'Look,' she said, 'I've been trying to help you, but I'm not a field agent, and really…I'm better at doing translations than analysis anyway. It's been great to have a steady paycheck while doing something that came easily to me, but I'm not a big part of the Room 59 machine. I'm a little, tiny cog and other than filing my reports, I have almost no contact with them. When I was there, I just figured out that it wasn't my world. It was me trying to be someone I wasn't.'
Jason sat down on a nearby crate, trying to take it all in, then he sighed. 'I can't think of any reason for you to lie,' he finally said. 'So, you work for Room 59. That
'And that,' she said, 'is what I've been trying to get at. Feng Li. I know who he is.'
'I don't get it,' he said. 'How do you know him?'
'I want to be sure,' she said. 'Let's get your stuff set up and get online with Denny. All my gear is back in the village. We can pull up the databases we'll need at the same time.'
Jason stood up abruptly and crossed his arms. 'No way,' he said. 'You think I'm just going to take your word for all this? Your grandfather works for them!'
'So does your brother,' she snapped back. 'You're going to have to choose whether or not you trust me.'
'I don't have any reason to trust you, do I?' he said. 'You could have been straight with me from the beginning. You could have said you worked for the CIA, the FBI or the NSA. Why play the native guide?'
'It's my cover,' she snapped. 'And I happen to be a very good guide!'
'You could have said you worked for…'
'P.E.T.A.?' she interrupted.
He stopped suddenly, realizing that he was yelling and waving his arms like a madman. This woman was going to drive him completely insane before this mission was through. They both laughed, and once again the tension eased between them.
'That was a pretty good one, wasn't it?' he said.
'Considering the circumstances, I'd say it was comedic genius,' she replied.
In two strides, he had her in his arms. 'I thought…I thought they'd hurt you,' he said, holding her tightly. 'You get me all turned around, you know?'
Laying her head on his chest, she nodded. 'I know. You do the same to me. There's a reason why they preach the Don't Let It Get Personal motto to every agent. It messes with your thinking.'
'You weren't an agent,' he said. 'So how do I get you turned around?'
'I care about you,' she said. 'More than I wanted to admit.'
'Are you two about done in there?' Jesse's voice echoed loudly through the cavern. 'Or should we book you a nice room at the village motel?'
Kissing him softly on the lips, she said, 'We're about done in here. Did you bring Jason's equipment in?'
'Yeah, and I hid the truck on the back side of those scrub trees and covered it up pretty well.'
'They'll be looking for us,' Jason said. 'And when they find us, they'll bring everything they've got, including the Asp.'
'I know,' she said. 'That's why it's time for us to report in to Denny and give him an update. Once he knows the situation on the ground and I can tell him about Feng Li, we'll have a better idea of what to do next.'
'Who is Feng Li?' Jason asked as he followed her back to the other room. 'You sound almost scared of him.'
'There's no 'almost' to it,' she said. 'I'm terrified of him.'
'Why?'
'Because he used to work for Room 59, too,' she said. 'He started out as a field agent, and worked his way up to running one of the midnight teams until he went to the other side.'
Jason stopped suddenly in his tracks. 'He's an ex-agent?'
'Yes,' she said. 'And he's supposed to be dead.'
17
'You are well, granddaughter?' Tanuk asked when they entered the main room. 'You told him the truth?'
'Yes, on both counts,' Tina said, leaning down to kiss the old man's cheek. 'Though at some point, you and I are going to have a talk about all of this. I knew of this place, but you'd promised me that you weren't involved in the smuggling anymore.'
She knelt down next to him and took his hand. 'I don't understand,' she said. 'It's not like we really needed the money.'
'I am sorry,' Tanuk said. 'I did not do it for the money. I just wanted to feel alive again, Tina. The years have crept up on me and I wanted one more adventure. Had I known what I was getting into…' The old man shrugged. 'Wisdom can come from anywhere, at any age. This turned out to be a little more adventure than I had in mind.'
Jason chuckled. 'That makes two of us, at any rate.' He turned to Jesse. 'You've got my stuff?'
'Over on the table there,' he said. 'And the generator is up, so we've got full power.'
Jason pulled a rickety wooden chair over to the table and sat down. 'The question is whether or not I can get a good linkup from belowground. That can be sketchy sometimes, but maybe today we'll be lucky.'
'I thought you didn't believe in luck on this mission,' Tina said.
'The tide's got to turn sooner or later,' he said, booting up his computer. He quickly looked his system over, but it appeared that Chris hadn't had time to explore anything before Jesse arrived.
'All right,' he said, launching the software that would connect him to Room 59 via a virtual private network, routed through a satellite. 'Let's see if we can get a tune out of this trombone.'
He listened as the computer clicked and whirred through its task. It took slightly longer than usual, but the log-on screen eventually came on and he went through the security protocols. Once confirmed, he sent his avatar down the hallway and into the virtual offices of Room 59.
As usual, he didn't pause to greet anyone else, but made a beeline for Denny's office. He tapped urgently on the door, and his boss's smooth voice said, 'Come in, Jason.'
Jason entered Denny's virtual office, while in the real world, he motioned for Tina to move closer. In the shadows under the table, he held his Glock in one hand. All he had to do was pull the trigger.
'I've been expecting a status report from you, Jason,' Denny said, gesturing for him to sit down. 'What's your mission status?'
'Complicated, sir,' Jason said. 'Before we go any further, I need you to do something for me.'
Denny didn't reply, just lifted one eyebrow.
'I need you to pull up the personnel files database and confirm an identity.'
'That's an unusual request,' Denny said.
'I'm in an unusual situation,' Jason replied. 'Please.'
'Very well.' Denny tapped at some icons floating on his desktop and a modulated voice said, 'Personnel database online.'
'Tina Kanut,' Jason said.
Denny chuckled quietly. 'There's no need to search that name. I can confirm her identity. She's one of ours. You found her out, did you?'
'No,' Jason admitted. 'She told me that she worked for the agency a short time ago. She played her cover perfectly…though it does explain her uncanny ability to sneak up on me.'
'I'm glad to know that all her skills haven't rusted away up there in the frozen north. She's mostly a translator.'
'So she told me,' he replied.
'What's going on that she needed to break cover?' Denny asked.
'The situation here has gotten extremely complicated,' Jason said.
'All right,' Denny said. 'Break it down for me and don't leave anything out.'
As succinctly as he could, Jason explained to Denny what had happened so far, and that he, Tina, her
