The next day early in the morning Ross got a call. It was an unknown number.                          "Hello? Who the hell is this? Do you know what time it is" He asked annoyed. 

"Agent Ross, You are to report to district 5 and attend a meeting at 10:00 am with General Whittacker." Before he could say anything else the line had gone dead. 

Damn it, what did District 5 want with him now. District 5 was where all the navy seal training took place and if you ever got called into District 5 it only meant one of two things, you were getting deployed, or you were about to get drafted into the seals. Usually, you would need to apply to be a seal, and go through the 6 months training and only if you survived, would you go for another 4 months training and if you survived that would you only be a seal. But once in a while it happened that trained secrete agents were called up to district 5 and deployed on a spy mission, one that was too dangerous for the government to send any "official government employees" to go on because they would easily be detected. From what he had heard the general was a very powerful man, that had gained his reputation in the espionage realm, and although he had retired from any active involvement the rumors were that he was still lopped in on all active missions. Ross wondered whether he was aware of his butchered mission.

Ross woke up and got ready without waking up his wife, he left a note on the table in kitchen simply stating, " Sorry I woke up early, had to go , emergency at work, I might not come back for a while see you when I do . P.S I can't wait to be a father to our beautiful child." Suddenly Ross felt a surge of emotion. It was this part of the job that he hated more than anything, Linda was his life partner and she deserved better than this. He always felt as if the government and the work he did was going to be the reason he would lose everything that was precious to him. He quickly dismissed these feelings and got into his car. He drove for about 2 hours.

 When he finally arrived at District 5, he was stopped at the gate. "ID, please?" Asked a tall guard at the gate. Ross provided it and 5 seconds later the gate was open. He drove another 100 meters before he got to the next gate. This time another guard came to him 

" Agent Ross, please step out of the vehicle ." when Ross stepped out , he was led to a small room where he had his bio metrics scanned and his voice recorded. 

He got back in his car and had only driven another 100 meters before he was stopped at another gate, this time the guard that met him asked for his license and registration. He wanted to complain but ended up just providing what he was asked. He continued driving another 100 meters and this time he was met by an unmanned gate, but when he drove up the gate, he was asked to stop the car

 "Full name and surname please?" the invisible voice asked and Ross started to realize that the place was clearly not what he had thought it to be as no other military base had such strict security measures as this. He suddenly started feeling uneasy when he said , "Special Agent Jimmy Ross" He replied feeling a little bit silly and annoyed. 

"Welcome Special Agent Ross, please proceed to Building E, an officer is awaiting you in the reception." The gate opened and all of a sudden, an illuminated path showed up, he followed the path and parked in the guest allocated spot. When he entered the building, there was a tall dark man waiting for him.

 "Special Agent Ross?" he asked .

 "Yes, that's me ".  Ross answered uncertain what was about to happen.

"My name is Sargent Quinton, please come with me and oh before I forget please wear this name tag and do not take it of whilst you are in this building please." 

" Umm, Sargent, what is this place." 

"I am not sure I am the right person to tell you that, but what I can tell you is that this place is the most secretive and secure place on the planet. The reason why you had to go through all the hustle when you came in. It is fitted with latest voice recognition software there is. In fact, right now our voices are being analyzed, should they not match up to the database we will be dead within seconds."

 "Okay, that's a little scary. Can I ask why I was called in, the gentleman on the phone just said I must report here."

 "I am sorry for all the secrecy Agent Ross, but everything will be explained to you by General Whittacker. He is the only one authorized to brief you on what is to be expected of you." All of a sudden they reached a large wooden door. Automatically it opened and on the other side of the door was General Whittacker.

 "Ahh, Special Agent Ross, how are you, I trust you did not have any troubles finding us ? " The General said grabbing the man's hand energetically.

 "Good morning General, no troubles at all, just a little hustle at the gate but otherwise a fine trip" Ross replied matching the friendly General's energy.  

"OH, Sorry about that, we are little bit big on security here, the best in the world. "the General said heading back behind his desk, but never taking his eyes away from his visitor.

 "Yes, Sargent Quinton told me about your security features, very impressive sir" Ross replied, stuck in a awkward phase of wanting to sit, but not wanting to seem to forward.

 "Please sit down Agent Ross, and can I have anything brought in, coffee, tea , water" The General said noticing his visitor's discomfort

 "Water would be just fine thank you General." Ross said taking a sit opposite the the General ad waiting for the General to speak.

Two minutes later a waiter entered the office with a jug full of water. 

" Now I'm sure you are wondering why I asked to meet with you here?" The general said from behind his desk

 "Yes sir, I tried asking Sargent Quinton,  he said you were the only one with the clearance to brief me." Ross replied  

 "Well, two days ago, the seal team 4, raided a supposed terrorist compound in Syria, only what they found was more sophisticated than anything we have ever seen. After some more digging we found out that the compound wasn't actually a terrorist compound , but one of our own. Inside that bunker where plans ranging from the assassination of two high ranking Russian military personnel to something else. Unfortunately, our computer guys could not crack the rest of files. You see we have reason to believe that those files are Lab 101 encrypted, meaning that the only people with access to the files are Lab 101 staff. " The General said changing his demeanor as he progressed with his story. 

"I am sorry sir, but that cannot be possible, as you most probably know our agency only has one lab and that is located here, how could our files end up on a computer in Syria." Ross said, getting that uneasy feeling again 

"That is the question that I have been asking myself, and unfortunately without any of those encrypted files we do not have any answers." The General said, sounding as if he had aged significantly during the course of this small briefing meeting. "Unfortunately, none of my personnel are lab 101 certified which means that they cant crack those files. That's where I need you. You are a lab 101 employee which means that you will be able to crack the files. " The general said looking directly into Ross's eyes.

"With all due respect sir, I cant be involved in this. What you are asking from me is t be an interdepartmental spy and i doubt that can be good for me at this stage of my career. Besides why would you choose me? Would you not have better luck using another more established member of the Lab?" Ross replied to the general."

The General looked as of he would explode, but then he took a deep breath before he replied to Ross. "Listen son, I need you on this. I respect your loyalty, and under normal circumstances I would not have approached you, but this could be a matter of national security. The Agency could be comprised and we will not know how serious it is until you have cracked the files. I am really counting on you Agent Ross and I hope you wont let me down." The General said this last line with a iron clad finality that showed Agent Ross that he had no choice but to accept the assignment.

"When do you want me to start on the files sir?" Ross asked sounding defeated.

"The sooner, the better. I have already sent a transfer order, and it has already been approved. Oh and  I'm pretty sure this goes without saying Agent Ross, but this is beyond secrete, no mentioning any of the work and what you find to anyone but me , understood? " The General said as he crossed across the room already walking towards his door.

 "Yes sir, I understand." Ross said already anticipating that what ever he would find would be something that would soon complicate his life more than it need ti be complicated. He slowly stood up and followed the general outside.