The Fist of Simla
Chapter 1
The sun beat down on the Shang Simla marketplace. There was the chatter of voices and the chaos of many paths crossing. The marketplace was in the midst of one of its busier days.
That would be helpful. The last thing she wanted was to draw attention.
She slipped easily in and out of the crowd and into a shop that no locals seemed to have an interest in.
"Would you care to see some relics, my dear?" the merchant asked her only customer.
"I'm looking at one right now," came the sharp-tongued response.
"Okay, wise cracker, enough with your wit," the merchant replied lightheartedly, "your instructions are on the laptop." Turning, the customer found that a laptop had appeared on the table behind her while they'd been speaking.
"You know," the witty customer said in a casual tone, "if this whole spy thing doesn't work out for you, you could always become a magician."
Smiling, the merchant said, "Didn't I already say that was enough of your wit, Babs?"
"No, seriously," she continued, "you could do birthday parties, bat mitzvahs...how are you at balloon animals?" and then the conversation trailed off as she pulled up her assignment on the laptop.
Agent BPM-The Fist of Simla must be obtained. Item is a rare blue gem. Former possession of Emperor Chang. Buried with him and located in the Dragon's Maw. Item is a key to gain access to catacombs beneath imperial palace. Threat to royal family. Matter of national security.
Also being sought by international jewel thief Victor Clavell and NAPS agent Demond DeCourte"Off to collect a relic?" the merchant inquired as Agent Barbara Pleasant-Mithrilen walked out of the shop.
"Yep," Babs replied, "and this one's almost as old as you."
After getting her assignment, and taking lighthearted shots at her local contact, Barbara went off to prepare.
She went to the apartment she keeps in China: her work takes her there often enough to justify the expense. She quickly changed out of her local and attire and into something more suited for tomb exploration.
That's when her phone rang.
"Hello, Mum," she said, clicking her phone on.
"Finally!" came the reply. "I've been trying to get ahold of you all morning."
"Mum, you know I don't always get cell service when I'm traveling."
"Oh yes, I know," came the response, "the busy life of a traveling saleswoman. I can't believe my daughter gets to travel the world for a living."
As the conversation, full of pleasantries and the care of a concerned mother, continued, Barbara found herself idly pondering the backstory the agency had created for her.
The story about her career kept her family from asking questions. That was important to Babs. The less her family knew, the less likely they were to feel the repercussions of her real job. Barbara had been approached as a teen by representatives from the SIA: Sims Intelligence Agency.
With another promise to be safe and careful and another, "I love you," being said, Barbara clicked her phone off.
She liked knowing that she was making the world a safer place.
She liked feeling like she was making a difference.
She didn't like lying to her family.
She never got a chance to tell her father the truth.
She was living a lie with what she was telling her mother and siblings.
She'd make it up to them one day.
Not today though. Today, she had things to do.
