Alexander Gray is an agent for the American President.
The man has the unusual codename of 'sockdolager', a slang term which one dictionary defines as "something that settles a matter: a decisive blow or answer; a finisher". Considering the things he is asked to do and which he finds a way to accomplish, it would appear justified.
Gray had been a very promising prospect for the Majors as an incredible pitcher before his shoulder gave way and though surgery corrected much of the issue, he knew that career path was gone. He switched his plans to what his parents had always hoped, to become a surgeon, attending Emory to earn graduate from medical school followed by surgery residency at Duke Hospital in Durham, NC. It was there he noticed he was always at odds with his residency supervisors, too many long hours waking "some poor fellow in the middle of the night to jab him with a needle he didn't want or need?" Gray admitted to himself he wanted "to lead a more active life". He joined the US Navy and then a change to call himself a SEAL.
"After six months of training, it was days of blood and glory. Missions never to be found in history books. Men dying at his hands. Worse yet, friends dying beside him. Finding out he was better at the killing business than anything else he'd ever tried.
It was on a mission to rescue a captured US Senator, Theodore Anderson, that saw his career take yet another turn. When Anderson, even then a powerful politician, asked for his help in handling situations around the world, he was always there. And when Anderson's star rose enough to put him in the White House, Gray remained Anderson's personal operative.
That same mission was when Gray first learns about the Coterie, defined in short but ominous terms as a "clandestine organization that wants to unite the world under its control". Gray also discovered at the same time that this group is very, very powerful with major pull everywhere.