The Code

Chapter One

Ketch stared down at the body for a mere moment, a split second, before looking back towards Dr. Hess. He gave her a curt nod. "I'll have Myers take care of the cleanup," he said. "Shall we go?"

Dr. Hess' eyes would have pierced into his soul - if he'd still had one, that was. But she merely nodded back and headed towards the door without even glimpsing at the body. The job was done, and that was all that mattered. "Now, make sure you see to the rest, and soon," she said. "I don't need to tell you how we feel about loose ends."

"No, of course not Ma'am," he replied, following her out to the hallway.

The car was already waiting to take her back to the private airfield, where she would get back aboard the waiting Cessna. She would have been in the United States for less than two hours. No one from any government would ever know that she had even been there.

Ketch had been on flights with Dr. Hess before. He knew how she would spend her time. First she would read the latest briefing reports, making notes and occasionally "harumph"ing at something she found unsatisfactory. She would use the secure onboard message device to send scathing messages to those who had been the source of her displeasure, and demanding messages to those who needed to clean up the messes. She would sip a cup of Earl Grey - strong, with only the slightest drop of cream - as she worked.

And she would not say a word, the entire flight. She never did, even when there were others flying with her.

Ketch had once made the mistake of trying to initiate a conversation during one of these flights. He never made that mistake again.

Dr. Hess was about to step inside the car when she stopped and turned back to Ketch. "You've accomplished a lot here, Arthur," she said, "despite the disaster that Davies created. But don't, for a moment, think that I don't know about your extracurricular activities." She said this last bit with a distinct sneer in her voice. "I would have thought you'd have better taste, Arthur. But nevertheless, you know what needs to be done, and I hope that you are up to the task. Are you, Arthur?"

He wanted to swallow the lump in his throat before he spoke, but he couldn't allow her to see even a moment of hesitation. "Of course, Dr. Hess," he replied calmly. "Just burning off a little steam beforehand. She's quite... flexible for a woman who was dead for 33 years."

Dr. Hess rolled her eyes; her face screwed up as if she had just bitten into a lemon. "I don't need details, Arthur. Just be done with it, before things get out of hand."

"Of course, Doctor," he replied. She slid into the backseat of the car, and he carefully shut the door behind her. He watched as the car pulled away, waiting until it was gone from view before he went back inside the temporary bunker.

This was one mess he intended to clean up himself.

* * *

Kendricks Academy, 1987

Mick walked down the hallway towards his dormitory. Despite being given fresh robes and a wet cloth to wipe off the worst of the blood, he was certain that everyone who walked past knew exactly what he had done. He fully expected someone to stop suddenly, point at him and yell, "Murderer!" He would be dragged off by the police; hanged for his crime.

But nothing of the sort happened. A few older students walked by, but none of them gave him a second glance. No one seemed to notice anything at all. It was almost as if there wasn't the body of a dead thirteen-year-old boy lying on a bloody tarp in the headmistress' office.

He plucked out the pattern on the woodwork around the door, which slid open to let him inside. Everyone was in class; he didn't expect to see anyone in the common room, but he saw Lydia, Dr. Hess' secretary waiting for him.