Commendeered Fishing Boat
West Nile
December 24th, 2008

Two unconscious bodies in the bow, and a semi-reliable local at the helm, Special Agent Terrence Hemmerschmidt was not feeling overly confident about the mission. Then again, he hadn’t felt enthusiastic from the start.

Assist a mysterious assassin, about whom we have no information. This shouldn’t involve killing anyone outright, but it may require running interference against a U.S. special forces team. And your budget is laughable.

Sure, they didn’t say laughable, but they might as well have. CIA policy seemed any more to be see how much an agent can do with how little. “Testing your mettle,” they’d say, while padding their own slush funs.

The sun crept up over the horizon, spilling brilliant gold up the Nile’s stoic waters. In the distace Kharoum waited, brimming with people, heavy laden with potential disaster.

His guide piped up, “We turn around now? Last chance.”

“We go, hell and high water and all that.”