324 DATE WITH THE GODS
CIA, and that what they were suggesting involved some
kind of spy work. My knowledge of languages made me
valuable to them. I remembered, with some amusement,
that my college career placement center had suggested
such work due to my advanced linguistic abilities.
The American couple tried to convince me that the
assignment was definitely not a spy job. They told me
that a private enterprise, an international company,
whose goal it was to eradicate the spread of communism
throughout the world, was making this offer. The
company, known as International Investment Investi
gations, was a powerful organization where everyone
had his or her own specific line of work, with an attitude
of "we don't ask questions because the less we know the
better off we are."
When I asked for more specifics about the proposed
assignment, they told me it would mean reporting on
serious journalistic information in various countries.
I thought about the offer for about a month. I
consulted my mother, a woman who works behind the
scenes in the entertainment industry. She listened to my
account of the meeting I'd had with the representatives
in Denmark. She told me that organizations like "Mis
sion Impossible" and "James Bond" aren't fictional; they
do exist and operate more or less in the same manner as
is seen in the movies or television series.
Even though I didn't really know whether or not to
believe what she was saying, she said something that
made good sense: These movies and television programs
are based on actual events, taken from secret files after
they have been dismissed. Most of these secret outfits,
she said, had all kinds of specialized personnel to handle
various assignments. I told her lots of people got killed
doing that kind of work and it wasn't worth the risk and
aggravation that goes with it. My mother reminded me