Mystery from Another World--MHA

Part 184: Macallister

"What's this?" One of the ninja suddenly spotted the ear piece. "Ma'am, they have comlinks."

"Not surprising. Why didn't you search them before?!" Macallister barked.

"Uh...we...were..." they sputtered.

* * *

It only took 5 minutes or so for Kayla to get there. She couldn't have been that far away.

To her credit, she didn't react at all when she saw them. She must have been told what was going on.

"Agent Baker, it looks as though you may have been followed," Macallister said.

"That doesn't seem likely," Kayla said stiffly, "but if it is, I hope we've got someone working on it. Do you think they hacked us?"

"That's looking likely. My guess is someone noticed you while you were doing reconnaissance with the Metas. Did you have any exposure to them at length?" Macallister asked, "Do you recognize either of them?"

Kayla shook her head. "I never saw either of them while I was on the boat."

Clever, that was technically not a lie.

"Are you sure they're heroes?" Kayla eyed Shine. "She doesn't look like a hero."

"She doesn't seem to speak English, so she must be," Macallister said, "Who else would be infiltrating us? Or she's a villain... They're so pretentious over there. Just say criminal, for the love of--Anyways," she changed the subject, "you don't recognize them."

"No. Are you sure they followed me?" Kayla said.

"No, but it's a little too convenient. You just flew in from Japan. We just got some transports from there."

"But didn't you get those over a week ago?" Kayla said, "If they were following me to get to them, that's a long time to wait. Their target could be dead by now."

"If it's who we think," Macallister said, "that's not true."

"And you think they could know that?" Kayla feigned a very convincing dubious expression. "That's very good hacking."

"They must have an insider link," Macallister said, "I would have thought it was you..." 

Shine's skin pricked.

"...But, as you say it's been over a week," Macallister said. Kayla somehow did not react. "So I'm guessing it's someone who came in around that time. Crawford?"

That must have been the clerk's name. She was staring at her computer. "Still nothing, Lieutenant. Possibly they hacked us from somewhere else."

"This had to be an inside job," Macallister declared.

Kayla tilted her head. "Should we really have them out here listening to us, then?"

"They don't speak English."

"Are you sure of that?" Kayla said, "Maybe they are trying to fool you." 

"Why would they have a reason to act like they don't understand me?" Macallister said, "We could swap information if we could communicate. What kind of spy would pass that up, Baker?"

Kayla shrugged. "Perhaps they are just trying to stall us here. I'd still suggest, respectfully, putting them in a holding cell...or, even better, why don't you see if they recognize one of the prisoners you brought in? That would answer your question, wouldn't it?"

Macallister looked up. "That's...not a bad idea, Baker... They probably can't resist that... All right..."

"I would be happy to move them personally." Kayla crossed her arms. "I can speak the language. If they say something to give it away, I'll know. But they don't know I can understand them. Do you?" She glanced at Shine.