The TALONS Files: the chronicles of telepathic agent Ryan Dart

Ryan Follows Through

When Ryan woke on Saturday morning, he checked his phone. In his morning haze, and a bit of hopefulness, he was thrilled to see he had 12 messages. Quickly, his mind thought about Chloe. He eagerly went to the messages app. Suddenly reality slapped him wide awake.

All of the messages were sent by Damon, "Darn it." Ryan said aloud, realizing he should have known better. And actually, he knew he should be glad. Now, if Director Johnson wanted to know how to use the Four Runner, Ryan would have an answer.

He studied the controls, as Damon had marked up the dash pictures. Ryan ran through the actions necessary to initiate a feature. For instance, to fly, he had to pull back the shifter and then tap the center of the steering wheel. He read through them, repeating aloud until they were firmly in his memory banks.

There were features Damon hadn't even mentioned before, like a grappling hook and bullet proofing. Apparently, the bullet proofing was on at all times. Finally, when he knew he had them memorized, he showered and dressed, thinking of Esmeralda's plea to investigate the senator. He had to call phong before he hit the road.

So, after he climbed into his special hoodie, he grabbed the phone and dialed his Asian friend.

"Ryan, what's up?"

"Hey, what you up to? Ryan said a little sheepishly.

"Nothing, why?"

Ryan paused, he wasn't sure how to approach this, so he did it directly. "Hey, I've got a hunch the senator is dirty."

"Why do you say that?" Phong almost laughed. "He's a little too much white male for me, but I don't think the guy is crooked."

"Trust me on this," Ryan implored. "Can you do a little hacking in his personal files?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun," Phong replied.

"How soon can you do it?"

Phong shrugged, "Give me a couple of hours. I'll have to wait for him to log into the internet, but should be no problem."

"Cool, thanks," Ryan replied.

"No problem," Phong then hung up

The ride to Mackinaw city was pretty boring, and it lasted eight hours with rest stops and a bite to eat at a Big Boy. Ryan loved the giant, boy looking, statue in his red and white checkered shirt. The cartoonish character held a giant burger above his head. The restaurant had great burgers and fries. Ryan actually ordered double.

* * *

After the agents traveled through half of Michigan, Phong's phone call stole through the Four Runner's speakers. Ryan had no choice but to use the Bluetooth in the SUV.

"What's up?" Ryan answered in the most uncordial way.

"How did you know?" Phong sounded puzzled.

Mai Lee looked suspicious, "What's going on?"

"Hey Mai Lee," Phong said. "I did some research for Ryan on the senator."

"Why did you research the senator?" Mai Lee looked a bit angry.

"Ryan said he had a hunch."

"Well, what did you find out?" Ryan said, trying to avoid Mai Lee's suspicious scowl.

"The Senator has a plane ticket out of town on Tuesday. He's leaving from O'hare and traveling to some Island off the coast of Costa Rica. There, a US based contractor has been building an underground partical accelerator and chemical plant."

"The Senator is looking to defect?" Ryan asked.

"More like disappear. His plane ticket isn't even in his name, but he paid for the ticket with one of his credit cards. Plus, he has a house he's purchased there."

"So he plans on making the weapon and selling it."

"Apparently."

"He was with a guy from Finland, what's his deal?"

"The guy is a master at winning people over and is super loyal."

"How so?"

"He served a business man in Switzerland for 17 years. The man, who had no heirs, left the business to him after he died. Apparently our loyal servant had no desire to run the company, so he liquidated the assets and came out about $400 million dollars richer."

"How do we know he isn't the brains behind this?"
"The guys kind of a boyscout, Ryan. He gives to charities, really has a role in getting people jobs in the US, all sorts of stuff like that.

"So Tuesday's the last drop?" Mai said.

"Yep," Phong responded with conviction.

"So Senator Garrison is going to take the disks and leave the country?" She asked.

"Apparently. We have to stop this."

"I'll work on a plan. Thanks Phong, hey, keep this silent," Ryan said

"It's a hard thing to do when I'm in an organization that can read my mind."

"Yeah, that's true." Ryan said.

"How would we not know the senator is dirty?" Phong asked.

Ryan sighed as he had been thinking of this for awhile. "Possibly the Diverting technique."

"Diverting skill," phong corrected.

"Yeah well, it's the only thing I can think of."

"Man, I hate when Gunner's right." Phong said. "You guy's heard from him? How is he?"

"I really don't know. The last day and a half have been so busy, the only one from our clan, besides Mai, that I've contacted is you."

"Yeah, missions like this tend to keep us from having fun."

"Boy you said it. When this is finished we need to party."

"How are we going to stop the Senator?"

Ryan shook his head. "I might have to do something a little risky."

"Well be careful." Phong said. "Remember you are only a rookie."

"Yeah," Ryan said "I will."

"Should I say hi to Chloe for you?" Phong asked with mischeivous chuckle.

Ryan slumped. "Right now, I'd rather you not."

After Phong hung up, Mai was silent for a while. She was contemplating her partner's knowledge of the senator and not confiding in her. 'how did he know the senator was corrupt? What is he not telling me?"

Ryan responded, "It was just a hunch, nothing more."

Mai stayed silent. 'not telling the truth.' The rest of the ride was very awkward.