condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
attending the meetings that were designed to try and avert the unthinkable. Union
representatives from outside would float in and out of the establishment making it
difficult at times to comprehend who was who. For this reason he wasn't
surprised when a man wearing a dark blue mackintosh walked into his small testroom
and closed the door behind him.
He was extremely thin, a deathly pallor to his skin, the bony angulations of his
face perfectly outlined. His shoes were petite and the picture of an oversized
ventriloquist’s dummy sprang into Will’s mind. The face however was not smiling,
only taut and severe. Will, about to open the conversation was cut short.
“You’re Will Brenner aren’t you?”
The phrase echoed deep into his past, right back to the contact made by the
correspondent on the ship in Algiers, and it always carried the same connotation,
like a chess player's gambit.
"Yes, I'm Will Brenner. What can I do for you?"
"Nothing at the moment. But you know where I'm from don't you?"
"Yes I do." Will was quelling the rising fear mixed with antagonism. He had to
keep control over his feelings until he knew more about what was developing.
"What's your name and what have you come for then?"
The thin man ignored the last part of Will's question. "We've studied your
dossier from Australia and thought it time to make contact."
Will remembered Margaret's warning to him about contacting the organization
in the U.K. "Are you the contact then?"
"No, there won't be a contact, you'll just follow instructions."
Will's brain was working overtime trying to assess what was happening and
it was becoming plain to him that they were probably going to adopt a policy of
keeping him isolated. If that turned out to be true he would not have the luxury of
being able to make arrangements or negotiate himself through a particular episode,
as he had been used to in Australia. He would be back to square one as in the
Aden incident days. It was a disturbing thought.
"What if I don't want to follow instructions?"
The thin man moved closer to emphasis his point. "After all these years you
know the answer to that." Will felt at a complete disadvantage, how much of his
past did this man know? His visitor turned on his heel and opened the door to
leave. He didn't even turn his head to deliver a parting remark. "You'll be hearing
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