It's a perfectly normal school trip to France. The team are going to have a week off spying. They think. OK, not the most imaginative title. I couldn't think of anything else.
"Good morning class !" announced Mr. McNab. "We are currently finalising preparations for this year's Year 11 trip to France. This is a study trip which is intended to cover geography and French language. Those of you hoping to take GCSE in either subject will be given priority if you choose to come. Madame Renard will be leading the French component. I shall be leading on Geography. Collect the application forms as you leave the class. Now, we'll begin …." Mr. McNab continued with his lesson. As soon as the visit was mentioned, Dan, Tom, Aneisha and Zoe started wondering whether this was another secret assignment being covered up with a school trip. When they collected the forms at the end of the lesson they saw that there would be a charge for attending. That didn't sound like an assignment cover.
They went down to base after lunch. "Frank, is this school trip to France a cover ?" asked Aneisha.
"Hm ? What school trip ?" asked Frank.
"I guess that answers the question then," said Tom. Frank was reading through the application form.
"Hm, it's a whole week. No, this is nothing to do with MI9. Looks like it's a regular school trip," he said, handing the form back to Aneisha.
"Can we go on it then ?" asked Aneisha. "I mean, what if there's some sort of emergency while we're away ?"
"Well, I don't see why you can't," said Frank. "I suppose it might be an issue if you all went at once. Are you likely to go ?" he asked, looking round the group.
"Do you want to go ?" Dan asked the others.
"I've never been to France !" said Zoe, looking excited. Dan smiled. She always got excited about new stuff.
"It would be nice to do an ordinary school type thing for a change," said Aneisha.
"What if we do all go ?" asked Tom. "Will MI9 let us all go together ?"
"I'll ask if you want," said Frank. "I think you could probably have a week off."
"Thanks Frank !" said Zoe, giving him a hug. Frank smiled and watched them all piling back into the lift to return to their first afternoon class.
A month later, all four teens were piling off a coach, along with a large group of their school friends. Everyone grabbed their bags and were told to get into twos before they were assigned their rooms. Tom and Dan immediately stood together, as did Zoe and Aneisha.
When Tom unpacked his bag, Dan noticed he'd packed his spy-pod and a laptop. "You've brought your spy-pod ?" asked Dan.
"Yeah, haven't you ?" asked Tom.
Reluctantly, Dan pulled out his spy-pod too, and they both laughed. "Couldn't help myself," admitted Dan.
"Know what you mean," agreed Tom. "You never know do you ?" He then pulled out a game box, an MP3 player, headphones, a digital camcorder and another electronic gizmo which Dan didn't recognise.
"Looks like you brought everything," said Dan, looking at all the electronics on Tom's bed.
"Yeah. My Mum wanted to know if I was going to spend the whole week staring at my hand !" complained Tom. "You'd think I did nothing else !"
"Well, you don't do a lot else, do you ?" asked Dan. "Why don't you have a break from the gadgets this week ?" he coaxed.
"Oh come on ! You're starting to sound like my Mum !" complained Tom. Dan held up his hands in surrender.
"OK, you do what you want. I'm going to try all the activities," said Dan. There was a knock at their door and Aneisha put her head round.
"Is it alright if we come in ?" she asked.
"Course," said Dan. Aneisha and Zoe came into the room and sat down on the boys' beds.
"The rooms are alright aren't they ?" asked Aneisha. "It's better than I expected. We've even got our own shower room."
"Yes, it's brilliant !" said Zoe, bouncing up and down on the bed. "Are you going to the disco tonight ?" she asked.
"Disco ?" asked Tom and Dan simultaneously, both reaching for the itinerary. "It says 'entertainment'," said Tom.
"Yes, it's a disco," said Zoe. "I've never danced before. Is it hard ?" The others looked at her in astonishment.
"How could you never have danced ?" asked Aneisha.
"SKUL didn't do dancing," said Zoe. They all thought about this.
Dan pondered that maybe there was one thing that Zoe would be worse at than him. He thought about it a bit more. No, probably not. She was good at everything. He sighed at the prospect of an evening of humiliation. Tom didn't look any happier.
"Oh come on guys. It'll be dark !" said Aneisha. Dan gave her a hard look. "And if you don't decide to go with Zoe, Melissa is bound to ask you," she added cheekily. Dan's eyes widened in fear.
"Zoe, would you mind coming to the disco with me ? Please ?" asked Dan a little too desperately. Zoe just smiled at him and nodded. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"Erm, Aneisha, if you're going anyway, could I, you know, go with you ?" asked Tom. Aneisha gave him a huge smile and said yes. A wide grin spread across Tom's face. Dan noticed and smiled to himself. Somebody had a crush ! Not himself of course.
Mme Renard lead the group of teens to a local disco which was being opened up for them especially. "There will be soft drinks at the bar," she informed them outside. "I want only good behaviour. I will be here with Mr. McNab. Now have a good time !" she instructed them. They all looked at one another awkwardly before following her inside the building.
When they stepped inside the lights were dimmed and the DJ put on some music. Everyone instantly tried to gravitate away from the teachers. This seemed to suit them equally well and the two teachers settled themselves as far away from the speakers as they could. Zoe took Dan's hand. "Can you show me how to dance then ?" she asked. Dan gazed at her in horror.
"I'm no good at dancing !" he said. Where was Aneisha when you needed her ? Zoe looked disappointed. "Aneisha !" he called over to her. Aneisha and Tom had bought drinks and were carrying them to a table. "Aneisha, do you know how to dance ? Zoe wants me to teach her," said Dan. "I can't dance !" he said panicking.
"Dan, relax !" said Aneisha, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, you boys ! Come on Tom," she said.
"Wha' ?" said Tom, looking like a rabbit in the headlights. "I can't dance !" he said. The two girls looked at them.
"Do what I do," said Aneisha to Zoe. She swayed from side to side in time to the music and Zoe copied her. Then she started moving her feet around in time to the music and Zoe did the same. After a couple of minutes, Zoe and Aneisha were dancing freely and happily in time to the music. Dan watched with Tom. They looked at each other, took a deep breath and tried to move in time to the music. Dan watched in dismay as Zoe got better and better with each passing minute. Aneisha slowly turned away to dance with Tom, who was putting up a reasonable performance. Dan felt like an idiot. He hardly dared lift a foot off the floor for fear of losing the rhythm.
"This is fun !" Zoe shouted to Dan. The music was now loud and it was hard to hear anyone talking. Dan smiled at her. She looked so happy. He glanced around and found that they were surrounded by all their classmates on the dance floor. He felt less exposed in the middle of the crowd, and relaxing a little, he started to fall into the rhythm a bit more easily. This wasn't so bad.
Zoe kept on dancing and Dan was struggling to keep up with her when finally a slow record came on. He glanced round to see Aneisha wrapping her arms round Tom's shoulders. When he turned back, Zoe did the same to him. She must still be copying Aneisha, he thought. He pulled her up close and they swayed in time to the soft music. The music was hypnotic and he found himself staring into Zoe's eyes. Before he knew what he was doing, he'd kissed her on the lips. She looked surprised and he thought he'd made a big mistake, until she kissed him back, long and hard.