Coded

by Kayla Bainbridge

  The first night back, Kennedy’s family went out to celebrate at Kennedy’s favorite Chinese restaurant. Taylor had part of his team watch the family while Taylor and the other half set up surveillance cameras around the house. It only took him and the two other agents twenty minutes, leaving plenty of time before they returned.

  While they were there, Taylor looked around the house. This was the place Kennedy grew up in. He saw where they had measured her every year to see how tall she was, the posters of her favorite bands on her bedroom wall, and the backyard that held the small treehouse she used to play in. This house had so many memories.

  When the family returned, Taylor sent the other team of agents to the hotel, they needed sleep to take the night shift. Taylor would remain with the other two agents for another six hours.

  Sitting outside, the men chit chatted about their lives, or lack thereof. They could see Kennedy inside the house, they were talking about school, and playing a simple card game.

  After Kennedy’s family went to bed, she texted Taylor, “You out there?”

  “Of course, sleep well,” Taylor replied.

  “Thank you for this Taylor,” she sent back, and that was the last Taylor heard from her that night.

  At ten, Taylor’s teams switched out, and he went to the hotel to get some rest. In the morning they switched back.

  “Any activity yet?” Taylor asked as they were packing up.

  “They talked about going on a hike,” the agent responded.

  “I like hikes,” one of the daytime agents responded.

  When the family pulled out, one agent stayed to keep an eye on the house, while Taylor and the last agent, Blake, followed the family.

  At the hike, Blake and Taylor kept a large distance between themselves and the family. This time with Kennedy’s family was special, Taylor didn’t want that interrupted. Instead, Taylor kept the conversation light with Blake. They caught up some sport scores, and their favorite taco trucks.

  Once the family was done and started to head back, Taylor and Blake casually passed them and said their, “Good morning,” gesture to the family.

  When Kennedy saw Taylor, she smiled at him, but didn’t draw any further attention. She had learned well.

  They then grabbed lunch and stayed home the rest of the day.

  The following day when they left to grab some breakfast, the agent at the house called in.

  “Someone is here from the bug company; he is trying to get into the house.”

  “Stop him,” Taylor said.

  “Right,” the agent said, hanging up.

  Taylor saw the family starting to leave.

  “What do we do now? Blake asked.

  “He can handle it,” Taylor said confidently.

  When they arrived back at the house, everything appeared normal. They checked in with their fellow agent.

  “What happened?” Blake asked.

  “I showed him my badge and he stopped immediately. The police arrested him for trespassing.”

  “Good job,” Taylor said as they resumed their positions in the car.

  The rest of the week passed without incident. Taylor would have loved to meet her family and friends, but Taylor and his team remained silent in the shadows. He stayed in the car and watched her from there. It left her more exposed, and visually distant a majority of her visit, but she needed this. It was boring, but when the family went out to dinner, or a hike, or on a bike ride, Taylor got to see who the real Kennedy was. She was happy there.

  Once back at the NSA, Kennedy was beaming. She was ready to tackle anything. They spent that time in intense physical training. Wendy waited until the last possible moment to make sure that Kennedy wouldn’t damage her shoulder in any way. Kennedy laughed when she realized that all the training, she had already completed wasn’t the intense level.

  They taught her how to handle a gun. She did well at the shooting range, and Taylor was confident in her abilities with a weapon. There were several basic handguns they taught her how to shoot, and load.

  Physical defense was not her strong suit. Regardless, she gave her team everything she had. After a day or two she had learned hand to hand combat and basic escape maneuvers. Taylor wasn’t comfortable with her lack of hand on hand combat skills, but he pushed it aside. Hopefully, it never came to that.

  One happy discovery over the summer was that Taylor and Kennedy both enjoyed running. She looked free, and at peace when she ran. He showed her his favorite routes around the campus. She started running longer distances and held a faster pace. Sometimes Kennedy even ran after a full day of training.

  One day after her extra run on a treadmill, Kennedy grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her neck. Taylor noticed her movement and set down his weights.

  “Taylor?” she asked between breaths. He had been working a few machines down.

  “Yes? Are you doing okay?” he asked, walking closer to her. There were only a few other people in the room, but he tried to keep their conversation private.

  “Yes,” Kennedy said, taking a deep breath. “I just wonder if I can really do this.”

  “What do you mean?” Taylor asked, handing her a water bottle.

  “I just feel like everyone has so much confidence in me, and I don’t think I share the enthusiasm. I would hate to let Jennifer, Brett, Wendy, Dustin, and you down.” She took a drink.

  Taylor smiled, “You are stressed; don’t worry about letting people down. We know that you have been working extremely hard and will continue to do so while at school.”

  “What if I burn out?”

  “Then I will take you to another movie, which seemed to do the trick.”

  Kennedy smiled, “Yes that did work pretty well.”

  Taylor was glad he could make her smile. The NSA wanted to keep her happy so that she would work for them willingly, but Taylor also cared about her as a person. He wanted to see her happy.

  “I’m not sure I can squeeze another movie in before we leave,” Taylor admitted.

  “That’s ok, I’m tired most days anyway.”

  Over the summer, Taylor had taken Kennedy off campus a few times. They had gone hiking, visited a garden, went to the zoo, and even hit an outlet mall. Taylor had liked the hike the most, Kennedy had enjoyed the shopping the most.

  “Do you need to finish your run?”

  “No, I am exhausted,” Kennedy said, getting up and walking out of the gym and down to her apartment.

  “You will do great,” Taylor reassured her at Kennedy's apartment door.

  “Thanks,” Kennedy said before closing the door and saying goodnight.

  ∆∆∆

  With only one week left before leaving, Kennedy felt incredible. Not only had she built up all her muscles, her deciphering endurance, but her confidence made her ready for anything. Regardless, most of this training had been precautionary. Kennedy hoped to never use a lot of her skills, especially her self-defense skills. Going back to college, she was determined to be just like any other student, Taylor excluded that is. Kennedy laughed, she realized what she had to do.

  Walking out of her apartment, she crossed the hall and knocked on Taylor’s door.

  “I thought you were supposed to be packing?” Taylor questioned when he saw her at the door.

  “I was, and also thinking about college, when I realized the perfect solution to our problem.”

  “What problem?”

  Kennedy smiled, “You are following me around like a little dog.”

  “You mean like an NSA agent?” Taylor corrected. She could tell he hadn’t liked the comparison.

  “Right, sorry, like a NSA agent.”

  Taylor leaned against the door frame, “Well what is it?”

  “You could be my boyfriend.”

  Taylor stumbled off the frame, but caught himself, “What?”

  Kennedy laughed, “I’ve never seen you react like that. Think about it, it would make complete sense why I didn’t talk to Cole, and why you are al
ways around. I mean it wouldn’t be for real, it would just be pretend.”

  She could see the thoughts spinning through his mind. It felt personal, almost like she was invading a private moment he was having. Did the idea of being her boyfriend repulse him? Or maybe he didn’t feel comfortable acting like that? As she waited, she started to become unsure of her idea.

  After what felt like hours, he started to respond, “I think that could work. Do you feel comfortable with that?”

  The perfect gentleman as always, Kennedy thought smiling.

  “I think it would be perfect,” she replied.

  He smiled back at her. Before he could change his mind, she turned and went back to her room.

  Later that day, Taylor introduced Kennedy to Penny, who was the fourth member of their onsite team for Idaho. A separate team would be monitoring the workings of the whole operation. They would be based in a city about an hour away, where another operation was currently taking place.

  Taylor put his hands on the shoulders of Penny. She had a light brown pixie style haircut, beautifully flawless skin, and a perky smile. “Penny has also been training and doing minor field work studies over the last year. This operation is to help her get her feet wet. Plus, we thought you might like someone in the apartment in case of emergencies.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Kennedy said as they shook hands.

  “I'm excited to work with you,” Penny said nicely.

  “Thanks.”

  “Penny needs to get going, but you two will have plenty of time together later,” Taylor said.

  Penny took her cue, “See ya!”

  Taylor waited until Penny left, “Penny isn't aware of your ability to decipher codes.”

  “Really?” Kennedy said surprised.

  “Kennedy, only a handful of people know your ability, and the NSA would like to keep it that way. So be careful what you say to Penny.”

  “I already have to lie to my family and friends, now I have to lie to a fellow NSA agent. Taylor. I don't know,” Kennedy said, sitting down.

  “You will do great, I'll be right there the whole time,” Taylor replied, sitting next to her.

  “If you say so.”

  ∆∆∆

  “Well, did the plan work?” Ryan asked anxiously.

  “Yes, we listened to the devices for a few weeks, but then the devices disappeared. When we went to set more up, our agent was approached by….” Jordan did a drum roll on the desk. “....NSA.”

  “So, where do you think they are holding her?”

  “In Maryland, do you know what that means?” Jordan asked mischievously.

  “That the government will be able to decipher all of our codes?” Ryan asked.

  “We are going back to college.”

  “You think they would let her go back?” “Yup, they will offer her a chance at a normal life. I think we have a chance at getting her back,” Jordan said leaning back in his chair.

  “They will be watching her.”

  “I know, we will have to be very sneaky,” Jordan said.

  ∆∆∆

  Kennedy stepped onto the private jet with Taylor, Penny, and a group of NSA agents that were going to replace the ones out in the field office. Stepping onto the plane brought dread and excitement. Today she was going back to college. But today was also the day that she would have to work double time to keep up with homework and decoding. At least she didn't have to clean at 4 a.m.. She understood that walking out of the NSA headquarters meant that she could be walking into danger. That couldn’t hold her back, she was ready.

  Jennifer and Brett both walked onto the plane, and Kennedy was glad they came for a last goodbye. Their visit was not a pleasant one, instead, Jennifer’s face was serious.

  “Something big is happening,” Jennifer said under hushed tones.

  “Why do you think that?” Kennedy asked.

  “Because we are getting flooded with codes. The number of codes over the last five hours is equivalent to last weeks.”

  “This has never happened before?”

  Taylor walked down and sat next to Kennedy, so he could hear what was happening.

  “Jennifer what is it?”

  “Our programmers have been working furiously the last couple of hours to compile some songs with crypted messages, but we could only get through half of the coding before you left. The rest you will have to do the old fashion way. As more floods come, we will continue to program them to song and send them over. I know we haven't worked too much with the music thing yet, so only listen to maybe ten songs or so. For the rest, I was hoping you could try and skim through it, and look for keywords? That would be great.” Jennifer then gave Kennedy the iPad. “I sent the music to your email to download. I also thought reading the codes on an iPad would be easier than a phone and more accessible than a laptop. Also, we’ve added extra security measures to this device.”

  “I understand,” Kennedy replied, giving Jennifer a hug before she and Brett walked off the plane.

  “Are they always together?” Kennedy asked as she watched them leave.

  “Mostly,” Taylor said following her gaze to the iPad. “How are you feeling?”

  “A little overwhelmed but alright. Do you think I should do the music and then regular code?”

  “Either way, be careful. I’ll try and keep Penny distracted. We also need to get you into your apartment and pick up your books today too.”

  “It isn’t just about me. I can decipher some and then snag a nap. That should be enough to push me through today. I better get going.”

  “Yes, but remember balance,” Taylor said warningly. He then took a seat next to Penny and started talking to her.

  Starting with the written codes, Kennedy knocked out several messages quickly. Then she slowed for the second batch. Jennifer and Brett didn't say who was sending all the codes, but Kennedy quickly realized they all originated from the same place. Several of the codes intertwined together. Was the NSA starting to trust her more? Maybe they didn’t know the codes’ origins? She submitted her deciphered messages through the secure chat room that they had created for her.

  As the exhaustion started setting in, she turned to the music. Hopefully, this would draw out her deciphering time. She glanced up at Taylor before she started. He was still talking to Penny. Their conversation looked light; both were smiling.

  Turning back to the iPad, she pulled up the songs Jennifer had entrusted her with. There were twenty. That was a lot. Reluctantly she put in her ear buds and started listening to the first song. As the first one played, Kennedy leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. Every few minutes Kennedy would transcribe what she heard and send it off. In each song, they were able to embed two or three messages.

  After three songs, Kennedy was starting to get worried. She looked up and saw that Penny had moved to another part of the plane. Taylor had been watching her.

  “Taylor?” Kennedy asked.

  Taylor got up from his seat and sat down next to her, “What is it?”

  “I think I’ve lost my ability,” Kennedy admitted.

  “Why? What is going on?”

  “These deciphered codes aren’t messages.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Here is the first song I deciphered, ‘Jungle, red, cheese, clock’. It goes on and on like that.”

  “I’ll make a call to Jennifer,” Taylor said standing up. He walked to the front of the plane and opened a compartment where there was a phone. Kennedy watched while he made the call.

  Was her ability just a fluke? Could it just disappear? Maybe she couldn’t really decipher through music like Dr. Jameson though? It was painfully slow to watch Taylor talk to Jennifer. He was too far away to hear the conversation.

  After a few minutes Taylor walked back and sat down next to her.

  “What you have deciphered is the message.”

  “What?” Kennedy asked first, relieved, and then confused. “Why would they send random words?” />
  “Why don’t you try looking at your deciphered messages again?”

  Kennedy took the first deciphered code and separated it from the other codes she had written down. It took her a minute, but then it came together.

  “Oh Taylor!” she said excitedly.

  “What is it?”

  “It's double encrypted.”

  “Double?”

  Kennedy nodded.

  “What does that mean for you?”

  “Not good I’m afraid. It is going to take me twice as long to get through these. I have to go through once, and then go through again, you know the consequences of that.”

  “It’s ok Kennedy, everything you do is faster than any computer. Whatever you get through is enough.”

  Kennedy tried to smile; she knew he was trying to make her feel better. It wasn’t working. She yawned.

  “Maybe you can grab a nap?” Taylor suggested.

  “I’m going to try and sort through a few more, then I’ll close my eyes.”

  Taylor gave her a look.

  “I will!” she said, mostly to convince herself.

  Sure enough, another ten minutes passed before Kennedy could hardly keep her head up.

  “I’m cutting you off,” Taylor said, turning off the iPad.

  Kennedy was exhausted and didn’t have the energy to fight him. She pulled her jacket from off the seat and set it on her shoulders like a blanket. Reclining her seat back she easily got comfortable.

  “Don’t let anyone see that” Kennedy half joked to Taylor.

  “Get some rest. I’ll wake you before we land.”

  “Thanks Taylor,” she said before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

  “Kennedy,” Taylor said softly as he shook her arm.

  “I think I deserve longer than five minutes,” Kennedy groaned to Taylor.

  “Kennedy, it has been three hours. We’re getting ready to land.”

  “No,” she mumbled. She wasn’t ready to get up, she needed a few more hours.

  “Here,” Taylor said, despite Kennedy having her eyes closed.

  She reluctantly opened her eyes and saw he was trying to hand her a water bottle. Grabbing it, she put it down on the desk and tried to close her eyes again.

  “I got chocolate too,” Taylor said.