Power Play

Chapter 14: Veronica

Chapter 14: Veronica

    Veronica stood surveying the agents under her command. It was the first time in the past couple days that all four teams in the operation had been assembled in the same place all at once. Jason, her second-in-command, stood at her side, facing the seated agents.

    "This is the largest operation ever undertaken by our division. At no previous point in time have we ever had this many agents working towards the same goal. And what do we have to show for it?" Veronica asked solemnly, turning her gaze pointedly from agent to agent. "We know that our target has made more than one appearance in this city since we began searching for him, but not once have we been anywhere near those locations at the times he turned up. The director is not pleased. He expects results, people, especially when he invests this much valuable manpower."

    "Perhaps the target is able to sense us at a greater distance than an ordinary freak, ma'am," one of the agents suggested. "Maybe he's intentionally avoiding us."

    "An interesting idea. Would you like to suggest it to the director himself, and see how he reacts?" Veronica demanded forcefully, and when the agent lowered his eyes, she turned her attention back to the rest. "We must run off the assumption that the target can be apprehended people, because the director believes it and we don't get a say in the matter. We need to deliver something tangible sometime soon, or he's not going to be very happy with any of us."

    Turning slightly, she gestured to Jason, who stepped forward, taking up where she left off. "Luckily we have some new intel which may be of use. The bugs in Derek Vanning's home picked up a conversation he had with Payton Michaels, aka Payne. It revealed that many of the freaks in this city are to be involved in defending an assault in less than a week's time, we even got a list of who. We believe there is a high likelihood that our target will be in contact with one of those freaks prior to the assault itself. Therefore, in the coming days, we will be focusing our surveillance on them," Jason explained.

    Veronica gave a short nod, turning her attention back to the agents seated before her. "Any questions?"

    "Ma'am? Assuming we do manage to find the target... Are we certain we'll even be able to capture him?" Connor Marks, the agent with the ability to shield himself and others from freak detection, asked.

    "A True Mind may be more powerful than your average freak, but that power isn't unlimited, and he isn't invulnerable. If the director didn't have full confidence in our ability to complete this mission, he wouldn't have sent us. Why, are you beginning to have doubts, Agent Marks?" Veronica replied.

    "It's just... I've heard the stories ma'am, we all have. That in the early days of the project, a True Mind was able to take out several of the first agents from our division and survive. I'm just... Concerned, ma'am," Marks said, and she could hear the nervousness in his voice.

    "You're scared, I won't fault you for it. A True Mind is a dangerous target, and we all know it. A little fear and worry is healthy, it'll keep you on your toes and keep you from relaxing too much. Make no mistake people, this target is more powerful and lethal than any of the freaks you've taken on before in your individual teams. But we have a plan. We finally have something that neutralizes freaks, and we have no reason to believe it won't work on the True Mind as well. We're not just doing this for ourselves, we're not just doing this for the NSA, we're not even just doing this for our country. If the human race is ever going to be free of the True Minds and the freaks they control, it starts here. With the very first capturing and studying of a True Mind. This is for our friends, for our families, for our species. Never forget that. Never forget the importance this mission could have. It's why we were sent here," Veronica told not just Marks, but all of them.

    She stared them down, each in turn, waiting until there were nods and expressions of agreement all around before going on. "Good, now get some sleep, you'll need it. You'll get your new assignments in the morning," she dismissed them, dropping into her chair and waiting until they filed out before turning her attention over to Jason.

    "You can't fool me, you know," Jason told her, grabbing one of the chairs the agents had been sitting in and pulling it over so that he could sit facing her. "You're as afraid as they are. You're just lucky they don't know you as well as I do."

    Veronica paused to consider her words before replying to that. "Like I told them, a little fear is healthy. To be honest, I wish I'd never been given this assignment. If we fail to find the True Mind at all, and there's a chance we might, the director puts it on me. And if we manage to find the True Mind. Well, who knows what could happen when we attempt to capture him? As fast and strong as they're supposed to be, if he can get out of the capture zone before he's properly dosed, he could strike at whatever team is there before they can escape or even defend themselves. These are good agents, none of them deserves to die like that, and then the director comes down on me even worse. If we can get the True Mind dosed, we can contain him, I believe that. I have to believe that. They can't be invincible. Or else how do we fight them? How do we break the control they have over our society, over this world? They must be vulnerable. And if this stuff works on freaks, then it must work on them too. And I know how important this mission is, to capture one and be able to figure out their precise limits and vulnerabilities. I just wish I'd been one of the agents sitting in those chairs, and not the one put in charge."

    "Oh, who are you kidding. You always did want a promotion, the chance to prove yourself," Jason chided her.

    "I just wanted to be the leader of my own team! I didn't want to be given charge of a joint operation like this, tasked with capturing one of the most dangerous beings on the entire planet. I'll do my job, you know I will. I just wish I'd had the chance to work my way into something of this magnitude, rather than simply getting tossed into the fire.ading my own t At least I was allowed to pick my own second in command," Veronica said, finally offering him a wry smile.

    "Maybe the Director wanted to see what you were made of. Whether, once in the fire, you would harden or break. This could be the beginnings of big things for you. But I have faith in you. You've always been the best agent I've known, since we first met in basic training. And you know I'm as scared about our mission as you are. But I believe in you, I believe in the Director, and I believe in these agents, every last one of them. We can do this, I know we can. And when we do, this war changes. Everything changes. Once we learn what we need to know to be able to target True Minds, we become able to do more than just skulk in the shadows, carrying out operations in secret, afraid of revealing ourselves to the freaks and their masters. If we succeed in this mission, we'll finally be able to take the fight to them," Jason spoke the words with passion.

    Veronica just nodded, feeling more resolved than ever. "And that is something worth fighting for. Worth even risking dying for."