by Amy Hopkins
The names continued down the list, all of them except the first three showing a score of five, ten, or twenty thousand.
“Hey, is that Trevor Trevor?” Cisco reached over Penny to point at the highest scorer. “His last name is White.”
“Must be,” Penny replied. “What about those other names? Joe King, Al E. Gator? They’re too punny to be real.” She ran her finger down the list.
Cisco laughed. “Nah, they’re just placeholders. You can tell because the scores are all even multiples of a thousand.”
“Ah.” Interest already waning, Penny dropped her handbag on the table closest to the arcade machine. “You ordered?”
“Violet was out back. I’ll do it now.” He headed back for the register, where Violet had begun stacking paper coffee cups next to the espresso machine.
Penny sat just as the small bell over the coffee shop door jingled loudly and two heavyset men in crisp black suits barged in. Both had clean-shaven heads, dark sunglasses, and small black earbuds attached to cords leading inside their jackets. One pushed a dolly while the other ran his eyes over the cafe.
That doesn't seem normal. Although the men gave off an aura similar to agent Crenel and the rest of the CIA, something about these guys was a little off. Perhaps the way they moved in perfect unison, not speaking, not communicating, but somehow perfectly in sync. Maybe they just look a little too much alike. The men certainly looked similar enough to be brothers, and not just in their dress. Pale skin, ice-blue eyes, and perfectly straight noses gave them enough likeness that they could even be twins.
Her heart fluttered faster as the men approached her table. Behind them, Penny could see that Cisco had stopped mid-order, watching the men walking toward her.
Penny took a breath, preparing to give the men a friendly greeting. As she opened her mouth to speak, they brushed past her wordlessly. Without breaking stride, one of the men parked the dolly next to the arcade machine. The other smoothly knelt, inserted a key into the side, and dislodged a black box that jangled with quarters.
What the fuck? As strange as they looked for government employees, the idea of them working for a company selling old gaming machines would have made Penny laugh if she wasn’t already so unsettled by their appearance.
The first man stooped over, withdrawing a small black box from one pocket. An attachment dangled from it that he plugged into the side of the arcade machine. Penny could see a small LED screen flare to life but couldn’t make out what was on it. Before she could debate the safety of standing up to look, he unplugged it and shoved it back in his pocket. He grabbed the dolly, shoved it under the machine, and pushed it out of the shop.
The other man walked up to the counter and dropped the heavy box of coins on the counter. “You’ll have a new machine first thing tomorrow." The man spoke in a clipped tone, his face expressionless as he turned away and walked out the door.
"Well, that was the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Cisco remarked when he joined Penny at her table. "Damn shame about the game, though. I was looking forward to having a go."
Penny twisted in her seat, trying to spot the duo out the window. She couldn’t see them. “Really? Because that whole thing just made my skin crawl. Who were those guys?”
Cisco screwed up his face. "Guys like that are the reason conspiracy theories get started.”
“That’s the truth.” When the bell jingled again, Penny’s eyes shot to the door. “Oh, hey. Speak of the devil.”
Trevor immediately went to the empty corner of the shop. “Damn.”
“Nice to see you too, man,” Cisco teased.
Trevor’s head jerked up and he stammered an apology. “Sorry! I wasn’t talking to you, I swear. I didn’t even see you there.”
“Sure, you didn’t. I bet you—” Cisco yelped when Penny kicked him under the table.
“We know you didn’t, Trevor.” She kicked a seat out for him. “If you’re looking for the arcade game, two goons just wheeled it away. They said something about a new one coming tomorrow.”
Trevor let out a frustrated groan. “No! I thought they’d leave it here a bit longer, at least.”
“We saw your high scores,” Penny told him. “You really like space shooters, don’t you?”
Trevor looked around the cafe, then ducked his head low. He cupped a hand over his mouth and whispered something too low for Penny to catch.
“What did you say?” She dropped her voice a little, but he hushed her anyway.
“Not so loud,” he hissed. “I’m on an undercover operation.” He darted another look around.
“You know,” Cisco told him, his voice at a normal volume. “The worst way to avoid notice is looking like you’re trying to avoid notice.”
Trevor sat up and looked around again. With a chagrined expression, he settled back into his chair. “Oh.”
“What are you doing on an op?” Penny asked. It was unusual to see anyone outside of the field agent track to be given a mission. Red and Amelia were only able to accompany Penny and Cisco out because of their track record with the Kraken from the first semester.
Grimacing, Trevor shook his head. “It’s not official. Not yet, anyway. As soon as I’ve got enough evidence, though, I’m going straight to Agent Crenel. If I’m right, this will be huge!” His eyes grew big with excitement as he spoke.
“So… You’re not gonna tell us what it is?” Cisco asked.
Trevor hesitated. Penny immediately began to reassure him that he didn’t have to share, but he cut her off. “It’s not that I don’t trust you guys, really. I just don’t want to put you in any danger.”
Cisco smirked. “Well, Danger just happens to be my middle name.”
“No, it’s not.” Penny snickered. “It’s Bartholomew. Your mom told me that ages ago.”
“My other middle name,” Cisco said with a withering glare.
“Regardless,” Penny continued patiently. “If Trevor doesn’t want to tell us what he’s working on, he doesn’t have to. I’m sure he’s got it under control.” She shone a confident smile at Trevor, who blushed in return.
“Fine.” Cisco twisted around to look over at Violet, who had two coffees and two burgers balanced on a tray. “Mmm, lunch is coming!”
Penny punctuated his statement with a loud stomach growl. The sound was echoed by something deeper that rumbled through Penny’s body.
“Wow. Your belly really is complaining.” Cisco looked around for the waitress.
“Cisco?” The sound pulsed again. “That wasn’t my stomach.”
Their eyes met for the briefest moment before the two friends shoved back their chairs and dashed out of the café, leaving Trevor hurrying behind.
“There!” Penny pointed at the looming giant who towered over the building from a street away. “What is it?”
“She’s enormous.” Trevor’s face was white, and a thin sheen of nervous sweat beaded on his brow.
“That’s what he said.” Cisco ducked Penny’s absent-minded slap to the back of his head. “Fine. but who is she?”
Penny shot Trevor a sideways glance. “Anything to do with your new pet project, Trev?”
He spread his arms, eyes still glued to the meandering giant. “Not me.”
The entity was a woman. A very tall woman, tall enough to tower over the buildings clustered around her. She wore a headpiece that reminded Penny of a Bollywood movie, and a green silk dress strung with jewels to match. In her hands—all four of them—she held weapons and a shield.
A hum buzzed near Penny’s ear and she jerked away, swatting at a bee. Two more passed, and to Penny’s alarm, a swarm the size of a large dog appeared around the corner to follow them.
ZzzzzzZZZZ. The bees floated away, moving toward the giant woman.
“Come, my children!” The woman’s voice boomed, her accent thick. “Find the one they call Paddy. Find him and bring him to me.” The buzzing intensified.
“OI!” Penny yelled as loud as she could, waving her arms to att
ract the attention of the giantess. “Down here!”
Big brown eyes turned her way. The nearby buzz grew louder as the swarm of bees drifted back toward her.
Uh-oh. Maybe this wasn’t the amazing idea it seemed like a second ago. Penny slipped a hand behind her back, crossing her fingers and hoping her gamble would pay off instead of getting her—and probably everyone around her—killed.
“What do you want with Paddy?” Penny yelled, trying to keep her voice friendly despite the volume, and the fear that crawled up her spine as the bees lazily approached, darting to and fro in a thick cloud.
“He has summoned the gods and goddesses to discuss the future of our kind.” The goddess spoke in a voice that carried across the buildings and streets, in a low, rhythmic hum. “He did not, however, explain how we were to find him. I am unfamiliar with your city, child.”
“I can take you to him,” Penny called. “But you need to call back your bees so they don’t hurt anyone. And don’t step on anything!”
The deity regarded Penny for a moment, her face still. Then, she gave a slow nod. “Be still so they may bring you to me. They will not harm you, and it will be tedious trying to navigate the city without them.” She regarded Penny for a moment longer. “Perhaps this will be easier if you close your eyes.”
“You got my back, Dangerino?” Penny murmured.
“Always,” Cisco replied. He squeezed her hand, then stepped away. “I’ll be right behind you. Behind and below. Way, way below.”
Beside him, Trevor edged away. “I’m allergic to bees,” he whimpered.
The bees stretched into a wide cloud, and more flitted from the sky above to fill the spaces between them, creating a thick blanket that blocked out the sun.
Penny held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut, praying she wouldn’t inhale one and invoke the wrath of their goddess. She flinched when the first one landed on her face but clung to a shred of calm as more joined it. Soon, every inch of Penny’s body crawled with the insects.
The bees took flight, a thunderous buzz that drowned out Penny’s senses as they cradled her body, lifting her into the air. When she cracked her lips to gasp in a breath of air, they parted to allow her to breathe.
Penny rose, the sensation more like being swung around in a maggot-filled hammock than flying. She endured it for what seemed like hours, although it was only the space of twenty strained breaths. Still, the crawling sensation over her skin still beat the sudden fall when they abruptly let go.
Thwap. Penny landed on a firm, leathery surface, heart pounding. She tried to stand, but a movement made her shaking legs buckle beneath her.
“Sit, child. I do not wish to drop you.”
Penny looked up into the face of the goddess whose large fingers cupped her safely.
“I am Bhramari Devi,” the goddess told her. “Take me to the one named Paddy.”
Chapter Six
"We've got fourteen broken streetlights, nine signs, and a bicycle. How am I supposed to explain that?" Crenel slapped the report back on his desk and sat back in his chair, an unlit cigarette dangling from his fingers.
Penny shrugged. "I did my best to keep her out of trouble. I don’t think she meant to step on all that stuff."
"You did great, kid." Crenel tapped the report with one finger. "If not for you, this all could have been a lot worse."
"We can't undo the damage that was done," Penny agreed, a small frown pressing her brow. "But I'm sure we can figure out a way to prevent it from happening again. Does the city have a property somewhere on the outskirts of town that can be used for meetings like this in the future?"
Crenel pursed his lips. "They just might. Damn. I know you're a smart kid, but you’re starting to run circles around me, and it's making me feel old."
Penny laughed as she reached for the door to his office. "That's because you are old." She slipped out and closed it behind her just in time to avoid a balled-up piece of paper that shot toward her head.
Penny wandered down the corridors of the Academy. Her burger had been cold by the time Cisco returned to the Academy with it, but it had filled her stomach, and now a gentle lethargy had set in.
Tuesday was her day off. Apart from her unscheduled defense class that morning, she didn't have anything else on for the day. She checked her watch. Amelia and Red should be finishing up the European mythology class right about now. Penny hurried off to meet them.
She almost tripped over Trevor, who had wandered around the corner juggling an open laptop in one hand and frantically typing with the other as he walked.
“Oh good, you made it back.” Penny waited for his attention to refocus.
A slow grin grew across his face. “Penny! Wow, that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, despite the bees. I mean, I like bees, they’re good for the environment and stuff. It’s the part where they can kill me that kind of freaks me out, you know?” He looked up as if expecting a giant hand to squash him for insulting the goddess’s minions.
“It was pretty cool,” Penny admitted. “Did you make any progress on your big case today?”
Trevor shook his head. “It was a bust. I got there too late and missed my chance.”
“The goons said the arcade game will be back tomorrow.” She watched him closely, hiding her smile when he jerked his head up in shock.
“What? What arcade game?” He scurried back. “I never said anything about an arcade game.”
“Yeah, you did,” Penny reminded him gently. “When you arrived at the cafe. I just assumed…”
“I’m so bad at this,” Trevor moaned. He rubbed his face with one hand, which caused the laptop to sway as it balanced precariously on the other. “I was supposed to keep it a secret!”
“Why?” Penny darted a hand out to prop the slipping laptop up.
Trevor righted it gratefully. “It’s just… You guys get to do so much cool stuff. I’m not jealous or anything — I know I couldn’t do half of what you do. But when I found Polybius and realized what it meant…” He trailed off.
“You thought you’d found something right up your alley?” Penny still didn’t know what his interest was in the game, but she didn’t press him. “Look, I get it. If I stumbled on a case involving Rainbow Serpents, I’d bust my ass to get in on it, despite how underqualified I might be.”
Trevor looked up hopefully. “You would?”
“Of course!” Penny replied. “But do you know what else I’d do?”
“What?” Trevor looked dubious, but let her continue.
“I’d ask my friends for help,” she told him gently.
Trevor’s eyes dropped to his laptop. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” His eyes met hers. “And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.” He whirled around on one foot and walked away.
“That’s…not where I thought that was going,” Penny mused. She was going to chase him, but a nearby door opened and students began filing out.
“Penny!” Amelia waved at her. “Red asked if we can help him with an assignment tonight. Are you in?”
“Sure!” Penny looked back for Trevor one more time, but he’d already disappeared in the crowd. She sighed and turned back to her friends. She would hunt him down and press for answers later. “What’s the brief?”
Red’s eyes gleamed. “Gold, Penny. The brief is gold!”
“I thought it was just leprechauns that got their knickers in a twist over yellow rocks,” Penny commented. “But I see it’s all Irishmen.”
Red laughed. “Are you saying that you wouldn’t be excited if you found a giant ingot lying on the beach?”
“Well… no. I’d probably wet myself with excitement.” Penny braced herself as Red clapped her on the shoulder. Since his werewolf bite, he’d gotten a lot stronger.
“That’s the spirit, lass.” Red looped one arm through Penny’s and another through Amelia’s. “Now, we’re looking for a thing called a gold-digging ant. Can you believe the wee bugger goes and digs up gold in the sand?”
Red laughed. “He’s not tiny. Supposed to be the size of a wee dog. A proper wee dog, I mean, not those big-eared ones that look like rats.”
“Red, Chihuahuas are proper dogs.” Amelia sighed. “And you’d better get used to them because I have three at home.”
Thinking back on her earlier discussion with the gigantic goddess and her bee powered flight, Penny decided that yes, she could believe in a giant ant that spent its days looking for gold. "What class is this for?" she asked, curious. It didn't sound like anything she had read about in their shared mythology classes.
"It's for geospatial and signals intelligence." Red flashed a grin. "I'll be bringing some fancy equipment along with me. All I have to do is use the equipment to find it, then catch the wee bastard on camera—and if some gold happens to fall in my pockets, the professor doesn't need to know that."
"What do you need us for?" Penny asked suspiciously. "It doesn't sound terribly difficult."
Red gave her a look of mock horror. "Out on the beach by myself? All night? I'll be so bored my kneecaps will fall off."
Penny had to laugh at that. "Fair enough. When are we going?"
"Right now," Amelia explained. "Red already has the equipment packed and ready to go. Where’s Cisco? Might as well bring him too."
“He was with me before, but I got caught chatting with Crenel,” Penny explained. “You wouldn’t believe the day we’ve had.”
Red shot off a quick text message, his phone pinging barely a minute later. He pumped a fist in the air. "My boy is in!"
"Do I need to bring anything?" Penny asked. "At the very least, Boots will want to come."
"Go get your wee snake and maybe a coat. You might have a better tan than me, but you're a downright wimp in a nice breeze."
Shaking her head but unable to disagree with him, Penny headed back toward her room, flipping the bird over her shoulder back at Red. She arrived at her dorm room and pushed open the door. "Boots? Boots, where are you?"
The room was a mess. Wow, I didn't realize it had gotten this bad. She shook off the thought, resolving to spend the weekend cleaning it. "Boots?"