Now We Are Free - Chapter Three

The Threat of the Committee

    Dez stared out the window into the black night. Rain splattered against the round pane and trickled down, finding it’s way to the cement sill, then eventually to the muddy ground far below. City lights blinked and winked in the distance and there were a few sections glowing a dull orange to the left and right even further away. Everything in between was black, no shapes or other colors, just a dark blanket. During the day, she had quite the view of the cities and countryside surrounding the mountain from her small cell, which was one of the highest in the compound. If she looked down she could see the rest of the cement building sprawling over a good portion of the wooded mountain.

    In her hand, Dez held the paper that the man had carried in his suit. It was open and she had read it twice and was now contemplating the meaning of its contents. She stared out the round window, though she wasn’t admiring the view. In fact, she wasn’t looking at anything in particular. Dez was sitting on her bed, which was the top bunk of the two beds, with her arms wrapped around her knees.

    The room itself was a blank gray and had no embellishments or any spot of color. The beds were a dull metallic gray, the blankets and sheets a dull gray, their regulation clothes (the ones they were to wear when not on missions) were the same gray. The walls, door and even ceiling were all that basic gray. Now, Reader, all of this takes a very long time to describe but only a few seconds to notice.

    Tav was the other person who slept in the lower bunk. At first she thought it was kind of weird to stay in the same room with a guy, but everyone seemed to do it and no one thought it strange anymore. Though at first, it seemed like a mistake to put them in the same room because that meant they were partners, and Tav was far more experienced than she was. He had joined the agency when he was just a young boy. Dez had come when she was sixteen. Does she remember anything from her former life? I’m sorry to say that she doesn’t, which is unfortunate because if she realized what sort of family she left behind it is certain that she would get away from the agency and immediately rejoin them. But she never knew what she was missing.

    The door to their cell swung open and Tav’s head appeared though the opening. “They want us down in the mission room, pronto. What’s that?” He asked motioning to the paper in her hands, obviously forgetting its importance.

    Dez glanced at the paper, put it aside, and said, “Oh, nothing. I’ll tell you later.” She swung down from her bed and followed him out the door. She tucked a bit of light blonde hair behind her ear as they approached the elevator. Tav smirked slightly as he recalled memories. “Remember when I had you race up the stairs while I took the elevator?”

    “Yes, and if you will recollect, I beat you,” she added with a playful smirk.

    The familiar ding sounded through the box and the doors rolled back into the walls. A general hum of voices reached them, and several other agents, men and women alike, walked about, each on different tasks of their own.

    Dez and Tav dodged between them and went straight to a pair of glass double doors. Tav rapped to announce their entry, opened them, and stepped in. Inside there was a committee of five grave faced men and women, who stared at them with sharp cold eyes. For a second there was absolute silence. Finally one of the men cleared his throat, staring directly at Dez.“We’ve been watching you lately and have seen, shall we say, a lack of precision in your actions on the field, Agent 670. We thought it fitting to remind you that you are no longer in training. Act accordingly,” he paused, delivering an icy glare with his formidable warning. “And for that reason we have called you here for a test mission. We know that you have a good record of kills to your name, but lately you have been failing in your results. Therefore, if you do not make this test mission, your records will be wiped and you will consider yourself a beginner—”

    “But sir,” Tav broke in, “It’s not—”

    “Silence!” He hissed. “As for you, you have done nothing wrong and will be given a higher task, perhaps a new, more worthy trainee. Now, Agent 670, we thought it fitting that we give you a simple reconnaissance mission. It should be relatively easy for your level. There is a foreign exchange building located in the city to the east. Find it. Once you do, there should be a lady there with a jeweled clutch.” A screen above them blinked on and flashed through slides as he spoke. It first showed the lady then a closer look at the clutch she held in her hand. “Get the bag at all costs. You are not required to kill anyone, but if anyone gets in the way, eliminate them.”

    A sick feeling had swept over Dez when they first mentioned her record being wiped, and it took every effort to keep focused on what he was saying. “What’s in the bag?” She asked in a much more confident voice than she felt.

    “That is none of your concern.” He replied sourly. “You are to leave at 06:00 tomorrow morning. Dismissed.”

    She nodded slightly to the counsel, then turned on her heel glancing at Tav. He was to stay. She exited the room, uncertain of what her future was to be.

✧ ✧ ✧

    Dez had fallen asleep before Tav came in that night. Though her mind was restless, it was not about her new mission. It was about that paper the man named Bently had. If it was true, then she could start new. She believed what the paper said, and she wanted to do what it said, start living it out. But the agency would never let her if she stayed. She would have to escape somehow. Maybe tomorrow would give her a chance to do so. It would be risky, but after reading it, Dez knew she could never just forget about it. It was too important. Should she share it with Tav? No, not yet.

    Oh yeah, this might be the last time she was to sleep up here with Tav. If the counsel had their way, she would be failed in this mission and sent back to academy to work back up to trainee and maybe, maybe, get her old position back. Chances of that were slim. She might as well tell Tav goodbye in the morning, she wasn’t likely to see him again. Speaking of whom, where was he anyway?

    Probably spending the night celebrating not having to train the amateur who’s failing, she thought miserably. Oh well, he’ll not have to bother with me again, the committee will be sure of that.

    Feeling dismal and dejected, she finally fell into an uneasy sleep.