THE RETURN Of the LEGENDARY KING of WAR

Return And Revelation

Soon, they left the detention facility behind as the car surged forward. Andrew barely noticed the passing scenery, or Mason's conversation with someone over the phone.

Thoughts of what had just happened wouldn't leave his head.

After a while, Mason turned slightly to face him and said, "Are you okay, Master? You seem... distracted."

"Of course I am," Andrew snapped, and went on to tell him about the person Carl said was posing as him.

Mason's eyes grew wider as he listened.

"The impostor somehow knew, and then used my security codes before vanishing without a trace," Andrew finished in a low growl.

"Without a trace," Mason repeated slowly. "Forgive me but I find that hard to believe. This misidentification thing is just an excuse if you ask me."

Andrew nodded. Mason had just spoken his mind.

"Yes... I think so too," he agreed.

*******

Baron was standing outside the building when Andrew and Mason arrived.

"Finally!" he exclaimed upon seeing Andrew. He heaved a sigh of relief and clasped his friend's hand the moment he got out of the car. "I thought we would never get you back. What the hell happened?"

Andrew started to answer then he saw the other members of his team coming out to greet him. For some minutes there was a lot of back slapping and hand shaking as they all welcomed him back.

"Tell me you've been keeping busy while I was gone," Andrew said to them.

"We certainly have," Baron said and gestured for Andrew to follow him inside.

The large meeting room was a hub of activities. Maps, with key areas mapped out in red markers, and notes were spread out on almost every surface.

The almost two dozen computers were powered up and running. The men operating these raised their heads for a bit, and nodded a greeting at Andrew when he came in.

Andrew could see that they were well into planning a potential rescue mission. He pulled up a chair to the center of the room and sat down.

"Update me on what you all have done so far," he said to Baron.

From the pocket of his jacket, Baron pulled out a small notebook and in a few sentences, told Andrew about the progress they had made.

When he had finished, Andrew commanded. "Gather around, all of you."

Footsteps echoed as they all moved to sit, or stand around the large desk Andrew had indicated, in a round, formative line.

"Something happened. To me," he told them gravely. The men exchanged looks as Andrew continued. "The long and short of it is that there is someone out there posing as me, and who is clever enough to get away with it."

Whispers broke out at this. Andrew waited for it to die down before he continued.

"Carl —the man I met said the security footage capturing the impostor vanished the moment he set foot into the compound." Andrew paused. "I have a feeling that Carl knows more about this person than he admits. But whatever he knows, he's keeping it close to his chest."

One of the men said, "The impostor could be someone that just looks like you that our enemies discovered and are using to cause trouble."

"Or a tech clone," another said and others murmured agreement.

"That sounds more believable because our enemies would really have to do a thorough search to find someone looking exactly like our Master, but even moreso, there's no guarantee they would find such a person."

"Possible. Very possible," said Baron.

"But how could this impostor and whoever is behind him have planned all this so well?" Mason said half to himself.

"Could be an inside job," said the man on his right. "This thing could be part of a bigger conspiracy, you know."

"As much as I hate to think that we have a mole among us, I have to admit that you have a point," Andrew agreed.

"Carl said this... ‘lookalike’ was able to access very restricted areas. That is something only possible with restricted clearance. Or hacking," Andrew added.

"This is serious!" Baron said, and swore under his breath.

"Whoever this impostor is, he needs to be stopped as soon as possible," said one of the men.

"I have an idea," Mason said and everyone turned to him. He went over to one of the large projectors taking up an entire part of the wall and tapped it reflectively.

"How about we run an independent trace through our own underground intel? That way, whoever is behind this won't see us coming until it's too late."

"Another thing," said Baron. "We could look into recent military clearances, survey tech gaps and do a thorough background check on all personnel with access to classified areas. Once we do this, we could pick out who's helping this so-called doppelganger."

"Not bad. Not bad at all," said Andrew, rising slowly to his feet. "We will implement all your ideas at once, but..."

Andrew looked around, pinning each man with his hard stare. "I don't think I need to tell you that what we are about to do now is top secret. The impostor is sure to be watching our every move so make sure no one who isn't in this room knows about our plans to catch him. Am I clear?"

The men all nodded with a salute, assuring their master that they were.

"In addition to our plans, I will reach out to an old contact..."

"An old contact?" Baron said, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Yes," Andrew replied.

"He knows all there is to know about tech. Legal or otherwise. He might know about the kind of tech that is capable of fooling biometric scans."

"Good thinking," Baron said at once. "That's another angle that should be looked into."

As the men dispersed to continue their work, Andrew slowly lowered himself back into his seat.

He was now very keen on finding out who was impersonating him.

If someone was walking around with his face, then it was time to find out what face the impostor wore in the dark.