The Maya 1.5
Previously On The Maya...
Thanks to The Maya, a mysterious, legendary agent-for-hire, the President of the United States is safe. Meanwhile, Lance Simmons, U.S. Secret Service, is on leave and five of his peers are under investigation. No one seems to remember what happened, including the two assassins from Iraq and the Soviet Union who separately showed up with the intent to kill POTUS.
A world away, two men from different departments of the U.S. Government have a pre-dawn meeting in a back alley. Both of them seem to know about The Maya and the first man there was just filling in the second man on details of the project that the latter didn't already know.
One of those details was that neither the Iraqi nor the Soviet had plans to make an attempt on the President's life. The first man has intimated that they were more or less invited there.
And now, the next installment of The Maya.
"Taking them all out wasn't really the hard part. Setting up the scenario, that was the real genius."
"I don't follow."
"Well, the only one with plans of their own to kill the President was the biker."
"Of their own?" The second man looked confused. "That sounds as if The Maya..."
"...invited the Iraqi and the Soviet to the party." A smile crossed the first man's face. He was clearly enjoying the telling of the tale.
The second man was visibly taken aback. "What?"
"Okay, so The Maya was more discreet than an open invitation, but they did make the hit more appealing by leaking information about timetables and staging areas, and suggesting the best course of action. The Maya had the Iraqi bring an armor piercing round and the KGB agent an explosive compound."
Appalled, the face of the second man went white. "Which The Maya then used to stop and contain the actual threat. The armor-piercing round penetrated the motorcycle's bullet-proof shielding, tore the bomb from the assailant, and then accelerated the explosion, in effect, reducing it. Pretty clever on the Maya's part, but it concerns me our logistics were so easily obtained. I hope we don't have a leak in the Secret Service, or worse, a mole."
"No," The first man used his free hand to clutch a shoulder of the second. "I told you, The Maya is good." He then added, "Don't worry. However they got the information, no one else will be able to duplicate it."
"How can you be so sure?" the second man said. He shrugged out of the other's man grip. "We don't even know who The Maya is!" A slight tic began under his right eye.
"Nor will we," the first man countered. His expression became serious. "Nor do we want to know."
"Forgive me for thinking this could all blow up on us." The second man scuffed a shoe. "We'd never see The Maya coming if they ever decide to come after us."
"That's a reason why we're taking extra precautions." The first man held out both hands, gesturing to their surroundings. "We're not meeting out here at this hour for the fun of it."
"Of that, I am certain."
"It'll work out. The Maya never refuses a job. As long as they get paid, it will get done. End of story."
The second man pondered the first man's words for a moment. His face showed he didn't quite believe him.
"I put together the brief. I know what The Maya is up against. It's never been done before. Just getting to the island has proved impossible. Our people haven't been able to do it."
"Our people." The first man spit out the words. "That's why we chose The Maya in the first place. We want results."
The second man nodded soberly. Pointing to the papers, he asked, "Everything look in order?"
"Yes," the first man said.
"I still think we're being a bit excessive," the second man said. "Or at the very least, premature."
"I know. Sutton's old and could die any minute." The second man finished leafing through the pages and handed them back. "He's been a thorn in our nation's side long before either of us were a part of the bureaucracy. Before either of us were born. The fact someone only recently thought to take him on has only made it worse. Action is way overdue."
The second man shook his head. "Ruining a man, like this." He shook the papers.
"You know it's not the first time it's been done to him."
"Right, but we both know how that turned out."
"This will work. There's nowhere else to run."
"What if people see past this?"
"Not everyone has to be fooled," the first man said. "Just enough to get the ball rolling. That's how these things work. In due time, his own people will lynch him."
The second man considered this as he returned the papers to the briefcase. He brought it to his chest to secure it. "I sure hope you're right. On all counts."
"Look. We're just the ones with the idea. We're letting The Maya work out the details. We'll be cloaked in anonymity. And the way we're appropriating The Maya's payment..."
The second man let out a low whistle. "One billion dollars." Then he corrected himself. "Sorry, Pounds."
"And no one will ever miss it. Both of our departments spend that much in a few days."
"Any changes in the timetables?"
"No. Wire the funds to the Swiss bank account and send the mission brief later today. Release the retainer as we discussed, the rest on proof of completion."
"You make it sound like that's the easy part."
"I don't have access to all the gadgets we need. You do. And don't act like you're not in on this. You want Sutton just as bad as I do."
"I'm tired of his name coming up in every meeting we have with the higher ups," the second man said. He clenched a fist. "I'm tired of being blamed for what he's doing, too, like I created him and put him in motion."
"You and me both, brother. You and me both. After this is over, we'll go celebrate our victory."
"What's the point? No one will know."
"Precisely. Let's make sure it stays that way, shall we?"
The second man was offended. "Okay, so now I'm a security threat?"
"Only when you're drunk, or around beautiful women." The smile returned to the first man's face.
"Yeah, right," the second man muttered. "As if." He turned to walk away. The first man patted his back.
"A lack of vices will save you, in the end."
Without looking back, the second man raised his hand and left the alley.
The first man waited in the dark for a few minutes, his thoughts turned black as his surroundings. When he finally left for home and the comfort of his bed, he was convinced he had one more mission for The Maya.
Author's note. 'The Maya' is the working title of a previously unpublished work-in-progress of mine. If interested, you can find the first four installments here, here, here and here.
A portion of 'The Maya' publishes every Tuesday and Thursday.
Copyright © Glen Anthony Albrethsen, 2014-2018. All rights reserved.