Agent Ayres had expected a different reaction. After hours of intense interrogation, one of the suspects had agreed to talk in exchange for a reduced sentence. The rescue he seemed to have waited for had not appeared and his hope had dwindled. So he finally gave in.

With two confessions and the lab results in hand, Ayres had gone to his superior officer. Who had congratulated him and, probably eying a promotion for himself as well, they wrote a summary for his superior and requested a meeting to discuss the next steps. Ayres made sure that the summary included all the juicy bits - alien technology, long-term interception dating back years, decrypted classified material.

Just over an hour later, they were called upstairs. Agent Acadia Beynon was one level underneath intelligence chief Jones. She was in equal parts respected and feared. Known for being strict, ruthless, but also supportive of anyone showing talent or success, they were let through right into her office by the secretary.

And as soon as they were through the door, she asked: „Who of you deemed this a clandestine op?“

Edric Ayres had been thrown to the wolves by his superior before he even had a chance to open his mouth. The man did it without words, just with a sideway look that contained an entire book of accusations, as if he had brought Edric here not to support his actions but to disavow them.

But Edric was a field agent. He was used to thinking on the spot and pivoting quickly if need be. And since Agent Beynon had the same history, they shared an understanding of the world that bureaucrats like his boss did not have. At least he hoped so.

„At the time“, he explained, „it appeared prudent to do so. I understand from your reaction that I was lacking information that would have changed that assessment?“

She looked him straight in the eye. „Do you have a security clearance higher than mine?“, she asked with in a sharp tone.

„No, Ma’am“, Edric responded.

„Then on what grounds did you decide this should be kept from your superiors?“

Edric took a deep breath. He had been trained not to stammer when confused or lost for words. He used the two seconds he had bought to sort his thoughts, evaluate and discard different things he could say. He finally settled on: „I was not sure if it was not a hoax. As soon as I was certain, I reported it. That is why we are here now.“

Agent Beynon looked him up and down. She did not seem to relax. But she said: „We will see. I read your summary. Aside from the facts, what do you think you discovered, Agent Ayres?“

„As I said in my report, a cell of enemy agents spying on our HQ.“, Edric said.

„And“, she continued questioning him, „do you think they worked alone?“

„No, Ma’am“, he answered, „I have a lead on the head of the operation.“

Again, she let the silence hang in the room for a second while she eyeballed him. Then, to his surprise, she turned to his boss: „Thank you, you are dismissed. I will continue this conversation with your agent myself.“

A turn, a few steps, a door opening and closing and they were alone in the office. It was more spacious than his, but sparsely furnished. There was a sitting area his did no have. No windows, for security reasons. And because they were still underground.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

„What you discovered“, she continued where she had left off, „was one of many cells. There was an ongoing investigation to identify these cells. Was, until you alerted the enemy that we are on to them. Now they have gone into hiding. They blew up another of their listening posts just before we could raid it. All others have certainly gone dark. Whatever you have, it better get our operation back on track.“

Edric tried to hide it, but he breathed a sigh of relief. He could still save his career. And so he sat down with Agent Beynon and went over the interrogation protocols, the fact sheet his people had prepared and the conclusion he himself had drawn. It took them the better part of an hour. Beynon was impossible to read. He could not figure out if she was pleased or disappointed. She certainly seemed to be genuinely interested in his results, which gave him hope.

When they were finished, she stood up without a word and walked over to the door of her office, leaned out and said something to her secretary that Edric couldn’t make out. She came back, her leather shoes making only the faintest of sounds on the carpeted office floor. She sat down again and waited. She didn’t fidget with a pen or browser her messages, she simply waited.

Minutes passed. Edric was not sure if he was dismissed, but she had not said anything.

Six or seven minutes into this uncomfortable wait, the door suddenly opened and another senior officer entered. Edric had seen him before but could not quite place him.

„Acadia“, he greeted Agent Beynon by first name, „I came as soon as I could.“, and with a sideway glance towards Edric, he continued: „Clearance?“

„He knows enough, and we don’t have time for that.“, she replied. Then, as the newcomer was taking a seat, she quickly summed up the past hour. At the end, she dropped a name: Mervin. Yes, it did ring a bell. Then Edric remembered: Melvin Knightley, the right hand of Norman Jones himself. Former military, special ops.

Knightley turned to Edric: „Your prisoners made no mention of an alien connection, Agent Ayres?“

„No, Sir.“, Edric replied. What was the man getting at?

Knightley looked at him the way a fighter seized up his opponent before a match. A faint smell of laser burns floated into Edric’s nose. The other man had been at the shooting range when he was called, apparently.

„You are now a part of Operation Moonlight. Your little spy cell“, Knightley began, „is part of a Junkstorm-wide, if not wider, conspiracy of human collaborators working for the Qyrl. All our government and we suspect much of our commercial communications have been intercepted, decrypted and analyzed. For at least the last three years, most likely longer.“

Edric became slightly pale. Knightley picked up on it immediately: „This is the operation your actions have endangered. Three governments working together, trying to hide from the aliens that we are on to them.“

Agent Beynon intervened at that point, leaning slightly forward with a stern expression: „However, all things considered, Agent Ayres is so far the only part of this operation that actually succeeded in capturing and interrogating few suspects. He has a lead.“

„Yes“, Edric quickly said, „I have two suspects with matching confessions about whom they are getting orders from. It is a small company registered on Dangorod but a wholly-owned subsidiary of another small company on Dephyr.“

Knightley was nodding approvingly, so Edric continued: „Both of my suspects claim that they were engaging in industrial espionage.“

„What?“, Knightley wondered, „Spying on the intelligence HQ?“

„Yes, I know. It is what the suspects claim. I pressed them on this very question and they said that their company assumes that the Dangorod intelligence branch is supplying Dangorod companies with intelligence they can use as market advantages. A bit far-fetched but not entirely outlandish. The suspects don’t seem to be the most bright, either. Maybe they were hired because of naivety.“

„Interesting.“, Agent Beynon concluded, „Melvin, I have the company data here and my people are already creating a dossier on them. A front, certainly. We will need to work with the people on Dephyr to get to the source.“

„Agreed.“, Knightley said, „Do we already have secure communication with them?“

Beynon shook her head. „Not yet. We expect to get it within the day.“

Knightley turned to Edric and started getting out of his chair. „Agent Ayres, I will see your prisoners now.“