The Mission

It was almost night. The crowds below scurried in opposite directions, in that crossover between the work crowd going home, and the entertainment crowd heading out to dinner. Getting across the city with his precious cargo undetected would be a challenge, but he could do it. Half an hour or less, without being stopped. Those were the terms. Going back to his map, he plotted out his routes. The direct way, then potential side streets and short cuts through and over buildings to avoid detection. Failure on these kinds of missions usually came down to the agent failing to think in three dimensions – staying at street level could be fatal.

From up here, he couldn’t tell individuals. No way of knowing if any of the people below would turn him in. All very important people on very important missions, no doubt, but would any of them know who he was and stop him? It would be fine if he could identify his opponents, but he didn’t know this city. Didn’t know the players involved. Except one. They knew him, though. His photo had been circulated and his appearance and skills dissected amongst the group trying to stop him.

He looked at his watch. Twenty-eight minutes left. Even if all went according to plan, it would take him at least twenty minutes to reach his destination. Time to get moving. Taking the stairs down would help avoid detection, but going down the ten flights in the lift would faster. Opting for the lift, he could only hope he didn’t get discovered at the beginning. Going down, he pulled the precious object out of his satchel. Why this was so important, he didn’t know. Putting it back again as the lift reached ground level, he grinned. Bit of fun, anyway.

As the doors opened, he confidently strode out, then doubled back behind a pillar. The young lady reading on the bench could be a plant, waiting for him to come out. Scooting around the pillar, he waited until the security guard drew her attention, then straightened up and stepped out. People were less likely to think you were suspicious if you were confident, and he walked as quickly as he dared until he had exited the building.

Pausing to orient himself, he practiced a confident nonchalance until the opportunity to cross the street presented itself. Another lesson: no matter how far you need to walk, even if your destination is on the same side of the street, cross when you can to avoid being followed. If anyone was tracking him, unsure if he was the right target, it would be much harder for them to identify him from the other side. Occasionally, you would walk right into someone you were trying to avoid, but that was the risk.

The important thing was to keep the package safe. It almost didn’t matter if he got spotted, as long as he got the package to its destination in one piece. Waiting at the lights – jaywalking drew attention – he thought he could see a suspecting expression on the face of the young lady on the other side. Looking at his watch, he tapped the face as if he had just realized he was running late for somewhere, and swiftly started walking to his left. Entering a nearly-deserted café, he snuck his hand into the satchel, running his hand over the package as he ordered a latte. No person on a mission would take the time to get a coffee, and with his back to the door, he hoped that the young lady would think she was mistaken, even if she followed him there.

Taking his coffee, he thanked the barista and ducked out the other exit of the café – if the young lady had identified him and was waiting outside, she would be waiting a while. Here was where his alternate route would come into play. If he was going to make his destination in time, he would have to get creative. Up to the rooftop of one building, the narrow gap looked just too far for him to safely jump. Unencumbered, perhaps he could make it, but not with the package weighing him down. Or with the coffee he had yet to drink. Good thing Google maps had shown a board placed across the gap. Obviously, some of the residents of the two buildings had not taken too kindly to the fence built between and found this an easier way to visit each other. Whatever their reasons, he took full advantage. Shuffling across the board, he kept his eyes on the other building. Heights were not his friend, but it would cut a few minutes off his journey, and keep his opponents at bay, if he could go over the fence instead of around. Stepping gingerly down on the other side, he took a celebratory sip of caffeine. Nice. The barista had done a good job.

Going down, he again chose the lift, but only because it gave him better opportunity to drink the coffee before it cooled. Stepping into the foyer, he was relieved to see that it was empty. He crushed the cup and dumped it in a handy bin before peering out the glass doors at the street. He was nearly at his destination. It wouldn’t do for him to be caught at this late stage due to carelessness. This particular street was almost deserted. Only one shuffling old lady, on his side of the street and going in the same direction, and one young man on the opposite side, rapidly approaching the building but headed away from the package’s destination.

He waited for the young man to go past the building before exiting and crossing the street. Little old ladies didn’t look suspicious, but that’s what made them such good observers. Just because she couldn’t take the package didn’t mean she couldn’t report his location to someone who could. Hopefully, if she was involved, she wouldn’t be able to identify him from across the street.

Ten minutes to go. What the big deal was with the timing, he wasn’t sure. The package was already two days late anyway. But that was the deal. Maybe she was just trying to avoid further penalties being imposed. Maybe she just wanted to give him a challenge. Either way, he’d accepted, so he needed to get there quickly or face penalties of his own. Crossing the street yet again, he pulled out his phone and pretended to take a picture of a flower in the gutter as an unexpected pedestrian stumbled out of a nearby alleyway. Keeping his face away, he observed the apparently drunk person out of the corner of his eye as he continued to crouch next to the flower. Drunkenness was easily feigned, and an agent could use that to get closer. Plopping down on someone’s front steps, the drunk opened a fresh bottle and started chugging.

Time to get out of here. Only a few minutes left, and if his opponents had been told his destination, the last block would be the most difficult of all. As he approached the end of the street, the quietness of the side street he’d been on was quickly overwhelmed by the light and noise of a busy main street. That could be good, or bad. More people meant better opportunities of losing yourself in the crowd, but more opportunities of the people you were trying to avoid doing the same. No matter. As long as he kept the package safe, he could make a run for it from here. As a group of well-dressed people walked past, he snuck into the fringes. They’d be less likely to find him in a group. Approaching his destination, he couldn’t help sneaking glances around to see if he was being watched.

There! Someone at the side of the courtyard, obviously scanning the crowd. Damn. That was the courtyard he needed to cross in order to deliver the package. Leaving the unwitting group behind, he pretended to examine the menu posted outside a restaurant on the edge of the courtyard. He could only spot the one person obviously watching. Every other person was part of a couple or small group, and apparently absorbed in themselves. Then he spotted his chance. A small child of around six or seven, alone and wailing, apparently lost. Crouching next to the child, he pointed to the library on the other side of the courtyard. Wouldn’t that be a good spot for your parents to find you? Sniffling and nodding, the child took his hand and they started across the courtyard. They’d made it halfway before a woman swooped in and scooped up the child, crying almost as much as their child had been. Satisfied that the child was reunited with their mother, yet slightly annoyed that his cover was lost, he continued walking. Slowly turning in a circle, pretending to observe the lights and trees of his surroundings, he suddenly bolted, running for his destination. In his peripheral vision, he noted three others running too, but too far away to catch him. Dragging the parcel out of his satchel, he thrust it into the delivery slot and barely had time to glance at his watch before being tackled to the ground.

Looking down at his girlfriend, he grinned. “Too late, sweetheart. I made it with a minute to spare. You want to pay the late fees on that book before or after we go to dinner?”