Shadrach Mendelson often wondered why the OSS was structured like it is. Specifically, why do they bother having a separate department for looking at the Southern People's Republic within the American Affairs Department? As he went through the files of all the people in the Southern Republic Office, he wondered especially. There were over a hundred. He could only have three to set up in Baton Rouge with. Of course he would have Lillian- she was one of his best agents back at Nantes. This David Barnes fellow seemed like a good bet- young, but with several successful missions under his belt. And he kind of had to take old Sven Liefholm. The poor old man had been with the service since time immemorial, bounced from department from department. Liefholm was Medelson's teachers back at the Academy at Hartford. And he was conveniently near by, in the New Orleans office.
Another thing that may seem strange about the OSS is having an office (covert, of course) in Baton Rouge when there was already a good-sized office in New Orleans. This was something Shadrach had the answer to, as it was by his design.
No one was more surprised than him when Mendelson was called to HQ in Hartford to talk to Director Bush. He an odd mixture of feelings on the plane back to the US from Nantes. He was nervous that he had somehow flubbed big time and was going to be fired. But the loudest voice in his head talked about how glad he was to be out of France. France is a hellhole. It never recovered from all those wars. The stupid Bavarians and the stupid Ayatollah after them razed the land several times over and burnt most of the cities. They were rebuilt, but it was all still shitty. Even worse was having to put up with that asshole LePen. Of course, it was his experiences with LePen that brought him to Hartford. It was well known in OSS circles that Shadrach was the brains behind the entire operation in France, which wasn't much. Basically, they kept a watch on Dictator LePen's activities and made sure to tip the British off if they came close to building nuclear weapons. That, in and of itself, was childishly simple. LePen's an idiot, running a nearly bankrupt nation, and there's no way in Hell that he's ever going to have a nuclear arsenal. However, the fact that none of Mendelson's agents died was quite an accomplishment. The French government spends most of its money on internal security. But as opposed to training their agents in finding moles using their own moles, they're taught to shoot anyone suspicious. Luckily, Shadrach managed to make all his agents seem like patriotic Frenchmen. His cover was that he was a flagmaker, and he refused to make British, Bavarian, Ottoman, or Irish flags, to show his "patriotism". Bill Weld, the guy in charge of the Paris office, has lost five agents in two years. Weld was a political appointment. The Federalists in Massachusetts wanted to clean house, so they pulled a few strings and suddenly Weld was on the next redeye to Gay Paree, reading "French for Dummies".
So Shadrach felt good being back in good, old New England. The OSS offices were very neat. Old Man Bush made sure of it, and his son, the Governor of Connecticut, always made sure to appropriate funds to beautification. Over the doorway was the seal of the OSS- the national bird, the turkey, holding a dagger in one hand and a cloak in the other. Around the seal are the two mottos of the OSS- the original "Constant Vigilance" and the one added by operatives, and adopted as official- "Knife the Bastards". Director Bush had been waiting for him. After the precursory greetings, the strolled down the hall with the paintings of all the Presidents, from Attucks to Rodham. Bush stopped at President Rodham's picture. "Funny," he said, "Who would've thought that an old, Federalist insurance salesman like me would stay Director of the OSS with a woman like her being President. And my son ran on the ticket against her! Heh." The old grand man of the intelligence community heaved a sigh. The years were showing. Constant pressure from the Federalists who got him in office when Engler was President to fill up the OSS with members of his party strained his already shaky belief in political morals. First that asshole Alciere bungling jobs in Swedish Pomerania, and then Liebermann making a fool of himself with the Ottomans (he had never seen such a messy execution…) and now that damn Bill Weld getting all his agents killed. Bush snapped out of his reverie when he noticed Mendelson looking pointedly at him. "Right, right, sorry about that. Anyway, as I'm sure you know, the OSS considers you one of our foremost experts on dictatorships," Shadrach did not know this, "and we think you shouldn't be over there in France. You see, while the French certainly are a threat in the very long run, we think the Southern People's Republic is more of an immediate threat. So we want you to think up of a strategy to deal with them, and we can put you in charge of it, because the guys we got down there are plum out of ideas. You think you can do that?" "Yes, sir," replied Mendelson. "Good. Have a mint?"
So it was up to Shadrach. He had been an excellent basketball player in his days at URI. He was a point guard. He rarely ever violated the three dribble rules, and never moved while passing. Nevertheless, he always got the shot when the game was depending on it.
Then Shadrach thought to himself to stop making silly sports-inspired analogies to make him feel better. It was time to get to work. Destabilizing a nation. Sheesh.
Created: 2001.1.28
Updated: 2001.2.15