chapter 1?
Chapter 1:
Annaliese stalked quietly out of the elevator, her boots moving soundlessly across the carpeted floor. The nicer offices in this building had carpet instead of tile. Annaliese was grateful as it made her job a little easier. As she exited the elevator, she stopped to let her eyes adjust to the dimness and to take in her surroundings. This floor was laid out just as the blueprints had suggested, which meant they hadn’t done any remodeling lately. Facing the elevator was the receptionist’s counter. Made of solid oak and glass, the counter looked as expensive as it was supposed to, as did the dark brown upholstered chair that matched. To the right of the elevator was the waiting area. There were only a few chairs, so they must not meet with many civilians up here. Low tables strewn with magazines and today’s newspaper completed the ensemble. It smelled like stale coffee and potpourri. If she went looking, she was positive she’d find a bowl of something frilly smelling on the receptionist’s desk, as well as a forgotten cup of coffee.
The far wall was made of floor to ceiling windows. There were no blinds, as they were not necessary for privacy since this was the eleventh floor and no one would be able to peak. They must really enjoy their morning sun, since this office faces east and they have no curtains or anything to block out the direct sunlight. Annaliese couldn’t imagine enjoying any such thing. Working all hours of the night meant she wasn’t much of a morning person, more like an early afternoon person. I wonder what the receptionist would say if she had a note recommending curtains when she came into the office in the morning. Annaliese smirked to herself. Shaking her head at the absurdness of the windows, she crept to the left of the elevator.
The only hallway on this floor held the offices of the embassy representatives for six planets. There should be three doors on the right-hand side of the corridor and three doors on the left-hand side. Annaliese squinted down the short hallway to confirm her reports. It just wouldn’t do to be surprised by something as simple as an extra office from which a rep pulling an all-nighter could emerge. Again, her blueprints hadn’t failed her, she was looking at exactly what was supposed to be there. The office doors were solid oak, again emphasizing the expense as well as the prestige of the men who worked here. To the right of each door was a window with blinds. The cleaning crew must close the blinds each night before leaving, because they were all shut tight. Even with the blinds closed, Annaliese knew that no one was in the first office. She closed her eyes, inhaled slowly, and listened. She could hear the A/C unit buzzing almost silently through the vents, and the sound of her own heart beating, but nothing more. Her better than average hearing was a trait that could be helpful, or harmful, depending on the situation. Tonight, it was helpful.
It wasn’t the first office she needed, it was the third office on the left. Hubert Dalloway was the embassy representative for Omicron Ceti. Mr. Dalloway had incriminating documents regarding the president of her home planet, Sadalsuud. Documents that would destroy their alliance with about half the star systems in the galaxy. It was her job to retrieve these documents and destroy them. It always seemed to be her job to get her government out of every pickle in which they seem to find themselves. That was her lot in life, but she didn’t mind it. In fact, she thrived on the adventure, the stress, and the excitement of the jobs she was given.
Annaliese stopped and listened at every door in the corridor. She was nothing if not thorough in her missions. Each office was empty, as one might expect in the middle of the night. But, Annaliese had not always been so fortunate, and thus continued to slink her way down the hall. You never knew who might pop up to their office in the middle of the night for a quickie with a person who was not their significant other. Stranger things had happened.
She opened the third door on the left as quietly as possible. Unlocked? No, not unlocked. No locks at all. These guys sure put a lot of stock in their building’s security system. Not smart. She made no sound entering the office, with barely a click of the latch as she shut the door behind her. How nice that they keep the hinges well oiled.
Once inside, Annaliese did a cursory overview of the room layout. It would not be a good idea to turn on the lights; it would defeat the purpose of being as stealthy as possible the whole way here. Instead, she pulled out a small pen light that she carried for such occasions as these. Mr. Dalloway’s office was equal in size to all the others on this floor. No representative received any grander accommodations than anyone else. Her government was as careful as possible not to offend anyone. Well, not to their face anyway. There was a large oak desk with a matching office chair facing door. Those floor to ceiling windows from the reception area must carry all the way across the building, because the entire wall behind the desk was made of glass. Two less extravagant chairs for visitors faced the desk, and a couch and coffee table for the representative to relax when able sat to the left of the door, while three bookcases lined the wall to the right. Typical for a politician of his standing, Annaliese thought as she moved into the room.
Annaliese chose to begin her search with the desk. Sitting in the overstuffed office chair, she pulled out the top drawer in the large oak desk. Inside were some typical office supplies: paperclips, sticky notes, pencils and ink pens, and a small stapler. She closed that drawer as quietly as possible and opened the top drawer on the left of the desk. Rifling through she found some old computer discs, a few folders with what looked to be invoices for expenses Dalloway need to be reimbursed for, and an old fashioned rolodex. Who keeps a rolodex anymore? Shaking her head, she closed that drawer and opened the bottom drawer. Inside was a stack of file folders laying flat, not standing up the way the should be in a file cabinet. Annaliese lifted them out carefully and placed them on one side of the desk. She pulled the top file and opened it. Using the pen light to help her see clearly, she read the top page.
Half laughing to herself, she read the entire file. How in blazes did her president expect to hide an affair with the wife of Alpha Centauri’s head military strategist? There was no telling who else had similar incriminating photographs of the two together, or been eyewitnesses to their alleged vacation on the Sadalsuud’s sister planet Luyten. Great. There was no telling what other missions she would wind up on where the end game was to destroy similar evidence to what Dalloway had collected. Rolling her eyes, she checked the other file folders in the drawer for other evidence that may have been filed elsewhere. The other folders seemed to contain confidential information regarding several different presidents or military leaders. Seems Dalloway isn’t so much out to get President MaDej as he is out to get anyone he can get his greedy little hands on. She was half tempted to take all the files and burn them. But, those were not her orders. She followed her orders to the letter whenever possible, only breaking with protocol if her life was on the line.
Annaliese took the one file she’d come for and placed the rest back in the drawer as she had found them. She stood up from the desk and made sure to arrange the chair back the way it had been when she’d entered the room. Best to make Dalloway feel like he’s lost the file rather than someone has stolen it from him. Annaliese opened the office door and peaked out, careful not to throw caution to the wind now that she was on her way to safety. Seeing no one in the corridor, and hearing only the A/C whispering softly, she stepped out and closed the door quietly behind her. She made her way back to the elevator and pressed the up button. Getting out was always the most stressful part of her job. Breaking in was usually the fun part, what with breaking pass codes and scaling walls and all. But the adrenaline was used up by the time she was finished with a job, so getting out felt cold and nerve-wracking. The elevator announced itself with a ding that sounded unnecessarily loud in the near silence she’d been working in for the last half hour. She jumped as the doors pulled open with a loud whoosh, and was almost surprised that it was empty. Annaliese shook her head at her jumpiness and stepped on the elevator. Her fingers were so cold they were nearly numb as she pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.
As the elevator stopped at the top floor, Annaliese pressed the hold button. It was time to try and get back out the way she’d gotten in. She climbed up onto the hand rail that was situated about three feet off the ground and ran around the three solid walls of the elevator. From here, she was able to reach the emergency hatch at the top of the elevator. She popped the door open with the heal of her hand, and grabbed onto the edge of the small rectangle with both hands. She half-jumped, half-pulled herself up through the opening. Once she cleared that hurdle, she quickly closed the hatch behind her and retrieved her backpack from the top of the elevator. Right where I left it. Perfect. She made sure the file was zipped into the largest compartment and swung the backpack over her shoulder. Climbing the last few feet to the emergency exit on the roof was easy, and she soon found herself in the cool night air. Annaliese heaved a sigh of relief as she shut the exit door behind her and locked it back. She took the computer out of her backpack and reset the buildings security alarms and turned their cameras back on. These guys should really consider a better security system, or at least an upgrade to some decent software. Securing her backpack, she turned and made for the side of the building facing the river. Before she knew it, she was back on the ground, tugging her repelling ropes free and winding them back up to stuff into her pack. Walking away from the embassy, she flipped her phone open and hit speed dial. The line picked up after one ring, “All clear, Mr. President.” Those four words were all that were needed and she hung up. There was no need to wait for a response, because none would be coming. He never answered when she called to give the all clear. They had as little contact with each other as possible to ensure maximum security on both their parts. It would never do for the president to be implicated in any mission she might be on, or for her to be found out as the one who did his dirty work. Yes, as little contact as possible was for the best.
Thoughts??