Costa Crew: One More Shot

Chapter 1 - Top Secret

12 YEARS LATER

Agent Rebecca Hidgens hated this part of the job. At this time the supermarket was full of disrespectful school kids either buying a Krispy Kreme doughnut for their breakfast or simply bunking off because they had maths first thing. Some things never changed.

Pretending to be maintenance wasn't fun either, she thought as she passed through the doors saying "staff only beyond this point".

Unlocking the "electrics cupboard" she stepped through the door and quickly closed and locked it behind her. That part never failed to stress her out. If anyone was to see her, her career could be over. Secrets were not something to be taken lightly in MI5. A blessing then, she thought as she strode down the dark corridor, silent except for her footsteps, that her only company in the flat was a West Highland Terrier named Captain Jack, after her favourite Doctor Who character.

Once she reached the end of the corridor she stepped into the changing room and removed the overalls, replacing them with a navy blue suit. While the first part was stressful, she looked forward to what happened next as she swiped her key card and allowed herself to be scanned by facial recognition. 

The door swung open to MI5 headquarters, London. Everything neat and pristine, Becky's co-workers gathered in small groups talking about everything from their latest assignment to the weekend's television to the nature of Jaffa Cakes. Which were cakes and not biscuits, for the record. In the centre of the ground floor was a plan of the building, although hardly anyone used it. They knew where they were going or asked at reception.

Next to the elevators Becky approached the sign-in desk. "You've to go and see the chairman at 2pm," the receptionist informed her. Becky was startled by this news. Why would John Goodman ask to see her? They had met, but only in passing and at award presentations, and had merely exchanged small talk, a skill Becky had become rather good at since leaving school. 

Becky worked in Cyber Security, on the tenth floor. In the lift others came and went. Some simply ignored her, others greeted her with a nod or "Agent Hidgens" and some of Becky's fellow IT workers would engage in more friendly conversation.

At floor nine, Becky's best friend Agent Hannah Perkins entered the lift and pressed the button for the top floor - Goodman's office. So Hannah had an appointment too? It was easy to guess why - Hannah was an undercover operative, so she had a mission. If she was going to see the chairman, it was a Level 1 importance. The question was, why Hannah? She had only been in MI5 for two years, the same as Becky. It made sense that a mission that important would be assigned to a more experienced agent. Before she had a chance to ask Hannah, however, the lift doors opened at floor ten - Becky's department.

Becky was part of a large team assigned to Operation Godfather - the trickiest MI5 had faced in her time there. "Morning Hidgens," Margaret Lopez, the head of Becky's faction, said crisply. "Any chance of you tracing that transfer today?"

"I don't know, I've been at it for a month. Whoever runs this ship is seriously paranoid. They've used excessive encryption and it's been passed through several accounts first. I'm surprised they even used online banking and didn't collect the cash by hand before splitting it up into their accounts, their children's accounts, and their children's best friend's parent's bosses' cousin's accounts."

Lopez sighed. "Are you being payed to explain the complicated thing they could have done but didn't do, or are you being payed to find the money? Get on with it."

Meanwhile…

By the time Hannah reached the top floor, she was the only person left in the lift. Years ago this would have caused her to get out and walk, but it was thirty floors up. Hannah smiled to herself as she remembered all those days in high school where Becky and Paul would complain about the five floors they would climb to get to their music rehearsal, or the bump the lift always made when it reached the fourth floor. Hopefully Becky wouldn't have to see Goodman when the lift was broken. And Paul… if he was here, which would be victorious? The idea of being alone in a lift, or the idea of walking up thirty flights of stairs?