Agent Atlantis

Chapter 6-An Old Friend

Outskirts of Tusca, West Artena

Western Artenian Intelligence Agency

2100 Hours

When Luke and Upsilon One entered the Agency campus through the northern gate, a dozen guards surrounded the prisoner. 

They're taking me seriously, Luke thought satisfactorily as he noticed the soldiers were heavily armed. Two pistols were strapped to the side of each one, while the hilts of hidden daggers poked out of the dozens of pockets on their clothes. 

Furthermore, Luke spotted a bunch of red tape plastered on the bottoms of the mags, signifying the bullets as the Agency's top-of-the-line armor-piercing magazines. One of them could tear through a tree—and then pierce through the side of a tank. However, the technology behind the firepower was so new that money could barely buy it; one shot cost as much as a twenty-four-carat gold-plated private jet. 

The Agency had a lot of money to spare regarding weapons. Just . . . not on the pay to agents.

Next to Luke, Upsilon One stiffened up. "Didn't I say that I got the prisoner escort covered?" he said accusingly.

"This is an order from the top," the leader of the soldiers replied, a hulking man that towered over both Luke and Upsilon One. "We are to capture Agent Atlantis and take him to the dungeon while you return to your patrol."

Upsilon One immediately picked up on the strange word choice. "'Capture'? I'm afraid I've already done that."

"And we will report it as such," the leader said, but the soldiers around him shifted warily.

Upsilon One looked at Luke helplessly.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance," Luke told him. "That way, there'd be no point in stealing the credit."

Before the soldier could respond, the leader signaled to one of his men to lead Upsilon One back out of the campus. He then turned to Luke. "Let's go."

"Of course," Luke responded, taking a step—and then tripped on a rock.

It was a pretty big rock, but in the moon's subtle light, it was almost invisible, tucked in the divot where the main path leading deeper into the campus met the flawless grass. Luke stumbled forward, unable to keep his balance, and crashed into the leader.

The huge man didn't even flinch as Luke bounced off of him and tumbled to the ground. "Get up," he said, glaring.

Luke shrugged. "I would, but someone refuses to unlock my handcuffs."

In response, hands grabbed at his shoulders and dragged the teenager up to his feet, then pushed him down the path.

As they traversed towards the main building, Luke was pleasantly greeted with a beautiful view of the campus at night. Back when he was an agent, his missions usually took place in the morning, and every second of his free time was used for training or sleeping—both activities indoors. Hence, the teenager hadn't seen the dark side of the Agency headquarters.

This compound probably hogs half of the national grid's power, Luke thought. Lights were everywhere. Paths were illuminated with bulbs every few feet, while powerful searchlights mounted on the extension buildings and trees swept the grounds. No square inch of the courtyard—which was the size of two football fields combined—was left unlit for more than a few seconds.

But even worse were the cameras. The moment he stepped foot onto the campus, half a dozen had started to record his every move, their red lights glaring. They numbered in the hundreds—Luke couldn't imagine how much it cost to install them, let alone maintain them.