The Functionary was in a hurry, he had time to give necessary instructions to his non-staff agents, deliver instructions to conduct concealed observation, and send photographs. It was necessary to increase the number of operations members but that required special sanctions and the Functionary decided to receive them notifying his line commander of the events. He understood how difficult it would be to receive the permit as there was nothing criminal in a journey to the City and almost anyone was entitled to go there. The Seer’s warnings were not enough. The Functionary decided to act and claim that the operation was aimed against the employee of another agency.
Several chief officers were present in the office of the security commander. After he had shaken hands with everyone, the Functionary cautiously took his seat.
“Do you have an urgent matter?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Do you prefer to talk in private?” the Chief inquired.
“No, this information is not so secret. Last night the Seer called me,” when that name was mentioned, tense silence set in. “He asked me to see him. You know how much I owe him.”
“It’s not good to be indebted to anyone, especially in our work,” the Chief noted. “No offence. Speak on.”
“The Seer asked me, without explaining his reasons, to detain two law-abiding citizens of the country and prevent them from entering the City. He thinks that once they are in the City, these guys will escalate a conflict.”
“I believe the reason is absolutely clear. The Seer does not want the fragile and temporary peace between different groups of population to end,” one of the employees ventured to say.
“Do not interrupt. We will think later,” the Chief checked him. “Speak on.”
“I dispatched several security agents. Before they had time to disperse across the railway station building, a person came up to one of the employees, soaked him in vodka, saw the photographs, and ran to the men’s room. Two of our agents decided to check but he unexpectedly attacked them. We took his fingerprints,” the Functionary made a pause. “It is the Soldier, known in certain circles,” he pointed his finger up. “He is a professional liquidator, one of the best or maybe the best of his kind. I explained the Seer that we could not arrest that person. Then he asked to catch the other. It is a Stranger. He managed to escape from the hotel and again with the Soldier’s help. Here’s a detailed report of our agents. If you are interested in this case, we can expand the number of observers to include the City in the scope of the operations,” the Functionary kept silent for several minutes. “This is about all I was going to report.”
“It’s interesting. Do you have versions?” the Chief addressed his officers.
“It can be assumed,” one of his employees started, “that the Seer thought it was necessary to warn us of a pending conflict in the City provoked by the persons involved. But there are two questions in this case: who are they and whose task does the Soldier fulfill? If the information on the Soldier is correct, we know the customer. It’s a political order or an army operation. We should think if we want to interfere with the operation of another agency.”
“And how a conflict situation in the City can be provoked by one person?” the Functionary asked.
“It is clear that you are not an operations officer,” his colleague commented. “For instance, sacred objects can be desecrated. It is enough to show your ass during a public prayer. The City is a kind of a tinderbox now, you just throw a match and it is on fire. The Soldier can be sent to destroy one of political or religious leaders.”
“We can assume the Soldier aims at destruction of the object that harms the country,” another employee ventured his observation, “rather than escalation of a conflict.”
“Other versions?” the Chief asked. Silence set in.
“I see that the situation is unclear,” the Chief summed up. “The Seer can play own game, his personal game. And use us while keeping in the dark. And he won’t rescue any religious leader. By the way, why does the Soldier need the Stranger? I’ve heard about the Soldier, he works alone and does not carry out political orders. He shoots terrorists, militants, and rebels. That’s his qualifications. Why would he be assigned other tasks? It is not a custom, you can’t teach old dog new tricks. The City is generally out of his scope, as far as I know no liquidator has been involved there lately. And why has the Seer asked to catch the Stranger? The Soldier can’t complete the operation without him, can he? It means the Stranger plays a role, doesn’t he? Maybe no less important than the role of the Soldier. Why have they decided to take the train when there are other opportunities to get to the City? Military intelligence couldn’t equip a plane? Who is going on a task by train? Nonsense. Too many questions and I don’t like this. We should send experienced agents to the City and spy secretly. Find all information about the Stranger and report to me. And do not try to detain the Soldier. Owing to your ill-thought actions,” he glanced at the Functionary sternly, “we can spoil the relations with the General Staff, which are quite tense now, and a complex operation we know nothing about. Possibly, there is no
operation at all. Friends decided to go to the City and bad men do not allow them to enjoy the right of a citizen: move freely. You all can go.”
The Functionary was leaving the director’s office in a bad mood. He assumed that the commander would not challenge that the Soldier acted upon instructions of the General Staff and would not miss the chance of using that in the secret war between security agencies and was one of the main stimuli for their high performance. One thing has become clear: they will not allow him to lead the case. Superior commanders consider the Seer’s abilities as a threat to national security. The man, who, if he desired so, could disclose any secret, was very dangerous. And the agency had many secrets.
The Functionary decided to inform the Seer that the case would be under official control. He dialed the number.
“Hello,” a familiar voice said.
“It’s me again. Can we meet?” the Functionary asked cautiously.
“I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer. It continues, doesn’t it?”
“I haven’t heard the telephone call,” he said surprised and the Seer felt that his interlocutor was not lying. “Are you interested in discussing the situation?”