No Man's Land

7- Back at [classified]

"Today we have got a rather surprising story concerning Omega Airlines flight 8236. At around 11 am PST, Omega Airlines lost all communication with flight 8236, which had been bound for Washington DC. The plane is thought to have crashed due to mechanical failure, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. However, an anonymous tip lead to the discovery that the plane carried six federal agents. After further investigation, four passengers were travelling under aliases, and five more with very shallow histories. Several people have theorized that there actually may have been more agents on the flight than normal passengers!" The news anchor pivoted, gesturing to a screen where several faces appeared.

"Charles Manning, director of the CIA, has refused to comment, while Diana Roberts, FBI director, has only said that quote, "Due to the special circumstances of this crash, we are unable to comment without threatening the safety of various confidential cases, agents, and informants. However, are current top priority is locating the plane and making sure that these civilians may return to their families." Stay tuned for updates."

Warren sighed, changing the channel. "How the hell did they catch wind of this?" 

"Could we get a warrant for their call log? Trace the number that gave the tip?" Suggested Gale, an analyst. They were in the joint operations room of the FBI's DC office. The area was crowded with analysts and agents from CIA and FBI alike, along with a few representatives of the MI6. The tension in the room was heavy, each agency wanting to know why they suddenly had several agents officially MIA.

"Freedom of journalism and anonymity. We don't have a charge to get a warrant from."

"Someone obviously wanted the public to know about this. Are they trying to make a message?" Asked Paige, another analyst.

"What could the message be though?"

"If it's a message, I doubt they've fulfilled it yet. All we have is a bunch of possibly deceased agents." Said Warren, glumly. Muriel raised her eyebrows, tapping a pen against the desk she was sitting on.

"There's a strong chance they're alive. Nine have flight experience, right, whether through air force or a piloting license." Muriel said, an operative of the CIA.

"We don't even know how they went down though. Could have exploded, sunk into the ocean, or crashed into some land mass."

"But, we do know there's some element of sabotage. If the pilot had been present they would have immediately radioed in an SOS or made an emergency water landing. Usually we could assume natural health problems but under these circumstances, no."

"Look. The first thing on our agenda should be locating the crash site. Investigation needs to be present, yes, but we have some highly valuable assets on that plane. I'd like to think that the aforementioned assets would be able to handle themselves and are possibly still alive." Muriel said, her eyes agitated. Muriel was not only an operative, but in this case a handler of one of the missing agents.

"I agree, but it would help if you were to give us a bit more information on your agents concerned in this matter. This is already so unorthodox as it is, so we need full disclosure." Muriel seemed to hesitate, her eyes calculating. She let out a heavy sigh, walking over to one of the lined up computers. The words she typed flew up to one of the big screens mounted on the wall, and everyone's eyes drifted to the names and pictures.

"Chestine McHill, Carrie Evans, Michael Davers," she pointed at each of the pictures displayed, "and Jana. Their operation is classified far beyond most of your clearances, but I can tell you that these are a pretty particular bunch. I handle Michael and Jana. Roman Grey, Marsha Klassan, Allen Foss, and Peggy Delange, are the pseudonyms of Chestine, Carrie, Michael, and Jana, respectively." Dozens of eyes took in every detail of their faces, making Muriel cringe. They would have to stay away from high profile work while this blew over.

"Any reason you don't mention Ms. Jana's last name?" Asked Warren. Muriel shook her head.

"Starts with a 'confi' and ends with a 'dential.'" Frustrating as it was, the confidential card was one that no one would hesitate to pull. Warren sighed, turning back to face the screen.

"I also noticed that you're counting all four of them as capable of flying a plane. We only had five listed."

"You are acute in that observation."

"So can we just silently address how young these kids are to be working for the agency?"

"Silently, yes."

"You'll be the death of me, Muriel."

"Great. Look, let's just get back to finding our agents. We all want the same thing- find our guys, get them home, and look like heroes in the process for bringing home the citizens they were with. Bluntly put, but true."

"Emphasis on the bluntly." Warren muttered, grabbing Muriel's arm and pulling her to the side. "Just between you and me, what's the deal with this girl?" Muriel stayed silently, glaring up at Warren as she shoved her arm out of his grasp. "Come on, please Muriel. I need to know to get these agents home safe. All cards have to be on the table."

"How dare you. How dare you think that I would tell you classified information about one of my agents. How dare you even think about it?" She spit out her words like venom, and they stung even worse for him. He liked to think that they were friends. Still, he could tell he had crossed a line.

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." The fire in her eyes dimmed, her calculating eyes reading his as true. Finally, she let her face relax and her lips crease into a tight line.

"Run her picture through NATSEC, you'll see. Don't save the picture though- just drag and drop." Warren nodded, pulling the picture into face match. Millions of images passed by. It took seven minutes for a match. A single picture of the girl, sitting on a wall staring off at something in the distance. Her faces was covered in soot, and her hair was completely loose. 

Sitting behind her, though, was the kicker. The burning Croatian Capital Building.

The photo was dated for June 13, 2018, not even three months ago.

Below the photo was the name,

Jana O****.

So so so so so sorry for the late update! Truly! I wish I had a good excuse but honestly I just kinda slacked off. This one was a bit different, and I think really helped show more of this story's universe.