EPISODE 1 OF 8: During a cross-Atlantic flight from New York to London, six unsuspecting twenty-somethings are recruited by NBS, an internationally supported, secret intelligence organization with stations around the world. These young men and women are to be trained for one purpose: bringing down The Syndicate, an international crime organization aimed at profiteering by keeping countries at war with one another. All the recruits have already unknowingly encountered The Syndicate in their everyday lives.

Once their recruiter, Agent Sullivan, learns of The Syndicate's plans to steal smallpox samples from TriMark, a medical lab in upstate New York, the recruits' training in London is cut short so they can be sent back to the States on their first assignment. But for one of the six, becoming an NBS agent has deadly consequences, leaving the remaining five with a new goal: keeping each other alive.

-- ABOUT THE SERIES: NBS agents are trained for one purpose: bringing down The Syndicate, an international crime organization aimed at profiteering by keeping countries at war with one another. When an NBS agent is murdered shortly before her first assignment, five new recruits quickly realize the agency they're working for may not be as trustworthy as it seems, forcing them to make a pact in order to survive. Can the new agents stay alive long enough to uncover the truth behind their fellow recruit's death? Or is finding answers hidden deep within both organizations tempting enough to make one of them break the pact?

-- For fans of Robert Ludlum, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, John le Carré, THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, Daniel Silva, THE UNLIKELY SPY and HOMELAND.

-- Christian Liberty Marshall is an Austrian-based writer, and musician with degrees from Vanderbilt University, and University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. When not performing as a violist, he can be found teaching at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, writing educational material for children, or translating German literature. His first serial novel, The Pact, is available in summer 2015.