Milton Keynes, August 1974
The brass plaque affixed to the granite wall next to the unremarkable front door said "Comdem Office Services." Jonathan Masters, a lanky American in his late twenties with a boyish face and charm to match, held the door open for Anna and Sean. His voice still held the mild Southern accent that marked him as a North Carolina native.
"Welcome to our humble temporary agency," said Jonathan. "I think you'll find everything in order, Sean."
"I'm sure I will," said Sean.
Jonathan led the way to a room where two young men sat behind desks. They looked up from their desk work when they saw the visitors.
"Sean, Anna, this is our main accounting room. This is Travis and Harry, our two best clerks," said Jonathan.
The two young men rose to their feet. The desks had disguised their bulk somewhat. Standing up, they looked like broad-shouldered football linebackers not mild-mannered accountants.
"Mr. Donely and Ms. Devane are here to audit our books," said Jonathan. "Do the honors, please, Travis."
Travis gestured for them to follow him. "Yes, sir. The uh ledgers are right this way. Please follow me."
Travis pulled at a fob on his belt. It was a ring attached to a piece of leather that encased something with an odd shape. He rubbed the leather piece against a dull metal panel on the wall by a locked door. A small diode on the panel turned green. He entered a series of numbers on the keypad above the door knob. An high pitched beep sounded followed by the sound of metal latches sliding. The green light blinked three times and Travis turned the knob.
Through all this, Jonathan watched Sean carefully. This display was all part of the security procedure that Jonathan had devised. He wanted to make sure just the right impression on Donely. For his part, Sean affected an impassive face. But his busy mind catalogued all the changes made since his last visit a year before. He had challenged Jonathan to create a shadow operation fronted by a legitimate enterprise and so far Jonathan's efforts seemed effective. Sean approved of the continuation of the sham facade followed by the guards. If one pretended long enough, anything could become real.
Travis made sure that everyone was inside the door before closing the door and following the reverse procedure on the inner side of the security door. Once the door clicked shut, the accounting facade was dropped.
They were in a small room with no windows. A metal grill of one inch thick steel bars lined one side of the room barricading a series of steps leading downward. Travis activated a bulky terminal that stood by the door to the barred area.
Jonathan smiled shyly at Anna. "Sean sent me your fingerprint file. I've added it to our system. Place your left hand flat on the scanner slot. The machine will scan and verify your access level."
Anna inserted her hand into the slot. "Like this, Jonathan?"
"Perfect. Just perfect."
The machine whirred and chirped. A business card sized card slid out of another slot. With sure hands, Travis took the card and attached a lanyard to it. He gave the lanyard to Anna. Sean followed suit. Once he and Anna had their lanyards on, Travis opened the grill.
Jonathan led them the rest of the way down the stairs. "The upstairs is all agency work. We do send workers to businesses in the area. Downstairs is where our real work is."
At the bottom of the stairs, they passed their cards through yet another reader. The heavy security door slid open revealing a small hallway with another set of secured stairs at the far end.
For Anna's benefit, Jonathan kept a running commentary. "Sean chose this place well. Originally, it had one basement and a cellar below that. We have added a second cellar. The basement is accessible to all employees. But the lowest levels are all access card secure."
Anna cocked an ear at the sound of whistling air. "What's that noise?"
"That's the air exchange system. It's a series of fans and pumps designed to circulate the air in the sub-cellars and funnel fresh air from outside. At the depths we dug out the cellars to, inert gas was a problem. The air system is complicated but it works."
"It's the same system used in deep mining operations. Made in Switzerland, too," rumbled Sean. "Only the best for my team."
"We thank you," said Jonathan opening the second door which led to an antechamber with a narrow set of steps again leading down. A guard stood at attention by the stairs.
"Last ones," said Jonathan passing his card through the card reader.
The last set of stairs were steeper. Anna grasped the railing as the stairs spiraled down. Small lights illuminated each step. She shivered in the chill air.
"The breeze, Jonathan?" asked Sean.
"That's from the new second emergency access shaft in the storage room. We just finished it and the boys are making adjustments to the hatch to meet your requirements," said Jonathan.
"I'd like to test it while I'm here," said Sean.
"Of course. Mi casa, su casa as they say," answered Jonathan. "Sean, I've built our emergency evacuation procedures around the first emergency shaft. It's wider and better located. I don't know if we'll ever use the new shaft. It's kind of out of the way and narrow."
"Hopefully you never do need it but it's best to have multiple options," said Sean.
Anna counted thirty-five steps down. They were certainly several floors down from the building's lower level. "Are we about two floors down?"
"More like two and a half. We had to bypass a lot of city pipes and conduits. It was easier to keep digging down and excavate to get the space we need," said Jonathan. "I still don't know how you finessed the building permits by the zoning board, Sean. None of our work appears on the official blueprints. I checked."
"Someone owed me a favor," said Sean. "Are we set up?"
"Yes." Jonathan glanced at Anna. "Am I correct in assuming that she's the candidate?"
Sean nodded. "The one and only."
Jonathan opened the last door into a pristine well lit hallway with gray granite tiles on the floor and cream colored walls. "The team can't wait to get started on the real thing." He marched down the hallway nodding to people as they passed him. Everyone seemed to wear either a white lab coat or blue coveralls. Anna noticed that security cards hung visibly around their necks. Each card had a distinctive red and blue stripe on one side as did hers and Sean's cards.
Anna looked at Sean. "The real thing?"
"I've been searching for the right candidate. You. Until then, the team … practiced on volunteers," said Sean. "Don't worry. The volunteers weren't harmed. There isn't any lasting damage done."
Jonathan asked with some concern, "You haven't told her the details?"
"All the details are need to know. I'm very confident that Anna will be successful. Failure hasn't even crossed my mind," said Sean.
Jonathan looked at Anna. "You must be good."
"Sean thinks so," replied Anna.
"What do you think?" asked Jonathan.
"I love a challenge," said Anna with a smile. "Don't we all?"
In Jonathan's cellar office, Anna and Sean waited as Jonathan checked on last minute preparations for Anna's upcoming session.
"I have him fooled, Sean. I've passed your latest test," said Anna. "What's next?"
"You recovered nicely after the details slip but it's too soon to tell," said Sean.
"There was nothing to recover from. I didn't know anything," said Anna.
"I admit I've been holding back on information. Don't you want to know more?"
"I'm not certain I do. Maybe later. You did say I had to appear fresh and unrehearsed, right?"
"Yeah, I did."
"The goal is to cripple the DVX for a good long time. You've said that whatever training I'm to acquire here is to serve that goal. Those details are what I need to know. Too much knowledge could be harmful. I could say too much at the wrong time and not realize what I've done. Better to know as little as possible," said Anna. "Besides, you said to trust you. I do."
"Thank you."
"Keep your promises to me and I'll do the best job I can," said Anna. "That's our deal, yes?"
Sean saw the determination and trust in Anna's face and could not speak. At that moment, he realized that Anna had put her life and future into his hands and he had accepted with open, eager hands. A wave of shame swept through him. Here was someone that was putting everything on the line and he was manipulating her like a living marionette. How could he use her as he had so many others?
Gabriel's voice seemed to whisper in his ear reminding Sean of the promises he had made to Gabriel about Anna. He vowed to allow Anna more say in her mission. He wouldn't micromanage as he usually did. He'd shepherd Anna through to the end of Operation Brimstone and then he would release her to live a life far away from danger and other complications of their shadowy world. That he owed to Gabriel. To Anna he owed protection and he would give her that every step of the way.
His lips quirked at the thought of being so noble and right-thinking. "Yes, my lady Devane, that is our deal."
"Lady? Hardly," said Anna.
"It came to me just now that I was like a king sending his knight on a quest. I can provide a horse and weapons but the quest was ultimately in my knight's own hands not mine," said Sean.
"You're a romantic."
"Not anymore," said Sean. "There's no place for lofty ideals and brave, honorable knights in our business."
"Yet in a way we slay our version of dragons to keep people safe, damsel or no," pointed out Anna. "We train our hearts out. We get little to no financial reward from risking our lives. Medals and commendations don't pay the bills. We live and breathe the service. And only the best get in."
"Who's the romantic now?"
Anna laughed. "Blame my childhood. The stories I liked best were about fairies and heroes winning over evil like Robin Hood did over the Sheriff. I used to dress up in green tights and wave a broom about like it was my quarterstaff. I quite annoyed my sister."
"Robin but not Maid Marian?"
"She bored me," said Anna. "She did nothing except needlepoint and pine after Robin."
"It must have been hard work fending off suitors and finding ways to get information to Robin and his men," said Sean. "She didn't have it easy. A knight can take out his frustrations on the nearest evil doer. Ladies had no choice at all but to wait for rescue."
"You are a romantic, sir, and I shall never believe otherwise," said Anna.
"I prefer the term imaginative." Sean extended his hand out to Anna. "Whatever we are, I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me. Deal?"
Anna shook his hand. "Your secrets are safe with me. Forever."
As Anna was being prepared for a session to determine her baseline readings and reactions, Sean and Jonathan caught up in a conference room.
"She's not what I expected, Sean," said Jonathan.
"What DID you expect?"
"Given the date of birth on the file you sent me, I was expecting someone less … I don't know … worldly," said Jonathan.
"You should never judge a book by its cover," said Sean.
"When I picked you up at the station, I was a little confused," said Jonathan. "She wasn't anything like the pictures in her file. And when she spoke, it was like honey to my ears."
Sean chuckled. "After your years here, you've finally gone native?"
"Maybe. I'm seeing a local college gal Priscilla. I think she may be the future Mrs. Masters," said Jonathan.
"Let me know where to send the wedding gift to," said Sean.
"Speaking of British girls, Anna's file said that she was recruited out of the Canada office by Gabriel. My American ears hear a proper British accent not Canadian."
"Anna was orphaned. She came to Canada to stay with relatives but she's British all the way. I didn't put that bit in the file because it's … irrelevant," said Sean. "Any other first impressions, Jon?"
"Her training scores are in the highest percentiles. Her intelligence is obvious. She has a good attitude. I can't put my finger on it but there's something about her. I think it's called presence," said Jonathan. "I don't know all the details of this operation of yours, Sean. I have to assume that you know she can handle it. Are you sure she's the only one you'll need? I have some other candidates that can be her wingmen."
"No. She has to be solo," said Sean. "You'll do the immersion training and that's all. I'll handle everything else after that. I have to begin making arrangements. How long will the sessions take in all?"
"Eight days composed of seven sessions days with the fourth day as an observation and rest day," said Jonathan.
"That long?"
"I don't advise shortcuts. What we do here is still experimental. Our expertise has grown but I don't want to become overconfident," said Jonathan. "You may feel that Anna can get through it but I'm going to be monitoring and measuring her progress personally. If I see something wrong, I will stop the immersion."
"Fair enough," said Sean.
"One caveat. None of the volunteers have completed all the sessions AND kept satisfactory scores through every one of our measurement tests."
"None?"
"The fifth session has had the most declines," said Jonathan. "We've tried varying sequence, frequency and even the learning plan but nothing's worked. The candidates do get past it but their scores take a dive. Every single one. Knowledge recall is superior but application is weak. Anna will run into the same wall on session five."
"I don't think so," said Sean.
"Why not?"
"Because she won't let a wall stop her. You'll see," said Sean. "Anna is a very determined woman, Jon. She'll find a way to get past the wall or over it or under it. Keep good notes."
"This I have to see," said Jonathan.
A woman peeped into the office. "Jonathan, the candidate is ready."
"Thanks, Francine. Bring her into the chamber. Start the relaxation phase. We'll be monitoring from the main control room," said Jonathan. "A tenner says she hits the wall hard, Sean."
"Fifty says she won't even flinch," said Sean.
"This is going to be like taking candy from a baby," said Jonathan. He led Sean to the main control room. "Before you leave us, I'd like to speak to you about the … project's future. We're up and running. Our progress is good but I have to admit that we haven't reached all our goals yet. I hate to say this but I need more time and, of course, more funding. Am I likely to get my wish?"
"That depends on how successful Anna is," said Sean.
Jonathan sighed. "I kind of knew that in the back of my head. I told you she won't succeed with total immersion. That means I should start thinking about moving on to another line of study, another project?"
Sean waited until they were inside the control room and alone before responding. "One hundred percent success is the goal but to be honest I've always thought that it's a 60-40 split. All the procedures and technology isn't going to get the job done by themselves. They can only contribute the 40 percent. The rest is up to … to choosing the right person or the closest to it and hoping that the candidate's motivation and attributes carry them to the finish line."
"You think that highly of Anna?" asked Jonathan. "She's not the first candidate to receive this immersion treatment but she will the first to actually be deployed in the field to sink or swim. That's a lot to put on one person. Some of my volunteers have ten or more years of field experience. They couldn't absorb everything or if they did they executed poorly during trials."
"That's why I believe Anna will succeed. She doesn't have any learned habits, biases or preconceived ideas to get in the way. I customized her training myself. She's a clean slate," said Sean. "Project Minerva will fill in the blanks as it was intended to."
"We'll see," said Jonathan watching through the one way glass window as the doctors attached monitor leads to Anna in the session room. "Level with me. If Anna fails, will you pull the plug on my baby?"
"You can't believe that I would have put this much thought and money into a project only to scrap it when it's just beginning to get traction? No. Russia, Korea and a few other nations are betting heavy on behavioral research and mental programming, we have to keep our lead no matter how small it is," said Sean. "Project Minerva will continue. Anna is the first Minerva agent but she won't be the last."