Samuel, like on every other Saturday during college football season when his beloved Aggies played on the road, had arranged his schedule so that nothing would interfere with him watching the game on the giant holographic screen. Seated in his favorite chair with Savanah on the nearby couch, they waited for the game to begin. Although security measures had most surely been heightened in stadiums throughout the country, which probably included the temporary absence of parachute drops into them, Samuel was glad to see that scheduled games for this day were actually taking place.

As the final regular season game of his favorite team unfolded, and it appeared that Texas A&M was on its way to a rather easy victory, Samuel smiled at Savanah and said, “Well, even though we can’t win the conference championship, at least the team is playing better than they did last week.”

She nodded with a smile and replied, “Yes they are grandpa. They played really bad last week, but I heard you say that at least they lost to a really good L.S.U. team.”

“That’s right sugar.”

“Well I want to watch us beat them next year if we are good enough?”

Recognizing that the most important aspect of her statement was the optimism that Savanah expressed about being able to watch a game in another year, Samuel replied, “I’m sure the team will try real hard, and you and I can watch them win together.”

As she turned back to watch the current game, Samuel mulled over what information he received earlier that morning. Number twenty three had communicated to him that she had received a report from numbers thirteen and seventeen less than an hour prior. They had both stated that things appeared to be leaning in the right direction, but deliberation for both sides of the argument had been hotly debated for the entire week. As a result, nothing would be determined until after Thanksgiving. Then she continued by stating that she had received a rare report from number twenty nine the previous evening. His information conveyed that military leaders were posturing for a retaliatory strike, but he had no idea if and when such an event would transpire.

Samuel was intrigued by the information on all counts, but especially from number twenty nine. His cover was deep and established more for the future than at the present time. But still, he had been in his current capacity for more than a year, and the reason that the man rarely reported was because he had to be more cautious about communication than other operatives. His mention of the military leadership posturing for retaliation was good news though, as it implied that at least some of the diversionary bait with regard to Syria was being looked at and nibbled upon.