“Twist my arm,” Hunter said as he walked up to Jamie and her parents.
“We’ll see you at the gun club at ten,” Tom said.
“We’ll be there,” Jamie promised.
Jamie and Hunter met Tom and Emily the next morning at the gun club. They decided to just shoot for fun and not keep score. Despite being in his late 60s, Tom was still an excellent shot. Emily, who was in her early 60s, was also still a great shot. Jamie was as good as her parents, and Hunter was getting closer to their level each year.
They ate lunch at the club, and Jamie told her parents about the training that the combat martial arts society was delivering.
When neither Tom nor Emily seemed surprised, Jamie said, “Why do I get the feeling you both already knew about this?”
“Because SignalCorps is also delivering training as part of the same contract,” Emily explained.
“Are you going to have people training at Fort Benning?”
Emily nodded. “We’re using the same locations for our training as you are. We’ll just be on different parts of the base.”
“Will you be visiting any of the training?” Jamie asked.
Emily shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll be going out into the field or not. We’re going to be using the new surveillance system, so I might go out just to check on how it’s performing, but apart from that, I don’t think there’s any need for me to interact with the staff providing the training or the people being trained.”
“Well, if you do get to Fort Benning, let me know so we can get together.”
“I will,” Emily promised.
“Are you coming to the Commandery meeting on Thursday?” Tom asked.
Jamie nodded.
“Good. You probably won’t want to miss this one.”
Jamie asked why, but Tom just smiled cryptically and said nothing.
6
Jamie spent most of the week getting ready for the training at Fort Benning that would begin the following Monday. By the time Thursday rolled around, she was exhausted but confident that all of the preparations were complete. All that remained was to load up the equipment and drive to Georgia, which required the help of the five instructors assigned to her who were all arriving the next morning.
Hunter stuck his head into her office. “Are you ready to go? We have just enough time to get there.”
Jamie looked at Hunter with a confused expression on her face. “Go? Go where?”
Hunter gave her a sideways look, stepped into her office, and whispered, “The Commandery.”
“It’s Thursday!” Jamie leaped to her feet and grabbed her gym bag. She followed Hunter, turned off the lights in her office, and locked the door.
“I’m heading out,” Jamie shouted to one of her assistant instructors who was locking up the dojo that night.
“All right,” the instructor responded. “See you tomorrow.”
Jamie and Hunter walked to the dojo entrance. “I’ll drive,” Hunter offered. “We can pick up your car after the meeting.”
“Thanks. Can you drive me tomorrow morning, too? I don’t want to leave my car here while I’m in Georgia.”
“No problem. I figured you’d want me to do that.”
They got into Hunter’s car and sped off toward the Commandery, arriving just before the meeting hall doors were locked. Hunter took his seat with the other Knights and Dames, and Jamie walked over to the benches for the Knight and Dame Commanders.
The meeting was well attended that night; there were hundreds of Knights and Dames in the meeting hall already. Almost all of the seats on the risers along the back and side walls were filled. Jamie scanned the risers for a moment before finally spotting an empty seat.
She had just sat down when the Grand Magistry filed in and took their places on the dais at the far end of the hall.
Once the opening ceremonies were concluded, Alasdair Stirling stood and addressed the assembly. “Tonight, we are dispensing with the usual intervention requests and reports on active interventions. Instead, Brother Patrick Mills will be sharing intelligence committee findings with us that are restricted and on a need-to-know basis, and he will outline the initiatives that the Order is undertaking as a result. I cannot stress enough that this information is highly classified in terms of national security and therefore is not to be discussed, mentioned, or even alluded to with any person not present in this room. Understood?”
“Yes, your Excellency,” the chorus of voices from the assembled Knights and Dames responded.
“Very well. Brother Mills, please present your information.”
Alasdair sat as Patrick approached the dais. He bowed to the Grand Magistry and then addressed the men and women in the meeting hall.
“Russia’s security services have had a cyber breach. All of the activation codes for sleeper agents located in America have been stolen and deleted from the Russian systems. They now have no idea who their sleeper agents are, where they’re located, or how to contact them to prevent them from being activated.”
Anxious voices filled the Commandery as Knights and Dames expressed concern and asked questions at the same time. The Sergeant at Arms had to step forward to restore order so Patrick could continue his report.
Patrick relayed what he had learned of the Russian breach, his conversations with the Order’s contacts in the U.S. intelligence community, and the intelligence community’s response to the breach.
“There are members of the Order involved at every level,” Patrick told the assembly. “We have members in the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, and the military who are part of America’s counter-terrorism and counter-espionage units, and we have members who are providing surveillance training and other training services to these units to prepare them for their role in stopping whoever is behind the Russian breach. Members of the intelligence committee are also working with our contacts in Russia to better understand how the breach occurred and who might have been behind it. How additional resources of the Order will be deployed to assist in stopping the sleepers is still being defined, but there will undoubtedly be opportunities for many of you to participate.”
Jamie paid close attention to everything that Patrick said. So this is why the martial arts society is providing training to military and civilian counter-terrorism and counter-espionage units. No wonder I’m heading for Fort Benning in the morning. I’m sure that Hunter has put two and two together by now, but if he asks, I can’t confirm that what I’m doing at Fort Benning has anything to do with what Patrick just told us. The confidentiality agreements that we signed at the meeting in Phoenix last week forbids me to.
While Hunter drove Jamie back to the dojo to pick up her car, her mind continued to replay Patrick’s report.
“Why so quiet?” Hunter asked after a while.
“Just trying to think of anything I’ve forgotten for Fort Benning,” Jamie replied. “I don’t want the first batch of students to find us unprepared.”
Hunter nodded. “From what we heard at the meeting tonight, I imagine that you’re going to be training some very important students. I guess that’s adding to your stress.”
Jamie didn’t take the bait. She knew he was fishing for a confirmation, and she wasn’t going to give it to him.
“Well, you’re going to be just fine,” Hunter assured her after a moment. “You know exactly what to do, and you’ve done it before. You’ve got this.”
“I’ll