Linear Shift, Part 1

Chapter 10

Peter was dumbfounded at what he saw when he walked into the living room. He was expecting to see the general and two other people, as Brett had mentioned. Just not the general and... the same couple that had been following him around over the last week.

"Peter. Sorry to drop in unannounced, but we need to talk," the general said as he stood up to greet Peter.

"That's fine, General, but I thought I had a bit of time to think the offer through," Peter replied, not looking at him, but at the two others in the room.

"That's why I'm here, Peter. I'm afraid the decision now needs to be made immediately—because of your indiscretions last night."

"What do you mean? I don't think my discretions from last night are of any of your business."

"Oh, but they are, Peter. You made them my concern when you talked about the mission to your friends. Benny and Stella, was it?"

Peter flinched noticeably upon hearing his friends' names. Clearly, the two others in the room did in fact work for the general, and had been there to keep tabs on his movements. This sudden realization pissed him off.

"First off, I've not told anyone about the mission. Second, what gives you the right to have me followed around?" he snapped, while gesturing towards the general's companions.

"Calm down, Peter. There's no need to get upset." Applegate smiled while waving him toward a seat.

"Peter, I would like you to meet a couple of people. They are not the bad guys. This is Julie. She has recently signed onto the mission." Applegate turned from the woman to the man next to her. "And this here is Mark. He's part of the security detail that everyone on the mission is assigned. If you accept, security personnel will be assigned to you as well."

Peter finally took his eyes off of the couple and looked directly at General Applegate. "Is all this security really necessary? If nobody knows about the mission, why would they matter?"

"To be blunt, Peter, it is because of actions like the ones you undertook last night. We have to be absolutely sure not one word gets out regarding the mission."

"I understand that, but a heads-up would have been nice. And for what it's worth, I didn't say a word to anyone about anything," Peter exclaimed, hoping his actions from last night would not betray his spotty memory.

"That was a pretty crafty scheme that you and the bartender pulled last night," Julie said, speaking for the first time, a slight smile attempting to cross her face. "It wasn't until we tracked down Charlie's clear across town that we realized you'd given us the slip.

"Yeah, about that. I wasn't sure what to think about you two. I would have bought you a drink if I had known you were only there to babysit me." As Peter said this, Julie broke his eye contact and looked away, obviously embarrassed. Mark, on the other hand, stared directly into Peter's eyes, his gaze unwavering.

Peter watched the body language of his visitors, and realized that all three were relaxed. It was only him that was uptight. Just the night before, he was nearly positive he was going to take the mission. Now, he wasn't so sure. The whole mess was a bit too cloak-and-dagger for his liking. There was silence in the room as these thoughts crossed Peter's mind.

"Peter, how can we really know for sure you haven't mentioned anything to your friends?"

"Is my word not good enough for you?"

"Honestly, Peter, no it's not. Mark feels that you may have compromised the mission by talking with your friend Benedict Welsh, and—"

Peter stopped the general. "You can forget that right now. Benny knows nothing. I'll give you that it may have looked suspicious last night. To tell the truth, I'd just about decided to accept your offer before I went to the bar. It had been several months since I'd been out, and I knew that if I did in fact go on your mission, it would be a while before I would be seeing my friends again. I just wanted to see them one last time before..."