The saga prior....
Somewhere in Washington
It is mid October
It is night, at the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. A figure sits on a bench looking out over the reflecting pool. He is sipping orange juice from a carton through a straw.
Another, younger man comes to the seat and sits down next to him
"Do you remember Nam" the older man asked
"Not really sir, that was ancient history" replied the younger man
The older man sucked on the straw of his oranges juice. It gave a gurgling sound, as the orange juice ran out, and he started to suck on air.
The older man then explained his reference "During the Vietnam campaign, one of the threats came from the Viet Com. South Vietnamese who sympathised with the communists. It was hard to tell who was foe and who was friend."
"A bit like the insurgents today in Iraq" the younger man replied.
"Precisely" replied the older man and got up and started to walk toward the Vietnam war memorial.
The old man paused as he looked at the names of those who had died in that conflict.
The younger man waited and coughed
"Yes"
"Sir, it is confirmed, Sky Guard traced the gateway to London, England"
"And Second life and the World of Warcraft?"
"Yes sir, they confirmed multiple avatars with no corresponding IP addresses"
The older man turned round to face the younger man.
"I hate overseas operations, can the Brits be trusted"
"Well sir" started the younger man, "they are our closest allies"
The older man sniffed and placed the empty carton in a trash can. "We need to send one of our guys" he then said
"I can be on a flight tomorrow" the younger man replied
"No son, not you"
"But who, the terms of the agreement means that we get to have an observer since the intrusion was in the Brits territory"
"I know, but I want to send someone, so they are out of the way of other projects we have here in DC"
"Is it who I think you are thinking of" The younger man asked
"Yes, and perhaps his partner, he got too close to other operations last time. And besides, I trust the Brit in charge of their end, to take any appropriate action, should he be a further problem"
The younger man then handed the elder man a file. The older man took it and leafed through it. If he was shocked by any of the contents, he never showed it.
"It's all there, the British police reports, the GCHQ logs. Everything" said the younger man.
"In deed it is" said the elder man, and took from his coat pocket another carton of orange juice. He took the straw from the side and poked it through the hole at the top and begun drinking from it.
"I think" he started, "We need to take some people in for questioning"...