September 6th, 2017

9.17 am, Naval Air Station Key West, USA

“At least the siren is off.” Logan says with a sigh.

27-year-old Logan Ryan has worked at CIA Gray site Blazes for the last 3 years as a field Digital Targeter and Digital Forensics Engineer. Today he met THE Director of the CIA. A once in a lifetime chance to rise to the top and… he blew it. He failed to impress the man. It wasn’t entirely Logan’s fault. The encryption used on the hard drives was better than anything he’d ever seen or even heard of. He figured that one would need quantum computing power to crack the hard drives. But right now, the day is on a weird trajectory.

“The Director said a few minutes but that was an hour ago…” Logan says in boredom.

Logan eyes the silver metallic briefcase on his table as he reaches for his coffee mug. The briefcase contains the two hard drives and some illegible paper. He absentmindedly put the mug to his lips only to taste nothing. Empty. He closes the metal case shut and grabs the handle. Case in tow, he rises from his chair and makes a trip to the coffee machine located elsewhere.

“Coming in 2 hours early has messed me up.” Logan says as he fills up his mug while grumbling, “Do fieldwork, they said. The fastest way to get promoted and better pay, they said.”

2 minutes later, Logan is leisurely strolling back to his desk while sipping his all-black instant coffee. The mug is already half-empty in his left hand. Just before he rounds the corner to his desk, Logan hears a disturbance. A muffled voice in a weird language and accent speaks.

“It was here a moment ago.” Another muffled voice responds.

‘Russian?’ Logan thinks to himself as he hides behind a wall of crates.

Logan hardly spoke with his colleagues but he knew that no one at Blazes speaks Russian. The hangar is divided into rooms linked by a maze of crates, the same crates the hangar stores. A cost-saving measure, just like Costco. Now, Logan is spying through a wall of crates.

‘Who are these people?’ Logan thinks to himself as he observes.

2 figures in total black are looming over Logan’s desk space with their backs to him. Logan can see these figures are heavily armed and armored in tactical gear.

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‘Wait! Are these people attacking us? Is that why the lockdown alarm happened? Are we really under attack?’ Logan thinks to himself as he clutches the handle on the briefcase.

Logan watches as one of the figures, who he assumes are men, raises his black-gloved right hand to his temple. The man turns gradually as if scanning the room. Then, the man’s gaze finally lands at Logan’s position, locking onto Logan behind the wall of crates.

‘Shit!’ Logan thinks as he drops his coffee mug and runs away, briefcase in his right hand.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Bullets fly through where Logan had stood a second ago. Logan runs as fast as his feet carry him without bumping into the crates. Bullets impact all around but narrowly miss Logan.

RATATAT!

“HELP!!” Logan shouts, “Armed intruders!”

There are 5 other people working in Blazes this early in the morning. Unfortunately for Logan, they are concentrated at the southern end, which is close to the main exit of the hangar. Logan hopes his pleas alert everyone of the ongoing danger. Meanwhile, Logan keeps running towards the main exit. If he could only make it to the exit, then maybe, just maybe, he could outlive this adventure. So he sprints while thinking.

‘Why me? What do they want?’ Logan thinks as he runs.

‘I will try to call the Director!’ Logan thinks to himself while running.

Logan dips his hands into his pockets and pulls out his iPhone. No signal.

‘Son of a bitch!’ Logan thinks as he rounds a corner.

“Shit!” Logan shouts as he suddenly sees the back of a figure standing there in black scrubs.

Logan drops his phone as he turns back and keeps running. The main exit is out of reach.

‘Then I have to get out through a side door!’ Logan thinks to himself as he runs.

The nearest exit is East so that’s the direction Logan orients himself toward. His thoughts race.

‘Are they looking for the case? If I drop it, will they let me live?’ Logan thinks as he runs, taking as many turns as he can while darting around to avoid the lines of fire of the men with their nearing footsteps pounding behind him. Being stationary means death.

“Stop or die!” A man’s voice shouts.

Unfortunately, the voice startles the already panicked Logan, causing him to hesitate. This momentary hesitation is all that is needed for a bullet to hit Logan’s left shoulder. The jolt of sharp pain overrides Logan’s senses, causing him to lose control of his legs and tumble into the nearby crate wall on his left. Now, he slumps on the floor. Blood gushes into a pool. It’s the first time Logan has been shot. He did not sign up to be shot. All he can do is clutch the metal briefcase in front of his face as 3 armed masked men approach. One in front, two behind.

“Pass the case over and you’ll live.” The masked man in the lead says, gun pointing at Logan.

‘This is it. This is the moment I die.’ Logan thinks to himself as the men keep approaching.

Logan imagines himself as a cornered, bleeding animal waiting to be slaughtered. For although their mouth says he will live if he surrenders, their ravenous demeanors say otherwise. All for hard drives he knows not what they contain…

BANG!

Suddenly, the wall of crates on the right tumbles onto the approaching men. It is all on fire. Bright orange flames erupt, triggering the overhead sprinklers. Water douses down the flames. 2 presumable corpses remain in the wreckage. However, the masked man in front somehow survives. He is covered in smoldering debris and now pinned against the opposite wall.

The masked man watches in terror as a figure with flaming hands closes the distance to him.