Chapter 30



Friday morning, Richard and I were at the courthouse early. We had gotten close to a deal with the government that I could actually live with. Just a couple things were wrong with it. It had me moving to a place of "safety", with the government being in charge of said safety. And they refused to say where I would be moving to.

Another thing is, they wanted me wired 24/7. There was no way. They did agree to return my passport if I allowed them to have me under surveillance anywhere I went; and, I had to clear my trips in advance. Right, and pigs fly.

We were sipping coffee in the courthouse coffee shop. I did have an edge, in that I had read what the judge would be deciding today. I did want to give the government one more shot at a fair deal, which was why I had told my attorney that they could try for one final time this morning, before court.

We were on our second cup of coffee when the attorneys for the government entered, looked around and spotted us. They came to our table and sat across from us.

"Thank you for seeing us, Mr. Wilshire. We hope we can come to an acceptable deal before the judge rules this morning. Let me say at the outset we are confident that it is going our way, but we are willing, no, eager to have you working for us willingly.

"Here is our final offer, good until we walk into the courtroom. Give us your time once a month, we provide protection, but loosely. You can stay at your home, but we have to know where you are every minute of the day. It is for your protection sir," the government attorney offered.

"Well... Tell you what. I will give you a counter offer, good 'till we enter the courtroom. I will retain my home, provide my own security. I will do two jobs a year for the government. I will do one additional job, per year, that is under emergency type conditions. And you have to convince me it is a legitimate emergency, and not just the government wanting spying done. I want my passport returned. I do not want escorts to my destinations. I want the semblance of a normal life," I said and took a sip of coffee.

We dickered a bit back and forth until it was time to head to the courtroom. I allowed that they could check out my security arrangements, and a couple of other minor concessions (approved by my attorney, of course). We all got up and walked out the coffee shop to the elevator together. As we approached the courtroom door I gave the government attorneys a parting shot.

"By the way, I know I am going to win, because I cheated. I used my ability last night, and peeked at which way the judge was going to rule. I read his decision," I said and winked at them.

We entered the courtroom together, and I could feel the government attorneys staring at me. Richard and I went to our table and sat, waiting for the judge to enter the chamber, which was a short wait.

"All rise. All persons to hear the case of Tom Wilshire versus the US Government draw nigh and be heard, the honorable judge..." and in walked the judge.

As he sat the government's head attorney jumped to his feet and made a request.

"Your honor, the government would like to withdraw its counter claim against Mr. Wilshire, pending his agreeing to the terms of an arrangement he made with us just this morning in the coffee shop," the attorney said.

The judge peered at him, then looked at me.

"I take it there were last minute negotiations going on?" The judge said with a quirk to his mouth.

"Yes, your honor. My client tendered a final solution to our mutual problem, which appears to satisfy the government," Richard said in fine old lawyer double-speak.

"I take it the government is satisfied with this arrangement?" The judge asked?

"It is the best that we can do, and have both parties agree, your honor," the government's lawyer answered.

"Very well. I am dismissing both sides claims, and this case is dismissed," the judge said, banging his gavel.

We all rose, and the government's head attorney walked to our table.

"Do you want to meet at our office to sign a contract, or your attorneys office, Mr. Wilshire?" I was asked.

"Suppose you and my attorney iron out the details, as you both know them as well as I do. By the way, for payment, I want to be tax exempt. My income is to be non taxable by the federal government from the day I sign the contract," I said, and waved to them.

I went home and celebrated. I had pulled a fast one on the feds, and gotten away with it! I laughed and laughed until tears ran down my cheeks. I had, in fact, read the judges report. While a person's rights were guaranteed, in today's climate of international terrorism, and due to the fact that my ability had been publicly revealed, and with the threats I had received regarding my special ability; the judge was going to grant the government's motion and order of protection. It was for my own safety. The judge hoped I would come to appreciate the service the government was doing for me.

Well, it was true. I didn't lie to the government lawyer. I did win, after all, just as I said. Was it my fault they misunderstood how I was going to win? They let me win, because they did not feel as confident in their case as they pretended to be.

Schmucks!

I grinned at the word. It was one my dad used, along with schnook. Both words were meant to express contempt, dislike, and mistrust about someone. Good words, even though we aren't Jewish. I had not heard them used since my father died. I sighed with the memory.

It wasn't until Wednesday of the following week that my attorney said he had the documents ready. He said had gone over everything with a fine-toothed comb, and a mine detector. I grinned at that. I drove to his office, and we called the government's rep to come witness, and to sign for his side. By one that afternoon, I was a bona fide government employee, albeit a reluctant one. But I had dealt myself a very cushy work schedule. The reason it took so long to get the contract finished, was the term: emergency.

The government had a habit of terming most things an emergency, and they had wanted to keep me active during, "emergencies". My lawyer deleted most of it, and added protection for me in it, but we did sign.

After the signing, everyone got copies, and we all shook hands. I was told I would be given a special ID, and I would be contacted in the near future. Richard escorted them out and we sat.

"You're doing the right thing," Richard said to me.

"Not really. The right thing would be no interference from my government. The right thing is, I could live as I chose to without government interest and spying on me or trying to control me or my movements," I said bitterly.

He looked puzzled. "Tom, you won? No need to be so angry. You did well," Richard said.

So I told him the whole thing, including reading the judge's decision. When I finished he got the most peculiar look on his face, and then started laughing! He kept laughing and I finally started laughing, too. We laughed and laughed.

"Damn, Tom!" Richard finally gasped out. "you should have been a lawyer!" Which set us off again.

Finally we calmed down, and I left. I went to my office, and it was strange not to have frik and frak following me. That didn't mean I relaxed my watching. I still kept an eye out. I thought I saw someone who was a likely candidate, but he turned off before I got too nervous.

Still, it left me a bad taste. I vowed to call Rachael, and get a detail to follow me from now until I was more relaxed. I don't know why I always thought of Rachael when I got into a problem. Rachael was not in charge of protection, she was in charge of investigations, but I always turned to her.

I was eating breakfast a couple days later when my doorbell rang. I looked at the clock on the wall. 7:30AM? Who the hell would come calling this early? I set my knife and fork down, and went to answer the door.

I looked through the peephole. It was no one I knew. I rolled my shoulders, and changed stances a bit, and opened the door.

"Yes?" I said as I opened the door.

"Ah, Mr. Wilshire. I am Theodore Whisper. I am your new controller from the CIA. Pleasure to meet you, and it is going to be interesting to work with you sir," he said, shaking my hand.

He was a man of medium build, height, and nondescript features. He was the type of man who could blend in, anywhere. He was carrying what appeared to be a sample case of some sort. It was bulky.

"May I come in? The quicker we get started, the faster I'm out of here, which I heard would please you," he said, and came in as I moved aside.

"I was just having breakfast, would you care for something?" I asked politely.

"No thank you, Tom. May I call you Tom? We are going to be closely associated from now on," he said.

I led him to the living room and gestured at the couch.

"Well, it's my name, so you can call me Tom. How do I address you? Theodore? Mr. Whisper? Controller?" I asked with a smile.

"I like to be called Theo, or Theodore. Please, finish your breakfast, I can wait," Theodore said to me.

I went back to the kitchen table where I had elected to eat this morning, and wolfed down my breakfast.

"Would you like some coffee?" I asked from the doorway to the living room.

"Yes, thank you. I take it with one even spoon of sugar," he said. Like I was going to put anything in his coffee for him. I poured him a cup, got a sugar bowl and spoon, and put them all on a tray.

"Here you go. Self serve in my house. Help yourself," I said, gesturing at the tray I had placed on the coffee table.

"So, what brings you here this morning?" I asked.

"As I said, I am your controller from the CIA. I thought it would be a gesture of good will on our part if I came to you, and we did the prerequisite paperwork: took the photo, got your prints, and issued your ID card all at one stop, right here," he said.

I nodded. Well, I knew something like this was going to happen. Just didn't realize it was going to be so soon, or in my own home.

After we finished our coffee, we got started. First, was a ton of paperwork. Insurance forms, a security form to fill out so they could do a background check. I raised my eyebrows at this one, and told him I was sure the government had checked me from top to bottom, by now. He just grinned.

"Ok. Payment. It is my understanding that you requested a non-taxed status from the IRS. We looked at your income tax returns for the past two years. I must say, your very well off.

"So the government can and will grant this exemption for you, but you must also consider this your pay. You get 6 figures a year easy, in interest alone. Occasionally you do something, which raises you to a 7-figure income.

"So, in lieu of payment of any type, sign this exemption form. Any monies you make throughout the year will be tax-free. The IRS will stop deductions on your interest, and any other form of income, as soon as I file this," he said.

Great! Out from under the federal money yoke. Still, I was in another type yoke, but I was hoping it would not be a heavy one. He had a 'secrets act' paper for me to sign. I balked at it.

"Take your time reading it, Tom. It does not impact on your talent so much as it asks that you not reveal publicly, or to unauthorized parties, any information you come into while doing work for the US Government," he said.

I shook my head. "I want my lawyer to tell me that's what this says. It will take him about 20 or 30 minutes to get here," I finished firmly.

"Ok, fine. Give him a call," he said with no hint of an argument. "In the meantime, we can do fingerprints, and take your photo, and I can even do the issuance of your new ID. Can I plug into your phone line?"

He had been pulling out items from that big case he'd brought. It had a digital camera, and a laptop computer. There was a little black box that was a mystery, too. I called, and Richard said he was on his way.

Theo took two pictures of me, then did a couple sets of fingerprints. He had plugged the little box into the back of the laptop, and plugged the camera in as well. Soon, there was a hum, and an ID came out of a slot on the little box.

"Special ID card. Laser printing, magnetic coding strip, and embedded items impossible to forge. This card will get you into any federal building, Tom. I would not abuse the use of this card if I were you. They are tracked very carefully, and yours more so," he said.

I looked at my new ID card. It had a clear picture of me to the right side of the card. CIA was in bold large lettering to the left of my picture, taking up the middle portion of the card. Information had been printed in little boxes above and below the printed acronym: CIA.

About this time, Richard arrived. I let him in, and I introduced him to my 'controller'. Richard got into his lawyer mode, and read everything. It took him about twenty minutes.

"Ok, Tom. This 'secrets act' is very specific, in that you will not be allowed to reveal anything of a classified nature that you discover through your work for the CIA. It is a very specific document. It's what you wanted. It's ok to sign it, Tom," Richard told me, handing it over.

It represented the last piece of paperwork to do, and I signed with a flourish.

"Welcome to the CIA, Tom. I think it's going to be interesting working with you," Theo said, shaking my hand.

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Edited by TeNderLoin

Volentrin

Chapter 31