Outside General Justin Lin's House:
Ada and Alya were watching the General as he paced back and forth inside his den. Becky had designed a specialized stealth drone for them to
use for surveillance. It took Alya several hours of training to master the little thing, but she finally managed it.

Ada, on the other hand, had to train longer before she got the hang of controlling the drone. All they could see was General Lin pacing back and forth in his home office, a satellite phone pressed to his ear. They could hear the general’s reply, and they didn’t know who he was talking to.

“This suck, we’re only catching half the conversation.” Alya was watching the monitor that the drone was leaking to.

“I know, and even if we had the equipment to listen to the conversation, it wouldn’t do us any good. That particular model of sat phones is equipped with a 256-bit encryption system. It’s one of the newer models that the government is using now.” Ada came across a memo while in the archives.

“I bet they are using SpaceX for their satellite phones.” Alya didn’t like Mr. Musk much after his DOGE goons broke into the Native American Museum and messed up their computers. There were protective files that were completely deleted from the system of historic value. They also locked out several of their users to prevent them from putting the information back into the system. She also suspected that the president was looking for something, but what it was, she and the other director didn’t know. Luckily, she managed to save a bunch of information to the new computer system Deanna built at the Wolf Den. There would be no way the wannabe hackers working for DOGE could get into the system or track it. Deanna and Becky made sure of that.

“Yeah, from what I heard, they went in and fucked up a bunch of computers and such. They said it was to update the systems because the old code used to build many of the forms and operating systems was causing problems. However, several other agents and I were placed in positions normally given to newbies or to people retiring from the agency. We think they were looking for something. Something they can use to either blackmail or punish people with.”

Ada disliked the new FBI director. Not only was he incompetent, but he was also a drunkard. The things she heard from several of her friends and associates at the main FBI building. Only reinforced everything she has heard so far about the person.

When the power indicator on the control panel starts flashing, Ada brings the drone back and changes out the power pack. At the same time, Alya uses one of her illusions to continue the surveillance. Between Alya’s illusions and the drones, they managed to gather plenty of information on the general.

During surveillance, they noticed he liked to hit the decanter of whiskey hard. Ada researches an online alcohol supplier to see what type of whiskey the general liked chugging.

“I think I’ve found a way to get an inside bug on him.” Ada looks towards Alya when she speaks.

“Oh?” Alya likes to look back at Ada.

“Yep.” Ada places an order for a bottle of whiskey to be delivered to the dear general.

She relays that information to Jasmine and Clair. They should be able to intercept the package and bug the bottle. While investigating the
general, they noticed he had a top-tier security system that would be hard to disable or bypass.

The company responsible for the general’s security was Delta Security Systems. From the research Ada did on the company, they were among the top five companies a bunch of top-ranking military and government directors used. Not only that, they provided security systems to some of the top rich people.

Once General Lin goes to bed, Ada and Alya leave and head back towards the wolf den with everything they have. Alya watches the expensive houses as they pass them.

“I wonder why General Lin turned against the US?”

“Money is my best guess.” Ada knew the reason most people changed alliances was the promise of power and money.

“True, and judging from the amounts in his offshore bank accounts. He has been making some serious green either by selling weapons or betraying the people under him or the US.” Alya had the general’s file in front of her on her tablet.

The drive back to the safe house was quiet, and no one followed them. Ada enters the secret entrance to the building they were using and parks the car next to another one that looked out of place for a place like they were in. Ada gathers up all the drones and the remote that recorded everything.

Alya helps Ada with the surveillance equipment they had taken. When they walked into the main area, they noticed everything was quiet. A note was left on the refrigerator for them. It was from Miko, and she said she set aside some dinner for them. All they had to do was warm it up.

Ada takes a look at the food Miko made for them and notices it's a chicken-and-noodle dish. The noodles were in a separate dish, with directions for reheating.

“I have to say, I have become addicted to Miko’s cooking.” Ada pulls the dinner out that was left for her.

“I know, she’s a good cook.” Alya reaches into the refrigerator and pulls the dish left for her out.

Ada reheats hers first, following Miko’s directions. She stands near the microwave, looking over towards her partner. “I think once this mission is
over. I might start going to Miko’s restaurant.”

“I might join you.” Alya liked Miko’s cooking, and she might have to bring her dates there.

Once Alya and Ada’s dinners are reheated and eaten, they transfer everything back to the wolf den for Jasmine and Clair to look over and see if they can piece together who the mysterious caller was on the other end.