Level 7, MI6-SIS Headquarters, Vauxhall Cross Building

I do detest panel interviews. Personally, a quiet chat over a cup of tea would suffice, but I do as I am told just as those below me do as they are told. At least most of them do.

Sitting in the centre of the room on a deliberately uncomfortable folding chair is Henry Adar, a candidate for the Double O Program. He's trying to be cool, calm, and collected but this room is designed deliberately to make them feel awkward. The air conditioning is lower in that part of the room, the floor is not level, the folding chair is purposely badly, and the table at which we sit is one and a half times larger than normal giving a forced perspective that we are in fact bigger. The whole room is by intention to intimidate.

Beside me is Gareth Mallory, Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. He liaises between MI6 and the government. He is good at his job, mainly as it is weasel work and he is in fact a weasel.

Next to him is Bill Tanner, my Chief of Staff. Bill makes my, at times unpleasant job, palatable. When I do retire I would rather see him fill my shoes than Mallory, but that won’t be my decision. Sitting quietly at the end in Agent 001, Edward Donne the trainer for the 00’s. It his, and to a lesser extent James’ opinion on this candidate, that I will make my decision on whether they KEEP their 00 number. And rounding out the panel on my right is Karen Brown, MI6 Recruitment. She’s the one who tapped Henry on the shoulder and brought him to our attention.

“Comfortable?” Mallory asks of Henry. The question is designed to see if they will lie or tell the truth; both answers speak volumes about them as a person.

"Yes sir. Quite comfortable." A lie.

“How many languages do you speak?” Bill asks as he flips through Henry's file. We know the answer, again it is to gauge HOW they answer.

"Three, sir. Not counting English obviously." Henry chuckles nervously to himself before continuing. "I'm fluent in my home language of Swahili, know a fair amount of French and could strike up a good conversation with a German man."

I watch him carefully, he should’ve said four instead of three and he’s comfortable with lying; reminds me a lot of James. I’ve read over his file and had the psych team crunch numbers on him. Statistically, Henry is a good fit for the 00 service, but those numbers also applied to 0010, Jonathan Hunter who was dismissed for reckless brutality once out in the field and has since gone rogue joining SPECTRE. One can’t be too careful, and they all can’t be Bond...thank god!

“A hypothetical question for you, Henry.” I look at him wanting to see how he responds. “His Majesty Prince Charles draws a gun to kill his mother, The Queen. The reasons why are irrelevant but he is going to kill her. You have one bullet. Do you fire?”

"Of course, ma'am. Aiming for the knees of course, but I'd definitely fire."

Intersting answer Mr Adar, I jot it down whilst still looking at him.

Agent 001 stands up and walks down to Henry. Edward begins to talk about the instability in Afghanistan and how at times our work correlates with certain U.S agencies when he lashes out with a punch aimed at the throat. Henry blocks the attack but only just, falling out of the chair. The fight is quick and he does quite well to defend the blows and kicks Edward rains down. Just when the advantage turns in their favour, Edward backs off and returns to the table.

“Not bad, needs work,” Edward tells me. “Nothing a fortnight of drills and stamina training won’t fix.”

Henry is panting and a little confused. Slowly he puts the seat back and sits, and as he does I give him an order.

“Please step out side, Henry.”

He stands and leaves, so we confer about him. I believe he’ll be an excellent choice.

"Any objections?" I ask looking squarely at Mallory.

__

Mallory, Bill, Edward and Karen all file out; none of them even acknowledging Henry who sits in the hall. Again, it’s partially a psychological test to see if the newly made 00 craves attention like a puppy. Henry diligently waits. I exit and walk off.

“Are you coming 0020?” I ask him with a slight smirk. I can see he’s excited but trying not to show it, its not everyday you make 00 rank.

“Yes ma’am!”

“Your assignment is a very simple one, essentially a training wheels mission to New Zealand. Not exactly a hotbed of espionage but there has been a dev...” I pause as I see Bill power walking up the corridor. “One moment. Bill?”

“Interesting development from Niger,” he says handing me an iPad. “Seems Moses Djani has suffered a heart attack mid flight on route to Istanbul.”

“Foul play?”

“No ma’am. The SIS agent on the plane watched the whole thing and even tried to revive him. But that means...”

“We won’t find out who he’s selling attempting to sell the yellowcake too in Istanbul; whether it’s the Chinese or North Korea.” I look at 0020 and it gives me an idea. “Henry, welcome to the deep end. Bill, keep the surveillance in play because 0020 is going to pretend to be Moses Djani.”

“Are you sure?” Bill asks.

“No, not really, but Henry is the best option we have at this late notice. Also, it’s not like you could be Moses now could you, Bill?”

He nods. “I guess not. Right, this way 0020, congratulations by the way. We need to get you to Istanbul. Have you ever flown in an F-35?”

“Bit rusty,” Henry replied, I do believe he thinks he'll be flying the jet.

“Good luck 0020,” I shake his hand and watch as they hurry off the roof to get 0020 away to Istanbul.

To be continued…

Nice. I most often shy away from real world places in my stories, because frankly my geography and understanding of world politics is lacking. I'm trying to change that, because I think it hampers me in my writing. Baby steps. Anyway, good start, M.

Good stuff. Thankful for the setup. Curious about where the actual series is going. Call me out for the next one plz.

Bumped to remind me to get my @$$ into gear!!

@batkevin74: Well said!