Chapter 1

0830 Hours

February 10

The Academy of Espionage

Normally, you couldn't pay me to be outside in the snow in the middle of February, but today was different. Today being outside when it was 24 degrees seemed like a dream come true. See, when you go to a top-secret school that trains future spies, you hardly get any free time. Practically every moment of every day is devoted to perfecting skills from code decryption all the way to modern weaponry. Not that I'm complaining. Spy school has been a dream come true with exception of almost being killed a multitude of times. Well, that isn't exactly true. In addition to having my life endangered, the accommodations were horrible, the classes weren't much better than normal school, the principal was an idiot, and I had been repeatedly punished for thwarting enemy plans. Still, I didn't really mind the workload that came with the Academy of Espionage.

Once every year the students were allowed to go off-campus and explore D.C. like any other kids. This was a huge security risk considering the government was sending hundreds of valuable potential agents off into the world with sensitive information. Normally, this sort of trip would have never been approved, but the government had recently been informed by specialists that the students would perform better on missions if we had more contact with the outside world. So, once a year the whole student body would go off-campus with their friends to enjoy the weekend. That weekend started today.

We made our way to the quad where we would meet up with our groups and then casually and discreetly make our way off campus. My group was made up of about ten students: Zoe Zibbel, Warren Reeves, Chip Schacter, Jawa O'Shea, Mike Brezinski (my best friend who had been recruited), two first year students, Erica Hale, and Hank Schacter. Hank and Erica were both there to make sure that we didn't end up dead or blowing our cover. Technically Hank was our only supervisor but everyone knew very well that Erica was more equipped to be in charge. She came from a long line of the best spies in the country and she had been acting as a spy in training since she was in diapers. I, personally, was thrilled that Erica would be with our group since I had a huge crush on her. On our last mission, I had learned that she might have feelings for me too, although she would never admit it.

Hank whistled to get our attention and waved us over to a tree that was far enough away so that we could actually hear ourselves think.

"Hey, Everyone! We all ready to have some fun?!" Hank said enthusiastically.

Everyone cheered and whooped in response. Erica immediately shot everyone a cold stare and our cheers subsided.

"Look," Erica said, "I know that this isn't an official mission, but it's still as serious. All of you have classified information that the enemy is dying to get their hands on. Today everyone keeps their eyes and ears peeled and you let me know of anything even moderately suspicious."

"Chill Ice Queen, we already know all this" Chip said.

It was true, we had spent the last week learning about how to blend in all while still doing our jobs to notice anything out of the ordinary. Everyone at school was no longer wearing their "primed for action" outfits. Instead, they were replaced with jeans, sweatpants, sports jerseys, and various colorful sweatshirts. Our group was posing as a debate team who was on a field trip. Despite our hours of training for this day, everyone seemed a little on edge. But, this was no match for the pure joy we felt about being able to leave the confines of our campus.

We walked over to main gates where vans, school buses, and trucks waited for the students. We would all be going to separate locations so that we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves. We climbed into a small school bus with two other groups and made our way to our seats. I made my way to the back of the bus with our group.

"Ben come sit with me!" Zoe called.

I slid next to Zoe, one of my best friends from spy school. Across from us sat Mike and Chip who was in the middle of an intense thumb war.

"Aren't you excited for today?" Zoe asked.

"For sure. I'm so glad to have a day off. Are you?" I said.

"Yeah, I just kind of have a nervous feeling. But you'll make sure no enemy agents attack us, right Smokescreen?" Zoe joked.

It was true that I had been on quite a few successful missions, but Zoe had incorrectly assumed that I was a natural spy. In truth, it was Erica who had saved my butt on multiple occasions. I nodded and we turned to watch the end of the thumb war. My phone buzzed in my pocket with a text from Erica.

Meet me at my seat. Now.

I stood up, knowing better than to ignore Erica.

"Where you goin' Ben?" Jawa questioned.

"I have to go talk to Erica for a minute," I said.

Everyone made a collective "oooooh" as I slipped past Zoe.

"Going to see your girlfriend?" Chip taunted.

"He wishes" Zoe added.

I rolled my eyes at them and walked forward to where Erica was sitting. I wished I was going to see Erica so that we could just sit and talk, but it was more likely that I was somehow in trouble. I plopped down next to Erica and smiled.

"Hey," I said.

"Shut up this isn't going to be a fun conversation," she said.

"Alright…what is it?" I questioned.

"Today isn't going to be just a walk around D.C. for you and me. Granddad just informed me that two SPYDER operatives have been spotted near the white house. We think that they are plotting something" she stated without the slightest hint of worry.

I gulped hard, "Who are the operatives?" I asked

"Joshua and Murray. Apparently, Murray joined SPYDER again" she said. Murray Hill was my nemesis and we had foiled every one of the missions he had been on. Both Murray and Joshua had once been students at the academy and had joined the other side.

"Why aren't we canceling this trip?" I asked nervously.

"You and I have been activated to find out and stop whatever they are plotting. We won't activate the rest of the group unless it is absolutely necessary. This trip just became a mission" Erica said.

So much for our day off.

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