Cynthia had been a wild child, the oldest daughter of former Colonel Veil, USMC, a powerful figure
in the San Francisco Bay area. Seeing her unruly nature only exacerbated by the indulgence he showed her, he had sent her to the finest girls school in Colorado, during the war.
She had instantly associated with the artistic crowd, given to exploring art, and in the circles she fell, reefer. She had become a dope fiend, given to reefer madness, and was expelled from school after school, until she landed in the Canon City School for Wayward Girls. There she turned around, and by the end of her term there, was accepted to the University of California.
At Cal she had studied art, but came to the attention of one professor on a fall day, in the library. He knew she was bright, yet her work in his class was uncompleted, or she skipped class altogether. She was intently working on something, and as he cast a casual glance, was surprised to see her working on a cipher. As he watched her, he realized it was the Lewellen cipher, one so difficult that the best mathematicians at the unversity had not been able to crack. He had not told any of the students, but the cipher was actually supplied to him by his contacts in the OSI unit he served in; the other side was using it to encode messages they desperately needed to crack the ring suspected of being inside the government.
He stood some distance back from her, then casually walked up to the table, and sat across from her. She looked up, and beamed that familar smile, "Oh, hi professor!"she said
"What are you working on Cynthia?" he asked, knowing fully the answer.
"I'm not working on it anymore professor"
"Too difficult?" he mused
"Nope, I solved it" she smile, and slid her notebook over to him.
He studied her work carefully, withdrawing a pencil from his pocket, and checking her computations...by God, she
had cracked it!
"Cynthia, may I have a word with you, in private?"
He told her to not discuss her work with anyone, because it would not be fair to the other students; his real intent was to report back to OSI friends. Once they had the solution, messages were immediately decoded, which revealed the ring operating in the government.
A few months later...
After graduation, she had started working for her father, in the newspaper business as a photographer. She was very unsatisfied, because she was assigned only the fluff work, taking pictures of ships coming into the bay under the Golden Gate,
or of new born puppies at the Mayors house, none of the hard hitting headline material she was aching to take.
One day, a rather plainly dressed pair of gentlemen arrived at the paper, and asked for the editor. After speaking with the editor breifly, he threw open the his office door and yelled" send in Cynthia Veil, NOW!"
She entered, and was left with the men in the office. "Sit down please miss" She nervously complied, as the editor left, whispering "I'll just be outside".
They explained they were from OSI, and showed her their credentials. " We want you to work for us" She was shocked, "But why me?" she asked in genuine bewilderment.
"It was the cipher you solved in college, you see it was a very complex cipher, and since you solved it, we thought you might like a chance to solve another, and maybe help your country"
She pondered it for a second; although she was a reformed reefer user, a pothead as they were called now, she still had a broad patriotic streak within her. "OK, I'll do whatever you ask" she said, without further hesitation. They called in the editor; she would stay on the newspaper payroll , but would work with OSI agents, which her father had already arranged.
Her assignment was to seek out a man know as the Professor, who also called himself herr Doktor; he was a OSI agent operating undercover in Colorado. Based on her knowledge of the area, the two of them would attempt to break several suspected ciphers OSI has recently been informed existed, which appeared in a newspaper , the Alamagosa Gazette.
Once broken, they believed it would lead to the location of a mine, which somehow was critical to the other side, located in the lower front range country.
They knew their agent was in trouble, as word had come that the other side had contracted to have him eliminated by the Wolverine Brothers out of Michigan. Attempts to stop them would tip the other side OSI was onto them, so this tactic was being used.
She would arrive in town, take a job with the paper, make contact with the agent, and try to effect his escape from the trap set for him. She would work with another agent, code name Albee, to prevent the agents death, and if necessary, fake his demise to further conceal what they were doing. They walked her out of the office, down to the street, where a car was waiting. "Get in, and drive to the airport, leave the car, and take this flight to Denver." he handed her a ticker on AOA. " Our agents will help you get where you need to go from there. Good luck."
She seated herself behind the wheel, rolling down the window to have a last comment before leaving "I am no spy, gentlemen. How am i suppose to do all this?" she asked
"Don't be coy Miss Veil, we know you are an expert marksman, and have been to some training in investigative work that your father sent you to before putting you on his payroll. "
"Oh, I see, so now I am a spy by virtue of you saying so?"
"No, you are because i said so". It was Rick, her investigative techniques nightschool instructor, arising from a concealed position in the rear seat. He slowed brushed aside her hair, and whispered in her ear " Cynthia, remember ....and spoke the Gaelic to her.
He
also was OSI operative, and he would take the car, the car from her at the airport. " Be careful Cynthia , Albee is untrusted. We suspect he may have in fact been turned, and is a double agent."
The flight there was uneventful, as uneventful as one can be under the circumstances. Her father has arranged for her things to be packed and loaded aboard, as though she were on any other assignment, only she never had been on assignment, at least like this. her head was swimming with worry.
After arrival in Denver, she was delighted to see her trusty dog, Enigma, had been shipped with her luggage, although she was certain the dog was not happy about it.
The airline clerk led her to a pre arranged car, and handed her an envelope, marked simply Cynthia Veil, Bay Area News. Inside, she found instructions, advising her to find her contact at the Alamagosa Gazette. Inside was an ad clipped from the paper 'Writer-photographer living in beautiful mountain valley in south-central Colorado needs female assistant; must be funny, intelligent, witty and of course, have great gams . Must also be SINGLE, with no strings attached! May have pet, but have to stay out of my way. Inquire Alamagosa Gazzette, Box EEM.'
Continuing her journey by motorcar, she soon found herself sleepy. Enigma was sleeping on the seat next to her, as she spied a sign ahead, Colorado Springs 3 miles. "OK, sleepy dog, lets see if our family still has a suite at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. "
The next morning, as she was eating her breakfast, just under the fold in the morning paper "Mayhem in Alamagosa - Wolverine Brothers found dead in Acorn Bin"
"Enigma, we better hurry!"
): Ever notice how when you find the perfect brand of panties, or a bra that is wonderful, it stops being made?? (This one is really bugging me, cause I had both of these situation raise themselves recently. So now what???)
