Cloak & Dagger - Episode 5

Episode 5: Land of the Knight

The land around the Knight estate was well-guarded and monitored around the clock. Daniel Fouts and Faith Fairchild kept their distance from the mansion. Liz probably had full run of the house by now.''

"She's a devious little sucker," Faith said. "When I first met her I thought she was my friend but she was just using me.  She is completely loyal to this Echelon corporation. It's freaky."

"Maybe she's just programmed that way," Daniel suggested. "Echelon does have the ADP. Maybe they're using it on Liz too."

"So, underneath she could be Sally Straigh-Laced from Surry? And not this cold- blooded, manipulative killer?"

"I wouldn't put anything past them," Daniel said.

Faith began to wonder if such a technology could be used against her brother, Ethan. Ethan's twin, Ian had been on the missing list forever. The sudden reappearance of Ian had Faith worried, especially with all this Chandelor Knight nonsense.

"Remember how you said Ian thought he was Ethan?" Faith asked. "Did you actually physically see Ian or did someone send you intel about it?"

"We have it from a reliable source. Daniel started to speak but Faith interrupted him.

"Maybe this reliable source is working for Echelon too. Maybe this Ian is just some flunky with Ian's personality downloaded into his brain. Maybe Ethan's walking straight into a trap."

Faith had grown up in the spy game and coming up with elaborate plots was child's play to her. If half of what she theorized was possible, someone probably had Ian captive and were going after Ethan next.

"Do you think they're going after my family?" Faith asked.

"I think they're going after the Legacy and anyone who had any tie to that Bulgarian mission ten years ago. That's when we discovered the nanites. Maybe they're trying to advance the ADP even more."

The more speculating they did, the more awful the scenario became Faith didn't like where any of this was heading.

The image of Liz Hunter passed the window where the blueprints indicated lay Chandelor's study. The Library window next to it was dark.

"She's making herself right at home, Daniel said, spying her through field binoculars.

"What's the plan?" Faith asked. "Confront Liz or talk Chandelor?"

"Chandelor first. I want to see where his head is."

"I think I can help you with that," said a voice from behind. Fouts and Faith turned around and found Fergus standing behind them.

The duo was momentarily startled but quickly learned that this could be an opportunity.

"Great," said Daniel. "I wasn't looking forward to brushing up on my breaking and entering skills."

"The thing about working a job for seventeen years... the staff is still loyal to me. I consider them my extended family. Plus, my daughter is in there and I have to get her out. She's in more danger than she realizes," Fergus said.

"Lead the way." Daniel and Faith followed Fergus. His white hair seemed to shine like a beacon in the dark. They weaved through the trees to an odd structure jutting out of the ground south of the estate.

"What is this?" Faith asked. The structure was three times as big as a red London telephone booth but made completely of rock.

"It's one of the emergency exits Mr. Knight had built into the mansion. Rarely used. I doubt Ms. Hunter has discovered it yet. The mansion is quite large."

"One thing to our advantage," Fouts said.

Once inside the room opened up even more. The walls were all rock but the wall into the estate was pure steel. Fergus extracted a key from a large key ring in his pocket.

"Those Chandelor's too?" Fouts asked.

"He didn't ask for them back and I didn't have time to return them once I was ushered from the estate." Fergus hinted a smile at his lips. He didn't seem the type to defy order very often but they didn't have a book where this was  a normal occurrence.

"The system takes a key and a code," Fergus explained. "They shouldn't have changed the code yet."

He typed the digits into the keypad and received a glaring red light for his trouble.

"I wouldn't take that bet if  were you." She pushed both men out of the way and approached the keypad. "Stand aside. Let a woman work her magic."

"What are you doing?" Fouts asked.

"Being awesome, so now hush. Awesomeness requires silence. She dislodged the face plate and began picking through wires. Red, green and blue wires were haphazardly attached in certain places inside the box. Faith rerouted three of the ends to different connections. "Wah-la. Magic."

Fergus turned his key again and the light turned green.

"Thats what's I'm talking about." Faith squealed and gave herself a fist pump for good measure. "Autographs will be available after the show," she said as the three of them entered the mansion at its lowest level.

"What do they keep down here? Bodies?" Faith walked into a large room made of concrete with a big winding staircase that led upward. Everything was a dull gray color, the walls, the floor, probably even the ceiling, if she could see it. It was a decorator's nightmare. She wiped dust off the handrail.

"I guess the cleaning lady doesn't get down here much, huh?" Faith crinkled her nose in mock disgust. Her sarcasm became more prevalent the closer to danger they became. Daniel hadn't seen her so animated since he pulled her out of Paris two years ago.

"No. No one  is allowed in these security areas," Fergus said. "Mr. Knight kept the escape routes bare bones. No need t spend money on flooring and wallpaper  no one would ever see. One of the exits leads from his study to the basement. The other leads to the library."

"Let's hope our adventure ends at the Library."

Cloak & Dagger - Episode 4

Episode 4: Nightingale Effect

Fouts' Apartment

Daniel Fouts tried to leave the problems of the world and the Legacy at the office, but sometimes it just wasn't possible. He threw his keys on the counter and dropped his briefcase under the roll-top desk in the corner of the room.

Everything in this space was decorated for a male. There were no visible signs that made it seem a female lived here or was even on the premises. But he had sensed Faith Fairchild the moment he entered his apartment. That hint of citrus perfume she always wore infused the air with happiness. It was an emotion that didn't cloud the atmosphere of his home very often.

A gleeful scream of victory came from his study. As he slowly approached the room, he fully expected what he saw. She was playing a boxing game on the Wii wearing the running outfit and iPod she came in. The headphone cords swung wildly around her head.

"Take that sucker!" she squealed as she punched her electronic opponent.

Daniel scowled. She was killing his high score. Playing video games was his was of blowing off steam after a hard day directing the spies of the world. Faith had only recently discovered video games.  Getting her away from the console was about as easy as taking candy from  two year old.

He relaxed in the recliner waiting for her to finish. He was nearly asleep when her shouts woke him. "See if you can beat that, Fouts!"

Daniel smiled. She was his exact opposite. Full of emotion and easily connected to the world, to a joy he just couldn't access in his own life. He shook his head. That wasn't the way he wanted to forget his day.

"Come here." Daniel gathered her into his arms. He held onto her like she was the last breath of fresh air on the earth.

"Easy," she said with a smile. "Don't use me up all in one sitting."

She stared into his eyes. "Are you okay? More Legacy weirdness? You can tell me. It's okay. I've been pre-approved for this sort of thing."

Faith was right. She more than he knew what this business was all about. Both her brothers were elite spies inside the Legacy ranks and her father used to be the Director.

"We think Echelon is getting to our agents. Michela's Nightingale programming is resurfacing in strange ways. Today she woke up and thought she was seventeen. The effect still hasn't worn off."

"Does she look seventeen?" Faith asked with a smile, clearly not expecting the answer to be yes. "Because that would be a cool side effect."

"No, she looks the same as she always has. But all of her Legacy training is lost. This is completely in her head."

"Bummer. Think of all the re-training she'll have to go through."

"There will be no re-training until we find out exactly why this happened," Fouts said. "Echelon could be a bigger threat than we realized."

"Bigger than Julian Black?" Faith commented as a funny, but Daniel wasn't smiling.

"We believe the Black Council and Echelon has been working together. The Black Council had its PARIS artificial intelligence virus. And this is light years beyond that."

Suddenly, Daniel's phone buzzed. It wasn't unusual for him to get calls in the evenings. Espionage didn't sleep.

He glanced down at the caller. The words on his mini screen said 'High Council'."

"I have to take this."

Faith was used to such distractions. She moved to the door and paused on the threshold. "I'll go for some take out. Take your time."

She kissed him on the lips and closed the door.

The High Council's message was brief. What it said had him both concerned and baffled. Their recent asset acquisition from the Echelon Facility, Liz Hunter had just been promoted.

She was now his superior!

___

Next day, Fouts' Office.

"They're doing what?" Faith was baffled by the High Council's new decision. Even Daniel was a bit taken a back, and he was a man without expression. Every look he gave his staff was stern and serious. But underneath it all, she knew he was a pussy cat.

"They've made Liz in charge of our division," Fouts said, his jaw clinching in repressed anger.

"I thought you were in charge," she asked staring out his office window at the skyline.

"Liz has convinced Chandelor Knight that she has certain qualification. I'm not sure how she did it. Chandelor should be used to people trying to play him."

"Maybe he has the holiday spirit and is feeling especially charitable," Faith suggested.

A knock came at the door, but the person didn't wait to enter. The man was dressed in a very fashionable outfit with spit-shined shoes.

"May I help you?" Daniel asked. He didn't want to fathom how a walk-in got in through all their security at the front door.

The man looked lost. His white hair was short and expertly styled. His face was quite a contrast to his clothing. His face was pale and gaunt. He was definitely in the early stages of shock.

"I'm here for my severance check. Is this the right place? My name is Charles Ferguson. Fergus to most. And I am... well, I mean... I was... the long-time butler to Mr. Chandelor Knight."

"You're Mila's father, right?" Faith asked.

"Yes, I am."

"If I'm not being too forward," Faith enquired. "What exactly happened?"

"A woman came into the mansion three days ago and now suddenly I've lost the job I've had for seventeen years. I don't know how she got to him so quickly."

"Maybe she had help in that department," Daniel suggested.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked.

"Echelon. We know they've got the technology to download a personality into someone else's brain. They call it an ADP, Advanced Digital Personality. And getting to someone like Chanedlor wouldn't be easy."

"How did Liz get access to him?" Faith asked. "Chandelor doesn't trust a lot of people."

"That's something we're going to have to find out."

"Does this mean I may get my job back?" Fergus said with a hopeful lilt to his voice.

"I'll do everything in my power to get Chanedlor back into his right mind."

"Thank you, sir." The butler bowed and exited, closing the door.

"What if we can't get Chandelor back to his stuffy old self?" Faith asked.

Daniel grabbed his coat. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Cloak & Dagger - Episode 2

Episode 2: The Unknown

London, 2011

"Technically, she didn't blow him up," Director Daniel Fouts explained to Ethan Fairchild. "A detonator malfunctioned causing the death of Cal Yates."

"I set the charge," Bette Marstan said. "His death was my responsibility."

Ethan didn't respond like he wanted. He still needed time to assess his new recruit before passing judgement.

"Disrespecting your superior officer, even in death, just isn't done, Agent Marstan," Fouts said.

Bette nodded. "Duly noted, director."

Fouts motioned toward his office. The three entered and as they were seated the fiberglass walls morphed from see-through to opaque. This part of their conversation was confidential.

"Ethan, I know you were surprised by my knowledge of the search for your brother but your new assignment has everything to do with your past."

Ethan didn't like the idea of others getting involved in his recent obsession. Even his sister, Faith, knew nothing about his search for Ian. She and Ian had never been close. Even though Ian was Ethan's twin.

"We've been aware of your brother's location ever since Bulgaria. We thought the problem eventually would work itself out, but unfortunately it didn't."

"Problem?" Ethan asked. "What exactly is the problem?"

Daniel wasn't comfortable revealing this truth even though the decision concerning Ian weren't his.

"Ian believes he's you."

___

Gateway City, 1987

Michela Forsythe was in a rush, per usual. Her boyfriend, Cade, the newly crowned King jock of Gateway High was waiting in the car. She gave her mother a wave and blew her a kiss.

"Please try to be on time tonight," Mrs. Forsythe asked her daughter who was already out the door. She sighed and turned back to her Eggs Benedict. "That girl is going to be the death of me."

Michela and Cade walked onto campus as seniors at the top echelon of the social scene. Cade migrated toward the footballers and she found her best friend, Bliss, slamming poor, dorky Alison Corday into a locker and pouring soda on her head. Not exactly one of Bliss' better moments but the all consuming power of being a senior from the popular crowd was going straight to her head.

Michela's theory was that everyone was allowed at least one pre-season foible. Bliss was just getting it out of her system early.

"You're going to hell. You know that, right?" Michela said trying to keep the smile off her lips.

Bliss pulled out a string of her mother's pearls and began rubbing the beads dramatically as if they were a rosary and the key to her salvation.

"I'll say ten hail Mary's and then all will be good. I have Father Benedict in my back pocket. He can put in a good word for me upstairs."

"So, that's how it's done?" Michela snickered. "I knew I'd been doing something wrong."

Michela couldn't say she had it bad. In fact, her life was pretty awesome. Could she help it that she wanted everyone to know it?

Michela's father owned one of the biggest publishing companies in the world. And all the money he raked in being a workaholic was very attractive to all her friends. Sometimes she wondered if what money didn't stick to me might be transfered to them.

She knew being popular wouldn't get her anything in the outside world. Her older sister, Diana, spoke the theory like a mantra. Once out of high school, she'd lost nearly everyone of her best friends to other people who had things her friends wanted that Diana couldn't give them.

In the end, Michela took advantage of the perks of her father's job. She had the best of everything she wanted. Super-sized birthday parties and clothes from designers who had collections that weren't even out yet. Everything under the sun was available to  her... except more time.

That evening she stood outside the school all alone waiting for someone to pick her up. She assumed it would be Pierre, her father's driver, but he'd been detained with some corporate bigwig.

She dialed her father's phone for the third time but it kept going to voicemail. She guessed this was what it felt like to be truly forgotten. She experienced a good five minutes of feeling sorry for herself. It was cruel but she needed it. These were the things that could truly keep her grounded in the future.

Fifteen minutes later, her sister came tooling down the avenue in her new Buick. As she watched Diana's car round the corner, it took her sister too long to react as a dog ran into her path. Diana immediately lost control of the vehicle. She swerved back into her lane but the damage was done. The vehicle was coming straight at Michela faster than the speed limit in that area condoned. The terror in her sister's eyes was the last thing Michela saw before everything went black.

___

London 2011

The streets of London were still bustling when Ethan exited headquarters two hours later. He hadn't heard much of the debriefing after Fouts dropped the bomb about his brother. The notion completely boggled his mind.

Ethan clearly remembered the Bulgarian mission. At least, he thought he did. There were technologies out there that could easily do what Fouts explained. It made him wonder momentarily exactly who was the impostor. Maybe Ian's memories of Bulgaria had been implanted to cover up a conspiracy. Anything was possible when it came to dealing with his father's experiments. If he wanted to know what really happened back then, he had to go to the source.

___

Bette Marstan wasn't a newcomer to the world of espionage. Fouts wanted her to stick to Ethan like glue, and that's what she intended to do. The only problem being that he was very good at ditching a tail. Which is why she found herself outside the London branch of ForeCross Publishing wondering where he could have run off to.

The Legacy wasn't  good at sharing the details of an agent's life, but Bette had run across a photo of Ethan with a  brunette woman she didn't recognize and a man frowning in the background. She fingered it as she searched the scene for Ethan. The other man in the photo resembled a picture she'd once seen of Ethan's brother, Kevin. There was plenty of bad blood between the brothers. So, she was more than surprised when she spotted Kevin Fairchild entering ForeCross. The coincidence was too strange. It gave Bette the perfect motive to follow Kevin inside.

___

Undisclosed Location 2011

Michela found herself lying on the street. The gritty surface covered her hands and cheek. She must have passed out. And Michela wondered how much this fender bender was going to cost her daddy. All she could think was that she was glad she wasn't the one driving. Diana would have to take the blame for this accident.

She opened her eyes and scrambled to her feet but what she saw wasn't the parking lot at school. It was a dark alley way too close to a pier that reeked of fish guts and motor oil

"Michela? What are you doing?" The voice seemed to come from nowhere. She wheeled around looking for the source.

"Who's there?" she whispered. She looked around seeing no one in the darkness. "I think I'm losing my mind. All she could wonder was how had she gotten here and where exactly was here? It definitely wasn't the high school parking lot.

"Lose your mind later," said the voice again. "You have a mission to complete."

"Mission? If this is God, you're barking up the wrong cheerleader. The only mission I have is to go home and practice my routine until all eyes are on me."

It was in this moment she finally realized something was in her ear, some sort of device like a hearing aid. She studied it momentarily.

"Your technology is cool and all but ... can I get a ride home? Mom and Dad are going to be miffed if I'm late again."

Another voice came over the ear piece. This one was distinctly feminine and perfectly familiar. Alison Corday.

"Michela? What are you talking about? Your mother's been dead for years. Have you been compromised? Is this channel being monitored?"

Michela stilled. "Dead? I just talked to her this morning."

"You couldn't have. You've been on this mission for the last forty-eight hours." Alison's voice was speaking in riddles and nothing she was saying was making sense.

Michela shook her head. "No, no. That's not right. I've just started my senior year. I've never been on any sort of  mission. Alison? You believe me, right? You saw me this morning."

"We've got to get her out of there." Alison was speaking to someone else. Someone Michela couldn't hear. "She's been affected mentally. We knew this could be a problem."

The sound of a car engine roared to life near Michela's position. She flinched and her heart raced. The more she focused on her surroundings and the dark shadows, the more fearful she became.

Footsteps sounded like gunshots as they drew closer. "Someone's coming," she whispered. "Alison, you have to help me!"

"Some things never change," Alison muttered. "We're sending in an extraction team. Stay put."

The only problem was that Michela didn't stay put. She ran off toward the dock and the ear piece she'd been studying was now lying on the ground.

Cloak & Dagger - Episode 1

 
Cloak & Dagger

He should have known better. Getting involved with another Kassoff would only lead him down the road of misery. But in his life, misery had been a strangely faithful friend.

Ethan jogged through the tunnels near Westminster Abbey not seeing the popular tourist attraction the media had recently claimed was leaning. His eyes followed the dark waters of the Thames as his feet pounded the pavement.

He had returned from a mission more confused than he'd been before. All the leads he'd uncovered on the disappearance of his brother, Ian, took him down deserted roads that led to nowhere. Each scrap of hope had become yet another piece of disappointment.

He'd run into Athena Kassoff on his last journey and that chance meeting had been messing with his head.

"You think you're the responsible one?" she taunted. "You left me behind to bear the consequences of both our actions."

He'd attributed her words to consuming too much ale. She was spouting other threats but that one had stuck with him as he traveled back to London to rejoin his team.

The holiday had not been as relaxing or productive as he would have liked. And the memories nipping at his heels had faded with time.

His flat was a cookie-cutter brownstone that resembled every other on the block. Nothing stood out. Nothing distinctive. Being a ghost was something he did well in all aspects of life.

His breaths came in an even rhythm. He was an athletic man who kept himself in good physical condition. He didn't have movie star good looks like his older brother, Carter, but his chiseled jaw and rough appearance had its admirers.

Ethan ran down a familiar tunnel nodding at check points, men dressed as bums wearing wireless microphones. The last bum directed him to the entrance of the day with a simple playing card lying on the ground.

Ace of spades. So, it was the front door today. But the front door of the headquarters of The Legacy wasn't exactly a normal store front. It had a door, yes. A door to an empty room filled with pipes and hanging wires. He clamped two specific wires together, spun a handle counter clockwise two times and engaged the handle on the power box after flipping two breakers to the off position.

A door opened next to the power box and he stepped into the darkness. It was a small elevator leading him down into the bowels of the earth.

He emerged into what looked like a normal office. A receptionist sat behind a tall desk. She grimaced at his sweaty appearance.

"You look ghastly," Becca Ramsey told him. She was in her mid-fifties with hair the color of artificial chestnuts. "The director is expecting you in ten. You might want to change before then. A shower, perhaps?"

"Yes, mum. Always so concerned about me."

"Someone must. It's not like you'd do it on your own prompting." She returned to her computer monitor.

Ethan breezed past her and into the locker room. It wasn't one of those offices where you were familiar with everyone. Besides Becca and the director, he didn't have contact with anyone else on site at headquarters.

The analysts were too focused on their current assignments to worry about a strange man entering the locker room. But unusually, one analyst did observe him with a watchful eye as he wandered around the office. Her screen was dark, as if she was only occupying a cubicle and not actually using it.

She moved the typing glasses farther down her nose and followed Ethan with her eyes as he entered the director's office. Daniel Fouts was a dark-haired, hard-eyed man who rarely showed any emotion. He accepted Ethan into the fiberglass-walled office and gestured to a chair.

"Thank you for meeting with me. I know it's unorthodox to come all the way into Headquarters especially when you're spending every off minute searching for your brother."

Ethan's eyes narrowed. No one was supposed to know he was looking into his brother's disappearance. Especially no one in the upper echelon of management.

"I assume there is a reason you wanted to see me?" His voice was gruff. Any happy-go-lucky manner he had in his demeanor previous to now was completely extinguished.

"I'm adding someone to your team." Fouts motioned to the woman standing near the doorway. She was a beautiful blonde that looked like she'd been pulled straight from a Betty Crocker manual. "Bette Marstan, this is Ethan Fairchild. Your new team commander."

"What happened to her last team commander?" Ethan asked curiously.

Bette smiled impishly. "I blew him up."