Chapter 1

It was a normal Monday morning and, at St Hearts Academy, business was as usual. Mr. Flatley hummed a casual tune as he made his way to his first lesson. The students were already in the classroom; sitting in chairs or perched on top of the desks chatting and laughing. Dan was slumped in his chair, head in his arms, resting on his school bag. Aneisha came into the room followed by Tom who dumped his bag on the floor causing Dan to raise his head with a start.

"Urgh, I'm so tired" groaned Tom before flopping into a seat at the desk next to him.

"Why?" Aneisha asked, also sitting, "were you up all last night playing Bladequest?"

"Actually, it was Bladequest: Oath of Fire," Tom replied.

"I have no sympathy," Aneisha said, rolling her eyes.

Mr Flatley entered and there was a general bustle as everyone pulled out their chairs and sat down, stowing bags under the desks. The teacher was followed by a girl in pristine looking uniform. She kept her head down, not looking at the class, her brown hair falling into her eyes.

"Students, this is Taya, a new addition to our school. I hope you'll make her feel… welcome," he said, somewhat uncertainly as he took in the blank, uninterested faces staring back at him. The new girl flashed a very small smile at the cheerful man before quickly heading for a spare seat at the back of the classroom.

Mr Flatley turned to the white board and began writing on it. Dan leant across to Tom.

"That girl," he said, "do you recognise her at all?"

Tom glanced at her then shrugged. "I don't think so. Why?" but Mr Flatley had started talking and Dan didn't get the chance to reply.

An hour later, the class was dismissed and students quickly filtered out into the hallway. Dan, Aneisha and Tom were the last to leave but they got caught just as they reached the classroom door.

"Ah, Aneisha," the head-teacher called. "You can show Taya around, can't you?"

Aneisha nodded and smiled at the new girl whose mouth flickered in a brief, shy smile.

"Excellent," Mr Flatley said, "excellent. Well, I'll leave you to it." He slid past them through the door and bumbled off down the corridor.

Aneisha grinned at the girl and introduced herself. "I'm Aneisha and this is Dan and Tom," she said, gesturing to the boys respectively. They nodded at Taya who smiled but still didn't speak. Perhaps she's shy, Dan thought. He couldn't blame her, being new and all that. But he couldn't shake off the feeling of having seen her face somewhere before. He narrowed his eyes, looking at her, trying to place her face, until he got an elbow in the ribs from Tom.

"Class?" Tom reminded him. "We've got P.E. next."

"Right," Dan said, snapping out of his thoughts and stepping out into the corridor. He led the way to the sports hall, only half listening to Aneisha's running commentary of the different classrooms they passed, whilst his mind ran through all the places he could possibly have seen Taya but nothing came to mind. He was just about to ask her when they reached the gym. She stopped at the door.

"Um… I don't have any kit or anything…" Taya finally spoke up quietly.

"Don't worry," Aneisha said. "If we tell the teacher you're new, you'll probably be able to get out of it," she grinned.

Apparently, Taya had managed to get out of it as she was absent from the P.E. lesson. The class had got changed back into their blue-blazered uniform and been released for break but the new girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Where d'you think she's gone?" Aneisha asked, peering through the crowds of people. "I'm supposed to be showing her around. My auntie will kill me if I lose her on her first day."

"Maybe she just went off with Lady J or one of the other girls," Tom suggested, casually, not looking up from the game he was playing on his phone.

"Yeah, well, never mind that now," Dan said. He held up his pencil-communicator, the end of which was flashing. "We've got somewhere to be."

It was only five minutes later when the silver lift doors slid open and the three of them stepped into the MI9 underground base. Their normal school clothes had all been changed into the dark combat outfits, perfect for spying or fighting or whatever their abnormal job threw at them.

The three strode out of the lift into the underground spy base to meet Frank and Stella who stood in front of the large screens next to a third person. A mix of confusion and delighted incredulity crossed all three faces as they recognised the newcomer. Taya smiled at the looks of confusion on her new class mates faces.

"Taya?" Aneisha said, incredulously. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Team," Frank spoke before Taya could. "I'd like to re-introduce you to Taya. She's an MI9 agent. "

"No way!" Aneisha exclaimed, "You mean there are other school spies like us out there?"

"That's why I recognised her," Dan realised, nodding. "I saw the report on your mission in Siberia last year. That was an awesome job, by the way." He grinned appreciatively at Taya.

"Anyway…" Frank continued then stopped and frowned. "When did you see that report?" he asked Dan sharply.

Dan and Tom shared a guilty look.

"Err… must've just come across it…" Tom muttered vaguely.

Frank glared at them but allowed it to slide. "Anyway, Taya is here to pass on some important information that will help on your next mission." He looked at Taya.

She slid a memory stick across the table.

"This has everything you'll need to know about the mission. Frank will run you through it. And I guess I'll be sticking around if there're any questions or anything."

"But… aren't you joining us on the mission?" Dan asked in confusion.

Stella spoke up before Taya could open her mouth.

"No. Taya is here to pass on the information and then so Frank can keep an eye on her."

Taya lowered her eyes. Dan was still puzzled.

"But I've seen you in action. You'd be great on the mission."

Aneisha nodded in agreement. "Besides," she added, "It'll be great to have another girl here."

But Taya shook her head quickly. "No. I can't." She glanced nervously at Stella and Frank. "I – I'd better get back to class."

She hastened back to the lift, not looking at anyone, but Dan noticed the flush red of her cheeks. The lift doors closed on her and the team looked back at their superiors.

"Why can't she join us?" Tom asked.

Frank pursed his lips. "Taya's not actually a spy anymore. She… left MI9 after a mission about six months ago. Actually, it was the mission that was connected to what you need to look into now," he sounded like he was going to continue with their briefing but Aneisha interrupted him. Something in the tone of his voice told Dan that he was holding something back and clearly Aneisha had picked up on it too.

"Frank? What happened on the mission? Why did she leave?"

He sighed heavily, as though reluctant to tell them. He glanced at Stella who nodded slightly, giving him permission to explain.

"They were on a mission to retrieve a certain item that had been stolen. Something went wrong and… well, the rest of her team were killed. She was the only one to make it out alive. After that she stopped working for MI9. That's all you need to know." Frank ended firmly.

Dan, Aneisha and Tom exchanged horrified looks. Poor Taya. What had she gone through?

"So you know," Stella spoke up, "this mission is not to be taken lightly. I want your full attention on it."

Dan took a deep breath but nodded.

Frank turned to the large screens behind him and, pointing at it with a clicker, pulled up a mugshot of a man. He stared, blank face out of the screen.

"Antonio Constantala. He was imprisoned for three years for handling of stolen goods and was released having served his time five years ago. Last year, he came under our radar when we got wind that he was trying to steal a vial of a concentrated sample of the smallpox virus from a medical research facility where it was kept under the highest security. He had a contact on the inside but fortunately Taya's team managed to break into his base – he was using an old SKULL station. They were supposed to retrieve the virus but the mission didn't go to plan and the rest of Taya's team didn't make it out. Fortunately, the virus was later recovered undamaged and still in its secure container. Constantala was arrested and charged and he is currently held at Moorhill prison."

"Wait a second," Aneisha asked, "why would we have a vial of smallpox in the first place? Isn't it, like, really deadly?"

Tom answered, "It's for vaccinations – giving someone a small dose of a less serious version of a virus allows them to build up an immunity to the disease."

Frank nodded. "It's mostly just a precaution, in case of anything happening in the future, and for medical research. But in the wrong hands, it could be a deadly weapon."

Frank turned back to the screen and pulled up another image. This one was black and white and looked as though it had been taken from security footage. It was a woman with light-coloured hair pulled up in a fancy hairstyle and wearing large, designer sunglasses that hid her eyes.

"This is Maria Constantala," Frank said. "She used to be a model and is currently the founder and CEO of a huge cosmetics and perfume company, Delicious. She is also Antonio Constantala's sister and although we have no evidence to tie her to the case, we believe she was fully involved in her brother's schemes.
"Last week, the virus was being transferred to a more secure location but the convoy that was carrying it was attacked and the virus was stolen. Given Constantala's history, we strongly suspect she is behind its disappearance. We need to know if she's got it and if so, where she's keeping it and what she plans to do with it.
"Aneisha, you're heading to the Delicious Cosmetics offices: see if you can find any evidence that ties her with the theft of the virus. Dan, I want you to talk to her brother, see if he knows anything about his sister's plans."

Nodding, the team left their base.

"Hi Taya,"

The girl looked up from her exercise book, brushing her hair away from her face. She smiled when she saw who it was and pushed out the chair next to her, making room for Aneisha to sit down.

"Mrs King gave me some extra work to do to catch up and I thought I might as well get a head start on it." She said, gesturing to the notes spread out in front of her.

"Wise," Aneisha agreed, sitting down next to her. "Keeping Mrs King happy is a mission in its own right," she joked. "Believe me, I know."

Taya looked confused.

"She's my auntie," Aneisha admitted.

"Oh…" Taya said, understanding. Then she grimaced.

Aneisha laughed.

Taya looked back at her work. She seemed tense and Aneisha guessed Taya knew why the other girl had come alone to find her, and why Aneisha was probably looked nervous and awkward. Nevertheless, she decided to take the plunge.

"Taya…" she began hesitantly, "Frank told us what happened. I – I know it doesn't help, but I'm so sorry… and, well I'm here if you need me. And that goes for the others too."

Taya was silent. Her hair had fallen forward so Aneisha couldn't see her face but her fingers were gripping her pencil tightly. Eventually Taya looked up at the other girl.

"Thank you," she said, managing to smile. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but just then the bell rang signalling the end of lunch. Startled, Taya swept her books back into her back and jumped to her feet. "Don't want to be late," she muttered and hurried out, leaving Aneisha on her own.

A/N: So I wanted to upload the first couple of chapters together. If you've got this far then I hope that means you're enjoying it! Please leave a review if you can as I would love to hear feedback and comments. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon(ish).