“Zeke, you understand that if you don’t recover the plans during this mission, then we may never get a second opportunity again,” my commander said before I walked out of headquarters that morning.
“I got you,” I replied.
“Are you sure,” she asked.
“I’m Zeke Jordan." Cockiness was embedded in my DNA.
I could see my cohorts out the corner of my eyes, shaking their heads. They may not have wanted to admit it, but they knew I was the best there was.
“Zeke just get the job done,” she snapped. “And, keep all communication channels opened.”
She already knew the answer to that. I always turned all communications off whenever I was on a mission. I would reach out when I was ready. But, thinking back now, I may have been a little too cocky. I’ll never tell them though.
The moment I pulled my car into the parking space at Blue Face Robotics, the only thing on my mind was accomplishing the mission at hand. I sat there a minute before getting out of the car to give myself a pep talk. I adjusted the rearview mirror in my Ferrari so I could look myself dead in the eyes. “Make it do what it do baby.” And, that’s exactly what I was going to do.
Once, I had hyped myself up, I grabbed my briefcase off the passenger seat and hopped out the car. I brushed my hand over my suit to make sure there wasn’t one wrinkle in my Tom Ford. The stares I got as I approached the front of the building was amazing. It was like they had never seen a 6’4, 280-pound chocolate man a day in their lives. And, then again maybe they hadn’t. I rubbed my hand over my beard to kick my sex appeal up another notch. And, it worked because one of the ladies sitting on a bench outside gave me a quick wink. I didn’t acknowledge it because there was only one thing on my mind. Retrieving Blue Face’s latest plans for a drone that could fire up to a thousand rounds in 45 seconds.
A weapon like that in the hands of civilians and terrorists could cause mass destruction on so many levels. The hardest part wasn’t getting the plans once inside, the hardest part was getting inside. Clearance to get inside takes 90 days. They go through all sorts of background checks.
The agency first learned about the weapon six months ago, and since that time I’ve been working on a plan to make sure I passed all background checks, fingerprints, and DNA testing. Once, Dr. Ahmad Agu received the clearance letter, two weeks ago. I informed my commander it was a go. “Are you sure you can do this,” she asked.
Again I replied with a cocky attitude, “You’re seriously asking me that. What do you think?”
“Zeke just get the job done,” she said as I walked out the door. “I-CAT can’t afford to lose on this mission.”
International Coalition Against Terrorism, I-CAT as we referred to it, is an off the book organization created during President Obama’s first term in office. Most agents were former military that had witnessed the effects of terrorism first hand. It’s our job to infiltrate the companies who supplied the terrorists.
Our intel had learned that Blue Face Robotics had been in contact with a few regimes around the world interested in purchasing the latest in mass destruction weapons. I was posing as a buyer for a regime that we had taken control of a few years back in order to get close to the companies.
As I approached the entrance, I placed my hand on the monitor to secure my first security procedure into the building. I stood there as my hand was scanned for me to enter. “Welcome Dr. Ahmad Agu,” the AI stated as the doors opened for entrance. I only had to get past three more security check points before, I was able to enter the lobby. I knew it was high-tech shit going on inside with all the security they had in place.
The moment I entered the building, I looked around to get a scope of where I was. But, mainly to get a visual on all the exit points I had been studying the last six months. The entrance felt like an airport lounge in some ways. You know that quiet, laid back feel you get when you enter in the dim lighting. Except the lighting wasn’t dim in this case.
There were sections with couches and TVs, and private booths that set-in front of the windows looking out on the lake that was right beside the building. On the other side was a restaurant, coffee shops, and tables that were sat up in the middle.
I was greeted by a life size blue face robot. “Welcome Dr. Agu. Here is your temporary pass.” The robot handed me a tablet that gave me the itinerary for my visit. “If you have any questions between checkpoints, swipe the screen and hit the assistance button. Someone will come to assist you.”
Everything was going as expected. I grabbed the tablet and walked through the lobby to my next checkpoint. I was equipped with all type of devices built into my eyeglasses, ascot, watch, ring, cufflinks, shoes, belt, and underwear. The underwear trick was my own invention.
As I approached the next checkpoint I was relieved that I would be talking with an actual human and not some damn robot. I quickly scanned the woman who was waiting on me, and if I wasn’t on a mission I would probably invite her to have a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, Dr. Agu,” she said as I set my briefcase on the conveyer belt to be scanned.
“Good morning,” I looked at her name tag, “Brooklyn.” I guess people didn’t greet her by her name a lot because when I said her name, it was as if she was trying to figure out how I knew it. “So, Brooklyn are you from Brooklyn?”
A smile resonated across her face which revealed the cutest dimples. “Actually, my name is not Brooklyn.”
I tilted my head. Clearly, her name was Brooklyn because it said it on the name tag she was wearing. “Come on now. I see it right there.”
“Brooklyn is the location of the building we’re in. My name is actually, Aaliyah. You know like the singer.”
I tried not to feel embarrassed. “I apologize.”
“No problem. We all received new badges this morning. It’s crazy if you ask me.”
A company the size of Blue Face changing their employees badges randomly wasn’t uncommon. They did it to make sure the badges wouldn’t be duplicated by outsiders.
“Dr. Agu, your bag passes inspection.”
“Thank you.” I started to just walk off to the next checkpoint, but it wasn’t everyday I found a woman who checked off all my boxes as far as appearance. Mocha complexion, thicker than a bowl of oatmeal, tall like an Amazon goddess, and relies on her natural beauty. I checked her hand to see if there was an imprint on her ring finger. Employees of Blue Face weren’t allowed to wear any jewelry except for religious purposes. I was relieved, that I didn’t see an imprint.
“Dr. Agu, you have two more checkpoints before you will be escorted to your meeting. Do you have any questions?”
“I do.”
“Alright,” she said pleasantly.
“Would you have dinner with me?” Normally, I wouldn’t ask a woman on a date under my alias. But, it was no way that I could meet her later as Zeke Jordan so I went for it.
“I apologize, but we’re not allowed to have personal relationships with clients.”
“Well, technically, I’m not a client. I’m a consultant for another company. After my report, I go about my business.” I had to think fast.
She hesitated before agreeing to dinner. I handed her my business card for Dr. Ahmad Agu. And, she in turn handed me her business card. I was impressed that she was the assistant director of security services. “One of the workers called in today, so I have to work the checkpoint.”
Beautiful and intelligent. I had hit the jackpot. I didn’t take up anymore of her time because the line behind me was starting to grow and I needed to take care of my mission. With a date secured with Aaliyah, I made my way to the full body scan. Again I was greeted by a life size blue face robot that instructed me to walk inside the machine. Each checkpoint collected data to verify your identity and send it to the final checkpoint.
“Thank you, Dr. Agu,” the robot said as I exited the full body scan.
As I proceeded to the next checkpoint, I received an alert on the tablet I was given to proceed to the north checkpoint. It laid out the route that I should take. A part of me was a little nervous because I wasn’t being directed to the main final checkpoint. I had prepared for situations like this.
I knew Blue Face did random spot checks on their guests, so I wasn’t too concerned. As I walked down the hall, I could see the courtyard in the middle of the building. The security checkpoints were in the front half of the building, and the operations was in the back. They were separated by a courtyard that they referred to as the “Thinking Zone.” They said it was the place for their engineers who enjoyed alternative work spaces.
I was pretty sure that I knew more about Blue Face Robotics than Zachary Warren and Antoine Benjamin, the creators of the company.
“Zeke can you hear me.”
I was startled by the voice in my ear because I had made it clear that I didn’t want any communications during the operation. So hearing my commander’s voice in my ear, I knew it wasn’t a good thing.
“Zeke, you’re heading for a trap. They are going to swab you for a DNA analysis. And, it’s going to come back that you’re not Dr. Agu. We need to abort the mission.”
Hearing my commander sent me into overdrive. I was only 10 feet away from the security guard. I sized him up right quick to see if I could take him. He was about my height, give or take a few inches. About 220 pounds. But, I learned a long time ago never to underestimate my competition. Honestly, he looked like he could have been my younger brother.
When I approached the desk, the guard was preparing the kit for me to be swabbed. “Is there a bathroom close by,” I asked.
“Down the hall. But, first I need to get your DNA swab.”
“I got you my man. That cup of coffee I had this morning is running right through me.” I didn’t wait for an answer as I made my way towards the bathroom.
“Sir, I can’t let you do that,” I heard him say as I was walking away.
I kept walking. I was about five feet away from the bathroom when another one of those blue face robots stepped in my path. I could hear the guards footsteps behind me. It was no way I was going to let him take my DNA. I knew it was only one way to get out of there.
“Sir put your hands above your head, and slowly turn around” the guard stated.
I complied with the slowly turn around part, but I didn’t put my hands up. Instead I swung my briefcase hitting him in the stomach. I knocked the breath out of him, which I figured gave me enough time to find an exit. I was wrong.
Before I could gather my thoughts, old boy tackled me. I was an offensive lineman during college, and I was pretty sure he was defensive lineman the way he tackled me. Once, I was down I was pretty sure he thought I wasn’t getting up. He was wrong. We tussled around on the floor until I was able to gain the upper hand. I punched his face a couple times before getting up and dusting myself off.
Figuring it was over, I scanned the room for an exit, when he caught me off guard and inflicted a blow to my stomach. I stumbled back into the security desk, almost falling to the floor. “Come on man, I just needed to use the bathroom,” I said before activating the needle I had hidden in my ring. I just needed to get close enough to him to inject him.
The way he was coming at me, I had to use my quick thinking. I tackled him below the waist. Which enabled me to inject him with propofol.
Instantly he went down to the ground. Now, I needed to get out of there before the complex was on lock down. “Get me out of here,” I said into my watch as I made my way down the corridor.
“On it,” I heard my comrade’s voice.
A few minutes later, I was able to ease out the north corridor exit before all hell broke loose. I barely made it out the building before it was placed on lock down. Not only had I failed my mission but my cover as Dr. Agu was blown. I had to head back to the drawing board because Zeke Jordan, never failed a mission.
