Shade

The League has it on good authority that the Olympus Medical Center system is hiding a massive corruption scandal, perhaps involving foreign actors, that is putting our national security and all of its patients at risk. Your mission is to unearth the details of this corruption. Figure out who is behind it, what their goals are, how much money is involved–everything you can. Once we have enough intel from you, The League will move to shut this corruption down and lock up everyone responsible. You will be posing as an administrative assistant in the Department of Anaesthesiology. Use this position to make connections and find the information we need. Act quickly, but do not arouse suspicion. We’re counting on you, Agent Shade.

***~O~***

That briefing with her manager was nineteen days ago, making this one of Shade’s longest missions in the field to date. As one of The League’s top agents, she could normally get a job done in less than a week. But making connections within the sprawling Olympus Medical Center had proven more difficult than she thought. Although she had done hours upon hours of research to prepare for her role, she quickly found that there simply weren’t sufficient training materials for administrative assistants in any department, and she was having to do her cover job on top of trying to complete her mission as a spy. And of course, as she was making connections under the code name of Lila Morrison, Shade could never let on her true identity or what had really led her to start “working for” Olympus Medical Center.

The days had settled into a sort of rhythm. Each day, Shade would complete her administrative tasks as quickly as possible and then spend the rest of her time going to various meetings on campus, meeting as many doctors and administrators and other people as she could. So far she’d gained a lot of insight into how Olympus Medical Center functioned and who the highest powers in the organization were, but she had not yet managed to get close to any of them. Today wasn’t looking like it would be any more fruitful than the past several days, and there weren’t even any Grand Rounds or other conferences or social gatherings until the evenings. Discouraged, Shade decided to go to her favorite coffee shop on the medical center campus for her lunch break. The Caffeine Element was cute and trendy, located on the 15th floor of one of the medical center’s inpatient towers. The windows offered sweeping views of the medical center campus and the city beyond. If nothing else, it would be a nice mental break from trying to gain access to sensitive files in the hospital computer systems.

As soon as Shade entered The Caffeine Element, everything around her slowed to a screeching halt. Her attention was captured by a stunning brunette woman alone in a booth next to a window. The indirect sunlight brought out warm highlights in her long, wavy locks and made her skin almost seem to glow. Her brown eyes closed as she savored a sip of the steaming liquid in the porcelain cup she held in both hands. Shade’s heart thundered in her chest. She’d never reacted to a potential target like this before.

Of course, Shade recognized this bombshell from her pre-mission research: Carmen Peralta, age thirty-five, assistant to the Department Chair of Neurology at Olympus Medical Center. The photos in the dossier showed that Carmen was pretty, but no one looks good in their work photos, and Shade doubts anything could have prepared her to see Carmen in person. Her good looks aside, though, Carmen was exactly the sort of person who could access the information Shade needed. Olympus was famous for its Neurology department, and so if any doctors were taking bribes or making backroom deals with politicians about research and pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, surely the Neurology chair would know about it. And everyone knew that a department chair was only as effective as their administrative assistant–in this case, Carmen.

Shade just wasn’t expecting that assistant to be drop-dead gorgeous. Most administrative assistants were the more dowdy mom or grandmother type, but not Carmen. Heat crept into Shade’s cheeks as she stole glances across the coffee shop at her target while ordering her own iced chai latte.

Snap out of it, Shade, the spy heard her manager’s voice echoing in her head. No attachments. You have a job to do. Shade tore her gaze away from Carmen to thank the barista and exchange cash for her iced chai. She took a long drink, hoping it would steady her. The familiar, creamy spiced vanilla tea spread blissfully across her tongue, but it did nothing to calm the jitters in her limbs or the racing of her heart.

The mission demands that you talk to her, Shade told herself as she slowly crossed the coffee shop, hoping that Carmen hadn’t noticed her being weird. Fortunately for Shade, Carmen seemed to be engrossed in staring out the window, watching other diners in the rooftop garden and the clouds chasing each other through the blue dome of the sky.

“Hi, um…” Shade began as she approached Carmen’s table. Her voice stuck in her throat and she swallowed hard as Carmen turned to face her. Shade’s knees nearly buckled under Carmen’s bright gaze and slight smile. Gods, she’s even more beautiful up close, Shade thought, trying not to panic

 “Is this seat taken?” she asked, doing her best to be suave and unbothered as she gestured to the bench across from Carmen.

“It’s yours now,” Carmen replied with a dazzling smile. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Maybe? My name is Lila Morrison. I just started as an admin assistant in anaesthesiology a couple weeks ago.” The lies rolled easily off Shade’s tongue as she focused on the painting hanging above Carmen’s seat. “And you are…?”

“Carmen Peralta. I work in Neurology. Welcome to Olympus.” Carmen took another sip of her coffee. Shade’s stomach clenched. If this medical center was Olympus, Carmen was definitely Aphrodite.

“Neurology? Wow, that must be intense. Are you a physician, or–”

“Heavens, no!” Carmen laughed. “I could never make it through medical school, let alone residency and fellowship and boards and all that. I’m the assistant to the department chair.”

“Oh, wow. So you’re a very important person, then–even more important than a physician. I’m honored that you’re letting me share a table–”

“Oh, please! I’m not that important. I mostly just manage Dr. Kavorian’s schedule and appointments and stuff….” 

Carmen’s laugh sounded like a chorus of angels to Shade. The spy wanted to focus on the mission, but she knew she was in trouble. For a moment she considered calling for backup, but then her pride strengthened her resolve. She couldn’t let The League down.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I’ve been rambling on and on again,” Carmen said. She must have been talking while Shade was distracted by the ridiculous idea of calling for backup. “What is it you do for anaesthesiology?”

“To be honest, I’m still figuring that out,” Shade answered with a nervous laugh of her own. “I’ve worked as an administrative assistant in other places, but this medical center is…unique.”

“That’s for sure. It took me months to figure out my job. I’m sure you’ll be flourishing in no time. Have you joined the Administrative Professionals network here yet? It’s a great place to find a mentor and make connections.”

Shade sent a silent prayer to whatever gods might be listening for help. Not only was Carmen insanely attractive, but she was so nice too! “No, I haven’t, but I’ll make a note of that. Thank you so much!”

“Of course. No reason everyone has to struggle like I did when I got here.”

“What would you say is the most challenging part of your job, as the assistant to a department chair?” Shade did her best to turn on her charm, despite the butterflies in her stomach that made it impossible for her to enjoy her iced chai. She had to get Carmen talking about mission-related things, had to try to focus. The conversation was going great so far, but Shade’s manager was getting impatient for results.

“Well, Dr. Kavorian travels a lot, so that makes a lot of the logistics tricky. He has so many commitments, you know–in house faculty meetings, speaking engagements here and abroad, his teaching of residents and fellows, and of course his research projects. I must spend half my time on grant applications and coordinating logistics for his research lab.”

“That sounds like quite a lot to manage. Can I ask what his research is focused on? I don’t have the skills for medical school, but neuroscience has always interested me.”

Carmen’s expression turned guarded for a second, but then her bright smile returned. “I believe it’s to do with neurodegenerative disorders–things like Alzheimer’s and dementia. But all that science jargon goes over my head most of the time. You’re welcome to come to Dr. Kavorian’s Grand Rounds presentation next Thursday, though! It’s at noon in the heart hospital auditorium. Maybe you’ll be able to get more out of it than I will.”

“Will you be there?”

“Oh yes, I have to be in order to run the virtual component of the meeting.”

“Then I’d be happy to attend.” Shade gave Carmen her most charming megawatt smile. It worked; for a moment, Carmen blushed and looked away. “Does Dr. Kavorian have any other speaking engagements coming up?”

“Yes, but they’re all abroad until then. Conferences in the UAE and Norway this time. That’s why I’m here, actually. When he’s out of the office, I get to take my lunch someplace other than my desk. I’m glad I picked here today. It’s so lovely outside.”

Finally, there was some of the information Shade has been looking for. The UAE was a prime suspect for illicit dealings within the Olympus Medical Center. I have to keep her talking about things like that, Shade told herself.

“It truly is a beautiful day. But autumn is the best time of year for travel, too, I think. Do you coordinate the travel arrangements for trips like this?”

“Every time. After lunch I need to make the reservations for his trip to South Korea next month. Always an adventure.”

“I can only imagine. I don’t get to do anything that interesting. So far it’s mostly been digitizing our archives while they try to get me trained for other tasks.”

“Oh, you poor dear! One of my friends was stuck doing that with Neurology’s records. Took her months, but they’re all on the shared drive now, and beautifully organized. Nelly always does such a good job.”

Perfect, Shade noted. I’ll be going through that later, then, if I can find my way into Neurology’s shared drive. I’m sure I have the credentials for it somewhere in my dossier from The League.

“Maybe I’ll connect with her for pointers. If you’d be willing to put me in touch with her, that is.”

“Of course! I’m always happy to help a fellow administrator.” Carmen’s warm smile made Shade’s insides melt. “I’m actually having dinner with Nelly tomorrow night. Would you like to join us?”

“I’d be happy to.” The words were out of Shade’s mouth before she could stop herself. Yep, she was in trouble, all right. Big trouble. But all the same, Carmen was exactly the connection she needed to complete her mission. Maybe, just this once, a connection could come with a tiny little attachment–as a treat. And as long as Shade was able to keep her real identity hidden from Carmen, what could possibly go wrong?