them either . She ’ s too careless and clumsy for this kind of thing . I don ’ t see much hope for you , Ling , but I won ’ t do anything to you until I find some proof , and I ’ ll have eyes kept on you ,”
“ How about the messages Agent Ling received , General ? Ask her to show us !” An agent suddenly raised his voice , distrust written all over his face as he looked at Ling suspiciously through his beady eyes .
“ I burnt them in the fire like all agents are supposed to after reading their messages ,” said Ling , holding her head up and trying to keep the tremor from her voice while secretly cursing herself for being such a conformist . The agent made a noise of disbelief and was about to open his mouth when General Xiang cut him off .
“ Ok , that ’ s enough for today . Take her to the cell ,”
That night , Ling found herself , once again , alone still awake after everyone had gone . But this time , she wasn ’ t surrounded by piles of documents and radio wires , but the bars of her cell . She stared at the blank brick wall opposite to her as she tried to recall every memory she had of Su , the young agent , and find out the clues she had missed pointing out that she was a double agent . Always cheery , young , naïve , and clumsy . That ’ s how she thought of Su before today . Was this all an act ? A façade to divert their attention from her true identity ? When she snatched away her message earlier that day , was it out of panic that she would read it ? Or was it just pure childlike innocence ? She knew she could vouch for the loyalty of all the agents here even though she hated some of them , because she knew about them , having worked with them for so long . But for Su , she wasn ’ t so sure .
Suddenly , a creak from the stairs interrupted her train of thought . The words “ traitor ” and “ double agent ” quickly crossed her mind and she hurriedly pretended to be asleep , feigning light snoring . Ling heard the softest of footsteps coming from the stairs . Then , a pause of silence . Ling realized she had been holding her breath and quickly resumed the light snoring . A moment later , she heard soft footsteps again , and this time , they were directly behind her . For a fleeting moment , as she lay there pretending to be asleep , she caught the smell of flowers , but that thought was quickly pushed aside when she knew she might be killed by the double agent any second . She cursed herself for facing the wall of the cell when she pretended to sleep . “ You fool !” she thought to herself , “ now you won ’ t even know who killed you when you die !” Then , as the footsteps faded , she realized the double agent wasn ’ t looking for her , but making for the radio room ! The door to the radio room was closed , but she could hear the soft crackle of static and a low raspy voice whispering . Ling strained her ears , trying to catch the words , and her heart turned cold when she realized the whisperings were in fluent Japanese ! Ling could understand a little Japanese , but the voice was too soft for her to make out the words . A few seconds later , Ling heard soft footsteps pass behind her and down the stairs . When she heard couldn ’ t hear footsteps anymore , she let out a sigh of relief . As she lay there staring at the ceiling , she tried to put everything together and make sense of all of it . Now she had calmed down , Ling was sure the double agent was a woman as the flowers she smelled could only make sense if they were from a woman ’ s perfume . Then , she thought of the raspy voice , didn ’ t an agent mention that Su had a sore throat and had lost her voice ? She must have really had a sore throat , but Ling highly doubted that she had lost her voice , given that it was such a perfect excuse to avoid Ling ’ s questioning in case she wasn ’ t locked in a cell . Yes , it is definitely Su . Now , she only had to think of a way to lure the rat out in the open with a piece of cheese , without revealing the cage waiting to snap it up . Ling smiled to herself as a plan began to hatch in her mind .
The next night , Ling was no longer shackled in her cell , but in full black , crouching in the shadows of the radio room . Across the room was General Xiang and a few other agents , blending into the dark and hidden behind stacks of boxes . If anyone was to come into the radio room , it was unlikely that they would notice three men and a woman clothed in black , each with a pistol in hand , as they were all as still and silent as statues . And that ’ s exactly what happened next . A whisper of footsteps from the stairs . The creak of a loose floorboard . A pause . Then the softest of footsteps again . The soft click of a lock . The silhouette of a woman appears in the doorway . She crosses the threshold . The crackle of static .
For a moment , it seemed to Ling that the tension in the room was almost tangible , like a thick fog suspended in air , threatening to suffocate everyone . Then , the spell broke and there was a movement of shadows , the click of guns , the flooding of yellow light and a rustle as the spindly woman turned her back .
“ Agent Su , reveal yourself !” Even as Ling shouted it , she knew that something wasn ’ t right .
The woman lifted the veil from her face and Ling had to grip her gun with both hands to stop the shaking when she heard the horrible sound coming from the woman ’ s mouth .
“ Ah , I ’ ve missed my voice ,” rasped Mei in Japanese , with a huge grin