by Diana X Dunn
“Mental fatigue and burnout are significant factors in agents becoming less successful as their careers advance. My job here is to assess our trainees to help make sure that they are suited to their chosen field and that they have the tools they need to fight the stress that goes along with it.”
Sara raised an eyebrow. “Interesting,” she commented meaninglessly. She had little time for psychologists, not believing that they were a particularly effective means of treating mental illnesses.
“Ah, I remember Robert telling me about you,” the doctor continued, staring hard at Sara. “You spent a lot of time in the field, didn’t you?”
Sara simply nodded, sipping coffee that had now gotten cold to avoid having to speak.
“You must have all sorts of unresolved issues and feelings about your past,” Dr. Freeman told her. “I would love to talk to you at length about your issues with constructed identities and artificial pasts. Do you have difficulty distinguishing between fact and fiction?”
Sara counted backwards from ten to one before she trusted herself to speak. “I’m sorry, Dr. Freeman, but I don’t have any interest in being analyzed by you. I’m actually quite happy and blissfully unaware of any issues I might have that would need medical intervention. Save your energies for our students. That’s why you’re here, right?”
He frowned. “I’m here to help anyone and everyone who needs me,” he told her. “If you don’t want to talk about what it’s like changing your identity all the time, maybe we could discuss the sorts of jobs you’ve carried out. Have you ever killed anyone in the line of duty?”
“Oh please, Slade, give the poor child a break.” The voice from the door drew everyone’s attention. The woman entering looked older than the good doctor, with steel gray hair pulled into a tight bun. Her eyes were a rather startling shade of blue and they seemed to miss nothing as she surveyed the room.
“I prefer Dr. Freeman, if you don’t mind,” he snarled at the woman as she gave him an easy and fake smile.
“Sorry, Dr. Freeman, I forgot how intractable you are.” The woman made her way to the drinks machine while Dr. Freeman sputtered as he worked on his reply.
Drink in hand, the woman now turned toward Sara. Sara met her eyes and then shivered slightly as the other woman’s gaze shifted and scanned Sara from head to toe. As the other woman’s eyes returned to Sara’s face, Sara could almost feel the woman peeling off her carefully applied layers of makeup, scrutinizing the face beneath her meticulously crafted mask. Sara felt like the most sophisticated computer scanner available had inspected her when the woman blinked once and then smiled.
“You must be Sara.” She offered her hand. “I’m Ethel Bell.”
Sara took the hand and smiled back at Ethel. She conducted her own thorough scan as they shook. Sara could only hope that her study of the woman was less obvious than Ethel’s study of her had been.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Sara murmured politely.
“Oh sorry,” Candie said suddenly. “Ethel, this is Sara, and Sara this is Ethel,” she announced brightly.
“Yes, we’ve established that,” Ethel told Candie tartly.
“Oh, right.” Candie flushed. “Ethel is our expert in cryptology and financial records,” Candie told Sara.
“Robert has worked hard to assemble a team with impeccable credentials,” Dr. Freeman interjected, forcing himself into the conversation. “Ethel is something of a legend in code breaking circles.”
“I thought the name sounded familiar.” Sara smiled at the older woman. “We studied your work in training, especially the stuff you did with the codes that Harry McCain used during the Eco-Wars. Our final exam in one encryption class was to use the “Bell Method” to decode twenty messages in twenty minutes. I’m delighted to have a chance to actually work with you.”
Ethel inclined her head as an acknowledgment.
“I suppose we should get started,” Robert spoke from the doorway. Everyone in the room turned toward him and watched as he looked anxiously up and down the hallway outside. “Jake must be on his way. We can start without him and catch him up when he gets here.”
Sara slid into a seat near the drinks machine, figuring she might well need refreshments as the afternoon went on. She watched as everyone else took seats around the table. Ethel simply took the closest seat to where she was standing, seemingly unconcerned about the choice. Candie flittered about, waiting to see where Robert was going to sit, before seating herself at his right hand. Dr. Freeman took his time, getting himself a drink before grabbing the seat on Robert’s left while trying to look as if he wasn’t deliberately choosing it.
Sara shot an amused look at Ethel and was pleased to see that the other woman seemed equally entertained by the doctor’s behavior.
“Right, well, I guess I should start by welcoming you all.” Robert tried to smile at them all at the same time. “I’m excited that you are all here.”
The door crashed open before he could continue.
“I guess I’m late again,” the man in the doorway laughed. “I hope I didn’t miss anything good.”
Sara studied the newcomer as she sipped her coffee. He had to be in his fifties. His hair was thinning, greying, and greasy. His body had the shifted sand look of a man who had undergone body-shaping surgery in his forties and then given up. Formerly broad shoulders were now slightly stooped and once tight abdominals were now stretched and hanging over a pair of sweatpants that had seen better days. His torn T-shirt promoted a cheap mass-market brewery and as he swung into the room, Sara decided that his body odor was further advertising for the brand.
“Hello, gorgeous,” he said as he spotted Sara and took an unsteady step toward her. “Robert didn’t tell me that you were beautiful.”
Sara just barely resisted rolling her eyes.
“Robert didn’t tell me that you were a drunk,” Ethel Bell said caustically.
“Now, now,” Robert jumped to his feet and quickly steered the new arrival into a chair. “This is the last member of our little team. This is Jake Brown.”
“Come on, boss man, introduce me to the pretty one,” Jake pretended to whisper.
Robert sighed. “Why don’t we go around the table and everyone can introduce themselves?” he suggested. “We can start with Candie and work our way around to Jake last.”
It was clear why Robert had chosen that order a moment later as he slipped an alcohol-neutralizing tablet to the obviously drunk man. For a moment Sara thought Jake might refuse to take it, but whatever Robert whispered to him obviously made some impression and Jake swallowed the pill without another word. Robert returned to his chair and then sighed again as he looked pointedly at Candie.
“Oh, right,” Candie giggled, looking sheepish. “I’m Candie Owens and I’m the administrative assistant for the school. I’ll be doing all the computer work and record keeping and that sort of thing. If you need anything, you can just let me know and I’ll sort it out for you.”
“Thank you, Candie,” Robert said formally. “Of course, you all know who I am, because I interviewed you all for your jobs here. I will be acting as president of the school. If you need anything and Candie can’t supply it, please let me know. I expect, with my extensive background, that I will be able to act as substitute instructor for anyone who gets sick or needs a day off as we go forward. But we can discuss that on an individual basis when it becomes an issue.”
All eyes turned toward Dr. Freeman who inexplicably looked startled by the attention. “Oh, I mean, yes, well, rather,” he burbled ineffectually. “That is, I’m Dr. Slade Freeman. I will be acting as the school psychologist, working with all of our students to ensure that they are mentally capable of doing the job for which they are training. I should make it clear, perhaps, that I’m not a big proponent of medicating mental conditions. I prefer talk therapy and behavior modification training wherever possible.”
Sara glanced at Ethel Bell and both women rolled their eyes. To Sara’s mind, talk t
herapy was as good as putting a bandage over a cancerous tumor and crossing your fingers that it would go away.
The breakthroughs in treating mental illness in the past twenty or so years had been significant. There were now simple physical tests that could determine what imbalances within the brain were causing a whole range of symptoms from obsessive-compulsive disorders to paranoid schizophrenia and everything in between. These conditions that were once difficult, if not impossible, to treat were now easily eliminated with a course tablets in the same way that antibiotics were once used to treat physical ailments.
“Ethel?” Robert said.
“I’m Ethel Bell. I’ll be teaching various classes,” the woman said in clipped tones.
“That’s it?” Jake demanded. “You’re old enough to have a long history to share with us.”
“I don’t talk about the past,” Ethel told him flatly.
“I’m Sara Weber,” Sara interrupted before Jake could say anything else to Ethel. “I’ll be teaching classes in undercover operations.”
“Maybe we could talk about being undercover together,” Jake suggested with a leer.
“Maybe I could sue the school for allowing sexual harassment of a staff member to take place,” Sara replied in a sweet voice.
“Now, now,” Robert said quickly. “Jake didn’t mean anything untoward, I’m sure. Jake, why don’t you introduce yourself?”
“I’m Jake Brown, but Robert already told you that,” Jake said. “I worked with Robert in Chicago and he invited me to join the team here. I think he wants to keep an eye on me because I know where the bodies are buried.”
Robert laughed nervously. “I invited you here because I think you’ll be an asset to the team. You worked with the police department for a great many years. Who better to instruct our recruits on police procedures than a former officer of the law?”
Jake shrugged. “I’ll do my best.”
Robert nodded. “It’s been a real challenge building this team, but I’m confident that I’ve assembled a group of instructors who will be able to provide a wide range of training in every aspect of covert intelligence. Dr. Freeman will ensure that each of our recruits is capable of enduring the unique challenges that this lifestyle presents.”
“I’m going to insist that each of you have at least a few sessions with me,” Dr. Freeman said. “You’ve all led lives full of diverse risks and responsibilities. That can take a difficult toll on people. It will be in the best interest of the entire school if I spent time with each of you in turn, talking about your history.”
“I’m not doing it,” Jake said loudly. He glanced around and then cleared his throat. “Sorry, I’m sure you mean well, but I’ve no interest in talking about my history.”
“That’s exactly why you should talk about it,” Dr. Freeman said, leaning forward in his seat. “It’s the things you don’t want to discuss that need to be brought out in the open and analyzed.”
“Whatever, I’m not doing it,” Jake said firmly.
Sara noted that the neutralizing agent seemed to have acted reasonably quickly. Jake now appeared quite sober.
“Robert, I’m going to have to insist…” Dr. Freeman began.
“Robert, you need to get Dr. Freeman under control,” Ethel said firmly. “None of us want to talk to him. He’s overstepping his position.”
Dr. Freeman made a noise. “I hardly think…”
“Slade,” Robert’s voice interrupted. “I chose the staff with great care. While they could all probably benefit from talking with you, I’m not going to require them to do so. Let’s move on.”
“That’s my cue, isn’t it?” Candie giggled. She stood up and opened a drawer in the wall behind her.
“Candie is giving each of you a new M-ped. I appreciate that you all have your own devices, but the ones I’m giving you are rather special,” Robert said. “They’re loaded with all of the latest technology and quite a few extra features. I’m sure Sara has used something similar in the past, but some of the features might be new to at least some of you.”
Sara took the mid-sized rectangular device from Candie and turned it over in her hands. When she tapped the screen, she was surprised that it switched on automatically. “Hello, Sara,” she read from the screen.
“They’ve each been linked to your own individual biometrics,” Robert said excitedly. “When the device recognizes your touch, it will turn itself on.”
“There are security issues there,” Ethel said.
“You can change the settings to require a patterned touch or set some other protocol for the device,” Robert replied. “As I said, they have all of the latest features.”
Sara hid a grin. While the device had impressively high specifications, those supplied by the agency that used to employ her could do a good deal more. Still, this was an improvement over the basic Multi-Purpose Electronic Device (M-ped) that she’d purchased when she’d first left her former position.
“In the data section of the device, you’ll find full profiles on each of our eight students. They’re an interesting mix of men and women with quite varied backgrounds.”
“I’ve studied their profiles in depth already,” Dr. Freeman said. “I have some concerns, Robert.”
“Yes, well, let’s wait until the students actually arrive before we start worrying about them,” Robert replied. “They were all given a battery of tests as part of their application process, and they all passed those tests, after all.”
“As I didn’t supervise the testing, I can’t be expected to accept their results,” Dr. Freeman said snootily.
“They were conducted by an expert,” Robert said tightly. “The doctor who conducted the tests was planning to join us, but things didn’t work out exactly as planned.”
“Who conducted the tests?” Dr. Freeman demanded.
“That isn’t your concern,” Robert told him. “I haven’t shared the test results with any of you, even though they do, of course, make up a part of the student profiles. If anyone has any concerns about any students as the weeks and months go past, we can consider reviewing their test results on an individual basis, of course.”
“I have concerns now,” Dr. Freeman said.
“And they’re misplaced,” Robert snapped. “As I said, the students aren’t even here yet. I interviewed each and every student as part of his or her application process. They’re all sound and eager to get to work.”
“And once they’re trained, what are you going to do with them?” Jake asked.
“I’ve already had inquires from around the world,” Robert replied. “There’s great demand for highly trained operatives of the sort that we’re going to produce. There’s no doubt in my mind that all eight of our students will find excellent jobs within days of finishing their coursework here.”
“Sure, that’s what you told them, but what do you think will really happen to them?” Jake laughed.
Robert sighed. “Jake, I appreciate that you’ve little to no experience with the world of covert operations. You were a cop, and you were very good at what you did, but espionage is a billion dollar industry worldwide. The men and women that we train will be able to join any agency they like from domestic groups like the FBI to international organizations that I can’t even name. The money they are investing in their training will seem insignificant once they’re finished here.”
“How much are they investing?” Jake asked.
“A substantial sum,” Robert said. “I make no apologies for that. Training agents is costly. I’m paying all of you for a start.” He chuckled and then frowned when no one else joined in. “This facility cost a great deal, as well. I’ve spent a fortune on remodeling and reconfiguring the spaces. Ongoing maintenance has already cost more than I’d expected and the students haven’t even arrived yet. I need this first training class to be a huge success.”
“Where did the students come from?” Sara asked. “I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of men and women out there who think
they’d love to train to be a spy, but I can’t imagine many of them have the sort of money you seem to be talking about.”
“It’s different for each student, obviously. You’ll find all of that information in their individual profiles, of course,” Robert told her.
Sara nodded. These profiles were going to make for interesting reading. She studied her new M-ped and wondered idly whether she could use it to hack into the school’s databases. It might be interesting to see the test results that Robert and Dr. Freeman had been discussing.
“Right, then, as I said, you can learn more about our students on your M-peds. They are due to start arriving on Wednesday. You’ve all been given your course curriculum assignments for the program. Candie has included copies of all of the curriculum plans in the data section of your M-peds. Ideally, I’d like to see some coordination between classes when covering similar material. I want an outline of your teaching plans for the first two weeks of classes sent to me by the end of the day today. We have a lot of material to cover over the next six months. We need to hit the ground running and push hard.”
Sara swallowed a sigh. Robert had already sent her a copy of the curriculum he wanted her to cover in the classes she was going to teach. Her best guess was that she would need about three years to adequately cover every topic. She hadn’t yet decided if she would better off teaching fewer topics in depth or covering more topics on a superficial level. She was starting to hope that Rex would find her and force her to quit the job and move on before too much longer.
“Does anyone have any questions?” Robert asked.
“Can I have a drink now?” Jake shot back.
“Sure, why not,” Robert muttered as he got to his feet. “Get me your lesson plans before you get too drunk, okay?”
Jake shrugged. “If I remember.” He stood up and looked over at Sara. “Come and join me for a drink. You look as if you could use one, or maybe two.”
“Thank you, but I have lesson plans to prepare,” she replied. “Maybe another time.”
