Insider

Prologue

It was a moonless night in Paris. Axel Smithson shuffled down a dark and narrow alley with nothing to illuminate his path but starlight. He was dressed in a grey Armani suit and a pair of Ray Ban reflective sunglasses to hide his face from anyone who might turn up. A second pair of footsteps echoed in the dark. Axel stopped in his tracks. Silence surrounded Axel again. He shuffled forward nervously. Again he heard the footsteps. Paranoid as he was, he turned around. A pair of sunglasses glinted in the dark. With one swift move, he shrugged off his suit to reveal an assortment of guns. He cranked up his Colt and aimed at the shadowy figure looming over him

"Reveal yourself!" Axel screamed. He received no reply unless a swift blow to the solar plexus could be considered as one. Darkness took over him and he collapsed.

As soon his consciousness returned, he was blinded by the bright lights glaring down at him. As his eyes suited to the light, he did a quick scan.

Strange, he thought. He had expected to be cuffed down. The room he was in had dull grey walls with cracks all over .Only accessory was a cracked mirror on one of the walls.

Axel checked for his guns, they were all there. The mindset of the assailant was not to capture me I think.

He slid off the wooden bed and proceeded to exit the room, his revolver by his side. A long corridor stretched out before him. It was padded with a red velvety carpet and was lit by antique looking lamps.

His practical mind told him to stay back but his instinct told him to go on. He trusted his instinct and continued forward. The door slammed behind him.

Motion sensor I guess. He ran along the corridor with soft feet ending up in a huge hall.

A chandelier hung low from the ceiling illuminating the hall in a pale yellow light. There was a long table with a spectacled man at the other end.

He seemed to be in his mid-fifties. He was wearing a short gold brimmed bowler hat and a navy blue suit with a white bow tie. The man spoke with a thick French accent, "Ah, Mr. Axel Smithson, welcome! Sorry for the rough manner of bringing you here but welcome to the SIEVE, abbreviation for Secret International Enterprise for Villains Extraordinary."

Axel had a million questions running through his mind. He asked only two, "Who are you might I ask? And how did you find me?"

The spectacled man replied, "O, sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Cook, Alexander Cook. I am the head around here. I cannot answer your second question. We do not reveal our sources to new recruits. Anyways, you'll have your briefing tomorrow"

Axel was leaded to his room by two lean escorts. It was a small room but it was way better than the one he had been woke up in. There was small prison-like bed. Another door led to the bathroom. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes.

The decoys have finally worked. Finally I have got in after months of fake crime files. Finally I am an insider.