It's been a few months since Mr. Keith's recommendation to give Annette a loose rein and see what she'd do with it. What she's done has unnerved him. Her youth, exuberance, and charm combined with her skill giving people space so they don't feel pressured have become tools to open doors everywhere. She has learned that T.N.A. is a façade for a clandestine organization. She has proven discrete, always using the name Thomlinson-Nicholsby Associates and speaking of it as a law-firm, even inside the building unless the conversation dictates dropping this pretense. Even her parents still think their daughter has earned herself an internship at a prestigious D.C. law-firm and are quite proud of her! Janette, her sister, is fully aware of the truth and has proven equally discrete - even T.N.A. doesn't know that she knows! A word needs to be said about the Agency's D.C. office. The entire world, including Uncle Sam's various arms thinks that Thomlinson-Nicholsby Associates is a front for its pet secret-service contractor; kept close so they can keep an eye on it. The truth is, while Presidents, Senators, Representatives, and even the C.I.A. visit the building thinking they are in T.N.A.'s headquarters talking to its department heads and its Director, all of it is an elaborate fraud! Oh, it's all part of T.N.A. alright, but these carefully selected proxy-officers keep curious observers, congressional inspectors, and hostile operatives busy and happy while the real HQ, ensconced in mountain caverns beneath an eccentric looking mansion, is free to conduct it's business unhindered. Annette is no more aware of this than anyone else T.N.A. doesn't want to tell. The fire-wall is 100% effective. Mr. Keith's distress about Annette is completely understandable. She is officially an unsworn staff intern at T.N.A. even though she was never officially approached, interviewed, or offered the position - she simply conned her way in and now holds a valid, genuine, Thomlinson-Nicholsby identification. She has benefitted from much training that would be available only to sworn, paid agents even though she is neither sworn, paid, nor an agent. She has been trained in the use of a personal sidearm and subsequently issued one by the armorer, acting in good-faith, convinced of her legitimacy the same as the rest of the staff. She is the assistant to the secretary for the "Senior Partner" the cover-job description for the "Director" of T.N.A. here in Washington D.C. all without anyone in T.N.A. saying so, and everyone except Mr. Keith, Raquelle the researcher, and Director Upp believe she's completely legit. At least T.N.A. knows where she is, and they have inadvertently earned her loyalty - when she realized T.N.A. was more than a law-firm, she had to decide whether she believed in what they were doing. What a predicament! What to do with her? What a talent! In all seriousness, what does her future hold? What can her future hold? She can't legally be hired until she's 16, even in a law-firm. She can't be expected to work for free for two more years anyway. She certainly can't possibly be advanced in the real organization. On the other hand, she can't be issued a pistol or given a permit to carry it, but that didn't stop anyone! Stay tuned for further developments in the unfolding disaster that is T.N.A.'s youngest member! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This story begins here. The next episode is here. RodS' serial, Breitlenger Jar, can be found here.