Raven leant back and landed the jet on the landing, then skilfully navigated to the airport, left the plane where it was next due, and darted into the airport. When you were a legendary assassin, stealing a plane completely unnoticed was one of those things that just comes naturally.

She took out a compact mirror and did a quick scan of the airport. She didn't know what her target looked like, but years of experience had made that a luxury instead of a necessity, especially since she knew the look of somebody who'd lived in the Glasshouse. Nobody here was a Furan assassin, although by the look of things, plenty of others didn't want to be noticed tonight. Satisfied that she was safe for the time being, Raven oered a drink and something to eat, still checking faces for somebody with a very specific job.

One man, about forty, Italian: he was about to leave for a business trip. Another woman, maybe twenty-five, American: arrived for a honeymoon, judging by the dress, with...that man just behind her: also American, looked stressed. Raven kept scanning, particularly trying to spot those who looked Russian, but she could spot nobody who met what little criteria she had.

She sighed and took a sip of her drink. It seemed that Blade would be a little harder to find.


"Hey! Nerds One and Two, remember what today is?"

Shelby bounded into the accommodation are, where Otto and Laura were still sitting tapping at their Blackboxes.

"Thursday, September eighth. Ten fifty-eight p.m," Otto replied immediately.

"And what happens at eleven?" Shelby pestered.

"You leave?" Laura said hopefully.

Shelby looked disappointed. "You guys seriously forgot about the party happening in fifty-three seconds?"

"Oh right..."

"You don't have to join in, but since it is in the atrium you may want to leave. If somehow you decide that this is more important than your nerdy coding, blame everything on me if we're caught."

"Are you calling HIVEmind's future girlfriend nerdy?" Laura said in mock horror.

"Yes. Extremely so. Anyway, nine seconds to scarper."

"Mmmmmm..." Laura thought. "I'm going to blame everything on you when we're caught."

"If," Shelby corrected, almost singing with glee. "Turn it up a very tiny bit!"

Otto switched on the radio Shelby had acquired a few days ago to a very low pitch, but the difference in noise was still very noticeable.

"Okay, everyone! Time to party very quietly!" Shelby whisper-shouted. "Has the big guy run away?" She dashed off while everyone came out of their dorms to investigate.

"What is going on?" Franz asked loudly. "I am thinking that we - "

"Sssshhhhhh," Otto and Laura said together.

"What is being the reason for all the shushing?" Franz asked again, in an exaggerated whisper.

"Shelby decided to throw a secret party," Laura said. "This music feels really loud, are you sure it's on quiet?"

"I brought snacks and a ninja!" Shelby announced. "Where is everyone?"

"I would assume that they are attempting to get some sleep," Wing suggested.

"No, this is fun!" A tall girl in a white jumpsuit seemed to be enjoying herself. A group of others nearby made noises of agreement.

"See? They love it!" Shelby grinned. "Loosen up, Brand. If we're caught, we're caught. This school isn't exactly the place to tell people off for breaking rules."

"But we're supposed to be learning to break the rules without getting caught," Otto said. "I guess she has a point, though."

"I always do. Have some popcorn."

There was plenty of loud conversation and even some dancing for the next hour - "I am thinking that Shelby is putting something in the water," Franz said - and Otto and Laura were finally starting to get into the mood.

"I guess this is kind of fun," Laura admitted grudgingly.

"Told you so, told you so, told you so, told you so-"

"And suddenly a lot less fun."

"That is correct." Raven appeared out of nowhere, in her usual fashion. "It seems you all failed to stick to the curfew."

"It was Shelby," Laura cut in.

Raven looked at her, slightly amused. "Just how stupid do you think I am? Or more importantly, how stupid do you think Miss Trinity is?"

"What do you mean?" Otto said.

"Look around."

Shelby had done a Raven.

"I'm going to kill her," Laura muttered.

"Don't worry, get back to your room and I promise she'll have joined you in twenty minutes. With a detention."

Laura looked slightly appeased by this and turned to go.

It ended up taking Raven twenty-five minutes to hunt Shelby down, an embarrassing time even when faced with such a challenge.

"There you are," Shelby said, dropping down from the ceiling. "I was beginning to think you'd never get here. Listen, Laura found something last week and I haven't had the chance to speak to you."

Quickly and quietly, Shelby explained about Laura's program and the anonymous hacker looking at their records. Raven listened, her expression unchanging.

"So, she's not only a Furan assassin but a master hacker," Raven finally said. "Next week should certainly prove to be interesting."

"Next week?" Shelby frowned, confused. "We have that trip to France, don't we?"

"Italy."

Shelby looked somewhat worried as she realised what Raven was saying.

"So, we're putting the entire stream of Alphas within a couple kilometres of where we suspect a master hacker and assassin who wants us all dead to be?" Shelby said, looking apprehensive.

"Basically. The idea is, if Blade is is Italy, she'll come and find us, and we'll be ready. If she doesn't come, there's as ninety-nine percent chance that she isn't nearby. The other one per cent is she's not ready yet."

"Still seems a little risky."

"Then it's a good thing you have another training session tomorrow. Miss Brand is under the impression that it's a detention, so I'd prefer it stays that way."

Shelby nodded. "So, for the purpose of secrecy, she's not in trouble for poking around the school network? Not complaining, just...okay, maybe complaining just a little."

"A school for villainy is hardly the place to punish someone for breaking the rules, as you should be aware of by now, Miss Trinity. I seem to remember the last time Miss Brand had a go at the system, she saved the entire school."

"Point taken. Okay, see you tomorrow."


"Someone's in trouble," Laura said the following morning, buttering her toast.

"Someone is also extremely charming and persuasive and got away with a single detention," Shelby smirked. "But anyway, onto more important things. I hear we're playing Capture the Flag this morning."

"Not so fast," Laura said. "Blame it all on me, she said. I'll take full credit, she said. Then I turn around and you're playing hide-and-seek with the Ice Queen."

"I'm the only one with detention, so stop complaining. Are you a better attacker or defender?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Defender."

"I thought so. Come on, let's see what you've got." Shelby stood up and pranced over to the Tactical Education department. "Hurry up, Brand!"

"Today you will be faced with an extremely useful and educational challenge - Capture the Flag at H.I.V.E. tests your physical ability, your teamwork, leadership, stealth and strategizing. That's probably too much for most of you to handle, but we will see."

As usual, the Colonel was in a happy-grumpy mood - it was his job to set up the playing 'field' and his apparent cheerfulness was causing a lot of worry over what it would look like. "I've split you into two teams, red and blue. It's simple enough - get to the other team's base, get the flag, get back to your base and you score a point. First team with five points wins. You all also have guns, which when you are hit with, you are knocked out for around thirty seconds and when you wake up, you have to go back to your base and start again. Questions? No? Good. Here are your teams..."

"Looks like I'm with you, Malpense," Shelby said, putting on a blue sash from the pile laid out. "I somehow get the feeling you're going to cheat."

"I don't think there are many computers involved in Capture the Flag," Otto pointed out.

Shelby shrugged. "If tall, dark and handsome over there comes up behind you, remember; he's very, very, very ticklish."

"I'll remember that," Otto promised. "Afraid Laura's not as easy, mainly because she uses her gun. But if she's pretty easy to trip up."

'

"...and make sure you feint to one direction. Shelby always falls for it," Wing instructed Laura as she put on a red sash.

"I'll keep that in mind," Laura replied. "And I'm sorry to tell you, but I don't really know any of Otto's weaknesses except he doesn't like to fail."

"I am sure it will come in useful at some point.

'

"Anyway, we have Franz, who I still can't believe is such a good shot, but he is, so we should be fine," Shelby finished explaining her strategies to the team. Franz beamed.

"Okay, stop the huddle, pick up your guns and follow me!" Francisco yelled. He led the Alphas into an enormous hall full of walls and tunnels and bars and placed to hide. Shelby smiled.

"Okay, this is the playing field. Teams, go to your bases. As you can see, there are a lot of platforms. Don't worry, there's water at the bottom, but if you fall in, you're out. Good luck...you'll need it."

The teams sprinted over to the flagposts set up and started forming defenses.

"Okay, Franz, you're on defense," Shelby ordered. "We'll be fine as long as you keep your eyes open. Otto, I've never really been sure what you do best, but just...do what you do best. I'll go and get the flag, you and you, back me up. Everyone else, just run around and be distracting. Don't fall in. We good?"

"I am wondering if all this time taught by Colonel Francisco has rubbed off on Shelby," Franz muttered.

"Time's up! Start in three - two - one -"

Shelby jumped over to a platform, ran up a wall and landed neatly next to Nigel.

"Shoot," she said, pulling the trigger. "Pun intended." She fired at a few others and vaulted over to a ledge perched above the flag base. "Hey, no fair!" she yelled down to where Laura was firing bullet after bullet with an evil grin that was unusual for her. Thinking fast, Shelby dropped down and stuck her foot out, tripping Laura over.

"Be glad we're friends," she said smugly, "because it would take just as long to push you off." She fired her gun and then twisted past the web of defenders, grabbed the flag, and quickly slipped back out. Not stopping, she made her way base easily until -

"Brilliant," Laura smirked, snatching the flag out of Shelby's hand and shooting. "Bye now."

Wing jumped from platform to platform, dodging bullets and taking care not to attract attention. He was almost at the flag, but if he kept going in that direction Franz would spot him and if he went in the other direction he'd have to get past Otto. The decision was easy.

"I am most sorry," Wing apologized, kicking Otto over the edge. Sneaking past Franz, he grabbed the flag, then turned around to see Shelby grinning at him. He aimed a punch at her, but she caught his wrist.

"Considering I know all of your most ticklish spots, that doesn't seem like a good idea," Shelby said cheerfully. "I see Otto's disappeared. Not cool, big guy." She shot him squarely in the chest. "Now, I have to go hunt down a certain Scot."

It took several trips back before Shelby ran into Laura.

"Recovered, have you?" Laura said. She feinted to the left and twisted out of the way as Shelby lunged in that direction, then spun round rapidly as she realised what Laura was up to.

"Did Wing tell you to do that?" Shelby said, hooking her leg around Laura's ankle. "Next time, I'll have to push him off. Say hi to Otto for me." She twisted her leg and sent Laura flying off the edge.

"Who got you?" Otto said as she fell with a splash into the pool. He was sitting at the side, still looking slightly damp.

"Starts with 'S', ends with 'helby'," Laura said ruefully. "Sounds like 'total pain in the ass'. How about you?"

"Wing," Otto said, looking somewhat irritated. "Oh well, looks like we have a long wait ahead."

In the end the red team won, much to Shelby's chagrin, but she was somewhat mollified to hear that there would be a rematch in a week or two.

"Hey there, Nerds One and Two," she greeted them. "I stayed alive longer than both of you, but I'm sorry to say that wasn't enough to win. It turns out that once Wing decides a tranquilizer gun isn't so immoral after all, he's a wicked shot."

"Really?" Otto said, raising his eyebrows. "How did that end up happening?"

"Well, I spotted Wing doing his ninja thing, I was about to shoot him, because he told Laura how to beat me, and he made this face like 'screw it, I'm about to lose and besides I'm not actually killing anyone', and then, zap. At least I wasn't by an edge."


Raven sat at her computer, scanning through the system trying to find an intruder. It was becoming increasingly harder not to tell the others about Blade, especially with displays of brilliance like this one. The trip to Venice was five days away, and she despite the logic behind the plan, having the four of them a four-hour drive from Portofino with only one of them aware of the situation did not make her too happy.

Perhaps she'd get lucky, and Shelby would ended up spilling to the others, saving her the job of defying Nero a second time. But thanks to her aura of menace, Shelby had probably decided to keep it to herself a little longer. She'd never been so unhappy to be so terrifying.

Just then, something popped up on her screen. Raven read it and cursed under her breath in Russian, then finally called Nero on her Blackbox.

"Max," she said quietly, pointing her screen towards the computer. "This has gone too far. I'm letting them know tomorrow and that's final."