The Order of Operations

Pen took the lead and headed for the door to the stairs. Scotch assumed the decision had to do with the pint that she was carrying and followed, nodding to the security guard in his bouncer attire.

Scotch stopped when he noticed Pen headed down the back stairs. “Where are you going?”

“Downstairs.”

“We’re meeting with McLeod.” Scotch said.

“Yes, I know.” Pen agreed. “In the conference room.”

“The conference rooms are upstairs.”

“Not all of them.” She said as she continued to the basement.

“That’s true.” Scotch said, as he fell into step next to Pen. “It’s only used for meetings regarding the most highly classified missions.”

“I know.”

“Our mission was standard low tier work. A simple task. No physical threat. It was a babysitting job.”

Pen stepped down on to the landing in front of her. “Babysitting?” She asked raising a brow.

“It was a basic run of the mill mission. Nothing about it was marked classified.”

“Meaning?”

“What happened does not belong in that conference room.”

One side of Pen’s mouth turned up in a smile. “Are you sure?” She asked as she continued down the stairs. “Is it possible that you were wrong about leaving the target the way that you did? You’re looking a little nervous.”

Scotch followed, sped up and stopped in front of Pen at the base of the stairs. “I have been doing this job for nearly tw...for a long time. The only reason anyone goes into that conference room...” he said pointing to a door across the hallway, “...is because something serious is going on.”

Pen took a sip of her stout and smiled. “Then relax, it probably means we’re getting an upgrade.”

Scotch does not respond.

“You’re tired of babysitting me aren’t you? Let’s go see what Mr. McLeod wants.” Pen responded. “Excuse me.” She skirted around her escort and crossed the hall, leading the way outside of her usual lab setting for the first time since primary school.

Mr. McLeod was waiting for them in the conference room. He rose from his chair, greeting both warmly. “Scotch. I see that Clive passed along my message. Thank you both for meeting me here.” He turned to Pen. “Agent Pen. Lovely to finally meet you. How are you getting on with your escort?”Mr. McLeod was of average height. He wore formal attire, had a professional demeanor and a friendly smile.

Pen looked at Scotch. “Okay so far.”

Scotch studied the Head of Operations. He knew all of Mr. McLeod's various moods and approaches to engaging with his agents. But this level of affability and warmth was a new one. “What’s going on?” Scotch asked.

“Scotch, I can always count on you to get to the point quickly.” Mr. McLeod looked at Pen. “He is quite the straight shooter as you Americans call it, isn’t he?”

Pen looked at Scotch and thought for a moment before she answered. “Yes and a bit of player as well.”

“He hasn’t?” Mr. McLeod asked.

“No, not that kind of player. I’m sure he does that from time to time as well but in this instance I think that I chose the wrong word. A bit of a...gambler?”

“Ah yes. That too.” He agreed smiling. “It looks like she knows you fairly well already.” Mr. McLeod leaned in and whispered to Pen, “It takes people much longer generally, especially the ladies.” Pen nodded. “Do sit down.”

“I appreciate you both agreeing to meet with me down here. There was a bit of a mishap in the computer lab and all of the activities in the conference rooms are being broadcast on desktops across the office. It’s a bit of mess up there.”

“You seem relaxed about the breach.” Scotch pointed out. “Twenty years ago you would have been alternately firing people and tearing at your hair.”

“I have twenty years’ experience with computers and how they work within this agency. We were able verify that the problems are contained within a small area of the system and originated from the computer lab. Gunny was able to identify the author of the program almost immediately, she is in confinement until everything is under control.”

“It wasn’t an attack?” Scotch asked.

“No. The young lady offered to assist with undoing her mistake. She’s working on her coding in one of the interrogation rooms now. Gunny will be checking over her changes and make the final decision as to whether to her corrections should be used.”

“So...Agent Pen what can we help you with?” Mr. McLeod asked.

He caught Pen drinking her stout as Scotch caught Pen’s eyes.

Pen nearly choked when his eyes met hers. The warmth that had been there earlier was gone. Only two words crossed her mind. Oh shit. “Well...um...”

“It’s okay to discuss any concerns that you are having Agent Pen.” Mr. McLeod said. “We’re all friends here.”

Pen reminded herself that if she was confident enough to reach out to Head of Operations like she had earlier, she needed to be confident enough to follow through. “I wanted to be sure that you knew there was a problem with last night’s mission.”

“No there wasn’t.” Scotch countered.

“Yes. There was.” Pen responded.

“We would have addressed that after your and Agent Scotch’s reports had been filed and reviewed per Corporate directives.” Mr. McLeod said, ignoring both declarations. “Wasn’t this outlined in your training?”

“No.”

“She didn’t go through the training.” Scotch added.

Mr. McLeod looked at Pen.

“I was fast tracked into the agency.” She explained.

“Ah yes. The Fast Track Program for our Special Consultants. I have always liked that program. Surely there were similar directives with your prior agency.”

“No. I’m not your typical consultant.”

“She’s a chemist.” Scotch explained. “You didn’t know that you were bringing a chemist who only had experience working in the private sector into the agency?”

“I glanced over her file. Everything appeared to be in order.”

Scotch looked at the Head of Operations with an eyebrow raised then looked at Pen. His eyes had changed back to something less ominous.

*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.