Day 1 1910 Pizzeria Uno
Jordan sat down opposite of the woman, glad that his back was against a wall and not a window.
The same waiter who brought him to the table asked for his orders, and he ordered the first thing he saw on the menu, wanting the man to leave as soon as possible.
The woman, however, told a slightly longer time to think about her orders, and Jordan observed her during that time. She looked as if she was in her late twenties, with copperish wavy hair and a common, but not unpleasing face. A rather easily-forgetable face if not for the hair.
"You did not come alone," the woman stated, once the waiter was gone.
"You did not tell me to come alone. Moreover, with our limited budget, we had to car-pool," Jordan replied.
A smile touched her lips.
"Nice reply, Agent Stern."
"You know what to call me, but what about me? What should I call you? Where are you from? What do you want? Who are you reporting to?"
"One question at a time, Agent Stern," the woman told him.
"All right then. One, what should I call you?"
"Carol."
It was most probably a fake name, but Jordan decided not to harp on that.
"Two, where are you from?"
"I don't think the answer is relevant, Agent."
"Three, what do you want?"
Another smile touched her lips. Jordan realised that when she smiled, she looked much prettier, younger. Concentrate on your stuff, he chided himself.
"What do I want? Very simple. I just want you to listen, while I tell you a story."
"Sit back and relax." Jordan said, as he folded his arms and leaned back, but not relaxing his guard even for a little bit. "You may begin."
"A couple of years ago, a delicate situation arises in a certain third world country. The government of that country asked our government for help. Our government agreed, on the basis that a certain condition be matched. The situation was then solved, and then it was time for payment."
"What was the payment?" Jordan asked, curious despite the vague plotlines.
"The government of the US of A had heard of certain 'promising technology' that this country had in her hands. Technology that would not be fully utilised with her own people. We had much better use for it."
Jordan cringed at the word 'we'. Carol obviously belonged to the government, but which group?
"So what is the problem?" He asked.
"Agent Stern. I'm sure you know that even within the government, there is politics, different factions. A secret project, E, was set up to enable top scientists and military men to fully understand the technology, and to implement it into our current technology. Thousands of people from all over the United States were deployed, unknown to them, to help out. The plan was to make each phase so unrelated to the next that nobody will be able to piece the puzzle together and to find out the truth. A truth that, if let known to the public, will cause great panic across the globe."
"And now someone knows."
Carol nodded her head gravely.
"We never know who was the leak. Certain groups wanted the technology to be made public, including its origins, while other groups wanted the whole thing hushed down. Yet others had other plans for it. There are even non-government bodies with plans for it. I'm sure you know why am I here, Agent Stern."
"Let me take a completely wild guess. You wanted to take it back to its hush hush laboratory."
Carol laughed softly.
"Your guess is too far off, Agent Stern."
************
Day 1 1915 Boston Field Office
Several of the people had already left for dinner, but Marty was still inside his office.
He looked at the box in front of him. He knew from Jim's tone that it was a important object, and that, made him very curious. And he had promised to safekeep it for the time being.
Giving out a sigh, he took out the bunch of keys, unlocked his safety box, and placed the box inside. As he locked the safety box, somebody knocked on the door of his office.
"Who's that?" He shouted.
There was no reply.
Curious, he began to walk towards the door. He took only two steps before a bullet burst through the door and hit him between the eyes.
It took the masked men less than five minutes to find the safety box and left the office with it.
******
Regards,
Lee Sau Woon aka SA2 Vanessa Lee
NRPG : 2 minutes to Xfiles season 5 Redux !!!!