The Z Contingency

Chapter 55

Agent Sanchez went through her notes detailing the steps of the plan for apprehending Norman Harris that had already been implemented, the ones that were being implemented, and the ones still shaping up. When she was confident that she was prepared to answer any questions he might have, she dialed Agent Zaine’s number. She was somewhat surprised that he answered her call almost immediately. It was almost as though he was expecting her to call at just that moment.

“Sir? We’ve completed the first phase of contacting Norman Harris. We ran the message throughout the day for twenty-four hours, then switched to the next set of messages. This second set is for gaining his trust by capitalizing on his distrust.”

“Explain.”

“He has an inherent distrust of the government, so we tell him that we’re part of a secret agency that works to keep the government in check; that we understand that he’s just trying to address an injustice the government inflicted on him. The final message will also suggest that we can cure him.”

“Don’t you think that telling him we’re part of a secret agency is getting a bit too close to the truth?”

“No sir. He’s a bit of a conspiracy theorist, so he already believes that there are shadow agencies within the government. Our message doesn’t tell him anything that he doesn’t already think he knows.”

“Fine. How long will this message run?”

“We’ll run it through the end of the day, and then we’ll switch to the final message emphasizing the cure and urging him to contact us to arrange for a meeting to move him to a safe place for treatment.”

“What have you done to plan for the possibility he misses the message? Seems a gamble to hope he’s watching TV when the broadcasts go out,” Simon commented.

“Yes sir. I understand that we may not know exactly when he’ll be watching television, but the reasoning behind this timing is that if he did see one of the first messages, he will be watching for others. If we do not get a call from him after the last set of messages, we will re-run the series, but I wanted to keep each phase short due to the urgency of the situation.”

“Sounds reasonable. Carry on and let me know if he makes contact.”

“Yes sir. I knew you’d understand. Sanchez out.”