Anthony J Kemp
Lieutenant Major John Harris was sitting at his desk on the twenty-third floor of the Astor Central Processing Building. He was busy classifying documents for levels of security clearance before entering them into the main archives. On his computer screen flashed the mail icon. Normally you have to open the icon to see your mail; high priority mail, however, flashes up instantly in red. The message flashed up in red. Messenger arriving. Harris was still looking at the message wondering what it meant when the doors at the far end of the large office opened with a rattle. A courier entered, followed by two of the station’s security guards. It seemed to take forever for the three men to walk the whole length of the room to where Harris was sitting. Naturally, all activity in the room stopped as everyone watched the three men to see where they were going. Eventually, the men came to a halt by Harris's desk. They stood in silence towering over Harris. Not that they were particularly tall, it was just that Harris was still sitting. “Lieutenant Major John Harris,” said the courier. “That’s me,” said Harris. “Identity,” said the courier. Harris fumbled out his identity card from his jacket, which was hanging from the back of his chair. He gave it to the courier, who showed it to each of the guards in turn to confirm the identity. The courier handed back the card, opened a small pouch he was carrying and pulled out a yellow envelope with two red stripes around it. Up to this point, you could have heard a pin drop in the office, suddenly a whisper went around the room. Messages did not come any more important than yellow with two red stripes. The courier handed Harris the envelope. Harris took the envelope and turned it over in his hand. On the back was an electronic seal. Harris found his identity card again and placed the gold corner of it in a small slot in the seal. It immediately snapped open. Harris slid out the single piece of paper. Another whisper started to run arou
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