Here it is! The second chapter of Spy School in China. Sorry if it's kinda short, I've been busy lately. Anyways, without further ado, here it is.
The 12-hour flight was uneventful. As was the hour-long car drive to our hotel from the airport. The whole day, in fact, was quite uneventful. We checked in and went into our room. The CIA didn't give us crappy rooms, yet they did make us share one. Luckily, we were able to find a 3-bed room.
When we finally entered the room, I jumped onto the closest bed to me.
"Hold on, We're not done yet for today," Erica said. She set her stuff down onto the last bed.
"What do we need to do now?" I asked.
"You do know what we're supposed to be doing right now, right?" Erica asked. She raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… Yeah, yeah," I said, "Pffft, of course, I know what we're supposed to be doing on the mission I didn't forget about on the ride."
"So then, where are we going?" Erica asked.
"Uh… The science museum of Bejing?" I asked, picking a random location I once heard about on the news.
"No, not even close." Erica sighed, "you know what? I don't have the time for this. Zoe." She turned to her. Zoe sat up from the bed she was laying on, she nodded. "Zoe, you go explain the plan to Ben. I've got to get ready."
Erica walked over to her suitcase, she grabbed it and moved to the bathroom. Zoe then turned to me.
"So, you know the Shang building right?" Zoe asked me.
"Uh…" I racked my brain, thinking that I must have heard it somewhere. But still, it came up blank.
"Did you do any research before the mission?" Zoe said, with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"Uh…" I said. This time, instead of searching for information, I was stalling as I had not done any research and just didn't want to admit it.
"Ok, we'll start from the beginning." She paused for a minute. "The Shang building is in the main commercial center of the city, headquarters of the Shang business empire, blah blah blah. The Shang family is hosting a ball tonight. We're going."
"And the plan is…?" I asked.
"Well… While everyone is having a good time at the ball, we'll take the stairs to the 60th floor, to Jessica's office. Then as I stand guard, you and Erica infiltrate the office, get the information we need. Send it to the Chinese government, they arrest Jessica, take the Shang empire, and mission over."
"That's it?" I asked, not able to believe that our plan was that simple.
"Yeah, any questions?" Zoe said.
"How formal is this?" I asked.
"Black Tie."
"Small problem: I don't have a tux." I had never owned one in my life.
"Lucky for you, I took the liberty of buying you one." Erica emerged from the bathroom wearing a gorgeous dress. She opened up her suitcase, grabbed a tuxedo and tossed it over to me. I caught it, amazed. "Go put it on in the bathroom. Don't take to long. Party starts in 45 minutes."
"So 7?"
"Yeah," Erica said. I paused for a while. "Go in now, we don't have all night."
"Thanks," I said as I was walking to the bathroom.
I put it on and admired the craftsmanship of the people who made it. I exited the bathroom 5 minutes later. Erica nodded at me.
"Zoe, you put on your dress. Then we're going." Erica said. Zoe obeyed her command. I walked over and sat on the couch in our room. "You have your earpiece and sunglasses?" Erica asked me.
"Uh… No, I should probably get that shouldn't I?" I said.
Erica nodded. "Yeah."
I grabbed my things. I then sat back down on the couch. I sighed as I closed my eyes, hoping to get at least a few minutes of rest before the ball.
"Whoa, hold your horses there," Erica said when she saw me attempting to sleep, "We're not done yet." She tossed me a fully loaded utility belt. "Put that on."
I took a look at it. "A gun?" I asked.
"Just in case, but whatever you do, don't shoot us," Erica said. I quickly placed on my utility belt. By the time I was done, Zoe had finished putting on her dress. "Alright, let's go." Erica stood up and walked out the door. I sighed as Zoe and I followed her.
When we finally pulled up to the Shang building, I was extremely tired. Yet I continued on anyway and followed Erica's lead. A doorman greeted us at the entrance.
"Hello. Welcome to Jessica's 14-year-old ball. Invitations, please." The man said in English with a thick accent.
"Ooh, I'm sorry but we lost them," Erica said, completely changing her personality.
"Ma'am, I am so very sorry but only clients with invitations can come into the party." The man said.
"That's too bad, but could you just do me this one favor?" Erica cooed. She was now turning the charm up to a hundred. She inched closer to him, batting her eyes.
"Uhh.." the doorman uttered. His eyes moved wildly. You could almost see the battle going on in him. Was he to stay true and loyal to his employer, or to let this one exceptionally beautiful girl and her friends in? "Ma'am…" He started, but Erica brushed her hand against him. The man's eyes opened wide. The battle was over. She started walking toward the entrance. The man made no move to stop her. Seeing this Zoe walked through as well and I quickly followed.
"Wow, well that was nice of you," Zoe said sarcastically.
"Ok," Erica said in her standard icy tone. She had changed her entire personality a second time immediately. It really was quite amazing. "Listen, what else was I supposed to do?"
"You could've been nicer to that poor guy," Zoe said.
"It was the only way to get us in."
"No there must have been a better way." Zoe rebutted. Erica didn't answer her with words, instead, she gave such a icy stare that the temperature seemed to drop.
"Hey! If it isn't Ben Coolman here." Jessica walked over to us. "Nice of you to come to my party."
"Yeah. A big one you're having too." I replied.
"Hi, Sasha," Jessica said to Erica.
"Hi, Jessica, what a fun party you're hosting right now," Erica replied.
"Yeah." Jessica's tone seemed to fall. "Well, I'm going to go mingle with the guests, nice seeing you guys!"
"Bye!" I shouted back.
Once Jessica was far away for her not to be able to hear what we were talking about, Erica said, "Ok, time to initiate the plan." We all nodded and made our way to the elevator. Erica stepped in first and pushed the '60' button. The doors closed and we all waited nervously, hoping that the Elevator wouldn't suddenly stop. Yet the cables held and soon we were right in front of Jessica's office. "Zoe, you stay out here." She nodded.
When we entered the room, Erica immediately headed straight toward the computer. She logged into it with no problem. "Ben, you sift through her cabinets." I nodded. I then took a look at it and found a problem right off the bat. There was a lock on it.
"There's a lock on it." I murmured.
"You remembered how to pick locks, right?" Erica said, it was obvious she was becoming extremely annoyed at me.
"Yes, but I don't have any picks!"
"Take a look at your utility belt."
I found them and quickly opened the cabinet. I heard the sounds of fighting outside. They found us. A shot was fired. And the door opened.