CHAPTER TWO

As the Professor was doing his research, a message came in from the Director.

“You and your team need to speed up your research. I just received some new information and we are going to need to add a special undercover agent to your team.”

The Professor had a good idea what the Director had in mind and wanted a chance to challenge this order privately.

“Agent Turnbuckle, when all are done with their research, have them assemble in the Lobby. I am going to speak with the Director.” The Professor stated.

“Yes Sir,” Larry answered a bit apprehensively.

As soon as the Director saw that the Professor was on the floor, he motioned for him to come into his office.

“Come in Bernard and shut the door.” The Director stated without looking up from his screen.

“I figured you would come alone.”

“Then you know that I am here to fight you on this one.” The Professor said in a strong voice.

“Knowing you. I am sure you have a whole computer file worth of arguments, but my mind is made up!”

The Director move around to the front of his desk and sat down on the front edge. He took a long deep breath.

“Bernard, the grudge between Nick and I go much deeper than anyone knows. I do not have the time or feel the necessity to fully explain to you the details. This is no longer just about time balance and the Agency; he has now made it personal.”

The Director quickly put up his hand so the Professor would not interrupt him.

“Now before you go spiting off hundreds of rules and regulations about personal missions, let me remind you of two things. First, Nick is aware of these regulations and how devoted to them he thinks I am. He is counting on me to not break those rules to frustrate, or even taunt me.  If he believes I am still pulling the strings here in this office, he will send further clues that only I would understand.” The Director stated coldly.

“Alright Director, I will go along with you…for now,”

The Director’s expression changed back to one that made the Professor a lot more comfortable.

“What is the second thing you wanted to remind me?” The Professor asked.

The Director now smiled.

“You can’t tell me no!”

The Director went back and sat down behind his desk before he continued.

“I am adding to your team agent Victoria Snow. She has plenty of field experience but have preferred to work in the coding department. What you are to tell your team is that the Director assigned Ms. Snow to your team, and you had no choice in the matter.”

The Director started chuckling to himself.

“What?” The Professor asked.

“A majority of that is true.” The Director replied.

“Now where are you assembling your team?”

“Agent Turnbuckle was going to assemble them in the lobby after they finished their research…and from what I observed they were having a difficult time with the amount and complexity of what was on file.”

“That’s fine. It is going to take me a bit to get Agent snow’s paperwork straight.” Do not let any member of your team rush through. Everyone’s life will definitely depend on their life knowledge of those files.”

 He paused to think.

“I will have Agent Snow meet your team in the lobby in two hours.”

The Professor stood up to leave.

“Bernard?”

“Yes?”

“I know what you are thinking, but this undercover agent has may years’ experience in the field, and yes I do realize It has been sometime since this agent has been in the field and that some things are different. However, remember that Nick is old school, and there are things he uses that even you would not remember. This is another reason that this agent will be a valuable member of your team.” The Director said with confidence.

“My hope is that she stays a live member of my team,” The Professor said and left the Director’s office.

The Professor and the Director had such an intense conversation that neither noticed that all the workers that were normally busy about on his floor were not there.

The Professor looked back to still see the Director still sitting at his desk. Two seconds later the Professor made a mad dash to his office, lunged over the desk, grabbing the Director, and activating location watch at the same time.

All in the lobby were shocked to see the Director and Professor materialize in the lobby in an embrace. The Professor ran straight to the control station and put the entire building on emergency lock down.

This of course sent all agents on all floors scrambling.

“Professor have you lost…”

The Professor pointed to the large monitor on the wall. What was showing was a shot of the Directors floor that was completely empty.

“Nick!” The Director said in a discussed tone.

“Director? How, what could he have used to get a transfer beam through?” One of the security agents asked.

The Director did not answer but entered his security code and started the security codes rotating every 2.5 seconds.

“Now I want a complete list of any missing workers. More than likely all of them were harmlessly sent to another area of the agency. That stunt was another taunt. Still, I want a full report! We need all activities to return to normal.”

The Director addressed all over the intercom,

“All of you are aware of the lock down protocol, so it is time to get back to work.”

“Now Professor, I am going to work on that project I mentioned to you earlier. Finish briefing your teams, and make sure they have everything they need before you are all ready to leave the building. Your check out will be through the Assistant Directors office and I will make sure the additional person I mentioned to you will join you shortly.”

The Director headed off in the direction of Assistant Director Adams office. The Professor gathered his team and headed for a small briefing room that was located just off the lobby. The Professor was confident that all his agents were the right choices for what they were going to be asked to do. He went over with agents Larson and Nelson all the weapons and explosives they had gathered from the equipment room, along with the few “Personal” choices each agent was allowed.

He next got to together with agents Peters and Reynolds. Except for their weapons of choice all their equipment dealt with electronic and communication. They did include portable Tricubes and a multi-phase actuator, just in case.

Agent Turnbuckle was assisting agent Smith with her equipment when agent Snow showed up. It was all the Professor could do to keep a straight face. The Professor was confident he knew who the undercover agent was, until he saw her. Ms. Snow gave the appearance of a forty something, well-built long curly haired red head. The Professor kept his composure.

“May I help you?” The Professor asked politely.

“I am agent Victoria Snow from the coding department, The Director said you would be expecting me. He gave me a D2 clearance and said that you would need a decoder in the field with you.”

The Professor grumbled as he normally would have done if he had someone not of his own choosing put on his team. When he finished looking over the file Ms. Snow handed him, he let out a sigh.

“Very well agent, it appears that I can do nothing to change this. Just keep in mind that when in the field, I call all the shots, no questions asked.”

“Professor, I do have field experience and know the procedures.” She said politely.

“Agent Snow, relying on experience is what causes agents lives! Every assignment presents new challenges and calls for quick thinking!”

The Professor calmed down a bit and added,

“There will be seven other professionally qualified, experienced agents on this assignment with you. Many more things hang in the balance of this mission being successful. It will require everyone alert to do whatever it takes to ensure that we are successful. Is that clear?” He asked with his face right in front of hers.

“Perfectly”

“Good. Do you need any assistance in gathering your equipment?”

“No Sir, I am capable.”

“Very well,” The Professor said in a grumble.

The Professor’s speech to Ms. Snow was more for the benefit of the entire group, but it also accomplished two facts. One, it impressed on Candy’s mind not only importance of this assignment, but also because of her inexperience, the need to follow directions without question. Two, it let who ever this agent was, that just because they were handpicked by the Director and given a super high clearance, that no one could not override any decision that he made.

Once everyone had what they needed, the Professor told his team he wanted a few minutes one on one with each member. This was a routine procedure for those leading important multi-agent missions. By time it was Agent Snow’s turn, the discussion changed radically.

“Agent Snow, I need to know how Nick was able to steal the security codes out of the Directors office to transfer out everyone off his floor without setting off any alarms?” The Professor seated bluntly.

“How would I know that?  Besides, even if I did, I would not have clearance to pass that on to you.”

“Look Agent, if the Director wants me to carry out this assignment to the best of my ability, he is going to have to give me everything I need to accomplish it with as little loss of life as possible, and I am sure as an undercover agent the Director has given you extra information” the Professor stated, frankly.

The Professor was fishing. He wanted to know everything that agent Snow might have been told. He also wanted it to be clear that he would not tolerate being left out of the loop.

Agent Snow cleared her voice.

“The Director did mention that several years back that he and Agent Nick Vanbarrow were working on a special project. It was called a Line-a-round beam. The agency killed the project, deeming it too unstable. It worked on a flex principle, bending real time to give the appearance of a ten to twelve second freeze of time. It could be used several times in a row under the right conditions. If the conditions were not correct, or if the calculations were off in the slightest, those being beamed could be caught in a permanent loop of time. That was the main concern for killing the project.”

The Professor thought about this for a moment, then called in all the other agents over to where he was.

“Agent Snow has recently decoded a signal that might have been used to take the workers off his floor. The Director cannot confirm that this was indeed what was used. However, because the one we are after is a former agent and was working on a process that would allow him to pull off something like this, and the fact that the agency banned this method, makes it the likely method used.”

The Professor flashed Agent Snow a “Don’t say a word,” look.

“This is going to complicate our assignment to say the least. Not only does it allow him to get in and out of places without be detected, it also could give him insight to where and what time frame we transport into.”

The Professor paused and paced the floor before continuing.

“Okay, here is what we are going to do. We are all going to transport at the same time to location YT556. Then we will individually transport to three other predetermined locations at ten second intervals, then again at the designated time, transport to our true destination.”

“Professor, won’t that overload the power generator?” Larry asked.

“I will notify that department to temporarily shut down grids three through eight.”

“Um Professor, don’t you need the Director’s authorization for that?” Agent Snow asked.

The Professor gave a cold hard stare at Agent Snow.

“This assignment has been given an O.S.A. code. Do you know what that stands for?” The Professor asked in a low, slow, tone.

“On sight authority,” Agent Snow answered reluctantly.

“And on this assignment, who has the authority, and when does that authority begin?”

“You have been given that authority, and the authority is effective when you accept the assignment,” Agent Snow answered in a recital tone.

“Do you have a problem with that authorization?”

“No, Professor.”

The Professor paused and took a deep breath.

“A number of you have been with me on assignments before, and know that I try to keep everything upbeat, no matter what. This assignment has a lot more riding on it. I am afraid that I have no choice but to be strictly business from her on out.”

He paused again.

“Very Well. Now Agents I am going to preset your first location. You are to transport to a second location of your choice two point five seconds later, then two point nine seconds after that to D.I. 137.4 Y1820. I cannot stress enough how important it is that these instructions are to be followed to the smallest detail.”

The Professor looked at all the agents in general but was favoring Candy when he added.

“All of you were specially selected, I and the Director have the upmost confidence in you. Now check you watches; the first locations should be in there. Now preprogram your second location, then the coordinates I gave you for our destination…Any questions?

The room was silent.

“Good! Is everyone set?”

All agents responded affirmatively.

Less than ten seconds later all the agents were assembled in a barn, just outside Dublin Ireland. The year was 1820 B.C.E. The Processor double checked his scanner to verify their time and location was correct. He directed for Agents Larson and Neilson to do continuous scanner sweeps while the other agents set up.

“Peters, you and Reynolds set up in the loft, just make sure the floorboards will support all the weight of you and your equipment.” Turnbuckle, you and Smith over there, and Snow, you’re with me.”

The Professor and Agent Snow started checking to see if the Professors little time “hop-scotch” trick worked.

“I am sure that if we survive this, the Director is going to give you a good piece of his mind,” Agent Snow commented.

The Professor continued his checks. Without looking at Agent Snow he replied,

“If we are successful, I will listen to whatever he has to say. However, if he ever gives me this kind of assignment again, and wants to put restrictions, or wants to second guess my decisions, I will refuse the assignment.”

The Professor now looked up.

“So, Agent Snow, what does your Timeline indicator tell you?

Agent Snow let out a frustrated sigh.

“It appears that your time jump diversion worked. There appears to be no fluctuation in the time wave, and there are not any anomalies in the time matrix.”

“Perfect, now go see if you can go help Turnbuckle and Smith finish setting up.”

Agent Snow did not mind playing her role in this assignment. She did not really mind taking orders from the Professor. The only thing that bugged her was the way the Professor seemed to enjoy his “right” to give her those orders. She was not going to blow her cover, but certainly she would be ready to give the Professor an ear full when the assignment was over.

“Yes sir,” Agent Snow replied as she went off to assist the two agents.