Chapter One- Contract ID 7.2.1

Finally translated. Aida gets her first Mission allocated.

The crop field slowly recovered from bursts of fire that had been emitted from the air. A dark shock of hair was carefully peeping from a hatch which was hidden under a now burned shrub. The girl silently climbed down the iron ladder leading about ten metres underground before reaching a flat plane. She holstered her weapon, a special contraption which had been used by the rebels for over 20 years, and walked along a corridor lit by magical torches. She suddenly stopped after 20 metres, which would probably confuse any stranger. But only the last remnants of the rebel forces, dubbed Authors by the government, knew that any unauthorized access to the invisible portal would result in a complete memory wipe. This was one of the most effective and at the same time humane ways of self-defense the Authors had invented. The girl stretched out her right hand, sticking out her index finger and said: „Riscuper, Aida. Code 071256, Level 1 clearance.“ As she pronounced the words threads of golden, white and grey light grew from her finger. When they hit the walls in front of her they formed a now visible portal which showed the actual inside of the tunnel she was in. The walls weren't just stone and moss anymore, but plated with smooth grey metal. The torches were now replaced by lights of old cars which had been repurposed down here. The labels and names of the cars were tagged over with Author paroles and mottos. The floor had just recently been renewed, despite that it hadn't changed much. It consisted of old slatted frames held together with wood and metal plates. Here and there more corridors with similar designs branched off into a vast underground net which you could easily get lost in. Aida wasn't headed for her quarters, but straight for the core of the rebel stronghold. Before she could reach it she was grabbed by a pair of hands and pulled into one of the lateral corridors.

„Damn it, Aida!“

„Nice to see you, too, Darius. What's going on?“, she asked while crossing her arms. The man, or rather boy, looked down on her with quite an obvious look on his face.

„Okay, I shouldn't have gone up, but Robbie missed his shift. His last contract must have knocked him out good.“

„Usually that is the Second's job, but no! Miss Riscuper has to go over everyone's head! Just because your mother is in the council now, doesn't mean you can just bend the rules to your convenience! We can't bear any more losses. Josephine and Eve were enough for one week, you understand? No more excursions.“

„Yes, Sir.“

No one was usually addressed as 'Sir' in the amicable Author hierarchy but Darius was Aida's Mentor. He had taught her everything she knew.

„Go on, your contract is waiting.“

He ruffled her hair which was something between brown and blonde. While Darius disappeared into his lab (god knows what kind of experiments he's doing), the 19-year-old Aida stepped towards the shiny gate to the Hall of Knights. She adjusted the leather belt around her chest which held all sorts of life-saving, wound-healing and strength-increasing potions. She knocked on the gate and a few moments later a retina scanner popped out of it.

„Eye alignment.“ she heard the trusted voice of chief engineer Rudi say. She pressed her face against the scanner, which was probably the only gizmo they didn't have to invent. Three shrill beeps were followed by an eardrum shattering sound emitting from her internal audio transmitter which generated a feedback loop. This happened every time. With another loud but less painful sound the gate to the most modern room, the control center, opened. This place had as many names as there were rumors about its existence. Only the most trusted, highest ranked and summoned members had access to it. In its center there was a circular table around which sat the five Prefects. They were overseeing the outside operations and happenings inside. Opposite of the gate there was a flat white space on which a device called Scripter projected all the information from the table. Big maps with glowing and lettered dots made up the rest of the wall. In front of seven silent typewriters sat seven reporters, so called Relators, whose job was to distribute administration contracts to the concerning department heads.

„Aida Riscuper is present.“, reported the voice of the first Relator, Danny who was roughly the same age as Aida. The five Prefects stood up out of their seats, which were repurposed car seats, and pointed to the guest sit. As she had learned, Aida shook the hands of all five of them.

Two of them were female and one was her mother, Carina. Lord John Backtriate was the oldest of the assembly, approaching 70 years of age. He had been fighting for the spirit of the magic community for all his life. The Magicians were forced underground after the fall of their last great hero J. Hugh D. who had shortened his name in fear of prosecution. A core of people consisting of J.H.D.'s closest friends, a preexisting resistance group and an entire array of courageous Wizards founded the Secret Sorcerer Agency, SSA. Bit by bit Wizards and Witches from all over Kiandor assembled; multiple outposts all over the globe were built, connections between all peoples were established to protect the last remnants of magic before the mighty government could destroy it. According to a gross estimate 2 million out of 6 billion people on Kiandor were magicians. These 2 million people were a thorn in the flesh of the five great nations.

The rebels have ever since fought a guerilla war against the government. Intercepting and destroying weapon transports, arranging medical aid for civilians and secret orders were on the agenda.

Aida plunked herself down into the red leather seat and promptly received a folder. Someone had stamped “SECRET” over the title.

“Contract ID 7.2.1. You have been promoted to mission chief. You will from now on receive level 2 clearance.” , explained the man sitting next to Lord Backtriate, James Ouh.
“I've never conducted my own contract.”, stated Aida while studying what her tasks would be, “And   you really want to send me after even Dustup failed this?”

“We think”, replied her mother worried about a possible tantrum, “that you suit it best. And we really can't expend anyone else. If you don't want it you can always decline.”

Aida looked from her mother's begging brown-green eyes back to the paper.

“I'm allowed to hire four more? Don't you think that's a little... scarce?”

“It's going to be hard enough to find even one who's willing to do this. It's best if you just have a look into the matter first.”, said Ouh. He was himself conducting contracts all the time and thus had accumulated a lot of experience. Carina Riscuper came from the engineers and had only one outside contract as a spy.

“Can we assume you will take the contract, then?”, asked the Lord, his eyes locked on the young woman, profiling. Aida was almost able to see her own reflection in his eyes when she nodded.

Mr. Louis Rhymes presented her with a pen which she used to sign the contract.

“You know the procedure: Read, analyze, organize, note, submit, secure and execute.”, said the second female Prefect, martial artist and teacher Professor Jeanne Combativité, whose small statue more often than not provoked strange stares and derogatory comments. Painfully punished comments, of course.

Author's Note

Yeah Hello!
First: thank's for my very good friend and the best translator in the world Flo for making my story readable for all and everyone of you!
If you find any mistakes you can keep them as a birthday present for an especially nasty person.
Please leave a comment whether you liked it, what you think about the story and so on.
LG (regards) The Secret Writer

Reviews

[luvs2write]

Interesting! I found the font a little hard to read...might just be me in need of new glasses though =) Looking forward to finding out what happens!