“So Sloane wants you to delete all the information on the Alliance?” Vaughn requested, checking over the facts Sydney had given him. He held a manila folder full of typed papers at his side and his briefcase lay a yard away from his feet.

“Yes,” Sydney sat on a large wooden crate, positioned against the far wall of the garage cage. Her hands were placed on her lap and her lips formed a small smirk. Even if she was talking about nuclear weapons or Arvin Sloane, when she was with Vaughn she couldn’t do it without smiling a little.

“The CIA is not sure what information is on that server,” Vaughn opened his folder and fished through the files. He sat down on a crate next to Sydney and showed her what he was looking at. Text and black pictures were plastered on each page. “The only thing they do know is that if Sloane wants it deleted- we need it.”

“So all you want me to do if save it to a disk and bring it back- that’s it?” Sydney inquired. She could generally guess what all her counter missions were- they were all usually very similar. Even if she could guess what each one of the counter missions were, she still enjoyed the meetings with Vaughn. He was the only thing that kept her sane lately.

“The QuickNet security staff will check you for discs on your way in and on your way out. There’s no hope trying that.” Vaughn’s forehead crinkled into the little lines that Sydney loved. They seemed to only appear when he was serious or concerned about something. Vaughn’s forehead wrinkles were one of the things that made Sydney so attracted to Vaughn. Lately it was hard to concentrate at these meetings- all she could think of was how irresistible this man was- the one man she couldn’t have was the one she loved the most.

“Then what do we have planned?” Sydney hid the shock in her voice quiet well, for Vaughn didn’t even notice. It was wrong of her to make an assumption that she knew what was going on in her life anyways- it was all so perplexing.

“About a week or two ago, the CIA signed up at QuickNet. The bought some server space and registered it under the name Richard Nielson.” Vaughn explained this slowly, letting Sydney take in all the facts. He reached out and pulled his briefcase off the cement floor. The lock opened without much work, letting Sydney noticed how neat Vaughn kept his briefcase- each object had its own folder, pocket, or section labeled. Vaughn opened one of the top pockets and pulled out a business card. He handed it over to Sydney who studied it intricately. RICHARD NIELSON was inscribed in large bold letters at the top of the card. Under the name BANKING SPECIALIST was printed in a much smaller font.

“What is this?” Sydney looked the card over again. In the top left corner of the card a small eagle with an American flag clenched in its claws was drawn. Sydney set the card down on her knee as Vaughn continued to explain the situation to her.

“Just a reminder,” Vaughn grinned at her. He took a pen from his briefcase and circled two things on the card. “We had the card printed under the name ‘Richard Nielson’ so that you would remember the user name. Now the password is a little trickier. Take the last three letters of this word and the first three of this one and you have the password. I-N-G-S-P-E. It doesn’t mean anything, it was just a safety measure taken so that no one would be able to hack into the account.”

“OK. I think I understand.” Sydney slipped the card into her pocket and stood up. She stared at Vaughn for a second- it was somewhat awkward. These glances happened a lot, a loving stare that was held for one second too long. Sydney looked away quickly; a smile appeared on her face. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Yea- when you get back.” Vaughn sounded disappointed and Sydney picked this up. Her smile grew wider. She turned and walked to the edge of the cage. She opened the metal door, letting it clatter against the chain link fence. The sunlight entered the garage and cast her shadow across the cars.

NICARAGUA

The tarnished red Jeep sped down the road. Dirt kicked up from all four wheels, shooting into the grass. The sun sat in the center of the sky, a burning ball of fire. The heat waves cooked the below village- causing dehydration and exhaustion. Sydney looked quiet out of place riding in the backseat of the Jeep.

“Dixon,” Sydney leaned forward and almost had to yell into her partner’s ear. The engines roar was causing Sydney’s headache to pound. Dixon’s alias was as an airport driver. He wore a red Hawaiian-like T-shirt, a pair of khaki shorts, and hiking boots. Sydney wore a long black skirt, black V-neck top, and a black overcoat. Her red-brown wig was pulled back into a ponytail that hung loosely around her neck and curled around her shoulders. A large straw hat sat atop of her head- causing her to look foolish. Sydney didn’t mind looking stupid though, it was better than being burnt by the sun. “Dixon, are we almost there?”

“About another ten minutes, Syd. You OK back there?” Dixon fumbled his large black sunglasses that kept the dirt from entering his eyes, but Sydney sat in the backseat with her eyes pinched closed. She had forgotten one of the most obvious things she needed. She tried to tip her hat down to block some of the flying material but nothing happened. It was useless. The small pieces of dirt seemed to fix in-between the woven straw and directly into her eyes.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Sydney lied, as she tried to duck behind one of the seats. She could live with another couple minutes- it wasn’t going to kill her. The Jeep kept bouncing along the road, hitting occasional potholes or other interference that lay along the unpaved roads. Sydney couldn’t image there being a high profile server provider stationed in the middle of what seemed to be a native village; but she was soon proved wrong.

Dixon curved the rusty truck around a bend and they approached a large building. The building was at least eight floors high with large windows on each flight. Above the two double doors that lined the center of the front wall, a large sign was positioned depicting the QuickNet logo. Dixon followed a path around the back of the building to a cement parking garage. Large plants were either growing on or next to the garage, making it blend in with the forests. Dixon drove up one of the ramps and found himself sitting in front of a small booth. Inside the booth a Mexican man sat with his back turned to the street, but when he heard the roar of the engine he turned. The man spoke Spanish perfectly and Dixon had to concentrate hard to keep up with the quick speaking man.

“Hola,” The man greeted Dixon and Sydney with a warm smile. He had on a blue uniform that was neatly kept- his nametag even seemed to be centered perfectly on his breast pocket. The man pulled out a clipboard and set it on the edge of the booth. He tapped his pen lightly on the paper. “Do you have an appointment?”

“Si- Señorita Elizabeth Bradford.” Dixon smiled and pointed to one of the named on the list. Sydney’s alias was one of the first, on account of her appointment time and last name.

“Will you be joining her?” The man, whose nameplate said Carlos, asked. A small bug soared around his head and Carlos swatted at it angrily. He pointed to a sign next to his booth that had a list of prices. “Driver-” He rapped his finger against the third option. “This is the price for you two.”

“Si senior. 600 peso?” Dixon turned to Sydney and began talking in English again. The man couldn’t understand the language and turned back into the booth. “Syd, do you have 600 pesos?”

“I don’t think so,” Sydney stuck her hand in her purse and shifted around for some money. She pulled out a wad of one dollar bills. Dixon got the idea and turned back to the man.

“Do you take American money?” Dixon spoke his quick Spanish again. Carlos nodded in approval and Dixon handed over some of Sydney’s bills. The red and white striped bar blocking the entrance raised allowing Dixon to drive in. He pulled up another ramp and parked in one of the far spaces.

“Dixon, I’ll see you soon.” Sydney hopped out of the Jeep and strutted to the elevator. She fiddled with the strands of beads that circled her neck. Her hips swung loosely with each step she took and the black earrings she wore bounced up and down with the movement of her body.

The lobby of the QuickNet building was very large with one immense desk in the center. Behind the desk a woman with flowing black hair sat. She wore the same blue uniform that the man at the booth had worn, except this woman had a red stripe around her upper arm.

“Hello and welcome to QuickNet America.” The woman smiled and spoke the best English she could, yet her accent was still Spanish. She began typing quickly on her computer, occasionally looking up at Sydney. “How may I help you?”

“Hello,” Sydney used a fake accent as she talked to the woman. She rested one of her hands on the desk and used the other hand to push her hair behind her ear. “My name is Elizabeth Bradford. I have an appointment to tour the facility.”

The woman began typing again, and with a satisfied smile began talking to Sydney again. “Yes, hello Ms. Bradford- It’s a pleasure to have you.” The woman continued typing. Then, a minute later, she placed her hands on her desk and backed her chair up. She stood up and signaled for Sydney to follow her.

The woman led Sydney down a hall and into an office. Inside sat a man with slate gray hair that had to be around the age of fifty. A maroon name plate on the desk read William Murrain. “Hello Ms. Bradford. Welcome. Shall we begin the tour?” The man had a southern accent and Sydney had a feeling he spoke little to no Spanish.

“That would be wonderful.” Sydney used her fake accent again. The man handed her a form and told her that she needed to sign it before the tour. Sydney quickly scanned over the sheet- it basically informed her that if anyone were to steal the information on the QuickNet server they would face severe punishments. The page seemed to almost be targeted to get directly, but Sydney scrawled a quick signature on the bottom of the page.

“Let’s begin,” Mr. Murrain said after the form was signed. He left the slip of paper in the center of his desk and signaled for Sydney to leave before him. She followed his gesture and stepped into the hall. Sydney’s heels clicked on the tile floor as Mr. Murrain led her down the hall, pointing out the different rooms- safety labs, research labs, user areas. He explained the history of the company and how they took pride in protecting their user’s information.

“Wow,” Sydney acted as if all of the information interested her. She fiddled with a watch she had around her wrist, dying to press the button that would let Vaughn talk to her. “Now, I was told I would be able to use your network as an example.”

“Yes, follow me.” Mr. Murrain led Sydney even farther down one of the halls and into a lab numbered 6472. All of the walls, floor, and ceiling were made of light grey tiles. Two rows of metal tables were set up and at each table there were three computers. “Now,” Mr. Murrain had to make sure that he had given Sydney all of the information she needed. She continued to nod at each of the comments he made. “Then I must return back to my office, you don’t mind do you?”

“No, not at all.” Sydney could have cared a less if he was in the room with her or not- either ways she was going to get this information. Mr. Murrain left the room and Sydney took a seat at one of the computers. A man in a military outfit entered the room. He was holding a large rifle and stood close to the door, watching Sydney like a hawk.

Sydney thought of something as she was looking through the sample QuickNet service they let visitors use. How was she to place the map on the screen if the guard was watching every move she made? Coincidently, at the same time Sydney was thinking, there was a loud crash erupting from another room. As the guard stepped out to check the noise, Sydney speedily pulled the map from her purse and placed it on the screen. She could hear a slight hiss as the map formed a bond with the screen. Sydney was amazed at the quality of Marshall’s gadget. The map had taken the complete shape of the computer screen- there wasn’t a flaw in Marshall’s gadget.

The guard turned back into the room and watched Sydney. It turned out another user had unintentionally knocked a computer from the table. The guard seemed satisfied with the map Sydney was looking at but still looked sternly at her. Sydney smiled at him and reached into her purse again. This time she pulled out the glasses that Marshall had made for her. She placed them behind her ears and let the glasses rest on the bridge of her nose. Unnoticeably, she reached her hand up and flipped the small switched on the frames. Sydney was now able to see through the map Marshall had made- she was back to seeing the example that QuickNet had set up.

Now that Sydney had reign over the computer without interference she exited out of the example. A blue screen appeared with small icons on the menu. One of the icons was labeled with the title ‘QuickNet Users.’ Sydney clicked it and a new menu appeared. One by one names appeared on the screen. Sydney scrolled down the list until she found Martinez. There were four listing for the last name so she had to single out the entry with the first initial ‘H.’

When the Martinez file was selected and the password entered, screens full of text popped up. There were a total of ten screens in all. Just to make sure that the guard didn’t see anything, she stole a glance at him. He didn’t smile but gave her a wave that told her to return to the computer. And that is exactly what she did. Sydney copied all of the informational screens and saved them to the Clipboard. She then deleted the information as she had been told.

Sydney exited out of the Martinez file and scrolled the few pages in took to reach Nielson. Sydney found the entry without trouble, and selected the edit option. A small menu popped up that indicated for Sydney to type in her password. She copied the code Vaughn had given her and one blank menu opened. Sydney inserted all of the information for the Martinez file and selected ‘save.’ Just out of curiosity, Sydney scrolled down the pages of information she had copied. What she had found was exactly what the CIA needed- information on the Alliance, K-Directorate, the KGB, every organization possible. Sydney stopped on the Alliance and quickly looked over the information. Something caught her eye. Sydney’s eyes grew wide and her mouth seemed to hang open a little- she gasped. Quickly she fumbled with her watch and hit the button that would usually change the date.

“Sydney?” Vaughn’s voice filled her ear and she could almost picture him back at headquarters.

“Vaughn- you’ll never believe what I found-” Sydney whispered.