off-track, “Anyway, I found a few leads that I think you might be interested in looking at… Remember our friend Niju Suarez? Turns out he’s been wanted by the Mexican, Peruvian, and Brazilian government for some time now!”

“So we’ve got an escaped convict, so what?” Balto asked, shrugging slightly as he sat down opposite of McIntyre, “Let the police deal with him… He’s no concern of ours…”

“Wait until you here this part, Balto… Apparently, Niju was an engineer for the American military for quite some time before he resigned…” the Shepherd continued, looking over the files on his desk again, “He’s been wanted for murders, aggravated assaults, thefts, you get the picture… But he’s also gotten his hands on some important government papers… Namely blueprints on short-range ballistic missiles we’ve been developing for use in the war…”

“Alright, so let me get this straight, just so I’m on the same page as you are…” Balto said, leaning forward in his seat slightly, “This Niju guy was a military engineer who stole blueprints for missiles and is a fugitive running from the law, right? So the guy’s got weapons blueprints, how’s that affect us?”

“Because, believe it or not, we’ve done a background check on him with the Mexican government and it turns out he was in prison for dealing explosives and small arms to an unknown group of mercenaries…” Colonel McIntyre answered, giving Balto a dead-serious look, “Balto, if he’s continuing to manufacture weaponry and selling them to that group, things could be very, very bad for us…”

“Alright, so one assassination mission… Where is he right now and how am I getting there?” Balto asked, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms coolly across his chest. Colonel McIntyre sighed heavily and shook his head slowly.

“I’m sorry Balto, but there is no assassination mission… In fact, there’s no mission we have for you…” he said slowly, taking notice of the puzzled look the wolfdog before him wore, “After he escaped from prison, he simply vanished into thin air… Gone, no trace of him anywhere… He could be anywhere in the world right now and we have no clue where he is… But once we get a lead, any lead, we’ll let you know…”

“So… You’ve got absolutely nothing for me to do then?” Balto asked, giving him a blank stare, “Why is there no missions for me? There always were missions before…”

“That’s the thing, Balto… The agency has placed you on temporary relief of service…” McIntyre said, handing Balto his papers signifying his temporary relief of duty. Balto looked over it, then looked back up at the German Shepherd before him.

“Relief of duty? For thirteen years?!” Balto asked, his voice near a shout, “This is absurd! What is something terrible comes up and you need my skills for a sudden mission?!”

“Then we’re allowed to call you back into service, but until then the agency, which means me included, believe that you need some time to spend with your new family… So we agreed on thirteen years with salary, since it seemed enough…” the Shepherd said, “Besides, even if we didn’t do this, there’d still be no missions for you… We have enough agents to fill those places…”

“Alright… I understand… Thank you, sir…” Balto said with a sigh, standing up and saluting before turning and walking out. His brown and gold eyes stayed locked on the papers in his hand, still in disbelief that he’d be free for thirteen years to be with Jenna and Kodi. While he was rather displeased with being forced out of his job, Balto wasn’t about to complain. Thirteen years with pay all while taking care of his family. Now Balto could watch his beloved son grow up. Nothing could seem more perfect.

            For thirteen years, Balto stayed at home, playing with Kodi and helping to raise him along with Jenna. When Kodi was seven, Balto told him stories of his adventures of his missions in various countries and regions. Kodi had always been fascinated and imagined going on these missions with his father when he was older.

“Dad, can I talk to you?” Kodi asked, now thirteen years old. Balto smiled at his son and nodded to him, sitting out on a balcony of their house and watching the sun go down.

“Sure thing son… Come and sit with me…” he replied, smiling as Kodi sat beside him, “So what’s up son? What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Dad, I want to be a secret agent- like you…” Kodi said, noting the shocked look his father got from that single sentence. Balto had not expected this at all and it took him completely off-guard.

“An agent? Like me?” he asked, watching the young husky nod vigorously to him, a small smile on his muzzle, “I… I don’t know, Kodiak… It’s not all the glory it may sound like… It’s a lot of hard work and it’s incredibly dangerous… Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be something else when you get older?”

“Nope! I want to be just like you, Dad… You’re a real hero…” Kodi said, resting his head on Balto’s chest, “You’re so cool… I want to fight for America- just like you do…” Balto opened his mouth to try and protest some more, then sighed softly.

“Kodi, are you sure this is what you really, truly want? To become a government agent like I am?” Balto asked.

“Yeah Dad! I don’t care if it’s hard work or if it’s dangerous… I want to be like you and be a hero!” Kodi replied, getting another sigh from Balto. After several moments of silent thinking, Balto finally replied.

“Alright Kodi… I’ll let you try and become a government agent…” Balto said, looking down at the huge smile Kodi now wore, “But remember: this will be very, very hard, so don’t expect it to be easy…”

“I know Dad… I’ll do my best…” Kodi said, hugging Balto affectionately, “Thank Dad…”

“You’re welcome, Kodi…” Balto replied in a soft tone. Without another word being spoken, both father and son watched the sun finish setting. Later that night, Balto paced back and forth in his bedroom, Jenna lying in bed reading a book. She sighed and looked at him.

“Balto, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting like this since dinner…” Jenna said softly, giving him a concerned look, “What happened that’s gotten you in this mood?” Balto sighed and stopped his pacing, looking to Jenna.

“Jenna, Kodi told me that he wants to become an agent like I am… He says he wants to be just like me…” Balto said. Jenna laughed softly.

“Well that’s not much of a surprise!” she said, giving him a small smile, “But what’s so wrong about wanting to be like his father?”

“I don’t want him to become an agent… It’s too dangerous and risky and I don’t want to see him get hurt!” Balto said, shaking his head slowly, “But I don’t want to crush his dreams either… I’m stuck, Jen… What do I do?” Jenna set her book aside and gave Balto a disappointed look.

“Balto, I understand you worrying about our son, but you can’t just tell him no to what he wants to do the most…” Jenna said, then sighed softly, “You know he looks up to you, Balto…” Balto heaved a heavy sigh and sat down on the edge of their bed.

“I know Jen… I know it’s not right to do that to Kodi…” Balto said sadly, “But what do I do then?”

“Let him become an agent if he wants to…” Jenna answered calmly, “You still work there, so be his mentor and teach him everything you know… If after that he still wants to be a government agent, then let him… You can take him on his first mission or two and make sure he stays safe…”

“Alright Jenna, I’ll do that…” Balto said, then smiled slightly, “If Kodi wants to be like me, then I’ll teach him everything I know about being an agent… I’m sure he’ll do fine…”

“I’m sure of it too, Balto…” Jenna said, moving until she was sitting beside her husband, giving him a gentle kiss on his cheek, “But dear, do make sure not too be too hard on the little guy… alright?”

“Don’t worry Jenna… I’ll be sure not to be too hard on him… I know what it’s like to be trained fiercely, so don’t worry about that…” he replied, kissing her back, “Well I’d better get to sleep… I’m gonna begin Kodi’s training as soon as possible…”

Chapter 2

The Pentagon, April 8th 2026, 1100 hours.

            A young, twenty year old brick red and white husky stood before Colonel McIntyre, eyes showing slight nervousness as the colonel looked over a few papers in his hands. He sighed softly, looking around the office before looking back to the German Shepherd. Seeming to have reached a decision, McIntyre placed the papers on his desk and looked up at the husky before him, eyes serious.

“Well, your application seems rather… interesting…” Colonel McIntyre stated, glancing down at the papers he’d been previously holding, “So you’re trained in martial arts, correct?”

“Yes sir. I’m a black belt in Tai-Kwon-Do…” the husky answered calmly, nodding to the Shepherd, “I also did kickboxing in high school, sir…”

“And you’re also multi-lingual?”

“Sí, oui, and ja…” the dog before the colonel replied in Spanish, French, and German, smiling slightly.

“Impressive- as well as a great necessity to have when an agent…” McIntyre replied, looking over the husky’s papers again, “And your father’s served with us before, correct?”

“Yes he did and he still is, sir…”

“Yes, I know your father well…” Colonel McIntyre said, glancing up once more before