Episode #4: Sabrina Plans a Tunnel

Mar,19 2026

<-#3: Jaclyn at the bank heist

The day is beautiful. When Tamara told me about this place, I was nervous, but I have to admit that things worked out.

I never saw myself as lucky, professionally or romantically, but for now, things are working out.

Luke seems to be going to the compound too. I salute him.

"How are you on this fine day?" he asks me.

"Fine! What about you?"

"Can't complain. Going in?"

"I am"

We both enter the members-only community center. It's an actual community center, which we use for recreation, but it's also where the main elevator to the access tunnel is located.

It used to be in a tool shed. Come on, Cassian, what were you thinking?

Secret access buildings need to have a reasonable purpose. You can't have people go in and out of a shed all day without drawing attention.

I even had a spa resort added to explain why people might be gone for hours. Granted, I do love a spa day with Tamara...

"How is Peter doing?" I ask Luke.

"Better. He might go back into action in about a week"

"That early? Wow. That was a nasty bullet wound"

"My man is built strong", he says, laughing.

"True. Want to come for supper tonight? I am sure that Tamara would love to see how her brother is doing"

"Sure, if you are cooking, I'll be there"

"No promises. Tamara has a recipe she wants to try"

He laughs. "I'll bring the Tums"

We get into the locker rooms downstairs. He has an analyst uniform, like Tamara does, but I just wear a business suit.

I asked Cassian a few times. He has us nude at the resort to prevent hidden wiretaps and weapons, but he also has us wearing clothes in the compound, where wiretaps and weapons are the highest risk.

Of course, I never expected an answer, but he had one.

"By the time an enemy agent has made it in, it's too late. I prefer my staff to have weapon holsters, bulletproof protection, RFID tags, and Bluetooth devices embedded to locate my employees easily and secure sensitive areas."

I laughed. "You could embed that in us"

"And give a way for the authorities to identify us? No, Sabrina. That would basically force all of you to have a permanent tracker of your life here. I am not keeping you prisoner. If you want to resign after your contract, you need to be able to disappear, and body-embedded devices do not allow that."

And yet, my contract is far too long. Most people have only a few years; mine is counted in decades. I just know too much.

But it's fine! Tamara has an even longer one as one of his chief analysts. That makes us one hell of a power couple...

After parking the golf cart, we go one at a time through security. Luke is always a gentleman and lets me go first.

By the time he would be in, I am in my office, where Timothy is working. I do not see Erika.

"Hi Boss, so what will it be?"

"Florist. Next to the yoga studio, and we'll put a pedestrian tunnel access"

"Awesome. Branch from the car wash?"

"Of course. Perhaps we can revamp the car wash access make it more secure?" I propose.

"Right, it's the first one we did. Good idea, boss."

"Where is Erika?"

"Oh, Patrice wanted an assist on the inspection of evacuation tunnel C. "

"That's only scheduled for tomorrow"

"I know! That's what Erika said, but Cassian needs Patrice tomorrow"

"No, something is wrong... Let me investigate"

"Sure boss. I'll work on the blueprints for the tunnel"

"Thanks, Timothy"

Why would Cassian put his nose in our operations? He always told me that construction and maintenance were 100% under my control and security under Patrice's control.

One of the things I love about working for the man is how there are never any surprises. His operations are run like clockwork.

Any deviation from the routine lights a red light in my mind.

I rush to evacuation tunnel C, but by pure chance, I spot Cassian in a conversation with Peter.

I place myself to be seen by Cassian but out of earshot. Yet, I still manage to get a few words, and it seems that Cassian is asking questions about Peter's physical therapy.

Secrets are part of the organization, but I have a hard time organizing them in my mind. Tamara has one of the highest clearances and can tell me stuff I shouldn't be able to know. Cassian will even sometimes drop by our house to ask Tamara details about work and ask for my point of view.

Who does that? Create a strict need-to-know system, and include me, who doesn't need to know anything.

But then, there are medical and personal secrets. Like Peter's condition. He has a right to medical privacy. I know all about it because he is my brother-in-law, but at the same time, Cassian does debriefs where medical outcomes for the patients are shared publicly, and yet, we are told it's confidential.

I don't understand that.

They end their conversation, and Cassian approaches me.

"Did you want to talk to me about Jaclyn or Peter?"

"About Patrice, actually"

"Oh, what happened?"

"She took Erika, and I needed her"

Cassian hits his forehead.

"Oh my God, there is a security concern tomorrow, and I needed Patrice's help. She didn't tell me about her prior commitment. I am so sorry. Sabrina, it's my fault. I should have asked Patrice what her workload was tomorrow. What can I do to remedy your issue?"

"Well, I was about to go relieve Erika from the inspection. I don't like to make her do overtime, but I can."

"I don't like it when you overwork yourself. Is there a priority I can release from you?"

"Not really," I tell him.

He thinks. "What if I gave you Brandon for the day? I mean, I know he's not familiar enough with your processes, but he is an architect"

I think. Brandon works mainly in operational planning. He is the one who plans tunnels, escape plans, and designs the layout of our practice rooms, but generally not for the base.

"Isn't he busy right now?"

"No! We just had a successful operation, and we are waiting on Tamara to tell us what the next one is"

"Ok, that would help. A lot. Send him to my office; Timothy will know what to do with him"

Cassian pressed his watch a few times, and I heard "Brandon speaking"

"Brandon, I'll put you on Sabrina's team today. I made a mistake and occupied Erika. Can you replace her?"

"Sure thing, Boss!"

"Great, thanks", and he hangs up. He turns to me. "Anything else, Sabrina?"

I look at him. He is smiling. "Can I ask a stupid question"

"No"

"No?"

"I can't answer stupid questions; they don't exist. If something is on your mind, ask away"

I laugh. "I don't understand secrecy here."

"Oh, that's serious. Because I can't have you reveal the secrets in that big brain of yours"

"But that's the thing. Tamara has top secrets. Operational ones that only you and she should know"

"Well, quite a few more people, actually, but I know what you mean. And I know what you are about to ask me"

"You are?"

"If Tamara deals with such sensitive subjects, why can you know them, and why can you talk to her about your secret projects only your team and Patrice should know about?"

"Yeah. That. And I know that Peter's medical history is private, but at the debrief, you shared the exact diagnosis he had"

"Ok, those are two things. Let me answer the first one"

"Sure"

"You are married to Tamara. When you are at work, you think about her, and she thinks about you. It's normal"

"It is"

"When she makes a discovery, she is excited to tell me, right? It's a big win! But she wants to celebrate with you"

"Of course"

"Well, I believe that relationships strengthen us. I believe that you make Tamara a better analyst, and that you are a better director of infrastructure thanks to Tamara."

"Thank you for recognizing that", I tell him. He smiles.

"I employees get divorced from stress when it wasn't the case"

"I know"

"But for you, I believe in keeping you in each other's confidence, and I want you to be fully honest and transparent with each other. That if you keep secrets from one another, it will eat away at your marriage"

I look at him. "And that's more important than secrecy?"

"Oh yeah. I don't buy loyalty. I cultivate it by helping happiness, job fulfillment, and by letting family security grow"

"I appreciate that"

"As for Peter, it's therapeutic. After he got hurt, he felt bad about his performance, his team felt bad, everyone felt guilty. By showing exactly how he got hurt, we can help alleviate the guilt by showing that he will recover, and we go step by step to understand how the error was made"

"Right. But Clark feels guilty; it was pointed out that it was his fault"

"Yeah, but instead of a general feeling of inadequacy, he knows exactly how he messed up and was trained to avoid it in the future. This is how we get better. Not by hiding, but by confronting your mistakes and learning from them"

"When was the last time you made a mistake", I ask him, to test how honest he would be with me.

He laughs. "7 months ago. I signaled the all clear when Peter hadn't finished clearing out the back."

I thanked him and started to go on my way, but he stopped me.

"What will Jaclyn open?"

"You really care?"

"I do"

"You killed her husband"

"You know I had no choice. You were there"

"I know. I don't understand why he did that"

"I didn't notice how greedy for power he was. I should have. I made a serious judgement of character error", says Cassian, sad.

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I don't think you did. You were clear about our goals. About our future. He was just impatient"

"Maybe," says Cassian.

"A florist", I tell him,

"Oh, I can see that. Possibly we can add some colors in here"

I smile. He thanks me, and I make it to the evacuation tunnel C.

The entry to the tunnel is well marked but normally sealed. Presently, it's open for the inspection because the door is one-way.

I see the lock keys in the mechanism. I see Patrice's and Erika's. So I grab mine and put it in the third keylock. The keys don't unlock the door. They only stop it from closing. Each key means someone is still inside.

So, the door will not close as long as there are keys in them, and everyone knows the penalty for touching the lock key of anyone else without their permission: instant execution.

It's a major security issue. Not because an intruder might get in, but because an employee might be locked in alive, hurt, or even die. Cassian doesn't joke about employee safety, and Patrice is worse!

I spot them checking next to one of the collapsible bulkheads. They are made to close permanently after an evacuation is complete in order to prevent being followed or if an invasion is made from the tunnel.

I look at them. Erika is from the Dinka Sudanese tribe and stands at a proud 6 feet 2 inches, with almost no fat on her. Massively tall for an American woman, but barely above the average for her people. Her shaven head is hard to notice because everyone looks up at her height first.

Next to her is Patrice, twice her elder, who is of Pacific Islander origin but was born in the USA from adoption and, as such, isn't sure of her actual lineage. Suffering from malnutrition as a child, she barely reaches 5 feet, but has since gained a comfortable isolation layer. Her hair is currently braided, probably by her daughter, to reduce risks.

"Hi girls, any issues?"

"We'll need to regrease this piston, and I wanted to check with Erika if it's still the proper solution. In the new tunnel, we use explosives to close the doors"

"She confirmed?" I said.

Erika answered. "Yes boss. We can't change the closing method without changing the door"

"Great. Patrice, do you need her long? I have a new project". I got Brandon, but if I can also get Erika, I won't complain.

"I can free her now; I have my answer. It's the same for the rest, I suppose"

"Great we need a new pedestrian tunnel between the car wash and the yoga studio"

To my surprise, Erika speaks up.

"No, you don't want that"

"I don't?" I say, confused.

"Major storm sewer line between the two"

"Oh. Can't we go under it?" I ask. I am a builder, not a civil engineer...

"No, they inspect them often, and if they redo them, they would spot us"

"So what do we do? The yoga place is a great entry point"

"We have an evacuation tunnel not far from there.", says Patrice.

"We do?" I say, confused.

"Yeah, number 3"

"Wait, I thought they had letters"

"They do. The new ones. The first five had numbers. We don't count on them now"

"But the tunnel is still standing?"

"That part. I would need to inspect it. We certainly would save on excavation time"

"Ok, Patrice, can you help Erika on that? I'll go inform Cassian"

"Don't. He is supposed to be quite busy with your wife. I am on a secret project with him tomorrow; I can ask him, and he'll send you an email"

"Good, anything needed in my office?"

"I don't know! He hasn't told me anything yet"

"Right, secret project", I smile.

I return with Erika, but I think. In here, "secret" often only means "not revealed yet." I have a feeling that everyone will know about it in a few days. He did tell me "security concern".

<-#3: Jaclyn at the bank heist