“Agent Tom!” the colonel yelled in his usual tone.

“What?”

“We have a mission for you. The Koreans are attempting to break in to the network.”

“You sure it’s not the Chinese? I didn’t think the DPRK was that sophisticated.”

“The boys down in IT can handle those punks. The Koreans are using something new. It could be anything from alien technology to pigeons pecking pachyderms. Intelligence doesn’t know. Given that its power is on the same order as yours, they don’t want to risk discovery.”

“Alliteration doesn’t suit you.”

“As you know, refusal isn’t an option.”

“That’s why you have me a half-mile underground, in the middle-of-nowhere, with guard stations pointing in both directions and mechanical locks.”

“You do you’re country proud, Agent.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll send you an email when I’m done.”