Reversing Roles

‘Well in terms of style, appearance, poise, deportment, dress and all the other graces you want to

include we can teach them nothing.  It’s the other areas that we can build on,’  Alice Hamilton explained
to the assembled executive.

‘Go on,’ Claire said, leaning back in her chair and smiling.

‘They need a lot of work on fighting skills and their overall knowledge of more exotic methods is poor,
they have some but it’s mostly very basic, but they all learn very quickly and are advancing well.
Sexual skills are great, a few additions her and there with regard to techniques, again in the exotic
and erotic area and they’ll be equal or better to any agent we have,’ she added.

‘I’m meeting with them later this week, so it will be interesting to get their take on things, see if we
mesh up. Make no mistake I want these ladies to succeed, they have done remarkably well for
themselves up to this point, so I don’t want to over polish them if that makes sense, them all have
that “it factor” you need in this game, they came with it and I don’t want to change it too much, just
improve it a touch,’ Claire said. ‘Their going to need it given what we just found out,’ she added, turning
to Susan Janus.

Susan was Claire’s number two, a former agent, she ran the Inter Agency Intelligence Operation as
well as recruiting and training. Susan patted the paper on the table in front of her. Everyone could tell it
was not good news even before she began.

‘It appears our alliance with SALON has had an unexpected ripple effect. I.C.E. now rebranded as
International Corporate Espionage) agents and some higher ups were not to pleased with their
enemies sudden switch to our side and the wiping of the slate clean, if you will, by all concerned. 
So… those aforementioned agents and higher ups have approached TRIDENT about an alliance with
them.  It would seem money and revenge,  in that order, were top of mind. Although TRIDENT’s
resources are not as vast as they used to be, they are still better than I.C.E. 's were and when you
couple that with experienced agents helping add to their skill sets it seems our actions may inadvertently
strengthen the very opponent we were trying to weaken further.’

‘SALON seemed to hold their own against I.C.E. before, better trained and equipped I think they will
do even better. It's just a matter of not reacting and rushing them into the field,’ Tina Samuels added as
a counterpoint.

‘Or having them want to rush back into the field,’ Claire added. ‘Either way, we don’t back down from a
challenge, she if Mekong LLP can direct a few resources our way until we have the SALON ladies
back in the field. Meanwhile gather all the dossiers and data on the I.C.E. agents that decided to turn,
copies for all present but more importantly get that information disseminated to all our agents, starting
with Mekong LLP. Find the ones that decided to stay and see if they want to transfer here, somehow
after this fiasco and the talk I had with certain people that I.C.E. as we used to know it will resurface.’

The meeting adjourned on that note, Claire grabbing a bag and her some papers to go over from her
office before taking the elevator to the basement, getting in the company limo and heading to the airport
for her flight, the a connection and then a private flight, then a water taxi for an hour to a small island
where one of FORCE’s training facilities was located.  Along the way she managed to do all the work
needed and get some rest so when she stepped off the boat she looked her usual spectacular self.  

‘Their stamina and willpower are way up and still climbing. They all show tremendous patience in all
facets, seduction, entrapment, fight skills.  They get better every day, in fact in the 3 months they’ve
been here I’d say they’re now equal to if not better than some of your third years,’ Greta Yemling,
FORCE’s Head of Training at the facility stated.

‘How’s their mental state and by that I mean do they know what’s going to be expected of them, what
they will face when activated and are they prepared to be as ruthless as need to when that occurs?’
Claire asked.

‘They saw all the mission films we have, both good and bad.  I think they rather score higher than the
other trainees, after all they actually were doing this before but on a much smaller and less skilled
scale,’ Yoko Nashima, the martial arts instructor added.

‘They spend endless hours in the library, studying old texts, looking at agents' old missions, making
detailed notes and trying various techniques out, just like a certain some else, whose name I can’t
recall at the moment once did,’ Ingrid Larrson smiled and Claire smiled coolly.  

We did not tell them about I.C.E. we figured you’d want that pleasure, but unless we all miss our guess,
I think they’ll be ecstatic at the news.  A chance to renew old rivalries and all that goes with it,’
Yoko added.

‘I think another six months here would be well spent, learn with most importantly, practice with the
third years, let them build a rapport with them, create a bond it will be better for all. I know it's a long
time to wait, but it will be worth the investment,’ Ingrid said and the rest agreed.

‘What can I say against such a united front,’ Claire smiled. She had already decided on it, but was glad
there was consensus.  Now she would tell them. 

***

The women perked up when they heard about I.C.E., before that they had been upset at the length of
more training, but in reality, then knew they needed it, now more than ever given who I.C.E. had aligned
themselves with.

‘I know you hear it everyday, but I’m going to say it again. You have to really push yourselves, and I
mean like nothing you’ve ever done before hard. It's the only way to ensure success or a chance of it.
Physical always, but mental is just as if not more important.  You’re all in a tough spot, agents younger
than you have a slight edge on the body department, agents older than you have it in the experience
department and then there’s you in the middle, rookie, older, no experience,’ Claire stated.

‘This is not pushing us up,’ Thu smiled.

‘Just think of how sweet it will be for all you when you surprise them, that’s why the extra time.  I tell
this to every new agent I won’t send you into a situation you can’t win and you will always have the
best resources, Intel and equipment available, but that sometimes isn’t even enough.  This is the best
and deadliest weapon you have, use it well, master it, make use of the skills and talents you, but most
of all make use of this, your brain, make it the master of your body, not the other way around.  Beautiful
women, dime a dozen, beautiful women with brains, one every corner, beautiful women with brains
and the power to use both, now that is a pearl of great price and that is I want and you are those pearls
and to keep the metaphor going I expect you when you are in the field expanding your business empires
adding pearls of great price to the 5 on the strand already,’ she smiled.  

‘We have yoga class in 10 minutes. Would you care to join us, we know you’re an expert in many styles
and it would be great to see you in action.

‘Have you been looking in my files at mission reports as well,’ Claire smiled.

***

The Salon agents knew enough not to ask where they were going, after all they could see the signs

along the road.  The City of  Dawei was a special economic zone in Myanmar and the on again off
again Port project was supposed to make it the biggest port and trade zone in South East Asia, was,
being the operative word.  At the present time the project was on hold, yet again.  

‘You’re all so quiet, why the silence?’ Claire asked as the limo sped along.

‘I thought that was what was expected?’ Thu said.

‘Only on missions.  With me or anyone else in FORCE I want you to be open and trusting.  Think of us
as your extended family, close extended family, perhaps like cousins you grew up with, we are all
different, but we are all family and families stick together and in my family, there are no secrets. I keep
none and I expect the same from others.  So ask away, besides your faces tell me your itching to know
about where we’re going,’ Claire smiled.

‘Where we are going is nowhere at the present time, just a giant government mess up that has yet to
be fixed if ever,’ Hanh stated.  ‘Just a giant incomplete warehouse and pier complex, deserted as far
as I know, that is according to the last report I report in the newspaper.’

‘Heard the same bit of fiasco for the Myanmar government, but as things go, that would seem to be
par for the course,’ Kim added.

‘All correct conclusions, and an excellent opportunity for FORCE,’ Claire injected as the limo passed
through the opened manned security gate that closed behind them. ‘The government still hasn’t given
up on it as you can see, in fact they take it very seriously as do we, but more on that in a few moments,
we’re almost there, just up ahead a kilometer or so and around a few warehouses now.

The limo passed through another patrolled gate then into the inner complex, a series of massive
warehouses several stories tall, it seemed an endless stream of them on either side as the limo
sped on, loading docks and doors various numbers blurred together. They turned a corner, the sight of
giant cranes taking over against the docks, meal giants that dwarfed all else, the limo turned left and left
again swerving through open hanger doors and into the artificial light of the interior.  

‘Finally,’ Claire said as the driver opened the doors and they stepped out. Directly in front of them was
a table with a cloth over it to cover its contents.  A door opened from a small office adjacent to the door
they had just passed through and a young, beautiful and well dressed woman made their way toward
them.

‘Ladies I’d like you to meet FORCE Agent Cara Tamblyn, owner of Mandalay Sea Trading Company or
M.S.T.C. for short. She’s our agent for Myanmar, Laos and Bangladesh. Not only is she an excellent
agent, but like all of you, an exceptional businesswoman, having built the company as a cover for our
and her operations, it is now quite a going concern. You can count on her for any support you may
need, whether it be material needs or Intel. Cara had extensive ties into the military here and in Laos
as well has deep contacts in Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia,’ Claire explained.

‘You can all talk later, now lets have some fun. Since you're all newly graduated I thought it only
appropriate that you have a graduation present or two from me, work related of course,’ she added
walking over to the table and lifting off the cover.  A selection for the well dressed agent,  silencer
included of course, don’t worry if more than one of you likes the same one, Cara brought extras and of
course a way to find out which ones you prefer,’ she said pushing a button on her cell phone that raised
an interior rolling door revealing targets. 

In unison they all advanced to the table, donned the protective headgear, safetied their weapons, pulled
back the action then ejected the clip, each taking an extra bullet from the ammunition box in front of
their respective weapon and loading it into the clip. 

Each tested the weight in the palm, feel of the weapon in their hand, the sighting before releasing the
safety and firing a single shot, pausing to feel the recoil and the accuracy of the weapon before resuming
and emptying their respective clips.  They repeated the process, trading pistols with each other. 

‘I did this with Cindy,’ Cara said. ‘Couldn’t decide between the Ruger and the Smith and Wesson, so
I took both. It's always good to have mix and match accessories and both go well with pearls,’
Cara smiled as did Claire.

‘Let me try the Springfield again,’ Hanh said as she put down the Kahr.

‘Here you are, I’m set on the Smith and Wesson, feels great, fast action and a quick load,’
Mai answered, passing over the pistol.

‘I love this Boberg, custom ammo I know, but I don’t think supply will be an issue and boy does it pack
a punch. Kim said.

‘Think I’ll take the Kahr and the Ruger,’ Trinh chimed in. ‘Two legs, room for two guns,’ Yen smiled.

‘My legs are deadlier than any gun,’ Trinh mocked to looks from the others, but if I have to choose it’s
the Smith and Wesson.’

‘Well, that seemed like fun, at least from where I was standing. Now if you want to follow me I have
something for you that i think will be much more fun. I know, what could be more fun what just
happened, but I have a feeling, this could be just the ticket.  Mind the shell casings,’ Claire said as
she walked toward a large set of steel doors that segregated the massive warehouse.

‘Tell them what’s behind door # 1 Johnny,’ Claire mocked as she activated her phone once more and
the steel doors rolled back..  This time you only get to pick one, but you can test drive them all.

Yen, Trinh, Mai, Kim and Hanh stood there for a few seconds before Trinh broke the silence.

‘See you later bitches,’ she said moving to the Skyline.

Cara who had moved outside, opened another door. ‘To the left, follow the orange cones to get to the
track around the complex,’ she said as the R34 roared to l

                                           ‘So who’s going to chase her down.  I will tell you that these cars have been modified, Trinh’s going to

find that out very quickly.  She’s not behind 276 horsepower, more like 600 HP, the others have all been
modified as well, so drive with that in mind, get the feel, then go hard.

‘Just like sex,’ Kim added. ‘What’s with the Yaris, really?’

‘Nothing “really” about 267 HP from the factory, only this one is slightly better than than, about 200 more
HP. That little car, with AWD is like a rocket with a steering wheel attached,’ Claire explained.

That was all Kim needed, she was off and the others picked a car and raced off.

Claire called up the dash cams on her phone so she and Cara watched the action as the Skyline,
along with the two Toyota’s and Subaru’s chased after each other.

‘Hope your seat is comfortable because I’m about to kick your ass,’ Kim said as she raced up to Trinh.

‘Hope you two are belted in tight because I’m about to blow right by you,’ Mai said and she shifted in the
Subaru 22b in fifth and pushed her foot down the turbocharger screaming to life.

Hanh and Mai closed in as well as all exchanged good natured by competitive banter, each taking the
lead as they all jockeyed for the corner angles.  

‘They took their driver training to heart,’ Cara said. ‘Which one is coming with me on the mission?’

Claire watched the screen a little more before she answered. ‘Yen is the obvious and only choice.
Speaks fluent Mandarin as well as English, French and Burmese. I’ll tell her after they sort this whole
thing out about the cars.’

‘Or when everyone of them has a blown engine,’ Cara added.

‘How hard do you push your Nissan Gt-r  R35,’ Claire answered with a sideways smile. Let them have
their fun, harder times are ahead, besides this is part of the package. A good set of wheels can be a
lifesaver at times.’

The SALON Agents changed cars multiple times before they settled on the one they wanted.  They all
declared the day a success.  

‘Now for the final present, your first assignments,’ Claire said handing out dossiers to each agent. 

‘You can look at them later, for now I think the day has run its course and we need to get back to town
have a meal and relax.  Yen, I want you to ride with Cara, your car will be delivered to your home, not to
worry, your staying here for an assignment with her,’ Claire explained as Yen looked a little
disappointed, co-missions were usually judged as assignments for weak link agents. Cara knew this,
she moved forward, hooked her arm in Yen’s and began to move her away from the group. 

‘Not to worry, you can drive my car back to town, see you later bitches!, she said over her shoulder
as they walked out the warehouse door, across the road into another building.

‘We can talk on the way,’ Cara smiled, holding up the keys. ‘Go hard into the corners, ease

off just a touch then punch it on the way out, she likes that.’

Yen revved the engine then took off, she did a couple of circuits of the facility before heading
for the exit. Cara, unconcerned, began explaining the situation.

‘First of all, you’re not a weak link as is the common belief on team assignments, in fact, you're
the key to this whole operation.  About six months ago my contact inside the government told
me about a situation in Namhkan.  The area, especially close to the border with China is rich in
rubies, diamonds and sapphire, the rubies are especially prized all over the world because of
their deep red colour and hardness. To that end Myanmar and a private mining company in
China with of course ties to the government there entered into a partnership. Everything was
going long fine for a few years, Myanmar got the infusion of capital and cash it needed and the
mining company was making very good profits.  All that started to slow, that’s when I was alerted
by my contact. We have done each other favours and built up a trust,’ Cara explained.

Yen gave a glance over, she knew Cara and her contact were more than that, but trust comes
with time in their line of work, if she wanted and when she wanted Yen knew Cara would
expand. She geared the car down as they exited the port.

‘The amount and especially the quality of the stones, both in size and colour, started to fall off.
At first it was put down to a seam being played out, but it went on, with the mine owner and his
cadre making the usual excuses, equipment issues, labour shortages, the need for more
geological assessment and on and on it went.  That was, as I said, six months then my
contacts operatives chanced upon unregistered stones being transported up the Thanlwin
River into China hidden inside various local goods being sold in Liuku.  Rather than shut it
down, the operatives took direction from my contact, took a bribe and let them pass, but warned
the smugglers not to try again.  That’s where you and I come in. The mining company is owned
by Mr. Lee Gao Tang, I’m sure he’s got partners in this operation, that is our mission.  One, find
out all the parties involved and how they move the stones once I had them over to you,’
Cara smiled as she looked sideways.

‘Me, how do I come into this?’ Yen asked.

‘You're the distribution point, I’m the transport. Mr. Tang thinks my contact wants in on the
scheme and well having a person inside the government can smooth over just about anything
and that fact that he has a friend, me, in the import/export business who he happened to
mention he does a few off the books deals with and has full and checkpoint free access to a
port with minimal oversight and traffic and a plan to get the gems into Vietnam and a contact
there who can handle the distribution of his property to his buyers without raising suspicion,
well all we have do is go to Namhkan and explain how and it's a done deal.

‘How is it to be done?’ Yen inquired.

‘Frozen fish, refrigerated containers, shipping to Hai Phuong, refrigerated truck delivery to your
various stores/labs where you use the fish to make protein based beauty products guaranteed
to make any skin look smoother and younger among other things, first removing the gems
hidden inside the fish, simple,’ Cara explained.  

‘Go on,’ Yen said as she upshifted and blew by a truck.

‘These gems are being sold to wealthy individuals and to corrupt members of the government,
those are the tentacles we’re looking for. My suspicion is there for person use and not sold on. 
Maybe to keep a wife or a mistress or both happy and not arouse the eye of the government
about how you can afford a stone of that quality or your pay. So my thinking is you can hide
then inside a beauty product, perhaps a cream or a lotion.  Patrons come to your store, a
vacation perhaps or business and well the wife/mistress gets a treatment, buys additional
product and takes it and the stone home,’ Cara explained.

‘And if they are passing them along the authorities can track them once they cross the border
again. I get it, two things though, what’s in it for FORCE and SALON and why do you need me
here if you have all this set up?’ Yen asked.

‘He of course wants to meet us and of course we need to meet him, gather as much Intel as
possible and get on good terms with him, that’s where you come in.  You speak all the required
languages, you have the distribution points and you know me and finally, you’re not me. 
I’m going to make it very clear if it isn’t already to him that I’m spoken for, you on the other hand
are not and that is the ace up our sleeve. Not only do you bring all the other stuff to the table,
but your very easy on the eyes, believe me, unless he’s blind or gay he’ll be all over you. 
Just remember to control the situation, get as much Intel as he will give you but never press or
ask for it,’ Cara explained.

Yen smiled and pushed the car again, she liked being in control.

***

To be Continued

Ground Up

Allison Janney had been a COIL Analyst when Claire had been an agent with them.  Her mission notes were always clear, concise and contained information other analyst’s reports didn’t.  A good agent always took that Intel and used it, but Allison’s was always not of the standard variety.  It usually related to strange things about the mission or the target.  Claire got to calling it ‘Inside Baseball Intel’ things that usually got overlooked but could have a huge influence on the outcome of an assignment. 

‘You look fetching as a blond,’ Allison smiled as Claire approached her desk.

‘Thanks, you and your Intel.  How did you know he preferred them?’ she asked.

‘I ran every picture we had of him, cross referenced every female employee, even checked theatre tickets and changed seating arrangements for flights then matched those against who was supposed to sit beside him and who he ended up besides, the results showed a strong preference for blonds, hence the suggestion.   Not that you would have need it, he’d have succumbed to you eventually,’ she explained. 

‘You just made it faster and easier, thank you on both.  I want to talk to you about being the analyst I use all the time.  I’ve cleared it with higher ups and their fine with it, but I wanted your opinion on the matter.  No, not here, I want you to think about it for a day or so,’ Claire said talking before she could see Allison try and answer. ‘When you’re ready, give me a text and we can meet for lunch or dinner, my treat,’ Claire smiled, patted her hand and left not giving Allison a chance to respond.

‘Let’s see if you’re really as smart as you seem,’ she thought walking away. 

Allison did not know what to make of the whole conversation.  She was flattered that COIL’s best agent wanted her exclusively, obviously that showed her confidence in her and her ability, but as far as she knew, that was not the norm for the 2 years she’d been on the job, she decided to use her talent to find the answer.

***

‘She keeps putting you off, I think you made a mistake in more ways than one,’ Cindy Krutlzer said not in a self congratulatory tone but in a concerned one.

‘I admit things have changed a great deal in the two months since we first talked,’ Claire admitted.

‘Namely me sitting here,’ Cindy stated.

‘I have to admit the collapse of DOOM and the rise of this new organisation TRIDENT may have something to do with it,’ Claire answered with irony in her voice.

‘You said her security clearance was fairly low, so it maybe she knows nothing and just does want to talk afraid she might be getting herself into trouble or thinking this is some kind of loyalty test and you’re the bait,’ Cindy added.

‘She’s smart way smarter than they give her credit for or understand,’ Claire said referring to COIL only now as them, her divorce complete from the organisation. ‘No, I think she knows all about what has happened and now she’s analyzing daily events, seeing which way the wind is blowing for COIL.  She probably suspects me of something, she just can’t be sure of what and she’s either going to not contact me or curiosity is going to get the better of her and she just has to know. If that is the case she can always return to COIL tell them everything, look like a hero, get a promotion and carry on as if nothing happened.’

‘And put us in a whole world of trouble,’ Cindy stated flatly.

‘Not like we haven’t both been there before and will again, we can handle it, besides it won’t be just the two of us and we have the resources and more importantly the resolve COIL doesn’t have.’

Those resources were very impressive and very well concealed, thanks to Benjamin Steinmetz.  The infrastructure was all place, training centres, staffing and the support structures are carefully put in place by Claire and Benjamin’s team over several years starting from the time she completed the Boundaries of Time Mission.

Claire Baxter was a true believer, but that belief had changed over her years as an agent. She no longer wanted to be reactionary, outing out fires, as COIL had done. She wanted to go on the offence, but no matter how hard she tried to push her idea with COIL she met up against the mandate they had been set up under, Counter Operations and that no longer would do for her. The Boundaries of Time had given her the means to assemble enormous personal wealth and for that to create FORCE and with the implosion of DOOM her chance to take the fight to TRIDENT and make them feel what Good Girls were truly capable of.

FORCE had active agents and had added the ones Claire had helped rescue from DOOM, and she had some in training already, but she needed more and that’s where Allison came in.

‘You really think someone who had never been an agent can have the possible first inkling of what to look for in a recruit,’ Cindy asked just as Lady Tara Ashton-White, Alice Hamilton and Tracey Hale entered the library of Alice’s home in Chelsea.

‘I knew I picked the right person,’ Claire said excitedly.  Come I want you to meet some people.’  They went down the hall, past a room that made up as an office on the left, a bathroom on the right and hall that led off to what looked like another wing, maybe bedrooms, Allison was unsure and too nervous at this point to make any guesses, to two doors at the end, Claire opened them up onto a fantastic living room.  Floor to ceiling glass wall that gave an extraordinary view of the Upper West Side.  The room was modern, well appointed, with paintings from several centuries, all originals.  Allison did recognize a Pollack. Matisse and Dali among the group and then she recognized something she wished she didn’t and took a step back right into Claire’s arms as they folded around her middle. 

Strangely, Allison didn’t try to squirm free, she felt safe, as if Claire was radiating it into her being.

‘Claire, the poor girl is scared,’ Tara said seeing Allison’s eyes locked on hers.

‘Nonsense, her heart rate is beginning to calm.  Your safe here my dear, I promise.  Now relax and show everyone why I rave about you.’

‘You’re Lady Tara Ashton White, a former agent who supposedly went over to DOOM.  No offense, but you were the Claire Baxter of COIL, before Claire came along.  Apologies, for the reference point comparison,’ Allison said still looking at her.

‘No apologies are necessary for that comparison, I’m honoured,’ Tara smiled. ‘But supposedly?’

Cindy, Tracey and Alice all looked at Tara and then back to Allison.   All three noted to themselves that she was an attractive young woman, not stunning, but more than capable of holding her own in a room.  Allison Janney was 5’8” inches, her reddish-brown shoulder length hair with a natural flawless complexion that made her even more appealing.  She dressed well, yellow small opened front heels, a light grey pencil lined skirt cut just above the knee skirt showing her impressive legs 

Teal sweater blouse combo with white piping was perfect for showing off her slim figure and the touch of yellow in the belt complemented and accented her shoes perfectly.  Clearly, they all individually agreed she knew how to dress.  Her eyes were a little narrow and her mouth maybe a tinge to large but all had seen less captivating agents perform in the field. 

‘Before I answer that I need some answers from you,’ Allison said squeezing Claire’s wrist just a touch.

‘Nonsense, you know, or think you know, just analyse then make guesses or assumptions if you want a fancier word,’ Claire said to her to still holding her close. 

‘Promise after I tell you’ll kill me quickly,’ Allison responded weakly trying for world to figure out how she got in this mess, what had she done.

‘Claire, stop it your scaring her,’ Alice scolded and Claire obeyed releasing her hold and turn Allison about the face her.

‘No one’s going to kill you, harm you or do anything to you.  You’re not in any trouble with COIL or me.  You have to trust me on that,’ Claire said with a warm smile.

'COIL never closes a file on an agent unless they have the body, no matter how long.  Constant reanalysis is always done, looking for new data to conclude one way or the other,’ Allison began looking back at Tara.  ‘I was assigned just several months ago.  I was told it was a basically a dead file, you’d defected, were probably deep inside DOOM or some other organisation training new agents with your unique skills.  I got the impression they did not want me wasting too much time on you. So, I didn’t, officially,’ Allison smiled for the first time and Claire seeing she was more at ease and coming into her stride guided her over to a chair next to Tara.  ‘Claire always wanted me for pre-mission briefing and Intel.  She was a bit of a trail, because she tended to improvise and not follow the playbook, if you will.  It was frustrating a times, all my plans just ignored as she did her own thing. After a while I gave up and just left bullet point suggestions under the title of ‘Pick One’, they all smiled at that. ‘Then I got your file,’ Allison said, referring to Tara and as I read I saw Claire clear as day. I had to sign the file in and out each day, one day a glitch in the system pulled up all the people who had checked out the file and where, I printed it and then deleted all the references except for the analyst ones.

‘You thought COIL found out and you’d been sent here to be executed by me!’ Claire exclaimed.  Oh, Allison I’m so sorry you thought that, please believe me,’ Claire said touching her shoulder.

‘You never thought that did you my dear?’ Alice questioned like she knew that answer.

‘No, Claire never, COIL yes.  I actually came to tell Claire the story I’m telling to warn her that they were on to me but I would never betray her.

‘What did I say, special,’ Claire added.

‘Please go on,’ Tara said and the others nodded.

It was easy to cross-reference the coded names for agents with similar mission scenario’s and times and styles.  One name kept coming up,’ Allison said looking at Claire.  ‘I know what kind of person you are, how determined you are and how ruthless you can be and yet Tara Ashton White was still unaccounted for, that is not the Claire Baxter I know.  She would have found her after an exhaustive study of her very classified mission that somehow you got hold of or more accurately were given by hirer ups in the hopes that you would find and kill her, which you did but didn’t complete the mission, but why, that’s not Claire. The only answer is that you knew she was innocent as well and you were in fact hiding her and planting a trail of false evidence in the files to lead other analysts away.

‘But not you I see,’ Claire smiled.

‘So, you told COIL,’ Cindy inquired.

‘I told COIL……nothing. If Claire knew she was innocent, that was all I needed, I trust her completely,’ Allison stated.

‘You better hold that thought for a moment or two,’ Tracey said.

‘So, you suspected Claire was hiding me, but how did you know I was alive,’ Tara said.

‘You were a brilliant scholar before you gave that up to become a brilliant spy. Half way through your dissertation and you just left and became an agent, you'd never left anything undone before, that must have grated terribly on you over the years. All PhD dissertations have to be published and Oxford makes all of them public, yours included, even if you use an assumed name.  You did a very good job of concealing your writing style, to good. Writing analysis from earlier papers and your mission notes from COIL created a strong divergent correlation.  In other words, the more you concealed your style the more it became apparent who you were.  I knew you were alive. I lied all through the report, they accepted it and the next analyst will just more than likely give it even less attention,’ Allison concluded.

‘COIL will know in time and accept it,’ Claire said, but so impressed with Allison as were the rest. 

‘I’m not sure I follow the logic of Claire accessing the records and your connection to Tara still being alive,’ Tracey asked.

‘Oh, sorry, yes I think I leapt a little too far there.  While each mission review after Claire accessed a certain file had marked similarities to missions Tara had done, most specifically in certain intimate interludes,’ Allison answered.

‘You little copycat,’ Cindy smiled looking at Claire.

‘Hey why reinvent the wheel.  Besides hardly a copycat, I believe I changed a baby doll for a shirt in one of those situations among other changes,’ she smiled adding to the joke.
 

‘Well I’m impressed and grateful, thank you Allison.  I can assure you your trust is not misplaced or more importantly your conclusions wrong,’ Tara said placing one hand on the back of Allison’s hand.

‘Well I think that deserves a reward, what would you like to drink.  We have with us an excellent bartender and a well stocked bar, what can we get you? Claire inquired.

‘G&T with a cucumber slice please,’ Allison replied.

‘Any particular Gin, don’t be too picky I think Claire only has 10 or 12 types,’ Tracey asked as she got up.

‘Bombay Sapphire East, if you have it,’ Allison answered.

‘Coming up and no talking while I’m away,’ she admonished with a smile.

The drink appeared in no time.  A sip and a smile confirmed it was perfect.

‘Ok, one down, three to go.  “I’ll leave the direction up to you,’ Claire said looking at Allison from across the sitting area.

‘I know you two are not COIL or agents affiliated with any allied organisations, so that leaves only the conclusion that your former DOOM agents Claire has come across on missions and got to you before Trident, I think their calling themselves that, although the traffic on that is a little thin at my clearance level, could terminate you,’ Allison offered taking another sip.

Both Tracey and Cindy said nothing, betrayed nothing, but were impressed.

‘I hate to disappoint you but I’m flattered none the less that you would think me a spy, but really, I’m hardly in the same mold as Tara or Claire,’ Cindy said and Tracey nodded in agreement. ‘No, we’re both here at Claire’s request, just as you are, but in a much more general administrative facilitating capacity if you understand my meaning of that,’ she added.

‘That’s a nice try and a good lie, but both of you are far, far too well dressed and well put together for either of you to just be what you said,’ Allison answered feeling more at home with each passing minute her brain working away just as she liked.  ‘As the saying goes one size does not fit all or perhaps it should be one spy does not fit all and you two do not fit the mould which is why you're both perfect.  What are the percentages that two women, from two different quasi-government departments would both look gorgeous, dress impeccably and be seated next to each other?  Most I’ve met sit opposite each other or with much more distance between them because they view themselves as rivals.  You two clearly know each other, care for each other and are very comfortable being together.  I suspect,’ and their Allison paused as she mentally flipped through Claire’s missions then smiled. ‘You’re Cindy Krutzler and this is just a guess, but I suspect you’re Tracey Hale.  You’ve never met Claire but Claire is very close to Pushpa Advani and Pushpa used to be Tara’s pseudo assistant when COIL suspected her and Pushpa had a mission where she met you.  Stands to reason she would have told Claire about an impressive, very impressive DOOM agent she’d encountered, so that also means Pushpa is involved in all this somehow,’ Allison added as an afterthought.

‘Good to know we’re famous,’ Tracey smiled and clicked her glass with Cindy who acknowledge with a smile.

‘And you Miss Sweeney are one very impressive analyst,’ Tracey added.

Allison accepted the plaudits with a salute of her glass as well.

‘I’m afraid this is where the streak comes to a crashing end. I have no idea who you are,’ she said looking at Alice.

‘Well I feel relived and left out all in the same moment,’ Alice smiled. ‘After we conclude our business I can fill you in if you like.  You may need a second drink,’ she added with a wry smile that left Allison not sure she wanted to know.

‘Good to know at least one of us is a secret agent,’ Cindy added ironically.

‘Now we come to you and me,’ Claire said.

‘Whatever Splinter Cell your organising I would love to be your analyst and you can count on my full and secret commitment to it,’ Allison said fulling realising the serious nature of the entire operation.

‘I appreciate that and I know I can count on that,’ Claire answered.  ‘But that’s not what I’m asking of you, not even close.’

Allison put down her glass as Claire watched that concerned and worried expression from earlier in the evening form on her face again. 

‘COIL will never let you go, you know that!’ Allison stated firmly.

‘Is that the concern? Then put it out of your mind, they already have, not willingly but in the end, they had no choice.’

‘I don’t follow, you’re the best agent they have, you don’t give that up for nothing,’ Allison questioned.

‘They didn’t, they got to keep their funding and thus COIL, but at a much-reduced cost to the governments that support them.  In return, they a get a new organisation that costs them nothing and with the reassurances from me that we will be much more proactive. You see in the end its money that these things turn on, not politics, ideology or doing what’s right, although that is what’s important to me, although to be truthful my, our sense,’ Claire said sweeping her arm about the room. ‘May differ a little from theirs, but once we start they’ll be no stopping us and I need to know if you want in but before you say anything I need to make certain things clear.  I don’t want you as an analyst, I want you as my Head of Recruiting for Female Operations. But in order to be that you must also complete agent training and do missions.  One of my hard and fast rules will be everyone does the training and at least 5 missions so they have a real idea of what the job entails and that is especially true for you.  Now having said that, what do you say?’ Claire asked.

‘I already have some basic training, that part doesn’t phase me. It’s the missions, I could be killed my first outing and it would all be for nothing,’ Allison pondered.

‘Sure, same as all we could have been, but we took that chance, we still take it, Tracey, Cindy, Alice, Rachel, yes Miss Sparks is with me and if she can go from Courier to agent, so can you.  I’m not promising anything, I’m just offering, it’s up to you Allison.’

Everyone in the room knew what Allison was thinking at that moment as they’d all been their, Allison knew that as well.  She also knew none of them was going to give her any advice one way or the other, its was up to her.

‘In.’

‘I have your travel arrangements all here ready to go. We’ll have some dinner Cindy made, you get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow off you go.  This is how the world moves for you now Allison,’ Claire smiled as Alice came up and took their newest recruits arm in hers.

‘Let me tell you a little about myself,’ Alice began.

***

Allison’s basic COIL training helped her accelerate through some of the training, which saved time. Between classes, study and everything else she was starting to formulate and idea of where she wanted to take FORCE and how to get there.

She found herself in the unique situation of being both trainee and boss of the same people she was training with and those who were training her. She was quickly with the input of others putting together a plan and strategy for FORCE to follow, one, the more she got into it, she was sure would give them an edge.  

All the trainers Claire had recruited were excellent, they offered free opinions of what they thought could be better, what to look in an agent and how to correct issues as they came along using the specific examples of how some agents pass through the cracks in training and end up on different career paths within the organisation.   Two examples were Carol Brown and Rachel Sparks.  Both had been expected to be front line agents and both and failed to materialise into that.  Instead they had become couriers, basically information shufflers between offices.  Somewhere along the way the training did not take or they hit a roadblock and could not overcome it.   In the case of both what had been perceived as two wasted slots in the recruiting pool had in fact turned into two top flite agents.  Rachel, through Claire’s insistence and mentoring had blossomed into an extremely effective agent and Carol had somehow managed to find herself on what had just been a routine courier mission and turned herself into a lethal agent.  Allison understood the Claire/Rachel dynamic, it was Carol Brown that intrigued her.

‘What insights does she have,’ Allison thought and made a request to interview her.

The data she gathered from her fellow trainees was also invaluable, although she had to do it without them catching on.  Most of the data came from ‘girl talk’ and casual conversations and was just as illuminating as all the other Intel she had.

***

‘I strongly believe we should stop this until we have a clear and coherent plan for recruiting,’ Allison said in the boardroom to a long silence.

‘We just started and you want us to stop.  We’re looking at recruits already, have done early interviews,’ Gina Perini said.

‘I appreciate that, but you hired me to be Head of Recruiting and that’s what I have been doing in between training and after a year which actually places me because of past training with COIL into my third year and upcoming training missions.  I’m going to lay out my reasons and my plan, then we can discuss it and refine it or scrap it entirely if you want,’ Allison explained.

Claire looked about the boardroom then back to Allison.

‘I for one want to hear it, objections, please. Nothing, ok go ahead.’

‘This first part is going to sound a bit clinical and cold please bear with me.  ‘Given out current agent status, active and coming on line with the class I’m in and given this formula which both COIL and DOOM used, thanks to Tracey for providing it, this is the loss rate of agents we can expect over the next year and this is for two years.  I changed the formula for the current agents as they have more experience and are harder to kill and I also adjusted because we have an excellent group of Plus Agents who are extremely effective and we are not using anywhere near to their capability.’

Cindy kept an interested expression regarding the conversation, letting nothing away, as befitted her skills as a lethal lovely, but inside she was bursting with pride for her girls and their division.

‘Just as an aside I would like to rename, with Cindy’s approval of course, the Plus Division to CURVE.  Just a name change, but words are important,’ Allison said looking at Cindy and then to Claire who looked over to Cindy for the final word.

‘I agree,’ The Head of the Curve Division smiled.

‘So back to the math.  Based on the formula we can expect to see the following results and as you can see we have a very comfortable buffer from which to work.  This also includes using the trainers we have for certain assignments.  It gives me a refresher in the field and from my talking to them, they want it.  I’m not suggesting arduous missions, unless others think differently, but certainly they can help here and there when another body would not be not be unwelcome on a mission. 

This part of the process if adopted would allow us the time to reset some of the training.  I think with what I’m about to purpose we could cut half a year off of the current training regime.  We all know how we recruit potential agents now, its time and resource consuming, I think we should try a different approach,’ Allison said and started a PowerPoint presentation that began with a slide of nine women all in close ups. 

‘Beautiful,’ she said.

Then the next one was of them in bikinis.

‘Sexy.’

The final slide was the one that caused the stir, from laughs to head shakes.

‘Beauty Pageant Queens!,’ Tara said her voice astonished.

‘You said you gave this a lot of thought,’ Claire said in a questioning manner.

‘I did, every way I could and this makes the most sense and here’s why.  We want women who a beautiful, graceful, well spoken, educated, athletic, well put together, resourceful. determined and disciplined There they are, everything in one package.  All of the ones I showed you.  The looks go without question, as do the bodies and how do you get the latter, by working at it and maintaining it, determination and discipline.  These girls always look great because they know how to dress, they know what looks good on them, the cut the colour, etc.  We don’t need to teach this anymore, it’s been done already for us.  They work out, they have a plan, we tweak it but nothing like we have to do now, mostly build from the ground up.  Everyone has or is in the process of getting a university degree or a Masters, which checks that box.  Their all used to public speaking, meeting multiple people at events, they know how to work a room, how to command it, again we don’t need to teach this anymore.  Small things like how to walk in heels, apply make-up, they have all this, again a time saver and above all they are highly, highly competitive already, they come in wanting to win,’ Allison explained.

‘Won’t they be recognized?’ Alice asked.

‘Six of those women I showed you did not win anything beyond their state, province or region.  The other three competed at a national or international level but did not advance to any final round.  We can delete whatever references there are to them on the Internet and get rid of their Facebook pages so I assess the recognition factor as minimal.  Besides in certain situations that could prove advantageous to a mission.  Most of these girls are working and modelling part time, still chasing a dream.  My question is why not let them catch that dream only in a way they never conceived of.

‘Ok, it’s different, anyone, please jump in while I wait for the room to stop spinning,’ Claire said.

‘I’ll buy time here,’ Cindy ventured. ‘How does this help my Division?’

‘It doesn’t.  I tried but the formula doesn’t work with CURVE recruits, but there is another option I think will work,’ Allison said and she typed on the laptop keyboard and up popped a slide on the projection screen.

‘My supply of shock was depleted from the previous presentation, so please explain,’ Cindy smiled, trying hard not to laugh.

‘Curve agents are notoriously hard to find, that is one of the reasons they are so highly valued, that and their incredible abilities.  The current method is the same as for the standard agent, but the success factor is so much lower.  With standard agents you can expect 1 recruit for every 1,000,000 possible candidates, a CURVE, a viable Curve is 1 for every 10,000,000.  Both of these odds consume a tremendous amount of resources in terms of time and money.  We can cut both of those substantially, by doing what I suggested earlier and this.

‘A Modelling Agency?’ Claire said jumping back into the picture.

‘Yes. A real modeling agency, it makes money, but it also acts as a recruiter for all the potential Curve agents we want.  Of course, not all the girls are agents, but this narrows the funnel for us, they come to us, we don’t have to find them anymore.  There are many agencies out there already that cater exclusively to as they call them Plus Size.  All we have to do is start or buy our own agency.  I’ve had a look at many sites and some of these women are quite frankly outstanding. They also come with the discipline, determination and the beauty built in.  I’m not saying we stop looking for the diamonds in the ruff, to use a colloquialism, but this will speed and our recruiting process.’

‘Do you have examples of some of these models? Cindy asked.

There are the super famous ones, Bree Warren, Robyn Lawley, Iska Lawrence, but take a look at these, yes, their known and we would never use them.  This is Caralyn Mirand, this is Ivory Kalber and this is Nicole LeBris.  All stunners, we could do the same with our own agency,’ Allison said. ‘Why chase something when it will come to you if you just stay still.’

‘I’m sold, for my part at least,’ Cindy said. ‘This would save us so much time, get the girls into training quicker and active sooner, not to mention all the psychological adjustments we usually have to do to convince them to lose the old self, these girls come in confident and ready.

Questions flew back and forth on the pageant issue, Allison had answers for every question including cost analysis.

‘This is a huge risk Claire.  If those projections are even a little off, we’re finished.  I want to see a hybrid model, a test before I’m playing with anyone’s life.  I say half and half on the recruiting mix and re-assess after a year, then decide,’ Cindy said.

‘I agree,’ added Alice and Tara.

‘What about you Mr. Steinmetz, you’ve said nothing that is always trouble.

‘I hate risk, that’s why I’m in this business,’ he laughed.  ‘I’m with you all, half and half, but I will tell you I think you’re going to be surprised by the results,’ he said a nod to Allison.

‘Ok, settled, we’ll meet to hash out the details and such Wednesday.  Allison, I assume you will have a list of potential recruits if you don’t have already,’ Claire stated.

‘Full profiles already done,’ she answered.

‘I’m going to leave the modeling agency to you and Cindy, choose your team and make it happen,’ Claire added.

‘Ready for round two?’ Claire asked.

‘Yes, I read the Bangkok Nights, exciting and your notes and I’ve got some ideas on the matter,’ Allison said.

‘Excellent, I knew you would,’ Claire smiled and opened the boardroom door to a man and a woman.

‘Allison this is David Jacobs Head of our Analytics Department, Big Data and so many other areas I know nothing about and this is…’ Claire began to say as Allison jumped in.

‘Miss Li, a pleasure to meet, I’ve read so much about you she smiled looking at the book, a warm welcoming smile that Fan Li knew meant she was in good hands.

‘Mr. Jacobs, a real pleasure.  Claire promised me you’d show me Colossus later, I can’t wait.’

‘I have the tour all booked, but please call me David,’ he said then went over and greeted Benjamin as did Fan Li then everyone found their seats. 

‘The idea came about as a kind of happy unhappy coincidence.  While we were trailing money from and other mission, Fashionista, we came across the summarized data you had in the briefing notes.
  
The correlations were too strong to be ignored.  Once we had done all the analysis along came Miss Li and her adventure and she completed the puzzle with the hard-empirical evidence.  In a nutshell Trident is trying to acquire, infiltrate and control sectors of the Asian and Asian Sub-Continents businesses.  It all may look disjoined and that’s how they want but when you use the power of Big Data you can see the patterns in the process.  We have started our plan for the financial stoppage but we want to do more and this is where Miss Li comes in and her company Mekong Consulting LLP.’ David summarized.

‘A real company operating as a consulting firm on business, engineering and government contracts, in all aspects a perfectly normal firm of highly specialized people for special jobs, which they are.  All the employees can do the job but they are also lethal FORCE trained operatives.’ Fan explained.

‘I want you and Jacob and your respective teams to work with Fan to make this a reality.  When you pull this off it will give us an incredible advantage in Asia and the Sub-continent,’ Claire explained.

‘You have a flare for the creative in finding agents, David has the genius of the Big Data.’ I’ll leave it with you three to hash out a frame work and get going on this.  When you have results let me know and we can meet and go over them,’ Claire added then left them to get going.

‘The first place to start is the parameters we want to include for potential agents.  I would suggest initial as wide a net, within a manageable database and then refining the results with additional searches, in other words, running this as a funnel shaped filter,’ David explained and they all agreed.

‘What’s the age range you’re looking for given the real world restrictions,’ David asked.

‘Given my personal experience over the years, the somewhat changing attitudes and the age range we’ll be dealing with I have set the ranges from 26 to 50.  This will encompass the low end age range, the really exceptional young talent that is being produced along with the upper range of women who have worked hard to get to where they are and have skills in dealing with older executives who still have certain mind sets.  From there of course the next step would be education, MBA’s accounting designations. Engineers, Computer Science or a combination of those degrees would be optimal and of course actual experience as a consultant, Project Manager or running a large department based on their talents.  I also want to set this up with offices in various capitals from India to Taiwan, so as diverse a group as possible would be optimal,’ Fan explained.

’26 to 50, bit of a wide range with specific regard to the upper end,’ Allison questioned as she made notes.

‘This is the business world and unfortunately not many women are taken serious at a young age or in some cases, although as I said that is fading, any age.  Besides Asian women tend to age very gracefully sometimes it’s hard to tell the age and given who they will be dealing with someone closers to their own age may make assignment go better,’ Fan explained.

‘This is more like Mega Data than big data,’ David said. ‘We’re talking about every consulting firm, independent contractor, project manager, small to big accounting firms and the stand alone ones, university professors, published authors and that’s just off the top of my head, I know others will have more,’ David responded.

‘Too big a net,’ Fan asked.

‘No, just a lot of coding and a massive amount of searching.  This will be a multi-step process.  We run the mainframe inline during the day for our various clients. Gives us the maximum revenue and they the instant answers they need, so this will be run at night over many weeks until we get all the data, then we can meet again and sort through it and re-run an refined search to narrow it down,’ David added.

‘I’m assuming single, divorced, no dependants would be the parameters for the candidates,’ Allison added.

‘Yes, I think it’s best to stay within the FORCE model,’ Fan concurred.

The three drilled down on the specifics of what they wanted and after a long day came up with a wide catchment for data capture.

‘That was the easy part, now comes the real work,’ David said as he and Allison walked toward the elevator. ‘Right let’s go meet Colossus.  I just have to set you up for the retinal scan,’ he said punching some codes into the keypad command on the elevator wall. ‘There just put your eyes up to the caps and the machine will do the rest. ‘Now you have full level access to the mainframe and you’re going to need it judging by this project.’

Colossus was located not surprisingly in the basement of the building and took up with offices and support features almost all of it.  Allison of course had seen and used COIL’s mainframe, but this was another beast altogether.  On par with Roadrunner and the best NASA supercomputers, Colossus was just under a hundred quadrillions of FLOPS in speed.

‘We created are own scalable data program to take advantage of its power, come on into my office and we can get you started,’ he added.

‘It’s incredible to look at, something like a super being, I could just stare at it for hours I think,’ she said looking out the window of the office as the machine hummed away.

‘Yes and to think the minute Quantum Computing Is reliable, that thing is a dinosaur,’ David smiled.

Allison caught on very quickly to how the system was structured and the coding needed to create the program to run.  Once in a while she ran into logic errors or probe effect errors which thankfully David was there to help with.  Even with all that it took weeks of 12 hour days to set up the initial run of the program, Allison found herself sleeping overnight many a time.

Finally David, his team and Allison began compiling the program together, two days of compiling and then a few corrections for errors and they ran it starting on a Friday night.  Allison went home grateful for sleep while David monitored the progress while he and Rachel spend a weekend together before her next mission.

***

‘Holy Shit!’ Allison said on Monday when she saw the results on table after table, each result collated per candidate. 

‘Take heart, the next run will sort this down further.  But in the meantime, Fan Li, you and whoever else you decide have to go through these and pick out the ones you think are potential candidates.  Everyone has a picture, so that helps a little.  When you whittle that down we can go onto the next step,’ he explained.

‘I hope you nothing planned for a while because I want you on the team and a few other men.  You can tell us what you find attractive, a female is not always the best arbiter of that,’ she smiled.

A committee of 10 was assembled and based on a simple check mark process the pile was reduced down and then sorted into countries.

‘It’s still a big pile but manageable, ‘Fan Li said.

‘Now it’s going to be face to face and testing,” Allison said.  “Hope you don’t mind but I’ve assigned some of our agents from this area to help you out with this.  I just emailed you a bridge for a meeting so you can go over exactly what you want with them.’

‘I know it’s taking a long time, but I know it will be worth it based on some of the reactions I got from the members of the group.  Now you just have to get these ladies to say yes and pass the training,’ David added.

‘Two very big questions, but I think the answers will be more yes than no,’ Fan stated.

***

It took two years to get Mekong Consultants LLP up and running at partial strength with new agents/consultants coming on line each month.  Fan Li had proved her optimism correct in that it could be an excellent tool for FORCE to stop Trident from advancing.

During those two years Allison completed her training, did her missions, all successfully, got the modeling agency up and running, she and Cindy called it Dangerous Curves the enterprise proving profitable both in the monetary area and the agent recruitment field.  She had also implemented her new recruitment plan which to the surprise of some, but not her, was proving a huge success for FORCE.

***

‘I’d like to say I’m pressed but that would be a lie,’ Claire said during a private review meeting with her. “This is exactly what I expected from you and I knew that a minute after I talked to you the first time.  But yes for the record, I am impressed and now I want you to talk a much deserved month long vacation anywhere you want on the company dime.

‘And try not to get into trouble while your away,’ Claire added.