"Welcome to Langley, Ms. Bristow."
Sydney Bristow coolly looked over the tall, elegant, conservatively dressed woman across from her in the office. She noticed a desk sign reading VANDI GRAF. The woman motioned for her to sit, than did likewise.
"I am Vandi Graf. I'm being put in charge of you. We will be managing you as a double agent within SD-6. Your coworker Marcus Dixon is already with us; you will be contacting us through him, and whenever possible, your father. Plus, I will try to make myself available."
Sydney was astounded. "You want me to stay in? With SD-6? With Sloane? After he murdered Ben?"
"I sense vengefulness. That's good. No, match that with a desire to do the most possible damage to Arvin Sloane. What do you know about the Alliance of 12?"
"Nothing, not really."
"What would you assume it to be?"
"Twelve men?"
"Mmm. It's a little more than that."
Vandi Graf reached into her desk and pulled out a great stiff sheet of paper, then steadily unfolded it. It was some kind of schematic map.
"All of this ... is the Alliance of 12. This ... " She indicated one miniscule portion of the map. " ... is SD-6. SD-6 is a vital organ of the greater entity that is the Alliance, but still only a piece of it.
"You see, European history, and with it American history, has generated a lot of secret societies over the centuries, many of these societies dealing with a conspiracy for world conquest. All these old societies seeking conquest have consolidated into the Alliance, and they have modernized somewhat with links to the East. To deal with the Alliance is to exorcise a lot of ghosts, from the Cold War and before -- but do it we must, or else what little democracy we have left will soon count for nothing. Do you begin to understand?"
"I think so, yes."
Graf sat back. "We have some ideas about the next mission that Sloane may send you on ... " |