Genomorph

Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41

“So where are you taking me?” Karen asked as she climbed into Kyle’s Lexus. When he had picked her up for dinner the night before in the luxury car he had explained it came with the job, as it was well above his salary.

“Someplace you will need to become very familiar with,” Kyle said. “We’ll hit some of the more tourist oriented sights this afternoon, but this morning we’re going to continue with your orientation.”

Kyle refused to say anything further about their destination as he navigated through the streets of Washington and turned onto the George Washington Memorial Parkway. He took the parkway north and as they drove he shared little bits of trivia about life in DC. Karen had a suspicion as to their destination, which was confirmed about fifteen minutes later when they exited the parkway. A few minutes later they passed a sign that read, ‘CIA: 1 Mile’. Soon they were turning onto the long drive that was the entrance to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Once they had parked Kyle led her to the main entrance of the Old Headquarters building, and Karen was filled with a sense of awe as they crossed the famous CIA Seal inlaid in the floor of the lobby. To their right as they entered was the CIA memorial wall, adorned with eighty-three stars commemorating CIA officers killed in the line of duty. Below the stars was a glass encased book. Karen scanned the book, noting the forty-eight names marked with a gold star and another thirty-five stars with no names.

“Why are some of the names missing?” she asked.

“The others are classified, even in death,” Kyle said. “It takes a special person to accept a dangerous task, knowing that should they fall, their sacrifice will never be known.”

Karen nodded silently. She knew someone with that very dedication.

On the opposite wall to the south was another memorial. This one was dedicated to the Office for Strategic Services. On the wall was a single star, and on a pedestal to its left was a glass enclosed book with the names of one hundred sixteen men and women who had given their lives during World War 2. Standing watch to the right of the book was a statue of Major General William J. Donovan, head of the OSS.

“They called him ‘Wild Bill’, a name he earned playing football for Columbia University,” a voice said from behind them.

The voice belonged to an attractive woman in her thirties, with shoulder length brown hair. She was dressed smartly in a black tweed skirt suit and had a definite air of confidence as she spoke.

“In World War One he commanded a regiment and was awarded the Medal of Honor after leading a successful assault against the Germans despite being seriously wounded. After World War Two and his time as head of the OSS, he served as a special assistant to the chief prosecutor at the Nuremburg Tribunal, and took great pride in seeing Nazi leaders who had ordered the torture and murder of OSS agents brought to justice. Today he is acknowledged as the Father of Modern American Intelligence Gathering.”

“Karen Meadows meet Maxine Andrews,” Kyle said. “Max works in operations and has graciously volunteered to be your guide this morning. She will also be acting as CTAG’s liaison with the Agency. Now I have to speak to a few people while I’m here and will meet you back here a little later.”

For the next four hours Max showed Karen around the sprawling complex. They walked through the Cold War Exhibit and viewed espionage artifacts from that period, and then moved on to the New Headquarters Building and the CIA museum. Max introduced Karen to at least a dozen people in different areas of the building, and they eventually found their way out to the courtyard where they sat on a bench to enjoy the fall morning.

“I take it Kyle has not brought all of the CTAG people here like this,” Karen said.

“No, just you. I think he has plans for you.” Max said. She felt fairly certain after seeing Karen that Kyle’s plans for her might be as much personal as they were professional.

“Well I have to confess it’s all more than a little overwhelming,” Karen said. “A few days ago I was a college student and now here I am seeing things that most people are not allowed to see.”

“You’ll get into the swing of things,” Max said. “I envy you really; it’s been ten years for me but I still remember a bit of the excitement that was there when I first started working here.”

“I have a question about this morning,” Karen said, and when Max nodded for her to continue she did. “Everyone you introduced me to was polite and friendly, but I felt there was an undercurrent of hostility. Am I way off base?”

Max looked at her intently before saying, “No, you’re not.”

The courtyard was mostly empty; it was a popular spot for having lunch but was still a little early for that. A few of the weekend staff were out getting some fresh air, and Max looked around subtly to make sure no one was within earshot before she continued.

“They don’t want you or CTAG to succeed. You’re the competition in their eyes; upstarts that are just out to steal their thunder. You’re going to find the same thing at NSA, Defense and likely even within the INR and every other intelligence agency.”

“I don’t get that from you though,” Karen said.

“I believe in what Kyle wants to do with CTAG,” Max said. “There have been a lot of changes for the good over the last four years but there still needs to be more. The agencies are still too territorial. I know Kyle too, we’ve been friends for several years. He’s not interested in making a name for himself. Tell me, what draws you to this line of work?”

“Honestly, until my advisor mentioned the possibility to me, I had never considered it,” Karen said. “I always saw myself working in the private sector in international relations and then one day perhaps in the diplomatic corp. But when he told me he was showing my paper to some people here, well it all became so clear. This was a chance to make a difference.”

Of course Karen did not mention Brandi, or that when she had met the young woman and learned of her past and the things Brandon had done, she had felt a desire to emulate her. It was ironic; Karen knew Brandi saw her as a big sister and the role model of the woman she wanted to be and yet she saw Brandi as the role model of the person she wanted to be. The kind of person who made a difference.

Max looked at her watch and then smiled at Karen, “Kyle should be on his way to meet us back in the lobby, shall we go?”

Kyle was indeed waiting for them, and after Karen had thanked Max for the tour they signed out and returned to the car. They were back on the Parkway before Karen spoke.

“This isn’t going to be easy, is it?”

Kyle grinned, thinking he had been right about this young woman. He had suspected she would pick up on the attitudes at the Agency.

“Swimming upstream never is,” he said. “We’ll have to fight the current for some time.”

“I prefer a more direct approach,” Karen said. “If you don’t want to fight the current, change the way the river flows.”