Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure (15 page)

Bill turned to
Christopher and said, “You did it again. Don’t worry, Agent
Johnson will see the agent gets the message in time. Come on, I’ll
buy you a cup of coffee.”

A few minutes later,
Agent Johnson walked into the cafeteria. “We were able to get
through. He’ll be long gone when the KGB goes to pick him up thanks
to you, Christopher. Well I don’t know about you, but I’m going
home and try to get a little more sleep. I’ll see you in the
morning.”

“I guess I could use
a little sleep myself,” Christopher commented.

“Me too,” Bill
replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night.”

Christopher showed up
to work in the morning acting as if nothing had happened. Once the
word got around, he found himself bombarded with congratulations. He
took it all in stride and continued writing a new subroutine for his
latest program. He didn’t seem to enjoy reveling in his successes,
but preferred to work toward the next. It was nearly time to call it
a day when the phone on his desk rang.

“Christopher?” It
was Agent Johnson. “Could you come up to my office?”

“I’ll be right
there,” Christopher responded. On his way to the elevator, he told
Barb, “I’ll be in Agent Johnson’s office if you need me.”

As Christopher entered
the outer office, Marge told him, “You can go right in. He’s
expecting you.” As he entered, Christopher noticed another person
already seated in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “I’ve
got someone here that would like to meet you, Christopher,” Agent
Johnson said indicating the person in the chair. The man stood and
turned to greet Christopher.

“Hello, Christopher.
I wanted to thank you personally. Your effort has saved me from being
at least tortured, if not killed. I just wanted to come here and
shake your hand.”

Christopher looked at
the man and said, “You must be the agent I learned about in the
decoded message. I’m glad to see you made it out alright.”

“Yes,” the man
responded, “and if I can do anything to return the favor, you just
let me know.”

“Well,” Christopher
hesitated.

“What? Tell me what I
can do for you.”

“Well, I have a small
collection of puzzles and the like. It’s a hobby. I don’t get out
much to look for additions to my collection. I thought that if in
your travels you were to run across anything of interest, you might—”

“Consider it done. It
hardly seems like enough for what you have done for me. It’s the
least I can do. I must be going now. Again, I thank you.” With
that, the man left. Christopher knew better than to ask his name.

* * *

Over the years,
Christopher continued to prove his worth time and time again. He had
been with the CIA for 12 years and had earned the well-deserved
respect of his peers. Since the meeting with the nameless field
operative, his puzzle collection had nearly tripled in size. The
agent had spread the word to several other field agents, all of which
started sending Christopher puzzles from all corners of the globe. He
now had so many, he had long since run out of room and had to take a
couple home with him each time he visited his parents. His old
upstairs room there was rapidly turning into a puzzle museum. Mary
even displayed one or two of the more exotic pieces in the living
room to remind her of Christopher. It seemed like nothing could go
wrong in his life. But like some old magician’s props, that too was
an illusion.

Christopher picked up
the ringing phone from its cradle on his desk. “Christopher?” it
was Barb. “Your mother is on line four.”

“Thank you, Barb.”
He pushed the appropriate button on the phone. “Hello, Mom. How are
you?”

“Christopher, it’s
your father. He’s had a heart attack. He’s in the hospital, but,
well they don’t know if he’s going to make it.”

“Are you at the
hospital now, Mom?” Christopher responded.

“Yes,” Mary
answered.

“I’m going to leave
right now. I’ll be there within an hour.”

“Hurry, Christopher.”

“I will, Mom.”

Christopher pressed
seven on the phone. “Bill Brandon,” the voice said.

“Bill, Christopher.
Listen, my mother just called. My father’s had a heart attack. They
don’t know if he’s going to make it. I need to get there as soon
as possible.” This was the first time in twelve years with the
agency that Christopher had ever asked for anything.

“Hang on a second,
Christopher.” Bill put him on hold for just a moment, then
returned. “I just checked with the airport. We have a jet there
ready to go. It will be waiting for you. They’re warming up the
helicopter on the roof as we speak. They’ll be ready to take off by
the time you get there. Call me when you know anything, and if
there’s anything else I can do.”

“Thanks Bill. I’ll
call you,” Christopher said and then headed for the helipad on the
roof.

There was an agent
standing next to the open door of the already running black
helicopter. As Christopher climbed on board, the agent climbed in
behind him, closing the door. The pilot immediately lifted off and
headed directly for the airport.

The helicopter pilot
got Christopher to the airport in record time. A sleek black jet was
waiting on the tarmac with its engines already running, waiting for
Christopher to board. The pilot landed the black helicopter as close
as he could to the plane, and with a few quick steps, Christopher was
on board. The door closed behind him. The jet almost instantly began
rolling. The pilot, having been briefed on the situation, pushed the
sleek craft to its destination as quickly as he could. Another black
helicopter sat running on the tarmac as the jet came to a stop.
Christopher quickly exited the airplane and boarded the helicopter.
In less than five minutes, the helicopter was setting down on the
roof of the hospital, on the helipad normally reserved for med
flights.

Inside, one of the
agents went to the desk, and, holding up his identification, said,
“Joseph Adams?”

The nurse looked at a
clipboard. “Intensive care. Down there,” she said pointing down a
hallway.

At the intensive care
desk the agent repeated, “Joseph Adams?” and held up his
identification. “Second door on your right,” the nurse responded.
The two agents turned around as if to stand guard as Christopher
headed for the room.

As he entered the room
he saw his father lying in bed with an array of tubes and wires
coming from all parts of his body and plugged into monitors on the
wall and beside his bed. Mary, sitting beside the bed, turned and saw
Christopher.

“Christopher!” she
exclaimed as she rose and held him tight.

“How is he, Mom?”
he asked.

“It doesn’t look
good.”

“Is he awake?”

“Even if he isn’t,
I know he can hear you,” Mary replied.

Christopher stood
beside his father and took hold of his hand. Mary stood on the other
side of the bed. “Dad, it’s Christopher. I got here as fast as I
could. You’ve got to hang on, Dad.”

Joe’s eye slowly
opened just a little. As he tried to speak, Christopher leaned closer
to hear him. “Christopher. Good. Listen, you take care of your
mother, okay?”

“You just have to
hang on, Dad. You can do it.”

Joe struggled again to
speak. “Take care of your mom, son. I’m counting on you.” With
that, his eyes closed and his head rolled lifelessly to the side as
his last breath gently escaped through his lips.

“Dad! No!”

“Joe!” Mary cried.

* * *

Agent Johnson, Bill
Brandon, Tom Clayton, Marge, Barb, and several others Christopher
worked with were there as the flag-covered coffin lay resting above
the hole where Joe’s body would rest for all eternity. Mary stood
next to Christopher and her longtime friend and neighbor Linda. While
the priest spoke, Christopher looked up, and in the back of the
crowd, he noticed the nameless agent he had met after breaking the
Helix code. He gave Christopher a nod of condolence, touching the
brim of his hat and tipping his head simultaneously. For
Christopher’s sake, he stayed around long enough to give his
condolences to Mary. Christopher introduced him to Mary simply as a
friend, after which he was gone.

Later, back at the
house, Mary met the people from the agency. They were all very
supportive. Marge and Barb helped Linda take care of everything
around the house, so Mary wouldn’t have a mess to clean up. Bill
insisted Christopher take a few weeks’ vacation time to spend at
home where he would be needed. After everyone was gone, Christopher
held his mother close and assured her he would make sure she had
everything she would ever need.

During the weeks that
followed, Mary found out Joe had taken out a large life insurance
policy on both of them. He had assumed Mary would outlive him, and he
didn’t want to leave her without the means to support herself.
Christopher reminded her if she ever needed anything, she could count
on her favorite son. He would always be there for her.

In the years that
followed, Christopher started taking the vacation time he never had
before to spend more time with his mother. He had always gone home
for the different holidays, but now he flew home at least one or two
weekends a month. The Cold War was winding down relieving some of the
pressures of the job, helping to free up Christopher’s time for
these weekend trips home. Mary followed his career closer than ever.
They had gotten even closer than they had been before he went away to
school.

Christopher was sitting
at his desk, working on a new decryption program for the latest
computer system. Mega Bucks had been replaced three times since he
broke the infamous Helix code many years before. In the back of his
mind, he was anticipating his trip home to visit his mother in two
days when the phone on his desk insisted on his attention.

“Christopher Adams,”
he said as he held the receiver to his ear.

“Christopher, Bill.
Could you come to my office?”

“I’ll be right
there, Bill.”

As he entered Bill’s
office, Bill spoke. “Please, have a seat.” Christopher sat in one
of the comfortable chairs in front of Bill’s desk. “You know,”
Bill spoke, “I’ve been sitting behind this desk for longer than I
care to think, and I’m not getting any younger. Seeing your
parent’s house at your father’s funeral reminded me there is life
outside of the agency. I think the time has come for me to see if I
can find a little piece of that life for myself. I’ve decided to
retire, Christopher, and I’ve recommended that you succeed me as
the head of the decryption section. I think you’re more than ready
to wear that hat.” Bill once again looked for the reaction that
Christopher never seemed to show. “Well, what do you think?”

“Christopher Adams,
section chief. I must admit, I like the sound of it. Of course, Bill,
there’s nothing I’d like more.” This was the closest thing to a
reaction he had ever seen from Christopher, Bill thought.

“I know you’re
going to visit your mother this weekend. Why don’t you make it a
long weekend, five or six days perhaps, and when you get back, we can
spend some time preparing you to take over here.”

“I’ll probably need
the extra days to calm my mother down. She’ll be ecstatic when I
tell her.”

“Your mother’s
quite a woman. Give her my best when you see her.”

“I certainly will,”
Christopher responded.

Upon his return from a
long weekend home, Bill worked closely with Christopher helping him
become familiar with his new responsibilities as section chief. He
would now be interacting much more with field agents and covert
operatives. For Christopher, this added a new element of excitement
to his life. He loved his work very much, but still held a certain
admiration for the work the field agents did as well. After a few
weeks, Bill felt Christopher had a handle on everything and he knew
things would be in good hands.

“I don’t think I’ve
missed anything. Of course if you need anything, you can always just
give me a call,” Bill said.

“You know, it isn’t
going to be the same around here without you, Bill,” Christopher
remarked.

“I’m going to miss
the old place. But it’s time for me to see what else is out there.
I’m thinking of stopping by to see your mother.”

“She’d like that.
I’ll warn you though, she’ll ask you to tell her everything you
can tell her about her favorite son,” Christopher remarked.

“Well, I guess I’m
out of here. Take care of the place for me,” Bill said as he shook
Christopher’s hand and left.

Over the next several
years, Christopher became more familiar with his new position and the
responsibilities that came along with it. He welcomed the opportunity
to work closely with field agents and covert operatives. He had
always held a certain admiration for what they did, although he had
no desire or training to be a field agent. He was, however, able to
learn a great deal from his repeated contact with them.

Christopher enjoyed his
work immensely, and had no ambition to advance any further. He knew
to do so would mean removing himself from that which he most
enjoyed—solving puzzles and code breaking—and thrust himself into
a world of politics. This had no appeal to him whatsoever. Being
dishonest and deceptive went very much against his grain. Joe and
Mary had successfully instilled a strong set of morals and a sense of
fair play in Christopher. Perhaps this quality helped him to find a
little more satisfaction in what he did, which in a sense, was
finding truth within the deception of encryption. Although
Christopher was a very up front person, he had learned even more, of
late, the wisdom of playing one’s cards conservatively.

It began like any other
Wednesday as Christopher exited the elevator on the fourth floor.
“Good morning, Barb.”