The sergeant led her through a checkpoint. They went to a large research office, and he shoved a paper at a man sitting behind the center desk. The man nodded and disappeared, returning with a long square box. He held out a hand scanner to her, and she pressed her palm to it curiously. It blinked green and he handed her the box.
“They didn’t want to put this on a commercial flight, so Assistant Director Fieldhaven requisitioned a military flight back to New York for you and Unit Director Flynn.” The man behind the desk took out a clipboard and wrote something on it. “You’re all set. The rest of the paperwork was done ahead of time.”
Arena hoped the box was what she thought. She had to balance it on her head to keep from dragging it on the ground. The sergeant led her back to a covered parking deck. Sterling waited, loaded down with two briefcases and his netbook case.
“I don’t know how you… They actually gave it to…” He lapsed into stunned silence as they were ushered into a van. He was quiet on the ride, which was quite short, mostly staring at the box. She tried not to stare at the automatic rifle of the Marine sitting across from them. They got out on a tarmac and boarded a plane. The Marine followed them with dutiful precision. She expected a military sort of plane, but found a small private jet.
When their escort wandered out of earshot, Sterling leaned over to her. “Did it go alright? What happened?”
She recounted the interview, and carefully quoted everything the three had said at the end. He frowned at that part, his eyes flashing. Unconsciously, she ran her hands over the soft leather of her seat.
“Yates has been trying to close us down since the beginning,” Sterling growled. “He just doesn’t like me, since I beat the crap out of him in all the training simulators. Hear I still have some of the high scores.”
Something had been playing in her mind, and glancing at the sergeant who sat in the jumpseat in the back of the plane, she decided to ask him. “Why did they call you Unit Director? I thought George was Director of the Misfits.”
She heard his sharp intake of breath. “I suppose that was something else Yates dropped?”
“No.” she said. “It was the guy in research.”
He deflated. “George is… Well, really, he’s a Decoy. Dr. Carlos was correct. I am the real director of the Misfits. But most of the unit doesn’t even know that.”
Arena gaped at him. “But why do you need a decoy? Surely we don’t need to pretend within the group?”
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“It wasn’t to hide it from you all. It was to protect the Misfits from people like Yates, except that his advancement meant he had to be brought in. George is more like their ideal of a unit director, and so he runs interference with the CIA. He has a lot of connections there, more than you might think.”
He looked at her plaintively. “I’m not a good leader. I’m just the smart aleck who thought of the unit. Everywhere I worked, people treated me like I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was assigned to a unit where had Yates was unit director, and he made it his mission to make my life as miserable as possible. I ended up working with Lorna on a mission, and I saw what she could do, and how her unit director didn’t utilize or even listen to her. She tried to warn him in several cases, and he deliberately ignored her. Then he tried to pin the failed results on her. So I suggested the idea of the Misfits to ADD Fieldhaven, and he let me create it. It works out for him since we’ve been rather effective, and I take the people that others complain about. But when Yates found out that I was going to transfer, he threatened to get me fired by any means possible. He’s also after Fieldhaven’s position, so Garry doesn’t like him much either.”
“George wanted to retire and spend more time with his family, but got his pension cut severely. I offered him a position acting as director of the Misfits in exchange for a lot of time away. When they go away most of the time, they aren’t on missions. They’re just at home with the grandkids. Sometimes they do a little reconnaissance or dig out information from the archives. Harriet was actually an analyst, you know? A really good one, too, at one time. But technology outpaced her and her skills became obsolete. I watch for people that have amazing talent that is underestimated. I think they often have more to offer, and are easier to work with than those with reams of ambition and not enough room to wield it. Many of the CIA brass doesn’t often give up anyone they think might be able to manipulate and use for their own advantage, but when they do have them, their talent just gets wasted.”
She sighed. “Except for me. I think I’m just an accident,” she said, then added, “And Nate.”
Arena expected Sterling to frown, but he just shook his head. “No, not ‘except’. You and Nate are irreplaceable. Just like Lorna, Bertha, George, Harriet, and even the Decoys.”
“What did Nate do to get in trouble?” she asked, dying to ask somebody.
Sterling met her eyes. “I think that’s something he should tell you himself. But I will say that he did what he thought was right, and it made his superior look bad, and he got blackballed for it. I know it might seem that I don’t like Nate very much, but I believe he’s a valuable addition to the Misfits, and we’ve been much better with him than we were before. I understand why he did what he did, and why he got in trouble for it. His former director is a nasty piece of work.” Then he regarded her sternly. “But he isn’t all he appears to be either.”
She chewed her lip. “No, but neither are you.”
A grin bloomed on his face. “No, that’s certainly true. I need to work on that, don’t I?”
“Does Lorna know? That you are director of the Misfits?” Arena remembered Lorna’s first comment about Sterling, how protective he was of the unit.
“I haven’t told her, and I don’t think anyone else has either, but Lorna figures out things, and I’ve suspected she’s known for a while.” He looked resigned. “Perhaps I need to have that conversation with everyone. Maybe it’s about time.”
