MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 16)

Anita was exhausted by the time she got off work that evening. She loved her job- she was an accountant- but days like today always made her wonder how long she would last. She sighed, stepping out of the office building and onto the busy street. The entire day at work, despite how busy she’d been, her mind had been overwritten and distracted by the event that happened two days ago.

It seemed unbelievable that two days already passed since her ‘accident’ and her encounter the man who saved her life.  In the entirety of time that passed, she was left wondering how to get in touch with that man. She owed her life to him, and that wasn’t something she would forget.

she merged into the crowd on the sidewalk and started her walk. Normally Anita would be heading straight home after work, but that wasn’t the case today. With her work bag slung over her shoulder, she instead headed in the local café’s direction.

         That morning, Anita had made the odd move of driving to work. Since she lived so close- only a seven-minute walk- she more often left her vehicle at home. But today she felt the urge to bring it with her, though she hadn’t a clue why, even now when she was avoiding her car and walking to the cafe in her fancy work dress suit and high heels. She tried to tell herself, reasonably, that she just needed the fresh air.

In a way it was true. The thought of her pursuit and wondering how she would achieve it sent her heart on a marathon. she knew, deep down, that there was something else. Something she would not argue with. So, her car would be left at the office building until, presumably, she was ready to pick it up later on that evening.

She tried to delve deeper into the reason she walked. Other than serving as an effective way to calm herself down and have some rest, no reasons came to her. Instead, she began thinking of the interesting prospect of meeting him. There were many things about him she wanted to know, though,, she knew little, if given the opportunity, she would ask. A lot of her curiosities just seemed rude.

Her face warmed at the thought of meeting the man. Then she pushed the thoughts away, calming herself again. She didn’t want to think about the man anymore. Instead, she distracted herself by thinking of the actual incident. Her idiocy that day was appalling, and, had she been hit, it would have been entirely her fault. She would have died and traumatized the person who hit her, and several of the onlookers, for life. The scene of her ‘accident’ was another block past the cafe, and she’d been running in the opposite direction that she was walking now, heading for home.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 15)

Martin closed the folder and looked back up at the picture on the big screen behind the Director. The man looked like someone who’d never gotten into a lick of trouble his entire life. In other words, he didn’t fit the typical terrorist profile. The large majority of terrorists always seemed to have something off about them, but from this man, Joseph Cooper, Martin was getting no such vibes. Was it the perfect disguise, or was there something he was missing?

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking, why am I being assigned this mission instead of Homeland Security or another agent who specializes in taking out terrorists?” Martin asked, eyeing the Director. He was looking for a change in expression that never happened. 

“Not to say I don’t appreciate the honour of being assigned such a high-profile case, but though my abilities do fall in line with some aspects of this case… terrorists are not something I’ve handled before.” The Director didn’t seem to even miss a beat.

“This case was thoroughly discussed before it was assigned to you. High profile cases are distributed as soon as possible because depending on what’s on the line, they can take a long time to process and solve. However, this was handled differently. The higher ups wanted an agent skilled in detection and this case has a lot of detective work.

You need to find this man- his whereabouts are currently unknown. Hell, for all we know, he might not even be on American soil. And since it involves a matter of high national security it was agreed that we need to first locate the man and then move into action.  So, it was decided to put an individual with the skills necessary to solve on their own. Moreover, don't think you are alone in the real sense. An army of surveillance specialists are scanning the land with drones, satellites and supercomputers searching for that man. You are our Eyes, ears and brain on the ground.

You’re not lacking anything that will make this any harder for you. You’ve got a good mind, and you know how to use it. This is a sensitive case, Martin, and with your specific set of skills, we expect you to find this man faster than anybody else. Since it’s believed he has many dangerous contacts… well, I’m sure you get the point,” the Director said. “Regardless, that is all you should need to know. Everything else is in the file. You and I both have work to do, now, do we not?”

Martin stood up and saluted the Director, moving towards the door, but he heard the Director clear his throat.

“One last thing, if you don’t mind. All the higher ups have agreed that Joseph Cooper is to be caught at any cost. Bring him to us dead or alive, whatever it takes to end his threat.”

He said nothing else, and Martin took his leave, intending to walk to his office and contemplate the situation. During The entire walk back, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Neither could he decide whether that feeling stemmed from the case itself, or just the man he was faced with capturing. It was one thing to catch a man, and it was something else to do so without any attempt to preserve their life. Martin would brood over these feelings for the remainder of the day.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 14)

Martin’s focus returned to the Director, who was shuffling papers around at his desk. He opened the bottom drawer picking out the one he wanted; dropping it on the desk and sliding it toward Martin, who caught it at the edge of the desk and left it in front of him, waiting for an explanation.

"You'll find all the information you need for this job in that folder," his Director began. "But to give you an idea of what we’re looking at… Two nights ago, we put the bureau on high alert when a confirmed terrorist entered New York.” The screen behind him changed from the American flag to the mug shot of a man, the top edge of the photo’s border indicating that the man was known as Joseph Cooper.

“What’s he responsible for?” Martin asked. He pushed everything back from his mind, readying himself to let the facts simmer in his thoughts. He put a finger to his lips, examining the picture of the man, seeking to burn the image into his mind. The man looked to be in his mid-thirties with short dark hair and dark eyes. There were no defining features on his face, but Martin found himself interested in the way his cheek and jaw bones curved; he swore that their shape was unusual compared to the typical facial bone structure, but it could have been a trick of the light, though he’d never seen a good photograph used to apprehend someone.

“It’s believed that he conspired with a group responsible for bombings in Texas and New Mexico. In addition, it’s believed that he’s a contact for a variety of other organizations that seek to transport recruits for terrorist activities from the Middle East into America,” he said.

A question lingered in Martin’s mind. A something that made him believe something wasn’t right.

‘Why was this Joseph Cooper only just becoming high priority the moment he touched down in New York?’

But Martin kept his mouth shut. Likely his Director had nothing to do with it and wouldn’t be able to answer his question regardless.

“So he’s a bit of a big shot,” Martin mumbled, pulling the folder from the desk and starting to flip through it. He scanned through the provided information, getting a quick idea of what he was working with. There would be time to go over everything carefully when he was alone. Martin flipped to the page where Joseph’s photograph was paper clipped to, lifting the photo to view what was underneath and scan the rest of the page. Something else on the page caught his eye, and he lifted an eyebrow, looking back to his Director.

“He’s American?”

“Yes, but he’s supposed to have ties with many nations that consider themselves enemies of America. Removing him from the streets could be a leap toward world peace, or at least toward protecting the people within our own borders,” the Director said, folding his hands on the desk.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 13)

The Director's decision was apparently taken after a long, deliberate and intense period of thought the previous day. Here was Martin, the man who had solved tough mysteries like the case of the Mayor's murder. He had even apprehended and single-handedly held out against a gang of Mexican Drug cartels for three whole hours in the siege of Oklahoma. In fact, high on the list of Martin's achievements was the tracing and apprehending of the notorious Bitcoin Brothers. These Bitcoin Brothers had used cryptocurrency for gun running and human trafficking. Martin's actions had enabled the FBI to seize three percent of the world's cryptocurrency which the Bitcoin Brothers had amassed.

“Now, there’s something else we need to tell you before we get into the details. Even though we can’t afford to give you time off before and we can’t now, we’re willing to make a compromise". There, it was the "We" again. "Finish this mission as fast as possible, and you can have all the time off you need. Take a well-earned vacation and settle your affairs. Before you get excited, however, Martin, this case Isn’t going to be easy. you’ll find it stimulating- something that will challenge your abilities.

“Giving you this solo case isn’t meant to be an opportunity to prove you’re still capable of being great or that you can work without a team beside you. In fact, we assign you this mission because We think you are capable of it. This mission will require every ounce of your detective capabilities to solve and close. I have absolute faith in your ability, but Martin, we need you to use your talents now, not in a month from now. This case is high priority, and we need you at your best to solve this before it’s too late. Are we clear?” his Director asked.

“Yes, sir,” Martin nodded. Man! That was a lot of 'we' over there. He concealed a curious sigh before finishing. “I’m ready to get to work.”

It was only half a lie, and he could see on the Director’s face that he knew Martin wasn’t quite ready. But Martin wasn’t about to let the man down. He was sure that the Director knew he would give it his very best, as he always did, even when at his worst. Martin was determined to get that time off, even if it meant temporarily getting back in the game and working his ass off.

“Very well,” the Director paused and pressed a button on his desk, the sunlight projecting through the window screen dimming in response. It was time for him to learn about the specifics, about what he actually needed to get done, how much work he had to put in in order to earn that precious alone time.

With the window’s screen dimmed, it was the darkest Martin had ever seen the room. It was the first time he ever saw the screen in action, and though he could see the American flag on the screen, he could also see the scenery beneath it with perfect clarity.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 12)

There was a moment where Martin had no words at all, he was that baffled.

“Sir… May I ask why?”

“We couldn’t afford to lose a good man, even temporarily, on our current caseload. Even at your worst you are still better than most, Martin,” he said.

“I know you intend to ask again for time off, but I will tell you right now that nothing has changed, and that we still need you. Instead we have something else to discuss.

It’s been decided by my superiors and I that you are being relieved of your current assignments and instead are being given an entirely new SINGLE case to deal with. Alone.”

The emphasis on the words 'single' and 'alone' was prominent. The Director paused to let that sink in.

“We’ve known from the start that you were more of a lone ranger, though you’ve still done a marvelous job in everything else we’ve thrown at you. The time has now come for you to act alone.”

A ‘we’? Who was the ‘we’? Martin sensed something off about the ‘we’.

Martin let out a breath and then stepped around the chair in front of him, sitting down in the plush seat. He wasn’t sure he was hearing anything right. He came to his Director’s office expecting to be reprimanded, but instead he was being given a solo job. Surely, he was misunderstanding something? when his racing heart settled and he looked back up at the older man in front of him, he received a nod of approval.

“It is imperative that you know that solo missions are not like those we assign Agents to. You alone are responsible for everything pertaining to this mission; including finding and processing evidence and locating appropriate resources. You won’t have any lackeys to send around and have the dirty work done for you. Not that you’ve ever been that type of man,” he said.

“So… you’re not going to fire me?” Martin asked. He still wasn’t quite ready to let go of the possibility of losing his job. It seemed too good to be true, though the Director had made him a bit hopeful at this point. How wasn’t he dreaming? He must have fallen asleep in his office while waiting, and would wake up to find he’d in fact been right.

Not only did Martin not believe he deserved such a mission, he was positive that there was no way anyone else could disagree with his thoughts.

The Director laughed a hearty laugh. “No, of course not.” he cleared his throat.

“Martin, we know that things haven’t been so great for you as of late. We can appreciate the fact that you need a break, despite the fact that we are unable to give you one. You’re fine and your position amongst us is fine, though I’m not supposed to tell you that". The Director said, looking at Martin from the corner of his eye.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 11)

Martin remained at the door, keeping a hand on the golden handle. He watched the Director type away on his laptop, not at all seeming to be in a rush. His awe of the room never sank, but the joy associated with it did. He took a shaky breath and kept his gaze on the Director, who he hadn’t seen in person in a long time. What he noticed about the man was something he’d never had an opportunity to appreciate.

Even in the rather short, several week period where he’d gone without seeing the Director, Martin could see how worn the man was becoming as time passed. Creases to signify his age appeared on his face more prominent than before, and his once slick black hair was beginning to grey.  Martin waited there for several minutes in the doorway, but the Director didn’t look away from the laptop sitting in front of him.

“Sir?” Martin asked, reminding his superior of his presence. The man looked up to see him and acknowledge his existence, but then looked back down like he didn’t care. Martin wasn’t sure whether his dismissive attitude was good. It could mean that the Director gave up on him and didn’t care to show him respect, or that the man didn’t really think anything was out of the ordinary. Martin hoped for the latter.

“Come closer. We need to discuss something extremely important,” he said, what felt like hours later, to Martin. The man then pushed his laptop to the side of his desk and folded his hands, finally offering Martin his full and undivided attention.

Martin stepped away from the door and walked further into the office, allowing it to shut behind him. The silence between them was interrupted by the brief boom of the closing door.

“It’s been some time since I last had you in my office,” he chuckled. There was a hesitant pause, like the man weren’t sure where to go from there. Somehow, this eased Martin a little, but it was enough. “Ever since you showed promise as an agent, years back when you were a rookie, I always thought this office would be yours someday. It’s always been impossible to deny your talent., I’m surprised you haven’t taken it from me yet,” he said, unable to stop himself from chuckling.

Martin remained on the other side of the chair sitting in front of the Director’s desk, positive that the man could read the confusion on his face. “Sir… I’m not sure I understand...”

“You’ve always been an excellent agent, Martin, but you’ve… I guess the simplest way of saying this is, you’ve fallen off track. I’m telling you that you could have had my job months ago,” he smirked, his next words to rub it in. “But you messed it up.”

Martin’s heart sank, a fiery spark of rage growing inside him. Was the Director really taunting him? For a moment he saw red and he clenched his fists, struggling to take a deep breath. He realized then, at the peak of his anger, that anger was exactly what the Director was looking for. The red-hot anger inside him sizzled away, and he managed to take that breath. He was being tested. But for what?

“I know I haven’t been at my best as of late, Director, and there’s no excusing that. I tried to get time off in order to let me sort through everything that’s been happening without being a hindrance to the force, but they have repeatedly rejected me,” Martin said, keeping his voice level.

“Yes…” the Director pondered.

“I rejected every single one of your requests for leave of absence myself.” The Director said.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 10)

“Have you ever had a hunch and didn’t follow through with it?” she asked, touching the cap of her pen to her lascivious lips. The question seemed completely out of the blue to Martin, but was something he found rather interesting.

“I try not to let the subconscious go to waste,” he said, but then put further thought into it. Wasn’t he doing just the opposite now with his life? He knew for sure that something was up and he was hesitating to act on it. Though, what could he do? That was something else he needed to consider.

“Good. I’ve always thought to do the same, but sometimes what you have to do and what you think you have to do are different things,” she said with another smile.

“I know the feeling,” he said, as the woman got up from her seat. He watched her move to the back of the small room behind the desk, where he could see her sorting through one of the shelves near the door.

In the moment that she was gone, Martin thought about how right the woman was. Unknowingly, she had touched a raw nerve whose implications he did not yet fathom. He would treat every aspect of it with due caution and not let his abilities go to waste. If something seemed wrong to him, likely something was.  Martin leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. He wasn’t ready to face his superior, but the time had come. He couldn’t back away now.

The large double doors of the Director's chamber loomed over him. It taunted him for being afraid of entering the room he’d often dreamt of having for himself. Of course, those dreams seemed like a long shot now. He pushed himself from the wall and approached the doors despite his severe apprehension. Using all of his supply of built up confidence; he knocked, trying not to make it sound too afraid or desperate. Martin waited for a moment, but there was no immediate response. When he lifted his fist to knock again, he heard his Director mumble acknowledgement from within.

He opened the door and found himself breathless, just as he’d been every other time, he entered the room. Even when he had no hope of having the room to himself, being inside it brought him joy.

The room was large enough to hold well over a hundred people. Both walls on either side of the room were lined with bookshelves that reached from floor to ceiling, made of an auburn wood that Martin didn’t know the name of. Black, shiny tiles covered the floor and ceiling, like onyx sheets built to hold up the room together. On the far side of the room was what mattered most, and often took Martin’s breath away.

Behind the small desk where his Director sat was the remaining wall, built solely of glass, making it an enormous window to look out into the city below. If that wasn’t enough, it doubled as a computer screen, and the time, date, and temperature were seen on the lower panes of the window.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 9)

Right now, Martin’s wife didn’t matter to him, as little as he wanted to admit it. He needed to handle whatever it was that the Director wanted of him, and he had to do that now. Martin lifted his head from the desk and stood, wondering how things would have been if he hadn’t received another bomb of a stress on top of his already stressful life. It was possible that if the divorce hadn’t come up, he could have improved his dropping performance, rather than worsening it. 

Martin’s heart was no longer racing when he left his office, finally able to put his fears away. He knew that to make the best of the cards he was handed; he would need to go with the flow and do what he could. The first step was saving his job. Though, even with this in mind, he expected nothing but the worst.

The hallways of the bureau's main building were busier than usual that morning. Martin suffered through the act of smiling and greeting his colleagues when he passed, even though he was about to break down. He believed that he tricked them all into believing nothing was the matter; a strange tradition amongst Americans. Even though he grew up with it, there were days where he just wanted to tell people he was having a bad day. Instead there was social stigma around making people ‘feel bad’ about your problems. Right.

His thoughts moved back to his meeting with the Director. Assuming they were thinking alike- as they often had in the past- Martin would have plenty of time to get away and breathe for a while. More than anything, he needed a break. Even if he didn’t lose his job in the next twenty minutes, he would put his pride and honor on the line, to get some time off. The thought of needing to beg for such a small thing made his stomach churn.

It wasn’t the first time that morning where Martin became lost in his thoughts. When he came to, he took a step back, slamming into the wall behind him. Confusion overwhelmed him for a moment as he came back to reality, not at first recognizing the tall, oaken doors in front of him. His mind settled when he realized that he was at the Director’s office, having made it there on autopilot. Martin passed through the open doors and moved into the department.

He turned to a corner to find Stella, the woman who had called him a few minutes back asking him to meet the Director. She didn’t notice him at first, as she was scribbling on a paper she had at the desk. she was rather concentrated about doing so. He felt bad about interrupting her, but as he got a little closer, she looked up smiled warmly. He closed the distance between them simultaneously displaying a forced smile and leaned on the desk with his arms crossed.

In the brief lapse of time that he took to reach the desk, the woman looked down at her papers. When she looked back up, her eyes squinted like she’d been disturbed from a deep thought. It was a strange thing to Martin, she seemed to have been ready to speak with him moments before. Before she spoke, she opened her mouth and waited, trying to find the words to say it.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 8)

While Martin planned on seeing the Director soon, he needed a few more minutes to himself. He wasn’t quite ready to face all of his fears. Martin resumed his previous resting position. This time he let his cheek sit against the shiny wooden desk, with his hands clenching bunches of his short, light brown hair.

Stressed was a minor word to describe how he felt. He wasn’t sure there was any expression capable of articulating his emotions.

The previous night his Director informed him they had something to discuss. In the past his Director had directly contacted him only once. That first time was about something positive, he wasn’t thinking that was the case with this second call. Because of his performance as of late and the wording of the request, he didn’t consider that whatever followed now would be pleasant. He had no clue what the Director wanted. Naturally, he couldn’t help but contemplate the worst. Since the moment their call ended the previous night, he was increasingly worrying over the Director’s intentions with their meeting.

That morning he’d been eager as ever to get to work and speak to the Director. He wanted nothing more than to get the conversation over with. Considering how things always went, Martin wasn’t surprised. He’d came to work early and he would still to have to wait a large part of the day. The man was so busy, he had a months long waiting list. Martin was only getting to speak to him because of something important that couldn’t wait.

Martin remained in his office brooding- or grieving, depending on how you looked at it. He was worsening the record he was spending all his time worrying about. There was no way to hide how poor his performance had been over the last couple of months. Martin feared that he would lose the job he spent his entire life in, any day now. Losing that job was only his second fear.

Martin’s worst fear was losing the woman he loved. He’d known her for quite sometime. But it was only two and a half years ago when they got married. He’d always thought she was the woman of his dreams; he still thought so even now, when they were on the verge of a divorce. Over the years, even before they married, the two of them had spent great time together laughing, having fun, and just enjoying each other’s company. He had thought, naively, that everything between them would be perfect forever. He wanted to live with her and wake up next to her for the rest of his life. But he’d managed to only get less than three years with her before he’d gone and lost her.

One thing in particular irked him. His soon to be ex-wife was intent on not telling him what went wrong with their relationship. She wouldn’t admit that she wanted something different, that she’d fallen for someone else, or even that she wanted something better. Instead, she only told him it was his fault. He could have saved their relationship. The more he thought about it, he believed that she was the one who stopped caring. if she didn’t want to tell him what the problem was, things between them were already doomed.

He sighed, annoyed at the thought. There was much he would have done for her. Even thinking of letting her go sent his heart spiralling into the depths of sorrow.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 7)

Anita looked around, trying to make up her mind. Then gazed backed to the man- the one who drove the truck that almost hit her- and stepped up onto the kerb. The look he gave her was one she knew well. It was the look her boyfriend had given her minutes before inside the coffee shop. A look of expectancy, a pleading look that asked her to comply with his request. For a moment she believed him- maybe, she should go to the hospital may be where she needed to be. Wouldn’t it be quiet there?

It only took half a second to change her mind. She needed to leave, now! and the hospital wasn’t where she needed to go. Where she did need to go, however, still remained a mystery. She thanked the driver for his thoughtfulness. Before he could respond, she rushed back into the crowd that had gathered by the road. Even if he had said something, it would have gotten lost in the sound of everyone else’s muttering. Plus, Anita was no longer listening.

Though her destination remained unclear, the tag in her pocket felt like hot coal. It made her mind focus on one terrifying fact: She should be dead.

Someone had saved her. But who?

Anita thought the tag was in some way a relic of the man who saved her, she just didn’t know who.

***

Martin Phillips was a man of many talents. The downside to that was he expected way too much of himself, and thus, especially as of late, let himself down. But he knew that mental exhaustion was playing a large role in what he saw as not only underperformance, but failure. The thought of being a failure made him miserable, a thought he couldn’t share with anyone else.

For the last few days, he was beginning to believe it would be the end of his career. Weeks before that, he was believing it was the end of his life. He hadn’t yet been able to decide which was worse, or if he would survive the possibility of them both being the truth. If he was older, neither possibilities would have bothered him, but he was the young age of thirty-seven. Before he’d began to think of himself as a failure, he had neared the status of legend amongst his peers, superiors, and co-workers.

He had the pleasure of working as an agent for the FBI. That alone was a feat that anyone would be proud of, and he was.  There wasn’t a day on the force that he wasn’t immensely proud of his position. He jumped to his feet in panic and surprise when the secretary chimed in on the speakerphone.

"Martin, the Director is ready to speak with you.” Her voice would have been pleasant on any other day. He lifted his head and looked at the black speakerphone sitting on his desk. The thought of grabbing it and throwing it from the desk seemed appealing. Summoning all his self-control, he grumbled to himself reaching for the phone and held the button down. He summoned the most pleasant voice he could.

“I’ll be right in.”

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 6)

Maybe if someone else had seen him, they could point her in the right direction. Looking up at the driver, she saw his brow furrow, showing he didn’t know what she was talking about, and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he spoke.

“Didn’t see anyone else here, miss, just yourself,” he smiled.

Anita knew that he thought she was crazy, but she didn’t blame him. wasn’t she the one who jumped into the middle of a busy street? She was thinking of herself in the same light.

“Do you want to be taken to the hospital, just in case? They could check for head trauma or internal bleeding if you fell hard…”

Anita knew that he was suggesting she go away, but that didn’t matter to her. She shook her head, much too distracted to respond with words. Plus, that sinking feeling telling her she needed to get away was returning.

Where could she go? Home wasn’t too far away, but it would take her through many busy streets. She needed some alone time, that instant. Her mind needed to be clear, so she could think.

***

The Director of the FBI was puzzled as he entered the conference room at the white house. The previous night, he had received a call from the President's White House Chief of Staff. A nagging thought troubled him since then. As he entered the state-of-the-art conference hall for this meeting, he glanced towards the chair that was meant for the POTUS- The President of the United States. It was empty. But to the right of that chair was sitting a burly man, the one who had summoned the Director on behalf of the POTUS. The Chief of Staff motioned to the Director to take a seat to his right. The Director smiled- "POTUS not yet back from India, eh George?"

The Chief of Staff smiled back saying nothing.

The Director's Puzzlement grew to surprise when he saw the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Pentagon. He is the highest ranking General of the United States Military. He was seated to the left of POTUS' empty chair. Surely, this was not a Defence meet? And that too when the POTUS was absent. If it was, He was not told about it. There was no specific crisis the Director could think of, that would entail such a meeting. The POTUS was out on a state visit abroad. Surely there was no pressing emergency that the FBI Director wouldn't know of?

His surprise grew to astonishment when he saw the Head of the NASA seated to the left of the Pentagon General. Strange indeed. The Director sat down in his chair. The door opened. In came a tall man whose face the FBI Director very well recognized. He was The CIA Director. The CIA head took a seat beside the FBI Director.

The FBI Director looked at the people around him. He was amused by the thought that the men in this room had enough authority to detonate a nuke on the moon, covertly. He suppressed a chuckle and focused on the agenda at hand.

With all the five men seated, the Chief of Staff began- "I would like to inform all of you that the minutes of this meeting here are not classified. In fact, it is so high on the list of Top Secret that no minutes will be drawn up and this meeting will never be deemed to have taken place."

The FBI Director raised his eye-brows as his mental alarms went off. How many times have such a kind of meeting taken place? He thought to himself.

Zero.

Even the meeting to discuss Osama Bin Laden’s execution had minutes, though it was classified at the highest level. This was something different altogether.

"You may now begin", the Chief of Staff gestured to the head of the NASA.

The NASA head began- "Gentlemen, we have a problem..."

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 5)

Anita was gently rolled off her savior's arms, and she felt his presence disappear. There was a faint sound of his shoes scraping against the sidewalk when he stepped away. Anita sat up and opened her eyes to see who had risked their life for her. She only saw his back when she spotted him, but it was someone she recognized. It was the man wearing the familiar, tight leather jacket who disappeared into the crowd. Anita was sure it was the same man she bumped into on the sidewalk minutes before, but she hadn’t gotten the chance to thank him. If she didn’t thank the man who saved her, she would not feel good.

She turned her head from the crowd and the man long gone, to the street. The truck that almost hit her idled on the road, the driver jumping out of the front seat to see whether or not he’d hit the woman. Anita saw his face first, an expression of pure panic.

There was no one to blame but herself for that; she knew she would feel the same way if she thought she hit someone. She might even blame herself, regardless of who was at fault. Most people with decent morals would do just the same. He rushed toward her, but she was no longer interested in him. In the corner of her eye, she saw a strip of silk stuck to the kerb. Around it was torn pieces of leather, bits that were scraped off of the man’s coat when he saved her. She grabbed the piece of silk rolled it between her fingers, seeing that it was a tag; where the fabric should have been sewn into clothes there were bits of leather hanging onto the threads. There was no mistaking where it had come from.

She looked up and met eyes with the truck driver walking toward her and she realized then how surreal everything was. She’d brushed up against death and was thinking about the man with the strong arms. How she wanted to drink a cup of tea and fall asleep for the night! How much she wanted to be home, along in her own space. She stifled a sigh and with a shaking hand, moved to brush blonde strands of hair from her face. In the same movement she stuffed the tag into her pocket for later.

“Hey lady, you, all right?” the baffled driver asked her. He stood there, all awkward at first, looking back from the crowd of people on the sidewalk and to her several times before reaching to help her up. Anita hesitated to lift her hand to his, but finally decided to accept his help. Once she was standing, she took a wobbly step backwards, still disoriented from everything that’d happened in the span of the last few minutes. How she was even calm after being in a deathly accident was beyond her.

“Yeah, I…” she looked around, hoping that maybe she could spot the man who helped her. She knew it was a futile thought. A question came out without her even thinking of saying it.

“Did you see who saved me?”

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 4)

Anita knew that if he didn’t think twice about cheating on her the first time, it would be much easier for him to do it again. Besides, how could she say that this was the first time? Forcing herself to think poorly of her ex didn’t make her feel any better, or make her hurt any less.

Anita’s thoughts shattered into incomprehensible mush when she heard the loudest honk ever. She whipped around to see where it came from. Instead of being down the street or on the other side of the road, it was a vehicle that was heading straight for her.

She realized then, she was no longer on the sidewalk; no longer surrounded by strangers walking along the same path. Her eyes widened with fear, not able to react in any other way while in such a state of shock.

How hadn’t she noticed that she had stepped off the kerb? She became paralyzed at the thought of turning into road kill. Her first thoughts after that realization were all morbid; she is too young to die, too pretty to die, and too smart to die by being such an idiot.

One thought then replaced everything else as she gazed into the speeding truck’s headlights: She was going to die. There was no doubt about it. She surrendered herself to that fate, though she still managed to take a startled step back. Again the vehicle’s horn blared at her, a deafening sound that made her body shake, but she remained frozen. There was nothing she could do but wait for the inevitable. Finally, she managed to force her eyes shut, no longer wishing to see the incoming vehicle. She opened her pink lips to scream, but no sound came. Maybe she’d already been hit; her voice had been knocked out of her.

Her world seemed to topple over, and everything, for a moment, went black. There was no faint light in a tunnel seen from beneath her closed eyelids. Had she died? Was it over already? She hadn’t sensed anything at all.

She realized that wasn’t the case when her hearing returned, hearing the echo of the horn screaming at her. The sound of screeching tires erased all the city’s other sounds beneath its urgent, terrifying squeal. Anita couldn’t feel anything more than her hair thrashing around her, and it was like she was alone in the centre of a storm. Anita didn’t know how much time passed, but finally her hair stilled and she sensed her side crumple against something-the ground; it was like a year had passed.

She was dead, either everything was broken, or she was out of it. Time would tell.

She realized then, the force that knocked her away wasn’t the steel frame of the vehicle; instead she felt another person’s arms around her, a familiar sensation, like the ghost of a memory. Her weight fell on top of his body when they both crashed into the edge of the street. she heard a masculine grunt when they landed.

But as quickly as her savior's arms were around her, they were gone.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 3)

Anita at least, kind of hoped her boyfriend would call her back. Because then, maybe she could offer him the same pain he’d given her, by not returning.

She didn’t stop to turn around and see if she was right; there was no way she would be dumb enough to bother risking her sanity by spending another moment in that man’s presence. Only minutes had passed since she fled the coffee shop, and her mind was already clouded with dark thoughts. Thoughts she knew would continue, unless she kept moving and found someplace where she could be on her own. For the moment, she’d forgotten about the man she bumped into on the sidewalk.

Anita focused her gaze on the sidewalk ahead of her, taking deep breaths to slow the tears and erase her thoughts. At first it seemed to work, but erasing her thoughts was to prove a fatal mistake. Within moments of being calm, she became worse. It would be impossible for her to be better while surrounded by so many people; there was no point in trying.

Her determination stretched in a different direction instead, aiming not to feel better, but to get away from her current surroundings. The loud, busy atmosphere was getting to her head, and she needed to get out before she went insane. At least now she had a purpose in running so fast.

She continued racing alongside her fellow citizens- most of who didn’t like her shoving by- it was getting more difficult to avoid people without pushing someone else out of the way; her pace slowed to the point where she was reduced to walking, and then she was standing still. She was determined to go on, but her limbs began to shake with the terror accompanied by the dark thoughts seeping into her mind.

She had to move on for fear she’d collapse into a sobbing mess in front of a hundred strangers. The thought was horrifying enough, but that her mind was deteriorating by the second was enough to prompt her into shoving her way through the crowd. She pushed through the crowd, but while she did so, she couldn’t quite avoid pondering why she was such a disaster over a breakup.

It wasn’t even that she was particularly hurt by having to break things off with her boyfriend; it was the betrayal that came along with it. Even focusing on pushing through the crowd became a chore. It was difficult to keep her mind off of all the events surrounding her current state.

Anita and her boyfriend had been together for two years now. She’d become comfortable with him, more so in the last one year, and it all turned out to be for nothing. Several days prior he asked her if she’d be interested in an open relationship, something that she clarified she had no interest in. Not that she wanted to limit the man’s sexual pleasure… she just wasn’t comfortable with it, and that’s what she told him. Instead of leaving it at that and respecting her wishes or breaking it off, he’d fooled around with another woman. She figured that, if he so let himself be discovered, he’d been fooling around for some time already. He had stopped caring enough to hide it from her. She had then decided it was time to break it off.

(To Be Continued Tomorrow…..)

MAN FROM TOMORROW (EPISODE 2)

The young woman dashed through the crowd of city dwellers clogging the sidewalks. She was dodging those blocking her path, but not enough to avoid them. No one liked it when she inadvertently hit them with an arm or a shoulder on her way by. Their nasty looks and angry words didn’t faze her one bit.

The Starbucks she ran from was half a block away by the time she lifted her arm and used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks. Her momentum faltered, and she stopped dead in her tracks in an attempt to collect herself. But someone else’s arm slammed into her side with enough force to topple her over.

Her body arched sideways to fall, and she did before the man who hit her moved with lightning speed to catch her. His strong arms wrapped around her waist in an embrace, for the briefest of seconds before he pulled back from her, steadying them both on the sidewalk. 

He pulled her back up to her feet effortlessly. Both of them remained in the middle of the sidewalk. Due to their encounter, they stared into each other’s eyes, neither sure what words would defuse the situation. Angry walkers still wandered about around them, grumbling and cursing them for taking up much of the walkway.

The man stared at her long enough to see that the woman’s light blue eyes were puffy from crying, and that her cheeks were still streaked with tears. More tears continued to stream as they stared at each other, and she was too stunned to back away. 

Realizing that he had noticed her distress, she mumbled an apology before turning and fleeing in the same direction as before. Away from him.

He remained standing on the sidewalk, knowing that something more was off about the woman than just her distress. For a moment he only walked, but then he followed.

Anita Williams thought as she walked away from the encounter; that the man looked like no one else she’d seen before. Not that he was attractive- he was, a little. He had dark hair and eyes. That didn’t matter to her. 

But in the brief glimpse she had of him, she noticed that there was something about him that seemed off. The intense feelings she experienced while gazing at him during her suspended fall were unlike anything she ever felt before. 

She couldn’t quite place what she felt, either. 

Awe? 

Confusion? 

Perhaps a sense that combined both, but its name escaped her; if it had a name at all. She wanted to know why she felt this way. 

With more consideration, she realized it was his arms that she noticed. When they were wrapped around her for the briefest of time, she felt how muscular they were. Anita had been with many muscular men in her life, and still she’d seen nothing like it. Felt nothing like that before- never thought it was even possible. 

Once he’d let her go, she couldn’t help but glance at his arms. They were covered with a sleek leather jacket. Beneath that, his muscles pressed hard against the expensive fabric. They were incredibly eye catching and visible. Her thoughts were quickly taken from that track, however, when she swore, she heard her now ex-boyfriend calling her from behind. 

                                               (To Be Continued Tomorrow.....)

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