Project Mc2

by Jade Hemsworth

  Cam ate a forkful. “Looks like spaghetti, tastes like strawberries. Yum!”

  “Pretty brilliant, huh?” Adri asked.

  While the crowd oohed and aahed, M scanned the rest of the backyard. There was an empty raft … an empty chair … an empty table. No prince.

  “Where’d he go?” she asked, trying to appear calm.

  Cam turned around, staring at the empty pool. “He was floating there a second ago.…”

  “I started cooking and…” Adri admitted, looking stricken.

  “We got a little distracted,” Bry said guiltily.

  Cam hung her head. All three knew they had screwed up.

  M wasted no more time and darted into the house, checking every room again. No prince, Jillian, security guards, or car. They were all gone. The girls caught up to M in the empty driveway.

  “What are we going to do?” Cam asked.

  “I think you’ve done enough,” M snapped. She angrily stashed away her notebook and computer and zipped her bag up while the girls watched, unsure what was happening. “It was my job to protect the prince and I failed. I failed everybody in every way! If anything happens to him, it’s all my fault.”

  “You can’t blame yourself,” Bry said kindly.

  M lost her temper and threw her hands up. “Yes, Bry, I can. You know why?” she yelled. The girls cringed. “Because I knew I was better off handling this case by myself. It’s obvious the three of you would rather mess around than get serious. None of you have what it takes to be a real agent. Not one! Now I’m going to find the prince and take care of this myself, just like I should have done in the first place!”

  With that, M stormed off down the street. Cam, Bry, and Adri looked at one another in dismay. They’d never seen M so mad. They knew they had messed up big time. Why hadn’t they kept at least one eye on the prince during Adri’s experiment? Why had Adri stepped away to find all those ingredients? And why had Bry posted on social media? It’d probably led the bad guys right to them.

  Then there was the hardest question of all, the one they couldn’t bring themselves to think about.…

  Was this the end? Did it mean they’d never get to work for NOV8?

  * A ROYAL DISAPPEARING ACT

  Chapter Nine

  M.M.H.S.T.*

  M sat in her secret closet lab, staring intently at the holographic computer map in front of her, searching for any sign of the prince’s car. She had to find a clue of where they’d taken him. She spotted several black cars in the vicinity of the safe house, but it was impossible to tell which one his was. She ran a few social media searches, trying to figure out if anyone had tweeted or posted a sighting. McKeyla was hitting dead ends in every direction.

  “I’m sorry,” M said remorsefully, glancing up at the Quail on the screen. “I tried my best to work with those girls, and now I’ve lost the prince. This never would’ve happened if my attention wasn’t diverted by them.… They were so unfocused and unreliable.”

  “Don’t forget uncool,” A.D.I.S.N. chimed in from the desk.

  “No,” the Quail corrected. “They’re three exceptional high school students who can still help you.”

  “Yes, they’re smart,” M agreed, watching the map. “But they’re not operatives. If I don’t find the prince and this launch fails, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  The Quail just nodded sympathetically. At this point in her career, she was much better than M at handling stressful situations. Twenty years in NOV8 made her a seasoned veteran, and she’d learned that the only way to handle a crisis was to remain calm so she could think clearly.

  “I understand that things didn’t go as planned, but it’s not too late,” she said. “Let those girls assist you so you can find him. Everyone makes mistakes during training. Remember your little mishap with the Bengal tiger?”

  McKeyla cringed. “I thought we were never going to talk about the tiger.…”

  “I deleted it from all the records!” A.D.I.S.N. called out in her supportive, high-pitched electronic voice. She wanted McKeyla to know how much she did for her.

  “My point is,” the Quail went on, “you weren’t always this professional and responsible, either.”

  M shook her head. “It’s not that I expect them to be like me … but they’re not even close to being like me. They just couldn’t handle it.”

  The Quail tilted her head to one side, giving M a hard look. “McKeyla … do you really believe you gave them a fair chance?”

  M let out a deep breath. Maybe she had been kind of harsh with them. Bry was technically the one who’d hacked into the security guard’s monitor to distract him—which was the only reason why they’d gotten into the hangar. Cam had built that police scanner, and Adri had been the one who’d gotten them past the prince’s bodyguard. It was not like they hadn’t helped at all.

  She remembered their faces when she’d left, how shocked and sorry they’d looked. Was her mom right?

  “Maybe you have a point.…” M admitted. “I didn’t give them a fair chance. Maybe they were trying and I didn’t know how to lead them.” She suddenly turned on herself. “What’s wrong with me? Why am I so stubborn? So difficult … so annoying? Was I born this way?”

  “Nooooo, sweetie,” the Quail said, almost too quickly. “I mean, no, Agent McAlister, you were not born that way. But why don’t we talk about this later, after you get the girls and find the prince?”

  M couldn’t stop, though. It was like all these thoughts and feelings were coming to the surface, and she had to collect them before they floated away.

  “I guess I just want people to do things my way, or I just do it myself. Maybe I shouldn’t be so closed off. Let people in, let them help me…”

  “Great idea for the future. Time is ticking.…” the Quail admonished, trying to get M back on track.

  “Just open my eyes and not be so oblivious to the world around me,” M went on. “See what’s right in front of my—”

  Just then, she spun her chair to the side and caught sight of the monitor to her left. Cam, Bry, and Adri were all hovered around the camera in the safe house, waving and trying to get M’s attention. She could tell from their flapping lips and flailing arms that they were yelling something to her, but the speakers weren’t on. She tapped the keyboard.

  “You guys? What’s going on?” M asked.

  “We got him!” they cried in unison.

  The girls moved away from the camera, revealing the dining room of the safe house. Aaron Markus was sitting in a chair behind them. His arms and legs were strapped to the seat, and wires wound around his body. He had a piece of tape over his mouth. He struggled against his bonds—he wanted to talk, badly.

  “I can’t believe it!” M shouted, covering her smile with her hand.

  The girls started dancing around the room, singing and high-fiving. “Go, us … go, us…” they chanted.

  “Mission no imposible!” Adri yelled, folding in some Spanish the way she always did when she was really excited.

  “Great job. So…” M said, visually scanning the room behind them, “where’s the prince?”

  The girls all stopped dancing. Bry smiled sheepishly.

  “Uh…” she said, winding one of her long black curls around her finger. “We forgot to ask.”

  M let out a small laugh. Okay, so they weren’t perfect, but they had found the suspect and detained him. That was major.

  “I’ll be right there!” M assured them. She grabbed her hat and A.D.I.S.N., and headed for the door.

  * McKEYLA McALISTER HAS SECOND THOUGHTS

  Chapter Ten

  T.W.T.A.N.B.T.T.*

  As soon as M got to the safe house, Cam and Adri caught her up on the details. Apparently, after she’d left earlier, the girls had stayed, trying to figure out what to do next. That was when they noticed the black car outside. Aaron, their dubious suspect, started walking toward the house.

  Thinking fast, they hid right behind the front door, jumping out as
soon as he came in. They said he’d been caught so off guard it only took them a minute to tie him up.

  M stood back, observing Bry as she hooked up some sort of homemade device to two of the suspect’s fingers. Bry then connected the red and green wires to a breath mint box. M leaned over, inspecting the intriguing device.

  “Uh … why are you connecting him to a tin of curiously strong mints?” she asked.

  “It’s my cleverly disguised portable lie detector,” Bry explained, talking at twice normal speed, even for her. “It flashes green if you’re telling the truth and red when you’re lying.”

  “Or if you have really bad breath,” Cam joked. She pushed her dark red hair off her shoulders.

  Bry opened the lid of the mint tin, revealing an intricate web of wires. She looked down at the suspect. “Now, tell us what you did with the prince,” she said, suddenly very gruff.

  “And about Black Star’s secret plan!” Cam added.

  “Don’t worry, girls,” Adri said, stepping forward. She smacked a pink spatula in her hand, her lips attempting a menacing sneer. “I’m going to get some answers out of our new friend here. I just hope I don’t have to use any unsavory methods. But that’s entirely up to you, chico.…”

  M ripped the tape from his mouth, allowing him to speak. He had thin brown hair and a brown beard, some of which, painfully and accidentally, had come off with the tape. Oops!

  “Yes, yes, I work for Black Star,” he said, trying to catch his breath. “But it’s not what you think.”

  Bry peered at the lights on the side of the tin. Ding. The green light flashed. “He’s telling the truth!”

  “I’ve been trying to warn you,” Aaron said. Ding.

  “Warn us?” Adri yelled, brandishing her spatula. “About what? Your evil plot to kidnap the prince?”

  “Nobody’s been kidnapped,” Aaron said, looking at them with his suspicious, beady black eyes. “Black Star isn’t after the prince; they’re after data. They’re planting an illegal hacking device in the prince’s luggage.” Ding.

  The girls exchanged confused looks. Nobody was kidnapped? They needed to get to the bottom of this, fast.

  “What do you mean, a ‘hacking device’?” Bry asked.

  “It’s the only one of its kind,” Aaron said. “They’re going to use it to hack into a government satellite up there. This isn’t about the prince at all; he’s just a foil to hide their real intentions.” Ding.

  “What about the phone call?” Cam asked. “Someone called Space Inc. and warned them to keep the prince off that flight.”

  “That was me!” Aaron said, obviously frustrated. “I’ve been trying to do whatever I can to get this launch canceled. If that device goes onto that ship, Black Star will be able to steal millions of people’s personal information. I never thought Black Star was capable of this. Darone made us believe he was an innovator and humanitarian who wanted to do great things with his technology. But it was all lies.” Ding. He was still telling them the truth!

  But there was one question Adri just couldn’t get out of her head. “Why not go to the policía?”

  “I tried,” Aaron said. BZZT.

  “Lie!” Bry held up the lie detector. It was flashing red now.

  Adri lifted the pink spatula, threatening to whack him on the nose.

  “Okay, okay!” Aaron cried. “The truth is I’m scared of Darone and what he’d do to me if he found out.” Ding.

  “But why would an Internet security giant want to steal anyone’s personal data?” M asked, still puzzling over the plot.

  “Why else?” Aaron scoffed. “Greed. Darone wants as much personal info as he can get his slimy hands on so he can sell it for billions.” Ding.

  “Personal info?” Cam asked. “You mean, like, all our e-mails and contacts?”

  “Photos and texts…” Adri added.

  Bry gasped thinking of all her social media posts.

  “Yeah, all that stuff,” Aaron confirmed.

  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Bry said weakly.

  “We have to stop them!” M exclaimed.

  Cam noticed the television set that was still on. She pointed at the news report. “It looks like we might be too late.…”

  The prince was standing at the launch site, waving to the cameras. He was already in his spacesuit with the spacecraft behind him.

  “Cam, call your dad.…” M said.

  Cam whipped out her cell and dialed, but it just rang and rang. “Voice mail. He’s gotta be in the control room already. No way I can reach him now.”

  “The hacking device!” M cried, getting an idea. “If we can find a way into Space Inc., we can stop it from getting onto that spacecraft.”

  “I say we destroy it so Black Star won’t be able to harm anyone,” Cam said. The girls nodded, agreeing with the plan. But if they were going to have a shot at pulling it off, they had no time to waste.

  M paused at the door. “There’s one thing I still don’t get. If nobody kidnapped the prince, then who took him from the safe house to the launch?”

  Cam thought about the prince and the entourage who followed him everywhere. He had three security guards, a bodyguard, and a personal assistant with him. “I bet one of his staff is working with them.…”

  “A mole?” Bry asked.

  “A dirty, rotten mole!” Adri agreed. Oh, how she’d like to use her spatula on them!

  M let out a deep breath, mad at herself for not realizing it before. “And I have a feeling I know exactly who it is. Come on. Let’s go!”

  “Who?” Bry asked as they started to the door. “Who is it?”

  But M had more pressing things on her mind … like finding and deactivating that destructive device!

  * THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

  Chapter Eleven

  B.A.E.T.S.T.W.A.W.K.I.*

  Bry pushed through the crowd of screaming fans, moving closer to the massive spacecraft. She stood on her tippy-toes. “There he is!” she said, pointing to the prince, who was mugging for the crowd. He was standing on the stairs in front of the ship, about to address hundreds of excited fans in front of him, his blue Space Inc. jumpsuit zipped up to his chin. The row in front of the stage was all teen girls, some holding signs, others wearing T-shirts that read I’M OVER THE MOON FOR PRINCE XANDER. It seemed like everywhere they turned there were security guards and barricades, holding the huge noisy crowd back.

  “I want to thank all you awesome people for coming here today as I embark on this epic journey,” he said, looking at the news cameras lined up in the front row. His crew stood beside him, all wearing similar blue jumpsuits. “A real, live, once-in-a-lifetime historic event,” he said, pumping his fist in the air, and all the fangirls screamed.

  McKeyla led the girls around the side of the crowd, toward the central building. “Well, there’s one saving grace today,” she whispered. “We don’t have to listen to the rest of his speech.”

  They snuck around the side of the main building, looking at the security guard stationed in the lobby, right in front of a giant metal sculpture.

  “We have to figure out how to get inside the rest of the building to find the device,” M said.

  “Maybe it’s time for a little explosion,” Adri said, peering into her bag of tricks. “I have all the ingredients.” M was impressed that Adri was so prepared. She wondered how deep that purse must be!

  “You handle the explosion, I’ll handle the distraction,” Cam said with a wink. She led Bry up to the security desk while M and Adri stayed behind. “Hey there, George!” she said loudly, acting super peppy. “How’s my favorite security guard ever? This is my friend Bryden. We just wanted to wish my dad luck before the launch.”

  The security guard shook his head. “I’m afraid the building is on full lockdown. No visitors during pre-launch time.”

  “Awww, man,” Cam moaned with exaggerated disappointment. “You’re kidding. I was really hoping to see—”

  BLAM
!

  They turned around to see thick hot-pink foam covering the metal sculpture in the center of the lobby. Adri and M were hiding behind a nearby plant.

  George rushed over to the sculpture, not sure how to clean up the mess. He looked panicked. While he inspected the damage, with pink foam dripping all over, Cam reached over his desk and pressed the button that unlocked the main doors. Then they all slipped into the building.

  “I thought you said a little eruption?” Cam said as Adri ran past her.

  “I might have overshot it a bit.…” Adri smiled as she tried to keep up in her heels.

  The girls ran down the hallway, deeper into the main building. There were signs everywhere warning AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY and SECURE AREA. They turned left and hit a dead end with three marked doors. One read MISSION CONTROL, another TELEMETRY, and the third FINAL LAUNCH ASSEMBLY.

  “So, Bryden Bandweth from Maywood Glen,” Adri said, talking in a deep voice as if she were a game show host, “do you pick door number one, door number two, or door number three?”

  “Ooohhhh, I don’t know. I like the number one, but two could be twice as good.…” Before Bry could ramble on any further, an alarm sounded. George must’ve discovered their break-in and alerted the other guards.

  “Door number three it is!” McKeyla decided quickly.

  Cam tried the door, but it was locked. She studied the panel beside it. “It’s a voice-recognition lock,” she said. “An authorized voice is the only way that door opens.”

  “This is the perfect job for A.D.I.S.N.,” M said, pulling out her notebook. “She matches voices flawlessly.”

  “Aw, love you, too, bestie!” said A.D.I.S.N.

  Cam took out her phone and played a saved voice mail from her dad. A.D.I.S.N. recorded every word, then listened to Cam’s command on what to say and how. M held her notebook up to the door.