I checked my watch; it was 1930 and I was on my way into the Hilton. I stepped out of the taxi and smoothed the wrinkles from my little black dress as I walked inside. I was early, but I wasn’t the first one here. There were 4 other agents arrayed around the building, watching entrances and exits for ubarae. They had been here setting up for over an hour already. I flicked my gaze to the agent watching the front door, Vasquez gave me a nod. There hadn’t been any sign of ubarae laying a trap, so I was safe to enter. As safe as I was going to be, anyway. I took a seat at the bar, ordered a beer and nursed it slowly as I waited for Tom to arrive. Fortunately for my nerves, I didn’t have to wait long. He had dressed up for a date, too. Dress shirt, tie, nice slacks. He glanced around, looking for me, caught my eye and took the seat next to me at the bar. He calmly ordered a drink before turning,

“Waiting for me, Carla?”

I offered him a hand,

“Henry?”

“Nice to meet you. How about we get a table?”

“Sounds good.”

We picked up our drinks and found a table in the back, where it was private. As soon as we were alone, his voice dropped and his tone changed,

“Dammit, Ray! What the hell is going on?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“Don’t give me that shit. The organization is on lockdown, they are saying you guys have turned traitor. Gone over to the enemy side. We have standing orders to bring you in at all costs. Dead or alive.”

“Is that what’s happening here? You bringing me in?”

“If I was planning to do that, I would have done it by now and we would be having this conversation in an interrogation room. I am here for an explanation, Ray.”

“Well, can I just start by saying I didn’t betray anything and that there is a perfectly logical, if somewhat terrifying, explanation for all of this?”

“I would love to believe that.”

“Then today is your lucky day, my friend. We went underground following emergency protocols.”

“What was the emergency?”

“First indulge me one curiosity. How exactly did they explain all of us betraying the organization simultaneously?”

Tom cleared his throat uncomfortably,

“Members of the Council showed up yesterday, after all of the field agents went dark without warning. They said that they had information that you had all been turned by a group of rogue ubarae and were going to be used against the Organization, unless we could round you up.”

“Did they happen to say how that was possible?”

“Told us that your sensitivity to ubarae made you more vulnerable than anyone had believed. That only the Immune were truly safe from it.”

I snorted a laugh,

“Well, I admire their nerve, at least.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they were lying. We aren’t the ones who have been compromised.”

“Implying that we have been?” Tom was immediately defensive.

“Yup. And that right there is why it worked. Nobody wants to feel like they’ve been fooled. And many of your peers would love it if we were the ones who had screwed up.”

He nodded thoughtfully,

“It’s true that they can be a bit competitive. But I don’t see what that has to do with…”

“Bonding.”

Tom stopped, blinked at me,

“What are you saying?”

“They’ve been softening you guys up for a long time. Winning you over. Priming you to believe this bullshit story for years. We have no idea how many are on their side by now. Maybe even you are. I can’t be sure. It’s why we disappeared. It’s why we can’t go back.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Who is they, exactly?” Tom sounded skeptical.

I took a moment to briefly explain the Domini and the events of last night. By the time I was finished, Tom had gone ghostly pale. He gulped down the rest of his beer before he spoke again.

“So, you are saying I have been fooled. I am saying you have. How do we decide which it is?”

“How about we take a look at the evidence?” I suggested. “Cooper is dead.”

“We have no proof of that.”

“Armed gunmen have tried to kill me twice.”

“I only have your word for that.”

“More than half of our agents are gone.”

“Again…”

“And some have been brought back to the Organization, alive. To be experimented on.”

“Jesus.”

“I’ve been getting frantic calls from Jessica’s husband, asking why she hasn’t come home or called him. I bet you have too. Does that sound like something she would do, if she had a choice?”

“No,” Tom admitted. “But they have the place on lockdown. Maybe they are trying to protect her.”

I shook my head,

“They let you come here, but they won’t even let her make a call?”

Tom frowned but said nothing.

“Fine. Let’s turn this around, then. What exactly have we done to you that even suggests we have all gone rogue?”

Tom bit his lip.

“I haven’t personally seen anything, but that doesn’t mean…”

“What have you seen?”

Tom closed his eyes, reflecting,

“Well, your story would explain one thing,” he admitted. “I did wonder why everyone so readily accepted what they were telling us. No one even questioned that you all turned. I know you, Ray. I know Jim. I didn’t believe you would let that happen. I tried asking around a little and people just looked at me like I was crazy. As much as the two sides argue, there was always respect beneath the tension. It didn’t make sense.”

“Was anyone else questioning?”

“I’m not sure. Everyone was so hostile to it that I stopped asking.”

“Probably for the best. If they think you are doubting them, I don’t know what they’d do to you. You should be careful with your doubts.”

“Well, I doubt you, too, frankly.”

“I don’t think there is much I can say to change your mind.”

“Probably not. But let’s say I believe you. If true, what you are suggesting is the end of the world as we know it, Ray. You know that, right?”

“Not if we can stop it. You could help with that, you know.”

“By feeding you information from inside the Organization.”

I nodded. Tom sucked on his cheeks, something he often did when he was trying to make a tough decision. I let him think. Finally, he let out his breath and looked me in the eye,

“I believe that you believe what you are saying, Ray. I do. I just don’t know if your judgment can be trusted. I can’t betray the Organization on only your word.”

I felt my face fall.

“But,” he stopped me. “I’m not convinced that they are telling me the truth either. So here is what I am going to do. I’m going back to the Organization. I’ll see if I can confirm your story. If I can, I’ll be in touch. Sound fair?”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“You’d better be. I don’t like this, but I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

He shook his head solemnly. I offered my hand and we clasped wrists.

“I hope to hear from you soon, friend.”

“I hope you are wrong, if only because of what it means.”

I could understand that. I wished it wasn’t true myself.

“Good luck, Tom.”

“Stay safe out there, Ray.”

With that, he slipped out of the booth and walked away. I watched him go. This had gone better than I feared, but worse than I had hoped. It wasn’t a trap, which said something, but he hadn’t exactly agreed to help, either. And trying to confirm my story could easily get him killed, or otherwise neutralized. I just had to hope that Tom knew what he was doing, and wait to hear. I waved the waiter over to order a stronger drink,

“Date not go very well?”

“We didn’t exactly hit it off,” I shrugged.

“Well, these things happen. Don’t worry, there are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“Yeah. Sharks, too.”

The waiter raised an eyebrow,

“Never mind. Can I get a whiskey, neat?”

He nodded and departed for the kitchen. He dropped off the glass without further comment and I leaned back in my seat, sipping good whiskey, enjoying a moment of solitude. It didn’t last long. A few minutes later, James slid into the booth.

“Rough meeting?” he nodded at my glass.

“It could have gone better.”

“What did he say?”

I explained between sips of whiskey.

“It’s something, anyway,” James tried for optimism.

“Sure, something. But is it something good or something bad?”

“It may not be all bad. If they have to invent a cover story like that, it might mean that they don’t have full control over the rest of the Organization. Perhaps there are others, like Tom, that have simply been misled. If we can get to them, maybe we can bolster our ranks.”

I nodded. He had a point.

“Any thoughts as to how we can do that?”

“We need more information on what is happening in there, first. We wait to hear back from Tom, then proceed from there.”

“Alright,” I finished my drink and tucked some cash under it. “In the meantime, let’s get out of here.”

James nodded,

“Yes, I think Simon is quite eager to see you back at the base. He’s been worried sick.”

“Really, why?”

“You saved his life. You are one of the few people that has been kind to him. He seems to be quite fond of you. It isn’t uncommon.”

That was true enough. Ubarae formed fast friends, the way humans do when they are children, before they put up so many barriers.

“Is that going to be a problem?” I raised an eyebrow.

“More the opposite, I would say. He is fragile right now. If he doesn’t have anyone, he will fall apart. We need him too much still to let that happen. So, do me a favor, keep him close. Prop him up. And if he has any insights, let me know.”

“I’m not a babysitter, James.”

“None of us are. But we all need to do things we don’t like right now.”

I sighed,

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. I’ll take care of the incubus.”

“Thank you, Rayna.”

Just what I needed, another person to keep alive. As if I didn’t have enough of those already.