00 pm. Go home and let me do some homework, and in the meantime speak about this to no one. " She then got up from the table and left without a sound.

Chuck had been building a close working relationship with her over the last few months, and he had seen her happy, sad, and pissed off. But he had never seen her react like this. She almost seemed….afraid… He would fly back to LA this evening, then wait for Beckman to come back. In the meantime, he committed to himself that he would not hack the CIA to figure out what that sleazy bastard Shaw was up to.

= ! =

Tuesday 29 November 2011 – 15:00 Pacific Standard Time
Santa Monica, California – Orion Cyber Security HQ

Chuck was still feeling itchy about working with the CIA but had received no clear guidance from Beckman. He was also curious about Beckman's reaction to his concerns. He thought about telling Shaw thank you, but no thank you when his communicator trilled.

"Bartowski Secure."

"Beckman Secure…..08:30 tomorrow usual place. Pick up is at 11:00 pm tonight usual location." And the connection was severed.

Chuck understood the code. The plane would be waiting for him at Van Nuys airport this evening, ready for an 11 pm departure. That departure time meant he would be landing at Reagan international about 5 hours later or roughly 7 am local time, which gave him plenty of time to get to the JW Marriott Pennsylvania Avenue by 8:30 am. He had a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach, which did not get better when he opened his laptop and saw a message from one SPECIAL Agent, Daniel Shaw.

Dear Valued Vendor,

We regret to inform you that, after due consideration, we have determined it is in our best interest to move forward with one of your competitors We feel that is a better fit for us at this time but encourage you to continue to develop your business so we may be able to consider you for our needs at some point in the future.

Sincerely

Daniel Shaw

Special Agent-In-Charge

'Who could they have gone with?….any way, this is now a decision I don't need to make,' thought Chuck. And then his lips started to curl into a slight smile as his gears began to turn. He had committed to not hacking the CIA, but never committed to NOT asking Beckman to dig a little on his behalf. Less than twenty minutes later, he received an encrypted email from her naming the vendor as Fulcrum Security Services, but providing no additional information. He would have to do some research on them.

Chuck was at his desk trying to gather as much information on Fulcrum Security Services as he could, but there was not much to find, and what he found left him increasingly perplexed. He was in the middle of searching the IRS database for tax filings, when he heard the repeating blare of a claxon sound coming from his mobile phone…..an incursion attempt. "Fuck," he shouted out loud. "Now what?" He reset the alarm on his phone and opened up a new application on his laptop to check the logs on the incursion. As he was accessing the Orion network, the claxon sounded again. 'What the hell…" and then a 3rd alarm, followed by a 4th. Then his mobile phone rang. It was Morgan. "Morgan…what the fuck is happening?" Chuck asked his partner.

"Don't know yet, Chuck….Skip is working on that, but the alarms come from the NSA, the FBI, and the Department of Justice, and from our own network…..someone tried to access Orion's systems directly. We are not sure yet, but it appears all the attacks are set up in the exact same way, so it's probably the same intruder using a programmed algorithm. So far, he has not penetrated any of the networks, and I don't think the intruder knows we have detected them," said Morgan excitedly.

"Ok…so everything is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing, so…ok…ok….that is a good thing," Chuck said with a bit of relief in his voice. "Morgs, as soon as Skip gets the incursion data sets, let me know immediately. In the meantime, I'll call the clients and tell them what is happening." With that, he clicked off the line and called John Walden at the NSA to get him up to speed, followed by calls to the FBI and Justice.

Twenty minutes later, Chuck's phone rang again. It was Morgan and Skip, and they found something…..

"Chuck, 'Heimdall' shut down the attempted incursions without allowing any access to the various networks, so no damage was done. All the attempted incursions originated from the same location, a warehouse outside Alexandria, Virginia, but there was no specific identification that Heimdall could pull from the intruder's system. However, we looked into who owns the warehouse, and it seems to be owned by a number of shell companies located all over the place. I think this is a dead-end, but whoever these guys are, they are sophisticated and would appear to have resources." Morgan and Skip shared, sending a chill down Chuck's back.

"Do we know what they were trying to get access to?" asked Chuck nervously.

"Yeah, Chuck, we do. They were trying to access several different systems, including the vendor management system, which seemed really odd, until we figured out they were looking for information on Orion Cyber Security Systems… and on you, Chuck," responded Morgan.

In a nod to the Thor Comics, Chuck and Morgan named their incursion detection system "Heimdall, the All-Seer"….because they thought it was a really cool name. What Heimdall did was allow an intruder to break through a series of firewalls, giving the intruder the impression that they were making progress in their incursion. Each firewall became progressively more difficult, forcing the intruder to expend time and requiring them to expose more of their own system without alerting the intruder that they had been discovered. Heimdall would then shut down their access and produce a data log with all the information it could gather.

"Ok…thanks, Morgs, and thanks to you too, Skip…good work…..let me know if anything else happens. I need to go to DC to discuss this with our clients immediately, so I'll be out of the office the next few days…gotta go." Chuck hung up the call and picked up his communicator.

"Beckman Secure"

"Bartowski Secure…" There was no time for codes here, so Chuck just laid it out as directly as possible. "The incursion attempts failed, but all the incursion attempts originated from the same place, a warehouse in Alexandria, Virginia. In all cases, they were looking for information on the work that Orion was doing for you and looking for any files you may have had on me." He then shared the address and snapped off the line expecting Beckman to immediately scramble her Special Actions team to the location.

= ! =

Wednesday 30 November 2011 – 08:30 Eastern Standard Time
JW Marriott Hotel, Washington D.C.

At reception, Chuck picked up an envelope left for Mr. Charmichael. Inside was the room key with a small piece of paper with the numbers 1 and 4. At almost the same time, his NSA mobile pinged, announcing a text message with the numbers 1 and 2. He went to the elevator, pushed the button for the 11th floor, and made his way to suite 1124, using the card key to open the door. Inside sat Diane Beckman having breakfast. She pointed to the seat opposite her, where a full American breakfast was waiting.

"Diane, good to see you. Are you ok? Is everything ok? Cause I gotta tell you, I am a bit freaked out right now…did you find anything in the warehouse?" said Chuck

"The warehouse is completely empty, so nothing of value there. We are looking into who owns the property, but so far, we are only finding a series of shell companies scattered all over the globe. We'll keep digging, but this could be a dead end. As for you, I don't think you need to worry too much. We know they didn't get anything from their incursion, and if they had, it would have only been vendor files. Some of that data, like your corporate resolutions etc., are not secret, and those files would only detail our commercial arrangements and the file clearing you as an approved vendor. As for our side projects, there is nothing in the system about any specific work you are doing with us in that context. That remains entirely off the books. So while I get that you are freaked out, I do not see imminent danger, but we will talk about how we are going to manage that in a moment.

"As for how I am and how things are going, the honest answer is that I'm not sure," Diane replied. "The Director of the CIA died of a heart attack two days ago with no prior warnings, and my boss and mentor, General Merriweather, the Director of the NSA, was killed in a car accident 4 days ago. Equally disconcerting is that a lot of my relationships at the CIA are suddenly retiring or being reassigned out of the country, and I am getting a very bad feeling that these things are all related."

"The CIA's coroner has ruled out foul play in the deaths of the two Directors this week, but the reports are too clean, too certain, and they came out way too fast. And while I can't prove anything yet, my gut is telling me that there is something really wrong going on here.

"On a more positive note, the President named me as the acting Director of the NSA and nominated me for the permanent position, subject to confirmation hearings, so unless I have a car accident or a heart attack, we will be continuing our collaboration." She paused and let out a deep breath. "And there is another thing. Your pal at the CIA, Shaw, has suddenly been promoted to Special Agent 'In-Charge' and as you said, he is running the ultra-secret 'Sand-Wall' project you mentioned when we last spoke. I've not been able to confirm the specifics. Still, if it's anything like what has been whispered around, it would appear that the CIA wants to create a centralized data base where all the intelligence gathered by all law enforcement resources, including the NSA, DEA, FBI etc. would all be housed in the CIA and managed by them. There is certainly a benefit to centralizing the data, but it also presents a series of significant problems. The two most obvious being: 1, having everything in one place makes its owner potentially too powerful, and 2, if the system gets breached, the bad guys get everything. Given what Orion is offering, I would have imagined that Shaw would desperately want access to your tech to safeguard his project," she added with a concerned look on her face.

Chuck had been listening carefully, waiting for the right moment to discuss what he discovered about the CIA's newest vendor, then saw the opportunity to jump in.

"Diane," he said. "First, congratulations on your temporary appointment and your nomination. You will be great, and I look forward to continuing our work together. Second, thank you for finding out about Fulcrum Security Services. As soon as you managed to get their name, I started doing some digging with the information you gave me, and I'm also not liking what I'm seeing. I know my space pretty well and have never heard of Fulcrum Security Services, so here is what I found…..Yes, there is a company….it's registered in Delaware, but it shows no income and no taxes paid, and the only officer it lists is a lawyer who specializes in setting up shell companies.…would you like to guess who owns Fulcrum Security Services?" Chuck asked.

"Crap," said Diane, "…..a bunch of shell companies scattered all over the planet…" her voice trailed off as she thought about the security measures she was about to put in place.

"Ding ding ding!…you win the prize, Diane," said Chuck adding, "So why would Shaw hire a company with no clear background, expertise, or reputation in cyber security to safeguard the CIA and its secret program? This is a big enough question on its own. Still, when we layer in the incursion attempts and what appears to be significant similarities between who owns Fulcrum and who owns the warehouse, I am perturbed….Then I layer in Shaw, a narcissistic sociopath, and I am absolutely terrified." Chuck shook his head as he spoke, trying to contain his discomfort before his brain suddenly switched gears.

"Wait…Diane…where are your bodyguards? Are you adequately protected?" asked Chuck nervously.

"Chuck, I'm fine. The room is secure, and there is enough firepower in the rooms around us to take over a small country. But between what happened and the story you just told me, I'm glad that I was already taking steps to reconsider our security setup, and I don't want to hear a peep out of you about it. In 5 minutes, Major John Casey will walk through that door. Casey is a serious operator, a top sniper, and taught combat training as a Marine before joining the NSA as the head of my Special Actions team. It was his team that raided the warehouse last night," added Beckman.

She then continued, "You will tell your partner Morgan Grimes that you need to take some time off for vacation, and you will go with Major Casey to one of our training facilities for a 4-week intensive course on self-defense, use of weapons and tactics, and you will learn how to properly drive a car. We will add to the training over time, but we will start with 4 weeks. And I want this scheduled ASAP.

"Also, I am assigning a full-time security detail to you for your protection. You will meet them tomorrow morning. With respect to explaining your role to Major Casey and the security detail, after the embarrassing breaches at the hands of the Piranha, something they will all know about, you have been hired as the top security expert to fortify our cyber security. The work you are doing is classified, top secret, and is vital for the protection of our technology infrastructure and the intelligence data that in holds. I will brief them on certain specific threats, so they all understand their assignment is critically important. You are not to discuss any aspect of any side projects we have been working on, and of course, you never mention Piranha. Are we clear?" Beckman asked.

"Crystal, Diane…and thank you," answered Chuck seriously. Just then, there was a solid knock at the door, and a large man entered the suite.

"Major Casey, welcome," said Beckman.

"Ma'am," responded Casey.

"Major Casey, I'd like to introduce you to Chuck Bartowski. Mr. Bartowski is an external technology expert working directly for me on a top-secret project with significant national security ramifications. He has never had any sort of field training. Still, given his importance to my project, I want you to train him in the usual…situational awareness, evasion, concealment, hand-to-hand combat, weapons and tactics, and driving skills. I don't need Bartowski here to become John Casey Junior, but I want him to be able to keep himself alive in a difficult situation until help arrives. You will be using our training facility at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida, so let me know when you are ready, and I will block it off for you for 4 weeks. Tomorrow, Mr. Bartowski will meet his protective detail, and I will make sure they join you for the full four weeks of training. Any questions?" asked Beckman.

"No, ma'am. Good to meet you, Bartowski. I look forward to working with you." Casey paused for a moment looking over his new student, considering his next words carefully. "Bartowski, I am sure we will get along swimmingly, but a couple of things to keep in mind…your training is going to be tough. My purpose is not to get you fit, build your confidence, or make you a local tough guy. My purpose is to teach you how to survive, and I promise that some of those lessons will be brutal….so do what I tell you and how I tell you, and while you might hate me, these lessons will help you stay alive when everything around you is going to hell."

"Thank you, John. I look forward to working with you. Anything else I need to know?" asked Chuck.

"Yeah. I don't do lady feelings, so if you feel the need to get all mushy and emotional about stuff, keep it away from me…and call me Casey." Casey then turned to Beckman. "Anything else, ma'am?"

"No, Major, thank you," replied Beckman

With that, Casey released a small grunt, turned, and left the suite, leaving Chuck and Beckman alone in their thoughts.

"Chuck, go to get some rest, and we will meet at my office tomorrow morning at 11:00. I took the liberty of setting up an office for you next to mine. The Director's floor has secured access via a private elevator, so no one will be on our floor without my permission. Just the same, to the extent possible, please limit your interactions with anyone you meet. If you need something, call Mary on the phone, and she will make it happen. This pass also allows you to access the secure executive parking area and the secure elevator to the executive floor. Any questions?" asked Beckman as she slid the pass and ID across the table to Chuck.

"No. I think I got it. Thank you, Diane. See you tomorrow then," said Chuck as he got up to leave. Then he paused for a beat and added, "we'll figure this out, Diane….we will." And with that, Chuck walked out the door.

Chuck arranged to pick up his NSA-provided car from a local garage that kept it in ready storage. It was a beautiful metallic black Porsche 911 Cabrio, with less than 30,000 miles on it, and he drove it to his NSA-provided apartment just outside Baltimore. He took a quick shower, put on shorts and a t-shirt, then opened up his laptop and started digging a little further into Fulcrum. By 4:00 pm, he had fallen asleep on the couch. He woke up when his mobile phone rang. It was Morgan.

"Chuck, you ok, man? Is everything ok?" asked Morgan.

"Yeah, Morgs. It's all good. Just had to meet with the team from the NSA on the incursion attempt. Then with the FBI and Justice….Easy peasy pal…" replied Chuck. "How about you, you doing ok? How are the new hires working out? Oh, and did we get the contract back from the DEA?"

"My young padawan, do I need to remind you that the force is strong with me?... The DEA contract came back with an agreed value of $3.0 million a year, and we will kick off their implementation next week. The new hires are working well, and we are picking up two new people….a couple of real sharpshooters, one straight out of Cal-Tech…This kid is like Rain Man…He is unbelievable with a keyboard. And the 'piece de la resistance' is that we hired this incredible hottie. Chuck, she is just your type and so incredibly hot…." Morgan rambled on excitedly until Chuck cut him off…

"Morgs….MORGS!...dude, take a breath."

"Sorry Chuck, just so excited about everything we have going on…." replied Morgan.

"Morgan," continued Chuck, "tell me about the woman you hired?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, Chuck….she is so hot. She's tall…."

"Morgan….!"

"Yeah…sorry, Chuck. Her CV says that for the last 2 years she's been working for an outfit called Fulcrum Security Services as a network security analyst and…."

"Morgan…..Did you say Fulcrum?" Chuck cut off his partner abruptly as a knot quickly formed in his stomach.

"Yeah," replied Morgan. "I've never heard of these guys, but she totally aced the interview, so she really knows her stuff. On top of that, she is well versed in all the primary, secondary and tertiary characters in all Star Wars Movies, so she has a seriously high 'nerd quotient,' which will help her fit right in, but the best part is she got her BS in Computer Science from Stanford. She graduated a year ahead of you and said she knew you," added Morgan confidently.

"Way to bury the lead, Morgan…..Please don't tell me you hired Jill Roberts…please tell me that, Morgan…tell me that now…please," Chuck was begging.

"Uhmm, yeah, I did, Chuck. Is that a problem?…Wait, why is that a problem?" Morgan was confused.

"When does she start Morgan?" asked Chuck impatiently.

"You know the drill partner….No one starts until the security clearances are done. Can't be too careful with the clients in our portfolio. I told her it normally takes about two weeks, and the employment offer is conditional on clearance," Morgan added with emphasis.

"Yes, right, of course…Thanks, Morgs. Please do me a favor….and this is really important…..if her clearance is approved, I want you to immediately let me know, and under no circumstances are you to tell her she has been cleared. Got it?"

"Yes, Chuck, sure…no problem. What are you not telling me, partner?" Morgan said, emphasizing the word "partner" to remind Chuck that they were in this together.

"Nothing Morgs...I mean, I have a bad feeling, but nothing concrete. I just need to be sure before giving her access to any of our servers and files. In the meantime, be cool. As you said, these things typically take 2 or so weeks to sort out, and we should have it all sorted by then."

"Sure, Chuck. I got this. Will keep you posted." And with that, Chuck cut the line and picked up his communicator again.

"Beckman Secure"

"Bartowski secure….apparently, we just hired a network analyst from one of our 'not so well known' competitors…care to guess which one?"

"Crap," said Beckman. "I hate coincidences…we need a plan."

"We do. I'll think about something before we meet tomorrow," Chuck responded and hung up. He needed to clear his head and decided to get appropriately dressed and get some dinner.