Cliff Ryder - The Finish Line

Kate stood on a raised platform at the end of a large room, amid what looked like barely contained chaos. A half-dozen men and women swirled around her, analyzing data on wirelessly networked laptop computers, the low mutter of conversations providing a steady backdrop of noise in the space. On the opposite wall, a huge monitor showed the progress in the case on several different windows — a shot of the house on Wyvil Road, various views of the streets around the area as seen through the London city cameras and even a shot of their forensic team in London as it examined the recovered body.

All of it was real, yet in a sense none of it was real, for Kate was viewing the entire scene through a pair of virtual-reality glasses and attached headset, which enabled her to move about the room simply by looking at where she wanted to go. If she wanted a screen brought closer to her, she merely had to stare at its upper two corners, and it would automatically magnify for her. She could instantly see what any one person currently on duty was working on, or bring up all of their screens at once in front of her. Using the sensitive microphone that curved down her smooth jawline, she could instruct and guide the men and women who risked their lives on a daily basis to keep the rest of the world safe, dictate after-ops reports to an autotranscriber, coordinate meetings between directors and operatives around the world and basically keep tabs on any mission she chose to follow.

And that was often the hard part, choosing which ones were the most vital. Room 59 operations were going on in every corner of the world, as befitting its mandate. Some operations were easily handled by personnel below her. Intelligence-gathering, or even the extraction of a double agent, if planned properly, often happened with her knowing only two things: when it had started and when it was finished. Blown ops, however, like the Wyvil Road incident, always garnered her immediate attention. Although she had every bit of confidence in the people under her, Kate fully agreed with the maxim of No Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy. She had simply updated it. Her maxim was No Plan Survives Implementation Intact, despite all of their efforts to the contrary.

At the moment, she was reviewing the Midnight Team's first-person videos of the operation. Another feature of the MASC units all members wore was that everything they saw was transmitted back to Room 59's virtual headquarters, where it could be reviewed for after-action reports, as well as future training simulations. There was nothing like using the real thing to test operatives to see how they would fare. We'll definitely have to run this one, although I'm a bit concerned as to how these guys got past our operative and the team's surveillance in the first place, she thought.

Using the glasses, she could fast-forward or rewind the action, zoom in on anything the team member saw during the op or even work up the footage into a three-dimension re-creation of the entire mission, including every action that person took in it. At the moment she was staring at a close-up view of the pavement as a team member — M-Two, she confirmed — was dumped off a moving vehicle to land on the street. Gutsy but damn reckless, she thought, her lips pursing in disapproval. I'll be very interested in seeing that AA report.

A soft chime interrupted her thoughts. "Yes."

"Director, this is Dr. Samuelson, forensics."

"Go ahead, Doctor."

"I just wanted to let you know about the body we've been examining over here. It's going to take a bit longer to confirm an identity than we first estimated. There is evidence of extensive facial surgery, as well as the fact that his fingerprints have been removed."

"Removed?"

"Correct. We're trying to establish a match using middle phalanx prints, but I don't know if AFIS or other international databases will be able to provide a solid match based on that. We're running the target's current appearance through the databases now, as well as attempting to reconstruct what he looked like presurgery. I will advise you when we have any further information."

"Thank you, Doctor." She had just disconnected when another chime went off. "Yes, Samantha?"

"Do you have a minute? I'd like to discuss the Midnight Team's AA report."

Kate scanned the virtual room around her, ensuring that nothing needed immediate attention. "Sure. Come on in."

She sensed a presence, and turned to see Samantha's avatar sitting beside her, looking every bit as polished as she did in the flesh. "Hope I didn't startle you," Samantha said.

"No, although it is a bit unnerving to be on the receiving end when someone pops in." Kate lowered her voice and leaned over. "I have to confess that I enjoy the effect it has on others when I do it, however." Samantha's conspiratorial grin and nod confirmed that Kate wasn't the only one who thought this way. "However, back to business. Secure channel."

There was a brief blur around them, and the rest of the room took on a slightly hazy look. While Kate still had access to everything in the room, the communication wasn't two-way anymore. The rest of the operatives had been effectively blocked from this conversation. Normally Kate tried to keep as open a forum as possible — after all, the men and women working there had been recruited and cleared at the highest levels of intelligence work — but there were many aspects that had to be kept compartmentalized. Discussing failures in carrying out a mission was certainly one of them, at least until the problem could be identified — if there was indeed one — then corrected.

Upon seeing Samantha's grim expression, Kate didn't even bother with formalities. "I take it you've been reviewing the operation recordings?"

"Yes, and I'm not pleased with what I saw, particularly concerning the failure to achieve certain mission components."

Kate had been expecting this sort of response from Samantha ever since she'd begun examining the records. While she had very high standards for each mission's completion, she could also look at the bigger picture and take a win where she could get it. Samantha held her personnel — and herself — to almost impossible standards, and was very hard on anyone who didn't measure up, sometimes critically so. It was one reason that while the UK branch of Room 59 had one of the highest success rates, it also had the highest dropout rate in the entire agency. Kate didn't have anything against pushing the operatives hard — indeed, she was one of the leading proponents of tip-top training and near-constant evaluation. But to her, this mission had rapidly fallen outside normal parameters, and because of that — and the fact that the main priorities had been accomplished — she was willing to cut the Midnight Team some slack.

With a disarming smile, she tried to get the conversation headed into more positive territory. "The planned attack on London was foiled, and the bioweapons were recovered, so I'd say the primary and secondary objectives were achieved — not exactly a failure," Kate said. Her eyes flicked to the screen, where M-Two floated in midair, frozen in the act of being hoisted into the company van. "But please, continue."

Samantha's left eyebrow arched up in disbelief. "Perhaps. However, I dislike other people doing our work for us in such a — blatant manner. The third aspect of the mission was to capture the subjects alive, which was rendered impossible by their termination. Overall, I am concerned about the control that this team's leader is exerting over his members."

The British director paused for a moment, as if picking her next words carefully, something Kate had rarely, if ever, seen her do. "We're supposed to be getting the best of the best from the world's armed forces and intelligence agencies, yet we have a Midnight Team member going off on his own — against orders — to perform unsupported reconnaissance and engagement of the hostile team. Besides the increased risk to the rest of the team, this also eliminates any chance of disengaging from the encounter and attempting to establish surveillance at a later time."