Chapter Four
"Agent Karen, your newest assignment," a man says, briefing the graduate, who has been waiting nearly a year for her first assignment.
I, Agent Karen Angelina Redline, have just received my first mission: to track down Miles Axlerod, Professor Zündapp and their henchmen, and to bring them back, arrested. I am requested to pick one partner to come with. No doubt I go with Siddeley. We then head to the hangar to his jet.
"So, where do we head first?" Siddeley asks. "We don't even know where they've gone!"
"Not really," I say, holding up a tracking gadget. "Each prisoner is knocked unconscious before inserting some sort of homing beacon. In the jail, there's nothing sharp enough for yourself to get cut there, so trying to get at it is not an option. That's why we don't give out knives during breakfast, lunch or dinner.
"Typically, the devices inserted are for keeping track of the prisoner's health. But it can also turn into a homing beacon when someone leaves the compound.
"Most prisoners don't know about it, but some do. Rumors spread, and a case of someone trying to prove them happened. We had to…dispatch him after that.
"Right now, I'm hoping Axlerod and the others don't know he's got one in his arm."
As we board the jet, I give him the coordinates of our next destination, then joins me for lunch, setting his jet on autopilot.
"So, what's been your biggest 'heist' so far?" I ask.
"That time in the World Grand Prix," he says.
"I heard you made friends after that."
"Yeah. I've met Agent Mater's friends, as well as his friend's friends."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Anyone that stood out?" I was one for the craziness. That's why I took up hardcore spying.
He looks up in thought. "There's this girl, though," he says. "But Francesco Bernoulli has her, so that's out of the question." He spears a bit of beef and pops it into his mouth. "There's her cousin, too." He swallows. "She's got this thing, you know, for mechanics."
I smirk, rolling my eyes. I've never heard of a girl doing such. "Really?"
"Yeah," he insists. "I'm not kidding. This jet broke down and she was the only one available to fix it long enough for me to get back to HQ."
My eyes bulge. "Really?"
He nods. "But she's more into cars than planes, so that's quite understandable." He takes a sip of his drink.
"Is she pretty?" I ask, jealousy crawling in my belly.
"Sure," he says, staring into space. "But she's got her heart set on someone else, I believe."
"Really?"
He shrugs this time.
The conversations ends as lunch does, and I go to explore the rest of the jet. I find a small garage. In it is a sleek black car. Further examination reveals a two-door, two-seater arrangement in the cabin, yet there are two smaller seats in the back. On its rear is a black disc outlined with silver, with the letters 'GT' on it in silver, too. I wonder for a moment whose this is, but then I think it's Siddeley's, and return to the bridge.
"Are we there yet?" I ask him.
"Nearly," he replies, glancing at the GPS, then flicking some switches.
I sit in the co-pilot's seat, watching him intently. He kind of looks like my dad when he used to drive with me in the passenger's seat.
"Why did you decide to become a pilot?" I blurt.
He glances at me before he speaks. "I don't really know," he says. "I just liked flying, you know?"
I grin. "But you're still an agent, right?"
He nods. "That's right. I majored in piloting and got my pilot's license as I graduated, although I have some knowledge on being a spy, too."
It's my turn to nod.
"So, why me?" he asks. "Why pick me for this mission?"
I shrug, blushing a little. I have to admit I like being with Siddeley, maybe even too much for being friends. "You were free, I guess."
He chuckles slightly, then flicks more switches as he announces our descent into the radio. He lands the jet in an airport, hiding it in a large hangar. As we get off, he presents and ID to the staff, and they nod. Siddeley then turns to open the door that leads to the 'garage' in the back, revealing the black car I saw earlier today.
"I miss this car," he says, getting in and driving it out onto the asphalt, closing the cargo bay door, the name in which I remember late. He beckons me to get in, and we drive out of the runways and the airport itself.
"Where are we?" I ask bluntly. I'm no geographer, that's for sure.
"We're in Canada," he replies, and he instructs me to plug in the tracker to his GPS. There we can see the road to our target.
I'm sort of astounded. Britain to Canada in only a few hours? I'm impressed. But it's kind of like afternoon here, only because we headed west, so the time is probably around three in the afternoon.
The target is about thirty minutes from the airport. We're quiet as he drives. I don't even dare imagine how close he is to me, how I can tell him to stop at an alley for a moment so we can do more than talk….
No. My dad would curse me, and my baby sister needs me. And besides, he probably likes that girl he talked about earlier today better than me. I hang on to that, even if I remember he said she liked someone else.
He then stops a car at a near-empty alley. "We're here."
I glance out the windshield and my eyes widen in disbelief as I see the sign. I glance at the GPS, then back. "Are you sure?"
"It says so right there." He points to the GPS screen.
I still don't believe it, because we have stopped at a strip club.
A/N: I wanted this thing to be a little after the second WGP, I think. ._. Odd timeline, don't you think? xD
