The next day, I was in the office, waiting for my lunch break, when some people in suits entered. I could see three burly-looking guys, all sharply dressed. Another man was in a black suit with a black necktie. He had gray peppered into his curly black hair. I recognize his face from the telly.

He was none other than Jamaican Prime Minister Johnson!

He addressed me.

"Your Excellency," I said. "What may I do for you, sir?"

"Is there a conference room?"

"Yes, sir," I said. I led them to the conference room, which had a small table and a bookcase filled with books on various subjects. I had had meetings with my boss here a couple of times. We all sat down on the leather chairs.

"How do you like your job so far?" asked the prime minister.

"Fine, sir," I answered. "It will open doors for me. Better than being a waiter."

"I remember what that was like, back when I was younger than you were," said Johnson. "Letting other people take care of the big stuff while I just went around with trays of food in exchange for gratuity. Now we have the fate of the world in our hands."

"Yes, sir," I replied. I briefly recalled my role in the war against the Robotech Masters, the same people helping us now- albeit under different leadership.

"Good. I have been informed that you maintain contact with members of the United Nations military."

I figured out how he knew.

"You have been keeping a watch," I said.

"I have people who do that for me. For which country do you work, my friend?"

"Jamaica, of course."

"Then remember that when you meet with other people in this work, you represent Jamaica. And if you do well for Jamaica, Jamaica will do well for you."

"I will, sir," I answered.

oooooooooo

Things were beginning to pick up. I had meetings with businessmen who wanted to distribute protoculture to private consumers. While most of Jamaica's share of protoculture was needed for the robotech war machines acquired by the Jamaican Defense Force, the Jamaican government still needed to raise funds. I still remembered the prime minister's words as I did my job.

I still wondered what we would do when the Invid decided to come here to take the Flower of Life. Although General Tom Washington was handling that, I could not help but wonder how to fight the Invid. Would they invade Jamaica?

One day, I went to deliver a routine report to my boss, Mr. Winthorpe. He had this large office with an expensive-looking wooden desk and some bookcases filled with various books. I handed the report to one of the trays on his desk.

I then noticed a man and a woman in professional-looking suits in the office with me.

"Was I interrupting anything, sir?" I asked.

"Actually," said Winthorpe, "we are so glad you could join us. Have a seat please."

I sat down and glanced at Winthorpe's guests. I then started hearing music in the office. It felt relaxing. I was glad to feel this way, as my work recently had been stressful.

I started to feel detached from the world, as my mind was floating away.

"What's…going on?" I asked slowly.

"This is part of the plan," said Winthorpe, his voice sounding like thunder. "It's why we hired. Do you think…"

Sound, sight, taste, smell, and touch seemed to melt together. I was barely aware of what was going on.

Memories and imaginations surfaced. Memories of my life in Jamaica, the taste of my mother's jerk cooking, memories of hanging out with Jack and Mike and the others, memories of combat.

And then everything came into focus. I heard some words.

"Kill them."

I then saw a woman in a red dress. She had bluish-green hair. I glanced and saw two identical triplets in blue and green dresses, respectively.

Where was I? I thought. I saw plaster walls and a large mirror, where I could see my reflection and that of the three ladies. .

"I said kill them," said the lady in the red dress.

"What is going on?" I asked. The other two ladies had looks of surprise on their faces.

I knew who they were; they were the Ruling Triumvirate.

I did not know how I got here, but I knew I had to leave. I glanced and saw a varnished wooden door.

I pushed my way through the door and entered this large hallway. It was wide, with a carpeted floor, and a few well-dressed people were there.

I made sure to make a brisk walk, but not to run. I just had to make it to the exit, find out where I was.

It was then that I heard gun shots, and I glanced back. That gave me an excuse to run.

I reached this huge room. A quick glance revealed it was a hotel lobby, with its registration desk, bell desk, and other furniture.

Someone grabbed my arm. I looked and saw this slant-eyed dark haired woman, wearing a cap on her head and a denim jacket.

"Jack sent me," she said.

I trusted her. She led me out of the lobby and into a small hallway.

"Wear this," she said. She gave me a baseball cap and a fake black beard and a sweat suit. I looked and saw myself wearing a business suit. I quickly undressed- something I learned in the Army- and put on the sweat suit and sneakers. The old clothes were stuffed into the leather backpack.

The lady led me out to the public area. I noticed a lot more activity, with uniformed police officers walking about. We made sure to steer clear of them.

We soon reached this concrete parking garage. Emerging on the third level, the lady led me across the concrete surface to one of the cars, a blue Ford Focus. I got into the passenger seat and fastened my seat belt. She started the engine, put the car in gear, and soon emerged from the parking garage out into rain-battered streets.

I looked at the scenery and I recognized the place as Montego Bay.

"Who are you?" I asked the driver.

"Major Nova Satori, Global Military Police," she said. "Jack sent me to watch your back when the brainwashing was activated."

"I'm just glad it worked, especially as we didn't know what they would be up to."

"We're not out of the woods yet."

She drove through the streets of Montego Bay, and then on the A1. I kept looking into the mirror for any police cars chasing us. It would not have surprised me. Given how I snapped out of mind control, I figured out something violent happened, and that the gun shots I heard were meant to be fired by me.

We soon reached this motel. It looked like most motels, with the rooms facing the central parking area. There were perhaps a dozen cars parked.

"Let's go," said Major Satori. We went out as the rain battered us.

"Room Eight, first floor," she said, stepping out of the office. I looked for the room, and saw the door with a brass "8" attached to it.

"Here!" I yelled.

Satori unlocked the door and I was eager to get in from the rain.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I can't believe it worked."

"For now. The local authorities might start barging down this door."

"You must have been prepared."

"The GMP has this sort of experience. We have safehouses all over the world, especially for witnesses testifying in trials against violent criminals. Still, we had to play a lot of this by ear, since we didn't know exactly what we were dealing it or what the enemy's plan was."

"Just like the war, eh," I said, lying down on the bed. I glanced around the room, which was unremarkable. There was a bed, a dresser, and a television. A bathroom was in the back.

I recalled my last meeting with Jack and his friends. His friend Musica was a mistress of the Cosmic Harp, which was used to placate the clones on the Robotech Masters' flagship. She was able to detect that I was still under the Robotech Masters control, that I could be "reactivated" at any time.

She could have simply removed the programming completely. But there was some scheme afoot, especially since I had been hired to such a sensitive position in the Jamaican government. I agreed to have Musica alter my "programming", such that I would stop if I tried to do something violent, like kill someone.

"I hope I don't regret this," I remembered saying.

I turned on the color television. A newscaster was at the hotel where I had found myself .

"It has been confirmed that two of the Ruling Triumvirate of the Robotech Masters were assassinated in this hotel," said the newscaster. "The third survived. Police are looking for this man. He is suspected in carrying out the assassination."

I then saw my own face.

"We've got to get you out of here," said Satori. "The Army should have a heli."

I watched the news report as a witness described the shooting. A waitress at the hotel told the reporter how she had heard the gunshots, and saw people screaming. I was now one of Jamaica's most wanted.

"I wonder who gave the go ahead," I said. "Jack doesn't have enough rank to pull this off."

"He reports to someone who does," replied the GMP officer.

For a few minutes I wondered if this whole plan was such a good idea.

"Let's go," said Satori. We went outside, and she pulled out this pistol and walked to the middle of the parking lot. Firing it into the air, I saw this bright green flare.

"Let's hope the extraction team gets us out of here," I said, my face getting wet in the rain.

I then heard police sirens. A few police cars pulled into the parking lot.

One of the police officers called out my name and demanded that I surrender.

I heard the familiar thump of a helicopter, and I looked above and saw the shadowy profile of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, a general purpose helicopter used by the United Earth Forces.

I saw a ladder descend. "Grab on!" yelled a voice from the aircraft. I quickly ran to the chopper and lifted myself up rung by rung as the rain wet my face even as the helicopter lifted up. I scrambled into the cabin of the copter, and Satori came in just behind me.

I could see flashes of gunfire as the police officers below fired small arms at us. We simply flew away.

"We extracted the package," I heard the pilot say. "We are heading back home."

I looked outside the helicopter. Soon I could see lights marking the Jamaican coastline. I had a feeling that I would not come back for a while.