Hey, how've you been ? It's been a while... Sorry !
MI High are recruited to a special project. They will work with the Deputy Prime Minister to find the mole in her organisation. They have friends and enemies, but will they be able to tell the difference ? Homing in on a killer.
Keri and Aneisha left the office and stopped in the corridor outside. "Something's not right," said Aneisha.
"What, apart from the lousy security to Stark's office even after his fish have been used to poison people, and he's the head of security ?" asked Keri sarcastically.
Aneisha said nothing for a minute. "Yeah, it's kind of weird isn't it ? He's made no effort to stop people using his fish to poison people, AND, you think he would at least care about someone killing all of his precious fish !" she concluded. "We need to warn Dan to keep Tom safe. Someone tried to kill him. They might try again once they know he's still alive," she announced.
Keri pulled out her phone and called Dan. "Dan ! What's happening ?" she asked. Aneisha strained to hear what Dan was saying but couldn't hear. She mouthed silently to Keri to tell her what Dan was saying. Keri just nodded seriously, staring into space. "Okay, well that's good isn't it ?" she asked. "Oh, and make sure Tom stays safe. Whoever put that poison on the button definitely meant to kill him," she added. "Okay, that's good. Oh, and we need to go through Tom's laptop and look for clues. Can you find out the password please ?" she asked. "What ? How do you know ?" she asked, looking baffled. "Ooooooh !" she said grinning. "That makes total sense," she said. "Okay, see ya !" she said, closing the call. She looked triumphantly at Aneisha who was frowning at her in annoyance. "What ?" she asked.
"Well ?" said Aneisha in pure frustration.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," said Keri. "Right, Tom is under MI9 guard. He's going to be fine. He's starting to move again. We should be able to speak to him in a couple of hours. Dan is coming back over here. Oh, and Tom's password is 'lovelyaneisha'," she said finally with a mile wide grin.
Aneisha's face burned with embarrassment and pleasure. "Really ?" she asked, struggling not to smile.
"Try it," said Keri, opening the laptop up and handing it to Aneisha.
When the password prompt appeared, Aneisha typed in 'lovelyaneisha'. "Welcome Tom !" was now written across the screen. Aneisha felt a warm glow spreading through her whole body. Wow, he really did like her !
The two girls started working through the file stores. "Nothing ! There's nothing !" said Keri in frustration.
"I think stuff has been deleted," said Aneisha thoughtfully. "Look, there's a big gap in the dates. All of the file dates stop five days ago," she explained. Keri checked and saw that Aneisha was right. A shadow fell across them both, making them look up.
"Anything ?" demanded Mr. Stark sharply.
"No, someone has deleted all of the recent files," said Aneisha dejectedly.
"But Tom is going to be Okay !" said Keri cheerily. "We should be able to talk to him in a couple of hours," she said.
Stark stroked his chin. "Well, I'd better pay him a visit," he said calmly. "Right. I want you three in my office. Fifteen minutes !" he barked, before stalking away.
"What's that all about ?" asked Keri.
"I don't know, but I guess we'd better show or he's going to throw a wobbly," said Aneisha. Keri snorted. She couldn't take the guy seriously. He was such an ass !
"Who is going to throw a wobbly ?" asked Dan, appearing beside them.
"Stark. He wants us in his office in fifteen," said Keri. "Make that ten," she said, checking her watch. "Might as well shut the laptop down. Save the battery a bit," she said to Aneisha, who nodded and started closing down Tom's machine.
Dan's phone rang. It was Frank. "Hey Frank !" said Dan, who had never been happier to hear his mentor's voice.
"How's it going Dan ?" asked Frank, sounding worried. "I heard that Tom had been poisoned," he said.
"Oh, yeah, he's going to be Okay. He got poisoned with one of Security Chief Stark's fish," explained Dan. "The guy needs to get a lock on his tanks !" he said. He looked up to see Keri tapping her watch.
"What, did you say Stark ?" asked Frank's voice, sounding puzzled.
"Yeah, he's the security chief. Speaking of whom, we have to go see him now in his office," said Dan. "I'd better get going. The guy throws his toys out of the pram if he doesn't get his own way," Dan prattled away. He was already pulling the phone away from his ear. His thumb was over the red button as Frank was shouting "No, don't go ! Dan, you mustn't go !" inaudibly into the phone. Dan closed the call.
"Okay, let's get it over with shall we ?" he said. "This guy so pisses me off," he growled.
"Better start counting then," warned Aneisha as they started walking up the corridor towards Stark's office. They all set their phones to silent, so nobody picked up the frantic calls from Frank.
"One," said Dan, taking a deep breath.
"Shouldn't you wait until we actually get there ?" asked Keri reasonably.
"Nope ! I'm hacked off already," said Dan.
Aneisha knocked on Stark's door and he called them in. There were three chairs set out in front of Stark's desk. "Sit !" instructed Stark. Aneisha and Keri sighed and walked towards them. Dan folded his arms angrily and plonked himself down in the seat, staring straight ahead. Maybe if he didn't look the guy in the eyes, he would be able to stop himself punching him.
"Well, aren't you a pretty little set of boys and girls," snarled Stark.
"What ?" snapped Dan. This was the last straw. The girls said nothing. Dan shot them a puzzled look and saw them staring glassily into the distance, unmoving. It was like Tom all over again. Their hands were resting on the arms of their chairs. Dan unfolded his arms and looked down. The arms of his chair had a sticky sheen on them. Poison ! "No !" yelled Dan, leaping to his feet, careful not to touch the arms of his chair. He moved to Keri's seat and pushed her arms off the chair. He was doing the same to Aneisha when an arm wrapped itself around his neck, cutting off his air supply.
"Think you're so damned clever do you ?" screamed Stark from behind his head. "Damned kids ! If it wasn't for MI High, I would still be Chief Agent at MI9 !" he yelled. "I'll teach you !" he yelled, sounding more and more demented.
Dan felt himself being thrown from side to side. He desperately wanted air, but Stark had his throat locked tight. Desperately, Dan fell back on his training and swept his leg back under the knees of the older, slightly shorter, agent. Stark stumbled and his grip loosened slightly. Dan twisted and managed to shake off Stark's grip. He gasped for air, lunging again to push Aneisha's other arm off the chair. He succeeded, but Stark grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back.
"Let's finish the job," snarled Stark, pushing Dan back towards his chair. He was pushing Dan's face down towards the poison-coated wooden arms of the chair.
Dan tried to push back, but the pain from his twisted arm stopped him. "Aargh !" he groaned, frantically trying to twist out of the older man's grip. His face was now only inches from the poison. At last he had a brain wave, and Dan put all his energy into a kick, throwing the chair backwards away from him with his knee. "Ha !" he yelled triumphantly.
"You think ?" snapped Stark, letting go of him suddenly. Dan staggered forwards, once the pressure on his arm was released. He turned to face his opponent just in time to see Stark coming at him, with an object in his hand. Dan just had time to register a large glass paperweight in Stark's hand, before it smashed into his forehead. The world exploded into darkness and Dan crashed sideways to the floor, lying motionless.
"Hah ! Thought you could put one over me did you ?" snarled Stark triumphantly. Gasping a deep breath, he staggered slightly and put out his hand to steady himself, resting it briefly on the arm of a chair. "Oh sh..." he managed to say, before crashing glassy eyed to the floor, his hand slipping off the poisoned arm of Keri's chair.
Stark's office was silent. All that could be heard was the gentle bubbling of the fish tanks.