It isn't always easy. You really don't realize it until you have a gun pressed against your head. Yes, if you're wondering that's the situation that I am in at the moment. There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, however a reasonable explanation isn't always the best way to explain something. By the way my name is Chase Waters and this is my story. Five months ago I was working as a substitute teacher in a school in Tacoma, Washington. It was a very large high school, but the number of students in each class were evenly distributed. I was substituting for the teacher of an eleventh grade forensic science class. A very interesting subject and a very important one for a student that is pursuing a career in crime investigation. I had just given the students their assignment when I had been called into the hallway. I enter the hall to see a large man staring at me. He appeared to be six-foot-six, possibly six-foot-seven, and his weight was most likely two-hundred-fifty to two-hundred-seventy pounds. If I had to escape, a kick to the knee could easily cripple the man. Also, there was an open window at the end of the hall that was only about 7 or so meters from where I stood at the moment.

"Chase Waters, I have a letter for you. You will drive outside of the city until you reach Capital Forest. You will make sure no one is around you and then step out of the car. You will follow the nearby river until the first tributary. You will walk along the tributary until its end. At that point, you will be in the middle of the forest and you can then open the letter. Is that understood?" the man whispered.

"And if I refuse?" I asked as he pushed the letter into my chest. I had no idea if I could trust this man.

"I'm armed and I will not hesitate to kill you," he bellowed as he started to reach into the pocket in his suit, obviously for his weapon. I grabbed the letter and stared at the man.

"Well, I took the letter. You can walk away now or did your boss order you to escort me to my car," I said sarcastically. He was angered by my comment, however he didn't say anything and just ambled away. I quickly went back into the classroom and gathered my things. The students appeared confused and for good reason. I was about to call the front office to tell them that I had to leave, but I decided it would be best to not let them know. I went back out into the hall, and looked up and down the hallway. "Good," I said to myself. "No people or cameras." I checked again, just to be sure, and then started down the hall toward the window. Sticking my head out the window, I could estimate the drop from the window to the ground to be a bit over three meters. I've made jumps like that before, so it was no problem to do it once again. While fumbling for my keys, I rushed toward my car and soon reached it. I quickly unlocked the car door and turned on the engine. I looked in the rear-view mirror, all clear. I put the stick into reverse and slammed on the gas pedal, then put the stick into forward drive and raced out of the parking lot. By weaving in and out of other cars I reached Capital Forest in a little more than a half-hour. Again I looked around to see no one nearby. I decided to grab the pistol I had in my dashboard so that at least if this was a trap, I could defend myself. I got out of my car and started to walk along the nearby river. I followed it for about a mile and a half until I reached the tributary. I followed it as well for about a mile until it ended. The man was correct, I was in the middle of the forest. I decided it would be best to check to make sure no one had been following me and once again there was no one around. I then opened the letter, which read:
Chase Waters,

We have been watching you since your first mission and now you are ready. This mission could decide whether or not the United States will still exist tomorrow. You are most likely confused as to who we are and what we need you to do. Do not worry about your confusion, you will be briefed immediately when we meet. But for now, look up.

And that is exactly what I did. I looked up. To my surprise, hovering right above me was an incredibly large jet. A cable and a harness then dropped from the side of the jet in front of me and with slight hesitation I put it on. Quickly, the cable pulled me up at a speed that made my eyes water. A door on the side of the jet suddenly opened and I was yanked through into darkness. It was pitch black in the room and I had no idea where the floor was. As I was pulled through the door, I was unsure of how to place my feet so I would not fall. Unfortunately, I fell flat on my face. After a few moments, dim lights turned on showing the room to be much larger then I had previously thought. A metal door suddenly slid open and two men dressed in suits as well as a group men that appeared to be soldiers. The man in the suit to the right was the first to speak.
“Hello Chase Waters. Thank you for accepting the mission,” he said with almost no emotion at all.

“Like I had a choice,” I replied angrily.

"As we had stated in the letter, your mission is of the upmost importance and your yelling at us will not change anything. You must except it or..."

"Or what? You'll kill me? Go ahead, I have nothing to lose." I said, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Yes, yes we are well aware of what happened to your family. However, that was the past and this is now. If you do not except this mission, we will have to kill you due to the possibility of your releasing this information," the other man in the suit said finally speaking.

"But even if I accept this mission, won't you have to kill me after the mission for that same reason. Wait! How do you know what happened to my family?" I asked, using all of the self control that I had within me to stop from grabbing him by the throat and punching him in the face.

"There is no need to get angry. We know because it is our job to know. We are part of a secret division of the United States Government that eliminates any danger within the government itself. We are known as Licentia and only the President knows of our existence. Here there lies the problem and the reason of your mission. President Arnold Dessilu, as you know, has recently been inaugurated and is of course the new President of the United States. Unfortunately, he is not the person that the American citizens had believed he was when he was elected. He is actually the Romanian terrorist leader known as Petre Razvan. He has been thought to have been dead, but obviously he is alive and now he is planning the greatest terrorist attack in the history of mankind," said the man in the suit to the left.

"And what is he planning to do to make this the greatest terrorist attack in history?" I asked, finally settling down.

"Soon after his inauguration, Razvan ordered seventeen nuclear missiles to be made. Each one has enough explosive capability to completely destroy anything within an area the size of Montana. Interestingly enough, the man who runs the nuclear missile program has previously worked for Razvan. Also, the Vice-President, the Speaker of the House, and the Secretary of Defense have all previously worked for him. We have intercepted communications between the four of them that has made us conclude that they are planning to launch nuclear missiles on the United States. Your mission is to prevent that," answered the man to the left. He wasn't showing any emotion in his face, but I could tell by his eyes that he was worried.

"And how am I going to stop this?" I asked, very confused on how I could stop them.

"You are going to assassinate the President of the United States," said the man to the right. He said it as simple and as emotionless as possible.

"How?" I said with a mixture of confusion and rage. I've gone on many assassination missions before, but none like this.

"Razvan is making a speech at City Park in Denver, Colorado nine-teen hours from now. We will supply you with a variety of weapons including a sniper rifle with a high powered scope. We have located a spot in the city that is perfect for the shot," the man on the left said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Coors Field. The baseball field that is home to the Colorado Rockies. It is about two and a quarter miles from where Razvan will be making his speech. Now, do you or do you not accept the mission?" asked the man on the left. The man on the right appeared to be irritated by the many questions I had for them, but I decided it was best not to annoy them.

"Yes, I accept the mission, but I need more weapons and tools then just the pistol I have," I said.

"Yes, we know. You will go through the farthest door at the end of the room. In there you will find a variety of many weapons and tools. You may take as many tools or weapons as you need, but you must be sure to take the sniper rifle on the left wall. When you are finished gathering what you need, take the left door at the end of that room. In there you will immediately see a stealth helicopter. Use that to fly to Denver. The coordinates are already programmed into the helicopter's navigation system," the man to the right said.

"Good luck," they both said simultaneously. I was still unsure whether or not they could be trusted, but as with any of my missions, it is all information from others. Hopefully this information is correct. I then turned around and walked to the weapons and tools room. Immediately I knew what I was going to gather for the mission. Two new pistols, a knife, some grappling hooks, some lock picks, a ring that could fire small poison darts, and a small backpack would come in handy. Of course I grabbed the sniper rifle as well. After I secured the items, I entered the room with the stealth helicopter. It was much smaller then I had thought it might be, but then again it was built for only one pilot and supposed to be invisible to radar so I wasn't completely surprised. I inspect the hull of the helicopter before climbing inside and turning on the engine. The propellers quickly picked up speed and the ceiling of the room that contained the helicopter slid open into two halves. Once fully open, I pulled down on the cyclic stick which lifted the helicopter up and out of the jet. I turned on the navigation system and put the helicopter into auto-pilot. At the speed that I was going I expected to reach Denver in about four and a half hours.

I decided it would be best to inspect the sniper rifle they had told me to grab for the mission. It could be rigged with explosives or there could be a microphone or a recording device hidden on it. That would not be the first time if it was. Fortunately, it was not and before I had the chance to put the rifle away, the helicopter's navigating systems started to release a high pitched beeping sound. I knew right away that it meant that I had reached Denver and that it would be best to turn off the auto-pilot. I flipped the auto-pilot switch off and soon I could see Coors Field below. There was a large open area near the ballpark and I decided to land the helicopter. Due to it being a stealth helicopter, it was silent and it was painted black which made it not only invisible to radar, but also invisible to the naked eye at night, which fortunately it was at the time. The only thing that would have given away my location was the large cloud of dirt that rose because of the helicopter's propellers. Once on the ground, I quickly turned off the engine, gathered my equipment, and exited the helicopter. I decide to put the two new pistols I had with me in my suit jacket and the lock picks as well as the grappling hook into the backpack. I used the harness-strap of the rifle to secure it to my back and the poison dart ring on my hand. With everything secured, I ducked down into the shadows and hurried to Coors Field. Knowing that the front gates were not a safe way of entering, I threw the grappling hooks up to a window on the second level of the ballpark. The wires attached to the grappling hooks were strong, making it easy for me to get secure as I scaled one of Coors Field's outside walls. Within seconds I reached the window, however, that was the easy part. The window had no way of opening, for it was just a rectangle of glass with no handles and was cemented into the wall. I could only do one thing and that was break the window open. I decided it would be best to use the rifle for the job. I grabbed the rifle by the barrel, pulled my arms back, and swung, shattering the window with the rifle's stock. I quickly climbed through the window, pulling both of the pistols out at the same time. No alarms went off, but there were two men in the room, both holding guns. Before they had the chance, I fired two shots, each one hitting the men in the head. Another man entered the room firing his gun, but three shots took care of him. The men I had fired at were not security for Coors Field nor were they the Secret Service, making sure that there was no chance of an assassination. They were, in fact, men working for Razvan's terrorist group. I carefully exited the room and entered a large hallway. I walked for about fifty or so meters before I heard voices around the corner of the hall. I took a quick look.

"Eight men. D*mn, too many," I whispered angrily. I waited for the group of men to start to split up. Three men went to the floor below, two to the floor above, and three stayed at the level that I was currently at. Now I had a chance. One of the men started to walk in my direction, so I hid in the shadows until he turned the corner. Before the men could even react, I grabbed the knife I had with me and quickly sliced his throat. I put his limp body down softly so that the other men would not hear him fall. I then charged around the corner and fired two quick shots, killing both men instantly. I looked around to see if anyone else was nearby and instead I saw I ladder. The reason why the ladder caught my attention was that it led up to the room of the ballpark. I rushed over to the ladder and started to climb. As I was climbing I could see that the sun was starting to rise and what appeared to be a stage was being built in City Park, most likely for the President's speech. It was about seventy feet to the top of the ladder, but because of Denver's altitude it felt much higher. I reached the top to see that the sun had finally risen. I walked about thirty feet to get into location and prepared the sniper rifle and myself for the shot. In what felt like days, but was actually only five and a half hours, I watched the stage be completed and a large crowd gather in the park. And then I saw what I had been waiting for, a large black limo. A group of the Secret Service step out of the limo first and then Razvan. After phony waves and a long introduction by a speaker that I assumed to be the Mayor of Denver, it was the President's turn to speak. He stepped up to the podium and I loaded the sniper rifle. He sorted his papers for his speech and I focused the scope. He spoke the first words of his speech and I pulled the trigger. Within seconds the bullet reached him and he was dead. The mission was a success. And then the throbbing pain came, but from what? Wasn't I alone on the roof? How did they find me so quickly? Why did they find me too late? Again and again I was struck in the head with what I guessed was the handle of a gun. I could not see, however, who my attacker was, for the blood from my head had covered my eyes. I was then grabbed by the hair and pulled to my knees. I could feel the cold steel of a gun pressed against my temple.

And that is where I am now. As I stated before, it isn't always easy. I hadn't truly known until now. Perhaps this is good as well. With one quick pull of the trigger, I can see my wife and kids again. And so now I wait for peace.