The Rendezvous

         “Where the hell is Kristoph?”  I was beginning to get extremely impatient.  He was supposed to meet us here at this 9:00 and it had been ten minutes past.  Just to make sure, I glanced down the stretch of alleyway behind us.  It might have been nighttime, but the moon was nearly full that night, and the alleyway lights are still bright enough to show someone approaching.  In these premises, everything horizontal was grey concrete, and everything vertical was red brick, with some lamp lights jutting out from the top; a human would be easy to spot in even the lousiest lighting.
         “I’m sure he’ll be here soon, Stanley; it’s just not like him to be late for anything!” Miles said in his typical optimistic manner.  “All he’s doing is getting the pilot’s personal portfolio, so he’ll be fine.”
         “Come on, Miles,” I said in response, “you have to stop being so naïve.  What if he took off with the pilot’s records for himself?  We all know who wants those files for themselves, and Kristoph could very well be doublecrossing us right now if he’s more interested in the money.  So be on your guard until we know for sure what is going on.”  Miles went quiet after I said that, and positioned his hand just over the grip of his holstered gun.  He is way too introspective for his own good; he just needs to get his head out of the clouds during these missions.
         It had to have been another five or ten minutes after that point when a human figure finally came around the corner.  Miles and I turned to face him, both ready to draw our silenced weapons should we actually be contacting a hostile.  The face of Kristoph finally became visible in the lamplight, and we both breathed a sigh of relief.  He was walking conspicuously casual towards us, a manila envelope clutched tightly in his left hand.  When he was close enough, I couldn’t help but notice some damage to the envelope, such as the battered creases along the edge as well as the document’s black-stamped label, spanning diagonally across the face, having a letter partially scratched away, making it read “P _LOT McGUFFIN” instead.
         “What’s the matter, did you run into some guards?” I asked, somewhat sarcastically.
         “You have no idea,” he said irritably, handing over the manila envelope as he spoke.
         “Well, all that matters is that we have Pilot McGuffin’s files now,” I replied, grabbing the envelope as quickly as I could.  “We need to get this back to boss as soon as possible.  You gonna come with us, for a change?”
         “The hell is that supposed to mean?” Kristoph said, apparently taking offense.
         “Hey, I’m just trying to be friendly.  I could give you an *order* to come with us, and then you’d have no choice.  What’ll it be, pal?”
         “Lay off, Stan.  I have some unfinished business here, so you just get that file back to base.  I’ll guard your back on your way out.”  This statement triggered an instinct in me: Kristoph seemed a bit too impatient for us to leave.  Before I left, I decided to take a quick look through the files to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary.
         “What are you doing?” he asked, suddenly speaking with interest.  I could see his hand move towards his holstered gun as he was saying this.
         “Look, Kristoph, *I’m* the leader here.  I need to make sure everything is in place before we take it back, or we may all just be coming back here in the next 48 hours.”
         “You’re wasting time!  Just get it back to base already!  Have you forgotten that there are still armed guards patrolling the area?!”
         “Stanley, Kristoph is right!” Miles said, interrupting our little argument.  “We need to get out of here.  Let’s move quickly before any alarms are sounded!”  I looked toward Kristoph, and he just nodded in agreement.  “The extraction point is just outside the north gate, let’s go!”  I silently agreed, and we started heading toward the gate no more than 60 yards away, myself in the front, Miles directly behind me, and Kristoph guarding the rear.  We made our way through the maze of little alleyways we had memorized: left, right, straight, right, left, straight, straight, left, also being careful not to step on the concrete ground loud enough to be heard by anyone else but ourselves.
         The gate was finally in sight; but it was shut, and was watched by two guards on either side.  Unfortunately, they had spotted us as we turned the corner, and they were already aiming their weapons in our direction; as quickly as I could, I unholstered my silenced pistol, fired two shots straight into their hearts, and didn’t relax until I saw them both hit the concrete.
         “Nice shots, man,” Kristoph remarked.  “Now get going already.  I’ll see you guys once I’m done for myself in here.”  He then turned around and started making his way back to the main building, while Miles and I moved towards the gate.  We quickly exited the premises and got a safe distance away, to await our extraction.
         “Good luck, Kristoph,” Miles said softly.
         “Yes,” I added, as the sounds of vehicles could be heard driving up towards us, “I’m sure he will need all that he can get.”

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         “Where the hell is Kristoph?”  Stanley is usually an impatient person, but he tends to be even more so when dealing with our teammate Kristoph.  We hadn’t been waiting for two minutes since we got to our rendezvous spot in the alleyway before Stan was cursing his name.
         “He’ll be here soon, Stanley, I know it!” I said, hoping to calm him down somewhat.  “He’s a fast and effective infiltrator.”
         Stan paused for a moment, and then sighed.  “You’re right… I just hope nothing bad is happening up there, that’s all.  What if he was captured or, worse, he goes rogue?  It’s best just to be prepared for anything, so keep your guard up, Miles.”  I nodded in agreement, and moved my hand above the grip of my holstered gun as we continued to wait for Kristoph.
         As we waited, I began to reflect on our mission.  All we knew was that Senior Airman McGuffin was a pivotal man in the most recent investigation.  But why did we need his records?  I attempted to ask that question before we were dropped off here, but the only answer I got was that Pilot McGuffin’s files are “simply important,” and that we don’t need to know why.  Just get in there and get the file, essentially.  Kristoph, the expert in espionage, decided to go in ahead of time completely on his own.  This is why Stan has such little patience with him, since he prefers to go lone wolf than to work together as a team, constantly compromising safety and security in the process.  I don’t mind it myself, though, because he’s been doing it for so long that he’s proven himself more than capable.
         “Look, Miles!  There he is!” Stan grabbed me by the arm and pointed down the alleyway.  Sure enough, Kristoph could be seen walking casually towards us, with the documents in hand.
         “Hey guys, sorry I took so long,” Kristoph said as soon as he was in speaking distance.
         “Did you run into some guards?” Stan asked, somewhat concerned.
         “I’m fine, if that’s what you’re asking,” Kristoph replied, handing the envelope over to Stan.  He then opened the folder and started looking through the papers, I assumed to make sure the most critical piece was still there.  It’s common for the higher-ups to only tell Stanley the fullest details of our missions.
         “Seriously, Stan?  You’re doing the paperwork in the middle of this alley?” I couldn’t help but laugh at this comment; Stan and Kristoph always crack jokes like these on each other.  “Just take it out of here and worry about that when we get back to base.  This place is still being patrolled by guards, you know.”
         This statement clicked in my brain.  “Kristoph is right!  We should start making our way out of here if we want to survive.  The extraction point was at the northern gate to the premises, where we came in.  That’s not too far away, so let’s get going!”  To this, they both nodded, and we started retracing our path back to the entrance point: left, right, straight, right, left, straight, straight, left.  As soon as we turned that final corner, the gates could be seen.  On the other hand, they were being locked down by two guards on our side of the fence.
         “Tranquilizer rounds ready?” Stan said, looking towards me.  I nodded silently, and aimed my gun towards the guard on the left.  We then simultaneously fired two rounds each at our targets, and didn’t lower our weapons until we were certain they were neutralized.  As soon as they were, we dragged their bodies into the closest building and posed them as if they were sleeping and removed the darts from their backs.
         “Pretty good shots, man,” Kristoph said, patting me on the shoulder as we exited the building.  I smiled as he said this.  “Anyways, I just remembered that I still have some unfinished business to take care of in here.  But don’t worry about me; I’ll see you guys on the other side.  Just get out of here while you still can!”  With that, he dashed back to the main building, presumably where he found the McGuffin file.  Stanley and I then exited the gate and awaited our extraction.  As we waited, I prayed that Kristoph would be safe in whatever it was he needed to do back inside.

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         McAdams, McAfee, McCartney… where is it?  McIntosh, McCoy… Ah, here it is!  “PILOT McGUFFIN,” stamped in nice bold, black letters.  File in possession, check one.  Officer Grady “neutralized,” my next objective.  I unfortunately couldn’t find him beforehand, which was the reason why I came here earlier than necessary, so I had to make that my second priority.  At that point, I glanced down at my watch to see how well I was doing on time.
         “9:00 already, huh… I’m sure Stan’s pissed off that I’m not already giving this to him.”  I tucked the envelope underneath my arm and proceeded to step over all the dead bodies littering the floor of the room and made my way out of the building.  As I reached the stairwell, my hand went up to flip on the light switch.  Realizing just beforehand how much of a mistake that would be, I forced my hand down with my other hand, and accidentally tripped over the door threshold in the confusion.  As such, I tumbled down what had to have been 20 steps and crashed into the wall at the bottom.  Thankfully, nobody was around to hear the noise, and the manila envelope was still on my person, albeit pretty beat up as a result.  I stood up as quickly as I could and started to make my way to the rendezvous point.
         The problem was, I couldn’t remember exactly where it was.  I knew it was close to the west side of the building, but other than that, I really had no clue.  The best I could do was cautiously wander around and look out for two guys hanging out together in an alley somewhere.  I must have wandered for about 5 minutes before I finally found them.  They both turned towards me, but one had his hand close to where a holstered gun would be, and the other was just watching.  I knew Stan would be unhappy that I didn’t meet him in a timely manner, but I didn’t care.  He likes to play the big leader guy, but he’s never experienced the lone wolf’s way, so his words hold no weight over me.
         “What the hell took you so long, Kristoph?  Do you have any idea how long we’ve been waiting here?!”
         “Save it, Stan,” I said, interrupting him before he could continue.  “I have some unfinished business here in the complex, so let’s make this quick, okay?”
         “So, what happened?  Did you run into some guards or something?” he asked, somewhat mockingly.  I could tell he was referring to how beat-up I was looking at the moment.
         “Whatever, Stan,” I said softly, sidestepping the embarrassing reason behind my appearance.  I then handed over the envelope, mostly just to shut him up.  It was around this point when he started giving me a stupid lecture over how he was the leader while we were in the field, and that I was supposed to listen to him and obey his commands, yada yada yada.  I’ve heard it all before, so I knew what to say and when to say it.  My attention wasn’t grabbed until he opened the envelope and started going through the files inside.
         “What the hell are you doing?” I asked, just completely baffled by his decision to do paperwork in the middle of a hostile environment.
         “Oh, now you want to pay attention, huh?  I need to make sure nothing is missing in here, because *apparently* I just can’t trust you.  To be on time, to not doublecross us, whatever the case may be.”  I had the nerve to strike him across the face for this comment; if there was one thing I didn’t like, it was being accused of treachery.  However, Miles’s concerned expression grabbed my attention, and I held myself back.  Funny how his reaction alone was what stopped me from reacting, eh?  That kid has become the glue that holds the three of us together so closely.
         “You do realize that this place is still crawling with armed guards, right?”  I had to ask, just to make sure Stanley hadn’t gone completely insane.  He would have continued going through the file if my comment didn’t catch Miles’s attention.
         “Kristoph is right!  We’re in danger, Stan!  We have to get this file out of here safely!  Let’s start making our way back to the south gate.”  Finally, Stan snapped out of his mood, stuffed the papers back into the envelope, and they hurried to the gate.  I followed behind them to help keep them safe.  They had to pick a really confusing path through all the back alleyways. Right, left, straight, left… hell, I don’t remember.  By the time we got to the gate, it had been locked down and guarded by two guards who had already spotted us.  I saw Stanley and Miles draw their weapons, but I knew they wouldn’t be fast enough.  I pulled out my own weapon, and fired two quick shots in rapid succession straight into their brains.  A splash of blood and grey matter were seen flying from behind their skulls, and they collapsed violently on the concrete underfoot.
         “Man!!  Did you see those shots?!”  I slapped both of them on the shoulders and embraced them as if we were doing some sort of super-awesome victory pose to be seen on a Manly Men 12-month calendar, with all 12 of the pictures just different angles.  As I expected, Miles laughed at my ridiculous outburst, and Stanley didn’t grin in the slightest.  “Now you guys get going already, and I’ll meet up with you later.  I have some unfinished business to take care of.”
         “Don’t go doing anything stupid in there, Kristoph,” Stanley said before making his way to the gate, with the McGuffin files in hand.  “You’re still a part of our team, remember?  We just aren’t the same if you get killed in there.”
         “Don’t worry about me, buddy.  I’ll see you on the other side!”
         With that, I turned back and made my way towards the main building.  Officer Grady was still somewhere inside, and I could sense his presence.  He has haunted my past for far too long; now that he is in my grasp, the scores shall finally be settled.  Pray that you are prepared, Grady, for I will show no mercy.