Colonel Chapter 1

"Colonel, that geek you have working in the Bio lab. AKA One Adrian Brenner, is two sandwiches short of a picnic. Please explain to me why the hell you’re letting him run loose. And with elevated access privileges to boot.”
The man sighed, smoothing his hair with his hand.
"Mind if I sit?"
The Colonel settled back in his chair, the soft leather folding around him.
"No. Please, feel free." He waved absently at the chair in front of his desk.
"Care for a drink?”
He reached for the decanter on his desk and poured a copious amount of the golden fluid into a glass.
The man shook his head. "No, Colonel, I don't want a drink. I want some answers."
The Colonel swirled the Scotch in his glass. "First things first Beckett. It is Beckett is it not? Or is that simply the name you’re using while you here?"
Beckett shifted position, leaning slightly forward.
"It’s Agent Becket, and with all due respect sir, that is all that you need to know. Moreover you would also do well to remember that I'm here representing the Bureau's oversight committee."
The Colonel took a healthy pull from his drink.
"And you, sir, would do well to remember that I am in charge here.”
"That, Colonel, yet remains to be seen."
The two men stared across the desk at each other.
"Fair enough, Agent Beckett, and I think there's something you should know."
"Sir."
"Well, for starters I don't give a rat’s ass who you represent."
The Colonel drained his glass. "I'm curious, how did you find out about Brenner?”
Agent Beckett gripped the arms of the chair. “I wasn't 100% sure until now. So it is true. You're holding Adrian Brenner, as impossible as that may seem. Since for all intents and purposes Brenner, his handler, and two agents were killed in a car crash two years ago while in route to a holding facility."
The Colonel scoffed, "Holding facility, call it what it is Agent Beckett. Jail.
He poured another drink. "The accident. Yes that was rather messy, very difficult to arrange. We didn't find out the route until it was well underway. They hit an oil tanker I believe. Bodies burned beyond recognition. Sure you don't want a drink? This is very, very old Scotch, quite expensive."
Beckett shook his head. "Let’s stay on topic Colonel. You admit to sending in an extraction team to retrieve Brenner.”
"Yes, Agent Beckett, I sent in a team to pick up Brenner. Do I need to elaborate further?"
"In point of fact Colonel, yes you do. I, for one, do not believe you wipe your ass without orders, and I sure as hell don't believe you have the balls, the initiative, or the means to get the intel and resources necessary to order a hit on a transport team."
The Colonels left eye twitched. “I believed you to be reasonably intelligent, Agent Beckett. Save for that nasty streak of morality, unusual for a man in your line of work, and the holier than thou bullshit NOT unusual for a man in your line of work. But to walk in here with unfounded allegations...”
Beckett interrupted, "Speaking of bull-shit, save yours for the inquiry Colonel, I wasn't finished. You said earlier ‘We didn't find out the route until it was well underway.’ Who is we? Who was behind this? Who ordered you to bring Brenner here, then gave him free rein with unlimited resources.”

Beckett clasped his hands behind his head. “If I were you, Colonel, I'd start cooperating fully. Otherwise I'm going to introduce you to some very unpleasant people who will see to it that you do.”
"You can ask." The Colonel rubbed his hands together. Two heavily muscled men, both topping seven feet and dressed in full Tactical gear stepped into view. Both held weapons at the ready.
A smile played across the Colonels face as he stared at the barrel of the 9mm aimed at his chest. "Well played Agent Beckett, you show promise."
"Send the Neanderthals from the isle of misfit humans away Colonel, or prepare to meet your maker.”
"My maker? Neanderthals?” The Colonel laughed, and shook his head, “I didn't think you had such a sense of humor Agent Beckett. But what the hell, it’s not like you’re going to leave here in any condition to carry tales out of school. An unfortunate accident maybe, and here I was just getting used to you hanging about.”
“Pity.” The Colonel rubbed his chin. The men disappeared into the shadows.
Beckett raised his weapon then, with his free hand, rubbed his chin.
"I'm assuming this means you just told Itchy and Scratchy to hold their position.”
The Colonel sighed, “Seems I keep underestimating you Agent Beckett. So close, but you were only half right.”
Beckett winced as a tiny dart struck him in the neck. "Son of a bitch!” He pulled out the dart then dropped it onto the desk. "This tears it, you’re toast!"
The Colonel held up his hand, “Easy Agent Beckett, you'll be fine."
"Fine? One of your flunkies just shot me. You have exactly one second to tell me what was in the dart!"
“To answer your question, part one. I believe you now have a Micro-Bot into your system"
“A Micro-Bot? What the hell is that?"
"Not a big Sci-Fi fan, I see. Does the term Nano-bot help any?”
Beckett grimaced "Yea, it does. I'm a closet Trekker at heart. Is that what you have that wack-job Brenner working on? Inventing little robots,” He paused, “That do what exactly?”
"That depends.” The Colonel held out his hand.
Beckett tossed him the dart. The Colonel caught, then turned it about.
"Let’s see, yellow on this side. That means you now have a tracer,” He looked across the desk. “That's a tracking device, floating around inside you.”
"I know what the hell a tracer is."
The Colonel continued, "I wasn't sure, given that you appear to be long on talk, and short on imagination. Maybe it’s the other way around. And here,” He shook his head in mock concern. Part two."
"Here on this side we have the color Green. Congratulations you have one of the deluxe models. Seems you pissed off ...what was it you said earlier? Oh right, that geek.. Seems your little Bot is also equipped with a Neurotoxin." "Good thing he sent this before you came out with wack job."
He dropped the dart onto the desk. "The Neurotoxin is quite lethal.” His voice hardened. “Best start behaving or..." he made a slashing motion across his throat.
Beckett flinched but kept his weapon steady. "Maybe I should save some time and blow your freaking head off before any poison hits my system."
The Colonel reached for his monitor. "May I?"
Without waiting for an answer he turned it towards Beckett. The view onscreen showed the room, the desk, and at least fifteen green crosses, throughout the entire area which included one sitting in Beckett's chair.
"For the most part, each one of those crosses is holding a weapon.” The Colonel picked up his drink. "There are many ways to die Agent Beckett."
Becket flipped the gun around and handed it to the Colonel.
The Colonel took the weapon then gestured towards the far wall.
“Watch and learn Agent.”
One of the green crosses moved, and within seconds was standing at the desk.
Beckett eyed the man warily. Like the others he had seen earlier, the man stood just shy of seven feet, black shirt straining against a heavily muscled torso. The dark eyes were unreadable.
The Colonel addressed the room. "This is only a test."
Taking casual aim, he fired the weapon. The man’s body jerked from the impact, but remained standing as the bullet struck him in the shoulder. Two more rounds were fired with the same results.
The Colonel waved the man away then stretched out his arm, handing the gun to Beckett. "Keep it. As you can see it, doesn't matter in the long run."
"This is Brenner's doing?" Beckett returned the gun to its holster.
"I'll assume that question is rhetorical Agent Beckett." The Colonel sipped his Scotch. "That means..."
"Cut the shit Colonel, I know what rhetorical means."
Beckett reached for the decanter.
“I'll have that drink now.”