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The room was dark. There was a large rectangular table at
the center and a flat-panel video display covering the entire far wall. The
table was ringed by a dozen large leather chairs. Small circles of light shone
from the ceiling onto each position at the table.
The Assistant walked to the head of the table. She motioned
for Zach to sit in a chair facing the video display.
As Zach settled into the large leather chair, he realized
that his Uncle Mike was sitting in the next chair. His uncle was dressed in a
gray jumpsuit, like the guard outside. He had a large white bandage on his
forehead.
At
the head of the table, beside the Assistant, stood a thin, slightly graying,
distinguished-looking gentleman. Zach guessed that he was in his early fifties.
He was impeccably dressed, in a gray pinstripe three-piece suit, starched white
shirt, and matching gray silk tie.
Uncle
Mike leaned over and whispered in his nephew’s ear.
“The
Director,” he said.
“Good
morning, gentlemen” the Director said. He had an upper-crust British accent.
Beside
him, the Assistant cleared her throat.
“And
Miss April, of course,” the Director added.
He
walked quickly to the head of the table, and seated himself in a very large
leather executive chair. He shuffled through several pages of notes while the
Assistant reached over and poured him a glass of water.
“Mr.
Taylor,” the Director began. “The Agency needs your help.”
He took
a sip of water, and continued talking.
“For
the past several weeks, Agent M2 has been working on a very important assignment.
It seems that some unknown criminal group has been distributing pirated
videogame cartridges. To schoolchildren, hmm?”
Moose
had told Zach about those pirated videogames. He said you could buy a pirated
game several weeks before the official game was released.
“Under
normal circumstances,” the Director continued, “the Agency would not involve
itself with such an ordinary crime. However, this particular operation does not
appear to be entirely ordinary. For some reason, these pirates are selling their
merchandise at a substantial loss. Very unusual. This leads us to believe that
there is some other purpose to the operation, hmm?”
Zach
nodded his head, trying to keep up.
“Earlier
this evening,” the Director said, “Agent M2 was in the process of receiving
smuggled schematics for one of microchips used in the pirated games. The
transaction went bad, and he was assaulted by one of the couriers.”
The
Director paused and looked over at Zach’s Uncle Mike.
“I’m
feeling much better, sir,” Uncle Mike said, with a sheepish smile. He gave a
mock salute with his right hand. “Thanks for asking.”
“Um
hmm,” the Director noted, and turned back to Zach. “Miss April informs me
that when Agent M2 returned to his townhouse you performed emergency first aid,
and then delivered the data disc to Agent D. A fairly impressive performance, if
I do say so. Hmm?”
Zach
shrugged his shoulders, a little embarrassed.
“After
you delivered the data disc,” the Director continued, referring again to his
notes, “Agent D uploaded the data to our technical staff in Silicon Valley.
Our technicians analyzed the schematics, and discovered that the bootleg chip
had been subtly modified from the original. They have been unable to determine
exactly how it was modified.”
The
Director took another sip of water and laid his notes down on the table.
“Excuse
me, sir,” Zach spoke up. “This is really interesting, but where do I fit in
all this? I’m not one of your secret agents. I’m just a kid.”
The
Director folded his hands together again, and looked directly at Zach.
“Mr.
Taylor, your industriousness this evening did not go unnoticed. We believe — I
believe — that you can help us with this case. We need to find out who exactly
is behind this operation, and what they’re trying to achieve.”
“But
how can I help?”
“Our
agents have had only limited success trying to break into this bootlegging
organization. We need to infiltrate the organization from the bottom up.
Starting with their street level distribution, hmm?”
Zach
looked over at his uncle, who gave him a sideways grin.
“Mr.
Taylor,” the Director continued, “we need someone to pose as a customer for
these pirated videogames. Then we can trace the flow of money up through the
organization. Trace it all the way to the very top, if possible.”
“And
that’s where I come in?”
“Precisely,”
the Director replied. “Mr. Taylor, I want you to consider the offer I am about
to make. I would like to appoint you a special operative of the Agency, for the
purposes of this assignment. You will receive the appropriate security
clearances, of course. And Miss April will provide you with the necessary
equipment.”
Zach
couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The Director wanted to make him a secret
agent!
“Zachary
Taylor,” the Director asked, somewhat dramatically. “Do you accept this
assignment?”
Zach
thought about it for a few seconds. Did he want to become a secret agent? Yeah,
it would probably be dangerous. But how could any kid turn down that kind of
offer?
“Yes,
sir,” Zach finally replied, sitting up straight and speaking in a strong and
clear voice. “I accept this assignment.”
The
Director smiled, then stood and walked around the table. Zach stood up to meet
him, and the Director extended his arm and gave him a firm handshake.
“Good
to have you aboard, Mr. Taylor,” the Director said. He sounded pleased.
Then
the Director turned and looked over to the Assistant.
“Miss
April? Mr. Taylor needs to be assigned a code name, hmm?”
The
Assistant looked down at her clipboard for a moment. Then, with a twinkle in her
eyes, she looked back up at the Director.
“The
first available code name is Z,” she said. “Agent Z, for Zachary.”
“Very
appropriate,” noted the Director, turning back to Zach. “Agent Zed it is.
God speed, Agent Zed.”
With
that, the Director turned and walked briskly out the thick wooden door at the
end of the room.
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