Sunday, October 29, 2017

Mind the J's and W's - Part 2

“I don’t know how you can not discuss,” and that was all he got to say before she stopped him.
“Like you said,” and her voice was firm, “we go where they tell us, and no,” this time was no different from any other, “I will not discuss him with you.  You know nothing about it, and as far as everyone is concerned nothing ever happened.”
“Right,” as if he really believed that and he opened the can, “and Santa is coming here next week.”
“I hear he just bought a dune buggy,” and as they continued to eat she added, “I think we need to focus on tonight.”  Rob nodded and they finished the meal in silence. Tonight was going to be stressful enough, no sense in starting it off wrong.  Jan knew it was his job to not only to be her partner, but also to keep her from becoming involved emotionally with anyone.  According to the PED department there should be no long lasting relationships; they belonged to the company once they signed the paperwork.  Funny thing was that once she had met Ward, another reader in the department, she had found something that she never had expected, companionship, a soul-mate really.  It might be love, but even that might be too strong of a term for right now.  She was sure of one thing though, they were obsessed with each other.

It was now one in the morning and the bad supper long since forgotten.  No moon meant no light.  She was dressed in black from head to toe and had even pulled a black silk hood over her head with small slits in it so she could see.  It was almost as bad as wearing a burka all day.  The temperature had dropped a whole four degrees she would guess.  On top of the main building she was out of the reach of all the security lights.  Touching her ear she tapped the lip microphone she had hidden away.  One click meant she was in and okay.  Rob was worried about her; he always was but she was the only one who could enter the complex though.  Without her ability to read minds there would’ve be no way to find their operative.  If she didn’t find the operative, then the meeting tomorrow afternoon would be a fatal catastrophe, and that was not about to happen on her watch for so many reasons.
Flattening out on top of the roof she began her search through all the minds in the large house.  A trickle of sweat ran down her neck to the front of her shirt and then another one ran down between her shoulder blades.  She stilled as she came closer to the bedroom areas and since most people were asleep she was in and out of a head in just seconds. 
“Have you found him?”  The thought entered her head easily.  It helped that she was wearing an earpiece.  With two quick clicks she gave Rob a negative answer, “I really wish I could have gone in for you.”  They always had this discussion.  He wanted to protect her even if that wasn’t what was needed or required from the job.  Jan just smiled at the thought. “Okay, I’ll stop playing dad now and tell you to get your butt moving and find this guy.”  This guy was called Streak, and he was proving harder to find than she expected. The fact that he had been undercover in this operation for many months made her, and his boss, more than a little worried about his state of mind. 
She was to do a full scan of his mind and access his stability before giving him the information about the meet, hence the need for a mind reader.  She was in control of whether or not the mission continued.  The lives of four PED agents and one Special Forces team, not to mention Streak’s life, all depended on her.  Many men broke under this kind of strain and so far from what she had read in his files he wouldn’t, but that didn’t mean his superiors weren’t worried about it.  She closed her eyes and looked for her target.  At first she felt an uneasiness below her and to her right.  The man moved, and bingo.  It was time to start her assessment.
         His mind was solid, well ordered and quick.  It would be a phenomenal comment from a reader for any normal read, but for him it would be expected.  All people who had been recruited for operations that required deep undercover work would be like this.  These men and women were the type that would be the top two to three percent of the population.  He would be smart, well organized, a quick thinker, and above average with problem solving skills.  It also didn’t hurt that he was well trained in many forms of martial arts and weaponry.  She could also tell that he was restless and frustrated that he hadn’t been contacted yet.  Well, in a moment she would deal with that frustration.  She began to move spider-like across the roof making sure she wasn’t seen.  Clicking her mike once to let Rob know she had found him.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Mind the J's and W's - Part 1

They were sitting in the backroom of some small and really dirty hovel.  It had been bombed out last year and hadn’t been used since then.  The place was perfect.  It was nowhere near any other homes or businesses although that wasn’t too hard to do in this province.  It helped that the rest of the places had been bombed out during the last year and it had made the place really uninhabitable.  It was hot and it was dusty and she felt as if she needed to stand under a shower for three years.  The conditions weren’t much worse than the last assignment, but going from winter in South America to summer in Afghanistan wasn’t what she would have chosen.  Then again being covered from head to toe with a burka all day as she did recon hadn’t helped.  It was now about eight thirty at night and Rob had just returned with two bags.
They worked for a little known governmental department or agency known as the Paranormal Enforcement Department, or ‘PED’ for short. In the department it was their job is to provide protection, detection, and deception. Jan, as well as others, were part of a grand experiment.  They were discovered through bogus psychology experiments in colleges.  Then they were drafted into a lifetime of service for the department.  All of these agents had one thing in common, they could read minds, and they were partnered with a handler to keep them loyal to the job. Her handler had always been Rob.
“There better be a gourmet meal and a Coke in that bag,” she smiled as she leaned back against the wall, “and the rest of my gear in the other.”
“Right on one,” and he set one bag down in front of her, the other one in the corner nearby.
“Hell, it was the least you could do after putting me up in such wonderful digs here,” and she opened the bag pulling out something that resembled food.  Digging to the bottom of the bag she found it, “Yes!”  It was a Coca Cola, no, actually three.
“Can’t help it, you know we go where they tell us,” and he sat down as he futilely tried to brush the dust out of his hair. “I still can’t believe we agreed to do this.”
“They needed a second reader to go in,” she avoided his eyes, but they both knew why they were here.  Ward was working on this assignment and had been for the last three months.  That meant that it had been at least three months since Jan had seen him.  It also meant that somehow, and Rob didn’t know how, Ward had gotten them reassigned here. 
“And, of course, we are the only other team out there,” Rob grabbed the other sandwich and unwrapped it.  Not only had Ward not seen her but he was also willing to put her life in danger just to do it.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” Jan opened up one of the cans and gulped down nearly half of it before she continued, “We are always in danger.”
“Save your skills for those who need it,” he was still miffed and the last thing he needed was her reading his thoughts.
           “I am.  I was reading your face.”  Rob had been her partner for many years now.  He had really been more than that to her.  Rob had been more like the father she had never had.  He was fourteen years older than she was and although that had caused some problems to begin with, it didn’t now.  She was only twenty-one when she had graduated from college, been commissioned and then made it through the PED program in record time.  Her skills had developed fast and she was eager to be trained in all the defense measures they had offered.  Even though she had been assigned early on she also had continued to take all the training opportunities that she could becoming a model agent.

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Serialized Stories - Coming Soon!






Mind the J’s and W’s
A short story by Annay Dawson








Copyright  ©2009 Annay Dawson

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for brief inclusions in a review.  For more information contact the author at annaydawson@annaydawson.com.



Mind the J’s and W’s is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Serialized Stories - Coming Soon!



Mind the J’s and W’s
A short story by Annay Dawson







Copyright  ©2009 Annay Dawson

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for brief inclusions in a review.  For more information contact the author at annaydawson@annaydawson.com.



Mind the J’s and W’s is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.