10/17

Episode 4, Chapter 13

Senior Special Agent Rachel Denike stared out her window at the broad flat expanse beyond the compound, waiting for her phone to ring. Thanks to the state-of-the-art soundproofing throughout all of the buildings in the Department of Nontraditional Investigations compound, she could not hear the buzz of activity going on beyond her office door. Less than forty-eight hours had elapsed since the incident reports had begun rolling in, and the numbers were picking up. The incident board had been animated in the main control room. Trackers and annalists were busy compiling every scrap of data and identifying the variables. Confirmation teams had been sent out this late last night and had already begun reporting their findings. All of this data was also currently streaming into a project file on her computer. By now, she was certain case files were being prepared and queued up for assignment, pending a Plan of Action approval from her superiors. The only problem was, you cannot get approval on a PoA you have not yet submitted. Which brought her to back to why she was drumming her fingers on the back of her hand, willing her desk phone to produce the desired ring. Her superiors were expecting er to present her plan at the briefing tomorrow morning. Which meant her boss expected a copy in his hands by tonight. What is taking them so...

Before she could finish that thought, her desk phone chimed. Agent Denike spun, grabbing the receiver as she took her seat.

"Denike, go ahead," she answered.

"Rachel," said a deep, gruff voice.

"Oh?" she replied. "Hello, Director, what can I do for you?" she added quickly to mask her brief surprise and dismay.

"Why don't I have a PoA in my in box, Denike?"

"We're working on it, sir, but I think you can agree, this is a delicate issue where minors are involved," she said, racking her brain for a way to stall her boss without him realizing it, a dangerous game with such a brilliant man. You did not become the director of an incognito branch of government intelligence by being slow. "I want to make sure we've considered every angle before I release my recommendations."

"Stop bullshitting me, Denike, what's the hold up?" Agent Denike took a deep breath, and blew it out slowly to dispel her irritation.

"I'm waiting on a report from one of my contacts before I make my final decisions."

"Internal team?" Damn, why did he have to ask that, she thought.

"No, sir. Contracted civilian experts," she replied and waited for the backlash. He surprised her.

"Explain." His tone was clipped but so close to reasonable, it took her a moment to find her voice.

"I invited the team at Exter Labs to review our current information and samples," she said. "If you check your intel, you'll see their team's accuracy and insight has been instrumental in several of our investigations the last several years. Exter is the best at what they do. Given the severity of this situation, I felt it was important to go with the best."

"What's their clearance?"

"Top secret certified."

"And when did you hand off your intell?"

"First thing this morning with a request to put a rush on it."

"So, what's the hold up, Denike?" her boss asked, back to his usual irritated self.

"I'm not..." before she could finish that sentence her second line indicator lit up. "Just a moment sir, I believe this may be them on the other line."

"Get back to me immediately," he commanded, before disconnecting. Agent Denike switched lines.

"Denike, go ahead," she answered.