Eliot Strange and the Prince of the Resistance

28) The True Story of His Majesty's Secret Service

As I quickly learn, Reginald is a man of action but few words. Reginald goes to find something for a fire. Gus and I are both wet and cold. Since it's been raining in this world and not just my dreams, Reginald is having to search vehicles for something dry enough to burn. Meanwhile, Gus tells me their story:

The mother across the pond in England wanted her son back. She insisted on it. Shortly after the EMP, the mother sent her most reliable agents to get him back. There would be no negotiations. Her adopted country had this policy, but even with this policy, she refused to discuss her son as a pawn. The mother insisted. She called it "my way or the highway".

The Duchess was American herself, and she was stubborn and used to getting her way. Her past showed that whenever it was necessary, she abandoned her royal niceties and reverted back to her tough as nails personality and took care of business. She didn't care how it looked to the people. The mother would have gone herself, she still had contacts in America, but she knew she would only be in the way. Instead, she sent her secret service to find her son.

The Agents Lancaster knew that this was the most important mission of their careers, only one of them didn't care so much about the mission. He just wanted it over and done. Agent Reginald Lancaster was nearing his thirty years and his pension, and he was counting down the days. Despite what the movies portray, even his Majesty's Secret Service, called M16, is made up of real people who long for a cocktail with an umbrella in it while lounging in a shaded chaise on the white sands of a far away beach. And, I am guessing, to Reginald, it most definitely did not matter if the cocktail was shaken or stirred.

Duty is not the most important thing in the real world, even if you have allegiance to the crown. After all, at the end of the day, even for a secret agent, it is just a job.

Agent Augustus, called Gus by his friends, was there for the experience, the adventure, and the opportunity to learn from the best. He was one of the youngest agents in MI6. He wanted to prove that he was there because of his merits and not because he was the only son of a living legend.

Shortly after the mother, the Duchess, sent them on their way, Agents Lancaster were on a boat headed to America. Their mission was to bring back a prince which was not a simple task because America was under siege. Some maniac, who called himself the One, was waging a war and overthrowing the government. From what they had heard, he was winning, but he needed some leverage. He needed a prince. The agents were not going to let that happen, but first, they had to get to America.

Traveling to America was not as easy as hopping on a plane or taking a trip on a boat. The end of the United States set off a chain reaction throughout the world. There were rumors that One Nation was operating in every major country in the world. One Nation was trying to make One World. Unrest, paranoid governments, and trigger happy armies meant that international travel was now much like taking a covered wagon across the Oregon Trail with a band of Indians and highwaymen hot on your trail.

The story of the agents' journey to America would make a good movie, only there were no movies anymore. Gus had to settle for telling me about their perilous journey. He made it sound like a typical day in the life of a secret agent, though it wasn't a day or even two or three. After the adventure that included several near death experiences, a two week stopover on a mostly deserted island, a bout of malaria, weight loss, a snake bite, and at least (they lost count) twenty dead men, even the agents would admit that they were not on their "A" game when they finally landed in America.

It was months after her highness lost her patience and sent for the cavalry that the agents landed on the shores of Oak Island, NC. They were still 275 miles from the nearest prince and it was, by my calculations, two weeks until the Stadium Stand. No sooner than they landed, they were captured by some men calling themselves "The Old Home Guard". But, because they were, after all, England's finest, they were only captured for a day.

The next bit was an elaborate tale, involving many descriptive adjectives and sound effects, of a daring escape that Gus told like a master storyteller. Reginald, the obvious hero of the story, neither confirmed nor denied the tale because he was still looking for the promise of a warm fire.

After they escaped, the agents continued their journey and met up with an English informant, a man named Davies, in Asheboro. Davies was someone Gus knew from college. Gus explained they were both exchange students in America, but his description of his college days sounded more like he and Davies were spies. Gus insisted that every country does it - sends their young adults to another country under the guise of getting an education, only they are really spying. Happens all the time, he insisted.

Davies's latest info said the prince could be in one of two places, with either one of two girls in either High Point or Mt. Airy. When the agents and Davies got to Winston Salem, they decided to split up. Gus and Davies went to High Point and Reginald to Mt. Airy.

Reginald arrived in my area too late and got stuck behind a group from the One Nation Army. He saw them set fire to Pilot Mountain and was captured and about to be executed, but Gus saved the day and saved his dad.

Me: How'd you save him?

Gus: (lilting British accent that might be hypnotizing me?) Killed some people, snuck up on them and shot them. Had to slit a throat. (Mesmerizing, even when he is talking nonchalantly about killing people.)

Me: How'd you know where to find me?

Gus: Your mother. Davies worked closely with your mother.

Me: And my mother is with the One Nation Army, embedded with them?

Gus: (Hesitates and then I guess he decides, what the hell and answers) Yes.

Me: And Davies was embedded too?

Gus: No, he went to school. He was younger than me and wanted to be an agent one day too. A hero. He longed to be a hero. Like the movies.

Me: Like you?

Gus: (He blushes very adorably) Yes, I guess so. He interned at the embassy and tried to listen and talk to the right people.

Me: My mother was one of these people? The right people?

Gus: Yes, she was an ally. She told us about the prince kidnap plot.

Me: What happened to Davies?

Gus: Dead.

Me: Did he die a hero?

Gus: No, he was shot in the head by the enemy while he slept.

Me: (He didn't get to be the hero and this seems quite) Sad.

Gus: Indeed. Quite sad.