XY Revolution

I take a deep breath before stepping in front of the labelled door in the strange blue corridor. The light beams focus and criss-cross, lighting up and scanning my body. The moment they vanish, the door slides open and I step inside.

Henriette is leaning against a table, hawk-eyes unimpressed as they look me up and down. Behind her, several people are working at computers, typing much faster than I can even think. They take no notice of me though; they just sit with their coffee and their eyes glued to the screens in front of them.

“Freya,” Henriette says coolly.

I nod a response, suddenly too scared to say anything. This woman has suddenly struck fear in me right to the core, with just this look of stone. The shame comes boiling up again as acid.

“You assaulted a fellow agent yesterday, and put the man in hospital. He will be out of action for several days to recover. Who knows when we can have him in the field again,” she informs me. “You are the one responsible for this fiasco, so you will be responsible for filling Mr Schmidt’s duties.”

“Okay.”

“We’d hoped not to have you out in the field till you’d passed basic training, but it appears you’re excelling in the particular areas necessary for the mission.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s time we deliver the first strike with our new face, particularly when she’s so eager to fight for the cause, and proven herself with her capabilities of beating someone to death with her own fists.”

I don’t know what to day to that. Fortunately, Henriette doesn’t wait for me to fumble an answer. She pulls out her tablet and presses a few buttons. The next thing I know, agents are filling the room. Some I know; others I don’t.

Xander, who we rescued in Hong Kong, is the first one through the door with a cheery smile on his face. Travis is there of course, but the others are all new faces.

“Take a seat everyone,” Henriette commands and we quickly find a seat.

I find myself sitting opposite Travis, who refuses to make eye contact. That could be me though, trying to think that’s what is going on.

“Freya, this is Verity. She is our assault co-ordinator. She’ll be briefing you on the mission,” Henriette tells me, standing behind a blonde woman in her mid-thirties.

“Nice to meet you, Freya,” Verity says in a very low and pleasant voice. “You’ve made quite the impression here already.”

“I’m not so sure that’s a good thing,” I say nervously and she laughs.

“Don’t worry about it, kid. I broke my sparring partner’s nose in my first week. We all have accidents.”

I just give her a weak smile, trying to avoid discussing that this wasn’t just some accident. Phil’s in hospital because of me.

“Is Priyanka here?” Verity asks Henriette.

“Priyanka!” the boss calls and a small Indian woman appears with immaculate skin and thick, smooth, black hair.

“Hello everyone,” Priyanka greets with her hint of a foreign accent. “I hope you are all well, but enough small talk!”

Everyone chuckles.

“As you all know, Xander was imprisoned for two months for infiltrating the UN through his father’s influence. Fortunately, this was not without gathering some extremely important information; we know how the UN is organising themselves in terms of leadership. So first, welcome back Xander,” Priyanka says with a flash of a white smile.

Xander nods his thanks with a large grin on his face. I wonder if anything’s going on between the two of them.

“Second, say hello to the UN’s Chessboard.”

Several of the people at the computers get up and bring us over a regular chess set, placing it in the centre of the table before going back to their work.

“The UN hierarchy is separated into two sections; black and white. If one section falls, the other takes over. We’re not sure which set is in control over the world currently, and which is the behind-the-scenes. We can, however, guess as to the most important players.”

Priyanka then picks up the black and white kings and queens.

“Four leaders; Australasia, Europe, the Americas and Asia.”

“The powerhouses,” Verity says.

Priyanka nods, “Exactly.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t know much more than that,” Verity continues. “That is the purpose of our next mission.”

The honey-blonde gets to her feet and pulls out a remote. The massive screen behind her whirrs into life, projecting an image of a skyscraper, surrounded by smaller buildings with barbed wire and snipers on the roof. There’s an unmistakeable large ‘United Nations’ sign on the top of the skyscraper. The mere sight makes me clench my fists.

“Xander has organised a meeting with his father to apologise for his actions. His father is well aware of the prison break in Hong Kong, naturally, but as many other prisoners escaped as well, he remains unsuspicious. This meeting will include intense psychological screening for Xander regardless of how good he is at playing the ignorant playboy.”

“Bring it on,” Xander challenges, leaning back in his chair and shooting Priyanka a wink.

“We cannot send him in alone with an opportunity like this, which is why he is to have bodyguards. This is not unusual with members of the UN, particularly with the Los Angeles location. Travis and Derek, who isn’t present due to his regular assignment, will act as the bodyguards.”

Travis nods his approval.

“Travis, your hair will need re-colouring and those scars covered up.”

Travis doesn’t look nearly as happy about that.

“Freya,” Verity says and I freeze.

“Yes?” I try.

“You will be dressed as Xander’s current companion. Your job will consist of taking out the snipers from your room in the UN building. Our other agents will get rid of the bodies and impersonate the former snipers. You will then charm as many of the UN workers as possible. Xander’s father would be the best, as we believe he is a Bishop piece. You will provide the necessary distraction so we can extract the information we need. If this fails, you will need to figure out some other way. We cannot fail.”

I can feel all eyes on me in that moment.

“Absolutely,” I say through gritted teeth and a forced smile. “I’ll do my best or die trying.”

Because the Resistance is surely trying to kill me.

“Excellent! What a superb new recruit,” Verity exclaims but I see the look she exchanges with Henriette.

They’re testing me after that episode with Phil, I’m sure of it. But I’m not going to fail.

“You leave at 0600 hours tomorrow morning.”

My impending doom no longer matters. I have to get up even earlier than the past few days.

The Resistance is really trying to kill me. With sleep deprivation.



I don’t even recognise Travis when he walks into the cafeteria for dinner. His hair is dark brown and his face is clear of imperfections. Even his freckles are missing. I’m very surprised when he sits down at my otherwise empty table. Even Eliza didn’t talk to me today. She had one of her helpers serve my dinner.

“Hi,” I say softly.

“You scared?” he asks, voice low.

“If I crap my pants, you’ll know why,” I joke.

“You haven’t touched your food,” he points out.

I look down at my pasta and mince meal I’ve been turning over with my fork.

“I can’t eat.”

“I threw up three times before my first mission,” he admits.

I raise my eyebrows and smile.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but it worked out in the end. When you get out there, your nerves just disappear. All that matters is doing what you came there to do, and getting out alive. It’s hard to describe, but like, all your senses seem heightened. You notice everything.”

“I’m going to need that,” I say with a sigh and he gives me a weak smile.

“It’s not right, the amount of pressure they’re putting on you with this. We have other women who could do the job, women with more experience.”

“Well, no matter which way it goes, the Resistance wins.”

“How do you figure that?” he asks with a frown, eating as daintily as ever.

“If I fail, I’m dead and I’m not longer a risk. The Resistance won’t lose one of their more experienced agents and they’ll move on. If I succeed, they’ll know I’m worth using, and they get the information they want,” I explain.

I can almost see the cogs turning in his head as he mulls my theory over.

“They’d still rather you alive,” he tells me, “But you’re right, if you fail, they’ll move on easy enough. Don’t take that too personally though. This isn’t about what happened yesterday. Agents are expendable till they’ve truly proven themselves. Until you get a mission as crucial as this, they don’t know you.”

“When did you get your big mission?”

“About a month after I got here.”

“So I’m really a freak? Or are they angry?”

Travis laughs and but very seriously tells me, “Freya, do you know how often they find someone like you? You are an excellent shot, you have the drive, and you landed one of our agents in the hospital without any real training. As much as you shouldn’t have hurt Phil, it’s impressive.”

“I feel so bad about that,” I admit. “Can I see him before we leave?”

He shakes his head.

“You’ve got prep tonight for the mission, and you’ll be given a pill to help with your sleep. There’s no time, but don’t worry. Phil’s the most easy-going guy I’ve ever met. He’s already forgiven you.”

“I still want to apologise. I need to.”

Travis sighs.

“You’ll have to wait till you get back.”

“Well then,” I raise my glass of water, “Here’s to hoping I make it back.”