by S. E. Weir
Balehn decided the best place to start would be the training rooms. It was where they all spent most of their time, so it made sense to try there first.
He rushed past a few agents who tried to speak to him, but he didn’t notice them in his hurry to find something. Balehn reached the small training room where the advanced classes took place. It made sense that something would be hidden in the room they all desired to reach.
He began on the right side of the room and searched counter-clockwise. He heard the door open, but when he turned, no one was there. He shrugged and continued his search.
Balehn almost cheered aloud when he found a dagger with the symbol they were supposed to search for mixed in with the weapons hanging on the wall.
He lifted the dagger triumphantly. He had done it! He had found one of the items using logic and his vision to search it out. Perhaps he could do this after all!
He eagerly slipped the knife into the bag slung over his shoulder and finished his search of the room. Finding no other items, he straightened and turned toward the door. He reached into his bag to reassure himself of his find as he lifted his other hand to open the door.
Alarm flooded him as he groped his clawed hand around inside the sturdy bag. Balehn glanced down to see inside the bag he pulled open just as the door slid to the side.
The item was gone!
“Ah, Balehn.” The familiar voice came from in front of him.
Jack Kaiser stood just outside the door with an expectant expression on his face as he reached out to clasp his arm, indicating he was caught.
Son of a bistok! What the hell had just happened?
Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Lower Armory
Cade peered around the corner, prepared to dart back. Only one person was visible in the hallway. They were facing away from him and walking to a room near the end.
Pulling his head back, Cade glanced behind him and around in the hangar. No one looked his way, and there was only one pitiful weakling of a man working on a land vehicle. He triumphantly slipped around the corner and through the door on the right. He saw a blur out of the corner of his eye as he turned to close the door and thought he might have been seeing things, but it went away, so he dismissed it.
Turning back to the open room, Cade practically salivated at seeing all the guns, knives, and swords. So many weapons, so little time. He got down to business and began searching. He found nothing on any of the weapons and was about to leave when he noticed a large cabinet at the front of the room that might hold something.
He opened the doors and pulled things out one by one. He turned his wrist to toss another reject when he saw the edge of a patch on the sleeve of a protective shirt hanging to the side. He dropped the gloves in his hand when he heard something clatter on the floor behind him.
Cade whirled as he pulled his knife out of his thigh sheath. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”
Silence reigned, though his eyes blurred as that funky thing happened with his vision again. Cade shook his head and scanned the room warily.
He had just been hearing things, right?
His Grams, a batty old woman who’d made it her mission in life to drive him insane, had always told him that ghosts were real and that he should listen when they spoke.
Cade had always scoffed and dismissed the woman, but he would admit—only to himself—that he felt very uneasy now. As if someone else were in the room with him. But ghosts weren’t real.
He wished he had a gun to use but made do with his practice knife as he searched the room for any sign that someone was in there with him.
He found nothing except a lone knife that had fallen on the floor.
Cade’s mind whirled. The knife had been resting inside a foam cutout. There was no way for it to fall on its own.
Flustered and a little scared, Cade returned to the cabinet to take the shirt with the patch and get the hell out. He was determined to gather more items than anyone. He had already found one in the large training room they had been in earlier for Agent Shaw’s announcement of today’s activity.
They thought they were so smart hiding it in plain sight, but he had outsmarted them. He would find all the items and outsmart everyone. He would win, and those suck-ups would see that their precious Phina wasn’t so special!
Cade stood in front of the cabinet, but he didn’t see the shirt with the patch. Frowning, he searched through the entire row of clothing, but they were all normal items, no special symbol at all.
Cade froze. His eyes must have been playing tricks on him, but no, he remembered seeing it! It had to have been there.
But that would mean...
He began to hyperventilate as he threw everything back in the cabinet with no regard for order and slammed the doors shut.
He rushed to the armory door and ran through it when it opened, making a beeline for the hangar, where there were more people. Real people he could see.
Cade shoved the doors open to the hangar and rounded the corner. He almost bounced right off of another man just a little taller than himself. In his panic, he didn’t recognize who it was at first.
“Whoa, slow down there, Cade. No need to rush. But yeah, you’re caught.”
Cade realized that he had run into none other than Agent Shaw. Hissing, he tried to pull away but couldn’t free himself from the beta agent’s grip.
Damn it! He was caught. He gritted his teeth and patted his bag, reassured that he had at least gotten one item.
The bag was empty.
Cade seethed in anger. Phina had to have been part of this. He just knew it!
Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base
Nodin had been tiptoeing around the facility for over an hour. The first item he had found by accident in a lounge that he had hidden in when he saw Beta Agent Masha approaching. The book had been lying there on the side table in plain sight.
Since then, he had found three items, and he hadn’t had to search for any of them. He began to wonder if their trainers were using reverse psychology. Making them believe the items were in hard spots to find to see who was paying attention.
If there was one thing Nodin was good at, it was being observant.
He wasn’t smart, strong, or especially skilled, but he noticed things, and he had a great memory.
Nodin crept down the corridor, approaching the trainee lounge. He had found items in all the other lounges, so he was hopeful he would find something in the room.
He held his hand up to open the door when he felt someone behind him. He turned his head quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid the hand that now clamped on his shoulder.
“Come on, Nodin,” Beta Agent Masha said kindly. “You’ve been caught, so it’s time to go.”
“Go?” Nodin was startled. Was he being thrown out of Spy Corps? His parents had disowned him when he didn’t want to be a part of their business. He didn’t have anywhere else to go.
“You’ll see. So how many did you get?”
“Umm...three.”
She turned to him curiously as she gently tugged his arm for him to follow her. “You still have all three?”
He blinked in confusion. He felt like he was hearing only half of the conversation. Why wouldn’t he still have the items? Nodin grew anxious, so he checked his bag.
Nodin nodded and patted his bag closed. “Yes, all three are there.”
“Huh.” Masha fell silent as they continued walking, causing Nodin to scratch his head in confusion.
She had expected them to be gone. There must have been other items that had disappeared. Were they supposed to have disappeared on their own?
Or had they been taken?
Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Library
Gina frowned as she scanned the library she had spent the last forty-five minutes searching one last time. She had found two items, but she couldn’t help thinking she was missing something.
She sighed and shook her head. Phina probably would have
found all of them in half the time. That woman was seriously amazing, and Gina had no idea how she did it. She could call emulating Phina’s awesomeness her life goals, but the girl was at least a year younger than her.
Phina wasn’t even stuck up or boastful about her skills. She just...did the thing, and she did it better than most of the rest of them combined. Phina even helped out when she saw someone struggling or shared what she had learned in an unassuming way. If she wasn’t so likable, Gina would probably hate her.
Then again, Cade seemed to manage it. Maybe that was his problem; he saw what she did, felt inadequate, and hated it. Stars only knew Gina felt inadequate herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to hate Phina. She was self-aware enough to know it was a problem with herself.
She could hear her mother’s phantom voice in her head, Work with what you’ve got, Gina! So what if someone else has something you like better? Stop the pity party and get moving on making your life better for yourself!
Thank the Empress, her mom supported her even though her dad thought she should be doing something more domestic.
Gina saw a small picture on the wall from the corner of her eye. She hadn’t noticed it before, but as she drew closer, she saw the symbol in the corner.
She had her arms outstretched to grab the painting when she heard the door open behind her. She quickly pulled it off the wall and turned to see who had come in.
Jasper grinned at her with a glint in his eye she could only call evil.
He strode toward her and held out his hand. “I’ll take that from you, little mouse girl.”
She stared at him incredulously. “Are you kidding me? This is mine! And ‘mouse girl?’ Seriously? That’s the worst nickname ever!”
The grin morphed into a snarl as Jasper reached her. “You can’t take me down, so I don’t care what your name is. I’m taking that.”
Gina internally winced. He was right. She hadn’t managed to win a fight against him yet. She failed to dodge before he grabbed the small painting and pulled. She felt the material give a little and let go so it wouldn’t break. Jasper seemed to count on that as he turned his momentum into a dash for the door.
“Hey!” Gina raced after him but was a couple of steps behind him as he reached the door and opened it.
She heard a startled sound outside just before she ran through and found Jasper facing the stoic Sergeant Hardass, aka Agent Shaw. Gina groaned in frustration.
“We can take him if we fight him together!” Jasper shouted as he went into a defensive stance, his focus on Shaw.
“Oh, hell no!” Gina scoffed and slid her foot to pull Jasper’s back leg out.
She felt a shiver of delight run down her spine when the jerkoff fell to the floor. She placed her boot lightly on his neck.
Gina leaned down and plucked the painting out of his hand. The pressure on his windpipe made Jasper reflexively let go of it in favor of reaching up to grab her foot.
“I’ll take this back, thank you very much.”
“Very nice job, Gina.” Agent Shaw spoke approvingly.
She flashed a grin. Maybe she had some awesomeness of her own.
Jasper groaned and pushed against the foot on his neck. Bitch! Who did she think she was?
He stopped when he heard Agent Shaw’s next words.
“That was such a great takedown that I think you deserve one of the items Jasper has too.”
Gina gasped. “Really?”
Jasper frowned. The man couldn’t do that! It had to be against the rules. He tried to yell, but the pressure of the boot on his neck rendered his words unintelligible.
“You can let him up now, Gina.”
She removed her foot, and he took deep breaths. His throat felt bruised. He patted his neck as soreness flooded his system, then glared up at the agent.
“That’s mine,” he rasped.
“Not anymore.” Shaw smiled pleasantly.
The trainer leaned down to pull Jasper’s bag off his shoulder. Jasper clenched his hands and wanted to pummel the man for taking what was his, but he knew he would be kicked out. The tradeoff wasn’t worth it.
But it was tempting.
Jasper got to his feet as the man held open the bag for Gina to pick an item. He seethed at the show of delight the bitch made as she put her mousy little hands all over his items. His items!
Not that they were worth anything. His family had enough money to buy everything several times over. It was the hunt and the chase he relished and the satisfaction of knowing he had won.
When they were finished, Jasper held out his hand for his bag. Shaw stared at him while he slowly put the straps into Jasper’s hand.
“Are you both going to come along quietly and accept that you are caught?” the agent asked.
Neither of them spoke for several moments, then Gina sighed. “Yes.”
When a few more seconds had passed without Jasper speaking, Shaw raised an eyebrow at him.
“Unless you want to fight it out?”
Jasper scowled. “Fine. Yes.”
“Good.”
They fell in next to him as they passed agents who had been giving them a wide berth in the hallway until now.
Jasper blinked a few times when his vision went blurry for several seconds, but it passed.
“Where are we going?” Gina asked.
Trust the mousy suck-up to make conversation with their captor. Jasper had wondered the same thing, and it was better if she asked.
“You will see when you get there.” Shaw was amused at their expense, judging from his tone.
Great. Just great. Cryptic comments from the almighty Hardass. He didn’t think he could take much more of this.
But wherever they were going should be with the other trainees. Jasper couldn’t wait to see Phina’s face when she found out he had won with the most items.
Priceless.
There were some things even money couldn’t buy, and not for lack of trying.
Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base, Movie Theater
Ian casually slunk around the corner as he headed for the movie theater. It was the only room in the central wing he hadn’t searched yet.
He had completely changed his appearance, spiking hair instead of his usual shaggy style. He had also put in colored contacts and borrowed clothes from Kabaka. Ian had found some strange objects early on in his explorations on the base and had later been pleased to learn that they were to place in the back and sides of his mouth to elongate his jaw. This one change served to not just elongate the length of his face but how he spoke, so his speech pattern sounded different.
His disguise had worked. He had been wandering around with the agents none the wiser for hours.
Grinning, Ian danced a few steps once he entered the room and found it empty. Hah! Screw you, Jasper and Cade! He was tired of the constant flak from those assholes. Ian bet they hadn’t made it nearly as long since they were both cocky bastards.
He shimmied and whirled in self-congratulation, then froze. An agent in a form-fitting atmosuit leaned against the wall with a grin on her face.
A very attractive and sexy agent.
His mouth dropped open, and words fled his brain.
“Hey, what’s so exciting?”
“I...uh...” Ian flapped his mouth ineffectively, struggling to put his thoughts together. Damn it. This always happened.
“Is it the competition the newbs are having?” She straightened and walked over with a friendly smile.
Ian blinked. This beautiful woman thought he was another agent. He finally got his mouth working.
“No...I...uh... No.” He shook his head.
Well, sort of got his mouth working. Seriously, why couldn’t he have gotten the gregarious gene from his mom to come out around attractive women? Instead, he got his awkwardness from his dad.
“So...” She stopped in front of him and peered up with dark lashes framing amber eyes. “What are you so excited about?”
You, he th
ought and flushed, happy for once that his brain-mouth filter didn’t always work right. The extra blood flow finally helped his brain to begin processing again.
“Just, you know, life in general, and working on being the best agent.” He stopped as his mouth dried up.
“You know what they say about being the best agent?” The woman flashed him a grin as she leaned in and put her hands on his chest.
“Wh-what?” he whispered faintly.
She turned her head to whisper in his ear. “You always have to be alert to your surroundings.”
To his disappointment, she eased back and flashed him another easy grin before calling over her shoulder. “You got it from here?”
“Yup,” a voice next to him answered, startling him.
Ian blinked at Beta Agent Masha and at the woman leaving the room. When the door closed behind her, he was able to breathe normally again. “Who was that?”
Masha glanced at the door. “That was Gen, short for Genevieve.”
“Genevieve,” Ian repeated as he stared at the closed door. “I’m going to marry her.”
The beta agent sighed. “Come on. Let’s get you to the room.”
“You don’t believe me.” Ian tried to grit his teeth but remembered the mouthguard that kept his back teeth from meeting.
Shaking her head, Masha gently tugged Ian by the shoulder to lead him out of the room. “That woman hasn’t dated anyone since she joined the agency, and she’s determined to keep it that way. I doubt anyone is going to change her mind.”
“Well, it’s going to be me,” Ian declared.
“You stalk her, and I’ll break your knees.” Masha spoke matter-of-factly.
Ian turned another shade whiter but shook his head. It didn’t matter.
He was already more than half in love with the woman.
Gaitune-67, Spy Corps Headquarters and Base
Kabaka skeptically appraised the group of agents chatting casually in the lobby.
Too casually.
He had been waiting around the corner when Ian and Beta Agent Masha had come out of the movie theater, talking about a woman. The way they spoke made him think that the woman had waylaid Ian so he got caught.