The Traveller Project

It was the first day after my promotion to the CDB department of the C.I.A; the Covert Defence Branch. It took me six months of additional training and examinations in order to get the promotion. I was chosen over forty other C.I.A candidates who applied for the post, although once I got the job I felt a little strange as I had absolutely no idea what the job entailed. Throughout the six month recruitment process they told me nothing apart from the fact that the department was set up in 1963 and dealt with highly sensitive issues. No matter how many questions anybody asked during the interviews, they would be given the same standard response. In some ways I guess that made everyone who was applying for the role want it even more; the only way you were ever going to find out what the CDB actually did was to be the successful candidate. During this time there was a lot of talk and with talk comes speculation, the speculation soon turned into fabrication. Some of the theories that the other candidates came up with went from the far-fetched to just plain stupid. There was obviously the usual nonsense, like investigating alien abductions, to more outlandish thinking such as faking celebrity deaths, but I just imagined that the department would be dealing with classified national security. That alone was enough to get me excited, especially the fact that I had always been an extremely inquisitive person, although I kept that part of my personality to myself throughout the whole recruitment process. My six month wait was finally over and I was starting the job that I had been dreaming about on a daily basis for at least the last three months. All the speculation was over and all my questions would soon be answered, or so I hoped. As I sat in the reception area of the CDB I started getting butterflies in my stomach. It seemed like I was waiting there for an eternity, but it was probably only five minutes before the door opened. I then heard, ‘agent Naylor, come this way please,’ by the door stood a very serious looking man wearing a black suit. It was hard to put an age on him as he looked about sixty years old in his face, but I could see from his frame that he kept himself in good shape. From how the suit hung on him you could still make out his well-rounded shoulders and barrel chest, he had the physic of a professional wrestler and deep lines in that very pale white face of his, like he’d seen more than most. He had grey hairs above his ears, although his hair was still very thick. I got up out of my seat and shook his hand. He gave me a very firm hand shake, and I could feel from his grip that he was incredibly strong. I followed him through the door, and entered a very large room with about twenty people working at their desks all looking very busy. He led me into his office and closed the door behind him. ‘Take a seat please Agent Naylor.’ I did as he asked. Agent Brooks walked around his desk and sat directly in front of me. He reached into his drawer and produced a file of papers which he placed on the desk. He left it open ever so slightly, just enough for me to see inside. He lent back in his chair and folded his arms, looked me up and down and then started talking. ‘My name is Special Agent Brooks, I head up the CDB. I have been involved with this department for just a little over twenty five years and as chief for just under ten years,’ he picked up his phone and asked to have two strong coffees brought in. ‘I assume you drink coffee?’ he laughed; ‘Well if you don’t drink it you soon will as you’ll need it...’ He had a half smile on his face as he said that. He continued talking, ‘so where was I? ...err yes; I started here in a similar way to yourself as I was your age. After a few years of joining the C.I.A an opportunity came up so I went for it.’ There was then a knock at the door. ‘Come in,’ he said. A guy about my age walked in and placed two cups of coffee on the desk. ‘Thank you very much,’ said Special Agent Brooks as he immediately picked up the coffee and began sipping on it. He carried on, ‘OK so I applied for the same role that you applied for now, my application was also successful and since then I haven’t looked back. The work we do here is of the utmost importance not just for the security of the United States of America, but for the world.’ Brief teaser- summary of the book (on the back of the book and web) The CDB, a covert intelligence branch of the C.I.A. set up solely to monitor the whereabouts of just one man. William Naylor, a young ambitious field agent is recruited for the purpose of injecting some new energy into the aging department. Knowing very little prior to being selected he is briefed on the operations of the CDB. He is then shocked to learn that the entire division is only interested in the capture of the wanted man who has evaded capture since 1963. The fact that the fugitive has been elusive longer that the young agent has been alive, raises some questions that lead to some extraordinary answers.