You, Me, We Are All Mistakes

7. SIR, THERE HAS BEEN A BREACH!

A huge, frosted door to the meeting room opened abruptly and two tall figures in grey robes rushed in.

"The room is in use!" yelled Cha.

"Our apologies 3E, but it is urgent," stuttered the slightly taller, paler of the two.

"What is it?"

"Sir, there has been a breach!"

"From where?"

"The surface."

"I assumed that! Exactly where on the surface?"

"This country sir, down south. London," he then took a deep breath, anticipating the reaction, "NW6 3DZ."

"West Hampstead!"

"I'm afraid so 3E."

"No!" He slammed the conference table. "Again, with this Duke Kramer subject!"

"That is correct sir. And this particular target has also visited the home of our old Corsican friend... and we surmise may have an accomplice."

"Damn it! This needs nipping in the bud."

"We had already upped the surveillance Sir, but now the target has called NASA... and got through."

"What?"

Cha's normally mild-mannered expression darkened severely, with his eyes displaying rare sinister tones.

"So, they finally show their hand. Unacceptable. This must be the last of it. Two breaches in as many months.

Cha snapped at both his grey-robed colleagues, indicating first to the tallest one.

"You... keep talking. I want to know all about who the target is, and the accomplice. I'm going to finish it personally this time. And you..." towards the slightly shorter one, "get me Tan'6M on the vidcon."

"Yes 3E, sir."

***

As they say in Texas, this was not his first rodeo. Six hours later, Tan'6M sat silently in his '82 Plymouth Turismo at the Johnson Space Center. The car was just a year old and he took the precaution of carefully parking in a far corner bay, reversing tight to the manicured Texan elbowbush hedgerow. No colleague could approach him without being seen via his windscreen, rear view, or wing mirrors. Though it was a very warm Texan day his windows remained closed, the engine running, and air conditioning on low.

Tan switched off his Sonny Rollins cassette tape and let the jazz melodies dissipate into the air. He opened his leather briefcase, sifting through his papers, Filofax, partially melted Summit bar, and printed agendas forming the rest of his day. He found the concealed catch that released its secret compartment. It slid snugly towards him, and he took out the GlasSlate® mobile phone, unfolding its slim crystal plates to tap the vidcon icon.

The teleconference had already started, and he clicked the Join button. The only face to appear was the pale one of Cha'3E, who Tan greeted in his usual guttural voice with its southern drawl.

"Hello Cha, good to see you again. How's England?"

Silence.

"You're on mute, buddy."

Bip.

"...ing hell! I'm going to need a T-shirt made for me with that printed on it. Can you hear me now?"

"Sure."

"How are you, Tan?"

"I'm good thanks Cha. I hear The Quit is progressing well?"

"Yes. The funding plans are falling into place. And we received the big reply from our new friends. So, we're all on schedule... except for this potential blip."

"How much do y'all know already, Cha?"

"Just a few basics Tan. Go from the top."

"Okay. The call came through first thing this morning, our time. Since the last breach I set up a new procedure: if anyone mentions Shu's old name, they are routed straight through to me. The target spoke to switchboard first and was then passed to my colleague Cargill. Both did their job well, performed the prescribed role play perfectly, and our protocol worked Cha. The target gave away its real address, which we later verified. And my team remains oblivious to our real intentions."

"Excellent Tan. Very well done."

"The call originated from your side Cha... again from that place over there you call West Hampstead, and the target seemed to know quite a lot. So, we can't assume it was a mistake, or a coincidence."

"Understood. Do we know any more about either of them Tan, the target, and the accomplice?"

"So far more about the target than the accomplice. Obviously neither of them leaves any digital dust yet, but we've got the target's name as Nelson Staff. And we know he was connected to the Duke Kramer subject."

"So I've heard, and we can assume they are all working together. Was it the final letter he uncovered?"

Tan dug deep into his notes, knowing that Sonny Rollins and his Summit bar would have to wait a little longer.

"We're still trying to ascertain that, but it seems likely. Just a few more hours to get the full picture on both of them."

"Okay, good to hear Tan."

"Is there anything specific you want us to look at Cha?"

"As much as you can please, given the events we have planned for the next 72 hours. We really need to know it's the last letter."

"Understood."

"And let's see about these two individuals. We don't have to give either of them up, Tan. If it all comes together, then the rare decision to erase them maybe taken. And I'm going to take personal charge."