The Last Phone Watcher – Part Two

(This is Part Two of the story. Be sure to read Part One before you keep going.)

“Hello?”

I winced at the shakiness in my voice. I didn’t realize it in the moment, but it had been over 40 years since I had answered one of these phone calls.

The line was quiet. Not dead, I could hear someone’s breathing. It was muffled, like they had their hand over the receiver, but it was there. Heavy breathing, like they had been running to get somewhere. Or away from someone.

I tried to recall my training, tougher now that I was in my 60’s.

“Agent, what is your call sign?” I asked hesitantly. I think it was call sign.

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The Last Phone Watcher – Part One

Everyone thinks that the government is so hip and up to date on everything. Ever since the FBI hacked into that one terrorist’s iPhone and Apple didn’t know how they did it, people have been more and more impressed with these secret government organizations. Recruitment is up. The polls show that the average American is feeling more favorable about the FBI, and even the CIA.

People are so foolish. They don’t realize how archaic the government still is. I mean it’s 2016, and my job is to sit at a desk and watch a phone. Not answer the phone, watch it. Because it hasn’t rang since, oh I don’t know, the Cold War. That was 20 plus years ago.

I am what is left of the Cold War phone operators. It started out as a place people could call with tips about potential spies or spy-related activity. Then it got downsized and they added all the American Cold War operations to our job. Then it got downsized again, and again.

Now I’m the last guy in the division. I spend my days reading the paper, doing the crosswords, listening to classic radio, just waiting for..

BRRRRRING!!!!

Oh my…

BRRRRRRING!!! 

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Enjoy Part Two by clicking here.

The Puzzle Master

The job is simple. Every day at 8:34 am I get a phone call. I answer it on the second ring and write down the information given. Under no circumstance must I engage in conversation with the caller.

They never told me why when i got the job, but now I do.

It wasn’t right away. I was a few months into the job. Phone call, I’d write down the information, and then I had to go hand deliver it to a guy in a particular bar at a specific time. It was simple and paid ridiculously well. I didn’t have to do anything else for the rest of the day.

The information didn’t seem like anything important. Sometimes it was a bunch of random number. Once it was an equation, another it was a chemical formula for something. I never thought about it.

But on that fateful day, it was something more.