The Choices of Staff Members of Hydra

9

EARLY YEARS OF SERVICE

Daniel Slattery never saw his mother or his siblings again. He made no attempt to ever find out what had happened to them, they could have been killed by the three men he met that day, and he would never have known. He did not care what had happened to them, allowing him to forget about them for long periods after that. His life changed so completely he could look back on what it had been before June of 1953 as if it had been a hallucination, so insubstantial he couldn't be sure it had actually happened. His life became consumed by Hydra very quickly, his loyalty absolute almost from the beginning. He believed in their goals, their overall mission, but even if he hadn't, they would have had his loyalty solely for getting him away from the slums of his birth.

The three men took Dan with them for a journey by car until he was far away from Chicago. On the way, they purchased new clothes for him, paid for a real haircut at a real barber shop, gave him his own hotel room in a hotel so upscale he would never have even tried to work in it as the most menial laborer. He was able to bathe as he pleased, sleep in a bed that was comfortable and clean, and he had a view of an unfamiliar city he was told was Washington D.C. They left him there, in the hotel, explaining to him that someone would be coming to tell him about his new job and that he did not need to worry about paying for anything in the hotel while he was there. All meals in the very fancy restaurant were to be charged to the room and he could order anything he wanted. He didn't leave the hotel for a full day after arriving, he ordered whatever meals he wanted to come to his room, and he reveled in the blessed silence of being completely alone.

The next day he cautiously began to walk around the city, feeling awkward in the new clothes, though they fit perfectly. The hat was annoying to him, but he knew everyone who had any money or status wore hats, so he resisted the urge to throw it away. He had been given some cash by the men from Hydra, but he could not quite get used to the idea that he could eat where he wanted and take a cab to go wherever he pleased. By the next day, though, he was more comfortable, even delighted to be a tourist, with no need to worry where his next meal was coming from, or where he would sleep that night. He spent a lot of time around the Capitol building, marveling at its size, the imposing architecture, the interior that seemed to ooze stately importance from the walls. He took a tour each day for a week until his impromptu vacation was ended by the arrival of another member of Hydra.

"Daniel Slattery?" The man asked in a very pleasant voice, rich, cultured, and soothing. He was in his forties or older, Dan was not good at guessing ages, stocky, with square features and a slight limp on his right leg. He smiled at Dan, but the smile seemed odd, as if the man was laughing for no particular reason other than he wanted to find something in Dan funny. It was disconcerting.

Dan had been eating breakfast in the restaurant of the hotel, finally overcoming his fear of eating around people who had proper table manners and had looked up at the man in surprise. He nodded as he tried to swallow a bite of food quickly and almost choked. "Yeah, that's me," he said finally. "Sit down if you want."

The man sat, still smiling the smile that Dan was beginning to hate already. He wished the man would just stop smiling. "I'm Jonathan Meier, Mr. Slattery. I'm here to get you started on your job."

"Please call me Dan, Mr. Meier," he replied, embarrassed at being called anything except his first name. "What do I need to do?"

"Our organization has need of people who can be trusted with sensitive information and carry it to and from other members as needed."

"Sensitive information?" Dan wanted desperately to be seen as capable, but he wasn't sure of things. He knew he had to ask questions, but he felt very stupid doing so, as if he was missing a lot that would have been obvious to someone who hadn't grown up in a slum.