The girl standing before me was uptight. Her body looked extremely tensed. I could tell that she was defiant as we stayed in our same position, waiting for the other to move. She looked fairly beautiful with a plethora of defined facial features.

She was the first one to spoke up after a tense silence. "You're wearing red."

My eyebrows scrunched. "Are you going to keep looking at me for another five minutes before concluding I'm a guy?"

She moved her head to look at Michael. "Who is this?"

"Sasha, meet Zack, our consultant," He said slowly. "And Zack, meet my girlfriend Sasha."

"Huh? Girlfriend?" I asked in between deep exhales. "Aren't you 14?"

"It's a-" He began before pausing. "-long story."

"One that you have to tell later," She said quickly before beginning to approach. In her hand was a phone that was connected to a call. "Tell them what you found out."

"Your highness!" The voice on the other end said. It was a deep male voice that sounded anxious. "Are you there?"

"Yes, I am agent," He said. "What do you need to tell us?"

"Yes yes," The agent said quickly. "Their not attacking in five months, they're attacking in three weeks."

All of our eyes widened as we looked at each other, sharing a collective feeling of dread. It was a cold feeling that transitioned to a feeling that our stomachs were dropping. Our hopeless situation got even worse.

"Do you know where they're planning on attacking from?" I asked the agent.

"N-no, all I know is the time," The agent replied. He spoke fast and kept tripping over his words.

"Hang on," I walked over to the phone and pressed the mute button. We all looked over to the screen displaying Poole, UK.

"What's going on in Poole?" She asked.

"We believe that they plan on attacking it," Michael explained. "Belgium is a farce."

"Why Poole?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the map, trying to figure out the thought process that got us there.

"We'll explain later," I said in frustration. I began to pace the room again as a new challenged arose. "What are the chances he's compromised?"

"30," Sasha said. I looked up and tilted my head. Was she on Michael's level?

"You think that he's under duress?" Michael asked.

I nodded my head. "There's a way we can find out,"

I pressed the button again to unmute before speaking up clearly. "Hello Agent ..."

"Agent Harold Campbell."

"Agent Campbell, where are you right now?"

"Um, I'm in a building," He answered. "Why?"

"Okay, I need you to go outside and run for about 20 meters and then start walking to the nearest store."

"Uh, okay?" His voice sounded unsure about why he just received the instructions. I pressed on the mute button again.

"Listen for any repeating footsteps following his, especially when jogging and entering the store," I ordered. All the generals nodded their heads. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

I heard birds chirping and his footsteps colliding with the ground. I heard conversations coming from all around him in Spanish, yet they were indiscernible. The winds lightly rustled nearby leaves. As he began to slow down, I still hadn't heard anything suspicious.

My instructions had two goals. One was to see if he was under duress. The second was to give him a chance to escape. His odds go way up when he's outside as it's more opened and has infinitely more room for him to run.

Not hearing anything suspicious and him not running away led me to believe that he wasn't under duress. However, I still couldn't be sure. Luckily, that's where the shop comes in.

His footsteps ceased as I heard a bell ring. When he walked into the door, it took a few seconds to close. Still, I couldn't hear any additional footsteps.

"Walk to the shopkeeper and put the phone down," I ordered. He didn't speak as he followed the instructions.

I heard the phone make contact with the desk and slide over before a voice that sounded like it was behind the phone began speaking.

"Bienvenido!" The shopkeeper said enthusiastically. His voice sounded old yet it was still filled with passion. I inwardly smiled. It had reminded me of my grandfather.

However, this was significant for another reason. Bienvenido isn't in it's plural form. While it was a great start, it still wasn't enough to fully assure me.

"Good afternoon sir! Sorry to bug you, but me and my friend are having a bet that he can't stay alone for the day. Can you please tell me if he's alone?" I asked in Spanish. My voice was a bit sheepish to reinforce the lie. I saw that Sasha's ears had perked up when I had begin speaking.

"Youngsters today and their strange games," The man chuckled. "Yes, he is alone, although he looks a bit anxious."

"He might be on the spectrum," I added quickly. The old man gave a hearty laugh at my joke. "Again, sorry for bugging you."

"It's quite alright," He responded. "I was a kid once."

'Oh god, please don't tell a story,' I thought. to myself.

"Alas, that time has long passed," He sounded like he was reminiscing.

"Well, thank you again sir, but I think my friend will want to take his leave," I said. "Have a great day."

"You too!" He said cheerfully.

Campbell left the store hastily. "Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you so much for your cooperation." I pressed the hang-up button and looked to everyone.

"He's not under duress, so his information is legit," I said before my face began to transition to the more serious one. Alas, another problem I wouldn't have the joy of solving again.

"So now we know when and where they're attacking from," I said as I continued to walk around the room.

"It's an issue of resources now," Michael said. He turned to face the generals. "Do you think we can defend?"

"It's ... hard to tell," They answered. "The only hope we have is to divert all resources, but we're going to be taking a risky gamble."

I was weighing the pros and cons in my head until a voice spoke up.

"What's a gamble?" Sasha asked.

"We think that their operation in Belgium is fake," Michael answered before gesturing to the screens. "We think that they're attacking from those two areas."

"If we divert all resources, they'll get suspicious," She said.

My head snapped to her and I tilted my head. "Seriously, who are you?"

"Are you deaf? I'm his girlfriend!" She replied aggressively.

"Why are you so aggressive?" I began probing for information. I saw her eyes dilate and briefly flicker away from me. Her arm, despite her not moving, began to move as if she was planning on walking. Her fingers twitched for a slight moment.

Noncongruent gestures are one of the tell-tale signs of a liar. Combine that with the twitching and dilated eyes, and it's clear that there was something up.

"Do you have something to hide?"

"Stop interrogating her!" Michael yelled out in her defense.

"Right after I get an answer."

Sasha sighed as she shook her head. "I'm Sasha Hughes, salutatorian of the Royal Military Academy."

I stared at her with serious and critical eyes. How did these two even meet? Better yet, how did they even get together?

"Satisfied?" She asked while remaining defiant.

"For now," I replied quietly as I returned to the matter at hand. "Begin with sending the explosives and rigging them. Once an ample amount has been sent, switch focus to man-power."

"And what do we do when they get suspicious?" A general asked.

"Disguise it as a construction project," I said. "It'll make them less suspicious of the shipments."

"Even if we do that, we're still not going to have enough manpower. We're sending men in to die."

"It's a gambit. Hopefully one that we won't have to take, but one that we'll have to setup nonetheless."

Michael's eyebrows furrowed. "Why won't we have to take it?"

I looked around the room with suspicious eyes. If what I told Michael were to be leaked, it would all be over.

"Everyone else, leave the room," I ordered. They hesitantly looked at each other until Michael nodded, giving them the direct order. They slowly rose from their chairs and exited through the door. I waited until the door fully closed and headed towards the far end of the room.

"Okay, what exactly do you have planned?" Michael asked.

"In three weeks, we'll either be dead or the Eastern bloc will be destabilized."

"So that's your plan," He said. "You want to have them implode from the inside."

"Not want," I corrected. "I'll make them implode from the inside."

Michael got what I was saying. His eyes widened and his voice dropped. "You want to do a-"

"Coup d'etat."