The Spanish Spotlight (LSD, #4)

1. Child In Time

Child In Time

I'm a morning person. On every average day, I save the world before breakfast. My favourite day starts with action. Today is not my day.

I sit on a couch in the foyer of Hotel La Estrella de Marbella. For already almost an hour, I've been doing nothing at all. I'm waiting. It's half-past ten. Two weeks ago, around half-past ten, I chased five terrorists who wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Three weeks ago, I shadowed the kidnappers of a princess (the daughter of the king-pin of an industrial empire). Four weeks ago, I was on a stake-out that ended with the arrest of a gang that planned to steal the Eiffel Tower and return it against a ransom of 100 million Euros (which was a real bargain, they could have got more if they'd sold it as scrap iron). Saving the world is my daily work, but my work for today is worse than terrorists, thieves and kidnappers: I have to babysit the teenage daughter of the US Secretary of Defense, and she refuses to get out of bed early.

I work for the LSD, the Lëtzebuergesch Sécherheet Departement, in English: Luxembourg Spy Department. We're a small organization, with only five people to save the world. We need to follow orders, work efficiently, and get up early.

Ten days ago, I got the order from #1 (read: number one), The Boss, to assist #3, The Diplomat, on today's mission. A little later, I received the top-secret file with information from #2, The Nerd. This mission was originally for #4, The Agent, who was not available (it didn't mention why), so they gave the job to me, #5, The Runner. Thanks. If nobody wants to do it, you can always count on the lowest in rank to clean up the shit and change the nappies of a 17-year-old.

If you want something, you have to pay the price. I wanted to be a spy, so I have to accept that not every day is full of glamour and glory. That's why I'm on this couch: I have a job to do. It's as good and important as any other job, so I will give it my best.

The secret file didn't contain much information about the mission: The Diplomat tried already for weeks to arrange a meeting with Mister P.H. Johnsson, the USA Secretary of Defense, to talk about something important. Mister Johnsson is a busy man. He never has time for a meeting, but he did have time to take an entire week of vacation in Spain with his teenage daughter. With tact and wise words, The Diplomat tried to convince Mister Johnsson to meet during this week. Mister Johnsson answered: "I'm 24/7, 51 weeks per year, available for the job, and in this 52nd week, I want to spend some quality time with my daughter." The Diplomat proposed a deal: "We [he meant: me] will take care of your daughter one day, give her the best day of her life. In return, you give us [he meant: himself] the opportunity to discuss our plans with you, plans that will be positive for your country, for our country and for the rest of the world." Mister Johnsson finally agreed. He claimed he wanted to do everything to make his daughter happy, but I think he found out, after two days with her, that he needed a break too. The girl is impossible (that wasn't in the file; I discovered it myself).

During the last ten days, I did all the research I could, both on Mister Johnsson's personal life and his daughter's. It was easy. They are American. Americans have the right to be silent, but they have no right to any form of privacy. The right to be informed, invented by the media, is so strong that the word «privacy» was even banned from the latest edition of the American Dictionary and the Microsoft Word spell checker. Americans embrace Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and all those other channels to tell the world how fabulous they are. There's no secret in that.

Mister Johnsson is fabulous, without any doubt. After graduation at Harvard, he dedicated all his time, energy, and talents to serve his country, which resulted in a glorious career with the position of Secretary of Defense as its current climax, and nobody knows what the future will bring.