Book one.Chapter 6

-Chapter 6

"And on another note, it seems rather strange to me that there is not even a viral video spreading on the internet of a man in a toga single handedly destroying US drones with his bare hands. Any reason why there was no media coverage at all during what I thought was supposed to be another press conference held by Mr. Victory?"

"I might have a source that can get that information, Mr. President." said one of the suits on the monitors. It was the director of CIA.

"How about another glass there, vicar?" said Jim, glass extended.

"Do you really plan on getting drunk off of sacramental wine?" said Alfonzo, hesitating.

"What. Are you a holy man or something?" replied Jim, taking the bottle himself.

"So. A subsidiary of the United Nations with the simple, and-no offense- laughable goal of gaining and maintaining world peace." said Alice, trying to get off the subject of booze. "How did this all start up?"

"After the Korean War, dreamers within the United Nations, wanting to see more results out of a supposed league of world leaders, began funding for a task force to provide peace keeping nations military aid. In those days, it certainly was a laughable cause. Yet this was only because there were so few nations investing in it. Those days, I was only a key consultant on many issues that the task force was still unable to resolve due to lack of interest by key world leaders and total investment, in addition to the lack of formal training." said Alfonzo.

"I would have figured America would have been plenty capable of funding, and running such an organization on their own." said Alice, taking a sip of the wine herself.

"Problem was, neither the U-S of A, or any other major world power saw the need in it until the resurgence of the Cold War in 1983. I was just coming out of diapers then, but my mentor was the first American on the team." said Jim, downing his glass to fill it up again. "It was just my luck that things didn't get really serious with Reagan's E50 until I stepped in. It was Operation Desert Storm, and it sure would have been a lot uglier if Australia didn't send in their operative as well."

"I was assistant director those days, under Mr. Reagan." said Alfonzo.

Jim then looked to the Dutchman.

"Makes me wonder where this guy was during all of that."

The Dutchman responded with his same smile, and a "Smokey dokey" before walking out.

"Mr. Reagan had assigned him to monitor all flights going through mainland North Asia ever since the crisis with that particular Korean airliner during his presidency." said Alfonzo.

"Sure. Leave everything in the sand box up to the Aussie and the American. I see the logic."

"Now that you mention your Australian friend, I should say that Mr. Herd has been doing fairly well as of late."

"So he's told me. He's been giving the Ruskies hell over in the Ukraine, so he says. Too bad he won't get the credit for it." said Jim, raising his glass in honor.

"Which brings us to our next operation, including you Miss Fujieda, assuming you are still willing to operate with E50?" said Alfonzo, looking to the binary woman.

"As long as it eventually leads to the end of Serene Corporation. I can guess well enough that your top priority right now is dealing with Victory. To be honest, I'm not sure if I want to stop him. It seems to me as though he could single handedly take them down." replied Alice, rubbing a finger along the edge of her glass.

"Then again, there's no telling if that freak won't just rebuild Serene as something even more dangerous. You can count me in." she said at length.

"Very well. You will be grouping with Mr. Herd-"

"I believe we took to calling him Boomerang Bill." Jim chimed in.

"You will be grouping in Ukraine with Mr. Herd to assist him in recruiting Dr. Alexey Volden Junior."

"You mean, the son of the late Dr. 'Apocalypse' Volden?" Jim said, now aghast.

"The very same." Alfonzo affirmed.

"You want me to help recruit the son of a man that would have committed worldwide genocide for the sake of a forever Soviet Russia had my mentor not been authorized by Reagan and Gorbachov both to end him?" reiterated Jim before his cell phone went off. The ring tone was Iron Maiden "Run to the Hills."

"And speaking of my mentor, I have to take this." said Jim, answering the phone and stepping out of the room.

"There's a little, what would you say, animosity I sense between James and this Volden?" said Alice.

"As he stated, his mentor, who is the current covert director of the CIA, was the one who personally carried out the eventually successful assassination of former Dr. Volden Senior." said Alfonzo.

"They were desperate times, not unlike now," he continued, "yet still saturated of situations where split decisions decided the fate of entire countries, and in some cases the world. Dr. Alexey Volden was a Soviet chemist that made many breakthroughs in scientific studies involving chemical breakdowns. His first notable work was a potential cure for cancer. However, he became a very desperate man when the USSR was on the verge of collapse and the threat of the West became all the more vocal in President Reagan, God rest his soul."

"Isn't it enough that the man is dead?" said Alice, with a judging eye toward the direction of Jim. Alfonzo sighed, staring at the wine bottle, thinking how best to explain.

"For some, their scarred emotions cause them to view these times as being no less desperate than the times passed. Volden Senior came to find out that even Gorbachev marked him for death. In the true desperation of the man betrayed by his own ruler, he took matters in his own hands. And after discovering who it was that would take his life, Volden Senior sent a dose of his chemical deviance to the very door of the man's family. The intended result was for James' mentor, Mr. Bergeron to reconsider following through with his orders. He was en route, and was uninformed of the incident until after he had seen Volden breath his last."

"Naturally, the son has to carry on the legacy of the father."

"In truth, there is no telling how much of that legacy carries on with Volden Junior." said Alfonzo.

"That seems rather, eh, presumptuous to think that he would carry the same views as his father. No matter the personal vendetta. Unless his devotion to preserving his country as he saw it was a genetic condition, I see no reason to harbor such resentment for someone who happens to be his son." argued Alice.

"It is not officially known whether Volden Junior is of the same mindset of his father. What is known is that he inherited the studies of his father by the will left behind by Volden Senior. That, and now he has the same qualifications his father did before he died." Alfonzo said, changing tone. "There is hope in the fact that he is in Ukraine, not Russia. And from what Mr. Herd reports, he is not affiliated with the Russia. What he could provide is a way to deal with Victory, taking care of one side of this conflict to make more room to consider how to deal with the other."

"I hate to cut and run, but duty calls in Mother USA." said Jim, entering the room once more.

"Perhaps it's for the best?" Alice insisted insouciantly.

"Yeah, well. I'll be missing you too, sweetheart." replied Jim with the same nonchalance. He then walked closer to Alice with one more thing to say. "By the way, your English is fantastic. And my head is fine now."

"I'll be expecting a written report of your findings in Okinawa." Alfonzo mentioned as Jim made his way out the door.

"I'll have plenty of time to finish it on my flight-by plane this time- back to America." Jim said over his shoulder. He stopped and turned for a moment more. "You may want to debrief her on that as well, since she's that Japanese stow away who conked me out before I could get much more than what I gave you already."

Well after leaving, the Dutchman returned to the room with a bottle of bourbon in one hand and a box of cigars in the other. He was quite heartbroken to find that Jim had left without partaking.

"So, how did you become the leader of E50?" Alice asked Alfonzo.

"It was Mr. Colin Powell who endorsed me as director of the task force. He was even the one who suggested the name. He had turned down being director himself after he started taking more publicized roles for American world policy."