The Edge of Hope

Chapter Five: Negotiation

I woke up to the sound of alarms blaring throughout headquarters. Despite my shoulder I got up and went to investigate. Michael’s voice carried from the control room, “Someone has to stop this thing now! Or everything is going to be at risk.”

That told me all I needed to hear. Our systems were being hacked. I picked up my pace and entered the control room. Kevin was beside me right away. “The whole entire system is being attacked by the virus. Allie and a few other Agents who specialized in hacking and viruses are trying to prevent it, but nothing is working.”

I nodded, grateful that he didn’t try to get me to rest longer. Michael turned around and saw me heading his way, “You and I and everyone here knows how much trouble we will be in if they get all of our information. We could be exposed.”

“Allie, since you are the most skilled hacker, try to get our fire walls back up and make them stronger. Carla, you try and figure out if there was a plan to stop this virus. Michael and Kevin, keep searching for Agent Xavier. Everyone else, continue to be on standby. We might need all hands on deck.”I ordered.

Allie nodded before continuing to type rapidly, staring at the screen. Carla hurried towards the filing room taking the folder I had given to her as well. Michael and Kevin came over to me. “That building that Agent Xavier was being held in along with us was the base of the people who went after the virus the first time.” Kevin informed me.

“Which means that these guys were either passed down the mission or they were coincidentally using the same building.” Michael continued.

“We found the name and picture of the leader from that first mission attempt. We would like to go to the police station that is holding him and see if we can’t get any information.” Kevin finished.

“And where is he being held?” I asked.

“About 10 miles outside of Paris.” Michael answered.

“Fine. But be careful. I want you to have your comms with you at all times. Only take them off if the cops insist. We don’t want to make an unnecessary enemy.” I tell them.

“We will.” Michael says and then they take off.

I continued to talk to Allie asking for updates and adding more hands to the task of stopping the virus. Twice I went to check on Carla to see how her search was going. Some missions are filed in more than one folder just in case we ever have a breach. Not all of our stuff is online. We know better than that. But there is still a lot of stuff like our identities and the locations of all of our other headquarters.

So far it looked as if her search was proving futile. Nothing could be found about how to stop the virus. Which meant that all of our information was at risk. My comm crackled in my ear and I went to turn it off when a voice came through. “Agent...Gem...I don’t have...much time...I am being held at...the Louvre.” A shrill sound filled the air and I hurried to turn it off.

My bracelet had never done that before, but at least I knew where Agent Xavier was. I turned my comm back on before moving toward the intercom. “Dorthy! Charles! Dameon! Sally! I need you four to come to the control room!” I spoke into the microphone. My voice ran out through headquarters. Luckily it still worked. Almost all of our systems had been compromised and we were locked out.

Dameon, Dorthy, Charles, and Sally entered the control room at different times. Only once they were all there I told them why I called them. “I just got a message from Agent Xavier. He said he is being held at the Louvre. I want you four to go there and find him.” They nodded before hurrying away to get ready to leave.

Carla ran into the control room shouting, “I found it! I found it!”

“Found what?” I asked. The pain in my shoulder suddenly flared and it was making it really difficult to think.

“I found out how to stop the virus.” Carla cried out.

“How?”

“Well, we kind of need Agent Xavier.”

“Dameon? How is the search going?” I asked pressing the green bead on my bracelet.

“Nothing yet. We fanned out to search faster. I can check in with the others. Give me a sec.” Dameon fell silent. “Nope. No one has succeeded yet. I am about to head down into the storage space. Most likely spot I think.”

“Report back as soon as you are all out of there with Agent Xavier.” I told him. I pressed the green bead twice.

“You’ve got it.”

“Carla tell me exactly why we need Agent Xavier to stop this virus?” I asked turning my attention back to her.

“Well he is the only one who talked to the man who created the virus. He never told anyone where the virus was so never told anyone how to stop it. Agent Xavier is the only one who can officially stop it. All we can do is try and hold it back as best as we can.” Carla finished speaking at the exact moment our power went out. Before I could shout at someone to get our power back on, the screen lit up and Silverbear’s face appeared.

“Hello Agent Gem. Or should I say Crystal? Your information is so valuable. How much do you think it will sell on the black market?” Silverbear asked.

“What do you want Silverbear? Other than the chance to gloat I mean.” I demanded. I tried to show no reaction to the fact that he now knows my real name.

“I just wanted to see if you wanted to make a trade. How about all of your headquarters information for your five Agents?” the camera panned towards Dameon, Charles, Dorthy, Sally, and Agent Xavier. All of them were tied up.

I could see that the knots were the same as before. Which meant that they would have little chance to escape. See if we are on our own or are only tied up with a simple knot or behind a locked door, we can normally escape no problem. But if there is more than one with a complicated knot, then it is almost impossible to get out. I mean you still could, but then the others left behind could be used against you.

“I know this is a hard choice, so how about you take oh, how about an hour to decide. You know where to come.” Silverbear disappeared and our power was restored. All of the Agents in the control room turned towards me.

“Keep doing what you have been assigned. Don’t worry I will figure something out.” I hurried out of the room. I felt a second panic attack coming and I couldn’t let myself be seen by the other Agents. I headed towards my room because my shoulder was killing me and all I wanted was to lie down and rest forever.