Gerald put away his phone as Jessica and Amy excitedly talked about the Ball.
"Who the heck is your mom if she can easily get four tickets?" Jessica asked.
Gerald shrugged. "She is just my mom, she knows people."
"Wow. Your family must be pretty rich then."
"Nah, I think my bank account trumps my mom's, by a lot."
"That is just because you write so much. What other author puts out as many books as you? That reminds me, I finished editing your latest work and just sent it to be published this morning."
"Great." Gerald said while pulling a flash drive from his pocket. "By the way, I finished another story. You can start working on it when you get a chance."
"You jerk." Amy said as she playfully punched his arm. "I only finished today, and you are already giving me another." But before Gerald could pull back the flash drive, she had already snatched it away.
*Ding*
Gerald checked his phone and saw that it was a text from his mother.
"Did she get the tickets already?" Amy asked.
"She has them, but I won't get them until I do a favor for her first."
"That's not to bad of a deal." Jessica said. "Most people couldn't even get four tickets if they sold off everything they had."
Amy nodded in agreement.
Jessica suddenly lunged and grabbed onto Amy's arm. "What are we going to wear?"
Amy's eyes opened wide. "We got problems. The Ball is only a few days away."
"We need to go find dress and shoes. I will need a new bag, we have to make appointment for our hair and nails. There is so much to do and not enough time."
"Alright, let's go." Amy said while getting up. "Just give me five minutes." She then looked back towards Gerald. "Make that thirty." She said before taking Gerald back to her room and showing him where he would be sleeping.
Half an hour later, Amy was slipping back into her jeans. "Do you want to come out with us? But don't feel like you have to. We will be checking out a lot of different places."
"I have to run an errand for my mom. I might as well go and do it now. The sooner it is done, the sooner we get the tickets."
"Okay. Here. You can take my key if you get done before us."
Gerald took the key and slipped it into his pocket.
***
Gerald parked his car outside a nondescript building in the center of the city. The average person wouldn't even notice the cameras that were tucked into the alcoves and hidden behind tinted windows.
He pushed the doors in and saw an ordinary reception. What wasn't ordinary were the bulges in the men's suits jackets. The guns they were packing were much bigger than just pistols.
Gerald walked up to the man behind the counter.
"I am here on orders of Director Evans."
"I.D.?"
Gerald handed him his newly printed military I.D.
The man behind the counter swiped it on the terminal next to his computer.
"Welcome Major General Acers. They are expecting you inside."
Gerald retrieved his I.D. and passed through the metal detectors. They started buzzing, but the man behind the desk waved his hand and the guards remained where they stood.
Through another set of doors, Gerald found a woman waiting for him.
"Please follow me sir."
Gerald followed the lady into an elevator. They descended underground.
*Ding*
The doors opened and Gerald saw hundreds of computers and huge monitors. Desk jockeys clicked away on their keyboards. A few people crowded around the far wall where several projections were blown up to a huge size.
Gerald was always a little disturbed by how much information and surveillance the NSA had access to. Seeing their agents monitoring people in real time gave him the creeps. He was thankful that both his phone and computer were rewards from the World Saver System. Completely untraceable.
A few of the suits turned around when the elevator opened.
"Major General Acers. The director informed us that you would ensure that everything goes smoothly with our joint operation. We are glad to see you here."
Gerald nodded and then walked towards the suits at the other end of the room.
"What's the situation?" He asked.
The man in charge took a clicker from the desk and pressed a button. The projector showed the image of two men.
"We picked up chatter about these two. They were suspected of delivering intel in relation to an attack on an information center. We tracked them to the meet and had agents waiting for the trade to happen. The plan was to scoop up them and the buyer. But they went into a building and we waited and waited but the buyer never showed. After thirty minutes we sent in our agent to pick them up. When they went inside, we found this."
*Click*
A new picture went up. Two corpses were charred to the bone and still smoldering.
"We secured the area and found no other ways in or out. Our techs noticed that even the ground they laid on wasn't burnt, but it was determined that the fire that did this to them was at least over a thousand degrees. At that point we realized that this was out of the norm."
A woman then took a turn to speak. "We scrubbed through both of their computers and determined that they were meeting up with this man."
*Click*
A bald head man appeared on the projection.
"His name is Anthony Turpin. We sent two agents to bring him in for question and the signals for our agents went dead. For all intents and purposes, it appears that they vanished off the face of the earth. At this point… we assume the worst. That was when we contacted the Calamity unit."
*Click*
The man spoke again.
"Due to some issue in the east, the Calamity unit was only able to send two fresh recruits. We have already lost two good agents and they are presumed dead. It is not that we look down on your people, we are just concerned. Yesterday, the Director informed us that she would handle it. That is why you are here."
"I understand. Do you have any information about what this Anthony Turpin is capable of?"
"Yes and no." The suit said. "We don't but your people said they are aware of him."
"Are they here?"
"Yes, follow me."
The suit and the woman turned towards the side and led Gerald to another room.
Inside he found two familiar faces, and they were both putting on a lot of tactical gear.
"Major General Acers." They both said as they turned and saluted.
"Congratulations on the promotion." The woman said while the man nodded.
"What do they call you now?" He asked. Since recruits didn't get the fancy codenames, he wasn't sure how he should address the two who he had helped train.
"I am Orange, and he is Razor."
"That's a little more unique compared to your Colonels." Gerald said while cracking a smile.
"Rules have changed. Now we are allowed to submit our own suggestions." Said Razor.
"What do you have on our target?"
"Our intel is dated. Fifteen years ago he displayed tier three mage powers and then went into hiding. The unit kept eyes looking for him the entire time. He is wanted for the massacre of a small town. Regardless of whether he is related to their agents going missing or not, he needs to be brought in. This is the first lead we have had on him in the past ten years. Our orders are to capture. If it isn't possible, we are ordered to kill."
"Do you have a plan together yet?"
"We are setting out immediately."
Gerald looked them both over. They were wearing heavy body armor and were strapped with a mini armory of guns.
"Isn't our target in the city?"
"Yes sir." Orange replied.
Gerald gave them both a strange look before he turned back to the suit who came in with them.
The suit sighed and Gerald understood why these two didn't instill confidence in the NSA.
"Can you give us a minute?" Gerald asked.
The suit nodded and left the room with the woman he came with.
"What are you two knuckle heads doing? If you go out into the streets dressed like that, you will cause a panic and be seen coming from a mile away. Those NSA guys will have to work overtime to scrub you from the internet and even then, people will still talk."
The two looked a little ashamed. "We know sir, but this guy is seriously bad news. We were just taking your advice. We would rather stick out and be over prepared rather than dying."
Gerald understood that they were not to blame. It was the Calamity unit that didn't really have covert gear to supply them with.
"I need this mission to go perfectly for my own reasons, so I will help you out a bit." Gerald said as he walked over towards the large supply crate, they had shipped to this location.
He looked over the crate and was satisfied with it since it was larger than him. He closed the door and turned the latch the opposite direction before opening it again.
Inside were several different suits and an arsenal of silenced weapons.
"Change and re-arm, these suits and the shirts that go with them are far superior to your flack vests. And they also have the ability to hide guns very well, don't ask how they work. The suits will resize themselves towards your own body." He finished as Orange started to open her mouth.
While they both stood still, looking at the container, Gerald walked forward and grabbed his own gear and started stuffing his pocket and strapping on holsters.
After putting on his dual shoulder holsters and slinging the submachine gun over his shoulder, he put his suit jacket back on and turned around to see that they were still hesitant to take the gear.
"Go!" Gerald commanded.
Both sprung into action while he turned his back to them.
Several minutes later they were both looking at their reflections in the mirror.
"Looking pretty sharp Razor."
"Not bad yourself Orange." They said to each other. Razor then turned towards Gerald. "Sir, are you sure that these will keep us safe."
Gerald wasn't a big fan of repeating himself multiple times. He reached into his jacket and pulled out fast.
*Ping* *Ping* *Ping*
"Oww." Razor groaned after taking three bullets to the chest.
"See, you are fine. Not even a thread out of place." Said Gerald as he wiped the creases out of the young man's jacket.
"Still feels like I was punched a few times."
"Better than being shot." Gerald said. "And they do have a bit of magic resistance, but I wouldn't plan on jumping in front of a spell."
They both nodded seriously. Gerald closed the supply crate and then left the room while the two followed him out.
The suit nodded in approval when he saw them looking more like spooks instead of soldiers who were deploying into a warzone. The suit then walked over to them.
"Since this is a joint operation. Agent Right here will provide you real time intel with our satellite uplinks."
The suit motioned and a small woman got up from a nearby desk and introduced herself.
"Hello, I am Agent Debbie Right. Here." She held out a case with three earpieces.
Orange and Razor both took one and placed it in their ear. Gerald took his and set it next to his phone for a moment and then returned it.
"Major General, you will need it to stay in contact with me. I will be able to help you track down the subject if they try and flee."
"Don't worry, I hear you loud and clear." He said.
She was surprised to see that his voice registered on her computer. She was amazed at the technology. Her gaze went from his ears to his glasses, but she didn't ask about it.
"Alright. You should move before Turpin makes a move. We don't know exactly what he plans to do. I would rather find out about it in interrogation compared to dealing with the aftermath."