Turn Down the Heater Next Time
I have been recruited by the CIA. I am trying on a black burka. It's hot under there, but this particular style happens to expose my face. A few makeup specialists help me with some final touchups. I look at myself in a mirror. I don't look Afghani at all. I look like me.
The agent sizes me up and smiles. "Perfect," he says. "You'll be perfect for the job." He goes over the plan with me again, making sure I understand everything I'm supposed to do. I'm posing as a beguiling Afghani woman. I'm going to go to the suspect's hotel room. When he opens the door, I'm supposed to ask him a series of baiting questions, but in the sexy, submissive way of Muslim women. If he answers correctly, the CIA's special agents will launch the assassination attempt. I will be whisked away to safety.
"I'm really nervous," I tell the agent. "What if something goes wrong? What if the terrorist sees through my disguise? He'll try to kill me."
"We'll be watching you the whole time," he says. "If anything happens, our men will be there instantly."
I am knocking on the terrorist's door. He opens it and regards me suspiciously. He is a young, attractive Iraqi. I am extremely nervous but I perform my lines flawlessly. It's the moment of action. I don't see anyone coming to back me up.
Suddenly I am in another room, hiding behind a walled partition, waiting for some unidentified, potentially violent drama to happen. Whatever it is has nothing to do with the previous operation that I just magically escaped. I feel relieved that I was inexplicably excused and physically extracted from the first assassination plot. I hadn't even been informed of who the suspected terrorist was whom they were trying to nab, or what he had done.
For some reason I had been a willing, unquestioning participant in a scheme that made me really nervous and uneasy. I hadn't actually wanted anything to do with it, and personally I thought I was a poor choice to go undercover dressed as an Afghani woman, but the CIA seemed to think I was highly qualified.
Either way, I felt too warm and opened my eyes. My room was bathed in morning light. It was already 10am. Why was the heater still running at full blast?
The agent sizes me up and smiles. "Perfect," he says. "You'll be perfect for the job." He goes over the plan with me again, making sure I understand everything I'm supposed to do. I'm posing as a beguiling Afghani woman. I'm going to go to the suspect's hotel room. When he opens the door, I'm supposed to ask him a series of baiting questions, but in the sexy, submissive way of Muslim women. If he answers correctly, the CIA's special agents will launch the assassination attempt. I will be whisked away to safety.
"I'm really nervous," I tell the agent. "What if something goes wrong? What if the terrorist sees through my disguise? He'll try to kill me."
"We'll be watching you the whole time," he says. "If anything happens, our men will be there instantly."
I am knocking on the terrorist's door. He opens it and regards me suspiciously. He is a young, attractive Iraqi. I am extremely nervous but I perform my lines flawlessly. It's the moment of action. I don't see anyone coming to back me up.
Suddenly I am in another room, hiding behind a walled partition, waiting for some unidentified, potentially violent drama to happen. Whatever it is has nothing to do with the previous operation that I just magically escaped. I feel relieved that I was inexplicably excused and physically extracted from the first assassination plot. I hadn't even been informed of who the suspected terrorist was whom they were trying to nab, or what he had done.
For some reason I had been a willing, unquestioning participant in a scheme that made me really nervous and uneasy. I hadn't actually wanted anything to do with it, and personally I thought I was a poor choice to go undercover dressed as an Afghani woman, but the CIA seemed to think I was highly qualified.
Either way, I felt too warm and opened my eyes. My room was bathed in morning light. It was already 10am. Why was the heater still running at full blast?
posted by Justina at 10:42 AM
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