Ed Teja

J. Lee Porter

Ideas can be powerful...and dangerous...

When the CIA sends a financial analyst named Tyler Blake to go undercover at the Anarchapulco conference in Mexico, the idea is to have eyes and ears on anarchist plots. Somehow things don’t go as planned. Despite good intentions, the ideas of freedom he’s exposed to might just be too contagious to resist.

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

"You want me to go undercover?" Tyler Blake looked at Ralph, his boss. He realized he was blinking stupidly, but then this had to be a joke. He wasn't a spy. "But I analyze white-collar crime."

The man nodded and it made the fat around his neck bulge out. "That makes you perfect for this assignment. You've got the financial and IT background to understand the crypto shit and that will be an important part of the program, and maybe their plans."

"But I've been working at a desk since I finished training. I'm not a field operative."

"Listen, Blake, this is the CIA, not a social club. We own your ass, and this is your assignment. You are going undercover at this anarchy conference."

“Anarchy conference? They have conferences?”

“Anarchapulco, they call it. They think they are being so clever because it’s in Acapulco.”

"But that’s in Mexico. That's on foreign soil." Somehow that seemed to make it worse, more dangerous. "Don't we already have trained people there?"

"Sure. But our agent in that location has the flu. We need to replace him."

"We have one agent there?"

He laughed. "It's Acapulco, Blake. Normally it isn't exactly a hotbed of anti-government activity, but this goddamn Anarchapulco conference being held there is expected to have a couple of thousand anarchists collected there. We need eyes and ears."

"An anarchist convention? That makes no sense."

"Still, that's what's going on and the political freaks will be mixing it up with all those cryptocurrency radicals who want to destroy our economy."

Tyler sighed. Ralph was right that his background let him understand cryptocurrencies, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention that he'd shifted most of his own savings into them over the last several years. They’d been his safe haven ever since he lost his ass with silver. He knew it would be pointless to explain that no one was trying to destroy anything, that it was just a matter of the old economy becoming archaic and unwieldy. He sighed. At least that part of the conference could prove interesting. "I suppose I can go, but what exactly do you expect me to do?"

"Blend in. Schmooze with the ones that seem to be ringleaders and find out if they are planning anything."

"Planning anything? Like riots? The conference is in Mexico, after all. Isn't it their problem?"

"Blake, this antigovernment shit is global. The Mexican government isn't thrilled with these bastards either, but they need the tourist dollars and these people are rich―they're filling a major resort for a week or more. They aren't going to stop it, but they don't mind us slipping you in there to keep an eye on things."

It sounded easy enough. "No actual spycraft needed then."

"Zero. Just make some connections and keep your ears open. How hard could it be?"

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